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 ] [...]
Today is the second anniversary of Alex Chilton's untimely passing. Last year I posted a handful of the records that Alex covered. Today, I offer a few more of those songs that he lovingly interpreted over the years. Some you know, some you might not, all of them great. For more of these, tune into the archive of my March 14th show on WFMU's Rock 'n Soul Ichiban: HERE RIP LX Download: "Take [...]
The Kinks: Chapter 1. A Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame band at the beginning of its career.
Keeping with the vintage toons, here's another mostly soul mix for your listening pleasure. FYI - that's Inez Foxx on the cover. January 2012 Mix 01 Dionne Warwick - You're Gonna Need Me (1973) 02 Mable John - No Love (1960) 03 Gladys Knight & The Pips - Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime) (1969) 04 Barbara & The Browns - It Hurts Me So Much (To Be Able To Look And To [...]
Slim Harpo : I'm a King Bee [ purchase ] Muddy Waters : I'm a King Bee [ purchase ] I had big plans for Creepy Crawlies week. I started off with Praying Mantis, and then… our internet service went out for the remainder of the week. I'm a King Bee was one of the songs I never had a chance to post. I first heard I'm a King Bee on the Rolling Stones' first album. [...]
Slim Harpo (1924 -1970) was the man alright. A Louisiana swamp blues king if ever there was one, he never worked full-time as a musician. The trucking business was probably a safer bet. Nevertheless, many of his songs have long since become immortal, and were covered by the Stones, the Yardbirds, Them, and Alex Chilton amongst many others. His old friend and admirer Robert Pete Williams, a legendary bluesman in his own right, paid the 'original King Bee' an impressive tribute on the heartfelt Goodbye Slim Harpo . "Goodbye poor Slim, I see you again..." [...]
You certainly cannot say we don't respond to requests. Our good friend and ace photographer Art Meripol requested some more Slim Harpo today and here you go. Slim, the alias for James Moore, came out of the Louisiana swamps in the 1960s with songs like "I'm A King Bee," "Rainin' In My Heart," "Baby Scratch My Back" and many more. His music influenced many of the blues-based British invaders of the '60s like the Rolling Stones, Them, the Pretty Things, the Yardbirds and early Pink Floyd. Even so, James Moore was never [...]
We haven't done this in a while - just wailed with some blues. Perfect for a Monday, don't you think? MP3: "Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker MP3: "Forty Days and Forty Nights" by Muddy Waters MP3: "Make A Little Love" by Lowell Fulson MP3: "Little Red Rooster" by Sugar Blue MP3: "Key To [...]
mp3: Slim Harpo - Baby Scratch My Back Released in 1966 on Excello, Baby Scratch My Back went to #1 on the R&B chart and #16 on the Billboard chart. It was the loftiest recording from the man who began life in Louisiana as James Moore before becoming known as Harmonica Slim and then evolving into Slim Harpo. Today's selection was even bigger than I'm A King Bee, which Harpo released almost ten years prior and was covered by the Stones in '64. Both tunes carry his distinctive swamp blues sound -- very [...]
Patients, the doctors and nursemaids here at the asylum know you are well-versed in Johnny Cash's classic Sun Records penitentiary ballad, "Folsom Prison Blues," but today we wanted to usher in Slim Harpo's hip shakin' treatment of the classic cut. Recorded in 1969, a year prior to The Man in Black's revival at Folsom Prison, Slim's version handles Cash's take on the big house with flawless command. You don't get the infectious boom-chick-a-boom from the Cash treatment, but this Bob Wilson-produced reworking delivers a dose of rousing stovepipe soul; a rave-up, complete with the Bayou state bluesman's [...]
Here we have a video of the 45 "I Got Love If You Want It" by Slim Harpo. Slim Harpo @Amazon.com
Video of the Slim Harpo 45 "I'm A King Bee" 1966 UK release. Slim Harpo @Amazon.com
So lately the tumbleweed have been about the only things shakin' in these parts. What can i say? It's a mixture of being busy with the real non-musical world and the labor of love of writing about music has felt more like a labor than a love. Don't get me wrong, I've been listening to some great stuff lately, and I'm going to start sharing more of it with you this coming week as I work my way out of this funk. That being said, I'm serving up a second helping of Sunday Soul this week to make up for [...]
January is a very interesting month for birthdays of blues musicians. One of my favorites is Slim Harpo, who was born on 11 January 1924 and he passed away unexpectedly due to a heart attack on 31 January 1970. One of the foremost proponents of post-war rural blues, he began performing in Baton Rouge bars under the name Harmonica Slim. He later accompanied Lightnin' Slim, his brother-in-law, both live and in the studio, before commencing his own recording career in 1957. If you are not familiar with his music, might I recommend the mp3 CD [...]
Notes from YouTube; A touch of electric swamp blues from James Moore, aka Slim Harpo. Issued in the UK in 1966 on Stateside. Slim Harpo @Amazon.com
The Independent - read the full article here The Devil At The Crossroads Traditional blues is not about analyses and codification. It is about signs and portents, deeply felt emotion plainly spoken; forbidden sex; doomed love; intuition; chance; and a world without the God you were given when they threw you off the boat after the Middle Passage. Pretty frightening stuff at the high tables of the West. The real blues is about feeling when to come in, feeling when to do it. The Delta Blues – named after [...]
I'm aware of the conspicuousness of my absence, I've actually had peeps in my real life start grabbing me by the shoulders asking why I'm not updating, it's hard not feeling I've let them and everyone else down. I prefer to save the details, but like many of you out there, the economy is still kicking me hard in the ass. It brings about a certain malaise that causes one to have the attention span of a gnat. I have tons of stuff in my head, getting it out is another story. Though everyone has their own reasons, [...]
HOLIDAYS Hola amigos, esta semana estamos de vacaciones pero os dejamos un programa, eso sí, sin guión. Es una especie de recopilación de buenas canciones de blues. 1. AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS - JIMMY WITHERSPOON & JAY MCSHANN 2. PLEASE DON'T TURN ME DOWN - SLIM HARPO 3. WE ROCK- TOM SHAW 4. TOURO INFIRMIRY - ADRIAN DUKE 5. GEORGIANA - CHAMPION JACK DUPREE 6. HARD KICK - ANDY BOY 7. YOU THINK I'M YOUR GOOD THING - BEE HOUSTON 8. YOUNG MAN WITH THE HAT ON- BLUES TRAIN 9. A NICE [...]
Slim Harpo: Baby Scratch My Back [ purchase ] "Ahhh, itchy! And I don´t know where to scratch..." You may know Slim Harpo because the Stones covered his immortal I´m A King Bee early in their career, but that sure enough wasn´t the only trick this always laid back sounding bluesman from Baton Rouge had up his sleeve. Baby Scratch My Back was actually his biggest hit, back in ´66. Now do the chicken scratch, y´all...
hearsay
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BLUES SYNDICATE
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