“The Blues of Otis Spann” (Decca 1964) / “Raw Blues” (Ace of Clubs 1967) ‘Stirs Me Up’ (Decca 45) Muddy Waters made his first trip to the U.K. in 1958, at the invitation of Chris Barber. Rather than bring his full band, he brought only his best friend, pianist Otis Spann. Barber had been […]
Elmore James / Fleetwood Mac / The Nighthawks / Peter Green Splinter Group It probably wasn’t difficult to justify, (to himself, anyway), Elmore James’s aversion to contracts. He had signed on with Trumpet Records in January of 1951, mainly working on sessions for other artists on the label, notably Sonny Boy Williamson II. He also […]
Blues (3CD Deluxe Edition) (UMC – Chess 2019) – CD1 – Electric Blues In May of 2019 Rory Gallagher’s estate released “Blues” (the title as unpretentious as Rory and his music). Available in two formats: a fifteen-track single CD and 2LP vinyl set and a thirty-six track 3CD Deluxe Edition. With performances ranging from 1971 […]
The Henry Björklund Tapes, Part 1 – John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers Bert Okers informed me of a few more “missing” Peter Green performances that “recently” surfaced (first posted on YouTube in August of 2015 and January 2016). The earliest features Green as a member of The Bluesbreakers, recorded on February 22 1967 at the […]
In May of 1952, during the sessions for what would be Little Walter’s first release under his own name on Checker Records, he and the band recorded two takes each of both ‘Juke’ and ‘Can’t Hold Out Much Longer’; the latter would be chosen as the B-side. Little Walter and His Night Cats Little Walter: […]
Otis Spann w/ FM ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business’ Otis Spann was born on March 21, 1930 into a musical family (his mother played guitar, his father, piano), in Jackson, Mississippi. His informal schooling on piano began around the age of eight, under the supervision of a local musician named Friday Ford. By fourteen he was playing […]
The A-Side: ‘I Believe My Time Ain’t Long’ Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac made their public debut on August 13, 1967 at the 7th Annual Jazz, Pop, Ballads & Blues Festival at the Royal Windsor Racecourse in Windsor, Berkshire. Although attendance for the Sunday shows are estimated at about 15,000, the band would truly introduce themselves […]
