Artist: Harry "The Hipster" Gibson
Album: Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine?
Genre: Boogie Woogie, Jive
Label: Delmark Records
Released: 1996
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
- Hey, Man! You Just Made My Day (3:03)
- I Got Framed (2:54)
- I Wanna Go Back to My Little Grass Shack (4:08)
- Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine? (2:24)
- Get Hip to Shirley MacLaine (3:56)
- I Flipped My Wig in San Francisco (2:26)
- Back in the Days of Dixieland and Bop (3:45)
- Boogity Woogity Blues (2:29)
- Thanks for the Use of the Hall (2:07)
- Get Hip to Shirley MacLaine (alternate take) (3:35)
- They Call Him Harry the Hipster (3:24)
- Me & Max (7:03)
- Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine? (live) (6:23)
- Lowdown Slowdown Inflationary Blues (3:22)
- Maple Leaf Rag and a Little Bit of The Entertainer (3:54)
- Ragtime Raggedy Ann (3:12)
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- Personnel:
- Harry "The Hipster" Gibson - vocals, piano
- Jeff Silvertrust - trumpet
- Sheldon Brown - tenor saxophone
- Jon Davis - guitar
- Clark Suprynowicz (#1-3,5-7,10), Jimmy Gibson (#4,8,9) - bass
- David Rokeach - drums
After his heyday in the mid-'40s, pianist-singer Harry "The Hipster" Gibson faded away from the limelight. He continued playing on a part-time basis and this Delmark CD released for the first time a live performance from 1976 and some studio tracks from 1989. Although the backup bands are not overly impressive (the 1976 group is an amateurish blues-rock band), Gibson proves to still be in his musical prime, taking several fine piano solos. However it is the Hipster's frequently hilarious storytelling (which deals with tales of the drug life) that are most memorable, particularly "Me & Max," "I Got Framed" and "I Flipped My Wig in San Francisco." It makes one regret that Gibson did not do more with his career.
Review by Scott Yanow