Lefty Dizz – Bad Avenue – 2CD

Lefty Dizz has become famous for his performance with members of the Rolling Stones on the recent video release of the Stones with Muddy Waters at the Checkerboard Lounge in the 1980s. There you see Keith and Ronnie backing Dizz, the rawest of the raw Chicago bluesman! Viewers of that startling performance will want more Lefty Dizz and this is it... The 3rd Burnley Blues Festival took place over the weekend March 28 - April 1 in 1991. The festival had become established as the U.K.'s premier blues festival, with large audiences heading to see an array of visiting U.S. blues artists. The bill featured bluesman Dr. Ross and '50s R&B star Rosco Gordon. JSP's John Stedman also flew in Lefty Dizz and Johnny 'Big Moose' Walker (along with a four piece Chicago house band) for the festival with Lefty also playing the Gloucester Blues Festival that weekend. Lefty and Moose had been long-time friends, recording and playing together on many occasions. In a 1987 interview Lefty told Norman Darwen that: "Moose and me go back for ages, thirty years, from the Earl Hooker days. I was asked to make an album and I said: "OK I'll do it - but I want Big Moose Walker on keyboards". As a left handed guitarist Lefty favoured a right-handed Fender Stratocaster - switching the strings and playing in a darkened room to learn the fret board. Basing himself on the South Side of Chicago he worked with with J.B. Lenoir, Lacy Gibson and Earl Hooker. Having learned to play the guitar, harmonica, and bass by the time he was fourteen Big Moose was playing with local bands. "I just stayed out there - great big hair and moustache at fourteen, they couldn't tell if I was grown or not." Big Moose once said: "I never wanted to be a bandleader or have a big name. I just like to be in a band and make it sound good if I can." This 2CD set features tracks from Lefty's March 31 show at Burnley 1991 and tracks from Big Moose's March 28 performance. Plus rare 45s, unissued radio and live tracks.

Track Listing:

CD1:  LEFTY DIZZ  Burnley Blues Festival 1991:
Lefty Dizz: 1. Showtime Intro -   2. It's Alright -   3. Bad Avenue -   4. You Don't Love Me Anymore -   5. Two Trains Running -   6. Sadie -   7. That's Alright / In The Dark -   8. Too Late – 9. Baby Please Don't Go -   10. How Much Longer / Talk To Your Daughter -   11. I Am Leaving You -   12. Honest I Do -

CD2: JOHNNY BIG MOOSE WALKER Burnley Blues Festival 1991:
Johnny 'Big Moose' Walker: Swear To Tell The Truth -   2. Drifting Blues -   3. What Is That You Got -   4. Sitting On Top Of The World -   Bushy Head (1961): 5. Footrace To A Resting Place -   6. Second Fiddle Man -   7. Wrong Doing Woman -   Big Moose And The Jams (1962): 8. The Bright Sound -   9. Off The Hook -   Big Moose (1967): 10. Rambling Woman -   11. Puppy Howl Blues -   Big Moose (unissued): 12. Footrace To A Resting Place -   13. Does Like A Boogaloo - Johnny 'Big Moose' Walker With Lefty Diaz And His Blues Hounds (1972):  14. Tend To Your Business -   15. Things I Used To Do -   16. Lefty Diaz And Woody Williams And The Blues Hounds (1972): 17. If You Need Love -   Woody Williams And The Blues Hounds (1972): 18. I'm Your Nitty Gritty Man -   Lefty Dizz (1990): 18. Too Late -  19. Please Have Mercy On Me -   20. Chips Flying Everywhere -   Lefty Dizz (1990): 21. Interview with Lefty Dizz -  Lefty Dizz And Kanika Kress (1977): 22. Lefty's Blues Mood -