Strivin' (Free subscription) | 12/11/2008
With the release of the movie “Cadillac Records”, I felt it was time to pay tribute to one of the greatest Blues labels of all times, Chess Records. This is just a very small sampling of the huge catalog released by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Philip Chess. Grab some bourbon and relax. Shouts [...]
The Smoking Section (Free subscription) | 12/11/2008
I’m glad when the homie Concept slides these emails into the inbox. I’m a huge fan of artist-themed mixes & right now they dominate my iPod playlists. The fact that his go a step further, outside of the bounds of Hip-Hop (See: the Jimi & Grover mixes) and slides comfortably into other genres. With the release [...]
nongseynyo (Free subscription) | 11/02/2008
combo quilombo - entr'aide (2007) In keeping with the legacy of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Leadbelly, Lonnie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Elmore James, Ike Cosse, Josh White, JB Lenoir and Willie Dixon or closer to home, Lil Son Jackson, Gaye Adegbabola, Popa Chubby or Candye Kane, Combo Quilombo has taken up the torch of blues groups concerned with social justice. This group of five includes two...
Spinner.com (Free subscription) | 09/29/2008
Filed under: I Freakin' Love This Song Spinner.com : 'Milkcow's Calf Blues,' Robert PalmerFrom 2001's 'Hellhound on My Trail: Songs of Robert Johnson'Robert Palmer may never shake off his reputation as the sophisticated '80s rocker who was surrounded by supermodels in the 'Addicted to Love' and 'Simply... Read more
RegnYouth Archives (Free subscription) | 12/28/2007
Playing drums, mandolin and singing his heart out, Levon Helm (iconic drummer and singer in The Band) has created a comprehensive testament to the power of rural traditional music and its raw depictions of hardship and spiritual torment. Many are folk songs that The Band co-founder learned from his parents as a child on an [...]
Yer Mam! (Free subscription) | 12/05/2007
80. Mavis Staples - Down In Mississippi (Anti-) The older generations have a way of sounding angry and aggrieved that will take us youngsters plenty time to match. 68 year-old Staples here recasts J.B. Lenoir's classic in her own image. Staples really makes the song her own by virtually taking up residence inside it. It sounds less like an interpretation than a song from her own experience, so entrenched...
Spinner.com (Free subscription) | 08/31/2007
Filed under: News , Album Spinner.com : Levon Helm, best known as the singer-drummer of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act the Band, will be releasing his first solo studio album in a quarter century. The 13-song LP, titled 'Dirt Farmer,' appropriately recorded at his home studio known as "The... Read more
BLUES TOWN (The City Of Blues) (Free subscription) | 08/03/2007
Byther Smith (April 17, 1933) is an American blues musician noted for his gritty style and uncompromising delivery. Born in Monticello, Mississippi, the sixth oldest of seven children, Smith immigrated to Chicago in the mid 1950's. Although he worked for a candy company, Smith's real passion was music. He played bass for a three-piece jazz combo for a few years, but he eventually got a spot playing...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 06/08/2007
Deluxe four-CD box set with extensive liner notes features such Vee-Jay Records hitmakers as Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, The Four Seasons, Jerry Butler and the Impressions, The Staple Singers, Betty Everett, Little Richard, Billy Preston, Gene Chandler, Rosco Gordon, J.B. Lenoir, Joe Simon, The El Dorados, The Dells, Jimmy Hughes, The Spaniels and more...
