An Introduction To Johnny Copeland

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Total Tracks: 16   Total Length: 46:27

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John Morthland

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John Morthland has been writing about music since the days of electronically rechanneled stereo and duophonic sound. His name has darkened the mastheads of Roll...more »

04.22.11
Before he brought it all back home, this Texas bluesman was a regional success.
2006 | Label: Fuel 2000 / The Orchard

Before moving to New York in the mid '70s and recording a string of outstanding albums for Rounder, Johnny Copeland cut numerous singles for Houston-based labels filled with biting guitar playing and gritty singing. Though “Down on Bending Knees” is gripping blues in anybody's book, several of these '60s tracks are heavily influenced by rock and soul. Real good stuff, even if it differs from Working Man Blues, also available on eMusic, by just four songs.

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They Say All Music Guide

An Introduction to Johnny Copeland is a satisfying compilation focusing on 16 of the Texas bluesman’s rare sides waxed for independent labels in the ’50s and ’60s. Long before Copeland began releasing popular soul-blues on the Rounder label in the ’80s and (albeit briefly) with Verve in the early ’90s, he recorded umpteen regionally distributed singles. Sweat-drenched ballads alternated with gritty, greasy R&B workouts, usually augmented by a horn section and sounding very similar to what Junior Parker or Bobby “Blue” Bland were releasing at the time. Please note that this reissue includes the majority of cuts from Fuel 2000′s Collection: Working Man’s Blues issued in 2002, but for some reason three cuts were omitted: “Funny Feeling,” “It’s My Own Tears That’s Being Wasted,” and “I Got to Go Home.” – Al Campbell

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