There can't be many blues radio shows that use a Henry Mancini composition for opener, but STAR BLUES had no problem with the "Peter Gunn" theme as performed by Roy Buchanan, a unique guitarist whose pain was audible in everything he played. Then we had Eugene 'Hideaway' Bridges to "Jump The Joint" with a swinging uptempo piece recorded in Norfolk a few years ago.
Arthur Adams has a tremulous vocal and lyrical guitar style - both well to the fore on his brand new album "Stomp The Floor" on Delta Groove, from which we took "Don't Let The Door Hit You". Previously best known as a writer and accompanist, this is only his third album in a decade under his own name - we hope the deal with Randy Chortkoff's imprint will bring him the reward his gifts deserve. Last Night's STAR BLUES also had tracks off the new albums by Sean Taylor, Missy Anderson, JP Soars and Samuel James. Sean's "Calcutta Grove" isn't all blues but it has tidy acoustic playing of mainly all-original pieces; Samuel James album came out earlier this year but I only just got mine and he tackles the ever-present racism still faced by many in the States; Missy Anderson's first outing has smokey-voiced covers of classic blues including her go at "Tell Mama" done first by Etta James, and Soars robust guitar went toe-to-toe with Johnny 'Guitar' Watson's "Gangster Of Love".
I'd not played Juke Boy Bonner since 2001, his lyrics written about the Vietnam conflict on "Goin' Back To The Country" having resonance today - the success that was his due never came, partly because he was forced to wear the mantle of blues poet for a generation. Elmore James was in with the original 1957 version of Tampa Red's "It Hurts Me Too" (taken off an anthology of Guy Stevens' Sue label), and the alternate take of John Lee Hooker's "Walkin' The Blues" came courtesy of the definitive four-cd "Chess Blues" box set. The equivalent retrospective on Art Rupe's Specialty outfit (on five-cd) gave us the Soul Stirrers with Sm Cooke for the gospel spot.
There's a bit of interest at the moment in the work of James P. Johnson, credited with the invention of stride piano - so I went to a 1944 recording he made helping Katherine Handy cover six of her father's songs. The Charlie Gillett anthology on Ace gave us the other piano blues last night: Amos Milburn's "Lets Have A Party" originally only a b-side. I always wanted to be Charlie Gillett, his knowledge and love of music has always made his radio work compulsive listening. We closed the show with another artist making his debut on STAR BLUES: Bobbie Oliver whose "Hex" neatly showed his harp and guitar talents.
The next couple of STAR BLUES will be specials: next week 29th will feature birthday boy John Mayall and the week after will preview the new career anthology of Elvis Presley's recordings issued to mark the 75th anniversary of his birth. I'm grateful for your company every week and I hope we can spend more time together this coming Sunday at 10 on the Commercial Radio Station of the Year 2009, until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you.
Gary Blue
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