Sunday 24 March 2013

STAR BLUES on 24th March 2013 at 22:00

Virtually everything on tonight's show started life on 45 or 78 rpm vinyl - and it warmed the cockles of my heart (having started the show in the freezing studio).When your white tee-shirt looks like Jacqueline Bissett in "The Deep" you know it's cold in the studio. Who cares about those embarrassing bumps: we pride ourselves on being different, we are never happier than when playing the good stuff from the archives.
The man who plays piano on the theme to "Top Gear" - Allman Brothers' "Jessica" - is Chuck Leavell and his new project celebrates blues piano pioneers; and when you see his selection includes Charlie Spand and Barrelhouse Buck MacFarland you know this aint just another excuse for coffee table blues with his celeb mates. His "Back To The Woods" album was last night's late addition to the planned fare and it shows he's a good technician with a love for the form.

Those splendid chaps at Veetone have a new anthology due to hit the shops anytime soon: it marks 75 years since the Ace Cafe opened for the first time. It was an iconic meeting point on the way up north (or back home) for so many gigging musicians in the days when you had to ply your trade live sweaty and without overdubs. The cafe stayed open all night and became the place to be seen. The new disc surveys the music of the time and we chose Link Wray's "Rumble" for our own tribute.

The subjects in Blues Matters! magazine are often too rock-laden for STAR BLUES but the new issue has a neat feature on Lil Joe Washington, one of blues' most interesting and distinctive characters. He records for Eddie Stout's marvellous imprint called Dialtone, which also is home to a lovely project from Milton Hopkins and Jewel Brown. The advert for that album has the whole back page in the new Blues & Rhythm magazine; an edition carrying good reviews of the Shelton Powe and Corey Harris albums. We like both on STAR BLUES.

We don't often celebrate the blues ladies doing R&B in the early Fifties so having Little Esther, Ruth Brown, Rosetta Perry and Margie Day was a huge treat last night. Perry only cut two discs, we had the first which enjoyed small commercial reward but her second in 1957 was done for BB King's short lived Blues Boy Kingdom label and disappeared as quickly as it came. Elton Anderson's "Train" was recorded for Eddie Shuler's Goldband outfit but he didn't fancy it, the licensed version put out by Johnny Vincent's Vin label did okay and Elton's subsequent work was out on Goldband. His song and that of Huey Piano Smith were part of the fifth volume looking at the output coming out of Ace Records in Jackson Mississippi. The booklet notes hint that more volumes may follow.

Roosevelt Sykes 1966 solo session was originally on an album called "In Europe", Delmark boss saw Skyes moving performance at the Ann Arbor festival and did the album - for some reason the cd reissue is called "Gold Mine". The performances found Skyes harking back to his earliest 1929 recordings. Johnny Temple and Blind Boy Fuller were also on hand for blues in that classic mould and Johnny Moore's beautifully sublime playing closed our show precisely on time last night. A word too about the guitar Moore used for these Modern recordings as shown in the booklet to "Be Cool": I'm in love!

Next Sunday we will mark 100 years since McKinley Morganfield was born (4th April 1913) so everything will be by Muddy or one of his great players (Little Walter, Otis Spann and so on). So that’s *TWO* vinyl hours on Easter Sunday at 10pm (BST). You don't forget to change those clocks 'you hear - until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you



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Track.TitleTrack.ArtistSortIndexAlbum.TitleAlbum.ArtistSortLabel
roll roll rolllonnie brooks, john hunter & phillip walker2-5blues & soul sessionsvarious artistsunion square
man of many wordsbuddy guy11blues and soul powervarious artistswsm
Serves Me Right To SufferJimmy Johnson11jimmy johnsonjimmy johnson
Can't Get Enough Of YouJewel Brown2Milton Hopkins & Jewel BrownMilton HopkinsJewel BrownDIALTONE
tipitinadr. john9gumbodr. johnatlantic
i got to go blueschuck leavell8back to the woodschuck leavellccr
Gold MineRoosevelt Sykes10Gold MineRoosevelt SykesDELMARK
diving duck bluesshelton powe4caroline blues and goispelshelton powemusic maker
Fulton BluesCorey Harris6Fulton BluesCorey HarrisNjumba
Mumblin' WordKoernerRayGlover20Blues Rags And HollersKoernerRayGloverRED HOUSE RECORDS
in christ there is no east or westMavis Staples4You Are Not AloneMavis StaplesAnti
ah poor little babyadam faith20ace cafe - 75 yearsvarious artistsveetone
the rumblelink wray26ace cafe - 75 yearsvarious artistsveetone
Someone Loves MeLil Joe Washington2Houston Guitar BluesLil Joe WashingtonDialtone Records
Wild About You (Baby)Elmore James And His Broomdusters16The Classic Early Recordings 1951-1956Elmore James And His BroomdustersACE
well i never get tiredjohnny fairchild1The Ace Story - Volume 5Various ArtistsACE
Roll On TrainElton Anderon6The Ace Story - Volume 5Various ArtistsACE
Aged And Mellow BluesLittle Esther11Blues And Soul SessionsVarious ArtistsUNION SQUARE MUSIC
Three O'clock BluesLowell Fulson4Blues Guitar PioneersVarious ArtistsBOULEVARD VINTAGE
Worry Worry WorryRosetta Perry8I'm A Bad Bad GirlVarious ArtistsINDIGO
Little Red RoosterMargie DayGriffin Brothers4The R'n'b Years 1951: 100 Hot Rhythm And Blues Tunes From 1951Various ArtistsBOULEVARD VINTAGE
Step It Up and GoHarmonica Frank7Rockin' MemphisVarious ArtistsProper Box
screamin and cryinBlind Boy Fuller2-2essentialBlind Boy Fullerclassic blues
back water bluesbessie smith5history of rhythm and blues - samplervarious artistsrhythm and blues
lead pencil bluesjohnny temple12history of rhythm and blues - samplervarious artistsrhythm and blues
If It Ain't One Thing It's AnotherHuey "Piano" Smith & His Clowns20The Ace Story - Volume 5Various ArtistsACE
Seventh Street BoogieIvory Joe Hunter1Blues At SunriseIvory Joe HunterINDIGO
rockin bluesruth brown5mama he treats your daughterruth brownindigo
Johnny's after hoursJohnny Moore's Three Blazers - Vocal By Mari Jones6Be CoolJohnny Moore's Three BlazersACE
Created: 24/03/2013 23:54:34



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