Guitar Crusher

Sidney Selby

b. July 28th, 1931 in Hope County (North Carolina)

d. September 23rd, 2020

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Gaztelupeko Hotsak

1962 - August 1968

Après avoir chanté le Gospel à l'église, il part vivre avec sa mère à New York et apprend la guitare en autodidacte. Il se produit avec son groupe sur la scène locale dès le début des années 60. Prenant le pseudonyme de Guitar Crusher, il enregistre rapidement ses premiers morceaux en 1962-63 pour les labels T&S (le puissant "Cuddle up"), Bethlehem ("I once loved you baby") et King dans un style entre Blues et Rhythm & Blues. Un peu plus tard, il grave quelques morceaux pour Columbia (le superbe "I'll catch your tears") et Blue Horizon (l'excellent "Hambone blues"). Ce CD sort en 2011 sur le label basque Gaztelupeko Hotsak.

After singing gospel music in church, he moved to New York to live with his mother and taught himself to play the guitar. By the early 1960's, he was performing locally with his band. Adopting the stage name Guitar Crusher, he soon recorded his first tracks — between 1962 and 1963 — for labels such as T&S (the powerful "Cuddle up"), Bethlehem ("I once loved you baby") and King, in a style that bridged Blues and Rhythm & Blues. A little later, he recorded several tracks for Columbia (the superb "I'll catch your tears") and Blue Horizon (the excellent "Hambone blues"). This CD was released in 2011 on the basque label Gaztelupeko Hotsak.

BLUES FROM THE HEART

Pool

1985

LIVE AT THE QUASIMODO

Audiostax

September 1987

Ce disque rassemble des séances capturées au Club Quasimodo de Berlin (Allemagne), parfois sans public. On trouve de bons moments dans ce programme intéressant : "I feel the pain", "My heart's on strike", "Stop it baby", "Hambone blues", "Can't just put you down".

This record brings together sessions captured at Club Quasimodo in Berlin (Germany), some of which took place without an audience. There are some nice moments in this interesting collection : "I feel the pain", "My heart's on strike", "Stop it baby", "Hambone blues", "Can't just put you down".

I CAN DO BAD BY MYSELF

Selby

1990

Bon chanteur (il ne joue pas de guitare ici), Guitar Crusher propose cet album autoproduit, gravé dans sa ville de New York. Un bon disque de blues électrique urbain constitué de compositions personnelles convaincantes comme "I can't just pull you down" ou l'intéressant slow blues "My heart's on strike".

A skilled singer (he doesn't play guitar here), Guitar Crusher presents this self-produced album, recorded in his hometown of New York. It is a nice urban electric blues record, featuring convincing original compositions such as "I can't just pull you down" as well as the noteworthy slow blues "My heart's on strike".

GOOGA MOOGA

Blue Sting

June 1992

Contrairement à ce que suggère son pseudonyme, Guitar Crusher ne joue pas de guitare dans cet album. Les parties de guitare sont assurées par "Wild" Jimmy Spruill et Nick Katzman (également producteur). Désormais installé en Allemagne, il trouve l'opportunité de graver cet album de retour aux affaires pour le label belge Blue Sting. Crusher délivre un excellent set entre Blues électrique et Rhythm & Blues cuivré, entouré de solides sidemen. On peut retenir "Mama's baby", "I'm gonna wait", "I'm the great Googa Mooga", "Watch dog", "Mama you're alright", "Bone crushing man".

Contrary to what his pseudonym might suggest, Guitar Crusher does not play guitar on this album. The guitar parts are handled by "Wild" Jimmy Spruill and Nick Katzman (who is also producer). Now based in Germany, he found the opportunity to record this comeback album for the belgian label Blue Sting. Crusher delivers an excellent set — a blend of electric Blues and horn-driven Rhythm & Blues — backed by a solid group of sidemen. Notable tracks include "Mama's baby", "I'm gonna wait", "I'm the great Googa Mooga", "Watch dog", "Mama you're alright", "Bone crushing man".

MESSAGE TO MAN

Inak

1995

Pour le label allemand Inak, Guitar Crusher poursuit dans la continuité de "Googa Mooga" avec ce bel album de blues cuivré produit par Calvin Owens. On trouve des morceaux de bonne facture comme "Heartfixing man" (avec Alvin Lee), "Message to man", "You know how to hurt a man", "Do it well", "I wanna be with you". Pour l'occasion, il est accompagné du groupe de blues allemand Black Cat Bone.

For the german label Inak, Guitar Crusher continues in the same vein as "Googa Mooga" with this nice brassy blues album, produced by Calvin Owens. It features well-crafted tracks such as "Heartfixing man" (with Alvin Lee), "Message to man", "You know how to hurt a man", "Do it well", "I wanna be with you". For this occasion, he is accompanied by the german blues band Black Cat Bone.

HOW I FEEL

Roundabout

February 1997

LIVE AT YORCKSCHLÖSSCHEN

RSI

March 1999