Two vinyl albums of
Maybelle's Savoy recordings on one compact disc makes for a nice 28-track retrospective of her prime work. First up is the album originally issued as
Blues, Candy and Big Maybelle, a chunk of session work from 1956-1957, with a three-song date from 1959 to round things up. Her takes on "Rockhouse," "Ramblin' Blues," and the title track are the big tickets here. The second anthology, titled simply Big Maybelle, features her recordings from 1956-1959, with the balance of it leaning toward her later output for the label. A 1957 session with
Kenny Burrell on guitar yields interesting stabs at "White Christmas" and "Silent Night," while a 1959 session finds her big voice framed with a string section on a great read of "Until the Real Thing Comes Along." A very underrated singer,
Big Maybelle is a total delight and deserves a much wider hearing.