We also had a short musical tribute to the "Little Ol' Bluesman" Chick Willis who died a few days ago (79 years). He had some sides out on Atco under his own name in the early years but he got a measure of notoriety for his "Stoop Down Man" single which became his trademark. Though not suitable for a family show it really characterised the influence of the genre among uniquely African American audiences and it was always at the heart of his live sets. There were a couple of albums for Ichiban before hooking up with old friend Johnny Rawls for a fabulous project on Rawls' imprint Deep South Sounds. The combination of Rawls songwriting with Chicks clipped guitar licks was hard to resist: two artists much greater than the sum of the parts. We had two fine examples on STAR BLUES as well as a cut from the 2011 album featuring Travis Haddix which picked up a STAR BLUES award. He wrote to STAR BLUES a couple of times, really pleased to know his music was going well over here, I never met him but he seemed like a gentle soul with a big heart. Much missed.
The One Day outfit has a solid set of label surveys with selections first made between mid-50'sd and 1962. At a decent price you can use them as an introduction to the artists and old lags like me can pick up a few things to fill gaps in their collections. Don't expect to get the lavish attention to detail that Ace / Kent label put out, theirs is a labour of love with projects compiled by fans for fans (meaning you get rare pictures, alternate takes, memorabilia, session details and the very highest fidelity from the original source tapes). The other player in the game this year deserving of the highest praise is the VEE-TONE imprint from Scotland; they have started a vinyl reissue series in the vaults of Motown and they plan more. VEE-TONE use Mark Lamarr's wealth of knowledge (and unique perspective) in compiling Blues, R&B and Rock'n'Roll anthologies of previously unissued vinyl 45s.
Fantastic Voyage and Jasmine seem to be mining the same seams at the moment and deserve mention for not simply rehashing the well-known names. As with One Day they are limited by material before 1962. There are a number of others in the same market and by and large the fan wins out.
Wynona Carr turned up on a secular song, you'd have expected gospel but the Staple Singers did that using something they put out on a single and on the "Landlord" film soundtrack. We didn't do a special number to mark our piano spotwe'' put that right next week. Little Richards alternate lp take carried the Maceo Merriweather credit but the untreated single version had his own name in brackets underneath. We also dipped into a late period version of a song Wynonie Harris first cut in 1951. The 1960 remake put some rock'n'roll drums and an electric guitar into the mix - it failed to revive his career which had dipped with the arrival of beat groups and rock'n'roll. Our final oddity was the piece Maxwell Davis did for the Gillette (shaving) Company - other products are available.
Our 118 allotted minutes skated to a screeching halt far too soon for me but I plan to try to repeat the feat on Sunday at 10pm (GMT). You were magnificent company, until next week take CARE of yourselves and take care of those that take care of you
| track.title | track.artistsort | index | album.title | album.artistsort | label |
| Let the Boogie Woogie Roll | Clyde McPhatter | 12 | Let The Boogie Woogie Rock'n'roll | Various Artists | ACE |
| Don't You Just Know it | Smith & The Clowns, Huey "Piano" | 25 | The Golden Age Of American Rock 'N' Roll - Volume 6 | Various Artists | ACE |
| Sufferin' City (Version 2) | Johnny Copeland | 20 | South Texas Rhythm 'N' Blues Revue | Various Artists | Kent |
| rockin' blues | booker lee jr. | 2-1 | FEDEERAL STORY | various artists | one day |
| late late blues | john lee hooker | 2-18 | FEDEERAL STORY | various artists | one day |
| jumpin' blues | mumbles | 2-19 | RPM Story | various artists | one day |
| touch and go | wynona carr | 2-2 | specialty story | various artists | one day |
| ramblin | little esther phillips | 14 | am i that easy to forget | little esther phillips | jasmine |
| Won't Give Up | Chick Willis | 9 | Won't Give Up | Chick Willis | DEEP SOUTH SOUNDS |
| got to find a cure | Chick Willis | 10 | Won't Give Up | Chick Willis | DEEP SOUTH SOUNDS |
| Let Me Play My Blues | Chick WillisTravis Haddix | 13 | Let The Blues Speak For Itself | Chick WillisTravis Haddix | Benevolent Blues |
| bloodshot eyes (1960) | wynonie harris | 2-25 | rock mr. blues | wynonie harris | fantastic voyage |
| i'm glad you reconsidered | lowell fulson | 3-21 | trouble trouble | lowell fulson | fantastic voyage |
| I'm Leavin' Town | Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup | 8 | Sunny Road | Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup | DELMARK |
| I'll Forget About You | Junior Parker | 10 | Feelin' Good | Junior Parker | Hoodoo Records |
| love you till the day i die | bobby blue bland | 1-1 | its my life baby | bobby blue bland | jasmine |
| lost lover blues | bobby blue bland | 1-12 | its my life baby | bobby blue bland | jasmine |
| only young once | otis williams | 1-1 | king records story | various artists | one day |
| Say You Love Me | Burrage & His Band, Harold | 1 | Foxy R&b | Various Artists | ACE |
| Shed So Many Tears | Elton Anderson | 19 | The Ace Story - Volume 5 | Various Artists | ACE |
| brand new day | staple singers | 5 | gospel truth | various artists | BGP |
| Same Thing | Gino Parks | 2-5 | For This I Thank You: Motown R&b, Popcorn And Rock N Roll | Various Artists | Fantastic Voyage |
| OH LOVER | SHERI TAYLOR AND SAMMY WARD | 13 | MOTOWN RHYTHM AND BLUES | VARIOUS ARTISTS | VEE-TONE |
| Gonna Make it on Back (Do Rae Me 1404) | Little Willie Brown | 15 | R&b Humdingers Volume 14 | Various Artists | Vee-Tone Records |
| He Got What He Wanted (But He Lost What He Had) (Alt LP Take) | Little Richard | 21 | Rock 'N' Roll With Little Richard | Little Richard | SMITH & CO |
| T.B. Blues (Take 2 Master) | Al "Cake" Wichard Sextette & Jimmy Witherspoon | 12 | Beating The Petrillo Ban. The Late December 1947 Modern Sessions | Various Artists | ACE |
| WHAT CAME FIRST | KOKO TAYLOR | 26 | ROCK ON | VARIOUS ARTISTS | ACE |
| I FOUND A LOVE | THE FALCONS | 1-1 | SOUL CITY DETROIT | VARIOUS ARTISTS | FANTASTIC VOYAGE |
| I Smell a Rat | George Jackson | 9 | Hall Of Fame Volume 2 | Various Artists | Kent |
| Look Sharp - Be Sharp (The Gillette March) | Maxwell Davis | 26 | Wailin' Daddy | Maxwell Davis | Fantastic Voyage |
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