Lloyd Price - Lloyd Price, Vol. 2: Heavy Dreams '2021

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Chee-koo Baby
02. Oo-Ee Baby
03. Oooh-Oooh-Oooh
04. Restless Heart
05. Tell Me Pretty Baby
06. They Say
07. Im Too Young
08. Aint It A Shame?
09. Jimmie Lee
10. Baby, Dont Turn Your Back On Me
11. Old Echo Song
12. Too Late For Tears
13. Carry Me Home
14. Little Bea
15. Night And Day
16. Oh, Love
17. Woe Ho Ho
18. Breaking My Heart (All Over Again)
19. I Yi Yi Gomen-a-sai (Im Sorry)
20. Country Boy Rock
21. Heavy Dream
22. Why
23. Im Goin Back


 Read MoreAt his very first Specialty date in 1952, Price sang his classic
eight-bar blues Lawdy Miss Clawdy (its rolling piano intro courtesy of a
moonlighting Fats Domino). It topped the R&B charts for an extended period,
making Price a legitimate star before he was old enough to vote. Four more
Specialty smashes followed -- Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Restless Heart, Tell Me Pretty
Baby, Aint It a Shame -- before Price was drafted into the Army and deposited
unhappily in Korea.

When he finally managed to break free of the military, Price formed his own
label, KRC Records, with partners Harold Logan and Bill Boskent and got back
down to business. Just Because, a plaintive ballad Price first cut for KRC, held
enough promise to merit national release on ABC-Paramount in 1957 (his ex-valet,
Larry Williams, covered it on Prices former label, Specialty).

Stagger Lee, Prices adaptation of the old Crescent City lament Stack-A-Lee,
topped both the R&B and pop lists in 1958. By now, his sound was taking on more
of a cosmopolitan bent, with massive horn sections and prominent pop background
singers. Dick Clark insisted on toning down the violence inherent to the songs
story line for the squeaky-clean American Bandstand audience, accounting for the
two different versions of the song youre likely to encounter on various
reissues.

After Price hit with another solid rocker, Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day)?
in 1959, the heavy brass-and-choir sound became his trademark at ABC-Paramount.
Personality, Im Gonna Get Married, and Come Into My Heart all shot up the pop
and R&B lists in 1959, and Lady Luck and Question followed suit in 1960.

Always a canny businessman, Price left ABC-Paramount in 1962 to form another
firm of his own with Logan. Double L Records debuted Wilson Pickett as a solo
artist and broke Prices Vegas lounge-like reading of Misty in 1963. Later, he
ran yet another label, Turntable Records (its 45s bore his photo, whether on his
own sizable 1969 hit Bad Conditions or when the single was by Howard Tate!), and
operated a glitzy New York nightspot by the same name.

But the music business turned sour for Price when his partner, Logan, was
murdered in 1969. He got as far away from it all as he possibly could, moving to
Africa and investing in nonmusical pursuits. Perfect example: He linked up with
electric-haired Don King to promote Muhammad Ali bouts in Zaire (against George
Foreman) and Manila (against Joe Frazier). He indulged in a few select oldies
gigs (including an appearance on NBC-TVs Midnight Special), but overall, little
was seen of Price during the 1970s.

Returning to America in the early 80s, he largely resisted performing until a
1993 European tour with Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Gary U.S. Bonds
convinced him there was still a market for his bouncy, upbeat oldies. Prices
profile went on the upswing since -- he guested on a PBS-TV special with Huey
Lewis & the News, and regularly turned up to headline the Jazz & Heritage
Festival in his old hometown. ~ Bill Dahl

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