I had such a strong affinity for early delta blues, it really took me a while to warm up to post-war rhythm & blues. My natural snobbish instinct was to agree with Son House's rant in Festival! . And I still do think that he's right. It's not the BLUSE. Upbeat, with rhythm and energy... Call it jump blues if you want, but for so many days, it's what keeps me going. [ FYI - that's Little Walter on the cover ] [...]
Last month I announced the end of the In Memoriam column. The reaction, by comments and messages via email and Facebook, surprised me. I had been under the impression, acquired by the few comments they received and the very average hits recorded, that the feature was only mildly popular (which serves to stress the importance to comment on posts in features you enjoy). The labour required for the In Memoriam feature remains prohibitive, but by cutting out what really took a lot of time – researching and collating the music and pictures – I can still provide a [...]
One of the queens of American music passes away at the age of 73.
The blues / R&B world has taken a huge hit over the past few days as we've lost both Etta James and Johnny Otis. James lost her battle with leukemia today and also suffered from dementia and hepatitis C, while Otis passed away at the age of 90 on Tuesday. [Photo by Jeremy Gordon ] Etta James helped bridge the gap between R&B, blues and rock since she entered the music biz in the '50s. Not only was she in the Rock & [...]
Jimmy Castor Rough week for fans of raunchy R&B: we lost both Jimmy Castor, creator of the timeless "Troglodyte," as well as the highly influential Johnny Otis, best known for "Willy and the Hand Jive." Saxophonist Jimmy Castor, who headlined the Jimmy Castor Band, and whose biggest hit, 1972′s "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" has been sampled by the likes of Madonna, Kanye West, the Wu-Tang Clan, N.W.A., Christina Aguilera and Blackstreet, died Monday in Las Vegas. He was 64. Castor's songs were known for featuring a recurring cast of characters including a caveman who chants "gotta find [...]
Johnny Otis, one of the creators of rock and roll but primarily remembered as the godfather of rhythm and blues, has passed away at 90. Otis died at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena... Continue reading "RIP Johnny Otis, the Godfather of Rhythm and Blues" >
Filed under: News , R.I.P. GAB Archive, Redferns Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnny Otis -- best known for writing the 1958 hit 'Willie and the Hand Jive' -- died Jan. 17 in Los Angeles. He was 90. According to the Los Angeles Times , Otis -- born Johnny Veliotes -- was raised in Berkeley, CA, and began playing drums in his early 20s around the Los Angeles R&B scene which predominantly [...]
The Associated Press reports that Johnny Otis, the Greek-American singer and bandleader who did a ton to introduce black music to white audiences, died on Tuesday at home in Altadena, California. He was 90. As a bandleader, Otis scored is first hit with "Harlem Nocturne" in 1945, but he's still best-known for 19502s "Willie And The Hand Jive." In the immediate pre-rock era, Otis dominated Billboard's R&B charts, and talents like Etta James and Big Mama Thornton sang in his bands. He later worked as a radio host and wrote "Every Beat Of My Heart" for Gladys [...]
The Godfather of Rhythm and Blues is dead at 90.
The obituary of a fascinating man is here .
Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie / photo by Dave Lichterman Quite possibly invigorated after his recent split with Zooey Deschanel, Death Cab For Cutie front man Ben Gibbard has rallied the troops and will be playing a slew of dates around the globe beginning in February. The North Amercian leg of the tour will kick off in April and feature Youth Lagoon opening a number of performances, including their May 13 stop at The Paramount in Seattle. Not only that, but the US and Canadian dates will feature [...]
Here's hoping you had a fine 2011 ... and that you will experience a great 2012. See you in the new year. MP3: "Happy New Year Baby" by Johnny Otis & His Orchestra MP3: "Merry Christmas, Happy New Year" by Lee "Scratch" Perry & Sandra Robinson MP3: "New Year's Resolution" by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas MP3: "Queer For The New Year" by Blowfly [...]
Last night, while aimlessly flipping through TV channels, I stumbled upon a Fox News Channel commentator bitching about President Obama vacationing with his family in Hawaii for the holidays. Now on Fox they're always bitching about Obama, but I thought: "The dude can take a holiday vacation with his family. I'm taking a holiday vacation, even if it's only one day. You should take one too, Mr. Fox News Channel." Then I realized, that was the first time in about two weeks of this holiday season that I had even given a passing thought to President Obama. Or [...]
Teena Marie The passing of R&B singer/songwriter Teena Marie on the day after Christmas (and, recently, Captain Beefheart ) got us to thinking about these rock and roll tragedies, and how many of them happen during the holiday season. Otis Redding's plane crashed in December 1967, while John Lennon was gunned down in December 1980. James Brown passed on Christmas Day 2006, Beach Boy Dennis Wilson drowned a few days before New Year's 1984 and guitarist Randy California of Spirit disappeared in a California riptide on [...]
ESPECIAL BLUES SYNDICATE Nº 8 - WHITE BLUES 1- Sintonia 2- Blue suede shoes. Carl Perkins (02.14) 3- Corrine corrine. Jerry Lee Lewis (02.02) 4- Willie and the hand jive. Johnny Otis (02.39) 5- Don´t start me talkin. John Hammond (02.57) 6- Bring it on home to me. The Animals (02.36) 7- Blues meddley. Mike Bloomfield (07.43) 8- Hate to see you go. Paul Butterfield Band (04.32) 9- Country blues. Elvin Bishop (04.38) 10- Why worry. John Mayall (03.10) 11- Someday afte a while. Eric Clapton (04.27) 12- Memory pain. Johnny Winter (05.28) 13- Pistol slapper blues. Rory Gallagher [...]
This week we have two variations on the toast version of Stag. First, we'll listen to Bruce Jackson ( official ) read a transcription. Bruce Jackson is the compiler of Get Your Ass In The Water and Swim Like Me!, a book first published in 1974. (You can click on this link to read part of the book on Google Books.) The book was reissued in 2004 with a CD of readings; since this is just basically a book on tape, Jackson doesn't expend a lot of energy acting the toast. [...]
Filed under: Around the World Did Bo know? That'd be Bo as in Diddley , of course. AKA Ellas McDaniel, the rock 'n' roll architect who passed away last year. And did he know that the famous beat that came to have his name on it -- clap along: duh-duh duh-duh-duh DUH DUH ... the engine driving ' Hey, Bo Diddley ,' 'Bo Diddley Was a Gunslinger,' 'Who Do You Love?' ... perpetuated by Buddy Holly in ' Not Fade Away ,' Johnny Otis with [...]
This week saw the passing of the great Earle Hagen . His name may not be a household word, but his music is burned into your brain. He was a TV theme writer extraordinaire, whose credits include catchy ditties for The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl, and The Mod Squad to name a few. A bunch of his themes are available at AM Then FM's Hagen tribute post. Hagen is also the composer behind "Harlem Nocturne", probably one of the most covered saxaphone songs in history (500 [...]
Awhile back I reacquainted myself with the soul singing sensation known as Little Esther or later on as simply Esther Phillips... Not that I was acquainted much with her in the first place, but she was sort of on my radar, although I occasionally probably confused her in my mind with Little Eva. For Little Eva, that former babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Eva's ride pretty much starts & stops at "The Locomotion". While Little Esther manages to grow up and get caught up in a bigger, meaner & much funkier [...]
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