This CD covers the first five years of ’Spoon’s illustrious career and arguably his best work, mainly accompanied by the band of his first boss and friend Jay McShann, but also featuring late 1940s sessions with the Buddy Tate and Maxwell Davis groups. "Confessin’ The Blues" is from ’Spoon’s debut session with the McShann band, recorded in the summer of 1945 for Philo Records. A brief association with the short-lived Premier label of St Louis led to a contract with the Chicago-based Mercury Records in 1946, during which McShann experimented with a variety of small band formats, from the sextet of the 1946 sessions to the stunning rhythm quartet employed in 1947, featuring Tiny Webb’s electric guitar.

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1. CONFESSIN' THE BLUES
2. SHIPYARD WOMAN BLUES
3. ROLL ON, KATY
4. VOODOO WOMAN BLUES
5. GONE WITH THE BLUES
6. BAR FLY BLUES
7. PLEASE STOP PLAYING THOSE BLUES, BOY
8. ALL MY GEETS ARE GONE
9. STRANGE WOMAN BLUES
10. WANDERIN' GAL BLUES
11. HEY MR. LANDLORD
12. THIRD FLOOR BLUES
13. MONEY'S GETTING CHEAPER
14. SKID ROW BLUES
15. AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS, Part 1
16. AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS, Part 2
17. FROGIMORE BLUES
18. EARLY MORNING BLUES (WEE BABY BLUES)
19. SIX-FOOT-TWO BLUES
20. SPOON CALLS HOOTIE
21. YOUR RED WAGON
22. TAKE ME BACK BABY
23. JUMP CHILDREN
24. WHO'S BEEN JIVIN' YOU
25. NO ROLLIN' BLUES
26. BIG FINE GIRL