STAR BLUES on 3rd May 2015 at 22:00 celebrating the current crop of senior blues players

.. not just B. B. King; we are proud to celebrate Jimmy Johnson, Bobby Rush, Henry Gray, Eddie C. Campbell, Eddie Clearwater, Fats Domino, Otis Rush. Our thoughts of course are with B's family at this time of uncertainty. Just adding the ages of these artists gets you up around the 700 mark, but the sum total of their influence is so much more. These aren't curios gathering dust in a museum either: Henry Gray has a new album with Bob Corritore due out in June, there's a new one in the works from Jimmy Johnson and Dave Specter, and Eddie Clearwater released a new live record called "Soul Funky" just a month or so back. I even noticed Eddie live on Facebook while on air, no doubt smiling at our choice to include his "Cool Walk" track in the first hour. Already a listener favourite!

The life of a working musician for these players has been hard-won: all started out in an era of segregation made to feel second class the moment they came off stage. Slogging up and down the interstates, even driving their own tour bus has been part of who they are. That they are still making great music is remarkable indeed. I hope our survey on STAR BLUES last night did them proud.

Two artists with famous fathers at the top of the shop: Chris' dad is Joe Beard the jazz maestro and Rip Lee Pryor showed the apple don't fall far from the tree planted by his dad, Snooky Pryor. Plenty of substantial blues on the distaff side too from Bessie Jackson, Ruby Glaze and Margie Day. Pre-war highlight came in the form of Son House and the immortal "Walking Blues", the power bursting through the fidelity of eighty years hence. I stumbled across Square Walton on t'internet and was delighted to learn the track was already in my collection - and on your radio yesterday.

Over in the piano tent, Amos Milburn had a song rejected by the Aladdin label, rescued for first release by compiler Dave Penny when he put together a chronological survey on the Clasics imprint. The minor key flourish from Jimmy Yancey was his trademark and left no doubt who was in charge on the Faber Smith piece. Dave also writes for Blues & Rhythm magazine, whose issue #299 has just hit the mat - it has for the last thirty odd issues included "Rays Rudiments" a remarkable series of features on key blues artists with guide to their prime recordings. Ray Templeton is the writer/compiler and the latest to come under his gaze is Jimmy Reed. If you don't believe what Jimmy did for the blues, especially here in Britain, just ask Mick Jagger.

If you hear better blues guitar playing than that of Mississippi John Hurt's "Hot Time In Old Town" I'll eat my socks. With a single trice our two hours together were done, I'm planning two more next Sunday round your place at 10pm (BST) so 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
Hey Baby	Chris Beard	12	Who I Am & What I Do	Chris Beard	ELECTRO Glide
Stuck On Stupid	Rip Lee Pryor	9	Nobody But Me	Rip Lee Pryor
Stubborn Woman	Tutu Jones	9	I'm For Real	Tutu Jones	JSP Records
don't let daddy slow walk you	Rusty Zinn	1	sitting and waiting	Rusty Zinn	black top
Cool Blues Walk	Eddy 'The Chief' Clearwater	4	Box Of Blues	Various Artists	Rounder
Pleadin' For Love	Roscoe Shelton	17	The Real Excello R'n'b	Various Artists	ACE
i'm going upside your head	Jimmy Reed	22	rockin with reed	Jimmy Reed	charly
Angel Child	Peppermint Harris	7	I Pity The Fool - The Duke Records Story	Various Artists	One Day Music
The Trace	Phillip Walker	10	Stepping Up In Class	Phillip Walker	ORBIS BLUES COLLECTION
Small Town Baby	Maurice John Vaughn	12	In The Shadow Of The City	Maurice John Vaughn	.
Serves Me Right To Suffer Aka Memory Pain	Jimmy Johnson	3	Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 1	Various Artists	Alligator
first time i met the blues	Buddy Guy	29	chicago bound	Various Artists	fantastic voyage
Crazy Bout You	Bobby Rush	2	The Essential Recordings - Vol.1	Bobby Rush	DEEP Rush
Ain't That Just Like A Woman	Fats Domino	26	R&b Spotlight '61	Various Artists	Fantastic Voyage
Watch Yourself - Henry Gray	Henry Gray	1	Chicago Blues [Parrot Blues]	Various Artists	V.I.
cool cool mama	Eddie C. Campbell	5	hopes and dreams	Eddie C. Campbell
She's A Good'un	Otis Rush	10	Good'uns : The Classic Cobra Sides	Otis Rush	BLUESIDE
Ice Cream Man	John Brim	13	Chess Blues	Various Artists	CHESS
Stubborn As A Mule	Margie Day	22	Voodoo Voodoo: Feisty Fifties Females	Various Artists	Fantastic Voyage
Memphis Blues	Lizzie Miles	6	Blues Tunes	Various Artists	HIT
That's What My Baby Likes	Bessie Jackson	10	Broke Black And Blue	Various Artists	PROPER
Gimme Your Bankroll	Square Walton	99	Down Home Blues Classics	Various Artists	BOULEVARD VINTAGE
Playmate Shuffle	Eddie Boyd	7	The Blues Is Here To Stay	Eddie Boyd	Jasmine Records
Real Crazy	Amos Milburn	19	Chronological Amos Milburn 1950-1951	Amos Milburn	CLASSICS
Walking Blues	Son House	20	Broke Black And Blue	Various Artists	PROPER
Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight	Mississippi John Hurt	9	Complete Studio Recordings	Mississippi John Hurt	VANGUARD
Lonesomeday Blues	Ruby Glaze	8	The Great Women Blues Singers	Various Artists	RETRO
Can't Get Enough	Clara Burston	27	Cincinnati Blues	Various Artists	CATFISH
East St. Louis Blues	Faber SmithJimmy Yancey	1	Broke Black And Blue	Various Artists	PROPER
Ross Tavern Boogie	Art Hodes	8	The Best Of Boogie Woogie	Various Artists	DOCUMENTS
Believe In Me	Little Milton	5	Who's Cheatin' Who	Little Milton	TRACE

Created: 03/05/2015 23:52:13