music clip of the day

jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more

Category: blues

Friday, November 27th

sounds of Chicago

Some things last. Nearly forty years ago, I co-produced this track, while working at Alligator Records. It remains one of my favorites. The hour was late. The lights had been turned down. But the tape kept rolling.

Carey Bell’s Blues Harp Band, “Woman In Trouble”
Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 1, 1978

*****

Here’s more of Carey, years later (2000, Switzerland [Bern]).


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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)

FullSizeRender (37)

Friday, November 6th

voices I miss

Albert Collins (1932-1993), “If Trouble Was Money,” live, 1990


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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.

IMG_2567

Friday, October 16th

two takes

St. Germain (aka Ludovic Navarre), “Real Blues” (sampling Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “You Caused My Heart to Weep”), 2015


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Lightnin’ Hopkins (1912-1982), “You Caused My Heart to Weep”

Sunday, October 4th

never enough

Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945), “Motherless Children Have a Hard Time” (record mislabeled “Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time”), 1927

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lagniappe

random sights

yesterday, Bellwood, Ill. (MOMS Garden [Mothers of Murdered Sons])

FullSizeRender (22)

Saturday, October 3rd

old school

Sonny Boy Williamson II (AKA Aleck [or Alex] “Rice” Miller, 1912[?]-1965), live, Europe, 1963-64

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lagniappe

road to the World Series

I want us to do less preparation. Less everything. Just go play.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon

Saturday, September 12th

old school

Skip James (1902-1969), “Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues,” 1931


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lagniappe

art beat

Vivian Maier (1926-2009), Chicago (Maxwell Street), 1962

Maxwell Street, Chicago, IL. 1962

Friday, June 26th

sounds of Chicago

Your day’s about to get better.

Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers (HDT, vocals & guitar; Brewer Phillips, guitar; Ted Harvey, drums), live, Cambridge, Mass. (Joe’s Place), 1972

1st Set*

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2nd Set*


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*Set lists (courtesy of YouTube):

1st

1) Gonna Send You Back To Georgia
2) Taylor’s Crawl
3) Rock Me Baby
4) Goodnight Boogie
5) Wild About You
6) Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid
7) The Things I Used To Do
8) Phillip’s Stomp
9) I Just Can’t Take It
10) What Do I Say
11) Ingleside Blues

2nd

1) Dust My Broom
2) Phillip’s Crawl
3) Freddie’s Blues
4) Strollin’ With Brewer
5) It Hurts Me Too
6) Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid
7) Take Five
8) Blues For Suzie
9) Roll Your Moneymaker
10) Let’s Get Funky
11) Florence’s Blues

Friday, May 15th

passings

B.B. King, singer, guitarist, September 16, 1925-May 14, 2015

“The Thrill Is Gone” (R. Hawkins, R. Darnell), live

Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), 1974


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Montreux Jazz Festival, 1993

 

Friday, March 6th

sounds of Chicago

Billy Boy Arnold (1935-) & The Aces,* “She Fooled Me,” live, 1978


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lagniappe

art beat

Daido Moriyama (1938-), New York, 1971

daido-2_1

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*Louis Myers (1929-1994), guitar; Dave Myers (1926-2001), bass; Fred Below (1926-1988), drums.

Thursday, December 25th

Merry Christmas

Bessie Smith (with Joe Smith, cornet; Charlie Green, trombone; Fletcher Henderson, piano), “At the Christmas Ball,” 1925


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Blind Lemon Jefferson, “Christmas Eve Blues,” 1928


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Victoria Spivey (with Lonnie Johnson, guitar), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1928


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Leroy Carr, “Christmas In Jail—Ain’t That A Pain,” 1929


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Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers (feat. Charles Brown, vocals, keyboards), “Merry Christmas, Baby,” 1947


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Lowell Fulson, “Lonesome Christmas (I & II),” 1950


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Sonny Boy Williamson II, “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues,” 1951


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John Lee Hooker, “Blues For Christmas,” 1959