I felt confident last night in endorsing the fact that Spring has come - not through the temperature or clear blue skies, more the fact that I have at last taken the two cans of deicer from my car. We had a track from the new album by Downchild (marking the band's 40th anniversary) and something to remember Sean Costello by (taken from us two years ago just shy of his 29th birthday). Sean only put out five albums under his own name and he did more than enough there to mark him out as a very special young man with respect for blues and the artists gone before - he played just enough guitar unlike so many of his contemporaries who use our music as an excuse to show off.
Johnny Otis is a bit like a London bus as far as the blues historians are concerned, nothing in a long while and then two books about him in the same month. He's been one of the most influential artists and artist-makers of the last fifty years particularly on the West Coast: his 1951 track "All Night Long" with Mel Walker showed he ain't too shabby when he gets himself behind mic and guitar either. ZZ Hill was on hand with the song that spawned a whole genre- "Downhome Blues" and the great blues shouter Jimmy T-99 Nelson lead Otis Grand on the twenty year old recording of "Jumpin' For Jimmy" with a superb outing on piano for Steve Big-Man Clayton.
We're often asked about the traditional blues form, including pre-war recordings, so we went some way to putting things right with Scrapper Blackwell, Big Joe Williams, Lightnin' Hopkins and Willie Dixon. Add Andrew Blueblood MacMahon from 1976 and Byther Smith from 1984 and you've covered more bases than any other blues show on commercial FM radio anywhere in the world. We also had the heartfelt low E note on Isaac Freeman's "Lord I Want You To Help Me" for the gospel feature and Champion Jack Dupree's "Going Down Slow" off the essential album he did for Atlantic in 1958 "Blues From The Gutter".
We spoke a bit about Record Store Day by getting sentimental on how this is a rare pleasure now, just being able to wander in and hear things for the first time. I think I'll pick the topic up again when we next go down the Dark Side (if you'll let me). We had blues in all shades yesterday, we'll have more next Sunday at ten pm (BST) and I'll have another white tee-shirt at the ready. Until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you
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