31-08-2018 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues songs from the BLUES circle 1975-1965

Johnny Shines

31-08-2018 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues songs from the BLUES circle 1975-1965 # Johnny Shines, Junior Wells, Maggie Bell,  The Allman Brothers Band, Albert King, John Mayall, Savoy Brown, John Hammond, Fred McDowell, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon

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1975-1965

Delta bluesman, and one-time Robert Johnson cohort, whose career extended into the 1960s folk revival.  Best known as a traveling companion of Robert Johnson, Johnny Shines' own contributions to the blues have often been unfairly shortchanged, simply because Johnson's own legend casts such a long shadow. In his early days, Shines was one of the top slide guitarists in Delta blues, with his own distinctive, energized style; one that may have echoed Johnson's spirit and influence, but was never a mere imitation.
Johnny Shines
Red Sun (Kent Cooper / Louisiana Red / Johnny Shines) 4:46
Pay Day Woman (Johnny Shines) 5:10
from Too Wet To Plow 1975
Johnny Shines was far from predictable. Though he recorded his share of inspired electric dates, he had no problem turning around and delivering a stripped-down, all-acoustic Delta blues session like Too Wet to Plow. Recorded in Edmonton, Canada in 1975...  Too Wet to Plow finds Shines in excellent form. His solid accompaniment includes harmonica player Sugar Blue and bassist Ron Rault, as well as guitarist/singer Louisiana Red (a superb bluesman who isn't nearly as well known as he should be), and Shines clearly has a strong rapport with them... Highly recommended.

Regarded as the last of the great Chicago harmonica players, he was an impressive stylist and a leading practitioner of postwar blues harmonica.  He was one bad dude, strutting across the stage like a harp-toting gangster, mesmerizing the crowd with his tough-guy antics and rib-sticking Chicago blues attack. Amazingly, Junior Wells kept at precisely this sort of thing for over 40 years; he was an active performer from the dawn of the '50s until his death in the late '90s.
Junior Wells
What My Momma Told Me (Junior Wells) 4:07
The Train I Ride (Junior Wells) 5:06
from On Tap 1975
Underrated mid-'70s collection boasting a contemporary, funky edge driven by guitarists Phil Guy and Sammy Lawhorn, keyboardist Big Moose Walker, and saxman A.C. Reed...

Scottish soul-rock singer Maggie Bell first gained prominence singing with Stone the Crows, which released its first album in 1970 and broke up in June 1973.
Maggie Bell
Caddo Queen 3:38
After Midnight (J.J. Cale) 2:38
from Queen of the Night 1974
Producer Jerry Wexler puts the earthy vocals of Maggie Bell in a beautiful setting here... Her uptempo version of J.J. Cale's "After Midnight" is more captivating than Eric Clapton's; she oozes that Etta James sexuality while Reggie Young throws some tasty guitar into the semi-calypso groove...

Blending rock, blues, country, and jazz, the godfathers of Southern rock in all its wild, woolly glory.  The story of the Allman Brothers Band is one of triumph, tragedy, redemption, dissolution, and more redemption. Since their beginning in the late '60s, they went from being America's single most influential band to a shell of their former self trading on past glories, to reach the 21st century resurrected as one of the most respected rock acts of their era.
The Allman Brothers Band
Wasted Words (Gregg Allman) 4:20
Come and Go Blues (Gregg Allman) 4:55
Southbound (Dickey Betts / Richard Betts) 5:10
from Brothers and Sisters 1973
Released a year after Eat a Peach, Brothers and Sisters shows off a leaner brand of musicianship, which, coupled with a pair of serious crowd-pleasers, "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica," helped drive it to the top of the charts for a month and a half and to platinum record sales. This was the first album to feature the group's new lineup, with Chuck Leavell on keyboards and Lamar Williams on bass, as well as Dickey Betts' emergence as a singer alongside Gregg Allman...

One of the most important post-war blues guitarists, renowned for his massive tone and unique way of squeezing bends out of a guitar string.  Albert King is truly a "King of the Blues," although he doesn't hold that title (B.B. does). Along with B.B. and Freddie King, Albert King is one of the major influences on blues and rock guitar players. Without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does -- his style has influenced both black and white blues players from Otis Rush and Robert Cray to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It's important to note that while almost all modern blues guitarists seldom play for long without falling into a B.B. King guitar cliché, Albert King never does -- he's had his own style and unique tone from the beginning.
Albert King
I'll Play the Blues for You, Pts. 1 - 2 (Jerry Beach) 7:17
Breaking up Somebody's Home (Raymond Jackson / Al Jackson, Jr. / Timothy Matthews) 7:15
Don't Burn Down the Bridge ('Cause You Might Wanna Come Back Across) (J. Jones / Jones / Wells) 5:4
from I'll Play The Blues For You 1972
...Though 1972's I'll Play the Blues for You followed a slightly different formula, the combination of King, members of the legendary Bar-Kays, the Isaac Hayes Movement, and the sparkling Memphis Horns was hardly a risky endeavor. The result was a trim, funk-infused blues sound that provided ample space for King's oft-imitated guitar playing. King has always been more impressive as a soloist than a singer, and some of his vocal performances on I'll Play the Blues for You lack the intensity one might hope for. As usual, he more than compensates with a series of exquisite six-string workouts...

Major British blues bandleader who, starting in London in 1963, featured some of the most successful rock musicians of the '60s and '70s.   As the elder statesman of British blues, it is John Mayall's lot to be more renowned as a bandleader and mentor than as a performer in his own right. Throughout the '60s, his band, the Bluesbreakers, acted as a finishing school for the leading British blues-rock musicians of the era. Guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor joined his band in a remarkable succession in the mid-'60s, honing their chops with Mayall before going on to join Cream, Fleetwood Mac, and the Rolling Stones, respectively. John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser (of Free), John Almond, and Jon Mark also played and recorded with Mayall for varying lengths of times in the '60s.
John Mayall
Memories (John Mayall) 5:02
Seperate Ways (John Mayall) 4:14
Play the Harp (John Mayall) 5:22
from Memories 1971
Having gone Back to the Roots, John Mayall returned to his forward-looking musical explorations with 1971's Memories, the true follow-up to USA Union, on which he retained bassist Larry Taylor, replaced Harvey Mandel with guitarist Jerry McGee of The Ventures, and dropped Sugarcane Harris, for an unusually small trio session. Actually, he was still looking back on a set of autobiographical lyrics about growing up...

A blues rock institution since the mid 1960s, led by the immensely talented guitarist Kim Simmonds.  Part of the late-'60s blues-rock movement, Britain's Savoy Brown never achieved as much success in their homeland as they did in America, where they promoted their albums with nonstop touring. The band was formed and led by guitarist Kim Simmonds, whose dominating personality has led to myriad personnel changes...
Savoy Brown
Money Can't Save Your Soul (Lonesome Dave Peverett / Kim Simmonds) 5:31
Looking In  (Lonesome Dave Peverett / Kim Simmonds) 5:17
Take It Easy (Lonesome Dave Peverett / Kim Simmonds) 5:41
from Looking In 1970
Savoy Brown's blues-rock sound takes on a much more defined feel on 1970's Looking In and is one of this band's best efforts. Kim Simmonds is utterly bewildering on guitar, while Lonesome Dave Peverett does a fine job taking over lead singing duties from Chris Youlden who left halfway through the year. But it's the captivating arrangements and alluring ease of the music that makes this a superb listen... This album along with Street Corner Talking best exemplify Savoy Brown's tranquilizing style.

John Hammond, Jr. is one of a handful of white blues musicians who was on the scene at the beginning of the first blues renaissance of the mid-'60s. That revival, brought on by renewed interest in folk music around the U.S., brought about career boosts for many of the great classic blues players, including Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, and Skip James. Some critics have described Hammond as a white Robert Johnson, and Hammond does justice to classic blues by combining powerful guitar and harmonica playing with expressive vocals and a dignified stage presence.
John Hammond
Shake for Me (Willie Dixon) 2:43
I'm Leavin' You (Chester Burnett) 3:21
Mystery Train (Junior Parker) 3:00
from Southern Fried 1969
Southern Fried differed little from other early Hammond albums in its repertoire, consisting entirely of covers of blues and R&B songs. As usual, the Chicago sound came in for especially heavy tribute, with versions of songs by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Chuck Berry, as well as a pass at "Mystery Train," though more vocal-oriented R&B got a nod with Chuck Willis' "It's Too Late" and some of the other tunes. Where this might have a leg up on some other early Hammond efforts -- and a leg up on blues cover albums in general -- is in the stellar band, featuring Muscle Shoals stalwarts like Eddie Hinton and Roger Hawkins. Allman Brothers fans, too, will want to keep an eye out for it as it features Duane Allman playing fine lead guitar on four tracks...

...As a stylist and purveyor of the original Delta blues, he was superb, equal parts Charley Patton and Son House coming to the fore through his roughed-up vocals and slashing bottleneck style of guitar playing. McDowell knew he was the real deal, and while others were diluting and updating their sound to keep pace with the changing times and audiences, Mississippi Fred stood out from the rest of the pack simply by not changing his style one iota...
Fred McDowell
Levee Camp Blues (Mississippi Fred McDowell) 3:49
My Baby Don't Treat Me Like Humankind (Mississippi Fred McDowell) 2:21
from Levee Camp Blues / Rec. 1968 (1998)
When Mississippi Fred McDowell recorded these sides in March of 1968, producer Pete Welding encouraged McDowell to recall the earliest material he had learned when he first started playing. The result is a selection of tunes that simply don't show up on his other recordings, both stylistically and because of their previously unreleased status...

A primal, ferocious blues belter with a roster of classics rivaling anyone else, and a sandpaper growl of a voice that has been widely imitated.   In the history of the blues, there has never been anyone quite like the Howlin' Wolf. Six foot three and close to 300 pounds in his salad days, the Wolf was the primal force of the music spun out to its ultimate conclusion. A Robert Johnson may have possessed more lyrical insight, a Muddy Waters more dignity, and a B.B. King certainly more technical expertise, but no one could match him for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits.
Howlin' Wolf
Just My Kind (Chester Burnett / Howlin' Wolf) 2:53
You Can't Be Beat (Chester Burnett / Howlin' Wolf) 3:12
I'm the Wolf (Chester Burnett / Howlin' Wolf) 2:54
from More Real Folk Blues 1967
This companion volume to the Real Folk Blues album was issued in 1967 (after the Wolf had appeared on network television with the Rolling Stones, alluded to in the original liner notes) and couldn't be more dissimilar in content to the first one if you had planned it that way. Whereas the previous volume highlighted middle-period Wolf, this one goes all the way back to his earliest Chess sessions, many of which sound like leftover Memphis sides...

The most elemental of the electric blues giants, one of few to both inspire and draw from rock & roll idols.   He was beloved worldwide as the king of the endless boogie, a genuine blues superstar whose droning, hypnotic one-chord grooves were at once both ultra-primitive and timeless. But John Lee Hooker recorded in a great many more styles than that over a career that stretched across more than half a century.
John Lee Hooker
Shake It Baby (John Lee Hooker) 4:20
Bottle Up and Go (John Lee Hooker) 2:25
It Serves You Right to Suffer (John Lee Hooker / Percy Mayfield) 5:08
from It Serves You Right To Suffer 1966
Given Hooker's unpredictable timing and piss-poor track record recording with bands, this 1965 one-off session for the jazz label Impulse! would be a recipe for disaster. But with Panama Francis on drums, Milt Hinton on bass, and Barry Galbraith on second guitar, the result is some of the best John Lee Hooker material with a band that you're likely to come across. The other musicians stay in the pocket, never overplaying or trying to get Hooker to make chord changes he has no intention of making...

Legendary bluesman and producer helped architect the sound of Chicago blues in the 1940s & '50s.   Willie Dixon's life and work was virtually an embodiment of the progress of the blues, from an accidental creation of the descendants of freed slaves to a recognized and vital part of America's musical heritage. That Dixon was one of the first professional blues songwriters to benefit in a serious, material way -- and that he had to fight to do it -- from his work also made him an important symbol of the injustice that still informs the music industry, even at the end of the 20th century. A producer, songwriter, bassist, and singer, he helped Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and others find their most commercially successful voices.
Willie Dixon
My Babe feat. Litle Walter (Willie Dixon) 2:40
Third Degree feat. Eddie Boyd (Willie Dixon) 3:13
I'm Ready feat. Muddy Waters (Willie Dixon) 3:01
Bring It on Home feat. Sonny Boy Williamson II (Willie Dixon) 2:33
from The Chess Box / Rec. 1951-1965 (1989)
This was the most unusual, and probably the most difficult to assemble of MCA's Chess Box series, mostly because of the unusual nature of Willie Dixon's contribution to Chess Records. To be sure, Dixon rates a place in the history of the label right alongside that of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter, but his role was more subtle than that of a performer (indeed, two of the half-dozen recordings here that feature Dixon as a singer were previously unreleased). So he is all over this two-CD set, as a songwriter, producer, and bassist, and occasionally as a singer as well, but the unifying element are the Dixon songs, and he is the only blues songwriter to be honored by a major label with a retrospective of this type...