Veteran harp man Pryor (who claims to be the first to amplify his harmonica) was still capable of some potent blues when he released this album in early 1999.
Kicking off with a solo version of Faye Adams' "Shake a Hand" (its lyrics reworked heavily into the title track) that owes a huge debt to idol Sonny Boy Williamson II, Pryor settles into a comfortable groove with a tight little trio behind him consisting of Bob Stroger on bass, Billy Flynn on guitar and Jimmy Tilman on drums.
His version of Hank Ballard's "Annie Had a Baby" is so radically different that it almost qualifies as an original, while his covers of Al Dexter's "Pistol Packin' Mama" and Sleepy John Estes' "Someday Baby" stay closer to the originals.
The rest of the set features Snooky's great originals, with the minor-keyed "Headed South," "In This Mess," "Jump for Joy" and a nice remake of his "Telephone Blues" being particular standouts.
Simple, no-frills production makes this a modern-day blues album that delivers the wallop of the old singles.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shake My HandJames Edward Pryor, Snooky Pryor | Snooky Pryor | Play | 02:27 | 5 MB | 11 MB |
| 2 | Work With Me AnnieHank Ballard, James Edward Pryor | Snooky Pryor | Play | 04:18 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 3 | Someday BabySleepy John Estes | Snooky Pryor | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 4 | Tomorrow NightJames Edward Pryor | Snooky Pryor | Play | 02:50 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 5 | Telephone BluesJames Edward Pryor, Sonny Terry | Snooky Pryor | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 6 | In This MessJames Edward Pryor | Snooky Pryor | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 7 | Pistol Packin' MamaAl Dexter | Snooky Pryor | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 16 MB |
| 8 | Headed SouthJames Edward Pryor | Snooky Pryor | Play | 05:43 | 13 MB | 34 MB |
| 9 | Jump for JoyJames Edward Pryor | Snooky Pryor | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 10 | Don't Like to BragJames Edward Pryor | Snooky Pryor | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 11 | My Babe | Snooky Pryor | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 42 mins | 100 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 255 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hank Ballard | Composer |
| 2 | Al Brandtner | Design |
| 3 | Edward Chmelewski | Executive Producer |
| 4 | Jerry del Giudice | Producer |
| 5 | Al Dexter | Composer |
| 6 | Sleepy John Estes | Composer |
| 7 | Michael Freeman | Engineer, Mixing |
| 8 | James Edward Pryor | Composer |
| 9 | Snooky Pryor | Composer, Harmonica, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 10 | Jim Purdum | Photography |
| 11 | Sonny Terry | Composer |
| 12 | Mark Verbos | Assistant Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |