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Sunnyland Slim – House Rent Party with Jimmy Rogers & Willie Mabon
Delmark 655 [Apollo Series]

The place Lester Davenport and so many others commonly found him was at a “house” Sunnyland Slim ran from 1947 through ’54 at 26th St. and S.Prairie. “It wasn’t no mansion or nothin’ like that but it was comfortable,” Davenport recalled of the basement hangout. “We used to go there, sit around and rehearse, drink, gamble, whatever.” The “we” Davenport refers to included most of the principals and many of the minor players in Chicago blues: bow-legged Othum Brown, Johnny Jones, Floyd Jones, Otis Spann, Louis and Dave Myers, Little Walter, Big Bill Broonzy, Eddie Boyd, Junior Wells, Earl Hooker. Also included were Jimmy Rogers, Wille Mabon and St. Louis Jimmy, the featured sidemen on these Apollo sides.

1 Sunnyland Slim– I'm Just A Lonesome Man 2:33
2 St. Louis Jimmy Oden– Sad Old Sunday (Mother's Day) 2:00
3 Willie Mabon– Boogie Man 3:10
4 Sunnyland Slim– Hard Time (When Mother's Gone) 2:37
5 St. Louis Jimmy Oden– Chicago Woman 2:52
6 Jimmy Rogers– I'm In Love 2:31
7 Sunnyland Slim– Bad Times (Cost Of Living) 2:51
8 St. Louis Jimmy Oden– Nervous Breakdown 2:41
9 Willie Mabon– It Keeps Rainin' 2:47
10 Sunnyland Slim– Brown Skin Woman 2:34
11 St. Louis Jimmy Oden– Old Age Has Got Me 2:43
12 Jimmy Rogers– That's All Right 2:24
13 St. Louis Jimmy Oden– Sad Old Sunday (Alternate) 3:28
14 Sunnyland Slim– I'm Just A Lonesome Man (Alternate) 2:47
15 Sunnyland Slim– Bad Times (Alternate) 2:48

Recorded August 26, 1949, Apollo Records

Sunnyland Slim- piano (1, 2, 4-8, 10-15)
Sunnyland Slim- vocals (1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 15)
St. Louis Jimmy Oden - vocals (2, 5, 8, 11, 13)
Jimmy Rogers - vocals, guitar (6, 12)
Willie Mabon - vocals, piano, harmonica (3, 9)
Andrew Harris - bass (probably)
Sam Casimir- guitar (1-5, 7-11, 13-15)

"The two 1949 Apollo sides by Jimmy Rogers, a key architect of postwar blues guitar, issued here for the first time, mark a great moment in blues history. They are among Rogers' first recordings. The Apollo "That's All Right" predates his classic 1950 Chess version and crackles with excitement in the form of yelps, whoops, and a resounding "Glory Hallelujah" coming from Sunnyland as he rolls the boogie woogie basses behind Rogers' singing."
- John Brisbin from liner notes

1 I'm Just A Lonesome Man 2:33
2 Sad Old Sunday (Mother's Day)
Vocals – St. Louis Jimmy*
2:00
3 Boogie Man
Vocals, Piano, Harmonica – Willie Mabon
3:10
4 Hard Time (When Mother's Gone) 2:37
5 Chicago Woman
Vocals – St. Louis Jimmy Oden
2:52
6 I'm In Love
Vocals, Guitar – Jimmy Rogers
2:31
7 Bad Times (Cost Of Living) 2:51
8 Nervous Breakdown
Vocals – St. Louis Jimmy*
2:41
9 It Keeps Rainin'
Vocals, Piano, Harmonica – Willie Mabon
2:47
10 Brown Skin Woman 2:34
11 Old Age Has Got Me
Vocals – St. Louis Jimmy*
2:43
12 That's All Right
Vocals, Guitar – Jimmy Rogers
2:24
13 Sad Old Sunday (Alternate)
Vocals – St. Louis Jimmy*
3:28
14 I'm Just A Lonesome Man (Alternate) 2:47
15 Bad Times (Alternate) 2:48