28-04-2020 > BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 1991-1980

John Campbell

28-04-2020 > BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 1991-1980 # John Campbell, Etta James, Jack Bruce, Lazy Lester, Little Milton, Lonnie Mack, Albert Collins, Robert Cray & Johnny Copeland, Marcia Ball, Albert King, James "Son" Thomas, Lurrie Bell, Billy Branch, Chicago's Young Blues Generation, Margie Evans, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Muddy Waters

B L U E S    M U S I C

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BLUES_circle The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza. 

1991-1980

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter John Campbell had the potential of turning a whole new generation of people onto the blues in the 1990s, much the same way Stevie Ray Vaughan did in the '80s. His vocals were so powerful and his guitar playing so fiery, you couldn't help but stop what you were doing and pay attention to what you were hearing. But unfortunately, because of frail health and a rough European tour, he suffered a heart attack in his sleep on June 13, 1993, at the age of 41.
John Campbell
Devil in My Closet (John Campbell / Dennis Walker) 6:00
Wild Streak (John Campbell / Elmore James / Marshall Sehorn / Dennis Walker)  4:59
from One Believer 1991
The Elektra debut by the late bluesman John Campbell is a curious affair in more than one respect-despite it's obvious excellence and original voice. The first is that he was signed at all. Clearly in 1990 when Campbell signed his deal, record company executives were still interested inn finding new and original talent and developing them over a period of time. One Believer was outside of virtually every trend on major labels and in pop at the time. Other than Chris Whitley's Living with the Law, it was the only roots record issued on a major label in 1991. The other thing is that One Believer is an oddity even for Campbell. It's a deeply atmospheric record full of subtle shimmering organs and warm guitar textures that accent the dreamy spooky side of the blues more than the crunchy stomp and roll that Campbell was known for in the clubs -- and displayed on his follow-up Howlin' Mercy...  This is a fine, fine debut that remains in print.

Few female R&B stars enjoyed the kind of consistent acclaim Etta James received throughout a career that spanned six decades; the celebrated producer Jerry Wexler once called her "the greatest of all modern blues singers," and she recorded a number of enduring hits...
Etta James
Whatever Gets You Through the Night (Bucky Lindsey / Dan Penn / Carson Whitsett) 3:50
The Blues Don't Care (Etta James / Brian Ray) 3:44
from Stickin' to My Guns 1990
Stickin’ to My Guns is the eighteenth studio album by Etta James, released in 1990.
Etta James is a little further along in her effort to come up with a more contemporary sound. Stickin’ to My Guns pays homage to James’s roots in that the lyrics are highly personal and blues oriented, but the accompaniment is completely contemporary... If you’re looking for the Etta James of the Chess years, you’re bound to be disappointed. But if you check your preconceived notions at the door, you’re gonna have a good time. (by Bob J. Cohen)

Best known as the bassist and vocalist for Cream, but also a remarkable talent who bridged free jazz and hard rock via countless collaborations. Although some may be tempted to call multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer Jack Bruce a rock & roll musician, blues and jazz were what this innovative musician really loved. As a result, those two genres were at the base of most of the recorded output from a career that went back to the beginning of London's blues scene in 1962. In that year, he joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. Throughout the following decades and into the 21st century, Bruce remained a supreme innovator, pushing himself into uncharted waters with his jazz and folk-rock compositions.
Jack Bruce
No Surrender 4:25
Blues You Can't Lose (Willie Dixon) 5:26
from A Question of Time 1989
A Question of Time is an album to appreciate, as Jack Bruce nicely wraps his diverse styles up in rock & roll packaging. Willie Dixon's "Blues You Can't Lose" is extraordinary noise, the late Nicky Hopkins bringing his unmistakable piano to a mix of Albert Collins' leads, Jimmy Ripp's slide and rhythms, Bruce's bass, harmonica, and voice, and the strong drumming of Dougie Bowne. In its slow dirge statement, "Blues You Can't Lose" is as powerful as the blistering Bruce tune that opens the set, "Life on Earth."...  Produced by Joe Blaney and Bruce, the song "A Question of Time" is a bizarre, colorful mix of clashing images and sound, while the album A Question of Time is one of the more complete Bruce recordings for those fans who know him from his pop radio hits. It is one of the most accessible discs by rock's premier bassist for both those in his cult and the casual fan. This project uses his mastery of jazz, pop, acoustic, and blues to give listeners what Jack Bruce does best: rock & roll.

19-07-2018 12:58 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues songs from the BLUES circle 1989-1978

Charlie Musselwhite

19-07-2018 12:58 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues songs from the BLUES circle 1989-1978 # Charlie Musselwhite, Henry Gray, Snooky Pryor, Chris Thomas King, Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray, Pee Wee Crayton, ZZ Top, Hound Dog Taylor, Robin Trower, Jack Bruce, Bill Lordan, Tom Waits, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmy Johnson

B L U E S   M U S I C

LISTEN THE PLAYLIST ON DEEZER.COM

BLUES_circle The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza. 

1989-1978

A Mississippi transplant whose rangy, subtle harp playing made a splash in Chicago blues circles beginning in the 1960s. Harmonica wizard Norton Buffalo can recollect a leaner time when his record collection had been whittled down to only the bare essentials: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band. Butterfield and Musselwhite will probably be forever linked as the two most interesting, and arguably the most important, products of the "white blues movement" of the mid- to late '60s -- not only because they were near the forefront chronologically, but because they both stand out as being especially faithful to the style.
Charlie Musselwhite
If Trouble Was Money (D.A.R.) 5:21
It Ain't Right (Walter Jacobs / Little Walter) 3:59
Finger Lickin' Good (Charlie Musselwhite) 4:0
from Memphis Charlie 1989
Charlie Musselwhite earned the nickname “Memphis Charlie” during his years in Memphis, Tennessee, where he learned to play guitar and blues harmonica. Moving to Chicago in 1962 to look for better-paying work, Musselwhite jumped into the blues scene, becoming a regular at blues venues, sitting in and playing with some of the great musicians of the Chicago scene. This album, released in 1989, contains songs recorded in 1971 and 1974 that feature the electrifying blues vocals and harmonica of Memphis Charlie.

This harmoinca player's records were harbingers of the amplified, down-home sound of post-war Chicago blues.  Only recently has Snooky Pryor finally begun to receive full credit for the mammoth role he played in shaping the amplified Chicago blues harp sound during the postwar era. He's long claimed he was the first harpist to run his sound through a public address system around the Windy City -- and since nobody's around to refute the claim at this point, we'll have to accept it! James Edward Pryor was playing harmonica at the age of eight in Mississippi...
Snooky Pryor
Broke and Hungry (Snooky Pryor) 2:36
Judgment Day (Snooky Pryor) 4:16
Key to the Highway (Big Bill Broonzy / Charles Segar) 2:55
from Snooky 1987
An outstanding comeback effort by Chicago harp pioneer Snooky Pryor, whose timeless sound meshed well with a Windy City trio led by producer/guitarist Steve Freund for this set. Mostly Pryor's own stuff ... with his fat-toned harp weathering the decades quite nicely.

Initially known for his audacious fusion of blues and hip-hop, Chris Thomas King reached a whole new audience with the Coen Brothers film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, not only appearing on the award-winning soundtrack but playing a prominent supporting character as well. Despite the much-celebrated, down-to-earth rootsiness of O Brother's music, King had previously been a determined progressive, hoping to reinvigorate the blues as a living African American art with a more contemporary approach and adamantly refusing to treat it as a museum piece whose "authentic" forms needed careful preservation. King eventually modified that approach to a certain degree, attempting to create a more explicit link between blues tradition and the general musical present.
Chris Thomas King
The Blues Is Back 3:37
Cheatin' Women Blues 4:38
Going Home To Louisiana 3:43
South Side Shuffle 1:45
from The Beginning 1986
Recorded at Reel To Reel Sound Factory - Baton Rounge, La.

Albert Collins - The embodiment of the Texas blues guitar style, with non-standard tuning and slashing blocked chords. 
Johnny Copeland - An influential blues guitarist since the 1950s, journeyman hit critical paydirt in the 1980s. 

Robert Cray - The guitarist who brought blues back to the charts in the '80s via songs that defined blues themes but added modern and personal twists. 

Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray
T-Bone Shuffle (T-Bone Walker) 4:58
The Dream (Unknown Blues Band) 5:32
Blackjack (Ray Charles) 6:34
from Showdown! 1985
More cooperative than competitive in spirit, Showdown! ranks above other blues ‘supergroup’ sessions in the cohesiveness of the music, as three of the top names in blues of the 1980s shared the spotlight with a tight rhythm section in support. There were still plenty of hot guitar licks, though, from Collins, Cray and Copeland, with Albert even taking a turn on harmonica. T-Bone Walker’s T-Bone Shuffle provided a common ground for the triumvirate to kick the album off, and the rest of the program consisted of originals and lesser-known covers of Muddy Waters, Ray Charles, Texas legend Hop Wilson and others....

01-07-2018 10:46 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues songs from the BLUES circle 1995-1985

01-07-2018 10:46 RULE BLUES:MiX # 33 blues songs from the BLUES circle 1995-1985 # Tommy Castro, Phillip Walker and Otis Grand, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Luther 'Guitar Junior' Johnson, Johnny Winter, Jimmy Rogers, Charlie Musselwhite, Henry Gray, Snooky Pryor, Chris Thomas King, Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray

B L U E S   M U S I C

LISTEN THE PLAYLIST ON DEEZER.COM

BLUES_circle The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza. 

1995-1985

One of the brightest contemporary blues musicians, combining passionate, fiery guitar playing with powerful vocals. According to all the press and hype and hoopla for a time during the 1990s, Tommy Castro was pegged as the next big star of the blues. Long a favorite among Bay Area music fans, Castro -- in the space of two album releases -- took his music around the world and back again with a sheaf of praise from critics and old-time blues musicians alike. His music was a combination of soul-inflected rockers with the occasional slow blues or shuffle thrown into the mix to keep it honest. His vocals were laid-back and always a hair behind the beat, while his scorching guitar tone was Stevie Ray Stratocaster-approved. Crossover success did not seem out of the question.
Tommy Castro
Exception to the Rule (Tommy Castro / Shad Harris) 3:28
Had Enough (Tommy Castro) 4:55
Sho' Enough (Tommy Castro) 4:00
from Exception To The Rule 1995
EXCEPTION TO THE RULE by TOMMY CASTRO just rocks. It has a good blend of blues, soul and rock that is totally lacking from most of the music that is popular today. (Martin Lemos)

Despite recording somewhat sparingly since debuting as a leader in 1959 on Elko Records with the storming rocker "Hello My Darling," Louisiana-born guitarist Phillip Walker enjoys a sterling reputation as a contemporary blues guitarist with a distinctive sound honed along the Gulf Coast during the '50s...

Phillip Walker and Otis Grand 

b. Fred Bishti, 14 February 1950, Beirut, Lebanon. Grand has spent most of his life in the USA, although he lived in France for a few years. He began playing guitar at the age of 13, citing his influences as B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush and Johnny Otis, and he has played with many San Francisco Bay area blues artists. Otis Grand And The Dance Kings created a sensation when they burst onto the British blues scene in the late 80s...

Dressin' Trashy (Nathaniel Dove / Phillip Walker) 3:51

She's Gone (Phillip Walker) 7:02

Play Me Some Blues (Jimmy Johnson / Phillip Walker) 8:54

from Big Blues From Texas 1994

Nice comeback set after a lengthy absence from the recording scene that was cut in London under the direction of guitarist Otis Grand (who shares axe duties throughout). Why this Louisiana-born guitarist hasn't been recorded more heavily is a mystery; he seldom fails to connect, and this import is no exception to the rule.

Indie '90 trio that bent the rules of rock while demonstrating a devotion to the music’s R&B roots. After a long and semi-successful tenure as leader of scuzz-rock heroes Pussy Galore, Jon Spencer shook up his anti-rock vision and hooked up with guitarist Judah Bauer and drummer Russell Simins to create the scuzz-blues trio the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Postmodern to the core, there was a genuine irony in the band's name; little of what they play resembles standard blues.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion 

Afro (The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) 2:55

Train #2 (The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) 2:25

from Extra Width 1993

On their self-titled debut album, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion had worked out the basic framework of their sound -- lots of guitar clatter, booming drums, and wild vocal gesticulations from Spencer -- but it took a while for the pieces to really come together, and 1993's Extra Width was the first album where they revealed their true potential...