Young Jessie - I'm Gone (2009)

Tracklist
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01. Mary Lou
02. Lonesome Desert
03. Rabbit On A Log
04. Don't Think I Will
05. Well Baby
06. Nothing Seems Right
07. Down At Hayden's
08. I Smell A Rat
09. Why Do I Love You
10. Pretty Soon
11. Oochie Coochie
12. Don't Happen No More
13. Hit, Git And Split
14. Here Comes Henry
15. Hot Dog
16. Do You Love Me
17. Well Baby
18. Pretty Soon
19. Do You Love Me
20. Station Id For The Mad Lad On Kmda
21. Hit, Git And Split
22. I Hear You Knocking
23. Maybellene

This overview of Young Jessie's Modern recordings has a bunch of his mid-1950s singles, the 1953 "Rabbit on a Log"/"Down at Hayden's" single he did as part of the Hunters (which also included Richard Berry), and a few leftovers that weren't issued until subsequent compilation LPs, as well as a couple of unissued tracks that make their debut here. I'm Gone offers fun, witty, sometimes wise-guy R&B that should appeal to fans of Richard Berry, the Robins, and the early Coasters. Young Jessie had a lower, throatier voice than many of his peers, (but not a worse one), which meshes well with the typically accomplished Modern house band backups led by Maxwell Davis. As is the case with many such compilations of minor R&B/early rock & roll singers from the time, the material could stand to be more diverse. The original version of "Mary Lou," Young Jessie's best and most famous recording, is here in a version that is notably cheerier in melodic structure and delivery than Ronnie Hawkins' subsequent rockabilly hit cover. Leiber-Stoller fans will want to check this out for three of their more obscure tunes: "I Smell a Rat" (originally written for Big Mama Thornton), "Hot Dog" (also done by Elvis Presley, though the Young Jessie version didn't come out until 1982), and "Here Comes Henry" (which Leiber-Stoller co-wrote with G. Motola).

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