Review Text
Harmonica player/singer/semi-professional gambler James D. "SHAKEY JAKE" Harris remains one of The Blues' shadowy, "Great Unknown" figures. His name came from his awesome ability to shoot dice; by all accounts, fellow-gamblers would call "Shake 'Em, Jake" at him. This compilation comprises his two rare-as-hens-teeth LPs, "Good Times" (1960) and "Mouth Harp Blues" (1961), both recorded for Prestige/Bluesville, plus an earlier, one-off 45rpm for Artistic (1958), a subsidiary label of Cobra Records. On his Artistic 45rpm he was backed by the Willie Dixon Band, whose personnel included guitarists Magic Sam (who was Shakey Jake's nephew) and Freddie King. His Prestige/Bluesville LPs feature sidemen like guitarists Bill Jennings and Jimmy Lee Robinson, organist Brother Jack McDuff, pianist Robert Banks, bassist Leonard Gaskin and drummer Junior Blackman. This material is impossible to find elsewhere on CD.
