05-06-2020 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 1973-1964

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05-06-2020 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 1973-1964 # Free, Long John Baldry, Ten Years After, Fleetwood Mac, Otis Spann with Fleetwood Mac, B.B. King, Canned Heat, J.B. Lenoir, Howlin' Wolf, The Rolling Stones

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1973-1964

Free helped lay the foundations for the rise of hard rock, stripping the earthy sound of British blues down to its raw, minimalist core to pioneer a brand of proto-metal later popularized by 1970s superstars like Foreigner, Foghat and Bad Company. 

Free 

Heartbreaker (Paul Rodgers) 6:13

Seven Angels (Paul Rodgers) 5:04

from Heartbreaker 1973

The final Free album, Heartbreaker was patched together from a variety of sessions -- and it often sounds like it. Aside from drummer Simon Kirke and singer-guitarist Paul Rodgers, the band was in fragments. Lead guitarist Paul Kosoff -- who was suffering from the drug demons that would eventually kill him -- appears on only half of the album, and it certainly takes away some of the communal vibe that Free was all about. There are some great moments... The rest of the record is by no means filler, but only proves what a great band Free was, even if their ranks had dwindled.

R&B-and-blues drenched British pop singer of the 1960s of imposing stature... As a historical figure, he has undeniable importance. When he began singing as a teenager in the 1950s, he was one of the first British vocalists to perform folk and blues music. 

Long John Baldry 

You Can't Judge a Book 4:21

Hambone 4:02

Jubilee Cloud 4:16

from Everything Stops For Tea 1972

Like its companion It Ain't Easy, the second half of Long John Baldry's early-'70s comeback Everything Stops for Tea initially attracted the most attention via its producers, former Baldry sidemen Elton John and Rod Stewart... With Baldry's musical tastes now drawing folkier textures into his blues (and eschewing the big ballad pop altogether), it's a varied and oft-times eclectic collection. But the strength of Baldry's performance smooths over any rough edges that might have tripped other singers and, though It Ain't Easy remains the superior of these two albums, this one really isn't that far behind it.

Hard-rocking British blues band led by virtuosic guitarist Alvin Lee... A storming blues and boogie band from the U.K., Ten Years After rocketed from modest success to worldwide fame in the wake of their performance at the Woodstock Rock Festival in 1969, where their nine-minute rendition of "I'm Going Home" showed off the lightning-fast guitar work and howling vocals of Alvin Lee, the unrelenting stomp of bassist Leo Lyons and drummer Ric Lee, and the soulful support of keyboard man Chick Churchill.

Ten Years After 

One of These Days (Alvin Lee) 5:58

Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'N' Roll You (Alvin Lee) 2:14

Let the Sky Fall (Alvin Lee) 4:20

Uncle Jam (Chick Churchill / Alvin Lee / Ric Lee / Leo Lyons) 2:00

from A Space in Time 1971

A Space in Time was Ten Years After's best-selling album...  TYA's first album for Columbia, A Space in Time has more of a pop-oriented feel than any of their previous releases had. The individual cuts are shorter, and Alvin Lee displays a broader instrumental palette than before. In fact, six of the disc's ten songs are built around acoustic guitar riffs. However, there are still a couple of barn-burning jams. The leadoff track, "One of These Days," is a particularly scorching workout, featuring extended harmonica and guitar solos... Many of the cuts make effective use of dynamic shifts, and the guitar solos are generally more understated than on previous outings. The production on A Space in Time is crisp and clean, a sound quite different from the denseness of its predecessors...

While most bands undergo a number of changes over the course of their careers, few groups experienced such radical stylistic changes as Fleetwood Mac. Initially conceived as a hard-edged British blues combo in the late '60s, the band gradually evolved into a polished pop/rock act over the course of a decade. Throughout all of their incarnations, the only consistent members of Fleetwood Mac were drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie -- the rhythm section that provided the band with its name.

Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac's wild ride: the story of the Blues Years
Madison Blues [Version 1] [Live] (Elmore James)
Instrumental [Live] (Peter Green)
Albatross [Live]  (Peter Green)
from Before the Beginning: Rare Live & Demo Sessions 1968-1970 (2019) 

This early incarnation of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan) has seen more than its share of unofficially -- as well as dodgy semi-officially -- issued live material. There are high-quality bootlegs of gigs drawn from clubs and radio broadcasts. The three discs that make up Before the Beginning: 1968-1970 mirrors the two separate, three-volume LP sets of the same material... Track for track, this set sounds compressed compared to some of the unofficial sources, with noise and some spatial dynamics removed during the "remastering" process. That said, given the bargain price, fans who don’t already have this material -- and don’t spend hours on the internet seeking out bootlegs -- should be rather astonished by the quality of the performances...

An integral member of the nonpareil Muddy Waters band of the 1950s and '60s, pianist Otis Spann took his sweet time in launching a full-fledged solo career. But his own discography is a satisfying one nonetheless, offering ample proof as to why so many aficionados considered him then and now Chicago's leading post-war blues pianist. Spann played on most of Waters' classic Chess waxings between 1953 and 1969, his rippling 88s providing the drive on Waters' seminal 1960 live version of "Got My Mojo Working" (cut at the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival, where Spann dazzled the assembled throng with some sensational storming boogies).

An integral member of the nonpareil Muddy Waters band of the 1950s and '60s, pianist Otis Spann took his sweet time in launching a full-fledged solo career. But his own discography is a satisfying one nonetheless, offering ample proof as to why so many aficionados considered him then and now Chicago's leading post-war blues pianist.
Otis Spann with Fleetwood Mac
My Love Depends on You (Otis Spann)
It Was a Big Thing (Otis Spann)
Dig You (Otis Spann)
from The Biggest Thing Since Colossus 1969
In January of 1969, British power blues quintet Fleetwood Mac came to Chess Records studios to jam with the likes of Willie Dixon, S.P. Leary, Honeyboy Edwards, and longtime Muddy Waters' pianist Otis Spann. The sessions were so rich and fruitful that three-fifths of the Mac (specifically bassist John McVie and guitarists Peter Green and Danny Kirwin) impressed Spann enough to cut a record with them at the same sessions... The Biggest Thing Since Colossus was released on Mac manager/producer/strongman Mike Vernon's London-based Blue Horizon label.

One of the most important electric guitarists in history, whose bent notes and staccato picking style influenced legions to come.
B.B. King
The B.B. Jones (Maya Angelou / Quincy Jones)
Paying the Cost to Be the Boss (B.B. King)
I Done Got Wise (B.B. King)
from His Best - The Electric B.B. King 1968

...To be sure, these are rock-solid performances all recorded between 1965 to 1968, just as King's music was getting slicker and more urban. But this was one of the albums that helped introduce B.B. to a more modern audience (it's gone on to sell over a million copies), heading straight to the timeline of "The Thrill Is Gone" and putting him on the map worldwide.

A hard-luck blues band of the '60s, Canned Heat was founded by blues historians and record collectors Alan Wilson and Bob Hite. They seemed to be on the right track and played all the right festivals (including Monterey and Woodstock, making it very prominently into the documentaries about both) but somehow never found a lasting audience. One of the premier blues bands of the 1960s, influential on groove-laden rockers ranging from ZZ Top to Phish.
Canned Heat
Rollin' and Tumblin'  (Muddy Waters)
Evil is Going On (Willie Dixon)
Help Me (Ralph Bass / Willie Dixon / Sonny Boy Williamson II)
Big Road Blues (Henry Vestine)
from Canned Heat 1967
This debut long-player from Canned Heat was issued shortly after their appearance at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival. That performance, for all intents and purposes, was not only the combo's entrée into the burgeoning underground rock & roll scene, but was also among the first high-profile showcases to garner national and international attention. The quartet featured on Canned Heat (1967) includes the unique personnel of Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson (guitar/vocals), Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass), Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar), Bob "The Bear" Hite (vocals), and Frank Cook (drums)...

Atypical bluesman backed high-pitched vocals with a boogie-influenced sound tinged with traces of jazz.  Lenoir's exceptionally high-pitched vocal range is a fooler, but it only adds to the singular appeal of his music.
J.B. Lenoir
Down In Mississippi
Born Dead
Vietnam Blues
from Down in Mississippi / Recorded in September 1966 (1980)
Recorded in September 1966, shortly before his death the following spring, this session was Lenoir's most effective fusion of acoustic blues, African percussion, and contemporary, topical songwriting... Supervised by Willie Dixon, this recording also featured top Chicago blues drummer Fred Below.

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. 
Howlin' Wolf 
Killing Floor  (Chester Burnett)
Tail Dragger (Willie Dixon)
The Natchez Burnin' (Chester Burnett)
Built for Comfort (Willie Dixon)
from The Real Folk Blues 1965
In the mid-'60s, Chess Records released a great series of compilations of '40s and '50s singles by some of its best blues artists, all of them called The Real Folk Blues. The Howlin' Wolf entry is possibly the best of the batch, and one of the best introductions to this mercurial electric bluesman. Opening with the savage "Killing Floor," the album doesn't let up in intensity, and it happily focuses on Wolf's less-anthologized sides, which gives the album a freshness a lot of blues compilations lack... every track is pure Chicago blues at its finest...

The premier British rock band for over half a century, creators of the sound and style imitated by countless groups. By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title.
The Rolling Stones
Around and Around  (Chuck Berry)
Confessin' the Blues  (Walter Brown / Jay McShann)
Susie Q  (Eleanor Broadwater / Dale Hawkins / Stan Lewis)
2120 South Michigan Avenue  (Mick Jagger / Nanker Phelge / Keith Richards)
from 12 x 5 1964
The evolution from blues to rock accelerated with the Rolling Stones' second American LP. They turned soul into guitar rock for the hits "It's All Over Now" and "Time Is on My Side" (the latter of which was their first American Top Ten single). "2120 South Michigan Avenue" is a great instrumental blues-rock jam; "Around and Around" is one of their best Chuck Berry covers; and "If You Need Me" reflects an increasing contemporary soul influence...