sounds of Chicago
Sonny Boy Williamson II (AKA Alex or Aleck Miller, 1912-1965) with Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Sunnyland Slim (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), Clifton James (drums): “My Younger Days” (S.B. Williamson), live, 1964 European tour
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
sounds of Christmas
Bessie Smith (1894-1937) with Joe Smith (cornet), Charlie Green (trombone), Fletcher Henderson (piano), “At the Christmas Ball,” 1925
*****
Blind Lemon Jefferson (1893-1929), “Christmas Eve Blues,” 1928
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Victoria Spivey (1906-1976) with Lonnie Johnson (guitar), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1928
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Leroy Carr (1905-1935), “Christmas in Jail—Ain’t That a Pain,” 1929
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Sonny Boy Williamson I (1914-1948), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1938
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Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers with Charles Brown (1922-1999, vocals, keyboards), “Merry Christmas, Baby,” 1947
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Lowell Fulson (1921-1999), “Lonesome Christmas (I & II),” 1950
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Sonny Boy Williamson II (AKA Alex or Aleck Miller, 1912-1965), “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues,” 1951
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John Lee Hooker (1917-2001), “Blues for Christmas,” 1959
timeless
T-Bone Walker (1910-1975, vocals, guitar) with Memphis Slim (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), Jump Jackson (drums), “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong,” live (TV), Germany, 1962
timeless
Sam Chatmon (1897-1983), “That’s All Right,” live, Hollandale, Mississippi, 1978
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
basement jukebox: sounds of Chicago
J. B. Lenoir (1929-1967), “Mama Talk to Your Daughter,” 1955
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Magic Sam (aka Samuel Maghett, 1937-1969), “All Your Love,” 1957
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Otis Rush (1934-2018), “All Your Love (I Miss Loving),” 1958
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Junior Wells (1934-1998), “Little by Little,” 1960
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Buddy Guy (1936-), “First Time I Met the Blues,” 1960
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Sonny Boy Williamson II (aka Alex [or Aleck] Miller, 1912-1965), “Help Me,” 1963
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Fenton Robinson (1935-1997), “Somebody (Loan Me a Dime),” 1967
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
timeless
Skip James (1902-1969), “I’m So Glad,” 1931
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
timeless
R. L. Burnside (1926-2005, vocals, guitar), live, Como, Mississippi, 1974
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
basement jukebox
Howlin’ Wolf (vocals, harmonica; 1910-1976), “How Many More Years,” 1951
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
passings
Jimmy Johnson, singer, guitarist, November 25, 1928–January 31, 2022
“Cold, Cold Feeling” (J. M. Robinson), live, San Francisco, 2015
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Sam Lay, drummer, March 20, 1935–January 29, 2022
Sam Lay in Bluesland (trailer), 2014
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
basement jukebox
Sonny Boy Williamson (AKA Aleck [or Alex] “Rice” Miller, 1912[?]-1965), “Nine Below Zero” (S. B. Williamson), 1951
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lagniappe
reading table
Drooping
in this upside-down world,
a bamboo in the snow.—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), translated from the Japanese by Tom Lowenstein
music clip of the day 