Stormy Monday (album)

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Stormy Monday
Stormy Monday cover
Studio album by Lou Rawls
Released 1962
Recorded February 5-12, 1962
Capitol Studios, Los Angeles
Genre R&B, vocal jazz
Length 40:49 (Original LP)
45:34 (CD Reissue)
Label Captiol
1714
Producer Nick Venet
Professional reviews
Lou Rawls chronology
Stormy Monday
(1962)
Black and Blue
(1963)
Reissue cover
Blue Note reissue cover
Blue Note reissue cover

Stormy Monday (a.k.a. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water) is the debut album by singer Lou Rawls, released in 1962. Recorded in two sessions in February of 1962, the album features a number of blues and jazz standards chosen by Rawls and backed by the Les McCann trio. Stormy Monday was reissued in 1990 by Blue Note records.


...his charming 1962 debut was straight out of the L.A. nightclubs.
...a distinct "West Coast cool" vibe at work.

-excerpt from iTunes Review

Contents

[edit] History

In 1962, when this album was made and when he turned 26, Lou Rawls' rich baritone was unknown, except to a few gospel music fans abd Hollywood hipsters who caught his act at local night clubs like P.J.'s, The Troubador, Shelley Manne's Manhole or Brother's on Santa Monica and Vine. A years earlier, Capitol A&R man Nick Venet had heard Rawls at Pandora's Box Coffee Shop, who was playing there for $10 a night plus pizza in late 1959, and signed him to the label.[2] One stillborn single emerged before Lou had the brainstorm to do an album of blues and jazz standards, backed by then up-and cormer Les McCann and his trio, who were performing nearby at The Bit on Sunset Boulevard. Before his Grammy winning album Love Is a Hurtin' Thing, Stormy Monday was the first of more than 20 other albums Rawls would record on that label in only a decade.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Side One

  1. "(They Call It) Stormy Monday" ([[T-Bone Walker|Walker) – 3:45
  2. "God Bless the Child" (Herzog, Holiday) – 4:30
  3. "See See Rider" (Rainey) – 3:11
  4. "Willow Weep for Me" (Ronell) – 5:57
  5. "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" (Razaf, Weldon) – 4:00

[edit] Side Two

  1. "In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)" (Carr, Raye) – 3:28
  2. "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-Ness If I Do" (Grainger, R. Prince, Williams) – 2:45
  3. "Lost and Lookin'" (Alexander, Jordan) – 3:12
  4. "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" (Miller) – 3:55
  5. "Sweet Lover" (McFarland, Wyche) – 3:08

[edit] Reissue Tracks

  • "Blues Is a Woman" (Rawls) - 2:58
  • "A Little Les of Lou's Blues" (Rawls) - 2:23
  • "(They Call It) Stormy Monday (alternate take)" (Walker) - 2:58

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Additional personnel

[edit] References

  • Stormy Monday album liner notes by Billy Vera. Capitol Records Inc.. 
  1. ^ "iTunes Review - Stormy Monday" . Apple Inc.. 
  2. ^ http://www.lourawls.com/rawlsbio.html Lou Rawls' Official Website includes his biography, discography, itinerary, photo album, contacts, acting credits, Seasons 4 U sales and much more.