I would guess that anyone reading this is familiar with Elvis Presley's 1956 rendition of "Hound Dog," but the King wasn't the first singer to hit the top of the charts with the song. That would be Big Mama Thornton, the blues-singing harmonica wiz whose record of the song sat atop R&B charts while Elvis was still in high school. In fact, it's been said that Elvis wasn't even aware of Big Mama's earlier version of "Hound Dog" when he recorded the song a few years later, but if that's true then he missed something special. [...]
Songwriter Jerry Leiber has died in the US at the age of 78. As one half of a partnership with Mike Stoller, he was responsible for some of the most famous songs in the history of rock 'n' roll - penning the likes of 'Hound Dog', 'Stand By Me', and 'Jailhouse Rock' in a career that lasted 60 years. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 1990, Stoller said "when Jerry and I started to write, we were writing to amuse ourselves. It was done out of a love of doing it. We got very lucky in the sense that at some [...]
Happy 75th birthday to Buddy Guy, one of the greatest guitarists ever to inhale. For those unawares, this is the original version of "Hound Dog," by Big Mama Thornton, the original Queen of soul. It's high time, I did a blues week.
Dum Dum Girls A quick note: After watching the LCD Soundsystem show online last night (I am writing this on Sunday), I wanted to add a few thoughts on the show and on the band in advance of the actual "Various and Sundry" column. And thanks to those who post videos on YouTube so I can embed them ... Like many of you, I watched the final LCD Soundsystem show via the live stream on Pitchfork this past Saturday night. I can't say the show had my full attention for [...]
If you don't know what's going on here, this is the Open Mic series. I wanted to give readers a chance to submit their own ideas instead of being stuck in that comment section all the time. I'm accepting submissions for posts - please read the details here before submitting. All of the posts will be labeled with "Open Mic" (Click on the label right under the post title to see all posts tagged with the same label). Check out the first submission " The Art Of Making A Sex Mix " if you missed it. Here's the [...]
This is a big week for all-everything Houston bassist Nick Gaitan. Not only have his Monday-night Continental Club gigs with atomic-powered rockabilly trio the Octanes been steadily been picking ... Continue reading "Listology: Nick Gaitan of the Octanes and The Umbrella Man's Favorite Female Vocalists" >
Ball n' Chain please click image for info @Amazon.com Several online friends who regularly send me YouTube clips and other music info have been sending Big Mama Thornton clips. She was so cool back in her day and had a great stage presence. My favorite thing about her is that she played the harmonica and drums. If you have read my blog for long, you have probably read about my affection for women harmonica players. She is a memeber of the Blues Hall of Fame, she had a [...]
I didn't get up this morning with a plan to post about the big white leisure suit in the sky, and, to be honest, I enjoy his music but am no Elvis expert. The more I've poked around, though, reading blogs this morning, the more I realized that I wanted to say just a little bit of something about Elvis. I was born and raised in Mississippi, and when I was making the transition into junior high, my family moved up to a suburb of Memphis. We were so close to Graceland that I almost could have walked [...]
Geezer Music Club
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SqueezeMyLemon
muse: nashville
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HAERTS: “All The Days”
Introducing : Izzy Bizu
