Best of Blues, Candy & Big Maybelle

Personnel includes: Big Maybelle (vocals), Paul Winter, Julius Held, Seymour Miroff (violin), Dave McRae (alto saxophone), Warren Lucky, Buddy Lucas, Ernie Wilkins (tenor saxophone), Leslie Johnakins, George Barrow (baritone saxophone), Frank Rehak (trombone), Kelly Owens, Don Abney (piano), Robert Banks (organ), Leonard Gaskin, Ed Sneed, Al Lucas, Wendell Marshall (bass), Sol Hall, Bobby Donaldson (drums).
Reissue producers: Dan Nooger (tracks 1-14); Bob Porter (tracks 15-28).
Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, New Jersey. Includes liner notes by Dan Nooger.
BLUES, CANDY & BIG MAYBELLE is a compilation of Savoy (1168) and Savoy (1143).
Recording information: Bell Sound Studios (04/13/1957); Beltone Studios, New York, NY (04/13/1957); New York, NY (04/13/1957); Bell Sound Studios (05/14/1956-07/20/1956); Beltone Studios, New York, NY (05/14/1956-07/20/1956); New York, NY (05/14/1956-07/20/1956); Bell Sound Studios (11/26/1957-08/13/1959); Beltone Studios, New York, NY (11/26/1957-08/13/1959); New York, NY (11/26/1957-08/13/1959).
Two vinyl albums of Maybelle's Savoy recordings on one compact disc makes for a nice 28-track retrospective of her prime work. First up is the album originally issued as Blues, Candy and Big Maybelle, a chunk of session work from 1956-1957, with a three-song date from 1959 to round things up. Her takes on "Rockhouse," "Ramblin' Blues," and the title track are the big tickets here. The second anthology, titled simply Big Maybelle, features her recordings from 1956-1959, with the balance of it leaning toward her later output for the label. A 1957 session with Kenny Burrell on guitar yields interesting stabs at "White Christmas" and "Silent Night," while a 1959 session finds her big voice framed with a string section on a great read of "Until the Real Thing Comes Along." A very underrated singer, Big Maybelle is a total delight and deserves a much wider hearing. ~ Cub Koda