"Travelling Riverside Blues," sometimes called "Mudbone" or "Mud Bone," is a blues song written and recorded in Dallas, Texas by the bluesman Robert Johnson.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster
In May 2010, at the Blues Music Awards, Ruthie was announced as Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year and I can see why!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Kenny Wayne Shepherd How I Go 2011
.... So while not everything here will click with audiences unfamiliar with blues-cum-country fare, despite this artist’s stateside achievements, How I Go is a decent introduction to an artist whose admiration of the likes of BB King and Honeyboy Edwards is steadily producing a comparable catalogue of authentically dusty barroom stompers and unlikely stadium rockers. It’s a set that benefits from its maker’s restraint – more of the same next time and he’ll move closer to the pantheon occupied by Clapton et al.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Joe Bonamassa - Dust Bowl 2011
Joe Bonamassa is an American blues guitarist who regularly wins awards in guitar magazines and has been praised by BB King. But his real love is British blues-rock from the 70s ....
Blues Books: Little Blues Book
Book Details
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books; 1st edition (January 10, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1565121376
ISBN-13: 978-1565121379
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
Amazon.com Review
Almost small enough to fit into a hip pocket, this is a kind of guidebook to the blues, featuring quotations from blues songs, mini-biographies of bluesmen and blueswomen, and illustrations by R. Crumb. The quotes (on topics ranging from "Getting the Blues" to "The Thrill is Gone") are little gems, pithy aphorisms like this one from Rabbit Brown: "I done seen better days, but I'm putting up with these."
Author Brian Robertson, himself a musician, includes a bibliography and a list of Internet resources in this great little introduction to the blues and the men and women who made the music.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The Black Keys El Camino 2011
El Camino is the seventh studio album by American blues-rock duo The Black Keys, and was produced in Nashville. BBC
El Camino finds its identity and The Black Keys their new purpose – to reinvigorate rock’n’roll from the roots upRolling Stone
The Keys cited the Clash as an influence for El Camino, and that influence is evident in the increased zip of the grooves, and in the group hug between roots music and rock spectacle
Howlin' Wolf — Goin’ Down Slow
The song alternates between sung and spoken passages. The sung passages are the reflections of a dying man:
- I have had my fun, if I don't get well no more
- My health is failing me, and I'm going down slow
- Please write my mother, tell her the shape I'm in
- Tell her to pray for me, forgive me for my sin
- Now looka here...
- I did not say I was a millionaire...
- But I said I have spent more money than a millionaire!
- Cause if I had've kept all my money that I'd already spent,
- I would've been a millionaire a looong time ago...
Clapton
The Wang Dangs.......Goin down slow
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Stephen Dale Petit – Guitararama 2008
The first incarnation of “Guitararama” entered the Top 10 HMV Blues Album Chart in the UK (between two Robert Johnson albums), as well as the ITunes Top 10 Chart in both Norway and Sweden. Guitar Magazine also placed it in the top 10 albums of the year.
The Blues Brothers Movie still funny, 25 Years Later.
Here is a blues humor post from the archives, the "Blues Brothers" movie is still a very funny movie.
While not in the same vane as many of my recent post. I have been posting mostly prewar blues in SqueezeMyLemon, that is because that is where I am at right now. Those blues are the ones that shade me right now. That is how blue I am. If you understand what I trying to say.
But there is an event that is going on in the world of the blues that I want to draw your attention to. It is the up coming release of the 25th Anniversary Edition of the 1980 movie "The Blues Brothers".
I have heard some of the critics say that this movie is really not about the blues at all. I mean it does not really have any blues greats in it. But that is OK. I think that Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi both loved the music and it showed in the work that they did on Sartuday Night Live and in the original movie.
Then there is the matter of the musicians, in the movie. The band, which had among others, Steve Cropper, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Lou Marini, was a real band of real musicians that played a tight, sharp, and clean set. In the movie there were musical performances by the band and guests Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, and James Brown which are classic and priceless. Even though they are not strictly blues performances. But they reflect where the music was at when the movie was made.
A very good interview was done on Terry Gross' NPR show, Dan Aykroyd, Still Full of the 'Blues'.
On Aug 30th there will be an anniversary event. The event will feature a live Q&A discussion with director/writer John Landis and the film's star and co-writer, Dan Aykroyd (via satellite from Toronto), followed by a first time screening of the film in high definition and cinema surround sound. The entire program will be presented live via satellite beginning at 6:30 p.m. PT / 9:30 p.m. ET to 83 movie theatres from coast to coast.
There are many highlight in the movie that still make me laugh to this day;
1. The seemingly endless, escalating series of car crashes. (I loved this, some don't)
2. "We've got both kinds of music: country AND western"
3. "We're on a mission from God"
4. When Ray Charles (God rest his soul) orders during the diner scene "four fried chickens and a Coke."
5. The scene with Carry Fisher, makes me laugh to this day.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt (French pronunciation: was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique (sometimes called 'hot' jazz guitar) that has since become a living musical tradition within Belgian gypsy culture. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, he co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, described by critic Thom Jurek as "one of the most original bands in the history of recorded jazz."
Monday, December 19, 2011
Blues Books: All Music Guide to the Blues
Book Description - Complete, concise, authoritative and fully updated to reflect today's revitalized blues world, the latest edition of this guide is any blues fan's lifeline to the best music, past and present. It reviews and rates 8,900 recordings in all major styles across the blues map - from Delta blues to Louisiana, Memphis, Chicago, Texas and beyond; from classic female singers to jump blues, blues slide guitar, blues in jazz, Dixieland, zydeco, soul blues, blues-rock, modern acoustic and electric blues, and more. This fun and easy-to-use guide provides profiles of over 1,200 artists. Historical essays plus supplemental "music maps" chart the roots and evolution of the blues, its various styles, instruments used, key artists, and more. The essays explore the blues from the Mississippi Delta to modern electric blues and everything in between. Also includes 30 "top lists" recommending the best albums for each blues style - essential for starting or expanding a great record collection.
Blues Books @SqueezeMyLemon
Blues Music Books @Amazon.com
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Camille Dalmais
Telegraph
On the baroque, majestic Ilo Veyou, her fourth, self-produced, solo album, MaJiKer has gone but plenty of magic remains. In comes a classically trained string quartet – and a surprising step into territory unexplored in French music since the days that Le Pétomane, the great fartiste of the Moulin Rouge, titillated fin de siècle audiences with his note-perfect derrière.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Cash Box Kings — Young Turks?
Considered the “Young Turks” of the Chicago blues scene, the Cash box Kings are dedicated to carrying on the spirit of the 1940’s and 50’s post-war Chicago blues sound as well as the Delta blues music of the 20’s and 30’s.
Etta James sings "At Last" and is in our prayers..
Our prayers are going out to the incomparable Mrs. Etta James as news reports are stating that she is gravely ill.
Please see E Online's article titled Blues Legend Etta James Terminally Ill for more details.
According to the "At Last" singer's live-in physician, the blues icon is terminally ill and has little time left after battling leukemia, dementia and kidney failure for several years now.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Donny Hathaway - This Christmas
One of the all time classic Christmas pop songs. As I was playing this I listened to the lyrics closer then I had ever paid attention to them, and realized that this song has the perfect sentiment for this time of year. Makes me feel all warm inside. LOL
Chris Barber — Blues
A couple of cracking tracks from Chris' long and varied repertoire, I hope you enjoy as much as I do.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Lonesome Road
We've posted a few of Rosetta Tharpe's YouTube clips here at SqueezeMyLemon, because she is so spectacularly placed at the junction of blues and gospel music that it is mind boggling when you really consider how talented she was.
And it seems to me that she does not really get the credit that she deserves for her ground breaking work.
Just listen to this one and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe @Amazon.com
Albert Collins - If Trouble Was Money
What if trouble was money???
I might not be a millionaire, but I know one thing, I would be a rich man and that's for real!
Gary Clark Jr. - Bright Lights
Gary Clark Jr. "you going to know his name by the end of the night".
Notes from YouTube:
© 2011 WMG Gary Clark Jr. - Bright Lights
Directed/Edited by Bill Berg Hillinger
Bright Lights EP available now stores and on tour. http://wbr.fm/GCJep
http://www.garyclarkjr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/garyclarkjrmusic
http://www.twitter.com/garyclarkjr
Gary Clark Jr. Bright Lights
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Ramon Goose — Testify
Ramon Goose is an English blues rock guitarist, singer and producer, who is known for his work with the hip hop blues band NuBlues, his mastery of the slide guitar, and for producing other American blues artists' albums. As a solo artist he has toured across Europe and released several albums.
Wallace Coleman - Blues in the Wind
Singer and harp player Wallace Coleman first met Robert Lockwood Jr. in 1985. They became fast friends, with Coleman playing in the local bluesman's band for a decade. Coleman recalls their friendship in "Robert Jr.," the anchor to this 10-song set dedicated to his late pal.
Cover of Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"
Karen O
Trent Reznor
Atticus Ross
Immigrant Song
Not a bad little cover of this classic rock song by one of the best all time blues rock bands. I enjoyed the original version of this song, and I also enjoyed the original version of the movie that this was remade for, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".
Monday, December 12, 2011
The History Of The Blues: The Roots, The Music, The People
Product Details
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 2, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306812967
ISBN-13: 978-0306812965
Book Description (from Amazon.com)
Francis Davis's The History of the Blues is a groundbreaking rethinking of the blues that fearlessly examines how race relations have altered perceptions of the music. Tracing its origins from the Mississippi Delta to its amplification in Chicago right after World War II, Davis argues for an examination of the blues in its own right, not just as a precursor to jazz and rock 'n' roll. The lives of major figures such as Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and Leadbelly, in addition to contemporary artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, are examined and skillfully woven into a riveting, provocative narrative.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Beth Hart – Dingwells - London - 29 November 2011 - Your Heart is as Black as Night
She is pretty damned good!
I Feel Like Going to Church - Blind Willie Johnson Trouble Soon be Over
This video is a re-enactment, but I really like it. I hope you enjoy it too, I think it is a great blues song for a Sunday morning.
Gospel Blues @SqueezeMyLemon
Blind Willie Johnson @ Amazon.com
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, December 09, 2011
Jimi Hendrix Tribute
This video makes me laugh and also is amazing.
Notes from YouTube:
The opening act of the legendary Michael Winslow's hilarious performance in Michael Winslow Live at the Improv. Known universally as the sound-effects ninja guy from Police Academy, he continued to refine his noises and impersonations long after the movies disappeared from public view. He now returns with his amazing signature Jimi Hendrix impersonation along side other incredible acts later in the show including a Led Zeppelin performance and a host of other sound-effect related gags.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning
contrasted with The Who
The Economist Weighs in on Music in Commericials.
I hear a lot of classic blues music in ads, and it always makes me wonder. If blues music is popular enough to sell cars, food and even toys, why is it not popular enough to make blues musicians more wealthy?
The Economist online approaches the question from a different angle, in their article, Music in Commercials: Looney Tunes. It is a very good read.
THERE was quite a kerfuffle over this year’s Christmas advert for John Lewis, a British department store. It’s a nice, if overly sentimental, minute and a half in which a child impatiently counts down the days until Christmas. At the end we discover that his eagerness was more about wanting give his mum and dad a present than receive his own.
The article ask 'Are we guilty of over-intellectualizing this?'
I think we are over-intellectualizing this, the more I think about it I realize that most of us connect to music on an emotional level for the most part. The words, and the meanings, the style are not really that important. This is especially true for the music used in ads. Blues music has a lot of emotional content and it is this part of the music that marketers are attracted to.
Blues musicians deserve to be able to make money off their music when they are alive. And I don't think there is anything wrong with their music being used in ads, if it is done in a way that does not disrespect the music.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Beth Hart - Trouble at Rockpalast
Notes from YouTube: "Beth Hart Live At Rockpalast Crossroads 2011"
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Blues Art: Muddy Smiles
Here is a blues art poster that I posted earlier, I like the look on Muddy Waters face in this print.
Muddy Smile 2007 Giclee Print
Jacobs, Reesa
Buy at AllPosters.com
Monday, December 05, 2011
JJ Grey & Mofro — Brighter Days
The album (and DVD) is a high-energy fireball of spectacular music. JJ and company seamlessly glide between sounds, with the crowd obviously feeding off the magnificent energy.AllaboutJazz
And the depth to which JJ Grey and Mofro believe in the music they make approaches a religious fervor: Brighter Days, the work of a group spectacularly confident of itself, thus becomes a testament to the transformative power of music.
It's the Birthday of Aleck "Rice" Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II
Today could possibly be the birthday of one of my favorite bluesmen. Aleck "Rice" Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II. It is reported that before he died he commented that they broke the mold when he was born. All my reading and research on him indicates that he was truly one of a kind, so I think that was a true statement.
I'll leave it to you to read the Wikipedia article on him, it is well done and has some other cool links that you might enjoy checking out.
To me the most important part of his life was all the music that he made and the musicians that he inspired.
While tall tales, unlikely fables and outright lies make up much of what Sonny Boy Williamson II had to say about his own life, his most important contributions have been documented well through countless recordings on myriad labels. His output of recordings, both issued and unissued, for Lillian McMurray's Trumpet label, can be found on Arhoolie, Alligator, Purple Pyramid, Collectables, plus a handful of other domestic and import imprints, while his years as a resident of the Chess/Checker house appear on various compilations on MCA/Chess. His European recordings reside on Alligator, Analogue Productions, Storyville, and others.
Sonny Boy Williamson II has had an enormous influence on modern day blues and blues rock artists and other legendary artists, as is shown by the number of his songs that are still covered.
- Muddy Waters - "Nine Below Zero", "Decoration Day"
- Howlin' Wolf - "Cool Disposition", "Decoration Day"
- B. B. King - "Eyesight to the Blind"
- Mose Allison - "Eyesight to the Blind"
- John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - "Help Me", "Checkin' Up On My Baby"
- Led Zeppelin - "Bring It on Home"
- Van Morrison - "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket", "Help Me" - both on the 1974 live album It's Too Late to Stop Now. Morrison has often sung "Help Me" in live performances throughout his long career.
- The Allman Brothers Band - "One Way Out"
- New York Dolls - "Don't Start me Talkin'"
- Ten Years After - "Help Me"
- The Who - "Eyesight to the Blind"
- Aerosmith - "Eyesight to the Blind"
- The Blues Brothers - "From the Bottom"
- Cowboy Junkies - "Decoration Day"
- Lester Butler - "I Cross My Heart"
- Rory Gallagher - "Don't Start me Talkin"; both on the Defender album and the live bootleg, Meeting With The G-Man.
- Nine Below Zero took their band name from his song.
- The Downchild Blues Band, also known as "Downchild", took their name from his song, "Mister Downchild".[3]
- John Popper of Blues Traveler notes Sonny Boy Williamson as a strong influence on his harmonica playing.
- Joe Bonamassa - "Your Funeral and My Trial"
- Dr. Feelgood - "Checking Up On My Baby" on their live album, Stupidity
Sonny Boy Williamson 1964
Sonny Boy Williamson @Amazon.com
Sonny Boy Williamson @SqueezeMyLemon
Sunday, December 04, 2011
R.I.P. Hubert Sumlin
R.I.P. Hubert Sumlin from the Houstonpress.com web site.
According to Houstonpress.com
Hubert Sumlin, former guitarist with Howlin' Wolf and member of the Blues Hall of Fame is dead at the age of 80. Sumlin was ranked at number 65 in Rolling Stone's greatest guitar players of all time and has been cited as an influence on a wide range of blues and rock guitarists.
Hubert Sumlin @ SqueezeMyLemon
I Feel Like Going to Church - Ramsey Lewis - Wade in the Water
Check him out at RamseyLewis.com
Also visit his twitter page @RamseyLewis
I Feel Like Going to Church - The Grateful Dead - Death Don't Have No Mercy
Notes from YouTube: Grateful Dead playing Death Don't Have No Mercy live at the Melodyland Theater.
http://squeezemylemon.blogspot.com/search/label/gospel%20blues
I Feel Like Going to Church - Tom Jones Burning Hell
"Maybe there ain't no heaven, maybe there ain't not burning hell..."
"Deacon Jones please pray for me..."
I Feel Like Going to Church - John Lee Hooker Burning Hell
"Don't knowbody really know..."
"Deacon Jones, please pray for me..."
"When I die, nobody can really tell..."
I Feel Like Going to Church - God Don't Never Change
Notes form YouTube: " God Don't Never Change "
Tuesday, 10 December 1929 NEW ORLEANS
Gospel Blues @ SqueezeMyLemon
I Love the Lord Whitney Houston Gospel
I thought I'd share a little Whitney Houston singing Gospel on this Sunday Morning. Hope you all are having a good one.
Whitney Houston @Amazon.com
Saturday, December 03, 2011
John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson Harmonica Legend by Adams Gussow
This is so cool I really hope all the blues harmonica players out there watch this video. Adam Gussow gives a very interesting lecture on the importance of Sonny Boy Williamson to the modern blues scene.
Notes from YouTube
Sonny Boy Williamson? Many people--even those who aren't harmonica players or fans of the blues--have heard of him. But there were TWO great harmonica players named Sonny Boy Williamson, and many people don't know much about the first one: John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, native of Jackson, Tennessee.
At the invitation of Sonny Boy archivist and gravesite preservationist Michael Baker, University of Mississippi blues scholar and harmonica player Adam Gussow visited the Jackson-Madison Country Library in May 2011 to give a lecture/demonstration on the artistry of John Lee Williamson. Gussow's researches into the publishing history of Williamson's songs not only make clear that confusion about the "two Sonny Boys" exists at the highest level--i.e., where the money is being made--but suggests that Williamson's primary music publisher, Arc Music, has evolved a startling and hilarious way of drawing attention to his most widely covered song, "Good Morning Little School Girl."
Credit for the film production goes to: Steve Bowers / Baltimore Street Productions 124 E. Baltimore Street, Suite 222 Jackson, TN 38301 Produced for E+TV6 Jackson, TN
If you'd like to learn how to play blues harmonica, please visit Gussow's website, Modern Blues Harmonica:
http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com
Gussow's one-man band version of Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl" is available on iTunes and Amazon mp3s. If you're interested in learning this song, a video lesson and tab are available at Modern Blues Harmonica:
video: http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/2721206-good-morning-little-school-girl-gussow-mov
tab: http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/2721207-good-morning-little-school-girl-gussow-pdf
Xantone Blacq
Vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter/producer Xantoné Blacq's music is a sonic adventure fusing jazz, funk and soul with music from around the world. Xan describes his sound as ' free-range sunshine music
Friday, December 02, 2011
Blind Lemon Jefferson "Christmas Eve Blues"
Blind Lemon Jefferson preforming "Christmas Eve Blues".
Blind Lemon Jefferson @Amazon.com
Eric Clapton - Cryin' Christmas Tears
I like this song, it brings all those sad blues feelings that mix so well with the sadness that Christmas can also sometimes invoke.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far and that your blues are not too blue.
Michael Pedicin "You Don't Know What Love Is"
Notes from YouTube: http://www.michaelpedicin.com/c2/ Michael Pedicin performs "You Don't Know What Love Is" at The Richard Stockton College, 11/23/09. Bob Shomo - drums; Tim Lekan - bass; Jim Ridl - piano
Led Zeppelin - Cleveland Oct. 1969 Photo Slide Show
Notes from YouTube: Led Zeppelin photo slideshow, performing at Cleveland's Public Hall, October 24, 1969. Concert info: http://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/october-24-1969
Led Zeppelin @ SqueezeMyLemon Blues Blog
Led Zeppelin - Live in New York (8mm film)
Here is a video that Led Zeppelin just load to their YouTube channel.
Notes from YouTube: Led Zeppelin live concert film clips, New York, June 10, 1977. (courtesy: J.Peterson) Concert info: http://www.ledzeppelin.com/show/june-10-1977
Led Zeppelin @ Amazon.com
Michael Winslow does Led Zeppelin's Whole Lot of Love
Michael Winslow (remember the Police Academy movies) on Senkveld med Thomas og Harald (a Norwegian talkshow) doing Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lot of Love".
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Tedeschi Trucks Band - The Making of Revelator
Notes from YouTube: Music video by Tedeschi Trucks Band performing Tedeschi Trucks Band EPK. (C) 2011 Sony Music Entertainment
Warren Haynes Band - Man In Motion (Live)
Notes from YouTube: Music video by Warren Haynes Band performing Man In Motion (Live from Bonnaroo 2011).
Marcia Ball doing Down the Road and Roadside Attraction
Notes from YouTube: Marcia Ball at the Mobile Saenger Theater, January 20,2011
Notes from YouTube:
American blues singer and pianist, Marcia Ball, talks about the new record, Roadside Attractions.
Marcia was described in USA Today as "a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist... where Texas stomp-rock and Louisiana blues-swamp meet." The Boston Globe described her music as "an irresistible celebratory blend of rollicking, two-fisted New Orleans piano, Louisiana swamp-rock and smoldering Texas blues from a contemporary storyteller."
Gregg Allman talking about Low Country Blues
Notes from YouTube:
Gregg Allman talks about "Low Country Blues", his first album in nearly 14 years. Allman returns to the blues to producer T Bone Burnett and long time friend Dr. John.
Blues Grammy Album Nominations
Just in case that you did not get the news, here are the albums nominated for the blues Grammy Award.
Best Blues Album
Low Country Blues by Gregg Allman
[Rounder]
Roadside Attractions by Marcia Ball by
[Alligator]
Man In Motion by Warren Haynes
[Stax Records]
The Reflection by Keb Mo
[Yolabelle International/Ryko Records]
Revelator by Tedeschi Trucks Band
[Masterworks]
Keb Mo - The Whole Enchilada (Live)
Congratulations to Keb Mo on his Grammy Nomination.
Notes from YouTube:
August 3, 2011 - Keb Mo with "The Whole Enchilada" in the Bing Lounge, presented by Dick Hannah Dealerships. 101.9 KINK.FM. Portland, OR
The Gypsy Bangles
The The Gypsy Bangles twitted me and asked that I check out their music.
According to their Web Site:
The Gypsy Bangles - Soulful, Bluesy, Rock 'n Roll in the free spirited essence of the 60's and 70's.
Essentially a vehicle for Singer/Songwriter Kegan DeBoheme's love of 60's/70's rock, The Gypsy Bangles pay a soulful, bluesy homage to the great blues and rock artists from groovier times.
I'm happy to report that I love their blues guitar propelled sound. Has a classic blues rock feel to me. Check them out when you get a chance.
Their music player gadget also makes it easy for my to let you hear their music.
Check out their YouTube Channel, The Gypsy Bangles
Check them on Twitter at @TheGypsyBangles
You can buy their mp3 at Amazon also.