STAR BLUES on 12th May 2013 at 22:00

With just one hour to survey the Blues "Oscars" it was always going to be a tough ask on last night's STAR BLUES: we squeezed as many winners of the BLUES FEDERATION's BLUES MUSIC AWARDS as we could. The wraps came off on Thursday night for a list I mostly agreed with (for a change).

The "Not Alone" two-handed project by Ann Rabson and Bob Margolin was a particularly heartening result which recognises two players at the top of their game just enjoying making music they love. It meant Billy Boy Arnold's album didn't get an award, and he also dipped out on best Harmonica player too.  Eric Bibb was another winner of an Acoustic category and we had a track from his latest album. Janiva Magness co-wrote the Blues Song of the Year from her Alligator album "Stronger For It" and label-mate Michael Burks' "Show of Strength" got recognition as Contemporary Album of the Year.

The label also has Curtis Salgado in its roster and he was another big winner on Thursday night. Not to be outdone by Alligator, Delta Groove's house band, the Mannish Boys were suitably rewarded. The Traditional Blues Female Artist award is called the Koko Taylor award these days and Ruthie Foster went home with it this year. The late Magic Slim got the male version of her gong which underlined how much Chicago has lost this year now he and Jimmy Dawkins havw passed.

Also in our first half, we marked Guy Davis' birthday with 'Black Coffee' from his "Juba Dance" album on Dixie Frog. Last October Living Blues magazine had a front-cover feature on the New Generation of Acoustic Blues" which included the gifted Valerie June: her debut album is out now ("Pushing Against the Stone") and her Trial and Tribulations sat nicely in our gospel tent. Bert Deivert brought his elegant mandolin and Ronnie Earl and Robert Cray had different axe skills on show.

If you thought Fabrizzio Poggi set the harp bar at a high level with Guy Davis in Hour One, we wheeled in Walter Horton helping out Johnny Shines at 23:30. With just a bass player and no drummer they laid down a real groove on "Evening Sun" originally done for the JOB label. I stand by my challenge: "if there's another blues show playing a better song at exactly that moment - anywhere on the planet - I'll eat my socks. As if that wasn't enough Sonny Boy Williamson did similar honours for Baby Boy Warren. Valerie Carr recorded supper club jazz ballads for the Roulette label, she must have given her fans a double take when she turned up at Atlas records with a raunchy little number she gave us last night. Being hot on the heels of one of Lula Reed's final Federal cuts, she had to be good.

Little Junior Parker put a different spin on Eddie Boyds 'Five Long Years' in 1958 for Duke records and Little Johnny Taylor is still in a class of his own almost fifty years after he did Somewhere Down the Line. The other great vocal master - Little Willie John - wasn't far behind and it was easy to hear why he was so highly rated by folks like James Brown. Jesse Stone penned hundreds of rock'n'roll hits for others but rarely recorded himself, so we treated ourselves and slipped inn Pearl Traylors "Play Boy" on Modern from 1945.  For his Atco recording in 1958 under the watchful eye of Herb Abramson, Guitar Slim was somewhat restrained but you couldn't mistake his guitar tone.

That vinyl hour always seems like five minutes and is over all too soon. You were magnificent company last night - I was the ethical man in the white (non-Primark) tee-shirt, I'll be him again next Sunday on Britain's Other Blues Show if you'll have me? 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
Fix This	Robert Cray	7	Nothing But Love	Robert Cray	PROVOGUE
robert nighthawks' stomp	ronnie earl	10	just for today	ronnie earl	stony plain
I Won't Cry	Janiva Magness	2	Stronger For It	Janiva Magness	Alligator
Black Coffee	Guy Davis (Featuring Fabrizio Poggi)	7	Juba Dance	Guy Davis (Featuring Fabrizio Poggi)	Dixiefrog
kid man blues	bert deivert	5	kid man blues	bert deivert	hard danger
Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad	Habib Koité, Eric Bibb	13	Brothers In Bamako	Habib Koité, Eric Bibb
Let It Go	Ann Rabson With Bob Margolin	8	Not Alone	Ann Rabson With Bob Margolin	Vizztone
Bad Boy	Magic Slim & The Teardrops	1	Bad Boy	Magic Slim & The Teardrops	Blind Pig
Count On You	Michael Burks	1	Show Of Strength	Michael Burks	Alligator Records & Artist Management, Inc.
Back To The Blues	Ruthie Foster	8	Ruthie Foster Live At Antone's	Ruthie Foster	Blue Corn Music
trials troubles and tribulations	valerie june	8	pushin against the stone	valerie june
Hello, How Ya Been? Goodbye	Guitar Slim	6	Atco Sessions	Guitar Slim	ATCO
You Gotta Have That Green	Lula Reed	19	Solid Stroll Vol. 4	Various Artists	LUCKY Gal
Rockin' Bed	Valerie Carr	23	New Breed Blues With Black Popcorn	Various Artists	Kent
Five Long Years	Junior Parker	3	The Collection	Junior Parker	SPECTRUM MUSIC
You Hurt Me	Little Willie John	24	Mark Lamarr's Roc-King Up A Storm	Various Artists	WESTSIDE
My Talk Didn’t Do Any Good	Frankie Lee Sims	16	The Ace Story Volume Two	Various Artists	ACE
I wanna be your man	Frankie ford	17	The Ace Story Volume Two	Various Artists	ACE
Hello Stranger	Baby Boy Warren	17	Let Me Tell You About The Blues: Detroit	Various Artists	Fantastic Voyage
Evening Sun	Johnny Shines	62	The R'n'b Hits Of 1953	Various Artists	INDIGO
Bottle It Up And Go	Big John Greer	12	The R'n'b Years 1954: 100 Hot Rhythm And Blues Tunes From 1954	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE
An Ace In The Hole	Jesse Stone	3	The R'n'b Years 1947: 100 Hot Rhythm And Blues Tunes From 1947	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE
play boy blues	pearl traylor	21	modern music: the first year - 1945	various artists	ace
have mercy baby	hank ballard and midnighters	3-2	history of rhythm and blues	various artists	rhythm and blues records
wake up and live	floyd dixon	8	sing my blues tonight The Ace Ms. blues masters vol. 1	Various Artists	westside
Somewhere Down The Line	Little Johnny Taylor	4	The Galaxy Years	Little Johnny Taylor	ACE
the walk	jimmy mccracklin	6	solid stroll - vol. 4	various artists	lucky gal
i'm wise	eddie bo	2-15	history of rhythm and blues	various artists	rhythm and blues records
red hot	billy emerson	1-3	history of rhythm and blues	various artists	rhythm and blues records