Hurricane has been among my favorite Bob Dylan songs for a long time. I’ve always dug the amazing violin playing by Scarlet Rivera, which gives the tune a very distinct sound. And while the lyrics take some creative liberties, I think Hurricane represents excellent cinematic story-telling and is one of the most compelling protest songs I know.
Co-written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy, Hurricane is the opener of Dylan’s 17th studio album Desire that came out in January 1976. The above clip is from Dylan’s appearance on the American live concert TV series Soundstage in December 1975.
Hurricane tells the story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, an American middleweight boxer who along with his friend John Artis was wrongfully convicted of a triple murder that occurred at a bar in Patterson, N.J. in 1966. After he had been sent to prison, Carter continued to maintain his innocence and, helped by a writer, published his autobiography in 1974. Knowing about Dylan’s civil rights engagement, Carter had a copy sent to Dylan.
Bob Dylan visiting Rubin Carter in prison in December 1975
Prompted by the autobiography, Dylan visited Carter in prison in December 1975. He and Levy wrote Hurricane thereafter, based on the book and news accounts. Dylan also raised money for Carter’s legal defense during two shows of his Rolling Thunder Revue tour at the time.
Following the autobiography’s publication, two of the prosecution’s key witnesses changed their testimony. In 1976, Carter’s and Artis’ convictions were overturned, but only a few months later, both men were found guilty again during a second trial. Appeals continued. Artis was paroled in 1981. In 1985, a U.S. district judge in New Jersey exonerated Carter, noting the prosecution had been “predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure.”
Carter was finally set free in November 1985, after 19 years in prison. He relocated to Toronto, earned Canadian citizenship and became an advocate for people who like him had become victims of judicial injustice. From 1993 until 2005, he was executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. Carter passed away from prostate cancer in April 2014.
After Carter’s second conviction, Dylan had moved on and never performed Hurricane live again. Apparently, Carter was still grateful for everything Dylan had done for him and did not hold the artist’s apparent lack of interest after his second conviction against him.
Survivor Blues features “obscure songs that have hardly been covered”
There’s nothing fishy about Walter Trout. For five decades, the guitarist has played and lived the blues, initially as sideman for the likes of John Lee Hooker, Joe Tax and John Mayall during the ’70s and 80s, and starting from 1989, as a solo artist. Now, Trout has released a covers album aptly titled Survivor Blues, featuring tunes he feels have been underappreciated. Since there are only so many ways you can play the blues, I think it’s all about execution. If you dig electric blues, you’re in for a trout, I mean treat!
Born on March 6, 1951 in Ocean City, N.J., Trout started his career in the Garden State in the late 1960s. In a cool video about the making of Survivor Blues, which is published on his website, Trout recalls how as a 16- or 17-year-old he met B.B. King. After spotting King in a New Jersey record store, he asked him for an autograph, saying he loved the blues and was trying to figure it out on the guitar. King ended up talking to him for more than one hour. One thing’s for sure: That conversation did not discourage young Walter Trout to pursue the blues!
Walter Trout in 2018
In 1974, Trout moved to Los Angeles and became a sideman for R&B singer and songwriter Percy Mayfield, who among others wrote Hit The Road Jack, which became a no. 1 hit for Ray Charles in 1961. Other artists Trout backed during the 70s included John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton and Joe Tex. In 1981, he joined blues rockers Canned Heat as a guitarist. From 1985 until 1989, Trout was part of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, following the trail of many other blues musicians. One night, he was spotted by a Danish concert promoter who offered him to pay for a solo tour.
Trout left the Bluesbreakers, and in 1989 his solo debut Life In The Jungle came out. He has since released more than 20 additional records, initially as Walter Trout Band, then as Walter Trout and the Free Radicals, Walter Trout and the Radicals and, starting with The Outsider in 2008, simply as Walter Trout. Survivor Blues is the 10th album appearing under his name and follows the award-winning We’re All In This Together. The 2017 album of original tunes features many other blues heavyweights like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Sonny Landreth, Robben Ford and Charlie Musselwhite.
“I didn’t want to do ‘Stormy Monday’ or ‘Messin’ With The Kid.’ I didn’t want to do the Blues greatest hits,” Trout commented on the new album. I wanted to do old, obscure songs that have hardly been covered…My idea was to do these songs like me, to arrange them for my band and style – not to just copy the originals note-for-note.” Trout also sought active input from his band on how to render the songs, which were mostly recorded live in study, a smart approach, in my opinion.
Trout’s wife and manager Marie came up with the record’s title. ‘You’re a group of survivors,’ she told him. ‘You’ve all been through hell and you’ve come back. These songs are survivors. This album needs to be called Survivor Blues.’ In 2014, Trout received a liver transplant after he had been diagnosed with liver failure – likely a result from alcohol and substance abuse he overcame in the ’80s. Reflecting on the members of his band, Trout said, “Mike [Michael Leasure, drums] is in recovery. Johnny [Johnny Griparic, bass] almost didn’t make it. Skip [Skip Edwards, keyboards] has had a triple bypass. And I almost didn’t make it after my liver disease in 2014.”
Time for some music. I’d like to kick it off with the excellent opener Me, My Guitar And The Blues. Written by Jimmy Dawkins, the tune was the title track of his 1997 solo album. Trout couldn’t get enough of the electric blues guitarist’s records during his early years as an up and comer in New Jersey. “The last line – ‘Since you left me, All I have left is Me, My Guitar and the Blues’ – is one of the greatest lyrics I’ve heard in my life and I start crying just saying it,” Trout stated. The lyrics are also a perfect way to set the tone for an album titled Survivor Blues.
Please Love Me, co-written by B.B. King and Jules Taub, was the opener of King’s 1956 debut album Singin’ The Blues. Trout calls King “the greatest blues man that ever lived.” Something tells me Trout’s sentiment may reflect the above noted long conversation with his hero.
One of my favorites on the album is Luther Johnson’sWoman Don’t Lie. The track appeared on a record titled Born In Georgia, released in March 2008. On his take Trout shares lead vocals with blues vocalist Sugaray Rayford. The result is just beautiful!
Appropriately, Trout also paid homage to John Mayall with Nature’s Disappearing, a tune from his 1970 album USA Union. “I was nervous about doing it because it’s by my mentor and surrogate father,” Trout noted. “John told me he’d read an article about ecology and pollution – he put the magazine down at the end and wrote that song in five minutes. It’s even more relevant today, with all the environmental regulations being thrown out and national parks being sold off to oil companies.” I dig the groove of this cover and think the Godfather of British Blues is smiling.
On Goin’ Down To The River Trout is joined by Robby Krieger, in whose Los Angeles studio the album was recorded. The tune was written by hill country blues singer and guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell. “There was something about the lyric,” noted Trout. “But the original is very different. I decided to take the verses that spoke to me, and then rearranged the song almost Muddy Waters-esque with that slide lick. Robby Krieger was coming in every day, listening and hanging out, so I said, ‘I’d love it if you played on this song’. So when I say ‘Play it, Robby’ – that’s Robby Krieger from The Doors. We just did that in the studio – boom, there you go.”
Survivor Blues has been produced by Trout’s long-time producer Eric Corne. It appears on Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group and is available in CD and vinyl formats, as well as on iTunes, Spotify and other digital music platforms.
Trout, who fortunately seems to be in good health, is supporting Survivor Blues with an extended tour that is set to kick off in Minneapolis on January 31st. Currently, the schedule lists around 50 dates, mostly in the U.S., and stretches all the way out to August. Not listed for some reason is a gig that shows up in Ticketmaster: April 8 at The Iridium in New York City. Blues is made to be experienced live, and this show is definitely on my radar screen.
Even though I’ve already done numerous installments for this recurrent feature, many of the 365 dates remain to be explored. Let’s take a look at some of the events on January 23 in rock & roll history.
1956: Cleveland, Ohio banned rock & roll fans under the age of 18 from dancing in public unless accompanied by an adult, after the Ohio police had re-introduced a law dating back to 1931. Music bans rarely work, and there was no way young people could be kept away from rock & roll. Ironically, 27 years later, the very same city saw the founding of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The times they are a-changin’.
1965:Petula Clark hit no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with Downtown, the first female singer from the U.K. to reach the top of the U.S. chart since Vera Lynn in 1952. The tune, which peaked at no. 2 in the U.K., was written by Tony Hatch, who also produced it for Clark. The song’s recording session on October 16, 1964 at Pye Studios in London was attended by a popular studio guitarist. His name: Jimmy Page. That same year, his session work also included As Tears Go By (Marianne Faithfull), Heart Of Stone (The Rolling Stones) and Baby, Please Don’t Go (Them), among others.
1969:The Beatles were working at Abbey Road Studios as part of the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. They spent a great deal of time on Get Back, recording an impressive 43 takes of the Paul McCartney tune, none of which was officially released. Their efforts eventually would pay off during their rooftop concert. And, yes, they passed the audition!
1971:George Harrison reached no. 1 on the Official Singles Chart in the U.K. with My Sweet Lord, becoming the first former member of The Beatles to top the charts as a solo artist. The tune appeared on All Things Must Pass, Harrison’s first solo album following the band’s breakup. My Sweet Lord peaked at no. 1 in many other countries as well, including the U.S., Canada and Australia. It also made Harrison the first and only ex-Beatle to find himself embroiled in major copyright infringement litigation. The lawsuit alleged My Sweet Lord plagiarized He’s So Fine, a tune Ronnie Mack had written for The Chiffons, giving them a no. 1 single in the U.S. in 1963. In September 1976, a New York judge ruled that Harrison had “subconsciously copied” Mack’s tune. Subsequent litigation over damages dragged on until 1998.
1976:David Bowie released his 10th studio album Station To Station. It became his highest-charting record in the U.S. during the ’70s, climbing to no. 3 on the Billboard 200. The record also catapulted the Thin White Duke into the top 10 in various other countries, including the U.K. (no. 5), Australia (no. 8), The Netherlands (no. 3), Norway (no. 8) and New Zealand (no. 9). In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked Station To Station at no. 324 on their list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Here’s the closer Wild Is The Wind, which like all tracks was written by Bowie.
1978:Terry Kath, best known as a founding member of Chicago, accidentally shot himself dead. Following a party, he started playing around with guns, held a pistol he thought was empty to his temple and pulled the trigger. The freak accident happened only a few days prior to what would have been his 32nd birthday. Referring to Kath, Jimi Hendrix reportedly once told Chicago’s saxophone player Walter Parazaider that “your guitar player is better than me.” Regardless whether Hendrix meant it or not, there’s no question that Kath was an ace guitarist. Here’s I Don’t Want Your Money, which was co-written by him and Robert Lamm, and appeared on Chicago’s third studio album Chicago III from January 1971.
Sources: Wikipedia, This Day in Music.com, The Beatles Bible, YouTube
What could be better than music from The Who? More music from The Who: Eminence Front!
The above clip was captured during The Who’s concert in London’s Hyde Park in the summer of 2015, the finale of their triumphant 50th anniversary tour. Written by Pete Townshend as usally, the tune first appeared on the band’s 10th studio album It’s Hard from September 1982, the last with John Entwistle.
Eminence Front, which was also released separately as the album’s second single, is one of a few Who album tracks featuring Townshend on lead vocals. While the song has become a crowd pleaser at concerts, its chart success in the U.S. at the time it came out was moderate. It peaked at no. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single did much better in Germany where it climbed all the way to no. 5 on the charts.
North American Moving On! Tour to feature band with symphonic orchestras
When The Who came to the U.S. the previous time in 2017, I was really tempted to see them again. After all, they remain my favorite ’60s British Invasion band next to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. I didn’t and then sort of regretted it. Should have, could have – well, not this time, especially given this could well be The Who’s last big tour. Plus, three make a charm!
On Monday, Roger Daltrey and his longtime partner in crime Pete TownshendannouncedMoving On!, a 29-date North American tour, and a new studio album to be released “later this year” – their first of original material in 13 years. Is it going to be called Moving On!? At this time, one can only speculate, since the announcement didn’t say anything else.
Perhaps Daltrey and Townshend are taking a page from the playbook of Paul McCartney. Last year, Sir Paul showed the music world how to create anticipation ahead of the release of his most recent studio album Egypt Station. From posting visual clues on his Instagram to telling Jimmy Fallon about a concert in New York at an undisclosed location to coincide with the release, saying it would be big and cheerfully reminding the audience of the album’s title, Macca masterfully executed a few tricks to create buzz.
You could argue there’s something odd about a man, who by the time the tour kicks off will be 75 years old, to sing I hope I die before I get old. Whether My Generation will be included in the setlist remains to be seen. And 75 today isn’t what the age used to be when Daltrey shouted out the verse for the first time in 1965. More importantly, age first and foremost is how you feel inside, not some number – that’s what I keep telling myself as well! 🙂
Daltrey seems to be pretty aware of his current life stage. TellingRolling Stone recently this may be his last tour, he added, “I have to be realistic that this is the age I am and voices start to go after a while. I don’t want to be not as good as I was two years ago.” In other words, he knows when the time comes to stop. Until then, fans should continue to enjoy who I believe is one of the best rock vocalists.
One aspect of Moving On!, which escaped my attention until after I had purchased my ticket yesterday, is the symphonic format – a setup I feel can easily become overwhelming. Here’s Daltrey’s take he shared with the Los Angeles Times: “One mistake rock bands make is when they just have orchestras playing “pads,” as I call them, music that could be played on a synthesizer…Another mistake people make is taking the rock out. When Pete did “Quadrophenia” with an orchestra but without the rock band, well, taking the rock out of “Quadrophenia” was, to me, an anathema. It didn’t make sense. But you put the two together, it becomes huge. I was really bowled over by it. It’s triumphant.”
Roger Daltey (far left) and Pete Townshend (far right) with their touring band (from left) in 2017: Jon Button (bass) and Loren Gold (keyboards). Not pictured: Simon Townshend (guitar, backing vocals) and Zak Starkey (drums)
Daltrey and Townshend also addressed the tour’s symphonic format in their above announcement. “Be aware Who fans! Just because it’s The Who with an orchestra, in no way will it compromise the way Pete and I deliver our music,” said Daltrey. “This will be full throttle Who with horns and bells on.” Added Townshend, “Roger christened this tour Moving On! I love it. It is what both of us want to do. Move on, with new music, classic Who music, all performed in new and exciting ways. Taking risks, nothing to lose.” Let’s see how they put it all in action. I’m certainly intrigued!
In addition to sharing the stage with orchestras, Daltrey and Townshend will be backed by their familiar touring band: Townshend’s younger brother Simon Townshend (guitar, backing vocals), Loren Gold (keyboards), Jon Button (bass) and Zak Starkey (drums), the oldest son of Sir Richard Starkey, aka Ringo Starr.
The tour’s line-up is listed at the bottom. I’m going to join together with band on May 13 at New York’s Madison Square, where I saw them first, the only time with John Entwistle. I just checked on setlist.fm, and I now think it must have been in October 2000. My previous recollection was it happened as part of the 2002 tour and only a few months prior to Entwistle’s death in Las Vegas in June 2002. To celebrate the upcoming tour and The Ox and Thunderfingers, here’s a clip of one of my all-time favorites: The Real Me from Quadrophenia, The Who’s sixth studio album from October 1976. Entwistle may have been stubborn like an ox, but he was one hell of a bass player!
2019 North American Tour Dates
Summer Dates
May 7 Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
May 9 KeyBank Center, Buffalo, NY
May 11 Jiffy Lube Live , Bristow, VA
May 13 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
May 16 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
May 18 Ruoff Home Mortage Music Center, Noblesville, IN
May 21 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Chicago, IL
May 23 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis, Maryland Heights, MO
May 25 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
May 28 Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
May 30 PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
June 1 Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
Fall Dates
Sept 6 Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Sept 8 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, Alpine Valley, WI
Sept 10 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Sept 13 Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Sept 15 Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
Sept 18 State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
Sept 20 BB&T Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Sept 22 Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
Sept 25 Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Sept 27 American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Sept 29 Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Oct 11 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
Oct 13 Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
Oct 16 Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Oct 19 T-Mobile Park, Home of the Seattle Mariners, Seattle, WA
Oct 21 Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
Oct 23 Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB
Sources: Wikipedia, The Who website, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, setlist.fm, YouTube
Light of Day Winterfest includes benefit concerts in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia
Listening to my favorite music live is an experience I greatly enjoy. I find it even more powerful when it also involves raising money for an important cause, such as fighting hunger, poverty or disease. Last Sunday, I attended a Light of Day Winterfest 2019 event at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J. It was part of a series of regional concerts conducted between January 11 and January 21 to raise money for Parkinson’s disease and other related neurodegenerative disorders. My mother-in-law has had Parkinson’s for more than 10 years, which gave the event additional special meaning.
The annual series of concerts is the key fundraising vehicle of the Light of Day Foundation. According to its website, the New Jersey-based nonprofit funds research into possible cures, improved treatments and support for people living with Parkinson’s and related diseases and their caregivers. The foundation was established by music industry veteran and manager Bob Benjamin and some of his friends in 1998, shortly after he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Light of Day is the title of a song written by Benjamin’s friend Bruce Springsteen for a 1987 motion picture with the same name.
The annual concerts have been held since 2000. Over the years, they grew from a one-day event in Asbury Park to a 10-day series of concerts held in different locations. In addition to the Jersey shore town, which remains the main hub, LOD Winterfest 2019 includes shows in Montclair, N.J., New York City, Philadelphia and Rockland County, N.Y. Light of Day concerts have also expanded beyond the U.S. to Canada, Australia and Europe. The most recent overseas shows took place in England, Germany, Switzerland and various other European countries in late November and December 2018.
Apart from Bruce Springsteen, who has appeared at various Light of Day concerts, other performers over the years have included prominent music artists, such as Southside Johnny, Jakob Dylan and Gary US Bonds, as well as numerous lesser known local artists. To date, Light of Day has raised more than $4.5 million for its support to find a cure for Parkinson’s.
Following are some clips I captured from the event, which mostly focused on tributes. I’d like to kick it off with The Bell Bottom Blues, a Jersey band that captures music by Eric Clapton. This includes his solo career and his work in bands like Cream, Blind Faith and Derek And The Dominoes. Here’s one of my favorite Cream tunes, White Room, from Wheels Of Fire, Cream’s third studio album released in August 1968.
Bob Burger & Friends played a great Tom Petty tribute set. Burger is a singer-songwriter, who according to his website has about 40 published songs to his credit. He has opened for other artists like Meatloaf, Robert Palmer, Hootie And The Blowfish and Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes. Among others, Burger was joined by some of his band mates from The Weeklings, a tribute to The Beatles that apart from renditions plays originals inspired by The Fab Four. Here’s Refugee, which Petty recorded with The Heartbreakers for their excellent third studio album Damn The Torpedoes from October 1979.
Next up: CSN Songs, a great tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. On their website, the seven-piece band characterizes itself as the only national CSN&Y tribute show of its kind. CSN Songs does a beautiful job at replicating CSN&Y’s four-part harmony vocals. Here’s their rendition of Woodstock, the classic Joni Mitchell tune CSN&Y recorded for their second album Déjà Vu that came out in March 1970.
The last band I’d like to highlight is Best Of The Eagles (BTOE). Previously, I had seen a couple of other Eagles tribute bands. While they were pretty good, BTOE has been the best so far. According to their website, BTOE were founded in 2012 by guitarist/vocalist Joe Vadala and a group of professional New Jersey musicians. In addition to Eagles songs, they also played Don Henley and Joe Walsh solo tunes, including a blistering rendition of Rocky Mountain Way. Here’s their take of Witchy Woman from the Eagles’ eponymous debut album released in June 1972.
During the current concert series the Light of Day Foundation aims to reach the $5.5 million mark in total fundraising. The schedule of remaining LOD Winterfest 2019 events is here.
Sources: Light of Day Foundation website, Wikipedia, The Bell Bottom Blues Facebook page, Bob Burger website, CSN Songs website, Best Of The Eagles website, YouTube
For those who are old enough to remember, first, there were Charlie’s Angels, now there are The Jersey Angels. While Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith became well-known actresses, I don’t believe their talents included singing. And if they did, I doubt it was anywhere as close as the angelic harmony singing of The Jersey Angels, a pop-oriented country duo I saw Friday night when they performed backing vocals for an excellent Neil Young tribute band.
According to their website, The Jersey Angels are Annie and Gianna. Both grew up in the Garden State and are childhood friends. They got together in 2015 and have performed live since November that year. In addition to their impressive vocals, each is also a musician. Annie is playing the violin while Gianna is a guitarist. As a (mostly former) hobby guitarist and bassist, that’s something I like. The ladies also write their own songs. And, as Annie confirmed to me, they’re doing all of this while having “full-time jobs and tons of other obligations.”
The Jersey Angels (from left): Annie & Gianna
Roots is The Jersey Angels’ debut album, which appeared in March 2018. Frequent visitors of the blog may be surprised that I’m writing about a country duo when my core wheelhouse is ’60s and ’70s classic rock and blues. While that hasn’t changed, my music taste is more eclectic than it may seem. At the end of the day, what I truly care about is whether music speaks to me, not the genre. And these two ladies simply sound great to me! Time for some music.
Let’s kick it off with the opener Hick At Heart.
Next up: The album’s title track.
Appropriately, the record also has a tune called Jersey Girls. And why not? After all, Tom Waits wrote a song about a Jersey Girl in 1980, though his delivery was slightly less angelic. And let’s not forget about another music artist from the Garden State, who did a great cover of that song. His name? Of course, you probably already knew: Bruce Springsteen.
The last tune I’d like to call out is a beautiful picker-upper called Albatross.
Roots is available on Amazon and iTunes. As I was listening to the album, I could picture Cheryl Crow singing some of the songs. And, call me crazy, the combination of acoustic guitar and violin also reminded me a bit of John Mellencamp, though similar to Tom Waits it would be a quite a different vocal sound.
Here’s a pretty cool tune from somebody I admire as an excellent musician and songwriter, who also seems to be a pretty regular person – not necessarily something you can say about other well-known music artists: The Worst Is Yet To Come by Kevin Roosevelt Moore, artistically known as Keb’ Mo’. Co-written by him, Heather Donovan and Pete Sallis, the song is the opening track of Mo’s 12th studio album BLUESAmericana from April 2014.
The fact I’m highlighting this tune at this time probably isn’t a coincidence. The lyrics seem to ring true in my life lately. I spare you the details other than saying it’s to the point where I’m waiting for the next “mini disaster” to happen and laughing out loud once it does. I don’t mean to trivialize and wish my recent misfortunes were comparable, but just before starting to write this post, I flipped a light switch and guess what happened: The last working bulb of my ceiling fan burst!
But you know what? There are so many people out there who are truly hurting. These days, some are forced to work without even getting a paycheck since the so-called leader of this country is having a tantrum. That’s bad! My recent challenges don’t even register by comparison. I’m glad to be alive, have a job for which I actually get paid, and be able to provide a safe home to my family. That’s all that matters. As for my “mini-catastrophes”? Fuck them!
Yesterday, my streaming music service suggested the enclosed great playlist of blues-oriented tunes. To be clear, this isn’t some hidden advertising. While I’ve acknowledged Apple Music on previous occasions as an inspiration for some of my posts, not all of their listening suggestions, which are supposed to reflect your previous music choices, are great; in fact, sometimes I find it outright bizarre what they serve up because I like genre X or have listened to artist Y. While overall their music selection algorithm works pretty well, there’s clearly some room left for improvement. I guess this proves algorithms, which also have started to be utilized in other creative fields like journalism, can never fully replace actual human beings, which is a good thing!
Here’s how Apple Music describes the playlist that features 26 songs: Blues is tradition, but it’s also evolution—the sound of hard times and healing, then and now. Filled with gritty, Howlin’ Wolf-style throwbacks, progressive hybrids, and sophisticated soul, this mix represents the best of the blues right now—with a few old favorites thrown in for balance. We regularly update these tunes, so if you hear something that rips you up or breaks you down (in that good way, of course), add it to your library.
Following I’d like to highlight a few of these tunes. I’m deliberately leaving out tracks I already featured in previous posts, such as Leave The Light On (Beth Hart), Too Cold To Cry (Lindsay Beaver) or Cognac (Buddy Guy with Jeff Beck and Keith Richards). But in case you haven’t listened to these songs and like blues and soul, you definitely should. On to some music clips!
Got To Go Where The Love Is, Van Morrison
Van Morrison may no longer release another Astral Weeks or Moondance, but at age 73, the Belfast Cowboy surely isn’t done yet with music. In fact, if anything, for the past two years, he seems to be on some sort of recording spree! Here’s Got To Go Where The Love Is, a great soulful Morrison tune from his most recent album The Prophet Speaks, his 40th studio release, which appeared last December.
We Made It, Cedric Burnside
Frankly, I had never heard of Cedric Burnside before. Wikipedia describes him as an American electric blues drummer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He definitely has blues in his genes. Burnside is the son of blues drummer Calvin Jacksonand grandson of blues singer, songwriter and guitarist R. L. Burnside. Since his 2006, he has released eight albums. We Made It is from his most recent record Benton County Relic that came out in September 2018. I really dig the rough sound and the energy of this tune.
Whipping Post, Nakia
Nakia, another name I hadn’t heard before, is a musician, singer-songwriter and actor from Austin, Texas. From his website: Before he was on “The Voice” [semi-finalist on the first season of the NBC singing competition],Nakia was a Blues Grifter. Named for the age-old concept of stealing from the greats, the Blues Grifters formed in 2010. In August 2018, Nakia released his latest album appropriately called Blues Grifter, a smoking hot compilation of blues covers. Instead of Double Trouble, which the Apple Music playlist features, I decided to highlight Nakia’s soulful take of Whipping Post. While taking an Allman Brothers Band classic and changing it up is a gutsy move, I like the outcome!
Home, Janiva Magness (featuring Cedric Burnside)
Janiva Magness is a blues, soul and Americana singer-songwriter from Detroit. Apparently, she has been an active artist since the 1980s. Between 1991 and February 2018, she has released 14 albums. In 2009, Magness became only the second woman after Koko Taylor named B.B. King Entertainer of the Year by the Blues Foundation. She has also received seven Blues Music Awards from the foundation and other accolades. Here’s Home, a powerful duo with the above noted Cedric Burnside. It appears on Magness’ most recent album Love Is An Army from February 2018.
Cry No More, Danielle Nicole
Another great soul-oriented tune is Cry No More by Danielle Nicole, a blues and soul musician from Kansas City, Mo. I previously included her in a post about ladies who excel at singing the blues. Written by Nicole, Cry No More is the title track from her last album, which was released in February 2018.
Last October, I wrote about five outstanding female blues artists who may not be top of mind when thinking about the genre. I was reminded of this recently when fellow blogger Music Enthusiast included British blues rock guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor in one of his “New Music Revues” and during a discussion noted an increasing number of female guitarists nowadays, especially blues. This inspired me to do some more digging on female blues artists to see who else is out there. Here are three additional dynamite ladies singing the blues. They are also great guitarists. And none of them is from the U.S.
Dani Wilde
Dani Wilde (left in above picture) is a 33-year-old blues and country singer-songwriter from Hullavington, a village in Southwest England. In 2007, she signed with German independent record label Ruf Records and released her debut album Heal My Blues in January 2008. Six additional records featuring Wilde have since appeared, the most recent being Live At Brighton Road from June 2017. According to her website, Blues Blast Magazine called Wilde “a modern day British blues phenomenon” and the album “a treat for the ear and the eyes.” Over the past 10 years, Wilde has performed across Europe, America, Canada and Africa and shared tickets with artists like Johnny Winter, Robben Ford, Bobby Womack and Taj Mahal. Here’s Don’t Quit Me Baby from the above live album, a tune written by Wilde.
Ana Popović
Ana Popović (middle in above picture) is a blues guitarist and singer from Serbia, who was born in Belgrade in May 1976 (then Yugoslavia). According to Popović’s website, her father, a guitar and bass player with an impressive blues and soul collection, always invited friends for nightly jam sessions. Popović started playing guitar as a 15-year-old and four years later formed the band Hush. In 1998, she recorded her first album with Hush, Hometown. Shortly thereafter, Popović went to The Netherlands and started to study jazz guitar. The following year, she formed the Ana Popović Band there and decided to terminate her studies after signing a deal with Ruf Records. BTW, that label seems to do a great job with signing new blues artists. In early 2001, Popović’s solo debut Hush! came out. She has since released 10 additional albums. Popović and her six-piece band have shared stages with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck and Joe Bonamassa, among others. Here’s a great funky tune called Like It On Top, the title track from her latest album, which appeared last September and was co-produced by her and Keb’ Mo’. Co-written by the two, the track features Robben Ford on guitar.
Eliana Cargnelutti
Eliana Cargnelutti (right in above picture) is a 29-year-old guitarist and singer from Udine, Italy. According to her website, she graduated in jazz guitar at the conservatory “G. Frescobaldi” in Ferrara…is the new hope of Italian rock blues…and one of the rare real front women of the Italian scene. She plays a flavor of rock blues with a bit of everything in between: electric funk, mixed with pop and jazzy instrumentals, raw rock, tight blues grooves, illuminated by her skills as an electric guitarist. In addition to various Italian blues artists, Cargnelutti has played with American artists like John Craig (guitarist of Ike & Tina Turner), Peter Stroud (guitarist of Sheryl Crow) and the Joe Pitts Band. To date she has released two solo albums: Love Affairs (November 2013) and Electric Woman (January 2015). She also appeared together with Sadie Johnson and Heather Crosse on Girls With Guitars, a record and tour project by yes, you guessed it right: Ruf Records. Here’s I’m A Woman, an original tune from Electric Woman – mamma mia!
With all this great music, I can’t help but think about Etta James’ line The blues is my business, and business is good. Still, when it comes to female blues artists, I feel they still don’t get the limelight they deserve. But with labels like Ruf Records and kick-ass artists such as the above, things seem to be changing.
Christian's Music Musings 