Smiley Lewis I Hear You Knocking (LP, 180g Vinyl)

Preview: I Hear You Knocking (LP, 180g Vinyl)

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catalog number: LPPPA9141
weight in Kg 0.27

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(Pure Pleasure Records) 12 tracks, 180g vinyl Dave Bartholomew has often been quoted as saying... more

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Smiley Lewis: I Hear You Knocking (LP, 180g Vinyl)

(Pure Pleasure Records) 12 tracks, 180g vinyl

Dave Bartholomew has often been quoted as saying that Smiley Lewis was “a singer with a lot of bad luck” because he never sold more than 100,000 copies of his singles for Imperial. In fact, Lewis was lucky in many ways - he always had the support of the best session musicians at Cosimo's, benefited from first-class material and production (by Bartholomew) and left behind a legacy of fabulous Crescent City rhythm'n'blues. And we listeners can also count ourselves lucky that he existed.
Born with the unwieldy name Overton Lemons, Lewis arrived in New Orleans as a teenager armed with a big, booming voice and some skill on the guitar. He performed, sometimes under the name 'Smiling' Lewis, and often with pianist Tuts Washington at various clubs in the French Quarter. As rhythm'n'blues developed in New Orleans, so did Lewis. He scored his first national hit in 1952 with “The Bells Are Ringing”, but his biggest sales came in 1955 with the jubilant “I Hear You Knocking”, whose immortal piano solo was contributed by Huey Smith. And this is where Lewis' alleged bad luck struck again - the ludicrously white-washed interpretation of this sad ballad by pop chanteuse Gale Storm nipped any possibility of a crossover to pop in the bud.
But Storm didn't dare tackle the single's B-side, the rocking Joe Turner-style “Bumpity Bump”, or some of Simley Lewis' other mid-50s classics (“Down the Road”, “Lost Weekend” or “Real Gone Lover”). In the front line of the Crescent City's hottest musicians (saxophonists Lee Allen and Clarence Hall and Herb Hardesty usually accompanied Lewis), he roared like a lion.
Surprisingly, Fats Domino had more success with some of Smiley Lewis' songs than he did, especially with “Blue Monday”. Elvis Presley, who smoothed out the cheeky “One Night”, also had a big hit, but Lewis' original from 1956 also did well.
By this time, stomach cancer was already taking its toll on the once burly singer. He died in the fall of 1966, quickly forgotten outside his hometown of New Orleans. The following decades corrected this misjudgment of music history, Smiley Lewis' place as one of the greatest in the ranks of R&B artists in New Orleans in the 1950s is assured. His glorious, exuberant rhythm'n'blues deserves a better fate than it has received to date.
Recording: At Cosimo's (New Orleans) in mono

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Article properties: Smiley Lewis: I Hear You Knocking (LP, 180g Vinyl)

Interpret: Smiley Lewis
Album titlle: I Hear You Knocking (LP, 180g Vinyl)
Genre Blues
Label PURE PLEASURE
Geschwindigkeit 33 U/min
Vinyl record size LP (12 Inch)
Record Grading Mint (M)
Sleeve Grading Mint (M)
Vinyl weight 180g Vinyl
Artikelart LP
EAN: 5060149620618
weight in Kg 0.27

Lewis, Smiley - I Hear You Knocking (LP, 180g Vinyl) LP 1
01	The Bells Are Ringing	Smiley Lewis
02	Standing On The Corner	Smiley Lewis
03	Blue Monday	Smiley Lewis
04	Down The Road	Smiley Lewis
05	Lost Week End	Smiley Lewis
06	Real Gone Lover	Smiley Lewis
07	Bumpity Bump	Smiley Lewis
08	I Hear You Knocking	Smiley Lewis
09	I Can't Believe It	Smiley Lewis
10	Hey Girl	Smiley Lewis
11	One Night	Smiley Lewis
12	Nothing But The Blues	Smiley Lewis