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.

Woody Guthrie: This Land is Your Land

Woody Guthrie was the most important figure in the history of American folk music. Guthrie was more than a singer and musician. He was a real-life incarnation of John Steinbeck’s character of Tom Joad from the Grapes of Wrath and a committed left-wing political activist.

Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1912. When he was 14 he began playing the guitar and harmonica and learned the English and Scottish folk songs from the parents of his friends. Despite being a bright student, Guthrie dropped out of high school and started busking on streets. When he was eighteen his father called for him to come to Texas to attend school, but Guthrie spent his time busking and reading in the library.  By 1930, Guthrie joined thousands of other “Okies” (Oklahomans) who were migrating to California to search for work and escape the “dust bowl” drought that plagued Oklahoma.

In California, Guthrie worked odd jobs, and by the end of the thirties, he had managed to land a job playing folk and “hillbilly” music on the radio. At this time he would write the songs about his experiences during the dustbowl era migration to California that would later become his legendary collection of dustbowl ballads. In 1936, he would begin to perform at communist party events in California, and although he never joined the party, he would later be tagged as a communist.

By the 1940s, Guthrie was in New York City, and his “Oklahoma cowboy” nickname and reputation endeared him to the leftist folk music community in the city. He would record his album, “Dust Bowl Ballads” (1940) for the Victor Records in Camden, New Jersey, shortly after his arrival. The album has long been hailed as a superb document of an episode of American history told by a man who lived it. Guthrie would also record for Alan Lomax of the Library of Congress, singing and speaking about his adventures of the dust bowl period of ten years before.

Guthrie would land another radio job in New York, this time as the host of the “Pipe Smoking Time” show which was sponsored by a tobacco company. He also appeared on CBS radio on the program, “Back Where I Came From”. He managed to get a sopt on the show for his friend, the legendary black folk singer, Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter. By 1941, Guthrie was off to Washington State to write and perform songs about the construction of Grand Coulee Dam in the employ of the American Department of the Interior. Guthrie wrote 26 songs for a film which was to be produced about the project, but the film never came to fruition. The songs, “Pastures of Plenty” and “Grand Coulee Dam” would become well known nonetheless.

In 1944, Guthrie met Moses Asch of Folkways Records for whom Guthrie would record hundreds of songs including the first recording of perhaps his best known tune, “This Land is Your Land”. Folkways would later release these songs in various collections.

By the mid 1950s, Guthrie’s health was deteriorating with the onset of Huntington’s disease. He was eventually bedridden in Bellevue Hospital, and in 1960 was visited by a very young and awestruck admirer, Bob Dylan.

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.



Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth

Buffalo Springfield formed as a result of a famous chance meeting on the Sunset Strip between Neil Young and Steven Stills. After driving his 53’Pontiac hearse from Toronto to Los Angeles with his friend, bassist Bruce Palmer, Neil Young encountered Stills on that famous street. Stills was with his friend, singer and guitarist Ritchie Furay, at the time. Stills and Young had previously met in Toronto and instantly recognized each other. The four musicians stopped, chatted, and decided to form a band. Americans Stills and Furay and Canadians Young, Palmer, and drummer Dewey Martin would become famous as “Buffalo Springfield” in 1966.

Buffalo Springfield released their debut album, “Buffalo Springfield” in 1966 and found instant critical acclaim and popularity. Their music could best be described as folk-rock, but this talented assemblage of musicians played a variety of styles including folk, country, rock, and pop. “For what it’s Worth,” “Go and Say Goodbye,” Flying on The Ground Is Wrong,” and “Nowadays Clancy Can Even Sing” are all classic tracks from the debut album.

With their next effort, “Buffalo Springfield Again” (1967), the band would produce their masterpiece. This album was more consistent than the debut and featured more studio polish courtesy of producer Jack Nitzche. “Expecting to Fly” and “Broken Arrow,” two songs by Neil Young, are the albums’ highlights.

 The band would produce one more solid album, “Last Time Around” (1968), featuring outstanding tracks in “Kind Woman,” “One the Way Home,” and “I Am a Child” before disbanding.

Despite their brief run of just two years, Buffalo Springfield was a hugely influential band that spawned the solo careers of Young and Stills and future country-rock bands Poco, Manassas and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

The Byrds: Eight Miles High

The Byrds are among the greatest bands in the history of American pop music. The band is the original folk-rock outfit and was the first band to play country-rock. Pioneered by folk singer turned rocker, Roger McGuinn, the Byrds saw many lineup changes throughout the years, but despite the turnover of musicians, the band always produced original and inspired music. Originally called the “Beefeaters,” the Byrds formed in early 1964 with members, McGuinn on guitar; David Crosby on guitar; Gene Clark on guitar; Michael Clarke on drums; and Chris Hillman on bass.

The Byrds “jangly” sound was derived from McGuinn’s 12-string Rickenbacker guitar. This trademark sound was in full evidence on their first album, “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965). The album opens with the title track, a rocking hit version of the Bob Dylan classic. Dylan songs would be covered often by the Byrds and be infused with that unmistakable Byrds sound.

The Byrds next recorded the very solid, “Turn, “Turn, “Turn” album in 1965. The title track of this album also became a big hit.

Two excellent albums came next: “Fifth Dimension” (1966) and “Younger than Yesterday” (1967) spawning hits with “Eight Miles High” and “So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star,” respectively.

It was at this point, seemingly at the peak of the band’s commercial and critical success, when Gene Clark and David Crosby departed to pursue solo careers. For their next project, “The Notorious Byrd Brothers” (1968), the band was reduced to a trio. No matter it seems when the listening to the result-a brilliant album of stunning experimental music. The album is inspired from start to finish, especially on numbers like, “Draft Morning,” “Wasn’t Born To Follow,” “Natural Harmony,” and “Get to You.”

Now a trio, the Byrds added new members, country-hippie Gram Parsons from the International Submarine Band and the superb country guitarist Clarence White. With the overt country influence of its new members, the Byrds produced the first true country-rock album, the excellent “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” (1968). Parsons soon left the band to form the Flying Burrito Brothers.

The Byrds had reached the peak of their creative powers and would continue to record until 1973, but only the “Untitled” album released in 1970 would approach the heights they achieved in the Sixties.

George Gershwin Songs

George Gershwin was an American pianist and modern classical composer whose contributions to popular music fall within the realm of jazz. Gershwin was the first classical musician or composer who embraced the new 20^th century music of jazz and melded it with classical music.

Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn, New York, in 1898, to Russian/Ukrainian parents. He studied piano from age ten under the tutelage of classical pianist Charles Hambitzer, who would remain Gershwin’s mentor until Gershwin was around 20-years-old.

Gershwin began his music career upon dropping out of high school at age 15, finding work as a songwriter of pop tunes in New York City’s famed Tin Pan Alley. His first successful song was the ragtime hit, “Rialto Ripples,” in 1917. Two years later he penned the famous song, “Swanee,” which would become a huge hit for Al Jolson. Gershwin also produced piano rolls for player pianos for the Aeolian company.

Gershwin began writing jazz songs in the early Twenties with lyricist Buddy DeSylva and his brother, Ira Gershwin. The team’s early songs included “Oh, Lady Be Good” and “Fascinating Rhythm.” These classic songs were followed by “Funny Face,” “I Got Rhythm,” and “Of Thee I Sing.”

In 1924, Gershwin wrote the jazz-infused modern classical masterpiece, “Rhapsody in Blue.” This famous work was introduced to the world by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in a New York City performance. Gershwin then headed to Paris with the ambition of furthering his classical training, but was rejected by several prospective mentors including Maurice Ravel. While in Paris, Gershwin penned another jazzy classical masterpiece, “An American in Paris,” which made its debut at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in 1928.

In 1929, Gershwin turned his attention to Hollywood and the burgeoning film industry that required his musical talents to write scores. He wrote the score for the film, “Delicious,” in 1929, but was upset when much of the music he wrote was scrapped by the film’s producers.

Gershwin, embittered by the treatment of the Delicious score, switched his efforts back to classical music and wrote the American folk opera masterpiece, “Porgy and Bess,” which contained some of Gershwin’s most brilliant compositions including, “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “I Got Plenty of Nuttin’,” and “Summertime.” Porgy and Bess was a commercial failure at the time, but has since become a staple of American opera and popular music.

Gershwin returned to Hollywood and wrote film scores, including the one for the Fred Astaire musical, “Shall We Dance.” In 1937, Gershwin died suddenly from the effects of a brain tumor.

Gershwin’s music is best heard on the following collections: “Rhapsody in Blue/An American in Paris (New York Philharmonic; The Columbia Symphony/ Leonard Bernstein)” (1959), ‘S Marvelous: The Gershwin Songbook” (1994) and “The Essential George Gershwin” (2003).

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).

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Swamp Rock

Creedence Clearwater Revival, often referred to as simply, “CCR,” is among the ranks of the greatest-ever American pop/rock bands. The tremendous commercial success and critical acclaim that the band attracted during their relatively short career places the band among the elite of American rockers.

Emerging from the working-class town of El Cerrito, California, in the mid-Sixties as the “Blue Velvets” and then later, the “Golliwogs,” CCR evolved into the quintessential American band with a sound that rejected the psychedelic fashion of the day in favor of a rootsy, traditional sound heavily influenced by country and blues music. Their sound would be dubbed, “swamp rock” as it was reminiscent of Southern performers such as Dale Hawkins and Lightnin’ Slim and evoked images of the American South.

CCR was comprised of Stu Cook on bass, Doug Clifford on drums, and the Fogerty brothers, Tom and John, on guitar. John Fogerty was lead singer, lead guitarist, sole songwriter and the creative force of the band. It was his creative domination of the band that would eventually lead to resentment by the other members and eventual dissolution of the band.

John Fogerty wrote some of the greatest songs in rock history during CCR’s run and many were released as singles that reached high positions on the pop charts. “Proud Mary,” “Born on the Bayou,” “Fortunate Son”, “Down on the Corner,” “Lodi”, “Green River,” Who’ll Stop the Rain,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” and others cemented John Fogerty’s place in rock history.

CCR’s hit singles are scattered fairly evenly through their studio albums. All CCR’s albums, “Creedence Clearwater Revival”, (1968) “Bayou Country” (1969), “Green River” (1969), “Willie and the Poor Boys” (1969), “Cosmo’s Factory” (1970) and “Pendulum” (1970), are classics, save the last one, “Mardi Gras” (1972), which was an extremely spotty effort..

It was on Mardi Gras that John Fogerty encouraged his band mates, Clifford and Cook, to contribute songs. The result: several good songs by John such as “Sweet Hitchhiker” and “Someday Never Comes” and mediocre ones by the others. This album proved once and for all that CCR was really a one-man show, after all.



Del Shannon: Runaway

Del Shannon was one of the bright lights in the somewhat barren pop musical landscape of the early Sixties that stood in the middle of the creation of rock and roll and the arrival of the Beatles. Shannon was one of the only true rockers in the early Sixties who was singing, playing guitar, and writing his own material.

Shannon was born Charles Weedon Westover in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1937. After a stint in the US Army in Germany, Shannon returned home to Michigan where he formed a band called “The Midnight Ramblers.” By 1961, he was on his own with a recording contract with Big Top Records and a No. 1 hit with the classic single, “Runaway,” one of the greatest rock songs of the decade. The song was highlighted by Shannon’s famous falsetto singing and a legendary solo on the musitron, a high-pitched organ, by Max Crook.

Shannon would score several more big hits during the Sixties with the songs, “Little Town Flirt, “ “Hats Off to Larry,” and a cover version of The Beatles’ “From Me to You” which was a hit for Shannon in America in 1963, a full 6 month before the Beatles had an American hit record.

Following the death of Roy Orbison in 1988, it was rumoured that The Traveling Willburys were considering Shannon, who had fallen on hard times, as a replacement. However, no such undertaking happened, and Shannon died of a self-inflicted rifle wound in early 1990.

The following Del Shannon albums are recommended as essential listening: “Runaway with Del Shannon” (1963), “Little Town Flirt” (1964), and “The Further Adventures of Charles Westover" (1968).

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.

Dion and the Belmonts: Legendary Doo Wop

Dion and the Belmonts, from New York City, was one of the most successful doo-wop groups that emerged during the late Fifties. Their lead singer, Dion DiMucci, was the soulful vocal centerpiece of the band. The band enjoyed a string of hits in the early sixties with songs such as “Lonely Teenager,” “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer,” “Ruby Baby,” and “Lovers Who Wander.”

When the Belmonts disbanded in the early Sixties, their leader, Di Mucci, would reemerge as “Dion” and record an excellent self-titled solo album in 1968 which would feature his huge solo hit, “Abraham, Martin and John.” The album was a departure from the doo-wop music of the earlier period.

Dimucci’s life was spared when he opted to not board the ill-fated flight in Clear Lake, Iowa, that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper following a concert in February, 1959.

Dion Dimucci’s best albums with and without the Belmonts include “Alone with Dion” (1961), “Runaround Sue” (1961), and “Dion” (1968). The best Dion and the Belmonts compilation is likely, “Dion & the Belmonts-20 Greatest Hits” (1985).



Kid Ory Muscrat Ramble

Kid Ory, born in La Place, Louisiana, in 1886, was the king of the trombone in the early years of jazz music in New Orleans. He started out played banjo, but later switched to trombone. Ory would become known for his “tailgate” style that had the trombone playing rhythmic lines underneath the free soloing of clarinets and cornets. From 1912 to 1919, Ory led an extremely popular band in New Orleans which had as members, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet and Jimmie Noone.

Ory moved to California in 1919, and in 1922, King Ory’s Creole Orchestra became the first African-American jazz band to make a recording when they recorded the songs “Ory’s Creole Trombone” and “Society Blues.” In 1925, Ory moved to Chicago, joining the migration of New Orleans jazz musicians who were seeking fame and fortune in the Windy City. In Chicago, Ory played with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz band, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five and Hot Seven and later with Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers.

During the Depression, Ory found himself out of work along with many of his colleagues. For several years he ran a chicken ranch with his brother and returned to music when the New Orleans style jazz revival happened in the Forties. He reformed the Kid Ory’s Creole Jazz Band in 1943, and Ory was able to play jazz until he retired in 1966, and he died at a ripe old age in 1973.

The compilation albums, “Ory’s Creole Trombone: Greatest Recordings 1922-1944” (1995) and “The Chronological Classics: Kid Ory 1922-1945” (1999) are among the best available compilations of his music.

Larry Williams :Bad Boy

Larry Williams is one of the almost forgotten fathers of rock and roll. Williams, a pianist, had a number of huge hits during the mid-Fifties as rock and roll was beginning to dominate American popular music. Several of Williams’ songs would be recorded by more famous bands and singers, and become forever associated with them. The Beatles recorded Williams’ songs, “Slow Down,” “Bad Boy,” and “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” during the earliest phase of their recording career.

Williams was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1935. He made his recording debut in 1957 for Specialty Records with a ballad, “Just Because.” Williams’ forte, however, was up-tempo rockers, and he scored a hit later the same year with the rocker, “Bonie Maronie.” A slew of hits would soon follow including, “Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” Bad Boy,” and “Short Fat Fanny.”

Williams didn’t enjoy much success after 1957, and he fell back into the underworld life of drug-peddling that consumed much of his time prior to his music career. In the mid-Sixties, he made a comeback with an R&B band which included guitarist Johnny Guitar Watson, and he produced a couple of albums for his friend, Little Richard.

This success would not last as his drug addiction kept dragging him down. In 1977, he pulled a gun on Little Richard and threatened to kill him over a drug debt. Shortly thereafter, Williams was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head, in his Los Angeles home. His death was officially deemed a suicide. He was 44-years-old at the time of his demise.

Williams’ best recordings are found on the albums, “Here’s Larry Williams” (1959), “The Larry Williams Show (ft. Johnny Guitar Watson)” (1965), and “The Best of Larry Williams” (1988).

John Prine: Illegal Smile

John Prine was one of the best of the folk-flavoured singer/songwriters that emerged alongside Neil Young and others in the early Seventies. Prine, who is still active today, is one of the wittiest songwriters of the singer/songwriter clan. When he appeared on the scene in the early Seventies, he was designated by some writers as a “New Dylan,” an up and coming singer/songwriter with talent and integrity reminiscent of the young Dylan.

Prine was born in Maywood, Illinois, in 1946, and following a stint in the US Postal Service, became involved in the Chicago folk scene of the late Sixties. A chance meeting with pop singer Paul Anka led to a chance to record, and his brilliant debut album, “John Prine” was released in 1971. Prine's debut was a superb collection of topical songs that included, “Sam Stone,” a tale of a drug-addicted Vietnam veteran, “Hello in There,” a song about the neglect of the elderly, and “Paradise,” a plea for the conservation of nature.

Prine's sophomore effort, “Diamonds in the Rough” (1972) was another fine work with solid songs such as the title track and “They Ought to Name a Drink after You,” all delivered with spare accompaniment. “Sweet Revenge,” an album that rivals Prine's terrific debut album as his best release, followed in 1973. Sweet Revenge was another superb collection of folk and country-inflected songs, this time with the support of a larger studio band. Highlights from this one include, “Christmas in Prison,” “Please Don’t Bury Me,” “Dear Abby,” and “Mexican Home.”

Prine's next few albums saw him exploring a more rock-oriented sound fleshed out by a backing band that included electric guitar, bass, and heavy drums. The effect was partially-successful on solid releases such as “Common Sense” (1975) and “Pink Cadillac” (1979). “Bruised Orange,” an excellent release from 1978, was a return to his simpler folk sound.

The Eighties was a quiet period for Prine from a recording standpoint. He recorded a few studio albums, but nothing of note.

In 1991, however, Prine was back with a vengeance. With the help of fellow musicians and admirers such as Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and Tom Petty, he recorded another classic, “The Missing Years,” a brilliant folk-rock album brimming with top notch songs such as “Picture Show,” “Great Rain,” “The Sins of Memphisto,” and the title track.

Despite being recently sidelined with throat cancer, Prine continues to tour and record often brilliant albums. His most recent classics are “In Spite of Ourselves” (1995) and “Fair and Square” (2006).

John Prine

Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Heart Like a Wheel

Kate and Anna McGarrigle are sisters from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, who in 1975 formed a folk duo and went on to write and record some of the best contemporary folk music of the last 30 years. The musical McGarrigle family grew as Kate married folk singer, Loudon Wainwright and bore him musical children, singers Martha and Rufus Wainwright.

The McGarrigles appeared on the music scene in 1976 with the release of their classic debut album, “Kate and Anna McGarrigle,” a superb collection of songs ranging from folk and blues to gospel all sung with the McGarrigle sisters’ trademark tight harmonies. The album’s highlights are the songs “Mendocino” and “Heart like a Wheel,” with the latter tune becoming a hit for Linda Ronstadt. The song, “Go Leave” is for Kate’s husband Loudon Wainwright, with whom she had a famously difficult marriage.

The McGarrigle’s follow-up release, “Dancer with Bruised Knees” (1977), was another fine effort that like the debut album, included several songs sung in French.

The McGarrigles have continued to record fine albums, and the best of their more recent offerings are “French Record” (1981), “Love Over and Over” (1982), “Heartbeats Accelerating” (1990), and “Matapedia” (1996).

Leonard Cohen Songs: I'm Your Man

Leonard Cohen, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1936, is one of the most enduring of the folk music heroes that emerged during the Sixties. As a songwriter, he is only rivaled by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and few others in the folk/rock universe. Cohen is noted for his quirky takes on the traditional love song and his use of religious imagery to paint portraits of regret and heartbreak.

Cohen’s debut album was the stark, “Songs of Leonard Cohen” (1967), which features his spare guitar playing and solemn, almost spoken vocals. The album contains the superb songs, “Suzanne,” “Master Song,” “The Strange Song,” and “So Long, Marianne.” Cohen’s guitar and vocals are tastefully supported by the occasional restrained electric guitar, string, reed, horn or woodwind.

Cohen’s debut may well be his masterpiece, but several other contenders were yet to come, including, “Songs of Love and Hate” from 1971. This album is sonically quite similar to his debut and contains somewhat less familiar, although just as memorable songs such as, “Avalanche” and “Dress Rehearsal Rag.” In 1974, Cohen recorded the fine album, “New Skin for the Old Ceremony,” the first of his albums in several years to rival his earliest work. The music here is somewhat sunnier than that on his earlier classics with a somewhat countryish flavor.

Cohen has disappeared from the music scene for long periods during his career to pursue other artistic endeavours such as writing books or poetry, but he has always managed to return with his faculties intact. After a long hiatus, Cohen returned to music in 1988, and recorded another classic with the synth-pop album, “I’m Your Man,” featuring the classic songs, “First We Take Manhattan” and “Take This Waltz.”

Cohen is still active in music today, now well into his seventies. 

Little Feat Dixie Chicken

Little Feat was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, by guitarist/songwriter Lowell George and bassist Roy Estrada. Both men were former members of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. The original lineup was completed with the addition of Richard Hayward on drums and Bill Payne on keyboards.  Their first two albums were “Little Feat” (1971) and “Sailin’ Shoes” (1972). The albums were critical successes but failed by commercial standards. 

The band broke up during 1971-72, but reformed with new members, Paul Barrere on guitar and Sam Clayton on percussion. Roy Estrada was replaced on bass by Kenny Gradney. The first album featuring the new lineup is the classic, “Dixie Chicken” (1973). The album is widely-hailed as their best ever and its tighter, funkier sound is thanks in large part to its new members.

The band produced two more excellent efforts with “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” (1974) and “The Last Record Album” (1975). Apparently Barrere and Payne needed to relieve Lowell George of much of his songwriting duties due to George’s escalating drug use.

Despite their increased popularity, Little Feat would never enjoy broad mainstream success. The concert tours that Little Feat embarked upon in the late Seventies rendered the material for the double live album “Waiting for Columbus” (1978).

Lowell George disbanded Little Feat in 1979 and embarked on a solo career. He died shortly thereafter of a heart attack the same year. Little Feat’s final album with George, “Down on the Farm,” was released after his death, in 1979.

Little Feat Publicity Pic

Carl Perkins: Blue Suede Shoes

Carl Perkins, born in Tipton, Tennessee, in 1932, is one of the fathers of rock and roll music. Perkins started his career playing country music and then became a rockabilly performer when that style gained prominence on the strength of Elvis Presley’s first recordings with Sun Records. Perkins also recorded for Sun Records with Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis as label mates.

Perkins recorded his first single in 1955, and in 1956, he recorded his classics, “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Honey Don’t.” The former tune would become a rock standard and be recorded by a plethora of artists including Elvis Presley. The latter song would be covered by The Beatles in the early Sixties. By the Sixties, Perkins had returned to country music.

Among Perkin’s classics recordings are the following albums and compilations: “Dance Album of Carl Perkins” (1958), “Whole Lotta Shakin’,” (1958), “Original Golden Hits” (1970), and “Original Sun Greatest Hits” (1986).

Perkins, one of the true gentlemen of rock and roll and country music, died in 1998.

Original Yellow Label Sun Single

Little Richard: Tutti Frutti

Little Richard was probably the most flamboyant of the early fathers of rock and roll. Richard’s flamboyance, which usually manifested itself in colorful clothing and animated behavior, also found expression through Richard’s claims that he had invented rock and roll music. Nevertheless, he was a singer, pianist, and songwriter of the highest order, and one of the most influential figures in rock and roll history

Richard was born Richard Wayne Penniman in Macon, Georgia, in 1932. He started his career as an R&B singer/pianist, making his first recording in 1951 with the single, “Taxi Blues,” for RCA. Richard recorded several more singles before he scored his first big hit with “Tutti Fruitti” in 1955. The next year, 1956, would see Richard record a slew of hits including the classic songs, “Long Tall Sally,” “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Ready Teddy,” and “Rip it Up.”

In 1957, a full-length album of Richard’s songs would appear, “Here’s Little Richard,” one of the first rock album masterpieces. The album contained all of Richard’s hit singles up to that point and other fine tracks. Another classic album would follow in 1958, with “Little Richard,” featuring the classic songs, “Keep-A-Knockin,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “Lucille,” and “The Girl Can’t Help It.” Richard’s popularity and fine piano chops helped to position the piano as an important instrument in early rock and roll.

In the Fifties, Richard disappeared from the pop music scene as quickly as he had appeared, turning to bible studies at a theological college. He would record only gospel music for the next four years. Little Richard eventually returned to rock and roll and is still active today.

Little Richard