Wednesday, February 18th
white folks got soul, too
(day three)
J.J. Cale (1938-2013)
“Call Me the Breeze” (J.J. Cale), live, Tulsa, 2004
***
“After Midnight” (J.J. Cale), live (with Eric Clapton), Dallas, 2004
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Category: harmonica
2015
2015
Tuesday, February 17th
white folks got soul, too
(day two)
Tony Joe White & Shelby Lynne, live, Nashville, 2010
“Rainy Night in Georgia” (T. J. White)
***
“Can’t Go Back Home” (T. J. White)
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lagniappe
reading table
“Did I forget to mention that when you’re dead
You’re dead a long time.
My uncle, dying, told me this when asked, Why stay here for such suffering.”
—Lucie Brock-Broido, “Currying the Fallow-Colored Horse” (Stay, Illusion)
2015
Monday, February 16th
white folks got soul, too
(day one)
More of Lucinda W.
Lucinda Williams (with Tony Joe White [harmonica, guitar], et al.), “West Memphis” (L. Williams), recording session, 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
Why am I now a walking accident waiting to happen? Why am I more worried about that than whether there’s an afterlife?
***
I don’t look in mirrors anymore. It’s cheaper than surgery.
***
Bonding heads the list of words I’ve ruled out. Emerson was right—as he was about everything: an infinite remoteness underlies us all. And what’s wrong with that? Remoteness joins us as much as it separates us, but in a way that’s truly mysterious, yet completely adequate for the life ongoing.
—Richard Ford, “I’m Here” (Let Me Be Frank With You)
2014
Thursday, December 25th
Merry Christmas
Bessie Smith (with Joe Smith, cornet; Charlie Green, trombone; Fletcher Henderson, piano), “At the Christmas Ball,” 1925
*****
Blind Lemon Jefferson, “Christmas Eve Blues,” 1928
*****
Victoria Spivey (with Lonnie Johnson, guitar), “Christmas Morning Blues,” 1928
*****
Leroy Carr, “Christmas In Jail—Ain’t That A Pain,” 1929
*****
Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers (feat. Charles Brown, vocals, keyboards), “Merry Christmas, Baby,” 1947
*****
Lowell Fulson, “Lonesome Christmas (I & II),” 1950
*****
Sonny Boy Williamson II, “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues,” 1951
*****
John Lee Hooker, “Blues For Christmas,” 1959
2014
Friday, November 7th
blues festival (day five)
Junior Wells (vocals, harmonica), Buddy Guy (guitar), Phil Guy (guitar), et al., “Ships on the Ocean,” live, Chicago (Theresa’s Lounge, 4801 S. Indiana), c. 1975
2014
Thursday, November 6th
blues festival (day four)
Sonny Boy Williamson II (AKA Alex “Rice” Miller, c. 1912-1965), live, Denmark (Copenhagen), 1964
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lagniappe
art beat
Marc PoKempner (1948-), Xmas Eve, Theresa’s, Chicago (Theresa’s Lounge, 4801 S. Indiana), 1981
2014
Sunday, July 20th
testify
Neal Roberson, “Don’t Let the Devil Ride,” live
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lagniappe
reading table
I am running out of life, Olga thinks. What am I going to do? What is there without life?
—Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project
2014
Friday, June 20th
only rock ’n’ roll
This guy reminds me a little, at times, of some of the blues musicians I worked with years ago (when I was with Alligator Records in the ’70s), often relying, it seems, more on feel than plan.
Roky Erickson, live, Denmark (Christiana), 2013*
*****
*Set list (courtesy of YouTube):
1. Cold Night for Alligators
2. Bermuda
3. The Interpreter
4. Roller Coaster
5. Fire Engine
6. Tried to Hide
7. Levitation
8. Splash 1
9. Reverberation
10. Two Headed Dog
11. You’re Gonna Miss Me
2014
Wednesday, May 7th
basement jukebox
Howlin’ Wolf, “Moanin’ at Midnight,” 1951*
Who needs chord changes?
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
Wolf’s harmonica playing was always the right amount. He would never do anything on the harmonica that would detract from you waiting to get back to Wolf’s voice. . . . There is a certain lonesomeness about the harmonica that just fit the Wolf’s character in voice, in song, in lyric; and he just played that just enough to titillate things he was going to do next with his voice.
***
*HW (AKA Chester Burnett [1910-1976], vocals, harmonica), Willie Johnson (guitar), Willie Steel, drums.
2014
Tuesday, March 11th
sounds of Chicago
Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Mark Naftalin (keyboards), et al., live, Boston, 1971
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lagniappe
found words
Automated response received yesterday, after calling my pharmacy to find out if a prescription was ready, getting a recorded recitation of the available options, and hitting “0” in the hope of reaching a non-virtual human being:
This is not a valid command.
music clip of the day 