The man who plays piano on the theme to "Top Gear" - Allman Brothers' "Jessica" - is Chuck Leavell and his new project celebrates blues piano pioneers; and when you see his selection includes Charlie Spand and Barrelhouse Buck MacFarland you know this aint just another excuse for coffee table blues with his celeb mates. His "Back To The Woods" album was last night's late addition to the planned fare and it shows he's a good technician with a love for the form.
Those splendid chaps at Veetone have a new anthology due to hit the shops anytime soon: it marks 75 years since the Ace Cafe opened for the first time. It was an iconic meeting point on the way up north (or back home) for so many gigging musicians in the days when you had to ply your trade live sweaty and without overdubs. The cafe stayed open all night and became the place to be seen. The new disc surveys the music of the time and we chose Link Wray's "Rumble" for our own tribute.
The subjects in Blues Matters! magazine are often too rock-laden for STAR BLUES but the new issue has a neat feature on Lil Joe Washington, one of blues' most interesting and distinctive characters. He records for Eddie Stout's marvellous imprint called Dialtone, which also is home to a lovely project from Milton Hopkins and Jewel Brown. The advert for that album has the whole back page in the new Blues & Rhythm magazine; an edition carrying good reviews of the Shelton Powe and Corey Harris albums. We like both on STAR BLUES.
We don't often celebrate the blues ladies doing R&B in the early Fifties so having Little Esther, Ruth Brown, Rosetta Perry and Margie Day was a huge treat last night. Perry only cut two discs, we had the first which enjoyed small commercial reward but her second in 1957 was done for BB King's short lived Blues Boy Kingdom label and disappeared as quickly as it came. Elton Anderson's "Train" was recorded for Eddie Shuler's Goldband outfit but he didn't fancy it, the licensed version put out by Johnny Vincent's Vin label did okay and Elton's subsequent work was out on Goldband. His song and that of Huey Piano Smith were part of the fifth volume looking at the output coming out of Ace Records in Jackson Mississippi. The booklet notes hint that more volumes may follow.
Roosevelt Sykes 1966 solo session was originally on an album called "In Europe", Delmark boss saw Skyes moving performance at the Ann Arbor festival and did the album - for some reason the cd reissue is called "Gold Mine". The performances found Skyes harking back to his earliest 1929 recordings. Johnny Temple and Blind Boy Fuller were also on hand for blues in that classic mould and Johnny Moore's beautifully sublime playing closed our show precisely on time last night. A word too about the guitar Moore used for these Modern recordings as shown in the booklet to "Be Cool": I'm in love!
Next Sunday we will mark 100 years since McKinley Morganfield was born (4th April 1913) so everything will be by Muddy or one of his great players (Little Walter, Otis Spann and so on). So that’s *TWO* vinyl hours on Easter Sunday at 10pm (BST). You don't forget to change those clocks 'you hear - until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you
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Track.Title | Track.ArtistSort | Index | Album.Title | Album.ArtistSort | Label |
roll roll roll | lonnie brooks, john hunter & phillip walker | 2-5 | blues & soul sessions | various artists | union square |
man of many words | buddy guy | 11 | blues and soul power | various artists | wsm |
Serves Me Right To Suffer | Jimmy Johnson | 11 | jimmy johnson | jimmy johnson | |
Can't Get Enough Of You | Jewel Brown | 2 | Milton Hopkins & Jewel Brown | Milton HopkinsJewel Brown | DIALTONE |
tipitina | dr. john | 9 | gumbo | dr. john | atlantic |
i got to go blues | chuck leavell | 8 | back to the woods | chuck leavell | ccr |
Gold Mine | Roosevelt Sykes | 10 | Gold Mine | Roosevelt Sykes | DELMARK |
diving duck blues | shelton powe | 4 | caroline blues and goispel | shelton powe | music maker |
Fulton Blues | Corey Harris | 6 | Fulton Blues | Corey Harris | Njumba |
Mumblin' Word | KoernerRayGlover | 20 | Blues Rags And Hollers | KoernerRayGlover | RED HOUSE RECORDS |
in christ there is no east or west | Mavis Staples | 4 | You Are Not Alone | Mavis Staples | Anti |
ah poor little baby | adam faith | 20 | ace cafe - 75 years | various artists | veetone |
the rumble | link wray | 26 | ace cafe - 75 years | various artists | veetone |
Someone Loves Me | Lil Joe Washington | 2 | Houston Guitar Blues | Lil Joe Washington | Dialtone Records |
Wild About You (Baby) | Elmore James And His Broomdusters | 16 | The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956 | Elmore James And His Broomdusters | ACE |
well i never get tired | johnny fairchild | 1 | The Ace Story - Volume 5 | Various Artists | ACE |
Roll On Train | Elton Anderon | 6 | The Ace Story - Volume 5 | Various Artists | ACE |
Aged And Mellow Blues | Little Esther | 11 | Blues And Soul Sessions | Various Artists | UNION SQUARE MUSIC |
Three O'clock Blues | Lowell Fulson | 4 | Blues Guitar Pioneers | Various Artists | BOULEVARD VINTAGE |
Worry Worry Worry | Rosetta Perry | 8 | I'm A Bad Bad Girl | Various Artists | INDIGO |
Little Red Rooster | Margie DayGriffin Brothers | 4 | The R'n'b Years 1951: 100 Hot Rhythm And Blues Tunes From 1951 | Various Artists | BOULEVARD VINTAGE |
Step It Up and Go | Harmonica Frank | 7 | Rockin' Memphis | Various Artists | Proper Box |
screamin and cryin | Blind Boy Fuller | 2-2 | essential | Blind Boy Fuller | classic blues |
back water blues | bessie smith | 5 | history of rhythm and blues - sampler | various artists | rhythm and blues |
lead pencil blues | johnny temple | 12 | history of rhythm and blues - sampler | various artists | rhythm and blues |
If It Ain't One Thing It's Another | Huey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns | 20 | The Ace Story - Volume 5 | Various Artists | ACE |
Seventh Street Boogie | Ivory Joe Hunter | 1 | Blues At Sunrise | Ivory Joe Hunter | INDIGO |
rockin blues | ruth brown | 5 | mama he treats your daughter | ruth brown | indigo |
Johnny's after hours | Johnny Moore's Three Blazers - Vocal By Mari Jones | 6 | Be Cool | Johnny Moore's Three Blazers | ACE |
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