My Way or the Highway (album)
Encyclopedia
My Way or the Highway is the first major studio album
released by blues
guitarist
Guitar Shorty
(David Kearney), even though he had been in the business since 1950s. The album is credited to "Guitar Shorty & The Otis Grand
Blues Band"; it was at the behest and producing of Grand that Shorty made the record.
It was first released in 1991 on CD
by the label JSP and was subsequently re-released in 1999 and 2005. Also, the tracks "Red Hot Mama" and "No Educated Woman" would later appear on Shorty's compilation album
, "The Best of Guitar Shorty
", in 2006.
Production:
ic guitarist informed everyone he was alive and lively with this one." Shorty's playing is greatly enhanced by Grand; The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings
comments that they both perform well due to the "diversity of the material."
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
released by blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Guitar Shorty
Guitar Shorty
Guitar Shorty is an American blues guitarist. He is well known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Billboard magazine said, “his galvanizing guitar work defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock. His vocals remain as forceful as ever...
(David Kearney), even though he had been in the business since 1950s. The album is credited to "Guitar Shorty & The Otis Grand
Otis Grand
Otis Grand is an American blues musician, best known for his album, Perfume and Grime .-Biography:Although born in Beirut, Grand has spent much of his life in the United States...
Blues Band"; it was at the behest and producing of Grand that Shorty made the record.
It was first released in 1991 on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
by the label JSP and was subsequently re-released in 1999 and 2005. Also, the tracks "Red Hot Mama" and "No Educated Woman" would later appear on Shorty's compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, "The Best of Guitar Shorty
The Best of Guitar Shorty
The Best of Guitar Shorty is the first true compilation album released by blues guitarist Guitar Shorty ; 1996's Billie Jean Blues was more of a live album. The album was released on June 20, 2006 on CD by the label Shout! Factory...
", in 2006.
Track listing
- "No Educated Woman" (Kearney) — 6:03
- "You Gave Me the Blues Baby" (Kearney) — 5:46
- "Shorty Jumps In" (Grand, Kearney) — 6:14
- "Down Through the Years" (Kearney) — 5:32
- "Red Hot Mama" (Kearney) — 3:23
- "Hot and Saucy, Short and Grand" (Grand, Kearney) — 6:39
- "It's Too Late" (Kearney) — 11:30
- "Kick Out" (Grand, Kearney) — 6:41
- "My Way or the Highway" (Kearney) — 5:57
Personnel
Band:- Tony Ashton — organ (HammondHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
) - Peter Beck — saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
(altoAltoAlto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
, tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
) - Buzz Brown — harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
- Otis GrandOtis GrandOtis Grand is an American blues musician, best known for his album, Perfume and Grime .-Biography:Although born in Beirut, Grand has spent much of his life in the United States...
— guitar, producer - Guitar Shorty — guitar, vocals
- Mike Hobart — saxophone (baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
) - Dan Quinton — bassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
- Daniel Strittmatter — drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s
Production:
- Martin Atkinson — mixing
- Norman Darwen, John Stedman — liner notes
Reception
Allmusic proclaims that the "acrobatAcrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
ic guitarist informed everyone he was alive and lively with this one." Shorty's playing is greatly enhanced by Grand; The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings is a non-fiction book that is an encyclopedic referencing of all known blues music albums released on CD.- Content :...
comments that they both perform well due to the "diversity of the material."