Tom Ardolino, drummer for cult favourite NRBQ, passed away on January 6 at the age of 56. NRBQ is actually short for New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. He joined the band in 1974 and played with them until they took a sabbatical in 2004, and when they had a reunion performance. His style of drumming was perfect for the band. The band is a new discovery for me and I am having a hoot going through their material online. To celebrate Tommy’s life, I have added several videos for us to enjoy.
Tonight, I début a new series. “Let’s Explore The Blues” will tell the stories of some of the most interesting music ever created. I am going to try to apply some chronology to this series and will start with the pre-war era, the 1920’s and 30’s.
The links will take you to a version of the song covered by that artist.
The first artist will be Blind Lemon Jefferson. Born blind in 1893, Blind Lemon was a Texas blues guitarist. He passed away in 1929, leaving behind a reputation as the father of the Texas blues. This early master influenced future greats such as BB King, Robert Johnson and even Canned Heat. He even taught T-Bone Walker how to play the guitar.
His early career consisted of playing anywhere and everywhere, and only started recording in 1926. In the span to 1929, he recorded 100 tracks and 43 records. Here is one of his major hit songs:
“See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”.
The following song is listed by the Rock And Roll hall Of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll.
“Matchbox Blues”
His death in 1929 is surrounded by rumours. A sampling of these include, a lover had poisoned his coffee, froze to death after becoming disoriented in a snowstorm, and a heart attack after being chased by a dog. In any case he died to young. His influence in current culture is widespread. Many of his songs have been covered by current artists, with See That My Grave Is Kept Clean redone by such diverse talent as Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead. Matchbox Blues was covered by the Beatles. Hit the link to view. The group “Blind Melon” may even be named after him. One last song before we sign off.
This post includes songs that were new to me in 2011, meaning some of them may not be real 2011 releases. Once again, my blog, my rules. Now that I have set the ground rules, I will not mince words or platitudes on these bands or songs and will simply post the video with a link to their website. Please visit them, and remember, support these artists and any others that strike you, be they authors, musicians, sculptors etc. It is hard to be creative when you are starving.
One of the world’s finest guitar players, Hubert Sumlin, passed away on December 4 at the age of 80. He was best known for his time as Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player. He was respected enough to placed at number 43 on the Rolling Stone list of the “100 Greatest Guitar Players Of All Time”.
Howlin' Wolf
He began playing guitar at the age of 6. He started playing with Howling Wolf in 1954. He played on “Howlin’ Wolf” which was named as the number 3 guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine. In his career, he was nominated for 4 Grammys, never winning. A great player, who will of course, live on through his many recordings. Please enjoy these videos of a superb musician. Turn it up and LOVE THE BLUES.
New Orleans is poorer in its music scene this week. Coco Robicheaux, (real name Curtis Arceneaux) mainstay of the local music scene passed away at the age of 64. He apparently suffered a heart attack at one of his favourite spots, The Apple Barrel on Frenchman Street in the quarter. He played there on a regular basis. A self taught blues guitar player, Coco began his career on Bourbon Street at the age of 17. As the story goes, he found his first guitar in pieces on the street. He repaired it and began learning to play. It worked well, as he became a top tier player in New Orleans. In his career, he recorded 6 albums and appeared on several TV shows and movies. He recently appeared as himself on an April 2010 episode of “Treme“. Speaking of “Treme”, this is a must watch show, seen on HBO and HBO Canada. Attached track is a song called “Cottonmouth” and features Coco on guitar and Hubie Vigreux on percussion. It was recorded live at a blues bar in Hawaii.
For those of you that follow my ramblings, you may have noticed that I post a lot of entries about music. You may find it odd that a travel blog does this on such a regular basis. The truth is, I find it hard to accumulate my thoughts and generate regular travel posts and I choose to fill these creative lapses with other people’s creativity.
I have had a life long obsession with music and have become slightly philosophical about it. For example, the following videos. What do they have in common. Figure that out, and I believe you will understand my tastes in music.
Now it is time to connect the dots. Lady Antebellum, John Mayer Trio, Hudson-Ford and Frank Sinatra. I do not like country, but I really like Lady Antebellum’s song, John Mayer, notorious pop artist, Hudson-Ford, obscure 70’s group, and Frank Sinatra, classic crooner, as far from rock as one can get these days. The common thread is simply that each and every one of these is GOOD. Good is, well, good. Nothing, even genre, can transcend great songs. All of these are, in my mind, well written and well performed. Great players make great music. Even if you don’t like the type of music, certain songs can pull you in, solely by just how well done they are. I have learned over the years not to dismiss or be prejudicial towards any form of music and to listen closely for what may be, or not be, something that could be the next big tune on my iPod. I would hate to miss that song.
Doyle Bramhall, Texas singer-songwriter and drummer passed away on November 12, 2011. He was 62. Doyle had an outstanding pedigree, He played with The Chessmen while in high school. This was Jimmie Vaughn‘s band. This band opened for Jimi Hendrix in 1969 in Dallas. He later joined with Jimmie to form Texas Storm. Then life in music became ultra serious. He went on to join The Nightcrawlers, a band that included Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmie’s younger brother. He then wrote Dirty Pool, which appeared on Stevie’s first album Texas Flood. Then came “Life By The Drop”, a masterpiece that appeared on Stevie’s classic album “The Sky Is Crying”.
A superb musician, he played drums on the Vaughn Brothers only album. Writing a song like Life By The Drop puts him in pretty good company as a songwriter. He is survived by his son Doyle Bramhall II, another talented musician.
The music starts about 30 seconds in, Doyle is on drums. Mike Keller is on guitar and sounding great!
A live version of Life By The Drop, sung by Doyle.
The Western Canadian Music Awards were held in Whitehorse, Yukon on October 23.
Whitehorse, Yukon
These awards have been happening in one form or the other since 1995 and were created to recognize musicians from, you guessed it, Western Canada. A link to all the winners is here. I have included some video and links to showcase some of the winners in categories I follow,.
Outstanding Blues Recording ~ Little Miss Higgins ~ Across The Plains
Little Miss Higgins was born in Brooks, Alberta, grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and now has roots in Saskatchewan. The award is for her 2010 album and the song I have attached is “Bargain Shop Panties”. Lots of Saskatchewania in this tune.
Outstanding Rock Recording ~ The Sheepdogs ~ Learn & Burn
On the Cover of the Rolling Stone. What a year for these Saskatoon players. They won the contest to be on the cover of Rolling Stone, they will clean up at the Junos and are taking the music world by storm. In the meantime, they have won Outstanding Rock Recording for their recent album. The Sheepdogs are riding the wave. The video is “I Don’t Know” off the album. I do believe they are channelling Lynyrd Skynyrd or something, what a great song.
Outstanding Roots Duo/Group Recording ~ The Wailin’ Jennys ~ Bright Morning Star
Wailin' Jennys
Winnipeg’s Wailin’ Jennys have been around since 2004 and have been creating excellent roots/folk music since that time. Attached is “Storm Comin'” off the album, performed live at CBC Radio 3.
A very telling quote from one of the greats on, well, one of the greats. The late Rory Gallagher (he passed away in 1995) was an Irish blues/rock guitarist, famous for making his stratocaster purr. His first major band was “Taste”. The band toured and opened for acts like Cream and Blind Faith, always adding to his personal reputation. Once Taste broke up, he began a successful solo career. He was most well known for his sizzling live performances. He once said of his playing that it was “in me all the time, and not just something I turn on”. He died of complications from a liver transplant. His legacy is one that has been the bane of many, an unrecognized major talent that never received the recognition he so trylu deserved. The track added here is a scintillating live version of “Bullfrog Blues”, one of his trademark songs.
Little known fact time. Who was the original bass player in Fleetwood Mac. Bob Brunning of course, the guy I am writing about. Unfortunately, he passed away on October 18. Peter Green started up Fleetwood Mac and wanted Mick Fleetwood and John McVie for the rhythm section. Mick was the Fleetwood and John was the Mac for the band name. John McVie was with a band and earning a steady income so was not keen on joining up. Peter then hired Bob Brunning to be the bass player on a temporary (maybe permanent)basis while he waited and hoped McVie would change his mind, which he did a few weeks later. Bob’s career lasted a few weeks but he did contribute the bass on one song on the band’s debut album (Fleetwood Mac), “Long Grey Mare”.
After leaving Fleetwood Mac, he went on to play with Savoy Brownthen ended up with the blues group “The Lonesome Whistle Blues Band”. which morphed into the “De-luxe Blues Band”. He was a mainstay of the British blues scene for over 30 years. The track included here is Bob’s first gig with The Lonesome Whistle Blues Band and is live. Enjoy the video. RIP Bob Brunning.
