Wynonie Harris “Women, Whiskey & Fish Tails” (1953-57) <i> Ace/King</i>

Harris was the purest and arguably the most effective practitioner of blues shouting during his roughly decade-long prime. A vulgar, greasy man who reveled in and celebrated his own debauchery, he took his songs about whiskey and women to heart. His booze-marinated, prodigiously muscular pipes are a marvel to experience, his voice an instrument of undiluted power and macho unequaled in sheer might and testosterone level by such contemporaries as Joe Turner, Roy Brown and Eddie (Cleanhead) Vinson. By the mid-’50s, though, Harris’ uncompromising style and double-entendre lyrics were being eased out of fashion, replaced by the relatively scrubbed-up, watered-down and commercialized sound of early rock ‘n’ roll. Thus, many of the tracks in this collection went unreleased for years, although the material and performances are in most cases as vital as such Harris hits as “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Bloodshot Eyes” and “I Love My Fanny Brown” (this collection serves as a fine companion piece to Harris’ “Best Of” anthology, recently issued by Rhino Records). Harris died broke, ill and forgotten in 1969, but somewhere, at this very moment, he’s doubtless shouting down the devil.

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“Sheer Heart Attack” (1974), Queen, Hollywood Records

“Monkey Hips and Rice” (anthology), the “5” Royales, Rhino

“Saturate Before Using” (1972), Jackson Browne, Elektra/Asylum

“Daydream Nation” (1988), Sonic Youth, DGC

“Money and Cigarettes” (1983), Eric Clapton, Warner Brothers

“Orgasmatron” (1986), Motorhead, Sinclair

“Hand of Kindness” (1983), Richard Thompson, Hannibal/Rykodisc

“The Best of the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Vol. I and II” (1973), The Mighty Clouds of Joy, MCA

“The Best of Desi Arnaz the Mambo King” (1946-49), Desi Arnaz, RCA

“Paris 1919” (1973), John Cale, Reprise

“All Time Greatest Hits,” Harry Nilsson, RCA

“Complete,” Michael Nesmith and the First National Band, Pacific Arts Studio

“Double Nickels on the Dime” (1984), the Minutemen, SST

“Anthology: 1962-1974” (1989), Righteous Brothers, Rhino

“See How We Are” (1987), X, Elektra

“The Origins of Surf Music, 1960-1963,” the Belairs, Iloki/Hepcat