Sunday 18 November 2012

STAR BLUES on 18th November 2012 at 22:00

Richard "Hacksaw" Harney was born in 1902 and by the age of ten he was earning a living as a street singer. He cultivated a unique style which combined finger picking - which mimicked a mandolin - with solid bass figures that sound like a second player is on the date with him. as far as I know there's just one album under his own name: 'Sweet Man' on Edsel from a 1972 session; we dipped in for "Adelphi Stomp".




Dan Pickett was another supremely gifted player who was based on the East Coast, his work is rarely anthologised - which is a big shame given his skill and reputation amongst those "in the know". We had no problem in sharing his 1949 song "99 and 1/2" with you on last night's STAR BLUES.



Our pitch opened with Louis Jordan for no other reason than he matches my definition of sublime and it was a refreshing change to hear the original of "Buzz Me" rather than any one of a number of electric versions which always centre on guitar showings off. The erudite scribe Charles Shaar Murray wrote about Jimmy Witherspoon: "Too jazz for blues and too blues for jazz". I can see his point but Spoon was bigger than either genre, his effortless shouting was a highlight at the 1959 Monterey Jazz Festival when conventional wisdom said his time was long gone, killed off by rock'n'roll. He and tenor sax man Ben Webster had other ideas. We took their cover of "St Louis Blues" from a volume in the Orbis magazine series.



Ann Peebles gets waaaaay less props than she should, I doubt many folks could name one of her songs which isn't about "Rain". After many years with Willie Mitchell at the helm, Ann jumped ship from Hi to Bullseye for a project produced by Ron Levy. His touch brought out a grittier edge to her voice and she was steered towards less obvious songs such as those by Delbert McClinton. Nice. Ollie Nightingale can sound like Sam Cooke at times, not that's a bad thing because it's double qualification for duties in the gospel tent. Amos Milburn held keyboard court with one of his Aladdin recordings, ably supported not once but twice by Otis Spann and Muddy Waters (even if Muddy was smuggled into 'Blues will never die" as Dirty Rivers). "Blow Wind Blow" was the first song Otis Spann did as part of Muddy Waters' band and its one of the mere handful of sides Walter Horton cut with Muddy. I used the opportunity as a reminder that 1913 will be the centenary of Muddys birth and we will be doing some special shows next April in celebration.



Freddie Kings work for Cotillion is sometimes overlooked when compared with the early stuff for Federal and his later stuff for RSO, I like it for the way King Curtis put Freddies guitar up front and let everyone else try to keep up from behind. The 1967 album "Never Get Out Of these blues" isn't one of John Lee Hooker's best but it does have a couple of flashes of what Hooker does best, mostly on Al Kings song "Think Twice Before you Speak" and we also had a smidge of the man himself from a Kent collection of proper R&B. Just time to mention a project from Ann Rabson and Bob Margolin on Vizztone, full of charm and old-fashioned pleasure of two seasoned players enjoying each others company.



Regular listeners will know I always wear a white tee-shirt - and once a year I sign one for charity. Just done it, there's is only one of them, You can bid for it by taking part in the Thursday auctions on Ryan Taylor's breakfast show on Thursday mornings. He's keeping it a secret on when it will be, you should listen to him to find out. I've slipped a few extra goodies into the basket so I hope you'll want to follow the auction and time those bids precisely. Meantime you were splendid company yesterday, I was Gary Blue and if you'll have me I'll bring some more trivia and tomfoolery next Sunday night at ten pm (Mr Ernest, Mrs Doubtfire and the two little ducks, Deefer and Spot will already be there). Until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you


Track.TitleTrack.ArtistSortIndexAlbum.TitleAlbum.ArtistSortLabel
Buzz MeLouis Jordan3Reet Petite And GoneLouis JordanINDIGO
Miss LucyBig Al Downing5Holy Mackerel! Pretenders To Little Richard's ThroneVarious ArtistsACE
Lucky To Be LivingDave Riley & Bob Corritore4Lucky To Be LivingDave Riley & Bob CorritoreBlue Witch Records
Think Twice Before You GoJohn Lee Hooker6Tantalizing With The BluesJohn Lee HookerMCA
Dyin' FluAlbert Collins6The Cool Sound Of Albert CollinsAlbert CollinsBLUE CITY
Read Me My RightsAnn Peebles3Full Time LoveAnn PeeblesBULLSEYE BLUES
St. Louis BluesJimmy Witherspoon15Ain't Nobody's BusinessJimmy WitherspoonORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
Home In Your HeartSolomon Burke23Handy Man - The Songs Of Otis BlackwellVarious ArtistsACE
Ain't Givin Up NothinAl King20New Breed R'n'bVarious ArtistsKent (U.K.)
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And OutJoe Hicks7Stax: We'll Play The Blues For YouVarious ArtistsSTAX
Adelphi RambleRichard 'Hacksaw' Harney4Sweet ManRichard 'Hacksaw' HarneyEDSEL
Tough LuckRobert Lee McCoy1Prowling NighthawkRobert NighthawkCATFISH
I Wonder WhyFreddie King3My Feeling For The BluesFreddie KingREPERTOIRE
Tin Pan AlleyPhillip Walker2Bottom Of The Top / BluesPhillip WalkerDEMON
Choo Choo BoogieClarence 'Gatemouth' Brown5Just Got LuckyClarence 'Gatemouth' BrownORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
I've Got A New HomeOllie Nightingale & The Dixie Nightingales8Gospel Celebrities And Celestial LightsVarious ArtistsFantastic Voyage
cut you a-looserick allen10age & chief blues storyvarious artistsfuel 2000
Blow Wind BlowMuddy Waters23Mad Love : Introduction To Muddy WatersMuddy WatersPROPER
The Blues Never DieOtis Spann6All That BluesVarious ArtistsORIGINAL BLUES CLASSICS
Anybody's BluesAmos Milburn32Blues Barrelhouse And Boogie - The Best OfAmos MilburnCapitol
Anywhere You GoAnn Rabson With Bob Margolin10Not AloneAnn Rabson With Bob MargolinVizztone
99 1/2 Won't DoDan Pickett23Shake That Thing!: East Coast Blues 1935-1953,Various ArtistsJSP Records
Blues After HoursPee Wee Crayton13The History Of Rhythm And Blues Volume Two 1942-1952Various ArtistsRhythm and Blues Records
need your love so badfleetwood mac10fleetwood macfleetwood macblue horizon
frogs in the long grassEddie Martin & His Big Blues Band1Looking Forward Looking BackEddie Martin & His Big Blues BandBUEBLOOD
Created: 18/11/2012 23:55:00

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