Off The Wall, Little Walter & His Jukes (1953)
Little Walter Jacobs was the first and only blues harp player (to date) to be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Following his January 1953 recording on Checker Records, Big Walter Horton claimed to be the composer and recorded the same harmonica-led tune for Sun Records in May of the same year.
Hair-Net, The 5 Peaks, (1985?) Jay-R RecordsFrom Pueblo, Colorado, Gerald Gantt, Robert Stallworth, Casey Hynes and Joel Scherzer recorded in the 70’s as The Four Shades, The Five Bucks, and as The 5 Peaks in the late 80’s for the Jay-R label. The 45 rpm credits M. Simpkins as the songwriter. [Heard on The Hound.]
“Don’t be gaslightin’ me, MoFo.” Jerry Casale (of DEVO fame) airs some grievances as Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers, a new release after a 15 year break. After three minutes of that I gotta rest my earballs.
Petty Booka features Petty and Booka, except Petty left in 1997 and was replaced with a different Petty, and in 2002 Booka left and a new Booka joined the new Petty. Here they are at Cheapo Disc in Austin, Texas, 2007 with a better version of Connie Francis’ song from 1962. (I don’t know why, but there’s some extraneous bluegrass filler from somewhere in El Paso).
Freshlyground features Zolani Mahola (the one who sings) who has one of the prettiest voices I’ve heard. The band hails from Capetown, South Africa, and their style is Afro-eclectic pop jazz – at least that’s how my ears see it.
Gonna be a hot one tomorrow – Death Valley is expected to reach 130°F so don’t go there. Go somewhere else, point and laugh at someone for no reason, and have a great weekend.
I went downstairs, made a cup of coffee, had a chat with the neighbor, took the clothes in, came back up to my laptop, and he was still holding the first “Well”.
Dale Watson, keeper of the true country music flame and the Memphis sound (despite hailing from Austin) is right up there with Johnny, Willie & Waylon – and a lot of others.
Polly Put Your Kettle On, Sonny Boy Williamson (1947)Williamson’s final recording session took place in Chicago in December 1947, in which he accompanied Big Joe Williams. On June 1, 1948, Williamson was killed in a robbery on Chicago’s South Side as he walked home from a performance at the Plantation Club. After his death, Alex “Rice” Miller stole the name for his own performances and recordings.
Buckin’ and beer. Buck dancing is related to clogging, flat footing, step dancing, and this film from the 1950s refers to it as skiffle. You already know about beer.
Roy Buchanan, aka “The World’s Greatest Unknown Guitarist,” from a PBS documentary 1971. Buchanan was most famously associated with a 1953 Fender Telecaster nicknamed ‘Nancy’. In 1988 he was arrested for public intoxication and was found hanged from his own shirt in the Fairfax County Virginia Jail. He was 48.
Pete Anderson was “the very first true rocker in the entire former Soviet Union” and formed The Swamp Shakers in Riga, Latvia, in 2009. Anderson passed away in 2016, but The Swamp Shakers continue performing as a trio.
Getting kinda late, so I’ll wrap this up and send it off to the internest. Have a great weekend, we’ll have more fun tomorrow.
Alalaké, Bembeya Jazz National (1971)
Formed by vocalist Aboubacar Dembar Camara in 1961 and specializing in modern arrangements of Manding classic tunes, Bembeya Jazz National won the first two national Biennial festivals in 1962 and 1964 and was crowned National Orchestra (of Guinea-Bissau) in 1966. The songis from a live album, Hommage a Demba Camara, recorded during a 1971 concert.
Mary Lou, Young Jessie (1955)Recorded by 18 year-old Obediah Donnell Jessie (1936-2020) who later spent some time with The Flairs, The Coasters, and the Obie Jessie Combo. It was his younger brother, actor DeWayne Jessie, who portrayed Otis Day in “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” Jessie was also related to Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Booker-Loo, Booker T. & The MGs (1967)This live recording is from the “Hit The Road Stax” european showcase tour that included performances in England, Norway and France. Steve Cropper described it: “It was just a mind-blower. Hell, we were just in Memphis cutting records; we didn’t know. Then when we got over there, there were hoards of people waiting at the airport, autograph hounds and all that sort of stuff. I didn’t know what it was all about. That was something that happened to Elvis or Ricky Nelson, but it didn’t happen to the Stax-Volt band. It didn’t happen to Booker T. & the MGs.”
