Basie's Basement in Bloomington, MN

But for the fact that it only has 11 tracks, this mid-priced compilation (not to be confused with the identically titled Bluebird collection covering
Basie
's early-'30s recordings with the
Bennie Moten
band) could easily get the highest rating. And this could be the place to start for any rock fans wondering what
was about, at least some of the time. This disc shows
and company (especially singer
Jimmy Rushing
) working in an R&B mode, doing such songs as
Willie Dixon's
"You Call Yourself the Jungle King (I Found Out You Ain't a Doggone Thing)," "Hey, Pretty Baby," "Brand New Wagon," and "Walking Slow Behind You."
Rushing
and the band sound like they're pushing toward Chess Records' turf. And the astonishing thing is that they pull it off -- if these records had sold in any serious number,
and
might have had a whole second career in R&B, right up there with
Big Joe Turner
. There's a minimum of annotation, and not all of the sound is quite perfect -- amazingly, the 1991 remastered "
's Basement" featured here has a click or two in evidence, for which there's no excuse. But the sound quality everywhere else is pretty much beyond reproach, and there's also one number here, "Mister Roberts' Roost," a laidback instrumental prominently featuring
's piano, that's otherwise unavailable. ~ Bruce Eder