Tag: Blues

Saturday Matinee – Jimmy Dawkins, Frank Sultana & The Altered Five Blues Band

Jimmy ‘Fast Fingers’ Dawkins, Skopje Jazz Festival, Macedonia 1991. Dawkins was one of many Mississippi bluesmen who migrated to the Chicago scene in the 1950s. At 18 he was playing on street corners for tips, eventually finding some success as a sideman / session player, and later as a solo artist and record producer.

“Pre WW2 mojo, dark, dirty guitar tones and a voice that has the grit and soul of the characters and places he writes and sings about.”
Sydney Australia bluesman Frank Sultana won the solo/duo section of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis Tennessee in 2023. [h/t Archie.]

Award winning group from Milwaukee, Altered Five Blues Band features frontman Jeff Taylor with Jeff Schroedl / guitar, Mark Solveson / bass, Alan Arber / drums and Steve Huebler / keyboard.

Superbowl Sunday tomorrow and there’s still time to get The Chili going.

Saturday Matinee – Luther ‘Snakeboy’ Johnson, Big Guitars From Memphis & The Radiacs

Luther Snakeboy Johnson (aka Snake, Georgia Boy, Little Luther & Luther King) was born in 1941 in Davisboro, GA, and taught himself guitar while still in grade school. He served in the US Army, and after discharge performed with a gospel group before heading to Chicago. In the late 50s, he played regularly with Otis Spann and Elmore James before joining Muddy Waters’ band in 1967. This video is from a 1973 French television show; three years later he succumbed to cancer at the age of 34.

Big Guitars From Memphis show their chops in this video, recorded for Mugz, an indi film that was scheduled for 2010 but never released. (They don’t sound like Memphis because they aren’t from Memphis).

Doing 90 on the 90, The Radiacs are/were a psychobilly quartet formed in 1987 in Sheffield, UK. Can’t find much about them, but it appears they were active through 2011.

Got a lot to think about these days, and I think sitting out on the porch with a couple of dogs is a damn fine idea. See you there tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – There I Ruined It, Matteo Mancuso, 8 Ball Aiken & The Gary Hoey Band

In Memory of Country Music: Every fake accent 2-part harmony bro country song crammed into 1-1/2 minutes of ear torture from There, I Ruined It. The comments on the Utoobage vid are fun, and if that’s not enough for you, there’s this mashup.

Django Reinhardt and Les Paul meet Weather Report: Italian guitar prodigy Matteo Mancuso plays cool jazz fusion blues and more.

8 Ball Aiken is an Australian singer and songwriter from Brisbane, plays blues, swamp-rock, alternative country, and Americana music. At one of his early gigs in a rough pub, a fight broke out over a pool table. The 8 ball landed on stage and his bandmates gave him the nickname.

Underrated guitar thrasher Gary Hoey shreds the blues. He’s been compared to Robin Trower, early Clapton, SRV and others.

So there you go, and no, I’m not going to apologize for the first one. It’s like an aural vaccine so you never have to listen to country pop again. Have a great weekend, see you tomorrow, porch time is noonish.

Saturday Matinee – Vox Americana, Micke Bhorklo & Blue Strip, and Gary Clark Jr.

Vox Americana is a group of musicians from Staffordshire UK, with American singer/songwriter Helen Walford. They revisited the murder ballad The Knoxville Girl and wrote Knoxville Town from the perspective of the victim.

Finnish bluesrock band Micke Bhorklo & Blue Strip takes their turn on Robert Johnson’s They’re Red Hot (1936).

Gary Clark Jr. cranks up the blues in studio, December 2011.

I think I’m just gonna sit and watch the weather tomorrow. On the porch. See you then.

Happy New Year’s Eve 2023 – End of Year Playlist

Thought I might do something different this New Years Eve. Buried in the Archives are over 100 tunes that deserve a replay, at least in my opinion. Some are pure awesome, others are eye-rollers, but all are songs that pleased my earballs in 2023. Each set is in no particular order, one click and you’re off to the races. Have at it.

Set 1 – January, February, March

Set 2 – April, May, June, July

Set 3 – August, September, October, November & December

And one more thing: Happy New Year!

Auld Lang Syne Boogie, Freddie Mitchell Orchestra (1949)

[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only. Apologies for the typo in the first track – That’s Stéphane Grappelli.]

Saturday Matinee – Tuba Skinny, Lucky Chops, Timo Gross & Skatune Network

Tuba Skinny, featuring bandleader Shaye Cohn on cornet. Although we were in NOLA last May, I didn’t get a chance to see them because I was too busy chillin’ on a balcony with the dogs.

Formed in 2016, Lucky Chops  began as a group of subway buskers from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, New York City, and now they perform world-wide.

German bluesman Timo Gross  has been around for a while but he’s relatively unknown in the US; I had to run his Wikipedia entry through Google Translate.

One man ska band JER / Skatune Network rang in the New Year in 2016 and somehow I missed it. Turnitup!

Yep, it’s almost time to turn the calendar ahead again, but before we do, we have a porch that needs sitting on. See you there.

The Christmas that C.H. met A. & the C’s

From the Utoobage:
This collaboration by Los Angeles Blues-Rock band Canned Heat and Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr. was released in November 1968 as the A-side of Liberty 56079 in time for the holiday shopping season. Though some pressings credit Canned Heat & The Chipmunks on both sides of the disc, the 30 i.p.s. rodents are not present on the reverse, “Christmas Blues”.

[h/t Marc “Savage” D. for enlightening me.]

Saturday Matinee – Pays D’en Haut, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band & Joanna Connor

Pays D’en Haut & friends.

The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band in 2012: “The video was shot in one day in Brown County, IN on the hottest day in Southern Indiana history.”

The amazing Joanna Connor, from an unknown performance, possibly late 1990s.

I caught up on my missed naps today and ran out of time to do much Utoob mining or write up. Not quite ready for Christmas music either. Have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – 16 Horsepower, Véronique Gayot & Delbert McClinton

16 Horsepower was a Denver-based group that mixed rock, bluegrass and Appalachian gospel. They released four studio albums before egos got in the way: they disbanded in 2005, citing “mostly political and spiritual” differences.

French blues rock singer and guitarist Véronique Gayot is a vocal powerhouse. Although she’s got two albums out and another soon to be released, I couldn’t find much background except for an interview.
Véronique Gayot: vocals
Yannick Eichert: guitar, vocals
Jerome Wolf: bass
Jérome Spieldenner: drums

Delbert McClinton has been performing on stage since 1957, has been called the sound of Texas soul, and has backed Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Jimmy Reed. Eventually he had a national hit, playing harmonica on Bruce Channel‘s “Hey! Baby” in 1962. His biggest hit came in 1980 with Giving It Up for Your Love, which scored No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It’s almost time, and I’m not ready for it, so we’ll put off the Christmas cheer until it becomes mandatory. Have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – The Pogues, Chelsea Williams & Johnny Winter

The Pogues lost one. RIP Shane MacGowan.

Nice bluesy cover of a Tom Waits song sung by Chelsea Williams, with John Schroeder / guitar, Vikram Devasthali / trombone, and husband Ross Garren / harmonetta. Should have been filmed in 16mm b&w – in 1927.

Too soon for Christmas music, so how about some Winter? Fire it up!

Another week gone in a blink and the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. Nothing to do but be back here tomorrow and think thoughts while we still have time. See you then.