Sunday 19 May 2013

STAR BLUES on 19th May 2013 at 22:00

Bob Koester = Delmark = Chicago. Though we couldn't attend the party in Chicago, we didn't want to miss out on marking the diamond anniversary of the oldest independent record label in USA. Bob Koester's achievements are fully chronicled elsewhere so STAR BLUES concentrated on the music with an hour from his current artist roster and an hour of classics made in the era of vinyl at 45 and 78 rpm. Eddie Taylor's daughter Demetria was on hand showing how well the old school approach still works (Billy Branch did harp duties). The two recent albums from Linsey Anderson and Willie Buck got good reviews in Living Blues magazine and sit high up in their radio airplay charts.

We went back a couple of years to Quntus McCormick's label debut "Hey Jodie" which neatly spans a couple of genres with a reference to the Back Door Man character in soul-blues. Happy Birthday to Quintus this week too. Mike Wheeler is another current player who is maintaining Bob Koester's track record picking winners by following his considerable instincts. Never more accurate than when he signed Robert Ward for what proved to be the last recordings made by this elegant guitarist.

The Delmark catalog has issues listed as Blues or Jazz and the female vocal talents of Inetta Visor has the sort of tone to fit either - she was in New Orleans for harp-player Pierre Lacoque's Mississippi Heat on their 20th anniversary. More blues women in evidence courtesy of Big Time Sarah and Karen Carrol.

No decent blues collection can afford to be without Junior Wells' "Hoodoo Man Blues" or Magic Sam's "West Side Soul" - two magnificent examples of the sound of Chicago's West Side. Carey Bell - with his son Lurrie - were caught live and the Joe Carter sessions were Ralph Bass' idea just not issued at the time. The most recent projects from Delmark include a 1969 recording from Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup now out for the first time. Similarly new discs have early Tail Dragger recordings and an otherwise-rare album from Al Miller.

Yank Rachell and Big Joe Williams recalled times gone by ("Texas Tony" was first out on Bluebird in 1938, Yank returned to it in 1961. Big Joe was something from 1958); Jimmy Dawkins was on hand with a track from his debut session (the album was called Fast Fingers) as well as donning the guise of label owner himself for the Leric singles from a few years back.Big Mojo Elem was one of the players Dawkins signed and the Delmark label did a nice survey of all those Leric singles on Jimmy's behalf. Magic Sam's secord playlist entry was recorded in an informal setting just vox and guitar - these rare recordings were done at his house using non-professional kit. It seemed fitting given the geography of our theme on last night's STAR BLUES that we threw caution to the wind in closing to take the title track off the sweet-voiced Syl Johnson's DELMARK album.

Big City Blues Review magazine Feb/Mar 20133 has a lovely cover photograph which shows Bob sat benevelently among his artists - he rather nervously holds an acoustic guitar. The mag has a decent history of Bob's unmatched contribution to blues over these 60 years. We just hope we did Bob Keoester proud with our survey, we're up for some more of the stuff that makes us Britain's Other Blues show this upcoming Sunday at 10pm (BST). Until then take care of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you






Track.TitleTrack.ArtistSortIndexAlbum.TitleAlbum.ArtistSortLabel
New Role SoulRobert Ward2New Role SoulRobert WardDELMARK
I Wasn't Thinkin'Quintus McCormick Blues Band12Hey Jodie!Quintus McCormick Blues BandDELMARK
Get Your Mind RightMike Wheeler9Self Made ManMike WheelerDELMARK
Big WomanLinsey Alexander9Been There Done ThatLinsey AlexanderDELMARK
Goin' To St. LouisMississippi Heat9Delta BoundMississippi HeatDELMARK
Doin' Good and Bad at the Same TimeWillie Buck1Cell Phone ManWillie BuckDELMARK
Bad GirlDemetria Taylor4Bad GirlDemetria TaylorDELMARK
Confessin' The BluesKaren Carrol3Wild About That Thing - Ladies Sing The BluesVarious ArtistsDELMARK
train i ridebig time sarah5a million of youbig time sarahDELMARK
baby please don't goCarey Bell and Lurrie Bell3Gettin' UpCarey Bell and Lurrie BellDELMARK
roll and tumblebig joe williams1stavin' chain bluesbig joe williams and j d shortDELMARK
I Gotta Sad FeelingLittle Johnny Christian14Jimmy Dawkins Presents: The Leric StoryVarious ArtistsDELMARK
Special Kind Of LoveBig Mojo Elem12Jimmy Dawkins Presents: The Leric StoryVarious ArtistsDELMARK
triple treblesJimmy dawkins1fast fingersjimmy dawkinsDELMARK
i feel so goodMagic Sam2west side soulMagic SamDELMARK
Sweet Little AngelMagic Sam7Give Me TimeMagic SamDELMARK
chitlins con carnejunior wells feat. buddy guy8hoodoo man bluesjunior wells blues bandDELMARK
texas tonyyank rachell2mandolin bluesyank rachelldelmark
Railroad BluesBarrelhouse Buck McFarland5Alton BluesBarrelhouse Buck McFarlandDELMARK
I'm WorriedJoe Carter7That Ain't RightMagic Slim & The TeardropsJoe CarterDELMARK
The One That I LoveArthur "Big Boy" Crudup6Sunny RoadArthur "Big Boy" CrudupDELMARK
Talkin' Bout ChicagoSyl Johnson4Talkin' About ChicagoSyl JohnsonDELMARK
Created: 19/05/2013 23:50:02

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