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. I taped it in the 80s from WXXI broadcasts.

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 taped from WXXI 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 taped from WXXI in the 80s.

BBGR: Big Band Go Round, yet another local program featuring … Big Band, but also including most anything
recorded from the 20s to 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 taped 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 taping 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 tape it. A few years later I discovered that he
had gone back to the old format and was broadcasting from St Paul MN again. I’ve been digitizing those
programs in real time ever since, 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.

Recording & Release Dates: The parenthetical numbers appended at the end of track titles 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. Format: (xx, yy) where xx = last two
digits of recording date; yy = last two digits of release date.
As usual, my comments are in blue. The other information comes from www.allmusic.com. Additions and corrections
are welcome … encouraged, in fact.
In Memoriam … 2008:

Alton Ellis

Bo Diddley

Connie Haines

Jo Stafford

Levi Stubbs (Four Tops)

Merl Saunders

Miriam Makeba

Oscar Peterson

Utah Bruce Phillips
The Playlist and Notes for Naweedna 2007
01
King Of Love - Dave Edmunds
Anthology (90, 93)
Almost used this one last year but it got bumped by Corn Bread and Butter Beans-Carolina Chocolate
Drops-PHC(07). This year I opted to use it for the lead track, although the words are a little troubling.
Whatever, I like the upbeat aspect – hope you like it too.
Let's go, king of love
Ooh, it's ugly, falling into lovely
Everyone does it, everyone knows it
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
The king of love is but a fool
The power overcomes his rule
Within himself there is a duel
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (enough, sound off)
All through the big city
Ex-marines are looking gritty
Looking for a little pretty
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (enough, sound off)
I think I hear the king falling down-down-down
I think I hear the king falling down-down-down
The king of love (sound off)
High school cherry top
Working in a soda shop
That's not good enough
She wants to meet the king of love
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
I think I hear the king falling down-down-down
I think I hear the king falling down-down-down
The king of love (sound off)
Schools out 2:45
Five tricks before six
Dope comes real soon
King of love is on the moon
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
I think I hear the king falling down-down-down
I think I hear the king falling down-down-down
King of love (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-ay (ay-ay-ay-o)
Sound off (sound off)
The king of love is falling down-down
The king of love is falling down-down
The king of love (ay-ay-ay-o)
The king of love (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Ay-ay-ay-o (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Ay-ay-ay-o (sound off)
The king of love is falling down-down (ay-ay-ay-o)
The king of love is falling down-down (sound off)
The king of love is falling down-down (ay-ay-ay-o)
The king of love (sound off)
The king of love (ay-ay-ay-o)
Ay-ay-ay-ay (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Ay-ay-ay-o (sound off)
Ay-ay-ay-o (ay-ay-ay-o)
Roots-rockers are seldom as purist as Dave Edmunds. Throughout his career, he stayed true to '50s and
'60s rock & roll — for Edmunds, rock & roll history stopped somewhere in 1963, after the Beach Boys'
first singles but before the Beatles' hits. After establishing himself as a hotshot lead guitarist in the
blues-rockers Love Sculpture, he launched his solo career by painstakingly re-creating oldies in his own
studio, usually recording every track by himself. Through all of his efforts, he learned how to uncannily
replicate the sound of Sun, Chess, and Phil Spector records, which not only helped him garner several U.K.
hits in the early '70s, but also led to successful production work with artists like the Flamin' Groovies
and Brinsley Schwarz. In the late '70s, he hit the peak of his career when he teamed up with former
Schwarz bassist Nick Lowe to form Rockpile. For several years, Edmunds recorded albums with Rockpile
and toured relentlessly with the band, which resulted in a string of hit U.K. singles. After the group
imploded in the early '80s, he slowly disappeared from the mainstream, even as he made his most
commercial music with producer Jeff Lynne; Edmunds eventually retreated to cult status in the '90s.
Dave Edmunds never abandoned the music he discovered as a teenager in Cardiff, Wales. He learned to
play guitar by playing with Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley records, picking out leads by James Burton,
Chet Atkins and Scotty Moore. He was also fascinated by Phil Spector's records, as well as American
blues and country. Edmunds began playing in various British blues bands in the early '60s, eventually
forming Love Sculpture with bassist John Williams and drummer Bob Jones, who was later replaced by
Terry Williams. Love Sculpture's gimmick was playing bluesy, psychedelicized version of classical songs,
and their interpretation of Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" became a British Top Five hit in 1968. Within a
year, the group rode out their success and broke up.
Edmunds returned to his home in Wales and constructed the eight-track studio Rockfield in
Monmouthshire, where he holed up and taught himself how to meticulously recreate the sounds of his
favorite records. Many of these recordings were made entirely by Edmunds, usually with Williams
assisting on bass. One of the first records released from the Rockfield sessions was actually one of the
least indicative of his style, since it interpreted the source material instead of replicating it. Featuring
his vocal piped in through a telephone line, Edmunds' revamped version of Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You
Knockin'" became a fluke hit, reaching the Top Ten in both America and England, and he quickly followed
it with the Rockpile LP, a collection of straightforward oldies covers that became a modest success. Over
the next few years, he recorded the material that became his second album, Subtle As A Flying Mallet,
as well as producing records by similar-minded rockers like Ducks Deluxe, the Flamin' Groovies and
Brinsley Schwarz.
During 1974, Edmunds made a brief appearance in the film Stardust and helped assemble the soundtrack.
Also that year, he produced the Brinsleys' last record, New Favourites. During the recording, he struck
up a friendship with bassist Nick Lowe, who over the next few years became his key collaborator. Lowe
helped Edmunds move away from covers and into performing new songs, largely written by Lowe, that
recreated the spirit of old rock & roll. Following the 1975 release of Subtle as A Flying Mallet — it
produced two Top Ten U.K. hits with "Baby I Love You" and "Born To Be With You" — Edmunds began to
rely on Lowe's original material and sought out newer songs in the same vein, as well as more obscure
oldies. In return, Lowe joined Edmunds' touring band Rockpile, which also featured drummer Terry
Williams and guitarist Billy Bremner. The first record the pair worked on heavily together was 1977's Get
It, which also was Edmunds' first record for Led Zeppelin's label, Swan Song.
Get It was well received, as was 1978's Tracks on Wax 4, the first album Edmunds recorded with
Rockpile as his backing band. By that point, Rockpile was touring constantly, earning terrific reviews in
the U.K. press, who grouped the band in with the burgeoning new wave movement largely because of their
drunken, reckless energy. In 1979, the band entered the studio to simultaneously cut Edmunds' Repeat
When Necessary and Lowe's Labour of Lust, and the sessions were captured on the BBC documentary
Born Fighter. Both records were hits, with Repeat When Necessary generating the major British hit
"Girls Talk," as well as the Top 20 "Queen of Hearts," which Juice Newton later replicated for her
breakthrough success. Rockpile entered the studio in 1980 to record the group's first full-fledged album,
Seconds of Pleasure. During the recording, tensions between Edmunds and Lowe began to surface,
resulting in an album that failed to capture the band's live sound. Seconds of Pleasure was a moderate
success, but the group disbanded following its supporting tour.
Twangin', Edmunds' first post-Rockpile album, appeared in 1981 and featured contributions from Williams
and Bremner. The album was a minor hit, generating a hit cover of John Fogerty's "Almost Saturday
Night." Edmunds signed with Columbia the following year, releasing D.E. 7th., another moderately
successful record. With 1983's Information, Edmunds began working with producer Jeff Lynne, a former
member of Electric Light Orchestra. Not surprisingly for a prog-rock veteran, Lynne brought Edmunds a
more measured sound, encouraging him to work with synthesizers and drum machines. While greeted with
mixed reviews, Information was successful in the U.S., resulting in the hit "Slipping Away." The pair
followed the same formula for 1984's Riff Raff, which was an unqualified bomb.
During the early '80s, Edmunds had produced records for rockabilly revivalists the Stray Cats, and in
1984, he produced the Everly Brothers' comeback record, EB84. As his solo career stalled in the wake of
Riff Raff, Edmunds concentrated on production, working on several acclaimed records, including k.d.
lang's debut Angel with a Lariat and the Fabulous Thunderbirds' breakthrough Tuff Enuff. He returned
to his own career in 1987 with the live I Hear You Rockin', which went ignored. Three years later, he
released Closer to the Flame, his first studio record in six years, to mixed reviews. That same year, he
reunited with Nick Lowe to produce Lowe's Party of One. Rhino Records released the double-disc
compilation Anthology in 1993, and the following year, Edmunds returned with Plugged In, his first set of
one-man-band material since Subtle As a Flying Mallet. Plugged In was received with good reviews, and
Edmunds supported the album with his first tour in several years.
The Anthology (1968-1990)
Artist Dave Edmunds
Album Title Anthology (1968-1990)
Date of Release Apr 20, 1993
AMG Rating 4.5 * checked
Genre Rock
A double-disc set covering Dave Edmunds' entire career, the 41-song Anthology (1968-1990) does a fine
job of capturing his musical evolution, even if it is not without its faults. To a certain extent, Anthology is
a definitive compilation, since it begins with Love Sculpture's infamous "Sabre Dance" and runs through
his early solo recordings ("I Hear You Knocking"), before hitting Rockpile ("Trouble Boys," "Deborah,"
"Girls Talk," "Crawling From the Wreckage," "Queen of Hearts") and Edmunds' overly synthesized
recordings with Jeff Lynne, adding a couple of rarities like the excellent Carlene Carter duet "Baby Ride
Easy" along the way. However, the track selection is uneven, including far too many Love Sculpture songs
and Lynne collaborations, which tends to dilute the spirit of Edmunds' best music. Still, Anthology is the
best overview of Edmunds' entire career, even if the single-disc The Best of Dave Edmunds may be
better, more consistent introduction for many listeners. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
River to Another Day (Ward/Ward)
The Stumble (King/Thompson)
Sabre Dance (Khachaturian)
Summertime (Gershwin/Gershwin/Heyward)
In the Land of the Few (Edmunds/Finesilver/Kershaw)
Farandole (Bizet)
I Hear You Knockin' (Bartholomew/King)
The Promised Land (Berry)
Down Down Down (Burton)
Born to Be With You (Robertson)
11. Leave My Woman Alone (Charles)
12. Here Comes the Weekend (Edmunds/Lowe)
13. I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock &... (Lowe)
14. Juju Man (Ford/Vegas)
15. Little Darlin' (Edmunds/Lowe)
16. Let's Talk About Us (Blackwell)
17. As Lovers Do (Edmunds/Lowe)
18. Trouble Boys (Murray)
19. Deborah (Edmunds/Lowe)
20. Never Been in Love (Bremner/Edmunds/Lowe/Williams)
21. Girls Talk (Costello)
22. Crawling from the Wreckage (Parker)
23. The Creature from the Black Lagoon (Murray)
24. Queen of Hearts (DeVito)
25. Singing the Blues (Endsley)
26. Baby Ride Easy performed by Edmunds / Carlene Carter
27. Crying in the Rain performed by Edmunds / Nick Lowe
28. If Sugar Was as Sweet as You (Tex)
29. Almost Saturday Night (Fogerty)
30. (I'm Gonna Start) Living Again If It Kills (Carter/Edmunds/Lowe)
31. The Race Is On performed by Edmunds / Stray Cats
32. From Small Things (Big Things One Day... (Springsteen)
33. Me and the Boys (Adams)
34. Warmed over Kisses (Left over Love) [Leftover Love] (Geld/Udell)
35. One More Night (Grundy)
36. Slipping Away (Lynne)
37. Information (Edmunds/Radice)
38. Something About You (Dozier/Holland/Holland)
39. High School Nights (David/Edmunds/Gould)
40. King of Love (Johnson)
41. Closer to the Flame (Brown/Mathews/Nagle)
02
Emabhaceni - Miriam Makeba
Sangoma (88)
Miriam died while (or just after) performing Pata Pata. That particular track has become the national
anthem for South America – maybe Africa in general – and it is my all-time Makeba favorite. I put Pata
Pata on NWN02A, track 23. This time I included my second favorite Makeba piece. It’s a little slow in
the beginning, but the end part is strong.
Following a three decade long exile, Miriam Makeba's return to South Africa was celebrated as though a
queen was restoring her monarchy. The response was fitting as Makeba remains the most important
female vocalist to emerge out of South Africa. Hailed as The Empress Of African Song and Mama Africa,
Makeba helped bring African music to a global audience in the 1960s. Nearly five decades after her
debut with the Manhattan Brothers, she continues to play an important role in the growth of African
music.
Makeba's life has been consistently marked by struggle. As the daughter of a sangoma, a mystical
traditional healer of the Xhosa tribe, she spent six months of her birth year in jail with her mother.
Gifted with a dynamic vocal tone, Makeba recorded her debut single, "Lakutshona Llange," as a member of
the Manhattan Brothers in 1953. Although she left to form an all-female group named the Skylarks in
1958, she reunited with members of the Manhattan Brothers when she accepted the lead female role in a
musical version of King Kong, which told the tragic tale of Black African boxer, Ezekiel "King Kong"
Dlamani, in 1959. The same year, she began an 18 month tour of South Africa with Alf Herbert's musical
extravaganza, African Jazz And Variety, and made an appearance in a documentary film, Come Back
Africa. These successes led to invitations to perform in Europe and the United States.
Makeba was embraced by the African-American community. "Pata Pata," Makeba's signature tune was
written by Dorothy Masuka and recorded in South Africa in 1956 before eventually becoming a major hit
in the U.S. in 1967. In late-1959, she performed for four weeks at the Village Vanguard in New York. She
later made a guest appearance during Harry Belafonte's ground-breaking concerts at Carnegie Hall. A
double-album of the event, released in 1960, received a Grammy award. Makeba has continued to
periodically renew her collaboration with Belafonte, releasing an album in 1972 titled Miriam Makeba and
Harry Belafonte. Makeba then made a special guest appearance at the Harry Belafonte Tribute at
Madison Square Garden in 1997.
Makeba's successes as a vocalist were also balanced by her outspoken views about apartheid. In 1960, the
government of South Africa revoked her citizenship. For the next thirty years, she was forced to be a
'citizen of the world.' Makeba received the Dag Hammerskjold Peace Prize in 1968. After marrying
radical Black activist Stokely Carmichael, many of her concerts were cancelled, and her recording
contract with RCA was dropped, resulting in even more problems for the artist. She eventually relocated
to Guinea at the invitation of president Sekou Toure and agreed to serve as Guinea's delegate to the
United Nations. In 1964 and 1975, she addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on the
horrors of apartheid.
Makeba remained active as a musician over the years. In 1975, she recorded an album, A Promise, with
Joe Sample, Stix Hooper, Arthur Adams, and David T. Walker of the Crusaders. Makeba joined Paul
Simon and South Africa 's Ladysmith Black Mambazo during their world-wide Graceland tour in 1987 and
1988. Two years later, she joined Odetta and Nina Simone for the One Nation tour.
Makeba published her autobiography, Miriam: My Story, in English in 1988 and had it subsequently
translated and published in German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. Following Nelson
Mandela's release from prison, Makeba returned to South Africa in December 1990. She performed her
first concert in her homeland in thirty years in April 1991. Makeba appeared in South African awardwinning musical, Sarafina, in the role of Sarafina's mother in 1992. Two years later, she reunited with her
first husband, trumpeter Hugh Masekela, for the Tour Of Hope tour. In 1995, Makeba formed a charity
organization to raise funds to help protect the women of South Africa. The same year, she performed at
the Vatican's Nevi Hall during a world-wide broadcasted show, Christmas In The Vatican. Makeba's first
studio album in a decade, Homeland, was released in 2000.
Sangoma
Rating 4.5 *
1988
41:31
Makeba's comeback album, her first U.S. release in almost a decade, is a beautiful collection of
traditional South African songs with spare production values that highlight the power of Makeba's vocals.
This is an excellent set of Xhosa folk songs she learned as a child.
1 Emabhaceni Makeba 2:38
2 Baxabene Oxamu Traditional 2:12
3 Ngalala Phantsi 2:29
4 Ihoyiya 1:27
5 Kulo Nyaka 2:17
6 Baya Jabula 2:22
7 Mabhongo 1:22
8 Ingwemabala 1:54
9 Mosadi Ku Rima 3:10
10 Angilalanga 2:16
11 Ungakanani 1:25
12 Ngiya Khuyeka 1:36
13 Nyankwabe 1:56
14 Sabumoya 1:47
15 Congo Traditional 2:22
16 Nginani Na 2:36
17 Umam' Uyajabula 2:02
18 Nyamuthla 2:29
19 Icala 3:11
03
Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
OCMC (04)
I have several versions of this tune from OCMS’s appearances on PHC. A while back, Mahoney gave me an
actual OCMS CD and I was reminded of how much I like this song. It’s a ‘mind worm’ as Jason calls such
things: it gets in your head and you find yourself repeating the chorus while doing mundane things like
brushing your teeth. Hope you find it equally endearing.
Headed down south to the land of the pines
And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
Pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Runnin' from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time stringband
My baby plays the guitar
I pick a banjo now
Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now
Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave
But I ain't a turnin' back
To livin' that old life no more
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly
Had a nice long toke
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Mountain music revivalists Old Crow Medicine Show spin traditional folk and bluegrass yarns with a rock &
roll attitude. Critter Fuqua (vocals/banjo/resonator guitar), Kevin Hayes (guitjo), Morgan Jahnig (upright
bass), Ketch Secor (vocals/fiddle/harmonica/banjo), and Willie Watson (vocals/guitar/banjo) may
specialize in rags, hollers, and pre-World War II blues but they were weaned on Nirvana and Public
Enemy. The quintet -- who are all from different states -- met in New York, hit the road, played before
an impressed Doc Watson in front of a North Carolina pharmacy, and were promptly scheduled to play the
folk icon's Merlefest. The group relocated to Nashville, found themselves gracing the stage at the Grand
Ole Opry, opened for the likes of Dolly Parton and the Del McCoury Band, toured with Merle Haggard and
Marty Stuart, and appeared on NPR's Prairie Home Companion. They signed to Nettwerk America in 2003,
began crafting their own compositions among the jug band standards and reels that had become the
backbone of the group, and went into the studio to make a record with Gillian Welch's other half,
guitarist David Rawlings, at the helm. The self-titled debut, which was recorded in RCA's legendary
Studio B (Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings), as well as Woodland Sound Studios (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band),
arrived the following year. The group's second album, Big Iron World was produced by Rawlings and
appeared in August of 2006.
04
Snootie Little Cutie - Frank Sinatra & Connie Haines
BGR (40)
This has been a favorite of mine for decades. It is early Frank but I didn’t know the identity of the
female singer until I read the obit for Connie Haines. Now I know. I wanted to include this track for some
time, and the loss of Connie gave me the reason to do so. How many of you have heard such vintage
Frankie? I think his early work was his best. But then I’m old ;-)
[PP = The Pied Pipers
FS = Frank Sinatra
CH = Connie Haines]
[PP:] She's a snooty little cutie
She's a pert little skirt
She's a knockout and a beauty and a flirt.
Such a dapper little flapper
She's just as cute as a trick
She's a kissy little missy, a vain little jane,
She's slick. (doo doo doo roo doo),
She's a classy little lassie
A keen little queen
And although sometimes she's sassy and mean
Just a fiend for romance is she
Squirly little girly, see,
She's a knockout, a beauty, snooty little cutie
Snooty little cutie, she.
[CH:] You're a mellow little fellow
You're a coy little boy,
[FS:] You're a knockout and a beauty, you're a joy,
[CH:] You're a ready little steady
You've swept this girl off her feet,
[FS:] You're a kissy little missy, a vain little jane
But you're sweet.
[CH:] You're a handy little dandy
[FS:] You're a keen little queen,
[CH:] And although sometimes I'm bossy
[FS:] You're never mean.
I'm a fiend for romance with you
[CH:] Mellow little fellow you're mine
[FS:] Youre a knockout and a beauty
[CH:] And a snooty little cutie
[both:] Snooty little cutie mine.
[PP:] Yes she's a classy little lassie
A keen little queen
And though sometimes she's sassy
She's never mean.
[CH:] I'm a fool for romance it's true, moonlight and kisses and you,
[PP:] She's a beauty, that snooty little cutie, snooty little cutie she.
Connie Haines
Often appearing next to Frank Sinatra while with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra during the early '40s,
Connie Haines delivered a few of Dorsey's chart hits and recorded on her own during the '50s and '60s.
Born Yvonne Marie Antoinette Ja Mais in Savannah in 1922, she learned the art of vocals quite early; her
mother was both a voice and dance teacher. Living in Jacksonville after her parents divorced, she began
airing over the radio before the age of ten. In 1931, she appeared over NBC radio as Baby Yvonne Marie,
the Little Princess of the Air, sang with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra one year later, and in 1934 won a
vocal contest on The Fred Allen Show.
Haines' first big band contract was with Howard Lally, though by the age of 16 she was singing with
Harry James' band (her first professional gig with Frank Sinatra). Financial problems forced James to
fire both Sinatra and (later) Haines, though both found work with the same leader: Tommy Dorsey.
Beginning in 1940, Haines, Sinatra, and the later addition of the Pied Pipers made Dorsey's one of the
strongest bands from a pop standpoint, and Haines appeared on several hits: "Two Dreams Met," "Oh,
Look at Me Now," "Kiss the Boys Goodbye," and "What Is This Thing Called Love?"
After leaving Dorsey's band, Connie Haines sang with the Bob Crosby Orchestra during 1941. As a solo
singer, she recorded singles and LPs for a variety of labels (Coral, Capitol, Mercury, Columbia, and Dot)
during the next few decades. She continued performing into the '90s, but passed away in 2008 of the
neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis .
On Wednesday Miss Haines’s voice — still strong and swinging — could be heard on her answering
machine. “I’ve got the world on a string,” she sang.
05
Corazón - Los Lobos
his Time (99)
I’ve been wanting to include another Los Lobos since using Kiko And The Lavender Moon on NWN06, and
when this one popped up on our daily play-list, it was immediately put into the ‘Possibles’ list for the next
NWN CD – and here it is. I just love the sax work on their stuff … and the Tex-Mex flavor … and the
occasional clang of the cow bell.
Los Lobos was one of America's most distinctive and original bands of the '80s. They may have had a hit
with "La Bamba" in 1987, yet that cover barely scratches the surface of their talents. Los Lobos is
eclectic in the best sense of the word. While they draw equally from rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B,
blues, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music, their music never sounds forced or self-conscious.
Instead, all of their influences become one graceful, gritty sound. From their very first recordings their
rich musicality was apparent; on nearly every subsequent record they have found ways to redefine and
expand their sound, without ever straying from the musical traditions that form the heart and soul of the
band.
After releasing an independent EP in the late '70s and an EP in 1983, Los Lobos delivered their first
major-label album, How Will the Wolf Survive?, in 1984; it received an enormous amount of critical
acclaim, as well as a dedicated following of fans. In the next four years, they released a marginally
successful attempt to make their wildly eclectic sound palatable for a pop audience (By the Light of the
Moon), a soundtrack of old Ritchie Valens songs that was a hit (La Bamba), and an album of traditional
Mexican music (La Pistola y el Corazón). The band took two years off and returned with The
Neighborhood in 1990; the album was a varied and powerful rock & roll record that was better than
anything they had released in six years. Kiko, released in 1992, brought the band into more experimental
territory, without ever abandoning their graceful songwriting.
The band celebrated their 20-year anniversary with Just Another Band From East L.A., a modestly titled
two-CD set that featured most of their biggest singles and recognized songs. It also had rare tracks
from their first album, outtakes, and live tracks that fans had been waiting for. They didn't appear
together on record again until 1995, when they released the children's record Papa's Dream on Music for
Little People Records. They also scored the film Desperado and contributed tracks to several other
soundtracks and tribute albums.
Their last release for Warner Bros. came in the form of 1996's Colossal Head, another critically
acclaimed album that still failed to excite the label enough to keep them on the roster. Feeling dejected,
they left one another to concentrate on side projects, like Soul Disguise, Houndog, and the Latin
Playboys. The latter was the most dedicated project of the bunch, eventually becoming another regular
group for David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez, on top of their duties for Los Lobos, after previously releasing
an album in the early 90s.
Los Lobos came back together in 1999, when they recorded and released their debut for Hollywood
Records, This Time. Another Los Angeles-themed gem from the group, it didn't perform up to the label's
liking and they only managed to deliver one more record for the company, the re-release of 1977's Del
Este de Los Angeles. Rhino/Warner Archives released the Cancionero: Mas y Mas box set the following
year, but despite the career retrospective, they were still together and came back on Mammoth Records
for the Good Morning Aztlan release in 2002. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine
06
Hush Little Baby - Inga Swearingen
PHC (08)
Okay, this is a weird version of a familiar standard. The words are Garrison’s – he wrote it when the show
visited NYC a few years ago. Inga is an award-winning jazz vocalist, and she took the words (and tune) and
put her imprint on it – all over it actually. I’ve seen her on stage when we went to PHC with Jason & Jenn a
couple years ago. When she isn’t performing, she stands in the wings bouncing and smiling along with
whoever is performing. The girl is just overflowing with the joy of music and it shows in this track. I
especially like the way she gets the audience to do the ‘ha, ha, ha, ha’ part while she scats over it … and
then they end together with a final ‘ha, ha, ha, ha’. Yep, like this vocalist, like this tune.
Inga Swearingen
Inga Swearingen always loved singing, whether it was with her elementary school choir in San Luis Obispo,
California, or writing her own songs and accompanying herself on the guitar, or during her years of voice
lessons. But it may have been joining a jazz choir while pursuing her education at Cuesta College that
sealed her decision to be a jazz singer. In 2003, she traveled to Switzerland to study under Swiss artist
Susanne Abbuehl, and later that year she won the Shure Jazz Voice competition at the world-renowned
Montreux Jazz Festival. After earning a master's degree in choral conducting from Florida State
University, Inga went back to San Luis Obispo, where she now performs and works on recording projects.
She has also returned to Cuesta College - her old alma mater - this time as a teacher. Her debut CD,
Learning How To Fly, was released in 2003. Her latest, Reverie, is on the Rhythome label.
07
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) - Four Tops
Forest Gump (61, 94)
I didn’t know Levi Stubbs was a featured singer in the Four Tops. When I read the obit and saw the list
of classics he’s featured on … well, I just had to pick one for this year’s CD. I auditioned my Four Tops
collection and this was the clear winner. I remember it when it was a top-twenty hit the year I graduated
from HS. Yep, I like this track and decided to include it even though I’m sure you all are very familiar
with it.
Sugarpie honeybunch
You know that I love you
I can't help myself
I love you and nobody else
In and out my life
You come and you go
Leaving just your picture behind
And I kissed it a thousand times
When you snap your fingers
Or wink your eye
I come a running to you
I'm tied to you, baby
And there's nothing I can do
Ooh, sugar
Sugarpie honeybunch
I'm weaker than a man should be
I can't help myself
I'm a fool in love you see
Wanna tell you I don't love you
Tell you that we're through
And I've tried
But everytime I see your face
I get up all choked up inside
When I call your name, girl
It starts the flame burning in my heart
Tearin' it all apart
No matter how I try
My love I cannot hide
Sugarpie honeybunch
You now that I'm weak for you
I can't help myself
I love you and nobody else
Sugarpie honeybunch
I'll do anything you ask me to
I can't help myself
I want you and nobody else
Sugarpie honeybunch
You know that I love you
I can't help myself
Levi Stubbs
Born in Detroit, MI in 1936, deep-voiced singer Levi Stubbs began his professional singing career in his
hometown when he and friends Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson, and Lawrence Payton formed
the Four Aims vocal group in 1954 (some accounts put the date a year earlier). The group worked as a
supper club act for a couple of years, changing their name to the Four Tops and, following unsuccessful
recording stints with Chess and Columbia, signed to Berry Gordy's then-fledgling Motown Records in
1963. They completed a debut LP for Motown in their polished and jazzy supper club style but it wasn't
really what Gordy was looking for and he switched their style to a harder, more pop-flavored R&B sound,
wisely placing them in the hands of the in-house Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team. Pure magic
happened. With Stubbs singing lead, his natural baritone pitched at the top of his range to create a sense
of vibrant urgency, the Four Tops delivered an impressive run of hits for Motown, beginning with "Baby I
Need Your Loving" in 1964 and following it with "Ask the Lonely," "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey
Bunch)" and "It's the Same Old Song" in 1965, and "Something About You," "Shake Me, Wake Me (When
It's Over)," "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever," and the soul symphony "Reach Out, I'll Be There" in
1966. "Standing in the Shadows of Love" and "Bernadette" followed in 1967. Holland-Dozier-Holland left
Motown over a financial dispute at the end of the year, though, and the Four Tops suffered for it,
eventually leaving the label themselves in 1972 and signing with ABC-Dunhill, where they were teamed
with producers/songwriters Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, who did their best to re-create the
group's trademark Motown sound. The first single, "Keeper of the Castle," was a hit, as was "Ain't No
Woman (Like the One I've Got)" early in 1973, but the creative well was running dry for the group, at
least as a chart-topping act. They continued to tour and perform shows, occasionally notching a song in
the lower reaches of the charts. Benson died in 1995 and Payton passed away in 1997. Theo Peoples joined
the group and took over the lead vocal work when Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer and was unable to
continue touring. Aside from his work as a singer, Stubbs also did some acting, appearing in several
television shows (usually as himself) and provided the voice for the carnivorous plant in the movie musical
version of Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and the voice of Mother Brain in the animated TV series Captain
N: The Game Master (1989). Levi Stubbs passed away at his home in Detroit on October 17, 2008.
08
You've Made Me So Very Happy - Alton Ellis
Down (70)
Mahoney alerted me to Alton Ellis’ obit (link). I didn’t know his work and only had one track by him on a
Jamaican compilation. I went to the web link Mahoney sent and learned about Mr Ellis. The site had some
tracks to play – one of which was his signature song: Get Ready, Rock Steady. I digitized the tracks and
auditioned them that very morning. Although the Rock Steady may be most representative, I found
myself preferring You’ve Made Me So Very Happy. I picked that to represent Mr Ellis; RIP, sir and thank
you for all your good work.
Whoa whoah woooooo
Whoa whoah woooooo
I had lost that love, that love, that love before
Dark mind (?) and I close, and I close, and I close the door
And you say, Try just once more
And you came and you took control
You touch my very soul
You always show me that
Lovin' you is where it's at
You've made me so very happy
I'm so glad you came into my life
The others were untrue
But when it came to loving you now
I'd spend my whole life with you, girl
Coz you came and you took control
You touch my very soul
You always show me that
Lovin' you is where it's at
You've made me so very happy
I'm so glad you came into my life
Whoa whoah woooooo
Whoa whoah woooooo
I had lost that love, that love, that love before
Dark mind (?) and I close, and I close, and I close the door
And you say, Try just once more
And you came and you took control
You touch my very soul
You always show me that
Lovin' you is where it's at
You've made me so very happy
I'm so glad you came into my life
Whoa whoah woooooo
Whoa whoah woooooo...
Alton Ellis
One of the first vocalists to enter the Jamaican music business, Alton Ellis was generally revered as the
greatest and most soulful singer the country ever produced -- that is, until Bob Marley came along. Ellis
had his first hit during the ska craze, but made his true lasting mark as the definitive solo singer of the
rocksteady era. Sweet, smooth, and deeply emotive, Ellis was equally at home on Jamaican originals or
reggae-fied covers of American R&B hits. He cut a series of ska singles for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's
Studio One label, but reached his prime during the mid- to late '60s, when he recorded some of
rocksteady's signature tunes for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle imprint.Ellis was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in
1944, and grew up in the Trenchtown area as part of a musically inclined family. As a youngster, he
learned to sing and play piano, the latter often by breaking into a local youth center to practice by night.
In his early teens, he teamed up with another singer, Eddie Perkins, to form the duo Alton & Eddie. In
1959, after winning a prominent talent show, they recorded the single "Muriel," which became a
substantial hit in Jamaica. Not long after cutting the follow-up "My Heaven," Perkins left to try a solo
career in the United States, leaving Ellis a solo act.Ellis recorded for Dodd's Studio One label during the
early '60s, but made little money. Dissatisfied, he moved over to Reid's Treasure Isle in 1965, and
formed a backup vocal trio called the Flames (the first incarnation featured his brother Leslie, and
membership would fluctuate). Ellis quickly scored a major hit with the antiviolence plea "Dance Crasher,"
and the following year, he released what was arguably the first rocksteady single, "Get Ready - Rock
Steady." Its innovative beat grew out of a session where the scheduled bassist didn't show up, forcing
keyboardist Jackie Mittoo to play the bass part himself; Mittoo's left hand couldn't keep up with the
frantic ska beat, so he elected to slow down the tempo. The result was a choppier rhythm that wound up
allowing the vocalist to stretch out more, and soon the rocksteady sound had taken over Jamaican music,
with Ellis leading the charge. He had several other major successes in 1966, including "Cry Tough" and the
smash "Girl I've Got a Date," the latter of which became his biggest hit and signature song. He also cut
several duets with Phyllis Dillon (making them Jamaica's answer to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell), as
well as his sister Hortense Ellis (including a hit cover of Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"). The
classic LP Mr. Soul of Jamaica (later reissued on CD as Cry Tough) gathered many of his best Treasure
Isle tracks.By 1968, Ellis had resumed working for Studio One in addition to his output for Treasure Isle,
making him one of the few singers to bridge the gap between the two archrivals. Most of his biggest hits
of the late '60s came on Studio One, including the American soul cover "Willow Tree," "I'm Just a Guy,"
and "Sitting in the Park." In 1970, he released the album Sunday Coming, one of his strongest Studio One
sets. Ellis later teamed with producer Lloyd Daley for a brief period, which resulted in the more
Rastafarian-tinged hits "Lord Deliver Us" and "Back to Africa"; he also worked with Keith Hudson.
However, he was still not receiving proper financial compensation for all his success. Disillusioned, he
spent some time in the U.S. and Canada, then relocated to England on a mostly permanent basis in 1973.In
England, Ellis established his own Alltone label, which he devoted to both new recordings and compilations
of his early classics. The international popularity of Bob Marley and the rise of roots reggae meant that
Ellis' considerable legacy was soon overshadowed, but over time, he remained a fondly remembered
pioneer of Jamaican music. He made triumphant returns to Jamaica with well-received sets at the Reggae
Sunsplash Festival in both 1983 and 1985, and recorded a new single, "Man From Studio One," for Dodd in
1991. Numerous compilations of his work appeared during the CD era, illustrating his stunning consistency.
YouTube Obit …
Pour out a little Red Stripe. Alton Nehemiah Ellis, the Jamaican musical legend known as the “Godfather
of Rocksteady,” died last Friday (October 10) at Hammersmith Hospital in London. He was 70 years old.
Ellis came to prominence as a ska singer on the Studio One label in the 1950s. But it was in rock steady
that Ellis made his true impact on Jamaican music. His song “Get Ready - Rock Steady” (below) is arguably
the first rocksteady song ever. A precursor to reggae, rocksteady was driven by a slower tempo than ska,
featured elements (and a good deal of songs) from American R&B and a heavy bass backbeat.
Fellow Jamaican singer Delroy Williams, a friend for decades, described Ellis’ voice as “the sweetest in
the reggae world. … His music is the reason for a lot of babies — that’s how sweet and warm and loving it
is.”
According to an obituary on the Trojan Records site, Ellis was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and was
recently admitted to the hospital after collapsing on stage on August 10th. After initially improving, Ellis
was re-admitted for further treatment two weeks later.
Ellis is survived by his wife and more than 20 children.
09
Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars - Oscar Peterson
We Get Requests (65)
We lost a great one here; a truly noble and gifted person. How do you pick a representative OP track? My
very favorite OP of all time was included on the first NWN CD: NWN01, Gravy Waltz, track #13. I
sorted through the 100 or so remaining OP tracks and came up with this one. It’s from a CD that replaced
the original vinyl I bought in … 1965. That explains the Bossa Nova aspect, but I think you’ll still hear
Oscar’s genius tinkling through – especially near the end of the track.
Oscar Peterson is one of the greatest piano players of all time. A pianist with phenomenal technique on
the level of his idol, Art Tatum, Peterson's speed, dexterity and ability to swing at any tempo have long
been amazing. Very effective in small groups, jam sessions and in accompanying singers, O.P. is at his
absolute best when performing unaccompanied solos. His original style does not fall into any specific
idiom. Like Erroll Garner and George Shearing, Peterson's distinctive playing formed during the mid- to
late '40s and fell somewhere between swing and bop.
Peterson has been criticized through the years because he uses so many notes, has not evolved much
since the 1950s, and has recorded a remarkable number of albums. Perhaps it is because critics ran out of
favorable adjectives to use early in his career; certainly it can be said that Peterson plays 100 notes
when other pianists might use ten, but all 100 usually fit, and there is nothing wrong with showing off
technique when it serves the music. As with Johnny Hodges and Thelonious Monk, to name two, Peterson
spent his career growing within his style rather than making any major changes once his approach was set,
certainly an acceptable way to handle one's career. Because he was Norman Granz's favorite pianist
(along with Tatum) and the producer tended to record some of his artists excessively, Peterson has made
an incredible number of albums. Not all are essential, and a few are routine, but the great majority are
quite excellent, and there are dozens of classics.
Oscar Peterson started classical piano lessons when he was six and developed quickly. After winning a
talent show at 14, he began starring on a weekly radio show in Montreal. Peterson picked up early
experience as a teenager playing with Johnny Holmes' Orchestra. From 1945-49, he recorded 32
selections for Victor in Montreal. Those trio performances find Peterson displaying a love for boogiewoogie, which he would soon discard, and the swing style of Teddy Wilson and Nat King Cole. His
technique was quite brilliant even at that early stage, and although he had not yet been touched by the
influence of bop, he was already a very impressive player.
Norman Granz discovered Peterson in 1949 and soon presented him as a surprise guest at a Jazz at the
Philharmonic concert. Peterson was recorded in 1950 on a series of duets with either Ray Brown or Major
Holley on bass; his version of "Tenderly" became a hit. Peterson's talents were quite obvious, and he
became a household name in 1952 when he formed a trio with guitarist Barney Kessel and Brown. Kessel
tired of the road and was replaced by Herb Ellis the following year. The Peterson-Ellis-Brown Trio, which
often toured with JATP, was one of jazz's great combos from 1953-58. Their complex yet swinging
arrangements were competitive - Ellis and Brown were always trying to outwit and push the pianist - and
consistently exciting. In 1958, when Ellis left the band, it was decided that no other guitarist could fill in
so well, and he was replaced (after a brief stint by Gene Gammage) by drummer Ed Thigpen. In contrast
to the earlier group, the Peterson-Brown-Thigpen Trio (which lasted until 1965) found the pianist easily
the dominant soloist. Later versions of the group featured drummers Louis Hayes (1965-66), Bobby
Durham (1967-70), Ray Price (1970) and bassists Sam Jones (1966-70) and George Mraz (1970).
In 1960, Oscar Peterson established the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto, which
lasted for three years. He made his first recorded set of unaccompanied piano solos in 1968 (strange
that Norman Granz had not thought of it) during his highly rated series of MPS recordings. With the
formation of the Pablo label by Granz in 1972, Peterson was often teamed with guitarist Joe Pass and
bassist Niels Pedersen. He appeared on dozens of all-star records, made five duet albums with top
trumpeters (Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry and Jon Faddis) and
teamed up with Count Basie on several two-piano dates. An underrated composer, Peterson wrote and
recorded the impressive "Canadiana Suite" in 1964 and has occasionally performed originals in the years
since. Although always thought of as a masterful acoustic pianist, Peterson has also recorded on electric
piano (particularly some of his own works), organ on rare occasions, and even clavichord for an odd duet
date with Joe Pass. One of his rare vocal sessions in 1965, With Respect to Nat, reveals that Peterson's
singing voice was nearly identical to Nat King Cole's.
A two-day reunion with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown in 1990 (which also included Bobby Durham) resulted in
four CDs. Peterson was felled by a serious stroke in 1993 that knocked him out of action for two years.
Since then, he has gradually returned to the scene, although his left hand has been weakened. But even
when he is not 100%, Oscar Peterson remains a classic improviser, one of the finest musicians that jazz
has ever produced.
The pianist has appeared on an enormous number of records through the years. As a leader, he has
recorded for Victor, Granz's Clef and Verve labels (1950-64), MPS, Mercury, Limelight, Pablo and Telarc.
- Scott Yanow
10
Endicott - Kid Creole & The Coconuts
Kid Creole Redux (86, 92)
This is another track that narrowly missed last year’s CD. Well, this year it goes on. I was a little
concerned about the words, but they seem okay. I’m not a word person, so I have to check to see what
I’m promoting. I like the jumpy melody and that’s the primary reason it’s included here. It’s the closest to
a rap song I’m likely to ever include.
Endicott - Kid Creole & The Coconuts Lyrics
Endicott's up by 5 o'clock
Endicott's givin' it all he got
Endicott's job is six to nine but
Endicott's home by nine O five
Endicott helps to cook the steak
Endicott helps to wash the plates
Endicott puts the kids to bed
Endicott reads a book to them
(Why cant you be like Endicott?)
Endicott loves Tribena so
Endicott puts her on a pedestal
Endicott's wish is her command but
Endicott don't make no demands
Endicott's always back in time
Endicott's not the cheatin' kind
Endicott's full of compliment
Endicott's such a gentleman
(Why cant you be like Endicott?)
Cause I'm free
Free of any made-to-order liabilities
Thank God I'm free
Cos it's hard enough for me
to take care of me, oh-oh
Endicott's carryin' a heavy load but
Endicott never really ever moans
Endicott's not a wealthy guy but
Endicott pays the bills on time
Endicott's got ideas and plans
Endicott's what you call a real man
Endicott always will provide 'cause
Endicott is the family type
(Why cant you be like Endicott?)
Cause I'm free
Freer than a pirate on a frigate out at sea
Thank God I'm free
Driftin' all around just like a tumbleweed, oh-oh
Maybe I need someone
Someone who isn't undone
Maybe an older woman
Will tolerate me
Maybe that certain someone
Older and wiser woman
Maybe the perfect someone
To satisfy me
Endicott keeps his body clean
Endicott don't use nicotine
Endicott don't drink alcohol
Endicott use no drugs at all
Endicott don't eat any sweet
Endicott don't eat pig feet
Endicott's frame is mighty strong
Endicott make love hard and long
(Why cant you be like Endicott?)
Endicott loves Tribena so
Endicott walks her to the sto'
Endicott likes to hold her hand
Endicott's proud to be her man
Endicott stands for decency
Endicott means formality
Endicott's the epitome
Endicott stands for quality
Endicott
Endicott
Endicott
Endicott
Our love will be...
Thomas August Darnell Browder (aka August Darnell) was born in Montreal on August 12, 1950, the son of
a French Canadian mother and a Dominican father, but was raised in the New York City borough of the
Bronx. In 1965, he formed the In-Laws with his half-brother, Stony Browder, Jr. He earned a master's
degree in English and became an English teacher, but in 1974 again joined his half-brother as bass
guitarist, singer, and lyricist in Dr. Buzzard's Original "Savannah" Band, a group that mixed disco with big
band and Latin styles. In 1976, Dr. Buzzard achieved a gold-selling album with its self-titled debut
release, which featured the Top 40 hit "Whispering/Cherchez La Femme/Se Si Bon," but its subsequent
recordings were less successful. Darnell began to write and produce for other acts, co-composing
Machine's 1979 chart entry "There But for the Grace of God Go I" and working with James Chance
among others. In 1980, he became a staff producer at Ze Records and created the persona of Kid Creole
(the name adapted from the Elvis Presley film King Creole) with a backup group, the Coconuts, consisting
of three female singers led by his wife Adriana ("Addy") Kaegi, and a band containing vibraphone player
"Sugar-Coated" Andy Hernandez (a/k/a Coati Mundi), also from Dr. Buzzard. Kid Creole was a deliberately
comic figure, a Latinized Cab Calloway type in a zoot suit and broad-brimmed hat who sang songs like
"Mister Softee" that found him decrying his impotence while being berated by the Coconuts. Off the
Coast of Me, the first Kid Creole & the Coconuts album, was released in August 1980 by Island Records
subsidiary Antilles through a distribution deal with Ze. It earned good reviews for its clever lyrics and
mixture of musical styles, but did not sell.
Ze made a deal with Sire Records (in turn part of Warner Bros. Records), and Sire released the second
Kid Creole & the Coconuts album, Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places, in June 1981. It reached the charts
briefly, and Coati Mundi's dance single, "Me No Pop I," was a Top 40 hit in the U.K. Fresh Fruit was a
concept album that found the Kid Creole character embarking on an Odyssey-like search for a character
named Mimi, and it was given a stage production at the New York Public Theater. Darnell continued the
story with his third album, which was released in the U.K. under the title Tropical Gangsters in May 1982.
The band toured Britain for the first time to promote the album, and they broke big: The LP hit #3 and
three singles, "I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby," "Stool Pigeon," and "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy," made the
Top Ten, with "Dear Addy" reaching the Top 40. In the U.S., where the album was retitled Wise Guy, the
band remained cult favorites, though the album charted and "I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby" made the
R&B singles charts. In 1983, Darnell produced side projects for the Coconuts (Don't Steal My Coconuts)
and Coati Mundi (The Former Twelve Year Old Genius) before releasing the fourth Kid Creole album
Doppelganger, which completed the Mimi cycle. The album got into the charts in the U.K., where the
single "There's Something Wrong in Paradise" made the Top 40, but it did not chart at home and was a
commercial disappointment after the breakthrough represented by Tropical Gangsters/Wise Guy.
Nevertheless, Kid Creole & the Coconuts remained a compelling live act with an imaginative visual style,
which led to film and television opportunities. They appeared in the film Against All Odds in 1984 and
continued to be tapped for movie projects in subsequent years, either for appearances or music: New
York Stories (1989), The Forbidden Dance (1990), Identity Crisis (1990), Only You (1992), Car 54, Where
Are You? (1994). They also made a TV film, Something Wrong in Paradise, based on the Mimi cycle and
broadcast on Granada TV in the U.K. in December 1984.
Darnell broke up with his wife in 1985, and the original band split, with the Coconuts forming a group
called Boomerang, while Andy Hernandez appeared in the Madonna film Who's That Girl? (1987). Darnell
pressed on, appearing at the Montreux Jazz Festival and releasing the fifth Kid Creole and the Coconuts
album, In Praise of Older Women and Other Crimes, which did not chart. Neither did the sixth album, I,
Too, Have Seen the Woods (1987). The group joined Barry Manilow on "Hey Mambo," a song on his Swing
Street album that made the singles charts. Darnell then took time off to write In a Pig's Valise, an OffBroadway show that ran for 12 weeks. Kid Creole & the Coconuts, now featuring former Dr. Buzzard
singer Cory Daye, resurfaced in 1990 on Columbia Records, issuing a seventh album, Private Waters in the
Great Divide, which featured "The Sex of It," a song written by Prince that made the British Top 40 and
the American R&B charts. It was followed a year later by You Shoulda Told Me You Were ....
Kid Creole & the Coconuts spent the 1990s touring internationally and releasing albums primarily outside
the U.S. To Travel Sideways and Kiss Me Before the Light Changes both appeared initially in Japan,
though they found stateside release on a small label in 1995. The Conquest of You was released in
Germany in 1997. (An American release on Fuel 2000 was scheduled for 1999, but did not occur.) In the
U.S., the group appeared in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Kid Creole starred in the British musical Oh!
What a Night, which ran in the West End from August to October 1999.
Kid Creole Redux
Rating 4 * checked
Release Date Mar 17, 1992
Time 56:24
This 1992 compilation released on Sire stands as the best introduction to Kid Creole & the Coconuts, a
thrilling group that exemplified New York City's diverse cultural mix during the '80s. Kid Creole Redux
reaches back to early Ze and Island singles like 1980's "He's Not Such a Bad Boy," 1981's "Going Places,"
and 1982's "I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby," and it also includes cuts from the mid-'80s that saw the group
reach its highest level of popularity ("My Male Curiosity," "Endicott"). Nobody knew exactly what Kid
Creole & the Coconuts were — that was part of the their charm. If there's one thing this group wasn't, it
was a novelty. Whatever they were, they cranked out some humorous, rhythmic, vibrant pop music that
has had no problem translating to the present.
1 I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby Darnell, Schott 5:15
2 Endicott Darnell 4:26
3 There's Something Wrong in Paradise Darnell, Mazur 3:20
4 If You Wanna Be Happy Guida, Royster 2:23
5 Stool Pigeon Darnell 4:59
6 Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy Darnell 6:13
7 Yolanda Darnell 4:23
8 It's a Wonderful Life Hernandez 3:17
9 Dancin' at the Bains Douches Darnell 5:25
10 In the Jungle Darnell 3:09
11 Animal Crackers Darnell, Favero 3:33
12 Part of My Design Darnell 3:28
13 Call It a Day Darnell 4:00
14 The Lifeboat Party Darnell, Rodgers 2:33
11
Utah Bruce Phillips Medley - Utah Bruce Phillips,Peter Ostroushko,Stony Lonesome
PHC (80s)
I first heard Utah Bruce back in the 80s when he appeared on PHC. He performed several of what I think
are his best tracks on those shows. Stony Lonesome, the PHC house band at the time, did a Utah Bruce
medley on one of his last appearances and that’s the track I picked. I’d actually wanted to include a Utah
Bruce for years, but it just never seemed to fit. This year, it just had to be. Some of you may know about
Utah Bruce from his collaboration with Ani DeFranco. I downloaded a bunch of their stuff and almost
immediately deleted it. It just wasn’t what I remember about Utah Bruce’s work. After reading his obit,
I went to the Smithsonian site and found some samples of his work they had posted for his remembrance.
They weren’t even close to the PHC stuff I have. Apparently I lucked out and got the very best of Utah
Bruce. Yay, me.
This medley was originally over 12 minutes long. I did some editing and got it down to just under 9
minutes. I opted to leave Utah’s monologues because I think they are important for the story. I get chills
every time I listen to this track. I especially like the loneliness and sense of history: taking the last ride
on a well known RR line; starlight reflecting on the rails; going out where the states are square; being the
best ant you can be. The hair on my arms rises as I type these words. Hope the track has the same
effect for you.
The artists performing the three Utah Bruce songs on this medley are: Utah Bruce himself, Peter
Ostroushko, and Kate McKenzie. The backup group is Stony Lonesome featuring Kate McKenzie (guitar,
vocals), Chris Kaiser (mandolin, lead guitar, vocals), Kevin Barnes (banjo, dobro, vocals), Brian Wicklund
(fiddle, vocals) and Patty Shove (bass). Peter is one of the original performers on PHC … and one of my
favorites.
"The golden voice of the great American Southwest", Bruce "U. Utah" Phillips is not one to take
retirement sitting down. "Officially" retired from touring since 1996, the politically-conscious, Nevada
City, California-based, singer and storyteller has maintained a constant flow of new recordings and
reissues. An album of his stories and between-song patter set to music by Ani DiFranco, The Past Didn't
Go Anywhere, introduced his anarchistic persona to a young audience, while Loafer's Glory, a collection of
stories, poems and songs set to the accompaniment of Woody Guthrie-influenced guitarist Mark Ross,
showed his long-time audience that he still had something of importance to say. In addition to two of his
earlier albums -- El Capitan and All Used Up -- being released as The Telling Takes Me Home, Phillips'
songs were honored with an album-length celebration of his songs by bluegrass duo, Jody Stecher and
Kate Brislin, Heart Songs: The Old Time Country Songs of Utah Phillips, that receive a Grammy
nomination as "best traditional folk album of 1997".
Phillips and Ross initially worked together in the late-1980s when problems with Phillips contracted focal
distonia in his right hand which prevented him from fingerpicking and dupytren in his left hand which
made it difficult for him to make a chord. His collaboration with DiFranco was instigated by a letter that
he received from the hard-edged acoustic performer. The stories that DiFranco set to music were culled
from over a hundred hours of his live performances. Phillips' political awareness was inherited from his
parents who were union organizers in the 1930s. His mother worked for the C.I.O. before it merged with
the A.F.L.. As a youngster, Phillips was influenced by his exposure to the theater after his parents were
divorced and his mother was re-married to the manager of the Hippodrome in Cleveland, one of the last
of the old vaudeville houses. His involvement with the theater continued after moving with his mother and
step-father to Utah in 1947. Although his step-father founded Film Service International and his stepbrother went on to become a producer for Universal Studios, Phillips found his creativity pulled in
another direction, running away from so much that his mother started wrapping his lunch in a road map.
After cutting his early musical teeth on a baritone ukelele on which he learned to play from Ukelele Ike
songbooks, Phillips' musical direction was altered after he left home and traveled to Yellowstone Park to
work on a road crew. The older work rs on the crew, who played guitars and sang old Jimmie Rodgers and
Gene Autry songs, taught Phillips how to turn ukelele chords into guitar chords by adding a couple of
fingers.
As a soldier during the Korean conflict, Phillips continued to find refuge in music and helped to form a
band, the Rice Paddy Ramblers. A turning point in his growing political awareness came when he attended
a concert in a Korean theater by black vocalist Marion Anderson. The experience caused Phillips to recall
the anger that he felt when Anderson had come to Utah to perform at his step-father's theater and she
had ben refused entry into the town's hotel.
Phillips' political awakening continued after he returned to the United States. Befriended by Ammon
Hennessey at the Joe Hill House for Transients and Migrants, he was convinced to become a pacifist.
Phillips' use of music as a political weapon was strongly influenced by Hennessey. On the way to a
demonstration at a Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Phillips was encouraged to write his first song, "The Enola
Gay." Writing the song stirred a new understanding of the power of music as Phillips realized that a song,
besides being entertaining, could be inspirational. Phillips has been a card-carrying member of the
Industrial Workers of the World (The Wobblies) for more than forty years. Although he misplaced his
membership card in Korea, he had it reinstated after returning to the United States.
Although he sang in taverns where money would be thrown into his guitar case, Phillips had little
understanding of folk music. The situation changed when Phillips was approached by folklorist and
professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Kenneth S. Goldstein, who had traveled to Utah to attend a
folklore conference in 1960. Overheard by Goldstein, as he sat on his front porch singing, Phillips was
invited to record his first album, No One Knows Me, on a rented tape recorder at the local university.
Phillips continued to balance his love of music with his political involvement. In the early-1960s, he was
involved with Fair Play for Cuba and the struggle for open housing laws in Utah. In 1968, he was nominated
and campaigned for the U.S. Senate on the Peace and Freedom ticket. Although he received 6,000 votes,
the experience led to Phillips being dismissed from his job with the Utah State Archives.
Following the election, Phillips remained in Utah for a year, working for the Migrant Council and living on a
cot in the back of a big warehouse called "The Cosmic Airplane". Encouraged by friends, including
folksinger Rosalie Sorrels, to try his hand at performing, Phillips moved to the East Coast in 1969.
Temporarily stopping in New York's Greenwich Village, Phillips settled, for several years, in Sarasota
Springs, New York, where he became a regular performer at Cafe Lena.
In 1991, Phillips toured with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Spider John Koerner. Their performance at the
World Theater in Minneapolis was taped and released as Legends Of Folk the following year.
Although he's slowed down his touring to one performance a month, Phillips, has found other mediums in
which to express his music and political concerns. Phillips, who has run for president in every election
since 1969, hosts a weekly, one-hour, radio show, Loafer's Glory: The Hobo Jungle of the Mind, broadcast
by KPSA in Berkeley, California over the Pacifica network. In addition to being aired on the five stations
owned by Pacifica, the show is available to any community radio station at no charge. 1999's The Moscow
Hold featured more of his stories and poems.
U. Utah Phillips has passed away in his sleep at 11:30PM PDT on May 23, 2008. Utah has caught the
westbound, and I am at a great loss. For myself and my wife Pam, to Joanna and to all Utah's family and
friends we express our deepest sympathy. We have lost a truly caring man.
Stony Lonesome
Stoney Lonesome consists of Kate MacKenzie (guitar, vocals), Chris Kaiser (mandolin, lead guitar, vocals),
Kevin Barnes (banjo, dobro, vocals), Brian Wicklund (fiddle, vocals) and Patty Shove (bass). The group
first gained attention by appearing frequently on Prairie Home Companion during the '80s. In the early
'90s, the quintet began releasing albums on Red House Records, starting with Lonesome Tonight in 1991
and followed by Blue Heartache the next year.
Peter Ostroushko
Mandolinist Peter Ostroushko grew up listening to mandolin, balalaika, and bandura tunes played at family
get-togethers in the Ukrainian community of northeast Minneapolis. It's the music that provides the
basis for many of his compositions. His first recording session was an uncredited mandolin set on Bob
Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. Since then, his works have been performed by the Saint Paul Chamber
Orchestra and the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, among others. Ken Burns used Ostroushko's music for his
PBS documentary Lewis & Clark, and Twin Cities Public Television commissioned Peter to provide music for
The Dakota Conflict. Among Peter's recent CDs are Postcards: Travels with a Great American Radio Show
(Red House Records) and The Mando Boys Live - Holstein Lust, the Midwestern Tours 1987-1995
(Borderland Productions).
The musical traditions of the Ukraine are fused with an aural reflection of America's Midwest by
mandolin and fiddle player Peter Ostroushko. Best known for his regular appearances on National Public
Radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, Ostroushko (pronounced: Oh-STREW-shko) has consistently
achieved high standards with his solo recordings and duo albums with Minnesota-based acoustic guitarist
Dean Magraw. Equally skillful on fiddle and mandolin, Ostroushko is, according to flatpicking guitar wiz
Norman Blake, "the next Jethro Burns and Johnny Gimble rolled into one."
Ostroushko has been playing music most of his life. As the son of Ukrainian immigrants, Wasyl and
Katerina Ostroushko, Ostroushko grew up listening to his father, a shoemaker, playing traditional songs
of his homeland on guitar and mandolin.
Although he appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, in 1974, the first year that the show was broadcast
on Minnesota Public Radio, Ostroushko didn't become a full-time cast member until the show went
national in 1980. During the six years in between, Ostroushko worked as a session musician in Nashville. In
addition to working on albums by Jethro Burns, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins and Johnny
Gimble, Ostroushko played mandolin, though uncredited, on the tune, "If You See Her, Say Hello," from
Bob Dylan's album, Blood On The Tracks. Ostroushko also toured with Robin & Linda Williams and Norman
& Nancy Blake.
Sluz Duz Music, Ostroushko's debut solo album, was released in 1982. The title referred to Ostroushko's
description of his music, based on the Ukrainian words meaning, "over the edge" or "off his rocker".
Ostroushko's second effort, Down The Streets Of My Neighborhood, released in 1986, included a medley
of Ukrainian songs and an interpretation of Hank Williams' "Hey, Good Lookin'", sung in Ukrainian.
Ostroushko's albums have featured an illustrious list of supportive musicians. The Mando Boys,
Ostroushko's third album, released in late 1986, featured a fez-wearing group that began when
Ostroushko formed The Lake Woebegone Municipal Mandolin Orchestra for a tour with Garrison Keillor
and the cast of A Prairie Home Companion. The same year, Ostroushko recorded First Generation with
anglo concertina player Bertram Levy. Ostroushko's next album, Buddies Of Swing, released in 1987, was
a jazz-tinged collaboration with Jethro Burns (mandolin), Johnny Gimble (fiddle), Butch Thompson (piano),
Dean Magraw (guitar) and Prudence Johnson (vocals). After recording a solo album, Blue Mesa, released in
1989, with guest appearances by Norman and Nancy Blake, Daithi Sproule and Magraw, Ostroushko and
Magraw collaborated on an album, Duo, released in 1991. Ostroushko's most successful recording, Heart
Of The Heartland, released in 1995, was an all-instrumental exploration of the Midwest. In addition to
rec iving a NAIRD award as "best independently released folk instrumental album", the album was
featured on Ken Burns' PBS documentary, Lewis And Clark. The following year, Ostroushko released,
Pilgrims On The Heart Road, which he described in the liner notes as "a collection of songs that are a
companion piece to Heart Of The Heartland." Sacred Heart followed in 2000.
Ostroushko has worked closely with the Children's Theater in Minnesota and the ACT Theater. One of
his most ambitious projects was an appearance, as lead ukelele player, with the Minnesota Symphony
Orchestra.
12
Via Con Me - Paolo Conte
Live Arena di Verona (05)
This track was featured in a movie we watched – can’t remember the movie, but do remember the music. I
looked it up the next morning and bought the download at Amazon. As you might expect, none of the
other tracks are quite as good – we call it Northerning a CD (from our experience with the two Northern
Exposure CDs). Anyway, I like the juxtaposition of the bouncy little song delivered by the craggy, old-man
voice. I also like the mix of Italian and English nonsensical lyrics.
The craggy-voiced Italian singer, pianist and composer Paolo Conte was born in the northern city of Asti
in 1937; a poet and painter as well as a musician, he first earned attention during the late '60s and early
'70s as the creative force behind hits from Adriano Celentano and Patty Pravo. Conte began his solo
career with a 1974 self-titled LP, with subsequent efforts like 1987's Aguaplano and 1990's Parole
Scritte a Macchina enjoying considerable success throughout Europe. 1998's Paolo Conte -- a greatesthits collection -- was his first U.S. release.
Paolo Conte
Live in Arena Di Verona
Release Date Dec 13, 2005
Recording Date Jul 26, 2005
13
Hands Off - Priscilla Bowman & Jay McShann
Confessin' The Blues (69)
Okay, this is another Jay McShann piece – deal with it. I’ve included Hold ‘Em Hootie (NWN02A, #3) and
last year I commemorated his passing with Confessin’ The Blues (NWN07, #6). Now I’m including a track
that he wrote with Priscilla Bowman. I had it in the queue for last year, but opted for one that more
prominently featured Hootie, his own bad self. I’ve got yet another Hootie track in the ‘Highly Probable’
list for future NWN CDs. It will complete the Hootie set that demonstrates his full range.
The great veteran pianist Jay McShann (also known as Hootie) enjoyed a long career and it is unfair to
primarily think of him as merely the leader of an orchestra that featured a young Charlie Parker. He was
mostly self-taught as a pianist, worked with Don Byas as early as 1931 and played throughout the Midwest
before settling in Kansas City in 1936. McShann formed his own sextet the following year and by 1939
had his own big band. In 1940 at a radio station in Wichita, KS, McShann and an octet out of his
orchestra recorded eight songs that were not released commercially until the 1970s; those rank among
the earliest of all Charlie Parker records (he is brilliant on "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Lady Be Good") and
also feature the strong rhythm section team McShann had with bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Gus
Johnson. The full orchestra recorded for Decca on two occasions during 1941-1942 but they were
typecast as a blues band and did not get to record many of their more challenging charts (although very
rare broadcasts have since surfaced and been released on CD by Vintage Jazz Classics). In addition to
Bird (who had a few short solos), the main stars were trumpeter Bernard Anderson, the rhythm section,
and singer Walter Brown. McShann and his band arrived in New York in February 1942 and made a strong
impression, but World War II made it difficult for any new orchestras to catch on. There was a final
session in December 1943 without Parker, but McShann was soon drafted and the band broke up. After
being discharged later in 1944, McShann briefly re-formed his group but soon moved to Los Angeles,
where he led combos for the next few years; his main attraction was the young singer Jimmy
Witherspoon.
McShann was in obscurity for the next two decades, making few records and mostly playing in Kansas
City. In 1969 he was rediscovered and McShann (who had first sung on records in 1966) was soon a
popular pianist/vocalist. Sometimes featuring violinist Claude Williams, he toured constantly, recorded
frequently, and appeared at many jazz festivals, being active into the mid-'90s. Jay McShann, who
recorded through the years for Onyx (the 1940 radio transcriptions), Decca, Capitol, Aladdin, Mercury,
Black Lion, EmArcy, Vee Jay, Black & Blue, Master Jazz, Sackville, Sonet, Storyville, Atlantic, Swingtime,
and Music Masters among others, was a vital pianist and an effective blues vocalist who keept a classic
style alive. A live album, Hootie Blues, recorded in 2001 in Toronto and released in 2006 by Stony Plain,
showed that McShann could still bring it at the age of 85. He died at the age of 90 on December 7, 2006.
Confessin' the Blues
Rating 3 Stars
Release Date Mar 28, 1969
Recording Date 1969
Pianist Jay McShann sticks to the blues on this enjoyable release, not only welcoming bassist Roland
Lobligeois and drummer Paul Gunther but, in a rare (and purely instrumental role) as a sideman, guitarist
T-Bone Walker. McShann takes vocals on several of the selections and contributes his accessible brand
of blues piano. The results are enjoyable if not essential.A bit more imagination could have gone into
picking out a more inventive repertoire.
1 Kansas City
Littlefield
3:48
2 Roll 'Em
McShann
3:31
3 Our Kinda Blues McShann
3:42
4 Rollin' With Roland
McShann
4:16
5 Stompin' in K.C. McShann
5:23
6 After Hours
Hawkins, Parrish 4:27
7 Hootie Blues
Brown, McShann, Parker
3:30
8 'Fore Day Rider Brown, McShann 3:25
9 Hands Off
Bowman, McShann 3:22
10 Hootie's Ignorant Oil
Anderson, McShann
11 Confessin' the Blues
Brown, McShann 3:56
14
3:35
None Of Us Are Free - Solomon Burke & Blind Boys of Alabama
Don't Give Up On Me (02)
I had this one in, then took it out, put it back, removed it … and, when I found myself hearing it while
wandering around the house, I put it back in. The more I hear it, the better I like it. When I discovered
it was backed by the Blind Boys, well, that really cemented the deal. Hope it has the same effect on you.
I originally got the track from Mahoney – The Music Man strikes again. I think the words are particularly
appropriate this year.
Well you better listen my sister's and brothers,
'cause if you do you can hear
there are voices still calling across the years.
And they're all crying across the ocean,
and they're cryin across the land,
and they will till we all come to understand.
None
None
None
None
of us are free.
of us are free.
of us are free, one of us are chained.
of us are free.
And there are people still in darkness,
and they just can't see the light.
If you don't say it's wrong then that says it right.
We got try to feel for each other, let our brother's know that
we care.
Got to get the message, send it out loud and clear.
(Chorus)
It's a simple truth we all need, just to hear and to see.
None of us are free, one of us is chained.
None of us are free.
now I swear your salvation isn't too hard too find,
None of us can find it on our own.
We've got to join together in sprit, heart and mind.
So that every soul who's suffering will know they're not alone.
(Chorus)
If you just look around you,
your gonna see what I say.
Cause the world is getting smaller each passing day.
Now it's time to start making changes,
and it's time for us all to realize,
that the truth is shining real bright right before our eyes.
(Chorus and Fade)
While Solomon Burke never made a major impact upon the pop audience — he never, in fact, had a Top 20
hit — he was an important early soul pioneer. On his '60s singles for Atlantic, he brought a country
influence into R&B with emotional phrasing and intricately constructed, melodic ballads and mid-tempo
songs. At the same time, he was surrounded with sophisticated "uptown" arrangements and provided with
much of his material by his producers, particularly Bert Berns. The combination of gospel, pop, country,
and production polish was basic to the recipe of early soul. While Burke wasn't the only one pursuing this
path, not many others did so as successfully. And he, like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, was an
important influence upon the Rolling Stones, who covered Burke's "Cry to Me" and "Everybody Needs
Somebody to Love" on their early albums.
Burke came by his gospel roots even more deeply than most soul stars. He was preaching at his family's
Philadelphia church, and hosting his own gospel radio show, even before he'd reached his teens. He began
recording gospel and R&B sides for Apollo in the mid- to late '50s. Like several former gospel singers
(Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett), he was molded into a more secular direction when he signed with
Atlantic in the 1960s.
Burke had a wealth of high-charting R&B hits in the early half of the '60s, which crossed over to the pop
listings in a mild fashion as well. "Just Out of Reach," "Cry to Me," "If You Need Me," "Got to Get You
Off My Mind," "Tonight's the Night," and "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)" were the most successful of
these, although unlike Franklin or Pickett, he wasn't able to expand his R&B base into a huge pop following
as well. He left Atlantic in the late '60s, and spent the next decade hopping between various labels,
getting his biggest hit with a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" in 1969, and
recording an album in the late '70s with cult soulster Swamp Dogg as producer.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Burke became one of the most visible living exponents of classic soul music,
continuing to tour and record albums in a rootsy, at times gospelish style. Although these were critically
well received, their stylistic purity also ensured that their market was primarily confined to roots music
enthusiasts, rather than a pop audience. His live and later recorded work, however, is a favorite of those
who want to experience a soul legend with his talents and stylistic purity relatively intact. Burke's 2002
release Don't Give Up on Me was hailed as a major comeback for the legendary soulman. Great
songwriters like Elvis Costello, Dan Penn, Nick Lowe, and Tom Waits contributed songs and Joe Henry
produced the album. which has been compared to Johnny Cash's landmark album American Recordings.
Don't Give Up on Me
Artist Solomon Burke
Album Title Don't Give Up on Me
Date of Release Jul 23, 2002
AMG Rating 4.5 *
It's a sad irony that in the 1980s and '90s, many of the great artists of soul and R&B suffered musically
at the hands of those who professed to love them the most. After soul had dropped off the major-label
radar in favor of hip-hop and new jack sounds, a number of smaller companies stepped forward to record
veteran artists who were still giving their all on the road, but for every truly inspired release from labels
such as Malaco, Bullseye, or Alligator, there were a dozen others which featured rote, generic production
and arrangements which attempted to recapture the thrilling sound of soul's glory days without coming
within driving distance of conjuring their ineffable magic. Solomon Burke was one of the greatest talents
of '60s soul, whose strong, burnished voice resonated with a churchy fervor that could speak volumes
about either triumph or hurt, but while he continued to record regularly through the '70s, '80s and '90s
and always sounded splendid, the records themselves often weren't much to write home about, with
Burke using his gifts to prop up second-rate material or re-record tunes he'd performed definitively in
the past. So it's good news indeed to report that Burke's new album, Don't Give Up on Me, is nothing
short of revelatory, a superb set which presents "the King of Rock and Soul" at the very top of his form.
Singer and songwriter Joe Henry produced the set, and rather than trying to replicate the sound of a
vintage Jerry Wexler session, he's taken a very different approach, going for a spare and open sound,
with nothing but a subdued rhythm section, a guitar, and an organ (the latter played by Rudy Copeland,
who performs the same honors at the church where Burke preaches) accompanying Burke on most of
these 11 songs. Henry also put out a call for material worthy of Burke's gifts, and a number of his betterknown fans responded, including Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, and
Nick Lowe, all of whom contributed songs to the project. But for all the songwriting starpower on deck,
the focus is squarely on Solomon Burke throughout, and he proves he's lost none of the power, force, or
dramatic intensity of his glory days. Henry's low-key production captures the nooks and crannies of
Burke's voice, and he delivers a performance worthy of a great actor on each cut, from the deep soul of
"Don't Give Up on Me" and the blues-based swagger of "Stepchild" to the inspired tall tales of "Diamond
in Your Mind" and the near-operatic passion of "The Judgement." His voice is in superb shape, too,
sounding no less powerful at age 66 than he did in his glory days, and with a depth of emotion and gift for
phrasing that's only grown with the passage of time. In many ways, Don't Give Up on Me most closely
resembles Johnny Cash's superb American Recordings, in that the spare simplicity of the album's
presentation reveals the rich complexities of the singer's gifts as they've rarely been allowed in the
past; while it's a very different kettle of fish from his classic sides for Atlantic in the 1960s, Don't Give
up on Me leaves no doubt that Solomon Burke is still one of the finest voices of his time, and anyone who
has ever been moved by the power of soul music needs to hear this album. — Mark Deming
1. Don't Give Up on Me (Lindsey/Penn/Whitsett) - 3:45
2. Fast Train (Morrison) - 5:43
3. Diamond in Your Mind (Brennan/Waits) - 4:24
4. Flesh and Blood (Henry) - 6:07
5. Soul Searchin' (Paley/Wilson) - 3:59
6. Only a Dream (Morrison) - 5:09
7. The Judgement (Costello/ORiordan) - 3:30
8. Stepchild (Dylan) - 5:10
9. The Other Side of the Coin (Lowe) - 3:46
10. None of Us Are Free performed by Burke / Blind Boys of Alabama - 5:29
11. Sit This One Out (Purnell) - 4:33
15
The Best Things In Life Are Free - Jo Stafford
Spotlight On Jo Stafford (43-50)
I really like Jo Stafford and have since I first heard her back in 1957. I don’t have a lot of her work … I
may be getting more in the near future … but this track from my BBGR tapes caught my attention. I like
the up-tempo aspect and her wonderful voice. I couldn’t find the exact recording date, but judging from
the sound quality, it’s most likely from the early part of the 1943-50 range.
One of the most technically gifted and popular vocalists of the immediate post-war period, Jo Stafford
effortlessly walked the line between breezy pop and the more serious art of post-big-band jazz singing.
With the help of her husband, top-flight arranger and Capitol A&R director Paul Weston, Stafford
recorded throughout the '40s and '50s for Capitol and Columbia. She also contributed (with Weston) to
one of the best pop novelty acts of the period, a hilariously inept and off-key satire that saw the couple
billed as Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.
Born near Fresno, California, Stafford sang from an early age and was classically trained, though she
later joined her sisters in a country-tinged act (associated for a time with Joe "Country" Washburne). At
the age of just 17, she became the first female voice in the seven-man vocal act known as the Pied Pipers.
Soon after the group joined Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra in 1939 however, it was pruned to a quartet (that
also included Stafford's first husband, co-founder John Huddleston). The group appeared on several of
the Dorsey band's hits of the early '40s, a few of which paired them with Frank Sinatra. Stafford gained
her first solo spots on a pair of Dorsey band hits, "Yes, Indeed!" and "Manhattan Serenade." She finally
left the Pied Pipers for a solo contract in 1944 (she was replaced by June Hutton), though the group
provided back-up for many of her initial solo hits.
Not only signed to Capitol but able to preview hit songs as the co-host of label-founder Johnny Mercer's
radio program, Stafford hit the charts with the mid-'40s songs "Long Ago (And Far Away)," "I Love You"
and "Candy." The latter, a duet with Mercer and the Pied Pipers, became her first number one. In 1948,
her duet with Gordon MacRae on "My Darling, My Darling" became her second. She later moved to
Columbia and recorded the two biggest hits of her career, 1952's "You Belong to Me" and 1954's "Make
Love to Me." Stafford gained her own television program during the mid-'50s, and also recorded the first
LP by Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, American Popular Songs. (It wasn't the first time Stafford had
used a pseudonym, however; in 1947, she billed herself as Cinderella G. Stump to record a cover of the
cornpone single "Temptation [Tim-Tay-Shun].") Though she slipped from the charts in the late '50s and
retired from performance, Stafford continued to record for many years and issued the LP Getting
Sentimental over Tommy Dorsey on Reprise in 1963. She also founded Corinthian Records, with Weston,
to reissue the couple's various recordings.
16
I'm A King Bee - Slim Harpo
TL Blues Legends (48)
This is another track that’s been in the queue for a long time. When it got bumped by Robert Lockwood’s
commemorative Love in Vain (NWN07, #19), I promised myself that it would go in this year– and here it
is. I liked this piece on first hearing and hope you enjoy it too ;-)
Well, I'm a King Bee
Buzzing around your hive
Yes, I'm a King Bee, child
Buzzing around your hive
I can make good honey
Let me come inside
I'm young and able
To buzz all night long
You know I'm young and able
To buzz all night long
When you hear me buzz, little girl
You know some stinging's going on
(Well, buzz some) I'll sting (yeah)
Well, I'm a King Bee
Can buzz all night long
Yes I'm a King Bee
Can buzz all night long
Well, I buzz better baby,
When your man is gone.
In the large stable of blues talent that Crowley, LA, producer Jay Miller recorded for the Nashvillebased Excello label, no one enjoyed more mainstream success than Slim Harpo. Just a shade behind
Lightnin' Slim in local popularity, Harpo played both guitar and neck-rack harmonica in a more down-home
approximation of Jimmy Reed, with a few discernible, and distinctive, differences. Harpo's music was
certainly more laid-back than Reed's, if such a notion was possible. But the rhythm was insistent and,
overall, Harpo was more adaptable than Reed or most other bluesmen. His material not only made the
national charts, but also proved to be quite adaptable for white artists on both sides of the Atlantic,
including the Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Dave Edmunds with Love Sculpture, Van Morrison with
Them, Sun rockabilly singer Warren Smith, Hank Williams, Jr., and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
A people-pleasing club entertainer, he certainly wasn't above working rock & roll rhythms into his music,
along with hard-stressed, country & western vocal inflections. Several of his best tunes were co-written
with his wife Lovelle and show a fine hand for song construction, appearing to have arrived at the studio
pretty well formed. His harmonica playing was driving and straightforward, full of surprising melody,
while his vocals were perhaps best described by writer Peter Guralnick as "if a black country & western
singer or a white rhythm & blues singer were attempting to impersonate a member of the opposite genre."
And here perhaps was Harpo's true genius, and what has allowed his music to have a wider currency. By
the time his first single became a Southern jukebox favorite, his songs were being adapted and played by
white musicians left and right. Here was good-time Saturday-night blues that could be sung by elements
of the Caucasian persuasion with a straight face. Nothing resembling the emotional investment of a
Howlin' Wolf or a Muddy Waters was required; it all came natural and easy, and its influence has stood
the test of time.
He was born James Moore just outside of Baton Rouge, LA. After his parents died, he dropped out of
school to work every juke joint, street corner, picnic, and house rent party that came his way. By this
time he had acquired the alias of Harmonica Slim, which he used until his first record was released. It
was fellow bluesman Lightnin' Slim who first steered him to local recordman J.D. Miller. The producer
used him as an accompanist to Hopkins on a half-dozen sides before recording him on his own. When it
came time to release his first single ("I'm a King Bee"), Miller informed him that there was another
Harmonica Slim recording on the West Coast, and a new name was needed before the record could come
out. Moore's wife took the slang word for harmonica, added an "o" to the end of it, and a new stage name
was the result, one that would stay with Slim Harpo the rest of his career.
Harpo's first record became a double-sided R&B hit, spawning numerous follow-ups on the "King Bee"
theme, but even bigger was "Rainin' in My Heart," which made the Billboard Top 40 pop charts in the
summer of 1961. It was another perfect distillation of Harpo's across-the-board appeal, and was
immediately adapted by country, Cajun, and rock & roll musicians; anybody could play it and sound good
doing it. In the wake of the Rolling Stones covering "I'm a King Bee" on their first album, Slim had the
biggest hit of his career in 1966 with "Baby, Scratch My Back." Harpo described it "as an attempt at rock
& roll for me," and its appearance in Billboard's Top 20 pop charts prompted the dance-oriented followups "Tip on In" and "Tee-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu," both R&B charters. For the first time in his career, Harpo
appeared in such far-flung locales as Los Angeles and New York City. Flush with success, he contacted
Lightnin' Slim, who was now residing outside of Detroit, MI. The two reunited and formed a band, touring
together as a sort of blues mini-package to appreciative white rock audiences until the end of the decade.
The new year beckoned with a tour of Europe (his first ever) all firmed up, and a recording session
scheduled when he arrived in London. Unexplainably, Harpo -- who had never been plagued with any
ailments stronger than a common cold -- suddenly succumbed to a heart attack on January 31, 1970.
17
Samba Saravah - Stacey Kent
Breakfast On The Morning Tram (07)
Jason introduced me to Stacey Kent. I’ve liked everything I’ve heard her do. She has that little-girl voice
with big, grown-up jazz talent. She allows the sidemen to have their say and it all fits together to make a
nice musical package. Stacey appeared on NWN06: Comes Love, #17. She generally concentrates on
standards but her latest CD is much more varied (tracks/composers below). I bought the Amazon
download and found this track refreshingly pleasant. Hey, it’s French. Get a chunk of cheese, hunk of
bread, glass of wine, and enjoy.
Être heureux, c’est plus ou moins ce qu’on cherche
J’aime rire, chanter et je n’empêche
Pas les gens qui sont bien d’être joyeux
Pourtant s’il est une samba sans tristesse
C’est un vin qui ne donne pas l’ivresse
Un vin qui ne donne pas l’ivresse, non
Ce n’est pas la samba que je veux
J’en connais que la chanson incommode
D’autres pour qui ce n’est rien qu’une mode
D’autres qui en profitent sans l’aimer
Moi je l’aime et j’ai parcouru le monde
En cherchant ses racines vagabondes
Aujourd’hui pour trouver les plus profondes
C’est la samba-chanson qu’il faut chanter
On m’a dit qu’elle venait de Bahia
Qu’elle doit son rythme et sa poésie à
Des siècles de danse et de douleur
Mais quels que soient les sentiments qu’elle exprime
Elle est blanche de formes et de rimes
Blanche de formes et de rimes
Elle est nègre, bien nègre, dans son cœur
Mais quelque soit le sentiment qu’elle exprime
Elle est blanche de formes et de rimes
Blanche de formes et de rimes
Elle est nègre, bien nègre, dans son cœur
New York native Stacey Kent never anticipated a career in jazz music, for she was a Sarah Lawrence
graduate with a degree in comparative literature. But her childhood days spent listening to the traditional
beauty of Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole undoubtedly influenced her. While on holiday in Europe after
graduating from college, she took up singing without much formal training and never looked back.
Kent became acquainted with several musicians at Oxford in 1991 and through them she found herself
participating in a jazz course at the famed Guildhall School of Music and Drama. There she also met her
future husband, tenor saxophonist Jim Tomlinson, and also landed a spot in the class. Her next spot was
singing with the Vile Bodies Swing Orchestra at the Ritz Hotel in London, quickly landing a role in Ian
McKellen's Richard III film, playing the big-band singer. The mid-'90s were more focused on recording
and in 1996, Kent inked a deal with Candid Records. A year later, the critically acclaimed Close Your Eyes
was issued; Tender Trap followed in 1999. Her third LP Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire, which
showcased popular standards, appeared in spring 2000. The ballad-oriented Dreamsville appeared the
next spring. - MacKenzie Wilson
Breakfast on the Morning Tram
Rating 4 Stars
Release Date Oct 2, 2007
Recording Date Mar 2007-Apr 2007
Kent is what men used to call a classy broad. Her elegant fashion sense and understated vocal style make
her sound like a woman from another time, a unflappable, sophisticate with a warm, slightly world-weary
persona. She was born in the United Sates, but after a trip to France decided to become a jazz singer. In
the early 90s she landed in Oxford where she met her husband and musical director sax player Jim
Tomlinson. Tomlinson also produces Kent's albums, and this time, composed several charming tunes that
sound like potential standards, collaborations with lyricist Kazuo Ishiguro, author of Remains of the Day.
Original tunes like "The Ice Hotel" and "I Wish I Could Go Traveling Again" are full of wry humor and
Kent delivers them with her usual effortless grace. "The Ice Hotel" is a samba that talks of forsaking
the tropics for a room that keeps the temperature at a "steady five degrees." The ambivalent lyric is
perfectly suited for Kent's unassuming style. Is she chiding a lover for his detached demeanor or
promising a passionate night that will raise the temperature and put a sizzle in the air? It's hard to tell,
and with the music is as warm as the lyric is cool, the tune has a delicious tension. "I Wish I Could Go
Traveling Again" sounds like the kind of tune Noel Coward used to write, full of urbane humor and
references to "overpriced hotels devoid of charm". Its melancholy meditation on lost love is enhanced by
John Parricelli's rippling guitar and Graham Harvey's subtle bluesy piano. Kent slows down "What a
Wonderful World" making it sound more blue than celebratory. Her wistful phrasing imbues the song with
a painful melancholy. On "Hard Hearted Hanna" TOMLINSON|SUPPLIES|A|•Tomlinson supplies a brief,
breezy solo while |SOUNDS|SLY|A•Kent sounds sly and impudent, playing up the lyric's over the top
humor. "Ces Petits Reins", a |•Serge Gainsbourg tune, benefits from a percussive arrangement featuring
bongos, muted guitar notes and drummer MATT|SKELTON'S|BRUSH|•Matt Skelton's brush work; $Kent
drops in brief faux trumpet accents. $Kent's band provides subtle support throughout. Each player steps
out for brief impressive solos, but mainly they lay back and support their boss's unobtrusive style.
1. The Ice Hotel (Jim Tomlinson/Kazuo Ishiguro) 5.28
2. Landslide (Stevie Nicks) 3.48
3. Ces Petits Riens (Serge Gainsbourg) 3.21
4. I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again (Jim Tomlinson/Kazuo Ishiguro) 4.07
5. So Many Stars (Sergio Mendes/M & A Bergman) 4.00
6. Samba Saravah (B Powell/P Barouh / V deMoraes) 3.50
7. Breakfast on the Morning Tram (Jim Tomlinson/Kazuo Ishiguro) 5.54
8. Never Let Me Go (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans) 4.39
9. So Romantic (Jim Tomlinson/Kazuo Ishiguro) 5.00
10. Hard Hearted Hannah (Bob Bigelow/Charles Bates/Jack Yellen/Milton Ager) 4.49
11. La Saison des Pluies (Elek Bacsik/Serge Gainsbourg) 2.48
12. What a Wonderful World (G Douglas/G D Weiss/B Thiele) 4.26
18
Soul Roach - Merl Saunders
Fire Up Plus (92)
Thanks to Steve Phillips, I have two Merl Saunders CDs – especially the Fire Up Plus, which contains
nearly all of the legendary Fire Up featuring none other than Jerry Garcia. I paid careful attention to all
the tracks and settled in on Soul Roach as a memorial to Merl.
* Jazz
* World Fusion
* Folk-Rock
* Country-Rock
Hammond B-3 player Merl Saunders has recorded with numerous renowned artists since the early '70s
and has led many of his own dates in a variety of genres from jazz to blues to new age to rock. Born on
Valentine's Day, 1934 in San Mateo, CA, Saunders began learning to play the piano at the age of 10. He
was a classmate and bandmate of Johnny Mathis through junior high school. Saunders decided on music as
a profession after seeing how much fun was had by audience and performers alike at concerts by such
musicians as Cab Calloway. He apprenticed early on with Jimmy Smith for a time, and attended various
music schools. Starting in the 1960s, Saunders collaborated on and off with Jerry Garcia, and the
Grateful Dead. He also began working as a jazz keyboardist in the early '70s, and since has performed
and recorded with Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Lionel Hampton, Miles Davis, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt
and Paul Butterfield. One of his several albums with Jerry Garcia, Blues From the Rainforest, hit the Top
5 of the U.S. Billboard New Age charts in the early '90s. Saunders runs his own label, Sumertone, which
includes much of his catalogue, as does the Fantasy label. In 1998, Saunders released his 20th album as a
leader, Merl Saunders With His Funky Friends: Live! (Sumertone), which includes guests Garcia, John
Popper (of Blues Travelers) and Trey Anastasio (of Phish). In addition to his active touring schedule, the
San Franciscan has also written scores for TV and movies, including Tales From The Crypt, Twilight Zone,
Heavy Traffic and Fritz The Cat. In early 2000, Merl Saunders became the first recipient of the
lifetime activist award from a Florida environmentalist group for his environmental activism that goes
beyond just the titles of albums like Save the Planet So We'll Have Someplace to Boogie and Blues from
the Rainforest. Later that fall, Saunders released Struggling Man in November.
Fire Up Plus
Rating 3 Stars
Release Date Jul 9, 1992
This reissue set combines the two early Merl Saunders albums on Fantasy, Fire Up and Heavy Turbulence.
The content of these original albums is almost there in its entirety and nothing new and previously
unreleased is added to the stash. "Chock-Lite Puddin'" is the single missing pearl, representing quite a
severe mistake in editing, as this was not a marble for playing with. A better tune to experience the fall
of the axe would have been one of several covers with a faded '70s presence that is a bit like day-old
cigarette smoke. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" could have been left out, please, that or "After
Midnight," although the latter number was an FM airplay hit at the time of its initial release. To be fair,
the vocal work of Saunders on the former number is actually formidable, as are his interesting organ
variations on the theme. Listeners may associate the collective jams of Saunders in various ensembles
with Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia as friendly but loose-knit music created casually, the tempo
sometimes the most casual aspect of all. Yet these early albums were much more like a real band than the
efforts of some ensembles who actually call themselves bands -- it is a lot tighter than a Grateful Dead
record, for example. The players involved actually represented a coming together of musical forces that
was every bit as significant as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. In fact, the merging of the Grateful Dead
and Creedence Clearwater Revival with a seasoned jazz and rhythm & blues organist had great musical
implications that are fulfilled, from time to time, on the best moments of these sessions, such as the
truly thrilling extended jam "Manchild." For Garcia, simply playing alongside a rhythm guitarist who could
keep time must have been something of a revelation. Much of the time the players don't try to change
the world while keeping the beat, settling into enjoyably funky music designed by Saunders and clearly
expressing his gestalt: "My Problems Got Problems" is the opening complaint, "Soul Roach" the eventual
cure. Garcia fans can be proud of their man here, as his playing is sharp and detailed, obviously inspired
by the input from his keyboard buddy.
1 My Problems Got Problems Saunders
2 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4:27
Robertson
4:11
3 Save Mother Earth
Saunders
4 Imagine
Lennon 2:40
5 Welcome to the Basement Moore, Saunders
6 Man-Child
12:36
7 After Midnight Cale
5:03
8 Expressway to Your Heart
9 Soul Roach
Saunders, Shanklin
10 Benedict Rides Carrier, Saunders 3:07
11 System
Carrier, Saunders 3:56
12 Lonely Avenue Pomus
9:10
19
7:35
6:18
5:16
4:28
You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover - Bo Diddley
TL RnR Era (64)
Bo Diddley, what can you say? I already used Bo’s Who Do You Love (NWN06, #13), but Bo is worthy of
another entry. What to use? How about the eponymous Bo Diddley? Ah, but wait, there’s You Can’t Judge
A Book By Its Cover. I almost used that when I did Who Do You Love. And … I have two versions – one
live; one from a Time-Life RnR compilation. The original 1964 version is the best, in my opinion, but the
live track has Bo laughing and asking “Why don’t you all go over there in the dark?” Apparently an amorous
couple in the audience caught Bo’s attention. How many times have you heard Bo Diddley laugh? Not
enough, in my case. Sooooo, I did some editing and pasted the laughing part to the old, classical version of
the track. I think it works.
You can't judge an apple by looking at a tree
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh can't you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh come on in closer baby,
hear what else I gotta say!
You got your radio turned down too low
Turn it up!
You can't judge sugar by looking at the cane
You can't judge a woman by looking at her man
You can't judge a sister by looking at her brother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh can't you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I'm a Lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
You can't judge a fish by lookin' in the pond
You can't judge right from looking at the wrong
You can't judge one by looking at the other
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh can't you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
He only had a few hits in the 1950s and early '60s, but as Bo Diddley sang, "You Can't Judge a Book by
Its Cover." You can't judge an artist by his chart success, either, and Diddley produced greater and more
influential music than all but a handful of the best early rockers. The Bo Diddley beat - bomp, ba-bompbomp, bomp-bomp - is one of rock & roll's bedrock rhythms, showing up in the work of Buddy Holly, the
Rolling Stones, and even pop-garage knock-offs like the Strangeloves' 1965 hit "I Want Candy." Diddley's
hypnotic rhythmic attack and declamatory, boasting vocals stretched back as far as Africa for their
roots, and looked as far into the future as rap. His trademark otherworldly vibrating, fuzzy guitar style
did much to expand the instrument's power and range. But even more important, Bo's bounce was fun and
irresistibly rocking, with a wisecracking, jiving tone that epitomized rock & roll at its most humorously
outlandish and freewheeling.
Before taking up blues and R&B, Diddley had actually studied classical violin, but shifted gears after
hearing John Lee Hooker. In the early '50s, he began playing with his longtime partner, maraca player
Jerome Green, to get what Bo's called "that freight train sound." Billy Boy Arnold, a fine blues harmonica
player and singer in his own right, was also playing with Diddley when the guitarist got a deal with Chess in
the mid-'50s (after being turned down by rival Chicago label Vee-Jay). His very first single, "Bo
Diddley"/"I'm a Man" (1955), was a double-sided monster. The A-side was soaked with futuristic waves of
tremolo guitar, set to an ageless nursery rhyme; the flip was a bump-and-grind, harmonica-driven shuffle,
based around a devastating blues riff. But the result was not exactly blues, or even straight R&B, but a
new kind of guitar-based rock & roll, soaked in the blues and R&B, but owing allegiance to neither.
Diddley was never a top seller on the order of his Chess rival Chuck Berry, but over the next half-dozen
or so years, he'd produce a catalog of classics that rival Berry's in quality. "You Don't Love Me," "Diddley
Daddy," "Pretty Thing," "Diddy Wah Diddy," "Who Do You Love?," "Mona," "Road Runner," "You Can't
Judge a Book by Its Cover" - all are stone-cold standards of early, riff-driven rock & roll at its funkiest.
Oddly enough, his only Top 20 pop hit was an atypical, absurd back-and-forth rap between him and
Jerome Green, "Say Man," that came about almost by accident as the pair were fooling around in the
studio.
As a live performer, Diddley was galvanizing, using his trademark square guitars and distorted
amplification to produce new sounds that anticipated the innovations of '60s guitarists like Jimi Hendrix.
In Great Britain, he was revered as a giant on the order of Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. The Rolling
Stones in particular borrowed a lot from Bo's rhythms and attitude in their early days, although they only
officially covered a couple of his tunes, "Mona" and "I'm Alright." Other British R&B groups like the
Yardbirds, Animals, and Pretty Things also covered Diddley standards in their early days. Buddy Holly
covered "Bo Diddley" and used a modified Bo Diddley beat on "Not Fade Away"; when the Stones gave the
song the full-on Bo treatment (complete with shaking maracas), the result was their first big British hit.
The British Invasion helped increase the public's awareness of Diddley's importance, and ever since then
he's been a popular live act. Sadly, though, his career as a recording artist - in commercial and artistic
terms - was over by the time the Beatles and Stones hit America. He'd record with ongoing and declining
frequency, but after 1963, he'd never write or record any original material on par with his early classics.
Whether he'd spent his muse, or just felt he could coast on his laurels, is hard to say. But he remains a
vital part of the collective rock & roll consciousness, occasionally reaching wider visibility via a 1979 tour
with the Clash, a cameo role in the film Trading Places, a late-'80s tour with Ronnie Wood, and a 1989
television commercial for sports shoes with star athlete Bo Jackson.
20
San Antonio Rose - The Drifting Cowboys
Western Swing (85)
Once upon a time, I got Don Helms confused with Levon Helm. You see, I’ve known about Don Helms for,
oh, something like thirty years. I only recently learned about Levon Helm. I first discovered Don Helms
when I was recording a great little FM program called Folk Festival USA (FFUSA), 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, originally taped from WXXI in the 80s.This
particular broadcast featured Western Swing. I didn’t know anything about Western Swing before, but I
knew the music – I’d grown up with the Sons Of The Pioneers, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and the like. Also,
Kilbury had introduced me to Asleep At The Wheel back in the mid 70s. As I sat and listened to the
FFUSA Western Swing program, I was amazed to learn that the music of my formative years was in fact
of this genre pioneered by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. This Don Helms track comes from that
program. It may not be the best I have in my library, but it is one in which Don is named specifically. I
like it and all the others to be sure.
Don Helms
The steel guitar of Don Helms is an essential element of more than 100 recordings by Hank Williams,
including the country landmarks "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Cold, Cold Heart," and "I Can't Help It (If I'm
Still in Love with You)." Following Williams' death, the guitarist also lent his signature sound to myriad
Nashville classics including Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight," Ernest Tubb's "Letters Have No
Arms," Loretta Lynn's "Success," and Stonewall Jackson's "Waterloo." Born in New Brockton, AB on
February 28, 1927, Helms acquired his first Silvertone lap steel and amplifier at age 15 in emulation of
his boyhood idol Leon McAuliffe, of Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys fame. At 17 he joined fledgling
singer/songwriter Williams and his band the Drifting Cowboys, touring clubs and private parties across
central and southern Alabama. In 1945, Helms joined the military, but upon returning to civilian life two
years later he rejoined Williams, who in the interim signed on with publishing firm Acuff-Rose and landed
a record deal with MGM. This incarnation of the Drifting Cowboys -- also featuring guitarist Bob McNett,
bassist Hillous Butrum and fiddler Jerry Rivers -- proved its definitive lineup, backing Williams on radio's
Louisiana Hayride as well as early hits like "Lovesick Blues" and "Wedding Bells." At the time Helms joined
Williams, he was playing a Fender eight-string, double-neck steel guitar, but in 1950 he acquired a Gibson
Console Grande (also an eight-string double neck), which he connected to a 1949 Fender Pro amp to forge
the rich, resonant sound so essential to Williams' genre-defining honky tonk approach.
Despite their creative and commercial success, Williams' alcoholism and substance abuse careened out of
control, and in October 1952 he was fired from radio's Grand Ole Opry. Weeks later, after the star's
wedding to Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, the Drifting Cowboys
parted ways, citing Williams' penchant for ringing up bar tabs that exceeded what the band earned per
performance. Following Williams' January 1, 1953 death, Helms toured in support of acts including Ray
Price, Ferlin Husky, the Wilburn Brothers and Cal Smith while emerging as a first-call Nashville session
player behind singers including Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Brenda Lee; in 1963, he also signed to the
Smash label to cut a pair of instrumental LPs, The Steel Guitar Sounds of Hank Williams and Don Helms'
Steel Guitar. In addition Helms was a composer of some distinction, penning such oft-covered tunes as
"Somebody's Back in Town," "Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes," "Smoke Along the Track," and "That's What I
Get for Loving You." For a time Helms toured behind Hank Williams Jr., and in 1977 joined a reincarnated
Drifting Cowboys band. In late 1989, he also began an extended collaboration with Williams' daughter
Jett. Inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1984, Helms continued recording and touring even in
the wake of a 1997 lawn mower mishap that cost him the tip of his picking pointer finger. He also found
time to publish a memoir, Settin' the Woods on Fire: Confessions of Hank's Steel Guitar Player. The last
surviving member of the classic Drifting Cowboys lineup, Helms died of a heart attack on August 11, 2008
at the age of 81.
21
Treat Me Right - Grace Potter & The Nocternals
Nothing But The Water (05)
Jason gave me this CD. This is a young woman, folks – just 22 at the time of the recording. I have a little
problem with the disjointed nature of the track, but it really sticks with me, so I decided to share it with
you all. Check out the bio below; it turns out Grace is from nearby VT.
Treat me right and don't you let me down
You brush me off and you run around
I have tried to get through to you
But love and leave is all you do
Treat me right every single day
Stick around and don't you run away
You say you love me but you don't say it right
I'm at the end of a tunnel but there ain't no light
Oh but like so many done before you always leave me wanting more and as you walk right out the door my
heart falls to the floor and I say
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to treat me right
All the time, squeeze me like a key lime
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to quit the fight and fall into the night
Treat me right and don't you do me wrong
Play for keeps don't just play along
O will give you all the love I got
If you'd just entertain the thought
Oh but like so many done before you always leave me wanting more and as you walk right out the door my
heart falls to the floor and I say
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to treat me right
All the time, squeeze me like a key lime
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to quit the fight and fall into the night
Please love, don't you do me like you've done before,
Please love can we stop this keeping score,
Please love let me in don't lock the door,
Give me all the love that I know you can afford
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to treat me right
All the time, squeeze me like a key lime
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you've got to quit the fight and fall into the night
C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon...
Born in Waitsfield, VT, Grace Potter grew up in a family that encouraged her artistic pursuits in areas
from music to theater, the latter of which she was studying at St. Lawrence University when drummer
Matt Burr heard her singing at an open-mike night in 2002 and asked if she would form a band with him.
She declined, but when her high-school friend and bass player Courtright Beard enrolled in their college,
she reconsidered the invitation, and the three of them began to write and perform jazz-influenced songs,
Potter also taking duties on the Hammond B-3. Soon, guitarist Scott Tournet joined, and the
bandmembers, calling themselves Grace Potter & the Nocturnals -- thanks to their late-night practice
habits -- began to think seriously about making music their careers. When Burr graduated in 2003, they
decided to move back to Vermont to some land that Potter's parents owned and dedicate themselves
more fully to their craft, replacing Beard (who chose to stay at school) with Bryan Dondero in the
process. In 2004 they self-released their debut, Original Soul, receiving positive response and
comparisons to artists like Norah Jones and early Bonnie Raitt. This in turn garnered major-label offers,
but the band preferred to build its fan base by constant touring and festival appearances. Word of their
electric performance spread, and shortly after their second album, Nothing But the Water -- also selfreleased -- came out in 2005, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals signed to Hollywood Records, with their
third full-length, This Is Somewhere, hitting shelves nationwide in August 2007.
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
Nothing but the Water
Rating 4 Stars
Release Date Sep 20, 2005
Roots Rock
While the 22-year-old Grace Potter's vocal influences are obvious -- Bonnies Raitt and Bramlett, Susan
Tedeschi, and Lucinda Williams -- it's what she does with her voice that is most impressive. This
sophomore indie album gets all the parts right. Even though the band is from Vermont, there is no denying
the Southern blues, gospel and swamp rock that course through its veins. Potter's songs, all co-written
with her group, grind through a combination of the Band, J.J. Cale (who she namechecks on the opening
"Toothbrush and My Table"), Taj Mahal, and Tift Merritt. Although it is self-recorded, Nothing but the
Water exudes a professional sound and the band knows when to play and when to lay back. Lyrically,
Potter is stuck on the lost love track, but she makes the most of that overworked concept with smart,
savvy words that retain an air of mystery. She's got a terrific, grainy voice, but it's her piano and
Hammond B-3 playing that really set her apart from the pack. The organ adds a gospel flavor -- part
Gregg Allman, part Booker T., part Steve Winwood -- that pushes this material from good to great.
"Treat Me Right" throbs with a sexuality perfectly echoed in the band's skeletal swamp funk backing. In
particular, Scott Tournet's slide guitar pushes the rollicking "Sweet Hands" down Highway 61 as Potter
charges through lyrics such as "it's like touch and go without the touch" with a mix of sassy fire and
feisty intensity. "Joey" tells the story of spousal abuse with images that are powerful and scary ("He
looks me in the eye, he'll hit me 'til I cry"). She goes full Delta blues/Bonnie Raitt mode on the acoustic
"2:22," accompanied only by acoustic guitar and subtle standup bass. It's an impressive track and shows
she could be a fine traditional blues singer if she wanted to pursue that avenue. The final trilogy of
tracks is the album's highlight. Shifting from the spooky instrumental "Below the Beams" to the a
cappella gospel of "Nothing but the Water Pt.1" and into the song's rollicking "Pt. 2," the band fires on all
cylinders as Potter spits out the gospel words powered by her own keyboards and the band's surging
storm of blues-rock. It caps an impressive release that only scratches the surface of what this band can
generate live. [A CD/DVD version of the album is available with an accompanying 40-minute, five-song
DVD reprises three of the album's tracks, adds a few new ones, and shows how powerful a presence
Potter and her band can be onstage.
1 Toothbrush and My Table Burr, Potter
4:29
2 Some Kind of Ride
Potter 3:44
3 Ragged Company Potter 4:54
4 Left Behind
Burr, Dondero, Potter, Tournet
3:40
5 Treat Me Right Burr, Dondero, Potter, Tournet
4:25
6 Sweet Hands
Potter 3:36
7 Joey Burr, Dondero, Potter, Tournet
5:16
8 2:22 Potter, Tournet
4:36
9 All But One
Potter 4:48
10 Below the Beams
Burr, Dondero, Potter, Tournet
11 Nothing But the Water (I)
Potter 2:4
22
1:33
A Swim In The Ocean - The Call
Red Moon (90)
This track really gets me going. I almost left it out because it sorta competes with King of Love. That’s
why I opted to put it near the end of the CD, so if you play in ‘Repeat’, you may have them way too close
together.
Despite great critical acclaim due to their literate, passionate rock; praise from some well-respected
contemporaries; and a string of strong releases, the San Francisco band the Call never quite escaped cult
status. The predicted breakthrough to a wider audience never quite materialized. Formed in the San
Francisco area in 1980, the quartet, led by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, released their self-titled
debut in 1982 and earned positive reviews. The following year, the band issued Modern Romans and
managed to broaden their fan base when "The Walls Came Down" became a minor hit single. In 1984,
keyboardist Jim Goodwin replaced bass player Scott Freeman to round out the lineup for the release of
Scene Beyond Dreams, which despite receiving more critical acclaim, failed to build on their commercial
momentum. Reconciled followed in 1985 and featured guest appearances by Peter Gabriel (who had once
referred to the band as "the future of American music") and Robbie Robertson. Both "I Still Believe" and
"Everywhere I Go" achieved significant airplay on college rock and AOR stations, giving a boost to the
band's profile.
The Call scaled back a bit from the anthemic feel of Reconciled for Into the Woods, but managed to
score again at college rock outlets with the somber "In the River." Been took time out from the band in
1988 to appear as the apostle John in Martin Scorcese's Last Temptation of Christ. The band switched
labels from Elektra to MCA in 1989, edging back into more radio-friendly territory with Let the Day
Begin. The rousing title track became their biggest hit to date; topping the AOR charts and reaching
number 51 on the pop charts, propelling the album to become their highest-charting release as well.
Despite the success, when they returned with Red Moon, the Call had scaled back their sound, embracing
an organic, more roots-oriented sound that recalled the Band (not surprising, as that act's Garth Hudson
and Robbie Robertson had both guested on earlier albums).
Perhaps their most mature and fully-realized album, Red Moon made little impact beyond the Call's core
audience (despite Bono lending vocals to "What's Happened to You?"). Been tested the waters as a solo
artist and released the harder-edged On the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough in 1994, managing to gain
a bit of airplay with "Us." The Call was given the compilation treatment on a couple releases in the '90s,
and reunited for Heaven & Back in 1997 and a tour. They subsequently issued a live record, Live Under
the Red Moon, three years later.
Red Moon
Rating 4 *
Release Date Aug 1990
After the big sounding (even by their standards) Let the Day Begin, The Call returned three years later
with Red Moon, an intimate-sounding, organic record, particularly the use of rich organ passages in many
songs. Admirer Bono makes a guest appearance on the warm, gospel-tinged "What's Happened to You,"
which edges the group toward Band territory. The gentle, dreamy title song is one of the loveliest songs
the band has ever done. As usual, songs like "You Were There" (driven by keyboardist Jim Goodwin's
saxophone playing) and the chugging "What a Day" features Michael Been's always literate, socially
conscious lyrics. Other standout tracks include the twangy, shuffling "A Swim in the Ocean" and the
punchy "Like You've Never Been Loved" (with T-Bone Burnett on backing vocals). With its lovely textures
and melodic songs, Red Moon is start to finish the most fully realized and finest work. The group would
disband following this album and not work together again for nearly a decade.
23
Bye Bye Blues - Memphis Slim
American Folk Blues Festival (62)
I think this is an appropriate ending piece. It comes from a fantastic CD box that Joe Spollen turned me
onto and that I highly recommend. Nearly everyone who played on those CDs is in on this last track, but
Memphis Slim is the feature artist, so he gets the credit - The Coat And Pants Do All The Work (And
The Vest Gets All The Gravy) – thanks to the Hoosier Hot Shots. Have a gander at the notes about the
CDs. What a line up of artists and tracks. I really like this collection.
I edited the track to fit the last little bit of space left on the CD.
An amazingly prolific artist who brought a brisk air of urban sophistication to his frequently stunning
presentation, John "Peter" Chatman -- better known as Memphis Slim -- assuredly ranks with the
greatest blues pianists of all time. He was smart enough to take Big Bill Broonzy's early advice about
developing a style to call his own to heart, instead of imitating that of his idol, Roosevelt Sykes. Soon
enough, other 88s pounders were copying Slim rather than the other way around; his thundering ivories
attack set him apart from most of his contemporaries, while his deeply burnished voice possessed a
commanding authority.
As befits his stage name, John "Peter" Chatman was born and raised in Memphis; a great place to commit
to a career as a bluesman. Sometime in the late '30s, he resettled in Chicago and began recording as a
leader in 1939 for OKeh, then switched over to Bluebird the next year. Around the same time, Slim
joined forces with Broonzy, then the dominant force on the local blues scene. After serving as Broonzy's
invaluable accompanist for a few years, Slim emerged as his own man in 1944.
After the close of World War II, Slim joined Hy-Tone Records, cutting eight tracks that were later
picked up by King. Lee Egalnick's Miracle label reeled in the pianist in 1947; backed by his jumping band,
the House Rockers (its members usually included saxists Alex Atkins and Ernest Cotton), Slim recorded
his classic "Lend Me Your Love" and "Rockin' the House." The next year brought the landmark "Nobody
Loves Me" (better known via subsequent covers by Lowell Fulson, Joe Williams, and B.B. King as "Everyday
I Have the Blues") and the heartbroken "Messin' Around (With the Blues)."
The pianist kept on label-hopping, moving from Miracle to Peacock to Premium (where he waxed the first
version of his uncommonly wise down-tempo blues "Mother Earth") to Chess to Mercury before staying
put at Chicago's United Records from 1952 to 1954. This was a particularly fertile period for the pianist;
he recruited his first permanent guitarist, the estimable Matt Murphy, who added some serious fret fire
to "The Come Back," "Sassy Mae," and "Memphis Slim U.S.A."
Before the decade was through, the pianist landed at Vee-Jay Records, where he cut definitive versions
of his best-known songs with Murphy and a stellar combo in gorgeously sympathetic support (Murphy was
nothing short of spectacular throughout).
Slim exhibited his perpetually independent mindset by leaving the country for good in 1962. A tour of
Europe in partnership with bassist Willie Dixon a couple of years earlier had so intrigued the pianist that
he permanently moved to Paris, where recording and touring possibilities seemed limitless and the veteran
pianist was treated with the respect too often denied even African-American blues stars at home back
then. He remained there until his 1988 death, enjoying his stature as expatriate blues royalty.
American Folk Blues Festival: 1962-1965
Rating 4 *
Release Date Dec 1995
Recording Date Oct 18, 1962-Oct 7, 1965
Time 303:30
From 1962 until 1971, the American Folk Blues Festival was responsible for bringing dozens of the most
celebrated American blues artists to audiences from England to Poland. For many of the musicians, these
were the largest audiences they'd ever played to, and the first (and often only) decent money they ever
made. This five-CD set captures the vital early years of the festival more fully than any prior issues, with
previously unreleased bonus tracks (some of which overlaps). The 1962 volume was recorded live in
Hamburg, and has no extra tracks, but the material is so vital and robust that this volume, featuring
Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, never needed it. The
1963 disc, recorded live in Bremen, opens with three previously unreleased live Memphis Slim cuts, and
follows these with a previously unissued Muddy Waters solo acoustic guitar piece and three more neverissued numbers featuring Muddy backed by Dixon, Otis Spann, and Matt "Guitar" Murphy. The three
Sonny Boy Williamson bonus tracks were very late in the day and constitute some of the very last songs
left behind by the increasingly ailing harp legend. The 1964 volume is a little less enhanced, with two
songs by Willie Dixon and one song each by Sonny Boy Williamson, Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon,
and Sugar Pie DeSanto. The 1965 volume was always the odd one in this series; as a studio recording
rather than a concert document, it lacks the vibrancy of the earlier volumes, but its eight bonus tracks
do include some interesting moments by Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, and Big Walter
Horton. The sound quality is good, but given the time that's passed, a full set of notes might have been
nice.
AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL ‘62
1. Rockin’ The House (Peter Charman)
Memphis Slim (v,p), T-Bone Walker (g), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
2. I Wanna See My Baby (Aaron Walker)
T-Bone Walker (v,g), Memphis Slim (p), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
3. I’m In Love (Aaron Walker)
T-Bone Walker (v,g), Memphis Slim (p), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
4. I’m Crazy ‘Bout You Baby (Sonny Terry)
Sonny Terry (v,h), Brownie McGhee (g), T-Bone Walker (p), Willie Dixon (b)
5. Stewball (Willie Dixon)
Memphis Slim (v,p), Willie Dixon (v,b), Jump Jackson (d)
6. Let’s Make It (John Lee Hooker)
John Lee Hooker (v,g), T-Bone Walker (p), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
7. Shake It Baby (John Lee Hooker)
John Lee Hooker (v,g), T-Bone Walker (p), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
8. Night Time Is The Right Time (Leroy Carr)
John Lee Hooker (v,g), T-Bone Walker (p), Willie Dixon (b) Jump Jackson (d)
9. Hey Baby (Ah’w Baby) (Walter Jacobs)
Shakey Jake Horton (v,h), Memphis Slim (p), T-Bone Walker (g), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
10. Love My Baby (J. J. Harris)
Shakey Jake Horton (v,h), Memphis Slim (p), T-Bone Walker (g), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
11. Crying At The Station (Brownie McGhee)
Brownie McGhee (v,g), T-Bone Walker (p), Willie Dixon (b), Jump Jackson (d)
12. Wee Baby Blues (Joe Turner-Pete Johnson)
Memphis Slim (v,p), T-Bone Walker (g), Willie Dixon (v,b), Jump Jackson (d)
Recorded live in Hamburg, Germany on October 18, 1962
AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL ‘63 Part 1
1. The Blues Is Everywhere (Peter Chatman)
Memphis Slim (v,p)
2. John Henry (traditional)
Memphis Slim (v,p), Willie Dixon (v,b), Matt “Guitar’’ Murphy (guitar), Billie Stepney (d)
3. Wish Me Well (Peter Chatman)
Memphis Slim (v,p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
4. Memphis Boogie (Peter Chatman)
Memphis Slim (p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt ‘Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
5. Captain Captain (My Captain) (Willie Dixon)
Muddy Waters (v,g)
6. Catfish Blues (McKinley Morganfield)
Muddy Waters (v,g)
7. Blow Wind Blow (McKinley Morganfield)
Muddy Waters (v,g), Otis Spann (p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
8. My Home Is In The Delta (McKinley Morganfield)
Muddy Waters (v,g), Otis Spann (p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
9. Five Long Years (Eddie Boyd)
Muddy Waters (v,g), Otis Spann (p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
10. That’s All I Want, Baby (Willie Dixon)
Sonny Boy Williamson (v,h), Otis Spann (p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney
(d)
11. Don’t Misuse Me (Alex “Rice” Miller)
Sonny Boy Williamson (v,h), Otis Spann (p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney
(d)
12. 1 Don’t Know (Alex “Rice” Miller)
Sonny Boy Williamson (v,h), Otis Spann (p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney
(d)
13. I’m Gettin’ Tired (Alex “Rice” Miller)
Sonny Boy Williamson (v,h)
14. Goin’ Down Slow (James Oden)
Otis Spann (v,p), Willie Dixon (b), Mart “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d) Sonny Boy Williamson (h)
15. Sonny Boy’s Harmonica Blues (Alex “Rice” Miller)
Sonny Boy Williamson (h)
Recorded live in Bremen, Germany on October 13, 1963
AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL ‘63 Part 2
1. Goin’ Down Slow (alt) (James Oden)
Otis Spann (v,p), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
2. Sitin’ And Cryin’ The Blues (Willie Dixon)
Willie Dixon (v,b), Memphis Slim (p), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
3. Crazy For My Baby (Willie Dixon)
Willie Dixon (v,b), Memphis Slim (p), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
4. Grant Spivey (Victoria Spivey)
Victoria Spivey (v,u), Willie Dixon (b), Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Billie Stepney (d)
5. TB Blues (Victoria Spivey)
Victoria Spivey (v,p), Willie Dixon (b), Billie Stepney (d)
6. Big Roll Blues (Big Joe Williams)
Big Joe Williams (v,g)
7. Back In The Bottom Blues (Big Joe Williams)
Big Joe Williams (v,g)
8. I Have No Friends (Big Joe Williams)
Big Joe Williams (v,g)
9. Baby Please Don’t Go ((Big Joe Williams)
Big Joe Williams (v,g)
10. Careless Love (W.C. Handy, Spencer Williams, Martha E. Koenig)
Lonnie Johnson (v,g)
11. CC Rider (traditional)
Lonnie Johnson (v,g)
12. It’s Too Late To Cry (Lonnie Johnson)
Lonnie Johnson (v,g)
13. Matt’s Guitar Boogie (Matthew Murphy)
Matt “Guitar” Murphy (g), Memphis Slim (p), Willie Dixon (b), Billie Stepney (d)
14. Bye Bye Blues (Peter Chatman)
Memphis Slim & All Artists
Recorded live in Bremen, Germany on October 13, 1963
AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL ‘64
1. I’m Trying To Make London My Home (Alex “Rice” Miller)
Sonny Boy Williamson (v,h), Hubert Sumlin (g)
2. Dissatisfied (Alex “Rice” Miller)
Sonny Boy Williamson (v,h), Hubert Sumlin (g), Sunnyland Slim (p), Willie Dixon (b), Clifton James (d)
3. Every Time I Get To Drinkin’ (Albert Luandrew)
Sunnyland Slim (v,p), ), Hubert Sumlin (g), Willie Dixon (b), Clifton James (d)
4. Ain’t It A Pity (Sam Hopkins)
Lightnin’ Hopkins (v,g)
5. Baby Please Don’t Go (Big Joe Williams)
Lightnin’ Hopkins (v,g)
6. I’m A Tearing Little Daddy (John Estes)
Sleepy John Estes (v,g), Hammie Nixon (j)
7. I Ain’t Gonna Pick No More Cotton (John Henry Barbee)
John Henry Barbee (v,g)
8. No Title Blues (Hubert Sumlin)
Hubert Sumlin (g), Sunnyland Slim (p), Willie Dixon (b), Clifton James (d)
9. Slip-In Mules (Billy Davis, Robert Higginbotham)
Sugar Pie DeSanto (v), Sunnyland Slim (p), Hubert Sumlin (g), Willie Dixon (b), Clifton James (d)
10. Dust My Broom (Robert Johnson, Elmore James)
Howlin’ Wolf (v,g), Sunnyland Slim (p), Hubert Sumlin (g), Willie Dixon (b), Clifton James
11. I Got To Cut Out (Alex “Rice” Miller)
Sonny Boy Williamson (v,h), Hubert Sumlin (g)
12. Weak Brain And Narrow Mind (Willie Dixon)
Willie Dixon (v, b)
13. Big Legged Woman (Willie Dixon)
Willie Dixon (v, b)
14. Your Best Friend’s Gone (John Estes)
Sleepy John Estes (v,g), Hammie Nixon (j)
15. Baby What You Want Me To Do (Jimmy Reed)
Sugar Pie DeSanto (v), Sunnyland Slim (p), Huber Sumlin (g), Willie Dixon (d), Clifton James (d)
Recorded live in Hamburg Germany on October 9, 1964
AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL ‘65
1. Highway 61 (Fred McDowell)
Mississippi Fred McDowell (v,g)
2. Slow Down Woman (J.B. Lenoir)
JB Lenoir (v,g), Big Walter “Shakey” Horton (h)
3. Blues Harp Shuffle (Walter Horton)
Big Walter ‘Shakey” Horton (h), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
4. Christine (Walter Horton)
Big Walter “Shakey” Horton (v,h), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
5. Come On Back Home (Roosevelt Sykes)
Roosevelt Sykes (v,p), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
6. Five Long Years (Eddie Boyd)
Eddie Boyd (v,o), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
7. The Big Question (Eddie Boyd)
Eddie Boyd (v,o), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
8. Rosa Lee (Jimmie Let Robinson)
Jimmie Lee Robinson (v,g), Eddie Boyd (o), Buddy Guy (b), Fred Below (d)
9. King Of The World (John Lee Hooker)
John Lee Hooker (v,g), Buddy Guy (b), Fred Below (d)
10. Delta Mae (John Lee Hooker)
John Lee Hooker (v,g), Buddy Guy (b), Fred Below (d)
11. First Time I Met The Blues (Buddy Guy)
Buddy Guy (v,g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
12. Hound Dog (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
Big Mama Thornton (v), Eddie Boyd (p), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
13. My Black Name Is Ringing (Isaiah Ross)
Doctor Ross (v, g, d)
14. Della Mse (alt) (John Lee Hooker)
John Lee Hooker (v,g), Buddy Guy (b), Fred Below (d)
15. Hound Dog (alt) (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)
Big Mama Thornton (v), Eddie Boyd (p), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
16. South Side Jump (Buddy Guy)
Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
17. If I Get Lucky (J.B. Lenoir)
JB Lenoir (v,g)
18. Got A Letter This Morning (Fred McDowell)
Mississippi Fred McDowell (v,g)
19. Sail On (Roosevelt Sykes)
Roosevelt Sykes (v,p), Buddy Guy (g), Jimmie Lee Robinson (b), Fred Below (d)
20. Farewell Baby (Isaiah Ross)
Doctor Ross (v, g, d)
Recorded in a studio in Hamburg, Germany on October 7, 1965