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Title: Required listening
Review: Not necessarily the first stop for the potential Jay Hawkins fan - he cut most of his classics at least ten years before this album (made, I reckon, in 1969).. but, for what it's worth, this is where Constipation Blues first appeared.The band is terrific, with the great Earl Palmer on drums for most of the cuts, Herb Ellis guesting on a few (including Feast of the Mau Mau), Lyle Ritz on bass and Plas Johnson on sax. There's a bit of banjo in there, too. The songs are a gas, especially the title track - also: Do You Really Love Me Baby?, I'm Lonely, Dig!, Thing Called Woman and Ask Him (with a choir).The compilation releases are often rich - Jay has a great repertoire - but this one deserves a reissue all its own. If you see it, grab it.
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