Tag: Blues

Let’s Explore The Blues – Lonnie Johnson

Lonnie Johnson playing in Chicago, 1941. Origi...

Lonnie Johnson was another of the great 20’s and 30’s blues-men.  The difference in this case is that there is video of him performing his craft.  To get us in the mood for his story, here is Lonnie playing “Another Night To Cry“.

Another Night To Cry

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Lonnie’s story begins in Louisiana, where he was born in 1899.  Like most families of that era, tragedy struck early and often.  While on tour in England in 1917, he returned to his home in 1919 only to find that his entire family, except one brother, James, had died in the 1918 influenza epidemic.  They moved to St. Louis, where he honed his craft, eventually winning a blues contest in 1925.  The prize, luckily for us, was a recording contract with Okeh Records.  His career took off at this point, appearing on recordings of such greats as Louis Armstrong, Victoria Spivey and Bessie Smith.

She’s Only A Woman

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His guitar style is a jazz-blues mix.  His playing was so different from the standards of the day that he has been widely credited with creating the “guitar solo”.  He also mainstreamed the jazz guitar, showing along the way that is was a practical and important innovation to the blues scene of the day.  A true pioneer.

There is a story that says that Robert Johnson saw Lonnie as his idol.  Some say that a lot of Robert’s songs were merely updated versions of Lonnie’s tunes.  It is also said that Robert used say he was Lonnie’s brother even though they were not related.

He eventually left Okeh Records to begin recording with Decca Records.  He continued to play and tour with the best.  He morphed to the R&B side of things once WW2 ended.  One of his major hits of the time was a song that was later recorded by Elvis early in his recording life.

Tomorrow Night

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The Elvis version.

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Lonnie ended up in Toronto, Canada where he set up a blues club.  Unfortunately it failed.  In 1969, he was hit by a car.  He never fully recovered, and died in June of 1970.  Prior to his death, he sang a few songs at a benefit concert in his honour.  Players that paid their respects were people like Buddy Guy, Hagood Hardy and John Lee Hooker.

Too Late To Cry

Let’s Explore The Blues – Georgia Cotton Pickers

In my last post we looked at Barbeque Bob (Robert Hicks).  In addition to his solo career, he was also a member of the world’s first supergroup.  He, along with Curley Weaver and Buddy Moss, formed this group in 1930 and recorded a few tunes.  Unfortunately, these were the last songs that Bob ever recorded.

This is their version of Blind Blake‘s “Diddie Wa Diddie”

“Diddle-Da-Diddle”

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Here is Ry Cooder‘s version.

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This is a take by Leon Redbone.

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The next song to listen is a standard called “She Looks So Good”.  You will recognize many songs woven into the fabric of this one.

She Looks So Good

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One final tune.

“She’s Coming Back Some Cold Rainy”

This is a version by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.  This version is, in a word, sweet.  I want to listen this song on repeat for about a week.

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Let’s Explore The Blues – Barbeque Bob

Barbeque Bob

Tonight we will explore the career and music of a rather uniquely named player, Barbeque Bob.  Born in Georgia 1902, as Robert Hicks, Bob only lived for 29 years, dying of tuberculosis and pneumonia, brought on by influenza,  in 1931 at the age of 29.  He got his nickname, not surprisingly, as he was a cook in a barbeque restaurant.

Although his life was short, his recording was prolific.  He recorded 68 sides from 1927 until his death.  His first record, “Barbeque Blues” sold 15,000 copies and was Columbia Records biggest selling record up to that time.

Barbeque Blues

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The following song is what brought to the top of the pack.  This song “Mississippi Heavy Water Blues” was recorded in New York a few months after Barbeque Blues.

Mississippi Heavy Water Blues

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I was not able to find to many of his tunes covered by others.  I did find this though, a great version by Eric Clapton.

Motherless Child

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Bob also recorded a few songs with The Georgia Cotton Pickers.  These were to be the last songs recorded by him prior to his death.  I will be doing a post on this group next week, so I will pick up the story then.

 

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Talent Tuesday – Canadian Releases – February 7, 2012

It’s Tuesday and time to run down the latest in Canadian music.  A very active week it is as well.  I have also added an International release of the week as, apparently, there is other music in the world besides Canadian music.

First up, we have Bahamas new release, titled Barchords.  Bahamas is actually Afie Jurvanen.  Born and raised in the Toronto, he has played with such people as Feist and Zeus.  This is his second release.  The song I have added here is titled Lost in the Light and is a live rendition.

Lost In The Light

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Rococode at Green Couch Sessions
Rococode at Green Couch Sessions (Photo credit: Raul P)

Next up is alternative band Rococode and their new album “Guns, Sex and Glory”.  That name should bring me a few hits off search terms.  They are a 4 piece band out of Vancouver.  This is their first full length album.  the song I chose to showcase is dynamite.  Enjoy “Empire”.

Empire

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English: Michael Kaeshammer performing at the ...

The next is a live album by one of my favourites, jazz pianist Michael Kaeshammer.  The album is simply titled Kaeshammer Live.  This guy is great.  I saw him live once so when you view the attached video, imagine yourself sitting in the front row, no stage and the drummer about 6 feet away from you.  The best seats we ever had for any concert.  the song is called Lovelight.

Lovelight

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Next we have The Experimental Tropic Blues Band and their new album, “Liquid Love”, which should also generate a few search hits.  A rocking blues band out of Quebec, their album promises to be a rollicking good time.  The song is a live version of Keep This Love.

Keep This Love

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My international pick for the week is the new release from The Fray.  Their new album is titled Scars and Stories.  The Fray is from Denver, Colorado who have enjoyed major success since the release of the “How To Save A Life” album in 2005.  Good band.  I have inserted “Heartbeat” from the album.  The song is true to their style.

 

Heartbeat

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Let’s Explore The Blues – Roosevelt Sykes

Forty Four Blues - Roosevelt Sykes, Blue light...
Forty Four Blues - Roosevelt Sykes, Blue lights bare Christmas tree Seattle Washington USA 1453 (Photo credit: Wonderlane)

Roosevelt Sykes, The Honeydripper, was born in Arkansas in 1906.  He began playing serious piano at age 15, ending up in St.Louis where he played with  Jimmy Oden. He spent the time prior to St Louis playing up and down the Mississippi , playing anywhere that would let him.  In 1929, he was discovered by Okeh records, which sent him to New York City to record.  It was here he recorded his most significant song “44 Blues”.  This is a version done by Philip Lafontaine,  Perfect in every way possible.

44 Blues

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His career moved quickly from this point.  He began recording for multiple labels under different names ( ‘Easy Papa Johnson’, ‘Dobby Bragg’ and ‘Willie Kelly’) .  In 1934, he and Jimmy Oden moved to Chicago,  He continued with various labels, eventually recording with the Honeydrippers.  The song below is his classic “Night Time is the Right Time”

Night Time is the Right Time

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This tune has been covered by many artists, like Ray Charles, The Sonics and the Rolling Stones.  This version though, is my favourite, done by CCR.

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His legacy is considerable.  Aside from the songs noted above, he is also responsible for other classics.  Here is one by the late great Etta James.

Driving Wheel  Etta James

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As a last note, here are two more by the man himself.  The first is unusual in the he is playing guitar, when he is known as piano guy.  The second is Roosevelt at home on his piano

Guitar Blues

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Tall Heavy Mama

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He recorded well into the 1960’s after moving to New Orléans in the 50’s.  He died in 1983.

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Let’s Explore The Blues – Blind Willie Johnson

The blues musician Blind Willie Johnson

Blind Willie Johnson was born in 1892, passing away in 1945.  His music was inspired by his spirituality.  He had a deep gravely voice, often imitated, never bettered.  As were many of his peers, he was born in Texas.  Willie was not born blind, and no one knows what happened to create his blindness, although it has been rumoured that he caught a face full of lye, thrown at him by his step-mother, who had just been beaten by his father for carousing with other men.  Times were a bit different back then.  To start the music, we have one his most famous tunes.

Motherless Children Have A Hard Time

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Here is Eric Clapton‘s version.

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In his short recording career, he cut 30 songs, all between 1927 and 1930.  Again, the impact of those 30 songs has been staggering.  Check out this amazing live footage of Jack White performing Blind Willie’s “John The Revelator”  Not quite the way that Willie would have done it, I’m sure.

John The Revelator

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Blind Willie died in 1945.  He lived in poverty his whole life.  The story goes that his house burned down.  Having nowhere else to go, he lived in the ruins, eventually catching malarial fever.  His death certificate reads, malarial fever, syphilis and blindness as the causes of death.  His legacy is now potentially universal.  His song “Dark Was The Night” was covered by many artists and included on the discs placed on the Voyager I and II spacecrafts.

Dark Was The Night

There are many covers of his tunes.  Here are some that you may or may not of heard at one time or another.

Grateful Dead,  Led Zeppelin, and Beck.  Very diverse groups, very diverse times.  Another man who is greatly responsible for what we listen to today.

Gina Sicilia – Twitter Thursday

Weird blue dot

This artist is one that I was very happy to have follow me on Twitter.  Gina Sicilia is from Philadelphia and can definitely sing the blues.  I very much enjoyed doing the research for this post. Take this song for instance.

Addicted – Gina Sicilia

Some good hard-driving blues.  She has recorded 3 albums to date, “Allow Me To Confess ” in 2007 and “Hey, Sugar” in 2008.  A third, “Can’t Control Myself” was released in 2011.  A 4th is due to be released soon.  She has a powerful voice, made for this kind of music.  As usual, in my mind, the proof is in the live performance.  Take a listen and judge for yourself as she gives her version of Ike and Tina Turners Crazy Bout You Baby.

Crazy ‘Bout You Baby – Gina Sicilia

 

Let’s Explore The Blues – Mississippi John Hurt

English: A crop of a photo showing John Hurt g...
Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt is a very interesting story.  Born in 1893 (maybe 1892) , he self-taught on the guitar and began recording in 1928.  What he recorded ended up as a commercial failure and he faded from history, becoming a farmer.  The story could have easily ended here, except for one man, Tom Hoskins, who discovered a copy of Avalon Blues and made it his business to find him and talk him into playing again.  He was successful and thus began a new career for John Hurt.  He began recording and playing again in 1964 and performed until his death in 1966.  He was instrumental in the rediscovery of many lost artists and their works.  This is the song that prompted the search for him.

Avalon Blues – Mississippi John Hurt

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He only recorded 13 songs back in 1928, but his influence is far beyond these songs.  Another of his songs out of these sessions is attached below.  You can note that the style of playing he preferred was a fast, no pick method that he picked up while teaching himself to play.

Frankie – Mississippi John Hurt

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His songs have been redone by a wide slate of modern players including Bob Dylan, Maria Muldaur, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, Taj Mahal and Bruce Cockburn.  Hit the links to see their versions.

As a finale, a live tv interview circa 1965 which includes a great version of Spike Driver Blues.  No, make that phenomenal, what a guitar player.

Spike Driver Blues

Remembering Etta James and Johnny Otis

Johnny Otis
Call My Name (album)

I am deeply saddened.  Etta James and Johnny Otis have a distinct musical relationship.  I cannot add to what Matthew Coleman has outlined at The Music Court as he has explained their relationship.  For both to pass away in the same week is very disheartening.

Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind

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Johnny Otis – Hand Jive

Remembering Dave Alexander – aka Omar Sharif

English: Dave Alexander performing at the 2007...
Dave Alexander

The blues (and the music) world lost another integral part as Dave Alexander, aka Omar Sharif, died on January 8th at the age of 73.  Sadly, he died of what appeared to be a self inflicted gunshot wound.  He was found at his home in Marshall, Texas.  Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, he grew up in Marshall, Texas.  He spent some time in the US Navy before ending up in the Bay Area, playing with many San Francisco area musicians.  An accomplished pianist, He played with the likes of Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton.  He recorded 7 albums of great blues as either himself, or under his stage name of Omar Sharif. A tragic loss.

One of his more famous songs is “The Raven”.

The Raven

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Some Ragtime

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Cold Feeling