My Key Jumped Back In My Hand - Ted Taylor

Austin Taylor, better known as Ted Taylor (February 16, 1934 – October 2, 1987) was an American soul musician. Born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United States, Taylor sang with The Cadets/The Jacks in the 1950s. He sang lead vocals on The Cadets' "Do You Wanna Dance (Hey Little Girl)" and "I Cry" and also on The Jacks' "Away" and "My Darling." He did not appear on The Cadets' biggest hit "Stranded In The Jungle" in 1955. For that session, he was replaced by singer Prentice Moreland. Taylor left The Cadets/The Jacks to begin a solo career which began with two singles on Melatone Records in 1957. He would later release singles on Ebb Records and Duke Records from 1957 to 1959; in the 1960s he recorded for Ronn Records and Okeh Records in blues and soul styles. In the 1970s he recorded disco for TK Records. Taylor died in a car crash in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1987, aged 53 If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Hootie Blues - Jay McShann

Jay McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American Grammy Award-nominated jump blues, mainstream jazz, and swing bandleader, pianist and singer. During the 1940s, McShann was at the forefront of blues and hard bop jazz musicians mainly from Kansas City. He assembled his own big band, with musicians that included some of the most influential artists of their time, including Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Ben Webster and Walter Brown. His kind of music became known as "the Kansas City sound" McShann died on December 7, 2006, at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City. Jay McShann was survived by his companion of more than 30 years, Thelma Adams (known as Marianne McShann), and three daughters - Linda McShann Gerber, Jayne McShann Lewis, and Pam McShann. Nicknamed Hootie, McShann was born James Columbus McShann in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Musically, his education came from Earl Hines' late-night broadcasts from Chicago's Grand Terrace Cafe: "When 'Fatha' [Hines] went off the air, I went to bed". He began working as a professional musician in 1931, performing around Tulsa, Oklahoma and neighboring Arkansas. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Beer Drinkin' People - Big Al Downing

Al Downing (January 9, 1940 – July 4, 2005), later known as Big Al Downing, was an entertainer, singer, songwriter, and pianist. He received the Billboard's New Artist of the Year and the Single of the Year Award in 1979. He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and was a frequent performer at the Grand Ole Opry. Downing was nominated as Best New Artist by the Academy of Country Music and appeared on Hee Haw, Nashville Now, and Dick Clark's American Bandstand television programs. Downing began his career doing piano and vocals in Bobby Poe and The Poe Kats, who were an early backing band for country entertainer Wanda Jackson. His piano contributed to the single "Let’s Have A Party", which was released in 1960. The song reached #32 on the UK charts and made the Top 40 on the U.S. pop chart. Downing reached the U.S. Hot 100 with "You’ll Never Miss the Water (Till the Well Runs Dry)", a duet with Little Esther Phillips. After the release of this single, he was signed by Warner Brothers. His 1974 single, "I'll Be Holdin' On", made the Disco charts in America and Europe, reaching number one on the U.S. dance chart. Al Downing's popularity continued to grow, and he had several hits on the country charts between 1978 and 1989. He compiled a list of his own songs, which he presented to his producer at Warner Brothers. In 1978, "Mr. Jones" reached the Top 20, followed by "Touch Me (I'll Be Your Fool Once More)" in 1979. That same year, Downing produced "Midnight Lace," which reached the 50s on the charts, and "I Ain't No Fool," which peaked at the upper 70s. In 1980, the "Story Behind The Story" reached the Top 40 and "Bring It On Home" reached the Top 20. Two years passed before Downing created another hit, this time with the Team label. In 1982, "I'll Be Loving You" reached the Top 50, followed by "Darlene," which reached the lower 60s. The next year, "It Takes Love" reached the Top 40, followed by "Let's Sing About Love," which peaked in the mid-60s. In 1984, "The Best Of Families" became a Top 50 hit; That same year, Downing released his final hit with the Team label, "There’ll Never Be A Better Night For Being Wrong". Downing built a five-decade career around his powerful singing voice and his hard-driving rockabilly-style piano. Downing's compilations of earlier work have been released throughout the world. In Europe, Crazy Music obtained exclusive rights for the original Team label recordings and released these in the form of a 2-CD compilation, Classic Collection. This also contained some of Downing's earlier hits, including "Mr. Jones." In 2003, Downing released his first new album in more than a decade, One of A Kind. The album received favourable radio and print reviews. It ranked third on American Roots Country and was commended for featuring 14 memorable tracks. He continued to give regular performances at the Grand Ole Opry. In 2000, he was nominated as a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Downing continued to perform on more than 75 occasions per year in the remaining years of his life. He appeared at Ontario's prestigious Havelock Country Jamboree with Kenny Rogers and Roy Clark. In 2005, Downing postponed plans for a European tour that was set to begin on July 1 in Austria. He was hospitalized and diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Soon after, he commenced chemotherapy treatment. Downing died on July 4, 2005. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

(Love Is Like A) Ramblin' Rose - Ted Taylor with Lloyd Rowe

I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues - Joe Lee Wilson

Joe Lee Wilson (December 22, 1935 – July 17, 2011[1]) was an American gospel-influenced jazz singer, originally from Bristow, Oklahoma. His voice is best recognized from several Archie Shepp albums recorded for Impulse! Records Wilson was born to farming parents in Bristow. He was part African American and part Creek Native American. As his band's name, Joy of Jazz, suggests, Wilson's baritone personified the life-affirming nature of jazz and blues. Seeing Billie Holiday perform in 1951 began his interest in a music-industry career. He studied in Los Angeles before touring the West Coast, where he sat in with Sarah Vaughan, and down to Mexico. In New York in the 1960s, he worked with Sonny Rollins, Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, and Jackie McLean; during the 1970s, he operated a jazz performance loft in New York's NoHo district known as the Ladies' Fort at 2 Bond Street. His regular band, Joe Lee Wilson Plus 5, featured the alto saxophonist Monty Waters (from Modesto, California) and for several years the Japanese guitarist, Ryo Kawasaki, before the latter left to lead his own group. Archie Shepp and Eddie Jefferson were frequent collaborators at these sessions. He also sang with Eddie Jefferson, Freddie Hubbard, and Kenny Dorham. He recorded a live radio program at WKCR-FM, Columbia University, on July 16, 1972, which was released as an album, Livin' High Off Nickels & Dimes, on the short-lived Oblivion Records in New York. Wilson's rendition of "Jazz Ain't Nothing But Soul" was a radio hit on New York jazz radio in 1975. While based in Paris, Tokyo, and the United Kingdom, he recorded regularly with the American pianist Kirk Lightsey, including the Candid recording Feelin’ Good. One of his last albums was an Italian recording with Riccardo Arrighini and Gianni Basso, Ballads for Trane (Philology W707.2). Wilson was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in November 2010, where he gave his last public performance. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Swingin' Peter Gunn - I - Jimmy Nolen

Jimmy Nolen (April 3, 1934 – December 18, 1983) was an American guitarist, known for his distinctive "chicken scratch" lead guitar playing in James Brown's bands. In its survey of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time," the English magazine Mojo ranks Nolen number twelve Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, Nolen took up the guitar at the age of 14, teaching himself on a Harmony Acoustic guitar. Having played the violin since the age of 9, Nolen already had a sound musical foundation upon which to base his T-Bone Walker-inspired guitar playing. Nolen was "discovered" in a club in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Jimmy Wilson, a blues singer famous for his 1953 hit "Tin Pan Alley." Soon afterward, Wilson offered Nolen a job in his band. He took Nolen back to Los Angeles, California to play in a studio band with popular southern California players Monte Easter (trumpet) and Chuck Higgins (tenor saxophone). During this period Nolen recorded his own commercially unsuccessful singles, mostly for King Records' Federal subsidiary, on which he both sang and played period-inspired blues songs. In 1957 Nolen began to play for Johnny Otis, replacing the ailing Pete "Guitar" Lewis. He was the principal behind Otis' hit "Willie and the Hand Jive." He remained in Otis’ band until 1959 when he formed his own group, The Jimmy Nolen Band. They performed in small clubs and ballrooms in California and Arizona's "chitlin' circuit", backing many of the blues greats that passed through California. The principal influences that inspired his guitar technique were, T-Bone Walker, B.B. King and Lowell Fulson. The Jimmy Nolen band was popular but never released any records since their primary purpose was to work as live backup for more famous acts. In the early 1960s Nolen began playing with the backing band for harmonica legend George "Harmonica" Smith. In 1965, Nolen joined the James Brown band at the recommendation of Les Buie, Brown's guitar player at that time. Buie had grown tired of the road and recommended Nolen as a replacement when the band was in Los Angeles. Like saxophone player Maceo Parker, trombonist Fred Wesley and drummers Clyde Stubblefield and John "Jabo" Starks, Nolen was a staple in James Brown's band. He played with James from 1965 until 1970, when the entire band quit in response to Brown’s erratic behavior, withholding of wages, and demeaning treatment. During this time Nolen began to tour with Maceo Parker’s group Maceo & All the King’s Men. James replied to the mass resignation of his musicians by hiring a then-juvenile band called the Pacemakers who were based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. This band was composed of the young but heavy-hitting William "Bootsy" Collins on bass, his brother Phelps "Catfish" Collins on guitar, Robert McCullough on saxophone, Clayton Gunnels on trombone, and Frank Waddy on drums. The new band was named The J.B.'s and marked a new era for James Brown. Months after this new band was formed Starks and Stubblefield returned; this lineup can be heard on Brown’s album Soul Brother Number One. Despite this band's undeniable talent for playing breakneck funk, it were relatively short-lived as a group, as the Collins brothers soon left to join George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic organization. In 1972 Nolen returned to play with The J.B.'s. Nolen remained with Brown until December 18, 1983, when he died of a heart attack in Atlanta, Georgia If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

She Use To Be My Girl - Wayne Bennett

Wayne Bennett (December 13, 1931 – November 28, 1992) was an American blues guitarist. Bennett was born in Sulphur, Oklahoma, and died in New Orleans Louisiana. He worked with blues musicians such as Bobby Bland, Boxcar Willie, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Alan Haynes and Elmore James, as well as with jazz musicians, including Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon. In 1990, he played on Willy DeVille's album Victory Mixture. Bennett also played with the Chi-Lites, the Lost Generation, the Hues Corporation; among many others and cut his own record in 1968, an instrumental called "Casanova, Your Playing Days are Over" on the now defunct Brunswick label. Bennett was a guitarist originally known for his jazz-tinged blues guitar work with Bobby "Blue" Bland. He worked with Bland for a long time, and his solo on "Stormy Monday" on Bland's album Here's The Man is still considered by many guitarists[who?] to be a classic, drawing both from T-Bone Walker and jazz influences. Another standout solo on Bland's "Wishing Well" displays a compelling virtuosity in the blues idiom that would become a model for young guitarists in England such as Eric Clapton who would become part of the British Invasion of the 1960's. Bennett himself never liked to claim to be a blues player, preferring instead to be as versatile as he could be, and taking pride in being able to quote from a wide variety of popular music, including TV theme songs. In his earlier years he played a Gibson Byrdland hollow-body, but in later years he was also seen playing a custom Tom Holmes Cadillac solid-body. At one time or another Bennett had also been a member of the house orchestra at the Apollo in New York, the Regal Theatre in Chicago, the Howard in Washington, D.C., the Uptown Theatre in Philadelphia and the Royal Theatre in Baltimore. Some of Bennett's training included studying guitar with Harry Volpe in New York for two years; studying harmony with Nate Griffin in Chicago for one year; studying harmony with Junior Mance in Chicago for two years; and studying harmony and ear training with Tony Hanson in Cleveland, Ohio for one year. Bennett died from heart failure, a week before a scheduled replacement could be transplanted, at the age of 60. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”Bennett was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2001.

Magnolia - JJ Cale

Eric Clapton was the first to pick up on the talents of JJ Cale covering a number of his tunes in the early 70's. Kansas and Skynyrd also picked up a few of his tunes and with fire gave them a whole different life. This is my favorite JJ Cale tune.... simple and the way he wrote it. JJ Cale (also J.J. Cale), born John Weldon Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and musician. Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back". His songs have been performed by a number of other musicians including "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton,"Cajun Moon" by Randy Crawford, "Magnolia" by Jai, "Bringing It Back" by Kansas, "Call Me the Breeze" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "I'd Like to Love You, Baby" by Tom Petty, "Travelin' Light" and "Ride Me High" by Widespread Panic, "Tijuana" by Harry Manx, "Sensitive Kind" by Carlos Santana, "Cajun Moon" by Herbie Mann with Cissy Houston, and "Same Old Blues" by Captain Beefheart. Cale was born on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was raised in Tulsa and graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1956. Along with a number of other young Tulsa musicians, Cale moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he first worked as a studio engineer. Finding little success as a recording artist, he later returned to Tulsa and was considering giving up the music business until Clapton recorded "After Midnight" in 1970. His first album, Naturally, established his style, described by Los Angeles Times writer Richard Cromelin as a "unique hybrid of blues, folk and jazz, marked by relaxed grooves and Cale's fluid guitar and laconic vocals. His early use of drum machines and his unconventional mixes lend a distinctive and timeless quality to his work and set him apart from the pack of Americana roots-music purists." Some sources incorrectly give his real name as "Jean-Jacques Cale". A Sunset Strip nightclub owner employing Cale in the mid-1960s came up with the "JJ" moniker to avoid confusion with the Velvet Underground's John Cale. In the 2006 documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale, Rocky Frisco tells the same version of the story mentioning the other John Cale but without further detail. His biggest U.S. hit single, Crazy Mama, peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. During the 2006 documentary film To Tulsa and Back Cale recounts the story of being offered the opportunity to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand to promote the song, which would have moved the song higher on the charts. Cale declined when told he could not bring his band to the taping and would be required to lip-sync the words to the song. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

She Use To Be My Girl - Wayne Bennett

Wayne Bennett (December 13, 1931 – November 28, 1992) was an American blues guitarist. Bennett was born in Sulphur, Oklahoma, and died in New Orleans Louisiana. He worked with blues musicians such as Bobby Bland, Boxcar Willie, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Alan Haynes and Elmore James, as well as with jazz musicians, including Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon. In 1990, he played on Willy DeVille's album Victory Mixture. Bennett also played with the Chi-Lites, the Lost Generation, the Hues Corporation; among many others and cut his own record in 1968, an instrumental called "Casanova, Your Playing Days are Over" on the now defunct Brunswick label. Bennett was a guitarist originally known for his jazz-tinged blues guitar work with Bobby "Blue" Bland. He worked with Bland for a long time, and his solo on "Stormy Monday" on Bland's album Here's The Man is still considered by many guitarists[who?] to be a classic, drawing both from T-Bone Walker and jazz influences. Another standout solo on Bland's "Wishing Well" displays a compelling virtuosity in the blues idiom that would become a model for young guitarists in England such as Eric Clapton who would become part of the British Invasion of the 1960's. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

My Key Jumped Back In My Hand - Ted Taylor

Austin Taylor, better known as Ted Taylor (February 16, 1934 – October 2, 1987) was an American soul musician. Born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United States, Taylor sang with The Cadets/The Jacks in the 1950s. He sang lead vocals on The Cadets' "Do You Wanna Dance (Hey Little Girl)" and "I Cry" and also on The Jacks' "Away" and "My Darling." He did not appear on The Cadets' biggest hit "Stranded In The Jungle" in 1955. For that session, he was replaced by singer Prentice Moreland. Taylor left The Cadets/The Jacks to begin a solo career which began with two singles on Melatone Records in 1957. He would later release singles on Ebb Records and Duke Records from 1957 to 1959; in the 1960s he recorded for Ronn Records and Okeh Records in blues and soul styles. In the 1970s he recorded disco for TK Records. Taylor died in a car crash in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1987, aged 53. “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band!

New Release: Elvin Bishop "That's My Thing" (DVD)

	ELVIN BISHOP "THAT'S MY THING" DVD A BLISTERING PERFORMANCE FEATURING 18 ROLLICKING HITS PLUS A BONUS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ELVIN BISHOP! Retail: $25.99 Discounted Price: $17.99 + s&h "Before Eric Clapton was old enough to shave, Elvin Bishop was hanging out in Chicago with the first generation of electric bluesmen." – Guitar World "Forever a crusader for fun blues and rock 'n' roll, Bishop gives his cherry red 1959 Gibson ES-345 a hug and places emphasis on his terrific slide guitar chops…" – Downbeat "It's impossible not to like Bishop (his lyrical persona is not just for show). He's always singing something lowbrow and uplifting..." – Chicago Sun Times "…Bishop's muscular guitar provides the sets pulse, as his soulful slide ripples through R & B classics and rowdy blues alike." – Relix DETAILS FORMAT: DVD (ALL REGION) # OF TRACKS: 18 (96 MINS) RELEASE DATE: 10/16/12 CATALOG #: DGPDVD010 UPC NUMBER: 850021001704 MUSICIANS Elvin Bishop: Guitar and Vocals Bob Welsh: Guitar Ruth Davies: Bass Ed Earley: Trombone & Percussion Bobby Cochran: Drums & Vocals S.E. Willis: Keys & Accordion DVD CREDITS A VenMundi Production Produced by: Jarid S. Johnson TRACK LISTING 01. That's My Thing (5:17) 02. My Dog (5:10) 03. Gettin' My Groove Back (5:49) 04. Mellow-D (4:47) 05. What the Hell is Going On (3:40) 06. Arkansas Line (5:52) 07. Got to be New Orleans (5:16) 08. Travelin' Shoes (7:53) 09. Fishin' (6:52) 10. Stomp (5:26) 11. Stealin' Watermelons (6:09) 12. Rock My Soul (5:42) 13. Calling All Cows (5:12) 14. El Bo (5:13) 15. Booty Bumpin' (4:42) 16. Party 'Til the Cows Come Home (5:35) 17. Little Brown Bird (6:04) 18. Bishop's Boogie (2:11) Elvin Bishop's music has been making people smile for over 50 years. A founding member of the ground-breaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Elvin has performed and recorded with music legends such as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker and The Allman Brothers. From deep down gut-bucket blues played in smoky South Side Chicago taverns, to raucous roadhouse R&B, Bishop's instilled all of his music with passion, creativity and a healthy helping of wisdom, wit and good humor! That's My Thing: Elvin Bishop Live In Concert DVD presents a blistering performance by Elvin Bishop and his road-tested touring band recorded live in front of a sold out crowd on December 17, 2011 at Club Fox in Redwood City, California. Bishop exuberantly struts his stuff while simultaneously coaxing his "Red Dog" to howl (aka his trusty cherry-red1959 Gibson ES-345 axe) on a selection of 18 rollicking numbers including Travelin' Shoes, Rock My Soul, Fishin', Stealin' Watermelons, Gettin' My Groove Back, Party 'Til The Cows Come Home, Little Brown Bird, Calling All Cows and 10 more ! In addition to his live concert performance, the DVD also includes a bonus exclusive interview of Elvin Bishop taped at Hog Heaven Studio. This is the DEFINITIVE interview of Elvin, tracing his life and career from the farms of Oklahoma, through his blues apprenticeship in Chicago, to his breakout as a solo star (including his hit Fooled Around and Fell in Love), all the way to his present career. VIDEO PREVIEW: Trailer/Clip: Elvin talks about his guitar "Red Dog". UPCOMING TOUR DATES: 11/23/12: Brooks, CA - Cache Creek Casino Resort 11/24/12: Healdsburg, CA - Raven Theater 11/26/12: Fort Lauderdale, FL - Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 12/07/12: San Francisco, CA - Biscuits & Blues 01/20/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL – Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 01/21/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL – Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 01/22/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL – Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 01/23/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL – Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 01/24/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL – Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 01/25/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL – Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 01/26/13: Fort Lauderdale, FL – Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise 02/22/13: Park City, UT - The Egyptian Theatre 02/23/13: Park City, UT - The Egyptian Theatre BOOKING: THE ROSEBUD AGENCY Mike Kappus Phone: (415) 386-3456 Fax: (415) 386-0599 mikek@rosebudus.com www.rosebudus.com WWW.DELTAGROOVEMUSIC.COM

Walkin Blues - Leon Russell and Chris Simmons

i have a very wide, yet highly selective range of influences... starting with robert johnson, muddy waters, freddie king and bb king. i put mr. johnson at the top of acoustic blues and everyone else a distant second. muddy stands way out to me when it comes to the real blues electrified. the two kings are my faves when it comes to the blues solo guitar. i got into eric clapton with cream and blind faith and derek and the dominoes... and duane allman and the allman brothers pretty heavy and that really led me to the even older blues. i also got in to peter green pretty heavy for awhile. DEREK TRUCKS, Aubrey Ghent, PETER GREEN. PETER GREEN. PETER GREEN. before i played guitar i was really into prince. i thought he was super cool and i was right. van halen is what made me beg my mom for my first guitar. before i got into any of the old blues or allmans or clapton, i was a 100% AC/DC fanatic. i still am, just to a lesser percent, more like 95%. i think angus young's guitar is really what introduced the blues to me in the first place. led zeppelin, GOD! they're great! the who, i like their power. don't forget skynyrd. my favorite vocalist in the world is paul rodgers. FREE and bad company and everything else up to queen. i like some old country music.. merle, cash, hank, dolly, loretta... all that good old stuff. i'm a slight stones fan.. a huge beatles fan... paul and george are my favorites. "the Band" really gets me inspired. that whole thing is just surreal. i think 70's lite rock like ARS and firefall and nitty gritty is super cool. i think the bee gees are kinda cool and extremely good songwriters. speaking of songwriters... jim croce, james taylor. skip the 80's until you get to GnR. there we're a lot of okay rock bands, but GnR really stands the test of time for me. hey and the black crowes! stone temple pilots are super duper cool. velvet revolver rocks. ben folds kicks ass. my favorite band right now is the foo fighters. great playing, great songs, great show. i forgot a few, but lately i've definitely recognized a lot of influence from Leon Russell that i didn't before and some Jerry Lee Lewis. If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

Delta Groove artist: Elvin Bishop - That's My Thing DVD - New Release Review

First I've got to say...WOW!! I love Elvin Bishop and I am thrilled that he has been captured in concert. I've been a Bishop fan for more years than you can imagine and although I love his CD's the man just is a great performer! There is a sincerity and lack of pretentiousness that Bishop just brings along with him and a man with his credentials... it just makes me proud to be one of his greatest fans. I have traveled to both coasts to festivals based upon whether he was playing or not (other performers were icing but Bishop was the incentive). Now on with the show.I have the to be released DVD (available October 16, 2012) and let me tell you what's up!  Bishop opens with That's My Thing, a simple country blues romp with Crabshaw on old Red Dog and there aren't too many guitars in the world that I'd prefer to have. This guitar not only has provenance, it has character! It has tone! This guitar has seen stuff that blues fans only dream about! And here Elvin has it in a club and it sounds great! I also think Ed Earley is a great contributor with his perfect tone on trombone. Like Miles, his tone is his own and he fits Bishop like a glove. Next up is My Dog, a personal favorite and one that has personal feelings for me having lost my own personal companion "Wood" last week. Bob Welsh plays a smokin' guitar solo on this track and Bishop kills it on the end. He gets the crowd a howlin' and barkin' and having fun is what this is all about. There is one thing that is particularly cool about listening to such a variety of music (like I do) and that's that you really get to see what's different and what's all the same. Bishop has his own style and he is tremendously inspiring. Gettin' My Groove Back finds Bobby Cochran (drums) on sweet lead vocals and the band gets a Louisiana blues going with S.E. Willis on accordion coming through. Again Welsh plays an inspired solo and Bishop is sitting with Red Dog in his Over Hauls (Bib Overalls)and boots just rippin' out the tone. Next up is Bishop playing slide on Mellow-D. This is played on a more modern 345 and although it doesn't have the guts of Red Dog, I love Bishops tone on slide. His early tracks from the late 60's and 70's are definitely worth searching out. After a nice solo from Welsh, Bishop plays some first position slide work on the 5th and 6th string. That is the guts of the guitar ...then moving to the upper octave for the glory. Sweet. Next up is What The Hell Is Going On, with Elvin back with classic vocals. Elvin's voice is a perfect match for Red Dog's bark and this is a great track to illustrate that. Before I forget I want to mention Ruth Davies who holds down the bottom really tight on an electric upright. Welsh pushes Crabshaw with fine riffs on what looks to be a 60's sg with a Bigsby. Great clean (compared to Bishop) tone. Digging back into the 70's Bishop pulls out Arkansas Line and gives it a real Tex Mex sound (with a touch of New Orleans). This was a great track on Juke Joint Jump and now sounds fresh as ever with a new slant. It's really cool that Elvin plays Red Dog most of this concert cause the dog really likes to sing.

Pic by Bill Horton

This is pure music. It's really great seeing this in my own living room at my leisure (and permanent). Got To Be New Orleans is a great funk track with Crabshaw leading the way. This track should show up on Treme (hint guys). If you haven't seen Treme and you love new Orleans music, it's a must! This track is really loose and and the vocals just gotta make you smile. Welsh flashes some funky riffs on a white tele to punch up the belly of the song but this track is really about the slack! Another great 70's track, Travelin' Shoes is up next. One of my best friends in college actually turned me on to Elvin Bishop. He was a football player from Mississippi (Ernie Webster)and he was known as the Big E. He had the logo from JJJ painted on the front of his hippie van. This track sounds great and Willis does a nice job on keys. Elvin has altered the word to this tune a few times to describe the "a-whoppin" he was gonna lay on somebody head. Welsh rips out a great solo on this track and Elvin gets the dog barking in tandem. Great music! Elvin asks the crowd if they're having a good time... and he means it! Next up is Fishin' which is really the track that brought Bishop out of the blues/r&b line and into his own unique style. He had some really great tracks that strayed on earlier albums but this track I think was the major departure to Elvin getting into his having fun openly. Watch clips of Bishop at the Fillmore and catch the chills run up your back. Bishop is like Picasso who can paint a perfect portrait but have found his own unique and extremely potent style. He pulls a fishin' pole guitar out for the punch line and fishes a blonde out of the audience to join in the party letting her strum the old dog. Stomp is a terrific slide instrumental from Rock My Soul and another that I'm glad to see him revisit! Stealin' Watermelons is a funky track from Let It Flow. Again back on the modern 345 Bishop sets a great stage for the band to play. Davies sets a solid bottom and Willis takes his turn on keys, Walsh on his tele and the heads are bobbin as the band sings. There is just great electricity produced by this band and Elvin chides them along! Breaking back to Rock My Soul, a great old R&B tune (from Rock My Soul) Elvin and gang get the grind. Cochran sings Jo Bakers part and although he isn't Baker, the voices (with Earley) sound great. the breakaway with Elvin, Welsh and Earley is terrific! On Calling All Cows  the tandem guitar work was always great and equally matched here with a dash of New Orleans. Bishop and Welsh each take riffs on slide. Bishop takes a walk through the crowd on El Bo and pulls out the old Chicago licks. This is a great track and giving Crabshaw the space to show what Red Dog can really do. Earley gets a nice run on the trombone and Welsh also plays a nice solo before joining with Bishop for some dueling guitar. Elvin grabs a great riff to finish the track. The band plays Booty Bumpin', an uptempo boogie giving Davies a brief bass solo and Elvin gives Red Dog a thumpin again. I hope that the audience appreciates what a tremendous treat they were witnessing 'cause I sure do. Party Till The Cows Come Home which I only remember in live form from the Fillmore release, has become one of Bishops trademark songs. Little Brown Bird has appeared on a few live recordings and Bishop always does a tremendous job. Not only does Bishop sing his guts out, he really kicks the crap out of the guitar on this track! I know that Bishop is all fun and games, but when the man stops to say something serious, people you need to listen. This is it!! Elvin wraps the set with Bishop's Boogie. Like any great entertainer you leave the crowd on an uptempo track and Elvin kicks it in gear for a terrific encore! The icing on this cake is Elvin Speaks, a frank discussion with Elvin in what appears to be his home studio. This is a really great one on one look at Elvin's exposure to the blues as a child, his first concert, life in Oklahoma in the 40's and 50's, his perceptions of music (he even uses the same expression that I do when I talk about "stale music" "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window!") at the time, his trip to Chicago; his trips to Maxwell street, and exposure to older blues players that we've mostly only seen faint films of. He also reminisced about his times with Smokey Smothers (if you haven't heard Smokey you must check him out!) and Paul Butterfield, his first real band mate. He talks about Bill Graham and his influence on the integration of all genres of music into the mainstream. He even does a little short on Red Dog for guitar heads like me and talks Fishin! He takes a walk through his small garden and shows his real life. He talks about getting Mickey Thomas on his big hit and why. The grits and gravy is when he talks about his take on playing blues...he hits it square on the head. Enjoy this unique video of one of the great blues entertainers of our time. If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

 This is not from the film but representative of current work...enjoy!

City Hall Records artist: Big Walker - Root Walking - New release review

I've been listening to a new release,Root Walking, by Big Walker. Big Walker has assembled 12 original compositions including 17th and 18th century poems. It's Hard, the opener is a standard Chicago blues track and grooves quite nicely. Raise A Rukus has the flavor of a back country compound with hoot and hollarin along with a stripped down blues singing, guitar and harp. Wild Black Bill uses the blues format to tell an interesting little story not unlike the early southern blues... very cool. Run Nigri Run really has that southern voodoo sound and is a great track. The Hypocrite Blues has the characteristics of a early American country song ... possibly from the Appalachians. Can't Take No Train head back to Chicago for a high steppin' early electric Mud type track. Midnight Special is the traditional track whose authorship is unknown. It was first recorded in around 1900 and has since been recorded by everyone from Ledbelly to CCR. There is a cool acoustic slide part on this track. You Got A Home In That Rock, a traditional spiritual, is done uptempo with a bit of a rock beat and nice harp work. Papa Guede gets that Little Feet/ New Orleans feel going and along with again nice slide and harp work is a really cool track. Devil's Cloth has that deep south voodoo sound and is very interesting. It's not just the rhythm with these tracks but how certain instruments and sounds are used strategically to create the ambiance... again very cool. Thirteenth Full Moon is a much more conventional rock format track and has a real nice groove including guitar and sax riffs that help to create the mood. Slave is another dark track in that voodoo sound. Big Walker seems to have the formula down to express these tracks in a very effective way. Instuments are used for effects and voices are used as instruments in an orchestra. Overall a very interesting composition.
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This is Big Walker playing blues in a more traditional fashion:

Going to Chicago - Little Jimmy Rushing

James Andrew Rushing (August 26, 1901 – June 8, 1972), known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.

Rushing was known as "Mr. Five by Five" and was the subject of an eponymous 1942 popular song that was a hit for Harry James and others -- the lyrics describing Rushing's rotund build: "he's five feet tall and he's five feet wide". He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1927, then joined Bennie Moten's band in 1929. He stayed with the successor Count Basie band when Moten died in 1935.

Rushing was a powerful singer who had a range from baritone to tenor. He could project his voice so that it soared over the horn and reed sections in a big-band setting. Basie claimed that Rushing "never had an equal" as a blues vocalist. George Frazier, author of Harvard Blues, called Rushing's distinctive voice "a magnificent gargle". His best known recordings are probably "Going to Chicago" with Basie, and "Harvard Blues", with a famous saxophone solo by Don Byas.
Rushing was born into a family with musical talent and accomplishments. His father, Andrew Rushing, was a trumpeter and his mother, Cora, and brother were singers. Rushing toured the Mid-West and California as an itinerant blues singer in 1923 and 1924 before moving to Los Angeles, California, where he sang with Jelly Roll Morton. Rushing sang with Billy King before moving on to Page's Blue Devils in 1927. He, along with other members of the Blue Devils, defected to the Bennie Moten band in 1929.

Moten died in 1935, and Rushing joined Count Basie for what would be a 13-year tenure. Due to his tutelage under his mentor Moten, Rushing was a proponent of the Kansas City jump blues tradition, best evinced by his performances of "Sent For You Yesterday" and "Boogie Woogie" for the Count Basie Orchestra. After leaving Basie, his recording career soared, as a solo artist and a singer with other bands.

When the Basie band broke up in 1950 he briefly retired, then formed his own group. He also made a guest appearance with Duke Ellington for the 1959 album Jazz Party. In 1960, he recorded an album with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, known for their cerebral cool jazz sound, but the album was nonetheless described by critic Scott Yanow as "a surprising success."

Rushing appeared in the 1957 television special Sound Of Jazz, singing one of his signature songs "I Left My Baby" backed by many of his former Basie band compatriots.

His 1970 album, The You And Me That Used To Be, was named Jazz Album of the Year by DownBeat Magazine in 1971.

After he became ill with leukemia in 1971, Rushing's performing career ended. He died on June 8, 1972, in New York, and was buried at the Maple Grove Cemetery, Kew Gardens, in Queens, New York.
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That's What's Knockin' Me Out - Jimmy Liggins

Jimmy Liggins (October 14, 1922 – July 18, 1983) was an American R&B guitarist and bandleader.
Liggins was born in Newby, Oklahoma, United States. He started out as a professional boxer at age 18 under the name of Kid Zulu, then he quit boxing and took up driving his brother Joe's outfit around on tour. Following the success of his brother, Jimmy Liggins started his own recording career as a singer, guitarist, and leader of the 'Drops of Joy', on Art Rupe's Specialty label in 1947. One of his early releases, "Cadillac Boogie" was a direct forerunner of "Rocket 88", itself often called the first rock and roll record.

Recordings such as "Tear Drop Blues" (1948) and, later, "I Ain't Drunk" (1953), featuring leading saxophone players such as Maxwell Davis, made him one of the most successful bandleaders in the jump blues period of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Liggins left Specialty in 1954, recording "I Ain't Drunk" (1954), later covered by Albert Collins, at Aladdin, before fading from the scene. His wild stage presence and manic delivery also had a direct and lasting impact on Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley.

Liggins died in July 1983, at the age of 60, in Durham, North Carolina.
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Talking Dustbowl Blues - Woody Guthrie

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter and folk musician whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his guitar. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land." Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jeff Tweedy and Tom Paxton have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence.

Guthrie traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. Many of his songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression, earning him the nickname the "Dust Bowl Troubadour." Throughout his life Guthrie was associated with United States communist groups, though he was seemingly not a member of any.

Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children, including American folk musician Arlo Guthrie. Guthrie died from complications of Huntington's disease, a progressive genetic neurological disorder. During his later years, in spite of his illness, Guthrie served as a figurehead in the folk movement, providing inspiration to a generation of new folk musicians, including mentor relationships with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan.

Woody Guthrie was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 1997.
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The Honeydripper - Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers

Joe Liggins (July 9, 1915 – July 26, 1987) was an American R&B, jazz and blues pianist, who was the frontman in the 1940s and 1950s with the band, Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers.
Liggins was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, United States, and moved to San Diego, California in 1932. By the time he moved again, to Los Angeles in 1939, he began playing with various groups, including Sammy Franklin's California Rhythm Rascals. When Liggins asked him to record his song "The Honeydripper", Franklin declined, prompting Liggins to start his own band, which created many more hits in the next years, including "Got a Right to Cry" and the widely covered songs, "Tanya" and "Roll 'Em". Earl Hooker is noted for his cover of "Tanya". The original Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers recordings were issued on the Exclusive Records imprint of brothers Leon and Otis Rene. Joe Liggins' Honeydrippers was formed in the basement of the Los Angeles home of the saxophonist Little Willie Jackson, who co-founded the group and who, at the time of his death in 2000, was the last original surviving member of the Honeydrippers.

In March 1954, the band took part in a benefit show held at the Club 5-4 in Los Angeles for the wife of Stan Getz.

Joe joined his brother Jimmy at Specialty Records in 1950, where he gained more hits including: "Rag Mop", "Boom-Chick-A-Boogie", "Pink Champagne", and "Little Joe's Boogie". His songs were mostly a blend of jump blues and basic R&B. With Roy Milton, he was an architect of the small-band jump blues of the first post-war decade. Liggins often toured with such acts as Jimmy Witherspoon, Amos Milburn and the jump blues shouter H-Bomb Ferguson. His 1950 releases, "Pink Champagne" and "I Gotta Right to Cry," both sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs.

Although Liggins' success stopped in the late 1950s, he led a big band until his death following a stroke, in Lynwood, California, at the age of 72.

His band was often a staple on the US Billboard R&B chart in those years, with their biggest hit being "The Honeydripper", released in 1945. That single topped the R&B chart, then called the race chart, for 18 weeks. More than 60 years later, "The Honeydripper" remains tied with Louis Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" for the longest-ever stay at the top of that chart. It logged a reported two million sales.
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Hunter Wolfe Update

We have been blessed to have played a number of well known, large venues. The Jefferson Theater and the National are among the list. On the 4th we performed to 10,000 strong for Independance Day. It was very exciting and we had a blast.
We have been receiving reviews of our album "The Go" from around the world. Countries like Belgium and Canada are in the mix.
Three of the tracks off our album made it into the Indie Charts and have been holding steady at #7 for over a month now. Two of those tracks are more of our heavy blues songs and we are excited about this because it means we are bringing the blues to people that wouldn't necessarily be listening to it otherwise.

Last month we were the most requested band on Smokestack Lightnin' out of Florida. In second was the Firm (Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers), third, the Black Keys and seventh, the White Stripes. We are very blessed and very excited!
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Drink You Up - Mike Hammar and the Nails

Mike Hammar has been playing the blues up and down the state of California for the past 25 years. This Oklahoma born Native American was brought up on the blues by his father Mike Hammar, Sr. who introduced him to the music of Lightin' Hopkins, Gatemouth Brown, T-Bone Walker, and BB King. After years of being a sideman, Mike set out to create his own legacy. He put together a hard working blues band in 2001 and swore he would do his best to write, record, and perform his own style of blues. Mike Hammar and his band, The Nails, released their first album "Going Home" in the summer of 2004. Their album has received airplay on American Roots Music Radio in Norway, England, Germany, Belgium, Canada, and on the college radio circuit here in the United States. In 2009, Mike and the band won the prestigious Monterey Bay Blues Festival's Battle of the Blues Bands. They followed that up with the release of their second album "Recipe for the Blues" in the summer of 2010. This sophomore effort presented 12 eclectic blues tunes written and produced by Mike Hammar. One of the songs from this album "This Ain't Goodbye" was nominated for an an Independent Music Award. Blues for the Gulf selected another song from the album, "Before Miss Katrina", to be part of a national multi-artist digitally released album in 2010. Mike's music has been featured on Sirius XM Radio's BB King Bluesville station. Mike and his crew have had the honor of opening for some of the biggest names in modern blues. They continue to make their mark on the California blues scene with well crafted original music and heart felt performances. Mike's band consists of "Harmonica Jim" Pedersen, Sparky Gehres on the bass, Greg Merino on drums, and Allan "B3blues" Carroll on the Hammond organ. This unique blues crew offers a refreshing new feel to a traditional American genre of music. Influenced by many blues styles, their sound is eclectic, enthusiastic, and energetic.
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