Why It Matters

First things first: Let’s all just take a moment and bask in the awesomeness of that album cover. I have no idea who Rene is, but he or she nailed it.

This is what visiting your local record store is all about: Walking in with nothing in particular in mind and finding a clean copy of some sweet R&B album from the early sixties that was released on a regional label. Toss in a badass album cover and it’s goodbye milk money—I’m in.

Ain’t Nothing You Can Do was Bobby Bland’s—he wasn’t Bobby “Blue” Bland yet— fourth album on the Duke label; in fact, it was fourth album for any label. Duke Records was a big player in late fifties/early sixties R&B, distributing not only Bland but early superstar Johnny Ace.

But that’s record geek stuff. The bottom line is that Bobby Bland was the man, and this album catches him in all his 1964 glory. Check out the title track:

How cool is that? Come on!

A nice copy of the original on Duke Records will run you around 30 bucks. The MCA reissue goes for around 5 dollars, and you still get the cool cover.

But really—wouldn’t you rather have the original? Happy hunting.