Champion Jack Dupree

"But it's Shakespeare's coffin!" Dupree exclaimed when he saw the enormous grand piano awaiting him in the studio on July 21, 1971, where on one of his numerous visits to Paris he had been asked to record. But regardless of the piano his puncher’s hands worked out on - usually it was a humble upright - Champion Jack Dupree expressed the essence of the blues.
During his prolific career Dupree often paid tribute to men he admired by improvising a blues to their memory. So he recorded The Death of Big Bill Broonzy, The Death of Luther King, President Kennedy Blues, and The Death of Louis, which gives its title to the present collection. Armstrong had died a few days earlier, on July 6, and Dupree evokes with feeling their days together as children in the Waifs’ Home…

"But it's Shakespeare's coffin!" Dupree exclaimed when he saw the enormous grand piano awaiting him in the studio on July 21, 1971, where on one of his numerous visits to Paris he had been asked to record. But regardless of the piano his puncher’s hands worked out on - usually it was a humble upright - Champion Jack Dupree expressed the essence of the blues.
During his prolific career Dupree often paid tribute to men he admired by improvising a blues to their memory. So he recorded The Death of Big Bill Broonzy, The Death of Luther King, President Kennedy Blues, and The Death of Louis, which gives its title to the present collection. Armstrong had died a few days earlier, on July 6, and Dupree evokes with feeling their days together as children in the Waifs’ Home…

Like many black American blues and R&B artists, New Orleans singer and pianist Champion Jack Dupree found more respect and recognition in Europe than he did in his homeland, and he relocated to Europe in 1959, only rarely returning to the U.S. He cut several albums there, including the two included in this double-disc set from Beat Goes On, From New Orleans to Chicago, recorded in London in 1966, and Champion Jack Dupree and His Blues Band, tracked in the same city a year later (both were originally released on London Decca). Of the two, the latter release is the stronger (thanks in no small part to guitarist Mickey Baker), although From New Orleans is probably better known, mainly for the presence of Eric Clapton and John Mayall at the sessions…

Like many black American blues and R&B artists, New Orleans singer and pianist Champion Jack Dupree found more respect and recognition in Europe than he did in his homeland, and he relocated to Europe in 1959, only rarely returning to the U.S. He cut several albums there, including the two included in this double-disc set from Beat Goes On, From New Orleans to Chicago, recorded in London in 1966, and Champion Jack Dupree and His Blues Band, tracked in the same city a year later (both were originally released on London Decca). Of the two, the latter release is the stronger (thanks in no small part to guitarist Mickey Baker), although From New Orleans is probably better known, mainly for the presence of Eric Clapton and John Mayall at the sessions…

Champion Jack Dupree’s expressive voice and natural feel for the piano made him one of the greatest of the barrelhouse blues genre, the New Orleans native making a name for himself on the Chicago music scene, his stage name acquired after a stint as a champion boxer in Detroit, encouraged by Joe Louis. Dupree spent time in Europe in the late 1950s, which resulted in collaboration with a number of noteworthy British blues men, and following the success of From New Orleans To Chicago, featuring John Mayall and Eric Clapton, Mike Vernon brought Dupree onto his Blue Horizon label for When You Feel The Feeling You Was Feelin,’ another excellent set from 1968, this time with guest contributions on the B-side from guitar god Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke of Free, Pretty Things bassist Stuart Brooks and Fleetwood Mac associate, Duster Bennett on harmonica…

Champion Jack Dupree’s expressive voice and natural feel for the piano made him one of the greatest of the barrelhouse blues genre, the New Orleans native making a name for himself on the Chicago music scene, his stage name acquired after a stint as a champion boxer in Detroit, encouraged by Joe Louis. Dupree spent time in Europe in the late 1950s, which resulted in collaboration with a number of noteworthy British blues men, and following the success of From New Orleans To Chicago, featuring John Mayall and Eric Clapton, Mike Vernon brought Dupree onto his Blue Horizon label for When You Feel The Feeling You Was Feelin,’ another excellent set from 1968, this time with guest contributions on the B-side from guitar god Paul Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke of Free, Pretty Things bassist Stuart Brooks and Fleetwood Mac associate, Duster Bennett on harmonica…

Recordings 1980-1988, featuring Memphis Slim, Louisiana Red, Axel Zwingenberger, Mickey Baker, Monty Sunshine's Jazz Band, Kenn Lending Blues Band.
A formidable contender in the ring before he shifted his focus to pounding the piano instead, Champion Jack Dupree often injected his lyrics with a rowdy sense of down-home humor. But there was nothing lighthearted about his rock-solid way with a boogie; when he shouted "Shake Baby Shake," the entire room had no choice but to acquiesce.

New Orleans pianist who was a master of hard-driving boogie and blues. A formidable contender in the ring before he shifted his focus to pounding the piano instead, Champion Jack Dupree often injected his lyrics with a rowdy sense of down-home humor. But there was nothing lighthearted about his rock-solid way with a boogie; when he shouted "Shake Baby Shake," the entire room had no choice but to acquiesce.