Skip James: Im So Glad

Nehemiah Curtis James was born near Yazoo City, Mississippi, in 1902. James was raised just south of the Mississippi Delta near Bentonia, on the Whitehead plantation, where his mother was the plantation cook. James’s friends named him “Skippy” due to his peculiar style of dancing. Skip’s father, a guitar-playing bootlegger, abandoned his family when Skip was a young boy. 

In 1931, after years of work as a laborer, bootlegger, and sometimes musician, James entered a singing competition at a store in Jackson, Mississippi. James had just begun to play his song, “Devil Got My Woman,” when he was awarded the prize-a train ticket to Grafton, Wisconsin, and a recording session with Paramount Records.

Paramount was famous for the poor quality of its recordings, and sadly, many fine performances were poorly recorded by the label, including those by James. James recorded several songs with guitar during his first session, and eight piano songs during the second session. James recalls recording 26 sides in all, though only 18 have been found. Among the classic recordings he made at those sessions were, “Devil Got My Woman,” “I’m So Glad,” “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues,” “22-20 Blues,” and “Special Rider Blues.”

James was only paid 40 dollars for his efforts, and as the recordings were made during the height of the depression, only a few sides were ever released. Disillusioned with the music business, James quit and turned to religion. Little is known about his life during the 33 years between his Paramount recordings and his rediscovery in the mid-Sixties.

James played his first show in 33 years at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. His performance was a brilliant one and it seemed that his powers were still completely intact despite his long lay off. Many believed that James performance at the festival topped all others who appeared.

Despite his huge popularity at Newport, James did not have a recording deal. When Cream recorded “I'm So Glad” on their Fresh Cream album, James, now ailing, used his royalties to get into a good hospital in Washington, DC, where he could have the surgery that extended his life by three years.

James recorded the excellent albums, “Today!” (1966) and “Devil Got My Woman” (1968). James died in 1969, in Philadelphia.

the Allman Brothers: Ramblin' Man

Southern rock and blues rock legends the Allman Brothers were formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. The band was named after brothers Greg and Duane Allman, the band’s lead singer and lead guitarist, respectively. The Allman Brothers are perhaps the quintessential example of “Southern Rock.” Southern rock bands such as the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynard, and the Marshall Tucker Band all hailed from below the Mason-Dixon Line and infused their hard rock with elements of the blues and country music and often expressed the conservative or “redneck” outlooks.

 The Allman Brothers were perhaps the most blues-influenced of southern rock bands. Their first two albums, “The Allman Brothers Band” (1968) and “Idlewild South” (1970) contained several blues cover tunes each. The ragged, soulful voice of Greg Allman and bluesy slide guitar of Duane Allman and Dickie Betts enabled the band to produce some of the best blues rock of the era.

 The Allman Brothers Band was a tremendous live act, and live performances allowed the band’s instrumental highlight, Duane Allman to display his prodigious slide guitar technique. Two of the band’s finest albums, “Live at the Fillmore East” (1971) and “Eat a Peach” (1972) are live albums which feature long tracks which serve as vehicles for Duane Allman’s and Dickie Betts’ impressive chops. Duane Allman died tragically in a motorcycle accident in 1971, at the age of 23, when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a peach truck. Following the death of Duane Allman, Dickie Betts became the instrumental centerpiece of the band, and the Allman Brothers Band continued to record and tour. The band reached the height of their commercial success with the classic album, “Brothers and Sisters” (1973) ,which featured two of their best known tunes, “Ramblin’ Man” and the instrumental, “Jessica.”

Tommy Johnson: Canned Heat Blues

Tommy Johnson was country blues singer and guitarist from Terry, Mississippi. Johnson was born in 1896, and by the Twenties he was an established figure in Mississippi blues. The Sixties blues rock band, Canned Heat, took their name from the Johnson song, “Canned Heat Blues.”

Johnson was a dissolute figure who actively cultivated a sinister image through excessive drinking and stories that he had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical mastery. A similar mythology would later be attached to Robert Johnson.

Johnson made his first recordings for the Victor label in 1928 with the sides, “Canned Heat Blues” and “Big Road Blues.” Johnson also recorded for Paramount Records in two sessions, one from 1928 and another from the following year. These recordings proved Johnson to be a vocalist of great depth and a fine guitarist. Unfortunately, his recordings for Paramount, are of lo-fidelity.

Johnson’s classic sides can be found on the compilation, “Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order (1928-1929)” (1994).

Josh White: Jim Crow Blues

Josh White, like Leadbelly, was a country blues singer from the early part of the 20^th century who found new life and success as a part of the Sixties folk boom. White was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1915, and made his recording debut in 1932 with “Baby Won’t You Doodle-Doo-Doo.”

White recorded for number of labels including Perfect and Melotone in the Thirties during his initial incarnation as a country blues performer. In the early Forties White’s music became some of the first African-American music to find acceptance among a white audience when he scored a million-selling single with his song, “One Meatball,” in 1944.

By the Forties White had become a civil rights leader, and in fact, became a close confidant of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the decade, White became the first African-American performer to perform at previously segregated clubs, and he later became the first folk/blues performer to appear on a U.S. postage stamp. White also appeared on Broadway as Blind Lemon Jefferson in the musical, “John Henry.” White’s appearance on Broadway brought him to the attention of the New York City folk crowd which at that time included Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Burl Ives.

By the late Fifties, White was a fixture in the Folk revival and was recording more folk-oriented material. White continued performing in folk music festivals and toured the world up until his death, in 1969.

The best collections of White’s music include, “Chain Gang” (1940), “Ballads and Blues” (1946), and the great collection of civil rights tunes, “Southern Exposure: An album of Jim Crow Blues Sung by Josh White” (1941).

Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell: How Long-How Long Blues

Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell comprised one of the most influential musical partnerships in the history of the blues. Singer and pianist Carr teamed up with the brilliant guitarist Blackwell Carr was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1905. Blackwell was born in Syracuse, South Carolina, in 1903. After both men had worked for several years as accompanists for other performers, they formed a duo in 1928 and made their first recordings for Vocalion records that year.

The duo’s first recording, “How Long-How Long Blues,” was a smash hit and a million-seller that ushered in a more polished urban sound for blues recordings. The money that the duo made from the song allowed Scrapper Blackwell to quit his bootlegging activities, but provided Leroy Carr with the means to exacerbate his already serious alcoholism.

Carr and Blackwell recorded several more classic sides between 1928 and 1935, including “Midnight Hour Blues,” “Mean Mistreater Mama,” “Blues before Sunrise,” and the song that seemed to foretell Carr’s early demise, “Six Cold Feet in the Ground.”

By 1935, Carr’s drinking had resulted in kidney failure and entire recording sessions were scrapped as a result. Carr died later that year of nephritis at the age of thirty.

Carr and Blackwell’s classic sides can be found on the following compilation albums: “Blues before Sunrise” (1962), “(1929-1935)” (2000), and “Naptown Blues” (1996),

Alberta Hunter Blues Singer/Blues Diva

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Alberta Hunter was one of the first female blues singers to record. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1895, and made her first recordings, “Bring Back the Joys/ How Long, Sweet Daddy, How Long,” in 1921, for the Black Swan label. By 1922, she had moved on to the Paramount label and established herself as one of the most prolific blues performers of the early Twenties.

Hunter continued to perform and record late into her long life. She died in New York City in 1984 and the age of 89. Among several compilation albums of Hunter’s music are “Complete Recorded Works” (Volumes 1-4) (1996) and “Young Alberta Hunter: The 20’s and 30’s” (1996).

Albert King: Born Under a Bad Sign

Albert King is one of three blues singers/guitarists, Freddie, BB and Albert, with the surname, “King.” Of the three, BB King is by far the most famous, but blues purists will often point to Albert as the best of the trio. King was born in Indianola, Mississippi in 1923 and died in Memphis, Tennessee in 1993.

King made his first recordings during the early Fifties for the Parrot label, but his career didn’t get started in earnest until the early Sixties with singles for the King label. King recorded for the legendary Chess Records, but may have produced his best work, “Born under a Bad Sign” (1967) for the soul label, Stax.

Other fine albums by King include, “The Big Blues” (1963), “Live Wire/Blues Power” (1968), “Years Gone By” (1969) and “King of the Blues Guitar” (1969). King appears on the superb compilation, “The Complete Stax/Volt Singles” series along with the rest of the stellar Stax roster of blues and soul stars.

Lonnie Johnson Blues

Lonnie Johnson

Johnson was one of the best of the early acoustic blues guitarists. He possessed a technical proficiency that separated him from his peers, and he was always in high demand as a session guitarist for blues and jazz recordings. Johnson was a fine vocalist as well, and his prodigious chops made him a hot recording property in the Twenties.

The place and date of his birth are the subject of some debate, although many believe his birthplace to be New Orleans. It is known for sure that Johnson was raised in New Orleans and later moved to St. Louis in the Twenties where he began recording for Okeh Records. That label would release his first side, “Mr. Johnson’s Blues,” in 1925. Johnson recorded numerous sides for the label including, “Very Lonesome Blues,” “Lonesome Jail Blues,” Five o’clock Blues,” “Backwater Blues,” and many others.

Johnson lent his nimble guitar skills to Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five recordings in 1927. The next year, Johnson and the white jazz guitarist, Eddie Lang, made some of the first racially-integrated jazz recordings. Johnson’s career suffered during the Depression Era of the Thirties when Okeh went bankrupt and he relocated to Canada. Johnson died in 1970, in Toronto, from injuries he had suffered in a car accident.

Like most other musicians of his era, Johnson’s work is best heard on any number of compilation albums. “Blues in My Fingers: The Essential Recordings of Lonnie Johnson” (1994), and “Complete Recorded Works 1925-1932” (1991) are the best compilations available for this artist.

Leadbelly Songs: Penitentiary Blues

Leadbelly is a legendary figure in both the fields of folk music and the blues. Leadbelly’s life is the stuff of American popular legend. He was a hard man who was convicted of murder and spent much of his early adult life in prison. While in prison, he worked in chain gangs doing hard labor.

Leadbelly is remembered for his twelve-string guitar virtuosity and his catalogue of songs, both blues and folk that he either wrote or collected on his travels in the early days of the 20^th century. Among Leadbelly’s most famous songs are: “Good Night Irene,” “Black Betty,” “Midnight Special,” “On a Monday,” “Pick a Bale of Cotton,” “Green Corn,” and “Stewball.”

Leadbelly was born Huddie Ledbetter in Mooringsport, Louisiana, in 1885. By the time he was five-years-old, his family had settled in Bowie County, Texas. Leadbelly learned the guitar in childhood, and by 1903, he was performing in Shreveport, Louisiana, clubs and steadily honing his craft. The wide range of music which Leadbelly heard in Shreveport had an indelible influence on his music. In 1912, following the sinking of the Titanic, Leadbelly wrote a song about the ship noting that African-American boxer, Jack Johnson, was denied the right to sail on the ship and was able to live out his life as a result.

In 1915, Leadbelly landed in trouble when he was convicted of carrying a pistol. Three years later, his volatile temper exploded, and he killed one of his relatives, Will Stafford, in a fistfight over a woman. He was sentenced to imprisonment in the Sugar Land prison near Houston, where he served 7 years. A song written for the Texas governor and his performances for fellow prisoners helped to earn him an early release. He was released in 1925, but would wind up back in prison at Angola Prison Farm, in 1930, for attempted murder, after he had knifed a white man in a fight. Between his stints in prison, Leadbelly traveled around Texas with blues master, Blind Lemon Jefferson, playing music and acting as Jefferson’s guide.

In 1933, John Lomax of the Library of Congress “discovered” Leadbelly in Angola and recorded him on primitive recording equipment. Lomax would return the following year with better recording equipment and record hundreds of songs from Leadbelly’s vast repertoire of blues and folk tunes. Later that year, Leadbelly was released for good behavior and accompanied Lomax on several song collecting excursions through the American South.

Later in 1934, Leadbelly landed a recording deal with ARC Records, and recorded blues material. His recordings were commercially unsuccessful, and he returned to Louisiana. In 1936, Leadbelly traveled to New York where he tried to appeal to black audiences in Harlem’s Apollo Theatre by playing the blues. He failed to win over the Apollo audiences, but began to attract attention from the white leftist folk crowd.

In 1939, Leadbelly landed in trouble again, this time for stabbing a man in a fight in Manhattan-a crime which landed him in jail again for two years. Upon his release in 1941, Leadbelly became a fixture on the New York folk club scene, appearing with other folk luminaries such as Josh White, Brownie McGhee, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. In 1944, Leadbelly went to California where he made a series of excellent recordings for Capital Records. Leadbelly contracted Lou Gehrig’s disease in 1949 and died later that year in New York City.

Leadbelly’s music is best heard on the compilations, “Last Sessions” (1953), “Sings Folk Songs” (1962), “Leadbelly” (1965), “Midnight Special” (1991), “King of the 12-String Guitar” (1991) and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Leadbelly Legacy Vol 1.” (1996), and “The Definitive Leadbelly” (2008).

Jimi Hendrix Albums

When guitar heroes of rock music are discussed, Jimi Hendrix’s name is often mentioned as perhaps the best of them all. Of course, the topic is highly subjective, and Hendrix status as a rock star who died while still in his twenties can prejudice any such discussion. It is clear, however, that he is among an elite group of rock guitarists, and his prodigious technical skill and showmanship rendered him the first true guitar god of rock. 

Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1942. Following a less than stellar stint in the army, he got his start in music as a session guitarist for R&B acts such as King Curtis and the Isley Brothers, and in live performances with the likes of Slim Harpo, Jackie Wilson, Curtis Knight and the Squires, and Sam Cooke. By the mid-Sixties, Hendrix had dubbed himself, “Jimmy James” and with his band, The Blue Flames, was playing the club scene in New York’s Greenwich Village.

In a fortuitous turn, Hendrix met the girlfriend of The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, Linda Keith, at a New York City club. Keith recommended Hendrix to the Stones’ manager, Andrew Loog Oldham and Chas Chandler of the Animals. Chandler was impressed with Hendrix’s song, “Hey Joe,” and brought him to London in the fall of 1966.

Chandler brought in two Englishmen, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell as Hendrix’s sidemen and named the newly formed trio, “The Jimi Hendrix Experience.” Hendrix and his new band would soon make rock music history by recording three albums that would all go down in history as ground-breaking classics in the annals of rock.

The first album, “Are You Experienced,” was released in the United Kingdom in the spring of 1967, and shortly thereafter in North America. It was an instant commercial and critical success and contained the classic tunes, “Are You Experienced,” “Fire,” “Hey Joe,” and “Purple Haze.” The album is now hailed as one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded.

Hendrix would follow-up his outstanding debut with “Axis: Bold as Love,” also from 1967. This album contained fewer “hits,” but featured some technical innovations previously unheard on popular music recordings. The opening track, “EXP,” contains channel-switching stereo effects which have the guitar sound fading in one channel and re-emerging in the other. Hendrix also uses the “wah-wah” pedal for the first time on this recording.

For his third effort, “Electric Ladyland” (1968), Hendrix brought in Steve Winwood, Dave Mason and Chris Wood from Traffic and Al Kooper from The Blues Project. The ambitious double album featured the epic tracks, “All Along the Watchtower,” probably the best and most original Bob Dylan cover ever, and “Voodoo Chile (slight return).”

Hendrix and the Experience would break-up and later reunite as “They Band of Gypsys,” and a live album of the Gypsys would appear in 1970. Hendrix died of an apparent drug overdose in London, in September of 1970.



BB KIng: History and Album Guide

Riley B. King was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, in 1926. He is still active today as a blues performer well into his eighties. He is currently a resident of Memphis, Tennessee, the city he came to in the Forties to play music and work as a radio DJ.

King arrived in Memphis with his cousin, the country blues guitarist Bukka White, and landed a job as a disc jockey on the Memphis radio station, WDIA. It was here that he was coined “BB,” a moniker which means, “blues boy.” In 1949, he landed a recording contract with RPM Records. Many of his early recordings were produced by Sam Philips who would later found Sun Records. He also assembled a band which came to be known as the BB King Review.

During 1949, King played at a honky-tonk where a fire broke out during one of his shows. As the patrons, musicians, and King fled the bar, King realized that he had forgotten his guitar inside. He battled the flames as he reentered the burning structure in order to save his forgotten guitar. He later heard that the fight in the bar was about a girl named, “Lucille.” King named his guitar after the girl and Lucille, the guitar has been with him ever since.

By the Fifties, King had become one of the biggest names in the blues, amassing numerous hit recordings and touring almost constantly. Among his hits during the Fifties were, “3 O Clock Blues,” “Woke Up This Morning,” “Please Love Me,” Whole Lotta Love,” “Everyday I Have the Blues,” “Ten Long Years,” and “Bad Luck.” He gained a reputation as one of the best guitarists in popular music with his economical style which featured string bending and heavy vibrato. Every rock guitarist that followed would be influenced directly or indirectly by King’s style of playing.

In late 1964, King would perform a show at the Regal Theatre in Chicago. The performance was recorded, and the resulting album, “Live at the Regal,” would be hailed as one of the best live blues or rock recordings of all-time. King had a huge hit in 1970 with the song, “The Thrill is Gone.” The song would appear on both the pop and R&B charts. By 1964, King had signed with ABC Records which would be absorbed into MCA Records and then Geffen Records, his current label.

In addition to Live at the Regal, “Live in Cook Country Jail” (1971) is an excellent live album. “Completely Well” (1969) and “Indianola Mississippi Seeds” (1970) are outstanding studio albums. Several greatest hits collections are also recommended especially for his earliest work. Among these albums are: “The Best of B.B. King” (1973), “The Best of B.B. King Volume One” (1986), “The Best of B.B. King Volume Two” (1986), “The Vintage Years” (2002), “Original Greatest Hits” (2005), and “Gold” (2006).

Delmore Brothers: Freight Train Blues

The Delmore Brothers were one of the most important and influential acts from the early days of country music. The duo consisted of the brothers, Alton and Rabon Delmore, a pair of guitarist/vocalists who helped to pioneer the country music genre with their melding of gospel music, folk, and the blues. The brothers were born into poverty in Elkmont, Alabama.

The Delmore Brothers made their first recordings for Columbia Records, in 1931, and produced “I’ve Got the Kansas City Blues” and “Alabama Lullaby.” The duo continued to record until 1952, when Rabon Delmore died of cancer.

During their run, the Delmore Brothers recorded some of the all-time classics of country music including, “Blow Yo’ Whistle, Freight Train,” “When It’s Time for the Whippoorwill to Sing,” “Freight Train Boogie,” and “Blues Stay Away from Me.” The latter tune would be covered by later rockabilly performers Gene Vincent and Johnny Burnette, while “Freight Train Boogie” has been called the first rock and roll recording by some pundits.

Blind Willie McTell: Atlanta 12 String Guitar

Blind Willie McTell was a country blues singer/guitarist and probably the greatest performer of the Piedmont style of blues playing. He also played ragtime music. McTell was born blind as William Samuel McTier, in Thomson, Georgia, in 1898.

McTell learned to read and write music from Braille, and acquired a six-string guitar in his early teens. He was born into a musical family, and is a relation of gospel music pioneer, Thomas A. Dorsey. When his mother died during the Twenties, the now parentless McTell began wandering The South. He wound up in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1927, and scored a recording contract with Victor Records. He would remain in Atlanta and record for several record companies.

McTell’s best known song is “Statesboro Blues,” which was recorded by the Allman Brothers Band. The White Stripes have recorded two of his tunes, “Southern Can Mama” and “Lord, Send Me an Angel.”

McTell’s albums, “Atlanta Twelve String: Blues Originals Vol. 1” (1972), “The Definitive Blind Willie McTell” (1994), and “King of Georgia Blues” (2007) are all essential listening.

Blind Lemon Jefferson: Matchbox Blues

Blind Lemon Jefferson was born in Coutchman, Texas, in 1893. He was an enormously influential country blues singer whose songs have been covered by rock performers as diverse as the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Dylan recorded Jefferson’s “See That My Grave is Kept Clean” on his debut album, while Beatles and others, recorded rocking versions of his “Matchbox Blues.”

After traveling around Texas with the legendary folk and blues singer, Leadbelly, Jefferson wound up in Chicago in the mid-Twenties. He secured a recording contract with Paramount Records and began laying down classic sides. Jefferson’s recordings proved for posterity that he was, in fact, one of the best singers and guitarists of early country blues.

Jefferson was a fast picking guitarist of tremendous facility, and he played in a wide variety of styles. Jefferseon’s recordings seldom become tiresome as is the case with many other country blues singers. Jefferson’s recorded classics include, “Hot Dogs,” “Jack O’ Diamonds Blues,” “Black Snake Moan,” and “Easy Rider Blues.” He was one of the first male blues singers to record solo with his own guitar accompaniment.

Jefferson died of exposure when he became lost in Chicago in December, 1929 during a bad snowstorm. Several fine compilations of Jefferson’s recordings are available including, “King of the Country Blues” (1985), “Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order” (Volumes 1-4) (1991), “The Best of Blind Lemon Jefferson” (2000), and “Classic Sides” (2003).

Blind Willie Johnson Dark Was the Night

Blind Willie Johnson was born near Brenham, Texas, in 1897. Johnson is one of the greatest guitarists in the history of blues music and likely the greatest slide-guitarist in the country blues genre. Johnson is considered a gospel performer by many, as most of his recordings were of a religious nature.

Johnson was not blind from birth. It is not entirely clear how he lost his sight, but it has been suggested that his step-mother threw lye in his eyes to exact revenge on his father.

Johnson began singing on street corners for tips as a youth. He continued busking for many years when this was apparently his only source of income. He busked in several Texas cities, but it seems he spent most of his time in the Texan town, Beaumont. Johnson only made 30 commercial recordings in his lifetime. These recordings were made for Columbia Records between 1927 and 1930.

Fortunately, Johnson recorded after the advent of microphones and his recordings are of high-fidelity. Among his best known sides are: ”God Moves on the Water,” about the sinking of the Titanic, “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” which was recorded by Led Zeppelin, “Motherless Children,” which was recorded by Eric Clapton, and “John the Revelator” which has been recorded by many.

Johnson was poor throughout his life, and it was his status as an African-American resident of the American South that contributed to his early demise. After his house was destroyed by fire, Johnson, with no place to go, was forced to sleep in its scorched remains. He contracted malarial fever, and when his wife brought him to hospital, he was refused admittance, likely because he was black. Without treatment he succumbed to the fever on September 18, 1945.

Of several fine compilations of Johnson’s music, “Praise God I’m Satisfied” (1977), “Sweeter as the Years Go By” (1990), and “The Complete Blind Willie Johnson” (1993) are the best.

Blind Willie

Ethel Waters: Sweet Man Blues

Ethel Waters was one of the most popular African-American singers and actresses of the Twenties. She was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1896. Waters attained success of a level that saw her eventually become the highest-paid female entertainer of her day, an unheard of accomplishment for an African-American woman in the early years of the 20^th century.

Waters moved to New York in 1919, following several years of touring in vaudeville shows as a singer and a dancer. In 1921, she made her first recordings for Cardinal Records. Later, she switched to the African-American run Black Swan label, and recorded “Down Home Blues” which would be the first blues recording for the label. Waters recorded blues and vaudeville numbers for the label including “Oh Daddy,” “Royal Garden Blues,” “Jazzin’ Baby Blues,” “Sweet Man Blues,” and “Sugar.”

Waters appeared in a number of musical productions and films during the Twenties including, “Check and Double Check,” featuring Amos and Andy and Duke Ellington. By the end of the Thirties, she was a big star on Broadway.

In 1949, Waters received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for the film, “Pinky.” Waters died in 1977. A series of compilations called, “The Chronological Classics” are the best sources of her classic recordings.

Ethel Waters in 1940

Billie Holiday: Lady Day

Billie Holiday’s life is the stuff of jazz legend. She rose from poverty and abuse to become one of the biggest stars of jazz during the Thirties and Forties. Holiday was a great singer who did not possess a great voice. She employed her voice like a horn player would his horn, and had a reputation for taking mediocre songs and transforming them into greatness. Her singing style was influenced by Bessie Smith’s singing and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet playing. Fellow jazz musicians referred to her as simply, “Lady Day.”

Holiday was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1915. In 1933, she was discovered by the legendary John Hammond, talent scout extraordinaire. Hammond signed her to Columbia Records, and she recorded for some of the company’s subsidiary labels.

Despite being offered only mediocre material to record, she was supported by some of the finest musicians in jazz, including pianist Teddy Wilson and saxophonist, Lester Young, who would coin her “Lady Day” and become her closest friend and musical collaborator.

In 1937, Holiday toured with the Count Basie Orchestra and later joined Artie Shaw’s Orchestra. She stayed with Columbia Records until 1942, only leaving once for the Commodore label with which she recorded the classic and searing song about lynching, “Strange Fruit.” In 1942, she signed with Decca records and later ended up recording for Verve. One of her last sessions with Columbia produced the classic side, “God Bless the Child.”
In the late Forties, Holiday was convicted of heroin possession and spent several months in prison. Due to the conviction, she was unable to obtain a cabaret card, making it impossible for her to find work in New York City clubs. Suffering from both liver and heart disease, Billie Holiday died in a New York hospital, in 1959.

Holiday’s best recordings can be found on the following collections: “Lady Sings the Blues” (1956), “Songs for Distingue Lovers” (1958), “Lady in Satin” (1958), “The Billie Holiday Story” (1959), “The Golden Years” (1962), “Billie Holiday’s Greatest Hits” (1967), “Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)” (2001), “Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday” (2001), “The Ultimate Collection” (2005), and “Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles” (2007).

Lady Day

A deal with the crossroads Urban Legend Grim Dark

Louis Armstrong: The Bach of Jazz

Louis Armstrong is one of the most important figures in the history of Western popular music, and likely the most important figure in the history of jazz music. He is not only the most famous jazz musician, but he is considered by many to be the most brilliant musician who ever played the music. It was Armstrong’s innate genius as a cornet soloist during the Twenties that helped transform jazz from disposable dance music to the art form that it has become. 

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1901. His father abandoned the family shortly thereafter, leaving little Louis to live with his mother and sister. Armstrong and his mother lived in a section of New Orleans which was so violent, that it was referred to as “The Battlefield.”

By the time Armstrong was around five-years-old, he was already performing on New Orleans street corners, and he later landed a job hauling a junk wagon. Sometimes, Armstrong would fetch coal, which could be used for warmth on cold nights, for local prostitutes. His employer, the Karnofsky family, provided him with the money to buy his first cornet, and Armstrong took the instrument home and taught himself to play.

On New Years’s Day, 1912; Armstrong was arrested for firing a pistol into the air on New Years’s Eve. Armstrong was known to local police for his often colourful behavior, and he was removed from his home and sent to the “Colored Waif's Home for Boys.”

At the waif’s home Armstrong received music lessons on the cornet from musician Peter Davis, and eventually became the leader of the Waif's Home Band. He was released in 1914, and during a coal delivery to the Storyville district, met Joe “King” Oliver, the best-known cornet player in the New Orleans. Oliver became Armstrong’s mentor, and helped him get work with a number of local bands.

By 1918, Armstrong was a member of the Kid Ory band with Oliver as its leader. When Oliver moved to Chicago, Armstrong took over the leadership of the band. The next year Armstrong was hired by Fate Marable to play in his band aboard Mississippi River steamboats.

In 1922, Armstrong was lured to Chicago by Oliver to join his band, “King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band,” which featured a stellar lineup of musicians including Oliver on cornet, Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Baby Dodds on drums, Charlie Jackson on banjo, and Lil Hardin on piano. Armstrong became the second cornetist and with Oliver, created a sensation at the city’s Lincoln Gardens with the brilliance of their cornet duets.

Armstrong made his first recordings with the Creole Jazz Band for the Gennett label in 1923. The first recording Armstrong appeared on was “Chimes Blues” which featured a brilliant Armstrong solo. With Armstrong on second cornet, The Creole Jazz Band made some of the best and most influential recordings of early jazz including, “Mandy Lee Blues,” “Dippermouth Blues,” “Just Gone,” and “Canal Street Blues.”

Armstrong married the band’s pianist, Lil Hardin, in 1924. Later that year, he moved to New York City and joined Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra and continued to perform and record superb solos for Henderson. During this period, Armstrong established himself as the premier blues sideman on recordings with Bessie Smith, Bertha “Chippie” Hill, and others. Perhaps the most famous of Armstrong’s blues collaborations is the session with Bessie Smith that produced “St. Louis Blues” and “Reckless Blues.”

Despite achieving much in New York, Armstrong quit Fletcher Henderson’s band and returned to Chicago in 1925 to make his first recordings for Okeh with his recording group, “Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.”

Although it didn’t seem possible for Armstrong to outdo his work with Oliver, he did just that with a set of recordings of unparalleled brilliance, “The Hot Fives and Hot Sevens.” With support from former Creole Jazz Band members, Johnny Dodds, Baby Dodds, Lil Hardin, and Kid Ory, plus banjo player Johnny St. Cyr, Armstrong redefined jazz music on colourful recordings with equally colourful titles such as “Struttin’ with Some Barbeque,” Skid-Dat-De-Dat,” “Cornet Chop Suey,” “Big Butter and Egg Man,” and “Yes! I’m in the Barrel.”

Armstrong would be heard singing for the first time on these recordings and revealed that in addition to being the best jazz instrumentalist, he was also a vocalist of exceptional ability. Armstrong was credited with creating the wordless singing style of “scat” during a Hot Five recording session for “Heebie Jeebies” when he dropped the paper which contained the words to the song. Instead of stopping, Armstrong improvised some wordless vocalization.

By the late Twenties, The Hot Five had expanded to the Hot Seven with the addition of the great Earl Hines on piano and some shuffling of the original Hot Five lineup. This new outfit continued to produce sides of jazz genius such as, “Willie the Weeper,” “Potato Head Blues,” “Wild Man Blues,” “Alligator Crawl,” and the recording which has been cited by many jazz critics as the single most brilliant recording of jazz music, “West End Blues.”

While recording with the Hot Five, Armstrong worked with Erskine Tate and the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra. Armstrong moved with Dickerson to New York City in 1929, and appeared the same year in the Broadway musical; “Hot Chocolates.” In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first film, “Ex-Flame.”

Armstrong was gradually becoming a nationally-known music star, and his fame began to spread abroad largely due to the success of the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings. He toured the United States and Europe throughout the Thirties. During the Forties, his appearances in films and exposure via radio solidified and magnified his star status. He would perform at Carnegie Hall, in New York City, in 1947.

Armstrong continued to be an extremely popular figure in jazz throughout the evolutions of the music through swing, bebop, and the avant-garde. While many of the musicians who were with him during the creation of the music had been forgotten, Armstrong never ceased to have a viable career. He continued to tour the world, including visits to Eastern Europe and Africa. He also continued to record with his fellow jazz musicians. His health began to deteriorate in 1959, however, when he was hospitalized following a heart attack in Italy.

In 1964, Armstrong’s single “Hello, Dolly!” became the number one hit on Billboard’s pop charts, just as the Beatles were first experiencing “Beatlemania” in America. Armstrong’s hit with Hello Dolly was the last time a jazz recording would top the pop charts before rock and roll took full control of them.

Armstrong continued making movie and television appearances, in addition to performing live, despite continuing heart problems, hospital stays and advice from his doctors to rest. Armstrong’s rendition of the song, “What a Wonderful World,” became a hit in 1968. The song would become a hit again in 1988, when it was included in the film, “Good Morning Vietnam.” In 1971, after performing at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, Armstrong died in his sleep at his home.

Armstrong’s best recorded works are from the Twenties, but fortunately, these recordings are quite well-preserved. Even his first recordings with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band are quite high-fidelity considering they were recorded before the use of microphones. Several excellent compilations of the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens and Armstrong’s later Twenties work are available from Columbia, and they all feature excellent sound quality. Good compilations can also be found of Armstrong’s recordings with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band.

Armstrong started recording full-length albums in the Fifties, and his best albums include, “Louis Armstrong Plays WC Handy” (1954), “Satch Plays Fats” (1955), “Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson” (1959), and “Satchmo Plays King Oliver” (1960).

The Rolling Stones: Midnight Ramblers

The Rolling Stones are, save the Beatles, the most famous rock band of all time. The Stones emerged from London around the same time that the Beatles were breaking out from their hometown, Liverpool. While the Beatles have long ago parted, The Rolling Stones are still a functioning rock band, although with its members now in their seventies, the band is now only occasionally productive.

The Stones current lineup consists of Mick Jagger on lead vocals; Keith Richards on guitar; Charlie Watts on drums; and Ron Wood on guitar. All the current members except Wood have been with the band from the beginning, and the band has seen limited personnel changes despite its long run of 50 years.

The Stones started out in the early Sixties as one of the finest white blues bands of the day, led at that time, by the late blues guitarist, Brian Jones. In the band’s earliest incarnation, they were a blues and R&B band, and Jones was the driving force and resident blues expert. The band’s name came from the Muddy Waters song, “Rollin’ Stone.” The band played their first gig at London’s Marquee Club before landing a regular gig at the Crawdaddy Club. Former Beatles publicist, Andrew Loog Oldham became the Stones manager around this time.

Oldham’s first act was to secure a lucrative recording deal for his new band. Decca Records, which was still reeling from their failure to sign the Beatles, offered Oldham a sweet deal for the Stones. Oldham, then began to publicize the Stones as the anti-Beatles, a band of louts who were the polar opposite of the clean and decent Beatles. In spring 1963, Decca released the first Stones’ single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s, “Come On.”

The Stones recorded their debut album, “The Rolling Stones,” in 1964. The album only contained one song written by Jagger and Richards, with the rest of the songs being blues cover songs. Oldham encouraged Jagger and Richards to work on their songwriting, as he believed that the band would have limited appeal if it continued to just perform songs by “middle-aged blacks.” Two more albums relying heavily on covers of R&B and blues, “The Rolling Stones Number 2” and “The Rolling Stones Now,” were released in 1965. The songwriting team of Jagger and Richards were beginning to produce results with their first self-written hit, “Heart of Stone,” appearing in 1964.

The Stones first album with a significant amount of original material, “Out of Our Heads,” was released in 1965. This album contained the Stones first big international hit single, “Satisfaction,” and the single turned the band into bona-fide pop stars. The album contained several other excellent tracks such as, “Play with Fire” and “The Last Time.”

The Stones would continue to improve on their next release, “Aftermath” (1966), an album of mostly original songs that includes the early classic songs, “Mother’s Little Helper,” “Lady Jane,” and “Under My Thumb.” The latter track riled feminists and helped to solidify the band’s “bad boy” image.

In early 1967, the band’s next album, “Between the Buttons,” was released. This album saw the band moving away from the blues and R&B they had long focused on, and further into the realm of rock and the psychedelia that was so pervasive at the time. Later in 1967, the band would dive headlong into psychedelia with “Their Satanic Majesties Request,” a full-blown psychedelic freak out which was panned by many critics, but is still an interesting offering with the excellent tracks, “She’s A Rainbow” and “2000 Light Years from Home.”

Between 1968 and 1972, the band would enjoy a golden period that would see the band record an outstanding string of albums which are all now considered among the very best albums of 20^th century popular music.

The first, “Beggar’s Banquet,” appeared in 1968, and featured some of the best rock and blues tracks ever recorded by a rock band. “Sympathy for the Devil” is the most famous track on the album, followed closely by ”Street Fighting Man.” The blues chops of the band, especially in the case of Brian Jones, are on full display on tracks such as “No Expectations” which features fine slide blues guitar by Jones. “Prodigal Son” is a fine country blues cover. Brian Jones would die tragically from drowning in his swimming pool shortly after the release of the album.

In 1969, “Let it Bleed” appeared, and like its predecessor, it contained excellent tracks of rock and blues. Several of the band’s most famous songs are found here such as, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” “Gimme Shelter,” and the title track. The cover of Robert Johnson’s “Love in Vain” is one of the highlights of the band’s recording career.

After a two-year hiatus from the studio, during which time the excellent live album, “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out” (1970) appeared, another classic album, “Sticky Fingers” (1971), was released. The album was the hardest rocking Stones album yet, and featured new guitarist, Mick Taylor, who was brought in to replace the deceased Brian Jones. Taylor’s presence on the album gave the band a fuller rock sound that was exploited on the numbers, “Bitch,” “Can’t You Hear Me knocking,” and “Brown Sugar.” A fine country-rock moment can be heard with “Wild Horses,” a song that Keith Richards wrote with Gram Parsons of the Flying Burrito Brothers.

In 1972, the comprehensive and outstanding double album, “Exile on Main Street,” was released, and it is considered by many as the band’s definitive work. A slew of blues, R&B, and even gospel tunes populate the album along side rock songs such as the hits, “Happy” and “Tumbling Dice.” 

The Stones’ work started to slide in the mid-Seventies, with the band recording several albums which were several notches below the superb work of the past. Keith Richard’s drug use would become an issue, especially following his arrest at a Toronto hotel. It was not until 1978 that the band would finally make an album worthy of their reputation. That album was “Some Girls” (1978), featuring the stellar tracks, “Shattered” and “Beast of Burdon.”

The band’s work from the Eighties to present has been spotty, but there have always been fine moments such as the album releases, “Tattoo You” (1981), “Stripped” (1995), “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” (1996), and “Shine a Light” (2008).

The band is still a touring unit and they have ventured into new territory, playing concerts in Shanghai, China, in 2009.