Legendary blues harmonica player, George “Mojo” Buford passed away yesterday, October 11, 2011. He was 81. His early career consisted of playing in Muddy Waters junior band. This band covered the Chicago dates when Muddy was on tour. He eventually graduated to the back up band and began touring steadily. He then struck out on his own, building his own repertoire. The attached video is a live version of “Everything Going To Be Alright”. The second is “Got My Mojo Working” from which he got his nickname.
Our first new release is by Dan Mangan. The album name is Oh Fortune and was released today. Born in Smithers, BC and now living in Vancouver, Dan is an indie-folk-rock singer songwriter. This album is his third as he steadily grows in popularity. The video is the song “Rows of Houses” from the new album.
The second new release is by Canadian alternative band “Cuff the Duke” and is titled “Morning Comes”. Hailing from Oshawa, their sound is kind of country folk mix in the style of Blue Rodeo. The video is a cut from the album “Count On Me”
The Barr Brothers, are a Montreal based rock band and just released their self titled album. They are not an in your face band and their music is very lyrical and though out. The video is a lve version of “Beggar in the Morning” off the album. As you will see, it is very laid back, but nicely done.
Our 4th entry is from Juno nominated artists, The New Cities. Their latest album is called “Kill the Lights” and the attached video is “Heatwave” off the album. This Trois-Rivieres pop band is riding a wave of popularity with the release of this, their second album. Their music has been featured on “Gossip Girl” and “So You Think You Can Dance”.
Our final entry is a new release by Pickering, Ontario’s favourite songstress, Sarah Slean. This is Sarah’s 11th album (6th studio). Her first album was released in 1997. She has cultivated a large following in Canada. The video attached is titled “Set It Free” and is a catchy number that will continue to win new fans for her work.
Harry Muskee, lead vocalist for renowned Dutch blues band, Cuby & The Blizzards, passed away today. Who you say? A bit of history. Cuby & The Blizzards was formed in 1964 by Harry Muskee and Eelco Gelling. Eelco Gelling went on to form another Dutch group, this one you may have heard of, Golden Earring, famous for Radar Love. The video attached is from 1968 and is a live recording, with Harry on vocals and Gelling on guitar. If you are a Led Zepplin fan, you will love this tune.
Through the vagaries of Canadian content regulations, the band Blood Sweat and Tears became Canadian, although the only member (and not an original member) of the band who is Canadian (born in the UK) was David Clayton Thomas, the singer on most of their hits. The band was originally led by Al Kooper (not Alice Cooper) and was formed in the 1960’s. Harry Nilsson sang on their album “Child is Father to the Man“, which contained such classics as “Without Her’ (Nillson) and “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”, by Al Kooper.
After this album, the band underwent a radical line up change as Al Kooper left the band. Original members Bobby Colomby and Steve Katz began a search for a new singer and based on a recommendation by Judy Collins, who had seen him sing, hired David Clayton Thomas. Thus, Blood Sweat and Tears began their career as a Canadian icon. Their first album as the reformed group, “Blood Sweat and Tears” was a major hit, even beating “Abbey Road” out as album of the year at the 1969 Grammys. The album contained the hits “You Made Me So Very Happy”, “Spinning Wheel”, and “And When I Die”.
The band has undergone many changes in its lifetime and still maintain a heavy touring schedule. David Clayton Thomas had 3 stints with the band, 1968 to 1972, 1974 to 1981 and 1984 to 2004.  The band spawned a new genre of rock, outside the acid rock and anti-establishment types of the era. The bands in this grouping included Chicago, Ides of March and Atlanta Rhythm Section to name a few.
The video is a live version of Spinning Wheel, recorded in 1969.
Ah yes, Chilliwack. A Canadian staple on the radio in the 70’s. “Fly at Night”, “Lonesome Mary”, “Rain-O”, “Crazy Talk”, “Gone, Gone, Gone”, an extensive list of classics. The group was formed in 1964 as The Classics, later changing their name to The Collectors before settling on Chilliwack. Being around for so long, there have obviously been many changes in personnel, all rotating around the constant of Bill Henderson. They were innovators in their use of Native American instruments in their songs, predating Xavier Rudd by many decades. Over the years the band has released 14 albums and has had 8 Top 40 hits in Canada while charting 23 times and 2 Top 40 hits in the USA, while charting 7 times. The have not recorded since 1984, although a live album was released in 2003. An interesting side-note, band member Brian Macleod and the rest of the group, without Bill Henderson, played as the Headpins in the 1980’s with Darby Mills, another Canadian icon of the 1980’s. The band continues to tour today.
The song attached is a live version of “Sundown”, another Chilliwack staple. This version was done live on the old TV show, Come Together.
Grammy Award winning artist Willie “Big Eyes” Smith passed away today, September 16, 2011. He was 75. Exceptionally talented, he played harmonica, guitar, sang and was a renowned drummer. He was the drummer for Muddy Waters band, and was the drummer on every Grammy award-winning album by Muddy Waters. His most recent Grammy was this year when he, along with Pinetop Perkins were awarded the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. His list of accomplishments is huge. He was the harmonica player on Bo Diddly‘s hit “Diddy Wah Diddy”. He formed and was an integral part of “The Legendary Blues Band“. This band backed up John Lee Hooker in the movie “The Blues Brothers” and toured with Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. An astounding career without a doubt.
The first video is a 2006 live performance featuring Willie, the second celebrates the lives of Willie Smith and the late Pinetop Perkins, with some interviews and some playing. The playing part is very cool as it was done when Pinetop was 100 years old. Amazing.
Blues great and Grammy winner, David “Honeyboy” Edwards passed away on August 29 of heart failure. He was 96. He was a friend of, and played with legendary  Robert Johnson and was with him the night he died. His story of that night became the definitive version of what happened. He describes his life as blues performer in this quote from “Deep Blues” by Robert Palmer.
“On Saturday, somebody like me or Robert Johnson would go into one of these little towns, play for nickels and dimes. And sometimes, you know, you could be playin’ and have such a big crowd that it would block the whole street. Then the police would come around, and then I’d go to another town and where I could play at. But most of the time, they would let you play. Then sometimes the man who owned a country store would give us something like a couple of dollars to play on a Saturday afternoon. We could hitchhike, transfer from truck to truck, or if we couldn’t catch one of them, we’d go to the train yard, ’cause the railroad was all through that part of the country then…we might hop a freight, go to St Louis or Chicago. Or we might hear about where a job was paying off – a highway crew, a railroad job, a levee camp there along the river, or some place in the country where a lot of people were workin’ on a farm. You could go there and play and everybody would hand you some money. I didn’t have a special place then. Anywhere was home. Where I do good, I stay. When it gets bad and dull, I’m gone.”
Edwards was still touring well into his 90’s, actually only retiring in July of 2011. A chapter in Blues history just closed.
The first video is his classic “Gambling Man”, the second is live 2009 (he was 94) version of Sweet Home Chicago).
A definite classic, China Grove by The Doobie Brothers, recorded live in 1974. This band was always hit or miss for me. I loved lots of their stuff (Black Water) and some, not so much (Listen to the Music). No matter though, this particular song is part of the soundtrack of my life as it is for many others.
Jazz drummer extraordinaire, Eddie Marshall passed away on September 7. He was 73. In his career he played with such notables as Stan Getz, The Pointer Sisters and Dionne Warwick. He was also part of the fusion group The Fourth Way. His other work included the project Bebop and Beyond, which compiled tributes to Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonius Monk.
The video is a clip of the Eddy Marshall Quartet, live at the Piedmont Piano Company and features his composition “Too Much Romance”.
Nickolas Ashford passed away on August 22, 2011. He had been suffering from throat cancer. He was 71 years old. An integral part of Motown, Ashford and his wife Valerie Simpson ran the gamut. From writing to backing vocals to solo endeavours, and most famously, as a duo, they were major players in the Barry Gordy network. Their songs were recorded by such diverse talents as The Shirelles, Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye. The song list is phenomenal, “Let’s Get Stoned”, “I Don’t Need No Doctor“, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and their own big hit “Solid“.
It always amazes me how true talent somehow hides in the background, surfacing from time to time in short bursts into the spotlight. Once the exposure fades, they move comfortably and easily into the background to once again write and produce, always creating, always sharing their talents. Nickolas Ashford was one of those people. His body of work supports this fact.
The video is a live version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, performed by Ashford and Simpson. Rest in Peace.
