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Jimmy ‘Baby Face’ Lewis was a singer, songwriter and guitarist who burst on the post-war R&B scene when he appeared on records singing and playing with the orchestras of Floyd Campbell and Tab Smith, making an impact with his rocking vocals and his highly individual and contemporary guitar sound and style. Recording for Atlantic from 1949 and 1954, he made a series of singles that spanned jump blues, R&B and proto-rock that brought him the nickname of “Madman Of The Guitar”, although chart success proved frustratingly elusive. It was a promising career that was abruptly brought to a halt when he was arrested for drug-dealing, part of a lifestyle that sadly saw his early demise in 1969 at the age of 40. This 26-track CD comprises those early releases with Floyd Campbell and Tab Smith on the Aladdin and Manor labels and his own early single for Savoy, followed by all his A and B sides on Atlantic, including one as featured singer with Joe Morris’ Blues Cavalcade, and a final release with The Tone Twins. He was an extrovert performer who brought an exciting new dimension to R&B as it moved towards the rock ‘n’ roll revolution.
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