| Classified | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1982 |
| Genre | R&B, blues, jazz |
| Label | Rounder Records [1] |
| Producer | Scott Billington |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [3] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [4] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | [5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
Classified is a studio album by the New Orleans pianist James Booker, released in 1982. [7] [8] It was reissued in an expanded edition in 2013. [9]
The album was produced by Scott Billington, who recorded several sessions with Booker in 1982. [2] The sessions were at times interrupted by Booker's odd behavior or his stints in jail. [10] Classified captures both solo and quartet recordings; Booker's Maple Leaf Bar band included bassist James Singleton, saxophonist Alvin Tyler, and drummer Johnny Vidacovich. [9] [11] [12] The Professor Longhair medley came to an abrupt end when Booker left mid-song in order to cash a check. [6]
Robert Christgau wrote that "in general there's too much reliance on the left hand, with the consequent loss of dynamic subtlety compounded by a klutzy drum mix." [1] The Philadelphia Daily News praised Booker's "great stomping piano, [which is] not quite as fervent as Fats Domino or as idiosyncratic as Professor Longhair, but mightily infectious all the same." [13]
AllMusic called the album "one of the great blues albums of the early '80s." [2]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "All Around The World" | Titus Turner | 3:22 |
| 2. | "One For The Highway" | Fats Domino | 2:30 |
| 3. | "King of the Road" | Roger Miller | 2:53 |
| 4. | "Professor Longhair Medley: Bald Head / Tipitina" | Roy Byrd | 3:36 |
| 5. | "Baby Face" | Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby | 3:08 |
| 6. | "Swedish Rhapsody" | Traditional; arranged by James Booker | 2:05 |
| 7. | "Classified" | Booker | 3:12 |
| 8. | "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" | Lloyd Price | 3:24 |
| 9. | "Angel Eyes" | Matt Dennis, Earl K. Brent | 3:26 |
| 10. | "Hound Dog" | Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | 2:26 |
| 11. | "If You're Lonely" | James, Gibson | 2:49 |
| 12. | "Three Keys" | Booker | 3:17 |
Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair or "Fess" for short, was an American singer and pianist who performed New Orleans blues. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday of early rhythm and blues and later in the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz after the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1970. His piano style has been described as "instantly recognizable, combining rumba, mambo, and calypso".
James Carroll Booker III was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and possessing extraordinary technical skill on the piano, he was dubbed "the Black Liberace".
The Sun Sessions is a compilation album by American singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Records in 1976. The album contains Presley's earliest commercial recordings, made in Memphis, Tennessee for Sun Records in 1954 and 1955. RCA issued the album in the UK in 1975 under the title The Sun Collection. The album features liner notes by Roy Carr of the New Musical Express. The Sun Sessions features most of the tracks Elvis recorded for Sun Records and produced by Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Studios. The Sun Sessions reached number two on the Billboard Country Albums and number 1 on the Cashbox Country Albums charts.
Odds & Sods is an album of studio outtakes by British rock band the Who. It was released by Track Records in the UK and Track/MCA in the US in October 1974. Ten of the recordings on the original eleven-song album were previously unreleased. The album reached No. 10 on the UK charts and No. 15 in the US.
The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group active from the mid-1920s to the late-1950s. The band featured harmonica, kazoo, fiddle and mandolin or banjolin, backed by guitar, piano, washboard, washtub bass and jug. They played slow blues, pop songs, humorous songs and upbeat dance numbers with jazz and string band flavors. The band made the first commercial recordings in Memphis, Tennessee, and recorded more sides than any other prewar jug band.
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was an American singer and multi-instrumentalist from Louisiana. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1983 for his album, Alright Again!.
New Orleans Piano is a 1972 album by Professor Longhair. It consists of material recorded in 1949 and 1953, including tracks previously released by Atlantic Records.
Old No. 1 is the highly influential 1975 debut album by Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark.
Dr. John's Gumbo released in 1972 is the fifth album by New Orleans singer and pianist Dr. John, a tribute to the music of his native city. The album is a collection of covers of New Orleans classics, played by a major figure in the city's music. It marked the beginning of Dr. John's transition away from the eccentric stage character that earned him a cult following, and toward a more straightforward image based on New Orleans' R&B traditions.
Alvin Owen "Red" Tyler was an American R&B and neo-bop jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger, regarded as "one of the most important figures in New Orleans R&B".
"Tipitina" is a song written and made famous by Professor Longhair. The song has been widely covered, and the Professor Longhair version was recorded in 1953 for Atlantic Records. "Tipitina" was first released in 1953. A previously unreleased alternate take was released on the album New Orleans Piano in 1972. Although the nature of his contributions are unknown, recording engineer Cosimo Matassa is listed as the song's co-writer along with Roy Byrd, Professor Longhair's legal name.
Hard Again is a studio album by American blues singer Muddy Waters. Released on January 10, 1977, it was the first of his albums produced by Johnny Winter. Hard Again was Waters's first album on Blue Sky Records after leaving Chess Records and was well received by critics.
John Joseph Vidacovich Jr. is an American jazz drummer and a member of the band Astral Project with James Singleton, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski.
Water Babies is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It compiled music Davis recorded in studio sessions with his quintet in 1967 and 1968, including outtakes from his 1968 album Nefertiti and recordings that foreshadowed his direction on In a Silent Way (1969), while covering styles such as jazz fusion and post-bop. Water Babies was released by Columbia Records in 1976 after Davis had (temporarily) retired.
Crawfish Fiesta is an album by Professor Longhair, released in 1980 by Alligator Records. It features Dr. John, who reprised his original role as guitarist in Longhair's band, Johnny Vidacovich on drums, Tony Dagradi and Andrew Kaslow on sax, and Longhair's long time conga player Alfred "Uganda" Roberts. The album was recorded at the Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans and it was co-produced by Kaslow, his wife Allison and Bruce Iglauer. It won the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year award in 1980.
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