Western Swing Chronicles, Volume 5: Bob Dunn, 2 CD box set

Description

Bob Dunn (1908-1971) was the amplified steel guitar’s first stylist. His recordings with Milton Brown & his Musical Brownies were only the first in a 15-year career that resulted in some of the most startling and unique solos in western swing history. This 2-CD box set contains 53 newly-remastered performances from original 78s, restored by Michael Kieffer. A comprehensive booklet includes four essays by historians Kevin Coffey, Cary Ginell, Jeremy Wakefield, and David Sager, dozens of previously unpublished photographs, and full discographical details.

“When Dunn solos, you don’t hear the sweet and dulcet tones of the familiar pedal steel (which had not yet been invented), You hear a lurching, perpetually off-balance-sounding cascade of bent broken tones, raw trombonelike swoops and smears, advanced harmonic substitutions that occasionally make Dunn sound like a proto-bebopper, abrupt squeals of feedback, bell-like harmonics, and above all, a sense of delighted discovery and bemusement, as if the unlikely sounds coming out of Dunn’s amp were startling him as much as his listeners.”

– Robert Palmer

Track List

Western Swing Chronicles, Volume 5 – Disc 1

1. Taking Off (Milton Brown)
2. I Love You (Milton Brown)
3. Wabash Blues (Milton Brown)
4. Who’s Sorry Now (Milton Brown)
5. You’re Tired of Me (Milton Brown)
6. The House at the End of the Lane (Milton Brown)
7. Somebody Stole My Gal (Milton Brown)
8. Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider (Milton Brown)
9. Beale Street Mama (Milton Brown)
10. An Old Water Mill By a Waterfall (Milton Brown)
11. Everybody’s Blues (Roy Newman)
12. She’s Doggin’ Me (Roy Newman)
13. Takin’ Off (Roy Newman)
14. Catch On and Let’s Go (Roy Newman)
15. Over Moonlit Waters (Cliff Bruner)
16. Yearning Just for You (Cliff Bruner)
17. When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You) (Cliff Bruner)
18. I’ll Keep on Loving You (Cliff Bruner)
19. Star Dust (Cliff Bruner)
20. Easy Rider – Easy Rider (Buddy Jones)
21. Just Because You’re in Deep Elem (Shelton Bros.)
22. A Precious Memory (Leon Selph)
23. Some Day (Leon Selph)
24. Mama’s Gone Goodbye (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
25. Blue Skies (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
26. Mean Mistreater (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)

Western Swing Chronicles, Volume 5 – Disc 2

1. When Night Falls (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
2. You’ll Pay Some Day (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
3. You Don’t Know My Mind (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
4. Graveyard Blues (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
5. I Want the Whole World to Know (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
6. Stompin’ at the Honky Tonk (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
7. I’ll Tell the Wolrd (She’s a Good Little Girl) (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
8. Juke Box Rag (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
9. Marcheta (Bob Dunn’s Vagabonds)
10. There Must Be Someone for Me (Floyd Tillman)
11. I Never Felt This Way Before (Floyd Tillman)
12. Swing Steel, Swing (Bill Boyd)
13. I Don’t Get It (Bill Mounce)
14. From the Start (Bill Mounce)
15. It’s Just My Imagination (Bill Mounce)
16. Kickin’ It Off (Bill Mounce)
17. I Found a New Baby (Bill Mounce)
18. What’s Bob Done? (Bill Mounce)
19. Bugle Two-Step (Sons of Dixie)
20. I’m Always Dreaming of You (Sons of Dixie)
21. Don’t Ever Go Wrong (Sons of Dixie)
22. Mary Jane (Modern Mountaineers)
23. Takin’ Off (Modern Mountaineers)
24. Baby, You’ve Let Me Down (Modern Mountaineers)
25. San Antonio Blues (Cliff Bruner)
26. Blue Over You (Tommy Dover)
27. I’ve Quit My Cattin’ Around (Harry Choates)