Soul of the Man: Bobby "Blue" Bland

Selected Discography

267 Selected Discography With over 500 songs and 30 original albums to his recording credit, it is challenging to select only a few of Bobby Bland’s best albums. But, in the interest of space, here is a list of essential titles that will delight any Bobby Bland fan and bedazzle anyone not already familiar with his large and varied oeuvre. Arranged loosely in chronological order, these selections provide a solid sampling of Bland’s vocal development and progressively powerful prowess from the beginning of his career until the present. For those with a deeper interest, a complete session discography of Bland’s 75 recording sessions—including dates, locations, personnel, song selection, chart positions, and awards, along with a complete album number index—may be found at www.souloftheman.com. Modern Years The Original Memphis Blues Brothers Ace LP CH26 Ace CDCHD 265 This introductory collection includes four of Bobby’s first early recordings with Modern Records in Memphis, as well as cuts recorded during the same period in the early 1950s by Little Junior Parker, Earl Forest, Johnny Ace, B.B. King, Ike Turner, and Rosco Gordon. Duke Years Two Steps from the Blues Duke LP74 MCAD-27036 Modern blues doesn’t get much better than this. Bobby’s first solo album lays all his burgeoning young talent right out there on the line with classic Joe Scott arrangements of some of the best blues songs ever recorded: “Cry, Cry, Cry,” “Lead Me On,” “I Pity the Fool,” “Little Boy Blue,” “I’ll Take Care of You,” and seven others. A true classic. 268 Selected Discography Ain’t Nothing You Can Do Duke LP78 ABC/Duke DLPX-78 Released three years after Two Steps from the Blues, Bobby’s third album captures the bluesman at his height with showstoppers like the title cut as well as “Steal Away,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Black Night,” and eight other gems. An overlooked masterpiece of modern blues. The Soul of the Man Duke LP79 Here are Bobby and Joe Scott at their zenith, with Bobby showing off his ability to sing in a variety of styles and tempos and Scott providing the precise gritty horn counterpart that made the pair an indispensable team. From the up-tempo blues of “Reach Right Out” to the covers of Jimmy Witherspoon’s standard “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do” and Little Willie John’s steamy “Fever,” there’s soul aplenty and a mighty groove to move. The Best of Bobby Bland Duke LP84 ABC/Duke DLPX-84 MCA 31219 The first of many Bobby Bland compilations and arguably the best, certainly for the Man’s early megahits like “I Smell Trouble, “Turn On Your Love Light,” “Call on Me,” “Farther Up the Road,” and “Stormy Monday.” Put this baby on and enjoy sixties R&B at its funkiest. I Pity the Fool/The Duke Recordings, Vol. 1 MCAD2-10665 Turn On Your Love Light/The Duke Recordings, Vol. 2 MCAD2-10957 That Did It!/The Duke Recordings, Vol. 3 MCAD2-11444 These three compilations, each containing two CDs, consist of all available recordings by Bobby while he was with Duke Records, 1952–72, in chronological order. Of the 148 songs presented, the listener will find all of the bluesman’s big hits, as well as his clunkers, and everything in between, a few of which were unreleased or unavailable on albums or CDs until this complete collection was released in 1992–95. ABC-Dunhill/MCA Years His California Album Dunhill 50163 MCA 10349 This is Bobby’s first and best album with arranger Steve Barri and conductor Michael Omartian and proved beyond a shadow of a Duke that, at age forty-three, the Man could still holler with the best of them. Includes big pop blues arrangements of hits “This Time I’m Gone for Good” and “Goin’ Down Slow,” as well as eight others. Get On Down with Bobby Bland/Reflections in Blue BGOCD449 This duo-album CD contains two of Bobby’s best efforts with ABC. While 269 Selected Discography Bland always claimed that country and western music was his first love, Get On Down is his only country and western effort—a bit brassy, but still down-home enough to satisfy both blues and country fans. Reflections in Blue stands alone as a classic of blues pop with the hits “The Soul of a Man,” “Sittin’ on a Poor...