SOUTHERN COMFORT Walter Shakey Horton 1968 HENDRIX PSYCH ACID RAGA LP LISTEN

$

40

WALTER 'SHAKEY' HORTON "SOUTHERN COMFORT" LP

ORIGINAL 1968 LP ON THE US SIRE LABEL, STEREO SES 97011

COVER IN VG shape, heavy ringwear

VINYL plays VG++ to EXCELLENT

Ironic that this album of Chicago blues recorded in merry old England should take its name from a brand of liquor.  Psych heads have long sought after the “Southern Comfort” album not so much for the side-and-a-half worth of vintage electric Chicago blues sung by Big Walter “Shakey” Horton, but rather for the MONSTER 12-minute Jimi Hendrix meets Ravi Shankar psychedelic raga “Netti Netti” that closes it.  This one’s the real deal in psycho-instrumentals, an acid freakout jam like few others.  Guitarist Martin Stone (of the Action and Mighty Baby) lays down wave after wave of KILLER liquidy Hendrix-inspired wah wah licks, then throws in a few backwards guitar snippets and all kinds of studio production tricks – phasing, panning, echo – with the result sounding like something that got inadvertently left behind during the recording of “Electric Ladyland.”  So how did THIS, you wonder, find its way onto the end of a fairly straightforward blues album?  The answer lies in the title, and it’s a funny one.  Chicago bluesman Big Walter “Shakey” Horton recorded this album in London in a single session back in October 1968 while playing a British festival.  For his backing band, he used two of his fellow Chicago bluesmen, Jesse Lewis and Jerome Arnold, along with British guitarist Martin Stone, ex-Action, Savoy Brown and Mighty Baby (who certainly had their share of the Hendrix jones).  Because the whole LP took place during one session, they had to bang these songs out quickly, and Shakey Horton had already been partaking of his own brand of Southern Comfort in the form of British ale.  So, needless to say, Big Walter Horton was feeling kinda “shakey.”  He rattled off some good ones on Side 1, feeling loose and painless, peaking on the galloping blues instrumental “Train Time.”  Here, Horton’s harmonica playing is inspired, blistering along at a breakneck speed on a swampy cross between Creedence Clearwater Revival and “Train Kept A Rollin’.”  If he can play like this under the influence, then get the man some more hootch, that’s what I say.   So they did, but things start to break down on Side 2, and there’s a hint that things are going awry in the penultimate track, “Paying Double”, written by Jerome Arnold.  Here, the liquor starts talking, and probably a few other things, and the psychedelic tendencies of the only Hendrix fan in the room get their first chance to shine.  This is about as loose and drugged as blues workouts get, with a bleary-eyed Horton simply trying to READ the lyrics, much less put any kind of emotion into ‘em.  The drums kinda amble into the fray a full 24 SECONDS after the song starts, and everything is bathed in a mind-numbing barrage of echo and delay, giving an already drunk performance even MORE of a vibrating, semi-coherent feel.  Stone’s Jimi-isms take over, and he double tracks his guitar solos, pushing the wobbly-kneed Horton aside in the mix.  And it was here that Chicago bluesman Big Walter Horton, as legendary a drinker as he was a harmonica player, finally passed the f*&^ out.  Which, of course, left the rest of the band with still 12 minutes to fill.  And THAT’S how we get the now-legendary psychedelic raga that rounds out the album.  It sounds nothing like anything else on the album, because old Shakey Horton was fast asleep at this point, dreaming of how many Page 3 girls he could get to fly with him back to Chicago.   And so one of the 60’s strangest collaborations ends up producing one of the 60’s strangest albums.  A blues album that keeps getting stranger as it goes on.  And this time, the tape kept rolling.

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I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

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NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.