Issue Articles
Obituary: Bobby “Blue” Bland (January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013)
Bobby “Blue” Bland, the greatest blues singer of the last three generations, died peacefully at his home in Memphis surrounded by family. He was 83. Although his recordings never “crossed […]
New Orleans R&B Nugget “Direct from the Ghetto” Nets $2000 on eBay
Would you pay $200 for this New Orleans record? We didn’t think so. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop an eBay bidder from New York from dropping that amount of money on […]
James Hunter Six, Minute by Minute (Concord)
British soul stylist James Hunter is back, after an extended lull in touring and recording, with a release similar to his previous efforts that seems to grow on the listener […]
Duke Robillard Band, Independently Blue (Stony Plain)
Thanks in part to the province of Alberta’s Foundation of the Arts, I dare say that the Duke Robillard sub-section in the blues section of your favorite CD shop might […]
Albert King, Born Under A Bad Sign (Stax/Concord)
Since its vinyl release in 1967, blues aficionados have put Born Under a Bad Sign on a pedestal—many considering it one of the best electric blues albums of all time. […]
Various Artists, Swamp People: No Guts, No Gator (Rounder)
This mes amies is a good example of what record corporations refer to as ‘working the catalog.’ Swamp People of course is a particularly annoying ‘reality’ television series that depicts […]
Untangling Al “Carnival Time” Johnson’s Recording Career
Considering the length of Al Johnson’s stop-and-go music career—his first single was recorded during the Eisenhower administration—his obvious talent, and his enormous local popularity, it’s indeed puzzling that his first […]
Cosimocode.com: Cracking the Cosimo Code
At this point, no one really needs to be reminded that Cosimo Matassa engineered thousands of recordings in the succession of New Orleans studios he owned over a three-decade period. […]
Otis Redding, Lonely & Blue (Stax/Volt)
I submit that if you can listen to this CD from beginning-to-end and not get a chill down your spine, or misty eyed, you’re an extremely cold fish, or you […]
Obituary: Bobby Lonero (1943-2013)
Robert “Bobby” Lonero, a Louisiana Hall of Fame musician and long-popular New Orleans bandleader, died February 17, 2013. According to fellow New Orleans recording artist Frankie Ford, Lonero’s given surname […]
