Humdingers promised?
Humdingers we had! A marvelous 22 track anthology compiled by Mark
Lamarr on the VEETONE label kept the excitement levels way up against
the end stops last night on STAR BLUES. Five tracks from that one made
it a featured platter and then we topped up with four more from Percy
Milem, Big Joe Turner, Tiny Grimes and Don Covay. Who says blues is just
youthful guitar flash? We particularly loved the understated approach
of Screamin' Jay Hawkins for his vocal with Tiny Grimes.
Far from youthful, Mr. B B
King has a new cd plus dvd package out as a souvenir of his Royal Albert
Hall concert in June last year. Much has been made of the guests:
Ronnie Wood, Slash, Mick Hucknall and so on - B did his usual job as
ringmaster for the turns. Brooks Williams will be in Cambridge a week on
Thursday for a project called "State of the Union" with Boo Hewerdine -
we found him in the songbook of Son House "Grinning in your Face". I've
just reviewed Bessie Smith's Definitive collecion for Blues &
Rhythm magazine and the only fault I could find is that they've had to
limit themselves to two dozen tracks on a single disk - another
selection of 24 would still not adequately showcase the empress of the
blues. We were well off for female vocal talent last night, Bessie was
there with Ruthie Foster, Janiva Magness, Bettye LaVette and the sadly
less well known Bettye Swann. Janiva's latest project has her best
singing yet.
Harrison Kennedy made a name
in the vocal group Chairman of ther Board; these days he's a solo
artist on Electro-Fi - his "Shame the Devil" project is his most
blues-worthy yet. Irma Thomas reinvented the classic "Another Man Done
Gone" and she's part of the New Orleans bluescene - by way of Edgbaston
Birmingham we stayed in Louisiana courtesy of the band known as Tipitina
who did a first rate version of some old sheet music dating back to the
period before the blues. That was our piano spot and for the sacred
feature Marie Knight brought her Dependable Boys on her Gospel Train.
Even though the clock through the studio glass still showed an hour to
go (on GMT) we had to wrap up on BST after our allotted span.
There's a heck of a lot of
new music at present with a blues sticker on it, I'll promise we'll
include as much as we can that fits our two hour format - as long as
you're magnificent I'll be Gary Blue at ten next Sunday evening. Until
then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of
you.
Track.Title | Track.ArtistSort | Index | Album.Title | Album.ArtistSort | Label |
Blues Hotel | Jordan Patterson | 5 | Blues Hotel | Various Artists | EASYDISC |
Key To The Highway | B.B. King | 2 | Live At The Royal Albert Hall | B.B. King | Shout Factory |
Blues Headache | Nathan James & The Rhythm Scratchers | 9 | What You Make Of It | Nathan James & The Rhythm Scratchers | Delta Groove |
Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad | Bettye Lavette | 11 | Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook | Bettye Lavette | Anti |
(You Keep Me) Moving on | Ruthie Foster | 3 | Ruthie Foster Live At Antone's | Ruthie Foster | Blue Corn Music |
Blues Get Off My Shoulder | Little Milton | 16 | Stand By Me | Little Milton | ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION |
Isabella (Deluxe 6119) | Roy Gaines | 21 | R&B Humdingers Volume 11 | Various Artists | Vee-Tone Records |
Grinnin' in Your Face | Brooks Williams | 2 | Baby O! | Brooks Williams | red guitar blue music |
Young Woman's Blues | Bessie Smith | 16 | Blues Queen. The Definitive Collection | Bessie Smith | Phoenix Records |
I Don't Want To Do Wrong | Janiva Magness | 8 | Stronger For It | Janiva Magness | Alligator Records & Artist Management, Inc. |
I Don't Know What You've Got (But It's Got Me) | Percy Milem | 22 | Memphis Boys: The Story Of American Studios | Various Artists | ACE |
Wild Child (Deluxe 6156) | Donnie Elbert | 22 | R&B Humdingers Volume 11 | Various Artists | Vee-Tone Records |
Done Got Old | Tail Dragger & Bob Corritore | 8 | Longtime Friends in the Blues | Tail Dragger & Bob Corritore | Delta Groove Productions |
Shame the Devil | Harrison Kennedy | 4 | Shame the Devil | Harrison Kennedy | Electro-Fi Records |
Rockin at Midnight | Roy Brown | 63 | Gettin' Funky | Various Artists | PROPER |
Round And Round (Montel 1003) | Sugar Boy Crawford | 1 | R&B Humdingers Volume 11 | Various Artists | Vee-Tone Records |
Why Do You Waste My Time | Tiny Grimes w. Screaming Jay Hawkins | 13 | We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll | Various Artists | PROPER |
Sweet Louisiana | Tipitina | 14 | Taking Care of Business | Tipitina | Big Bear Records |
Another Man Done Gone | Irma Thomas | 7 | After The Rain | Irma Thomas | Rounder |
Gospel Train | Marie Knight And The Dependable Boys | 10 | Gospel - The Ultimate Collection | Various Artists | RED Box |
These Arms of Mine | Bettye Swann | 16 | Bettye Swann | Bettye Swann | Capitol |
See About Me | Don Covay | 3 | Definitive | Don Covay | RAZOR & TIE |
Don't You Cry | Big Joe Turner with Harry Van Walls and his Orchestra | 14 | The Very Best Of Burlesque | Various Artists | Not Now Music |
Chop Chop Hole In The Wall (Everest 19316) | Boulevards, The | 6 | R&B Humdingers Volume 11 | Various Artists | Vee-Tone Records |
Ramblin' Man (Deluxe 6123) | Larry Darnell | 9 | R&B Humdingers Volume 11 | Various Artists | Vee-Tone Records |