Easy Baby and His Houserockers, Sweet Home Chicago Blues (1977)

[Don D.]

One thing I’ve noticed is that bands called the Houserockers or House Rockers seldom disappoint me. This record, by Easy Baby (born Alex Randle, vocals and harmonica), Eddie Taylor (guitar), Mac Thompson (bass) and Kansas City Red (drums), is not an exception to that. This is one of my all-time favorite records (produced by George Paulus), and along with Hound Dog Taylor’s Houserockers and Memphis Slim’s House Rockers, this group is among my favorite houserockers, however it’s spelled.

This album is accompanied by other recordings Easy Baby and Kansas City Red made around that time. Kansas City Red’s Steve Wisner-produced tracks on Original Chicago Blues is another favorite record (Kansas City Red shares that record with Joe Carter [often called Elmore James Jr., although he wasn’t a blood relative]; Joe Carter’s part of the record was also produced by George Paulus).

There’s a lot of info in the description below the titles of the playlists. As YouTube seems to have made that harder to access, I’m going to paste that info as comments below. I hope you enjoy.

Here’s an Eddie Taylor playlist. I don’t know where to begin. He’s just about as good as you can get; he was a sideman to Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker and other great musicians (these are both playlists, click through to YouTube, then click on the playlist title to see them best). Eddie Taylor really innovated on how people played key of A songs. One small thing among many was his use of the “long A” shape (an A chord at the 2nd position with the A doubled on the 5th fret of the first string), you can hear that and other things in “Bad Boy.”

Don D.
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[Don D.]

This info is about the Easy Baby and His Houserockers, Sweet Home Chicago Blues (1977) playlist (repeated directly below).

Dedicated to the memory of Alex “Easy Baby” Randle (August 3, 1934–September 25, 2009) and his comperes, Eddie Taylor, Mac Thompson and Kansas City Red, who produced this killer album in 1977.

Numbers 1 to 12 are Sweet Home Chicago Blues track by track; number 13 is the complete Sweet Home Chicago Blues album.

Numbers 14 and 15 are two different versions of “Good Morning Mr. Blues.”

Number 14 is “Good Morning Mr. Blues” from Bring Me Another Half a Pint (1976), with Easy Baby (vocal, harmonica), Big Guitar Red, J.C. Hurds (guitars), Mac Thompson (bass), Eddie Payne (drums)

Number 15 is “Good Morning Mr. Blues” from Low Blows (1988), with Easy Baby (vocal, harmonica), Big Guitar Red, J.C. Hurds (guitars), Shorty Gilbert (bass), Eddie Payne (drums)

Harmonica Blues Orgy from 2002 is number 16 (the last 4 songs are by Easy Baby starting at 54:09; it also features music from Willie Smith, Martin Lang and Little Arthur Duncan).

Number 17 is Bring Me Another Half a Pint, 1976, with “Good Morning, Mr. Blues” from Easy Baby and three songs from Kansas City Red: “K.C. Red’s In Town,” “Mean Black Spider” and “Money Tree” (yes, that “Money Tree”) and one song from Nate Armstrong, “Red Light Boogie.” The light is shining on us morning to night.

Numbers 18 to 23 are Kansas City Red’s Steve Wisner-produced tracks from Original Chicago Blues (JSP), recorded March 14, 1977; Kansas City Red (vocal and drums), Nate Armstrong (harmonica), Eddie Taylor (guitar), Hayes Ware (bass); released 1982.

After that are a few related songs and albums (and duplicates).

Thank you to Edith de Ronde for uploading two missing songs, “All My Life” and
“She’s 19 Years Old.”

…I…f……..I…t……..A…i…n..’..t……..O…n…e…….T…h…i…n…g……..I…t..’..s……..A…n…o…t…h…e…r…

His second album, If It Ain’t One Thing It’s Another (2002) on Spotify.
Alex “Easy Baby” Randle (vocals, harmonica), Johnny B. Moore, Eddie Taylor Jr. (guitars),
Allen Batts (piano), Sho Komiya, Karl Meyer (basses), Ashward Gates, Sam Lay,
Timothy Taylor (drums)

…A…r…t…i…s…t……..a…n…d…….s…e…s…s…i…o…n……..i…n…f…o…

Discogs
https://www.discogs.com/artist/2894481-Easy-Baby

“Alex ‘Easy Baby’ Randle,” by David Whiteis, Critics Choice, Chicago Reader, January 17, 2002
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/alex-easy-baby-randle/Content?oid=907503

Nice little essay, “Alex ‘Easy Baby’ Randle – Chicago Blues,” on BluesMusic.it from around the time If It Ain’t One Thing… came out
http://www.bluesmusic.lt/index.php/en/r/288-alex-qeasy-babyq-randle-chicago-blues

Entry in The Blues Encyclopedia
https://books.google.com/books?id=Hwk3AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA295&lpg=PA295&dq=Alex+Randle+Easy+Baby&source=bl&ots=qX9qRZUtbz&sig=ACfU3U15NNxjhz5O6g2Y27vzWhLu9DWq4w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQ_-7surXjAhXSVs0KHVyVDLw4ChDoATABegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=Alex%20Randle%20Easy%20Baby&f=false

Bob Corritore at Blues Historian, Tuesday, October 6, 2009
https://bluesman2001.blogspot.com/2009/10/alex-easy-baby-randle-rip.html

“[…] Chicago bluesman Alex ‘Easy Baby’ Randle passed away on September 25, 2009 […at…] 75 years old,” obituary on Smokestack Lightnin’ website by Reverend Keith A. Gordon
http://www.smokestacklightnin.com/Bios/Alex%20Easy%20Baby%20Randle.html

Find a Grave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/146763371/alex-randle

Don D.
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[Don D.]

This info is about the Eddie Taylor (1923–1985) playlist (repeated directly below).

Dedicated to the music of Eddie Taylor (January 29, 1923–December 25, 1985), focusing on his solo work and sideman work with everyone, including about 40 select videos with Jimmy Reed (but see separate playlist for all Jimmy Reed):

Wikipedia article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Taylor

Mississippi Blues Trail article
http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/eddie-taylor

All Music article
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/eddie-taylor-mn0000176673

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Eddie Taylor, Floyd Jones—Masters Of Modern Blues (recorded June 1966)

Chicago Blues Festival ’70 (Blues Reference), also featuring Roosevelt Sykes and Homesick James

Ready for Eddie (1974)

Easy Baby and His Houserockers, Sweet Home Chicago Blues, 1977

The MCM (Morgantini) Recordings, live in Chicago between 1976 and 1979

Essential Blues Masters

Don D.
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[johnstrat]

Wow Don You’s the Blues Bossman!

All my life I like the blues like this!

JohnStrat

[Don D.]

Glad you found this, John, anything Eddie Taylor played on was THE BLUES! And fortunately, he played on a lot of people’s records.

Don D.
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[Lights]

Thank you, Don! Enjoyed very much and very educative post again.
Lights.

[Don D.]

I’m glad you saw this (actually I’m glad you heard this), Meelis!

It’s worth mentioning that today is the 97th anniversary of Eddie Taylor’s birth!

Don D.
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[Billy]

Ah, we have been missing these posts of yours Don, I enjoy getting lost in these links, sadly this is going to have to wait until the weekend and I have some spare time to further my blues education.
Thanks again buddy for sharing your invaluable insight.

..Billy..

[Don D.]

Hi Billy, don’t know how I missed your comment. I hope you had the time to enjoy this one. Here’s a good place to start if you haven’t heard it yet.

Don D.
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