STAR BLUES on 29th September 2013 at 22:00

By Jeeves, if you stumbled upon STAR BLUES for the very first time last night, let's hope it wasn't because you thought House would be in the house. We brought two hours of real-live fun, frolics, trivia and knob twiddling tomfoolery PLUS a pretty decent smattering of the good stuff. In common with Hugh we had the first 78 cut by Charlie Patton in 1928: "Mississippi Boll Weevil Blues" with striking playing and a voice reaching back through the ages. I just read the second booklet issued by Blues World magazine in 1969 and it was entirely devoted to Patton; that Catfish boxset I went to had all the titles they mentioned in the discography. CP is acknowledged as pivotal in the pre-war period, Tommy McClennan less so unfortunately. There's a pair of albums on Document which chronicle his complete recordings between 1938 and 1942 and we took his "Good Lookin' Mama" from the earlier period disc "Whiskey Headed Woman".

At the other end of our timeframe, Shawn Holt is very much of the present and future; he has taken on the reins of his dad's band the Teardrops for a Blind Pig project which shows the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Did I mention his dad was Magic Slim? The fact he has guest support from John Primer underlines how good Chicago blues is these days. Billy Boy Arnold and Lurrie Bell are also on hand with their newest work at the very top of their games. In those few words I've already listed three albums that are in the running for a STAR BLUES award this year and we're only three quarters done. Our artist gong went to Bob Corritore, who had a birthday on Friday. He's on that Walter Davis project with Billy Boy Arnold and we shaded back to the fine session he did with Tail Dragger for Delta Groove to mark his celebrations. Same label is home of the lead singer of the Mannish Boys, Sugar Ray Rayford, and his "Dangerous" disc. Namesake Sugar Ray Norcia was on the selection we included on STAR BLUES last night. (Strike that three, maker it four).

Jay Owens began in Bo Diddley's band, in the early 90s he stepped out front and centre with his lovely lyrical guitar for Mike Vernon, we took the title track off the second of the two things they did together. Implacable countenance marked out Roy Buchanan (who by all accounts turned down a job in the Stones), the real rage and pain behind his eyes came out in his playing. A mite rocky for most purists, I'll take his stuff over JoBo anytime. Would've had a birthday in the week. As would Ray Charles and Koko Taylor. Either one could have given any number of great songs, I chose their early work: Koko had both Buddy Guy and Matt Murphy on guitars. Top Trumps in the Fantasy Blues League in anyone's hand.

Our last anniversary was tonight (30th Sept) marking Z Z Hill who was widely acknowledged as the founder of soul blues - a new genre especially aimed at the African-American audience, I favour his sides for Kent with Maxwell Davis and you could just immerse yourself in a warm rich tone his voice brought. Charles Brown cut some sides for Ace Records of Jackson Mississipi, and he did an instrumental piano-led cover of "Black Night" which was a hit for singer/guitarist Lowell Fulson. There was a couple of Decca-era Rolling Stones for Roger who is a long-suffering listener. I can imagine even him being open-mouthed at my antics last night.

I'm planning a special edition in November to mark 50 years since 22 Nov 1963 when President Kennedy was abducted by aliens in the pay of  Marilyn Monroe. (I might have some of that wrong but I'm sure that's what it said on the internet). I'll try to get the story straight by next Sunday at 10pm (BST) 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
Movin' on	Jay Owens	1	Movin' On	Jay Owens	CODE BLUE
Short Fuse	Roy Buchanan	7	Genuine House Rockin' Music Vols 1-3	Various Artists	Alligator
Down in Virginia	Shawn Holt and the Teardrops	4	Daddy Told Me	Shawn Holt and the Teardrops	Blind Pig
just one more time	billy boy arnold	5	walter davis project	various artists	electro-fi
i know what its like	Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones	1	I Know What It's Like	Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones
One Monkey Don't Stop the Show	Shelton Powe	6	Carolina Blues And Gospel	Shelton Powe	MUSIC MAKER
come on	rolling stones	1-1	hits	rolling stones	decca
round and round	rolling stones	1	12 x 5	rolling stones	decca
Boogie Woogie Ball	Tail DraggerBob Corritore	9	Longtime Friends In The Blues	Tail DraggerBob Corritore	Delta Groove Productions
two times sugar	sugar ray rayford w. sugar ray norcia	4	dangerous	sugar ray rayford	delta groove
She's A Good 'Un	Lurrie Bell	4	Blues In My Soul	Lurrie Bell	DELMARK
Jumpin' the Blues	Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown	3	Timeless	Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown	HIGHTONE
Drown In My Own Tears	Ray Charles	2	Ray Charles: Eight Classic Albums	Ray Charles	IODA
Love Like I Wanna	Roosevelt 'Booba' Barnes	12	Deep Blues	Various Artists	Atlantic
My Baby Told Me	Joe 'Guitar' Hughes	6	Rounder Revue	Various Artists	Rounder
Mississippi Boweavil Blues	Charlie Patton	1	The Definitive	Charlie Patton	CATFISH
She's a Good Looking Mama	Tommy McClennan	16	Whiskey Head Woman	Tommy McClennan	DOCUMENT
Hard Times	Mighty Joe Young	19	The Way I Feel	Various Artists	FLYRIGHT
Whatever I Am You Made Me	Koko Taylor	9	Koko Taylor	Koko Taylor	MCA / CHESS
High and Lonesome	Jimmy Reed	47	The R'n'b Hits Of 1953	Various Artists	INDIGO
Black Night	Charles Brown	3	Blue Over You	Charles Brown	WESTSIDE
The Hustle is on	T-Bone Walker	16	The Blues	T-Bone Walker	FREMEAUX ET ASSOCIES
Have Mercy Someone	Z. Z. Hill	3	Down Home Soul Of	Z. Z. Hill	Kent (U.K.)
Fine Old Foxy Self (King Lp 635)	James Brown	11	R&b Humdingers Volume 12	Various Artists	Vee-Tone Records
Can't Shake it	Etta James	8	Who's Blue? Rare Chess Recordings From The 60S And 70S	Etta James	Kent
2120 south michigan	rolling stones	7	12 x 5	rolling stones	decca

Created: 29/09/2013 23:54:18

WHITE TEE-SHIRT WARDROBE MALFUNCTION (22nd September 2013)

Sorry we couldn't get to spend time together on Sunday.

Royal STAR BLUES on 15th September 2013 at 22:00

That wooshing sound is my knighthood flying out the window; we have well over a dozen Kings in our playlist marking 88 years young Riley B. King (b. 16th Sep 1925). As close to By Royal Appointment as I'm ever likely to get.

Naturally we tarried in the back catalogue of the birthday boy to include "Gambler's Blues" with its scorching solo and anguished vocal which proves why the 1966 album "Blues Is King" is the definitive live blues album (the one to go for in preference to the lauded "Live at the Regal"). In many ways Bobby "Blue" Bland was the perfect voice for the mid-period B. B. King, the sheer joy in having two old friends work together is audible on their run through of Louis Jordan's "Let The Good Times Roll".  The soundtrack to the film "Calendar Girls" is a goodun and front and centre is his 1954 hit "You Upset Me Baby". Our show closed with a piece from the much-missed US tv comedy legal skit "The Associates" which starred Wilfred Hyde White: the lyric in "Better Not Look Down" where the Queen asks B for advice on her way home from a party tickles my socks every time (all the while Lucille trills and frills beautifully). It was the perfect bookend to the 1991 selection "I'm Movin' On" taken from the Stewart Levine tribute to Doc Pomus called "There Is Always One More Time". That one was the first of his albums I heard and it coincided with his rebranding as a crossover rock player the darling of Bono and so on.

Another player we caught at a crossing point was Freddie King, the song "Palace Of the King" veered dangerously close to being a rock classic for many folks. He was cited by Clapton as a major influence and that one had him return the compliment. Two of his nephews record together as the King Brothers and their muscular playing is very radio friendly round here. Albert King was in the "Laundromat" for a typically sublime workout for the Stax label. Those Three Kings are pretty well known in the mainstream but we were determined to go that bit further by including Earl King and Saunders King, two very different and distinctive guitarists - both deserving far bigger kudos. King Alex Littlejohn held down a full time job (latterly in an envelope factory) but gave us a guilty pleasure with his only full length album "Hot As A coffee Pot" and his song "Crying Eyes". Similarly King Ernest had a lengthy spell working in the local Sheriff department after working with Howlin' Wolf among others. Sadly he died two days after finishing his second album which came out on Fat Possum. Same imprint was host to Little Freddie King and his reworking of a Frankie Lee Sims song as "Walking With Freddie".

The Kings of Harmony did splendid gospel duties with a gorgeous blend of voices and we had chance to air another long-standing blues mystery: King Solomon Hill. The omnipotent Wikipedia says it was really Joe Holmes behind just 8 recordings, though I've seen passionate argument that it wasn't him. Whoever it was he knew his was up and down a slide guitar in 1928 (or thereabouts). From that era came the composition "Louis Collins" by way of Mississippi John Hurt and a fine version on "Antebellum Postcards" the latest project by Chris Thomas King. (trivia for the Snug when it gets slow between halves of stout: he played Lowell Fulson in the film "Ray" and he played Robert Johnson in "O Brother Where Art Thou").

It is almost a year since B B King was the subject of the film "Life of Riley" and an earlier blog entry talks about that - it nowhere mentions his work with prisoners and his ready acknowledgement of how close he came to falling into crime himself. As far as I know he still devotes a lot of energy to the cause and we went to the 1970 gig he did at Cook County Jail and a sparkling rework of "Sweet Sixteen". He deserves the very finest of birthdays, I hope me and a whole bunch of Kings did him justice in the shortest two hours of the week. You - as always - were magnificent company I was Gary Blue. Until next Sunday at ten take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you.

track.title	track.artistsort	index	album.title	album.artistsort	label
I'm Movin' on	B. B. King	1	There Is Always One More Time	B. B. King	MCA
Sleepy	King Brothers	1	Mo' Heat	King Brothers	HARD ATTACK
Tell Me What's the Reason	King Ernest	7	King Of Hearts	King Ernest	EVIDENCE
Cryin' Eyes	King Alex & The Untouchables	10	Hot As A Coffee Pot	King Alex & The Untouchables	BLACK MAGIC
Walking With Freddie	Little Freddie King	2	You Don't Know What I Know	Little Freddie King	FAT POSSUM
Soul Twist	King Curtis	29	Teen Beat Vol.2	Various Artists	ACE
Groove Me	King Floyd	5	Take Me To The River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977	Various Artists	Kent (U.K.)
You Upset Me Baby	B. B. King	12	The R'n'b Years 1954: 100 Hot Rhythm And Blues Tunes From 1954	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE
lazy woman blues	Saunders King	4	Cool Blues, Jumps & Shuffles	Saunders King	ACE
Everything is Gonna Be Alright	King Perry & His Pied Pipers	4	Specialty Story	Various Artists	Specialty
Lord Give Me Wings	Kings Of Harmony	23	Good News	Various Artists	PROPER
Is Everything Alright	Earl King	9	Mark Lamarr's Ace Is Wild	Various Artists	WESTSIDE
Talkin' 'Bout Bad Luck	Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King	10	Road Dog's Life	Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King	Delta Groove
Palace of the King	Freddie King	10	Getting Ready	Freddie King	SEQUEL
This Should Go on Forever	King Karl With Guitar Gable	12	Excello Hits	Various Artists	ACE
What a Day What a Night	Bobby King	20	Chicago Blues From Federal Records	Various Artists	ACE
sweet sixteen	B. B. King	10	introducing B. B. King	B. B. King	MCA
Louis Collins	Chris Thomas King	9	Antebellum Postcards	Chris Thomas King	21ST CENTURY
Times Has Done Got Hard	King Solomon Hill	15	Blues Images Presents 1920's Blues Classics Cd - Volume 1	Various Artists	BLUES IMAGES
Cadillac Assembly Line	Albert King	9	Ultimate Collection	Albert King	RHINO
gamblers blues	B. B. King	1-5	how blues can you get - clasic live	b b king	mca
Better Not Look Down	B. B. King	2	Introducing B. B. King	B. B. King	MCA
Let the Good Times Roll	B. B. KingBobby 'Blue' Bland	15	Lucille And Friends	B. B. King	MCA

Created: 15/09/2013 23:39:39

STAR BLUES on 8th September 2013 at 22:00

How to follow a cornucopia of curiosities we had last week at the end of our first 13 years? Blues and nothing but from 10 until midnight sounds pretty neat to me. The pressed ultra-white tee-shirt belongs to me, you can wear anything comfortable as always. Hello. Good Evening. And Welcome.

We flirted with the birthday book over the last week or so with tracks from Debbie Davies, Freddie King and Little Milton. Debbie did a Duke Robillard tune, Freddie King was magnificent on guitar and vox for Federal in 1962 and Milton on Malaco was a ditty that is widely touted as the International Anthem of the Blues. A word of advice here: if you ever have to hear a version  by someone other than Little Milton you should run screaming from the room with hands firmly clasped over your ears. He was at his most potent, most raw at the start of his career when recording for the Sun label, and we included "LOokin' For A Woman".

Before the show I promised John Primer and Bob Corritore and Sugar Ray Rayford - two top notch projects from the Delta Groove imprint; it's hard to believe Bob and John haven't recorded together more frequently and Sugar Ray just keeps getting better with a rich tone to his voice I thought had almost gone from blues singing. To prove I'm a man of my word our promise went on to cover Skip James and Furry Lewis from that pre-war era. We did focus on guitar players last night, sorry - but surely no real apology is needed when the list included Larry Davis and Left Hand Frank (Craig)?

Our gospel spot marked ten years since Johnny Cash died and his take on Bill :Landford / Elvis Presley's "Run On" was called "God's Gonna Cut You Down". Produced by Rick Rubin and posthumously issued on the "American V" project, the man in black rarely sounded so raw, so visceral. Marie Knight's "Today" album came out on Tradition and though she got famous through her partnership with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, that album gave us our companion gospel outing as evidence of her solo power. The piano duties fell to Hadda Brooks in her days with the Okeh label.

A while back we had a weekly feature called "You Me and 1001 Blues"; its gone to the back burner for the time being, except this weeks STAR BLUES to re-enact the tale of the 1957 recording session Ray  Charles had which gave birth to "Losin' Hand". Mickey Baker was sumptuous on guitar; noted songsmith Jesse Stone was there but he and Ray didn't see eye-to-eye and Ahmet Ertegun was on hand to try to fathom why Ray's signing to Atlantic had fallen into barren times commercially. Biographer Michael Lydon got the out-take tape fragments and pieced together the story of the day. The phone went in the booth during one of the takes of "Losin' Hand" with news of the death of Ray's mother. The engineer reluctantly interrupted the session expecting things to wrap up for the time being. However Ray said there was nothing he could do and opted to continue putting down some of his finest work in the hope of cementing an empathy with Ertegun.

The two hours were concluded with what many consider to be the last ever blues record, the original recording of "Cummins Prison Farm\" that Calvin Leavy did in 1970 for Blue Fox. Our trivia quotient was up there but the tomfoolery had to yield somewhat in favour of the blues and nothing but.

Next Sunday for more? Hope the answer will be yes. 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
Fishnet	Debbie Davies	1	Holdin' Court	Debbie Davies	TELARC
The Blues is Alright	Little Milton	1	The Last Soul Company	Various Artists	Malaco Records
When I Get Lonely	John Primer & Bob Corritore	3	Knockin' Around These Blues	John Primer & Bob Corritore	Delta Groove Productions
Country Boy	Sugaray Rayford	1	Dangerous	Sugaray Rayford	Delta Groove
Ya Ya	Sonny Rhodes	7	Disciple Of The Blues	Sonny Rhodes	Wild Dog
Burning Fire	Sam Myers	4	Coming From The Old School	Sam Myers	Electro-Fi
losin' hand	ray charles w. mickey baker	1-6	ray charles	ray charles	REAL GONE
The Years Go Passing By	Larry Davis	22	Slow 'N' Moody, Black & Bluesy	Various Artists	Kent
He's Cool One, She's Hot	Roscoe Shelton	12	Save Me	Roscoe Shelton	SPV
God's Gonna Cut You Down	Johnny Cash	2	American V: A Hundred Highways	Johnny Cash	American/Lost Highway
Move on Up a Little Higher	Marie Knight	14	In The Tradition	Various Artists	BLUES ALLIANCE
Someday After a While (Youll Be Sorry)	Freddie King	10	Texas Sensation	Freddie King	CHARLY
One Room Country Shack - Left Hand Frank	Left Hand Frank	12	Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 1	Various Artists	Alligator
Lookin for My Baby	Little Milton	20	Sun Records - Ultimate Blues Collection	Various Artists	VARESE
V-8 Baby	Tommy Brown	9	Let Me Tell You About The Blues: Atlanta	Various Artists	Fantastic Voyage
Rhumboogie Jive	Frank 'Floorshow' Culley & His Band	14	Let The Boogie Woogie Rock'n'roll	Various Artists	ACE
Brooks' Boogie	Hadda Brooks	18	Okeh R'n'b Story 1949-1957	Various Artists	COLUMBIA
TEXAS TONY	Yank Rachell	1	Mandolin Blues	Various Artists	delmark
Cypress Grove Blues	Skip James	16	Blues Images Presents 1920's Blues Classics Cd - Volume 3	Various Artists	BLUES IMAGES
Falling Down Blues	Furry Lewis	9	Roll And Tumble Blues : History Of Slide Guitar	Various Artists	INDIGO
Tom Cat Blues	Lightnin' Slim	12	Rollin' Stone	Lightnin' Slim	FLYRIGHT
Cut That Out	Junior Wells	34	Down Home Blues Classics	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE
love my baby	magic slim	1	love my baby	magic slim	ja-wes
Cummins Prison Farm	Calvin Leavy	25	Southern Soul Showcase	Various Artists	Kent (U.K.)

Created: 08/09/2013 23:43:28

STAR BLUES on 1st September 2013 at 22:00

What better way to mark thirteen years as a blues jock on commercial FM radio here in Britain, than with trivia, curios, oddities and alternatives. In a newly pressed white tee-shirt of-course.

We had a bit of modern business to attend to at the top end of the shop, with some surprise bits and bobs: not the least of which featured JT Laurensen on accordion. Kirsten Thien covered Sippie Wallace, Samantha Fish enlisted the skills of Johnny Sansome on harp and Ivan Neville wrote and put a decent blues as title track to his new project on Ruf.

I count myself as the luckiest man on blues radio and a slight twinge of triskaidekaphobia wasn't about to hold me back in proving beyond reasonable doubt how we do things different around here. Take this. In my FB previews for this episode I've been mentioning one track you'd hate - something I also mentioned to our rock god Neil Jones who now thinks it is time to send for for the man with the white jacket that does up with straps at the back  The extreme Marmite nature of "My Babe" by Napolean Strickland's Fife and Drum Band is to do with its rawness, this stuff can't be taught it's intuitive. No guitar anywhere with the fife as lead instrument fighting the insistent brash drum rhythm. Couldn't get it at all the first time I heard it, now it's on my Desert Island list. Put out on an album for Pete Welding's Testament label, David Evans caught it on a field trip in the early Sixties but it sounds much much older.

In 1969, Bob "The Bear" Hite did the vocals on Canned Heat's worldwide hit "Goin' Up The Country" - along with Al Wilson, he had an enormous appetite for blues with a collection of 78's numbering into four digits by all accounts. There's no doubt he will have known all about Henry Thomas' "Bull Doze Blues" from 1929. The singer was hesitant at first and helped himself to a pan-pipe accompaniment. Though he couldn't hold the tempo to the end it's a landmark recording. We stayed a while longer in the hokum and jug band styles with Gus Cannon' Jug Stompers and the Mississippi Sheiks.

Our music has a fantastic heritage and it touches a fair number of bases, we did our best to show that on last night's STAR BLUES. What other explanation is there for having those alongside 1960's Muddy Waters and 1950's John Lee Hooker performances hijacked in the early Nineties to advertise clothing? My dodgy memory believes it was John's "Baby Lee" for those denim keks - the almighty Wikipedia says otherwise. Lonnie Brooks started out under the name Guitar Junior and we went to that period for "Family Rules" as marker of his pair of adverts for lager in 1992. To avoid the obvious choice from the force of Nature named Screamin' Jay Hawkins, we chose a song he recorded in Hawaii for the Ermine outfit - taken from a suitably barmy collection of curios and vocal oddities on Ace called "Great Googly Moo".

The idea to play Slim Green came from an internet posting; two more blues guitar masters (Jimmy Nolen and Jimmy Spruill) were my own work  Spruill was in cracking form on Tarheel Slim's "Number 9 Train" and Nolen deserves to be better known especially when considering the singles he did for Dig and others. The advent of cds gave a certain latitude to compilers with 79 minutes to fill, hence the easy availability of alternate takes previously only found by the dedicated collector: we had one from Elmore James and *eventually) one from T-Bone Walker. Two Tiny contributions wrapped up STAR BLUES as I slipped into the fourteenth year of trivia and tomfoolery. You are very kind with your invitation every week and I'd be thrilled skinny to be asked back on Sunday night at ten; 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
Magic Honey	Cyril Neville	1	Magic Honey	Cyril Neville	Ruf
Who's Been Talking?	Samantha FishJohnny Sansome	6	Black Winds Howlin'	Samantha Fish	Ruf
Women Be Wise - Solo Live	Kirsten Thien	22	Solo Live From The Meisenfrei Blues Club	Kirsten Thien	screen doo
I Could Die Happy	Buddy Guy	4	Rhythm & Blues	Buddy Guy	Sony Music Entertainment
These Blues Keep Me Right Here	CD Woodbury Band, The	1	Monday Night!	CD Woodbury Band, The	wide willie
Memphis Boggie	JT.Lauritsen	5	Play By The Rules	JT.Lauritsen	Hunters Records
will you love me tomorrow	william bell	1	Stax O'soul	Various Artists	STAX
it took a long time	finis tasby	2	Shattered Dreams - Funky Blues 1967-1978	Various Artists	BGP
My Love Strikes Like Lightning	Muddy Waters	16	His Best 1956 - 1964	Muddy Waters	MCA/CHESS
Baby Lee	John Lee Hooker	10	John Lee Hooker	John Lee Hooker	EUK
Family Rules	Guitar Jr.	7	On Bended Knee - The Birth Of Swamp Pop	Various Artists	GREAT Voices Of The Century
Shake 'em Up	Slim Green	1	Shattered Dreams - Funky Blues 1967-1978	Various Artists	BGP
Come on Home	Jimmy Nolen	1	The Rhythm & Blues Years	Jimmy Nolen	MASTER Classics
No. 9 Train	Tarheel Slim (Aka Alden Bunn)	45	The Fire And Fury Story	Various Artists	CHARLY
whoa mule	Jesse Fuller	6	san francisco bay	Jesse Fuller	original blues classics
Show Me What You Got	Mississippi Sheiks	23	Show Me What You Got	Mississippi Sheiks	CATFISH
Bull Doze Blues	Henry Thomas	3	Roots Of Rock	Various Artists	ACROBAT
walk right in	cannon's jug stompers	18	Roots Of Rock	Various Artists	ACROBAT
My Babe	Napolean Strickland Fife & Drum Band	20	Sampler	Various Artists	Testament
I Hear Voices	Screamin' Jay Hawkins	22	Great Googly Moo & More Undisputed Truths	Various Artists	ACE
The Sun is Shining (Alt.)	Elmore James	10	Slidin'	Various Artists	CHARLY
wise man blues (Alt.)	T-Bone Walker	8	The Complete Capitol/Black And White Recordings	T-Bone Walker	Capitol
You Shocked Me	Tiny Topsy	9	Just A Little Bit: Federal's Queens Of New Breed R&b	Tiny TopsyLula Reed	ACE
Tiny's Boogie Woogie	Tiny Grimes	10	The R'n'b Years 1947: 100 Hot Rhythm And Blues Tunes From 1947	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE

Created: 01/09/2013 23:55:06

STAR BLUES on 25th August 2013 at 22:00

A number of Golden Jubilees on STAR BLUES: the world's first English language Blues magazine "BLUES UNLIMITED" was published for the first time; there was a huge march of 200,000 for Freedom to hear Martin Luther King Jr's speech and the AFBF tour came to Europe for the second time. Our Bank Holiday special show had plenty of music from each event ...

When the March for Freedom and Jobs was announced, some feared mass race riots - though in reality the consequence was actually longer lasting with big changes to Civil Rights and Voting Rights which can be said to have started that day in Washington with the "I have a dream" message and has so far produced an Afro-American president. While those on the ground will say there's work to be done, it's incredible what has been achieved in the duration of a single lifetime. Our gospel spot went to a field recording of "Ninety-Nine and a Half" made in Birmingham during 1963 captured for the Smithsonian.

I almost made an error in a muddle-headed belief that Autumn 1963 was the first tour to Europe by the AFBF, further research soon revealed the dates played in Manchester (among others) in 1962. No matter that second Festival tour had Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Victoria Spivey, the second Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters and Big Joe Williams. I recommend the DVD package and we had a couple of tracks last night. The music is out there on cd but you may need to listen to the SBW tracks before you buy (because some issues cleaned up the sonic howl for some reissues, not on others). The artists in other combinations came annually through in the Seventies and the 1963 date is a goodun. Otis Spann's work as accompanying player is particularly nice.

The Seventies pop music I heard growing up was - almost without exception - dire beyond words and the bigger the chart success the more I came to wade through wodges of dross. How foolish was I when I had to admit I was listening in the wrong places? Case in point: Little Johnnie Taylor's "Part Time Love", surely a candidate for the most perfect three minute single of them all - and a number one record in 1963. Other chart toppers were Otis Rush and Bobby Bland (not to mention artists at the edge of our purview like Jackie Wilson). wow.

For the most part we tarried in the pages of the four issues of BLUES UNLIMITED between April and August 1963. So we had every excuse to play what John Broven called Lazy Lester's best work so far, showcase how good Fenton Robinson was on one of his last sides cut for Duke, and dip into the series of budget albums of Modern recordings then newly out on Crown via John Lee Hooker. It was a tough call to do that one or the one on Smokey Hogg1  The Elmore album would have been particularly welcome for a very popular guitarist; little did the editors know that they'd soon need to do an obituary piece.

Buddy was in our running order three times, once for himself, once at the landmark "FolkSinger" album sessions Muddy Waters did in 1963 then as the credited bass player for Howlin' Wolf's "Built For Comfort" almost exactly 50 years hence to the day. (Hubert Sumlin had lead guitar duties (of-course)). On his day Buddy was, and still is, way out in front. I touched on his new project last week with half of it being a masterclass in modern blues playing, the other being a masterclass in classic rock pyrotechnics.

The guys writing for the magazine were coming across the music for the first time, almost on our behalf. Its easy for me in a white tee with half a century of research and easy availability of the music to miss what they achieved most likely at their own expense and time. Sure they made a few errors of fact but there were few errors of judgement, there weren't very many reviews that missed the mark. They'd have also been thrilled to get albums compiling pre-war artists like Leroy Car and John Lee (Sonny Boy) Williamson. Other features in those first magazines looked at B B King, Arhoolie and Delmark record labels and a listing of pseudonyms used by gospel and blues artists in the pre-war period. They also were in eager anticipation of the very first blues bible from Goodrich and Dixon. We take that work for granted now (as well as the post war counterpart from Leadbitter and Slaven), here was the prospect of a single tome to collate music for collectors.

Two hours was scant time to do there subjects properly, many thanks for your kind invitation to your place while I tried. We don't ever claim to be the best  but we will do our darndest to be different to back up our claim as Britain's Other Blues Show. Hear for yourself again on Sunday at 10pm (BST), 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
Homework	Otis Rush	8	Theme Time Radio Hour	Various Artists	ACE
When My Left Eye Jumps	Buddy Guy	5	Stone Crazy	Buddy Guy	ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
Built for Comfort	Howlin' Wolf	6	Complete Recordings 1951-1969	Howlin' Wolf	CHARLY
Sugar Bee	Crochet, Cleveland	27	The Golden Age Of American Rock 'N' Roll - Volume 7	Various Artists	ACE
Lonesome Highway Blues	Lazy Lester	20	I'm A Lover Not A Fighter	Lazy Lester	ACE
Sanafee (Not Welcome Anymore)	Baby Boy Warren	14	Let Me Tell You About The Blues: Detroit	Various Artists	Fantastic Voyage
Part Time Love	Little Johnnie Taylor	21	Birth Of Soul Vol. 1	Various Artists	Kent (U.K.)
Mississippi Steamboat	Fenton Robinson	3	Dave's Dukes	Fenton RobinsonLarry Davis
Wondering	Little Junior Parker	5	Ride With Me, Baby: The Singles 1952-1961	Little Junior Parker	Fantastic Voyage
Drifting From Door to Door	John Lee Hooker	11	Original Folk Blues ... Plus	John Lee Hooker	ACE
Goin' Down Slow	Otis Spann	10	Lost Blues Tapes/More American Folk Blues Festival	Various Artists	ACT
C.C. Rider	Lonnie Johnson	12	Lost Blues Tapes/More American Folk Blues Festival	Various Artists	ACT
Ninety - Nine - And - A - Half Won't Do	Various Artists (Uncredited)	21	Sing For Freedom	Various Artists (Uncredited)	SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS
My Home is in the Delta	Muddy Waters	157	The Complete Muddy Waters 1947-1967	Muddy Waters	CHARLY
It's Your Voo Doo Working	Charles Sheffield	1	Louisiana Gumbo	Various Artists	Putumayo World Music
Stormy Monday Blues	Bobby 'Blue' Bland	11	The Voice : Duke Recordings 1959-69	Bobby 'Blue' Bland	ACE
Cry Baby	Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters	7	Time Is On My Side: The Jerry Ragovoy Story	Various Artists	ACE
Play on Little Girl	T-Bone Walker	4	T-Bone Blues	T-Bone Walker	SEQUEL
My Home is a Prison	Lonesome Sundown	10	It's Your Voodoo Working: The Best Of Excello	Various Artists	universal music operations
No No Baby	Clarence Garlow	20	Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou	Various Artists	ACE
i don't care	tabby thomas	2	Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou	Various Artists	ACE
Dust My Blues	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	7	The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956	Elmore James And His Broomdusters	ACE
I Believe I'll Make a Change	Leroy Carr	33	Sloppy Drunk	Leroy Carr	CATFISH
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl	Sonny Boy Williamson I	21	The Best Of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour	Various Artists	CHROME
big roll blues	big joe williams	14	Lost Blues Tapes/More American Folk Blues Festival	Various Artists	ACT

Created: 25/08/2013 23:48:46 

STAR BLUES on 18th August 2013 at 22:00

Awards all the way on STAR BLUES: modesty forbids how I was just accorded a gong in the category of Worlds Most Exasperating Husband (I suspect the voting was rigged) - but less coyly we freely showcased a host of winners in the 20th annual Living Blues awards just announced..

Lurrie Bell got Blues Artist (Male) and Guitarist awards, reflecting his hard-won stature at the front of Chicago Blues. This new album on Delmark is - mark my words - a candidate for the prize in 2013. Lil Ed won in both Critic and Reader poll for his live performances and everything he does has high energy content. Billy Boy Arnold has scooped the Harmonica prize when the inside strait said it would go to James Cotton, no arguments from me because he is front and centre on a lovely project celebrating the work of Walter Davis on Electro-Fi. Barbara Carr has long been a favourite of ours and she records for Catfood Records these days which means she hooks up with classy producer/writer/guitarist Johnny Rawls. Ruth Foster has a lovely full voice and took the Female award; we showed her work on the Memphis Minnie album which Maria Muldaur put together last year.

Jerron Paxton records as Blind Boy Paxton and we were early in the queue to showcase him last year after his feature in Living Blues magazine. He's barely into his twenties and now has an internationally recognised award to his name. If you get told blues has no future and it is only relevant to a load of old dead men, go find Paxton's work. Ironing Board Sam has been around a fair while with a somewhat eccentric reputation as a show-off keyboard player (his earliest dates were in Gary, Indiana at the same venues where the embryo Jackson Five learned their craft). Sam has a warm voice and is overdue for this type of attention. Thanks to those splendid folks at Music Maker his genius hasn't been lost. He got the Keyboard gong.


The biggest winner on the night was Buddy Guy; he got Artist, Guitarist, Album and Book awards from the readers. We went to his brand new double-disc project called "Rhythm and Blues" on Silvertone. He has help from folk’s way outside the purview of STAR BLUES and still has the capacity to irritate the heck out of me by playing too fast and too loud. Thankfully this album has those tendencies in check, especially when in duet with Beth Hart who adds some gravitas through her singing. Buddy is 76 and very much his own man, there's no-one else like him - if you're a recent fan you can ease yourself nicely between the folds of this one without any problems.

We closed our survey with a dip into the Delmark back catalogue of Eddie Shaw who is rewarded for his sax work. That lead nicely into our Vinyl Hour and we actually cheated with Otis Rush: because his "Right Place Wrong Time" album was made in L.A. in 1971 for Atlantic but it never saw any sort of release until the 1976 issue on Bullfrog. Granted the arrangements were of the time but I can't think of much done by Otis Rush that isn't worthwhile. The sleeve to "The Jungle" album on Crown put out for B B King used a reclining Arthur Adams in a hammock as the photo but the voice was unmistakeably BB King (even if Lucille was quieter than usual). Pat Hare only did a single under his own name for Sun Records in 1954; we've heard the top side before on STAR BLUES but the flip "Bonus Pay" got its first play for us last night. Around ten years ago the Acrobat label were doing a bang up job for collectors and enthusiasts but gradually they fell off my radar. To mark the fact they have a new clutch of discs in the wings we dipped back into the sets on Buddy Johnson and Cleanhead Vinson. I'll also promise to keep you posted on the goodies nearly due. Johnny Taylor was a mellifluous replacement for Sam Cooke in the Soul Stirrers with a tad more grit in the throat: he did gospel duties alongside the Fairfield Four whose peerless vocals sent a shiver up the spine.

Otis Spann did up proud on piano and was featured a few months ago in "Rays Rudiments" a splendid monthly article in Blues & Rhythm magazine. Ray has done 31 so far and this set of reviews has become an invaluable resource for blues fans wanting to look beyond the more obvious names. He's done Albert King already and this month his subject is the strangely less appreciated Snooky Pryor. In a trice we were done, with so much more left to say, so much more left to play. There are lots of good things happening release-wise (both new and reissue) for blues fans at the moment and STAR BLUES will do the darnedest to bring you as many as possible within our format.

Who's up for some more at 10pm (BST) next Sunday right here on Star107 - I hope the answer from your place is a heck-yes and 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
Cherry Red Wine	Luther Allison & Friends	7	Pay It Forward	Luther Allison	Ruf
Blues In My Soul	Lurrie Bell	2	Blues In My Soul	Lurrie Bell	DELMARK
Feel so good	Lurrie Bell	3	Blues In My Soul	Lurrie Bell	DELMARK
Jump Right in	Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials	7	Jump Start	Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials	Alligator
Back Together Again	Barbara Carr	7	Keep The Fire Buming	Barbara Carr	Catfood
talk it over	Billy Boy Arnold	5	The Walter Davis Project	Various Artists	Electro-Fi
dirtiest little girl	Blind Boy Paxton	1	Dirtiest Little Darling / Railroad Bill	Blind Boy Paxton	EVANGELIst
Keep Your Big Mouth Closed	Ruthie Foster	13	... First There Was Memphis Minnie	Various Artists	STONY PLAIN
Cherry Pie	Ironing Board Sam	1	Ninth Wonder Of The World Of Music	Ironing Board Sam	MUSIC MAKER
what you gonna do about me	buddy guy w. beth hart	8	blues and rhythm	buddy guy	silvertone
greedy man	eddie shaw	1	can't stop now	eddie shaw	DELMARK
I CAN'T STOP NOW	eddie shaw	2	can't stop now	eddie shaw	DELMARK
THREE TIMES A FOOL	Otis Rush	4	Right Place Wrong Time	Otis Rush	EDSEL
Bonus Pay	Pat Hare	2	Sun Blues Box : 1950-1958	Various Artists	CHARLY
Blues Stay Away From Me	B. B. King	8	The Jungle	B. B. King	ACE
I Ain't Mad With You	Buddy Johnson	5	Jukebox Hits 1940-1951	Buddy Johnson	ACROBAT
Cherry Red	Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson	5	Cleanhead Blues 1945-1947	Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson	ACROBAT
don't let nobody turn you	fairfield four	11	sampler	various artists	no=label
I Dreamed That Heaven Was Like This	Johnnie Taylor	1	Lifetime	Johnnie Taylor	STAX
Five Card Hand	Mercy DeeSydney Maiden	4	The Bluesville Years. Vol 4: In The Key Of Blues	Various Artists	PRESTIGE
BLUES NEVEER DIE	OTIS SPANN	2	the Bluesville years vol. 2	various artists	original blues classics
one more mile	james cotton	3-14	sweet home chicago	various artists	indigo
Cryin' Shame	Snooky Pryor	5	Chicago Blues Harmonicas	Various Artists	FLYRIGHT
Laundromat blues	Albert King	1	King Of The Blues Guitar	Albert King	Atlantic

Created: 18/08/2013 23:44:35