CAREY BELL (1936.11.14/Macon, MS – 2007.05.06/Chicago, IL)

If we need legends, here is one. He would have been 73 years old today – and just 10 days younger than my father was. Playing harmonica seems to be an easy task if you listen to this guy but sometimes we forgot about the hard work that is behind. Anyway, here is another of my favorites, enjoy and feel free to rate & comment my posts (which btw, are updated constantly).

Blues harmonica legend CAREY BELL (1936.11.14/Macon, MS – 2007.05.06/Chicago, IL) is one of the very few players today who didn’t learn his craft by listening to old records, but by studying directly under the masters. “Little Walter, he showed me a lot of things,” says Bell, “but Big Walter, he was crazy. He did all kinds of shit other harp players couldn’t do.” And like his teachers Big Walter Horton, Little Walter Jacobs and Sonny Boy Williamson II – each with a sound of his own – Bell was inspired to forge his own style.

It didn’t take long for Bell to develop his signature “chopped” harmonica phrasing and deep-blues vocal attack. A veteran of both Muddy Waters’ and Willie Dixon’s bands as well as a searing solo artist with chops to burn, Bell’s classic yet contemporary, funky yet subtle and deeply soulful blues place him firmly on the short list of blues harmonica superstars.

Carey Bell Harrington was born in Mississippi. A fan of Louis Jordan, Bell originally wanted a saxophone. Economic realities forced his grandfather to buy him a harmonica instead. He taught himself to play harmonica by the time he was eight, and began playing professionally with his godfather, pianist Lovie Lee, when he was 13.

In 1956, Lee convinced Carey that Chicago was the place to be for aspiring bluesmen, and on September 12, 1956 they arrived. Almost immediately, Bell went to see Little Walter perform at the Club Zanzibar at 14th and Ashland. The two became friends and Walter delighted in showing the youngster some of his tricks. Carey went on to meet and learn from Sonny Boy Williamson II, but it was Big Walter Horton who really bowled him over. “I liked that big tone he had,” recalls Bell, “didn’t nobody else have that.” Big Walter became Bell’s close friend and musical mentor.

Carey learned his lessons well but by the late 1950s and early 1960s the gigs were drying up for harp players as the electric guitar began to take over as the predominant instrument of Chicago blues. Bell decided to increase his worth by becoming a bass player (learning the ropes from Hound Dog Taylor). He quickly mastered the instrument and began getting gigs as a bassist with Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Young, Eddie Taylor, Earl Hooker and Big Walter. While playing bass in Big Walter’s band, Bell studied every harp trick in the book first-hand from one of the all-time great harmonica players.

Bell, back on harp full-time, recorded behind Earl Hooker in 1968 for Arhoolie. His friend Charlie Musselwhite brought him over to Bob Koester at Delmark Records in 1969, who promptly signed Bell and recorded Carey Bell’s Blues Harp. Bell spent 1970-1971 traveling and recording with Muddy Waters (he can be heard on Muddy’s THE LONDON SESSIONS and UNK IN FUNK albums on Chess). Willie Dixon chose Bell for the featured role in his Chicago Blues All-Stars, with whom Bell worked regularly throughout the 1970s, both touring and recording.

Even though Dixon kept Carey busy, Bell still found time for his own projects. In 1972 he teamed up with his friend Big Walter and recorded what was to be Alligator Records’ second-ever release, BIG WALTER HORTON WITH CAREY BELL (AL 4702). In 1973 he made a solo album for ABC Bluesway and was featured in 1978 on Alligator’s Grammy-nominated LIVING CHICAGO BLUES series (both with his own band and playing behind Lovie Lee).

By the 1980s Bell was already an established giant among blues harmonica players. He recorded albums as a leader and as a sideman for a variety of labels both in the United States and Europe, and was constantly playing live. In 1990 Bell, along with fellow harpslingers Junior Wells, James Cotton and Billy Branch, got together and recorded the Blues Music Award-winning Alligator album, HARP ATTACK (AL 4790). Bell’s hot playing and deep blues vocals helped make the recording a modern blues classic. And the record has become one of Alligator’s best-sellers.

In 1995, Bell’s very first full length solo album on Alligator, DEEP DOWN, secured his reputation as a monster harpist. The Village Voice called Bell, “a master of the double reed harmonica.” Option said, “Bell’s harp solos are huge … full of life on the road and classic blues themes … sung with conviction.” Bell’s wailing harmonica and pleading vocals give every song on the album a deep soulfulness and classic blues feel while adding urgent, funky grooves to keep things contemporary.

Bell’s new album, GOOD LUCK MAN (AL 4854), picks up right where his critically acclaimed release, DEEP DOWN (AL 4828), left off. Along with his friend and musical partner for the last nine years, guitarist Steve Jacobs (“He’s like a right arm to me,” says Bell), GOOD LUCK MAN is a non-stop ride through 14 tough blues, ranging from inspired readings of Muddy’s “My Love Strikes Like Lightning,” Willie Dixon’s “I’m A Business Man” (a song made famous by Little Walter) and Big Walter Horton’s “Hard Hearted Woman” to six Bell originals including “Going Back To Mississippi,” “Teardrops” and the smoking instrumental “Bell Hop.”

Recorded in Chicago and produced by Bell, guitarist Steve Jacobs, Alligator president Bruce Iglauer and dj/harp player Scott Dirks, GOOD LUCK MAN finds Bell’s big tone and gritty vocals leading two distinctly different bands. On half the album, Bell’s road-tested touring band fuels the proceedings with classic blues grooves. The other half finds Bell in a more contemporary setting, adding the funky rhythms of his old friends, including bassist Johnny B. Gayden (Albert Collins) and drummer Willie Hayes (Luther Allison). Put together, these two bands make GOOD LUCK MAN one great CD.

On GOOD LUCK MAN, Bell keeps the blues fire burning red hot. He was touring extensively with his own band (featured on seven of the 14 songs on the new album) and also has been working regularly as a part of the Grammy-nominated Muddy Waters Tribute Band. And like his teachers Little Walter, Sonny Boy and especially Big Walter before him, Bell was never content to rest on what’s come before: “I’m still reaching for something I’ve never heard before or played before,” says Bell. “I’m always searching for different things.” GOOD LUCK MAN, with Bell’s rich vocabulary of deep harmonica solos and tough city vocals, is a stellar example of what he’s found.

Carey Bell died of heart failure on May 6, 2007 in Chicago.

In 1998, Carey Bell was awarded the Blues Music Award for Traditional Male Artist Of The Year.

Discography in my collection (grab ‘em while you can!):

[1964.09] CAREY BELL & ROBERT NIGHTHAWK Live On Maxwell Street Deluxe Edition

[1969.02.12] CAREY BELL Blues Harp

Tracks:
1. I’m Ready – 3:03
2. I Got To Find Somebody – 4:16
3. I Wanna Will My Love To You – 3:35
4. Blue Monday At Kansas City Red’s – 3:58
5. I’m Gonna Buy Me A Train Ticket – 3:42
6. Come On Over Here – 3:05
7. I Cry So Much – 4:42
8. Sad Dreams – 4:42
9. Everything’s Up Tight – 4:02
10. You Know It Ain’t Right – 3:42
11. Last Night – 4:30
12. Rocking With A Chromatic – 3:17
13. I’m Gonna Buy Me A Train Ticket (alt) – 2:25
14. Walking In The Park – 2:50
15. Carey Bell’s Blues Harp – 3:52

Personnel:
Carey Bell – Harmonica, Vocal
on tr.1,3,5,6,8,10,12,13 with:
Jimmy ‘Fast Fingers’ Dawkins – guitar
Pinetop Perkins – Piano
Joe Harper – Bass
W.Williams – Drums
on other tracks with:
Eddie Taylor – Guitar (left)
Royal Johnson – Guitar (right)
Joe Harper – Bass
Sidney Thomas – Drums

Originally released in 1969, Carey Bell’s debut set is a rollicking dose of classic Chicago electric blues. Bell’s harmonica playing is reminiscent of Little Walter, and that debt is paid on CARY BELL’S BLUES HARP with a handful of Little Walter covers, including “I Got to Find Somebody” and “You Know it Ain’t Right.” The rest of the set includes Bell originals and a couple Muddy Waters tunes, and the playing – from Bell, pianist Pinetop Perkins, guitarist Jimmy Taylor, and others – packs enough native punch to keep hardcore Chi-town blues fans happy.

After his discovery by Charlie Musselwhite we first heard Carey Bell in little West side bars where the price of admission was, at most, a dollar. It was obvious that he should be recorded and sessions were held using the musicians who played with him at those little corner taverns. Most of the bars and the sidemen have faded from the scene but Carey Bell, Pinetop Perkins and Jimmy Dawkins have earned well-deserved fame. Carey went on to become a member of Earl Hooker’s best band, then held membership in the bands of Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, and worldwide tours while his own group, often including his gifted son Lurrie. There’s a passion and a hunger in his first performances that makes this album a must for fans of Chicago blues harp.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/228802986/Bluesbird.CareyBell-BluesHarp.rar

[1972] MEMPHIS SLIM & CAREY BELL Born With The Blues

[1973] CAREY BELL Last Night

[1973.01] BIG WALTER HORTON with CAREY BELL

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http://rapidshare.com/files/170589548/051208BWHM.rar

[1973.04.03] WILLIE DIXON & CAREY BELL Live @ Richards, Atlanta, GA

[1977.03.15] CAREY BELL Heartaches And Pain

Tracks:
01. Carey Bell Rocks 3:27
02. Heartaches and Pain 5:42
03. One Day You’re Gonna Get Lucky 3:31
04. Black Eyed Peas 4:51
05. So Hard To Leave You Alone 6:56
06. Stop That Train, Conductor 3:36
07. Everything’s Gonna Be All Right 4:35
08. Capri Crash 4:36

Personnel:
Carey Bell – Vocals & Harmonica
Lurrie Bell – Guitar(except:1&2)
Alabama Jr. Pettis – Guitar(except:4&7)
Bob Riedy – Piano
Aron Burton – Bass
Sam Lay – Drums

Recorded in Chicago, 1977.03.18.

Legendary producer Ralph Bass supervised this quickie session back in 1977, but it failed to see the light of day domestically until Delmark rescued it from oblivion. They did the blues world a favor: it’s a worthwhile session, Bell storming through a mostly original setlist (the omnipresent Little Walter cover this time is “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”). Aron Burton and Sam Lay comprise the rhythm section, and son Lurrie contributes lead guitar.~Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

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[1981] CAREY BELL & JOHN LITTLEJOHN The Blues Show! (Live @ Pit Inn)

Tracks:
1. Bloody Tears
2. Hoochie Coochie Man
3. Mama Told Me
4. Sweet Home Chicago
5. Dream
6. Carey Bell’s Rock
7. Easy To Love You
8. Kiddio
10. Slidin’ Home
11. Shake Your Money Maker

Personnel:
Carey Bell (Harmonica, Vocals)
John Littlejohn (Guitar, Vocals)
Willie Kent (Bass)
Larry Burton (Guitar)

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[1981-1983] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Goin’ On Main Street

Tracks:
01. Goin’ on Main Street (3:55)
02. I Am Worried (9:40)
03. Heartaches and Pain (6:27)
04. Easy To Love You (7:27)
05. Train Ticket (4:40)
06. When a Woman Get in Trouble (6:23)
07. Tribute To Big Walter (4:13)
Bonus 1:
08. I Need You So Bad (7:21)
09. Man and The Blues (7:03)
Bonus 2:
10. When I Lay Down To Rest (5:35)
11. Who’s Louisiana Red (3:45)
12. Reagan Is for The Rich Man (2:49)
Bonus 3:
08. Blues Harp Blues By Three (6:38)

Tracks (1-7) recorded in Chicago, 1982;
Tracks (8-12) recorded in Germany, 1981-1983;
Produced by Horst Lippmann

Tracks (01 – 07): Goin’ on Main Street, © 1982 L&R Records
Tracks (01 – 09): Goin’ on Main Street, © 1994 Evidence Records
Tracks (01 – 12): Goin’ on Main Street, © 1994 L & R Records
Tracks (01 – 07, Bonus 3, 9 – 12): Goin’ on Main Street, © 1994 Bellaphon Records

Personnel:
Carey Bell – Vocals & Harmonica
Lurrie Bell – Vocals & Guitar
Elisha ‘Eli’ Murray – Guitar
Tom Zydron – Keyboards
Carey Bell Jr. – Bass Guitar
Theodore ‘Dino’ Davies – Drums

Billy Branch – Harmonica(7)
Hubert Sumlin – Guitar (8,9)
Bob Stroger – Bass (8,9)
Odie Payne – Drums (8,9)
Louisiana Red – Vocals & Guitar(10-12)
Billy Branch – Harmonica (Bonus 3)
Phil Wiggins – Harmonica (Bonus 3)

Originally recorded for Germany’s L+R label in 1982, this studio date for Carey Bell’s Blues Harp Band finds the group stretching out on seven lengthy blues jams. Son Lurrie Bell contributes some nice licks, including a tortured solo to close out a nearly ten-minute version of “I Am Worried,” and other son Carey Bell Jr. anchors the rhythm section on electric bass.~John Bush, AMG

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[1986] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Straight Shoot

[1988-1989] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Dynasty!

[1988-1990] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Harpmaster

[1988-1990] CAREY BELL Brought Up The Hard Way

[1990.09.26] JAMES COTTON & BILLY BRANCH & CAREY BELL & JUNIOR WELLS Harp Attack!

 

Tracks:
1. Down Home Blues
2. Who
3. Keep Your Hands Out Of My Pockets
4. Little Car Blues
5. My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble
6. Broke and Hungry
7. Hit Man
8. Black Night
9. Somebody Changed The Lock
10. Second Hand Man
11. New Kid On The Block

Recorded at Streeterville Studios, Chicago, Illinois.

Personnel:
James Cotton, Junior Wells, Carey Bell, Billy Branch (vocals, harmonica)
Michael Coleman (guitar)
Lucky Peterson (bass)
Ray “Killer” Allison (drums)

Suggested alternate title: FOUR HARPS, NO WAITING. In other words, this is a sort of blues harp summit meeting, featuring three players – James Cotton, Junior Wells, and Carey Bell – who all at one time had featured in the Muddy Waters band, plus a younger disciple, Billy Branch who had, as they say, learned from the best.

Down Beat (2/91) – 4 Stars – Very Good – “…a must for fans of that distorted sound of harmonica blown through a hand-held mic and blasted through an amplifier. It’s the Chicago sound, and this is the cream of that crop.”

Musician (3/91) – “…an in-the-studio version of the harmonica blow-downs you hear in a blues tavern on a midweek night, and it’s about as relaxed and enjoyable as the real thang…Absent the late Little Walter, Sonny Boy and Big Walter, this is about the strongest harp front four you’ll ever find…if you’ve got a harp jones, this is where it’s at…”

Living Blues (1/91-2/91) – “Someone given to rock-style hype might call HARP ATTACK a ’super harp, super session’, and in this case it would fit like a glove…not only inspired, it is magnificent. Each man’s harp is first-rate and original at all times, performed in trademark styles, and matched equally in the quality and emotional depth of the vocals.”

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http://rapidshare.com/files/131972336/1990_Carey_Bel__Billy_Branch__James_Cotton__Junior_Wells_-_Harp_Attack_.rar

[1991] CAREY BELL Mellow Down Easy

Tracks:
01. Short Dress Woman 3:15
02. Delta Time 3:34
03. Five Long Years 3:47
04. Mellow Down Easy 2:58
05. For The Love Of A Woman 3:13
06. Just Like You 4:14
07. Walkin’ Thru The Park 2:42
08. St. Louis Blues 4:37
09. That Spot Right There 3:35
10. Big Walter Strut 3:19
11. One Day 3:12
12. So Easy To Love You 5:28
13. Walkin’ By Myself 3:08

Personnel:
Carey Bell – Vocals & Harmonica
Steve Jacobs – Guitar
Brian McGregor – Bass
Buddy Grandell – Drums
Lips Lackowitz – Harmonica (2)
Kevin McKendree – Organ (9)

Recorded at Wizard Works, Beltsville, MD © 1991 Blind Pig Records

Harmonica master Carey Bell serves up deep, unadulterated blues in the style of his now-departed mentors Big Walter Horton, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter Jacobs. There’s no doubt about his ability to convey that downhome blues feeling, evoking images of the classic, dimly-lit, smoky clubs of Chicago lore.~Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

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[1991] CAREY BELL & CHRISTINE VOGEL Meets The Cat Last Night

[1991] LOUISIANA RED & CAREY BELL Live @ 55

[1991.01] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Second Nature

[1993] CAREY BELL & LOUISIANA RED Brothers In Blues

 

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http://rapidshare.com/files/259535623/1985_Carey_Bell___Louisiana_Red_-_Brothers_In_Blues.rar

[1994] CAREY BELL & SPIKE RAVENSWOOD Blues Encore

[1994.11.30] CAREY BELL & EAST BLUES EXPERIENCE Good Understanding

[1995.01.24] CAREY BELL Deep Down

 

Tracks:
1 I Got to Go Little Walter 3:56
2 Let Me Stir in Your Pot Harrington 3:42
3 When I Get Drunk Burns 5:16
4 Low Down Dirty Shame Bell 4:29
5 Borrow Your Love Harrington 3:59
6 Lonesome Stranger Harrington 4:03
7 After You Williamson 3:41
8 I Got a Rich Man’s Woman Welch 4:43
9 Jawbreaker Bell 2:57
10 Must I Holler Harrington 7:00
11 Tired of Giving You My Love Harrington 3:49
12 Easy Horton 4:44

Personnel:
Carey Bell (vocals, harmonica)
Carl Weathersby, Lurrie Bell (guitar)
Lucky Peterson (piano)
Johnny B. Gayden (bass)
Ray “Killer” Allison (drums)

Producers: Carey Bell, Bruce Iglauer, Scott Dirks. Recorded at Streeterville Studios, Chicago, Illinois.

Amazon.com
Now one of the few survivors of the Chicago blues harmonica scene that once included Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, Bell has the control, full tone, and attack of his mentors. A former sideman for Muddy Waters, he was one of the last to learn his craft at the hands of the masters. This, his first Alligator album from 1995, updates several blues harmonica classics (Little Walter’s “I Got to Go,” Sonny Boy Willliamson’s “After You,” and a superb reading of Walter Horton’s “Easy”), without ever losing sight of Alligator’s company credo of “House Rockin’ Music.” In truth, Bell is not a great vocalist, and if the Walters and the Sonny Boys were still around, he wouldn’t get a look-in. As it is, he’s one of the few surviving bluesmen to come up from Mississippi, having seen and heard much of what the old guys saw. ~Colin Escott

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[1996] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Father & Son [Orbis Blues Collection #72]

[1996] CAREY BELL Blues Classics

[1997] CAREY BELL Live

[1997.10.07] CAREY BELL Good Luck Man

 

Tracks:
1. My Love Strikes Like Lightning – Carey Bell, Morganfield, McKinl
2. Love Her, Don’t Shove Her – Carey Bell, Skoller, Matthew
3. Sleeping With the Devil – Carey Bell, Young
4. Hard Working Woman – Carey Bell, Bell Harrington, Ca
5. Bell Hop – Carey Bell, Bell Harrington, Ca
6. Bad Habits – Carey Bell, Brewer, David
7. Good Luck Man – Carey Bell, Talley, Gary
8. Hard Hearted Woman – Carey Bell, Horton, Big Walter
9. Goin’ Back to Mississippi – Carey Bell, Bell Harrington, Ca
10. I’m a Business Man – Carey Bell, Dixon, Willie
11. Teardrops – Carey Bell, Bell Harrington, Ca
12. Brand New Deal – Carey Bell, Bell Harrington, Ca
13. Good Lover – Carey Bell, Reed, M.
14. Double Cross – Carey Bell, Bell Harrington, Ca

Personnel includes:
Carey Bell (vocals, harmonica)
Will Crosby (guitar)
Johnny Iguana (piano)
Johnny B. Gayden (bass)
Willie Hayes (drums)

Recorded in Chicago, Illinois.

“Good Luck Man” is Bell’s follow-up to the outstanding “Deep Down.” With the same harp skill and strong sense of song selection, Bell turns out a record which equals, and in some ways surpasses, its predecesor. Bell opens with a great, funky rendition of Muddy Waters’ “My Love Strikes Like Lightning” which sets the standard for the rest of the album. This disc is highly enjoyable throughout as Bell showcases some outstanding originals and fine covers. Throughout all 14 tracks, Carey gives us all the great blues we want, and then some.

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http://lix.in/-378335

[1999.06.25] CAREY BELL Live @ Bellinzona Piazza Blues Festival, Italy

[2001.01.23] CAREY BELL Superharps II

Tracks:
1. Walking Thru the Park – Carey Bell
2. Keyhole in Your Door – Carey Bell, Snooky Pryor
3. I Miss You Baby – Raful Neal
4. Strange Things Happen – Lazy Lester, Raful Neal
5. I Made up My Mind – Lazy Lester, Raful Neal
6. Let Your Hair Down – Snooky Pryor
7. What My Mama Told Me – Carey Bell
8. I Hear You Knockin’ – Lazy Lester
9. Shake My Hand – Lazy Lester, Snooky Pryor
10. Starlight Diamond – Lazy Lester, Raful Neal
11. She’s Nineteen Years Old – Carey Bell, Snooky Pryor
12. Bloodstains on the Wall – Lazy Lester, Snooky Pryor
13. Harp to Harp – Carey Bell, Lazy Lester, Raful Neal, Snooky Pryor

Personnel:
Lazy Lester (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, floor-tam)
Carey Bell, Raful Neal, Snooky Pryor (vocals, harmonica)
Kid Bangham (guitar)
Anthony Geraci (piano)
Michael “Mudcat” Ward (upright bass)
Per Hanson (drums)

Recorded at The Studio, Portland, Maine.

Dirty Linen (8-9/01, p.55) – “…If you love the harp…this is a little round piece of heaven….They blow like nobody’s business…”

Superharps II, Telarc’s sequel to its highly successful harmonica extravaganza, serves up another Who’s Who of harp legends. While the 1999 original boasted James Cotton, Billy Branch, Sugar Ray and Charlie Mussellwhite, it doesn’t get much better than Carey Bell, Snooky Pryor, Lazy Lester and Raful Neal. These refined gentlemen of the blues offer solo efforts and collaborations, and the result is a very satisfying 60 minutes of music. Kid Bangham, the guitar wizard who succeeded Jimmy Vaughan in The Fabulous Thunderbirds, injects the guitar glue that holds the project tightly together. Bell kicks off with Muddy Waters’ Walking Through the Park, which features classic harmonica and tasty axework by Bangham. Raful Neal offers his own I Miss You Baby, while Pryor’s Let Your Hair Down and Lester’s I Hear You Knockin’ are also polished originals. Snooky’s in fine form throughout, and Lester lends special moments vocally to Strange Things Happen and I Made My Mind Up. Muddy’s She’s 19 Years Old gets reverential treatment with the one-two punch from Bell’s measured singing and Pryor’s harp solo. Neal is also at the top of his game throughout, and his original Starlight Diamond is well delivered. The final, Harp to Harp, was co-written by Bangham and is a virtual shootout featuring inspired instrumental solos by all. If you love the harmonica, you can’t go wrong with this heaping helping of hot harps.

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http://www.4shared.com/file/103136137/ef6af430/SuperharpsII_a.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/103137862/551aa810/SuperharpsII_b.html

 

[2006.07-10] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Getting’ Up (Live)

[2006.07-10] CAREY BELL & LURRIE BELL Live At Rosas Lounge

 

Tracks:
01. What My Mama Told Me (5:52)
02. Gettin’ Up (7:27)
03. Baby Please Don’t Go (3:44)
04. Bell’s Back (4:13)
05. One Day (5:59)
06. Leaving in The Morning (3:06)
07. Last Night (8:01)
08. Low Down Dirty Shame (5:23)
09. Broke and Hungry (6:54)
10. When I Get Drunk (4:53)
11. Short Dress Woman (5:17)
12. Stand by Me (2:39)

Personnel:
Carey Bell – Harmonica & Vocals
Lurrie Bell – Guitar & Vocals
Bob Stroger – Bass
Joe Thomas – Bass
Kenny Smith – Drums

Recorded live at: Buddy Guy’s Legends, Rosa’s & Lurrie’s Home, 2006. Produced by Robert G. Koester & Steve Wagner © 2007 Delmark Records

This brilliant effort by Carey Bell and his son Lurrie Bell, both of whom are blues legends, almost did not take place. Carey suffered a minor stroke and broke his hip, spending four months in the hospital. Three days after he left the hospital, he was on his way to Chicago to perform at a concert with Lurrie. Although still in a wheelchair, Carey is heard throughout at the peak of his powers, taking powerful and inventive harmonica solos along with most of the vocals. Lurrie’s guitar work is excellent and he sings on “Baby Please Don’t Go.”

There are two live sessions with a rhythm section, three numbers that were recorded at Lurrie’s home as intimate duets between father and son, and a solo “Stand by Me” by Lurrie Bell for his wife. This is a classic and memorable program that is highly recommended to fans of Chicago blues and Carey and Lurrie Bell. ~ Scott Yanow, AMG

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[2007] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD 10 Days Out (VIDEO)

If you read my previous post, you know what to expect from this post but let me tell you it is more than that. This is one of the most incredible attempt to discover the living roots of the Blues. In my opinion this movie has the same value as M. Scorsese’s similar documentaries made a few years ago. I especially love this sentence from KWS: “We could lay out a world map, throw a dart, and go there to play blues—and people are gonna love it.” Feedback appreciate it, enjoy it!

 

Tracks:

1. Prison Blues [with Neal "Big Daddy" Pattman]
2. Potato Patch [with Jerry "Boogie" McCain]
3. Honky Tonk [with Buddy Flett]
4. The Thrill Is Gone [with B.B. King]
5. Tina Marie [with Bryan Lee]
6. Born in Louisiana [with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown]
7. Chapel Hill Boogie [with John Dee Holeman]
8. Tears Came Rollin’ Down [with Henry Townsend]
9. Knoxville Rag [with Etta Baker]
10. Big Daddy Boogie [with Neal "Big Daddy" Pattman]
11. U-Haul [with Cootie Stark]
12. Little Red Rooster [with Henry Gray]
13. Sittin’ on Top of the World [with Hubert Sumlin]
14. Spoonful [with George "Wild Child" Butler]
15. Grindin’ Man [with Pinetop Perkins]

Line-up:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd – vocals, guitar
Tommy Shannon – bass guitar
Chris Layton – drums

From the first compelling minutes of TEN DAYS OUT: Blues From The Backroads, it’s immediately evident that bluesman Kenny Wayne Shepherd is up to something different. Shepherd embarked on a ten-day trek into the heart of America. Traveling highways and byways with a roving documentary film crew, a portable recording studio, portable house band the esteemed Double Trouble, with producer Jerry Harrison, Shepherd visited blues veterans in their homes, backyards and local clubs, creating as intimate and intense a blues film as has been seen in many a year. The resulting film allows music lovers to join in the exploration and witness the artistic creation of both the film and the accompanying live CD.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who ably walks the line between bandleader and accompanist, is joined by a stellar lineup of collaborators. His guests include some of the most renowned blues artists—B. B. King, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Hubert Sumlin among them; some artists whose careers reach back to the earliest days of blues—Pinetop Perkins, Henry Townsend, Honeyboy Edwards; and some of the least known though most astonishing players—Cootie Stark, Neal Pattman, and Etta Baker. Other guests include Jerry “Boogie” McCain, Buddy Flett, Bryan Lee, John Dee Holeman, the Howlin’ Wolf Band, and the Muddy Waters Band. Partial proceeds of this project are being donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to helping impoverished blues artists.

“We could have stopped in every city in the US,” says Shepherd, the platinum-selling guitarist and vocalist, “and we’d find somebody, whether an old cat who is an original product of this music or else a kid my age or younger—but we’d have found someone who is a fan of the blues and trying to do it justice. We could lay out a world map, throw a dart, and go there to play blues—and people are gonna love it.”

With TEN DAYS OUT, Kenny Wayne Shepherd continues his love affair with America’s homegrown music, introducing his fans to a varied lot of his blues predecessors. The goal was to get intimate recordings in intimate places, and maintain authenticity: the album has no overdubs, no high-tech fixing. “Live as it went down,” says Shepherd. “What happened is what you hear. We kept it as real as possible.”

The DVD lays bare that truth, taking us into the small rooms, the kitchens, the dense woods where this music was made. “I was trying to convey the place that produced this kind of music,” says the film’s director Noble Jones, a self-confessed culture junkie, “the elements that came together to produce the blues. The environment these people came from and how it weighed on them.”

Shepherd set out with a home court advantage, by hiring the team who’d helped make Live On such an outstanding effort: Producer Jerry Harrison, himself a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, (his production credits include the Violent Femmes, Live, Big Head Todd & The Monsters; he was a member of the Talking Heads and the Modern Lovers), bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton, the rhythm section known as Double Trouble that came to fame behind Stevie Ray Vaughan. (For some of the acoustic artists, Shepherd’s accompaniment was all that the artists needed.) “I can rely on Jerry to listen from an outside perspective,” Shepherd says. “We worked together before, so I’m very comfortable with his musical advice.  He can be sure the groove is there.” Traveling in a bus like a family band, the group blazed a blues trail—from the mouth of the Mississippi River in New Orleans, over to Shreveport, up into Alabama, across to the Carolinas, then west to Salina, Kansas with a few other stops along the way. The whole trip has been captured in a documentary film that takes the same name as the album and is packaged with the release.

Shepherd’s work creates an emotional connection between the listener and the performer. The combined effect of the record and the documentary makes Shepherd a conduit, a window through which we can see and hear how these other great artists live and play. The documentary is a series of magic moments—Gatemouth Brown instructing the band on the finer points of listening to others play; Etta Baker talking about the overhaul she intends to give her kitchen; a pre-show BBQ meal with legendary members of Muddy Waters’ and Howlin’ Wolf’s bands sharing stories. The music on the CD creates a vast imaginary vista onto which the documentary burns images, images that are then evoked when the CD is played.

“Etta Baker was a real highlight,” film director Jones adds. “She was very expressive, and had this great speaking style and body language. She was so impressive, this elderly skinny woman with the dexterity of a young person. We were completely floored by her spirit.”

The slippery and ephemeral nature of a project like TEN DAYS OUT was brought home with the unexpected death of harmonica player and vocalist Wild Child Butler. Healthy and strong at the concert recording with Howlin’ Wolf’s band, Wild Child was expected to join Shepherd on a tour in support of the album. “He was laughing constantly when we were with him in Salina,” Shepherd remembers. “It was a real shock that he passed away. But that further magnifies the importance of this project. Henry Townsend at 96, Honeyboy Edwards at 90, Etta Baker at 93 and B.B. King at 80… we captured them while they’re vibrant and vital, and they’ll be able to inspire others like they’ve inspired me.”

While the record and DVD were being prepared for release, death has taken three more of the featured artists: Neal Pattman, Cootie Stark, and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. “I wanted to get people in contact with the eternal spirit of the blues,” says Jones about Kenny and the film. “As long as there’s a struggle, there will always be a voice—the blues–that comes out of human beings. I wanted people to see that spirit still alive, and let them understand that it’s a dwindling spirit.” The DVD includes bonus material, including amazing footage of gospel singer Essie Mae Brooks performing “Rain In Your Life” a cappella, footage of early Shepherd mentor Buddy Flett, and a funky rural jam with Cool John Ferguson and Neal Pattman.

Most musicians are either bandleaders or band members, and few have proven capable of being both the stars and the accompanists. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, however, has proven himself a true devotee to the music as both a star soloist and a star accompanist. “In my career, I’m out every night playing in front of big crowds,” he says. “It’s my show, everything is the way I want it to be. And I love that. But a project like this picks me up, takes me out of my so-called reality and puts me right back where I was when I was 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 years old, listening to the people who were my mentors and who inspired me to play music, looking up to them, being humbled.”

The years of intense study honed his musical instincts. “That’s basically what separates the men from the boys in music,” Shepherd continues. “Everyone of these guys has a different style. That’s where doing your homework is important. I studied as a young man every style of blues that exists: Mississippi Delta, Texas, Chicago, acoustic, dobro, electric—all of it. And without that kind of knowledge and experience, I don’t think I would have been capable of accompanying this diverse group of players.

“More than simply knowing when to play electric or acoustic, the accompanist has to know how to let others shine, which means understanding what’s being played. And the variety of styles on the album would have daunted many musicians. “Basically, it’s knowing how to sit back in the groove,” he explains. “Find your musical niche and don’t steal the spotlight. With these guys, I’m a 7 year old kid again; I can’t help but show respect. I make sure not to overdo it—but I also have to bring something to the table. You got Tommy and Chris backing you, they’re going to be doing their job, it’s up to me to do mine.”

“Kenny was really a high point,” says Jones, about watching him interact with so many different kinds of people. “By the end of the ten days, when he played with these legendary bands, it was immensely rewarding to see him both hold his own and share the glory. Kenny was going to shine—he’s a star, the light just goes to him, so I had to be sensitive to the other players, but Kenny made sure their presence was strong.”

“A project like this, with all these great people, it’s not about me—it’s about the music,” says Shepherd, “and about the people who inspired me to pick up an instrument and make music. You’ve got to listen to what they sing or write about, and you’ll hear the people behind the music, the players behind the blues. And that’s what the blues is about—the lives these people led, and that we are living today.”

THE GUESTS
TEN DAYS OUT: Blues from the Backroads began with Kenny Wayne Shepherd weeding through boxes of CDs he’d collected by contemporary blues artists. “We got a bunch of people to send us CDs of these peoples’ music,” Shepherd says. “As I went through the discs, I was thinking from a producer’s perspective. I looked for unique qualities in each of these people, a way for the listener to remember them for who they are. And I think you can hear their individuality in their music.”

JERRY “BOOGIE” MCCAIN
“Potato Patch”
“The first guy I listened to and absolutely knew we had to have was Jerry ‘Boogie’ McCain,” says Shepherd. The harmonica player had been inspired by Little Walter in the early 1950s, and made his debut in 1953 on the famed Trumpet label, original home to Sonny Boy Williamson II. McCain recorded for a who’s who of blues labels: Excello, Rex, Okeh, and Jewel. In 1960, he had some success with the gutsy “She’s Tough,” a song later covered by the Fabulous Thunderbirds. His career was somewhat low-key for many years, until a spate of new recordings began in 1989. His 2000 release, This Stuff Kills Me, included many prominent guests, among them Double Trouble. McCain has always been known for the humor and double-entendre of his lyrics, and that’s what caught Kenny Wayne’s ear. “His song ‘Potato Patch,’” says Shepherd, “it’s sexual innuendos about his woman when he’s not there. That’s the kind of stuff that turned me on to blues in the first place, the way these guy put their personality into it. If you do it right, it can be hilarious, and at the same time it can bring a tear to your eye.”

COOTIE STARK AND NEAL PATTMAN
“Prison Blues”
“For me,” says Kenny Wayne Shepherd, “just listening to Cootie and Neal talk makes my heart beat fast. When they play, they kill me.” Stark and Pattman are among the last of their generation of Piedmont blues musicians; Etta Baker, also featured on Blues From The Backroads, is another. This style was centered around the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, hence it’s name “Piedmont.” Stark is a treasure trove of songs. Legally blind for decades, he was unable to find manual labor jobs and so became a street musician, developing a vast repertoire. He wasn’t recorded until 1999 when the Music Maker Foundation (www.musicmaker.org) released his first album. Harmonica player Neal Pattman has been blowing the blues for seven decades. When he was nine-years old he lost his arm to a wagon wheel, but that slowed him not at all. “The blues knocked at my door and wouldn’t leave,” he says, and his performance affirms that truth.

“In the documentary,” says Shepherd, “I love how Cootie talks about learning to play guitar when he’s a little kid. He says from the moment his brothers and sisters went to school until the moment they came home, he never even went inside to get a drink, he just stayed at the barn.”

“My daddy and my momma bought me a little old guitar,” says Stark. “I played around, used to get up in the morning, 5 o’ clock, wash my hands and face, bang on that guitar before my momma got breakfast on. I didn’t want to quit. I used to keep that guitar in my hand, slamming it…all day long I was out by the old barn, that’s where I learned.”

Cootie Stark and Neal Pattman died within months of each other in mid-2005.

COOTIE STARK
“U-Haul”
This track features Cootie Stark with Shepherd and Double Trouble. “We didn’t want to throw a whole band around ‘Prison Blues’ and change the vibe,” says Shepherd. “We wanted to keep the feel as true as we could. For ‘U-Haul,’ Tommy and Chris lay down one of the thickest grooves on the whole record. It’s musicians playing what they feel naturally. As far as rhythm sections go, there’s none better. Tommy’s walking on the bass, Chris is playing that shuffle, and I’m just throwing some fills. It reminds me of the approach on Muddy Waters’ Hard Again, which is my favorite blues album of all time. On that record, everyone’s soloing at the same time and it creates a big solid fat foundation. When it’s done right, it’s perfect, and I think ‘U-Haul’ is just about perfect.”

BUDDY FLETT
“Honky Tonk”
Buddy Flett was a Louisiana star when Shepherd was exploring the live music scene around his hometown of Shreveport. “I grew up watching him and his band in my home town over the years. Buddy always treated me with a lot of respect. I was 15 when I had my first gig lined up in Shreveport, and he let me use his band. Buddy is a real treasure to me. His style is completely different from mine but he’s a real talent. He’s had success in the past, but I’m hoping this will propel him onto a national level.”

B. B. KING
“The Thrill Is Gone”
B. B. King is the reigning king of the blues. He’s played with the Rolling Stones, U2, Eric Clapton and a host of other major stars. Kenny Wayne has sat in with B. B. King on the road many times, but this is their debut recording collaboration. “I’ve played with him since I was 15,” says Shepherd. “He’s the only guy that makes me nervous. I was really aware of that when I was watching the documentary footage of our song together. He throws me a solo, and I’m too self-conscious to really let it rip. You can see him look at me to egg me on to keep playing. He has to keep looking at me. From him I need that green light. He has to open the door for me to walk through.”

CLARENCE “GATEMOUTH” BROWN
“Born in Louisiana”
Gatemouth Brown is a guitarist and fiddle player whose wide-ranging and eclectic tastes have made him legendary. He’s as likely to break into a Texas swing standard as a calypso tune, a big band chestnut, or even a novelty tune like “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose,” which was a hit for him in 1965. Brown’s instrumental recordings of the 1950s, featuring his virtuosic yet extremely melodic (and very exciting) guitar playing, made him very influential. “Okie Dokie Stomp” is one of the most important guitar instrumentals of all time. “Gatemouth won’t talk about the blues,” laughs Kenny Wayne, “because he refuses to be pigeonholed.”

Gatemouth Brown succumbed to lung cancer and heart disease in mid-September, 2005.

BRYAN LEE
“Tina Marie”
Bryan Lee, known as “The Braille Blues Daddy,” came to prominence playing on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Since the early 1980s, he’s been releasing blistering recordings that feature the Chicago sound of his Midwestern upbringing. In the documentary, Bryan and Kenny discuss their early friendship, and the warmth between them is obvious. “When everybody else was turning me down, Bryan gave me a chance,” says Shepherd. “Like he said on the film, I think it’s because he was blind and couldn’t see me. He didn’t judge me by how I looked but by how I played. I got on stage with him at 12 or 13 and we didn’t stop playing until 3 in the morning. He’s just as important to me as someone like B. B. King. B. B. is like another father to me, and Bryan is like a brother. If it weren’t for him, I don’t know if I’d have found out what it’s like to play on stage. Stevie Ray Vaughan taught me a very valuable lesson: he always gave so much credit to the people who influenced him. Bryan has been a huge influence on me.”

JOHN DEE HOLEMAN
“Chapel Hill Boogie”
John Dee Holeman operated heavy machinery most of his life. Now in his mid-70s, he’s been able to devote his life to music. He’s a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage fellowship and a North Carolina Folk Heritage award. “John Dee,” Kenny Wayne says, the awe audible in his voice, “that guy taught me some stuff on the guitar I didn’t know. He’s an amazing player. It’s almost like chords, and almost like finger-picking, but he chords and picks in a way that becomes a lead style, sort of like Robert Johnson but less involved. He’s real mellow and soft-spoken. Everything about him is soft, which is why he only performs acoustic. For me as a sideman, I had to play a lot more softly. After we recorded, we were fooling around. I said, How did you do that? And he actually showed me. I’d say, Can you do that one more time? So I learned some interesting chords and patterns for turnarounds, got ‘em first hand from him. My regular vocalist Noah Hunt is on that song. When he starts singing, John starts to grin. That’s one of those unspoken moments that the documentary lets the listener see.”

ETTA BAKER
“Knoxville Rag”
Born in 1913, Etta Baker didn’t pursue a recording career until she was well into her 60s. She’d always performed for family and friends, caring little for pursuing music professionally. Her dazzling skill in the Piedmont style of finger-picking earned her immediate respect upon the release of her first album in 1991, at the age of 78. Even today, she remains a formidable player. “Oh my god, that was the hardest day out of all of them,” says Shepherd. “Piedmont Blues—I can fingerpick, but the Piedmont style is different. And her song has weird changes. I was baffled trying to follow her. You can see me—my mouth is wide open, I’m staring at my hands. Playing with Etta Baker was humbling. She’s 93 yrs old and I’m lost. Then again, as she explains in the documentary, it’s a song she wrote in a dream. How are you supposed to follow that?”

HENRY TOWNSEND AND HONEYBOY EDWARDS
“Tears Come Rolling Down”
“These guys are living legends from the era of the creation of the blues,” says Shepherd. Indeed, both of these guitarists knew Robert Johnson. Their style is as authentic as it comes, and while playing with them was an honor, being in their presence was the real charge. “The best part of that day was watching the two of them interact with one another,” Shepherd remembers. “These two guys were cutting up, reminiscing about old times, making jokes about one another. That was real special stuff to me. Close your eyes and listen to the stories, and you can really go back to their heyday. The film brings out some of that, and the music certainly does.”

THE HOWLIN’ WOLF BAND with Hubert Sumlin, Henry Gray, Calvin Jones, and Wild Child Butler
“Red Rooster”
“Sitting On Top of the World”
The recordings made with the Howlin’ Wolf and with the Muddy Waters band were the only ones done in a concert setting—live performances for an audience. The night before any of the taping was done, after the sound check and with all the players in the house, there was a roving free-for-all jam. “I was up there with any number of different groups of musicians,” says Shepherd. “One would go up, someone else would come down, and each change changed the vibe of the whole thing. That’s how you become a better musician in my book, constantly playing with different people, and learning different approaches and how to fit in. I think you can get a vibe for how amazing that show was by watching the film.”

From the Howlin’ Wolf band, pianist Henry Gray and guitarist Hubert Sumlin each sing a song. Sumlin was the young guitarist that Wolf trained to deliver the signature Howlin’ Wolf sound (Muddy Waters stole Sumlin from Wolf, but Wolf eventually wooed him back.) “Playing with Hubert, it was like I gained another father,” says Shepherd. “We really had a serious connection. He told me he’d played with everybody, from Clapton to Stevie Ray Vaughan, ‘But you,’ he said, ‘You’re the one I’ve been waiting for. I knew you were coming and now I know it’s you.’ Wow, what could I say to that? I look forward to playing with him again.”

Henry Gray was Wolf’s pianist for a dozen years, beginning in 1956. From Louisiana, he had already established himself in Chicago as a popular session musician, recording behind Jimmy Reed, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Rogers, and Billy Boy Arnold. “Henry Gray played chords I’ve never heard,” Shepherd explains. “He’s out there pushing the envelope even at his age, throwing in stuff that sounds like it just barely belongs. On ‘Red Rooster’ he plays this solo, and at first I was wondering if he was playing out of key, but he’s not, he’s just taking the song really far out. You’ve got to know what you’re doing to know that he’s right. There’s so much to learn from these guys.”

THE MUDDY WATERS BAND with Pinetop Perkins, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, and Bob Margolin
“Grindin’ Man”
“Muddy Waters’s album Hard Again!” says Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and you can hear the exclamation marks in his voice, “That to me is by far the greatest blues album ever made! That’s my favorite record of all time! So to have that rhythm section and those guys there, to get to play with Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith who laid down those beats that are so far in the pocket you think he’s going to miss the one, that was one of the biggest thrills for me. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”

Muddy Waters lived the archetypal blues life, playing an acoustic guitar in the rural south before moving to Chicago, where he picked up an electric guitar so he could be heard in the industrialized north. His recordings established the language, grammar, and diction of most of the blues that would follow. “I was inspired by Muddy Waters. There’s only one Muddy. He has a presence and personality with his music. People identify him with that. And really, he was inspiring me for all of this recording. I wanted to find people who had a uniqueness to their personality and music that was distinct like Muddy’s was. I wasn’t trying to find people who sounded like Muddy Waters, but I wanted to find artists who had a singularity like Muddy had. I’m real happy with how it all turned out. “

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KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD (1977.06.12/Shreveport, LA – )

Here is a good warm up for the cold temperatures we have these days. This guy will reach one thousand plays on my LastFm account soon. I like him for the mixture of dynamic licks and melodic songs. He rocks the Blues hard! Still very young, his life is not the perfect example to follow but the creativity he developed over the years serves as one of the highest standards in the world of music today. Listen to his music, catch him live if you can because I would surely do! It is free to rate & comment my posts so please do: that way I will know I do a good job here. Thanks!

Giving it all he’s got has been a trademark for KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD (1977.06.12/Shreveport, LA – ). The Shreveport native began playing at age seven, figuring out Muddy Waters licks from his father’s record collection (he has never taken a formal lesson). At age 13, he was invited on-stage by New Orleans bluesman Bryan Lee and held his own for several hours; thus proving himself, he decided on music as a career.

He formed his own band, which featured lead vocalist Corey Sterling, gaining early exposure through club dates. Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his group exploded on the scene in the mid-’90s and garnered huge amounts of radio airplay on commercial radio, which historically has not been a solid home for blues and blues-rock music, with the exception of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the mid-’80s.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd recorded his first album Ledbetter Heights in 1995 while still in high school. Shepherd’s father/manager used his own contacts and pizzazz in the record business to help land his son a major-label record deal with Irving Azoff’s Giant Records. Ledbetter Heights was an immediate hit, selling over 500,000 by early 1996. Most blues records never achieve that level of commercial success, much less ones released by artists who are still in their teens. Although Shepherd – who has been influenced by (and has sometimes played with) guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, Slash, Robert Cray, and Duane Allman – is definitely a performer who thrives in front of an audience, Ledbetter Heights is impressive for its range of styles: acoustic blues, rockin’ blues, Texas blues, Louisiana blues.

It was followed, two years later by the platinum selling, Grammy nominated Trouble is… which featured such blues-drenched chart toppers as “Slow Ride” and “Blue On Black.”

1999 saw the release of his third best seller and Grammy nominated, Live On, while his reputation as an incendiary live performer was consolidated with a virtually endless round of international touring that earned the young prodigy a fanatic following across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

It was in 2000 that Shepherd took a well-deserved respite to recharge his creative batteries, relocating to Los Angeles to avail himself of the city’s thriving music scene. He was soon back at work, writing new material and developing his vocal skills. “The songwriting really flowed, ” he says, recounting his instant affinity with producer Frederiksen. “Marti understood exactly what I was going for and what it would take to get there. He just stepped back and let it happen.”

Over eight months, Shepherd reached the requisite level of confidence to step forward as a vocalist. When asked why he never sang on his previous three albums, he explained, “I sang on a few tracks on my earlier albums, but I was a lot younger then and the voice I was hearing in the vocal booth wasn’t the same one I was hearing in my head. My songs have always been highly personal, but the last thing I wanted to do was sacrifice my sound for the sake of singing lead vocals. It just took a while for them to match up.” Helping maintain the standard that his fans have come to expect has been Noah Hunt, lead singer on Shepherd’s previous two albums. “Noah is still very much part of my music, ” the artist insists. “He helped write a song on the new project and sings vocals on two cuts.”

On the eleven blazing tracks that comprise The Place You’re In, his long awaited new Reprise Records release, Kenny Wayne Shepherd reveals intense musical passion and it is the first recording to feature his soulful vocals. In the process, he’s proven conclusively that originality, authenticity and the restless urge to grow are never out of date. “It was a natural progression,” remarks the Shreveport, LA native. “Although I established myself in the blues, my music has always had rock elements. When I started writing for this album, I just went where the songs led me and found myself opening up to another side of my music.”

B.B. King & Kenny Wayne Shepherd

In 2007, Kenny Wayne Shepherd developed a unique DVD/CD project: 10 Days Out – Blues from the Backroads. This documents Shepherd as he travels the country to jam with and interview the last of the authentic blues musicians.

As they tour the backroads, Shepherd, with members of the Double Trouble Band, play with a host of blues greats including Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett (with whom he jams at Lead Belly’s grave), the great B.B. King, blues harp master Jerry “Boogie” McCain, Cootie Stark, Neil Pattman, John Dee Holeman, Etta Baker, Henry Townsend with Honeyboy Edwards, and a concert session with the surviving members of Muddy Waters’ and Howlin’ Wolf’s bands.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Buddy Flett & Willie Big Eyes Smith

& Bryan Lee & Hubert Sumlin

In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Signature Series Stratocaster, designed exclusively by Shepherd.

Discography in my collection:

[1995.09.19] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Ledbetter Heights

Tracks
1. Born with a Broken Heart
2. Deja Voodoo
3. Aberdeen
4. Shame, Shame, Shame
5. One Foot on the Path
6. Everybody Gets the Blues
7. While We Cry (Live)
8. I’m Leaving You (Commit a Crime)
9. (Let Me Up) I’ve Had Enough
10. Riverside
11. What’s Goin’ Down
12. Ledbetter Heights

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[1997] BRYAN LEE & JAMES COTTON & KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Live @ The Old Absinthe House Bar Friday Night[1997.10.07] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Trouble Is

 

Tracks:
1. Slow Ride – 03:50
2. True Lies – 05:48
3. Blue on Black – 05:31
4. Everything is Broken – 03:48
5. I Don’t live Today – 04:34
6. (Long) Gone – 05:25
7. Somehow, Somewhere, Someway – 05:35
8. I Found Love (When I Found You) – 04:02
9. King’s Highway – 04:18
10. Nothing To Do With Love – 04:50
11. Chase the Rainbow – 04:58
12. Touble Is – 03:58

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[1997.11.27] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Live @ B.B. King’s Memphis, TN

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[1998.03.28] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Live @ House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA

Tracks:
01. Trouble Is …
02. Born With a Broken Heart
03. King’s Highway
04. Everything is Broken
05. True Lies
06. Somehow, Somewhere, Someway
07. Blue on Black
08. Slow Ride
09. While We Cry
10. Superstition
11. Deja Voodoo
12. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

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[1999.10.12] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Live On

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[2001] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD & DOUBLE TROUBLE Live @ San Diego, CA

Tracks:
01 – Instrumental
02 – Somehow, Somewhere, Someway
03 – True Lies
04 – Born With A Broken Heart
05 – Shame Shame Shame
06 – Last Goodbye
07 – Woke up this Morning
08 – You don’t lost your good thing now
09 – Band intros~Blue on Black
10 – Slow Ride
11 – Crossfire
12 – Texas Flood
13 – Hey Joe
14 – Them Changes
15 – Voodoo Chile
16 – Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)

Personnel:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (lead guitar)
Noah Hunt (vocals)
Jimmy Wallace (keyboards B3 Hammond)
Kris Krstofer (bass)
Sam Bryant (drums)

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[2004.10.05] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD The Place You’re In

Tracks:
1. Alive
2. Be Mine
3. Spank – (with Kid Rock)
4. Let Go
5. Ain’t Selling Out
6. Believe – (with Noah Hunt)
7. Place You’re In, The
8. Hey, What Do You Say
9. Get It Together
10. Burdens – (with Noah Hunt)
11. A Little Bit More (instrumental)

Personnel:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar)
Kid Rock, Noah Hunt (vocals)
Marti Frederiksen (guitar, Hammond b-3 organ, keyboards, bass guitar, percussion, background vocals)
Mikal Reid (guitar)
Jim Cox (piano, Clavinet, Hammond b-3 organ)
Brian Tichy (drums)
Pat Hodges (background vocals

Five years separate Live On and its successor, The Place You’re In, and the time allowed Kenny Wayne Shepherd to grow as both an artist and as an individual. He’s not only writing the majority of his material, he’s singing most of it as well. His guitar playing has become more nuanced, and he’s moved squarely into the world of album rock from his blues-rock background. Even the cover and publicity photos reflect the difference, showing a darker, decidedly grown-up Kenny Wayne Shepherd. In addition, the producer/mixing team of Jerry Harrison and Tom Lord-Alge (who did both Live On and Trouble Is) has been replaced by Marti Frederiksen and Andy Wallace, who give the album a more muscular sound.

This album is tailor-made for rock radio with its big guitar sounds and recycled classic rock riffs, and Shepherd sounds very comfortable in this setting. The lyrics are a bit weak in places, but most of the songs have solid hooks and fine guitar solos. There are some very nice touches throughout the album, like the backward guitar and restrained solo that appear on “Let Go” (which recalls some of Steve Winwood’s work) or the gospel backing vocals and excellent outro of “Hey, What Do You Say.” “Ain’t Selling Out” is a bit of a misstep: a forceful chugging rocker over a monotonous hook, and the Kid Rock guest shot (“Spank”) may sell an extra copy or two, but the song is pretty unremarkable. Overall, The Place You’re In is a solid album that shows Shepherd continuing to grow as an artist, but whether he can develop a more personal voice remains to be seen. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/96548774/KWS_-_TPYI.rar

[2005.08.08] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Live @ Saratoga, CA[2007] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD 10 Days Out

 

Tracks:
1. Prison Blues (Cootie Stark/Kenny Wayne Shepherd/Neal Pattman)
2. Potato Patch (Jerry “Boogie” McCain/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
3. Honky Tonk (Buddy Flett/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
4. The Thrill Is Gone (B.B. King/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
5. Tina Marie (Bryan Lee/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
6. Born in Louisiana (Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
7. Chapel Hill Boogie (John Dee Holeman/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
8. Tears Came Rollin’ Down (Henry Townsend/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
9. Knoxville Rag (Etta Baker/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
10. Big Daddy Boogie (Beal “Big Daddy” Pattman/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
11. U-Haul (Cottie Stark/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
12. Red Rooster (Henry Gray/Howlin’ Wolf Band/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
13. Sittin’ on Top of the World (Howlin’ Wolf Band/Hubert Sumlin/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
14. Spoonful (George “Wild Child” Butler/Howlin’ Wolf Band/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)
15. Grindin’ Man (Muddy Waters Band/Pinetop Perkins/Kenny Wayne Shepherd)

Line-up:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd – vocals, guitar
Tommy Shannon – bass guitar
Chris Layton – drums

Guests:
B.B. King
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown
Pinetop Perkins
Hubert Sumlin
Henry Gray
Bryan Lee
Etta Baker
Buddy Flett
Muddy Waters Band
Cootie Stark
Henry Townsend
George “Wild Child” Butler
Neal Pattman
John Dee Holeman
Jerry “Boogie” McCain

TEN DAYS OUT: Blues From The Backroads is a record that will be played for years to come. Set in the present, it is built on the strength of the past and it sings clearly to the future. “In any song the bottom line with me,” says Kenny Wayne Shepherd, “is the groove. Even people who don’t pay attention to lyrics can’t help but notice when their body starts moving.” TEN DAYS OUT shakes some body. It moves you.

The blues has endured through the power of its truth, and TEN DAYS OUT embraces that truth. This album is honest,
emotionally powerful, artistically gripping, and universally compelling. Kenny Wayne Shepherd and the diverse musicians he’s gathered speak across generations to remind us that music means little if it’s not played from the heart, and blues means the most when its delivered with the truth. TEN DAYS OUT invites you in to experience a mess of blues, a world of music, a real good trip to the heart of America and of Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

DL/pass: http://renovcevic.blog.rs
http://rapidshare.com/files/164983971/Kenny_Wayne_Shepherd_-_10_Days_Out.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/164993962/Kenny_Wayne_Shepherd_-_10_Days_Out.part2.rar

[2008.04.27] KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD Live @ Shreveport, LA

T-BONE WALKER (1910.05.28/Linden, TX – 1975.03.15/Inglewood, CA)

I’m busy moving a few thousands of miles away but I want to share my latest mood with you with another legend of the Blues: this time a guitarist. He kinda invented electric guitar (no wonder he’s Jimi Hendrix biggest hero) and still influence any guitarist who respects true music. Let’s have a sweet taste of Blues with a little add of Jazz, shall we?

Aaron Thibeault T-BONE WALKER (1910.05.28/Linden, TX – 1975.03.15/Inglewood, CA) was an American blues guitarist, singer, pianist and songwriter who was one of the most important pioneers of the electric guitar. His electric guitar solos were among the first heard on modern blues recordings and helped set a standard that is still followed. He was ranked #47 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

T-Bone Walker was a product of the primordial Dallas blues scene. It was T-Bone who created the role of the blues singer who is also his own electric lead guitarist, and who also defined much of the power of his instrument, with classic licks and techniques that today, fifty years later, are still essential elements of lead guitar vocabulary. Among the guitar techniques he pioneers here is his trademark use of 9th-chord (and 9th-add-6th) voicings, and his style of “walking” those 9ths into the chord change through half-steps above or below; this would lead directly to Jimmy Nolen’s use of the same techniques to define funk rhythm guitar in James Brown’s band 20 years later (and in fact, early, pre-James, Nolen recordings show him as a blues player doing letter-perfect renditions of T-Bone’s style).

His ground-breaking music was a principal model and inspiration for the work of such later blues masters as B.B. King, Albert King, Gatemouth Brown, Guitar Slim, Freddie King, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, and also for today’s most popular blues performers from Eric Clapton to Robert Cray. It is impossible, once you know T-Bone’s music, to listen to any of these artists without hearing how much their styles owe to his. He was also an enormous influence on Chuck Berry, and on Elvis’ lead guitarist Scotty Moore – and thus on the shape and nature of rock & roll itself. His ’40s recordings literally changed the world of American popular music.

T-Bone, born in 1910, came by his music naturally, growing up in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Texas of African and Cherokee descent. His mother Movelia picked guitar and sang the blues, his stepfather Marco Washington was an accomplished player on several stringed instruments and stroking the bass fiddle with the Dallas String Band. T-Bone grew up surrounded by music, played by his parents and relatives in regular family jam sessions and house parties. The great Blind Lemon Jefferson was a family friend, and T-Bone spent time as Lemon’s “lead boy,” guiding him and helping collect money when Lemon would play for change in saloons and in the street.

T-Bone was born to be an entertainer, and by his teens he was performing as a dancer and banjo picker, working in the streets and also in traveling medicine shows and revues, including stints with Ida Cox and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Fascinatingly, around 1933 he also briefly had a street act in Oklahoma City with Charlie Christian: the founding geniuses of electric jazz guitar and electric blues guitar, trading off on guitar and string bass, playing, dancing, jiving, and hustling together! T-Bone, like Christian, was soon to make a decisive move to the West Coast, and there he eventually joined Les Hite’s traveling big band, in which he worked as featured vocalist in 1940, not even playing guitar on stage.

In 1929, T-Bone Walker made his recording debut with a single 78 for Columbia, “Wichita Falls Blues”/”Trinity River Blues,” billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone. Pianist Douglas Fernell was his musical partner for the disc. T-Bone Walker won an amateur show, first prize being a week with Cab Calloway’s band. Calloway let Walker take a solo in Houston; T-Bone had an act ready where he played the banjo while doing the splits. This eventually lead, a year later, to a recording date with Columbia where he recorded Witchita Falls and Trinity River Blues under the name Oak Cliff T-Bone. (Walker and his mother lived in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas at the time).

Walker was exposed to some pretty outstanding guitar talent during his formative years; besides Jefferson, Charlie Christian, who would totally transform the role of the guitar in jazz with his electrified riffs much as Walker would with blues, was one of his playing partners circa 1933. Throughout his career Walker worked with the top quality musicians, including Teddy Buckner (trumpet), Lloyd Glenn (piano), Billy Hadnott (bass), and Jack McVea (tenor sax).

T-Bone Walker split the Southwest for Los Angeles during the mid-’30s. He arrived in LA with only a dollar, but hooked up with bandleader Big Jim Wynn as a dancer, eventually becoming emcee, singer, and guitarist as well. The L.A. crowds went wild over T-Bone, to the point where Marili Morden booked him into high-dollar clubs on the strip in 1940. When T-Bone complained that his regular fans were being excluded, Morden persuaded management to allow the first integrated crowds in LA, which was a great success financially.

Soon thereafter, Walker was invited to join Les Hite’s band as the vocalist on their upcoming East Coast swing. Through constant practice backstage, he mastered the electric guitar, though he was still performing only as a singer, even on the band’s Varsity recording. Upon returning to L.A., T-Bone, backed by Milt Larkin’s outfit, was offered a long-standing gig in Chicago. He was such a hit that he was brought back repeatedly over the next two years, leading to his recordings of early versions of his best known hits in 1945 on the Rhumboogie label.

It was about then, though, that his fascination with electrifying his axe bore fruit; he played L.A. clubs with his daring new toy after assembling his own combo, engaging in acrobatic stage moves – splits, playing behind his back – to further enliven his show. His razor-sharp appearance and onstage performance tricks prefigured the later styles of blues and R&B showmen as diverse as Chuck Berry, James Brown, and even Jimi Hendrix. It’s a great loss that his live performances of those early years have not been preserved on film; but with a little imagination we can almost believe we are seeing him strut his stuff in those jumping Central Avenue clubs, when we hear his music brought to life in these wonderful, high-spirited, and deeply soulful recordings.

Capitol Records was a fledgling Hollywood concern in 1942, when Walker signed on and cut “Mean Old World” and “I Got a Break Baby” with boogie master Freddie Slack hammering the 88s. This was the first sign of the T-Bone Walker that blues guitar aficionados know and love, his fluid, elegant riffs and mellow, burnished vocals setting a standard that all future blues guitarists would measure themselves by.

Chicago’s Rhumboogie Club served as Walker’s home away from home during a good portion of the war years. He even cut a few sides for the joint’s house label in 1945 under the direction of pianist Marl Young. But after a solitary session that same year for Old Swingmaster that soon made its way on to another newly established logo, Mercury, Walker signed with L.A. based Black & White Records in 1946 and proceeded to amass a stunning legacy. “I was lucky, because Ralph Bass, who was an exceptional A and R man, supervised our sessions,” Walker later recalled. Bass had worked with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Wardell Gray, and Dexter Gordon and was a huge fan of Walker. Fifty titles were recorded from mid-46 till the end of 1947, featuring a stellar core of L.A. musicians.

With classic hits like T-Bone Shuffle and Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday’s Just as Bad), T-Bone established his reputation as the father of electric blues, and his hits were played on Top Ten radio programs nationwide. During this time, T-Bone toured on a triple-header blues package with Lowell Fulson and a rotating cast of other blues artists (including Ray Charles, Wynonie Harris, Joe Turner, and so on). Fulson later recalled that arguments would break out over who should open and who should close. Fulson, in order to keep things from going awry, would volunteer to go first; this meant that T-Bone would close, because no one wanted to follow him.

The hits came fast and furious for Walker and the gigs got bigger and more lucrative. Unfortunately, his health problems arose again. He was supposed to drink only goat’s milk, but locals could always induce him into drinking and throwing dice. Walker’s ulcers forced him to be hospitalized three times during this period, when he enjoyed the greatest commercial and artistic success. Eventually he had to let his band go while recovering from an operation that removed most of his stomach.

The immortal “Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)” was the product of a 1947 Black & White date with Teddy Buckner on trumpet and invaluable pianist Lloyd Glenn in the backing quintet. Many of Walker’s best sides were smoky after-hours blues, though an occasional up-tempo entry “T-Bone Jumps Again,” a storming instrumental from the same date, for example illustrated his nimble dexterity at faster speeds. Walker recorded prolifically for Black & White until the close of 1947, waxing classics like the often-covered “T-Bone Shuffle” and “West Side Baby,” though many of the sides came out on Capitol after the demise of Black & White.

In 1950, Walker turned up on Imperial. His first date for the L.A. indie elicited the after-hours gem “Glamour Girl” and perhaps the penultimate jumping instrumental in his repertoire, “Strollin’ With Bones” (Snake Sims’ drum kit cracks like a whip behind Walker’s impeccable licks). Walker’s 1950-54 Imperial stint was studded with more classics: “The Hustle Is On,” “Cold Cold Feeling,” “Blue Mood,” “Vida Lee” (named for his wife), “Party Girl,” and, from a 1952 New Orleans jaunt, “Railroad Station Blues,” which was produced by Dave Bartholomew.

Atlantic was T-Bone Walker’s next stop in 1955; his first date for them was an unlikely but successful collaboration with a crew of Chicago mainstays (harpist Junior Wells, guitarist Jimmy Rogers and bassist Ransom Knowling among them). Rogers found the experience especially useful; he later adapted Walker’s “Why Not” as his own Chess hit “Walking by Myself.”

With a slightly more sympathetic L.A. band in staunch support, Walker cut two follow-up sessions for Atlantic in 1956-57. The latter date produced some amazing instrumentals (“Two Bones and a Pick,” “Blues Rock,” “Shufflin’ the Blues”) that saw him dueling it out with his nephew, jazzman Barney Kessel (Walker emerged victorious in every case).

Walker’s only record in the next five years was T-Bone Blues, recorded over three widely separated sessions in 1955, 1956 and 1959, and finally released by Atlantic Records in 1960.

By the start of the sixties, though, a change was taking place. He got another break in 1960, singing with Count Basie. Walker loved Basie’s band, and said he would have “paid my own salary just to hear those Basie cats blow”; however, Walker didn’t feel comfortable singing in the shadows of the great singers Joe Williams and Jimmy Rushing (who would?), so he cut out.

Unfortunately, the remainder of Walker’s discography isn’t of the same sterling quality for the most part. As it had with so many of his peers from the postwar R&B era, rock’s rise had made Walker’s classy style an anachronism (at least during much of the 1960s). He journeyed overseas on the first American Folk Blues Festival in 1962, starring on the Lippmann & Rau-promoted bill across Europe with Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, and a host of other American luminaries. A 1964 45 for Modern and an obscure LP on Brunswick preceded a pair of BluesWay albums in 1967-68 that restored this seminal pioneer to American record shelves.

T-Bone became a regular on the blues festival circuit, particularly in Europe. Still, by the late sixties, no one had asked Walker to record new material for a few years. He then recorded several times for the French label Black and Blue and became a regular at Paris’ Les Trois Mailletz with Memphis Slim. A 1968 visit to Paris resulted in one of his best latter-day albums, I Want a Little Girl, for Black & Blue (and later issued stateside on Delmark). With expatriate tenor saxophonist Hal “Cornbread” Singer and Chicago drummer S.P. Leary picking up Walker’s jazz-tinged style brilliantly, the guitarist glided through a stellar set list.

Walker recorded in 1968-1975 for Robin Hemingway’s Jitney Jane Songs music publishing company, and he won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Good Feelin’ (Polydor). This revitalized him, and he hit the road once more, his new management relieving him of responsibility of bookings, travel arrangements, and so on. “Fly Walker Airlines”, Polydor, also produced by Hemingway, was released in 1973.

His wife Vida Lee was concerned about his pace and encouraged him to take a break. T-Bone agreed, and during this time, he and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson were in a car accident. Walker was in the hospital for several months; his injuries also showed that he was still having troubles with his chest. Still, T-Bone was eager to get back to playing; in addition to his usual wanderlust, The Allman Brothers’ version of Stormy Monday was being played nationwide, and Walker wanted to get to his publisher. But while he was recovering, the money had disappeared. On top of this, his band had dissolved and the bookings had all but disappeared. Still, he hit the road again.

He seemed to be back to his old self, but he suffered a stroke on new Year’s Eve of 1974 and had to be put into a nursing home. He passed away on March 15, 1975, and the blues just hasn’t been the same since. He is interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Walker was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Discography in my collection:

T-BONE WALKER The Best of T-Bone Walker: The Talkin’ Guitar

Tracks:
1. Blues Is a Woman
2. I Got the Blues
3. Through With Women
4. Cold Cold Feeling
5. Life Is Too Short
6. Hustle Is On
7. Travelin’ Blues
8. Evil Hearted Woman
9. Baby Broke My Heart
10. Glamour Girl
11. You Don’t Love Me
12. Call It Stormy Monday
13. T-Bone Shuffle
14. Vacation Blues
15. Midnight Blues
16. Bobby Sox Blues
17. Mean Old World
18. T-Bone Blues

Personnel:
T-Bone Walker – Guitar
Frank Pasley – Guitar
Lloyd Glenn – Piano
Freddie Slack – Piano
Zell Kindred – Piano
Willard McDaniel – Piano
Nat Walker – Piano
Tommy “Crow” Kahn – Piano
Oscar Lee Bradley – Drums
Rabon Tarrant – Drums
Robert “Snake” Sims – Drums
Frank Clarke – Bass
John W. Davis – Bass
Al Morgan – Bass
Arthur Edwards – Bass
William K. “Billy” Hadnott – Bass
Jud de Naut – Bass
Buddy Woodson – Bass
Edward Hale – Alto Saxophone
Les Hite – Alto Saxophone
Sol Moore – Baritone Saxophone
Jim Wynn – Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis – Tenor Saxophone
Roger Hurd – Tenor Saxophone
Quedillas Martin – Tenor Saxophone
Jack McVea – Tenor Saxophone
Hubert “Bumps” Myers – Tenor Saxophone
Britt Woodman – Trombone
Allen Durham – Trombone
Paul Campbell – Trumpet
Eddie Hutcherson – Trumpet
Joe “Red” Kelly – Trumpet
Forest Powell – Trumpet

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/96860912/TBoneWalkerTheBestofTBoneWalkerTheTalkinGuitarNAGIANTS40.zip

T-BONE WALKER Goodbye Blues (Quadromania’s 4CD Box Set)

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http://rapidshare.com/files/226163693/2001_T-Bone_Walker_-_Goodbye_Blues_CD_3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/226194361/2001_T-Bone_Walker_-_Goodbye_Blues_CD_4.rar

[1940] T-BONE WALKER Complete Capitol Black & White Recordings

[1940-1951] T-BONE WALKER The Original Source

[1940-1954] T-BONE WALKER The Best Of The Black & White And Imperial Years

[1942-1948] T-BONE WALKER T-Bone Shuffle (Charly Blues Masterworks, Vol. 14)

Tracks:
01. I Got a Break Baby (Walker) 3:16
02. No Worry Blues (Baxter, Walker) 2:43
03. Bobby Sox Blues (Williams) 2:40
04. I’m in an Awful Mood (Criner) 2:43
05. Don’t Give Me the Runaround (Walker) 3:04
06. Hard Pain Blues (Criner, Goldberg, Walker) 3:11
07. Goodbye Blues (Henry) 3:09
08. I’m Waiting for Your Call (Lollie) 3:02
09. First Love Blues (Henry) 3:08
10. Born to Be No Good (Reed) 3:12
11. Inspiration Blues (Reiner) 2:47
12. Description Blues (Reiner) 3:02
13. T-Bone Shuffle (Walker) 3:00
14. I Want a Little Girl (Mencher, Moll) 2:48
15. I’m Still in Love with You (Walker) 2:57
16. West Side Baby (Bartley, Cameron) 2:47

Credits: Accompanied By – Al Killian Quintet, The (tracks: 4 to 6) , Jack McVea’s All Stars (tracks: 2, 3)
Bass – Billy Hadnott (tracks: 7 to 9, 14 to 16) , Frank Clarke (tracks: 2 to 6) , John Davis (24) (tracks: 10 to 13)
Drums – Oscar Lee Bradley* (tracks: 7 to 16) , Rabon Tarrant (tracks: 2 to 6)
Guitar, Vocals – T-Bone Walker
Piano – Crow Kahn* (tracks: 2 to 6) , Willard McDaniel (tracks: 7 to 16)
Saxophone [Tenor] – Bumps Myers (tracks: 7 to 16) , Jack McVea (tracks: 2 to 6)
Trumpet – Al Killian (tracks: 4 to 6) , George Orendorff* (tracks: 9 to 13) , Jack Trainor* (tracks: 14 to 16) , Joe “Red” Kelly* (tracks: 2, 3) , John “Teddy” Buckner* (tracks: 7, 8
Written-By – T-Bone Walker (tracks: 1, 5, 13, 15)
Notes: Track 1 rec. Los Angeles 20/7/1942
Tracks 2 to 6 rec. Los Angeles 1946
Tracks 7 to 13 rec. Los Angeles 11/1947
Tracks 14 to 16 rec. Los Angeles 11/1947-1948
GEMA credits John Henry (presumably John “Shifty” Henry) as writer of tracks 14, 15
Compilation © 1992 Charly Records Ltd & Castle Comunications Australasia Ltd

Texas blues guitar legend Aaron Thibeault “T-Bone” Walker is the hero of this 14th volume in the Charly Blues Masterworks series. These 16 historic recordings made for the Capitol and Black & White labels during the years 1942-1948 demonstrate exactly how and why T-Bone influenced generations of singers and electric guitarists.

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http://rs445.rapidshare.com/files/258263442/T-Bone_Walker_-_T-Bone_Shuffle__Charly_Blues_Masterworks__Vol.14_1996.rar

[1942-1956] T-BONE WALKER BD Blues

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[1950-1954] T-BONE WALKER The Complete Imperial Recordings[1967.09.16] T-BONE WALKER & B.B. KING Live @ Monterey Jazz Festival

[1967-1969] T-BONE WALKER Stormy Monday Blues [Orbis Blues Collection #16]

Tracks:
01. Stormy Monday Blues
02. All Night Long
03. My Patience Keeps Running Out
04. Glamour Girl
05. T-Bone’s Way
06. That Evening Train
07. Louisiana Bayou Drive
08. When We Were Schoolmates
09. Don’t Go Back To New Orleans
10. Got To Cross The Deep Blue Sea
11. (You’ll Never Find Anyone) To Be A Slave Like Me
12. Left Home When I Was A Kid

This CD compiles all the tracks which originally appeared on “Stormy Monday Blues” (1967) and “Funky Town” (1969). On these recordings, he is perfectly backed by veteran virtuoso Lloyd Glenn and by three other excellent younger musical hotshots: Mel London (gtr), Ron Brown(bs) and Paul Humphrey (dms). As usual for T-Bone, a good horn section is featured as well.

These are, actually, the last true jewels that T-Bone recorded before passing away in 1975. Here, he reprises some of his best known numbers but also proves able to modernize his blues, making it sound – indeed – funkier. He achieves this by using faster tempos and by giving a lot of room to his accompanists (particularly to Mel Brown’s hard edged guitar sound). His voice, now huskier than before, perfectly complements the musical stew.

This compilation provides an interesting contrast to his previous, smoother and more sophisticated sides. However, the latter qualities have not been thrown overboard. The jazzy tinge of his earlier work remains apparent but does not dominate as much as before. As could be expected, the sound quality here is certainly more dynamic than the one found on his early 78’s from the forties and early fifties.

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/218944109/Aaron_t-bone_walker_-_Stormy_monday_blues.rar.html

[1968.11] T-BONE WALKER Good Feelin’[1968.11-1969.03] T-BONE WALKER Feelin’ The Blues

Tracks:
01. I Hate To See You Go
02. Ain’t That Cold Baby
03. Someone Is Going To Mistreat Me
04. Leavin’ You Behind
05. Feelin’ The Blues
06. I Want A Little Girl
07. Late Blues
08. Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You
09. Kansas City
10. Confessin’ The Blues
11. Hands Off
12. Wee Baby Blues
13. Please Send Me Someone To Love

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[1973] T-BONE WALKER Very Rare

Tracks:
1. Stormy Monday
2. Fever
3. Kansas City
4. Every Day I Have the Blues
5. Just a Little Bit
6. Stiking on You, Baby
7. Please Send Me Somebody to Love
8. The The Last Clean Shirt
9. Evening
10. The The Come Back
11. Your Picture Done Faded
12. Don’t Give Me the Runaround
13. Hard Times
14. Person to Person
15. Three Corn Patches
16. I’m Still in Love With You
17. James Junior
18. Been Down So Long
19. If You Don’t Come Back
20. Well, I Done Got over It

Personnnel:
Aaron “T-Bone” Walker (vocals, guitar)
Ben Benay (guitar, harmonica)
Larry Carlton, Richard Bennett, Dean Parks, Louis Shelton (guitar)
John Tropea (sitar)
David Nadien, Julius Brand, Manny Green, Leo Khan (violin)
Theodore Israel, Harold Coletta (viola)
Charles McCracken (cello)
Jerry Dodgion (flute, alto saxophone)
Jon Faddis (trumpet)

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/65050329/Very_Rare.rar

MITCH KASHMAR (1960/Santa Barbara, CA – )

The best Blues blogs and torrents (demonoid for example) are dying nowadays therefore I suggest you to grab my posts while you can! Here is another great harmonica player for you. I think he has the most clear sound in this area of Blues: just listen to his version to Mellow Down Easy. If you find a better one please let me know.

West Coast harmonica player MITCH KASHMAR (1960/Santa Barbara, CA – ) is one of the California disciples who soaked up the sound and the soul of Chicago and Mississippi and Cali-customized it. His theory is the California harp scene started with Arkansas native George “Harmonica” Smith, who settled in L.A. soon after leaving Muddy Waters’ band. “Rod [Piazza] got some of it and Kim Wilson got some,” Kashmar says of Smith’s fat, rounded tones, which often sounded more like an entire horn section than a man with a harmonica. “I got some of it from them.”

Like Wilson, The Fabulous Thunderbirds singer and harmonica legend, Kashmar grew up in Santa Barbara. “[Wilson] would come back at holiday time, climb down from the T-Birds and play gigs with us,” says Kashmar, who played with Wilson in 1981 while the T-Birds were recording Butt Rockin’. “He’s one of those guys who’ll do it right up till it’s over and then some.”

Mitch Kashmar has come a long way since his youth in what is now often perceived as the quaint beachside community of Santa Barbara, CA. They’ve all known what the rest of the blues world is about to find out: Mitch Kashmar is a force to be reckoned with in the blues. Mitch Kashmar has been making a name for himself with his own albums and his appearances with rock and blues giants. Mitch Kashmar has shared the stage with some of the most influential blues musicians including John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner, Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Pee Wee Crayton, Johnny Adams and many others.

While still attending high school, Mitch began sneaking into his first gigs with local bands in Santa Barbara using his brother’s ID. By 1980, he formed his own group, The Pontiax, continuing to perform throughout the Santa Barbara and Southern California region. Around the mid-80s, Mitch made the move to Los Angeles and The Pontiax recorded “100 Miles to Go” for the Belgium label, Blue Sting Records. They soon went out on the road expanding their fan base globally with tours throughout the US, Canada, Europe and the South Pacific.

The musical styles of The Pontiax drew on a wide range of influences including Chicago Blues, New Orleans R&B, West Coast Jump Blues and Swing, Boogie Woogie, Louisiana Swamp Rock, Texas Blues and straight forward Jazz. The Pontiax also became very popular within the music community being called into action on stage as back up band with many legendary blues musicians such as Albert Collins, Charlie Musselwhite, Luther Tucker, Pinetop Perkins, William Clarke, Kim Wilson, Roy Gaines and many of the aforementioned artists.

Mitch’s blues harp playing is second to none for creativity, drive and excitement. And he’s also just as witty and imaginative in the role of songwriter. Moving on to a solo career recording “Crazy Mixed-Up World” in ‘99, Kashmar started making a name for himself and touring with his own band but it wasn’t until his 2005 effort “Nickels & Dimes”, featuring guitar great Junior Watson on Delta Groove Music’s label, that his stock really began to rise. Kashmar was recognized two consecutive years in a row by the Blues Music Awards with nominations in 2006 as Best New Artist Debut and followed in 2007 as Best Instrumentalist – Harmonica.

When taking a break from his solo career, Mitch has also signed on for active duty with the latest touring incarnation of the classic 70’s funk-rock band War, and even made rock ‘n’ roll history appearing onstage alongside legendary British rocker Eric Burdon & War for a reunion concert held on April 21, 2008 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

About the man:

“Mitch was only 19 when I first heard him and he sounded good even then. These days, oh man, is he tough!”~Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds

“Unbelievable. A great singer, and up there with the best harp players I’ve ever heard. I’m knocked out!”~John Hammond

“Mitch Kashmar is my absolute favourite blues harp player of his generation, and one of my favourites period! He’s also a first-class vocalist, his singing really knocks me out.”~William Clarke

‘This guy is like a double-barrelled shotgun, blasting you with both great harp and great singing.”~Junior Watson

“One excellent traditional harmonicist and also a unique chromatic stylist. I’ve played with some of the best, people like Paul Butterfield and Stevie Wonder, and Mitch is right there!”~Amos Garrett

“When I first saw him coming. He was dressed so sharp I though he was a pimp. Turns out he not only looks good and plays the hell out of the harmonica, but sings great too. A triple threat artist!”~James Harman

“Mitch Kashmar is a monster! One of the very best singer/harpmen in the country.”~Tom Ball

‘…. leader Mitch Kashmar not only writes tunes in the best blues tradition, but also sings them authoritatively in a wonderfully fflexible, wholly unaffected tenor voice and blows a commanding harmonica that’s especially chilling in its upper-register flights.”~Lee Hildebrand, San Francisco Chronicle

“Mitch Kashmar and the Pontiax have the chops and soul to convincingly play the music they love.”~Dan Forte, Guitar Player magazine

“…. with the knife-sharp blues harp of Mitch Kashmar, their catching outburst of energy did not miss its mark on the expert public at Peer.”~Belgium Blues Festival review

“…. The combination of Kashmar’s vocals and evocative harp solo made for a superb finale.”~Don Snowden L.A. Times

Discography in my collection:

[1999] MITCH KASHMAR Crazy Mixed Up World

Tracks:
1. Crazy Mixed Up World 3:24
2. Rocker 3:32
3. It Ain’t Right 2:41
4. Who 3:39
5. I Don’t Play 2:19
6. The Toddle 2:40
7. Mellow Down Easy 3:04
8. Dead Presidents 3:35
9. Roller Coaster 2:47
10. Homeboy 5:36
11. Ode to Billy Joe 4:58

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http://rapidshare.com/files/215696524/1999_Mitch_Kashmar_-_Crazy_Mixed_Up_World.rar

[2005.03.22] MITCH KASHMAR & JUNIOR WATSON Nickels & Dimes

Tracks:
1. Dirty Deal
2. Nickels & Dimes
3. New York Woman
4. Just Show It To Me
5. Lizzy Mae (w/ Abu Talib)
6. Getting’ Drunk
7. Becky Ann
8. Knock ‘Em Dead (w/ Arthur Adams)
9. I Don’t Play
10. Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman
11. We’re Sittin’ Home Tonight
12. Who – Little Walter
13. Runnin’ Off at the Mouth

Personnel:
Mitch Kashmar (vocals, harmonica)
Arthur Adams, Abu Talib (vocals, guitar)
Bob Welsh (guitar, piano)
Junior Watson (guitars)
Ronnie James Weber (double bass, bass guitar)
Richard Innes (drums)
Randy Chortkoff (background vocals)

Down Beat (p.74) – 3.5 stars out of 5 – “Junior Watson handles the guitar parts with characteristic conviction and attention to detail and design.”

Living Blues (p.49) – “Kashmar wrote seven of the disc’s 13 selections, filling them with clever turns of phrase true to the blues tradition and delivering them with authority in richly resonant, remarkably flexible tenor tones.”

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/215705190/2005_Mitch_Kashmar_-_Nickels___Dimes.rar

[2006] MITCH KASHMAR Wake Up & Worry

Tracks:
1. I Got No Reason (Kashmar) 3:36
2. Dead Presidents (Dixon, Emerson) 3:22
3. Green Bananas (Kashmar) 3:20
4. Funky Dee (Kashmar) 5:57
5. Wake Up & Worry (Kashmar) 4:06
6. Night Creeper (Kashmar) 3:58
7. Half Pint-A-Whiskey (Toombs) 4:06
8. Black Dog Blues (Kashmar) 3:41
9. You Dogged Me (Chortkoff) 3:51
10. Up the Line (Jacobs) 2:50
11. I’m Sorry (Watley) 4:42
12. The Waddle (Kashmar) 3:59

Personnel:
Mitch Kashmar – Harmonica, Percussion, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Shaker, Cowbell, Soloist, Egg Shaker
Cynthia Manley – Vocals (bckgr)
John Marx – Guitar
Rick Reed – Bass
Andy Santana – Vocals (bckgr)
Bobby Watley – Organ (Hammond), Vocals
Junior Watson – Guitar, Soloist
Rusty Zinn – Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Wah Wah Guitar
James Calire – Piano, Saxophone, Bass Baritone
Randy Chortkoff – Harmonica, Vocals (bckgr)
Shane Drake – Vocals (bckgr)
Alastair Greene – Vocals (bckgr), National Steel Guitar
Richard Innes – Drums
Fred Kaplan – Piano, Organ (Hammond)

REVIEW by Hal Horowitz
Mitch Kashmar is an established West Coast harmonica veteran who has been knocking around for several decades but first made a dent on the international blues scene with his 2005 Delta Groove debut, Nickels & Dimes. As if to make up for lost time, he followed it up a year later with Wake Up and Worry, another solid blast of left coast swinging blues. Ignore the cartoonish and rather garish cover of a groggy Kashmar in a bathrobe surrounded by scantily clad models and dive into the disc for a rollicking jump blues party. Kashmar has a surprisingly compelling and distinctive voice, but it’s his astounding harp work that propels this music. Sure, there is plenty of Little Walter’s overdriven electrified blowing in his style — he covers both “Dead Presidents” and Walter’s “Up the Line” — but Kashmar puts his individual stamp on this sizzling music.

Blues fans familiar with Little Charlie & the Nightcats will want to own this as well, since Kashmar works comparable territory. The harpist/singer takes a break from his jaunty style for “I’m Sorry,” a jazzy R&B ballad with female backing singers and some tasty guitar lines from John Marx. Elsewhere, Rusty Zinn and Junior Watson, two of the finest West Coast guitarists, add their energy and talent to an album that has no low points. Those who remember the late William Clarke will also gravitate toward this as Kashmar works a similar groove and possesses the same combination of nimbleness and attitude that characterized Clarke at his finest.

The album’s closing instrumental shuffle of “The Waddle” will leave any blues fan impressed with its thick, gooey solos but the entire disc is one of the finest contemporary blues harp albums of the year. If Kashmar can maintain the quality and pace of this output, he should find belated fame as the master of the instrument he obviously is.

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/202380166/1275MitchkashmarWakeupandworry.zip

[2007.08.24] MITCH KASHMAR Live At Labatt, Edmonton, Canada

Tracks:
1. I Got No Reason
2. Dirty Deal
3. Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman
4. Evil Man Blues (Aka Evil Gal Blues)
5. Song for My Father
6. Sugar Sweet
7. You’re the One
8. Lollipop Mama
9. Wake Up & Worry
10.Castle Rock

Personnel:
Mitch Kashmar (vocals, harmonica)
John Marx (guitar)
Jimmy Calire (piano, keyboards)
Steve Nelson (bass guitar)
Tom Lackner (drums)

On Friday, August 24, 2007, Mitch Kashmar was invited to perform at the 9th Annual Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival in Western Canada, and fortunately for blues fans everywhere, the event was captured for posterity in front of an enthusiastic crowd by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Joining Kashmar on his performances for this release are Pontiax drummer Tom Lackner, bassist Steve Nelson, pianist Jimmy Calire, and former William Clarke guitarist John Marx providing the perfect foil to Kashmar’s dynamic harp playing and emotive vocals.

The live concert format allows Kashmar to really stretch out instrumentally and strut his stuff as he runs down a program featuring fan favorites off his two critically acclaimed Delta Groove releases and additional material including “Lollipop Mama,” a tribute to his old friend the late great William Clarke. “It’s the best stuff I’ve ever done!” says Kashmar, and we think you’ll whole-heartedly agree!

Although known as a harp wizard, Kashmar fronts a tight, unified band that he features, allowing every member room to stretch out and contribute to the good-time, soulful vibe they create.

Kashmar knows how to build a set. He opens with a fast-tempo blues shuffle that allows him and the band members to strut a little. It serves to introduce the band and to establish a groove that they use an anchor as the show progresses. The next few songs are variations on the groove, good-timing, uptempo standard blues numbers and then, when you figure you’ve got them figured, the band shifts into a jazz composition, Horace Silver’s “Song for My Father,” nine minutes and 27 seconds of beautiful, skillful playing.

That’s what Kashmar does. He mixes songs and styles, blending together a package that both satisfies your expectations even as it challenges them. He praises the band members, calling attention to their solos and making sure they get their time in the spotlight, but the set never becomes just a collection of individual players showing off. All of them serve the song and each musician serves the band as a whole.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/194746353/azzul.mitchkashmar.liveatlabatt.zip

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II (1899.12.05/Glendora, MS – 1965.05.25/Helena, AK)

He’s been the first harmonica player I ever listened to. That was a long, long time ago. He is considered the pioneer of harmonica. And his story is fascinating: read it well and listen to his genius expressed in this music. Comments are welcome at the bottom of this page; feel free to say hello.

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II (1899.12.05/Glendora, MS – 1965.05.25/Helena, AK) was in many ways the ultimate blues legend. By the time of his death in 1965, he had been around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at the start of his career and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Robbie Robertson at the end of it. In between, he drank a lot of whiskey, hoboed around the country, had a successful radio show for 15 years, toured Europe to great acclaim and simply wrote, played and sang some of the greatest blues ever etched into black phonograph records. His delivery was sly, evil and world-weary, while his harp-playing was full of short, rhythmic bursts one minute and powerful, impassioned blowing the next. His songs were chock-full of mordant wit, with largely autobiographical lyrics that hold up to the scrutiny of the printed page. Though he took his namesake from another well-known harmonica player, no one really sounded like him.

A moody, bitter and suspicious man, no one wove such a confusing web of misinformation as Sonny Boy Williamson II. Even his birth date (stated as December 5, 1899 in most reference books, but some sources claim his birth may have been in either 1897 or 1909) and real name (Aleck or Alex or Willie “Rice” – which may or may not be a nickname – Miller or Ford) cannot be verified with absolute certainty. Of his childhood days in Mississippi, absolutely nothing is known. What is known is that by the mid-’30s, he was traveling the Delta working under the alias of Little Boy Blue. With blues legends like Robert Johnson, Robert Nighthawk, Robert Jr. Lockwood, and Elmore James as interchangeable playing partners, he worked the juke joints, fish fries, country suppers and ballgames of the era.

By the early ’40s, he was the star of KFFA’s King Biscuit Time, the first live blues radio show to hit the American airwaves. As one of the major ruses to occur in blues history, his sponsor – the Interstate Grocery Company – felt they could push more sacks of their King Biscuit Flour with Miller posing as Chicago harmonica star John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. In today’s everybody-knows-everything video age, it’s hard to think that such an idea would work, much less prosper. After all, the real Sonny Boy was a national recording star, and Miller’s vocal and harmonica style was in no way derivative of him. But Williamson had no desire to tour in the South, so prosper it did, and when John Lee was murdered in Chicago, Miller became – in his own words – “the original Sonny Boy.” Among his fellow musicians, he was usually still referred to as Rice Miller, but to the rest of the world he did, indeed, become the Sonny Boy Williamson.

Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), KFFA owner Sam Anderson and Robert Lockwood Jr. in King Biscuit Time promo shot, 1940’s, Helena, Arkansas

The show was an immediate hit, prompting IGC to introduce Sonny Boy Corn Meal, complete with a likeness of Williamson on the front of the package. With all this local success, however, Sonny Boy was not particularly anxious to record. Though he often claimed in his twilight years that he had recorded in the ’30s, no evidence of that appears to have existed. Lillian McMurray, the owner of Trumpet Records in Jackson, MS, had literally tracked him down to a boarding house in nearby Belzoni and enticed him to record for her. The music Sonny Boy made for her between 1951 to 1954 show him in peak form, his vocal, instrumental, and songwriting skills honed to perfection. Williamson struck paydirt on his first Trumpet release, “Eyesight to the Blind” and though the later production on his Chess records would make the Trumpet sides seem woefully under-recorded by comparison, they nonetheless stand today as classic performances, capturing juke joint blues in one of its finest hours.

Another major contribution to the history of the blues occurred when Sonny Boy brought King Biscuit Time guest star Elmore James into the studio for a session. With Williamson blowing harp, a drummer keeping time, and the tape machine running surreptitiously, Elmore recorded the first version of what would become his signature tune, Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom.” By this time Sonny Boy had divorced his first wife (who also happened to be Howlin’ Wolf’s sister) and married Mattie Gordon. This would prove to be the longest and most enduring relationship of his life outside of music, with Mattie putting up with the man’s rambling ways, and living a life of general rootlessness in the bargain. On two different occasions Sonny Boy moved to Detroit, taking up residence in the Baby Boy Warren band for brief periods, and contributed earth-shattering solos on Warren sides for Blue Lake and Excello in 1954.

By early 1955, after leasing a single to Johnny Vincent’s Ace label, McMurray had sold Williamson’s contract to Buster Williams in Memphis, who in turn sold it to Leonard Chess in Chicago. All the pieces were finally tumbling into place, and Sonny Boy finally had a reason to take up permanent residence north of the Mason-Dixon line; he now was officially a Chess recording artist. His first session for Chess took place on August 12, 1955, and the single pulled from it, “Don’t Start Me to Talkin’,” started doing brisk business on the R&B charts. By his second session for the label, he was reunited with longtime musical partner Robert Jr. Lockwood. Lockwood – who had been one of the original King Biscuit Boys – had become de facto house guitarist for Chess, as well as moonlighting for other Chicago labels. With Lockwood’s combination of Robert Johnson rhythms and jazz chord embellishments, Williamson’s harp and parched vocals sounded fresher than ever and Lockwood’s contributions to the success of Sonny Boy’s Chess recordings cannot be overestimated.

For a national recording artist, Williamson had a remarkable penchant for pulling a disappearing act for months at a time. Sometimes, when Chicago bookings got too lean, he would head back to Arkansas, fronting the King Biscuit radio show for brief periods. But in 1963 he was headed to Europe for the first time, as part of the American Folk Blues Festival. The folk music boom was in full swing and Europeans were bringing over blues artists, both in and past their prime, to face wildly appreciative white audiences for the first time. Sonny Boy unleashed his bag of tricks and stole the show every night.

He loved Europe and stayed behind in Britain when the tour headed home. He started working the teenage beat club circuit, touring and recording with the Yardbirds and Eric Burdon’s band, whom he always referred to as “de Mammimals.” On the folk-blues tours, Sonny Boy would be very dignified and laid-back. But in the beat club setting, with young, white bands playing on eleven behind him, he’d pull out every juke joint trick he used with the King Biscuit Boys and drive the kids nuts. “Help Me” became a surprise hit in Britain and across Europe.

Then in his mid-’60s (or possibly older), Williamson was truly appreciative of all the attention, and contemplated moving to Europe permanently. But after getting a harlequin, two-tone, city gentleman’s suit (complete with bowler hat, rolled umbrella and attaché case full of harmonicas) made up for himself, he headed back to the States – and the Chess studios – for some final sessions. When he returned to England in 1964, it was as a conquering hero. One of his final recordings, with Jimmy Page on guitar, was entitled “I’m Trying to Make London My Home.”

In 1965, he headed home, back to Mississippi one last time, and took over the King Biscuit show again. Still wearing his custom-made suit, he regaled the locals with stories of his travels across Europe. Some were impressed, others who had known him for years felt he could have just as well substituted the name “Mars” for Europe in explaining his exploits, so used were they to Sonny Boy’s tall tales. But after hoboing his way around the United States for thirty-odd years, and playing to appreciative audiences throughout Europe, Sonny Boy had a perfectly good reason for returning to the Delta; he had come home to die. He would enlist the help of old friends like Houston Stackhouse and Peck Curtis to take him around to all the back-road spots he had seen as a boy, sometimes paying his respects to old friends, other days just whiling away an afternoon on the banks of a river fishing.

When Ronnie Hawkins’ ex-bandmates, the Hawks, were playing in the area, they made a special point of seeking out Sonny Boy and spent an entire evening backing him up in a juke joint. All through the night, Williamson kept spitting into a coffee can beside him. When Robbie Robertson got up to leave the bandstand during a break, he noticed the can was filled with blood. On May 25, 1965, Curtis and Stackhouse were waiting at the KFFA studios for Sonny Boy to do the daily King Biscuit broadcast. When Williamson didn’t show, Curtis left the station and headed to the rooming house where Sonny Boy was staying, only to find him lying in bed, dead of an apparent heart attack. He was buried in the Whitfield Cemetery in Tutwiler, MS, and his funeral was well-attended. As Houston Stackhouse said, “He was well thought of through that country.”

Sonny Boy Williamson II was elected to the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980.

Discography in my collection:

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II The Best OfSONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Bring It On Home

Tracks:
1. Don’t Start M Talkin’ (2:36)
2. All My Love In Vain (2:50)
3. The Key(To Your Door) (3:17)
4. I Don’t Know (2:26)
5. Cross My Heart (3:24)
6. Dissatisfied (2:43)
7. Santa Claus (2:45)
8. Checkin’ Up On mY Baby (1:56)
9. Temperature 110
10.Down Child
11.Trust My Baby
12.Too Close Together
13.To Young To Die
14.The Hunt
15.Got To Move
16.Bye Bye Bird
17.Help Me
18.Bring It On Home
19.One Way Out
20.Tryin’ To Get Back On My Feet

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[1951] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II King Biscuit Time

Tracks:
1. Do It If You Wanna
2. Cool, Cool Blues
3. Come on Back Home
4. Stop Crying
5. Eyesight to the Blind
6. West Memphis Blues
7. I Cross My Heart
8. Crazy About You Baby
9. Nine Below Zero
10. Mighty Long Time
11. She Brought Life Back to the Dead
12. Stop Now Baby
13. Mr. Downchild
14. Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues
15. Pontiac Blues
16. Too Close Together
17. Kffa Radio Program: V-8 Ford / Stormy Monday / Right Now / Come Go With Me – (live)
18. Dust My Broom

Personnel:
Sonny Boy Williamson (vocals, harmonica)
Cliff Bivens (vocals, bass)
Joe Willie Wilkins (guitar)
Dave Campbell, Clarence Lonnie (piano)
Frock (drums)

Recorded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1951.

Sonny Boy Williamson was one of the most influential of the early blues harmonica players. KING BISCUIT TIME refers to his popular 15-minute radio show broadcast which, beginning in 1938, was sponsored by the Interstate Grocery Company, and originated out of Helena, Arkansas every afternoon at 12:45 p.m. over radio station KFFA.

Recorded in 1951, many of the selections on KING BISCUIT TIME were originally issued as 78s on the Trumpet label, while others were taken directly from his radio show. KING BISCUIT TIME includes Elmore James’ original recording of “Dust My Broom” for the Trumpet label. There is also a complete transcription of a “King Biscuit Time” radio program, taped shortly before Williamson’s death on May 26, 1965.

DL:
http://rapidshare.com/files/220731956/1989_Sonny_Boy_Williamson_II_-_King_Biscuit_Time.rar

[1951-53] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Nine Below Zero

Tracks:
01 – Don’t Start Me Talkin’
02 – All My Love In Vain
03 – Let Me Explain
04 – Checkin’ Up On My Baby
05 – Lonesome Cabin
06 – Nine Below Zero
07 – Help Me
08 – Keep It To Yourself
09 – The Key (To Your Door)
10 – Bring It On Home
11 – Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
12 – The Goat
13 – Trust My Baby
14 – Too Close Together
15 – Born Blind
16 – Decoration Day
17 – Ninety Nine
18 – It’s Sad To Be Alone

NINE BELOW ZERO collects the first recordings of singer-harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson, captured in the early 1950s by Trumpet Records. This collection comprises his earliest sides, recorded between 1951-53, for the Trumpet label.

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[1951-1954] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Cool, Cool Blues: The Classics Sides

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[1953.03.23] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II & WILLIE LOVE Clownin’ With The World[1951-1954] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Goin’ In Your Direction

Tracks:
1. Goin’ in Your Direction
2. From the Bottom
3. No Nights by Myself
4. Boppin’ With Sonny
5. Empty Bedroom
6. Red Hot Kisses – Sonny Boy Williamson, McMurry, L.
7. Gettin’ Out of Town
8. Cat Hop
9. She Brought Life Back to the Dead
10. I’m Not Beggin’ Nobody [Alternate Take][#]
11. She’s Crazy [Alternate Take][#]
12. Sonny’s Rhythm, No. 2 [Alternate Take][#]
13. Make a Little Love With Me – Sonny Boy Williamson, Crudup
14. Gonna Find My Baby – Sonny Boy Williamson, Crudup, Arthur “Big
15. Carfish Blues – Sonny Boy Williamson, Public Domain [1]

Recording Date: Jul 24, 1951-Nov 12, 1954

Review by Ron Wynn
Alligator continues its Trumpet reissue series with an excellent 15-cut anthology covering early Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II) material, some of it also including guitarist Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and guitarist Bobo “Slim” Thomas. Miller was honing the uncanny technique that made him a harmonica legend, playing long overtones, spitting lines, droning and angular phrases that are now part of blues lore. His voice was gaining strength and stature, and he repeatedly demonstrated the kind of vocal character and instrumental acumen later immortalized on his Chess sessions. Alligator has found a genuine treasure chest with this series. Sonny Boy Williamson (II)’s early-50s waxings for Trumpet Records are not as well-known as his Chess sides, but they are a very important part of his legacy, and while the fidelity is not stellar, the performances are terrific.

I called this “early” Sonny Boy, and it is in terms of recorded material, but Rice Miller was already in his 50s when these performances were taped, and had played with men like Robert Johnson and Elmore James down in the Delta in the 30s. So his inimitable harmonica style was already in place on these his first recordings, and his characteristic vocals and his way with words were fully developed as well.

One of these songs features Bobo Thomas as the lead vocalist…his “Catfish Blues” was reportedly put on the flipside of Elmore James’ lone 1951 single “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom”, a recording which also featured Rice Miller on harmonica. Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, the man behind “That’s All Right Mama”, sings on two numbers, and on the 1954 single “From The Bottom” a young B.B. King is credited as the guitar player.

But this is mainly Sonny Boy’s show. He lays down tremendous, gritty performances of “Goin’ In Your Direction”, “I’m Not Beggin’ Nobody”, and the thumping, syncopated “Gettin’ Out Of Town”, as well as several others, including “She Brought Life Back To The Dead” and the driving “Empty Bedroom”, which give Sonny Boy’s best Chess sides a run for their money. The swinging “Red Hot Kisses” features great piano playing from David Campbell, and pianist Willie Love and guitarist Joe Willie Wilkins are also among the musicians. Love is particularly great on “She’s Crazy”, contributing mightily to the deep, swaggering groove of the track.

Sonny Boy fans should rush to secure themselves a copy of this excellent collection. Alligator has found a real treasure trove with these wonderful Trumpet sides, and this is in no way second-rate material…this is Sonny Boy Williamson at his best.

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http://rapidshare.com/files/181798159/1994_Sonny_Boy_Williamson_II_-_Goin__in_Your_Direction.rar

[1955-1964] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II The Chess Years (4 CD Box Set)

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[1957-1960] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Bummer Road[1959] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Down And Out Blues

Tracks:
1. Don’t Start Me To Talkin
2. I Don’t Know
3. All My Love In Vain
4. Key
5. Keep It To Yourself
6. Dissatisfied
7. Fattening Frogs For Snakes
8. Wake Up Baby
9. Your Funeral & My Trial
10. 99 – (studio)
11. Cross My Heart
12. Let Me Explain
13. I Don’t Know (bonus track)
14. Fattening Frogs For Snakes (Outtake) (bonus track)
15. Your Imagination (bonus track)
16. Let Your Consciousness Be Your Guide (bonus track)
17. Trust Me Baby (bonus track)
18. Bye Bye Bird (bonus track)

Sonny Boy Williamson (this being version 2.0, Rice Miller) was one of the great characters in blues, and his 1959 debut album absolutely overflows with personality. The Arkansas native was 60 years old by this time, but the years, if anything, made him an even more headstrong, commanding artist than he was by nature.

Williamson was a truly gifted songwriter capable of penning vivid lyrics that ranked with the best in the genre. Indeed, Down and Out Blues is rife with Sonny Boy songs that have become blues staples, including “Don’t Start Me to Talkin’,” “Fattening Frogs for Snakes,” and “Your Funeral and My Trial.”

Chess Records’ crack regulars, spearheaded by guitarists Muddy Waters and Robert Jr. Lockwood, provide suitably gritty support, helping to make this 12-song set one of the touchstones of electric blues. Retaining photographer Don Bronstein’s cover shot of a disheveled bum lying on the sidewalk (some former Chess artist, perhaps?) Sonny Boy Williamson’s original 1959 album made it to digital reissue but has now been supplanted by MCA’s exhaustive The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson.

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/181665180/1959_Sonny_Boy_Williamson_II_-_Down_and_Out_Blues.rar

[1963] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Keep It To Ourselves

Tracks:
1. The Sky Is Crying (James, Lewis, Robinson) – 3:17
2. Slowly Walk Close To Me – 3:24
3. Once Upon A Time – 3:13
4. Don’t Let Your Right Hand Know – 6:11
5. Movin’ Out – 3:40
6. Coming Home To You Baby (Williamson) – 4:01
7. I Can’t Understand (Williamson) – 3:20
8. Same Girl Memphis (Slim, Williamson ) – 4:48
9. Gettin’ Together – 3:47
10. Why Are You Crying? – 2:51
11. Girl Friends – 4:39
12. When The Lights Went Out – 4:25

Personnel:
Sonny Boy Williamson (vocals, harmonica)
Matt “Guitar” Murphy (guitar)
Memphis Slim (piano, vocals)
Billie Stepney (drums)

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/220624474/1963_Sonny_Boy_Williamson_II_-_Keep_It_To_Ourselves.rar

[1963] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II & MEMPHIS SLIM & MATT ‘Guitar’ MURPHY Live @ Oberhausen, Germany

[1963.12.30] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II & THE ANIMALS Live @ Newcastle, UK

Tracks:
01. Sonny’s Slow Walk
02. Pontiac Blues
03. My Babe
04. I Don’t Care No More
05. Baby Don’t You Worry
06. Nightime Is The Right Time
07. I’m Gonna Put You Down
08. Fattening Frogs For Snakes
09. Nobody But You
10. Bye Bye Sonny Bye Bye
11. Coda
12. Let It Rock
13. Gotta Find My Baby
14. Bo Diddley
15. Almost Grown
16. Dimples
17. Boom Boom
18. C Jam Blues

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[1963.12-1964.02] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II & THE YARDBIRDS Live @ The Crawdaddy Club

Tracks:
01. Bye Bye Bird
02. Mister Downchild
03. 23 Hours Too Long
04. Out Of The Water Coast
05. Baby Don’t Worry
06. Pontiac Blues
07. Take It Easy Baby (ver 1)
08. I Don’t Care No More
09. Do The Weston
10. The River Rhine
11. A Lost Care
12. Western Arizona
13. Take It Easy Baby (ver 2)
14. Slow Walk
15. Highway 69

A set of live tracks recorded at the Crawdaddy Club in London, along with three songs from a live set at the
Birmingham Rhythm & Blues Festival in February of 1964, this frequently bootlegged sequence is really more of
a Sonny Boy Williamson show with a nascent version of the Yardbirds as his backup band (featuring a young Eric
Clapton on guitar).

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http://sharebee.com/693513f5

[1965] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II The Real Folk Blues

Tracks:
1. One Way Out
2. Too Young to Die
3. Trust My Baby
4. Checkin’ Up on My Baby
5. Sad to Be Alone
6. Got to Move
7. Bring It on Home
8. Down Child
9. Peach Tree
10. Dissatisfied
11. That’s All I Want
12. Too Old to Think

This collection includes some of Rice Miller’s (A.K.A. Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2) greatest and most famous compositions from the Chess and Checker labels. Recorded in the early 1960s, Sonny Boy’s trademark harp and vocals are accompanied by stars like Robert Lockwood Jr., Otis Spann, Willie Dixon and Matt “Guitar” Murphy. Every record collection needs some Sonny Boy, and this is a great place to start.

Amazon.com
The biography of Sonny Boy Williamson is something of an enigma, even to ardent blues fans. Indeed, he isn’t even the “real” Williamson; a shrewd businessman simply gave singer-mouth harpist Aleck “Rice” Miller the name after the 1948 murder of popular blues artist John Lee Williamson. Still, Miller/Williamson’s remarkable career literally bridged Robert Johnson and Eric Clapton, both his music and life embodying a free-wheeling, hard-living lifestyle that became something of a rock and blues cliché.

After considerable local radio success in the Delta, Miller/Williamson ended up at Chicago’s Chess Records in the mid-1950s, where all but one of these two dozen tracks originated in the early ’60s. But by the time Chess originally issued the first of these ill-timed collections (belatedly compiled to cash in on a waning ’60s folk boom), Williamson was six months dead. Listen and it’s not hard to hear why a generation or two of blues-smitten rockers held him especially dear, be it the Allmans (the original “One Way Out,” with longtime partner Robert Lockwood Jr. supplying the familiar guitar licks) or Zeppelin (a lugubrious, boogied-up take of Willie Dixon’s “Bring It On Home”).

Punctuated by harp blasts that could turn from sharply staccato to lyrically wrenching, Williamson’s leathery voice muses over his being “Too Young to Die” or “Too Old to Think” with the self-deprecating indifference that became a trademark. Though these tracks are the cream of his last years, they’re more boozy celebration than elegy.~Jerry McCulley

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http://rapidshare.com/files/181683401/1966_Sonny_Boy_Williamson_II_-_The_Real_Folk_Blues.rar

[1965] JIMMY PAGE & SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Jam Session[1967] SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II More Real Folk Blues

Tracks:
1. Help Me
2. Bye Bye Bird
3. Nine Below Zero
4. Hunt
5. Stop Right Now
6. She’s My Baby
7. Goat
8. Decoration Day
9. Trying to Get Back on My Feet
10. My Younger Days
11. Close to Me
12. Somebody Help Me

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http://rapidshare.com/files/181691780/1967_Sonny_Boy_Williamson_II_-_More_Real_Folk_Blues.rar

WILLIAM CLARKE (1951.03.29/Inglewood, CA – 1996.11.02/Fresno, CA)

Harmonica all the way this weekend! If you have read my previous posts, you already know this guy’s name. He has left a wonderful legacy to us so let’s see what is this all about. Btw, feel free to comment.

WILLIAM CLARKE (1951.03.29/Inglewood, CA – 1996.11.02/Fresno, CA) became turned onto blues during the 1960s, oddly enough by hearing covers of blues tunes by groups like the Rolling Stones. Although he had played some guitar and drums, Clarke started playing the harmonica in 1967. He states that his main early influences were Big Walter Horton, James Cotton, Junior Wells, and Sonny Boy Williamson II.

In mid-1968, Clarke began listening to jazz organists such as Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Shirley Scott, and Richard “Groove” Holmes. “This had a huge influence on my playing,” says Clarke. “Along with jazz saxophonists Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Gene Ammons, Lyne Hope, and Willis Jackson, the combination of listening and absorbing the grooves of tenor-sax-led organ trios had an everlasting effect on my direction in music. For my style, I incorporated the hardcore attitude and tone of the classic Chicago harmonica players along with the swinging and highly rhythmic grooves of the organ trios and to this I add my style and ideas, and you have the William Clarke sound.”

By the middle of 1969, Clarke was spending a lot of time in the Los Angeles ghetto clubs – South-Central Los Angeles. There he met T-Bone Walker, Pee Wee Crayton, Shakey Jake Harris, Big Joe Turner, Ironing Board Sam, J.D. Nicholson, and George “Harmonica” Smith, who would later become his greatest influence on the chromatic harp. Clarke would go from one club until it closed at 2 a.m., switch to an after-hours club from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., and then go to jam sessions that could last until 11 a.m. – and still hold down a day job! Clarke spent 20 years working as a machinist and family man before launching his blues career.

Then Clarke began to see and listen more to George “Harmonica” Smith – a veteran of the Muddy Waters band. Clarke says, “To me George was bigger than life. I was always afraid to start up a conversation with him, not because I thought he was mean, but because I thought of him like a god on the harmonica.” Around 1977, they became friends and started performing together. They worked together until Smith passed away in 1983. Clarke was George Smith’s protege and he became the godfather to Clarke’s son Willie. Clarke says, “George and me were very close friends and in a lot of ways he was like a father to me.”

Between 1978 and 1988, Clarke recorded and released five self-produced albums all cut on shoestring budgets. They are Hittin’ Heavy (Good Time, 1978), Blues from Los Angeles (1980), Can’t You Hear Me Calling (Watch Dog, 1983), Tip of the Top (Satch, 1987 nominated for a Handy award) and Rockin’ the Boat (Riviera, 1988).

He guested on nearly a dozen albums, as a sideman for Smokey Wilson, Shakey Jake, Long Gone Miles and other West Coast blues heavies. While fame eluded him, he built an impressive word-of-mouth reputation, receiving six Blues Music Award nominations (the Grammy of the blues community) despite the fact he hadn’t yet had a nationally distributed record.

After Clarke produced his sixth album, he decided to send a tape along to Bruce Iglauer, president of Alligator Records. The explosive, soul-drenched performances caught Iglauer off guard, who said, “I couldn’t believe how such a wonderful harp player and such a terrific writer, singer and arranger could have been a secret for so long. I knew we had to sign him.”

Clarke’s Alligator debut, Blowin’ Like Hell, was released in 1990. Billboard called the album “a model of what a contemporary blues record should be…strong, soulful tunes, ballsy vocals and refined harmonica.” Suddenly, Clarke and his band were in demand all over the country. They accepted over 250 bookings throughout the United States and Europe in 1991 alone, gaining new fans everywhere they played. In 1991 Clarke won a Blues Music Award for Blues Song Of The Year with his composition Must Be Jelly from Blowin’ Like Hell.

Clarke’s 1992 release, Serious Intentions, earned him the Australian Blues Award for Overseas Blues Album Of The Year. The album was filled with pulsating grooves, swinging shuffles and tasty harmonica playing. The Chicago Reader said, “Shimmering, wild chorded harp playing. He bends notes with the raucous abandon of a Chicago juker…some of the most honest, unpretentious blues being laid today.”

Clarke’s next album, 1994’s Groove Time, earned him widespread critical acclaim. The Los Angeles Daily News called him “a modern day harmonica master.” Clarke’s mixture of 1950s Chicago blues with West Coast swing and funky jazz riffs brought him accolades from critics and fans alike.

He met his wife-to-be Jeanette when he was sixteen and she was fifteen. He soon found his way onto the Los Angeles blues scene while working days as a skilled machinist. Clarke-Lodovici accompanied him throughout his life as he established himself as a blues artist. Times may have proven lean, but she remained his most ardently devoted fan.

In the last year of his life, Clarke delivered his most ambitious album, The Hard Way, and hit the road with a vengeance. He won the three top Blues Music Awards: Album of the Year, Song of the Year (for Fishing Blues) and Instrumentalist of the Year-Harmonica. Sadly, he didn’t live to accept his awards.

Like all too many of the blues greats before him, William Clarke played hard and lived hard. He and his band traveled by car a lot, alternating between the West Coast and the Midwest in an endless road trip of one-night stands, short gigs, staying in cheap hotels, eating on the run, and probably drinking too much.

William Clarke died on an operating table in Fresno, California on November 2, 1996 from a bleeding ulcer. He was just 45 years old. At the time of his death, Clarke was touring with what would be the final release of his lifetime, The Hard Way. Two other recordings were released posthumously, Blues Harmonica in 1996 and Deluxe Edition in 1999. His presence in the blues world is missed.

Discography in my collection:

[1986.11-12] SMOKEY WILSON & The WILLIAM CLARKE Band

Tracks:
1. Down in Virginia
2. I Wish I Was Single
3. Howling Wolf
4. Tell Me What Do You See
5. Bar Room Blues
6. Cold Chills
7. Ghetto Woman
8. Dimples
9. Lein on My Body
10. Things I Used to Do
11. Truckload of Love

Personnel:
William Clarke (Harmonica)
Smokey Wilson (Guitar)
Junior Watson (Guitar)
John Moore (Drums)
Eddie Clark (Drums)
Willie Brinlee (Bass)
Joel Foy (Guitar)
Fred Kaplan (Piano)
Alex Schultz (Guitar)

This is a reissue, originally released 1990, issued posthumously in the memory of harmonica virtuoso William Clarke, who plays prominently along with his band. Both frequently performed together at Wilson’s Pioneer Club and their close friendship is reflected in the musical interaction of Wilson’s Mississippi roots mixed with Clarke’s hard-blowin’ harp attack. Wilson described his life best in “Tell Me What Do You See” with the words, “I’ve been all around the world/And blues is all I know to play.” Other greats hop along for the ride, including keyboardist Fred Kaplan, and Mighty Flyers alumni Junior Watson and Alex Schultz. It’s no accident that Wilson has some of Howlin’ Wolf’s vocal mannerisms on the song named after the Wolf himself. The story is that Wolf “willed” his voice to Wilson during one of Wolf’s shows. ~ Char Ham, All Music Guide

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[1987] WILLIAM CLARKE Tip Of The Top

Tracks:
1. Drinkin’ Beer
2. Just a Dream
3. Take a Walk With Me
4. Tribute to George Smith
5. Charlie’s Blues
6. Goin’ Steady
7. Hot Dog and a Beer
8. Chromatic Jump
9. Hard Times
10. Blowin’ the Family Jewels
11. Drinkin’ Straight Whiskey
12. Party Party [#]
13. Got My Brand on You [#]
14. My Dog Don’t Bark [#]
15. My Wife Got Mad [#]

Personnel:
William Clarke – Harmonica, Vocals
George “Harmonica” Smith – Harmonica, Vocals
Ronnie Earl – Guitar
Charlie Musselwhite – Vocals, Harmonica
Bill Stuve – Bass
Bruce Thorpe – Guitar
Fred Kaplan – Guitar
Hollywood Fats – Guitar
Jerry Monte – Drums
Joel Foy – Guitar
Junior Watson – Guitar
Rob Rio – Piano
Steve Killman – Guitar
Willie Brinlee – Bass

Blues lovers are in a particularly difficult situation when it comes to their blues heros. Since many of the members of the blues royalty are older, the blues fan runs the risk of picking up the paper or turning on the radio to find out that another bluesman (or woman) has passed on. Although it’s not easy to absorb the loss of any blues favorite regardless of age, the loss of a younger blues personality seems even more difficult to bear. Such is the case with William Clarke, whose 1987 W. C. Handy nominated LP, Tip Of The Top, has just been re-released by King Ace Records.

Tip Of The Top is an amazingly raw and powerful recording featuring some of William Clarke’s finest early work. Supported by a crew of exceptional musicians with guest appearances by his mentor George “Harmonica” Smith, along with Charlie Musselwhite, Ronnie Earl, Junior Watson and Hollywood Fats, Clarke burns his way through the fifteen song CD which includes four previously unreleased bonus tracks.

From the opening number, the party down song “Drinkin’ Beer,” to the last, “My Wife Got Mad,” William Clarke makes it clear that he had plans to becoming the new “King of the Chromatic Harp” after the passing of George Smith in 1983. Listeners receive a special treat on the CD which includes a song dedicated to George Smith (“Tribute to George Smith”) as well as a song performed by Mr. Smith who provides amplified harp and vocals on “Hard Times.” Clarke performs “Party Party,” a fantastic rocking tune, with another tragic blues figure, guitarist Hollywood Fats, who passed away at the early age of 32 in 1986. Fat’s also provides his distinctive guitar on three other songs; “Take A Walk With Me,” “Tribute To George Smith” and “Charlie’s Blues.”

“Charlie’s Blues” features an admittedly lubricated Charlie Musselwhite on vocals, trading harp licks with Clarke all though the song. Regardless of his physical state, Charlie is amazing, as always. On a lighter note, Musselwhite indicates in the liner notes that the song was “not nearly as bad as I thought I was going to sound….I could have done better had I been sober though. Oh, well. We had a hell of a good time.” My other favorite, “Chromatic Jump,” was recorded live at the 1985 “Battle of the Harmonicas” in San Francisco. The chromatic harp that Clarke blows on this number is totally unbelievable and represents the cornerstone of the recording. It is a “must listen” for any harmonica aficionado.

The last four tracks on the CD; “Party Party,” “Got My Brand On You,” “My Dog Won’t Bark” and “My Wife Got Mad” are previously unreleased and provide a fine bonus to the CD. In another excellent guest appearance, Junior Watson appears on the final two songs, “My Dog Won’t Bark” and “My Wife Got Mad,” blending his signature guitar style with Clarke’s emotional harp.

Tip Of The Top is an excellent CD from one of the tragic figures of the blues. Fans of William Clarke will rejoice at the re-release of this classic recording, while all blues fans will be amazed at the fine collection of songs performed by Clarke and his all-star cast.

DL:

http://avaxhome.ws/music/william_clarke_tip_of_the_top_2000.html

[1990.08.02] WILLIAM CLARKE Blowin’ Like Hell

Tracks:
1. Lollipop Mama (3:50)
2. Lonesome Bedroom Blues (5:45)
3. Gambling For My Bread (3:25)
4. Greasy Gravy (3:34)
5. Trying So Hard (3:37)
6. Cash Money (3:39)
7. Must Be Jelly (7:03)
8. Sweet Angel’s Gone (4:44)
9. Looking To The Future (4:07)
10. Drinking by Myself (5:47)
11. Blowin’ Like Hell (2:43)

Personnel:
William Clarke (harmonica, vocals, guitar)
Alex Schultz (guitar. electric bass)
Zach Zunis, John Marx (guitars)
Jon Viau (baritone & tenor saxophones)
John Marotti (trombone, trumpet)
Fred Kaplan, Steve F’dor (piano)
Willie Brinlee (acoustic bass)
John Young (electric bass)
Eddie Clark (drums)

All songs written by William Clarke except “Lillipop Mama” (Roy Brown) and “Lonesome Bedroom Blues” (Jones).

Recorded at Pacifica Studios, Culver City, California. Includes liner notes by Dick Shurman.

Entertainment Weekly (1/25/91) – B+ – “….In the grand tradition of Little Walter…Clarke comes on like a banshee, with a harsh, keening sound that gives his workmanlike blues an elemental force. When Clarke sings, you like it, but when he blows the harp, you believe it…”

DL:

http://avaxhome.ws/music/blues/william_clarke_blowin_like_hell_alligator_alcd_4788.html

[1993] WILLIAM CLARKE One More Again

[1994] WILLIAM CLARKE Groove Time

Tracks:
1 Daddy Pinnochio – Jules Taub/Jimmy Witherspoon
2 Saturday Night Blues
3 The Complainer’s Boogie Woogie
4 This Is My Last Goodbye
5 Telephone Is Ringing
6 A Good Girl Is Hard to Find
7 The War Is Over
8 Broke and Hungry – Estes
9 Somebody Is Calling Me Home
10 Blowin’ the Family Jewels
11 Watch Dog – George “Mojo” Buford/Spann
12 Saint or Sinner
13 Chicago Blues – Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup
14 Bedroom Boogie
15 Your Love Is Real

All songs composed by William Clarke, except where stated.

Personnel:
William Clarke – Harmonica, Vocals
Alex Schultz, Barry Levenson, Al Blake – Guitar
Kid Ramos – Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm)
Tyler Pederson – Bass
Steve F’dor, John “Juke” Logan, Andy Kaulkin, Fred Kaplan – Organ, Piano
Eddie Clark, Jimi Bott, Bob Newham, John Moore – Drums
Troy Jennings – Sax (Baritone)
Jonny Viau – Sax (Tenor)
John Marotti – Trumpet
Greg Verginio – Vocals

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http://rapidshare.com/files/277017230/1472.rar

[1996.07.16] WILLIAM CLARKE The Hard Way

Tracks:
01. The Boss [0:04:26.35]
02. Five Card Hand [0:03:33.02]
03. Fishing Blues [0:03:13.65]
04. Evil [0:03:33.00]
05. Letter From Home [0:05:05.68]
06. My Mind Is Working Overtime [0:03:14.40]
07. Last Monday Morning [0:05:56.57]
08. Moten Swing [0:04:10.08]
09. Blues Is Killing Me [0:06:09.37]
10. Don’t Treat Me Wrong [0:03:05.73]
11. Respect Me, Baby [0:04:31.47]
12. Other Side Of Town [0:03:16.33]
13. Walkin’ [0:04:41.35]

DL:
http://avaxhome.ws/music/blues/william_clarke_the_hard_way_alligator_records_alcd_4842.html

[2001] WILLIAM CLARKE Now That You’re Gone

Tracks:
01. Now That You’re Gone 2:58
02. Feel Like a King 3:33
03. Love You, Yes I Do 3:46
04 Give Me Mine Now 4:21
05. She’s Gone 3:16
06. When I Get Drunk 3:20
07. Bite Again 2:52
08. Can’t You Hear Me Callin 3:59
09. Let’s Celebrate Life 1:36
10. She’s Dynamite 3:11
11. Find a New Place to Live 3:47
12. Watson, I Presume 4:33

DL:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NR20IAGU

PAUL BUTTERFIELD (1942.12.17/Chicago, IL – 1987.05.04/Los Angeles, CA)

Here is the first white Blues big band even thou it was a mix of colors. In my opinion and other musical critics it is the best Blues-Rock-Funk band of all time and had as a leader a white boy who had a soul of a black man. He also played harmonica like one of them. He inspired and still inspires generations of harmonica players around the world. His music is linked to one my favorite guitarists who can be found in a previous post on my blog (I let you guess). As a matter of fact, this band had 5 or 6 geniuses over the years who later formed their own bands and influenced the history of music. Enjoy it! Comments are welcome at the bottom of this page; feel free to say hello.

PAUL BUTTERFIELD (1942.12.17/Chicago, IL – 1987.05.04/Los Angeles, CA) was an American blues harmonica player and singer. He is one of the earliest Caucasian exponents of the Chicago-originated electric blues style.

Paul Butterfield, a lawyer’s son, was born and grew up in Chicago. After studying classical flute as a teen, he developed a love for the blues harmonica, and hooked up with white, blues-loving, University of Chicago physics student Elvin Bishop (later of “Fooled Around and Fell In Love” fame). The two started hanging around great black blues players like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Junior Wells. Butterfield and Bishop soon formed a band with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay (both of Howlin’ Wolf’s band).

In 1963, a watershed event in introducing blues to white America occurred when this racially mixed ensemble was made the house band at the Chicago blues club Big John’s. Butterfield was still underage, (as was Mike Bloomfield, who was already working there in his own band).

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was signed to Elektra Records after adding Michael Bloomfield as lead guitarist. Their original debut album was scrapped, then re-recorded after the addition of organist Mark Naftalin. Finally, their self-titled debut, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was released in 1965. It had an immediate impact, serving as a wakeup call for a generation of musicians.

Prior to the summer of 1965, the Beatles’ music (and much of the rest of the British Invasion) was the stuff of screaming kids. Serious musical aficionados viewed it as “bubblegum.” The music of the “hip,” “in,” college crowd, along with the trend-setting musical elite, was folk music and acoustic protest songs, as played by folk’s king and queen, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. And folk music’s Mecca was the annual Newport Folk Festival. At the Newport Folk Festival of 1965, Dylan closed the event with the help of Butterfield’s band (sans Butterfield), a move considered controversial at the time by much of the folk music establishment.

The band travelled to New York in January 1966 to record their self-titled debut album which comprised a hard-hitting battery of electric blues numbers. It made No. 123 in the Billboard album charts. In June the same year they contributed five tracks to What’s Shakin’, an Elektra various artists LP which also featured The Lovin’ Spoonful, Eric Clapton, Tom Rush and Al Kooper. Soon after the release of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Lay became sick and Billy Davenport took over on drums.

The Butterfield Band’s second album, East-West (1966) reflected the music scene’s interest in sitar great Ravi Shankar and other Eastern musicians. The title track, which was over 13 minutes long, included many Eastern instrumental influences. The album peaked at No. 65 in the Billboard charts. It was also critically acclaimed. These two albums are essential from a music-history perspective. With the release of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the image of blues as ‘old time music’ was gone. Butterfield’s band introduced modern ‘Chicago-style’ blues to mainstream white audiences. It alerted the music scene to what was coming, taught American rockers the blues and how to play an improvised, extended solo. In addition, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a root of psychedelic (acid) rock is the genuine fusion of Eastern and Western music styles in Butterfield’s East-West.

At the height of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s success, Mike Bloomfield formed The Electric Flag with Nick Gravenites.

1967 was a quiet year for the band but Butterfield did cut an EP with John Mayall that was released in the U.K. by Decca. When Butterfield returned with Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw in February 1968 (Pigboy Crabshaw was Bishop’s nickname) it was with a fresh rhythm section and a three piece horn section. Climbing to No. 52 in the Billboard charts this was to be Butterfield’s most successful album. Although it followed the usual blues format, it had a distinct soul influence. Compositions included Booker T’s Born Under A Bad Sign which Albert King had made famous, and One More Heartache, a Smokey Robinson song which had been a hit for Marvin Gaye.

However, many of Butterfield’s fans and some critics yearned for high-powered, white electric blues and regretted the band’s latest soulful direction. The album showed that Butterfield was moving to another musical direction. The album included David Sanborn, Bugsy Maugh and Phil Wilson, and proved to be the last of the Butterfield band’s commercial successes. In the same year, the Monterey International Pop Festival would showcase The Butterfield Blues Band, along with The Electric Flag, Ravi Shankar, and many others.

When In My Own Dream emerged later in 1968 it was also slated in some sections of the music press. The line-up was basically the same as for the previous album, although producer John Court joined forces with Buggy Maugh, Charles Dinwiddie and Phil Wilson to provide vocal harmonies as The Icebag Four and Al Kooper guested on organ on a couple of tracks (Drunk Again and Just To Be With You). The album was musically diverse ranging from bar-room blues, to folk blues and electric music, and was criticised as being too fragmented. However, if much of it was uneven, the title track was distinctly innovative with the Icebag Four’s backing vocals lending a gospel feel to the song. It reached No. 79 in the U.S. album charts.

Sometimes, one has to wonder whether the youth of the 1960s were really as open to new ideas and new sounds as their press would make you believe. Take the album at hand, In My Own Dream by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band – their fourth official release (though two others have since gone into their discography at earlier points), it marked the point where the band really began to lose its audience, and all for reasons having nothing to do with the quality of their music. They’d gotten past the loss of Michael Bloomfield in early 1967, over which they’d surrendered some of their audience of guitar idolaters, with the engagingly titled (and guitar-focused) Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw.

In My Own Dream had its great guitar moments, especially on “Just to Be With You,” but throughout the album, Elvin Bishop’s electric guitar shared the spotlight with the horn section of Gene Dinwiddle, David Sanborn, and Keith Johnson, who had signed on with the prior album and who were more out in front than ever. More to the point, this album represented a new version of the band being born, with shared lead vocals, with the leader himself only taking three of the seven songs, and bassist Bugsy Maugh singing lead on two songs, Bishop on one, and drummer Phillip Wilson taking one song. What’s more, there was a widely shared spotlight for the players, and more of a jazz influence on this record than had ever been heard before from the group. This was a band that could jam quietly for five minutes on “Drunk Again,” building ever-so-slowly to a bluesy crescendo where Bishop’s guitar and Mark Naftalin’s organ surged; and follow it with the title track, a totally surprising acoustic guitar-driven piece featuring Sanborn, Dinwiddle, and Johnson.

The playing was impressive, especially for a record aimed at a collegiate audience, but the record had the bad fortune to appear at a point when jazz was culturally suspect among the young, an elitist and not easily accessible brand of music that seemed almost as remote as classical music (i.e. “old people’s” music). “Get Yourself Together” was almost too good a piece of Chicago-style blues, a faux Chess Records-style track that might even have been too “black” for the remnants of Butterfield’s old audience. It also anticipated the group’s final change of direction, its blossoming into a multi-genre blues/jazz/R&B/soul outfit, equally devoted to all four genres and myriad permutations of each. It might not be essential listening for dedicated fans of the original band, but for those who hung on to its glorious end – the double-live LP (a double-live CD and twice as long, as of late 2004) – this is the missing link, how they got there.

PB at Atlanta Pop Festival, July 1969

After 1968’s release In My Own Dream, both Elvin Bishop and Mark Naftalin left at the end of the year. Billy Davenport and new guitarist Buzzy Feiten joined the band on its 1969 release Keep On Moving, a heavy album with lots of brass, which could only reach No. 102 in the U.S. album charts.

Though the Butterfield band was floundering commercially, it was still popular enough to play at the Woodstock Festival. One of their songs, Love March was included on the original Woodstock album. In 1969 Paul Butterfield also took part in an all-star blues jam with Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Michael Bloomfield, Sam Lay, Donald “Duck” Dunn and Buddy Miles, which was recorded and released as Fathers And Sons.

Live recorded with a new line-up live at L.A.’s Troubadour club in 1970, and produced by Todd Rundgren, saw some upturn in their fortunes (albeit temporary) reaching No. 72. It contained a selection of material from their three previous albums, Everything’s Going To Be Alright (also featured on the Woodstock 2 LP) and three tracks which do not appear on other Butterfield albums: The Boxer, Number 9 and Get Together Again.

By now Butterfield was tired of touring and he broke up the band in 1971 after a final studio album Sometimes I Feel Like Smilin’, which could only manage the 124 spot in the album charts. Butterfield returned to Woodstock, NY. He formed a new group including guitarist Amos Garrett, Geoff Muldaur, Maria Muldaur, pianist Ronnie Barron and bassist Billy Rich and named it Better Days. This group released Paul Butterfield’s Better Days and It All Comes Back in 1972 and 1973, respectively. Though both were far from commercial successes, both albums were received well by critics.

1972 also saw the release of An Offer You Can’t Refuse which featured his earliest recordings back in 1963 with Smokey Smothers’ band in Chicago, by specialist U.K. blues label Red Lightnin’. They account for one side of the album. The other side features Walter Horton, backed by musicians like Buddy Guy. This album was reissued again in 1982.

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw Butterfield as a solo act and a session musician doing television appearances every now and then and releasing a couple of albums to a small and devoted cult following.

Rick Danko and Paul Butterfield at Masonic Temple, Seattle, 1979

Butterfield was also having health problems and his poor condition may have had an impact on North-South. It was diagnosed as peritonitis, an abdominal condition caused by a perforated bowel that can be fatal and is extremely painful. The condition required multiple surgeries in 1980 and 1981, and for a time Butterfield wore a colostomy bag; his intestinal problems grew and he was being treated by specialists. However, health conditions didn’t hamper his performances, when they occurred. “Paul loved to perform, and he always gave everything when he performed, even when he was not well,” Kemmit recalls. “He would move you. He was so good at what he did, and when someone gave him an idea or a challenge he would rise to the occasion, attempting to blow you away. He really wanted to impress you in performance.”

It might have been the peritonitis, the sudden, tragic death of Mike Bloomfield in early 1981 (due to a heroin overdose) or the realization of lost opportunities, but Butterfield entered the ’80s with a new approach – especially to performing. He was spending more time in California and did a series of shows with Gary Busey in the early ’80s with members of The Band and Dr. John. “It was a big hit,” Sally Grossman remembers. “A series of great shows they performed on the Strip. Everyone thought it would have been a wonderful thing if it had held together, but Busey was committed to movies and other things.”

In 1982 Butterfield entered a Woodstock studio for a different kind of recording session, this time as a teacher on a set of instructional tapes. Although everyone identified him with the harmonica, no one had ever solicited Butterfield’s expertise on playing the instrument, and with old friend Happy Traum on guitar Butterfield talked about learning how to “get inside” as a harmonica player, singing and playing by example. Harmonica players have often described the three cassette tapes as a Zen-like approach to instruction. But in fact, this is a tour-de-force presentation of Butterfield’s acoustic playing and the finest evidence of his remarkable symbiosis with the instrument and the wellspring and depth of emotion he could spontaneously tap and communicate in his playing.

His 1985 appearances had also been memorable, especially with old bandmates like David Sanborn and at the 20th anniversary of the Fillmore. Two tours, one in 1985 and the other in 1986, had been great musical successes. Chicago bassist/guitarist Danny Draher was on both and had played with harp greats James Cotton, Jerry Portnoy and Jr. Wells. He ranked Butterfield as a hero. “We were getting more back into the blues stuff. Paul was a good hearted cat, a stand-up guy, and I loved him. He was playing great, and singing real soulfully.” Harvey Brooks remembers that “Paul always played his ass off. Regardless of what was going on offstage or at those gigs.” In early 1987 B.B. King had included Butterfield in a special for HBO – “B.B. King & Friends” – and Paul’s presence and performance was clearly a highlight of a show that also included Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Koko Taylor.

Paul Butterfield died in 1987 from a drug and alcohol overdose. Sally Grossman recalls an early 1987 dinner she had with Butterfield and friends at Deanie’s in Woodstock. “Paul looked terrible and seemed very weak. He kept falling asleep at the dinner table. After he left I called Rick Danko and told him that I thought Paul was very close to death.” “A lot of people worried about Paul,” Bonnie Raitt remembers. “You know, the ’80s were a very rough decade for a lot of us. Our kind of music was completely off the air; disco was in and then power pop and New Wave. We really felt disenfranchised on a lot of levels. For a lot of people what had been habits became serious vices. That everybody was suffering was obvious. A whole line-up of people showed it – drug problems, heart attacks, health problems. And a lot of people fell by the wayside.”

Eve Babitz, a journalist and novelist living in Los Angeles says: “When Paul died it was so sad – I knew he’d been hanging around all these people who loved and admired him – but he just couldn’t stay sober. I went to his funeral in Westwood, and it was a Buddhist service organized by his wife Kathryn. It was a huge gathering. The entire music business was there. All of the people that loved Paul, his family and all the women in his life. Everyone was so sad. Kathryn had all of us do some unison breathing, which was a Buddhist thing, and it was amazing how it calmed everyone down. Then she read a beautiful poem about a blackbird that landed in her window the day Paul died. They played some of Paul’s music, and that cheered everyone up. And then all of the musicians that were there headed off to play music together.”

The dramatic impact on the course of rock & roll by the Butterfield Blues Band with the release of their first album, “The Paul Butterfield Blues Band,” and the song “Born In Chicago,” in particular, was pivotal. They, along with British acts The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and others, including Butterfield’s main competitor in Chicago, singer/harp player Charlie Musselwhite, helped introduce young white America to the blues, influencing hundreds of bands from the Grateful Dead to the Allman Brothers, and launched the brief reign of Michael Bloomfield as America’s most influential rock guitarist.

Discography in my collection:

[1960-1970] JAMES COTTON & PAUL BUTTERFIELD & ELVIN BISHOP V-8 Ford Blues

[1964] PAUL BUTTERFIELD & BIG WALTER HORTON An Offer You Can’t Refuse

[1964] PAUL BUTTERFIELD The Original Lost Elektra Sessions
Paul Butterfield Blues Band:
Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica)
Elvin Bishop (guitar)
Mike Bloomfield (guitar)
Mark Naftalin (keyboards)
Jerome Arnold (bass)
Sam Lay (drums)Recorded in 1964. Includes liner notes by Paul Rothchild. 19 previously unreleased sides from the legendary blues-rock outfit! Features 1964 material recorded in New York (much of it originally intended for inclusion on his band’s first album), plus songs from the 1965 sessions that resulted in Butterfield’s first official release.

THE ORIGINAL LOST ELEKTRA SESSIONS stem from the Butterfield Blues Band’s attempt to record their debut album. The tapes were scrapped and a whole new album was recorded. The songs here, recorded in late 1964 before keyboardist Mark Naftalin joined up, were intended for the Butterfield Band’s first album. However, they were junked at the last minute by producer Paul Rothchild, who felt they weren’t technically up to snuff for reasons that remain unclear despite his liner note reminiscences. The tapes then proceeded to languish in Elektra’s vaults for 30 years, at which point Rothchild dug them out and decided they were better than he remembered. And a good thing, too, because they capture the band raw and in its prime with no apologies necessary. The repertoire overlaps only slightly with the “official” first album (which was recorded a few months later), and musically it’s apples and oranges as to which one is better, although some prefer this recording’s in-your-face style.

DL:

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/wxgqi0s29

[1965] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Tracks:
01. Born In Chicago
02. Shake Your Money-Maker
03. Blues With A Feeling
04. Thank You Mr. Poobah
05. I Got My Mojo Working
06. Mellow Down Easy
07. Screamin’
08. Our Love Is Drifting
09. Mystery Train
10. Last Night
11. Look Over Yonders Wall

Butterfield’s debut CD burst on the scene in 1965 and the blues, rock and pop scene were never the same after it’s release. In it’s original form, the band consisted of Butterfield on vocals and harmonica, Mike Bloomfield on slide guitar, Elvin Bishop on rhythm guitar, Jerome Arnold on bass, Sam Lay on drums and Mark Naftalin on organ. One can argue which Butterfield CD should be at the top of the heap but there is no denying that this would rank in the top five of any Butterfield enthusiasts list. The CD contains a variety of blues styles as well as what became the bands signature song, “Born In Chicago” as well as the Bloomfield gem “Screamin’”. If you love Butterfield, this is a must have CD.

DL:
http://rapidshare.com/files/178610785/1965_Paul_Butterfield_Blues_Band.rar

[1966] PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES Live

[1966] PAUL BUTTERFIELD East West

Tracks:
1. Walkin’ Blues (Robert Johnson) 3:15
2. Get Out Of My Life Woman (Ardmore/Beechwood/Allen Toussaint) 3:13
3. I Got A Mind To Give Up Living (Traditional) 4:57
4. All These Blues (Traditional) 2:18
5. Work Song (Nat Adderley/Oscar Brown, Jr.) 7:53
6. Mary Mary (Michael Nesmith) 2:48
7. Two Trains Running (Muddy Waters) 3:50
8. Never Say No (Traditional) 2:57
9. East West (Michael Bloomfield/Nick Gravenites) 13:10

Personnel:
Mike Bloomfield (Guitar)
Paul Butterfield (Harmonica and Vocal)
Elvin Bishop (Guitar and Vocal)
Ferome Arnold (Bass Guitar)
Mark Naftalin (Organ and Piano)
Billy Davenport (Drums)

If the Butterfield Blues Band’s groundbreaking debut earned the respect of the group’s elder influences, this one won over (and guided) the blues boys’ psychedelic peers.

Highlighted by the 13-minute-plus title track (an Eastern-influenced jam cowritten by guitarist Mike Bloomfield), East-West stretches the boundaries of the blues. It would prod many lesser groups to explore, with generally dreary results, interminable free-flight explorations. But while East-West and a cover of jazzman Cannonball Adderly’s “Work Song” ventured in new directions, Paul Butterfield and company remained rooted in solid Chicago blues. East West presents the best of both worlds. –Steve Stolder

Music critic and prolific author Dave Marsh, interviewing Naftalin, notes that the tune was inspired by an all-night LSD trip that “East-West”’s primary songwriter Mike Bloomfield experienced in the fall of 1965, during which the late guitarist “said he’d had a revelation into the workings of Indian music.”

Marsh’s expansive liner notes observe that the song “East-West” “was an exploration of music that moved modally, rather than through chord changes. As Naftalin explains, “The song was based, like Indian music, on a drone. In Western musical terms, it ’stayed on the one’. The song was tethered to a four-beat bass pattern and structured as a series of sections, each with a different mood, mode and color, always underscored by the drummer, who contributed not only the rhythmic feel but much in the way of tonal shading, using mallets as well as sticks on the various drums and the different regions of the cymbals. In addition to playing beautiful solos, Paul [Butterfield] played important, unifying things [on harmonica] in the background – chords, melodies, counterpoints, counter-rhythms. This was a group improvisation. In its fullest form it lasted over an hour.”

In his summation, Marsh points out that “‘East-West’ can be heard as part of what sparked the West Coast’s rock revolution, in which such song structures with extended improvisatory passages became commonplace.”

Going on to call the Butterfield Blues Band “one of the greatest bands of the rock era”, Marsh concludes that “With ‘East-West’, above any other extended piece of the mid-Sixties, a rock band finally achieved a version of the musical freedom that free jazz had found a few years earlier.”

DL/mp3:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/f6e639/n/East-West_rar
or .flac
http://avaxhome.ws/music/paul_butterfield_bb.html

[1966.05.18] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Live @ Unicorn Coffee House, Cambridge, MA

[1966.10.14] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Live @ Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA

Tracks:
01 Shake Your Money Maker
02 tuning
03 The Sky Is Crying
04 Pretty Woman
05 Help Me
06 tuning
07 Never Say No
08 tuning
09 You’re So Fine
10 tuning
11 East West

Personnel:
Paul Butterfield – vocals, harmonica
Mike Bloomfield – guitar, vocals
Elvin Bishop – guitar, vocals
Mark Naftalin – keyboards
Jerome Arnold – bass
Billy Davenport – drums

DL/pass: fbs
http://rapidshare.com/files/194919926/PBBB-Fllmr101466-fbs.rar

[1966-1969] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Live At Fillmore West

Paul Butterfield Blues Band:
Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica)
Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop (guitar)
Mark Naftalin (piano, organ)
Jerome Arnold (bass)
Billy Davenport (drums)

Disc one:
01 Shake Your Money Maker
02 The Sky Is Crying
03 Pretty Woman
04 Help Me
05 Never Say No
06 So Fine
07 1East-West (fades out)
08 Dropping Out
09 Baby, Please Don’t Go
10 Drifting

Disc two:
01 Born In Chicago
02 Willow Tree
03 My Babe
04 Kansas City
05 Work Song
06 intro/ One More Heartache
07 I’ve Got a Mind to Give Up Living
08 Everything Gonna Be Alright
09 Get Out of My Life Woman
10 All Your Love/ outro

DL:
http://rapidshare.com/files/178620357/1969_Paul_Butterfield_Blues_Band_-_Fillmore_West_FM_1966-69_I.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/178625640/1969_Paul_Butterfield_Blues_Band_-_Fillmore_West_FM_1966-69_II.rar

[1967] PAUL BUTTERFIELD The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw

Personnel:
Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica)
Elvin Bishop (guitar)
Dave Sanborn (alto saxophone)
Gene Dinwiddie (tenor saxophone)
Keith Johnson (trumpet)
Mark Naftalin (keyboards)
Bugsy Maugh (bass, background vocals)
Phil Wilson (drums)

The Butterfield Blues Band sparked a firestorm of blues activity by young white kids all around the world. 1967’s The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, Butterfield’s third album, saw Elvin Bishop (A.K.A. Pigboy Crabshaw) replace Mike Bloomfield on sizzling lead guitar and ride point for a combo now boasting a wailing horn section led by multi-saxist David Sanborn.

“The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw” (Pigboy Crabshaw, for those who haven’t guessed by now, was Bishop’s nickname in the band, much as Eric Clapton was known to his Cream bandmates as Captain Madman) was the first result. It wasn’t exactly as overwhelming or as freewheeling as the incandescent, somewhat experimental “East-West,” but don’t let that stop you: this first flight of the new brassy Butterfield Band plain smoked. (It still does, even if the thin production means docking the album a star.) Butterfield was gunning for big game in his own right, mixing in a solid soul front to his usual brand of bristling blues.

Elvin Bishop steps forward as the band’s official lead guitarist for the first time and, while he’s not exactly Mike Bloomfield (really: WHO was?), he showed his own identity and made it a credible one with smooth, spare but sinewy fills and solos when handed off. Bassist Bugsy Maugh is a strong vocalist in his own right (“Drivin’ Wheel”) and he teams with one-time Wilson Pickett drummer Philip Wilson to give Butterfield a thick rhythm. Butterfield himself is a little more open with his trademark harmonica styling, but he gives even more room to his men to move than he had in the past (and he’d given plenty as it was) and he feeds them with aplomb. And the horns – featuring the youthful and exuberantly agreeable David Sanborn and steady tenorman Gene Dinwiddie (who became the leader of the horn section for the rest of the band’s life until its 1973 dissolution) – breathe warmly, drawing from various R and B and jazz motifs yet coming forth with a sound entirely its own. (And, more influential than you might have thought – Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’s horns owed as much to the first Butterfield horn section as they did to the Memphis/Muscle Shoals horn stylings.)

Their cover of Otis Rush’s “Double Trouble” alone is worth the price, but so is a very snappy rendition of Albert King’s “Born Under A Bad Sign” – it doesn’t try to beat Big Albert at his own game, but it lays out the groove pretty widely. Overall, Butterfield found himself a very comfortable setting, and one he would use for the rest of the Butterfield Blues Band’s life, as they would go from here to graduate almost completely away from the pure blues toward an oddly affecting hybrid of soul funk and jazz that had few pretensions and a lot of raw snap.

DL:

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/8737811

[1968] PAUL BUTTERFIELD In My Own Dream

The Butterfield Blues Band:
Paul Butterfield (vocals, guitar, harmonica)
Elvin Bishop (vocals, guitar)
Bugsy Maugh (vocals, bass)
Philip Wilson (vocals, drums)
Gene Dinwiddie (mandolin, tenor saxophone, flute, tambourine, background vocals)
David Sanborn (soprano, alto & baritone saxophones)
Keith Johnson (trumpet, piano)
Mark Naftalin (keyboards)
Al Kooper (organ)

The Butterfield Blues Band has been critically acclaimed as one the greatest electric blues bands ever! Lead by singer & harmonica player Paul Butterfield, their albums have stood the test of time as classics of the 60’s & early 70’s. In My Own Dream, was their fourth album, originally released in 1968 on Elektra Records. It features guitar legend Elvin Bishop (singing on ‘Drunk Again’), and saxophonist David Sanborn. This album rose to number 79 on the Billboard charts.

DL:

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/3xltl290c

[1968.06.07-09] FLEETWOOD MAC & PAUL BUTTERFIELD Live @ Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, CA

[1969.01.18] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Live @ Amsterdam

Tracks:
01. Intro-One More Heartache
02. I’ve Got A Mind To Give Up Living
03. Everthing Gonna Be Alright
04. Get Out Of My Life Woman
05. All Your Love-Outro

DL/pass: fbs
http://rapidshare.com/files/118951043/PBBB-LAmst011869_fbs.rar

[1969] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Keep On Moving

Tracks:
1. Love March (Gene Dinwiddie/Phil Wilson) 2:58
2. No Amount of Loving (Paul Butterfield) 3:14
3. Moring Sunrise (Paul Butterfield/Phil Wilson) 2:41
4. Losing Hand (C. Calhoun) 3:35
5. Walking By Myself (James A. Lane) 4:31
6. Except You (Jerry Ragovoy) 3:53
7. Love Disease (Gene Dinwiddie) 3:29
8. Where Did My Baby Go (Jerry Ragovoy) 4:23
9. All In A Day (Rod Hicks) 2:28
10. So Far So Good (Rod Hicks) 2:28
11. Buddy’s Advice (Howard Feiten) 3:21
12. Keep On Moving (Paul Butterfield) 5:02

Personnel:
Paul Butterfield (Harmonica, Vocals and Flute)
Fred Beckmeier (Bass Guitar)
Gene Dinwiddie (Guitar, Keyboards, Tenor Sax, Flute and Backing Vocals)
Howard Feiten (Organ, Guitar, Frenc Horn and Backing Vocals)
Ted Harris (Piano)
Rod Hicks (Bass Guitar, Cello and Backing Vocals)
Keith Johnson (Trumpet)
Trevor Lawrence (Baritone Saxophone)
Steve Madaio (Trumpet)
Jerry Ragovoy (Piano)
David Sanborn (Alto Saxophone)
Phil Wilson (Drums and Backing Vocals)

Released in 1969, Keep on Moving was the fifth Elektra release by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. During a four-year span the group’s namesake and leader was the only original member left from their first album in 1965. Morphing in a similar direction as Michael Bloomfield’s Electric Flag, this edition of the Butterfield Blues Band prominently fronted the horn section of David Sanborn on alto sax, Gene Dinwiddie on tenor, and Keith Johnson on trumpet.

The band’s direction was full tilt, horn-dominated soul music, first explored on The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, which took them farther away from the highly regarded gritty blues experimentation of East-West and the duel guitar attack of Michael Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop. This album also signaled the final appearance of AACM and Art Ensemble of Chicago drummer Phillip Wilson, whose Butterfield swan song was the collaboration with Dinwiddie on the hippie gospel track “Love March,” of which an appropriately disjointed live version appeared on the Woodstock soundtrack album. The difference between Butterfield’s 1965 street survival ode “Born in Chicago” (“My father told me ’son you’d better get a gun”) and “Love March” (“Sing a glad song, sing all the time”) left fans wondering if the band had become a bit too democratic. However, on cuts like “Losing Hand,” some of the band’s original fervor remains. Butterfield’s harp intertwining with the horn section sounds like a lost Junior Parker outtake and the Jimmy Rogers’ penned “Walking by Myself,” is the closest this band comes to the gutsy Windy City blues of its heyday.

The remaining tracks aren’t horrible, but tend to run out of ideas quickly, unfortunately making what may have been decent material (with a little more effort) sound premature. Butterfield would make a few more personnel changes, release one final disc on Elektra, Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin’, and then dump the band altogether to embark on a solo career. In 2006, Sundazed released a High-Definition Vinyl LP version of Keep on Moving.

DL:

http://www.filefactory.com/file/cdd190/n/Keep_On_Moving_rar

[1970.03.22] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Live (At The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA)

Personnel:
Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica)
Rod Hicks (bass)
Ralph Wash (guitar)
Brother Gene Dinwiddie (vocals, tenor sax, flute)
Steve Madaio (trumpet)
David Sanborn (alto saxophone)
Trevor Lawrence (baritone saxophone)

Though largely forgotten by the public at large today, this was a very influential and highly accomplished band back in the mid-’60s. For one thing, they were one of the first racially integrated bands, and they were a blues band who played with a force and amplification that greatly appealed to rock audiences, making them one of the first American blues bands to “cross over.” Anyone who’s ever said that “white guys can’t play the blues” obviously never heard Paul Butterfield, the autocratic leader of the band whose passionate but unremarkable vocal talents paled in comparison to his virtuoso harmonica skills. The other “star” in the band was lead guitarist Michael Bloomfield, who rivaled Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck as the guitarist of the mid-’60s.

In 1967, inspired by his idol Junior Parker, Butterfield formed a “big band” that featured a Gene Dinwiddie-arranged horn section and by the late ’60s included Ralph Walsh (guitar), Rod Hicks (bass), Ted Harris (piano), and George Davidson (drums). Seasoned in blues, jazz, and R&B, the group assembled at L.A.’s Troubadour club in March of 1970 to play the gigs recorded for this release.

DL:

http://avaxhome.ws/music/blues/paul_butterfield_blues_band_live.html

[1970.12.14] PAUL BUTTERFIELD A & R Studios, New York, NY

[1971] PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin’

Product Description
Full title – Sometimes I Just feel Like Smiling. The Butterfield Blues Band has been critically acclaimed as one the greatest electric blues bands ever! Lead by singer & harmonica player Paul Butterfield, their albums have stood the test of time as classics of the 60’s & early 70’s. Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin’, was their fourth album, originally released in 1971. It features saxophonist David Sanborn. It was the last album the band recorded for Elektra Records.

DL:
http://sharebee.com/ec8aa19c

[1973] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Better Days

Amazon.com
The Butterfield Blues Band may have maintained an eight-year reign atop the American blues-revival pecking order, but the ensemble’s focus was clearly
waning by the time Paul Butterfield–by then the last remaining founder–closed down the operation in the early ’70s. He resurfaced in 1973 with the more
versatile and democratic Better Days. Their self-titled debut displays Better Days’ strengths, which include three strong singers (Butterfield, Geoff
Muldaur, and Ronnie Barron) and a more pastoral sensibility that’s reflective of the setting of the recording–Woodstock, New York. When Butterfield’s old
band tackled “Walkin’ Blues” on their groundbreaking sophomore release, East-West, they attacked it with Chicago-style aggression; Better Days’ version of
the same song is more relaxed and easy-flowing. It says a lot about Butterfield’s shifting perspective that one of the nine-song collection’s highlights is
a tender ballad, “Done a Lot of Wrong Things.” –Steven Stolder

DL:

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/8731633

[1973] PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES It All Comes Back

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/229274634/Paul_Butterfield-Better_Days_It_All_Comes_Back-_WOU4053_-CD-2002-WC2R.rar

[1975.11.30] PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND Put It In Your Ear

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/197036572/Paul_Butterfield–Put_It_In_Your_Ear-2006-WUS.rar

 

[1978.10.01] PAUL BUTTERFIELD Reunion Concert, Berkeley, CA

Personnel:
Paul Butterfield – hamonica/ vocals
Michael Bloomfield – guitar
Elvin Bishop – guitar/ vocals
Roger ‘Jellyroll’ Troy - bass
Mark Naftalin – piano
Sam Lay – drums/ vocals
Maria Muldaur – backing vocals
Chet Helms – band introduction

Set I
01. Born in Chicago
02. Our Love is Drifting
03. You’re Looking Good Tonight
04. Shake Your Money Maker
05. Get Out of My Life, Woman

Set II
06. Payin’ the Price For Feelin’ Nice
07. Mystery Train
08. Little Brown Bird
09. I Got My Mojo Working [with Maria Muldaur on backing vocals]
10. Piano Intro>
11. Don’t Lie To Me [with Maria Muldaur on backing vocals]

DL:
http://thebluescollective.blogspot.com/2009/05/paul-butterfield-blues-band-reunion.html

[1978.11.15] PAUL BUTTERFIELD & BUZZ FEITEN Live @ Rockpalast, Germany

[1978.11.15] PAUL BUTTERFIELD & BUZZ FEITEN TV Rehearsal Studios, Rockpalast

[1979.07.19] PAUL BUTTERFIELD & RICK DANKO Live @ Parr Meadows, Brookhaven, NY

Tracks:
1. Introduction/I Love You Too Much 6.11
2. Stage Fright 4.52
3. Crazy Mama 7.04
4. Semolina 5.13
5. Unfaithful Servant 4.58
6. Good Feeling 3.33
7. Brainwash 4.06
8. Sail On Sailor 4.50
9. Born In Chicago (Gravenites) 4.48
10. Java Blues 6.52
11. Mystery Train 4.15

Personnel:
Rick Belke – Guitar, Vocals
Paul Butterfield – Harmonica, Vocals
Blondie Chaplin – Guitar, Vocals
Rick Danko – Bass, Vocals
Tom Stevenson – Piano, Vocals
John Sebastian – Harmonica, Vocals

INFO
There have been quite a few high profile events to commemorate the legendary 1969 Woodstock Festival, but one of the most interesting occurred when many of the original musicians converged in Long Island’s Parr Meadows in Brookhaven, NY to celebrate the 10th anniversary. Unlike later events, this was a true 10-year reunion for many of the musicians who played the 1969 festival. Among others, the audience heard performances by the likes of Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Stephen Stills, Leslie West, Jorma Kaukonen, Johnny Winter, Canned Heat, and the Rick Danko/Paul Butterfield Band. Although much had changed in the previous decade and this was a considerably smaller event, the audience was treated to a wealth of memorable music. The King Biscuit Flower Hour crew was on hand to record it all and several KBFH programs were devoted to highlights from this memorable event.

One of the most consistently engaging sets of the entire event occurred right off the bat with the show-opening set by the Rick Danko/Paul Butterfield Band, a group that existed for less than a year and never recorded an album. Although a handful of audience recordings do exist from their one and only tour, this professionally recorded set, taped before the largest audience they ever performed for, serves as the definitive statement on the group and is heard here for the first time ever in its entirety. Featuring a superb choice of musicians that included the extremely talented South African musician and vocalist, Blondie Chaplin, the Danko/Butterfield Band perform a wealth of great material that includes selections from Rick Danko’s self titled 1977 album (the first and possibly most accessible solo album by any member of the Band), classic blues from Paul Butterfield’s vast repertoire, a superb Blondie Chaplin original, a few choice selections from the Band’s repertoire, and a compelling choice of covers. Not unlike the Band, these musicians had a thoroughly organic sound that emphasized a group sound rather than any individual. Therein lies the magic, as this group created music that was far greater than the sum of its individual parts and more than any other performers that memorable day, their set rewards repeated listening.

Following the opening announcements, Danko/Butterfield and friends are introduced to the audience to great fanfare. They waste no time cranking up the energy, kicking their set off with the driving rock of “I Love You Too Much.” A rare unreleased Bob Dylan number written exclusively for this group, this features Butterfield on lead vocal and the band immediately firing on all cylinders. Danko next leads the group on a delightful reading of the Band’s “Stage Fright.” The musicianship on this is superb, with Danko’s utterly unique bass playing, the guitarists tastefully meshing and Butterfield as a one-man horn section blowing harp alone. They continue by easing into a nice lazy groove with a cover of J.J. Cale’s “Crazy Mama.” One of the unquestionable highlights of the set is next when Blondie Chaplin steps up for his original, “Semolina.” This has a serious kick to it, with a most infectious and chunky rhythm guitar propelling the action. This particular performance of this song may even be the definitive version as it is hard to imagine the band jelling any better than they do right here. Chaplin’s lead vocal is thoroughly engaging and he provides a fantastic wah-wah infused guitar solo.

Rather than try to top the excitement level of the previous number, the group next goes in the opposite direction with Danko and pianist Tom Stevenson delivering “Unfaithful Servant” primarily as a duet. Featuring an emotive vocal from Danko and lovely piano accompaniment by Stevenson, the rest of the group chill out for most of the song, with Butterfield joining in with tasteful harp embellishments toward the end. Next up is a tasty blues-based excursion on an instrumental take of Chuck Berry’s “Good Feeling.” Although the trademark Berry riffs are in there, this is primarily a showcase for Butterfield, who solos continuously throughout. The group brings out the deep-rooted blues that are at the core of so many of Chuck Berry’s rock ‘n’ roll songs. A number from Danko’s solo album follows with an excellent reading of “Brainwash” before Blondie Chaplin provides another true highlight of this performance with a glorious take on Brian Wilson’s “Sail On Sailor.” While devoid of the beautiful soaring vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys, this is no less engaging, thanks to the thick chunky guitar riffs and Chaplin’s catchy pop sensibilities. The entire group sounds as if they are savoring every second of this delightful performance.

The last 10 minutes of the set are devoted to high energy blues romps. Butterfield leads the way with a take on “Born In Chicago,” a staple of his repertoire since the mid 1960s. With Butterfield handling lead vocals and blowing harp throughout, this is a prime example of the tasteful interplay between all the musicians. These musicians can blaze away without ever stepping on each other’s toes and that ability is what makes this such an inspired performance. At times Butterfield’s harp blends so perfectly with the lead guitar that it is almost impossible to tell where one instrument ends and another begins. These musicians really listen to each other and are triggering off each other in a very organic way. They close with another great number from Danko’s solo album, Java Blues. For this, they invite John Sebastian up on stage who provides a second harmonica and vocal support. This driving blues again features plenty of fantastic interplay. Early on Sebastian takes a harp solo followed by Butterfield taking one of his own, but it is right after the bridge that things really take off. Here this develops into an exciting jam with the entire group jelling perfectly. Nice slide guitar work, more great harp blowing, and everyone is adding to the mix with thoroughly engaging results.

The audience demands more and the group, with Sebastian still in tow, return to the stage for one last blowout on the Junior Walker/Sam Phillips classic, “Mystery Train.” A number that was often included in both Butterfield and the Band’s live repertoires, this is another delightful romp with everyone, including Sebastian belting out vocals and the entire group blazing away.

DL:

http://rapidshare.com/files/194937202/1220paulbutterfieldrickdankoLive.zip

[1981] PAUL BUTTERFIELD North South

DL:

http://depositfiles.com/en/files/zzby1nkcv

[1986.12.29] PAUL BUTTERFIELD & MICK TAYLOR Live @ NYC

BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE: genuine Scottish blues :-)

Can’t wait to go back to Scotland so I was thinking you might enjoy Scotland’s best contributors to the Blues over the years. The band sounds almost American to me so we should add them to our endless Blues party. Btw, they are quite rare to find on the market so hurry up and grab their albums! Comments are always much appreciated: feel free to say hello.

BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE is a five-piece Scottish act formed in the early 80‘s by Tim Elliott & John Bruce. Constant personnel changes were to eventually lead to a permanent line-up, which encouraged the band to turn professional & saw the release of their debut album in 1985.

During the next ten years Blues ‘n’ Trouble toured & guested with many blues greats including B.B. King, Robert Cray, Pinetop Perkins, Charlie Musselwhite, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells. Blues ‘n’ Trouble supported the likes of B.B. King and Robert Cray on their live dates in London. Live, Blues ‘n’ Trouble were a hot and tight blues act that enjoyed a cult status.

They recorded with “sixth Stone” Ian Stewart, enjoying indie chart success and also with Lazy Lester for which a W.C. Handy award was won! Blues ‘n’ Trouble have released 10 albums, not including re-issues & compilations.

“Honey Pot” is a storming ragtime original (and tribute to oral sex) that became a live favorite, not just with BN’T but also with other bands who used to cover it. “Sloppy Drunk” and “Beautiful City” are harmonica and foot stomping classics in the style of Sonny Boy Williamson, whilst “Tearstains On My Pillow” and “Double Trouble” are beautiful searing guitar workouts. Others such as “Madison Blues”, “Cadillac” and “Let it Rock” are upbeat rock n’ roll numbers led by the dynamic “telecaster” Dave on rhythm guitar. Also of note is the honky-tonk piano on a number of the “No Minor Keys” numbers, by none other than Ian Stewart, long time pianist to the Rolling Stones. Ian Stewart recorded here for the last time before his untimely death in 1986.

Their third album, “Hat Trick”, recorded by vintage blues producer Mike Vernon re-launched his “Blue Horizon” label. Chart success with “No Minor Keys” & “Hat Trick”, along with a British Blues Connection award for “Down to the Shuffle”, helped keep the band in high demand for many years, often playing around 250 shows a year all over the U.K., Scandinavia & Europe. They appeared at festivals throughout the world including the prestigious “Memphis Blues Festival”.

The year 2000 saw the release of a brand new studio album “Blues Graffiti” featuring all new tracks from the line up of Timmy Boy Elliot on vocals & harp, Mike Park on guitars, Scotty Scott on bass & Lucky Lox Lovell on drums. The album reflects the band’s live-sound, no nonsense mix of hard hitting rockin’ Blues and Boogie. This double CD includes selected tracks from their 1987 “Hat Trick” album & the same year’s live album recorded in Germany, all re-mastered & some previously unreleased tracks from the band’s sold out “festival” shows in Edinburgh, again in 1987.

The year 2000 also saw the return of founder member John Bruce to the band, and along with Tim, Scotty, Mike and Lox, the revitalized quintet look forward to continue success. The band’s 10th album, “Devil’s Tricks” is a new approach but the same old Blues ‘n’ Trouble.

Discography in my collection:

[1985] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE First Trouble

Tracks:
01 – Born In Chicago
02 – Natural Born Lover
03 – C.T.
04 – Honey Pot
05 – Blues ‘N’ Trouble
06 – Sloppy Drunk
07 – Tearstains On My Pillow
08 – Mystery Train
09 – Wake Up Mama
10 – Deep Blue Feeling
11 – Spank The Plank
12 – Texas (Bonus Track)
13 – What’s The Matter (Bonus Track)
14 – Red Hot (Bonus Track)
15 – Wake Up Mama (Orginal LP Version, Bonus Track)

DL:
http://hotfile.com/dl/8720934/e8cad94/Blues_N_Trouble-First_Trouble_(1992).rar.html

[1986] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE No Minor Keys

Tracks:
01-Free To Ride
02-You Can Run
03-Madison Blues
04-Double Trouble
05-Beautiful City
06-Fine, Fine, Fine
07-All My Love In Vain
08-Clock On The Wall
09-Honey Pot
10-Tight ‘N Juicy
11-Natural Born Lover
12-C.T.
13-Downtown Saturday Night
14-Blues ‘N’ Trouble
15-Tearstains On My Pillow
16-Mystery Train
17-Wake Up Mama

DL:
http://hotfile.com/dl/8721027/f84c09e/Blues_N_Trouble-No_Minor_Keys_(1986).rar.html

[1987] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE Lost Deposit

Tracks:
1. Clock On The Wall (3:07)
2. Born In Chicago (3:17)
3. Cherry Peaches (5:00)
4. Sugar Coated Love (3:46)
5. Bnt Blues (8:30)
6. What’s The Matter (3:30)
7. Why (2:50)
8. Travelling Light (3:57)
9. Honey Pot (2:18)
10. Driftin’ Blues (7:15)
11. See My Baby Shake It (3:34)
12. Madison Blues (3:47)
13. Lying On the Kitchen Floor (2:57)

‘Lost Deposit’ is a double package (CD +DVD) from Scotland’s greatest rocking blues outfit Blues ‘n’ Trouble. Recorded live in Bremen in the winter of 87, the band’s twin guitar line-up serves up a timely reminder of why B’n'T were so popular across Europe from the mid 80’s onwards.

Telecaster Dave (Neill), and mainstay John Bruce revel in their unfettered plank spanking, with harp playing vocalist Tim Elliott (the band’s leader) acting as both a strong focal point and a foil for the guitars. Blues ‘n’ Trouble still occasionally tread the boards but this double pack is an impressive reminder of a time when Rocking Blues briefly held sway and B’nT were justifiably in the vanguard of a potent genre.

DL:

http://hotfile.com/dl/8721008/7c3d696/Blues_N_Trouble-Lost_Deposit_(2008).rar.html

[1987] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE Hat Trick

[1991] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE Down To The Shuffle

Tracks:
01 – Why Why Why
02 – Tore Up
03 – Sleeping In The Ground
04 – Hooked On You
05 – Statesboro Blues
06 – Emilia Jane
07 – Papa Lou’s Boogie Woogie
08 – Stay With Me
09 – Fool No More
10 – Bring It On Home
11 – Down To The Shuffle
12 – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
13 – You Missed A Good Man
14 – Rats Crawling ‘Cross My Face
15 – Tribute To Kees

DL/pass: quasimodo
http://rapidshare.com/files/167979398/BnT-dt.rar

[1994] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE Live – Bag Full Of Boogie

Tracks:
01 – Bag Full Of Boogie
02 – Riding In My Cadillac
03 – Deep Blue Feeling
04 – You Got Me Spinnin´
05 – Blue Because Of You
06 – Breaking The Ice
07 – Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
08 – Serenade For A Wealthy Widow
09 – Slim´s Chance
10 – Drugstore Woman
11 – Lookin´ For My Baby
12 – Lowdown
13 – Down In Dallas

DL:

http://hotfile.com/dl/8720995/d561c16/Blues_N_Trouble-Live-Bag_Full_Of_Boogie_(1994).rar.html

[1994] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE Poor Moon

Tracks:
01 – Poor Moon
02 – Howling My Life Away
03 – Breaking The Ice
04 – Please Mr. Postman
05 – Po’ Boy
06 – Living With My Blues
07 – Sweet Little Cutie
08 – Looking For Something
09 – Pretty Thing
10 – Boogywalou
11 – Twistin’ On The Moon
12 – Gillian

DL:

http://hotfile.com/dl/8721037/4e05586/Blues_N_Trouble-Poor_Moon_(1995).rar.html

[2003] BLUES ‘N’ TROUBLE Devil’s Tricks

DL/pass: quasimodo
http://rapidshare.com/files/167981769/BnT-ht.rar

The HOWLIN’ WOLF Story – The Secret History of Rock & Roll (VIDEO)

The Howlin’ Wolf Story – The Secret History of Rock & Roll is a 2003 documentary about the life of blues legend Howlin’ Wolf.

It features much new and rare material, including Howlin’ Wolf performing How Many More Years on the TV musical show Shindig!, introduced by the Rolling Stones drummer Sam Lay’s home movies of stars of the Chicago Blues from the early 1960s, interviews with Howlin’ Wolf’s family, Hubert Sumlin, Billy Boy Arnold, Marshall Chess and many others, photographs of Howlin’ Wolf and his band through their careers, and much more.

The film was directed by video biographer Don McGlynn, and produced by Joe Lauro, whose company, Historic Films Inc., supplied much of the footage for Martin Scorsese’s PBS documentary series on the blues.

Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records, discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis and Charlie Rich. He also discovered Howlin’ Wolf and called him his greatest discovery. ”When I heard him”, remembered Phillips, ”I said, This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies. The greatest sight you could see would be Howlin’ Wolf doing one of those sessions in my studio. God, what it would be worth to see the fervor in that man’s face when he sang. His eyes would light up and you’d see the veins on his neck, and buddy there was nothing on his mind but that song. He sang with his damn soul…”.

Little footage exists of the original blues giants in their prime, but Bluebird’s ”When The Sun Goes Down” launches its video series with the first authorized film about Howlin’ Wolf – the bluesman who epitomized the soul of the Delta and the fire of Chicago! Director Don McGlynn has created a compeling portrait of one of the all-time greatest bluesmen, including an incredible compendium of never-before-seen footage of the great Howlin’ Wolf.

DL:

http://hotfile.com/dl/8620274/8742926/The_Howlin_Wolf_Story.part1.rar.html

http://hotfile.com/dl/8620491/026408f/The_Howlin_Wolf_Story.part2.rar.html

http://hotfile.com/dl/8620700/4b252fe/The_Howlin_Wolf_Story.part3.rar.html