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Post by musicman on Jun 20, 2014 8:27:31 GMT -5
Little SonnyLittle Sonny is an American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. His early mentor and inspiration was Sonny Boy Williamson II. Nevertheless, Little Sonny stated that his nickname originated with his mother. Wikipedia Born: October 6, 1932 (age 81), Greensboro, AL Albums: New King of the Blues Harmonica, Black & Blue Record labels: Stax Records, P-Vine Records, Sanctuary Records Group
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Post by AlanB on Jun 21, 2014 0:48:15 GMT -5
Little Sonny Little Sonny is an American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. His early mentor and inspiration was Sonny Boy Williamson II. Nevertheless, Little Sonny stated that his nickname originated with his mother. Wikipedia Mention of Little Sonny reminded me of this rather ancient Stax compilation LP. Walking The Back Streets And Crying The Stax Blues Masters Vol. 1 EMI/Stax STM 7004Little Milton - Tin Pan Alley Little Sonny - Don't Ask Me No Questions Israel Tolbert - Big Leg Woman (With A Short Short Mini Dress) Johnnie Taylor - Part Time Love Little Milton - Walking The Back Streets And Crying Freddie Robinson - At The Drive In Albert King - Left Hand Woman (Get Right With Me) Johnnie Taylor - Hello Sundown Little Sonny - It's Hard Going Up (But Twice as Hard Coming Down) Freddie Robinson - Bluesology Little Milton - Open The Door To Your Heart This is the compilation to which Jim Langridge refers elsewhere, compiled by Bob Fisher from those sections of the post-1968 Stax catalogue which could be called blues, to a greater or lesser degree. (Almost all the pre-1968 material, including the ultra rare Gus Cannon album remains with Atlantic, who distributed Stax until that year.) The compilation, then, is of Stax blues in the Company's later days, and some of the music can only be described as blues by courtesy; but the blues feeling is usually evident. This aspect is well demonstrated by Little Milton's three tracks. "Alley" is one of the best readings of the many which have been "waxed, notwithstanding the strings in the background; "Walking The Back Streets" is bluesy, rather than blues, but a powerful performance; and "Open The Door", previously unissued, is strongly reminiscent of' Otis Redding, both in form end content, with the addition of a slight reggae rhythm in the bass. All musically excellent, and Im glad to have them in my collection but only "Alley" is blues for the purist. For such, as indeed for me, the standout tracks will be those by Freddie Robinson, aka Robertson when he played guitar for Little Walter. "Drive In" is a tale of woe at the movies, with positively archaic, and wholly excellent, acoustic guitar. "Bluesology" is a long Memphis-Slim type monologue about "the kind of blues you could hear at Theresa's Lounge", demonstrated by Freddy and (I think) Clydie King, who does a creditable job masquerading as a slightly drunken lady singer. Fine performances, if wholly atypical of the "Stax blues sound". This is probably best represented by Albert King, whose guitar is as biting as ever on his two cuts the backing band is a little too loud in the mix for my taste, but performs competently behind King's effortlessly fluent picking. Johnnie Taylor is wholly forgettable, less at home with a blues than the near name-sake he covers, and sounding rather listless. For my money, the album should have included his incredible "Ive Been Born Again"; there cant be much crossover between "Chronicle" purchasers and blues lovers. Little Sonny I've always liked. Even at his boogaloonatic, and these tracks are only midly funky. Israel Tolbert purveys surprisingly downhome lyrics, and is ably accompanied by a slide guitarist; who purchased enough copies to propel this into the R & B top ten in 1970 is an intriguing question indeed. Alan Balfour's sleeve note gives a good history of Stax' involvement in the blues scene, which was never more than marginal As such, this collection is a convenient format in which to obtain much of the best music resulting from that involvement. A worthwhile purchase for fans of more recent blues styles. CHRIS SMITH (Talking Blues 9/10, September 1978 pps 40-41)Attachments:ABStax78.doc (35 KB)
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Post by blueescorpio2000 on Jun 21, 2014 2:57:49 GMT -5
Earl Phillips was the house drummer for Vee Jay records. He cut only two sides as a leader. Oop De Ooop / Nothing But Love (Vee - Jay 158) 1955 Earl Phillips on Wolf (Music: Roy Eldridge - 'Yard Dog' with Earl on the skins) A TRIBUTE TO EARL PHILLIPS, BLUES DRUMMER by Eric LeBlanc tinyurl.com/q7rfj8c
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Post by AlanB on Jun 21, 2014 2:59:43 GMT -5
Here's his 1958-1970 sessions as given in The Blues Discography.
LITTLE SONNY Aaron Willis, v/h -1 with Chuck Smith (p) Eddie Burns (g) George DeLoach (b) James “Jim Due” Crawford (d) ens v -2. Detroit, April 1958 FR 3060 I gotta find my baby -1 Duke 186 FR 3061 Hear my woman calling -2 Duke 186 I hear my woman callin’ -2 P-Vine(J) PCD 5417 V/h with Eddie Burns (g) James “Brer Rabbit” Johnson (b) James Crawford (d). Detroit, 1959 A Love shock JVB 5001, Ex 2209 B I’ll love you baby JVB 5001, Ex 2209 Detroit, 1961 11156 Good good feeling Pt. 1 unissued [Chess] 11157 Good good feeling Pt. 2 unissued 11158 Lovin’ Man unissued (J-V-B recordings.) and HIS BAND (Speedway) V -1/h with Charles Smith (p) Eddie Willis (g) Sam Hall (b) James Crawford (d). Detroit, 1966 A 210 The mix up Speedway 100 A 245 Inside my heart -1 Speedway 100 H with tp, saxes, g, b, d. Detroit, 1967 ZTSC 126449 The creeper Revilot 209 ZTSC 126450 Latin soul Revilot 209 V -1/h with saxes, org -1, g, b, d. Detroit, 1968 ZTSC 127067 Don’t ask me no questions -1 Revilot 215 ZTSC 127068 Stretchin’ out Revilot 215 A We got a groove Revilot 227 B Sonny’s bag Revilot 227 V -1/h with p, gs, b, d, v grp -1. 104 Let’s have a good time Wheel City 005, Wheelsville 103 105 Orange pineapple cherry blossom pink Wheel City 005, Wheelsville 103 (Also mastered as MW 534/5 resp.) V -1/h with Rudy Robinson (org) g, b, George Davidson (d). Detroit, 1969 Baby what you want me to do -1 Enterprise ENS 1005 Eli’s pork chop Enterprise ENS 1005 Hey little girl Enterprise ENS 1005 Hot potato Enterprise ENS 1005 Don’t ask me no questions -1 Enterprise ENS 1005 Tomorrow’s blues today Enterprise ENS 1005 Back down yonder Enterprise ENS 1005 Sad funk Enterprise ENS 1005 The creeper returns Enterprise ENS 1005 Detroit, 1970? EM 00457 They want money -1 Enterprise 9021, ENS 1018 EM 00458 Wade in the water Enterprise 9021, ENS 1018
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Post by musicman on Jun 21, 2014 11:23:22 GMT -5
Thanks AlanB and BlueEscorpio2000. The early history over at Stax contains a lot of lesser known artists. Sun Records (and of course Sam Phillips) gathered a lot of the early attention because of Elvis and I believe his (Elvis') relationship to WHBQ DJ - George Klein that provided tremendous air play for Sun records. It was great to see Stax come into their own in the 60s. Wonder how big the Boxtops could have been with equal promotion?
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Post by bluesman on Jun 27, 2014 10:54:12 GMT -5
Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis
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Post by AlanB on Jun 28, 2014 0:05:22 GMT -5
Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis He actually auditioned two songs for Sam Phillips in 1952 under his given name of Charles W. Thompson. 11 years later he was recorded at The Fickle Pickle in Chicago. In 1964 and 1965 Pete Welding recorded him. Jimmy's Elektra LP is now a rarity and fetches silly sums at auction but fortunately half a dozen tracks from it can be heard on YouTube, the notes to which can be read here: www.wirz.de/music/damsjfrm.htm
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Post by dadfad on Jun 30, 2014 7:09:34 GMT -5
Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis He actually auditioned two songs for Sam Phillips in 1952 under his given name of Charles W. Thompson. 11 years later he was recorded at The Fickle Pickle in Chicago. In 1964 and 1965 Pete Welding recorded him. Jimmy's Elektra LP is now a rarity and fetches silly sums at auction but fortunately half a dozen tracks from it can be heard on YouTube, the notes to which can be read here: www.wirz.de/music/damsjfrm.htmI knew Jimmy pretty well. I played harmonica with him in front of the Essex Hotel for a couple of hours during the 1991 Chicago Blues Festival. (Until we were rousted by the cops because Jimmy was using a small battery-powered amp and amplified street-music was a no-no.) Jimmy had the fastest (what I like to call) "Hooker Hammmer" I'd ever seen.
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Post by Admin on Jun 30, 2014 8:59:58 GMT -5
John, what's a "Hooker hammer"?
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Post by dadfad on Jun 30, 2014 11:21:16 GMT -5
John, what's a "Hooker hammer"? Jim, it's played inside a shuffle rhyhm. A little hard to explain maybe. Best way I guess is to give kind of an example in a simple tab. There's kind of a common intro often used (usually in the keys of E and A) by many really (including Hooker) that takes you into the standard blues shuffle rhythm. The hammer is from the minor-7th into the 8 (octave tonic). The way Jimmy did it was while playing the abreviated shuffle rhythm on the (in the Key of E) 6-string he'd at the same time rapidly hammer-on (and off) the open D-string (minor 7th) from open to the second fret (8th) over and over at lightning speed (while keeping the shuffle rhythm going on the 6th string), allowing those rapid hammerrings to sort of fade out as he did so. A little hard to explain exactly. Jimmy could do it so fast it sounded like a reverbed fading echo. Anyway... Hooker Hammer Examples
Often played coming out of these intro licks (or elsewhere)
E)-------------------------------------------- B}-------------------------------------------- G)-------------------------------------------- D)--0h2-2-2---0h2-2-2--0h2-0------------2---(and into E-shuffle) A)----------------------------2-0-------2----- E)--------------------------------3--0--0-----
E)-------------------------------------------- B}-------------------------------------------- G)--0-2-2-2---0h2-2-2--0h2-0------------2---(and into A-shuffle) D)----------------------------2-0-------2----- A)--------------------------------3--0--0----- E)--------------------------------------------
...just the hammer by itself....
Usually hammered while droning on the thick-E to the shuffle rhythm
E)---------------------------------------- B}--In Key of E--------------------------- G)---------------------------------------- D)--0h2-<-hammer multiple times rapidly as possible- A)---------------------------------------- E)----------------------------------------
Usually hammered while droning on the A to the shuffle rhythm
E)-------In the Key of A--------------------- B}------------------------------------------- G)--0h2-<hammer multiple times as rapidly as possible- D)------------------------------------------ A)------------------------------------------ E)------------------------------------------
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Post by Admin on Jul 1, 2014 4:50:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the tab John...as usual, perfection! I believe some of those "hammer on" have been used by a number of the old country blues artists haven't they? The last two you show seem to be similar to some of Son House's guitar!
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Post by Admin on Jul 20, 2014 9:07:16 GMT -5
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Post by AlanB on Jul 20, 2014 11:43:52 GMT -5
John Anthony Brisbin interviewed “Detroit Junior" at great length in 1996. The results of which were published in Living Blues 129 (Sep/Oct 1996) "You Got To Put Somethin’ In It.” pps 26-41. He died nine years later.
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Post by monsterjones on Jul 21, 2014 9:10:40 GMT -5
Great thread!!! How about ANN COLE...who first inspired Muddy to perform GOT MY MOJO WORKING:
Ease Easy Baby
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Post by blueescorpio2000 on Jul 21, 2014 10:08:21 GMT -5
'Got My Mojo Working' is credited to Preston Foster.Preston recorded the demo for Dare Music.
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