Gary Clark Jr. was in my living room this morning (albeit on the tube and Auntie Beeb). Gary at 29 has had a busy ol' time with appearances for Barack Obama, with Clapton at the Crossroads festival, on the soundtrack to Max Payne 3 video game and as an actor in "Honeydripper" with Danny Glover. The current issue of Living Blues magazine has him on the cover and the producers of Sunday breakfast tv for BBC1 have played fast and loose with the booking policy to get him on screen yesterday (3rd March). A big label like Warner Bros will be a help of-course and there is substance to the man to back up the hype. To my ears he ploughs the same furrow as Ben Harper, Prince and Lenny Kravitz with a brief detour to blues every now and again. Just one of the baker's dozen tracks on "Blak and Blu" fits our format on STAR BLUES so you'll need to keep an ear out to check if he's the real deal or just the King's New Clothes...
Teeny Tucker has flirted around the edge of a breakthrough for a while now (her dad is Tommy Tucker), she works with the very gifted guitarist (and photographer extraordinaire) Robert Hughes - so this new album may well do it for her. At times she reminds me of Koko Taylor at her best - but that ain't no bad thing and she has the beginnings of a graininess in the texture of her voice that will only improve with age. Mark Robinson stared the show with a cut from the brand new project called "Have Axe, Will Groove" and we returned to the new ones from Corey Harris and Bobby Rush. Neither man is easily pigeon-holed and Rush's 77 years fall away with pep and brio in his writing singing and playing.
If our first hour could be done fast and loud, our vinyl hour knocked it into a cocked hat for sheer class. Just imagine the youthful Ian Kilminster lying in bed listening to Young John Watson's 1951 single for Federal and all of a sudden "Motorhead Baby" takes on a new meaning. Jimmy Rogers classic side from the same year had Little Walter on guitar (which was his first instrument) - the session players all went on to be part of Muddy Waters band. Lil Johnson and Tommy Ridgely brought piano dexterity on their vinyl outings to go with Henry Butler's electric piano rendition of "Great Balls Of Fire".
I've just bought "Blue Smoke: The Recorded Journey of Big Bill Broonzy" and felt we don't get enough of one of the biggest influences in Twentieth century music. His "House Rent Stomp" was cut in Paris in September 1950 as part of a two day session which created almost two dozen titles for Vogue. The picking is nimble and it was such a pity the promoters wanted him to look like he'd come straight from the cotton fields. After all this was the first authentic African-American blues man to tour Europe? Truth is Bill was a smart-dressed educated man more used to wearing suits. I knew of the depth of Broonzy's own recorded canon, but the discography in the back of this lovely book shows how many other sides he did with his contemporaries. Genius is too light a word here.
Next Sunday is our chance to mark the 50th anniversary of the first English language blues magazine: "Blues Unlimited", we'll have quite a number of tracks from the albums and singles, features and discographies that could be found within those 18 typed and duplicated pages. Be really neat if you could save me a spot round your place next Sunday at 10pm - 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 |
Cool Rockin' Daddy | Mark Robinson | 4 | Have Axe - Will Groove | Mark Robinson | blind chihuahua |
Money's Gettin' Cheaper | Duke Robillard | 12 | Stomp! The Blues Tonight | Duke Robillard | Stony Plain Music |
From The Start | Jesse Dee | 6 | On My Mind / In My Heart | Jesse Dee | Alligator Records & Artist Management, Inc. |
Going Up The Country | Canned Heat | 2 | The Very Best Of Canned Heat | Canned Heat | EMI |
i'm tore up - live | Jeff Healey Band, The | 1-1 | as the years go passing by | Jeff Healey Band, The | iankustic |
Down in Louisiana | Bobby Rush | 1 | Down in Louisiana | Bobby Rush | DEEP Rush |
i do | eddie c. campbell | 1 | spider eatinmg stew | eddie c. campbell | delmark |
Death Don't Have No Mercy | Teeny Tucker | 12 | Voodoo To Do You | Teeny Tucker | N/A |
Next Door Neighbor Blues | Gary Clark Jr. | 13 | Blak And Blu | Gary Clark Jr. | WARNER BROTHERS |
Maggie Walker Blues | Corey Harris | 13 | Fulton Blues | Corey Harris | |
Lonesome Road | Sister Rosetta Tharpe | 18 | As Good As It Gets | Various Artists | DISKY |
jesus hits like an atom bomb | pilgrim travellers | 2-3 | as good as it gets | various artists | disky |
great balls of fire | Henry Butler | 7 | The Game Has Just Begun | Henry Butler | BASIN STREET RECORDS |
Money, Marbles And Chalk | Jimmy Rogers | 8 | Complete Chess Recordings | Jimmy Rogers | MCA/CHESS |
Motorhead Baby | Young John Watson | 13 | Let Me Tell You About The Blues: West Coast | Various Artists | Fantastic Voyage |
Jay Walking | Upsetters feat. Grady Gaines | 50 | The Fire And Fury Story | Various Artists | CHARLY |
When It Rains It Pours | Billy 'The Kid' Emerson | 22 | Let Me Tell You About The Blues: Memphis | Various Artists | Fantastic Voyage |
When I'm Gone (She Treats Me Mean and Evil) | Joe Hill Louis | 12 | Rockin' Memphis | Various Artists | Proper Box |
Cool Kind Lover | Jesse Thomas | 22 | Complete Recorded Works 1948-1958 | Jesse Thomas | DOCUMENT |
House Rent Stomp | Big Bill Broonzy | 8 | House Rent Stomp | Big Bill Broonzy | BLUES ENCORE |
Lonesome Shack Blues | Memphis Minnie | 39 | Me And My Chauffeur | Memphis Minnie | PROPER |
Confessin' The Blues | Jay McShann | 23 | Highlights From: The History Of Rhythm And Blues 1925-1942 | Various Artists | RHYTHM & BLUES |
In The Same Old Way | Tommy Ridgley | 14 | Jockomo Jockomo | Various Artists | MUSIC CLUB |
House Rent Scuffle | Lil Johnson | 13 | Roll 'Em Pete : 25 Years Of Piano Blues And Boogie | Various Artists | INDIGO |
Cornbread Row | Big Al Downing | 1 | Southern Soul Shake!: Sss Soul Survey & Music City Soul | Various Artists | CHARLY |
Family Rules | Guitar Jr. | 7 | On Bended Knee - The Birth Of Swamp Pop | Various Artists | GREAT Voices Of The Century |
11:45 swing | howard mcghee orchestra | 22 | modern - the first year | various artists | ace |
love is my business | bobby woods | 10 | ace story vol 5 | various artists | ace |
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