Chidren of the night ! My dears ! Ok, first of all, the 'Blues Rules' festival was a total blast. Good friends,good times, good whiskey and a fantastic crowd. So things are getting really good for your host from now on ! And…ok so here's the thing, I hope you won't mind too much, but as things are getting tied for me, I can't find the proper time to choose my records and pick up an unknown genius every week. So I'm going to keep this blog alive of course (and frankly, I've been asking a [...]
Yeeha Folks ! A quick note, there'll be no post next week for a good reason then,I'm playing in this sweeet Blues Festival in Switzerland next Sunday, so if you're near, come check this out and bring yo' mama ! Speaking of Delta, I was quite sure I did a post about a real master but hell no...so here it is ! Born Booker T. Washington White, Bukka White started his career playing the fiddle at square dances and he claims to have met Charlie Patton early on, regardless, Patton [...]
The New Dimensions ! McFly, we're back again in 1963 ! On the front cover of the Sundazed Lp, you'll see a very young Michael Lloyd (who looks about 13) and future Three Dog Night keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon (who doesn't look much older). Yes folks, they were the New Dimensions, and they were all about 13 or 16 !!! And hell yeah, it's all very competently played, especially considering their youth. The history of this obscure group is certainly well documented in the liner notes, however, with the help of many recollections from Lloyd. Anyway, the band [...]
Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems. The practice is often influenced by ideas of religion, mysticism, occultism, science, and psychology. Yes baby, watch me howl and hear my circus coming, I'm gonna put a spell on you ! Rev. Frost Presents…A Bloody Magic Mix ! (52 :27) Tracklist: 1. Edvard Grieg - In The [...]
Harry 'Little' Caesar was born into a family of steelworkers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 1928 and he grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. Harry's youth was misspent as a gang member under his knickname 'Kid Wolf'. He was imprisoned for six months during the 1940s for inciting riots, and upon release became a reformed character, joigning a church choir. Harry migrated from gospel to R&B and from Youngstown to Oakland, California, where he began working with the Peter Rabbit Trio and Que Martyn. His career out of music, which started in the late 1950s, was, if anything, more interesting than his [...]
Howdy ! Yeah ok sorry about last week, I was on holidays, I even received complaints by email...You're as mad as me folks ! Ok a lil' bit of sun here...The R&B-inflected surf combo the Deltas formed at Fresno State College in 1961. Eventually billed as Jim Waller & the Deltas, the band featured a lineup of Waller on piano and organ, Terry Christofsen on guitar, Ray Carlson on saxophone, Terry Christenson on drums, and Eddie Atkinson on bass. An R&B-inflected surf combo, Jim Waller & the Deltas formed at Fresno State College in 1961 and featured a lineup of [...]
Buongiorno ! Ok folks, I promised a friend ! No actually, a lotta friends ! Carosone was born in Naples and he studied piano at his hometown's Conservatory and obtained his diploma in 1937, when he was just 17. He soon signed a contract as a band leader for a tour of Africa. In 1949 he was asked to put together a group for a club's opening night. After some auditions, he signed the Dutch guitarist Peter Van Wood and the Neapolitan drummer Gegè Di Giacomo: so the Trio Carosone was born. The trio became quartet with the [...]
Spring !!! Hooray !!! Born in Detroit, Michigan, Johnson began his career singing with a doo-wop group called the Serenaders in the mid 1950s. With budding talents not only as a singer but as a songwriter and pianist, he formed in 1958 a partnership with the young Berry Gordy, who was then working as a songwriter and producer for Jackie Wilson. Gordy produced Johnson's earliest releases on Kudo, and launched his Tamla label with Johnson's single "Come To Me", Between 1959 and 1961, Johnson would issue nine Billboard Hot 100 singles ! Johnson's early Motown issued singles would [...]
Philip Baptiste performed with his brothers in a gospel group called the Gateway Quartet and worked as a bellhop before he recorded "Sea of Love" in 1959. Baptiste changed his name to Phil Phillips, and dubbed his backing vocalists The Twilights. After a Baton Rouge disc jockey played the song repeatedly, the recording sold heavily and was leased to Mercury Records. "Sea of Love" went to #2 and spent 14 weeks in the top 40, as well as reaching #1 on the R&B chart. Yes folks, it sold over two million copies in 1959 ! (Nonetheless, Phillips and received no [...]
Tadaaaa, here's our humble introduction to (tadaaaa): BUDDY KNOOOOOX !!! Ok, Buddy Wayne Knox was born in 1933 in the tiny farming community of Happy, Texas . One fine day, after performing on the same 1956 radio show as fellow Texan Roy Orbison and his "Teen Kings" band, Orbison suggested Knox go see record producer Norman Petty at his studio in Clovis, New Mexico. Knox recorded three songs at Petty's studio, most notably "Party Doll" that later was released on the Roulette label and went to No.1 in 1957 ! In the early 1960s Buddy signed [...]
Who's ready for the great Lee Moses ! I can't hear you in the back ! Louder ! Ok, Lee Moses (as we like them here, a bit sadly I must say) is a true lost figure in the history of R&B ! He was born in 1941, in Atlanta, GA, and he formed his first band, the Showstoppers, in the 1950s, and the group was an extremely big draw in the Atlanta area. He met New York producer and scene hustler Johnny Brauntly around 1965 and began working as a session guitarist for him (along with another session [...]
Woohoo ! Let's Go ! Cheerleaders, Go ! (That's an ancient and obscure ritual to bring cheerleaders straight to your home, just trying sorry...) Formed in 1962 by Mike Gordon, the Routers recordings were made primarily by session musicians rather than an actual group with the exception of Gordon. The Routers first release in September 1962 was "Let's Go !". Its infectious "clap clap clap-clap-clap clap-clap-clap-clap Let's Go! " chant became a favorite of cheerleaders and crowds worldwide (I mean, even when I walk in the streets of Paris, people always shout that at me). The recording [...]
HALLELUJAH ! Elder Roma Wilson was born December 22, 1910, in Tupelo, Mississippi, one of 10 children raised on his parents' cotton farm. When Wilson was 15, he taught himself to play the harmonica, using an instrument that his older brothers had discarded. He was ordained when he was only 17 years old and became an evangelist, preaching at different churches until he was appointed pastor of his own congregation. When his children were still young, he and three of his sons, whom he had taught to play harmonica, often performed their unique style of religious music on [...]
AMIGOS MIOS !!! Bring the horses ! The ropes ! The shovels ! Thee long-long-long awaited new Western Mix is served ! All together once again : « YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA !!!!! » Rev. Frost Presents…A Bloody Western Mix, Part 5 ! (71 :40) 01. Intro 02. Stelvio Cipriani - Un Uomo, Un Cavallo, Una Pistola 03. Johnny Horton - The Battle Of Bull Run 04. Perry Como - Wild Horses 05. Bruno Nicolai - Espanto En El Corazon [...]
The Mojo Men !!! Yeah, a bit of history, The Mojo Men recorded for the Autumn Records label in San Francisco, California. One of their hits, 1965's "Dance With Me", and a number of other records, were produced by Sylvester Stewart, later better known as Sly Stone. (Staaaaand) One of the first San Francisco psychedelic bands, the Mojo Men began as a British Invasion inspired group, even covering the Rolling Stones' "Off The Hook". But following the arrival of drummer Jan Ashton, the group developed more intricate arrangements and harmonies. They were one of the premier bands that help shape [...]
Ah, an old time fav !!! Missourian Jim Lowe was working in Chicago as a disc jockey, trying to find his niche in music, in 1954. That year, he was signed to Chicago's Mercury label, and wrote and recorded country and western material. One of his songs was the original version of the self-penned "Gambler's Guitar." Lowe soon moved to New York to continue his radio career, and switched to Dot Records in 1955. His first successful attempt with Dot was the novelty "Close the Door (They're Coming in the Windows). A few months later, he recorded another novelty, "Green [...]
Go Mamuwalde Go ! Hallelujah ! A quick note to introduce ourselves to the great Roosevelt Graves and a good excuse to play 3 of my favorite tracks ! On all his recordings, Roosevelt Graves played with his brother Uaroy Graves, who was also nearly blind and played the tambourine. They were credited as "Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother". Their first recordings were made in 1929 for Paramount Records. For a number of years, the subject of Uaroy's identity was disputed. In several books, magazine articles, and album liner notes that mentioned the Graves brothers, the [...]
Happy new year 1964 ! Early in his career (right at the outset, in fact) 18-year-old Jim Messina (Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Loggins & Messina) was a devotee of surf music, enamored of the music you know well here. The Jesters was among his early professional efforts, a surf band that included, along with Messina, Bill Beckman and Ron House on guitars, Jim Sholstedt on bass, Dave Archuleta on saxophone, and Larry Cundieff on drums. They won a lot of local band competitions in California, where the competition in the field was still fierce in 1965 and 1966, and were good [...]
Yep, HAPPY NEW YEAR To each & everyone of you !!! It's know it's gonna be a great year !!! (or it'll be the end of the world, in that case, re-study your copies of Mad Max) Yeeeehaa ! Charles Blackwell Orchester : * Bumble Beat * Hum
Hell-Ho !!! So this is it ! (no, don't cry, it's not the end of the blog !) Ok wrong start...So this is it, the end of this damned year of 2009 ! (hear the crowd goes haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa) I know it's been a difficult year for some, a year of changes for others, anyway, the whole team at STGW (which means, me, myself & I) would like to thank you one more time for your support in 2009 ! So as I walked down the 'Cimetierre Montparnasse' (my fav place to be), [...]
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Avicii – Two Million
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
H&M Lookbook Mujer y Hombre Otoño 2012.
