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Post by BunnyWhit on Aug 26, 2024 20:40:05 GMT
Happy Birthday, Jimmy Rushing! (26 August 1901 -- 8 June 1972)
Jazz and blues vocalist James Andrew Rushing was born into a musical Kansas City family. He spent some years with various popular bands, but he really made a name for himself as the featured singer for the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935 to 1948. His recording career took off after leaving Basie.
Rushing's best-known tune is "Mr. Five by Five."
"Take Me Back, Baby" with Count Basie Orchestra (1941), written by Basie and Rushing
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Post by BunnyWhit on Aug 29, 2024 16:29:58 GMT
Happy Birthday, Dinah Washington! (29 August 1924 -- 14 December 1963)
One of the most popular and successful singers of the late 1940s to the mid 1950s, Dinah Washington's unique voice complemented the Fats Waller and Lionel Hampton bands before consistently charting as a solo act.
"What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" -- 1959 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance
"Salty Papa Blues"
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Post by BunnyWhit on Aug 29, 2024 19:01:47 GMT
Happy Birthday, Charlie "Bird" Parker! (29 August 1920 -- 12 Marcy 1955)
"You can tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong. Charlie Parker". -- Miles Davis
The principal agent for bebop, Charles Parker Jr first picked up the alto saxophone at the age of thirteen, which he played constantly. Two years later Parker left school and began playing professionally. The following year Parker was in an automobile accident, and the heroin his doctor prescribed for pain would be ever present for the rest of his short life.
Having become famous in Kansas City by the late 1930s, Parker headed to New York where he picked up the moniker "Bird." Parker's trailblazing musical gifts coupled with his earthly addictions created a life of constant contradiction difficult to overcome with his emotional instability. Tragically, Parker's life would last only thirty-four years, but his music will influence others forever.
"Ornithology" (1946)
"Now's the Time" (1955)
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Post by BunnyWhit on Sept 6, 2024 18:00:56 GMT
Happy Birthday, Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed! (6 September 1925 -- 29 August 1976)
Jimmy Reed's easy shuffle blues is approachable and memorable. Though Reed had wanted to sign with Chess Records, when it didn't happen, he went with Vee-Jay Records. He recorded a string of hit tunes on the label through the 1950s and into the middle 1960s (when the label went defunct). By this time his alcoholism had taken such hold of him that he developed various other physical and mental ailments, and though his ill-health prevented Reed from ever putting out another hit record, he did continue to tour with various festivals and revues. Reed was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
Reed had clear influence on The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and The Animals; Bob Dylan and Jeff Beck both wrote and recorded Reed tribute songs; and Reed's tunes have been widely covered.
"Bright Lights, Big City" (1961)-- perhaps Reed's best known song
"Shame, Shame, Shame" (1963)
"As Shucks Hush Your Mouth" (1961)
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Post by NoShear on Sept 7, 2024 18:19:36 GMT
Happy Birthday, Charlie "Bird" Parker! (29 August 1920 -- 12 Marcy 1955)
"You can tell the history of jazz in four words: Louis Armstrong. Charlie Parker". -- Miles Davis
The principal agent for bebop, Charles Parker Jr first picked up the alto saxophone at the age of thirteen, which he played constantly. Two years later Parker left school and began playing professionally. The following year Parker was in an automobile accident, and the heroin his doctor prescribed for pain would be ever present for the rest of his short life.
Having become famous in Kansas City by the late 1930s, Parker headed to New York where he picked up the moniker "Bird." Parker's trailblazing musical gifts coupled with his earthly addictions created a life of constant contradiction difficult to overcome with his emotional instability. Tragically, Parker's life would last only thirty-four years, but his music will influence others forever.
"Ornithology" (1946)
"Now's the Time" (1955)
If I correctly recall, this is at least the second saxophonist that you've posted a photo of featuring that distinctive two-tone mouthpiece - exotic contrast to the more conventional black ones, BunnyWhit.  |
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Sept 7, 2024 22:11:30 GMT
Yesterday was Sonny Rollins birthday. Still kicking at 94 years old.
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Post by BunnyWhit on Sept 8, 2024 0:04:10 GMT
Happy Birthday, Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holly! (7 September 1936 -- 3 February 1959)
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Post by NoShear on Sept 8, 2024 14:51:15 GMT
Happy Birthday, Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed! (6 September 1925 -- 29 August 1976)
Jimmy Reed's easy shuffle blues is approachable and memorable. Though Reed had wanted to sign with Chess Records, when it didn't happen, he went with Vee-Jay Records. He recorded a string of hit tunes on the label through the 1950s and into the middle 1960s (when the label went defunct). By this time his alcoholism had taken such hold of him that he developed various other physical and mental ailments, and though his ill-health prevented Reed from ever putting out another hit record, he did continue to tour with various festivals and revues. Reed was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.
Reed had clear influence on The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and The Animals; Bob Dylan and Jeff Beck both wrote and recorded Reed tribute songs; and Reed's tunes have been widely covered.
"Bright Lights, Big City" (1961)-- perhaps Reed's best known song
"Shame, Shame, Shame" (1963)
"As Shucks Hush Your Mouth" (1961)
BunnyWhit, Pete Townshend conceived "My Generation" as a "talking blues" song in the style of Jimmy Reed if I'm not mistaken: The Townshend demo offers debunking of the idea that the John Lee Hooker "Stuttering Blues" only showed up later in rehearsals with The Who. |
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Post by NoShear on Sept 12, 2024 16:45:57 GMT
Posting the following with the author of this thread in mind:
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Post by BunnyWhit on Sept 13, 2024 15:48:09 GMT
Happy Birthday, Charles Brown! (13 September 1922 -- 21 January 1999)
Brown began his recording career on Aladdin Records, backed by Johnny Moore and the Three Blazers. They had a hit with "Driftin' Blues" in 1945, which was one of the biggest blues hits of the 1940s and became a standard in the West Coast blues style. Brown's smooth voice and stylings matched perfectly to the style and helped to set him apart. Brown left the group and formed one of his own, Charles Brown Trio. The group had a No. 1 R&B hit with "Trouble Blues" in 1949, but Brown never made a successful move over into up-tempo tunes of R&B or ultimately rock and roll.
As was the case for so many other bluesmen, Brown ultimately retired from recording when music moved on past him. For years, Brown, a talented classical pianist, taught piano and organ lessons.
Brown was rediscovered in the blues revival of the 1980s. Thankfully, his time away from the studio did not diminish his prowess, and Bonnie Raitt orchestrated a tour for Brown. And thank goodness she did. All of Brown's Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album nominations came in the 1990s: All My Life (1991), Someone to Love (1992), and Charles Brown's Cool Christmas Blues (1995).
Though it's been widely covered, Brown's "Merry Christmas Baby" (1947) is the gold standard. He recorded it numerous times, and he performed it at every concert. It's not Christmastime until you hear it.
"Trouble Blues" (1949)
I'm a fan of Brown's 1998 album So Goes Love (Decca).
"So Goes Love"
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Post by The OG on Sept 13, 2024 20:09:07 GMT
Andrew Bird's Fake Palindromes used devilish well on "Evil" (tv show, Paramount & Netflix). That last shot of Christine Lahti is chilling.
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Post by BunnyWhit on Sept 17, 2024 5:31:54 GMT
Happy Birthday, Riley "B.B." King! (16 September 1925 – 14 May 2015)
It's hard to know what to say about the king of the blues, but one thing is for certain: it takes only one note. A single note, and you know it's King.
Mississippi, home of the Delta Blues, is also the birthplace of Riley Ben King. He was the son of sharecroppers and was a farm laborer in his youth before working in a cotton gin in his teens. Though he served in the Army during WWII, he was discharged early because of his essential farming experience. When he worked as a disc jockey in Memphis, his handle was Beale Street Blues Boy, which was later shortened to Blues Boy, and ultimately to B.B.
King made his first recordings for Bullet Records and for RPM Records in 1949. Into the 1950s, King continued to record and tour with 1956 being his record breaking year: only twenty-three days of that year were not booked for concerts, and he found time to get in three separate recording sessions and released his debut album, Singin' the Blues.
King had thirty Grammy noms with fifteen wins. Tunes like "Chains and Things," "Everything I Do Is Wrong," "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss," "Ten Long Years," "Sweet Little Angel," and "The Thrill Is Gone" (Roy Hawkins, Rick Darnell) only scratch the surface of the memorable offerings King gave us, and I don't care how many covers you hear of "How Blue Can You Get?" (Leonard Feathers) -- it is King's song. His powerful voice and slick flowing guitar rang out strong and loud from his earliest to his latest recordings.
I saw King several times, and I swear he just seemed to keep getting better. Not only was he a mighty talent, but also he was a great champion of other musicians.
"Chains and Things" (1970)
"How Blue Can You Get?" (1965) -- from Live at the Regal, arguably King's best album
"The Thrill Is Gone" (1969)
"Lucille" (1968) -- For those interested in how B.B.'s guitar came to be named Lucille, hear him tell the tale.
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Post by BunnyWhit on Oct 4, 2024 1:00:49 GMT
Happy Birthday, Stevie Ray Vaughan! (3 October 1954 -- 27 August 1990)
"Anyone can play like Stevie Ray Vaughan. For about thirty seconds. Then you get a cramp and you're done for the night." -- John Mayer
Inspired by his older brother, Jimmie, Dallas-born Stevie Ray Vaughan began playing guitar at the age of seven. By the time he was twelve, Vaughan was playing with garage bands, and at eighteen he left school and headed for Austin. By 1978, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton) were gaining popularity in Austin and as one of the most popular bands in Texas. Texas Flood (1983) was the band's debut album. It received mostly positive critical reviews, though (seemingly unprepared for Vaughan's unique style) some complained that the album strayed too far from Texas rock. In retrospect, I hope anyone who penned or uttered such nonsense is able now to understand the gigantic push Vaughan and Texas Flood gave the blues revival of the 1980s. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Performance, and in 2021 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Couldn't Stand the Weather followed in 1984. Though the album was criticized for containing only three songs written by Vaughn (and five covers), the general consensus was that the follow up effort proved the first album was not an anomaly.
The third album, Soul to Soul (1985), by all accounts -- including Vaughan's -- is perhaps best described as less if not un- inspired. By this time Vaughan's drug and alcohol problem had fully seized him by the throat and it showed in Vaughan's playing, singing, work ethic, and personal life. All manner of ugliness ensued, as it does, but Vaughan eventually got clean. In Step (1989) was his fourth studio album with Double Trouble and a solid effort that was essentially his comeback. The following year he recorded the album Family Style (1990) with his brother Jimmie Vaughan, and that album received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Notable among Vaughan's other awards are five W.C. Handy Awards and posthumous induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
On 27 August 1990, the helicopter Vaughan was travelling in crashed into a hillside shortly after takeoff. All five men on board were killed. I remember exactly where I was and what I was wearing when I learned that he was gone. Considering he'd been recording for a mere seven years, Vaughan's contribution to contemporary blues was trailblazing, and his legacy is one of sustained influence on young musicians.
from Texas Flood:
"Pride and Joy"
"Rude Mood"
from Couldn't Stand the Weather:
"Scuttle Buttin'"
Hank Ballard's "Look at Little Sister"
from Family Style:
"DF/W"
The opening, voiced by Nile Rodgers, is famous among Texas State Fair goers. Big Tex, a 55-foot tall cowboy, says, "Howdy, folks!" at the gate.
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Post by BunnyWhit on Oct 24, 2024 23:14:46 GMT
Happy Birthday, Saunders "Sonny Terry" Terrell! (24 October 1911 -- 11 March 1986)
Born in Greensboro, Georgia, Sonny Terry was a legendary harp man of Piedmont blues and folk music. He sustained injuries to his eyes during his childhood that severely affected his vision, making it impossible for him to continue doing farm work with his family. He turned to music to make a living.
Terry's original partnership was with guitarist Blind Boy Fuller, but after Fuller's death in the early 1940s, Terry teamed with Brownie McGhee, and the partnership was magic. Though both musicians had performed and recorded solo and with other musicians, once the two of them got together, their names were forever joined.
Terry's musicianship would have been gobs plenty enough, but his whoops and ability to simulate train and animal sounds put him in a class by himself.
"Whoopin' the Blues"
"Red River Blues" and "Crow Jane" with Brownie McGhee
"John Henry" with Brownie McGhee
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Post by BunnyWhit on Nov 10, 2024 18:32:38 GMT
Happy 90th Birthday, Bobby Rush (Emmett Ellis Jr)! (10 November 1933)
"Yes, you can have the blues when your woman leaves you, but you can also have the blues if they stay too long." -- Bobby Rush
King of the Chittlin' Circuit and International Dean of the Blues, Bobby Rush has been playing the blues since childhood. Born in Louisiana, this son of a pastor worked the cotton fields. He built his first diddley bow and played harmonica as a boy. When he began playing clubs in the early 1950s, the teen drew on a moustache in an attempt to look old enough to be there. It must have worked, because Rush has never stopped playing his brand of funk-colored blues.
When he and his family moved to Chicago in 1953, Rush quickly became a lasting part of the blues scene there. He worked with Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed and so many other greats. Little Walter even got Rush a job at Skins, a club where he played behind a curtain for white audiences. Rush is not shy about saying how humiliating that was and how blessed he feels to have lived long enough to see that people are capable of change.
Rush's breakout hit was 1971's "Chicken Heads," and it was Rush's first gold record. The tune charted again in 2006 when it was featured in the film Black Snake Moan. Rush has won 16 Blues Music Awards (W.C. Handy Award until name change in 2006), and has received seven Grammy nominations which brought him four wins. That might not sound like much of a feat to some, but please consider that Rush's first Grammy nomination came in 2001, and his first win was in 2017 for Porcupine Meat (Rounder) when the legend was 83 years old. Since then, he's hauled in three more, including his 2024 win for Best Traditional Blues Album for All My Love for You (Deep Rush, Rush's own label).
Rush has recorded and toured for years with his good friend Buddy Guy. Though the 88-year old Guy announced his touring retirement this year, Rush has made no similar announcement. More than 70 years into it, it seems Bobby Rush is just getting warmed up.
"Chicken Heads" (1971)
"Porcupine Meat" (2016) -- "Porcupine meat -- too fat to eat, too lean to throw away."
"You're Gonna Need a Man Like Me" (2023, Deep Rush)
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