More of the late Otis Clay.
“That’s How It Is (When You’re In Love),” 1967
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“Trying to Live My Life Without You,” 1972
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“Precious, Precious,” 1972
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“The Woman Don’t Live Here No More,” 1974
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“I Can’t Take It,” 1977
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lagniappe
reading table
. . . life, that storm before the calm.
—Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012, MCOTD Hall of Fame), “Negative” (translated from Polish by Clare Cavanagh)
More of Otis Clay, who died the other day.
The Gospel Songbirds (Otis Clay [right]; Maurice Dollison, aka Cash McCall [left], 1941-), “I Believe,” live (Jubilee Showcase), 1964, Chicago
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lagniappe
reading table
There was very little time for small talk, so I said, ‘Does God exist?’
—James Tate (1943-2015), “The Wrong Wedding” (Dome of the Hidden Pavilion, 2015)
passings
Otis Clay, singer, February 11, 1942-January 8, 2016
“When the Gates Swing Open,” live, Chicago (Christian Tabernacle Church)
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My life always has been a combination of things musically. . . . Every Saturday night I listened to the Grand Ole Opry. . . . During the day, later on, you listened to (radio) coming out of Memphis. During the noonday, at 12 o’clock, we listened to (blues pioneer) Sonny Boy Williamson, coming out of Helena, Ark. (And) I’m listening to Vaughn Monroe and Rosemary Clooney and listening to Hank Williams and Roy Acuff.
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Chicago is just a suburb of Mississippi.
—Otis Clay (Chicago Tribune obituary, January 9, 2016)
Here are a few more takes on a song we listened to a couple weeks ago—“Sending Up My Timber.”
Rev. Raymond Branch, Los Angeles (Heavenly Rainbow Baptist Church), 2010
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Blind Willie McTell (Pig ’n Whistle Red), 1950
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Otis Clay & Clarence Fountain (Direct Hits from Bullseye Blues), 1993
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Ya’Londa Freeman & Gardner Family, Baltimore (Har Sinai Church of Christ, funeral for Jaycee Gardner), 2008
basement jukebox
The Falcons, “Good Good Feeling” (1967)
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Otis Clay, “That’s How It Is (When You’re In Love)” (1967)
basement jukebox*
(an occasional series)
Fontella Bass, “Rescue Me” (1965)
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Tyrone Davis, “Can I Change My Mind” (1969)
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Otis Clay, “The Only Way Is Up” (1980)
Vodpod videos no longer available.*When I was a little boy, a big bright shiny jukebox lit up our basement. Daily it granted our wishes, communicated with just the touch of a finger, for “Wake Up, Little Susie” (Everly Brothers) and “The Battle of New Orleans” (Johnny Horton) and “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney). It taught me something I’ve never forgotten—music is magic.
This guy and the guy we heard Monday (Syl Johnson) are brothers.
Speaking of Syl, he’s getting a lot of attention right now: the cover story in this week’s Chicago Reader; a big new boxed set on the Numero label; and a concert tonight, in Chicago, with a top-flight band and guest Otis Clay (yeah, I’ll be there).
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replay: a clip too good for just one day
This take?
Or that?
Move the voice forward?
Back?
Make the guitar brighter?
Darker?
Enough bass?
Too much?
Enough room sound?
Mixing a record, as I learned when I worked at Alligator Records (back in the 1970s), involves a seemingly countless number of decisions. After a few hours, everyone starts to get a little punch-drunk. By the end of the night, for instance, this track had morphed—in the warped warble of engineer Freddie Breitberg (AKA, in his personal mythology, Eddie B. Flick)—into “Serve Me Rice For Supper.”
Jimmy Johnson, “Serves Me Right To Suffer” (Living Chicago Blues, Vol. 1, Alligator Records, 1977 [Grammy Nominee])
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lagniappe
reading table
The ’net’s filled with enough dreck for a thousand lifetimes; but then, as happened the other day (after hearing about it on the radio), you come across something that’s simply stunning—like the new, complete collection of the letters of Vincent van Gogh.
. . . Van Gogh’s letters are the best written by any artist . . . Their mixture of humble detail and heroic aspiration is quite simply life-affirming.—Andrew Motion, The Guardian (11/21/09)
(Originally posted a year ago [11/27/09].)
Saturday night he sings soul, Sunday morning gospel. Here, at Christian Tabernacle Church on the south side of Chicago, is Otis Clay, a label mate of Al Green at Hi Records.
Otis Clay, live, Chicago
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lagniappe
“How can you sing of amazing grace and all God’s wonders without using your hands?”—Mahalia Jackson
music clip of the day 