I Pity The Fool / The Duke Recordings Volume One

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I Pity The Fool / The Duke Recordings Volume One album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 44   Total Length: 113:01

eMusic Features

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Bobby Blue Bland: The Singer’s Singer

By John Morthland, eMusic Contributor

Until his health gave out on him, Bobby Blue Bland was the singer's singer. One of the biggest black hitmakers of the '60s, he had little crossover success but influenced countless other vocalists. He personified the sturdiest bridge in the transition from blues to soul music. And nearly everything you need to know about him can be found on three albums of two discs apiece: I Pity the Fool/The Duke Recordings, Volume 1; Turn On… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Everything the young Bland waxed for Duke between 1952 and the 1960 date that produced “Cry, Cry, Cry” and the R&B-laced “Don’t Cry No More.” From 1955 on, this is uniformly seminal stuff, Bland’s vocal confidence growing by the session and buttressed by the consistently innovative riffs and solos of guitarists Clarence Hollimon, Wayne Bennett (he’s amazing on a torrid “You Did Me Wrong”), Roy Gaines and Pat Hare. “Farther Up the Road,” the exotic ballad “Hold Me Tenderly,” “Little Boy Blue,” and the title track are but few of the two-disc collection’s many standouts. No blues fan should be minus this set! – Bill Dahl