Happy Birthday Keith Richards -*Stonesmania- Hot Rocks, Indeed- The Rolling Stones, Once Again

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of The Rolling Stones performing "Street Fighting Man".

CD Review

Hot Rocks 1964-1971, The Rolling Stones, 2CD set, ABKCO Records, 1986

Hey, in 2009 no one, including this reviewer, NEEDS to comment on the fact that The Rolling Stones, pound for pound, have over forty plus years earned their place as the number one band in the rock ‘n’ roll pantheon. Still, it is interesting to listen once again to the guys when they were at the height of their musical powers (and as high, most of the time, as Georgia pines). This period from 1964 to 1971, moreover, unlike let us say Bob Dylan who has produced more creative work for longer, is the ‘golden era” of the Stone Age.

While this CD has the rather definitive selection of “greatest hits’ from this period so there are no bad tracks here the stick outs are “Gimme Shelter”( as always), “Street Fighting Man”, “Sympathy For The Devil”, “Under My Thumb” and “Ruby Tuesday”

Happy Birthday Keith Richards- *"I Am The Blues”- The Music Of Blues Man Willie Dixon

Click On Title To Link YouTube's Film Clip Of Willie Dixon Performing " Blues You Can't Lose".


DVD Review

Willie Dixon: I Am The Blues, Willie Dixon, Quantum Leap Productions, 2002


Readers of this space will, probably, already be familiar with the name of Willie Dixon if one is the slightest bit familiar with Chicago blues, Chess Records, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf or even The Rolling Stones’ cover of his “Little Red Rooster”. In this one hour presentation you get a very quick overview of his major songs, his take on the ups and downs of the blues as a genre and his performance of a number of his classics written while at Chess and at other venues. Outstanding is his classic “I’ve Got The Blues” and the song that Koko Taylor and Howlin’ Wolf made famous, “Wang Dang Doodle”. This is a serious piece of blues, especially Chicago blues, history by a man at, or near, the center of it in its hey day as he nears the end of his own career (1984).

*Etta James Is In The House- Again

Click on the title to link to YouTube's film clip of Etta James performing "Born Under A Bad Sign".

CD Review

Life, Love And The Blues, Etta James, Sbme Special Mkts., 1998



The name Etta James goes back in my memory to associations with my first listening to rock music on the old transistor radio in the late 1950’s. At that time, I believe, her music was in the old doo wop tradition of the late 1950’s, a music that I was fairly soon to dismiss out of hand as the ‘bubble gum’ music that was prevalent in that period between the height of Elvis/Jerry Lee/Carl Perkins classic rock & rock and the Beatles and The Rolling Stones. That is where things were left until a dozen years ago or more when Etta ‘stole the show’ at the Newport Folk Festival. Well, we live and learn.

The stand outs here include: the blues rocker “Born Under A Bad Sign,” Willie Dixon’s classic “Spoonful,” and Etta’s own version of the Dixon/Muddy Waters classic, “Hoochie Goochie Gal”. Not her best album, by any means, but solid.


Born Under A Bad Sign
by Booker T. Jones / William Bell

Born under a bad sign
I been down since I begin to crawl
If it wasn't for bad luck,
I wouldn't have no luck at all

Hard luck and trouble is my only friend
I been on my own ever since I was ten
Born under a bad sign
I been down since I begin to crawl
If it wasn't for bad luck,
I wouldn't have no luck at all

I can't read, haven't learned how to write
My whole life has been one big fight
Born under a bad sign
I been down since I begin to crawl
If it wasn't for bad luck,
I wouldn't have no luck at all

I ain't lyin'
If it wasn't for bad luck
I wouldn't have no kind-a luck
If it wasn't for real bad luck,
I wouldn't have no luck at all

Wine and women is all I crave
A big legged woman is
gonna carry me to my grave
Born under a bad sign
I been down since I begin to crawl
If it wasn't for bad luck,
I wouldn't have no luck at all

Yeah, my bad luck boy
Been havin' bad luck all of my days, yes

*The Godfather Of The Chicago Blues- Willie Dixon Lights Up The Room

Click On Title To Link To Willie Dixon Webpage.

CD REVIEW

I Am The Blues, Willie Dixon, Sony Music Entertainment, 1993

Muddy Waters. Check. Howlin' Wolf. Check. Koko Taylor. Check. Etta James. Check. And on and on. What do they all have in common? Well, they have all covered the music created by the subject of this review, Willie Dixon. Now Mr. Dixon does not spring to mind when one is discussing the classic blues artists that I have filled this space with over the past year or so. In some senses that is right. But there is always the question, and it is posed most sharply here, about the roots of any musical genre, how it was put together and who did that leg work. Now we are in Mr. Dixon's territory. In reviewing a series of DVDs on the "American Folk Blues Concerts" that were performed in Europe in the early 1960's I mentioned his name in passing. I have also mentioned his name as the writer in connection with Howlin' Wolf's classic rendition of "The Little Red Rooster" (later covered by The Rolling Stones) that was my first conscious exposure to electric blues. Here, old Willie is front and center.

Okay, so lets' sum up. Willie wrote great songs, he played a mean bass, and he produced for Chicago's Chess Records some of the most memorable blues recordings of all times. And never got his full recognition or full compensation for that fact. However the treatment of musical artists, and especially blues artists is a subject for another time. Yet, there is no denying his claim as the 'godfather of the blues'. But how does he stand up as a performer in his own right? Well, frankly so-so. On this CD he has a very good back up house band but his vocals fail to carry the effect of his great songs that others have been able to cover so memorably. This is one of those cases where the cover artist is better than the song writer. Still it is nice to see his interpretation of the songs that have been hits for so many others. "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", I'm Your Hoochie Goochie Man" and the above-mentioned "The Little Red Rooster". I can hear Muddy and Wolf now. Ya, but Willie, stand tall; you ARE 'the godfather of the electric blues'. Kudos.


"The Red Rooster" by Willie Dixon

I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
Keep everything in the barnyard, upset in every way

Oh the dogs begin to bark, and the hound begin to howl
Oh the dogs begin to bark, hound begin to howl
Ooh watch out strange kind people, cause little red rooster is on the prowl

If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
There ain't no peace in the barnyard, since the little red rooster been gone

Wang Dang Doodle
Howlin' Wolf, Koko Taylor

Tell Automatic Slim , tell Razor Totin' Jim
Tell Butcher Knife Totin' Annie, tell Fast Talking Fanny
A we gonna pitch a ball, a down to that union hall
We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Kudu-Crawlin' Red, tell Abyssinian Ned
Tell ol' Pistol Pete, everybody gonna meet
Tonight we need no rest, we really gonna throw a mess
We gonna to break out all of the windows,
we gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody gonna to jam
Tell Shaky and Boxcar Joe, we got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dye, we gonna have a time
When the fish scent fill the air, there'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long etc.

by Willie Dixon


SPOONFUL

Could fill spoons full of diamonds,
Could fill spoons full of gold.
Just a little spoon of your precious love
Will satisfy my soul.

Men lies about it.
Some of them cries about it.
Some of them dies about it.
Everything's a-fightin' about the spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.

Could fill spoons full of coffee,
Could fill spoons full of tea.
Just a little spoon of your precious love;
Is that enough for me?

Chorus

Could fill spoons full of water,
Save them from the desert sands.
But a little spoon of your forty-five
Saved you from another man.

by Willie Dixon

*Once More On The Post World War II Chicago Blues Explosion- The Work Of Master Blues Harmonica Player Sonny Boy Williamson

Click on the title to link to a "YouTube" film clip of Sonny Boy Williamson performing "Keep It To Yourself".


CD Review

Sonny Boy Williamson: His Best: 50th Anniversary Chess Edition, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chess Records, 1997

I hope I never get tired of reviewing the various blues greats that I have spent the better part of the last couple of years trying to highlight. And I probably won’t. However, one little problem tends to keep creeping up. Just when I think that I have hit all the blues high-binders that are possible to mention without just running out into the street and reviewing some itinerant street player along comes another one that it would be a sin, a mortal sin, not to mention. That is the case here with the work of Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Carter version, for those who want to get into that controversy over who the real Sonny Boy is, or was), master harmonica player, no, make that harmonica wizard.

One of the things that got added, significantly, when the blues went north to Chicago (and other such environs) and went electric in the post-World War II period was the increased use of the harmonica to drive the beat, or act as counter-point to it, as the case may be on any particular song . We all know, or should know, of the key role that Muddy Walters and his various bands played in this with the emergence of Little Walter and later James Cotton. Note should also be taken of Howlin’ Wolf’s role when he was in his prime, and drove everyone crazy with that voice and THAT harmonica he practically inhaled on things like “How Many More Years”. Well, how do you think these guys learned the tricks of the harmonica trade? One way or another at the feet of Sonny Boy.

And the proof? Well just take about ten out of the twenty selections in this 50th Anniversary of Chess Records edition. Perhaps any ten will do but here are my stick outs. Keep in mind that most of the lyrics are monstrously “politically incorrect” but “Keep It To Yourself,” “Your Funeral And My Trial,” Down Child,” and, the well-known “Help Me” are a good sampler.

Help Me

Sonny Boy Williamson

You got to help me
I can't do it all by myself
You got to help me, baby
I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll have to find myself somebody else

I may have to wash
I may have to sew
I may have to cook
I might mop the floor
But you help me babe
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll find myself somebody else

When I walk, walk with me
When I talk, you talk to me
Oh baby, I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll have to find myself somebody else
Help me, help me darlin'

Bring my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Bring my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Darlin I know we stripped bare
But I don't feel like lying down

by Willie Dixon


Blues Lyrics - Sonny Boy Williamson II
Your Funeral And My Trial

All rights to lyrics included on these pages belong to the artists and authors of the works.

All lyrics, photographs, soundclips and other material on this website may only be used for private study, scholarship or research.

by
Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller)

The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson (Chess/MCA 9343)

Please come home to your daddy, and explain yourself to me
Because I and you are man and wife, tryin' to start a family
I'm beggin' you baby, cut out that off the wall jive
If you can't treat me no better, it gotta be your funeral and my trial

When I and you first got together, 't was on one Friday night
We spent two lovely hours together, and the world knows alright
I'm just beggin' you baby, please cut out that off the wall jive
You know you gotta treat me better, if you don't it gotta be your funeral and my trial

Alright

The good Lord made the world and everything was in it
The way my baby love is some solid sentiment
She can love to heal the sick and she can love to raise the dead
You think I'm jokin' but you better believe what I say
I'm beggin' you baby, cut out that off the wall jive
Yeah, you gotta treat me better, or it gotta be your funeral and my trial

*A Blues Potpourri-The Blues Is Dues, Part II-Every Day He May Have The Blues But You Won’t

Click on the headline to link to a "YouTube" film clip of Willie Dixon performing his"29 Ways."

CD REVIEW

February Is Black History Month

As those familiar with this space know I have spent a good amount of ink touting various old time blues legends that I ‘discovered’ in my youth. My intention, in part, is to introduce a new generation to this roots music but also to demonstrate a connection between this black-centered music and the struggle for black liberation that both blacks and whites can appreciate. Like virtually all forms of music that lasts more than five minutes the blues has had its ups and downs. After becoming electric and urbanized in the immediate post-World War II period it was eclipsed by the advent of rock&roll then made a comeback in the mid- 1960's with the surge of English bands that grew up on this music, and so on. Most recently there was mini-resurgence with the justifiably well-received Martin Scorsese PBS six-part blues series in 2003. A little earlier, in the mid-1990’s, there had also been a short-lived reemergence spearheaded by the ‘discovery’ of urban blues pioneer Robert Johnson’s music.

The long and short of this phenomenon is that commercial record production of this music waxed and waned reflecting that checkered history. I have, in the interest of variety for the novice, selected these CDs as a decent cross-section of blues (and its antecedents in earlier forms of roots music) as to gender, time and type. The following reviewed CDs represent first of all an attempt by record companies to meet the 1990’s surge. They also represent a hard fact of musical life. Like rock&roll the blues will never die. Praise be. Feast on these compilations.


Every Day He May Have The Blues But You Won’t

Living The Blues: Blues Greats, MCA Records, 1995

If you have read my review of “Living The Blues: Blues Masters” then this compilation is an extension of that CD as to the level of talent. Very good work ,as is to be expected, by Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, the under-appreciated Otis Rush on “Double Trouble” place this CD just fraction below the previously reviewed “Blues Masters”. Additional standout work includes impresario Willie Dixon (who deserves and will receive individual review later) on his own “29 Ways”. T-Bone Walker on his “T-Bone Shuffle" (was there a better electric blues guitar player?), Little Walter (and his incredible harmonica) on “Juke” and “Driving Wheel” by Little Junior Parker.

29 Ways
Willie Dixon

I got 29 ways to make it to my baby's door
I got 29 ways to make it to my baby's door
And if she needs me bad
I can find about two or three more

I got one through the basement
Two down the hall
And when the going gets tough
I got a hole in the wall

CHORUS

I can come through the chimney like Santa Claus
Go through the window and that ain't all
A lot of good ways I don't want you to know
I even got a hole in the bedroom floor

CHORUS

I got a way through the closet behind her clothes
A way through the attic that no one knows
A master key that fits every lock
A hidden door behind the grandfather clock

CHORUS
© 1956