Rock god Neil Jones included both Mick Box and Tony Iommi amongst his fare, so out came our big guns in response: a couple of old boys who really should know better at their age (and that was ten years ago) and a fabulously controlled blues piece from Jimi Hendrix. Our choice of Buddy Guy eschewed such obvious pyrotechnics (doubtless present in spades on his new album which doesn't appeal to me) - he reworked a song by Frankie Lee Sims for us instead. Veteran Willie Buck has lead bands in Chicago for about four decades and his 1980's debut found reissue favour in 2008 on Delmark. We sampled his version of a Muddy Waters classic from the follow-up (also on Delmark).
2013 will be remembered for the passing of Magic Slim, Bobby Bland and Jimmy Dawkins - we should also remember it for some pretty decent music already: don't forget Bobby Rush, nor John Primer at his absolute best with Bob Corritore. Bob will be out again first week in September with Dave Riley for their third project: we went to their first by way of taster. Two elegant guitarists, Duke Robillard and Ronnie Earl, have new ones out this year and both got played last night. Bob Margolin got a bitter sweet award for the two-hander he did with Ann Rabson, but he'd already done similar support to her Saffire band-mate Gaye Agdebelola on "Gaye Without Shame". His Piedmont picking graced a caustic expose of the hypocracy within the "preacher" industry based on her own experiences. Mud Morganfield will be at the Sunday stage of the Cambridge Folk Festival - that man Corritore did harp and production duties for his album on Severn Records.
The redoubtable Bob Pearce introduced me to both Big Joe Louis and Carl "Sonny" Leyland, both men in top form for us with CSL honouring a couple of guys who also love boogie piano so much they put on an annual festival.
Our Vinyl Hour (two of em next week by the way) started with a performance in Houston from Clarence Green. It had Hop Wilson on lap steel and was complete ignored in my edition of "Blues Records A-K". Those quiet snug moments are regularly enlivened by the trivia you discover within STAR BLUES, last night no different in remarking that the first Chicago visit by Little Walter was as a guitarist and that of Jimmy Rogers was as harp player. Both men used their familiar axes on Jimmy Rogers' "Loudella" in 1950 with Big Crawford on proper bass. I bought "Vintage Rock" magazine on Saturday - my first ever issue - on the strength of the articles on Sun Records and Lowell Fulson. Hence our inclusion of the Willie Dixon penned "Tollin' Bells" Lowell waxed in 1956. (Robert Cray later did a cover but the real emotional power was found in its first rendition).
Pre-war and Gospel : Tom Dorsey's "Precious Lord" was one of the handful of sacred sides Blind Boy Fuller did at his last recording date in June 1940. He had bad health and died in February 1941, he was so popular that his label Columbia issued Brownie McGhee's debut records as "Blind Boy Fuller No. 2". No introduction needed for Lead Belly with an arrangement of "Gallis Pole" that was spookily similar to Led Zeppelin's 1970 remake. The dip into classic waters concluded with Skip James wire thin voice and beautiful playing technique on "Cypress Grove Blues" from 1931.
This year has also seen a number of label surveys chronicling the development of the music and their rosters during the Fifties and Sixties. I've shamelessly wallowed in such riches including the Sue and Cobra editions last night. From a different source Buster Brown was a great example of output from Bobby Robinson's Fire outfit circa 1959. The Blues Busters from Jamaica were contemporaries of Sam and Dave, their song written by Dan Penn was first out from Arthur Conley and a minor success for Solomon Burke. Time squeezed out an Albert King album track of something Penn wrote for him, made a note to put it into a playlist in the very near future. Our next extravaganza will be two hours of sounds originating from vinyl, until then, Sunday at 10:02 pm (BST) precisely take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you.
| Track.Title | Track.ArtistSort | Index | Album.Title | Album.ArtistSort | Label |
| ridin with the king | b. b. king and eric clapton | 1 | ridin' with the king | b. b. king and eric clapton | mca |
| Red House | Jimi Hendrix | 3 | :Blues | Jimi Hendrix | MCA |
| Two Trains Running | Willie Buck | 8 | Cell Phone Man | Willie Buck | DELMARK |
| Lucy Mae Blues | Buddy Guy | 3 | Blues Singer | Buddy Guy | SILVERTONE |
| I Wouldn't-A Done That | Duke Robillard Band, The | 1 | Independently Blue | Duke Robillard Band, The | STONY PLAIN |
| Robert Nighthawk Stomp | Ronnie Earl | 10 | Just For Today | Ronnie Earl | |
| short dress woman | Mud Morganfield | 1 | Son Of The Seventh Son | Mud Morganfield | SEVERN |
| Travelin' the Dirt Road | Dave RileyBob Corritore | 2 | Travelin' The Dirt Road | Dave RileyBob Corritore | |
| Lying Preacher Blues | Gaye Adegbalola | 10 | Gaye Without Shame | Gaye Adegbalola | Hot Toddy |
| downhome blues | Big Joe Louis & His Blues Kings | 2 | big joe louis // The Stars In The Sky | Big Joe Louis & His Blues Kings | blue horizon |
| E and N Blues | Carl 'Sonny' Leyland | 15 | Boogie And Blues | Carl 'Sonny' Leyland | SOLO ARTIST |
| You Don't Move Me No More | Clarence Green | 12 | Guitar Crying The Blues | Clarence Green | DOUBLE TROUBLE |
| Luedella | Jimmy Rogers | 2 | Complete Chess Recordings | Jimmy Rogers | MCA/CHESS |
| tollin' bells | lowell fulson | 14 | complete chess masters | lowell fulson | mca |
| Sugar Babe | Buster Brown | 31 | The Fire And Fury Story | Various Artists | CHARLY |
| i can't stop | blues busters | 17 | a road leading home (songs of dan penn) | various artists | ace |
| betty jean | don covay | 1-7 | sticks and stones: sue records story | various artists | one day |
| You Don't Treat Me Right | Guitar Shorty | 14 | Double Trouble The Cobra Records Story | Various Artists | one day |
| precious lord | Blind Boy Fuller | 20 | 1935-1940 | blind boy fuller | travelin man |
| Gallis Pole | Lead Belly | 9 | The Early Blues Roots Of Led Zeppelin | Various Artists | CATFISH |
| Cypress Grove Blues | Skip James | 16 | Blues Images Presents 1920's Blues Classics Cd - Volume 3 | Various Artists | BLUES IMAGES |
| T Model Boogie | Rosco Gordon | 2 | It Came From Memphis | Various Artists | MANTERA |
| Typhoon | Cootie Williams | 18 | Good Rockin' Tonight | Various Artists | CHARLY |
| elevator boogie | mabel scott | 18 | Good Rockin' Tonight | Various Artists | CHARLY |
| Something Else | Duke Jenkins Orchestra, The | 17 | Double Trouble The Cobra Records Story | Various Artists | one day |
| It's Your Voodoo Working (Single Version) | Charles Sheffield | 1 | It's Your Voodoo Working: The Best Of Excello | Various Artists | universal music operations |
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