Famous Chicago Blues Artists
Feb 21, 2012 blues music
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American Folk Blues Festivals 1963-1966: The British Tours [DVD] $15.99 Like the previous three volumes of this superb series, American Folk Blues Festivals 1963-1966: The British Tours presents about 75 minutes of mid-’60s European television performances by blues legends. The only real difference is that all of these were filmed in England (hence the subtitle “The British Tours 1963-1966″), where appreciation of the blues was really taking off and, of course, making a big impression on the U.K. pop scene via artists like the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. While the word “legends” is thrown around a lot in reviewing vintage blues compilations, this is one instance where it’s not overhyping the case. Every single performer here is legendary. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson were Chicago blues giants,; the more rural and rawer side of the form is caught by Lightnin’ Hopkins and Big Joe Williams; R&B is represented by Big Joe Turner, and soul by Sugar Pie DeSanto; and the blues’ roots in jazz and gospel are captured by Lonnie Johnson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe respectively. Every single performer here is caught, in well-preserved black-and-white footage, at or near the peak of his or her form, sometimes with some of their very most famous songs, whether it’s Waters doing “Got My Mojo Working,” Williams playing “Baby Please Don’t Go,” or Williamson singing “Bye Bye Bird.” That’s not even mentioning the top talents that can be seen as accompanists at various points, including bassist Willie Dixon, guitarists Hubert Sumlin and Otis Rush, and pianists Sunnyland Slim and Otis Spann. As for the most unusual and colorful performances, perhaps Williamson wins on that account — though not by much — by playing one end of a harmonica without holding it, as if he’s chewing a cigar. Also novel is Junior Wells’ 1966 performance of Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say,” delivered (and danced through) in modified James Brown fashion; it might not be the song you most associate with classic blues (or even Wells’ blues), but it’… |
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The Jazz Scene: An Informal History from New Orleans to 1990 $34.99 No one can tell us more about jazz than the musicians themselves. Unfortunately, most oral histories have limited scope—focusing on a particular era or style—and fail to capture the full, rich story of jazz. Now, in this vivid oral history, W. Royal Stokes presents nearly a century of jazz—its people, places, periods, and styles—as it was seen by the artists who created America’s most distinctive music. Here, along with the author’s enlightening commentary, are the words of musicians famous and little-known, veterans of the early years and pathbreakers of the present, telling us about their origins and adventures, about the places and performers they have known. We read of young artists learning their skills surrounded by poverty, going on to win fame around the world. We feel the excitement of jazz before the war ("The music was all over the place," recalled Wild Bill Davison. "It’s just unbelievable how many bands there were in Chicago. You could go anywhere and there’d be a band."). And we glimpse the gritty, hard life hidden beneath the beauty of the notes they played: "I remember not eating practically a month several times," said Mary Lou Williams. "During the depression we played engagements and we knew we weren’t going to get any money because Andy would scatch his face when he was walking toward the band and the trumpet player would pull out his horn and play the ‘Weary Blues.’ And we’d laugh about it. We hadn’t eaten in a couple of days and nothing was said, because the music was our survival." Stokes not only uncovers the history of jazz in the major cities and regions—New Orleans, for instance, Chicago in the ’20s and ’30s, Kansas City, and California from the ’50s to the present—but he goes on to bring us the story of the big bands, post-bebop developments, vocalists, jazz around the globe, and the contemporary scene ("I was about eleven and my brother Mike |
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USED: American Folk Blues Festivals 1963-1966: The British Tours [DVD] $10.99 Like the previous three volumes of this superb series, American Folk Blues Festivals 1963-1966: The British Tours presents about 75 minutes of mid-’60s European television performances by blues legends. The only real difference is that all of these were filmed in England (hence the subtitle “The British Tours 1963-1966″), where appreciation of the blues was really taking off and, of course, making a big impression on the U.K. pop scene via artists like the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. While the word “legends” is thrown around a lot in reviewing vintage blues compilations, this is one instance where it’s not overhyping the case. Every single performer here is legendary. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson were Chicago blues giants,; the more rural and rawer side of the form is caught by Lightnin’ Hopkins and Big Joe Williams; R&B is represented by Big Joe Turner, and soul by Sugar Pie DeSanto; and the blues’ roots in jazz and gospel are captured by Lonnie Johnson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe respectively. Every single performer here is caught, in well-preserved black-and-white footage, at or near the peak of his or her form, sometimes with some of their very most famous songs, whether it’s Waters doing “Got My Mojo Working,” Williams playing “Baby Please Don’t Go,” or Williamson singing “Bye Bye Bird.” That’s not even mentioning the top talents that can be seen as accompanists at various points, including bassist Willie Dixon, guitarists Hubert Sumlin and Otis Rush, and pianists Sunnyland Slim and Otis Spann. As for the most unusual and colorful performances, perhaps Williamson wins on that account — though not by much — by playing one end of a harmonica without holding it, as if he’s chewing a cigar. Also novel is Junior Wells’ 1966 performance of Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say,” delivered (and danced through) in modified James Brown fashion; it might not be the song you most associate with classic blues (or even Wells’ blues), but it’… |