Aretha Franklin At Hollywood Bowl

Aretha Franklin: I Say A Little Prayer (Live, 1970)

“Everyone was there for one reason, though: to hear Franklin sing. Her voice is one of pop’s wonders, and though it’s no longer the astonishing instrument it was in yer youth, it is still worthy of veneration.

Barn-stormers such as “Respect” gave Franklin some trouble. She just can’t punch out those phrases as she could in her prime. At times, her voice was subsumed by the huge wave of music generated by the full band, orchestra and legion of back-up singers behind her.

Franklin’s longtime musical director, H.B. Barnum, ably kept the troops in line and jumping, and a few players stood out, notably Franklin’s son, Teddy Richards White, on guitar. The most exciting instrumental sound, however, was Franklin’s own piano playing, featured on a swinging new song, “I Adore You,” which she said would be on an album to be released in September.

Franklin relied on the 40-plus musicians onstage with her, not to mention those dancers and a full choir that emerged for a song near the end; their busy presence frequently gave her room to step back and breathe. She recovered by returning to the vernacular forms that underpin her great pop hits. “Today I Sing The Blues,” which she first released in 1961, was even richer now, after 40-plus years. Taking the song from smoky blues to pleading gospel, Franklin inspired many audience members to raise their hands in blessing.

Further sanctification occurred with “Old Landmark,” a gospel shouter that allowed Franklin to show her full powers of spirit-touched improvisation. She connected the song to the civil rights movement by preceding it with a shout-out to Rev. Jesse Jackson, one of several prominent African Americans in her audience. (Others included Billy Dee Williams, Angela Bassett and Halle Berry, who actually came onstage during the encore and knelt at Franklin’s feet.)

Of her most familiar songs, “Ain’t No Way” was the most powerful. As her cousin Brenda White-King sang its eerie high background notes, Franklin expertly phrased this saddest of romantic laments. The burnt-sugar tone of her voice exquisitely suited the mood of this classic.” LA Times

Top 10 Michael Jackson Songs by Time

Michael Jackson: Thriller (Live, 1983)

Top 10 Michael Jackson Songs by Time

Barry Beckett R.I.P.

Tribute To Barry Beckett (Bob Seger: Down on meanstreet)

“As a studio musician in the 1960s, Mr. Beckett played in the band affiliated with Fame Studios, the production house that turned an unlikely Southern town, Muscle Shoals, Ala., into a center of indigenous American popular music. The band, known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and also called the Swampers, split from Fame in 1969 and, helped by the producer Jerry Wexler, created its own studio, the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, in nearby Sheffield.

Either with the Rhythm Section — which also included the guitarist Jimmy Johnson, the bassist David Hood and the drummer Roger Hawkins — or on his own, Mr. Beckett played behind a remarkable list of performers. They include Aretha Franklin, the Staple Singers, Percy Sledge, J. J. Cale, Boz Skaggs, Paul Simon — he played the organ solo on Mr. Simon’s “Kodachrome” — Bob Seger and Leon Russell. The Swampers were immortalized in Southern rock ’n’ roll when the band Lynyrd Skynyrd tipped hat to them in the 1974 hit “Sweet Home Alabama”” Bruce Weber, New York Times

Huey Long R.I.P.

The Ink Brothers (medley)

“And so began an 80-year career in jazz and popular music. For the rest of the century Mr. Long, who took up the guitar in 1933, performed with an extensive list of greats in a journey that began with Dixieland, moved into swing and jumped forward to bebop. Along the way, he spent nine months in 1945 as a guitarist and singer with the Ink Spots, the enormously popular and influential vocal quartet that paved the way for rhythm and blues and rock ’n’ roll.

He died on Wednesday in Houston, the last surviving Ink Spot from the days when the group still had some of its original members. He was 105.” William Grimes, New York Times

Koko Taylor R.I.P.

Koko Taylor feat. Little Walter: Wang Dang Doodle (1967)

“”Blues is my life,” Taylor once said. “It’s a true feeling that comes from the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and blues is what I always do.”" New York Times

Koko Taylor “Queen of the Blues” Dies at 80

“”She was of the same generation as Muddy [Waters] and [Howlin'] Wolf, she had those [Mississippi] Delta roots,” he said Wednesday. “Even though she had been living in Chicago since the ’50s, her music was still deeply rooted in the South. She had that rhythmic sense, that sense of where you lay the words and how the band locks in around the singer, that intensity of people who have lived that life.” says Bruce Iglauer, owner of Chicago-based Alligator Records and her producer, manager and friend since 1974.” Greg Kot, LA Times

Memphis & The Delta Blues Trail: Great Destinations

T-Model Ford: Sallie Mae (Live at KEXP 90,3 FM Seattle)

“What tip would you give to people who want to travel the blues trail?

Bring a GPS — so many of the juke joints that we went to were literally off dirt roads in the middle of cotton fields. We’d arrive at hundred year-old buildings made out of tin and sheet metal, without a liquor license. They wouldn’t keep regular hours, either. You might read in a guide book that they were open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but we’d pull in on a Friday and they wouldn’t be open. Call ahead if you can.

Without fail, they usually serve two kinds of beer. They’d either have Budweiser or Miller and then the light beer equivalent. You’d walk in and order from a window cut into a wall, and they wouldn’t hand you a normal-sized beer. Instead, they’d give you 60 oz. bottle, paper cups, and napkins. You’d pay a man in cash, and he’d turn around hand it to another man, who would instantly put the money in a safe — in case there was a robbery. If you brought drinks with you, they’d give you a “set-up” — a Tupperware bowl filled with ice, some glasses and a can of Coke.” Jeff Weiss, LA Times

Justin Gage’s terrific blog Aquarium Drunkard

New B.B. King Interview

B.B. King & Bobby “Blue” Bland: The Trill Is Gone (Live, 1977)

B.B.King: “‘I’d played the Fillmore when it was a black theatre, but this time when we pulled up I saw all these long-haired kids outside (1967). I thought, my agent’s made a mistake. See, once in a while I’d meet a white person who might say, “Boy, you sure is good,” but I wasn’t aware that a lot of these kids had been listening to me.

‘So I sent my road-manager in to get the promoter. And sure enough, Bill Graham came out and he said, “No, B, this is the right place.” I was like a cat with seven dogs around him! And when we get inside – no tables. Just kids sitting on the floor! Took me up to the dressing-room, same old dressing-room we used to go; the same old sofa, with slashes in, like somebody had cut it with a knife. Now I was nervous because I’d never played to people like this before. So I told Bill, I’ve got to have a drink. He sent out and got me the smallest half pint of liquor I’ve ever seen. I’ve taken a sip of it or so and try to get my mind off what I’m doing. Then finally we get on stage, and Bill said, “Ladies and gentlemen” – and it got so quiet you could hear a pin fall on the floor – “I bring you the chairman of the board, BB King.” That’s the shortest intro, and the best one, I ever had in my life. They all stood up and they yelled. I guess I had a 45-minute set, and they must have stood up three or four times. That’s the night I saw the difference.’”Mick Brown, The Telegraph

Hound Dog: The Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller Autobiography by David Ritz

“Big Mama Thorton: Hound Dog

“Q: What was it like writing for Elvis Presley? He covered 20 of your songs, including “Jailhouse Rock,” “Hound Dog,” and another Coasters’ song, “Little Egypt.” How did Elvis get your material?
Mike Stoller: I almost didn’t hear any of his versions! (Note: Stoller is alluding to a boat disaster. He was on a cruise ship and 50 people perished in an accident. Stoller and his first wife reached shore on a lifeboat, and were met by Jerry Leiber, who brought a new set of clothes and was raving about their new hit single from a new singer named Elvis Presley. “Hound Dog” was initially written at the request of Johnny Otis, the bandleader and A&R man for Big Mama Thornton, who wanted Leiber and Stoller to listen to his acts and to see if they could write some songs for them.)

“Hound Dog,” Elvis knew the record, Big Mama’s record, because he was a student, and, in addition, his first records (pre-RCA) were on Sun records. And Sun Records did the answer version, which they were sued for by Don Robey (Peacock records owner). They did “Bear Cat” with Rufus Thomas. It was a big record on Sun.

And it was a woman’s song. Jerry wrote the lyrics for Big Mama and I think we recorded it in 1952, and it was released in early ‘53 by Big Mama and it was a big R&B hit. Segregated radio, segregated charts, etc. But Elvis heard a lounge act doing it in Las Vegas and they corrupted it so they could sing it because they were guys. They put this rabbit thing in there that wasn’t in the original ‘cause the original is Jerry’s lyric, where a woman is singing to a gigolo and this is kind of meaningless, but it still has the hostility in the line ‘You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog.’ Elvis heard them sing it. I think the group was Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys, so he recorded it the way they had done it, lyrically.”

“The legendary songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller have just written Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography with contributor David Ritz” Harvey Kubernik, Sonic Boomers

World’s Most Expensive Record Sold

Frank Wilson: Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)

“In dollars, the total amount approaches $40,000, making it the world’s most expensive record.”

“As the story goes, Wilson, who became a producer for Motown, was hired in late 1965 to head up the label’s West Coast operation in Los Angeles. The deal was contingent upon Wilson giving up his recording and performing career. But Wilson recorded a demo of “Do I Love You.” Upon finding out, Berry gave the order to have it wiped off the face of the earth. But, two copies escaped.” Peter Lindblad, Goldmine

Little Willie Littlefield: Kansas City

Little Willie Littlefield: Kansas City  (Live)

“Before “Kansas City” was recorded by everyone from the Beatles to Peggy Lee, the song was first released in 1952 as “K.C. Loving” by an obscure Houston pianist named Little Willie Littlefield. The single became a regional hit in the Los Angeles area, where Littlefield was recording for Federal Records, but it would be up to Wilbert Harrison, Trini Lopez, James Brown and Hank Ballard to turn “Kansas City” into a top 25 hit on the national pop and R&B charts. Littlefield remained a fascinating, mysterious footnote to pop-music history.” Geoffrey Himes, LA Times