[2017-07-28] Judy Henske "The Elektra Albums" (Ace UK)

Linda · **Posted:** Sun Jun 11, 2017 7:50 pm

Description
The sedate Los Angeles folk music scene never really recovered from the huge impact made by Judy Henske when she hit Sunset Strip in 1960. Discovered and managed by LA hustler Herb Cohen, Judy took on the tough gig of supporting cutting-edge comic Lenny Bruce at the Unicorn coffee house in West Hollywood. Armed only with a banjo, she stomped her foot so hard to keep time that she created a hole in the stage, while belting out blues and grisly murder ballads linked with hilarious repartee. The crowd was rough, and Bruce was always at the centre of controversy for tackling taboo subjects, but Judy won them over.

Signed by Jac Holzman to Elektra Records in 1962, Judy soon blended in with Fred Neil, Phil Ochs, Tim Buckley and others from the company’s burgeoning stable. For “Judy Henske”, her first album, Holzman conceived a live recording in front of a studio audience, with Judy supported by an orchestra directed by veteran bandleader Onzy Matthews. The album features stunning renditions of the traditional ‘Low Down Alligator, Bessie Smith’s ‘Empty Bed Blues’ and an eerie reading of the spiritual ‘Wade In The Water’.

“High Flying Bird”, Judy’s second LP, was informed by her immersion in the Greenwich Village scene in New York. Captured with a stripped-down band, featuring Little Richard’s drummer Earl Palmer, Judy laid down the foundations of folk rock with the Billy Edd Wheeler-penned title track, the spectral ‘Buckeye Jim’, an impassioned version of the 1930s number ‘Till The Real Thing Comes Along’ and ‘Oh, You Engineer’, co-written by Judy with polymath Shel Silverstein.

Judy’s take-no-prisoners approach to blues and folk was influential on artists such as Grace Slick, Mama Cass Elliot,Cherand even Amy Winehouse, although her recordings never sold in vast quantities. Kris Needs’ extensive notes for this very welcome and lavishly illustrated reissue of her Elektra albums are based on a new and anecdote-filled interview with the now blind but still indomitable Judy.

Tracklist
1. Low Down Alligator
2. Empty Bed Blues
3. Ballad Of Little Romy
4. Wade In The Water
5. Hooka Tooka
6. I Know You Rider
7. Lily Langtree
8. Lilac Wine
9. Love Henry
10. Every Night When The Sun Goes In
11. Salvation Army Song
12. High Flying Bird
13. Buckeye Jim
14. Till The Real Thing Comes Along
15. Oh, You Engineer
16. Baltimore Oriole
17. Columbus Stockade
18. Blues Chase Up A Rabbit
19. Lonely Train
20. Duncan And Brady
21. God Bless The Child
22. Good Old Wagon
23. You Are Not My First Love
24. Charlotte Town

Amazon USA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072K3QD44/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072K3QD44/?tag=imwan-21

David Beller · 12 Jul 2006

Wow, I remember seeing Judy Henske at a place called La Cave in Cleveland, maybe 1965 or 66. One of those hip places in the basement of a building with lots of small round tables, everyone dressed in black, filled with cigarette smoke, and probably in violation of every fire code rule imaginable. We loved it.

tideshea · **Joined:** 27 Mar 2014 **Posts:** 225

I'm down for this.I always found Judy pretty interesting.

David Beller · 12 Jul 2006

Just got a note from Amazon advising the release date has been moved to August 4. I suppose that just could be applicable to the U.S.

Linda · **Posted:** Tue Jun 13, 2017 2:18 pm

David Beller wrote:

Just got a note from Amazon advising the release date has been moved to August 4. I suppose that just could be applicable to the U.S.

Yes. It arrives here on import a week after it's released in the UK.

Linda · **Posted:** Mon Sep 18, 2017 4:05 am

[2017-07-28] Judy Henske "The Elektra Albums" (Ace UK)

Who is WANline