Last Sunday Johnnie Bassett (the Gentleman) died, he was nowhere near as well known as his gifts deserved. He first recorded as a sideman in 1954 with Nolan Strong, he went on to cut sides with the Miracles "Get A Job") and many more. He has but five albums under his own name, his final pair coming out through his own Sly Dog label. A few days after his death "I Can Make That Happen" deservedly garnered great reviews in Blues & Rhythm magazine. His obituary in the Detroit Free Press described him as having the "cleanest guitar lines of any guitarist" - no quibble from me. We had three tracks in tribute last night.
Living Blues is the worlds foremost blues magazine and the award winners in its annual polls came out mid-week. We didn't get chance to cover them all but the healthy smattering we could do included Mavis Staples, Robert Cray, Marcia Ball and Bob Corritore. Best debut album came from the sixty-something Little Joe Ayers' "Backatcha", his roots in Holly Springs Ms didn't let him down. The area had already given
Indian Summer success to both RL Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Our "!001 Blues" feature went back to President Obama's inauguration when Bettye LaVette gave a stunning version of Sam Cooke's "Change Is Gonna Come" and did a duet with with Jon Bon Jovi. Her rehearsals were recorded and subsequently issued as a limited edition EP. Jimmy Reed's "Aint That Lovin You Baby" got reinvented to fantastic effect.
Eric Bibb has a birthday on Thursday and his two hander "Bo weevil" with harp man Grant Dermody seemed a good way to mark it. Derrick Big Walker did that job on previous outings with Eric, he now has an album of his own called "Roots Walkin" which provided our gospel choice. Ace has new anthology on the story of the first year of the Modern Records label, the lovely Hadda Hopgood was a classical pianist playing in a downtown department store until Jules Bihari found her, they practised like crazy for a week and the results "Swinging the Boogie" was her first single and our piano blues choice last night.
Barbara Carr has a new album due out on Catfood and we had chance to include recent albums by Albert Bashor and Lil Ronnie. Liz Mandeville's "Clarksdale" has been on before but it neatly shows she is still doing the biz (don't have such a long hiatus next time please). On May 7th Michael Burks was in transit back from Italy and had a fatal heart attack at the airport - he'd just finished tracks for "Show of Strength" on Alligator. There was more than a little sadness in playing the autobiographical song "Little Juke Joint" from the album at the top of our second hour.
Though there's sadness in reporting the deaths of great players like Burks and Bassett, I feel incredibly privileged to be able to pay tribute through their music. I'm anxious to see if the duck is still giving me the evil eye and I have some stuff I'm bursting to tell you about, if we get another two hours together Sunday at 10pm (BST) I'll see what I can do. until then take care of yourselves and take care of those who take care of you
| Buzz Me | Li'l Ronnie And The Grand Dukes | 7 | 'gotta Strange Feeling' | Li'l Ronnie And The Grand Dukes | eller soul |
| crossroads | b. b. king | 4 | 100 years of robert johnson | big head todd project | |
| He Don't Know | Robert Cray | 2 | Back To The Streets : Music Of Don Covay | Various Artists | SHANACHIE |
| HANGIN' ON BY A THREAD | BARBARA CARR | 1 | keep the fire burning | BARABARA CARR | CATFOOD |
| Big Boss Woman | Johnnie Bassett | 1 | Party My Blues Away | Johnnie Bassett | CANNONBALL |
| Ain't That Lovin' You Baby | Bettye Lavette | 6 | Change is Gonna Come Sessions | Bettye Lavette | |
| Put Me On Like You Do | Albert Bashor | 5 | Cotton Field Of Dreams | Albert Bashor | Earwig Music |
| Got My Eyes On You | Little Joe Ayers | 9 | Backatchya | Little Joe Ayers | DEVIL DOWN |
| Cold Outdoors | Tail DraggerBob Corritore | 5 | Longtime Friends In The Blues | Tail DraggerBob Corritore | Delta Groove Productions |
| boll weevil | Eric Bibb | 5 | Deeper In The Well | Eric Bibb | Dixiefrog |
| LITTLE JUKE JOINT | MICHAEL BURKS | 1 | SHOW OF STRENGTH | MICHAEL BURKS | ALLIGATOR |
| bye bye bird | Brandon O. Bailey | 8 | Memphis Grooves | Brandon O. Bailey | APO |
| Big City Blues | Wynanie Harris | 8 | Blues Tunes | Various Artists | HIT |
| Slow Down Daddy | Jimmy Wright & Orchestra (Vocal By Merry Dee) | 24 | The Complete Meteor: Blues, R&b, & Gospel Recordings | Various Artists | ACE |
| swiningin the boogie | hadda brooks | 1 | MODERN RECORDS the first year: 1945 | Various Artists | ACE |
| Roadside Attractions | Marcia Ball | 2 | Roadside Attractions | Marcia Ball | Alligator |
| Clarksdale/Riverside Hotel Blues | Liz Mandeville | 6 | Clarksdale | Liz Mandeville | blue kitty |
| dyin' man's plea | Mavis Staples | 5 | Have A Little Faith | Mavis Staples | Alligator |
| You Got A Home In That Rock | Big Walker | 8 | Root Walking | Big Walker | bigwalker |
| keep your hands off my baby | Johnnie Bassett | 2 | The Gentleman Is Back | Johnnie Bassett | Sly Dog Records |
| lets get hammered | Johnnie Bassett | 11 | I Can Make That Happen | Johnnie Bassett | Sly Dog Recods |
| BAD MAN | LYNSEY ALEXANDER | 2 | Been there done that | LYNSEY ALEXANDER | DELMARK |
No comments:
Post a Comment