Do understand that this was recorded between '49 and '53, so the bouncy, ragged, hitched, nasty R&B that it resembles, the Ray Charles stomp it evokes, the rock and roll swagger it exudes; it predates it all. This is all the flagging fury of the blues shouter against the hoppinest takes on jazz around, plus something all its own straight out of New Orleans.
All that is why it should be admired, but Longhair's admirable croak is downright abrasive, and the music slogs as often as it pops, leaving it short of enjoyable plenty of the time. The listening experience is further compounding by the tracklist: this is a compilation with several repeating alternate versions, sometimes placed back to back, breaking up any sense of flow and any illusion of performance.
The result is altogether a fascinating artifact, a great record of the time, but not a great album of songs 3/5
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