Keith's Blues Blog

Back in July, we reported that blues artist Nick Moss and his band the Flip Tops had their van and all their gear stolen from the parking lot of their hotel near Montreal, Canada. The parking area was supposed to be under surveillance, but the film in the camera had not been replaced, so no photos of the crime are available to police. Although the van was later recovered, it was severely damaged, and the band's instruments are still missing.

A "blues benefit" has been organized for September 7, 2008 at the Milwaukee Ale House in Milwaukee WI to help raise funds for the band to buy some new gear. Moss and the Flip Tops will perform, of course, along with friends like Rev. Raven & the Chain Smokin' Alter Boys, Perry Weber & the DeVilles, Billy Flynn, Jim Liban, and other special guests.

Moss and the Flip Tops aren't the only musicians targeted by these ignorant thieves – Sonic Youth, the Stooges, and Dinosaur Jr. have all had gear stolen in the area recently. A PDF file listing the blues band's stolen equipment is available for download courtesy of That Devil Music. Anybody that has any information about this crime is urged to contact Moss either through the artist's website or through Blue Bella Records.

Photo courtesy Mark Pucci Media

Here's something that should be of interest to every old-school blues music aficionado. Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk has this story of collector Cliff Bolling and his amazing library of vintage 78rpm vinyl (well, shellac, actually). Bolling has spent better than five years converting his collection to digital mp3 files, and he has set up a website with 3,739 vintage songs that are available for listening.

Bolling has converted his 78s to mp3 files with no sound enhancement, and no tinkering of any kind…the pops and scratches that you hear are from the original recordings, pretty much exactly as you'd hear them if you were playing them at home. The website has a veritable treasure trove of antique sounds dating from the 1930s until the demise of the 78rpm record during the late-50s. During just a few minutes, I discovered 1950s-era recordings from Little Walter, Nappy Brown, and James Cotton, as well as older sides from Brownie McGhee and jazz-blues boppers like Kid Orly and Cootie Williams.

The site also includes a wealth of classic R&B (Johnny Otis, Booker T & the MGs), big band (Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey), old-school jazz (Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday), and even "hillbilly" hits (Roy Acuff, Spade Cooley)…and these names barely scratch the surface. Check out Cliff Bolling's 78rpm Archive and I'm certain that you'll find something there to tickle your ears.

British blues legend John Mayall has been leading one version or another of his influential Bluesbreakers band for over 40 years now. The 1980s Bluesbreakers version may well represent the band's best incarnation since Mayall made stars of guitarists Eric Clapton and Peter Green at the dawn of the '60s. Featuring twin guitarists Walter Trout and Coco Montoya, the line-up recorded two albums: 1985's Behind The Iron Curtain, a live recording of a show in Hungary, and 1988's studio effort, Chicago Line.

On September 2, 2008 Music Video Distributors will be releasing Mayall's Live At Iowa State University DVD, the disc capturing a rare 1987 performance by the Bluesbreakers with Trout and Montoya at the forefront. Clocking in at nearly an hour-and-a-half, Live At Iowa State University features nine extended songs, including Mayall's signature cover versions of Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" and Little Walter's "It Ain't Right" along with time-tested originals like "Rolling With The Blues" and "One Life To Live." With these two fiery guitarists leading the fray, this is a performance DVD that you'll want to witness for yourself.

DVD cover photo courtesy Music Video Distributors

Related Guide Content:
John Mayall profile
Eric Clapton profile
John Mayall - Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton album review

If you're in the Reno or Lake Tahoe, Nevada area this weekend, you may want to think about checking out the fourth annual Reno-Tahoe Blues Fest. The two-day event, which will be held this coming Saturday, August 16th and Sunday, August 17th, 2008 at the Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno, will feature a solid line-up of blues music, as well as R&B and gospel artists.

Saturday's festivities begin at 1:00 pm with Bay-area blueswoman E.C. Scott and will include performances from blues-rock guitarist Jonny Lang, gospel great Mavis Staples, soul man Mel Waiters, and rhythm & blues legends the Whispers. On Sunday, the fun kicks off again at 1:00 pm with soul-blues singer Ernie Johnson, carrying on with performances by another soul-blues shouter, Latimore, and folk-funk bluesman Bobby Rush. The festival concludes with appearances by R&B legends Betty Wright and Gladys Knight. Check with the Reno-Tahoe Blues Fest website for more information on the event.

Jonny Lang photo by Kurt Iswarienko, courtesy Interscope Records

Blues artist John Lee Hooker Jr. will be releasing his third album All Odds Against Me, on August 19, 2008, on his own independent Steppin' Stone Records label. The son of blues music legend John Lee Hooker, the younger Hooker's sound is an inspired mix of blues, R&B, and jazz that is as uniquely inspired by his hometown of Detroit as his father's sound was rooted in the Mississippi Delta.

Although Hooker began singing at the tender age of eight years old, and he knew that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, nearly a quarter-century of hard living, alcohol, drugs, jail, and divorce derailed his musical career. Encouraged by sobriety and his newfound faith, Hooker released his first solo album, Blues With A Vengeance, in 2004, winning a Grammy Award. He followed with the equally acclaimed Cold As Ice in 2006.

All Odds Against Me is Hooker's first album to feature exclusively original material, and the enhanced CD includes an animated video clip for "Bluesman," a collaboration between Hooker and French artist Laurent Mercier. The story of a crime-fighting musician who sings in clubs by night and cleans up the streets by day, the "Bluesman" video is set to Hooker's song "Blues Ain't Nothing but a Pimp," from his solo debut.

John Lee Hooker Jr. will be touring in support of All Odds Against Me, bringing his urban blues sound to audiences in America and Europe through the remaining months of 2008.

CD cover photo courtesy Art Attack Promotions

Rhythm & blues legend Isaac Hayes died on Sunday, August 10, 2008 just a few days away from his 66th birthday. Family members discovered Hayes lying unresponsive next to a treadmill in his Memphis-area home. Hayes was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis where he later died.

Although known primarily as a soul artist, Hayes' influence on blues music is undeniable, and blues artists such as Freddie King, B.B. King, Rory Gallagher, Tommy Castro, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, among others, have all recorded songs written by Hayes. Read more about Isaac Hayes….

Photo courtesy Isaac Hayes

As we reported around this same time last month, Blurt magazine is doing a fine job of covering the blues in all of its many shades. Available as a bi-monthly "digizine" in Flash and PDF formats, Blurt is also a music webzine that is updated daily with news, reviews, and a slew of music videos. As this list of recently published CD reviews shows, Blurt has a handle on the kind of music that we like to hear: blues, blues-rock, rhythm & blues, and soul. Stop by and see them sometime, and tell 'em the Reverend sent you!

• Watermelon Slim and the Workers
• Moreland & Arbuckle
• Janiva Magness
• G. Love & Special Sauce
• Eddie Floyd
• The Black Keys
• Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis

Photo courtesy Blurt Magazine

There is always a lot more blues news than we're able to cover here, but we like to let our readers know when there's something worth knowing about...thus this, our first "Blues News Round-up"!

Andy Ross of the Clarksdale Press Register newspaper wrote this article on the passing of WDIA-FM Memphis deejay Steve Ladd. A well-known figure on the Memphis and Clarksdale, Mississippi blues music scenes, Ladd is the second blues media figure in the area to die during the last month, following the tragic murder of Dee "Cap'n Peter" Henderson.

The Fabulous Thunderbirds have been a constant presence on the American blues music scene for over three decades now, and writer Michael Kinsman of the San Diego Union-Tribune has this insightful interview with T-Birds founder Kim Wilson, along with a nifty sidebar on the band's evolving line-up of great guitarists.

At the Los Angeles Times, Randy Lewis has put together this interesting story on the Yahoo music series that focuses on a performance by blues musician Buddy Guy that was taped for the web-based video series.

Finally, writer John Mackie of the Vancouver Sun has this interview with Canadian blues-rock guitarist Colin James, where the north-of-the-border blues music icon talks about his favorite music as well as his upcoming performance at the Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival.

Noted blues music label Blind Pig Records has announced a September 9, 2008 release date for new albums from Chicago blues icon Magic Slim & the Teardrops and blues-rock guitarist Albert Cummings. For the recording of his Midnight Blues album, Magic Slim is accompanied on this collection of old-school, Chicago-styled blues music by friends like James Cotton, Elvin Bishop, Lonnie Brooks, Otis Clay, Lil' Ed Williams, Gene Barge, and the Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings horn section.

Albert Cummings' live set, titled Feel So Good, was recorded in front of a loud and enthusiastic hometown audience, the blues guitarist and his band kicking out an electric mix of original songs and covers of classic material from Led Zeppelin, Little Feat, and Muddy Waters. Representing two generations of blues musicians, these new Blind Pig CD releases represent a welcome addition to the label's already-incredible catalog.

CD cover photo courtesy Blind Pig Records

As blues musician B.B. King approaches his 83rd birthday in September, along with the opening of B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Mississippi, the legend has been thinking a lot about "The B.B. King That Was." King began his recording career in 1949, and in interviews he has acknowledged the evolution in his singing, his guitar playing, and in his choice of material over the course of almost 60 years. For his upcoming album, titled One Kind Favor, King and producer T-Bone Burnett decided to go forward into the past, the artist revisiting "The B.B. King That Was" and recording songs that he originally performed at the beginning of his career, or were influential on his development as a blues artist and performer.

One Kind Favor is more than just another covers album. Before venturing into the studio, Burnett handed King a list of some 200 songs, from which they chose the 12 tunes represented on the album. The tracklist of One Kind Favor reads like a veritable "who's who" of influential early-era blues music. From Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and T-Bone Walker's "I Get So Weary," One Kind Favor also includes songs by Howlin' Wolf, Lonnie Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Big Bill Broonzy, and others. To further ensure the proper atmosphere for King's performances, Burnett put together a three-piece band, including Dr. John on piano, and recorded the songs live under conditions similar to those experienced by King in the early-1950s. Representing a departure from King's contemporary blues music sound, One Kind Favor will be released on August 26, 2008 by Geffen Records.

CD cover photo courtesy Geffen Records