Flashbacks, Vol. 3 - Copulation Blues 1926-1940: Hot & Sexy

Personnel: Marvin Montgomery (vocals, tenor banjo); Susie Hawthorne, Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon & His Hot Shots, Jody "Butterbeans" Edwards, Ethel Waters, Mary Mack, Ramon de Arman, Lil Johnson, Alberta Hunter, Lucille Bogan, Mae West, Mary Dixon, Sam Theard, Sophie Tucker, Victoria Spivey, Bea Foote (vocals); Muryel "Zeke" Campbell (guitar); Art Fowler (ukulele); Kenneth Pitts, Buck Buchanan (violin); Odell Rand, Arnett Nelson (clarinet); Herb Morand (trumpet); Clarence Williams, Georgia Tom, Horace Malcolm, Black Bob Hudson (piano); Pearlis Williams (drums).
Recording information: Chicago, IL (05/11/1926-03/05/1940); Dallas, TX (05/11/1926-03/05/1940); New Orleans, LA (05/11/1926-03/05/1940); New York, NY (05/11/1926-03/05/1940); St. Louis, MO (05/11/1926-03/05/1940).
There have been numerous collections that boast the title "Copulation Blues" or "Copulatin' Blues," but none of them holds a torch to this Trikont compilation that features 25 bawdy tales of well, you know, doin' it. If you slap this slab on the stack at a bash, things will get moist and steamy very quickly. The dancers will be grinding a little more slowly, the corners will fill up nice and cozy, and the bushes outside will be crawling with anxious, agitated lovers. The platter opens with Alberta Hunter's lament for sex by telling her suitor that it doesn't matter if she's black or white because in the dark you can't tell anyway. It's all a slippery slope from there, to say the least. But aside from the topical concerns of the disc, it's the quality of the tracks that sets it apart, from the better-known jams of the sort (Louise Bogan's "Shave 'Em Dry," Clarence Williams' "Organ Grinder Blues," Victoria Spivey's "Black Snake Blues," Mae West's "A Guy What Takes His Time," etc.). But there are other lesser-known blues, R&B, and pop classics as well that are sparkling in their spirited excellence, such as Buddy Burton and Irene Sanders' "Electric Man," Bea Foote's "Try and Get It," Art Fowler's "No Wonder She's a Blushing Bride," and Halfpint Jaxon with Tampa Red doing "My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)." And this is just to list a few. There's over an hour of sweltering hokum blues and risqué rhythms on this set guaranteed to make the most serious person on earth laugh and the most amorous person on earth blush. What could you ask for in a "roots" music collection? Take a cold shower -- or don't -- after spinning this wondrous blast form the past. Now these folks know what the word "raunchy" meant: Eminem, Nelly, Kid Rock, Missy Elliot, please take note. ~ Thom Jurek