Blame It On the Blues

Dootone and its affiliated labels were most known for recording doo wop groups, but it also made quite a few records with Willie Headen, who usually sang in a much bluesier small combo R&B style. A lot of the tracks from his mid- to late-'50s singles are on this 28-track compilation, which also has songs that appeared on his 1960 Blame It on the Blues LP and a few outtakes and alternate takes. Headen was something of a journeyman singer, but as journeymen go, he was near the top of that niche, and this is a commendably consistent collection of '50s R&B, though not one that marks him as an unfairly neglected or underrated performer. Writing much of his material himself, Headen had a pleasingly smooth, slightly-higher-than-average-register vocal delivery. He handled both up-tempo and slower-shufflin', piano-grounded blues/R&B crossover music with aplomb, and sometimes let his gospel roots show more than most such discs by singers of the time did. Fans of the early Charles Brown-influenced recordings of Ray Charles, for instance, will likely enjoy this, though it's not unduly imitative of either Brown or Charles, and in a slightly more updated style than Charles' early work.