Let Your Hair Down

by Blues Swingers, Floyd McDaniel, Floyd McDaniel & the Blues Swingers

Overview

Floyd McDaniel was 78 when, in 1994, he recorded Let Your Hair Down! for the Chicago-based Delmark. Through the years, the singer/guitarist had been the type of artist who had one foot in pre-bebop jazz and one in urban blues--and that approach continues to serve him nicely on this CD. McDaniel's credentials as a jump blues shouter are illustrated by inspired versions of Louis Jordan's "Caldonia," T-Bone Walker's "Blue Mood" and Roy Milton's "R.M. Blues," while his talents as a jazz singer are evident on Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean That Thing" and Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child." On this album, McDaniel leads a cohesive, swinging octet known as the Blues Swingers, which consists of a hard-swinging rhythm section and four horn players, including trumpeter Mike McLaughlin, tenor saxophonist Dave Clark, alto saxophonist Paul Mundy and baritone saxophonist/clarinetist Martin "Van" Kelly. Let Your Hair Down! would be among McDaniel's last recordings; the veteran artist died the following year. ~ Alex Henderson

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/1994
Label:	DELMARK
UPC:	0038153067120

Tracks

1. Raggedy Ride
2. Blue Moon
3. Mary Jo
4. Strange Things Happening
5. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
6. I Want a Little Girl
7. St. Louis Blues
8. God Bless the Child
9. Sent for You Yesterday (And Here You Come Today)
10. R.M. Blues
11. Christopher Columbus
12. West Side Baby
13. Beale Street Baby
14. Let Your Hair Down
15. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
16. Why's Life Got to Be This Way
17. Caldonia

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Floyd McDaniel & the Blues Swingers   Primary Artist
Blues Swingers   Primary Artist
Floyd McDaniel   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Kansas Fields   Drums
Dave Clark   Sax (Tenor),Sax (Tenor)
Mike McLaughlin   Trumpet
Bill Yancey   Bass
Robert H. Henderson   Drums
Donny Nichilo   Piano
Paul Mundy   Sax (Alto)
Martin Kelly   Clarinet,Sax (Baritone)

Technical Credits

W.C. Handy   Composer
Robert G. Koester   Producer,Supervisor
Roy Milton   Composer
Dave Clark   Arranger
Billy Moll   Composer
Dick Shurman   Liner Notes
Murray Mencher   Composer
J.J. Walker   Composer
Floyd McDaniel & the Blues Swingers   Performer
Dorothy Perry   Photography
James Cox   Composer
Tommy Braden   Composer
Curtis Mayfield   Composer
Fleecie Moore   Composer
Paul Serrano   Engineer
Andy Razaf   Composer
Billie Holiday   Composer
Irving Mills   Composer
Jimmy Rushing   Composer
Arthur Herzog, Jr.   Composer
Chu Berry   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Count Basie   Composer
Floyd McDaniel   Composer
Eddie Durham   Composer