Showing posts with label blues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blues. Show all posts

Sunday, August 9, 2009

My current Must Listen album

John Mayall - Blues From Laurel Canyon





This is my current album that I can't stop playing. I have never owned it before, although I was familiar with the it from around 1971 or 2. I bought it last week from Play.com.

John Mayall visited the USA on holiday and stayed in Los Angeles in 1968 after The Bluesbreakers split up following the Bare Wires album.

The album features the talents of the young Mick Taylor on lead guitar, Colin Allen on drums and Stephen Thompson on bass, with Mayall himself on guitar, harmonica, keyboards and vocals.

The album is one where all the tracks flow into one another, creating a feel that is almost like a concept album. John Mayall wrote each song about people he met and things that happened while he was staying in Laurel Canyon.

The album was recorded in London when he returned home. The entire thing was recorded in three days in August 1968.

Although the line-up was much smaller than the last version of The Bluesbreakers, the music is pretty complex and features interesting rhythms and tabla drums.

Like so much of Mayall's post Beano work, this album uses the blues as a start point and heads off for other places.

The original vinyl release was;

1. Vacation (2:47)
2. Walking On Sunset (2:50)
3. Laurel Canyon Home (4:33)
4. 2401 (3:42)
5. Ready To Ride (3:32)
6. Medicine Man (2:43)
7. Somebody's Acting Like A Child (3:27)
8. The Bear (4:40)
9. Miss James (2:30)
10. First Time Alone (4:49)
11. Long Gone Midnight (3:27)
12. Fly Tomorrow (8:59)

Inevitably, the CD release has two bonus tracks;

13. 2401 (3:56) [Single version]
14. Wish You Were Mine (8:36) [Live '68, previously on Primal Solos]

It's in the Dropbox

https://www.getdropbox.com/share/RR%20dropbox#/RR%20dropbox/Blues%20From%20Laurel%20Canyon/

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

THE HOUSE OF BLUES CAR.


I just spent a week in LA visiting old friends, the first ones we stayed with were John and Marti in Topanga Canyon, John's a carpenter/artist and Marti's a botanist and works for the National Parks, she needed a new car and they saw this sitting on a car lot, they bought it instantly. It's a new Honda and the paint job was commissioned by the House of Blues in Hollywood as a fund raiser, it was then sold to the car dealer who was having a hard time selling it. Marti's well past middle age and this is the car she drives to the office every day, it draws lots of attention. I've put a folder in the dropbox with some more pictures.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Hi-Fi Snock Got a Dime for the Jookbox


As a first attempt to post rather than comment, this might go all Titanic-iceberg, a bit Sarah Palin, or simply Rossbrand (incidentally, if 27000 Grauniad readers were to find something offensive in the coiffeured one's Saturday column, might he - hooray - resign or something).

Anyhow, it's Snocko's
Nice Eclectic Jookbox (if I've done the link right), featuring amongst others Down By the Zoo (Paul Gayten); Hillbilly Willy's Blues (Blind Willy McTell); Grandfather's Clock (The Court & Spark Band); Sweet Lucy (Cliff Starbuck of Ekoostik Hookah); You'll Lose a Good Thing (Julianne Frank of the Kieth Frank and the Swallow Family Band); Sweet Georgia Brown (Mr. Bones); and I'm Wild (Elwood Smock aka Michael Hurley).

Monday, April 14, 2008

THE BOSS OF THE BLUES



THE BOSS OF THE BLUES
JOE TURNER sings Kansas City Jazz.
Atlantic Records # 1234- High Fidelity
produced by Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler
Arrangements by Ernie Wilkins.
Liner notes by Whitney Balliet
Recorded in NYC in 1956
Personnel.
BIG JOE TURNER - vocals
JOE NEWMAN - tpt.
LAWRENCE BROWN - tb.
PETE BROWN - alto.
FRANK WESS - TENOR.
PETE JOHNSON - pft.
FREDDIE GREENE - gtr.
WALTER PAGE - bass.
CLIFF LEEMAN - dms.

I left the UK for California in 1958, I brought this album with me, I've owned it for over 50 years and it's still in pristine condition even though it's been played hundreds of times: it's autographed on the cover "BIG JOE TURNER - KC."
I've seen Joe Turner in performance several times and I even attended his funeral in LA along with several hundred others, I love his music but this album stands out above all the others, probably because of the tight accompaniment by a group of predominantly Basie musicians, these guys played Kansas City jazz their entire lives. There's ten cuts on the album, I've selected five, I hope you enjoy them as much as I have over the years, if you do check out the Robert Altman film 'Kansas City' and the two music CD's that accompanied i, it's in this style. THE BOSS OF THE BLUES is available as a CD.

1. PINEY BROWN BLUES
2. HOW LONG BLUES.
3. CHERRY RED.
4. I WANT A LITTLE GIRL.
5. ST. LOUIS BLUES.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Lollypop



Here's Lollypop by Hunter & Jenkins. I said I should've remembered it for the sexy playlist, but it's not necessarily sexy, but about "la chose".
Also, I added, Rudy Green's Juicy Fruit