STAR BLUES on 23rd June 2013 at 22:00

A smidge after Summer's Day. (Anyone know if that apostrophe is needed?) Hugh Laurie was on desert Island Discs last week and the first of his 8 platters was from Son House - and it is clear, from the way he has thrown himself into another album project of blues songs, that he is a fan with a good knowledge and enthusiasm for the cause. I'd like to think his patronage will bring many viewers of the excellent "House MD" tv series to the blues. This time round he's handed vocal duties to Jean McCain on a couple of songs including a top notch go at "Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair" (the Albert Good song cut by Bessie Smith in 1927).

Namesake Jerry McCain was down in Jackson Mississippi at the Diamond Studios doing a session for the Trumpet label: not issued at the time but getting a release on vinyl lp when Alligator had the rights to Ms McMurray's imprint. We also dipped into some of the treasures i just brought back from pastures North-eastern, four label surveys issued by One Day Music at a decent price point looking at Okeh, Vogue, Specialty and King. I wanted the Sue and Cobra volumes but the quirky filing system in the record shop let me down? I felt 14 again rummaging through the discs, asking to hear odd tracks, finding out more about the artists and stories (just generally shooting the breeze with other music nuts like me). I'd have got those albums cheaper on the web but what a fabulous way to spend half a day.

Our first hour also played host to a new project co-produced by Corey Harris on Concord called "True Blues". It has Corey with Alvin Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis, Taj Mahal and Phil Wiggins (quite magnificent on harp from start to finish). 2013 is shaping up as a classic for harp players (Wiggins there, James Cotton at his peerless best on his new one, and I just heard a track featuring Charlie Musselwhite that knocked me on my B.T.M)

Mike Sanchez' 2007 sessions with Imelda May are out now the legal stuff is sorted and they gleefully romped through Shirley and Lee's "Let The Good Times Roll" for us last night. The underrated Debbie Davis went to Louis Jordan's "Buzz Me"; Albert Collins and Eddie Bo co-wrote "Slippin and Slidin" for Little Richard which is probably why I think (humbly!) it is the most gloriously ramshackle performance the man ever did. Jimmy Yancey was famed for the minor key change he closed many pieces with and James Booker was a genius piano player from the Crescent City. His "Gonzo" instrumental found favour with the early Sixties surfers and made it in a fairly big way into the mainstream Billboard charts.

For fans of blues guitar playing we brought along Lonnie Johnson and T-Bone Walker - both named by B B King as major influences. Add to the mix Earl King, Ike Turner and a pair of hand-picked cuts from Mark Lamarr's collection via the mighty Veetone outfit - you've got the measure of us in our two hours yesterday.

Woke up this morning - where have I heard that before - to news reports that Bobby Bland has died. Then I get told it was a hoax - and whichever way you dice it, it's a pretty mean cruel thing to do to one of the finest voices in the past 60 years and causing massive upset to his family. His voice meant a lot to me as I started to find my own taste in music, he virtually invented a new way of singing. His 50s / 60's stuff for Duke is pure magic with the cream of players always on their A-game. I'll be sad to find out the news properly but by crikey I'm glad I found him so early on in my life. A giant lion the like of which we will never see again. I'm off to listen to "Turn on your Love Light" - until next Sunday's helping of STAR BLUES take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you. 

 

Track.Title	Track.ArtistSort	Index	Album.Title	Album.ArtistSort	Label
let the good times roll	mike sanchez and imelda may	1	almost grown	mike sanchez	DOOPIN
Slippin' And Slidin'	Little Richard	28	Cosimo Matassa Story	Various Artists	Proper Box
Buzz Me	Debbie Davies	9	Picture This	Debbie Davies	DEMON
RAMBLIN' ON MY MIND	Shemekia copeland et al	13	true blues	various artists	concord
send me to the lectric chair	Hugh Laurie w. Jean McClain	7	Didn't It Rain	Hugh Laurie	WARNER BROS
P L K Special	Jimmy Yancey	11	The Best Of Boogie Woogie	Various Artists	DOCUMENTS
Gonzo	James Booker	17	Teen Beat Vol. 5	Various Artists	ACE
Eating and Sleeping	Earl King	22	Rip It Up: The Specialty Story	Various Artists	One Day Music
Haunted House	Johnny Fuller	17	Rip It Up: The Specialty Story	Various Artists	One Day Music
I've Got a Feelin'	Big Maybelle	20	I Put A Spell On You: The Okeh Story	Various Artists	One Day Music
Voodoo Woman Blues	Jay McShann	16	Hot Biscuits - Essential	Jay McShann	INDIGO
gonna make it on back	little willie brown	15	r & b humdingers vol. 14	various artists	veetone
If You See My Saviour	Thomas A. Dorsey	14	A Portrait Of Gospel	Various Artists	GALE
Fall Guy	Jerry McCain	13	Strange Kind Of Feelin'	Various Artists	ALLIGATOR // TRUMPET
Gonna Write You A Letter	Jesse Thomas	11	Complete Recorded Works 1948-1958	Jesse Thomas	DOCUMENT
Falling Rain Blues	Lonnie Johnson	21	Blues Guitar Pioneers	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE
Gonna Wait For My Chance	Ike Turner's Kings Of Rhythm	14	Trail Blazer	Ike Turner's Kings Of Rhythm	CHARLY
I Thought I Told You Not To Tell Them	Marie Knight	8	Holy Mackerel! Pretenders To Little Richard's Throne	Various Artists	ACE
howlin at midnight	willis jackson	8	r & b humdingers vol. 14	various artists	veetone
Every Day Of The Week	Amos Milburn	21	Good For Nothin': The Vogue Records Story	Various Artists	One Day Music
When We Get Together	Otis Williams	9	Only Young Once: The King Records Story	Various Artists	One Day Music
romance in the dark	lil green	1	why don't you do right	lil green	blues collection
preachin' blues	robert johnson	14	history of rhythm and blues: sampler	various artists	rhythm and blues
mean old world	t-bone walker	25	history of rhythm and blues: sampler	various artists	rhythm and blues
i wish you would	billy boy arnold	1-13	sound of the city: chicago	Various Artists	emi
grits aint groceries	little milton	2-13	sound of the city: chicago	Various Artists	emi
lookin' back	johnny guitar watson	1-9	sound of the city: los angeles	Various Artists	emi
Hide Away	Red Prysock	22	Only Young Once: The King Records Story	Various Artists	One Day Music

Created: 23/06/2013 23:52:50

STAR BLUES on 16th June 2013

Our annual voyage to the North Yorkshire coast in search of "the good stuff" yielded a few tracks which originally came out as singles on Roulette, King, Specialty and Okeh - as well as a collection of sweet instrumental items.

We dipped back into the STAR BLUES archives for the weekly helping of trivia and tomfoolery and you can be sure you'll hear these newly discovered gems on upcoming STAR BLUES playlists. Back round at your place 10pm Sunday 23rd with a brand-new project produced by Corey Harris. Until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you.

STAR BLUES on 9th June 2013 at 22:00

No messing around just two Vinyl hours of music that started life at 33, 45 or 78 rpm. We also had chance to wish CeDell Davis a Happy Birthday at 86 with a track from his award winning project for FAT POSSUM produced by Robert Palmer. A childhood infirmity meant he had to find his own way of playing guitar by using a knife as a slide that adds a unique shading to his primal style.

Hound Dog Taylor - one of the Chicago greats we inexplicably left out of last weeks survey of the great and good based in the Windy City - had a certain spark that captured Bruce Iglauer's imagination sufficiently enough for him to strike out on his own from Bob Koerster to form Alligator as a way of getting HDT music out there. "Sadie" was on his debut album and a fine way to start last night's vinyl based STAR BLUES. During the week I stumbled across Albert Collins' version of "When A Guitar Plays The Blues" on YouTube and thought we have to have that on our playlist - job done. There's an old maxim about starting off with a 1-2-3 punch and who better than Chess-era Buddy Guy to complete the trick. With a pair of mid-Sixties Kings we had a full set of guitar greats on vinyl. Albert's "Laundromat" was one of those seminal songs cut at the sessions with Booker T. and the MGs. It was originally out on a single but later a part of the one great blues album everyone must have: "Born Under A Bad Sign". This week BBC4 showed the film DVD called "Respect Yourself" chronicling the full story of the Stax outfit.

In 1955 Marie Adams was under the production of Johnny Otis and she had a fair size hit with "In Memory" the tribute to Johnny Ace - with a fabulous jump blues "Diddie Wa Wa" on its flip. A bit later she was heard on "Ma He's Making Eyes At Me" which did good business on the mainstream radio charts. The other potent voice on yesterdays running order was that of Hank Ballard and we found his 1970 single on Silver Fox - the Ace label have been putting together neat collections of themed projects: he was on one and Joe Mayfield and Lazy Lester were on another rummage through the vaults of Goldband et. al.

Lest you think we would forget the harp masters, we did a Memphis session with Walter Horton which Sam Phillips leased to the Bihari Brothers - and a solid Little Walter outing, just as supple as you'd expect. Charlie Musselwhite's "Stingaree" was a 1980 recording and Paul Butterfield was guesting alongside Peter Green in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers for an EP in 1966. Professor Longhair did us proud in the piano spot and the Golden Gate Quartet put together a fine arrangement to reinterpret "Down By The Riverside" in out gospel tent.

The two hours whizzed past again and we are really grateful for the positive reaction to the blues coming from the vinyl era - mid June is my annual scavenge through second hand record shops in the North East - I'm not sure Lady Blue knows how long my list is this year. There's something precious about spending time listening to new music, reminiscing and talking to other nuts as crazy about blues and soul as me. Expect to find a few extra bits and pieces on upcoming STAR BLUES programmes - 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
Sadie	Hound Dog Taylor & The House Rockers	4	Blues Guitar Box	Various Artists	SEQUEL
When A Guitar Plays The Blues	Albert Collins	12	The Ice Axe Man Cometh (Collection 1978-86)	Albert Collins	MUSIC CLUB
$100 Bill	Buddy Guy	18	Stone Crazy	Buddy Guy	ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
Henrietta	Jimmy Dee And The Offbeats	13	Solid Stroll Vol. 4	Various Artists	LUCKY Gal
Late In The Evening	Lazy Lester	3	Bluesin' By The Bayou	Various Artists	ACE
Ida Mae	Sonny Terry	15	All That Blues	Various Artists	ORIGINAL BLUES CLASSICS
guitar boogie	cedell davis	7	feel like doin' something wrong	cedell davis	fat possum
My Woman Has A Black Cat Bone (Ivory 127)	Hop Wilson	3	Rhythm Rockin' Blues	Various Artists	Groove SOURCE
Boom Diddy Wa Wa	Marie and Junior	10	That's Your Last Boogie!	Johnny Otis	Fantastic Voyage
Sunday Morning Coming Down	Hank Ballard	4	Sweet Dreams: Where Country Meets Soul Vol. 2	Various Artists	Kent
Help The Poor	Larry Davis	114	25 Years	Various Artists	Rounder
Hook Line And Sinker	Dan Greer	4	Beale Street Soul Man - The Sounds Of Memphis Sessions	Dan Greer	Kent
laundromat blues	Albert King	8	ultimate collection	Albert King	STAX
Universal Rock	Junior Wells	14	Earl Hooker And Junior Wells	Earl HookerJunior Wells	ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
Shim Sham Shimmy	Champion Jack Dupree	9	Two Classic Albums Plus Singles	Champion Jack Dupree	AVID
Think It Over	B. B. King	6	The Electric B. B. King - At His Best	B. B. King	MCA
Bootleggin' Baby	Roy Brown	13	Saturday Night! King And Imperial Recordings	Roy Brown	EL TORO
Down By The Riverside	Golden Gate Quartet, The	28	The Golden Gate Quartet - Our Story	Golden Gate Quartet, The	COLUMBIA
The Panama Limited	Bukka White	2	Shake 'Em On Down	Bukka White	CATFISH
Black Gal	Walter Horton	2	Mouth Harp Meastro	Walter Horton	ACE
roll n roll	John Lee Hooker	3	No Friend Around	John Lee Hooker	RED LIGHTNING
Hard Times	Mighty Joe Young	19	The Way I Feel	Various Artists	FLYRIGHT
Misery	Professor Longhair	16	The Influences Behind The Rolling Stones	Various Artists	Hoodoo Records
I'm A Natural Born Man	Joe Mayfield	12	Bluesin' By The Bayou	Various Artists	ACE
Little By Little	John MayallPaul Butterfield	22	A Hard Road	John Mayall	DECCA
stingaree	Charlie Musselwhite	2	blues never die	Charlie Musselwhite	vanguard
just your fool	Little Walter (Aka Marion Walter Jacobs)	18	Boss Blues Harmonica	Little Walter (Aka Marion Walter Jacobs)	ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION

Created: 09/06/2013 23:54:05

STAR BLUES on 2nd June 2013 at 22:00

Right now the focus of all that's good about the current blues scene is centred on Chicago. Earlier this year, there was sad news in the loss of Magic Slim and Jimmy Dawkins but since then we've marked Muddy Waters' centenary, celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Bob Koerster's Delmark label and next week we have a very strong lineup of blues stars at the 30th Chicago Blues Festival. All of which is at the risk of stating the obvious. If there is a way of measuring how "healthy" the current upswing in interest in blues is, we need to use what happens in Chicago as our first temperature sounding. (Don't ask where the thermometer goes, this is a family show).

The basic format of small electric combo lead with harp and/or guitar hasn't changed much in fifty years, the energy and power in this apparently simple straight forward approach is undeniable. The great and the good brought it in spades last night. Our focus was on the current work of the folks booked to appear at the festival - sprinkled with some Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, Little Mac and John Littlejohn from back awhile. Mac's piece is listed as 1980 but it sounds like an earlier work in homage to Sonny Boy's "Help Me".

Sam Charters did three albums in 1965/6 called "Chicago/The Blues/Today" and we dipped in to play an instrumental Otis Rush piece and a quartet recording lead by James Cotton (barely out of his 20s but a veteran with over a dozen years of solid blues recording behind him). He is riding really high at the moment with his latest "Cotton Mouth Man" cited as CD of the Month in the new issues of both Living Blues and Blues & Rhythm magazines. The harp playing from our hero is enough to cement his rep at #1 in league of world harp players.

Harvey Cockliss made a film in 1970 to go that bit further and actually show the blues club scene, we chose Mighty Joe Young whose warts-n-all fidelity let us in to a unique atmosphere of one of his gigs. Lurrie Bell and John Primer were similarly captured in rather clearer-fi last year for the award winning "(R)evolution Continues" double disc project. Sir Mack Rice will be on stage on Saturday with the Memphis Soul Revue - you've all heard his compositions "Mustang Sally" and "Minnie Skirt Minnie" - but it was a nice opportunity to hear him out front and centre for himself.

As far as I can tell I've never played anything by Cicero Blake though I'm glad to have found a couple of his early Sixties sides which certainly fit our format. You can be sure we'll get back to him before too long. I'm planning my annual treasure hunt round about now and his name is already on my list. Our two hours together flew past, many thanks for your kind invitation to your place, as for this upcoming Sunday I'm already stuffing my bag with more blues, trivia and tomfoolery than is legal, decent or sensible - 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
You're Humbuggin' Me	Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater	1	Rock 'N' Roll City	Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater	BULLSEYE BLUES
Last Four Nickels	Larry McCray	3	Delta Hurricane	Larry McCray	POINTBLANK
Call My Job	Michael Coleman	13	The Story Of Black And Blues :1976-1988	Various Artists	FREMEAUX ET ASSOCIES
Use What You Got	Eddie Taylor Jr.	6	So Called Friends	Eddie Taylor Jr.
Jimmy Burns 04 Stranded In Clarksdale	Jimmy Burns	4	Back To The Delta	Jimmy Burns	DELMARK
Stockyard Blues	Lurrie Bell	6	Chicago Blues - A Living History, The (R)Evolution Continues	Various Artists	Raisin' Records
Hard- Lovin' Mama	Shirley Johnson w. Johnny B. moore	7	Killer Diller	Shirley Johnson	DELMARK
You've Been A Good Ole Wagon	Grana Louise	7	Wild About That Thing - Ladies Sing The Blues	Various Artists	DELMARK
(I Got) All You Need	Koko Taylor	8	Wang Dang Doodle	Koko Taylor	ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
You've Got To Help Me	Little Mac	28	Dave's Anthology Of Chicago Blues - Vol. 1	Various Artists
What In The World	John Littlejohn	14	Dave's Anthology Of Chicago Blues - Vol. 2	Various Artists
Nobody Wins 'Til The Game Is Over	Sir Mack Rice	7	Nobody Wins Stax Southern Soul 1968-1975 V A	Various Artists	Kent
don't do this to me	cicero blake	8	southern soul blues	various artists
Piece Of My Heart	Otis Clay	4	Songs Of Janis Joplin All Blues'd Up	Various Artists	SMITH & CO
Another Man Done Gone	Irma Thomas	7	After The Rain	Irma Thomas	Rounder
My Turn, My Time	Deitra Farr	12	Let It Go!	Deitra Farr	JSP Records
Yonder Wall	Billy Branch	2-6	Chicago Blues - A Living History, The (R)Evolution Continues	Various Artists	Raisin' Records
canary bird	john primer	1-4	Chicago Blues - A Living History, The (R)Evolution Continues	Various Artists	Raisin' Records
i can't be satisfied	muddy waters	2-23	let me tell you about the blues: chicago	various artists	fantastic voyage
sit and cry the blues	buddy guy	3-24	let me tell you about the blues: chicago	various artists	fantastic voyage
County Preacher	Jimmy Johnson	1	County Preacher	Jimmy Johnson	ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
I Ain't the One	Bobby Rush	3	Down In Louisiana	Bobby Rush	DEEP Rush
West Helena Blues	Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet	2-5	Chicago / The Blues / Today!	Various Artists	ACE
everythings gonna turn out alright	otis rush	2-6	Chicago / The Blues / Today!	Various Artists	ACE
Why You Want To Hurt Me	Mighty Joe Young	12	19 Tracks From The Film 'Chicago Blues'	Various Artists	CASTLE
born loser	Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials	6	Jump Start	Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials	Alligator

Created: 02/06/2013 23:53:52

STAR BLUES on 26th May 2013 at 22:00

If your name was Steve you found a home in the first hour of last night's STAR BLUES, but if you were a female Smith of the Mamie persuasion you were an effective winner of Hide & Seek in the second one. Messrs Freund and Hooker both have nice new projects, one with John Primer showing off Chicago blues at its best with a great version of a Detroit Junior song; the other with Dee Shine-Eye who overcame the nerves at an early studio date with a confident vocal that recalled Ronnie Spector. Our third Stephen has a long track record and impeccable credentials, his recent project gathered a few famous names around him to celebrate the music of the 5 Royales (John Popper was featured singer with Cropper on our choice).

Steve Freund is also on those previously unissued Al Miller sessions now out on the Delmark label which sees Bob Koesters imprint off to a fine start to their second sixty years. Of the top ten essential Blues Albums you must have in your collection, at least three of them came out on Delmark. You wont go far wrong if you make space for one or two more...   Fiona Boyes comes from Australia but we wont hold that against her and we showed why with her cover of a JB Lenoir track he'd done in 1965. Marshall Lawrence loves blues and he has a marvellous knack for combining his own songs with less-than-well-worn covers. He is an artist whose albums are looked forward to hereabouts.  Alligator has a couple of discs this year with Tom Hambridge in writing and drumming roles: Joe Louis Walker's "Hell-Fire" has some pretty aggressive playing and James Cotton's imperious harp is as good as its ever been on the new "Cotton Mouth Man".

Pinetop Perkins and Willie Big-Eye Smith both wore hats in the photographs in the booklet to their multi-award winning "Joined At The Hip" album. Sharp-dressed men indeed and confirmation on my old mum's advice that you need a hat to get ahead. Everytime I've tried it I just look like a failed reject understudy to one or other Blues Brother - an image  I absolutely detest as it says nothing about the music I love.

We used the vinyl hour to mark fifty years since the death of Elmore James: can there ever have been a more influential first recording session than "Dust My Broom"? Imitated to the point of irritation by lesser mortals over the years, Elmore's slide playing changed music thereafter. The three songs we put in last night barely did him justice - if you want more I'd urge you to seek out Steve Franz' "Secret History of Elmore James" biography it's a well written thoughtful piece of research which really gets to the nub of Elmore's genius. Big Boy Henry was an imposing figure but a gentle soul by all accounts - we marked his birthday with a song he cut for the Music Maker organisation.

The other birthday we wanted to talk about was that of Mamie Smith. In 1920 she cut the first known blues song by an African American Woman when she recorded Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues". She was then known as "Queen of the Blues" but she didn't get the success as a singer she clearly deserved; she went on to make a handful of movies instead. There was a session from 1929 which included "Sporting Man Blues" - I duly took the box set from the shelf and put it in my box of goodies I bring on a Sunday to STAR towers. However in a filing malfunction equal in size to Janet Jackson's front part, the wrong disc was in the jewel case and the disc I did have still didn't contain the silver platter I needed. Am I allowed to say boob? I've found it now as three cds had all swapped places.

There's been a lot of excited discussion in some of the dingy recesses of the internet lately on how much you should try to cleanup pre-war material, whatever your view we put in Charlie Patton's "Banty Rooster" because we can.It is part of a collection called "Essential Charlie Patton", is there any other kind of C P? Lowell Fulson and Jimmy Rogers were on Chess and at the outset of our vinyl hour, we also included Guitar Frank from a 1980 session put out by the German L&R label - it was done at his mothers house as there wasn't enough room round his place for the recording equipment. Jimmy Ricks had a voice anyone would love, he was with the Ravens and along with those 5 Royales brought lovely vocal skills to the party.

Our gospel tent was where we tarried last night with the a capella delights of the truly amazing Como Mamas. Their "Ninety Nine and A Half Won't Do" was a rousing interpretation which will linger a long time in everyonme who heard it. I'm pretty sure STAR BLUES airplay is their first on any blues show in this country. Don't forget we are different for a reason: Britain's Other Blues Show.

If I promise not to lose any more blues artists on the anniversary of their birth, can we get together again at 10pm (BST) next Sunday on Star107.9/1FM and from www.star107.co.uk You were magnificent last night I was Gary Blue, until next week take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you

 

Track.Title	Track.ArtistSort	Index	Album.Title	Album.ArtistSort	Label
Sell My Monkey	B. B. King	5	Introducing B. B. King	B. B. King	MCA
Tighten' Up On It	Al Miller, John Primer, Billy Flynn, Dave Specter	9	In Between Time	Al Miller, John Primer, Billy Flynn, Dave Specter	DELMARK
Call My Job	Steve Freund	4	Come On in This House	Steve Freund	9below
grandma's advice	Fiona Boyes	14	Blues For Hard Times	Fiona Boyes	Vizztone
i got to ramble	marshall lawrence	2	house call	marshall lawrence
Bird Nest On The Ground	James Cotton	10	Cotton Mouth Man	James Cotton	Alligator
i'm on to you	Joe Louis Walker	4	Hellfire	Joe Louis Walker	Alligator
Mocking Bird	Steve Hooker w. Dee Shine Eye	3	Smokin' Guitar	Steve Hooker	PUmphouse Records
Cut That Out	Pinetop Perkins & Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith	2	Joined At The Hip	Pinetop Perkins & Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith	TELARC
ninety-nine and a half wont do	como mamas	8	get an understanding	como mamas	dap tone
My Sugar Sugar	Steve Cropper	5	Dedicated: A Salute To The 5 Royales	Steve Cropper	429 Records
Goin' Away Baby	Jimmy Rogers	3	Complete Chess Recordings	Jimmy Rogers	MCA/CHESS
K. C. Bound	Lowell Fulson	29	Complete Chess Recordings	Lowell Fulson	MCA/CHESS
The Invitation	Johnny Copeland	2	It's Me	Johnny Copeland	Kent
1839 blues	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	2-27	The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	ACE
dust my broom	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	1-1	Complete Chess Chief Fire Recs.	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	charly
hawaiian boogie	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	1-3	The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	ACE
The Hunch	Paul Gayten	13	The Golden Age Of American Rock 'N' Roll - Volume 10	Various Artists	ACE
Send For Me If You Need Me	Ravens, The	9	The R'n'b Years 1948: 100 Hot Rhythm And Blues Tunes From 1948	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE
Baby Don't Do It	'5' Royales, The	1	Real Thing	'5' Royales, The	MR. R & B
My Sportin' Man	Mamie Smith	27	Roots 'N Blues : Retrospective 1925-1950	Various Artists	SONY
Going Back To Arkansas	Big Bill Broonzy	14	Good Time Tonight	Big Bill Broonzy	COLUMBIA
Banty Rooster Blues	Charlie Patton	5	The Definitive	Charlie Patton	CATFISH
Chimney Hill Breakdown	Guitar Frank	5	Living Country Blues Usa Vol. 8 - Lonesome Home Blues	Guitar Frank / Guitar Slim [aka James Stephens]	L & R
nina mae	big boy henry	3	music makers	various artists	music maker
Take Out Insurance	Etta James	1	Losers Weepers With Bonus Trucks	Etta James	Kent

Created: 26/05/2013 23:52:18

STAR BLUES on 19th May 2013 at 22:00

Bob Koester = Delmark = Chicago. Though we couldn't attend the party in Chicago, we didn't want to miss out on marking the diamond anniversary of the oldest independent record label in USA. Bob Koester's achievements are fully chronicled elsewhere so STAR BLUES concentrated on the music with an hour from his current artist roster and an hour of classics made in the era of vinyl at 45 and 78 rpm. Eddie Taylor's daughter Demetria was on hand showing how well the old school approach still works (Billy Branch did harp duties). The two recent albums from Linsey Anderson and Willie Buck got good reviews in Living Blues magazine and sit high up in their radio airplay charts.

We went back a couple of years to Quntus McCormick's label debut "Hey Jodie" which neatly spans a couple of genres with a reference to the Back Door Man character in soul-blues. Happy Birthday to Quintus this week too. Mike Wheeler is another current player who is maintaining Bob Koester's track record picking winners by following his considerable instincts. Never more accurate than when he signed Robert Ward for what proved to be the last recordings made by this elegant guitarist.

The Delmark catalog has issues listed as Blues or Jazz and the female vocal talents of Inetta Visor has the sort of tone to fit either - she was in New Orleans for harp-player Pierre Lacoque's Mississippi Heat on their 20th anniversary. More blues women in evidence courtesy of Big Time Sarah and Karen Carrol.

No decent blues collection can afford to be without Junior Wells' "Hoodoo Man Blues" or Magic Sam's "West Side Soul" - two magnificent examples of the sound of Chicago's West Side. Carey Bell - with his son Lurrie - were caught live and the Joe Carter sessions were Ralph Bass' idea just not issued at the time. The most recent projects from Delmark include a 1969 recording from Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup now out for the first time. Similarly new discs have early Tail Dragger recordings and an otherwise-rare album from Al Miller.

Yank Rachell and Big Joe Williams recalled times gone by ("Texas Tony" was first out on Bluebird in 1938, Yank returned to it in 1961. Big Joe was something from 1958); Jimmy Dawkins was on hand with a track from his debut session (the album was called Fast Fingers) as well as donning the guise of label owner himself for the Leric singles from a few years back.Big Mojo Elem was one of the players Dawkins signed and the Delmark label did a nice survey of all those Leric singles on Jimmy's behalf. Magic Sam's secord playlist entry was recorded in an informal setting just vox and guitar - these rare recordings were done at his house using non-professional kit. It seemed fitting given the geography of our theme on last night's STAR BLUES that we threw caution to the wind in closing to take the title track off the sweet-voiced Syl Johnson's DELMARK album.

Big City Blues Review magazine Feb/Mar 20133 has a lovely cover photograph which shows Bob sat benevelently among his artists - he rather nervously holds an acoustic guitar. The mag has a decent history of Bob's unmatched contribution to blues over these 60 years. We just hope we did Bob Keoester proud with our survey, we're up for some more of the stuff that makes us Britain's Other Blues show this upcoming 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 Role Soul	Robert Ward	2	New Role Soul	Robert Ward	DELMARK
I Wasn't Thinkin'	Quintus McCormick Blues Band	12	Hey Jodie!	Quintus McCormick Blues Band	DELMARK
Get Your Mind Right	Mike Wheeler	9	Self Made Man	Mike Wheeler	DELMARK
Big Woman	Linsey Alexander	9	Been There Done That	Linsey Alexander	DELMARK
Goin' To St. Louis	Mississippi Heat	9	Delta Bound	Mississippi Heat	DELMARK
Doin' Good and Bad at the Same Time	Willie Buck	1	Cell Phone Man	Willie Buck	DELMARK
Bad Girl	Demetria Taylor	4	Bad Girl	Demetria Taylor	DELMARK
Confessin' The Blues	Karen Carrol	3	Wild About That Thing - Ladies Sing The Blues	Various Artists	DELMARK
train i ride	big time sarah	5	a million of you	big time sarah	DELMARK
baby please don't go	Carey Bell and Lurrie Bell	3	Gettin' Up	Carey Bell and Lurrie Bell	DELMARK
roll and tumble	big joe williams	1	stavin' chain blues	big joe williams and j d short	DELMARK
I Gotta Sad Feeling	Little Johnny Christian	14	Jimmy Dawkins Presents: The Leric Story	Various Artists	DELMARK
Special Kind Of Love	Big Mojo Elem	12	Jimmy Dawkins Presents: The Leric Story	Various Artists	DELMARK
triple trebles	Jimmy dawkins	1	fast fingers	jimmy dawkins	DELMARK
i feel so good	Magic Sam	2	west side soul	Magic Sam	DELMARK
Sweet Little Angel	Magic Sam	7	Give Me Time	Magic Sam	DELMARK
chitlins con carne	junior wells feat. buddy guy	8	hoodoo man blues	junior wells blues band	DELMARK
texas tony	yank rachell	2	mandolin blues	yank rachell	delmark
Railroad Blues	Barrelhouse Buck McFarland	5	Alton Blues	Barrelhouse Buck McFarland	DELMARK
I'm Worried	Joe Carter	7	That Ain't Right	Magic Slim & The TeardropsJoe Carter	DELMARK
The One That I Love	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	6	Sunny Road	Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	DELMARK
Talkin' Bout Chicago	Syl Johnson	4	Talkin' About Chicago	Syl Johnson	DELMARK

Created: 19/05/2013 23:50:02

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