Stormy Monday (Lou Rawls album)

Stormy Monday, also known as I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water, is the debut album of R&B singer Lou Rawls, released in 1962 on Capitol Records. Recorded in two sessions in February 1962, the album features a number of blues and jazz standards chosen by Rawls and backed by the Les McCann Trio.[2] Stormy Monday was reissued in 1990 by Blue Note records.[3]

Stormy Monday
Studio album by
Lou Rawls
Released1962
RecordedFebruary 5–12, 1962
StudioCapitol Studios, Los Angeles, California
GenreR&B, vocal jazz
Length40:49 (Original LP)
45:34 (CD reissue)
LabelCapitol
1714
ProducerNick Venet
Lou Rawls chronology
Stormy Monday
(1962)		 Black and Blue
(1963)
Reissue cover
Blue Note reissue cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

History

Excerpt from the album liner notes:

In 1962, when this album was made and when he turned 26, Lou Rawls' rich baritone was unknown, except to a few gospel music fans and Hollywood hipsters who caught his act at local night clubs like P.J.'s, The Troubador, Shelly Manne's Manne-Hole or Brother's on Santa Monica and Vine. A year earlier, Capitol A&R man Nick Venet had heard Rawls at Pandora's Box Coffee Shop, where Rawls was playing there for $10 a night plus pizza in late 1959, and signed him to the label.[4] One stillborn single emerged before Lou had the brainstorm to do an album of blues and jazz standards, backed by then up-and-comer Les McCann and his trio, who were performing nearby at The Bit on Sunset Boulevard. Before his Grammy-winning album Love Is a Hurtin' Thing, Stormy Monday was the first of more than 20 other albums Rawls would record on that label in only a decade.[5]

Track listing

Side One
  1. "(They Call It) Stormy Monday" (T-Bone Walker) – 3:45 BB uh
  2. "God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog, Billie Holiday) – 4:30
  3. "See See Rider" (Ma Rainey) – 3:11
  4. "Willow Weep for Me" (Ann Ronell) – 5:57
  5. "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" (Andy Razaf, "Casey Bill" Weldon) – 4:00

Side Two
  1. "In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)" (Leroy Carr, Don Raye) – 3:28
  2. "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-Ness If I Do" (Percy Grainger, Robert Prince, Clarence Williams) – 2:45
  3. "Lost and Lookin'" (James Alexander, Lowell Jordan) – 3:12
  4. "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" (Eddie Miller) – 3:55
  5. "Sweet Lover" (John Leslie McFarland, Sid Wyche) – 3:08

Reissue Tracks
  1. "Blues Is a Woman" (Rawls) - 2:58
  2. "A Little Les of Lou's Blues" (Rawls) - 2:23
  3. "(They Call It) Stormy Monday (Alternate Take)" (Walker) - 2:58

Personnel

Musicians
Les McCann Trio

Additional personnel

Notes
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Stormy Monday > Overview
  3. Stormy Monday Reissue at Discogs.com.
  4. Lou Rawls' Official Website includes his biography, discography, itinerary, photo album, contacts, acting credits, Seasons 4 U sales and much more.
  5. Lou Rawls at All About Jazz

References
  • Stormy Monday album liner notes by Billy Vera. Capitol Records Inc.
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