First up Doubting Thomas Lamarr - his mum calls him Mark - has put together two anthologies of Screamin' Gospel and Holy Rollers for the VEE-TONE label. The source material comes from places like the Specialty catalogue and is late Fifties / Sixties vintage, it doesn't get better than this. We had two choice cuts last night, one from each disc - over in the sacred corner.
The Devils Music was a documentary series put out by the BBC in 1976 and 1979, compered by Alexis Korner and his magnificent sideburns. we took all six tracks from episode four of series two as a way of remembering the groups then playing Chicago blues - these guys in the Aces for example were the first choice for supporting Muddy Waters, Junior Wells and so on. (Freddie Below looking the epitome of cool behind the traps). Sonny Blake and Good Rockin' Charles were featured too and neither are much remembered these days which is a shame given their performances here. Fenton Robinson was a stylish player and Alexis put two songs into his tv show - so we did the same last night.
With some measure of coincidence, possibly caught betwixt andbetween, Joe Louis Walker (its pronounced Lewis not Looey) has a new project for Alligator called "Hellfire" - it wont be in the shops until 31st Jan but we had it last night. I've already seen it reviewed on Tinternet as "the first great album of 2012" and we definitely like it because Joe's singing better than he has for a long while, he's come up with some good songs and plays with confident aggression throughout. Its a very strong set indeed but he needs to fend off eleven more months of competition to scoop our STAR BLUES award. Don't forget James Armstrong and Bobby Womack are due to hatch anytime soon...
Birthday boy Rev Robert Wilkins would have been 116 on 16th January and he helped out the Rolling Stones twice during their heyday: first his 'No Way to get along' heavily inspired 'Prodigal Son' from the Beggars Banquet album and his 'Rolling Stone' song is the first time that phrase appeared on record - ever!
Calvin Leavy proved life can imitate art with his 1970 hit 'Cummins Prison Farm', he subsequently got put inside there twenty years later and died 18 months before his parole was due. Cary Morin is a Native American now signed to Music Maker, he has a distinctive singing and playing style that will see him return to our playlists.
Our piano blues remembered Omar Sharriff (born Dave Alexander) who less than a year ago was feted on Martin Luther King day as the last link to the golden age of boogie-woogie and his return to his childhood home in Marshall Texas. He died last Sunday 8th aged 73 and we played his piece "The Raven" with his atmospheric playing that reminds me of an Edgar Alan Poe novel.
Your company was - as always - magnificent, I was Gary Blue and I will be plotting more mayhem and tomfoolery for next Sunday at ten (GMT) in a white tee-shirt. Until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you.
| Track.Title | Track.ArtistSort | Index | Album.Title | Album.ArtistSort | Label |
| Cuts Like A Knife | Jw Jones | 14 | Underground Plus! | Luther Allison et al | Ruf |
| Voodoo Woman | Koko Taylor W. Mighty Joe Young | 9 | Deluxe Edition | Koko Taylor | Alligator |
| Cummins Prison Farm | Calvin Leavy | 25 | Southern Soul Showcase | Various Artists | Kent (U.K.) |
| Rolling Log | Rory Block | 10 | The Very Best Of The Blues | Various Artists | ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION |
| Crying Won't Make Me Stay | R. L. Burnside | 12 | Mississippi Hill Country Blues | R. L. Burnside | FAT POSSUM |
| Josephine | H-Bomb Ferguson | 12 | Sing My Blues Tonight - Ace (Ms.) Blues Masters Vol.1 | Various Artists | WESTSIDE |
| She Fooled Me | Billy Boy Arnold | 1 | The Devil's Music | Various Artists | INDIGO |
| You Don't Know What Love Is | Fenton Robinson | 19 | The Devil's Music | Various Artists | INDIGO |
| Bring It On Home | Sonny Blake | 10 | The Devil's Music | Various Artists | INDIGO |
| Don't Start Me Talkin' | Good Rockin' Charles | 18 | The Devil's Music | Various Artists | INDIGO |
| Take A Little Walk With Me | Aces, The | 15 | The Devil's Music | Various Artists | INDIGO |
| That's No Way To Get Along | Robert Wilkins | 20 | The Blues Roots Of The Rolling Stones | Various Artists | complete blues |
| W.P.A. Blues | Casey Bill Weldon | 20 | Story Of The Blues | Various Artists | Columbia Legacy |
| Acute Blues Syndrome | Travis Haddix | 3 | Blues From Staghorn Street | Travis Haddix | WALDOXY |
| I Won't Do That | Joe Louis Walker | 7 | Hellfire | Joe Louis Walker | Alligator |
| Custard Pie Blues | Sonny Terry | 22 | Let Me Tell You About The Blues: New York | Various Artists | Fantastic Voyage |
| Cool Calm And Collected | King Karl | 3 | It's Your Voodoo Working: The Best Of Excello | Various Artists | universal music operations |
| By and By | Rev Gatemouth Moore | 7 | Screamin' Gospel and Holy Rollers | Various Artists | VEE-TONE |
| Jonah | Fabulous Davis Sisters | 3 | Screamin' Gospel and Holy Rollers | Various Artists | VEE-TONE |
| Sing It Louder | Cary Morin | 2 | Sing It Louder | Cary Morin | MUSIC MAKER |
| The Raven | Omar Sharriff | 10 | American Masters Vol. 2 : Urban Blues | Various Artists | Arhoolie Records |
| Half Past The Blues | Vernon Garrett | 2 | Half Past The Blues | Vernon Garrett | |
| Somebody Loan Me A Dime | Fenton Robinson | 17 | The Devil's Music | Various Artists | INDIGO |
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