I’ve now had the opportunity to listen more fully to the Blue Horizon two-record set of Elmore James’ late studio tracks contained on To Know a Man. As described in my efforts to track down the origin of James’ recording of “Sunnyland” that I first heard in 1970, To Know a Man contains the “late” Elmore James sessions recorded near the end of his life. Although by no means “audiophile” recordings, this record set is not just something for completists. If you like the gritty, distorted sound of Elmore’s slide playing, you’ll like this set for a couple reasons:... Read More
Chris Whitley- The Vinyl Blues
On the heels of my recent retrospective about Whitley, I have been seeking out good copies of some of his repertoire. This is not as easy as you might think. Living with the Law was his first, and most popular album; that one was released on vinyl in Europe and reissued recently. The original pressing is good; I haven’t listened to the reissue, which comes from Music On Vinyl. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got my hands on a copy of National Steel, a promotional record tied to the release of Living with the Law. It contains select tracks from Law and sounds... Read More
Steely Dan- the First Two Albums (with a note on Aja)
I know that Aja gets all the attention from audiophiles, but musically, the first two Steely Dan albums –Can’t Buy a Thrill and Countdown to Ecstasy—represented something very innovative at the time of their release in the early ‘70s and hold up extremely well more than forty years later. Thrill presents a band that can play really well- doing pop rock suitable for radio play that didn’t sound contrived; no song was the same- the styles, rhythms, instrumentation, and mood changed, sometimes dramatically, from track to track and each song was delivered with deft touches that were... Read More
Road Trip!
photo credit: Modestas Urbonas The weather was glorious this weekend in the Hudson Valley and we took full advantage. Our path eventually led to Beacon, New York, which has been transformed from a sleepy river town to Brooklyn-on–the-Hudson. In addition to a couple of interesting antique stores and a great little taqueria named after a Mexican wrestler (Tito Santana), we visited Audioccult, a sweet little new/old record shop in town. We found some nice records- mostly U.S. ‘60s and ‘70s rock and R&B. (Some were first pressings and in better than usual condition at very... Read More
Every Picture Tells A Story- Rod Stewart
Radio overplay of “Maggie May” at the time of this album’s release proved that familiarity can breed contempt (at least when it comes to music). As a result, I never got “into” early Rod Stewart solo material at the time it was released. But with the passage of time, exposure and perhaps a bit of nostalgia, I started listening to his early albums. (The same thing happened with Elton John but that’s another story and a different article). Rod had already proven his mettle as a blues wailer on Truth, and had a couple interesting albums on Vertigo while also working with the... Read More
ON THE TRAIL OF: ELMORE JAMES & SUNNYLAND
“Sunnyland,” by Elmore James, is a blues track that has been part of my DNA since I first heard it in around 1970. What I didn’t know, until quite recently, is that this song –that I’ve known and loved for 45 years –wasn’t the original “Sunnyland” recorded by Elmore James, but a later cut, recorded in New Orleans in 1961. This version, which is far more distorted and raw sounding than the original, remained unreleased until the end of that decade. It first appeared on a compilation released in 1969 in the UK by Blue Horizon entitled To Know a Man.... Read More
Hoodoo Man Blues Essay and Interview with Bob Koester
The second in a series of essays I have contributed to the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress, this piece focuses on a blues recording from the mid-‘60s that is almost always on lists of “essential” blues records. And for good reason: Hoodoo Man Blues captures, like almost no other, the sound and feel of what real electric blues, played live, sounds like. It features Junior Wells and a young Buddy Guy (who was un-credited on original issues of the record).The essay is brought to life by the insights of Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records, who... Read More
Interview with Bob Koester-Founder of Delmark Records
I had the privilege of writing an essay on Hoodoo Man Blues for the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress. (You can find the text of the essay here, along with a link to the National Registry where it is officially published). Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records (which released Hoodoo Man Blues) and producer of the album, was gracious enough to provide a first-hand account in that essay. (His views lent a far more authentic and interesting voice than any third-hand account I could write fifty years after the fact). Koester is a virtual encyclopedia of... Read More
National Recording Registry- Hoodoo Man Blues
When I think of the Chicago blues, particularly the era of the “electric blues,” I usually think of the legendary performers on the Chess label, most of whom are dead and gone, the label now operating as part of the Universal Music Group. A few small labels, like Alligator Records, which started in 1971, Earwig Music (founded in Chicago in 1978 by Michael Franks) and Red Lightnin,’ established in the UK in 1968, have catalogs of older blues recordings or distribute “contemporary blues.” But Delmark Records, founded in St. Louis in 1953, and based in Chicago since 1958, is not... Read More
Woke Up This Mornin’- Chicago Blues
I’ve always loved the blues. Don’t know when I first heard a blues song, but I identified with it immediately. As a youngster, I listened to delta blues, psych-blues from England, Texas blues and modern reinterpretations from bands like The Allman Brothers. But the Chicago “electric blues” holds a special place for me. It took the basic elements of rural blues and added something gritty, dynamic and edgy. It also became the foundation for a rediscovery of blues by so many notable artists from the UK in the ’60s. Guitarists like Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page and bands... Read More
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