Leon Redbone "Auld Lang Syne"

I love the little clip below, it features Leon Redbone on the Johnny Carson show. The horn section backing Mr. Redbone up is wonderful. And Merv Griffin's improve during "Auld Lag Syne" makes me laugh.

Notes from YouTube; Leon Redbone , Doc Severinsen , Tommy Newsom , Johnny Carson , Merv Griffin . Also ''Auld Lang Syne''

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!



Leon Redbone @Amazon.com

Jon Gindick "Auld Lang Syne"

Happy New Year Everybody!

I hope the new year runs all your blues away, or at least allow you to have fun with them. LOL.



Jon Gindick @Amazon.com

Anthony Gomes with New Soul Cowboys

George Winston - Remembrance: A Memorial Benefit

100% of artists proceeds from this CD will be donated to the Dancing Cat Humanitarian Relief Fund, which is administered by The California Community Foundation, to help those affected by 9/11. This fund will continue to help others in need in the future with donations to various organizations nationwide, including food banks, family assistance programs, and emergency disaster relief funds.





Remembrance: A Memorial Benefit

Big Jack Johnson - The Memphis Barbeque Sessions

PopMatters

To hear this material re-interpreted in a classic blues style by a bona fide living and breathing Delta bluesman is a rare treat. Each of the 13 songs on the album was recorded in one or two takes with no overdubs, which lends to the genuine feel of the recording.

The Memphis Barbeque Sessions

Blues Book: Texas Blues: The Rise of A Contemporary Sound

Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound (John and Robin Dickson Series in Texas Music)

According to Jim Sherman;

This is the most important book I am aware of on the history of Texas blues. And at $40 for 599 glossy, lavishly illustrated pages (and deeply discounted at the usual Internet kiosks) it's a remarkable bargain. Govenar, in addition to being a painstaking interviewer and researcher, is also a longtime archivist and photo historian who founded the nonprofit Documentary Arts and has a close working relationship with the Texas African American Photography Archive, both based in Dallas. This book is a unique collection of publicity photos, snapshots, and reproductions of concert posters, album labels and album covers. It's a marvelous visual record. There is also text--analysis, biography and interviews--tracing the Texas blues through its many twists and turns from the days of slavery to the present. The sheer quantity of information presents a challenge to coherence, and Govenar is to be commended for merging history and geography into a chronology that makes immediate and intuitive sense.

Book Details

* Author: Alan Govenar
* Hardcover: 624 pages
* Publisher: TAMU Press; illustrated edition edition (October 9, 2008)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 158544605X
* ISBN-13: 978-1585446056
* Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 1.9 inches

A selection of Books on the blues in our Amazon.com store.

Gospel Blues In The Spotlight - The Gospel Of The Blues - Rosetta Tharpe

The Gospel of Blues by Sister Rosetta Tharpe One of the best gospel blues albums around is from one of the musicians who mastered both gospel and blues music. That would of course be Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

This selection of songs shows the full range of Roosetta Tharpe. While she was primarily a gospel singer, there are some great blues numbers here also.

This album helps to make the point that I frequently try to make, that gospel music and the blues are closely related. Often times more so then many fans of both types of music know and understand.

Track Listing

1. My Man And I 2:57
2. This Train 2:39
3. Sit Down 2:13
4. Trouble In Mind 2:27
5. Shout, Sister, Shout! 2:40
6. Rock Me 2:40
7. Nobody's Fault But Mine 2:59
8. I Want A Tall Skinny Papa 2:51
9. God Don't Like It 2:24
10. What Is The Soul Of Man? 2:30
11. Singing In My Soul 2:54
12. Strange Things Happen Everyday 2:46
13. Two Little Fishes And Five Loaves Of Bread 2:56
14. Jonah 3:01
15. Didn't It Rain 2:33
16. The Natural Facts 3:12
17. Down By The Riverside 2:29
18. Up Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air 2:27

Nine Below Zero - It's Never Too Late

Named Nine Below Zero after the Sonny Boy Williamson II penned song.






Nine Below Zero

Careless Love

Stevie Ray Vaughan - The Sky is Crying

As the Years go Passing By

Too quickly

Knockin on Heaven's Door

This is the late Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers covering Bob Dylan's Knockin On Heaven's Door.


Beau Jocque died young, at just 46, at the height of his career. He had a very hot Zydeco band through the late 80s and 90s, and along with a handful of other bands featuring button accordion, helped revitalize Zydeco music in the 90s. He brought all kinds of musical bits and pieces into his Zydeco, as you can hear in this piece.

From Memphis to Frisco

I hope Santa was good to all the blues fans out there

Sista Monica - Lioness of the Blues

Sista Monica Parker, aka the “Lioness of the Blues,” is an award-winning blues, soul, and gospel singer, songwriter, producer, public speaker, director and minister of music.





Sista Monica Amazon Store

You make the call: Freddie King or Eric Clapton

Which do you prefer? I like this song, it brings all those sad blues feelings that mix so well with the sadness that Christmas can also sometimes invoke.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas and that your blues are not too blue.

But you tell me, who does "Christmas Tears" better Freddie King or Eric Clapton?






And a very Merry Christmas shout out to Blues Pinoy for bringing the song to my attention.

Ben Harper - White Lies For Dark Times

Allmusic Review

The bassline is enormous and the second guitar matches both volume and nastiness with that slide. In other words, this sounds like a band playing this jam, not Harper and his band. One can hear traces of Jimi Hendrix, early ZZ Top, and Johnny Winter in the attack, but it's pure rocking blues thunder and lightning spit out via Texas and the Delta.

White Lies For Dark Times

Louis Armstrong - The night before Christmas

Joanna Connor

A very skilfull guitarist






Nothing but the Blues

B.B. King, - Christmas

Christina Aguilera & BB King - Merry Xmas Baby In Washington
Uploaded by MyAngel_Xtina. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Why'd you do it baby?

Why'd you put that thing on me?


Albert Luandrew was born September 5, 1907 and had the blues until March 17, 1995. He took the name Sunnyland Slim after a train, the Sunnyland, that ran between Memphis and St. Louis. Mr. Slim played some mean piano.

He came up to Toronto one time in the early 80s I think, and played Albert's Hall at the Brunswick House, which was the best blues room in the city back then. I remember him singing, "Be careful how you vote people, be careful how you vote, cause the man you vote for just might let you down." Later I told people, man we saw Sunnyland Slim last night, the great Sunnyland Slim and they looked at me like I was nuts.

Erja Lyytinen - Grip of the Blues

This Finnish beauty Blues artist's web site is here







Grip of the Blues

Hadda Brooks "Society Boogie"

You know as I watch these old records of my favorite musicians like, in this case Hadda Brooks (The Queen of Boogie) I find it hard to believe that we actually at one time got all our music this way. It almost seems inconceivable to me now. And what adds to the strangeness of this feeling I have, is the fact that I'm not some young kid who never own a record player.

Maybe it was all those years of listening to 45s that make me feel this way.

Call me crazy and please enjoy this cut of Hadda Brooks playing "Society Boogie".



Hadda Brooks @Amazon.com

Hadda Brooks @Wikipedia

John Lee Hooker: "Blues For Christmas"

John Lee Hooker preforming "Blues For Christmas".



John Lee Hooker @Amazon.com

Black Diamond Heavies

LastFM

Most of their material is original, although covers are sometimes thrown in as tribute to .... such as John Lee Hooker, T-Model Ford, Muddy Waters, Nina Simone, and Tom Waits. The Heavies continuously gain momentum on their quest to unleash the punk-ass blues on the world.

Every Damn Time

Aynsley Lister: Equilibrium

While Lister’s roots may be the blues, his own material incorporates more contemporary influences. His hard hitting rhythms and guitar work are reminiscent of a young Clapton. The only British artist to be featured in Classic Rocks 2007 review: TOP 10 CONTEMPORARY BLUES ARTISTS….......alongside The White Stripes, The Black Keys, John Mayer, Jon Spencer, Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks and the North Mississippi Allstars.

In May 2009, Aynsley opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd on the UK dates for their God and Guns tour.





Equilibrium

PS22 Chorus 2007 "Blues For Christmas"

I love posting this public school chorus doing "Blues For Christmas". And the kid with the booming voice, here is hoping that he and all the other kids in this video are having a wonderful Christmas this year.

PS22 Chorus 2007 "Blues For Christmas" Lil Boy w/BIG voice!


Great song by John Lee Hooker called Christmas Blues, or maybe Blues For Christmas. Either way, it's funny, it rocks, and the chorus really has a great feel for the blues!

Malene Mortensen "Another Day"

Ray Charles "That Spirit of Christmas"

Ray Charles preforming "That Spirit of Christmas".



Ray Charles Christmas Music @Amazon

Mike Sanchez - Boogie Woogie

If you like then visit his web site here




the only one currently available on AmazonUK
Women and Cadillacs

Earl King "Santa Don't Let Me Down"

Earl King "Santa Don't Let Me Down"



Earl King @Amazon.com

Sweet Emma Barrett "I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of My Jellyroll"

According to Wikipedia;

"Sweet Emma" Barrett (March 25, 1897, New Orleans, Louisiana – January 28, 1983) was a self-taught jazz pianist and singer who worked with the Original Tuxedo Orchestra between 1923 and 1936, first under Papa Celestin, then William Ridgely. Also active with Armand Piron, John Robichaux, and Sidney Desvigne, Sweet Emma Barrett was at her most powerful in the early 1960s and became an iconic figure with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Your jellyroll might be fine, but it ain't as good as mine...



Sweet Emma Barrett @Amazon.com

click image

Mighty Mo Rogers

This is his latest offering
Dispatches from The Moon

Sam Myers and Lowell Fulson "Lonesome Christmas"

Sam Myers and Lowell Fulson performing "Lonesome Christmas".



Lowell Fulson @Amazon.com

Big Walter Horton - Harmonica virtuoso

Last FM

Also known as “Mumbles”, and “Shakey” because of his head motion while playing the harmonica, Horton was active on the Chicago blues scene during the 1960s as blues music gained popularity with white audiences. From the early 1960s onward, he recorded and appeared frequently as a sideman with Eddie Taylor, Johnny Shines, Johnny Young, Sunnyland Slim, Willie Dixon and many others. He toured extensively, usually as a backing musician, and in the 1970s he performed at blues and folk festivals in the U.S. and Europe, frequently with Willie Dixon’s Chicago Blues All-Stars. He has also appeared as a guest on recordings by blues and rock stars such as Fleetwood Mac and Johnny Winter

Nat Reese Named to WV Music Hall of Fame

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is reporting about the life and times of musician Nat Reese in an article titled Blues Guitarist named to WV Music Hall of Fame. He is a Mercer County musician who "has been called West Virginia’s premiere bluesman," but his musical talents extend far beyond just blues music.

December 15, 2009 · Nat Reese of Mercer County has been called West Virginia’s premiere bluesman, but his musical talents extend far beyond that.

At age 85, Nat Reese of Princeton WV still sends chills through his audience.

“They call me a blues man, which I sing blues, but I like country music, I like gospel music, blues, and swing,” said Reese at his induction into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in November.

Down load mp3 provided by WVP Media

Blind Blake "Lonsome Chirstmas Blues"

Blind Blake @Amazon.com

I cover the Waterfront

I don't have to choose since they are all so good in their own right. Does anyone have a particular preference or memory?

Charley Jordan "No Christmas Blues"

Charley Jordan @Amazon.com

Los Texmaniacs go to War

Warner Williams and Jay Summerour: A little Bit of Blues

Warner Williams and Jay Summerour are an American folk duo, who sometimes perform under the name Little Bit of Blues. They have played at a number of folk and blues festivals, as well as at concerts at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Williams and Summerour are known for a style called the Piedmont blues, which is a regional variant on the blues that occurs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia.

Blind Boy Fuller Sonny Terry Precious Lord

Blind Boy Fuller @ SqueezeMyLemon
Sonny Terry @ SqueezeMyLemon
Blind Boy Fuller @Amazon.com

BB King at his best

Part of BBC review

This collection spans two decades of the Mississippi blues master's BBC output, from 1978 to 1998. The material is mostly recorded at gigs in London, Glasgow and Croydon, but a pair of live-in-the-studio session tracks are tagged on at the end, numbers which were originally laid down for Andy Kershaw's Radio 1 show. The King sound is eternal, and it's remarkable how little his formula has changed over this time span (and indeed before and after the selected years). The one development is that as age advances, B.B. has decelerated the set's pace, including longer onstage patter between numbers, and even over each song's vamping musical introduction.

Live At The BBC

Hadda Brooks "Hadda's Boogie"

Here is a YouTube video of a 78 rpm recording of Hadda Brooks performing her boogie-woogie song "Hadda's Boogie"

Seasick Steve - Man from Another Time

BBC review here

This third solo album is a cracking collection, one that rings with the depth of twang comparable only to the likes of the legendary Ry Cooder. That’s not surprising, given that Steve (real name Steven Gene Wold) sticks just as assiduously to the analogue way, all valve amps and ribbon microphones along with the extraordinarily-built instruments he uses: he introduces track three by saying, “Alright, little cigar box…”

Man From Another Time

Canned Heat "Christmas Blues"

Canned Heat preforming "Christmas Blues".



Christmas Blues by Canned Heat

Freddie Roulette - lap steel guitar

Leadbelly Newsreel

File this one under blues history.



Notes from YouTube;

This is an excerpt from a 1935 March of Time newsreel (produced by Time magazine) which re-enacts Leadbelly's release from Angola Prison, Louisiana. John Lomax plays himself, and Leadbelly performs 'Goodnight Irene'.

Thanks to my twitter friend The Ash Grove

Hadda Brooks singing for Bogey.

I think this video of Hadda Brooks singing for Humphrey Bogart in the movie "In A Lonely Place" is so cool.



Notes from YouTube:

"I Hadn't Anyone Till You" written by Ray Noble and performed by Hadda Brooks. It is from the movie 'In A Lonely Place' (1950) starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame.

This song is also mentioned in the credits of Michael Jackson's movie "This Is It".

I hadn't anyone, til you
I was a lonely one, til you
I used to lie awake and wonder
If there could ever be
Someone in this wide, wide world
Just made for me
Now I see
I had to save my love, for you
I never gave my love, til you
And with my lonely heart, demanding it
Cupid took a hand in it
I hadn't anyone, til you

Hadda Brooks @Amazon.com

Hadda Brooks @Wikipedia

It's the Birthday of Big Mama Thornton

Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was born on December 11, 1926 and she passed away on July 25, 1984. I've always thought of her as one of the great ladies of blues shouting, and she also was a wonderful harmonica player.

According to Wikipedia;

Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984) was an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She was the first to record the hit song "Hound Dog" in 1952. The song was #1 on the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold almost two million copies. Three years later, Elvis Presley recorded his version, based on a version performed by Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. In a similar occurrence, she wrote and recorded "Ball 'n' Chain," which became a hit for her. Janis Joplin later recorded "Ball and Chain," and was a huge success in the late 1960s.

With the Muddy Waters Blues Band 1966






Big Mama Thornton @Amazon.com

It's the Birthday of Guitar Slim

According to Wikipedia;

Guitar Slim (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959) was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do". It is a song that is listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Here we have a video using Guitar Slims song "The Story of My Life".



Earl King performing Guitar Slim's "The Things I Used To Do".




Guitar Slim @Amazon.com

Esther Philips: Misery

Esther Philips and a small combo, which according to the Bob Corritore Blues Newsletter the is likely Johhny Otis' band, performing "Misery".



Esther Phillips @Amazon.com

Hadda Brooks Queen of the Boogie

Hadda Brooks "Queen of the Boogie" performing "That's My Desire".

I first saw Ms. Brooks during a performance of hers at the PB (Pacific Beach) Street Fair here in San Diego. I was grooving so much to her music that she picked me out of the audience and called me up to the stage and serenaded me.

Her flair, charm, skill at playing boogie woogie and sense of humor won over the crowd of young twenty something beach going crowd that day. No small feat, for a lady of her age.

I got to meet her after her set and she was vary gracious, and signed her autograph for me.

I often think of her and her wonderful music.



Notes from YouTube: Lovely romantic song from 1947 by singer/pianist Hadda Brooks.

The guitarist on this recording is Teddy Bunn, a superb guitar player who was playing Rock and Roll in the 1930's.

Hadda Brooks @Amazon.com

Hadda Brooks @Wikipedia

Mahalia Jackson - go tell it on the Mountain

The definitive song for Christmas IMHO



Go Tell It on the Mountain