簡介: by Bill DahlAnother of the jump blues specialists whose romping output can be pinpointed as a direct precursor of rock & roll, guitarist Ji 更多>
by Bill DahlAnother of the jump blues specialists whose romping output can be pinpointed as a direct precursor of rock & roll, guitarist Jimmy Liggins was a far more aggressive bandleader than his older brother Joe, right down to the names of their respective combos (Joe led the polished Honeydrippers; Jimmy proudly fronted the Drops of Joy).Inspired by the success of his brother (Jimmy toiled as Joes chauffeur for a year), the ex-pugilist jumped into the recording field in 1947 on Art Rupes Specialty logo. His Tear Drop Blues pierced the R&B Top Ten the next year, while Careful Love and Dont Put Me Down hit for him in 1949. But its Ligginss rough-and-ready rockers — Cadillac Boogie, Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man, and the loopy one-chord workout Drunk (his last smash in 1953) — that mark Liggins as one of rocks forefathers. His roaring sax section at Specialty was populated by first-rate reedmen such as Harold Land, Charlie Little Jazz Ferguson, and the omnipresent Maxwell Davis.Liggins left Specialty in 1954, stopping off at Aladdin long enough to wax the classic-to-be I Aint Drunk (much later covered by Albert Collins) before fading from the scene.