The Sunday Six

It’s Sunday morning, at least in my neck of the woods in New Jersey, U.S.A., and I’d like to welcome you to another imaginary music time travel experience. In my book, escaping into the beautiful world of music works any time of the day or night, so I hope you’ll join me!

Jimmy Smith/Back At the Chicken Shack

Our journey today starts in February 1963 with groovy Hammond-driven jazz by Jimmy Smith who helped popularize the mighty B3 by blending jazz and ’60s soul music. As a young child, Smith began teaching himself to play the piano and at the age of 9 won a boogie-woogie piano talent context conducted by a Philadelphia radio station. After attending Royal Hamilton College of Music in Canada and Philly’s Leo Ornstein School of Music in the late ’40s, he played piano and organ in local R&B bands before permanently switching to organ in 1954. Soon thereafter, Smith purchased his first Hammond and was signed by Blue Note. His March 1956 sophomore album The Champ made him a jazz star. The amazing title track of Back At the Chicken Shack was written by Smith. He was joined by Stanley Turrentine (tenor saxophone), Kenny Burrell (guitar) and Donald Bailey (drums). Feel free to groove along!

AC/DC/Back in Black

This next pick was inspired by fun AC/DC tribute band Stiff Upper Lip who I saw last Saturday. The title track of the Back in Black album takes us to July 1980. It was the hard-charging Aussie rock & rollers’ first to feature Brian Johnson following the death of original lead vocalist Bon Scott in February 1980 at the age of 33. Fast forward 36 years to April 2016 when AC/DC announced Johnson’s departure during the Rock or Bust World Tour due to hearing loss. He was replaced by Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose to finish the dates. But AC/DC hang on and returned in November 2020 with their 17th studio album Power Up, which featured Johnson, along with Angus Young (lead guitar), Stevie Young (rhythm guitar), Cliff Williams (bass) and Phil Rudd (drums). Against long odds, AC/DC recently announced The Power Up Tour Europe 2024, which will feature Johnson. No word yet whether the tour will have an American leg! Meanwhile, here’s Back in Black, a rock song with one of the coolest guitar riffs I can think of.

Alejandro Escovedo/Sister Lost Soul

Let’s dial it down a bit with some great melodic roots rock by Alejandro Escovedo. The son of a Mexican immigrant to Texas and a Texas native and, according to his website, one of 12 children, is an eclectic rock musician and singer-songwriter who has been recording and touring since the late ’70s. He played in various bands, such as punk groups The Nuns and Judy Nylon’s band, as well as country rock formation Rank and File, before releasing his 1992 solo debut Gravity, an alternative country and heartland rock-oriented outing. Sister Lost Soul, written by Escovedo, is a great-sounding song from his June 2008 studio album Real Animal.

Bobby Womack/Across 110th Street

Time to pay a visit to the ’70s with some cool and groovy music by the versatile Bobby Womack, another great suggestion from my longtime German music buddy Gerd. Across 11oth Street (credited to Bobby Womack and Peace) was the title cut from the soundtrack for the 1972 action crime picture of the same name. Starring Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Franciosa and Paul Benjamin, the film was inspired by ’70s blaxploitation pictures and the film noir genre. Over a more than 60-year career from 1952 until his death in 2014, Womack recorded and performed music in multiple genres, including R&B, jazz, soul, rock & roll, doo-wop and gospel. Across 11oth Street is one of Womack’s best-known songs, and it’s easy to see why!

Big Joe Turner/Shake, Rattle and Roll

For our next stop, let’s set the time controls to April 1954 to visit a rock & roll classic by Big Joe Turner. Shake, Rattle and Roll was penned by R&B and blues musician and songwriter Jesse Stone. By the time Turner recorded what became his best-known song that topped the U.S. R&B charts, he already was some 30 years into his career. Four months later, Bill Haley & His Comets released a cover of Shake, Rattle and Roll, which took the song to mainstream success, reaching no. 7 on the U.S. pop chart – the version I first knew. Turner performed until the ’80s and passed away from heart failure in November 1985 at the age of 74.

The Mavericks/Here Comes the Rain

Once again we’re reaching our final destination, which takes us to September 1995 and The Mavericks – shoutout to Randy from Mostly Music Covers, who with a recent post brought the Florida group on my radar screen. Founded in Miami in 1989, The Mavericks blend country with rock, pop and Latin flavors. Here Comes the Rain is from their fourth studio album Music For All Occasions and also became the album’s lead single in August of the same year. Co-written by the group’s Raúl Malo (vocals, guitar) and Greek-born American country songwriter Kostas Lazarides, Here Comes the Rain peaked at no. 22 on the U.S. country charts. It also climbed to no. 4 on the Canadian country charts, becoming The Mavericks’ highest-charting single there. It’s got a bit of a Roy Orbison vibe.

Last but not least, here’s a Spotify playlist of all the above goodies. Hope there’s something you dig. So long for now!

Sources: Wikipedia; AllMusic; YouTube; Spotify

On This Day in Rock & Roll History: January 28

In the past, I tended to wait several weeks before compiling the next installment of my music history feature. Not so this time. Let’s take a look at events that happened on January 28 in rock and pop history.

1956: Elvis Presley made his debut on national U.S. television with an appearance on the Stage Show, a popular variety show on CBS. Backed by guitarist Scotty Moore and upright bassist Bill Black, Presley performed covers of Shake, Rattle & Roll, Flip, Flop and Fly and I Got a Woman. Apparently, the show liked it. Elvis, Scotty and Bill returned five more times over the next two months that same year. Here’s a clip of Shake, Rattle & Roll, written by Charles F. Calhoun and first recorded and released by Big Joe Turner in 1954.

1965: The Who appeared on the popular British rock and pop music TV show Ready Steady Go!, marking their debut on television in the UK. They performed their brand new single I Can’t Explain, which had been released two weeks earlier. Written by Pete Townshend, it was the band’s second single and first released as The Who. To help ensure a successful visual outcome, manager Kit Lambert placed members of the band’s fan club in the audience, who were asked to wear Who football scarves.

1969: Stevie Wonder released the title track of his 11th studio album My Cherie Amour as a single, seven months ahead of the record. Co-written by him, Sylvia Moy and producer Henry Cosby, the tune was about Wonder’s girlfriend he had met at the Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, Mich. The song peaked at no. 4 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100. It also climbed to no. 4 on the UK singles chart, making it one of Wonder’s highest charting tracks there.

1978: Van Halen introduced the world to Eddie Van Halen’s furious signature guitar sound with their first single You Really Got Me. Written by Ray Davis and first released by The Kinks in August 1964 in the UK, the cover garnered a good amount of radio play and helped Van Halen kick off their career. It did quite well in the charts, reaching no. 36 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, climbing to no. 49 in Canada and peaking at no. 11 in Australia. The tune was also included on Van Halen’s eponymous debut album that came out two weeks after the single.

1980: The J. Geils Band released their ninth studio album Love Stinks. It became their first top 20 album on the Billboard 200 since Bloodshot from April 1973, reaching no. 18. In Canada, it went all the way to no. 4. Their biggest album Freeze-Frame would still be 16 months away. Yes, The J. Geils Band’s earlier records may have been better, but bands also need to have some hits every now and then to make a living. Here’s the title track, co-written by Peter Wolf and Seth Justman. I guess like some other folks, I will forever associate the tune with the 1998 American picture The Wedding Singer. Now it’s stuck in my head!

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts Music History Calendar; This Day in Music; uDiscoverMusic; YouTube