An excellent blues-based pianist and singer who was in
Muddy Waters' last band,
Lovie Lee deserved to be much better known. He worked in the Chicago blues scene from 1957 on but made few records.
Lovie Lee's only dates as a leader are on this single CD, privately recorded sessions from 1984 and 1989 that are augmented by further titles cut directly for Earwig in 1992. Already 75 at the time of the earliest dates,
Lee passed away in 1997 when he was 88. He sounds a couple of decades younger and displays plenty of energy on this extensive set of blues and rollicking near-blues. His sidemen are excellent, with plenty of solo space for the guitarists and his adopted son,
Carey Bell, on harmonica. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow