Ray Sharpe - Linda Lu (Bear Family,1995)

Ray Sharpe - Linda Lu
(Bear Family,1995)

256 cbr
Includes: Front Cover, Back Cover, m3u, nfo


I first stumbled across Ray Sharpe one late night while drooling over the always awesome Norton Records (www.nortonrecords.com) mailorder catalog (go git one, you won't regret it!). They were offering one unopened original copy of his 1964 LP "Welcome Back Linda Lu" priced at $150! Needless to say, I began scouring the depths of the internets trying to find some sort of glimpse at what this (seemingly) important album sounded like.

I don't remember exactly where I dug this up, but it was no surprise that the folks at Germany's Bear Family (www.bear-family.de) label were responsible for the fine compilation featured here today. Somehow Bear Family always manages to dig up the most obscure cuts from legendary artists of the 50's (and beyond) and then produce some of the largest, most extensively researched box sets known to man (including The Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Johnny Burnette and more).

One of the first "one hit wonders", Linda Lu was written for a friend of Sharpe's who's girlfriend Linda (surprise!) was a frequent visitor to a night club they attended and "had a fascinating rear end, so to speak". The rest of the album is great fun too, but it's Linda Lu that steals the thunder right off the bat - and deservedly so.

Though once dubbed "the greatest white-sounding black dude ever" by Major Bill Smith, Ray Sharpe never really found much success beyond that hit single (it reached #46 on the Billboard Charts in 1959). It is nice to know however, that Ray is still going strong and was even present at a recent Ponderosa Stomp (www.ponderosastomp.com) in New Orleans.

Oh, and did I mention that Linda Lu was produced by none other than Lee Hazelwood? And that it also featured guitar work from Duane Eddy and Al Casey? Yeah.

Favorite Tracks: Linda Lu, Monkey's Uncle

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