Thursday, August 30, 2012

Serves Me Right To Suffer - John Lee Hooker

Love this video, and I truly miss Mr. Hooker. I was lucky enough to see him before he passed away.




Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Natalie Duncan – Devil In Me (Live from Universal Studios)





LES PRIMITIFS DU FUTUR Zoo blues



Lil' Ed Williams





Terry Harmonica Bean

CDbaby
Bean first heard downhome blues at home. His father Eddie Bean, a native of Bruce, sang and played blues guitar and prior to Terry’s birth traveled with an electric blues band.
For many years Eddie Bean, who died in 1985, hosted informal music and gambling gatherings at the family’s house on 'Bean Hill' in west Pontotoc. He also worked as a sharecropper, enlisting Terry and other of his fourteen children to pick cotton in the surrounding fields.




Sunday, August 26, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Brute (The), Frog: Ben Webster

Wikipedia
American jazz tenor saxophonist. ..... was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Known affectionately as "The Brute", he had a tough, raspy, and brutal tone on stomps (with his own distinctive growls), yet on ballads he played with warmth and sentiment.
I have these on my iPod - good stuff







 


Chris Thomas King " Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"



It's the Birthday of John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker Early Years: Classic Savoy Sessions Album Cover
click image to see books, cds and mp3s


On this day back in 1917 John Lee Hooker, blues singer and guitarist was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He was the son of cotton-sharecroppers. He told of learning to play the blues from his stepfather and other blues men that he met in the Mississippi Delta. He is reported to have constructed his first instrument from strings made of rubber inner tube nailed to a barn. He left home and the tender age of 14, and started singing in a gospel group. In 1943 he moved to Detroit and in 1948 he made his first recording, the rhythm-and-blues hit "Boogie Chillun".



His discography is a long and varied one. He recorded more than 100 albums accompanying himself on electric guitar. His music is a mix of slow blues tunes and fast boogies, which he played as he toured throughout the United States. After Hooker was rediscovered by the white blues-rockers of the 1960's he recorded with several rock musicians and influenced many young singers and electric guitar players.

John Lee Hooker
click image to see books, cds and mp3s


Hooker's later popular albums include;

The Very Best Of John Lee Hooker (April 25, 1995),

Chill Out (February 21, 1995),

Live At The Cafe Au Go-Go (And Soledad Prison) [LIVE] (1996).

He won three Grammy awards and was inducted (1991) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mr. Hooker passed away on Thursday, June 21st 2001.





John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker
Buy posters at AllPosters.com


Monday, August 20, 2012

Joanne Shaw Taylor - Blackest Day

Ms. Shaw is on my mind right now. Watch her rip it up...


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Feel Like Going to Chruch: Jesus is on the Mainline

I  posted this a month ago or so, and did not include the video.  So here goes with the video this time. LOL.

This video is one of those rare gems that makes me want to clap my hands, just like my grandmother used to do when she said she was getting happy.






Notes from YouTube:



From "Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have A Ball", a
 film by Les Blank taped at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA on March 25'th
1987. Awesome solo's by George Bohannon and Ry using slide on
mandoguitar! (that was a first for me)



Comment from MrBillindallas:

Concert
 was from a two night run - the last of nine total dates on the NorCal
tour. Shot on 16mm film with an audio remote truck in the alley. Movie
was released in Europe but not in the US. Great band, at one of the best
 venues in the 'States, the last two nights of the mini-tour they were
truly on fire. One venue was so small the band filled the stage and the
dance floor.



Setlist for the two nights in Santa Cruz:



3-24-87 Santa Cruz, CA (the Catalyst):



Showtime

Little Sister

Smack Dab In The Middle

Lets Have A Ball

Me and Frank

unknown title [Spanish lyrics]

Hell Have To Go

If Walls Could Talk

Jesus on The Mainline

How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live?

One Meatball

Atom Bomb

Teeny Weeny Bit of Your Love

Why Dont You Try Me?

Down In The Boondocks

The Things That Make You Rich Make Me Poor

Crazy Bout An Automobile (Every Woman I Know)

encores:

Chain Gang

Down In Hollywood

Goodnight Irene



3-25-87 Santa Cruz, CA (the Catalyst):



Smack Dab In The Middle

Lets Have A Ball

unknown title [Spanish lyrics]

Hell Have To Go

If Walls Could Talk

Jesus On The Mainline

How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live?

One Meatball

Atom Bomb

Teeny Weeny Bit of Your Love

Down In Mississippi

instrumental

The Things That Make You Rich Make Me Poor

Crazy Bout An Automobile (Every Woman I Know)

Chain Gang

Down In Hollywood

Goodnight Irene



Band:

Ry Cooder: guitar, vox

Jim Keltner: drums

Van Dyke Parks: keys

Jorge Calderon: bass

Flaco Jimenez: accordion

Miguel Cruiz: percussion

Steve Douglas: sax

George Bohannon: trombone



Singers:

Bobby King: tenor

Terry Evans: baritone

Arnold McCuller: tenor

Willie Green Jr: bass





BB King And Friends





Saturday, August 18, 2012

Carolina Chocolate Drops Perform Leaving Eden

This group of musicians make beautiful music, and that is really all I can say about it.  It takes me back to that good old stuff that I used to hear my great uncle and grandmother play and sing.


Notes from YouTube:  The Carolina Chocolate Drops perform "Leaving Eden" at Memorial Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC, Feb. 3 2012. With Rhiannon Giddens, Dom Flemons, Leyla McCalla and Hubby Jenkins. Unfortunately you can't see or hear Dom very well in this recording but he is playing some really nice guitar.

Leaving Eden was written by Laurelyn Dossett and is the title track of the Chocolate Drops' upcoming cd, produced by Buddy Miller.


Friday, August 17, 2012

Friday Funny: Geology Question


A & R Studios : New York, 26th August, 1971 A & R Studios : New York, 26th August, 1971 ~ The Allman Brothers Band







The Rolling Stones - Black and Blue (1976) Full Album

Came accross this video on YouTube, thought anyone who loves blues rock would love to hear this wonderful 1976 Rolling Stones Album.




Notes from YouTube: The Rolling Stones - Black and Blue (1976)
Track Listing
01 00:00 "Hot Stuff"
02 05:20 "Hand of Fate"
03 09:46 "Cherry Oh Baby"
04 13:40 "Memory Motel"
05 20:46 "Hey Negrita"
06 25:42 "Melody"
07 31:29 "Fool to Cry"
08 36:33 "Crazy Mama"

All Music Review http://www.allmusic.com/album/black-and-blue-mw0000191638

Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Blue


Old Ideas - Leonard Cohen

The Canadian's twelfth studio album released 44 years after his first, Old Ideas has been declared to contain all the aspects that have made Cohen so well loved and respected.

4/5 The Guardian says "it is more of the stuff that has made Cohen indispensable for six decades: desire, regret, suffering, misanthropy, love, hope, and hamming it up” while

All Music Guide says "Cohen’s topical standards, on yearning, struggle, spirituality, love, loss, lust, and mortality are all in abundance here, offered with a poet's insight.”. • "It is, in short, and as we might have expected, a work of genius"

5/5 The Telegraph, "A quite brilliant release from an unmissable artist" BBC




It's the Birthday of Colin James

Colin James (born Colin James Munn, August 17, 1964, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, who plays in the blues, rock, and neo-swing genres. He grew up as a Quaker.


Thursday, August 16, 2012

It's the Birthday of Eric Bibb

Deeper in the Well

click above image



Eric Bibb (born August 16, 1951) is an American acoustic blues singer/songwriter. He is based in London and launched his career in Europe.

"Born in 1951, Bibb is a native New Yorker with deep roots in the American blues and folk tradition. He is the son of 1960s folk and musical theater singer and television personality Leon Bibb. His uncle was the world-famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet. His godfather was singer/actor/activist Paul Robeson. Surrounded by major musical figures of the day, young Eric was inspired and influenced by Odetta, Richie Havens, Pete Seeger, Earl Robinson, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and many others."


Eric Bibb @ Amazon.com




Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Led Zeppelin Tee Shirt

Led Zeppelin Tee Shirt

Swan Song United States Of America 1977 White Logo On Charcoal T-Shirt Why Pay Those Ridiculous Concert T-Shirt Prices, When You Can Buy From Us? We Have The Largest Selection Of Shirts Anywhere Around! Most Of Our T-Shirts Are 100% Cotton, Preshrunk And Machine Washable.


* Officially Licensed Music T-shirt
* Brand New Never Been Worn Merchandise
* 100% Cotton Short Sleeve T-Shirt
* High Quality Manufactured Apparel T-shirt

Rockabilia Tees and stuff @ Amazon.com


Everybody's Talking by Tedeshi Trucks Band

Love the music of this blues power couple. What could make a better marriage then a great guitarist and a wonderful singer? The Tedeshi Trucks Band's latest CD is getting the heavy rotation routine around my house of late, give it a listen I think you will like it.


Monday, August 13, 2012

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Keb Mo with The Time Jumpers at The Station Inn



Little Feat



Rachel Harrington & The Knock Outs - he's My Man



Brad Mehldau - Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Beethoven and God

I found the article very touching and insightful

Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Beethoven and God
......You confront something that is greater than you and greater than what has until that point been safely contained in your worldview. This new greatness is unfamiliar, and your initial reaction is fear – fear of what is unknown, and also fear of something that is bigger and more powerful than you, something that could crush you. That sounds dramatic – can mere music do that to you?  .....
....(“One person I saw,” thought Siddhartha, “one only, before whom I had to bow down my eyes. Before no others do I want to bow down my eyes anymore, before no one else anymore. No teaching will seduce me anymore, just as even this person’s teaching has not seduced me.”) ....








Friday, August 10, 2012

Why I have to Ramble On

"Mine's a tale that can't be told,
My freedom I hold dear;
How years ago in days of old
When magic filled the air,
'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up
And slipped away with her."

~ Led Zeppelin


Thursday, August 09, 2012

Jazzy Bird Poem

I posted something on my facebook page about a bird that I saw while taking a walk recently.  That caused a few of my friends to comment.  During the lively conversation that followed I shared a poem that I wrote a while back about a mockingbird that hangs out in my backyard. 

I hope you like it.

Mockingbird by my window

Mockingbird
by my window listening to
Charlie Parker play on my radio
decided that he too could sing like a bird

His intro riff was a clarion call to heaven and
Then he dropped down into a minor key, the brother/bird tweeted
thirds and fiths and sevenths too, hitting staccato notes blue as the sky

He made it sing
He improvised and built his song
into a steady grind even making it swing
And I swear that I thought "this bird is messing with me"
He broke into a kind of scatting that was so joyous that I understood
The best thing to do was to just turn my radio off and listen to the mockingbird


Tuesday, August 07, 2012

It's the Birthday of Nuno Mindelis

Nuno Mindelis (born August 7, 1957), nicknamed "The Beast", is an Angolan-born Brazilian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.

According to the bio at Nuno Mindelis.com.

Born in Cabinda (Angola), Eastern Africa on Aug. 7, 1957, Nuno Mindelis became a guitar enthusiast at the very young age of 5. By the age of 9 he began building and playing self-made guitars.

A primary influence at that time was Otis Redding and his great rhythm section, Booker T. & The MG's, made up of Booker T., Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Al Jackson. Nuno continues to enjoy the work of these musicians to this day.


 

Nuno Dindelis @ Amazon.com


It is the Birthday of Magic Slim

Magic Slim (real name, Morris Holt) was born on 7 August 1937, in Granada, Mississippi. He is a blues singer and guitarist, and according to some his band the Teardrops are what a Chicago blues band is supposed to sound like.


Midnight Blues
 
 

Magic Slim @ Amazon.com


Monday, August 06, 2012

It's the Birthday of Willie Brown - Future Blues



Notes from YouTube

Willie Brown (August 6, 1900 December 30, 1952) was an American delta blues guitarist and singer. Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Brown played with such notables as Charley Patton, and Robert Johnson. He was not known to be a self-promoting frontman, preferring to "second" other musicians. Little is known for certain of the man whom Robert Johnson called "my friend-boy, Willie Brown" (in his prophetic "Cross Road Blues") and whom Johnson indicated should be notified in event of his death.

Brown is heard with Patton on the Paramount sessions of 1930, playing "M & O Blues," and "Future Blues." Apart from playing with Son House and Charlie Patton it has also been said that he played with artists such as Luke Thomson and Thomas "Clubfoot" Coles. At least four other songs he recorded for Paramount have never been found. "Rowdy Blues", a 1929 song credited to Kid Bailey, is disputed to have Brown on backup, or Brown himself using the name of Kid Bailey. Both "M & O Blues" and "Future Blues" appear on the album Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers (1994), recorded between 1928 and 1930, on the Document Records label. They also appear on JSP's Charlie Patton box set.

David Evans has reconstructed the early biography of a Willie Brown living in Drew, Mississippi, until 1929. He was married by 1911 to a proficient guitarist named Josie Mills. He is recalled as singing and playing guitar with Charley Patton and others in the neighbourhood of Drew. Informants with conflicting memories led Gayle Dean Wardlow and Steve Calt to conclude that this was a different Willie Brown. Evans rejects this, believing that the singing and guitar style of the 1931 recordings is clearly in the tradition of other performers from Drew such as Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Kid Bailey, Howling Wolf and artists recorded non-commercially.

Alan Lomax added further confusion in 1993, suggesting that the William Brown he recorded in Arkansas in 1942 was the same man as the Paramount artist.[5] The recording was for a joint project between Fisk University and the Library of Congress documenting the music of Coahoma County, Mississippi in 1941 and 1942. Writing over fifty years later, Lomax forgot that he had actually recorded Willie the previous summer with Son House, Fiddlin' Joe Martin and Leroy Williams. Brown played second guitar on three performances by the whole band, and recorded one solo, "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor". The later biography is clear. Willie Brown, the Paramount artist, lived in Robinsonville, Mississippi from 1929 and moved to Lake Cormorant, Mississippi by 1935. He performed occasionally with Charley Patton, and continually with Son House until his death. After this, House ceased performing until his "rediscovery" in 1964. Brown died in Tunica, Mississippi in 1952 at the age of 52.


Happy Belated Birthday Robert Cray

I missed Robert Cray's birthday, which was on the first of the month (born August 1, 1953).  I hope he had a happy one, and that there are many happy returns of the day.

I like this song here that he did with Joe Bonamassa, it is good stuff. Love the vocals and of course these guys are guitar Gods!


Robert Cray @ Amazon.com


Sunday, August 05, 2012

Locked Down - Dr John

An excellent review by the BBC well worth reading
... Dan Auerbach from the modernist blues band The Black Keys. Best of all, Auerbach is interested neither in providing pastiches of Dr. John’s old sound nor weighing it down with misguided over-contemporary tricks; Locked Down is an unusual album, clearly based in the 21st century with its jagged guitars, staccato beats and stark production, but it’s also true to the spirit of the artist on its cover, being mean, lean and funky. ...
and the Observer
... Dr John has never really been uncool. Ever since New Orleans session musician Mac Rebennack began layering the feathers, trinkets, animal pelts and other accoutrements of the shaman-bard in the 1960s, his place in American musical history has been locked down. He hasn't ever really gone to ground, either. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the former heroin addict re-emerged from the floodwaters as the vengeful spirit and nagging conscience of America's least American city. ...




Friday, August 03, 2012

Crown and Treaty - Sweet Billy Pilgrim

BBC
A simply glorious new album from Buckinghamshire’s premier experimental outfit.....The density of instrumental colour and dynamic ambition contained in every song makes them akin to symphonies in miniature