Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
To most people New Year’s Eve means Dick Clark, but before there was Dick Clark’s Rocking New Year’s Eve, there was Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.
Here’s a look at a New Year’s Eve of the past.
1957-58



Interview with Guy Lombardo 1972

So long 2011

I don’t really like seeing those lists that come out at the end of the year listing everybody who has died in the past year...but I feel that I want to mention some of the musicians that passed on this year.
We lost a lot of good ones, especially in the Blues: David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Pinetop Perkins, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, and Hubert Sumlin.
Honeyboy was one of the last of the early Delta bluesmen. Born in 1915, he knew many of the early bluesmen and was friends with Robert Johnson. He was supposedly there the night Johnson was poisoned. He played music and toured up until a month before his death at the age of 96.
Pinetop Perkins, born in 1913, filled the piano seat for Muddy Waters after Otis Spann left. Perkins played with Muddy for a decade before he left to form the Legendary Blues Band which also had another Muddy alumnus, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, who also passed away this year.
Willie was one of the drummers for Muddy off and on through the 1960s and 1970s. He left the Muddy Waters bands and formed the Legendary Blues Band with other members of Muddy’s band including Pinetop Perkins. Along with the drums, Willie also played harmonica.
Hubert Sumlin was not the first guitar player for Howlin’ Wolf, but he played with Wolf the longest, and was the best known. Hubert played on most of Wolf’s hits and was a big influence on a lot of the British “Blues” guitarists.
Honeyboy playing Sweet Home Chicago


Honeyboy and Hubert Sumlin



Hubert playing with Howlin’ Wolf - Smokestack lightning



Hubert and Wolf again, (just because I’m a big fan)



Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes: Smith



In the Ukulele world, we lost Bill Tapia who had started playing music at the age of 10, in 1918. Although he didn’t record an album until 2004, in his long career he had played with such artists as Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Sol Ho’opi’i , and King Bennie Nawahi

 
Bill Tapia – Young at Heart



Bill Tapia – Crazy




Other people we lost this year, Don Kirshner, Clarence Clemons, Ceseria Evora, Eddie Kirkland, George Shearing, Gary Moore, Phoebe Snow, and Lloyd Knibb among others. I’ll try to get to some of these later…

Saturday, December 24, 2011

The Christmas Song

To stay in the Christmas mood, here’s one of my favorites Christmas songs. It’s The Christmas Song written by Mel Torme and Bob Wells. It’s been recorded by artists as diverse as Nat “King” Cole, Bing Crosby,  and Mel Torme, to The Jackson Five, New Kids on the Block, and Bob Dylan. Although Nat King Cole was the first person to have a hit with the song, I prefer it sung by Mel Torme. (Although I have a good version by Bing, but I couldn’t find a video of it.) The story behind the song is that they wrote it during an extremely hot summer… actually, I’ll let Mel tell the story.
Mel Torme - The Christmas Song



Here's Mel with Judy Garland




Nat King Cole




The Jackson 5




Hope you enjoy the song, and have a Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Tubachristmas

December, and like most people, my thoughts turn to Tubachristmas.
Wait… What… your thoughts don’t turn to massed tubas, sousaphones, euphoniums (euphonia?), baritones, and the odd helicon, or double-belled euphonium, playing Christmas carols?
Well, mine do. 
Tubachristmas was started in 1974 in honor of the late William J. Bell, the preeminent tuba player in the first half of the 20th century. (For more info on William J. Bell and Tubachristmas, check the links at the bottom.) Tubachristmas is held throughout the country. Some attract hundreds of low brass players (this year Kansas City had 612 musicians), and some only attract a few, but they all achieve the same thing: celebrating Christmas through low brass.
I first participated in a Tubachristmas celebration in 1985. I was in college, and playing tuba in the band. I and a couple of the other tuba players found out about the event in Lancaster and decided to go. It was a fun, but that was it—for some reason I didn’t go the following year. Then after I graduated, I put my instrument away. Although I kept my sousaphone, I didn’t play it very often, and every year when November turned to December, I thought about Tubachristmas, but never went.
Fast forward 20 some years. I was still carrying my sousaphone around. It had been with me through several moves, but still sitting unplayed. Then one November, my wife says to me, “You know there’s a Tubachristmas nearby.” And that was it, I dusted off the old sousaphone, found the old Tubachristmas book, and started practicing. Since then I’ve played every year, but unfortunately I had to miss this year. So to get that Tubachristmas feeling, here are some videos.

Rockefeller Center - 2006

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Ken Waldman

In this day and age of overproduced music, it’s good to hear someone who isn’t part of the “commercial pop” aspect of music, but who is out there making a living playing music the old fashioned way, with fiddle, mandolin guitar, and banjo. I just happened to meet someone like this the other day at work. I received a phone call from one of the music professors saying that this guy who was on campus speaking to classes and performing, would stop over to talk to me about some books and CDs he has out that might be of interest to the library. Well, in comes Ken Waldman carrying a fiddle case and a big bag over his shoulder. We get to talking, and had an interesting hour or so discussion on music, poetry, Alaska, the life of a touring musician/poet, and other stuff. Being a “musical instrument junkie” I asked what all he had and he pulled a mandolin and banjo out of his bag, and a fiddle. We noodled around a little bit on the banjo and mandolin, and then Ken played some of his tunes on the fiddle. Later that night, I took my family over to see the show, and had a really enjoyable time. In his show, Ken, who bills himself as an Alaskan Fiddling Poet, plays old-time fiddle tunes—both traditional, and ones that he has composed. Along with the music, Ken tells stories about his life in Alaska, and recites his poems. On the night that I saw him, he had other musicians with him: the Druckenmillers, who played fiddle, guitar mandolin and banjo; and Mark Tamsula who played banjo, fiddle, and guitar. All five of them played together, then they played some tunes in smaller groups of two and three. It was a really good show, and just reminds me that there’s more to music than what you hear on the radio. Good music is out there and sometimes you have to hunt it down, but other times it finds you.
 Check out some videos





And here's a video I took of Ken and Mark playing Miss Renee's Waltz (well the last minute of the tune)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Musical Styles

As I was saying in the post on Pink Floyd and David Gilmour, I don’t discriminate against musical styles just “because” (Well except for current corporate pop which is just about anything on the radio…)*
There’s a quote attributed to Duke Ellington, “There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.” I agree with this but there’s more to it than just good and bad. It means that someone has to decide what is good and what is “the other kind.” Someone has to “judge” this is good, and this isn’t. And what it comes down to is personal taste, and although I don’t particularly care for Death Metal, if someone likes it, what difference does it make to me? More power to them. And if I listen to a style of music that someone else doesn’t like, why should they care? If someone likes a style of music, then that music is valid, just don’t expect it to remain the same forever. Change is going on constantly.
Purity has a place in music, but if nothing changes, nothing advances. Every style of music is based on a preexisting style, not every change is going to be to my tastes, but if someone likes it then great. Dvorak, Copeland, and other composers took folk songs and made them “classical.” Duke Ellington took “classical” compositions and made them jazz. Pete Seeger played Ode to Joy on the banjo. Heck, I’ve even played it myself on the dulcimer. I actually like when someone takes a song or style of music and does something to it that makes me go, “Wow, I never would have thought of that!”
Here are some examples of people thinking outside the box. Taking one style of music and playing it with another style’s instrumentation, or taking an inane pop song and finding the underlying heart. Hopefully some of these will make you say “Wow!” Or maybe at least a “Well, that was interesting.”
Psychograss play Hendrix



Richard Thompson – Oops I Did It Again



Shine on You Crazy Diamond on ukulele



They Harder They Come on fiddle



Wailing Souls – Whiter Shade of Pale



Peter Tosh Johnny Be Good



*Okay disclaimer time. My niece did a lip sync video to Jessie J’s song Price Tag, which I then learned on uke to try playing it with her... and I actually kinda sorta liked the song.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Now Be Thankful

Song For Today

Happy Thanksgiving!



Fairport Convention from Maidstone an outdoor concert from 1970.
Dave Swarbrick  - Lead Vocals
Richard Thompson - Guitar
Simon Nicol - Guitar
Dave Pegg - Bass
Dave Mattacks - Drums

In looking for the chords online, what I find doesn't seem to match up.
For one thing, Simon is capoed on the fifth fret, and at 1:49, Richard appears to be reaching for a G chord.
These look a little better for what Richard is playing.
I haven't sat down to try and figure it out myself, but I may give it a try.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

David Gilmour and Pink Floyd

I put on a CD the other day of a band that I hadn’t listened to in probably over 15 years--Pink Floyd.
In the 80s, I was a huge fan of Pink Floyd and David Gilmour. Gilmour’s first two solo albums, Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii, and Wish You Were Here were my favorites. I had a giant poster of Gilmour’s About Face album on my dorm wall in college, but again I hadn’t listened to them in a long time.
I recently read a Mandolin Cafe piece about Pink Floyd and heard a ukulele version of Shine on You Crazy Diamond on ukulele cosmos (requires registration), and another on YouTube, and it made me remember how much I used to love Pink Floyd. Although I like a lot of their albums, Ummagumma, Animals, Meddle, and enjoyed The Wall and some of The Final Cut, those albums don’t hold up for me. Dark Side of the Moon is overplayed, and I don’t care if I never hear it again, but Wish You Were here is an album I can still listen to.
To me, the best thing about Pink Floyd was David Gilmour. Now I’m not discounting Roger Waters or any of the others, I mean I bought The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking when it came out. I saw Roger Waters on the Radio K.A.O.S. tour, and then the refigured Pink Floyd (without Roger Waters) on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, and I actually thought that the Roger Waters show was better. However it was Gilmour’s guitar that drew me in, and like I said, I hadn’t listened to Pink Floyd for close to 20 years.
Anyway, I guess what I’m getting at is how musical tastes can change over time, and there’s no real rhyme or reason. It’s not that one musical style is better than another; there are good things in all good music. Here’s a quote from an interview with David Gilmour stating just that:
RC: “You’ve always had an ability to turn your hand to many different styles.”
DG: “I’m a real jack of all trades. I'm completely the anti-purist. I was never going to dedicate my life to being BB King. My influences were Pete Seeger, Lead Belly, Bob Dylan, Hank Marvin, all the blues guys and everything. It was all a complete hotchpotch, a mass of different styles and influences. I saw no reason why all these influences could not co-habit reasonably and I still don't!”
(
David Gilmour Interview - Record Collector May 2003)
This isn’t the first time that I’ve read/heard this from a musician, and it’s something I completely agree with, whether it’s Johnny Shines saying that Robert Johnson, the “King of the Delta Blues Singers” was a “polka hound”; Howling Wolf saying that he started “howling” because he was trying to yodel like Jimmie Rodgers; Martin, Bogan and Armstrong playing Polish, Italian, and other ethnic music depending on what section of town they were in; Anthrax playing with Public Enemy; Chris Thile playing Bach one minute, then Bluegrass or the Beatles the next; Richard Thompson playing “Oops I Did It Again”, or Darol Anger and Bruce Molsky playing Jimi Hendrix on fiddles.
To me, it’s all music and it’s all good. I want to show some examples of cross pollination in music from some well-known musicians and some unknown musicians, but before I get to that, here’s some David Gilmour and Pink Floyd:
David Gilmour – Shine on….


Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii - Echoes


Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii – One of These Days


David Gilmour – There’s No Way Out of Here


( Check out Ian McLagen of the Small Faces/Faces on organ)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Bellowhead

So far, all of the posts I’ve written have been about music that is OLD, twenty to seventy years or older. In this post, I’m going to feature a CURRENT band that I really enjoy.  Now when I say current, that isn’t really true, because although the music is new, the lyrics are often hundreds of years old.
The name of the band is Bellowhead.
 Bellowhead was started by John Spiers and Jon Boden, who play as a folk duo consisting of fiddle and melodeon (a type of accordion). In wanting to have a bigger sound, they decided to form a large band with both a horn section and a string section. They ended up with an 11-piece band whose members play melodeon, concertina, fiddle, guitar, trumpet, trombone, helicon, (and sousaphone), cello, oboe, saxophone, bagpipes, and percussion among others.
Bellowhead is huge in England, but virtually unknown in the U.S. I found out about them while reading the forum, TalkAwhile. After reading some forum posts about them I looked them up on YouTube, and was hooked. I’m a sucker for bands that combine horns and strings, “folk” bands that aren’t too concerned with being “purists,” and musicians who are willing to take a chance and try something different. I always liked when The Band put horns on their songs, when David Bromberg combined fiddles and horns, and when Lyle Lovett plays with his Large Band. In the English folk scene, a predecessor to Bellowhead is Brass Monkey, which was guitarist Martin Carthy (guitar), John Kirkpatrick (squeezeboxes), and a brass section playing traditional songs. To make the connection complete, John Kirkpatrick’s son Benji plays in Bellowhead.
Bellowhead takes traditional folk songs and makes new arrangements. They combine a number of music styles, the English Brass Band tradition, fiddle tunes, Morris Dancing, funk, disco, jazz, sea shanties, Brechtian Theater, and music hall. They sing songs dealing with whiskey, cholera, prostitutes, sailors, begging, and sex. Mix it all with a lot of energy and fun, and you end up with Bellowhead.
Here’s a sampling of their music.
Sloe Gin Set



Rigs of the Time



Jordan



New York Girls



London Town

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Slide Guitar

I love the sound of slide guitar. The slide adds a new dimension to what can be done on the guitar. It can add excitement, it can make the guitar “speak”, on an acoustic guitar, a slide can hold notes for what seems like forever, it can play legato (slurring the notes together), and it can play staccato (short, articulated notes).  A slide can add another voice to a guitarist’s bag of tricks.
There are a number of stories about who was the first to play slide on the guitar, but it is generally accepted that it was brought here by Hawaiian groups that toured America around 1918. The Hawaiians played with a metal bar with the guitar held flat on the lap. A lot of the early bluesmen picked up this technique and played slide with the guitar flat on their lap. Leadbelly’s few slide pieces were played this way, Booker White played songs this way, Kokomo Arnold, Casey Bill Weldon, and the Black Ace all played “Hawaiian” or lap style. It is also believed that Charley Patton’s slide songs were played “lap style.”
Who the first person was to put a metal or glass “slide” on their finger and play with the guitar in an upright position isn’t known, but this style became the predominant style in blues, and then rock, while lap style became the predominant style in country music.
But there were other ways to slide, there were “knife songs.” These were songs played with a pocketknife held in the hand and used as a slide. In fact, in W.C. Handy’s first experience of hearing the blues, while waiting for a train in Mississippi, he heard an unknown musician who used a knife in the same way that the Hawaiians used a steel bar.  Mance Lipscomb played with a knife, and Gus Cannon used a knife on his banjo. Booker White can be seen using a nail, and The Black Ace used a medicine bottle.
Mance Lipscomb – Jack of Spades


Booker White – Poor Boy


Black Ace – I Am the Black Ace


Some musicians who played with a slide (either metal or glass) on their finger were: Robert Johnson, Son House, Muddy Waters, Johnny Shines, Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, Tampa Red, Earl Hooker, and many others.
Johnny Shines – Ramblin’ Blues




Son House – Yonder Comes the Blues


Muddy Waters – Long Distance Call



What you use as a slide, and how you play are personal preferences. I’ve seen slide played lap or upright, with the slide on the pinky, ring, middle, and even index.  The slide could be glass, brass, copper, steel, ceramic, socket wrench, or even bone.
 
Personally, I like to use either glass or brass. I wear my slide on my pinky, and I like it to go as far down the finger as it can, and to have the tip of my pinky sticking out. I also make my own glass slides. To make my slides, I use a bottle cutter and a candle.

This works pretty well, and I don’t have to go out and buy an expensive glass cutting saw. To make a slide, I score the bottle in two places, once right below the lip, and again 2 to 3 inches below that. I like the slide to be fairly straight, so I try not to use bottles that flare out from the neck. Once the bottle is scored, I hold the first score over a candle flame and slowly rotate. Every so often I take it away from the flame and run it under cold water, again slowly rotating. Do this a couple of times and the lip will just pop off. I then repeat at the second scored line. Usually this produces a clean break, sometimes though the glass will not crack on the score line, or will have cracks in the glass going up the slide.

After I have the neck off, I take some wet/dry sandpaper, and smooth down the edges. It doesn’t cost a lot, and is fairly easy to do.  If you aren’t the handy type, you could purchase a glass slide, there is a company in England that will sell you a glass bottle neck beautifully polished, and beveled:  www.diamondbottlenecks.com
However, I like making my own, and since I know that I’ll eventually break them, it’s cheaper in the long run. Today I cut three bottlenecks; one got too hot and cracked, the other two turned out perfect.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Bert Jansch

Bert Jansch – 1943-2011
Last week, Bert Jansch passed away. Bert was one of the major English fingerstyle guitar players to come out of the 1960s. His solo guitar albums were highly influential to a number of upcoming musicians ranging from Donovan, Nick Drake, Paul Simon, Neil Young and Jimmy Page. Jimmy Page even went so far as to record one of Bert’s arrangements of the song Blackwaterside. But in typical Zeppelin fashion, changed the title slightly, and claimed the song as his own.
Bert Jansch – Blackwaterside



Besides his solo albums, Jansch was a member of the group Pentangle. Pentangle also included John Renbourn on guitar, Danny Thompson on bass, Jacqui McShee on vocals, and Terry Cox on drums.  They combined folk, blues, jazz, and pop into a unique synthesis that could only have come out of the 1960s and early 1970s.
Pentangle – No Love is Sorrow (Folky)




Pentangle – Reflections (Jazzy)



I love the wine glasses on top of the amps in those videos.
So Long Bert, thanks for the music.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Stink Bugs

I hate stink bugs. 
 Every year when the weather turns cool, they try to find a place to hibernate, and every year they somehow find their way into the house. And every year they hide in the curtains in my son’s room. It’s on the north side of the house, so it’s cooler. They hide in the curtains and I have to collect them all and get rid of them. Did I mention that I hate stink bugs? Well I did one set of curtains and got rid of  about 20 of them, then I went to the second set of curtains and there were three clusters of at least 20 each. So I got those, and then decided to take the curtains down and take them outside, that way if there were more, I wouldn’t have to worry about them falling off the curtains, and then trying to hide somewhere else in the room.  Well, I get the curtains outside, and it’s a little warmer, so they start moving around.  Some fall off of the curtains and by this time I’m so frustrated with them that I start stomping on them.
I know what you’re thinking, “What does this have to do with music?” Well, I’ll tell you, while I’m stomping on the stink bugs that have fallen off the curtains, a song pops into my head. The song is Call of the Wrecking Ball by X.  I can’t say it made the job any easier, but it sure gave me a chuckle…
“…they call me wrecking ball, ‘cause I’m the baddest of them all.”
Here’s a version by the Knitters, which is sort of a “supergroup” consisting of Dave Alvin – Electric Guitar, John Doe – Acoustic Guitar, Exence Cervenka - Vocals, D.J. Bonebrake - Drums, and I’m not sure who’s playing bass here.

Just a disclaimer, this video not safe for work due to some language.

The Knitters - Wrecking Ball

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Music for Autumn

Its autumn, and whenever the seasons change, I find myself reaching for certain types of music more than others. Sure there are thematic classical pieces such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, or New Age music such as George Winston’s Autumn, and there are even groups that seem to have based their career around a season like the Beach Boys and their Endless Summer of surfing and cars. For me, in the summer, I like to listen to ska and reggae. In the winter, well there’s Christmas music, and maybe a little more jazz or classical.
But when the weather starts to turn cooler, I find myself reaching for…
Jethro Tull.
Yes, Jethro Tull, but only certain albums, specifically the three “pastoral” albums: Songs from the Woods, Heavy Horses, and Stormwatch.
Ian Anderson has said that the three are linked thematically, in that they all deal with the environment, and loosely the seasons. Songs from the Woods is the “spring/summer” album. The songs (except for Ring Out Solstice Bells) deal with plants growing, May days, summer rain, Beltane, velvet greens, and sex. This album is seen as a positive, “come all ye” type of album, celebrating the joys of an agrarian culture.
Heavy Horses is the autumn album, it contains songs about animals, October leaves, cold mornings, tea, coming snow, and oh yeah, sex. This album continues the themes of agrarian culture, but is becoming darker. It starts to see the incoming tide of technology, and the effect it will have on the traditional rural lifestyle.
That leaves Stormwatch as the winter album. The songs deal with cold, the constellation Orion, home, the coming dark ages, ghosts, and old gods. This album continues with the darkness that started to rear its head on Heavy Horses. Technology has taken over from the traditional rural lifestyle, and has brought about changes that are not necessarily positive. The album seems to say that the reliance on technology and bureaucracy will bring on a long, dark winter.
For more info, check out the Tull website, Cup of Wonder: http://www.cupofwonder.com, and in particular, the articles discussing Tull albums and songs: http://www.cupofwonder.com/essays.html.

Velvet Green from Songs from the Wood




Heavy Horses  from Heavy Horses



Dun Ringill from Stormwatch



Jethro Tull is still out there and still touring. Check out the website at
http://www.j-tull.com/

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Musical Memories

When I was a kid growing up, I never really thought about what my parents were like when they were younger, what they were interested in, and especially what they listened to when they were growing up. My dad when he was working around the house, would have the radio on WWDB, which in the ’80s consisted of talk radio and Sinatra. His brother (my uncle) would occasionally sit in the back yard and play harmonica.
My mom would listen to whatever the kids were listening to, although she had her own favorites, one of whom was Engelbert Humperdinck. She did have an appreciation for Robert Plant, in particular the EP he did of ’50s classics, The Honeydrippers: Volume One.
When I was in college, I was on a Big Band jazz kick, and I’d trade tapes with a kid down the hall. I’d give him punk tapes—Patti Smith, Dead Kennedys, and the compilation “Let Them Eat Jellybeans”, and he gave me Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, and others. I was home one weekend listening to one of the tapes, and my mom heard it and said, “Oh, I saw him…” – growing up in New Jersey, she had seen a lot of the Big Bands that came through , and I had never known.
My dad had a brother who died when I was around 2 years old, so I never knew him. I had always heard that he played the violin, and had a small group that played out, but that was long before my time. One day going through a pile of papers from my parents’ house, I came across some old sheet music. Included in the music were a couple of manuscript books with songs handwritten in the books. One of them had my uncle’s name written on the front (another uncle). Exactly the same type of manuscript books that I’ve used in bands. The books contain a lot of polkas and czardas, which would have been popular in Western Pennsylvania among the mostly eastern European immigrants and their descendants. But the books also contain popular songs such as My Blue Heaven, Stairway to the Stars, A Gal in Calico, The Hut Sut Song, and Sugar Blues.


Were these the songs my uncle played on gigs? When did he play them? After he came back from WWII? The 1950s? 1960s? I don’t know, but I can imagine a small combo: violin, saxophone, probably accordion, maybe trombone, maybe drums, playing at a VFW Hall in Johnstown, or Altoona, maybe even Pittsburgh, mixing the polkas and czardas with the current pop hits.
I wish I had heard them.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

St. Louis Blues

A while back I was working on learning St. Louis Blues. I had gotten the sheet music from W. C. Handy’s "Blues: an anthology."  Handy had written the song in 1914, and it is probably his best known song.
St. Louis Blues does not follow what is normally thought of as a “blues.” Handy included a “tango” section. In the early part of the 1900’s tango was hugely popular and Handy included the Latin American rhythm to appeal to the tango craze. However, a lot of the later versions of St. Louis Blues omit the tango rhythm.


W. C. Handy


When I start working on a tune, I like to check out different versions of the song.  It’s easier these days, you can find a lot of different versions on the Internet, ones that are note for note, and ones that twist the song into different forms. It reminds me of a quote from Dave Swarbrick who in the box set Swarb! Is quoted as saying, “you can do anything to music, it doesn’t mind.”  I agree to a point, certain types of music are able to be changed without damaging the underlying components that make the song what it is. Sometimes, it works better than others. I’ve heard versions that are actually better than the original, and I’ve heard versions that don’t even come close to capturing the “essence of the song”.
For St. Louis Blues, here are a couple that I like. The first one is Bessie Smith’s version. I am aware of two versions that Bessie sang. There is one on the Essential Bessie Smith in which she is accompanied by Louis Armstrong on cornet and Fred Longshaw on harmonium (pump organ). The one here is from the 1929 film St. Louis Blues. This is the only known film of Bessie Smith, and in my opinion, Bessie’s versions are the ultimate versions of the song. For just the song, go to part 2.
St Louis Blues Pt. 1 - Bessie Smith


St Louis Blues Pt. 2 - Bessie Smith


The next version by the Mound City Blue Blowers takes a completely different slant on the song. The Blue Blowers were a group based around the comb and paper playing of Red McKenzie. Over the years many famous jazz musicians passed through the Blue Blowers including Eddie Condon, Eddie Lang, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Coleman Hawkins and others. This version was recorded in 1929, the same year as Bessie Smith's, and features an early lineup of the Blue Blowers: Red McKenzie, Jack Bland, Josh Billings and Eddie Condon.


Mound City Blue Blowers


Although St. Louis Blues is a "blues," it has been covered by more jazz musicians and even by bluegrass and western swing musicians.  As a blues song, I am not aware of a lot of versions. It was recorded by Sylvester Weaver and Walter Beasley as a slide guitar duo in 1927, Big Bill Broonzy did a version, and here is an abbreviated slide guitar version by Furry Lewis from his rediscovery period in the 1960’s.

Furry Lewis – St. Louis Blues




Dizzy Gillespie & the Muppets
Lastly here is Dizzy Gillespie on the Muppet Show. I remember watching the Muppets when I was a kid, and I always enjoyed the musical guests. Dizzy was a perfect match for the Muppets.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Henry Thomas

In my post about Steve Goodman, I also mentioned that Henry Thomas was one of the musicians that put me in a good mood.
I don’t know where I first heard Henry Thomas, but three possibilities are Canned Heat’s song “Going up the Country” which uses Thomas’ “Bull Doze Blues” as its blueprint, Taj Mahal’s “Fishing Blues,” which is a reworking of Thomas’ song of the same name, or maybe it was the Grateful Dead’s version of “Don’t Ease Me In”. Hearing those songs got me interested, but hearing the originals is what got me hooked.

Canned Heat - Going up the Country



Henry Thomas - Bull Doze Blues



Taj Mahal - Fishin Blues



Henry Thomas - Fishing Blues



Grateful Dead - Don't Ease Me In



Henry Thomas - Don't Ease Me In




Henry Thomas was an early blues musician. Actually that’s not entirely true. He was a “pre-blues” musician, what is often called a “songster.” A songster was a person who played a variety of genres of music, ranging from ballads, dance tunes, pop songs, ragtime and blues.  You can see this in the nickname Henry Thomas is sometimes called, “Ragtime Texas.” Not much is known about Henry Thomas; he was born around 1874, but it is not known when he died. There are stories that he was seen performing on street corners into the 1950’s.
What we do know for a fact is that between 1924 and 1927, he recorded 23 songs that laid a cornerstone for future musicians, while at the same time showing how the form known as “the blues” came to be.
What is it about those 23 songs that put me in a good mood? Is it the incessant train-like rhythm, the sound of the quills, the way the lyrics from one song show up in another, the vocals? All I know is that when all of those ingredients are combined, it can’t help but put a smile on my face.
For some more information on Henry Thomas check these out
Bio
Quills
Guitar and Quill Technique
(Weenie Campbell has a lot of great information on country blues. I’ve been a long time lurker on that forum)

High Water Everywhere

Song for today. 

Flooding here due to Tropical Storm Lee.

Charley Patton - High Water Everywhere

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Steve Goodman

Music affects the emotions, this is a given. The reasons why are not so clear. Personally I find that there are certain pieces, songs, sounds and artists that have a certain effect on me, and I want to mention two artists that put me in a good mood at just about any time: Steve Goodman and Henry Thomas.
Two different types of artists, from different time periods, but whenever I hear them, I can’t help but smile. Oh sure, they both did sad songs, but overwhelmingly their music is happy, upbeat, and joyous. Or at least that’s what I get from it.
Let’s start with Steve Goodman. He was born 1948, and died 1984. The song he is best known for is "The City of New Orleans", which was a hit for Arlo Guthrie, and covered by a number of other artists.


The City of New Orleans
During his life he suffered from and eventually died from leukemia. But enough of the biography, what I get from Goodman, and what I think is the most important thing is fun. You can tell he is enjoying himself. His songs are funny, and his presentation shows that he is having fun performing. He also didn’t take himself too seriously. He could have easily gone down the suffering artist role, he knew he didn’t have much time, but instead of moping, he lived life to the fullest. In the song, "You Better Get It While You Can (The Ballad of Carl Martin)" although he’s talking about the musician Carl Martin, he could just as easily expressing his own outlook on life.

You Better Get it While You Can (The Ballad of Carl Martin)



This one, co-written with John Prine is one of my favorite songs.

John Prine and Steve Goodman - Souvenirs (plus You're the Girl I Love)

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Babbacombe Lee


The year was 1971, and Fairport Convention released its seventh album, Babbacombe Lee. The album was based on newspaper clippings that Dave Swarbrick found in a junk store.  The newspaper clippings were about John “Babbacombe” Lee, a man who was convicted of murder in 1884, and was to be executed. Three times he was taken to the gallows, and three times the trap failed to open. John Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment, and finally released in 1907.
In 2011, 40 years after the album was released to less than critical acclaim, Fairport Convention plays the entire album at its winter shows and at their annual festival at Cropredy.
Babbacombe Lee is a “folk-rock opera”, and as such, suffers from some of the problems that rock operas face, linking material that goes nowhere, and songs that cannot be played without the whole opera being performed.

The Hanging Song 1972



However, in my opinion, I consider the album to rank up there with Liege and Lief, and Full House.  By 1971, Fairport had gone through many personnel and stylistic changes. Sandy Denny had been gone for two albums, and Richard Thompson had left after Full House. What it had going for it was Dave Swarbrick. Not only was the idea his, he composed or arranged, and sang most of the songs. I happen to be a fan of Swarb’s voice. He has a distinctive sound, which I find very appealing. I would have to say that of all the singers that went through Fairport, his vocals are second only to Sandy Denny's.The playing on the album is solid and holds its own. Swarb’s fiddle and mandolin along with  Dave Pegg’s mandolin are the defining sounds on the album.

The Sailors Alphabet 1982



Too bad I couldn’t get to England for the shows…

Breakfast in Mayfair 2008



If you're interested in more info on John "Babbacombe" Lee, there are a number of sites about him.
Here are a few;
While you're at it, check out this English Folk-Rock Forum for reviews of the 2011 Cropredy shows, and anything to do with Fairport Convention and other English Folk-Rock groups. Also take a look at Fairport Convention's website


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Louis Jordan

A while back I was given a pile of old sheet music. One of the sheets was Louis Jordan’s “Is you is or is you ain’t ma baby”.
 I’m a fan of Louis Jordan, so I was excited to have this sheet music. I can’t remember when I first heard this song, but I remember seeing it in the  Tom and Jerry cartoon “Solid Seranade” (1946), but the song has a longer history.  (Had to replace the video. First one was removed from Youtube)
 
 It was recorded in 1944 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five and featured in the Movie “Follow the Boys”.  Here's a clip from the movie.

Louis Jordan had a number of hits during his career, and is one of the people whose name comes up in the discussion of “who invented rock and roll”, His music had the attitude  and the sound of early rock and roll.
His music is still around, in 1981, Joe Jackson put out an album (Jumpin’ Jive) which included some Louis Jordan songs, and more recently (1999), B.B. King released a cd of Louis Jordan songs. (Let the Good Times Roll )

If you're interested in Louis Jordan and his music, do yourself a favor and pick up some of his music.
While you're at it, check out this website about him.

If you need more, check out this book.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Introductions

Well, I guess I should explain what I’ll be writing about in this blog. I wish I could, but as it is, I’m not entirely sure what I will be writing about, other that it will be things that interest me.  I do know that one of the main things that I will be writing about is music, so let’s get things started…
First off, the blog is named after a Ronnie Lane song.  I came to Ronnie’s music a little late. I was aware of the Small Faces, and the Faces, and of course early Rod Stewart, but it wasn’t until the Faces box set came out that I began to see what I was missing.  Then, when I began exploring Ronnie’s music, I found a musician and music that had everything I like.
I like acoustic instruments used in electric settings, and this had it all, fiddle, accordion, slide guitar, saxophone, what more could you want? But wait, then there was the emotion in the songs, not to mention the sense of fun. But I don’t want this to sound like a love letter to Ronnie Lane, check his music out for yourself.
How Come



Ooh La La



Debris