General Comments for all Naweedna CDs

Will Moyle’s Jazz Alive, a locally produced master collection of classic jazz. The Will Moyle stuff is the best collection
of jazz I’ve ever heard. Originally recorded by me in the 80s.

FFUSA: Folk Festival USA, a nationally distributed collection of excerpts recorded live at various folk festivals around
the country – varying from traditional country to purely ethnic, to socio-political (one lesbian festival, in fact). FFUSA
is eclectic, and the live recordings often catch a lot of crowd noise as well as bad microphone placement. Originally
recorded by me in the 80s.

GTWG: The Glory That Was Grease, another locally produced broadcast that featured the formative years of Rock
and Roll from the 50s and 60s – my youth. The “Grease” may have been “Greece”, the Rochester suburb where the
program originated. The GTWG is marginal but good for reminding my generation of their teenage years – if that can
be considered a good thing. Originally recorded by me in the 80s.

BBGR: Big Band Go Round, yet another local program featuring … Big Band, but also including most anything
recorded from 20s to the 50s. The BBGR is so broad that it is unlikely to be duplicated anywhere. However, you have
to have a fondness for the crackle of scratchy old 78’s and an appetite for schmaltz to fully appreciate it. Originally
recorded by me in the 80s.

PHC & PHC-D: Prairie Home Companion – the middle years. I didn’t get started with PHC until the 80s, so I missed
the early period, and I stopped recording when Garrison retired – for the first time. Remember the unfortunate guy
who took over the time slot from Garrison? Me, neither. AS IF anyone could do that – a classic no-win situation.
When Garrison un-retired (like Michael Jordan), the second version of the show was based in NYC, and I didn’t care
for it that much, so I didn’t record it. A few years later I discovered that he had gone back to the old format and was
broadcasting from St Paul, MN. I’ve been digitizing those programs in real time over the last couple years, and they
are designated as PHC-D. The PHC stuff contains the essence of American music – in my not-so-humble opinion.
The only nationally broadcast show that ever came close to matching PHC for quality and variety was the TV show,
Northern Exposure – go figure. I have two Northern CDs; if there are more, I would like to know about them ASAP.

The dates represent the release date of the album or CD source. These dates are as accurate as I can obtain. The
dates for some tracks from compilations reflect the release date of the compilation.
As usual, my comments are in blue. The other information comes from www.allmusic.com. Additions and corrections are
welcome … encouraged, in fact.
The Playlist and Notes for Naweedna 2004
01
Sold - Tonic Sol-Fa
PHC (2004)
This group appeared on one of PHC’s recent shows. It was instant love. I especially liked this track and thought
it would make a good lead track for the CD. I tried to order one of their CDs, but there is a back log of orders
and it will not ship until January. I guess a lot of people liked their stuff. Hope you do too.
02
Bread & Wine - Gary McFarland
Downloaded (unknown date)
This is not the typical McFarland I remember from the 60s. I found this track while trying to download his older
stuff – one of which is on the Naweedna 2002-A CD. After a few listenings, I found that I like its somewhat
nonsensical verse with that endearing “Bread & Wine” refrain. What do you think?
Largely forgotten now, Gary McFarland was one of the more significant contributors to orchestral jazz during the
early ‘60s. An “adult prodigy,” as Gene Lees accurately noted, McFarland was an ingenious composer whose
music could reveal shades of complex emotional subtlety and clever childlike simplicity. While in the Army, he
became interested in jazz and attempted to play trumpet, trombone, and piano. In 1955, he took up playing the
vibes. Displaying a quick ability for interesting writing, he obtained a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music.
He spent one semester there and with the encouragement of pianist John Lewis, concentrated on large-band
arrangements of his own compositions. He attained early notoriety and success working with Gerry Mulligan,
Johnny Hodges, John Lewis, Stan Getz, Bob Brookmeyer, and Anita O’Day. McFarland began devoting more
attention to his own career by 1963 when he released what is often regarded as his most significant recording,
The Gary McFarland Orchestra/Special Guest Soloist: Bill Evans. He also recorded in small-group settings,
which featured his clever vibes playing. The success of his instrumental pop collection, Soft Samba, allowed
McFarland to form his first performing group. But his recordings thereafter, more often than not, featured an
easy listening instrumental pop bent. McFarland went on to excellent work with Gabor Szabo, Shirley Scott,
Zoot Sims, and Steve Kuhn, but only rarely featured his outstanding compositional talents (as in 1968’s America
the Beautiful). He formed the short-lived Skye Records label with Szabo and vibist Cal Tjader in the late 60s
and continued to record prolifically. By the late 60s, though, he was forgotten by his initial jazz followers and he
died in 1971 after being poisoned in a New York City bar. — Douglas Payne
03
It’s Been A Long Long Time – Harry James & Kitty Kallen
Your Hit Parade (1945)
I wanted to include something from the Big Band era and this one stuck in my mind. It’s from the 1945 Your Hit
Parade CD, so place yourself in the position of those waiting for the GIs to return from war. It’s been a long,
long time indeed. Oh, this is the same Kitty Kallen that some of you older folks might remember from the What’s
My Line TV show.
04
Hobbies – NRBQ
Tiddlywinks (1980)
NRBQ – musical chameleons. Got turned on to them by Mahoney and this comes from one of his CDs. If you
are like we are, you will be singing the Ah-Ah-Ah thing in your sleep. The original by David Sanborn has a flute
where NRBQ opted to do the Ah-Ah-Ahs.
NRBQ
AKA New Rhythm & Blues Quintet
Formed 1967 in Miami, FLGroup Members Al Anderson, Steve Ferguson, Tom Ardolino, Frank Gadler, Joey
Spampinato, Johnny Spampinato, Tom Staley
Genres Rock
NRBQ (the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) have amassed a fanatical cult following over more than two
decades of recording and touring with their incredibly versatile eclecticism; their music might veer from country
to rockabilly to pop to bar-band R&B to blues to free jazz, all in the same album. The group's wacky, sometimes
corny sense of humor and in-concert unpredictability (the band sometimes vows to play whatever song
audience members request) have endeared them to fans, even if some find them a bit precious. The band was
formed in Miami in 1967 by keyboardist Terry Adams, guitarist Steve Ferguson (both former members of the
Louisville, Kentucky band Mersey Beats USA), singer Frank Gadler, drummer Tom Staley, and bassist/singer
Joey Spampinato. After moving to New Jersey and playing clubs, NRBQ attracted immediate attention with their
wide-ranging musicianship and were signed to Columbia. On their 1969 self-titled debut, the band covered
rockabilly and Sun Ra on one record and pulled it off; not surprisingly, rave reviews followed. NRBQ followed it
with Boppin' the Blues, a collaboration with rockabilly singer Carl Perkins; it too received critical praise, but
Columbia was unhappy with the group's sales and dropped it. Ferguson left the group and was replaced by
former Wildweeds guitarist Al Anderson; Gadler left in 1972, and in 1974, drummer Tom Ardolino replaced
Staley. This lineup carried on through 1994, recording albums for labels including Kama Sutra, Rounder, and
Mercury (At Yankee Stadium), as well as their own Red Rooster. NRBQ and its members have worked with
Skeeter Davis (1985's She Sings, They Play), John Sebastian, jazz artist Carla Bley, and even unofficial
manager and wrestling star Captain Lou Albano, who appeared on 1986's Lou and the Q. Joey Spampinato
appeared in the Chuck Berry film Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll as a member of the backing band. In 1989, the band
got another one-album major-label deal with Virgin, which resulted in Wild Weekend, their first album to make
the charts since the debut record. Al Anderson joined a Nashville publishing house in 1991 and had songs
recorded by several major country artists, including Alabama, Carlene Carter, and Ricky Van Shelton. After
recording Message for the Mess Age, the group's 1994 album for Forward Records, Anderson left NRBQ for a
solo career. He was replaced months later by Spampinato's brother Johnny. After a handful of live efforts
including 1997's Tokyo: Recorded Live at on Air West Tokyo and 1998's You Gotta Be Loose: Recorded Live in
U.S.A., the group resurfaced in 1999 with a self-titled studio release. - Steve Huey
05
Cry To Me - Betty Harris
1963 Time-Life Rock ‘n’ Roll Era
Okay, I just love the way this starts out so plaintively and then breaks into that gutsy Cry To Me. I get chills
every time I hear it.
06
Love For Sale - Marian McPartland
Bossa Nova + Soul (ca 1965)
It seems I have a thing for electric piano. Maybe it reminds me of a small organ. Whatever, I’ve always liked it,
and it is the featured jazz piece on the top half of the CD. The album was not well received, but I find it hugely
entertaining, especially Green Dolphin Street, which will likely be included on a future Naweedna compilation.
Marian McPartland has become famous for hosting her Piano Jazz radio program since 1978, but she was a
well-respected pianist decades before. She played in a four-piano vaudeville act in England and performed on
the European continent for the troops during World War II. In Belgium in 1944, she met cornetist Jimmy
McPartland and they soon married. Marian moved with her husband to the United States in 1946, where she
sometimes played with him even though her style was more modern than his Dixieland-oriented groups.
McPartland eventually had her own trio at the Embers (1950) and the Hickory House (1952-1960), which until
1957 included drummer Joe Morello. She recorded regularly for Savoy and Capitol during the 1950s and also
made sessions for Argo (1958), Time (1960 and 1963), Sesac, and Dot. Although eventually divorced from
Jimmy, they remained close friends, sometimes played together, and even remarried just weeks before his
death. She formed her own Halycon label and recorded several fine albums between 1969-1977. McPartland
also made three albums for Tony Bennett's Improv label during 1976-1977 before signing with Concord, where
she has been since 1978. The Jazz Alliance label has made available over 30 CD's worth of material from
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz show, some of which are quite fascinating and significant. - Scott Yanow
Bossa Nova + Soul Liner Notes (vinyl) (unknown date – 60s?)
This album is quite different from anything that I have ever recorded. One of the interesting and unusual
features is the addition of the conga drum and tambourine to my regular group. We have been playing the
Bossa Nova since Dave Bailey joined the trio several months ago and demonstrated this new rhythm that he
and Ben Tucker had heard while on tour in Brazil earlier this year.
Bossa Nova literally means ‘something new’ and though it is based on the samba and has the same basic ‘two’
feeling, it is actually a variation of the standard clave rhythm which is changed to coincide with the guitar
accompaniment used in most South American groups. A relaxed sensuous rhythm, it is intensified by the use of
the bandero or tambourine, cabasa, bass, guitar and one or more horns. We used the conga drum although it is
not a part of the “authentic” Bossa Nova combination) and Ralph Dorsey played on it a rhythm similar to the one
used by the South American drummers, (that is played across the tom-tom with the left hand) while Dave kept
the basic samba beat going.
I decided that I must have a tambourine on the date too, after hearing Dizzy Gillespie play it one night in Birdland. At the session, we all started to smile when we heard how great it sounded. Since Bob Crowder, the
tambourine player had not rehearsed with the rest of us; there was a sort of excitement as we heard the tunes
with the tambourine added for the first time. We, in fact, used it to good effect on every number, some of which
were not Bossa Nova but straight jazz with a Latin flavor. I also decided to experiment with the Wurlitzer
electronic piano on LOVE FOR SALE, STRANGER IN A DREAM and COMING HOME BABY. After hearing the
playback we were pleased with the funky sound of the little electronic piano. At times, it seemed reminiscent of
a guitar, especially in the low register. Just for fun, I played some ‘eights” on a chorus of LOVE FOR SALE—
eight bars on piano, eight on the electronic piano; on COMING HOME BABY (written by Ben Tucker, who also
wrote BABY YOU SHOULD KNOW IT), I used it on the introduction and ending.
My own tunes, WITH YOU IN MIND and STRANGER IN A DREAM lend the effectively to the feeling of the
Bossa Nova. Ben and I worked out a little blues with a six-eight feeling called TELL ME. We also used the same
six-eight pattern on SWEET AND LOVELY. STRAIGHT NO CHASER features Dave and Ralph alternating
twelve bar solos and GREEN DOLPHIN STREET just happens to be one of my favorite tunes. – M. McPartland
07
Cajun Moon - Maria Muldaur
Louisiana Love Call (1992)
I wanted to include a Maria piece, and when I was auditioning candidates, this one just grabbed me. I really like
the seductive scat stuff she does in the middle. The older Maria material is still the best, but this one works
pretty well, don’t you think?
Singer Maria Muldaur was born Maria D'Amato in New York City. In the '60s, she was a member of the New
York-based Even Dozen Jug Band and later of the Boston-based Jim Kweskin Jug Band, who also included her
husband, Geoff Muldaur, from whom she was divorced in 1972. She found solo success with the sultry single
"Midnight at the Oasis," which was featured on her debut solo album, Maria Muldaur, in 1973, and she followed
with several similar albums, though her commercial success declined. In the '80s, Muldaur began performing as
a Christian artist. She continued to work the club circuit successfully while issuing records like 1994's Meet Me
at Midnite, 1996's Fanning the Flames, and 1999's Meet Me Where They Play the Blues. Music for Lovers
followed in fall 2000. - William Ruhlmann
08
Sitting On Top Of The World - Harry Manx
Live (2004)
Got this one from Marilyn McMahon. Last November, Mikey ‘n’ Mare, Bob’n’Char and Janie’n’Bog had a 30years-since-we’ve-all-been-together reunion, and Mare played this for our enjoyment. I ripped the CD she
bought at the concert. This is some pretty interesting stuff – and the story is good, too. Hey, there’s even a
connection with Ry Cooder & Taj Mahal (see below).
Harry Manx took the sum of his travels around the world — and specifically in India — and melded what he'd
learned there with the blues to create his own unique sound. Manx's debut, Dog My Cat, which was released in
2000, features his expertise on an Indian instrument called a Mohan Veena, as well as on a lap slide guitar. The
musician, who hails from the Isle of Man, traveled extensively throughout Europe and Japan, spending a
decade overseas. In 1990 while still in Japan, he heard the Mohan Veena for the first time through a recording
made by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, who created the 20-stringed instrument. Manx soon went to Bhatt's native India.
He spent five years there with Bhatt as his mentor and the two musicians toured the country for numerous
performances. The Grammy Awards gave a nod to Bhatt in 1994 for his collaboration on the album Meeting by
the River with Ry Cooder. Manx spent his childhood in Canada. During the '70s, he went back to Europe, where
he penned songs and played at a number of festivals. He returned to Canada in 2000 and made his home in
British Columbia. He has toured with bluesman Taj Mahal through Australia.
09
I Can't Believe You're In Love With Me - Hot Club of Cow Town
PHC (2004)
Another group discovered on PHC this last year. Mahoney saw them when they passed through Rochester, and
now they are Mahoney Approved. I really like western swing, and they do a good job with the genre – and the
girl singer is pretty fair, eh? You gotta be good with a name like Elana Fremerman ;-)
Western swing revivalists Hot Club of Cowtown formed in San Diego in 1996; originally a duo pairing
singer/violinist Elana Fremerman and singer/guitarist Whit Smith, a subsequent move to Austin, TX made room
for the addition of bassist Billy Horton. Signing to HighTone, the trio issued their debut album Swingin'
Stampede! in the fall of 1998; the follow-up, Tall Tales, appeared a year later. New bassist Matt Weiner joined
Smith and Fremerman for 2000's Dev'lish Mary. 2002's Ghost Train came two years later, and it showed the
group focusing more on original material and cutting back on the amount of covers. - Jason Ankeny
Tall Tales
Artist Hot Club of Cowtown
Album Title Tall Tales
Date of Release 1999 inprint
AMG Rating 4 * checked
Genre Western Swing
Time 41:10
Kicking in with the instrumental bluegrass fiddle number "Draggin' the Bow," things get hotter when the Hot Club
add a heap of period-style originals into their Western swing mix. There's the Bourbon Street sound of "Emily"
and "Darling You and I Are Through," and then there are the standards like "Polkadots and Moonbeams" and
"Always and Always." Old-time country ("I Laugh When I Think How I Cried Over You" and "Red Hot Mama") is
yet another style in the Hot Club's bag of successful tricks, which are authentic yet somehow absolutely fresh and something to aspire to for the pack of neo-roots bands. - Denise Sullivan
Swingin' Stampede
Artist Hot Club of Cowtown
Album Title Swingin' Stampede
Date of Release Sep 1, 1998 inprint
AMG Rating 4 *
Genre Western Swing
On this, their debut, the Hot Club of Cowtown jump out of the gate like a fired-up, pared down version of the
Texas Playboys. A trio, their playing is light and assured, full of grins. What guitarist Whit Smith and fiddler
Elana Fremerman lack in vocal prowess they make up for with honest chops and spirit. This record captures the
ambience of old-time swing nearly to perfection. - Jim Smith
10
Guitar Chords - John Hartford
FFUSA (ca 1980)
Got this from Folk Festival USA way back in the early 80s. Rachael, this one’s for YOU and anyone else who is
trying to learn guitar. Don’t forget where your capo is … hey, that reminds me of Dan Hicks’ I've Got A Capo On
My Brain; maybe I’ll do that one next year ;-)
John Hartford was one of country music's true eccentrics. Best-known for the pop standard "Gentle on My
Mind," he was a multi-talented musician who played a variety of stringed instruments, and was also an author
and riverboat captain. As a songwriter he was known for a sharp, off-beat wit and music wavering between folk,
modern country, and old-timey string music.
The son of a doctor and a painter, John Hartford (born John Harford) was born in New York City. When he was
an infant, his family moved to St. Louis. It was there that Hartford developed his lifelong passion for the
Mississippi and its riverboats. By age 13, he was an accomplished fiddler and five-string banjo player whose
main influences were Stringbean and Earl Scruggs. He founded his first bluegrass band in high school and went
on to work various odd jobs ranging from a deejay to a deckhand on a riverboat. In the early '60s, Hartford cut a
few singles, but they went nowhere. He moved to Nashville and began working as a deejay and a session man.
There he got involved with songwriters like Kris Kristofferson and Mickey Newbury and attempted to sell his
songs to record labels and publishing companies.
In 1966, Hartford released his debut album, John Hartford Looks at Life, which was produced by Chet Atkins.
The following year, he released Earthwords & Music, which featured his first hit single, "Gentle On My Mind." In
1967, when Glen Campbell's cover of the song became a Top 40 country and pop hit in the U.S.; following
Campbell's example, a number of other artists - including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Aretha Franklin recorded the song, providing Hartford with enough money to turn his back to pop stardom and record his own
music. Still, he became a star of sorts, appearing regularly on CBS's Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and later
on the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour. He also played on the Byrds' 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo and
Doug Dillard's The Banjo Album. By the end of the decade, Hartford also earned his riverboat pilot's license,
and frequently worked aboard the Julia Belle Swain.
In 1971, Hartford left California and founded a bluegrass band featuring guitarist Norman Blake, dobro player
Tut Taylor and master fiddler Vassar Clements. In the course of the next year, he also cut two solo albums,
Aero Plain and Morning Bugle, and made guest appearances on albums by James Taylor, Seals & Croft, Hoyt
Axton and the Dillards. Hartford recorded Tennessee Jubilee in 1975 with the assistance of Benny Martin and
Lester Flatt. In 1976, he released one of his best albums, Mark Twang, and continued recording steadily
through the '70s and '80s. Among his most notable albums were his 1980 rock & roll-meets-bluegrass reunion
with the Dillards, Permanent Wave and Shel Silverstein's The Great Conch Train Robbery. He began
performing with his son Jamie in the late '80s and also became involved with Opryland, where he helped launch
an old-fashioned steamboat ride. He also recorded and re-issued his earlier work on his own Small Dog Barking
label. Speed of the Old Long Bow followed in 1998, and a year later Hartford resurfaced with Good Old Boys.
On June 4, 2001, he lost a long battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma when he died in a Nashville hospital at the
age of 63. - Sandra Brennan
11
On The Road Again - Canned Heat
The Best Of (1972)
I expect a lot of you are familiar with this track – it was a big hit way back when and continues to get a lot of
play. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly entertained when I heard it again after a long hiatus. Hope you have the
same response.
A hard-luck blues band of the '60s, Canned Heat was founded by blues historians and record collectors Alan
Wilson and Bob Hite. They seemed to be on the right track and played all the right festivals (including Monterey
and Woodstock, making it very prominently into the documentaries about both) but somehow never found a
lasting audience.
Certainly their hearts were in the right place. Canned Heat's debut album — released shortly after their
appearance at Monterey — was every bit as deep into the roots of the blues as any other combo of the time
mining similar turf, with the exception of the original Paul Butterfield band. Hite was nicknamed "The Bear" and
stalked the stage in the time-honored tradition of Howlin' Wolf and other large-proportioned bluesmen. Wilson
was an extraordinary harmonica player, with a fat tone and great vibrato. His work on guitar, especially in open
tunings (he played on Son House's rediscovery recordings of the mid-'60s, incidentally) gave the band a depth
and texture that most other rhythm players could only aspire to. Henry Vestine — another dyed-in-the-wool
record collector — was the West Coast's answer to Michael Bloomfield and capable of fretboard fireworks at a
moment's notice.
Canned Heat's breakthrough moment occurred with the release of their second album, establishing them with
hippie ballroom audiences as the "kings of the boogie." As a way of paying homage to the musician they got the
idea from in the first place, they later collaborated on an album with John Lee Hooker that was one of the elder
bluesman's most successful outings with a young white (or black, for that matter) combo backing him up. After
two big chart hits with "Goin' up the Country" and an explosive version of Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Work
Together," Wilson died under mysterious (probably drug-related) circumstances in 1970, and Hite carried on
with various reconstituted versions of the band until his death just before a show in 1981, from a heart seizure.
Still, the surviving members — led by drummer Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra — continued touring and recording,
recruiting new vocalist Walter Trout; he was replaced in 1985 by James Thornbury, who fronted the band for the
next decade. After Thornbury exited in 1995, Canned Heat tapped Robert Lucas to assume lead vocal duties;
they soon recorded The Canned Heat Blues Band, which sadly was Vestine's last recording with the group —
he died in Paris in December 1997 in the wake of the band's recent tour. Boogie 2000 followed two years later.
The Best of Canned Heat [EMI]
Artist Canned Heat
Album Title Best of Canned Heat [EMI]
Date of Release 1972 (release)
AMG Rating 4.5 * checked
Genre Rock
Time 38:01
All of Canned Heat's best tracks and biggest hits ("Goin' up the Country," "On the Road Again") are included on
this single-disc collection. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
On the Road Again (Jones/Wilson) - 3:26
Same All Over (Canned Heat) - 2:49
Let's Work Together (Harrison) - 2:49
Bullfrog Blues (Cook/Hite/Taylor/Vestine/Wilson) - 2:17
Time Was (Cook/DeLaParra/Hite/Taylor/Vestine/Wilson) - 3:21
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
12
Boogie Music (Tatman) - 3:00
Going up the Country (Wilson) - 2:51
Amphetamine Annie (Canned Heat) - 3:33
Rollin' and Tumblin' (Morganfield) - 3:07
Fried Hockey Boogie (Taylor) - 11:09
Wet Me Down (Trinidadian Carnival Soca) – Johnny King
Global Celebration, Gatherings (1990)
This is the feature track for this year’s CD.
Way back in 1990, we bought this four CD set called Global Celebration. Each CD has a separate theme; this
track comes from the Gatherings CD. The others are: Earth Spirit, Dancing With The Gods, and Passages.
There are several interesting tracks on these CDs – if you like world music. This particular track is that year’s
winner at the Trinidad Carnival. Hey, wouldn’t be great to have a CD full of annual winners? Can you sit still
while listening to this? Let me know ;-)
13
See Line Woman - Nina Simone (w/ Christine & Katherine Shipp)
Best of (1964)
So there we were listening to our scrambled playlist when Nina’s See Line Woman came up. Whoa, that sounds
familiar. I searched the music library and found Sea Lion Woman by Christine & Katherine Shipp on the Library
of Congress Field Recordings CD. It seems to be a skip rope song that Nina adapted in her own style and
renamed See Line Woman. The Shipp track is only a minute long, so I decided to blend Nina’s version in the
middle of the Shipp sister’s original. This is my first attempt to “make music” – I hope you like it because I may
try to do this sort of thing more in the future ;-)
Of all the major singers of the late 20th century, Nina Simone is one of the hardest to classify. She's recorded
extensively in the soul, jazz, and pop idioms, often over the course of the same album; she's also comfortable
with blues, gospel, and Broadway. It's perhaps most accurate to label her as a "soul" singer in terms of emotion,
rather than form. Like, say, Aretha Franklin, or Dusty Springfield, Simone is an eclectic, who brings soulful
qualities to whatever material she interprets. These qualities are among her strongest virtues; paradoxically,
they also may have kept her from attaining a truly mass audience. The same could be said of her stage
persona; admired for her forthright honesty and individualism, she's also known for feisty feuding with
audiences and promoters alike.
If Simone has a chip on her shoulder, it probably arose from the formidable obstacles she had to overcome to
establish herself as a popular singer. Raised in a family of eight children, she originally harbored hopes of
becoming a classical pianist, studying at New York's prestigious Juilliard School of Music - a rare position for an
African-American woman in the 1950s. Needing to support herself while she studied, she generated income by
working as an accompanist and giving piano lessons. Auditioning for a job as a pianist in an Atlantic City
nightclub, she was told she had the spot if she would sing as well as play. Almost by accident, she began to
carve a reputation as a singer of secular material, though her skills at the piano would serve her well throughout
her career.
In the late '50s, Simone began recording for the small Bethlehem label (a subsidiary of the vastly important
early R&B/rock & roll King label). In 1959, her version of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" gave her a
Top 20 hit - which would, amazingly, prove to be the only Top 40 entry of her career. Nina wouldn't need hit
singles for survival, however, establishing herself not with the rock & roll/R&B crowd, but with the
adult/nightclub/album market. In the early '60s, she recorded no less than nine albums for the Candix label,
about half of them live. These unveiled her as a performer of nearly unsurpassed eclecticism, encompassing
everything from Ellingtonian jazz and Israeli folk songs to spirituals and movie themes.
Simone's best recorded work was issued on Philips during the mid-'60s. Here, as on Candix, she was arguably
over-exposed, issuing seven albums within a three-year period. These records can be breathtakingly erratic,
moving from warm ballad interpretations of Jacques Brel and Billie Holiday and instrumental piano workouts to
brassy pop and angry political statements in a heartbeat. There's a great deal of fine music to be found on
these, however. Simone's moody-yet-elegant vocals are like no one else's, presenting a fiercely independent
soul who harbors enormous (if somewhat hard-bitten) tenderness.
Like many African-American entertainers of the mid-'60s, Simone was deeply affected by the Civil Rights
Movement and burgeoning Black Pride. Some (though by no means most) of her best material from this time
addressed these concerns in a fashion more forthright than almost any other singer. "Old Jim Crow" and, more
particularly, the classic "Mississippi Goddam" were especially notable self-penned efforts in this vein, making
one wish that Nina had written more of her own material instead of turning to outside sources for most of her
repertoire.
Not that this repertoire wasn't well-chosen. Several of her covers from the mid-'60s, indeed, were classics: her
revision of Weill-Brecht's "Pirate Jenny" to reflect the bitter elements of African-American experience, for
instance, or her mournful interpretation of Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas." Other highlights were her versions of
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," covered by the Animals for a rock hit; "I Put a Spell on You," which influenced
the vocal line on the Beatles' "Michelle"; and the buzzing, jazzy "See Line Woman."
Simone was not as well-served by her tenure with RCA in the late '60s and early '70s, another prolific period
which saw the release of nine albums. These explored a less eclectic range, with a considerably heavier popsoul base to both the material and arrangements. One bona fide classic did come out of this period: "Young,
Gifted & Black," written by Simone and Weldon Irvine Jr., would be successfully covered by both Aretha
Franklin and Donny Hathaway. She did have a couple of Top Five British hits in the late '60s with "Ain't Got No"
(from the musical Hair) and a cover of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody," neither of which rank among her
career highlights.
Simone fell on turbulent times in the 1970s, divorcing her husband/manager Andy Stroud, encountering serious
financial problems, and becoming something of a nomad, settling at various points in Switzerland, Liberia,
Barbados, France, and Britain. After leaving RCA, she recorded rarely, although she did make the critically wellreceived Baltimore in 1978 for the small CTI label. She had an unpredictable resurgence in 1987, when an early
track, "My Baby Just Cares for Me," became a big British hit after being used in a Chanel perfume television
commercial. 1993's A Single Woman marked her return to an American major label, and her profile was also
boosted when several of her songs were featured in the film Point of No Return. She published her biography, I
Put a Spell on You, in 1991. - Richie Unterberger
Nina Simone
The Best of Nina Simone [PolyGram]
Rating 4.5 *
1964-Oct 1, 1965
52:51
The Best of Nina Simone presents 12 tracks taken from the many recordings Simone did for Phillips in the '60s.
As is often noted, Simone is a dynamic and powerful vocal interpreter who often brought her social
consciousness directly into her artistry. Some of the material on this record would have been considered topical
for the period when it was first issued. 20 years later (1985) much of it still retains the emotional power of its
original time. Ignore the liner note hyperbole; this is in fact certainly some of the BEST of Simone. There's a
universality to the emotion and text of this theatrical music - any doubts, just substitute the name "South Africa"
for "Mississippi" in "...Goddamn." Too removed? Try your own locale.
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I Loves You, Porgy Gershwin, Gershwin, Heyward 2:31
Mississippi Goddam Simone 4:52
The Other Woman Robinson 3:02
Sinner Man Traditional 10:19
Ne Me Quitte Pas Brel 3:36
See Line Woman Bass 2:36
I Put a Spell on You Hawkins 2:34
Break Down and Let It Out McCoy 2:37
Four Women Simone 4:24
Wild Is the Wind Tiomkin, Washington 6:57
Pirate Jenny Blitzstein, Brecht, Weill 6:39
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood Benjamin, Caldwell, Marcus 2:44
Buono Sera - Louis Prima
Collector's Series (ca 1958)
I’ve wanted to put a Louis Prima track on a Naweedna CD for some time. I listened to several selections and
settled on this one. I like the slow beginning and the way it moves into the rolling beat and female-dominated
chorus that typifies Prima’s work. The female is Keely Smith, one of Prima’s female singers and former wife.
Louis Prima became very famous in the 1950s with an infectious Las Vegas act co-starring his wife (singer
Keely Smith) that mixed together R&B (particularly the honking tenor of Sam Butera), early rock & roll, comedy,
and Dixieland. Always a colorful personality, Prima was leading a band in New Orleans when he was just 11. In
1934, he began recording as a leader with a Dixieland-oriented unit and soon he was a major attraction on 52nd
Street. His early records often featured George Brunies and Eddie Miller, and Pee Wee Russell was a regular
member of his groups during 1935-1936. Prima, who composed “Sing, Sing, Sing” (which for a period was his
theme song), recorded steadily through the swing era, had a big band in the 1940s, and achieved hits with
“Angelina” and “Robin Hood.” In 1954, he began having great success in his latter-day group (their recordings
on Capitol were big sellers and still sound joyous today), emphasizing vocals and Butera’s tenor, but he still
took spirited trumpet solos. Although he eventually broke up with Keely Smith, Louis Prima (who voiced a
character in Walt Disney’s animated film The Jungle Book in 1966) remained a popular attraction into the
1970s. – Scott Yanow
Capitol Collectors Series
Artist Louis Prima
Album Title Capitol Collectors Series
Date of Release Apr 19, 1956 – Feb 23, 1962 (release)
AMG Rating 5 * Selected
Time 76:11
What Louis Prima accomplished musically in the company of Sam Butera and the Witnesses and vocalist Keely
Smith is in hard evidence on this excellent 26-track compilation. All the classics are aboard with excellent liner
notes from Scott Shea and crisp transfers of the original masters (“Angelina-Zooma Zooma,” “That Old Black
Magic,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Buona Sera” – which includes a great snippet of studio chatter kicking it
off – “Oh Marie,” and the obligatory “Just a Gigolo-I Ain’t Got Nobody”). Although this duplicates several tracks
with Rhino’s Zooma! Zooma! Compilation (now long out of print), with the addition of several singles and
unissued tracks, this stands as the best single-disc collection available of Prima’s tenure with Capitol Records.
The perfect place to start your Louis Prima collection. – Cub Koda
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Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody (Caesar/Casucci/Graham/Williams) – 4:42
Oh Marie (Dicapua) – 2:26
Buona Sera (De Rose/Sigman) – 3:06
Jump, Jive, An’ Wail (Prima) – 3:28
Basin Street Blues/When It’s Sleepy Time... (Muse/Rene/Rene/Williams) – 4:12
The Lip (Klages/Knight) – 2:16
Whistle Stop (Breedlove) – 2:15
5 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days (Donaldson/Morris) – 2:09
Banana Split for My Baby (Irwin/Prima) – 2:30
There’ll Be No Next Time (Berry/Josea) – 3:14
When You’re Smiling/Sheik of Araby (Fisher/Goodwin/Shay/Smith/Snyder/Wheeler) – 3:57
Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home (Warfield/Williams) – 2:05
I’ve Got the World on a String (Arlen/Koehler) – 2:26
Pennies from Heaven (Burke/Johnston) – 2:20
Angelina/Zooma Zooma (Citarella/Fisher/Prima/Roberts) – 4:16
Beep! Beep! (Joyce/Prima/Winn) – 2:12
Embraceable You/I Got It Bad and That... (Ellington/Gershwin/Gershwin/Webster) – 2:56
Sing, Sing, Sing (Prima) – 4:08
That Old Black Magic (Arlen/Mercer) – 2:55
The Music Goes ‘Round and Around (Farley/Hodgson/Riley) – 2:34
Hey Boy, Hey Girl (McLollie/Thomas) – 2:40
Lazy River (Arodin/Carmichael) – 3:26
I’ve Got You Under My Skin (Porter) – 2:37
You’re Just in Love (Berlin) – 2:26
Twist All Night (Butera/Prima) – 2:00
St. Louis Blues (Handy) – 2:55
Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby – Jimmy Reed
Rockin’ With Reed (ca 1959)
There are lots of Jimmy Reed classics to choose from (see the bio). I tried to pick one that might be less well
known but still contains the necessary Reed elements. I think this one does it. Plus I like the implied humor.
This track came from a Vee-Jay compilation, but I tracked the original issue back to the album listed above.
There's simply no sound in the blues as easily digestible, accessible, instantly recognizable, and as easy to play
and sing as the music of Jimmy Reed. His best-known songs - "Baby, What You Want Me to Do," "Bright Lights,
Big City," "Honest I Do," "You Don't Have to Go," "Going to New York," "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby," and "Big
Boss Man" - have become such an integral part of the standard blues repertoire, it's almost as if they have
existed forever. Because his style was simple and easily imitated, his songs were accessible to just about
everyone from high-school garage bands having a go at it, to Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Lou Rawls, Hank
Williams Jr., and the Rolling Stones, making him - in the long run - perhaps the most influential bluesman of all.
His bottom-string boogie rhythm guitar patterns (all furnished by boyhood friend and longtime musical partner
Eddie Taylor), simple two-string turnarounds, country-ish harmonica solos (all played in a neck-rack attachment
hung around his neck), and mush-mouthed vocals were probably the first exposure most white folks had to the
blues. And his music - lazy, loping, and insistent and constantly built and reconstructed single after single on the
same sturdy frame - was a formula that proved to be enormously successful and influential, both with middleaged blacks and young white audiences for a good dozen years. Jimmy Reed records hit the R&B charts with
amazing frequency and crossed over onto the pop charts on many occasions, a rare feat for an unreconstructed
bluesman. This is all the more amazing simply because Reed's music was nothing special on the surface; he
possessed absolutely no technical expertise on either of his chosen instruments and his vocals certainly lacked
the fierce declamatory intensity of a Howlin' Wolf or a Muddy Waters. But it was exactly that lack of in-your-face
musical confrontation that made Jimmy Reed a welcome addition to everybody's record collection back in the
'50s and '60s. And for those aspiring musicians who wanted to give the blues a try, either vocally or
instrumentally (no matter what skin color you were born with), perhaps Billy Vera said it best in his liner notes to
a Reed greatest-hits anthology: "Yes, anybody with a range of more than six notes could sing Jimmy's tunes
and play them the first day Mom and Dad brought home that first guitar from Sears & Roebuck. I guess Jimmy
could be termed the '50s punk bluesman."
Reed was born on September 6, 1925, on a plantation in or around the small burg of Dunleith, MS. He stayed
around the area until he was 15, learning the basic rudiments of harmonica and guitar from his buddy Eddie
Taylor, who was then making a name for himself as a semi-pro musician, working country suppers and juke
joints. Reed moved up to Chicago in 1943, but was quickly drafted into the Navy where he served for two years.
After a quick trip back to Mississippi and marriage to his beloved wife Mary (known to blues fans as "Mama
Reed"), he relocated to Gary, IN, and found work at an Armour Foods meat packing plant while simultaneously
breaking into the burgeoning blues scene around Gary and neighboring Chicago. The early '50s found him
working as a sideman with John Brim's Gary Kings (that's Reed blowing harp on Brim's classic "Tough Times"
and its instrumental flipside, "Gary Stomp") and playing on the street for tips with Willie Joe Duncan, a shadowy
figure who played an amplified, homemade one-string instrument called a Unitar. After failing an audition with
Chess Records (his later chart success would be a constant thorn in the side of the firm), Brim's drummer at the
time - improbably enough, future blues guitar legend Albert King - brought him over to the newly formed VeeJay Records, where his first recordings were made. It was during this time that he was reunited and started
playing again with Eddie Taylor, a musical partnership that would last off and on until Reed's death. Success
was slow in coming, but when his third single, "You Don't Have to Go" backed with "Boogie in the Dark," made
the number five slot on Billboard's R&B charts, the hits pretty much kept on coming for the next decade.
But if selling more records than Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, or Little Walter brought the
rewards of fame to his doorstep, no one was more ill-equipped to handle them than Jimmy Reed. With signing
his name for fans being the total sum of his literacy, combined with a back-breaking road schedule once he
became a name attraction and his self-description as a "liquor glutter," Reed started to fall apart like a cheap
suit almost immediately. His devious schemes to tend to his alcoholism - and the just plain aberrant behavior
that came as a result of it - quickly made him the laughingstock of his show-business contemporaries. Those
who shared the bill with him in top-of-the-line R&B venues like the Apollo Theater - where the story of him
urinating on a star performer's dress in the wings has been repeated verbatim by more than one old-timer - still
shake their heads and wonder how Reed could actually stand up straight and perform, much less hold the
audience in the palm of his hand. Other stories of Reed being "arrested" and thrown into a Chicago drunk tank
the night before a recording session also reverberate throughout the blues community to this day. Little wonder
then that when he was stricken with epilepsy in 1957, it went undiagnosed for an extended period of time,
simply because he had experienced so many attacks of delirium tremens, better known as the "DTs." Eddie
Taylor would relate how he sat directly in front of Reed in the studio, instructing him while the tune was being
recorded exactly when to start to start singing, when to blow his harp, and when to do the turnarounds on his
guitar. Jimmy Reed also appears, by all accounts, to have been unable to remember the lyrics to new songs even ones he had composed himself - and Mama Reed would sit on a piano bench and whisper them into his
ear, literally one line at a time. Blues fans who doubt this can clearly hear the proof on several of Jimmy's
biggest hits, most notably "Big Boss Man" and "Bright Lights, Big City," where she steps into the fore and starts
singing along with him in order to keep him on the beat.
But seemingly none of this mattered. While revisionist blues historians like to make a big deal about either the
lack of variety of his work or how later recordings turned him into a mere parody of himself, the public just
couldn't get enough of it. Jimmy Reed placed 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts and a total of 14 on
the R&B charts, a figure that even a much more sophisticated artist like B.B. King couldn't top. To paraphrase
the old saying, nobody liked Jimmy Reed but the people.
Reed's slow descent into the ravages of alcoholism and epilepsy roughly paralleled the decline of Vee-Jay
Records, which went out of business at approximately the same time that his final 45 was released, "Don't
Think I'm Through." His manager, Al Smith, quickly arranged a contract with the newly formed ABC-Bluesway
label and a handful of albums were released into the '70s, all of them lacking the old charm, sounding as if they
were cut on a musical assembly line. Jimmy did one last album, a horrible attempt to update his sound with funk
beats and wah-wah pedals, before becoming a virtual recluse in his final years. He finally received proper
medical attention for his epilepsy and quit drinking, but it was too late and he died trying to make a comeback
on the blues festival circuit on August 29, 1976.
All of this is sad beyond belief, simply because there's so much joy in Jimmy Reed's music. And it's that joy that
becomes self-evident every time you give one of his classic sides a spin. Although his bare-bones style
influenced everyone from British Invasion combos to the entire school of Louisiana swamp blues artists (Slim
Harpo and Jimmy Anderson in particular), the simple indisputable fact remains that - like so many of the other
originators in the genre - there was only one Jimmy Reed. - Cub Koda
16
If You Have To Know - Lonnie Mack & Stevie Ray Vaughan
Alligator Records 25th (1996)
This is another feature track. I got this CD set from Mahoney a couple years ago and this was a standout track
on an all-together fabulous double CD. Lonnie Mack goes back to my RnR days. As the bio says below, in 1963
“Mack stepped out front to cut a searing instrumental treatment of Chuck Berry's “Memphis” and I plan to
include that someday, along with Geoff Muldaur’s version, to honor Chuck Berry. Anyway, this is another of
those infectious tracks that you wake up humming in the middle of the night. Hope you like it.
Lonnie Mack:
When Lonnie Mack sings the blues, country strains are sure to infiltrate. Conversely, if he digs into a humping
rockabilly groove, strong signs of deep-down blues influence are bound to invade. Par for the course for any
musician who cites both Bobby Bland and George Jones as pervasive influences.
Fact is, Lonnie Mack’s lightning-fast, vibrato-enriched, whammy bar-hammered guitar style has influenced
many a picker too – including Stevie Ray Vaughan, who idolized Mack’s early singles for Fraternity and later coproduced and played on Mack’s 1985 comeback LP for Alligator, Strike like Lightning.
Growing up in rural Indiana not far from Cincinnati, Lonnie McIntosh was exposed to a heady combination of
R&B and hillbilly. In 1958, he bought the seventh Gibson Flying V guitar ever manufactured and played the
roadhouse circuit around Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. Mack has steadfastly cited another local legend, guitarist
Robert Ward, as the man whose watery-sounding Magnatone amplifier inspired his own use of the same brand.
Session work ensued during the early ‘60s behind Hank Ballard, Freddy King, and James Brown for Cincy’s
principal label, Syd Nathan’s King Records. At the tail end of a 1963 date for another local diskery, Fraternity
Records, Mack stepped out front to cut a searing instrumental treatment of Chuck Berry’s “Memphis.” Fraternity
put the number out, and it leaped all the way up to the Top Five on Billboard’s pop charts!
Its hit follow-up, the frantic “Wham!,” was even more amazing from a guitaristic perspective with Mack’s licketysplit whammy-bar-fired playing driven like a locomotive by a hard-charging horn section. Mack’s vocal skills
were equally potent; R&B stations began to play his soul ballad “Where There’s a Will” until they discovered
Mack was of the Caucasian persuasion, then dropped it like a hot potato (its flip, a sizzling vocal remake of
Jimmy Reed’s “Baby, What’s Wrong,” was a minor pop hit in late 1963).
Mack waxed a load of killer material for Fraternity during the mid-‘60s, much of it not seeing the light of day until
later on. A deal with Elektra Records inspired by a 1968 Rolling Stone article profiling Mack should have led to
major stardom, but his three Elektra albums were less consistent than the Fraternity material. (Elektra also
reissued his only Fraternity LP, the seminal The Wham of That Memphis Man.) Mack cameoed on the Doors’
Morrison Hotel album, contributing a guitar solo to “Roadhouse Blues,” and worked for a while as a member of
Elektra’s A&R team.
Disgusted with the record business, Lonnie Mack retreated back to Indiana for a while, eventually signing with
Capitol and waxing a couple of obscure country-based LPs. Finally, at Vaughan’s behest, Mack abandoned his
Indiana comfort zone for hipper Austin, TX, and began to reassert himself nationally. Vaughan masterminded
the stunning Strike like Lightning in 1985; later that year, Mack co-starred with Alligator labelmates Albert
Collins and Roy Buchanan at Carnegie Hall (a concert marketed on home video as Further on Down the Road).
Mack’s Alligator encore, Second Sight, was a disappointment for those who idolized Mack’s playing – it was
more of a singer/songwriter project. He temporarily left Alligator in 1988 for major-label prestige at Epic, but
Roadhouses and Dancehalls was too diverse to easily classify and died a quick death. Mack’s most recent
album from 1990, Live! Attack of the Killer V, was captured on tape at a suburban Chicago venue called
FitzGerald’s and once again showed why Lonnie Mack is venerated by anyone who’s even remotely into
savage guitar playing. – Bill Dahl
17
Love Song Of The Nile – Odetta
PHC (ca 1980)
Got this from an Odetta appearance on PHC way back in the early 80s. There is just something about this tune
that has kept me going for all these years. I suppose it is the contrast between a sweet, simple song and
Odetta’s big voice. Whatever, it has withstood the test of time, so here it is for your entertainment.
Odetta was born on New Year’s Eve, 1930, in Birmingham, Alabama. By the time she was six years old, she’d
moved with her younger sister and mother to Los Angeles. She showed a keen interest in music from the time
she was a child, and when she was about 10 years old, somewhere between church and school, her singing
voice was discovered. Odetta’s mother began saving money to pay for voice lessons for her, but was advised to
wait until her daughter was 13 years old and well into puberty.
Thanks to her mother, Odetta did begin voice lessons when she was 13. She received a classical training,
which was interrupted when her mother could no longer afford to pay for the lessons. The puppeteer Harry
Burnette interceded and paid for Odetta to continue her voice training.
When she was 19 years old, Odetta landed a role in the Los Angeles production of Finian’s Rainbow, which
was staged in the summer of 1949 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It was during the run of this show that
she first heard the blues harmonica master Sonny Terry. The following summer, Odetta was again performing in
summer stock in California. This time it was a production of Guys and Dolls, staged in San Francisco. Hanging
out in North Beach during her days off, Odetta had her first experience with the growing local folk music scene.
Following her summer in San Francisco, Odetta returned to Los Angeles, where she worked as a live-in
housekeeper. During this time she performed on a show bill with Paul Robeson.
In 1953, Odetta took some time off from her housecleaning chores to travel to New York City and appear at the
famed Blue Angel folk club. Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte had both taken an interest in her career by this
time, and her debut album, The Tin Angel, was released in 1954. From this time forward, Odetta worked to
expand her repertoire and make full use of what she has always termed her “instrument.” When she began
singing, she was considered a coloratura soprano. As she matured, she became more of a mezzo-soprano. Her
experience singing folk music led her to discover a vocal range that runs from coloratura to baritone.
Odetta’s most productive decade as a recording artist came in the 1960s, when she released 16 albums,
including Odetta at Carnegie Hall, Christmas Spirituals, Odetta and the Blues, It’s a Mighty World and Odetta
Sings Dylan. In 1999 she released her first studio album in 14 years, Blues Everywhere I Go. Vanguard
Records has released two excellent Odetta compilations: The Essential Odetta (1989) and Odetta: Best of the
Vanguard Years (1999).
On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts’
Medal of the Arts, a fitting tribute to one of the great treasures of American music. – Philip Van Vleck
The Essential Odetta
Artist Odetta
Album Title Essential Odetta
Date of Release Sep 1973 (release)
AMG Rating 4.5 *
Genre Folk
Time 62:19
Although the title leads one to believe this is a best-of of sorts, in fact it’s a straight pairing of two live concerts
from the early ‘60s that were originally released as Odetta at Carnegie Hall and At Town Hall. It’s still a worthy
representation of Odetta in good form, accompanied throughout by Bill Lee on bass, and covering a variety of
traditional folk songs, spirituals, and later compositions such as “If I Had a Hammer.” Be aware that the CD
reissue of this title omits a few tracks from each LP, although the double-LP version has everything. – Richie
Unterberger
Livin’ with the Blues
Artist Odetta
Album Title Livin’ with the Blues
Date of Release Apr 18, 2000
AMG Rating 4.5 * checked
Genre Folk
Time 59:49
If any female vocalist should be compared to Leadbelly, it’s Odetta. Like Leadbelly, Odetta has long had one
foot in folk and the other in the blues. The singer did some of her most compelling work for Vanguard in the
‘60s, and her Vanguard output is the focus of Livin’ With The Blues. Released in 2000, this collection focuses
on Odetta’s Vanguard recordings of the early ‘60s and paints a consistently attractive picture of her artistry.
Most of the songs on this CD (which contains material from the albums Odetta at Town Hall, My Eyes Have
Seen, and One Grain of Sand, along with a few rarities) don’t actually have a 12-bar blues format – this is
essentially a folk collection, but it’s a folk collection that never loses the feeling of the blues. Whether Odetta
accompanies herself on acoustic guitar on “Jumpin’ Judy,” “Rambler Gambler,” and “Bald Headed Woman,” or
becomes a piano-playing vocalist on performances of “House of the Rising Sun” and “Lovin’ With The Blues,”
the earthy, big-voiced singer provides a wealth of blues feeling throughout this superb collection. – Alex
Henderson
18
Old Rugged Cross- Roland Kirk
Downloaded (unknown date)
This is one of my all-time Kirk favorites. I don’t know where I first got it. I had it on cassette for years and it was
one of the first tracks I downloaded from the Internet. I really like the contrast between the slow, traditional start
and the raucous ending. This is Roland Kirk at his best – in my opinion.
Oh, if you don’t know about Roland Kirk, I need to give you a couple pertinent details. The brass section on this
track is one man: Kirk. He plays as many as three saxophones at once. You can hear him switch over at the
transition between the slow beginning and where he cuts loose in the middle. He sometimes also played what
he called a nose flute as well by sticking an ocarina sort of thing up his nose, but that isn’t to be heard on this
particular track. Also, he has perfected circular breathing, which allows him to hold notes indefinitely. That you
can hear on this track – the entire end part. Oh, there is no overdubbing on this track – it is all Kirk.
Arguably the most exciting saxophone soloist in jazz history, Kirk was a post-modernist before that term even
existed. Kirk played the continuum of jazz tradition as an instrument unto itself; he felt little compunction about
mixing and matching elements from the music’s history, and his concoctions usually seemed natural, if not
inevitable. When discussing Kirk, a great deal of attention is always paid to his eccentricities – playing several
horns at once, making his own instruments, clowning on stage. However, Kirk was an immensely creative artist;
perhaps no improvising saxophonist has ever possessed a more comprehensive technique – one that covered
every aspect of jazz, from Dixie to free – and perhaps no other jazz musician has ever been more
spontaneously inventive. His skills in constructing a solo are of particular note. Kirk had the ability to pace,
shape, and elevate his improvisations to an extraordinary degree. During any given Kirk solo, just at the point in
the course of his performance when it appeared he could not raise the intensity level any higher, he always
seemed able to turn it up yet another notch.
Kirk was born with sight, but became blind at the age of two. He started playing the bugle and trumpet, then
learned the clarinet and C-melody sax. Kirk began playing tenor sax professionally in R&B bands at the age of
15. While a teenager, he discovered the “manzello” and “stritch” – the former, a modified version of the saxello,
which was itself a slightly curved variant of the Bb soprano sax; the latter, a modified straight Eb alto. To these
and other instruments, Kirk began making his own improvements. He reshaped all three of his saxes so that
they could be played simultaneously; he’d play tenor with his left hand, finger the manzello with his right, and
sound a drone on the stritch, for instance. Kirk’s self-invented technique was in evidence from his first
recording, a 1956 R&B record called Triple Threat. By 1960 he had begun to incorporate a siren whistle into his
solos, and by ‘63 he had mastered circular breathing, a technique that enabled him to play without pause for
breath.
In his early 20s, Kirk worked in Louisville before moving to Chicago in 1960. That year he made his second
album, Introducing Roland Kirk, which featured saxophonist/trumpeter Ira Sullivan. In 1961, Kirk toured
Germany and spent three months with Charles Mingus. From that point onward, Kirk mostly led his own group,
the Vibration Society, recording prolifically with a range of sidemen. In the early ‘70s, Kirk became something of
an activist; he led the Jazz and People’s Movement, a group devoted to opening up new opportunities for jazz
musicians. The group adopted the tactic of interrupting tapings and broadcasts of television and radio programs
in protest of the small number of African-American musicians employed by the networks and recording studios.
In the course of his career, Kirk brought many hitherto unused instruments to jazz. In addition to the saxes, Kirk
played the nose whistle, the piccolo, and the harmonica; instruments of his own design included the
“trumpophone” (a trumpet with a soprano sax mouthpiece), and the “slidesophone” (a small trombone or slide
trumpet, also with a sax mouthpiece). Kirk suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1975, losing movement on one side of
his body, but his homemade saxophone technique allowed him to continue to play; beginning in 1976 and
lasting until his death a year later, Kirk played one-handed. – Chris Kelsey
19
Things Happen That Way – Emmylou Harris
At The Ryman (1992)
I find this an infectious little piece that sticks in your head. I got it from Bob Wilkinson along with a whole bunch
more Emmylou and other things. I’ll be raiding Bob’s music library again – soon I hope, because he is … AK
Bob.
Though other performers sold more records and earned greater fame, few left as profound an impact on
contemporary music as Emmylou Harris. Blessed with a crystalline voice, a remarkable gift for phrasing, and a
restless creative spirit, she traveled a singular artistic path, proudly carrying the torch of “Cosmic American
music” passed down by her mentor, Gram Parsons. With the exception of only Neil Young — not surprisingly an
occasional collaborator — no other mainstream star established a similarly large body of work as consistently
iconoclastic, eclectic, or daring; even more than three decades into her career, Harris’ latter-day music
remained as heartfelt, visionary, and vital as her earliest recordings.
Harris was born on April 2, 1947, to a military family stationed in Birmingham, AL. After spending much of her
childhood in North Carolina, she moved to Woodbridge, VA, while in her teens, and graduated high school there
as class valedictorian. After winning a dramatic scholarship at the University of North Carolina, she began to
seriously study music, learning to play songs by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Soon, Harris was performing in a
duo with fellow U.N.C. student Mike Williams, eventually quitting school to move to New York, only to find the
city’s folk music community dying out in the wake of the psychedelic era.
Still, Harris remained in New York, traveling the Greenwich Village club circuit before becoming a regular at
Gerdes Folk City, where she struck up friendships with fellow folkies Jerry Jeff Walker, David Bromberg, and
Paul Siebel. After marrying songwriter Tom Slocum in 1969, she recorded her debut LP, 1970’s Gliding Bird.
Shortly after the record’s release, however, Harris’ label declared bankruptcy, and while pregnant with her first
child, her marriage began to fall apart. After moving to Nashville, she and Slocum divorced, leaving Harris to
raise daughter Hallie on her own. After several months of struggle and poverty, she moved back in with her
parents, who had since bought a farm outside of Washington, D.C.
There she returned to performing, starting a trio with local musicians Gerry Mule and Tom Guidera. One
evening in 1971, while playing at an area club called Clyde’s, the trio performed to a crowd which included
members of the country-rock pioneers the Flying Burrito Brothers. In the wake of the departure of Gram
Parsons, the band’s founder, the Burritos were then led by ex-Byrd Chris Hillman, who was so impressed by
Harris’ talents that he considered inviting her to join the group. Instead, Hillman himself quit to join Stephen
Stills’ Manassas, but he recommended her to Parsons, who wanted a female vocalist to flesh out the sound of
his solo work, a trailblazing fusion of country and rock & roll he dubbed “Cosmic American music.” Their
connection was instant, and soon Harris was learning about country music and singing harmony on Parsons’
solo debut, 1972’s GP. A tour with Parsons’ backup unit the Fallen Angels followed, and in 1973 they returned
to the studio to cut his landmark LP, Grievous Angel.
On September 19, just weeks after the album sessions ended, Parsons’ fondness for drugs and alcohol finally
caught up to him, and he was found dead in a hotel room outside of the Joshua Tree National Monument in
California. At the time, Harris was back in Washington, collecting her daughter for a planned move to the West
Coast. Instead, she remained in D.C., reuniting with Tom Guidera to form the Angel Band. The group signed to
Reprise and relocated to Los Angeles to begin work on Harris’ solo major-label debut, 1975’s acclaimed Pieces
of the Sky, an impeccable collection made up largely of diverse covers ranging in origin from Merle Haggard to
the Beatles. Produced by Brian Ahern, who would go on to helm Harris’ next ten records — as well as
becoming her second husband — Pieces of the Sky’s second single, a rendition of the Louvin Brothers’ “If I
Could Only Win Your Love,” became her first Top Five hit. “Light of the Stable,” a Christmas single complete
with backing vocals from Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Neil Young, soon followed; Harris then repaid the
favor by singing on Ronstadt’s “The Sweetest Gift” and Young’s “Star of Bethlehem.”
For her second LP, 1976’s Elite Hotel, Harris established a new backing unit, the Hot Band, which featured
legendary Elvis Presley sidemen James Burton and Glen D. Hardin as well as a young songwriter named
Rodney Crowell on backup vocals and rhythm guitar. The resulting album proved to be a smash, with covers of
Buck Owens’ “Together Again” and the Patsy Cline perennial “Sweet Dreams” both topping the charts. Before
beginning sessions for her third effort, 1977’s Luxury Liner, Harris guested on Bob Dylan’s Desire and appeared
in Martin Scorsese’s documentary of the Band’s legendary final performance, The Last Waltz. Quarter Moon in
a Ten Cent Town followed in 1978, led by the single “Two More Bottles of Wine,” her third number one. The
record was Crowell’s last with the Hot Band; one of the tracks, “Green Rolling Hills,” included backing from
Ricky Skaggs, soon to become Crowell’s replacement as Harris’ vocal partner.
1979’s Blue Kentucky Girl was her most country-oriented work to date, an indication of what was to come a
year later with Roses in the Snow, a full-fledged excursion into acoustic bluegrass. In the summer of 1980, a
duet with Roy Orbison, “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again,” hit the Top Ten; a yuletide LP, Light of the Stable: The
Christmas Album, followed at the end of year, at a time during which Harris had quit touring to focus on raising
her second daughter, Meghann. Evangeline, a patchwork of songs left off of previous albums, appeared in
1981. Shortly after, Skaggs left the Hot Band to embark on a solo career; his replacement was Barry Tashian, a
singer/songwriter best known for fronting the 1960s rock band the Remains.
In 1982, drummer John Ware, the final holdover from the first Hot Band lineup, left the group; at the same time,
Harris’ marriage to Ahern was also beginning to disintegrate. After 1981’s Cimarron, Harris and the Hot Band
cut a live album, Last Date, named in honor of the album’s chart-topping single “(Lost His Love) On Our Last
Date,” a vocal version of the Floyd Cramer instrumental. Quickly, they returned to the studio to record White
Shoes, Harris’ final LP with Ahern at the helm. Her most far-ranging affair yet, it included covers of Donna
Summer’s “On the Radio,” Johnny Ace’s “Pledging My Love,” and Sandy Denny’s “Old-Fashioned Waltz.”
After leaving Ahern, she and her children moved back to Nashville. There, Harris joined forces with
singer/songwriter Paul Kennerley, on whose 1980 concept album The Legend of Jesse James she had sung
backup. Together, they began formulating a record called The Ballad of Sally Rose, employing the pseudonym
Harris often used on the road to veil what was otherwise a clearly autobiographical portrait of her own life.
Though a commercial failure, the 1985 record proved pivotal in Harris’ continued evolution as an artist and a
risk taker; it also marked another chapter in her personal life when she and Kennerley wed shortly after
concluding their tour. Angel Band, a subtle, acoustic collection of traditional country spirituals, followed,
although the record was not issued until 1987, after the release of its immediate follow-up, Thirteen.
Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt had first toyed with the idea of recording an album together as far back
as 1977, only to watch the project falter in light of touring commitments and other red tape. Finally, in 1987, they
issued Trio, a collection which proved to be Harris’ best-selling album to date, generating the hits “To Know Him
Is to Love Him” (a cover of the Phil Spector classic), “Telling Me Lies,” and “Those Memories of You.” The
record’s success spurred the 1990 release of Duets, a compilation of her earlier hits in conjunction with George
Jones, Willie Nelson, Gram Parsons, and others. Fronting a new band, the Nash Ramblers, in 1992 she issued
At the Ryman, a live set recorded at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium, the former home of the Grand
Ole Opry. At the time of the record’s release, Harris was also serving a term as President of the Country Music
Foundation.
In 1993, she ended her long association with Warner Bros./Reprise to move to Asylum Records, where she
released Cowgirl’s Prayer shortly after her separation from Paul Kennerley. Two years later, at a stage in her
career at which most performers retreat to the safety of rehashing their greatest hits again and again, Harris
issued Wrecking Ball, perhaps her most adventuresome record to date. Produced by Daniel Lanois, the New
Orleans-based artist best known for his atmospheric work with U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan, Wrecking Ball
was a hypnotic, staggeringly beautiful work comprised of songs ranging from the Neil Young-penned title track
(which featured its writer on backing vocals) to Jimi Hendrix’s “May This Be Love” and the talented newcomer
Gillian Welch’s “Orphan Girl.”
A three-disc retrospective of her years with Warner Bros., Portraits, appeared in 1996, and in 1998 Harris
resurfaced with Spyboy. Following the release of Trio II later that year, she and Ronstadt again reunited, this
time minus Parton, for 1999’s Western Wall: Tucson Sessions. Harris returned the following year with Red Dirt
Girl, her first album of original material in five years, which featured appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Patty
Scialfa, Jill Cuniff, and Patty Griffin. — Jason Ankeny
At the Ryman
Artist Emmylou Harris & the Nash Ramblers
Album Title At the Ryman
Date of Release 1992 (release)
AMG Rating 4 *
Genre Country
Type live
Time 60:46
This is the album debut of the Nashville Ramblers, her acoustic backing band featuring Sam Bush and Roy
Huskey Jr, recorded over three nights in the former home of the Grand Ole Opry. Harris’s choice of songs
strikes a balance between hillbilly classics and folk-influenced rock, with Bill Monroe receiving heaviest tribute
but sharing space with Tex Owens, Bruce Springsteen, and John Fogerty. — Brian Mansfield
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Guitar Town (Earle) – 2:56
Half as Much (Williams) – 3:00
Cattle Call (Owens) – 3:11
Guess Things Happen That Way (Clement) – 2:25
Hard Times (Foster) – 3:25
Mansion on the Hill (Springsteen) – 4:25
Scotland (Monroe) – 2:57
Montana Cowgirl (Park) – 3:08
Like Strangers (Bryant) – 4:56
Lodi (Fogerty) – 3:06
Calling My Children Home (Lawson/Waller/Yates) – 3:14
If I Could Be There (Kane/Ohara) – 3:30
Walls of Time (Monroe/Rowan) – 4:45
Get up John (Monroe/Stuart/Sullivan) – 4:25
It’s a Hard Life Wherever You Go/Abraham,… (Griffith/Holler) – 7:07
Smoke Along the Track (Rose) – 4:16
Mama Talk To Your Daughter – J. B. Lenoir
Blues Masters v2 (1968)
J.B. Lenoir is a man. Now listen to the track again. This is from a CD I got from Mahoney: Blues Masters:
Postwar Chicago (92). There are lots of great tracks on this CD, and I’m sure you will hear a few more on future
Naweedna CDs. I tracked this down to a 1968 JB original, hence the date.
Mahoney - Blues Masters: Vol.
Newcomers to his considerable legacy could be forgiven for questioning J.B. Lenoir's gender upon first hearing
his rocking waxings. Lenoir's exceptionally high-pitched vocal range is a fooler, but it only adds to the singular
appeal of his music. His politically charged "Eisenhower Blues" allegedly caused all sorts of nasty
repercussions upon its 1954 emergence on Al Benson's Parrot logo (it was quickly pulled off the shelves and
replaced with Lenoir's less controversially titled "Tax Paying Blues").
J.B. (that was his entire legal handle) fell under the spell of Blind Lemon Jefferson as a wee lad, thanks to his
guitar-wielding dad. Lightnin' Hopkins and Arthur Crudup were also cited as early influences. Lenoir spent time
in New Orleans before arriving in Chicago in the late '40s. Boogie grooves were integral to Lenoir's infectious
routine from the get-go, although his first single for Chess in 1951, "Korea Blues," was another slice of topical
commentary. From late 1951 to 1953, he waxed several dates for Joe Brown's JOB logo in the company of
pianist Sunnyland Slim, drummer Alfred Wallace, and on the romping "The Mojo," saxist J.T. Brown.
Lenoir waxed his most enduring piece, the infectious (and often-covered) "Mama Talk to Your Daughter," in
1954 for Al Benson's Parrot label. Lenoir's 1954-55 Parrot output and 1955-58 Checker catalog contained a raft
of terrific performances, including a humorously defiant "Don't Touch My Head" (detailing his brand-new
process hairdo) and "Natural Man." Lenoir's sound was unique: saxes (usually Alex Atkins and Ernest Cotton)
wailed in unison behind Lenoir's boogie-driven rhythm guitar as drummer Al Galvin pounded out a rudimentary
backbeat everywhere but where it customarily lays. Somehow, it all fit together.
Scattered singles for Shad in 1958 and Vee-Jay two years later kept Lenoir's name in the public eye. His music
was growing substantially by the time he hooked up with USA Records in 1963 (witness the 45's billing: J.B.
Lenoir & his African Hunch Rhythm). Even more unusual were the two acoustic albums he cut for German blues
promoter Horst Lippmann in 1965 and 1966. Alabama Blues and Down in Mississippi were done in Chicago
under Willie Dixon's supervision, Lenoir now free to elaborate on whatever troubled his mind ("Alabama March,"
"Vietnam Blues," "Shot on James Meredith").
Little did Lenoir know his time was quickly running out. By the time of his 1967 death, the guitarist had moved to
downstate Champaign — and that's where he died, probably as a delayed result of an auto accident he was
involved in three weeks prior to his actual death. — Bill Dahl
The Parrot Sessions, 1954-55: Vintage Chicago Blues
Artist J.B. Lenoir
Album Title Parrot Sessions, 1954-55: Vintage Chicago Blues
Date of Release 1989 (release)
AMG Rating 5 * checked
Genre Blues
Lenoir's sound really got locked in during this period, using twin saxes, himself on boogie rhythm guitar (with an
occasional minimal solo), revolving piano, and bass stools and Al Gavin — certainly the strangest of all Chicago
drummers — constantly turning the beat around. This is Lenoir at his creative and performing best, including his
best-known songs "Mama Talk to Your Daughter" (with the famous "one note for 12 bars" guitar solo),
"Eisenhower Blues," and "Give Me One More Shot," where Gavin starts out the tune on the wrong beat, gets on
the right beat by mistake, then "corrects" himself! Lyrics as metaphorically powerful as any in the blues against
grooves alternating between low-down slow ones and Lenoir's patented boogie. — Cub Koda
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Mama Talk to Your Daughter (Lenoir) - 2:26
Eisenhower Blues (Lenoir) - 2:37
I Lost My Baby (Lenoir) - 3:09
Give Me One More Shot (Atkins/Lenoir) - 2:19
Man, Watch Your Woman (Lenoir) - 3:08
I'm in Korea (Lenoir) - 3:12
I'm Gonna Die Someday (Lenoir) - 2:18
What Have I Done? (Lenoir) - 3:10
Fine Girls (Lenoir) - 2:34
We've Both Got to Realize (Lenoir) - 3:07
Eisenhower Blues (Lenoir) - 2:58
Sitting Down Thinking (Lenoir) - 3:02
Mama Your Daughter's Going to Miss Me (Atkins/Lenoir) - 2:00
Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone - Charly Pride
Smithsonian Classic Country (1969)
If you like classic country, this is the CD set to have: 100 tracks on 5 CDs. The tracks are arranged
chronologically, so you can follow the development of the genre from the early days up to 1990, the release
date. The Charly Pride track was originally cut in 1969 and is one of my favorites. I have a couple other versions
of this song, but I keep coming back to this one.
Classic Country Music, Vol. 1
Artist Various Artists
Album Title Classic Country Music, Vol. 1
Date of Release 1990 (release)
AMG Rating 4 *
Genre Country
Time 294:28
An absolutely indispensable series, Smithsonian’s Classic Country line of discs covers the music with great
care and historical savvy. This first volume kicks things off with 25 tracks ranging from early string-band sides
(Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers) and the first country classics (the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers), to the
mountain genius of Roy Acuff and popular cowboy-centric hits by Gene Autrey, Tex Ritter, and the Sons of the
Pioneers. And hinting at things to come, the collection wraps things up with a taste of Bob Wills’ Western swing
and Ernest Tubb’s early honky tonk. So, from the ‘20s through the ‘40s, and with a bevy of milestones to hear
along the way, this ride through hillbilly history is not to be missed. — Stephen Cook
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Soldier's Joy performed by Tanner, Gid & His Skillet Lickers - 2:55
Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel performed by Macon, Uncle Dave & His Fruit Jar... - 3:06
Barbara Allen performed by Kincaid, Bradley - 3:20
The Prisoner's Song performed by Dalhart, Vernon - 3:03
Wildwood Flower performed by Carter Family - 3:08
Waiting for a Train performed by Rodgers, Jimmie [1] - 2:43
Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8) performed by Rodgers, Jimmie [1] - 2:59
Ragged But Right performed by Puckett, Riley - 2:54
Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Bye and Bye) performed by Carter Family - 3:07
Silver Haired Daddy of Mine performed by Long, Jimmy / Autry, Gene - 2:46
Just Because performed by Shelton Brothers - 2:58
St. Louis Blues performed by Brown, Milton & His Brownies - 3:21
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My Mary performed by O'Daniel, W. Lee & His Light Crust... / Huff, Leon - 3:11
Great Speckled Bird performed by Acuff, Roy & His Crazy Tenesseans - 2:51
Under the Double Eagle performed by Boyd, Bill & His Cowboy Ramblers - 2:48
I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart performed by Montana, Patsy & The Prairie Ramblers - 3:08
South of the Border (Down Mexico Way) performed by Autry, Gene - 2:48
Tumbling Tumbleweeds performed by Sons Of The Pioneers - 3:11
Cool Water performed by Sons Of The Pioneers - 2:41
Rye Whiskey performed by Ritter, Tex - 3:08
Steel Guitar Rag performed by Wills, Bob & His Texax Playboys - 2:48
New San Antonio Rose performed by Wills, Bob & His Texas Playboys - 2:39
Walking the Floor over You performed by Tubb, Ernest - 2:35
Born to Lose performed by Daffan, Ted - 2:42
You Are My Sunshine performed by Davis, Jimmie - 2:48
Pistol Packin' Mama performed by Dexter, Al and his Troopers - 2:46
There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving... performed by Britt, Elton - 2:39
The Cattle Call performed by Arnold, Eddy - 3:05
Wabash Cannonball performed by Acuff, Roy & His Smoky Mountain Boys - 2:36
Kentucky performed by Blue Sky Boys - 2:44
New Pretty Blonde performed by Mullican, Moon & His Showboys - 2:57
Philadelphia Lawyer performed by Maddox Brothers & Rose - 3:00
I Am a Pilgrim performed by Travis, Merle - 2:48
It's Mighty Dark to Travel performed by Monroe, Bill [1] & His Bluegrass Boys - 2:52
Randy Lynn Rag performed by Flatt & Scruggs / Foggy Mountain Boys - 2:04
Slipping Around performed by Tillman, Floyd - 2:45
The Tramp on the Street performed by ODay, Molly / Cumberland Mountain Folks - 2:48
I'm Movin' On performed by Snow, Hank & His Rainbow Ranch Boys - 2:53
Take an Old Cold Tater (And Wait) performed by Dickens, Little Jimmy - 2:48
Tennessee Waltz performed by King, Pee Wee & His Golden West... - 3:00
Peace in the Valley performed by Foley, Red - 3:10
Lovesick Blues performed by Williams, Hank [1] - 2:42
Your Cheatin' Heart performed by Williams, Hank [1] - 2:41
I Love You a Thousand Ways performed by Frizzell, Lefty - 2:43
The Wild Side of Life performed by Thompson, Hank & His Brazos Valley... - 2:41
It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels performed by Wells, Kitty - 2:30
Slowly performed by Pierce, Webb - 2:31
Country Gentleman performed by Atkins, Chet - 2:14
I Really Don't Want to Know performed by Arnold, Eddy - 2:33
Sixteen Tons performed by Ford, Tennessee Ernie - 2:34
Blue Moon of Kentucky performed by Presley, Elvis - 2:03
Bye Bye Love performed by Everly Brothers - 2:21
You Win Again performed by Lewis, Jerry Lee - 2:53
Young Love performed by James, Sonny - 2:31
I Walk the Line performed by Cash, Johnny - 2:43
Crazy Arms performed by Price, Ray [1] - 2:33
He'll Have to Go performed by Reeves, Jim [1] - 2:18
Faded Love performed by Cline, Patsy - 3:42
The Battle of New Orleans performed by Horton, Johnny - 2:31
El Paso performed by Robbins, Marty - 4:41
Big Bad John performed by Dean, Jimmy - 3:01
When I Stop Dreaming performed by Louvin Brothers - 2:29
Detroit City performed by Bare, Bobby - 2:47
We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds performed by Jones, George [1] / Montgomery, Melba - 2:38
Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache) performed by Owens, Buck - 2:25
Hello Walls performed by Young, Faron - 2:20
Ode to Billie Joe performed by Gentry, Bobbie - 4:12
King of the Road performed by Miller, Roger [Country] - 2:26
Green, Green Grass of Home performed by Wagoner, Porter - 2:21
Funny How Time Slips Away performed by Nelson, Willie - 2:37
Gentle on My Mind performed by Campbell, Glen [1] - 2:56
Rocky Top performed by Osborne Brothers - 2:33
Coal Miner's Daughter performed by Lynn, Loretta - 2:58
Coat of Many Colors performed by Parton, Dolly - 3:02
Folsom Prison Blues performed by Cash, Johnny - 2:42
Stand by Your Man performed by Wynette, Tammy - 2:39
Homecoming performed by Hall, Tom T. - 3:17
(Is Anybody Going To) San Antone performed by Pride, Charley - 2:12
For the Good Times performed by Price, Ray [1] - 3:47
Sin City performed by Flying Burrito Brothers - 4:10
After the Fire Is Gone performed by Lynn, Lorette / Twitty, Conway - 2:36
I Never Go Around Mirrors (I've Got a... performed by Frizzell, Lefty - 2:32
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Why Me Lord? performed by Kristofferson, Kris - 3:27
The Grand Tour performed by Jones, George [1] - 3:05
Love Hurts performed by Parsons, Gram / Harris, Emmylou - 3:37
Bob Wills Is Still the King performed by Jennings, Waylon - 3:26
Who'll Turn Out the Lights (In Your World... performed by Milsap, Ronnie - 3:18
Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to Be... performed by Nelson, Willie / Jennings, Waylon - 2:28
'Til I Gain Control Again performed by Crowell, Rodney - 5:04
Beneath Still Waters performed by Harris, Emmylou - 3:41
The Devil Went Down to Georgia performed by Daniels, Charlie Band - 3:33
He Stopped Loving Her Today performed by Jones, George [1] - 3:12
Old Flame performed by Alabama [1] - 3:11
Forty Hour Week (For a Livin') performed by Alabama [1] - 3:20
A Country Boy Can Survive performed by Williams, Hank [2] Jr. - 4:13
Don't Get Above Your Raising performed by Skaggs, Ricky - 3:11
Honky Tonk Man performed by Yoakam, Dwight - 2:46
Kids of the Baby Boom performed by Bellamy Brothers - 3:24
9 to 5 performed by Parton, Dolly - 2:42
Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days) performed by Judds - 4:12
I Believe To My Soul - Ray Charles
Genius Sings The Blues (1961)
Ray sings: “One of these days and it won’t be long … You’re gonna look for me and I’ll be gone.” And so he is.
The Genius died this year and this is my tribute to Ray “RC” Charles. I had lots of RC tracks to choose from. But
I picked this one for several reasons. It has that most appropriate first line. It has all the RC elements. I don’t
think it’s widely known. AND I like it. A future Naweedna CD will have my other choices: One Mint Julep or
Ramsey Lewis’ Salute to Ray Charles. Goodbye, Ray, I miss you already.
Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie
Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of Black pop
by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and
(in the '60s) country. Then there is his singing - his style is among the most emotional and easily identifiable of
any 20th-century performer, up there with the likes of Elvis and Billie Holiday. He's also a superb keyboard
player, arranger, and bandleader. The brilliance of his 1950s and 1960s work, however, can't obscure the fact
that he's made few classic tracks since the mid-'60s, though he's recorded often and tours to this day.
Blind since the age of six (from glaucoma), Charles studied composition and learned many instruments at the
St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind. His parents had died by his early teens, and he worked as a
musician in Florida for a while before using his savings to move to Seattle in 1947. By the late '40s, he was
recording in a smooth pop/R&B style derivative of Nat "King" Cole and Charles Brown. He got his first Top Ten
R&B hit with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" in 1951. Charles' first recordings have come in for their fair share
of criticism, as they are much milder and less original than the classics that would follow, although they're
actually fairly enjoyable, showing strong hints of the skills that were to flower in a few years.
In the early '50s, Charles' sound started to toughen as he toured with Lowell Fulson, went to New Orleans to
work with Guitar Slim (playing piano on and arranging Slim's huge R&B hit, "The Things That I Used to Do"),
and got a band together for R&B star Ruth Brown. It was at Atlantic Records that Ray truly found his voice,
consolidating the gains of recent years and then some with "I Got a Woman," a number two R&B hit in 1955.
This is the song most frequently singled out as his pivotal performance, on which Charles first truly let go with
his unmistakable gospelish moan, backed by a tight, bouncy horn-driven arrangement.
Throughout the '50s, Charles ran off a series of R&B hits that, although they weren't called "soul" at the time,
did a lot to pave the way for soul by presenting a form of R&B that was sophisticated without sacrificing any
emotional grit. "This Little Girl of Mine," "Drown in My Own Tears," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," "Lonely Avenue,"
and "The Right Time" were all big hits. But Charles didn't really capture the pop audience until "What'd I Say,"
which caught the fervor of the church with its pleading vocals, as well as the spirit of rock & roll with its classic
electric piano line. It was his first Top Ten pop hit, and one of his final Atlantic singles, as he left the label at the
end of the '50s for ABC.
One of the chief attractions of the ABC deal for Charles was a much greater degree of artistic control of his
recordings. He put it to good use on early-'60s hits like "Unchain My Heart" and "Hit the Road Jack," which
solidified his pop stardom with only a modicum of polish attached to the R&B he had perfected at Atlantic. In
1962, he surprised the pop world by turning his attention to country & western music, topping the charts with the
"I Can't Stop Loving You" single, and making a hugely popular album (in an era in which R&B/soul LPs rarely
scored high on the charts) with Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Perhaps it shouldn't have been
so surprising; Charles had always been eclectic, recording quite a bit of straight jazz at Atlantic, with noted jazz
musicians like David "Fathead" Newman and Milt Jackson.
Charles remained extremely popular through the mid-'60s, scoring big hits like "Busted," "You Are My
Sunshine," "Take These Chains from My Heart," and "Crying Time," although his momentum was slowed by a
1965 bust for heroin. This led to a year-long absence from performing, but he picked up where he left off with
"Let's Go Get Stoned" in 1966. Yet by this time Charles was focusing increasingly less on rock and soul, in
favor of pop tunes, often with string arrangements, that seemed aimed more at the easy-listening audience than
anyone else. Charles' influence on the rock mainstream was as apparent as ever; Joe Cocker and Steve
Winwood in particular owe a great deal of their style to him, and echoes of his phrasing can be heard more
subtly in the work of greats like Van Morrison.
One approaches sweeping criticism of Charles with hesitation; he's an American institution, after all, and his
vocal powers have barely diminished over the years. The fact remains, though, that his work since the late '60s
on record has been very disappointing. Millions of listeners yearned for a return to the all-out soul of his 19551965 classics, but Charles had actually never been committed to soul above all else. Like Aretha Franklin and
Elvis Presley, his focus is more upon all-around pop than many realize; his love of jazz, country, and pop
standards is evident, even if his more earthy offerings are the ones that truly broke ground and will stand the
test of time. He's dented the charts (sometimes the country ones) occasionally, and can command devoted
international concert audiences whenever he feels like it. For good or ill, he's ensured his imprint upon the
American mass consciousness in the 1990s by singing several ads for Diet Pepsi. The CD era has seen several
excellent packages that focus on various chronological/thematic phases of the legend's career. - Richie
Unterberger
Ray Charles - The Great Ray Charles
Artist Ray Charles
Album Title Great Ray Charles [Atlantic]
Date of Release 1956 (release) inprint
AMG Rating
Genre Rock
Time 64:48
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: This set is rather unusual, for it is strictly instrumental, allowing Ray Charles a rare
opportunity to be a jazz-oriented pianist. Two selections are with a trio (bassist Oscar Pettiford joins Charles on
"Black Coffee"), while the other six are with a septet taken from his big band of the period. Key among the
sidemen are David Newman (soloing on both tenor and alto) and trumpeter Joseph Bridgewater; highlights
include Quincy Jones' "The Ray," "My Melancholy Baby," "Doodlin'," and "Undecided." Ray Charles should
have recorded in this setting more often in his later years. - Scott Yanow
23
Reincarnation - Glenn Worland
PHC (ca 1985)
Yeah, not a song, but the message is interesting nonetheless. There’s nothing like good ol’ cowboy poetry. I
can just hear them reciting such things around the campfire while coyotes howl in the background. I’ve heard
other versions of this, but this one by Glenn Worland sounds the most authentic. I don’t know if he is the author,
but he might as well be.