Lou Rawls had one of the greatest voices in late 20th century popular
music. When he was here five years ago to tape a WHRO-produced PBS
special with Petula Clark at Chrysler Hall, he still had the goods---the
distinctive smoky-smooth baritone voice that graced hits like "Love is a
Hurtin' Thing" and "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," and gave
those Garfield specials a touch of class, was in fine shape.
Three years later, though, he was diagnosed with lung cancer (he had
smoked in his younger days) and last spring, brain cancer. When he died
on January 6th at the age of 70 (or 72; his year of birth is listed
differently in different places), he left behind a rich legacy of jazz,
soul, blues, gospel and R&B deserving of rediscovery by those who
may only know the hits, the beer commercials and the cat cartoons.
His passing was particularly poignant to me because I've been
reading a fascinating new biography of Sam Cooke called Dream Boogie, by
Peter Guralnick, in which Rawls plays a prominent role. I didn't know
that Cooke and Rawls had been close friends growing up in Chicago, and
that Lou actually took Sam's place in the teenage gospel group, the
Highway QCs, after Cooke left to join the Soul Stirrers in 1950. They
remained friends, surviving an automobile accident together near Marion,
Arkansas, while traveling between gigs in St. Louis and Greenville,
Mississippi, in November 1958. Though Cooke had only minor injuries, the
driver was killed and Rawls was left in a coma that lasted a week. It
took him three months to regain his memory and a year to fully recover.
In 1962, he began recording as a soloist in his own right. He'd been
doing background vocals on his friend's records---his is the voice
heard in duet with Cooke on "Bring it on Home to Me," both in harmony
and in the "yeah - yeah" call and response sections of the refrain. But
late on a cold January night that year, he entered the Capitol Records
studio in LA with pianist Les McCann's jazz trio and laid down the
tracks for his first album.
Released as Stormy Monday, it is one of my favorite jazz vocal
records of all time. Hearing Rawls in such a sparse, unadorned setting
is a revelation as he wraps his golden voice around the familiar words
of a batch of bluesy standards. From the swinging title track and "Sweet
Lover" to the blustery "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water" and the soft
balladry of "Lost and Lookin'" and "Willow Weep for Me," he takes these
well worn chestnuts and gives them new life. It's an impressive
performance. His "God Bless the Child" is the definitive version of
Billie Holiday's most famous song.
Lou Rawls would go on to become an award winning, chart topping
singer during the golden era of `60s and `70s soul music. He would cover
many musical bases during his 40-year solo career---his last CD was
called Rawls Sings Sinatra. But for a full appreciation of his vocal
magic in its prime, Stormy Monday is a must-have.
Personnel: Ron Jefferson (drums) Les McCann (piano) Lou Rawls (vocals) Leroy Vinnegar (bass)
Alternate frontcover
Tracklist: 01. (They Call It) Stormy Monday (Walker) 3.40 02. God Bless The Child (Holiday/Herzog Jr.) 4.25 03. See See Rider (Rainey) 3.08 04. Willow Weep For Me (Ronall) 5.50 05. I´m Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town ((Waldon/Jacobs) 3.55 06. In The Evening (When The Sun Goes Down) (Carr/Raye) 3.25 07. Tain´t Nobody Biz-Ness If I Do (Grainger/Robbins) 2.40 08. Lost And Lookin´(Jordan/Alexander) 3.07 09. I´d Rather Drink Muddy Water (Miller) 3.50 10. Sweet Lover (McFarland/Wyche) 3.05 + 11. (They Call It) Stormy Monday (alternate take) (Walker) 2.59
Tony Joe was already 26 when he started recording, so perhaps that
explains his style was already fully formed from the beginning onwards
and that he had already written a bunch of material. He’d release 5
studio in four years and Tony Joe – his third and last album for
Monument – was also a third effort in less than two years. With a pace
like that, things didn’t change that strikingly: the recognizable swamp
sound is still intact, even though there are perhaps a bit more acoustic
songs, but the fact that four of the last five songs on the album were
covers perhaps signalled that the pace was getting the best of him.
Anyway, those who liked …Continued will dig Tony Joe as well. Overall
the sound is perhaps a bit gruffer and there are not as many ballads,
while there are several more similarities. Like the second album, Tony
Joe starts off with a "primal” stomper, a soulful slice of folklore
that’s pure grits and sweat. During songs like these, White sounds as if
he’s from an unspecified era and a region where time stood still,
modern times never really had much of an impact, and media are replaced
by folk tales and a stronger bond between a man and his soil. His
earliest albums all share this natural plainness and authenticity that
never sounds contrived. Op top of that, White also knows how to tell a
story, as "High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish” and "Widow Wimberly”
perfectly fit in some rural narrative tradition. Both songs are
basically also the same merger of acoustic swamp-rock with some
pop-flourishes (strings, basically), but it’s the lyrical details in the
songs (the "voluptuousness” of the sheriff’s daughter in the former and
the pitiable widow in the latter ("how do you still manage to smile?”)
that make ‘em so nice to listen to. After these cuts, the album picks up
the drive again, first with the driven "Groupy Girl,” a wonderful song
that combines the tough and laidback side to White to great effect, and
then with the less interesting drone "Conjure Woman,” which has a
particularly flimsy chorus. I presume that the poppy "Save Your Sugar
for Me” was the last song on the original
A-side, so that means the second half contained five songs, "Stockholm
Blues” being the only self-penned track. It’s an excellent one – a
convincingly raw, Delta blues that features nothing but acoustic guitar,
harmonica and a foot stomping on the floor, so it’s not much of a
surprise that it’s followed by a romp through John Lee Hooker’s "Boom
Boom,” and a greasy as hell version at that. The way it starts, with
White playing the distorted riff once and then asking the producer
"Could you dig this, Swan?” always cracks me up. White isn’t
particularly creative with it – it’s not that it wasn’t a repetitive
dirge to begin with in the first place – but of course it sounds right
at home on an album by this guy. The other covers are fine as well,
though Otis Redding’s "Hard to Handle” is the only standout track, as
the songs exactly requires the grittiness and pure soul that White
possesses. Like I said, the others aren’t that great, but "What Does It
Take” (later also covered by Santana), with that wailing harmonica, is
the kind of stuff (a combination of pop, soul, schmalz and country) that
would’ve fit perfectly on, say, the soundtrack to Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid. "My Friend,” finally, is the only real ballad here, a
string-laden tearjerker featuring some moderately yelped vocals and some
nice piano parts by David Briggs. Tony Joe doesn’t mark a stylistic
shift from …Continued, as White probably still felt comfortable churning
out muddy swamp drones, alternated with more pop-oriented stuff. He’d
move on to a slightly different sound later on, but this is what he’s
become most "famous” (well, only "Polk Salad Annie” cracked the charts I
think) for. So, nothing really remarkable, certainly if you’re mainly
intrigued by today’s self-conscious meta-music, but occasionally
irresistible.
Produced by Tony Joe White and Billy Swan
ecorded at RCA Victor Studios, Nashville / Lyn-Lou Studios, Memphis 1970
Personnel: David Briggs (keyboards) Jerry Carrigan (drums) Norbert Putman (bass) Tony Joe White (guitar, vocals, harmonica) + Sammy Creason (drums on 04. + 05.) Tommy McClure (bass on 04.) Mike Utley (keyboards on 04. + 05.)
Tracklist:
01. Stud-Spider (White) 5.36
02. High Sherrif Of Calhoun Parrish
03. Widow Wimberly (White) 3.41
04. Conjure Woman (White) 3.59
05. Save Your Sugar For Me (White) 2.20
06. Groupy Girl (White) 3.04
07. Hard To Handle (Isbell/Jones/Redding) 2.52
08. What Does It Take (White) 3.40
09. My Friend (Fritts/Oldham) 3.09
10. Stockholm Blues (White) 3.27
11. Boom Boom (Hooker) 7.56
I remember this show quiet well. It was a very cold night and Leslie West pf Mountain opened the show which I did miss. I remembered that Johnny Winter played first, Alvin was the head liner this night. Folks this was 18 years ago.
My thoughts of this show was, that both guitarists played such excellent sets. That the only problem is they did not jam together. I´m not certain if they even met back stage. But that would have been of something to have two of the greatest guitarists jam together, when they were both in peak form.
Ok, no jam session, but real good handmade music .. enjoy it ! It´s not necessary to write which guitarplayer played on which song, I´m sure you will hear the difference !
Personnel:
Alvin Lee Band: Tom Compton (drums) Steve Gould (bass, background vocals) Alvin Lee (guitar, vocals)
Johnny Winter Band: Jon Paris (bass) Bobby Torello (drums) Johnny Winter (guitar, vocals)
Tracklist: 01. One Of These Days (Lee) 3.48 02. Hideaway Jam (King/Thompson) 9.23 03. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Williamson) 5.57 04. Unseen Eye (Williamson) 6.34 05. Slow Blues In C (Lee) 4.57 06. Love Like A Man (Lee) 5.09 07. Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo (Derringer) 6.03 08. Ain't Nothing Shakin' (AL) 15:34 09. Mean Town Blues (Winter) 10.24 10. Scat Encounter/Hey Joe (Lee/Roberts) 6.47 11. It's All Over Now (B.Womack/S.Womack) 5.09
Most reviews of post-war Goodman records are based on the thesis that
"things ain't what they used to be". Obviously, at this point in time,
Goodman is not the dynamic force or leading figure he was three decades
ago so let us just accept Benny's records for what they are. Tese 12
titles are strung together (and how I loathe the now-obligatory
'programme' demanded by LP compilers!) by tenuous links with France, and
Benny sounds as if he enjoyed the session. The rhythm section is
workmanlike and comprises Goodman's pianist from the 1940 band, Bernie
Leighton, bass player George Duvivier, guitarist Attila Zoller (who gets
too little solo space for he is a fine musician) arid drummer Joe
Marshall, late of Johnny Hodges's little band. On most of the tracks the
front line comprises Goodman flanked by Joe Newman and Urbie Green. The
recorded sound is quite brilliant with a sense of presence which seems
to be part and parcel of the Command label's selling technique. There
are a few fluffs here and there during Goodman's own solos but they are
usually brought about by Benny's uninhibited approach to the faster
tempos. Marshall occasionally lifts the entire group up by its
collective boot-straps and the music takes on a purposeful resolution
which is exhilarating. Strangely enough the sextet swings hardest on the
more unlikely tunes including How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm
and Mimi. The weakest tracks are those on which Benny plays the melody
slow and fairly straight but as these tracks ate in the minority the LP
may be safely recommended to Goodman collectors and lovers of
swing-style small groups. (by Grammophone, August 1968) Personnel: George Duvivier (bass) Benny Goodman (clarinet) Urbie Green (trombone) Joe Marshall (drums) Bernie Leighton (piano) Attila Zoller (guitar) Tracklist: 01. How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm (Young/Lewis/Donaldson) 4.02 02. Autumn Leaves (Kosma/Mercer/Prevert) 3.03 03. I Love Paris (Porter) 3,..26 04. April In Paris (Duke/Harburg) 2.26 05. A Man And A Woman (Barouh/Keller/Lai) 3.33 06. C'est Magnifique (Porter)) 3.09 07. Petite Fleur (Bechet) 2.56 08. I Wish You Love (Beach/Trenet) 2.33 09. Mimi (Hart/Rodgers) 3.50 10. C'est si bon (Betti/Hornez/Seelen) 3.03 11. Under Paris Skies (Gannon/Giraud) 4.08 12. I Will Wait For You (Demy/Gimbel/Legrand) 5.49
Tony´s track
record boasts some 250 albums. He has played with Earth, Wind &
Fire, Kenny Aronoff, Bernard Purdie, Gianna Nannini, Young Generation,
Chaka Khan, Rocky Roberts, Gregg Brown, Eddie Oliva, Steve Smith, Pete
York, Omar Hakim, John Blackwell, Chuck Fryers to name only a few.
The
critics, reviewing his latest album, hit the spot ; ""Colours of Life" -
is a timeless document of the art of drumming (Sticks Magazine ). Tony
is a truly a passionate drummer with heart and soul, a lover of real
sounds, and an explorer in the world of rhythm. Tony himself personifies
the fascination of drums and rhythm, bundling all into a living work of
art.
Personnel: Ralf Bazzanela (saxophone) Tobias Cosler (keyboards) Hermann Eckholt (bass) Jens Köhler (guitar) Tony Liotto (drums, percussions)
Tracklist: 01. To My Kids (Liotta) 2.36 02. Latenight (Liotta) 3.18 03. New Orleans (Liotta) 3.37 04. Smalltalk (Liotta) 05. Strange Trip (Liotta) 3.24 06. Thursday In New York (Liotta) 4.17 07. Midnight Walk (Liotta) 2.54 08. Meeting In Milano (Liotta) 5.54 09. Few Days (Liotta) 3.16 10. Colours Of Life (Liotta) 4.43 11. Space And Time (Liotta) 4.18 12. Breathing Space (Liotta) 2.07 13. Deep Blue (Liotta) 7.41 14. Oxygen (Remix To My Kids) (Liotta) 1.42
The
Searchers are a British rock band who emerged as part of the 1960s
merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Swinging Blues Jeans and
Gerry and the Pacemakers.
The
band´s hits included a remake of The Drifter´ 1961 hit "Sweets For My
Sweet", remakes of Jackie DeShannon´s "Needley And Pins" and "When You
Walk In The Room", "Sugar And Spice", "Don´t Throw Your Love Away" and a
remake of The Clovers´ "Love Potion No. 9". They were the second group
after the Beatles to have a hit in America when "Needles And Pins"
chartet during the first week of March 1964.
Like
many similar acts they would do as many as three shows at different
venues in one night. They negotiated a contract with the Star Club in
the St. Pauli distric Hamburg for 128 days, with three one-hour performances a night, starting in July 1962.
Of
all the British bands that recorded at the Star Club in 1962/63, the
Searchers gave the best performance -- polished, exciting, and utterly
professional, lacking the finely honed 12-string guitar sound that their
subsequent hits would display but still a fine testament to their early
work and history. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
Personnel: Chris Curtis (drums, vocals) Tony Jackson (bass, vocals) John McNally (guitar, vocals Mike Pender (guitar, vocals)
Tracklist: 01. Sweets For My Sweet (Shuman/Pomus) 2.20 02. Ain´t That Just Like Me (Carrol) 1.40 03. Listen To Me (Petty/Hardin) 2.05 04. I Can Tell (Samuels/McDaniels) 2.33 05. Sick And Tired (Domino) 2.47 06. Mashed Potatoes () 1.39 07. Beautiful Dreamer (Foster)1.57 08. Sweet Nothin´s (unknown) 2.18 09. Sahkin´ All Over (Kidd) 2.22 10. It´s All Been A Dream (unknown) 1.46 11. Don´t You Know (Box/Hall) 1.53 12. Maybelline (Berry) 1.59 13. Sweet Little Sixteen (Berry) 2.58 14. I Sure Know A Lot About Love (unknown) 2.22 15. Rosalie (Porter) 2.13 16. Led In The game (Holly) 1.47 17. Hey Joe (Bryant) 2.30 18.Always It´s You (Bryant/Bryant) 2.26 19. Hully Gully (Goldsmith/Smith) 2.13 20. What `d I Say (Charles) 2.52
Good early '80s trio session with pianist Horace Parlan working alongside bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Alvin Queen.
The material, mostly standards with some originals and ballads, isn't overly ambitious, but Parlan's dense, strong blues-influenced solos and good interaction among the three principals keeps things moving.
Recorded live at the "Domicile", Munich/Germany on February 11, 1981
Personnel: Reggie Johnson (Bass) Alvin Queen (Drums) Horace Parlan (Piano)
Tracklist: 01. There's No Greater Love (Jones/Symes) 5.33 02. Pannonica (Monk) 6.22 03. C Jam Blues (Bigard/Ellington) 7.02 04. Hi-Fly (Weston) 9.18 05. Who Cares? (Gershwin) 9.47
Beat Club was one of the most important and fun packed TV pop and rock shows of The Swinging Sixties.
Once
a month for seven frantic years, a cascade of stars were filmed for the
show and as it turned out, for posterity, Beat Club became a treasure
house of sounds and images that might have been lost forever.
It was a hit with viewers around the world, and the historic series has been repeated on TV many times in recent years. This
fantastic collection features historic live performances by the great
groups, who were guests on the show, often at the peak of their careers. Beat
Club was presented by Racdio Bremen, which ran the small TV station
based in the North West German port. The show was directed by Mike
Leckerbusch and was presented by the legendary Uschie Nerke.There were
unsually two guest British presenters.. First came BBC radio DJ Dave Lee
Travis. Later came Dave Dee, the ever cheerful lead singer with "Dave
Dee,, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich", one of the most popular acts of the
day.
Dave Dee: "It´s fastinating to hear these recordings again today, because many people didn´t even know they existed". Enjoy these rare tracke from the early days of progressive rock !
Tracklist CD 1: 01. Humble Pie - For Your Love (Gouldman) 8.33 02. UFO - Boogie (Way/Moog/Parker/Bolton) 6.40 03. Hardin & York - Like A Rolling Stone (Dylan) 3.45 04. Hardin & York - Freedom (Hardin) 7.09 05. Atomic Rooster - Break Through (Crane/Darnell) 4.55 06. Ashton, Gardner & Dyke - Ressurection Shuffle (Ashton) 3.53 07. Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up/We Are The Winner (Mayfild) 13.40 08. Curtis Mayfield - We People (Mayfield) 1.21
Tracklist CD 2: 01. Steamhammer - Junior´s Wailing (White/Pugh) 3.41 02. Steamhammer - When Your Friend Has Gone (Quittenton/White) 3.57 03. Humble Pie - Alabama 69 (Marriott) 4.35 04. Humble Pie - Natural Born Woman (Marriott) 4.32 05. Nice - Hang On To A Dream (Hardin) 7.20 06. Steamhammer - Louisiana Blues (Morganfield) 8.21 07. Hardin & York - Tomorrow Today (Hardin) 4.58 08. Hardin & York - The Pike (Hardin) 7.08 09. Humble Pie - The Sad Bag Of Shakey Jake (Marriott) 3.30 10. Ashton, Gardner & Dyke - Rolling Home (Ashton) 3.30 11. Ashton, Gardner & Dyke - Billy And His Piano (Ashton) 3.48
This is the first album by Bonnie Raitt. After
dropping out of college in 1969, she began playing on the US folk and
blues circuit, turning heads due to her ability - almost unique in a
white female - to play credible bottleneck guitar.
She became friendly
with many of the surviving blues legends, including Howlin' Wolf,
Mississippi Fred McDowell and particularly Sippie Wallace, with whom
she later recorded.
After paying her dues in clubs, she signed with a major record label
in 1971,when she released her eponymous debut album which included both
contemporary songs by Stephen Stills and Paul Siebel and a number of
blues covers, plus two selfpenned originals.
Personnel: John Beach (piano) Peter Bell (guitar) Steven Bradley (drums) Freebo (bass) Russel Hsgen (guitar) Voyle Harris (trumpet) Eugene Hoffman (saxophone) Willie Murphy (pianp) Bonnie Raitt (guitar, vocals) A.C.Reed (saxophone) Douglas Spurgeon (trombone) Junior Wells (harmonica) Maurice Jacox (flute)
Tracklist: 01. Bluebird (Stills) 3.25 02. Mighty Tight Woman (Wallace) 4.19 03. Thank You (Raitt) 2.48 04. Finest Lovin´ Woman (Raitt) 4.41 05. Andy Day Woman (Siebel) 2.19 06. Big Road (Johnson) 3.31 07. Walking Blues (Johnson) 3.35 08. Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead (Huinter/Paul/Stevenson) 2.50 09. Since I Feel For You (Johnson) 3.03 10. I Ain´t Blue (Koerner) 3.35 11. Woman Be Wise (Wallace/Beach) 4.13
This is where it all started for Uriah
Heep. The band’s transition from their previous incarnation as "Spice”
was more than just a name change, with this album they became a
formidable act. The nucleus of the band (Byron and Box joined by
Hensley) was already in place, although the rhythm section still had a
number of changes to come before the "classic” line up was completed.
With Hensley only having recently joined the band, his song writing is
much less in evidence than on future albums.
The
group name is taken from a Dickens character, and the "‘umble” in the
album’s title reflects his self declared personality. The "’eavy”
reference is of course related
to the music, but is a bit misleading. The band’s music does indeed
often have a dominant rhythm section, but it is highly melodic. Most
tracks are based around the (predominantly organ) keyboards of Ken
Hensley, the great rock voice of David Byron, and the distinctive guitar
sound of Mick Box.
The opening
track, "Gypsy” is indeed "heavy”, with a driving Hammond organ, a
thumping beat, and an early burst of Mick Box’s famous wah wah guitar
soloing. There are however several decidedly softer moments. "Come away
Melinda” (also recorded by UFO) is one of the very few covers the band
has done. Their interpretation is quite stunning, with David Byron
adopting various vocal sounds to distinguish between the two characters
in the song. It’s a beautiful, haunting number, with a peaceful message.
"Wake up (set your sights)” also has a lovely soft conclusion which
follows an almost jazz like opening section.
"Lucy
blues” sounds somewhat out of place on the album, and in fact was
omitted from the US release (called "Uriah Heep”), being a straight
forward blues number, pleasant but hardly essential. The remaining
numbers are indeed generally " 'eavy” with tracks like "I’ll keep on
trying” and "Dreammare” (a dream and a nightmare, get it?!) setting out
the band’s stall for future albums perfectly.
There was better to come from the band, but this is a high quality first offering, with some excellent tracks.
"If the group make it ,I'll have to commit suicide"
wrote rock critic Melissa Mills in Rolling Stone magazin.She may or may
not be with us any more ,but 30 years on Uriah Heep still do it.
Uriah Heep 1970 Alternate US frontcover Personnel: Mick Box (guitar) David Byron (vocals) Ken Hensley (keyboards, slide-guitar, vocals) Paul Newton (bass, vocals) Ollie Olsson (drums, percussion) + Alex Napier (drums ecepting on 04. + 05.) Colin Wood (keyboards on 03. + 08.)
Tracklist: 01. Gypsy (Box/Byron) 6:37 02. Walking In Your Shadow (Newton/Byron) 4:31 03. Come Away Melinda (Hellerman/Minkoff) 3:46 04. Lucy Blues (Box/Byron) 5:09 05. Dreammare (Newton) 4:39 06. Real Turned On (Box/Byron) 3:37 07. I’ll Keep On trying (Box/Byron) 5:24 08. Wake Up (Set Your Sights) (Box/Byron)6:22 + 09. Gypsy (single version) (Box/Byron) 2.57 10. Come Away Melinda (alternate version) /Hellerman/Minkoff) 3.42 11. Born In A Trunk (out-take) 3.45