OLD MAN WILLIS (1967)
(Tony Joe White)

Original Recording : Tony Joe White (1967) on the Monument label

This was the B-side of “Watching The Trains Go By” during his first session for Monument, produced by Dan Penn.

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Covers : Tony Joe White (1968) [with complete different lyrics and gender change as "Polk Salad Annie"; top 10 US in '69].

The single, released by Monument Records had been out nine months before it finally charted, and had been written off by Monument as a failure. Said White: “They had done given up on it, but we kept getting all these people in Texas coming to the clubs and buying the record. So we would send up to Nashville saying, ‘Send us a thousand more this week.’ They would send us these ‘Do Not Sell’ examples, so we would have to sit down and mark out the ‘Do Not Sell’ and then send them to the record stores. All these stores in South Texas kept calling our house saying, ‘We need more.’ So we just kept hanging on. And finally a guy in L.A. picked it up and got it across. Otherwise, ‘Polk’ could have been lost forever.

The song vividly recreates the Southern roots of White’s childhood and his music reflects this earthy rural background. As a child he listened not only to local bluesmen and country singers but also to the Cajun music of Louisiana, that rare hybrid of traditional musical styles introduced by French settlers at the turn of the century.

His roots lie in the swamplands of Oak Grove, Louisiana, where he was born in 1943. Situated just west of the Mississippi River, it’s a land of cottonfields, where poke grows wild and alligators lurk in moss-covered swamps. “I spent the first 18 years of my life down there,” said White “My folks raised cotton and corn. There were lotsa times when there weren’t too much to eat, and I ain’t ashamed to admit that we’ve often whipped up a mess of polk salad. Tastes alright too.. a bit like spinach

Other Covers : Tony Joe White (1969) [new version Old Man Willis using the Polk Salad Annie arrangement on his album Continued], Elvis Presley (1970) [as Polk Salad Annie; one of his live warhorses ever since], Tom Jones (1970) [idem], Sleepy LaBeef (1977) , Big Twist & The Mellow Fellows (1983) , Johnny Hallyday (1984) , Billy Branch (1995) , Lonely Boys (2009) [all as Polk Salad Annie],

Old Man Willis (single 1967)

Old Man Willis
Polk Salad Annie

1. When Girls Do It – BOBBY ‘GUITAR’ BENNETT
2. Things I Do For You – JUNIOR WELLS
3. Suicide Blues – LITTLE OSCAR STRICKLIN
4. How Low Is Low – HARMONICA FATS
5. Love Me Baby – MAGIC SLIM
6. Down And Out – IKE TURNER’S KINGS OF RHYTHM
7. Sweet Little AngeL – SAM BAKER
8. Evil Hearted Woman DRIFTING CHARLES
9. Drifting Cloud DRIFTING CHARLES
10. Blue And Lonesome – MEMPHIS SLIM AND HIS HOUSE ROCKERS
11. Street Walkin’ WomaN – DONNIE JACOBS
12. My Heart’s Full Of Pain – TV SLIM
13. Don’t Knock The Blues – TV SLIM
14. Hard But It’s FaiR – BUDDY GUY
15. My Love Is Your Love – MAGIC SAM
16. Wild Woman – DANNY BOY
17. Kokomo Me Baby – DANNY BOY
18. Fare Well – JIMMY MCCRACKLIN
19. Take A Chance – JIMMY MCCRACKLIN
20. I Ain’t Gonna Suffer – MR. BO
21. If Trouble Was Money – MR. BO
22. I’m A Stranger – JUNIOR WELLS
23. Hillybilly Blues – CLEAR WATERS
24. Boogie Woogie Baby – CLEAR WATERS
25. Don’t Cut Out On Me – TENDER SLIM
26. I’m Checkin’ Up – TENDER SLIM
27. Little Girl – SUGAR BOY WILLIAMS
28. Five Long Years – SUGAR BOY WILLIAMS

Filled with great tracks from some known and some unknown artists it all works well. This is good solid electric blues primarily from the 60′s, filled with gritty vocals, snarling guitar, chugging harp and has a good bit of variety to keep things very interesting with mostly very good sound.

Whatever the reason for their failure or success at the time, all these musicians enthusiastically tear into their music with a vengeance that gives us some of the most liberating and flamboyant blues ever to get captured on vinyl.

Outstanding is Danny Boy’s splendidly easy-rockin’ “Wild Woman” – a cool laconic backwoods blues that jerks along with a harmonica rhythm that gets right under your skin.

Buddy Guy’s is here too with a 1962 obscurity from Chess “Hard But It’s Fair”.

Sam Baker was better known for soul records but here he is from 1963 on the obscure Athens label with a creditable version of the old warhorse “Sweet Little Angel” .

One of the toughest items here is Mr Bo’s wonderfully emotional “If Trouble Was Money”. It’s a big time blues number with Bo hollering out great lyrics while the band roll on and on with soaring horns, pounding drums and Bo’s own spectacular guitar work. Three minutes of undiluted blues power.

When Girls Do It……..  I love it.

The Kingston Trio: Dave Guard (vocals, guitar, banjo); Bob Shane (vocals, guitar); Nick Reynolds (guitar, bongos, congas).

Additional personnel: David “Buck” Wheat (acoustic bass).

Recorded at the very height of their success, this live set at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival is something of a rarity.

The Kingston Trio had just become superstars when they performed this 12-song set at the Newport Folk Festival.

The downtown hipsters who were the primary audience of the Newport Folk Fetival tended to look askance at acts like the Kingston Trio (or the Highwaymen or the Brothers Four, etc.), seeing them as commercially-minded sell-outs who would disturb the purity of the folk scene. Interestingly, the trio meets the audience halfway over the course of this 12-song set.

Performing only one of their hit singles, the New England-specific “M.T.A.”–that’s right, not even any “Tom Dooley”–the group otherwise sticks entirely to folk standards. “Remember the Alamo” and “When the Saints Go Marching In” may not win many points for originality, but they’re solidly performed sing-alongs. The highlight is their set closer, a spirited rendition of the calypso favourite “The Zombie Jamboree”–they are, after all, named after Jamaica’s capital–that seems to go over like gangbusters. Even the hipsters were happy.

A true rarity for all you folkies

Benjamin David (Benny) Goodman, “The King of Swing” (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was born as a son to poor Jewish Immigrants.

In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America. His January 16, 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City is described by critic Bruce Eder as “the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz’s ‘coming out’ party to the world of ‘respectable’ music.”

Goodman’s bands launched the careers of many major names in jazz, and during an era of segregation, he also led one of the first racially-integrated musical groups. Goodman continued to perform to nearly the end of his life, including exploring his interest in classical music.

In 1935, armed with songs developed by some of the great African American arrangers, Goodman’s band traveled the country to play their music. Not especially successful in most of its performances, the band arrived at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles in a discouraged mood. The evening of August 21, 1935, began coolly. Then, desperate to wow the unimpressed audience, Goodman called for the band to launch into a couple of fast-paced crowd pleasers, and the reaction ultimately sent shock waves through the entire popular music world. Hundreds of people stopped dancing and massed around the bandstand, responding with enthusiasm.

That performance turned out to be not only a personal triumph for the band, but for swing music in general. Goodman’s popularity soared; the band topped almost all the magazine and theater polls, their record sales were huge, they were given a weekly radio show, and they were featured in two big-budget movies. But an even greater triumph awaited—a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York that was to win respect for Goodman’s music.

Making music history again, Goodman’s orchestra was one of the first to perform jazz at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall in 1938. Other legendary acts on the same bill included Count Basie and Duke Ellington and their bands. He also released one of his most trademark songs, “Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing),” that same year, which was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. As a bandleader, Goodman was known for being a demanding boss who sought technical perfection from his performers. Many of his players left to start their own groups, including Gene Krupa and Harry James. Around this time, Goodman also faced competition from other popular bandleaders, such as Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller

Benny Goodman went to Europe many times, and his ventures to the Old Continent were extremely successful. One of these visits consisted of his one-week participation in the American section of the Brussels 1958 World Fair. He went with his big band (but also performed some songs in smaller formats), to which the celebrated singer Jimmy Rushing was added as a special attraction. The band was very warmly received, and many of their performances there were preserved for posterity.

All tracks recorded live at Brussels World Fair 1958, Brussels, Belgium, May 25-31, 1958.

Originally there were two LP’s (vol. 1 en vol. 2)

Clarinet, vocals – Benny Goodman
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
Alto Sax- Al Block , Ernie Mauro
Baritone Sax – Gene Allen
Tenor Sax – Seldon Powell , Zoot Sims
Trumpet – Billy Hodges , E.V. Perry , John Frosk , Taft Jordan
Trombone – Rex Peer , Vernon Brown , Willie Dennis
Piano – Roland Hanna
Guitar – Billy Bauer
Bass – Arvell Shaw
Drums – Roy Burnes

1 – Let’s Dance
2 – Don’t Be That Way
3 – Hallelujah
4 – Obsession
5 – Brussels Blues
6 – More Than You Know
7 – The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
8 – Jubilee
9 – Roll ‘Em

10 – Stealin’ Apples
11 – Memories of You
12 – Balkan Mixed Grill
13 – Gershwin Medley: The Man I Love/Oh, Lady Be Good/Somebody Loves Me
14 – st. Louis Blues
15 – Mr. Five by Five
16 – March of the Belgian Paratroops
17 – One O’Clock Jump
18 – Goodbye

Gerry Lockran was born in India in 1942 of Irish & Indian parents. His family emigrated to England in 1953, living in South London.

‘Blues Vendetta’ was his second LP, and featured his powerful fingerpicking style on self -penned compositions like ‘Guitar Boogie’ and ‘Jason’s Blues’ (written for his three year old son).

During his lifetime Lockran recorded maybe a dozen albums.

He continued to write, record and release records up to the end of his career in 1981.
While touring in Belgium he developed heart problems, culminating in a heart attack and stroke, depriving him of the use of his left hand. This was the end for a beautiful guitar player.

After six years struggle he suffered a fatal heart attack on 17th November 1987.

This is his second LP from 1967. I bought the record after a show over here in Belgium.

SIDE ONE
1. Goin Down The Road (Guthrie, Hays, arranged by Lockran)
2. The Riddle Song (Traditional, arranged by Lockran)
3. Jason’s Blues (Lockran)
4. You Don’t Learn That In School (Traditional, arranged by Lockran)
5. Get Back (Broonzy)
6. Automechanic Blues (McGhee)
7. Trouble In Mind (Jones)

SIDE TWO
1. Summertime (G & I Gershwin, Heyward)
2. Guitar Boogie (Lockran)
3. Cocaine Blues (Arnall, Nicholls)
4. Work Song (Adderley, Brown Jr)
5. Goodmornin’ Blues (Lomax, Leadbetter)
6. Careless Love (Traditional, lyrics by Koenig & Williams, arranged by Handy)

I found this album after reading a BBC review of it.

I totally agree with Matthew Shorter, the reviewer.

“I’ll confess I was predisposed to dislike this CD. The idea of taking a repertoire already compromised by its association with the Victorian parlour, shaking all the remaining mud from its boots, scrubbing it down and checking it in for the beauty treatment of a near-perfect Decca balance seemed instinctively wrong. But after my first sceptical hearing I found myself haunted by the limpid beauty of these songs and the crystalline balance of Andreas Scholl’s counter-tenor with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s understated accompaniments.

By the third time round I was convinced. Any cynicism here was inside my own head – the commitment of Scholl and arranger and producer Craig Leon was palpable and infectious. Scholl is the leading counter-tenor of his generation, specialising in Baroque repertoire, but his feeling for the simplicity and clarity of this very different music suggests more than a passing affinity. Leon’s arrangements – drawn from a full orchestra with percussion, lute, banjo, harp, harpsichord and dulcimer – are occasionally brilliant.

The title track, “I am a poor wayfaring stranger”, in particular is beautiful, his sensitive use of single strings recalling Luciano Berio’s economical folksong arrangements. Leon is most successful where he maintains this sparseness – “I will give my love an apple” and “The wife of Usher’s Well”. But the textures are often muddied by too many instruments, occasionally (as in “My love is like a red, red rose”) overpowering Scholl’s refined delivery. There’s also an unfortunate tendency to try to intensify feeling verse by verse through the accumulation of texture, as in “Wild mountain thyme”.

Scholl’s penchant for storytelling occasionally tips over into burlesque. His pantomime duet between counter-tenor captain and baritone pirate in “Henry Martin” is hardly helped by the Borchester accent of the Scottish brigand, and it can be toe-curling to hear a classically trained voice enunciate tales of “Merrie Scot-lánd” and the “wraggle taggle gypsies, o!”.

Original Recording : Willing Four (1944)

Same tune as Tampa Red’s You Got To Reap What You Saw (’29). See also: Sitting On Top Of The World.

Covers : Elder Charles Beck (1946) [as You've Got To Move], Two Gospel Keys (1946) [idem; on Moses Asch's Disc label], Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1950) , Five Blind Boys Of Alabama (1953) [along with their This May Be The Last Time (see there) reissued on Ace cd The Sermon], Brother Joe May (1959) [as When The Lord Gets Ready], Mississippi Fred McDowell (1965) [as You Gotta Move; blues legend from Como, MS who made his first recording in 1959], Rolling Stones (1971) [idem on Sticky Fingers; crediting Fred McDowell, a fine financial gesture towards Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie records, who held its publishing rights], Robert Wilkins (1971) [idem], Radiators (1991) [idem], Blue Blot Band (1993) [with Beverly Jo Scott], Townes Van Zandt (1996) [in pain], R.L. Burnside (1997) [who jammed with McDowell as a youngster], Double Brown (1997) , Charles & The White Trash European Blues Connection (1998) [alias Arno], John Mooney (2002) , Cassandra Wilson (2002) , Aerosmith (2004) [also cover Fred McDowell's Back Back Train], Jawbone (2004) , Cuban Heels (2005) [all as You Gotta Move], Aaron Neville (2010) ,

Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy cut a “You Got To Move” in 1934 with different lyrics. The Soul Stirrers version is also another one, cut by Rev. Gary Davis in 1954.

Here are :

01 The Willing Four
02 Sister Rosetta Tharpe
03 Rev. Gary Davis
04 Sam Cooke
05 The Rolling Stones
06 Jorma Kaukonen

Blue Haze is an album recorded in 1953 and 1954 by Miles Davis, for Prestige Records.

The first track on the album is from the 3 April 1954 session which resulted in half of the album Walkin’ (and was originally included on the 10″ vinyl version of that album). The remainder is the result of two sessions on 19 May 1953 and 15 March 1954, the first being a quintet with John Lewis, Charles Mingus (on piano, not bass), Percy Heath and Max Roach, and the second a quartet with Horace Silver, Heath, and Art Blakey. Tracks 2 and 7 are wrongly credited as Davis compositions – they are both in fact by Eddie Vinson (see also Donna Lee for possible explanation of this). However, Vinson supposedly wrote these tunes for Davis, and this is probably how the confusion has occurred.

1. I’ll remember April
2. Four
3. Old Devil Moon
4. Smooch
5. Blue Haze
6. When lights are low
7. Tune Up
8. Miles Ahead

“Smooch”, “When Lights are Low”, “Tune Up”, “Miles Ahead” (19 May 1953):

* Miles Davis – Trumpet
* John Lewis – Piano (not on “Smooch”)
* Charles Mingus – Piano (“Smooch” only)
* Percy Heath – Bass
* Max Roach – drums

“Four”, “Old Devil Moon”, “Blue Haze” (15 March 1954):

* Miles Davis – Trumpet
* Horace Silver – Piano
* Percy Heath – Bass
* Art Blakey – drums

“I’ll Remember April” (3 April 1954):

* Miles Davis – Trumpet
* David Schildkraut – Alto saxophone
* Horace Silver – Piano
* Percy Heath – Bass
* Kenny Clarke – drums

Ida May Mack was a Texas blues singer who was taken to Memphis (the nearest studio) to record in 1928. She shared the recording session with another Texan, vocalist Bessie Tucker, and both women were accompanied by pianist K.D. Johnson.

Very little is known of the classic blues belter Bessie Tucker, a product of the folk and field holler vocal traditions of her native East Texas region. A woman whose petite frame belied the earthy power of her voice, her legend is largely founded on a bawdy 1928 Memphis session for the Victor label on which she was accompanied by pianist K.D. Johnson; the date yielded her best-known track, “Penitentiary” (sung in honor of an institution to which she was reportedly no stranger).

A 1929 date followed, at which time Tucker disappeared from performing, apparently for good; no data exists on the later events of her life.

Country and Urban Blues

Her penetrating voice, excellent timing, and crystal-clear enunciation added her own distinctive style to every piece she undertook. While making extraordinary recordings in jazz, blues, R&B and light pop contexts, Washington refused to record gospel music despite her obvious talent in singing it.

She believed it wrong to mix the secular and spiritual, and after she had entered the non-religious professional music world she refused to include gospel in her repertoire. Washington began performing in 1942 and soon joined Lionel Hampton’s band.

In 1943 she began recording for Keynote Records and released “Evil Gal Blues”, her first hit. By 1955 she had released numerous hit songs on the R&B charts, including “Baby, Get Lost”, “Trouble in Mind”, “You Don’t Know What Love Is” (arranged by Quincy Jones), and a cover of “Cold, Cold Heart” by Hank Williams. In March of 1957 she married tenor saxophonist Eddie Chamblee, (formerly on tour with Lionel Hampton) who led the band behind her.

In 1958 she made a well-received appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival.
This record, made at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958, finds Dinah accompanied on Lover Come Back To Me and Backwater Blues by her own group, with guest-star Max Roach on drums. All Of Me is a kind of jam session, with Miss Washington joined by Don Elliott, Terry Gibbs, Urbie Green and the rhythm section.

At the same time Bert Stern was recording for his film “Jazz On A Summer’s Day

1. Lover Come Back To Me
2. Crazy Love
3. Send Me To The ‘Lectric Chair
4. Me And My Gun
5. Back Water Blues
6. Backstage Blues
7. Julie & Jake
8. All Of Me

1-5
Dinah Washington – vocals
Blue Mitchell – trumpet
Melba Liston – trombone
Harold Ousley – tenor sax
Sahib Shihab – bariton sax
Wynton Kelly – piano
Paul West – bass
Max Roach – drums

6-7
The Terry Gibbs Sextet:
Urbie Green – trombone
Don Elliott – mellophone, vibraphone
Terry Gibbs – vibraphone
Wynton Kelly – piano
Paul West – bass
Max Roach – drums

8
Dinah Washington – vocals
The Terry Gibbs Sextet
Dinah Washington wailed an “All of Me” in which she made up her own lyrics, and made the crowd want to take some for themselves.

“Dinah Washington giving us perhaps THE definitive cover of “All Of Me” with bandmates Terry Gibbs on vibes and Max Roach on drums on the astonishing Bert Stern film “Jazz On A Summer’s Day” set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.”