{"id":28831,"date":"2025-01-01T05:45:03","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T10:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28831"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:30:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:30:22","slug":"album-review-johnny-bragg-let-me-dream-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/01\/album-review-johnny-bragg-let-me-dream-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Johnny Bragg \u2013 Let Me Dream On"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A bonus post to ring in the New Year — bk.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most historically significant vocal groups of the 1950s and beyond, the Prisonaires recorded the original version of \u201cJust Walkin\u2019 in the Rain,\u201d later a massive hit when covered by Johnnie Ray. So named to make clear that all five members were doing time in the Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville, the five-man doo wop group never released an album-proper; an LP titled Live at the Tennessee State Penitentiary was released in a plain sleeve in 1959; copies are exceedingly rare and (of course) expensive when they do surface.<\/p>\n

The Prisonaires did release four singles on legendary Memphis label Sun Records in the 1950s, and some other sides surfaced in the 1970s. But there has never been a proper colleciton of the group\u2019s material.<\/p>\n

And guess what: there still isn\u2019t. But this new Record Store Day release from ORG Music is at the very least the next best thing. A collection of fifteen demos and live tracks, Let Me Dream On<\/i> is technically credited to lead singer Johnny Bragg. Some of the tracks are delightful doo wop showcases in excellent fidelity: \u201cTake Away the Heartache (Let Me Love Again)\u201d and \u201cShe\u2019s Mine\u201d fall into that category. Other cuts are live recordings with full band accompaniment (\u201cI\u2019ll Never Forget You,\u201d for example). Other still are vocal demos with little beyond finger snaps adoring the singing (\u201cI Saw it Coming\u201d). \u201cIf This is a Dream (Let Me Dream On) dispenses with the finger snaps, presenting a moving and gospel filled vocal from Bragg.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt Isn\u2019t Right\u201d knocks down any preconceived boundaries between gospel and r&b; if the words were about Jesus \u2013 they\u2019re not \u2013 it would be traditional gospel. Instead it\u2019s soulful blues with a swinging, peppy organ. Bragg anticipates popular music\u2019s coming seismic shift with \u201cRock It, Shake It,\u201d a tune in what would soon become the classic rock \u2018n\u2019 roll tradition. Fans of Chuck Berry, Louis Jordan and\/or Ike Turner\u2019s band won\u2019t want to miss this one. Same for \u201cLet\u2019s Rock, Let\u2019s Roll.\u201d<\/p>\n

What all tracks share is a raw, unadorned character, a sincerity of purpose, and the sort of character that comes only from true commitment to the music. It\u2019s worth noting that Bragg was eventually set free, owing to the trumped-up nature of the charges against him. He ended up in prison again, and yet again was released (those charges were falsified as well; the poor guy could never catch a break). Bragg passed away in 2004; he was the last of the Prisonaires to leave this realm.<\/p>\n

This RSD collection is being release with the kind blessing and cooperation of his estate. A booklet with excellent liner notes and images rounds out this impressive package. Limited to 1000 copies, Let Me Dream On<\/i> is a true gem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bonus post to ring in the New Year — bk. One of the most historically significant vocal groups of the 1950s and beyond, the Prisonaires recorded the original version […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,49,60,62,65],"tags":[4056,3580,5602,1801],"class_list":["post-28831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-new-release","category-rb","category-rawk","category-review","tag-johnny-burgin","tag-org-music","tag-prisonaires","tag-record-store-day","cat-19-id","cat-49-id","cat-60-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28833,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28831\/revisions\/28833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}