Z.Z. Hill - The Malaco Recordings

 "Texas-born singer Z.Z. Hill managed to resuscitate both his own semi-flagging career and the entire genre at large when he signed on at Jackson, MS-based Malaco Records in 1980 and began growling his way through some of the most uncompromising blues to be unleashed on black radio stations in many a moon. His impressive 1982 Malaco album Down Home Blues remained on Billboard's soul album charts for nearly two years, an extraordinary run for such a blatantly bluesy LP. His songs "Down Home Blues" and "Somebody Else Is Steppin' In" have graduated into the ranks of legitimate blues standards (and few of those have come along over the last couple of decades). "Texas-born singer Z.Z. Hill managed to resuscitate both his own semi-flagging career and the entire genre at large when he signed on at Jackson, MS-based Malaco Records in 1980 and began growling his way through some of the most uncompromising blues to be unleashed on black radio stations in many a moon. His impressive 1982 Malaco album Down Home Blues remained on Billboard's soul album charts for nearly two years, an extraordinary run for such a blatantly bluesy LP. His songs "Down Home Blues" and "Somebody Else Is Steppin' In" have graduated into the ranks of legitimate blues standards (and few of those have come along over the last couple of decades)....But Hill's vocal grit was never more effective than on his blues-soaked Malaco output. From 1980 until 1984, when he died suddenly of a heart attack, Z.Z. bravely led a personal back-to-the-blues campaign that doubtless helped to fuel the subsequent contemporary blues boom. It's a shame he couldn't stick around to see it blossom." Bill Dahl

Z,Z, Hill - Love Is So Good When You're Stealin' It [Columbia 1978-79]

Bill Dahl

"Much of Hill's 1978-79 output for Columbia was laced with disco rhythms, but there were also plenty of soulful throwbacks to the sort of intense testifying that Hill did best: the surging mid-tempo "That's All That's Left," and a string-enriched "This Time They Told the Truth," an insistent "Need You By My Side," and the smoldering title tale of cheating in the wee hours that hit big for him. Ichiban has cobbled together both of Hill's Columbia LPs, the first being infinitely superior to the brutally formulaic disco-dominated encore.

The Heavenly Tones - New York Grass Roots Gospel

worth a second post: Rare Gospel from Cliff's tape archives.

The transfers came out sounding quite good. These were all from the Library of Congress recommendations of the time and we have quite a few of these rarities.

The Heavenly Tones were all Southern transplants to Brooklyn, and schooled in the older Quartet tradition. All accapella  and less emphasis on pyrotechnics than the hard gospel groups, but still very moving.

The Golden Jubilees & The Gospel Christian Singers

More digging back into the tape vault posts.

We are once again deep into Unky Cliff's Gospel tape stash with a double offering. First up are the wonderful Golden Jubilees and their glorious bass singer Joshua Hankinson. This tape series has really opened my ears to the Jubilee Quartet tradition that preceded the 'Hard Gospel' Quartets like the Soul Stirrers. One thing that seems to be true in this singing tradition as opposed to hard gospel is that it is not so hard on the singers physically and so they seem to enjoy greater longevity.  The second offering today is a perfect example of that, I don't think that any member of the Gospel Christian Singers is younger than 75 years old and yet their harmonies are still sweet.

Z.Z. Hill - The U.A. albums

By 1972 Hill had managed to hook on with the United Artists  label for 4 years and 3 albums that came right in the dawn of the disco/funk era. The material is a cut above much of what was coming down the pipe in the time, but it is clear that the goal was to break ZZ into the mainstream. The results are a bit spotty and even a bit ridiculous in places. I would have to say it isn't my favorite period of his career, but it is worth hearing. I'm listening to the first of these as I prepare the post and I'm noticing that Hill is steadily developing into an even stronger singer with a more personal sound of his own. By the second album he is making some solid Southern Soul and the final album reflects the inescapable disco/funk influences taking over the industry at the time. Thanks to my partner in crime Dr. Hepcat and the original uploaders who made this possible to assemble.

Eric Bibb in 50 Songs

While I think that Bibb is one of the most impressive of the modern bluesmen, I have never been particularly interested in acquiring all of his recordings. Cliff found this unusual Japanese set that fits nicely into my desire to have more, but not all of his recordings.

Big Maybelle - The Complete King, Okeh & Savoy Releases 1947-61

Cliff strikes again! A fine 2 disc release that may well enable you dispense with some other discs in your files. Better remastering too.

Larry Garner - You Need To Live A Little

Larry Garner (born July 8, 1952, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States) is an American Louisiana blues musician best known for his 1994 
album Too Blues.
Garner grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with his first inspiration being the guitar-playing preacher Reverend Utah Smith. Garner made 
acquaintance with local musicians such as Lonesome Sundown, Silas Hogan, Guitar Kelley and Tabby Thomas. His musical influences include 
Hogan, Clarence Edwards, Jimi Hendrix, and Henry Gray. He was taught to play guitar by his uncle and two other elders. Garner completed 
military service in Korea and returned to Baton Rouge, working part-time in music and full-time at a Dow Chemical plant.

Garner won the International Blues Challenge in 1988, and his first two albums, Double Dues and Too Blues, were released by the British JSP 
label. The latter album's title was in reply to a label executive who judged Garner's original demo to be "too blues". Thomas' nightclub, Tabby's Blues Box, provided Garner with a playing base in the 1980s and gave him the subject matter for the strongest song on Double Dues, "No Free Rides".

You Need to Live a Little (1994) was followed by Standing Room Only (1998), Baton Rouge (1999) and 2000's Once Upon the Blues. Baton Rouge''s 1999 track, "Go To Baton Rouge," offered a tourist's guide to Louisiana music spots.

In 2008, Garner was treated for a serious illness that was the inspiration for his 2008 album, Here Today Gone Tomorrow.(Wiki)

Back in the mid 90's Larry spent some time in the UK and we got to hang out occassionally ...I've bought him a few pints of Guinness !
It was enjoyable because I had peviously purchased some of his CD's and liked his original compositions, based on his own life experiences .
He came to the Earl Green 'Feel The Fire' CD launch party at the 100 Club, London, in 1996, where we both played, and he borrowed my Strat (which was nice!). OK... there's nothing outstandingly original about him, but he has a unique personality and style, he's a nice player and doesn't rely on covering old standards. He's added to the Blues Canon.
This album was his first on a major label and I really enjoyed it...Give it a listen and judge for yourself...

Z.Z. Hill - Early Years

The 3 links here will get you thru the 60's output and into the early 70's if memory serves - I'll post another album of material from his brother's  Hill label, but that is from his later stint on his brother's imprint. There is surprisingly little overlap here and I've added some stray pieces that Dr Hepcat supplied as singles - to tell the truth, I no longer recall which of these pieces were from me and which the good Dr had, but together with Preslives post, I believe these cover all the early, pre UA material.

Rev. Maceo Woods and the Christian Tabernacle Choir - lp rip

Sorry for the crappy cover, but I haven't been up to going thru the whole rigamarole to scan and stitch the covers.

The tiny Gospel Truth label will never be known for the quality of their vinyl or their recording engineers either, but that doesn't take away from the dynamic power of this recording - just turn it up!

Rosco Gordon - Just A Little Bit

Rosco Gordon (April 10, 1928 – July 11, 2002) was an American, Memphis blues and rhythm & blues, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his 1952, number 1, rhythm & blues hit single, "Booted", and two number 2 singles, "No More Doggin'" (1952 RPM 350) and "Just a Little Bit" (1960 Vee-Jay 332).
Born on Florida Street, in Memphis, Tennessee, Gordon was one of the "Beale Streeters", a group of musicians in 1949 that also featured Johnny Ace, B.B. King, and Bobby "Blue" Bland a.o., who helped to develop the style known as Memphis Blues. Gordon used a style of piano playing known as 'The Rosco Rhythm', he placed the accent on the off beats, and although other influential rhythm & blues pianists such as Professor Longhair (on "Willie Mae" among other songs) recorded in the same off beat style before him, through his influence on the Jamaican pianist, Theophilus Beckford ("Easy Snappin'"), Gordon was cited as the foundation of Jamaican ska, bluebeat and reggae music.
Rosco Gordon made a number of his early recordings for Sam Phillips at Sun Records.
"Booted" (1952) gave his career a sound start, and was followed by "No More Doggin'" the same year. Sam Phillips later sold the master tape of "Booted" to two competing record labels, Chess and RPM, both of whom released it as a single as he had done with some early Howlin' Wolf songs. The RPM release reached #1 on the Billboard R&B record chart. Chess and the Bihari Brothers later settled the conflict with the Biharis getting exclusive rights to Gordon and Chess signing Wolf to an exclusive contract.
In 1960, Gordon released his last charting single "Just a Little Bit", which was both an R&B and pop hit. However there were no further hits despite Gordon's youth, talent and exuberant and oddball personality. In 1962, he gave up the music industry and moved to Queens, New York with his new wife where he purchased a partnership in a laundry business. Following his wife's death in 1984, he returned to performing in the New York area.
In 2002, he was invited by filmmaker Richard Pearce to be featured as part of a documentary film about several blues musicians returning to Memphis for a special tribute to Sam Phillips in conjunction with the May 2002 W. C. Handy Awards. Called The Road To Memphis, the documentary aired on PBS television. Six weeks after filming finished, Gordon died of a heart attack at his apartment in Rego Park, Queens. He was 74 years old. He was interred in the Rosedale Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey.

Z.Z. Hill - The Brand New Z.Z. Hill

Arzell "Z. Z." Hill (September 30, 1935 – April 27, 1984) was an American blues singer, in the soul blues tradition, known for his 1970s and 1980s recordings for Malaco. His 1982 album, Down Home, stayed on the Billboard soul album chart for nearly two years. The track "Down Home Blues" has been called the best-known blues song of the 1980s. This track plus the songs "Taxi", "Someone Else Is Steppin' In", and "Open House" have become R&B/Southern soul standards.

Born in Naples, Texas, United States, Hill began his singing career in the late 1950s as part of a gospel group called The Spiritual Five, touring Texas. Around 1960, he started collecting records by B. B. King, Freddie King, Sam Cooke, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Wilson Pickett and began singing and writing songs influenced by these styles.

In 1964, Hill moved to California and recorded "You Were Wrong" on his brother's M.H. record label. The single charted and Hill released several more singles for Kent, but none of them charted. He moved labels several times, including signing with Phil Walden's Macon, Georgia based Capricorn label, but Hill refused to record for Walden, and his recording contract was bought by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams' Mankind label, where Hill finally fulfilled his end of the deal.

In 1971, Williams recorded Hill in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and they had hits including "Faithful & True" (Cash Box Top 100) and "Chokin' Kind" (Cash Box R&B #50). With his brother's help, Hill then signed to United Artists, where he released several successful singles. During the United Artist period in the mid 1970s, he was aided by arrangements and compositions by established R&B talents like Lamont Dozier and Allen Toussaint.

One of Hill's biggest selling hits came while signed to Columbia, "Love Is So Good When You're Stealing It," which spent 18 weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in the summer of 1977. Signed to Malaco Records in 1979, Hill's next hit single was "I'm Gonna Stop You From Givin' Me The Blues," in 1980. Hill's recording of songwriter George Jackson's "Cheatin' In The Next Room," was released in early 1982 and broke into the top 20 nationally, spending a total of 20 weeks on the charts. He had a number of best-selling albums on Malaco, the biggest one being Down Home Blues, which sold in excess of one million copies.[citation needed] Other Malaco sides that received airplay in the early 1980s were "Someone Else Is Steppin' In", "Bump And Grind", "Shade Tree Mechanic", and "Get You Some Business". George Jackson also wrote Hill's signature tune, "Down Home Blues", which label-mate Denise LaSalle later recorded.

Hill's song, "That Ain't the Way You Make Love", was sampled by Madvillain in their track, "Fancy Clown".

In 1984, Hill died in Dallas at the age of 48 from a heart attack after a road accident

The Four Eagles and The Gospel Harmonettes of Demopolis, Alabama

 We have a two part service from Alabama this morning. Another pair of rare gems from Cliff's tape vault (actually it is a case, but...).

First up are The Four Eagles of Birmingham, Alabama. The group was formed in 1938 and still sings in old quartet tradition. Beautiful close harmonies with only small hints of the pyrotechnics of the hard gospel quartets. The Four Eagle Gospel Singers (started in 1938 at the U.S. Steel Plant in Fairfield, Alabama). Joe Watson has been the lead singer of The Four Eagle Gospel Singers since 1946.

Reviewed by Tony May
You want the rawest of red meat? The dynamic harmonizing of these four ladies is all you could ever need in authentic, down home gospel quartet singing. Originally named in tribute to Dorothy Love Coates' vocal backing group, these ladies originally came together in 1974 to perform mainly in their own area, where black gospel music has a rich tradition. This tape was recorded at a live church concert, where their deceptively casual-sounding style displays years of honing their now devastating technique. The 12 songs include some that display slowly simmering emotion, powerful though always controlled. There are none of the sometimes disturbing excesses associated with the genre. Other tracks step out with aggression: "Jesus On The Mainline", the Ry Cooder classic, gives a good example of the GHs in full flow. Red-hot stuff from seasoned practitioners, that brings the joy of genuine gospel singing back home again.

James Carrr - The essential Goldwax Recordings

James Carr (June 13, 1942 – January 7, 2001)

Artist Biography by Steve Huey

"One of the greatest pure vocalists that deep Southern soul ever produced, James Carr is often mentioned in the same breath as Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, and Aretha Franklin in terms of the wrenching emotional power in his delivery. Or at least he is by hardcore soul aficionados; despite producing several classic R&B singles and some of the most intense country-soul ever waxed, Carr never achieved the pop crossover success that could have made him a household name, and his material wasn't always as distinctive as that of Stax artists like Redding or Sam & Dave. Ultimately, though, Carr's greatest obstacle was himself: he was plagued for much of his life by severe depression that made pursuit of a career -- or, for that matter, even single recording sessions -- extraordinarily difficult, and derailed his occasional comeback attempts.

James Carr was born June 13, 1942, in Coahoma County, MS, near Clarksdale; his father, a minister, moved the family to Memphis when Carr was very young. Carr began singing in church at age nine, and performed with several area gospel groups in his teenage years, including the Harmony Echoes (though not, as legend had it, the Soul Stirrers). Both Carr and Echoes manager Roosevelt Jamison had been harboring ambitions for careers in secular music, and the two began looking for a solo deal for Carr in 1963. Stax turned him down, but in late 1964 he caught on with Goldwax, a Memphis label started by Quinton Claunch (who'd earlier co-founded Hi Records) that, in its early days, also featured O.V. Wright (with whom Carr had sung in the Redemption Harmonizers). Over the next couple of years, Carr cut several singles that ranged from Motown-ish pop to soul-blues, searching for the best stylistic match for his richly expressive baritone.

Carr finally hit in 1966 with the country-soul ballad "You Got My Mind Messed Up," a Top Ten R&B hit that earned him comparisons to Otis Redding. It kicked off the prime period of Carr's recording career, and among his next few singles was his clear-cut masterpiece "Dark End of the Street." Given a tortuously intense performance by Carr, "Dark End of the Street" was a bleak tale of adultery that marked the first songwriting collaboration between Dan Penn and Chips Moman; although the song was recorded by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Linda Ronstadt, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Carr's original version still stands as definitive. Featuring other hit singles like the Redding-esque "Love Attack" and the exquisite "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man," Carr's 1966 debut LP You Got My Mind Messed Up is also considered a classic by many Southern soul collectors.

Despite Carr's first flush of success on the R&B charts over 1966-1967, things were not looking up. Carr signed on with Phil Walden, Otis Redding's manager, in 1966, but without Roosevelt Jamison around (he'd served as Carr's caretaker just as much as his manager), Carr found himself unable to deal with the stress of touring; he frequently wandered off alone and got lost. By 1968, his mental state had deteriorated greatly, making even recording sessions a challenge. He was able to complete a second LP, 1968's A Man Needs a Woman, but in Muscle Shoals for his last Goldwax session in 1969, he simply sat at the microphone and stared into space, singing only one song (the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody"). Not long afterward, Goldwax went bankrupt; wary of the singer's instability, Capitol rescinded an offer to buy out his contract, and although Carr signed with Atlantic, he released only one single in 1971.

In 1977, Carr released one single on the small River City label, which was run by Roosevelt Jamison. Two years later, he undertook a tour of Japan that started off well; however, at the Tokyo gig, Carr -- apparently having taken too many anti-depressants -- stood motionless at the microphone as though in a hypnotic trance. He returned to Memphis, where he lived with his sister (in between institutionalizations), and spent much of the '80s barely conscious of the world around him. With medication, his condition improved to the point where Jamison and Quinton Claunch cut an album with him in 1991 for a revived Goldwax. The record, Take Me to the Limit, received mixed reviews, although its very existence was an achievement in itself. Carr was even able to return to the road, touring the blues circuits in America and Europe. In 1994, he released another album on Claunch's new Soultrax label, titled Soul Survivor. Unfortunately, Carr was soon diagnosed with lung cancer, and spent several years battling the disease before finally succumbing on January 7, 2001."

Searching for a pair of Z.Z. Hills

 Dr Hepcat and I have managed to assemble all the Z.Z. Hill material except for these two albums - this is a call to our Southern Soul fans to see if we can fill these last 2 holes in his discography. The first is the first Malaco album - the other appears to be his last record on the 601 label.

Lou Johnson - With You In Mind & more

 After the Sweet Southern Soul session and album one might think Jerry Wexler would have kept Lou around, but timing is everything and around this time two factors conspired against Lou. First, Wexler had become dazzled by a new talent named Donnie Hathaway, second Johnson had developed an increasingly problematic heroin habit. I would guess that both were in play in Atlantic dropping Johnson.

Johnson struggled with the habit until 1970 when he moved home to his mother's house in NY to get clean. By 1971 Lou was clean and looking for work, when in the lobby of the CBS building he ran into Allen Toussaint whom he knew from a 1966 session in New Orleans. Once he had confirmed that Lou had put his habit behind him, Toussaint invited Lou down to New Orleans for 30 days that resulted in this album.

I'm guessing that most of you know by now that the SeaSaint band of the time would have included The Meters, the horn section would be Gary Brown and company, the backup singers include Eldridge Holmes and Toussaint....you get it. Oddly enough, the excellent Toussaint penned ballad that is used as the album title, isn't on the album!

Anyway, once the album is finished, Marshall Seahorn deigns to release the album on one of his own labels, but instead sells it to Isaac Hayes and Dave Porter at Stax/Volt. Well okay, they had a better distribution network, but be it intentional or not there was a prejudice against non-homegrown products at Stax and the promotion/distribution teams never really got on board behind the album. The album went predictably nowhere and that was essentially the end of Johnson's solo career.

I am going to tack on here a goody from Kent records that our Shares Ninja patsoul kindly left in the shares - it contains all of Lou's earlier work with Burt Bacharach and his first New Orleans tracks with Toussaint from 1966. Together with the earlier post, this pretty much completes the Lou Johnson story.

Grey Ghost

For those of you who have read the opening  introduction piece here, the name of the Grey Ghost may be vaguely familiar. I was curious to figure out the reference and then suddenly Cliff was chortling about finding this rarity cheap. If you want the full  excellent story and obituary from the Austin Chronicle please visit this link.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/1996-07-26/532322/

Here is the abbreviated version:
" Pianist Roosevelt T. Williams, better known as "Grey Ghost," entertained Central Texas audiences from the 1920s through the 1990s with his jazz-tinged barrelhouse blues. Once called the "Thelonious Monk of Blues," Williams was born Dec. 7, 1903, in Bastrop. Armed with basic musical training as a teen, he used his good ear to absorb African-American, Anglo, Mexican, and Eastern European styles pouring out of area dances and roadhouses. Williams often traveled to and from gigs by slipping onto empty boxcars, which earned him the Grey Ghost appellation. In 1940, folklorist William Owens made a field recording of Grey Ghost singing "Hitler Blues" after hearing him perform at a Navasota skating rink. The song was mentioned in Time magazine and ultimately broadcast over BBC radio in an Alistair Cooke story about the American musical response to World War II. Although the notoriety of "Hitler Blues" did not make Grey Ghost a star, he became a familiar figure in East Austin clubs like the Victory Grill and Fat Green's during their postwar heyday. In 1965, local music historian Tary Owens recorded several Grey Ghost songs, which led to festival appearances alongside Mance Lipscomb and Janis Joplin. After years of relative obscurity, Owens tracked down Grey Ghost again in the mid-Eighties, introducing him to a new generation of blues fans via regular gigs at Antone's and the Continental Club. The city proclaimed Dec. 7, 1987, as Grey Ghost Day, and he was voted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame the following year. Grey Ghost's one eponymous solo album was released in 1992 on Owens' Spindletop label. He also appeared on Catfish's Texas Piano Professors compilation alongside Erbie Bowser and Lavada "Dr. Hepcat" Durst. Grey Ghost passed away on July 17, 1996, at age 92. – Greg Beets

Guitar Slim - Sufferin' Mind

"Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), better known as Guitar Slim, was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do". It is a song that is listed in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Slim had a major impact on rock and roll and experimented with distorted overtones on the electric guitar a full decade before Jimi Hendrix.

Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States. His mother died when he was five, and his grandmother raised him, as he spent his teen years in the cotton fields. He spent his free time at the local juke joints and started sitting in as a singer or dancer; he was good enough to be nicknamed "Limber Leg."

After returning from World War II military service, he started playing clubs around New Orleans, Louisiana. Bandleader Willie D. Warren introduced him to the guitar, and he was particularly influenced by T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. About 1950 he adopted the stage name 'Guitar Slim' and started becoming known for his wild stage act. He wore bright-colored suits and dyed his hair to match them, had an assistant follow him around the audience with up to 350 feet of cord between amplifier and guitar, and would occasionally get up on his assistant's shoulders, or even take his guitar outside the club and bring traffic to a stop. His sound was just as unusual — he was playing with distorted guitar more than a decade before rock guitarists did the same, and his gospel-influenced vocals were easily identifiable.

Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used to Do" (1953) featured an early example of an electric guitar solo with distorted overtones. His first recording session was in 1947, and he had a minor rhythm and blues hit in 1952 with "Feelin' Sad", which Ray Charles covered. His biggest success was "The Things That I Used to Do" (1954). The song, produced by a young Ray Charles, was released on Art Rupe's Specialty Records label. The song spent weeks at number one on the R&B charts and sold over a million copies, soon becoming a blues standard. It also contributed to the development of soul music.

He recorded on a few labels, including Imperial, Bullet, Specialty, and Atco. The recordings made in 1954 and 1955 for Specialty are his best.

His career having faded, Guitar Slim became an alcoholic, and then died of pneumonia in New York City at age 32. Guitar Slim is buried in a small cemetery in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where his manager, Hosea Hill, resided."

Staple Singers - Amen! & Why

The Epic releases were not particularly well represented in the previously offered Staples box so only a few of these songs have been previously offered in our Sunday services. Yet another lovely gift from the Elder Clifford.

The Staple Singers straddled the Sacred and Secular worlds like no group before or since. The enormously influential guitar stylings of Roebuck “Pops” Staples, the 'deep beyond her years' vocals of Mavis Staples, and the exalted harmonies of Pervis and Cleotha Staples created a singular sound that somehow managed to be earthy and soaring at the same time.

1965’s Amen! and 1966’s Why were their second and third albums and the first pair of studio recordings for the Epic Label. Both were produced by Nashville Legend Billy Sherrill. Includes the hit “Why (Am I Treated So Bad)".

Liner Notes by Gene Sculatti, Remastered by Mike Piacentini at Battery Studios in NewYork

CD Debuts for Both Albums

The Faithful Harmonizers - New York Grassroots Gospel

More rare Gospel from Cliff's tape vaults!

The Harmonizers sound is a fascinating mix of the old and the new, drawing from both pre-war and post-war gospel quartet traditions. The close harmonies, strong bass line and syncopated phrasing hearken back to the Jubilee quartets of the 30's. Reverend Vernella Kelly's lead vocals, however, are straight out of post-war hard gospel. Their mix of old and newer material further underscores their blending of traditions.

This group was first formed in the 40's in Queens. The members here are Rev. Vernella Kelly of Sarasota, Fl; bass singer Wilburt Huntly of Monroe, NC; baritone William Ray of Fayetteville, NC; tenors Geneva Ray and Clara Mackay of Sumter, SC.

Charlie Story and His All Stars - New Yok Grassroots Gospel

Another rerun from that old box of tapes long forgotten in Cliff's archives.

This group blends prewar and post-war singing traditions from the South (the members are from Georgia and the Carolinas) but their group was formed in Brooklyn.

I am proud to be able to offer this rare and historic series but there is no doubt that these singers were recorded beyond their vocal primes, yet still they retain a charm for those willing to open their ears.

Here is a link to a fine Opal Louis Nations article about Charlie and the All Stars.

Dan Brantley - Mystery Man

We've explored some pretty obscure guys over the years, but his guy may well take the cake on that score. I have no idea where he is from or what his history might be, I can't even find a single photograph of the man. Usually one can trust good Sir Shambling to uncover something about such guys, but even he was only able to come up with a small discography that is likely incomplete.

So what I HAVE managed are 10 tracks (Dr Hepcat came up with better copies of 3 of them) that reveal a fine voice and similar writing talent (he penned most of his songs), but uneven production and backing. These represent roughly half of his known output so any additions would be much appreciated (don't try pulling Sir Shambling's copies, they have deliberate audio anomalies in them). Any info or a picture would be a blessing as well.

William Bell - This Is Where I Live

"William Bell aces his return to the legendary Stax label with "This Is Where I Live," an excellent album built on the foundations of his songwriting and vocal skills.

In the '60s, Bell performed or wrote a handful of blues and soul classics like "Everyday Will Be A Holiday" and "Born Under A Bad Sign," and he continues to uphold those high standards even on the cusp of age 77.

His clear, smooth tenor lends authority and honesty to the 12 songs produced by John Leventhal, best known for his work with wife Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin. Leventhal plays most of the instruments and co-wrote nearly every song with Bell, proving a sympathetic and inspiring partner. His "no frills, no clichés" approach hits the bullseye.

Bell, who founded his own record label and left Stax in the mid-'70s, sings about his Memphis roots and musical journey on the title track, while "More Rooms" cautions that for a marriage to last, remember that "there's more rooms in a house ... than the bedroom."

Bell's take on "Born Under a Bad Sign," which he wrote with Booker T. Jones, alters the classic guitar riff and is more a weary lament than a complaint. "Poison in the Well" is sung by a victim of love over a Robert Cray-style groove, and the second line from the refrain of "All the Things You Can't Remember" is "I'm still trying to forget."

After a fallow decade, "This Is Where I Live" proves that in the right company Bell is still an enduring source of brilliance." By Pablo Gorondi, Associated Press

Jimmy Hall & The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Collective - Build Your Own Fire (An Eddie Hinton Tribute)

By Jim Santella, AllAboutJazz

"This down-to-earth blues album by Jimmy Hall and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Collective comes as a tribute to an unsung member of the southern blues community. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Eddie Hinton (1944-1995) was one of those guys who held genius in the palm of his hand but couldn't handle it in the end. We've known other jazz and blues artists who followed a similar course. It's always tough on those who were close to the center of it all. When Hinton passed on at age 51, he left behind many compositions and recordings to remember him by. Some of those compositions, however, had fallen by the wayside. This album brings eleven of Hinton's songs to life with southern-fried blues passion.

With Build Your Own Fire, Jimmy Hall and this selected band of blues regulars resurrects that music with flair. There's plenty of heart to go around. Vocals, harmonica, guitars, organ, bass and drums come together in contemporary blues band fashion to make things happen.

Hall delivers with authority. He's got the genuine spirit to move people in ways that the blues has always intended. His soulful reading of these songs, coupled with complementary asides from the band, keep that flame alive. "Build Your Own Fire burns with a blues/rock backbeat that centers on Hall's extended lyric message. Unlike most blues tales of woe and sorrow, this one uplifts with a message that encourages us to get back on track, make your own way in the world, and make sure that positive things happen to you.

Elsewhere, the album attempts to allay our fears and ease our difficulties by tellin' stories that relate to our everyday lives. Hall's soulful voice and blues harp put the message right there in our laps. He's a comfort to all, and a beacon of strength for blues lovers the world over."

Track Listing: Still Want to Be Your Man; Salty; Here I Am; Poor Old Me; Coming After You; Cover Me; Build Your Own Fire; It's All Wrong; Watchdog; What Will I Do Without You; I Found a True Love; Coming After You (bonus track); Salty (bonus track); interview by David Hood on Eddie Hinton.
Personnel: Jimmy Hall: vocals, harmonicas; Clayton Ivey: keyboards; Larry Byrom: guitars; Greg Martin: guitars; David Hood: bass; Jonathan Dees: drums; Delbert McClinton: vocal (1); Kira Small: vocals (2, 12), Bruce Dees: vocal (3).

Eddie Hinton - Live at Rosa's Cantina 1979

Dr HepCat brings us another chapter in our Eddie Hinton saga - a live set from Atlanta with the band The Nighthawks. This was recorded in 1979 and includes some killer covers of great songs from Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett.

Huey 'Piano' Smith - Don't You Just Know Know It

Yep - it's a new Huey collection from our fave Unky - 4 extra tracks compared to the previously posted Westside version and slightly better sound!

more EDDIE HINTON

Nothing useful to add to KC's previous biographical sketch. I had never heard of the dude before (although obviously I must have heard him playing on some of our favourite Southern Soul classics) but I am knocked side-ways by the surprise of discovery.

There are a couple of "best of" collections out there - pulled together, it says here, from a total of eight albums. And thus my current quest is to track them all down.

"Dear Y'All" is evidently only Volume 1 of the maybe retrospectively conceived and packaged "Songwriting Sessions".   There is also Volume 2 - "Playin' Around" - out there beyond my reach somewhere.

This one here - "Beautiful Dream" - is Volume 3.

The other little treasure is an unreleased early project made in collaboration with Jim Coleman (his story is included inside the package).


These shares are the result of serious scavenging from other original posters somewhere else - I pretend no credit for ripping 'em, just for audacious jackdaw-like thievery and a wish to share the benefit.


The Songwriting Sessions Volume 3 - "Beautiful Dream" MP3 @ 320

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9r7raymo7o8zunz/Songwriting_Sessions_Volume_3_-_Beautiful_Dream.7z

The Coleman-Hinton Project - "Lost and Found" MP3 @ 320
http://www.mediafire.com/download/24b0fbq4wgh5hgj/Coleman-Hinton_Project_-_Lost_And_Found_%281969-71%29.7z