Kokomo Arnold – The Story Of The Blues Vol.2 (2004)

1. Big Ship Blues [3:08]
2. Crying Blues [2:58]
3. Grandpa Got Drunk [3:04]
4. Black Mattie [3:11]
5. Neck Bone Blues [2:51]
6. Buddie Brown Blues [2:53]
7. Rocky Road Blues [2:44]		play
8. Head Cuttin' Blues [2:54]
9. Broke Man Blues [2:53]
10. Back On The Job [3:00]
11. Shine On, Moon (Shine On, Shine On) [2:52]
12. Your Ways and Actions [2:46]
13. Tired Of Runnin' From Door To Door [2:37]
14. My Well Is Dry [2:39]
15. Midnight Blues [2:48]		play
16. Goin' Down In Galilee (Swing Along With Me) [2:28]
17. Bad Luck Blues [2:48]
18. Kid Man Blues [2:47]
19. Something's Hot [2:35]

Musicians:
    Alice Moore, Vocals
    Odell Rand, Clarinet
    Sam Theard, Vocals
    Mary Johnson, Vocals
    Albert Ammons, Piano
    Kokomo Arnold, Guitar, Vocals
    Roosevelt Sykes, Piano
    Peetie Wheatstraw,  Piano

Whilst I haven't listened to all of blues legend Kokomo Arnold's songs, I'm fairly convinced that this compilation of tunes from 1934 to 37 covers the majority of his good work. By the time James Arnold released his single "Old Original Kokomo Blues" - a song about coffee where he gained the name Kokomo Arnold, he'd already been playing guitar and singing as a part-time job for the best part of a decade in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, he moved south briefly releasing to tracks but it was only in Chicago where his career really began to kick off though.

Kokomo Arnold has a distinctly high voice which sounds a bit ridiculous at times but gives some of his songs a bit of an edge, he's a pretty awesome slide guitarist and despite never having that much success (he left the music industry fairly early and became a factory worker), the famous Milk Cow Blues was covered by numerous artists including Elvis Presley on The Sun Sessions, it would be foolish to say that Kokomo Arnold didn't have any effect on future musicians.

The guitar playing is enjoyable on this album, the lyrics fairly straight-forward blues and there's not really any tracks which stand out, perhaps the reason he never enjoyed that much success but it's an interesting and enjoyable listen anyway and worth having in your record collection if you like the blues.

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