Produced by Joe Kubek and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, Have Blues, Will Travel showcases the chemistry between Kubek's blistering fretwork and King's savvy vocals and unpredictable, multifaceted guitar work. It's a roadhouse blend of muscular blues-rock, hip-shaking shuffles and slow-burning blues that's impossible to resist. Each song is infused with deep, from-the-heart musicianship, carefully crafted, true-to-life lyrics and delivered with the occasional wry smile. Backed by their road-tested rhythm section, Have Blues, Will Travel ignites a blues fire with enough Texas heat to fuel an all-night party.

 

Tad Robinson knows one of the blues biggest secrets — how to write and arrange great songs, and bring them to life. Like his Severn Records debut “Did You Ever Wonder” three years earlier, his elegant 2007 album “A New Point of View” garnered a Blues Music Award nomination for "Soul Blues Album of the Year." It also triggered Robinson’s third nomination for "Soul Male Artist of the Year." Now, Tad follows up with "Back in Style" the sequel. "I’d describe the new album as very soulful and groove oriented." This album features the Memphis Horns and the "Severn House Band" of Alex Schultz, Steve Gomes, Robb Stupka, Benjie Porecki and Kevin Anker.

 

John Németh has crafted another timeless slice of American music.  Drawing on the classic blues, soul, and R&B influences that inform his stunning vocal style, John lays down a set of tunes that wouldn't sound a bit out of place in the golden years of Memphis or Muscle Shoals.  His spine-tingling vocals, with echoes of the toughness of James Brown and the tenderness of Solomon Burke, infuse the album with a funky, soulful feeling.

 

And the hard-hitting, edgy R&B sound from his earlier award-winning releases is still there, but with an expanded tonal palate and a heightened craftsmanship.  Tracks like the merciless "Breaking Free" and the punchy "Tuff Girl" showcase soul-revue arrangements replete with a full horn section, Hammond organ, and piano accompaniment. The loping, laid-back Southern-fried rhythm section sits in the pocket, the sinewy Cropper-esque guitars weave in and out, all supporting the tremulous, gospel-tinged tenor voice that has burned up stages across the land.

 

On Name The Day!, John continues to reinvigorate vintage American rhythm and blues with his uncanny ability to skillfully blend retro and modern blues and soul into compelling music that is simultaneously old and new.

Click for more

WASHINGTON, DC (Hypebot) – Last week, Digital Music news reported that SoundExchange was holding $200 million in unpaid royalties due to artists. ""According to IRS returns," wrote DMN. "SoundExchange was holding the bag on a 'fund balance' of nearly $260 million by the tail end of 2008. Subsequently, SoundExchange executive Laura Williams told DMN that the figure was closer to $200 million at the beginning of 2009 because of ongoing payouts. The organization could not offer more up-to-date figures, due to 'auditing phase' confidentialities."

The article's accusatory tone was picked up by other bloggers ready to throw SoundExchange into the same pot of boiling water reserved for major label bean counters, ticket scalpers and band managers who wear white shoes, smoke cigars and always pay in cash. $200 million in artist money withheld is a great story, if it's true. Unfortunately, Digital Music News' investigation seems to have ended when the juiciest detail appeared and the failed - despite being offered additional documentation - to tell the whole story. 

 

How accurate is DMN $200 million figure and where did the money come from? The $200 million reported was SoundExchange's bank balance at the end of 2008 and that "is not remotely related to the amount of funds held for artists and copyright holders who haven't yet registered," Bryan Calhoun, SoundExchange Vice President, New Media & External Affairs told Hypebot. "That number is more like $39 million - about 19% of the total".

 

Calhoun offered this break down of the rest of the money:

 

 

50% is money in transit - "This money is not being held, it was just in transit through our system when the count occurred, and has since gone out."

11% relate to court cases. - "These royalties are being held pending final court rulings on rates or related issues (i.e. awaiting the final ephemeral rate ruling)."

5% are dubbed Foreign PROs' - "These royalties belong to artists and copyright holders in other countries, but haven't yet been claimed by foreign societies."

10% are "No data" - "These royalties were paid by services in accordance with the law, but the service didn't provide playlist data to accompany them."

5% are 'Bad data' - "These services pay royalties, but send incomplete or bad data which does not provide us with enough information to figure out whom to pay. These include artists marked as 'Various' or 'artist unknown', and copyright holders marked as 'label unavailable' or 'promo".

Obviously, the $39 million number is still far too high," admits Calhoun.

 

 

Direct notification programs, including social media and online matches and programs with ReverbNation, Sonicbids and TuneCore have notified more than 34,000 artists in the past 6 months, representing over half of the total money which is unclaimed. Still just 5% of the 34,000 artists contacted have registered so far even though some have even been contact 6 times "We can't send out the money until they sign up, no matter how much we want them to have it," states a frustrated Calhoun.

 

To go a step farther. SoundExchange does not liquidate unclaimed funds each year like some collection societies do. SX has only had one pool release in 2006, and is still holding funds to cover claims back to their first collection in 1996. Any artist or rights holder who registers with SoundExchange can still claim 100% of the royalties they've earned.

 

 

 

 

The 26^th annual IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival is sure to be the best bang for your blues buck. With three-day festival passes only $25, attendees can enjoy some of the best contemporary and traditional blues in the world—for less than $1 per act.

IH Mississippi Valley Blues Festival runs July 2 – 4, at LeClaire Park—a blues-inspiring outdoor venue located at the crossroads of U.S. Route 61 and the Mississippi River—in Davenport, Iowa.

 

            The all-star festival line-up of 28 acts performing on two stages includes: The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue featuring Tommy Castro, Debbie Davies, Magic Dick and Sista Monica; Ruthie Foster; Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues; The Nighthawks with Hubert Sumlin; Bernard Allison; Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials; Quad City Symphony Orchestra, performing a blues-inspired Patriotic Pops set; The Kinsey Report; Mud Morganfield; Lurrie Bell; Little Pink Anderson; Caroline Shines; Shirley King; Ana Popovic; Zac Harmon; Little Brother Jones; Vasti Jackson; Olga with Cody Dickerson; Rosie Ledet & the Zydeco Playboys; Little Joe McLerran; Iowa Blues Challenge Winner (TBD); The Jimmy’s; Shawn Kellerman; Lucky Peterson; Dave Riley & Bob Corritore; Bill Sims Jr. & Mark LaVoie; David Boykin Expanse; and Kim Massie.

For more information about the festival, artists, ticket locations and lodging, please visit www.mvbs.org or call 563-32-BLUES.

 

Click for all the details

 

Four singing, dancing, coverall-wearing “blue-collar brainstormers.”

 

A puppet mouse with fuzzy orange hair.

 

A Louisiana blues artist and actor with a repertoire of songs, scores and scenes in award-winning films.

 

If this was “Sesame Street,” you would hear Cookie Monster ask, “Which of these things doesn’t belong?” and the obvious would stand alone.

 

However, this isn’t “Sesame Street,” it’s Playhouse Disney’s “Imagination Movers.” It’s also not just some random blues man. It’s Chris Thomas King, a native of New Orleans transplanted to Prairieville. King is teaming up with movers Rich, Scott, Dave and Smitty to appear as a special guest in an upcoming episode.

 

“I respect the ‘Imagination Movers’ so much because they’re just four guys that were performing for kids and had a passion to do it,” King said. “They stuck with it and got the support of Disney, which is the No. 1 company that you want to be with when you’re trying to reach kids. I take my hat off to those guys, because this is their second season, and the show goes out to 40 different countries, and I’ve heard rumors of reaching 40 million or more.”

 

“Imagination Movers” has such a wide audience because of the vision of its creators -- just four New Orleans friends who had a passion to create songs with kid-friendly lyrics that had a quality that adults could enjoy as well.

 

“The show is a big production. I’ve been on movie sets that are smaller than this, but they don’t sit around and do the ABC’s and count 1-2-3 and speak down to kids. The energy and the way they present what they do, it doesn’t dilute the music or scale it down,” King said. “It’s just a magical, colorful, entertaining and energetic presentation. That’s another reason a show like this can reach so many is because music is universal and that’s what drives it.”

 

Through their songs, stories and wacky ideas, “Imagination Movers” is designed to help kids exercise their minds and bodies. For King, this means when his colorful character runs into a serious problem, only the movers and some zany rock-climbing experiences can overcome it.

 

“My character, T-Bone Crosby, has a problem -- he’s all out of songs. He’s written hundreds of songs and recorded lots of CDs, but he can’t think of any new songs to sing,” King said. “They try to inspire my character by doing all kinds of fun things, and through those experiences and new things, it gets my imagination working, and I come up with some ideas to write about. For a script for young kids it’s a really well-plotted-out half-hour story.”

 

While King has teamed up with children-affiliated groups like Scholastic, scoring and doing voice-overs and animation, this is the first time that he will play a character in front of the camera on a children’s project.

 

“When projects are geared toward kids a whole different side of my personality -- the playful, easy-going side -- gets to come out,” King said. “When I do movies like ‘Ray’ or some dramatic thing, all that’s heavy and intense stuff, but there are more sides of me than just the blues man singing the storm is coming. I’ve been around a long time, and I’m lucky to have different experiences working in television, but I haven’t done anything in front of the camera that’s like this. So, it’s fresh and inspiring.”

 

Not only is the material fresh for King, but with his busy schedule recording, shooting and touring, this is one of the first times that he is able to work close to his home in Prairieville.

 

I have a film production company and spend a lot of time traveling to L.A. for meetings and stuff, so it’s nice to have projects happening in Louisiana where I don’t have to travel,” King said. “You’ve also got the crew, like 40 or 50 professionals that work behind the scenes, that are from here. They all lived in the state or they moved here for this production, and that’s a good thing for Louisiana.”

Surprisingly, acting wasn’t always in King’s plan, but it has become his profession.

 

“It’s not a fluke or anything. Even though I didn’t study drama in school, I do take my acting profession very seriously. I don’t see it as a hobby or some side thing that I do away from music. It’s just another hat that I wear,” King said. “I’ve had the chance to work with Oscar-winning actors like George Clooney, Jamie Foxx, and Morgan Freeman, and if you can hold your own in scenes with special talent like that, then you start feeling that you belong.”

 

King has definitely earned the titles of actor, singer and songwriter, but he’s never forgotten about his musical roots and it has always been his first love.

 

“I’m a long way from seeing myself as a film star or anything, I just don’t feel like that’s an image,” King said. “I enjoy music. It’s something that I’ve done the longest and something that I’m really passionate about. When I wake up in the morning, I’m a musician and music flows through my veins. So if getting to score or write music for different projects was all that I was doing, I would still be fulfilled.”

 

The Chris Thomas King episode of “Imagination Movers” aired on Friday, March 26, on the Disney Channel.

 

10. Pete Townshend (The Who)

The guitar, as an instrument, has never sounded as angry as when played by Pete Townshend. Listen to “Young Man Blues” on Live at Leeds or “The Real Me” on Quadrophenia, and you will hear the sound of a man on the edge, abusing his instrument as the only means of expressing his repressed rage. Punk was born from this. Heavy metal. Hard rock, in all its various forms, can be traced back to the London kid with the big nose windmilling like his life depended on it. The genius of Townshend, though, is that this is just one facet of his playing. I dare you to find a more sincere, emotional solo than the one Pete takes in “Love Reigns O’er Me.” Or hillbilly glee to match “Squeeze Box.” Too iconoclastic to conform to the Mods, too musical to be a true punk, Pete Townshend stands in a category all his own. – Michael Wright

 

 

No guitarist has had a greater impact on modern blues and rock guitar than Robert Johnson. Over the course of just 29 original songs, the “King of the Delta Blues” laid the groundwork for styles further shaped and developed by Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman and countless others. A haunted figure, Johnson led a life shrouded in mystery, with some insisting only a pact with the Devil could account for the seemingly sudden burst of guitar skills that took hold in him in his early 20s. In truth, as those who knew him have said, Johnson worked diligently to perfect the craft that yielded such classics as “Love in Vain,” “Crossroad Blues” and “Sweet Home Chicago.” Keith Richards once described Johnson’s guitar playing as sounding “like Bach.” Clapton calls Johnson’s music “the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice.” – Russell Hall

 

 

One of the founding members and architects of the Nashville Sound, Chet Atkins was unquestionably the greatest and most renowned guitarist country music has ever known. Over the years, Chet released hundreds of remarkable solo recordings displaying his undeniable talent, but it was his work as a session guitarist that may ultimately be the part of his legacy that shines the brightest. Mr. Guitar was one of the most prolific session players in history, and his stunning work can be heard on many of the biggest records of all time, including on countless classics by Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, the Everly Brothers and dozens upon dozens of A-list artists. Chet’s groundbreaking fusion of jazz and country-picking would go on to influence such legendary guitarists as George Harrison, Mark Knopfler, Glen Campbell, Jerry Reed, Duane Eddy and countless other big-time artists. Check out the DVD Chet Atkins: Certified Guitar Player for witness to Atkins’ undeniable greatness. – Sean Dooley

 

7. Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)

 

For countless guitarists around the world, history can easily be divided into two distinct eras: pre-Van Halen and post-Van Halen. And it all started with an explosive instrumental track that clocked in at a brisk 1:42. The blistering pyrotechnics on display in “Eruption,” from the group’s debut album Van Halen, proved an epiphany for millions of aspiring – and accomplished – rock guitarists everywhere; and that track alone signaled a seismic shift in the way the instrument would forever be played. Eddie’s performance on “Eruption” is nothing short of mesmerizing. No guitar had ever sounded like that – it was almost hard to believe that it was just one man, one instrument, one take and no overdubs. Eddie’s patented double-handed finger-tapping on the fretboard created an almost symphonic cacophony, the likes of which had never been heard before, and rock music would never be the same. Simply put, Eddie Van Halen is easily the most influential (and poorly imitated) guitarist of the last 30 years. – Sean Dooley

 

6. Jeff Beck (The Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group)

 

Only the rarest of musicians are capable of celebrating a milestone like a 65^th birthday by making one of the their best albums and, sure enough, Beck’s beautifully orchestrated 2010 release Emotion & Commotion recalls the passion and scope of his pivotal 1970s masterpieces, Blow By Blow and Wired. On those albums, with his 1954 Oxblood Les Paul and limitless imagination, Beck ducked his early history as part of the original Holy Trinity of British blues to prove his artistry has no boundaries. Even as a bluesman, Beck was unique. His post-Yardbirds playing with The Jeff Beck Group on their 1968 debut Truth has passages of noisy expressionism that would fit modern discs by Sonic Youth or Muse, despite his gargantuan strength as a melodist. Whether playing as a sideman, headlining small clubs like Ronnie Scott’s or flooring a horde of fellow six-string virtuosos and their fans at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival, Beck is an absolute master — perhaps the absolute master — of modern electric guitar. – Ted Drozdowski

 

 

What’s the old cliché? Before Jimi went to the moon, Chuck built the rocket. Well, that’s why Berry is in the pantheon of great guitarists. His brilliant synthesis of blues and hillbilly guitar created the language of rock and roll. He set the template firmly in place, then duckwalked all over it. There’s no rock act that doesn’t owe a debt (direct or indirect) to Chuck Berry, but there’s more to be said for the St. Louis native than just his influence. His technique was sharp, his tone was stunning, and that woozy, back-and-forth bend on “Carol” says more than any super-shredding solo in history. On those early Chess Records sides, whether he was working in blues, country, rock, rhythm or jazz, Chuck demanded your attention in a way that every artist has tried to imitate, but none have fully replicated. He’ll always be one of the greats. Tell Tchaikovsky the news. – Bryan Wawzenek

 

4. Eric Clapton (Cream, Derek and the Dominos)

 

Forget about his far-reaching solo work for a minute. Forget Cream. Forget the Yardbirds. Forget Derek and the Dominos. Forget the beer commercial and “Tears in Heaven.” Forget everything. The main reason kids should still be spray painting “Clapton is God” on city walls is because of that solo on The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” All that came after that was just gravy. The musician nicknamed Slowhand has always had a strong sense of melody and even his dense, improvisational solos never fade without offering substance. He has spent his career swinging between experimentation and tradition while collecting Grammys. He can play deep and soulful. He can play loud and searing. He has been a prolific champion of the blues, paying tribute to idols like B.B. King and Robert Johnson at every opportunity. And after all this time, his spot-on playing still manages to dazzle. – Aidin Vaziri

 

3. Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

 

The undisputed musical leader of The Rolling Stones, Richards is the best rhythm guitarist in history. He’s the rajah of the riff, the overlord of opening tuning and the sultan of “Satisfaction.” Taking cues from Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed, Richards’ genius lies in simplifying a guitar phrase until it’s down to the absolute essentials. His riffs are unfettered. By using an economy of language, they remain unforgettable. Peter Frampton might have made his axe “talk,” but Keef had already been holding conversations with listeners for years. And what’s a better ice-breaker than the opening riff to “Brown Sugar” or “Start Me Up”? Richards also deserves credit for playing well with others. Working in the Stones with Brian Jones, Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood, Richards has employed “the ancient art of weaving,” bringing together the lead and rhythm guitar parts via methods learned from his heroes. And when the Stones tour, Keef’s still up there working his butt off – forever in service of band and song. – Bryan Wawzenek

 

2. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

 

Rock’s sorcerer supreme, Jimmy Page took the blues, rockabilly and folk and fired it out of a cannon with the release of Led Zeppelin’s eponymous debut in 1969. Years of teeth-cutting in London studios and a short, but eventful, tenure in the Yardbirds only served to sharpen Page’s incomparable skills. Not content to rest on an already winning formula, Page took quantum leaps forward in songwriting, producing and playing on every Zeppelin album. After an initial period of silence following the band’s split, Page re-entered the rock scene as Guitar God Emeritus with The Firm, on solo albums and in collaborations with The Black Crowes, David Coverdale and his old partner in crime, Robert Plant. Page remains one of the most influential and revered guitarists of all time. For case in point, watch The Edge and Jack White, in the film It Might Get Loud, turn into fawning schoolboys when the master launches into the opening chords of “Whole Lotta Love.” – Michael Wright

 

 

Jimi Hendrix revolutionized guitar playing and rock music – building a rainbow bridge between blues, rock and roll and the psychedelic experiments of the mid-’60s. Never has a guitar player appeared so “at one” with his instrument – his live shows were more out-of-body experiences than performances. His tragically short recording career saw only three studio albums, Are You Experienced? (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (also 1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968). Hendrix’s performance at Woodstock remains a genuine iconic moment in rock and roll history. Jimi Hendrix was only 27 when he died in a London flat. Neil Young said it best when he inducted Jimi into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “Hendrix threw a Molotov cocktail onto rock and roll.” – Andrew Vaughan

 

Click for the whole list

 

 

---

 

If you are a blues music fan, chances are you have crossed paths with Ms. Mulvehill van Tyn. Maybe she served you drinks at the St. Croix Boom Company in Stillwater or Dick’s Bar in Hudson. Or greeted you warmly at the Blues Saloon in St. Paul, almost always remembering your name and your favorite libation! If you make the trek to Duluth for the annual Bayfront Blues Festival in August, it’s Miki who is in charge of the Artist Merchandise Tent. She is a long time associate and good friend of ALLIGATOR RECORDS, so we wanted to share the love

 

Miki has hit a very difficult time in her life with her recent diagnosis of Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy. What that means is her heart is currently functioning at about 30% capacity even on a myriad of medications. Because of the innate unpredictable nature of this illness she will require close medical attention for the rest of her life. It is quite possible that she will require a heart transplant if her condition declines. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict what any individual's heart will do.

 

We like to believe that because her metaphorical heart is so big and strong that her physical one will follow suit.

 

So, there will be a benefit concert for Miki at O'Gara's Garage in St. Paul, MN on June 6th featuring music and a live auction for some very special blues related items.

 

Currently Scheduled (In alphabetical Order):
Kevin Bowe and Alison Scott
Syl Johnson
Billy Larson and Lisa Wenger
Brian Leighton
Vicci Martinez
Paul Mayosich
Bruce McCabe
Return from Beijing Tour: Charlie Musselwhite with the Alex Wilson Band
And more….

 

Also Tons of Amazing Auction Items:
*Signed Guitars: Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jonny Lang, Charlie Musselwhite, Bobby Rush and Bernard Allison and more.
*Selema Gomez autographed script from the Disney show “Wizards of Waverly Place.”
*Dick Waterman prints
*Vacation packages
*Cabo San Lucas Penthouse Condo
*Jewelry
*Legal Services and much more

 

$25.00 Donation

 

 

---

  

Tired of constantly readjusting your guitar strings? Check out today's featured Invention Award winner, EverTune, a bridge that keeps your instrument continually in tune.

 

In a small engineering studio in Bronxville, New York, Cosmos Lyles and Paul Dowd eagerly take turns at the dry-erase board, sketching out diagrams of springs, levers and tension curves. This may not seem very rock ’n’ roll, but what they’re creating will let the musicians on their current client list, including Slash and Rob Zombie’s guitarist John 5, shred harder than ever: a bridge that keeps the instrument continuously in tune.

 

 

Guitar strings need constant tension to stay tuned, but they’re easily loosened or tightened if the temperature changes, the instrument gets knocked around, or the guitarist just plays too hard. In an EverTune-equipped guitar, the bridge, which holds the strings in place, contains six spring-and-lever contraptions, one at the end of each string. These keep the strings’ tension constant even if the tuning pegs get turned or the strings become loosened or tightened accidentally.

 

Each string is attached to a lever, which is in turn attached to a spring. To tune up, the guitarist tightens an adjustor screw at the bridge that alters the position of its corresponding spring, changing its leverage to obtain the right tension. If the guitar string loosens or tightens after being set, the lever shifts, but it is counteracted by the spring so that it holds the desired tension, until it needs to be replaced. (The guitarist can change the tuning anytime simply by readjusting the screws.)

 

For musicians, this elegant design translates to less time spent fiddling with guitars, and more time onstage and in the studio. While recording, Dowd says, “everyone talks about being annoyed waiting for the guitarist to tune up. They’ll tune every take.” And during live shows, guitarists may swap out for a new guitar with every song.

 

In 2005, Lyles, a Duke University engineering graduate and an avid guitarist, built his first tuner out of plywood, two screws, a skateboard bearing and some spare guitar parts.

 

 

How EverTune Works: The guitar is tuned by turning a screw on the EverTune bridge (no tuning pegs are used), which adjusts the tension of a spring that corresponds to one of the six strings. Each spring attaches to a lever that holds the string in place; the lever shifts if the string loosens or tightens, but the connected spring maintains the proper tension to keep the guitar in tune. 

 

 

That version (based on a different concept than EverTune) kept only two segments of a guitar string in tune with one another. Next he attempted to figure out how to keep all six strings in absolute tune using springs. But after a year of toiling alone, he grew eager to find a partner to help refine his idea. “I basically Googled ‘prototype engineer,’ ” he recalls. This led him to Dowd, the owner of Creative Engineering, a product-development company, and an amateur guitarist himself.

 

The partnership paid off. Dowd came up with the essential lever-and-spring system that makes EverTune work. Together the two also devised a bend stop, a metal stopper that prevents the lever from moving past a certain point, allowing musicians to move strings sideways and “bend” notes, a common technique in guitar solos.

 

Now the two are on their 16th prototype and are honing the final design. And they’re getting noticed. They have about 35 EverTune guitars either on the road, in the studio or waiting to be retrofitted. They are also in talks with guitar makers, and hope to have electric guitars and basses embedded with EverTune by next January. EverTune retrofits for old guitars should be on the market by the following May. After that, the inventors say, they would like to tackle other instrument strings—like the 230 or so on a piano.

 

 

(Will Friedwald/Wallstreetjournal.com) Some people cry at the end of "Gone With the Wind." Others lose it when Bambi's mother buys the farm. Me, I'm always moved to tears by the first two minutes of "Jammin' the Blues." This remarkable 10-minute film from 1944 is quite easily the most amazing visual representation of the jazz aesthetic that I've ever seen—whether through painting, dance, film or whatever.

 

 

"Jammin' the Blues" is merely the climax of the "Warner Bros. Big Band, Jazz & Swing Short Subject Collection," an essential package of six DVDs. To be sure, none of the other films included here can quite match "Jammin' the Blues" either musically or visually, but they all document brilliant music from a high point in American culture. As with "Jammin'," these films show that music in those days was almost as much a matter of image as of sound. Throughout the swing era, the big bands spent much of their time playing live stage shows in movie theaters. These one-reel shorts are a fairly good representation of what those performances were like, and show that the big bands almost always did more than just sit there and play.

 

The 64 one-reel short films included here, from 1930 to 1947, show that dance, visual comedy and various kinds of shtick were always part of the presentation. The most valuable entries in the new package are the many films of African-American bands and singers of the '30s, even though the visual representation of those artists would hardly be regarded as racially sensitive by 21st-century standards. The 1933 "Smash Your Baggage" features a rather amazing cast, all costumed, alas, as Pullman porters, which makes the film somewhat embarrassing today. That aside, "Smash Your Baggage" is seven sensational minutes of sheer entertainment: Even the musicians (including the young trumpeter Roy Eldridge, trombonist Dicky Wells and drummer Sid Catlett) move like dancers as they play, while the dancers literally fly through the air, and blues shouter Mabel Scott moans "Stop the Sun, Stop the Moon" like a woman possessed. The short never stops moving, even to catch its breath.

 

Those bands with dynamic high-energy front men, like Cab Calloway and Louis Prima, are the best served. Not all the ensembles here are quite so animated, but the music is always top-notch. The package could serve as a general primer and introduction to the Swing Era, and illustrates how the reach of the big bands extended into every nook and cranny of American pop, even in terms of ethnic markets. There are bands oriented toward straight-ahead swing (Jimmy Dorsey), the blues (Woody Herman), New Orleans jazz (Prima), European classical music (Jan Savitt), country-western music (Spade Cooley, Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys), Afro-Cuban music (Desi Arnaz), Hawaiian music (Ray Kinney), modern jazz (Stan Kenton), and novelty and comedy (Borrah Minevitch & His Harmonica Rascals). The 1942 short starring Minevitch is almost scary: This is a frighteningly funny ensemble featuring midgets, underage ballerinas, and the world's biggest tenor (not to mention black men and white women performing on the same stage at the same time—virtually unheard of in 1942), all blowing into mouth organs of every shape and size.

 

You never know who's going to turn up here, including such hard-to-see vocalists as Adelaide Hall, the Boswell Sisters, and a 7-year-old Sammy Davis Jr. singing with the legendary Ethel Waters. TV patriarch Ozzie Nelson is shown in his original career as the personable leader of an excellent, underappreciated swing band; Broadway dancer Eunice Healy (who was profiled here in the Journal last October) rates a specialty number in front of an all-female swing orchestra; Artie Shaw plays a clarinet solo with society bandleader Roger Wolfe Kahn in 1932 and then leads his own pace-setting ensemble seven years later. Even with six discs and 64 entries, there's still more out there, including two amazing films from 1929 featuring future stars Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, Eddie Condon and Pee Wee Russell in bands led by Ben Pollack and Red Nichols that, for some reason, were not included.

 

Most of the set is, not surprisingly, straight-down-the-middle dance music, like the smooth and stylish sounds of Hal Kemp, which shows that even the so-called commercially oriented "sweet bands" (also known as "Mickey Mouse bands") of the period were highly innovative and musical. If you ever wondered what it would sound like to hear four clarinets playing into megaphones, or Latin percussion combined with oboe and bass clarinet, now you know. This is a Mickey Mouse band that could open for Sun Ra.

 

(Jon Wilde/Guardian.co.uk)  I wouldn't agree with Eric Clapton about much, but he's always been bang on the money when it comes to Robert Johnson. Clapton once described Johnson as, "the most important blues singer that ever lived". The recordings that Johnson made between 1936 and 1937, collected in two volumes entitled King of the Delta Blues Singers, not only mark the apogee of the blues form, they stand among the most influential recordings of all time. Johnson's songs come at the listener with such combustible force that they sound for all the world like the very first rock'n'roll recordings. In the years following his death in 1938, Johnson's story was reshaped as myth, largely thanks to the wonderfully daft notion that he'd sold his soul to the devil in order to master his guitar and play the blues. The myth endures but the extraordinary power of his work has ensured that the music effortlessly transcends the myth. 

 

And now, nearly 50 years after Columbia first packaged his work as King of the Delta Blues, we discover that we've been listening to these immortal songs at the wrong speed all along. Either the recordings were accidentally speeded up when first committed to 78, or else they were deliberately speeded up to make them sound more exciting. Whatever, the common consensus among musicologists is that we've been listening to Johnson at least 20% too fast. Numerous bloggers have helpfully slowed down Johnson's best-known work and provided samples so that, for the first time, we can hear Johnson as he intended to be heard. As we speak, I'm listening to a slowed-down version of Come on in My Kitchen. The original version is so familiar to me it's practically cemented in my DNA. Once accustomed to this slower version, acclimatised to the lower-pitched vocal and less hectic guitar, I find it even more beautifully haunting than the rendition I've known and loved for more than 30 years. In the new version Johnson sounds more natural, exactly like he ought to sound. 

 

Initially though, the effect is not a little disconcerting. Not unlike the childhood experience of deliberately playing records at the wrong speed for a laugh, invariably bringing on bouts of dizziness and nausea. After a certain age (say, seven) the novelty of playing songs at the wrong tempo tends to wear thin, although it was always highly entertaining to hear John Peel regularly get his 33 and his 45 RPM mixed up. On one memorable occasion, Peel distinguished himself by playing an entire side of Fripp and Eno's No Pussyfooting backwards. Brian Eno was the only listener to notice anything was amiss. 

 

If hearing music at the wrong speed is the sort of thing that grills your kippers, then you might want to check out the supremely bonkers back catalogue of Brighton-based Wrong Music. For the rest of us, the right speed will do just fine. Like me, you might be left not a little incredulous to learn that some of the most beloved albums in the canon were released at the wrong speed. As late as 2003, a music professor pointed out that all the early Doors albums, on vinyl and CD, had been slowed down due to a cock-up at the mastering stage. When Kind of Blue was first released on CD it received ecstatic reviews despite the fact that Miles Davis' trumpet was at the wrong speed on half the tracks. There are those who swear blind that the vinyl version of Dylan's Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands from Blonde on Blonde was mastered at the wrong speed as it plays at a quarter-tone below the CD version. Most famously, all the original Rolling Stones ABKCO releases were mastered at the wrong tempo, an error first noticed by Keith Richards when the albums came out on CD. 

 

Does any of this matter? Well, I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to hear an album as it was meant to be heard, rather than a version birthed by a studio muppet flicking the wrong switches as he lights up another jazz woodbine.

 

In the case of Robert Johnson, we have much to be thankful for. After years spent listening in awe to his blues masterpieces, we can now enjoy his work as if hearing it for the first time. Just as soon as Columbia pulls its finger out and releases his 41 recordings at the right speed. It won't win Johnson his soul back, but at least we finally hear the world's greatest bluesman as he actually sounded in that lonesome San Antonio hotel room back in the mid-30s.

 

Click for more

 

 

(Jason gross/PopMatters.com) Over a hundred music scribes were confronted with this not-so-simple question: “If an eager young writer cornered you and asked ‘What’s the best advice you could give me?’ what would you have to say?” Most of the responders were nicely earnest with some humor thrown in, though considering the dismal state of the biz today, there was also some nail-biting panic thrown in there too. 

 

Some scribes, especially off the record, were blunt about the field and its prospects. “Music journalism has devolved so completely into celebrity-coverage wank-speak that it should be taken out back and put out of its misery for good,” said one. Another writer, who thought the whole premise of this series was stupid, insisted: “Listen to your mom and get a real job.” But with two other exceptions, everyone else did have at least a little bit of hopeful advice about how to stick it out through these turbulent times. With circulations plummeting and staff being cut everywhere, it’s a tough time to be any kind of scribe. That doesn’t mean that your mom was right, though. 

 

You’ll notice that some writers refer to other names here who inspired them, while some advice contradicts other pieces of advice. The responses also range from hilariously crude to pretty scholarly, but you’ll likely agree that the tone doesn’t detract from the content. Maybe you won’t agree with all that’s said here, and to be honest, I don’t necessarily agree with every single thing said here either (come to think of it, the writing in this intro probably broke a lot of the rules laid out by other writers here). Maybe the best way to think of this series is to treat it like a mash-up, or a smorgasbord where you can pick and chose what’s useful for you and your own consumption (just don’t pig out too much).

 

Even if you’re not a newbie writer, this series has other uses too. Attention veteran scribes: there’s a lot of wisdom to be found here in this variety of voices that can still be useful for your own work. Also, the responses provide a window into the thinking and experience of each of the writers themselves for anyone who’s curious about what their mindset is and how they each approach their own work. As one writer pointed out after insisting that work needs to be sent out on time and then sent their own advice back here late, everyone’s response is a really list of ideals. We all find out the hard way that we can’t always live up to them. 

 

One thing you might find interesting, or distressing, is that a number of responders bristled at being called a ‘writer.’ Some of that can be chalked up to the self-deprecating feeling of “I’m not worthy!” even though all of them are. Other times, this disconnect might be semantics—being a ‘writer’ isn’t necessarily the same thing as being a ‘journalist’ or ‘author’ or ‘reviewer,’ per se. But maybe the field has just become so rotten and disrespected that for some, it’s simply not cool to be considered a ‘writer’ anymore. Whatever the reason, and despite what some of them say and whether they like it or not, everyone who responded here is a ‘writer’ of some stripe.

 

If you’re wondering why some responses are haiku-length while others are article-length, there’s a reason. Off the bat, the responders were asked for answers of about 150-250 words, just a few sentences. The thinking was that it wouldn’t eat up too much of their busy schedules. A number of scribes decided that they had more to say than that, and since the answers were intriguing, why stop ‘em? 

 

You also have to wonder how different these responses would have been five years ago, or five years from now. In 2005, there would have still been some level of panic—even then, the field was going through a seismic change. But in 2015, what is the media landscape going to look like? In a high-tech age like this, no one has an answer because it keeps changing so rapidly, which is frightening to some and exciting to others. But even in, say, 2025 or 2050 (when we might communicate with brain-implanted chips), a lot of the advice here will still make sense and be worth heeding. 

 

Even after interrogating a large group like this, this listing isn’t definitive. This series was one month’s work, but truth be known, even if it was done over the course of a year, it still would have been impossible to get everyone to respond. As such, some writers, demographics, and publications aren’t represented here, but it wasn’t necessarily from a lack of trying, sometimes more than once. Some writers were busy (understandable with a short deadline like this), while dozens of other scribes didn’t respond. Some initially responded, but didn’t have time to send anything back, and a few of them frankly said that they wouldn’t have any advice to give that eager young writer.

 

 

For my own advice, I gathered some thoughts here that didn’t seem to be covered elsewhere, but there’s one really important piece of wisdom to share otherwise. Listen to the writers here—they’ve got lots of worthwhile things to say. Sometimes they have even better advice than your mama.

 

Click for part 1

 

 

For those of you who missed the live broadcast of the 2010 Blues Music Awards, listen up!

 

Bluesville will be replaying the show on Sunday, May 30 beginning at Noon on the east side of town.

 

Tune in to exit 74 on the Sirius/XM super highway to hear the

Blues celebration of the year!

 

Click for more

 

 

Featuring WHO ARE THOSE GUYS AND THE BOBBY NATHAN BAND

 

 

MIAMI, FL – Blues Leaf Records announces an August 10 release date for Keepin On, the new CD from incendiary blues guitarist Albert Castiglia. Blues Leaf Records is distributed in the U.S. by the Allegro Corporation.

 

Recorded at Showplace Studios in Dover, New Jersey, most of Keepin On was recorded live with very few overdubs. Castiglia enlisted five session musicians to help on the project, including harmonica master Sandy Mack, who played on “I Could Not Ask for More,” a Peter Green song contained on the new CD. Mack had played on “Ghosts of Mississippi,” a song from Albert’s A Stones Throw album in 2006. According to Castiglia, “He kicked butt then and he picked up where left off on this session.”

 

 

 

Memorial Day marks the beginning of blues festival season. Elwood is joined by Gordon Bulcock from bluesfestivalguidedotcom, to talk about the where and when of upcoming festivals. And, of course, the Radio Hour will share some of the folks who will be playing around this summer and fall: Tommy Castro, Shemekia Copeland, Bettye Lavette, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Super Chikan, Taj Mahal, and much more. Plus new rootsy blues from Kansas players Moreland & Arbuckle.

  

 

 

 

RBA Publishing Inc is based in Reno, NV with a satellite office in Beverly Hills, Florida. We produce the annual Blues Festival Guide magazine (now in its 7th year), the top-ranking website: www.BluesFestivalGuide.com, and this weekly blues newsletter: The Blues Festival E-Guide with approximately 20,000 weekly subscribers. We look forward to your suggestions, critiques, questions, etc.

Reach the E-Guide editor, Gordon Bulcock, gordon@bluesfestivalguide.com

or contact our home office at 775-337-8626, eguide@bluesfestivalguide.com
 

back to top