While these tracks have been around the block more times than the mailman, it’s great to know they’re available again, conveniently on two discs. Although Ace was based in Jackson, Mississippi, it was a New Orleans label for all intents and purpose, one which, from the mid-1950s to early 1960s, took advantage of the abundance [...]
Roomful of Blues’ latest continues a string of outstanding albums that stretches back nearly four decades. The New England-based band’s trademark sound is again evident here—lots of punchy horns and plenty of crisp guitar. Featuring Phil Pemberton on vocals, this one contains a few nods New Orleans’ way. Not only is the title a Dave [...]
Appropriately, on Gregg Allman’s first solo outing in over a decade, he’s chosen to record a CD that’s essentially a blues “tribute” album. To his credit, Allman sounds absolutely miserable here which, if you’re recording blues, is most beneficial. (He’s not the picture of contentment on the cover either.) Outside of one original, the rest [...]
Raymond Jones, a.k.a. Ray J, a New Orleans music educator, arranger, bandleader and recording artist, died February 6, 2011. He was 71. Jones was born in New Orleans on August 17, 1939, and grew up in the Magnolia (C.J. Peete) Housing Project, directly across the street from the Dew Drop Inn on Lasalle Street. “I [...]
[UPDATED] Walt Boatner, a pioneer in black New Orleans broadcasting and music retailing, died January 12, 2011. He was 72. Born in Centerville, MS, November 10, 1938. Boatner moved to New Orleans in the early 1960s after a stint in the Air Force. He landed his first job at WYLD spinning the hits on the [...]
Recording an entire album’s worth of blues guitar instrumentals, and keeping the listener engaged, is an exceedingly difficult thing to do. Freddie King could do it. So could Albert Collins, Ike Turner, Earl Hooker and I’ll bet “Gatemouth” Brown could have if he set his mind to it. Granted, there’s some noodling here as the [...]
Here’s a welcome return of an old friend (two actually), and a reminder that for every Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, the Meters, King Floyd and Jean Knight who made hits in New Orleans in the 1960s and ’70s, there were a score of neighborhood hit makers including Eldridge Holmes, Warren Lee, Zilla Mayes and Willie [...]
In discussing Ray Charles, local trumpeter Frank Mitchell once stated, “I don’t know who first called him ‘The Genius,’ but they sure hit the nail on the head.” That quality of ‘genius’ is fully evident on these previously unreleased sides just as it was on most of his music released during his lifetime. Charles is simply [...]
Along with Texas’ Fabulous Thunderbirds, New England’s J. Geils Band and California’s Mighty Flyers, Delaware’s George Thorogood and the Destroyers were products of the second blues revival. Having not listened to them in about 25 years, hearing this CD reminds one of when you play 33 1/3 rpm LP record albums at 45 rpm on [...]
As illogical as it sounds, a million-selling record can actually bankrupt the company that manufactures and distributes it. Such was the fate for the hypnotic “Tell It Like It Is.” Prior to recording “Tell It Like It Is,” Aaron Neville was one of many hustling New Orleans R&B singers; “Tell It Like It Is” would [...]
