Eric Bibb is a beautiful man with the voice of an angel, we went back almost 20 years to an album he did on an audiophile label; the song "Shingle by Shingle" came from his own pen with a spiritual message from the ancients in the live environment he can attack his axe in the manner of Big Joe Williams. John Lee Hooker at one time or another was the most famous bluesman of them all, often wilfully free with the twelve bar structure, there was no-one else like him who could bear down on a riff in the same way.
We've played "Cairo Blues" by Lil Son Jackson several times, to mark what would have been his 99th birthday with a different song. He is known for being an influence on Eric Clapton but deserved rather more than that. Larry Johnson is another name with a long and reliable pedigree, I dipped into the box set marking the Blue Horizon label for the track taken from his 1966 recordings done in NYC. It was heartening to read a FB post during the afternoon making a similar suggestion: guess great minds and all that. Larry Lampkin is hot right now and it's pretty apparent when you hear him sing and play; I've got two albums by him and there'll be more riches to come if he doesn't get hi-jacked by the plank-spanker brigade.
Roy Roberts has a soft husky tone ideally suited to that soul end of blues where you'll often find Johnny Rawls (they've done an album together already). Joe Doucet is on Dialtone and we didn't quite get time to showcase him on our Texas blues special a few weeks back and Beverley Guitar Watkins made a welcome return. David Vest's album found him unfettered and un-constrained by convention in his piano style, the self-penned instrumental was a breath of fresh air. Our other newcomer was Matt Backer though he did bring old stager Adam Gussow with him for flexible harp support. In something of a treat for harp fans we sneaked in a track from Harmonica Shah's recent Electro-Fi album (someone else who is well overdue another record).
Henry Stone, owner of TK Records and first man to coax Ray Charles into the studios, died last week. His operation in Miami played home to a pair of albums Little Milton did for Glades after Stax folded. We chose Milton's go at "Angel of Mercy" from the second one. Pete Welding was another great label owner and he had a series of albums called "Masters of Modern Blues" which had blues from JB Hutto and Johnny Shines who both featured Walter Horton on harp. well worth seeking out if you can find them.
Those splendid folks at Ace have just anthologised the first three years' output on RPM, time for a couple selections you can be sure we'll return p-d-q. With a couple of slide maestros (Elmore James and Homesick James), the original of Robert Lockwood's "Take a little Walk" and our blues ladies included Ella Johnson and Alberta Hunter, rocking in their own ways - it was over all too soon. The birthday survey was done in depth because our Bank Holiday show is going to mark 40 years since John Broven wrote his definitive history of Louisiana music, called "Walking to New Orleans". My challenge is to squeeze all that fabulous stuff from the bayoux into a mere 118 minutes - expect three or four failed attempts between now and Sunday at 10pm (BST), 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 |
| new frontier lover | roy gaines | 1 | new frontier lover | roy gaines | severn |
| Cherry Red Wine | Luther Allison | 5 | 25th Anniversary Collection | Various Artists | Alligator |
| Running For Your Love | Larry Lampkin | 1 | When I Get Home | Larry Lampkin | Kaint Kwit |
| I'm Never Gonna Stop | Roy Roberts | 5 | Strange Love | Roy Roberts | |
| My Baby Left Town | Beverly 'Guitar' Watkins | 4 | Back In Business | Beverly 'Guitar' Watkins | MUSIC MAKER |
| I've Got to Find My Baby | Joe Doucet | 12 | Houston's Third Ward Blues | Joe Doucet | DIALTONE |
| sata fe steamer | david vest | 8 | roadhouse revelation | david vest | cordova bay |
| shingle by shingle | eric bibb | 3 | needed time | eric bibb | opus 3 |
| I Don't Worry About A Thing | Matt BackerAdam Gussow | 1 | Get Backer | Matt Backer | Right Recordings |
| 10. Blind Man Crying In The Middle Of Detroit | Harmonica Shah | 10 | Havin' Nothin' Don't Bother Me | Harmonica Shah | Electro-Fi |
| Take A Little Walk With Me | Robert Lockwood Jr. | 22 | Dust My Broom - Mississippi Blues | Various Artists | INDIGO |
| Rockin' And Rollin' | Lil' Son Jackson | 13 | Let Me Tell You About The Blues: Texas | Various Artists | Fantastic Voyage |
| My Kind of Woman | Jb Hutto & The Hawks | 6 | Masters of Modern Blues | Jb Hutto & The Hawks | Testament |
| Angel Of Mercy | Little Milton | 12 | Complete Tk Sessions | Little Milton | SEQUEL |
| Highway 60 | Johnny 'Guitar' Watson | 5 | Space Guitar | Johnny 'Guitar' Watson | CHARLY |
| fine litle honey dripper | t-99 nelson | 1-17 | no more doggin: rpm story vol 1 | various artists | ace |
| you don't know | jimmie huff | 2-22 | no more doggin: rpm story vol 1 | various artists | ace |
| early in the morning | Louis Jordan & His Tympani Five | 19 | reet petite and gone | Louis Jordan | indigo |
| My Castle's Rockin' | Alberta Hunter | 6 | Empty Bed Blues : Best Of The Good Time Mommas | Various Artists | PULSE |
| they don't want me to rock | ella johnson | 3-32 | voodoo voodoo | various artists | fantastic voyage |
| Got To Move | Elmore James | 6 | Complete Chess Chief Fire Recs. | Elmore James | CHARLY |
| the cloud is crying | Homesick James | 9 | blues on the south side | Homesick James | original blues classics |
| Southern Train | Larry Johnson | 9 | Blue Horizon Story Vol. 1 | Various Artists | CBS |
| 44 blues (prev. unissued) | big joe williams | 9 | 60 years | various artists | delmark |
| I’m A Boogie Man | John Lee Hooker | 10 | Deep Feeling | Various Artists | Fantatsic Voyage |
| no more heartaches | sugar boy crawford | 11 | slabs of humdingers, vol. 1 | various artists | veetone |
| one little boy had money | don covay | 1-19 | soul city philadelphia | various artists | fantastic voyage |
| Walkin' Blues | Johnny Shines Band, The | 8 | Masters of Modern Blues | Johnny Shines Band, The | Testament |
| Blues Stay Away From Me | Jb Hutto & The Hawks | 8 | Masters of Modern Blues | Jb Hutto & The Hawks | Testament |
| Little Red Rooster | Luther Allison | 1 | The Motown Years 1972-1976 | Luther Allison | GORDY |
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