Sean Costello

Sean Costello - Cuttin' In - 2000 - Landslide

In one of his final interviews Sean said: “All I’ve ever wanted to do was play the guitar well. I’ve been fortunate to be able to make a living doing it, and I plan to keep it up for the rest of my life". Tragically, Sean passed away in 2008, and never fulfilled his wishes. Sean was a great star in the making. Even during his short lifespan, he had gained recognition and respect as a great guitarist. When he released “Cuttin’ In” in 2000, Sean wasn’t even 20 years old, yet he already had a gold record to his credit. “Cuttin’ In” earned him great critical reviews, as well as a prestigious W. C. Handy Award nomination for ‘Best New Artist Debut.’ "Cuttin' In" also received a four and a half star review from the All Music Guide, and Blues Revue Magazine stated that, “Sean Costello blows in like a gust of fresh spring air!” The LA Weekly praised Sean's guitar player and said that “Costello is the real deal!” "Cuttin' In" is a great album by a then young 20 year old Philadelphian born bluesman. The album is mature. The songs are sung in a vocal style way beyond Sean's young age, and his understanding of the blues, as well as soul, and R&B was also highly developed for such a young guy. His guitar technique was wonderful. The album contains a wonderful range of material. It has Texas (Johnny “Guitar” Watson )influences, exotic Caribbean sounds (“Goombay Rock”, a track discovered by accident), and second-generation postwar Chicago artists (the worldly, tour-de-force cover of “Double Trouble” marked Sean's first attempt at recording a song by Otis Rush, who was a major influence on Sean. This album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Sean's "Moanin' for Molasses", and "We Can Get Together" albums, and keep his memory alive. Sean plays some great guitar on Susan Tedeschi's "Just Won’t Burn" album. If you suffer from anxiety or depression, as Sean did, why not check out The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Talk to Your Daughter Atkins, Lenoir 5:14
2 Cuttin' In Watson 2:53
3 Cold Cold Ground Costello, Linden 3:09
4 Mellow Chick Swing Williamson 2:08
5 I Want to Be Loved Dixon 2:19
6 Who's Been Cheatin' Who Clevland, Costello 2:50
7 Double Trouble Rush 7:37
8 Jumpin' Salty Costello 2:21
9 Goombay Rock Higgs 3:32
10 I Got Loaded Camille 2:51
11 Those Lonely, Lonely Nights Hing, Vincent 2:40
12 Close to You Dixon 4:10
13 Rub a Dub Williamson 4:02
14 Ah'w Baby Little Walter 3:59

MUSICIANS

Sean Costello Guitar, Vocals
Melvin Zachary Bass (Electric)
Dave Roth Bass (Upright)
Matt Wauchope Organ, Piano
Paul Linden, Piano, Harmonica,Vocals
Tim Gunther, Bill Edwards Drums (Snare)
Chris Uhler Percussion

REVIEW

This is Costello's second solo album, his first since his appearance on Susan Tedeschi's hit CD Just Won't Burn. Costello is only 20 years old, but his guitar work is in a completely different league from that of the other kid blues guitarists currently causing a fuss in bluesland. Costello comes from a remarkably well-informed place as a player. This is reflected not only in his guitar style, but also in the choice of material on Cuttin' In. He has a nice feel for jump blues, as we hear on his cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Mellow Chick Swing," and he can do the hard-edged Chicago blues with the requisite skill and fury — check out his Butterfield-esque original "Who's Been Cheatin' Who." The R&B influence has not eluded Costello either — his cover of Otis Rush's "Double Trouble" is handled with a soulful feel that belies his age. And Costello's not afraid to take a flyer, either, which brings us to the calypso funkiness of "Goombay Rock," a song worthy of the Squirrel Nut Zippers' attention. Costello the guitarist has snatched the key to the blues kingdom. His playing is shockingly deep for a 20-year-old. And his vocal work is nearly a match for his guitar chops; given time, that too will become very real. Of all the young blues lions out there brandishing their electric guitars, Costello is the one who's got his head and heart into the deep blues. © Philip Van Vleck, allmusic.com

ABOUT SEAN COSTELLO

Teen blues phenomenon Sean Costello was born and raised in Atlanta, receiving his first guitar for his ninth birthday. A primarily self-taught player, he initially gravitated toward hard rock but soon discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan, moving on from there to Howlin' Wolf; under the wing of local bluesman Felix Reyes, a 14-year-old Costello won the Beale Street Blues Society's talent award in 1994. Another contestant was Susan Tedeschi, and soon Costello began touring as her lead guitarist and stayed with her band for a couple years. He also provided guitar on Tedeschi's 1998 album, Just Won't Burn. Soon after leaving Tedeschi's band, Costello assembled backing outfit the Jivebombers — bassist Carl Shankle, keyboardist and harpist Paul Linden, and drummer Terrence Prather — and issued his debut album, Call the Cops, in 1996. After touring extensively and revamping his band by replacing Shankle with Melvin Zachary on bass and adding keyboardist Matt Wauchope, Costello released Cuttin' In in early 2000. The album was a success in the blues community, gaining him a W.C. Handy Award nomination for Best New Artist Debut. In 2001 Costello released his third album, Moanin' for Molasses, and further cemented his reputation as one of the best young blues guitarists on the scene. The self-titled Sean Costello was released on Artemis Records in 2004. Unfortunately, Artemis folded a few months later and the album — intended as Costello's breakthrough — never received the publicity it deserved. It would be four years before Costello would release another album with 2008's We Can Get Together. Sadly, on April 15, 2008, just two months after the release of that album and a day before his 29th birthday, Costello was found dead in a local Atlanta hotel room. A subsequent toxicology report found the cause of death to be a mixture of drugs including heroin. © Jason Ankeny, allmusic.com



BIO (Wikipedia)

Sean Costello (April 16, 1979 – April 15, 2008) was an American blues musician, renowned for his fiery guitar playing and soulful singing. He released five critically-acclaimed albums before his career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 28. Tinsley Ellis called him ‘the most gifted young Blues guitarist on the scene... he was a triple threat on guitar, vocals and as a songwriter’. Costello mastered traditional blues guitar at an early age and began his career while still in high school. His records became increasingly eclectic as his career progressed. Born in Philadelphia, Costello moved to Atlanta at the age of 9. Obsessive about the guitar from a young age, he got hooked on the blues after buying Howlin’ Wolf's 'Rockin' Chair Album'. At 14 the young prodigy created a stir in a Memphis guitar shop, where an employee tipped his father off about a talent contest sponsored by the Beale Street Blues Society, which Costello duly entered and won. He formed his first band shortly after. At sixteen, Costello recorded his first album, Call The Cops (1996), already ‘displaying a flawless command of 1950s blues guitar’, in the words of music historian Tony Russell. His lead guitar work on Susan Tedeschi's gold-selling album, Just Won't Burn, (1998), subsequently brought him national exposure. Costello's band later toured as Tedeschi's backing group. "His playing is shockingly deep for a 20-year old", wrote the Allmusic guide of Costello's second album, Cuttin’ In (2000), which was nominated for a W. C. Handy Award for Best New Artist Debut. The follow-up, Moanin’ For Molasses, was equally well received; the Allmusic guide drew attention to Costello's "soulful voice" and his "ability to mesh blues, R&B and soul". "Passionate... distinctive and often compelling... Costello's vocals are most astonishing," reported Blues Revue Magazine. Costello honed his skills through almost constant performing, playing over 300 gigs a year and touring widely in the USA and Europe. His reputation as a brilliant live performer enabled him to play alongside blues luminaries such as B. B. King and Buddy Guy (Ma Rainey House benefit concert, Columbus, Georgia, June 1997), James Cotton (Cotton's 64th birthday concert in Memphis) and Hubert Sumlin (South by Southwest, Austin, Texas, March 2005). When not touring, Costello made a living playing small venues in his home town of Atlanta, Georgia, such as the Northside Tavern. Richard Rosenblatt, former President of Tone-Cool Records, recalls Costello's performances: As a guitarist he was astounding, but for Sean it was never about showing off monstrous chops or stroking his own ego. His playing always fit the song; he would work the tone and phrasing, sometimes with an economy of notes that let the empty spaces hang achingly for what seemed like hours. When he did take off on the occasional blazing run, he was the ultimate tightrope walker, flirting fearlessly with danger before bringing it all back home with the unlikeliest of phrases that was still, somehow, perfect. Through Amy Helm of Ollabelle, Costello met her father, Americana musician Levon Helm, formerly of The Band, whose eclecticism encouraged Costello to further develop his interests outside the blues: "he really blew it wide open for me. He’d play a Chuck Berry tune, then a blues, then a country tune or a rock number or whatever, and he didn’t even think twice about it.". Levon Helm and the members of Ollabelle were among the contributors to Costello’s fourth, self-titled album, recorded in New York with input from local musicians. With an eclectic set list, and arrangements reminiscent more of Memphis soul than Chicago blues, Sean Costello (2005) marked a departure from his earlier work. Costello’s guitar took a backseat to his voice, which by now "had acquired a ragged edge of considerable power" (Tony Russell). In 2007 Costello's playing on Nappy Brown's comeback album, Long Time Coming, was singled out for praise by the critics. The following year Costello released what was to be his last album, We Can Get Together, acclaimed by many as his best work. His guitar playing on this record was described variously as "incendiary", "searing", and "blistering red hot". Hal Horowitz of the Allmusic guide wrote the following: - "The material is so strong and the ensemble playing of his band so effortless that he doesn't need to distract attention from the songs with the extended soloing he is capable of... he establishes a greasy groove that weaves through each cut, connecting them even when the styles differ. While Costello is clearly inspired by the blues greats, many of whom he has covered on previous collections, he slants more to '70s Southern soul, rock, and R&B here, dousing these genres with a bucket load of swamp water and spearheaded by his whiskey-laced vocals. There's a thick, gooey atmospheric vibe that hangs over the album, gels its contents, and shows Costello to be a terrific singer and songwriter and guitar talent just hitting his peak". Sean Costello was found dead in his Atlanta hotel room on April 15, 2008. A medical report later determined that he died of an accidental drug overdose. Posthumously, Costello's family revealed that he had suffered from Bipolar disorder, and set up the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research in his honor. Sean Costello has been nominated for two Blues Music Awards in the categories of Best Contemporary Blues Male Artist and Best Contemporary Blues Album for We Can Get Together. Winners will be announced on May 7, 2009.

Golden Earring

Golden Earring - The Hole - 1986 - 21 Records

Good album from the seemingly immortal Golden Earring who originally formed in 1961 in The Netherlands, and are still hard rockin' around the world. They are best remembered for Radar Love, but check out their extensive catalogue and you will find some real gems. Rated by many music critics as one of GE's weaker albums, "The Hole" was not a big commercial success for the great band. It is not one of GE's great albums, but it is very much underrated, and it still has the great vibrancy of one of the world's greatest hard rock bands. At times, the mixing on the album sounds "unbalanced, but not enough to spoil your enjoyment of the music. Here is an imteresting quote about "The Hole" taken from The story of Golden Earring, written by Rinus Gerritsen in 2000, - "Around the time when we were busy with the album ‘The Hole’, our story started to get apocalyptic. Shell Schellekens started to go overboard in his attempts to find innovative new sounds and this was to be his last act for the Earring. The band was tired and looked worn out. When we were making the demos, everything still looked promising. There were some very good songs included, such as ‘Quiet Eyes’ and ‘Why Do I’". Read the full article at www.goldenearring.nl/biography. If you want to hear more Golden Earring, the band's "Something Heavy Going Down" album is @ GE/SHGD The great "Grab It for a Second" album is @ GE/GIFAS and Golden Earring's masterpiece, " Moontan" can be located @ GE/MOONTAN There is a brilliant acoustic live CD/DVD available called The Naked Truth , which will give you a great insight into this eternal band

TRACKS

A1 They Dance 5:20
A2 Quiet Eyes 4:12
A3 Save the Best for Later 5:23
A4 Have a Heart 4:06
A5 Love in Motion 3:50

B1 Jane Jane 5:00
B2 Jump and Run 6:30
B3 Why Do I 5:20
B4 A Shout in the Dark 5:36

All songs composed by Barry Hay, & George Kooymans , except "Jump and Run" by George Kooymans

MUSICIANS

Rinus Gerritsen - bass, keyboard
Barry Hay - vocals
George Kooymans - guitar, vocals
Robert Jan Stips - keyboard
Cesar Zuiderwijk - drums

Additional Musicians

Lisa Boray - background vocals
Loa Boray - background vocals
Wim Both - trumpet
Dionys Breukers - keyboard
Piet Dolder - trombone
Peter Kuyt - trumpet
Julya Lo'Ko - background vocals
Patty Paff - background vocals
Rudi Van Dijk - saxophone

SHORT BIO

Best known in the U.S. for its hard rock material, Golden Earring has been the most popular homegrown band in the Netherlands since the mid-'60s, when they were primarily a pop group. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist George Kooymans and bassist/vocalist Rinus Gerritsen, then schoolboys, in 1961; several years and personnel shifts later, they had their first Dutch hit, "Please Go," and in 1968 hit the top of the Dutch charts for the first of many times with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," a song that broadened their European appeal. By 1969, the rest of the lineup had stabilized, with lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Barry Hay and drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. They experimented with their style for several years before settling on straightforward hard rock initially much like that of the Who, who invited them to open their 1972 European tour. Golden Earring signed to the Who's Track label, which released a compilation of Dutch singles, Hearing Earring, helping the group break through in England. 1974's Moontan LP spawned the single "Radar Love," a Dutch number one, U.K. Top Ten, and U.S. number thirteen hit. The group toured America opening for the Doobie Brothers and Santana, but the lack of a follow-up ensured that their popularity remained short-lived in America, even though they remained a top draw in Europe over the rest of the 1970s. 1982 saw a brief American comeback with the album Cut and the Top Ten single "Twilight Zone," but as before, Golden Earring could not sustain its momentum and faded away in the U.S. marketplace. All of Golden Earring's basic lineup has recorded as solo artists in Europe. "Radar Love" enjoyed a second round of popularity when pop-metal band White Lion covered the song in 1989. © Steve Huey, All Music Guide



BIO (Wikipedia)

Golden Earring is a Dutch Hard rock/pop group that was founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings (the 's' was later dropped). They had international chart success with the songs "Eight Miles High" in 1969, "Radar Love" in 1973, and "Twilight Zone" in 1982. In their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and platinum albums. Current members of Golden Earring are Barry Hay (vocals, guitar, flute and saxophone, member since 1968), George Kooymans (vocals and guitar, founder of band), Rinus Gerritsen (bass and keyboard, founding member), and Cesar Zuiderwijk (drums and percussion, member since 1970). Golden Earring was formed in 1961 in The Hague by 13-year-old George Kooymans and his 15-year-old neighbour, Rinus Gerritsen. Originally called The Tornados, the name was changed to Golden Earrings when they discovered that "The Tornados" was already in use. The name Golden Earrings was taken from a song, originally sung by Marlene Dietrich in 1947 and a hit for Peggy Lee in 1948, with which they opened their concerts. Initially a "teenybopper" band, Golden Earrings had their first chart success with their debut single Please Go, recorded in 1965. It reached number 9 on the music charts in the Netherlands. Unsatisfied with Dutch recording studios, the band's manager and co-discoverer Freddy Haayen arranged for the next single to be recorded at Pye Studios in London. The record cut at Pye, That Day, reached number two on the Dutch charts, having been prevented from rising to number one by The Beatles' "Michelle". In 1968, the band earned their first number one hit in the Netherlands with the pop song "Dong Dong Diki Diki Dong. This was followed by the success of their psychedelic album Eight Miles High, which featured an eighteen-minute version of the title track, itself a cover of The Byrds hit. The live version, which could last 45 minutes, was considered by some to be a highlight in their first and second American tours. Golden Earring embarked on their first major US tour in 1969 - 1970, and were among the first European bands to do so. Due to American influences, their music evolved towards hard rock, and they performed along with Led Zeppelin. Between 1969 and 1984, Golden Earring completed thirteen US tours. During this period, they performed as the opening act for Santana, The Doobie Brothers, Rush and .38 Special; and in the early seventies, when "Radar Love" was a hit, had KISS and Aerosmith as their opening act. They enjoyed a brief period of stardom but were unable to secure further chart success until 1982's "Twilight Zone", which was followed by "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. After a rather disappointing reaction in the US to the latter, Golden Earring turned their focus towards Europe where they continue to attract standing-room-only crowds. Golden Earring has recorded over 30 gold and platinum albums and singles , and a number of artists like U2, White Lion, R.E.M. and Bryan Adams have covered their international hit and rock classic "Radar Love". In total, over 200 covers exist of this song. Golden Earring is known for powerful live performances, performing over 200 concerts a year,mainly in homecountry The Netherlands and occasionally in Belgium and Germany. Their energetic live performances have led to several live albums. Live, recorded at London's Rainbow Theater in 1977, 2nd Live, 1981, Something Heavy Going Down, 1984 (also released on DVD as Live from the Twilight Zone.) Last Blast of the Century, a live registration of their last concert of the 20th century, is available on both CD and DVD. Golden Earring has kept the same line-up since 1970. The band is the longest existing rock band in the world, as they were founded in 1961, one year before the Rolling Stones. While Golden Earring has almost faded from the international concert scene, they still maintain a core group of loyal fans, and their music is still played on US, Canadian, British, Australian and other radio stations. However a new American or European tour is something the band is undecided about, although their 2003 record Millbrook USA was recorded in Millbrook, New York state, at the studio of fellow-musician Frank Carillo, which indicates the band still have not lost touch with the US. Golden Earring was one of the first major European rock bands to tour the United States, in 1969. Golden Earring has released music worldwide and enjoyed brief superstar status in the Seventies when the single version of 'Radar Love', from the album 'Moontan' became a hit in both Europe and the USA. A non nude album cover was distributed for the North American release. Moontan itself was awarded a gold record in the US. The song 'Radar Love' has its own website http://www.radar-love.net.... On this site you will find 200 covers of this song which were voted "best car song ever" by readers of [USA Today] in 2005 and second best "greatest driving song" in a poll of [BBC]'s program "Top Gear", after "Don't Stop Me Now" from 'Queen'. George Kooymans wrote 'The Twilight Zone' in 1982 which brought Golden Earring a second international round of success. This song, was accompanied by one of the first rock videos, directed by Dick Maas. As MTV had just launched their music television channel in 1981, the airplay helped "Twilight Zone" secure a Top Ten hit in the States. When the Lady Smiles, from the album N.E.W.S., was the next international hit in 1984, again helped by a video, although it never became a hit in the US because the original video was banned from MTV due to nudity and the portrayal of the rape of a nun. A newly cut version of the clip failed to capture the true intentions of the director and Golden Earring, although When the Lady Smiles did make hit number 3 in Canada and became their fifth number one hit in their home country. When touring the United States in 1984, Golden Earring played the Great Arena of Six Flags Great Adventure on May 11, 1984 and were in the midst of their concert when the fire at the Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure began on the opposite side of the theme park, killing eight teenagers. Their best selling albums were Moontan of which over 1 million copies were sold worldwide, and the unplugged acoustic live CD/DVD The Naked Truth in 1992, which sold over 500,000 copies in the Netherlands alone and laid the foundation of their successful unplugged theater tours that started in 1992 and continue to date. This album was followed by Naked II, and the trilogy was completed in 2005 with Naked III Live at The Panama. Golden Earring celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2006 and has been performing almost continuously ever since 1961,and in the same line-up since 1970 making this band the oldest rock-band around.

Buddy Guy

Buddy Guy - Jammin' Blues Electric and Acoustic - 2003 - BMG Special Products

The legendary Louisiana Bluesman, Buddy Guy's songs have been covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jack Bruce, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Led Zeppelin, and countless others. Buddy made a huge impression on the young Jimi Hendrix. Many of the blues artists on this blog have been influenced by Buddy Guy, and many of the great blue and blues rock artists include Buddy's songs on their albums. Ironically, Buddy Guy has been inclined to cover other artists songs, and the album here is a great example of that. Bill Dahl from allmusic made the comment, - "A Buddy Guy concert can sometimes be a frustrating experience. He'll be in the middle of something downright hair-raising, only to break it off abruptly in midsong, or he'll ignore his own massive songbook in order to offer imitations of Clapton, Vaughan, and Hendrix". Here's an important quote from Wikipedia concerning Buddy Guy, - [ Buddy Guy has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll. He is one of the historic links between Chicago electric blues pioneers Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and popular musicians like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page as well as later revivalists like Stevie Ray Vaughan. This was what Stevie Ray Vaughan meant when he said, "Without Buddy Guy, there would be no Stevie Ray Vaughan." Even Guitarist magazine observed: Without Buddy Guy, the blues, not to mention rock as we know it, might be a heckuva lot less interesting today. Take the blues out of contemporary rock music—or pop, jazz and funk for that matter—and what you have left is a wholly spineless affair. A tasteless stew. Makes you shudder to think about it... ] Many of you will already have the tracks on this live compilation album,as they have all appeared on various other albums. However, it's still a thrill to listen to all these classic tracks in one collection from this legendary Blues king. If you're not too familiar with the great man's music, listen to his "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues" or his "Stone Crazy" albums. Magical stuff !

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 I've Got My Eyes on You - Dixon, Guy 4:11
2 Talk to Me Baby - James 3:55
3 First Time I Met the Blues - Montgomery 6:50
4 Let Me Love You Baby - Dixon 5:39
5 My Time After Awhile - Badger, Feinberg, Geddins 7:40
6 I've Been There - Guy 8:39
7 That's All Right - Rogers 3:37
8 Hoochie Coochie Man - Dixon 5:34
9 Key to the Highway - Broonzy, Segar 4:30
10 Hoodoo Man Blues - Wells, Williamson 6:33



BIO

He's Chicago's blues king today, ruling his domain just as his idol and mentor Muddy Waters did before him. Yet there was a time, and not all that long ago either, when Buddy Guy couldn't even negotiate a decent record deal. Times sure have changed for the better — Guy's first three albums for Silvertone in the '90s all earned Grammys. Eric Clapton unabashedly calls Buddy Guy his favorite blues axeman, and so do a great many adoring fans worldwide. High-energy guitar histrionics and boundless on-stage energy have always been Guy trademarks, along with a tortured vocal style that's nearly as distinctive as his incendiary rapid-fire fretwork. He's come a long way from his beginnings on the 1950s Baton Rouge blues scene — at his first gigs with bandleader "Big Poppa" John Tilley, the young guitarist had to chug a stomach-jolting concoction of Dr. Tichenor's antiseptic and wine to ward off an advanced case of stage fright. But by the time he joined harpist Raful Neal's band, Guy had conquered his nervousness. Guy journeyed to Chicago in 1957, ready to take the town by storm. But times were tough initially, until he turned up the juice as a showman (much as another of his early idols, Guitar Slim, had back home). It didn't take long after that for the new kid in town to establish himself. He hung with the city's blues elite: Freddy King, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Magic Sam, who introduced Buddy Guy to Cobra Records boss Eli Toscano. Two searing 1958 singles for Cobra's Artistic subsidiary were the result: "This Is the End" and "Try to Quit You Baby" exhibited more than a trace of B.B. King influence, while "You Sure Can't Do" was an unabashed homage to Guitar Slim. Willie Dixon produced the sides. When Cobra folded, Guy wisely followed Rush over to Chess. With the issue of his first Chess single in 1960, Guy was no longer aurally indebted to anybody. "First Time I Met the Blues" and its follow-up, "Broken Hearted Blues," were fiery, tortured slow blues brilliantly showcasing Guy's whammy-bar-enriched guitar and shrieking, hellhound-on-his-trail vocals. Although he's often complained that Leonard Chess wouldn't allow him to turn up his guitar loud enough, the claim doesn't wash: Guy's 1960-1967 Chess catalog remains his most satisfying body of work. A shuffling "Let Me Love You Baby," the impassioned downbeat items "Ten Years Ago," "Stone Crazy," "My Time After Awhile," and "Leave My Girl Alone," and a bouncy "No Lie" rate with the hottest blues waxings of the '60s. While at Chess, Guy worked long and hard as a session guitarist, getting his licks in on sides by Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Koko Taylor (on her hit "Wang Dang Doodle"). Upon leaving Chess in 1967, Guy went to Vanguard. His first LP for the firm, A Man and the Blues, followed in the same immaculate vein as his Chess work and contained the rocking "Mary Had a Little Lamb," but This Is Buddy Guy and Hold That Plane! proved somewhat less consistent. Guy and harpist Junior Wells had long been friends and played around Chicago together (Guy supplied the guitar work on Wells' seminal 1965 Delmark set Hoodoo Man Blues, initially billed as "Friendly Chap" because of his Chess contract); they recorded together for Blue Thumb in 1969 as Buddy and the Juniors (pianist Junior Mance being the other Junior) and Atlantic in 1970 (sessions co-produced by Eric Clapton and Tom Dowd), and 1972 for the solid album Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play the Blues. Buddy and Junior toured together throughout the '70s, their playful repartee immortalized on Drinkin' TNT 'n' Smokin' Dynamite, a live set cut at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival. Guy's reputation among rock guitar gods such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan was unsurpassed, but prior to his Grammy-winning 1991 Silvertone disc Damn Right, I've Got the Blues, he amazingly hadn't issued a domestic album in a decade. That's when the Buddy Guy bandwagon really picked up steam — he began selling out auditoriums and turning up on network television (David Letterman, Jay Leno, etc.). Feels Like Rain, his 1993 encore, was a huge letdown artistically, unless one enjoys the twisted concept of having one of the world's top bluesmen duet with country hat act Travis Tritt and hopelessly overwrought rock singer Paul Rodgers. By comparison, 1994's Slippin' In, produced by Eddie Kramer, was a major step back in the right direction, with no hideous duets and a preponderance of genuine blues excursions. Last Time Around: Live at Legends, an acoustic outing with longtime partner Junior Wells followed in 1998. In 2001, Guy switched gears and went to Mississippi for a recording of the type of modal juke-joint blues favored by Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, and the Fat Possum crew. The result was Sweet Tea: arguably one of his finest albums and yet a complete anomaly in his catalog. Oddly enough, he chose to follow that up with Blues Singer in 2003, another completely acoustic effort that won a Grammy. For 2005's Bring 'Em In, it was back to the same template as his first albums for Silvertone, with polished production and a handful of guest stars. Skin Deep appeared in 2008 and featured guest spots by Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, and Robert Randolph. A Buddy Guy concert can sometimes be a frustrating experience. He'll be in the middle of something downright hair-raising, only to break it off abruptly in midsong, or he'll ignore his own massive songbook in order to offer imitations of Clapton, Vaughan, and Hendrix. But Guy, whose club remains the most successful blues joint in Chicago (you'll likely find him sitting at the bar whenever he's in town), is without a doubt the Windy City's reigning blues artist — and he rules benevolently. © Bill Dahl, allmusic.com

Various Artists - The Songs Of Willie Dixon (Willie Dixon related)

Various Artists - The Songs Of Willie Dixon - 1999 - Telarc

The Songs of Willie Dixon finds a number of mostly contemporary blues practitioners paying tribute to the legendary composer/bassist. Of course, it isn't difficult to pick quality material out of Dixon's catalog, so the collection will sink or swim with the performances. And, for the most part, they're pretty good, with some interesting, modern recastings of the... More original arrangements. Although there are some misfires, it isn't for lack of commitment, falling more into the valiant-attempt category; plus, the vast majority of the songs are successful. Some of the highlights are provided by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Tab Benoit, Kenny Neal, Eddie Shaw, and Deborah Coleman. © Steve Huey, All Music Guide

The late Mississippi born Blues giant, Willie Dixon has influenced countless Blues and Blues Rock artists. Hardly a day goes by without somebody releasing an album containing a song written by the great man. Songs like"My Babe", "Back Door Man", "Crazy For My Baby", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "You Shook Me", "I Can't Quit You Baby", "You Need Love", and many, many more have been covered by any blues artist you can think of. His ""Hoochie Coochie Man"has been covered by every modern day blues artist. At one time Willie sued Led Zeppelin over the alleged resemblance of Zep's "Whole Lotta Love" to Willie's "You Need Love". The great Jack Bruce told Goldmine how thrilled he was when Dixon offered him encouragement about Cream's version of "Spoonful." "It was as a writer that Willie Dixon most influenced music--and me," Bruce noted. "His incredible ability to tap in to the whole world's consciousness made it possible for him to write songs that will never die." Willie Dixon has got to be one of the most important figures in the history of The Blues, and a colossus of Chicago Blues. His songs will be played until "kingdom come". It is not easy to do justice to many of Willie Dixon's great songs, but when you get a group of artists like John Mooney, Tab Benoit, Kenny Neal, Sonny Landreth, Ronnie Earl, Deborah Coleman, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown to perform Willie Dixon's songs, the result is nothing less than superb. This tribute album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. If you want to hear more of Willie Dixon, then buy his masterpiece album from 1973, "Catalyst".

TRACKS / PERFORMERS

1. Spoonful - Doug Wainoris
2. When the Lights Go Out - John Mooney
3. Do Me Right - Eddie Kirkland
4. Mellow Down Easy - Tab Benoit
5. Bring It on Home - Kenny Neal
6. I Ain't Superstitious - Eddie Shaw
7. Crazy For My Baby - Christine Ohlman/Sonny Landreth
8. Wang Dang Doodle - John Ellison/Christine Ohlman
9. Same Thing, The - Willie Smith
10. Shakin' the Shack - Jerry Portnoy/David Maxwell
11. My Love Will Never Die - Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson/Ronnie Earl
12. Good Understanding - Deborah Coleman
13. If the Sea Was Whiskey - Doug Wainoris
14. I Just Want to Make Love to You - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

All songs composed by Willie Dixon, except "If the Sea Was Whiskey" by Leonard Caston, and Willie Dixon

MUSICIANS

Doug Wainoris - Guitar, Vocal
Jerry Portnoy - Harmonica
David Maxwell - Piano
Eddie Shaw - Saxophone, Vocal
Calvin Jones - Bass
Willie Smith - Drums, Vocal
Special Guests are listed under "TRACKS / PERFORMERS"



WILLIE DIXON'S BIO

Willie Dixon's life and work was virtually an embodiment of the progress of the blues, from an accidental creation of the descendants of freed slaves to a recognized and vital part of America's musical heritage. That Dixon was one of the first professional blues songwriters to benefit in a serious, material way — and that he had to fight to do it — from his work also made him an important symbol of the injustice that still informs the music industry, even at the end of the 20th century. A producer, songwriter, bassist, and singer, he helped Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and others find their most commercially successful voices. By the time he was a teenager, Dixon was writing songs and selling copies to the local bands. He also studied music with a local carpenter, Theo Phelps, who taught him about harmony singing. With his bass voice, Dixon later joined a group organized by Phelps, the Union Jubilee Singers, who appeared on local radio. Dixon eventually made his way to Chicago, where he won the Illinois State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship. He might have been a successful boxer, but he turned to music instead, thanks to Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston, a guitarist who had seen Dixon at the gym where he worked out and occasionally sang with him. The two formed a duo playing on street corners, and later Dixon took up the bass as an instrument. They later formed a group, the Five Breezes, who recorded for the Bluebird label. The group's success was halted, however, when Dixon refused induction into the armed forces as a conscientious objector. Dixon was eventually freed after a year, and formed another group, the Four Jumps of Jive. In 1945, however, Dixon was back working with Caston in a group called the Big Three Trio, with guitarist Bernardo Dennis (later replaced by Ollie Crawford). During this period, Dixon would occasionally appear as a bassist at late-night jam sessions featuring members of the growing blues community, including Muddy Waters. Later on when the Chess brothers — who owned a club where Dixon occasionally played — began a new record label, Aristocrat (later Chess), they hired him, initially as a bassist on a 1948 session for Robert Nighthawk. The Chess brothers liked Dixon's playing, and his skills as a songwriter and arranger, and during the next two years he was working regularly for the Chess brothers. He got to record some of his own material, but generally Dixon was seldom featured as an artist at any of these sessions. Dixon's real recognition as a songwriter began with Muddy Waters' recording of "Hoochie Coochie Man." The success of that single, "Evil" by Howlin' Wolf, and "My Babe" by Little Walter saw Dixon established as Chess' most reliable tunesmith, and the Chess brothers continually pushed Dixon's songs on their artists. In addition to writing songs, Dixon continued as bassist and recording manager of many of the Chess label's recording sessions, including those by Lowell Fulson, Bo Diddley, and Otis Rush. Dixon's remuneration for all of this work, including the songwriting, was minimal — he was barely able to support his rapidly growing family on the 100 dollars a week that the Chess brothers were giving him, and a short stint with the rival Cobra label at the end of the '50s didn't help him much. During the mid-'60s, Chess gradually phased out Dixon's bass work, in favor of electric bass, thus reducing his presence at many of the sessions. At the same time, a European concert promoter named Horst Lippmann had begun a series of shows called the American Folk-Blues Festival, for which he would bring some of the top blues players in America over to tour the continent. Dixon ended up organizing the musical side of these shows for the first decade or more, recording on his own as well and earning a good deal more money than he was seeing from his work for Chess. At the same time, he began to see a growing interest in his songwriting from the British rock bands that he saw while in London — his music was getting covered regularly by artists like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, and when he visited England, he even found himself cajoled into presenting his newest songs to their managements. Back at Chess, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters continued to perform Dixon's songs, as did newer artists such as Koko Taylor, who had her own hit with "Wang Dang Doodle." Gradually, however, after the mid-'60s, Dixon saw his relationship with Chess Records come to a halt. Partly this was a result of time — the passing of artists such as Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson reduced the label's roster of older performers, with whom he had worked for years, and the company's experiments with more rock-oriented sounds (especially on the "Cadet Concept" imprint) took it's output in a direction to which Dixon couldn't contribute. And the death of Leonard Chess in the fall of 1969 and the subsequent sale of the company brought about the end of Dixon's relationship to the company. By the end of the 1960s, Dixon was eager to try his hand as a performer again, a career that had been interrupted when he'd gone to work for Chess as a producer. He recorded an album of his best-known songs, I Am the Blues, for Columbia Records, and organized a touring band, the Chicago Blues All Stars, to play concerts in Europe. Suddenly, in his fifties, he began making a major name for himself on-stage for the first time in his career. Around this time, Dixon began to have grave doubts about the nature of the songwriting contract that he had with Chess' publishing arm, Arc Music. He was seeing precious little money from songwriting, despite the recording of hit versions of such Dixon songs as "Spoonful" by Cream. He had never seen as much money as he was entitled to as a songwriter, but during the 1970s he began to understand just how much money he'd been deprived of, by design or just plain negligence on the part of the publisher doing its job on his behalf. Arc Music had sued Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Bring It on Home" on Led Zeppelin II, saying that it was Dixon's song, and won a settlement that Dixon never saw any part of until his manager did an audit of Arc's accounts. Dixon and Muddy Waters would later file suit against Arc Music to recover royalties and the ownership of their copyrights. Additionally, many years later Dixon brought suit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Whole Lotta Love" and its resemblance to Dixon's "You Need Love." Both cases resulted in out-of-court settlements that were generous to the songwriter. The 1980s saw Dixon as the last survivor of the Chess blues stable and he began working with various organizations to help secure song copyrights on behalf of blues songwriters who, like himself, had been deprived of revenue during previous decades. In 1988, Dixon became the first producer/songwriter to be honored with a boxed set collection, when MCA Records released Willie Dixon: The Chess Box, which included several rare Dixon sides as well as the most famous recordings of his songs by Chess' stars. The following year, Dixon published I Am the Blues (Da Capo Press), his autobiography, written in association with Don Snowden. Dixon continued performing, and was also called in as a producer on movie soundtracks such as Gingerale Afternoon and La Bamba, producing the work of his old stablemate Bo Diddley. By that time, Dixon was regarded as something of an elder statesman, composer, and spokesperson of American blues. Dixon eventually began suffering from increasingly poor health, and lost a leg to diabetes. He died peacefully in his sleep early in 1992. © Bruce Eder, allmusic.com

Highway

Highway - Highway - 1975 - Private Pressing

This all original album was recorded in 1975 at Westminster Studio, outside Fort Dodge, Iowa. Only 500 copies were issued and released. In 1985, Highway guitarist Steve Murphy got a call from a collector in the Chicago area, who showed genuine interest in this rare album. In fact, Steve Murphy has received worldwide queries about the album. The album has received legendary status, as it has been "bootlegged" in a limited edition of 300. The boot looks very much like the original private pressing, but it was not made using any master tapes, and the song writing and musician credits do not appear on the album sleeve. Eventually the album was re-released officially on CD with four bonus tracks. This is the edition posted here. The history of the band began in 1965 when two Fairmont bands, The Pacers and The Corvairs, formed The Epicureans who evolved into Highway. Today, The Murphy Brothers Band has become the latest formation of Highway. Check out a great visual HISTORY OF THE BAND , and consider buying a Murphy Brothers Band album. The s/t Highway album is a great example of American mid seventies heavy guitar based blues rock, by a talented guitar orientated trio. Music as good as this is a rarity nowadays.

SIDE 1

TOO MANY CHANGES
LOOK AWAY
PEGASUS
SEEMS TO ME
IT WON'T LAST LONG *
DAYS GO BY *

SIDE 2

BRIGHT SIDE
MEADOW
SLIP AWAY
TOMORROW
LADY LUCK *
MY MUSIC *

All songs composed by Steve Murphy. Tracks marked * were not included on original 1975 Limited Edition vinyl LP release



BAND

Steve Murphy - Guitar
Eric Bannister - Bass
Dan Cammarata - Drums

Broken Glass

Broken Glass - Broken Glass - 1975 - Capitol

The only album recorded by this 70s psych/blues rock band which was founded by Stan Webb of Chicken Shack. It was a one-off project , and included three classy guitarists, Stan Webb, Miller Anderson, and Robbie Blunt.

TRACKS

Standing On The Border
It's Alright
Keep Your Love
Can't Keep You Satisfied
Jersey Lightening
It's Evil
Ain't No Magic
Crying Smiling
Take The Water
Broken Glass

BAND

Stan Webb - Guitar/Vocals
Robbie Blunt - Guitar/Vocals
Miller Anderson - Guitar
Tony Ashton - Keyboards
Rob Rawlinson - Bass
Mac Poole - Dru

Henry Cow

Henry Cow - Western Culture - 1979 - Celluloid

Right, it's not "rock"-- it's modern chamber music utilizing "Rock" instruments, namely guitar-organ-drums, as well as brass and woodwinds of varying couth. It's jarring without valorizing the random, the way this group always is at its best, and it eschews the highbrow vocalizing favored by this group at its worst. I don't know much about chamber music, but I know what I like--"rock" instruments. A- © Robert Christgau, www.robertchristgau.com

Henry Cow were one of the most significant British progressive-rock groups of the 1970s, and band members went on to important solo careers. Virtually ignored by the press and by rock music publications, because their albums were never commercial, and never produced chart material . In reality, they are one of the most important progressive-rock groups of all time and changed the face of modern rock music. Classified as a Canterbury Rock band like Caravan, Soft Machine, Hatfield And The North, Slapp Happy, and many others, they produced some of the most innovative, original, and inventive music ever heard. "Western Culture" is a perfect example of this genre. N.B: Album is available on CD with four bonus tracks, "Untitled" (silence only), "Viva Pa Ubu" (Hodgkinson), "Look Back (alt)" (Cooper), and "Slice" (Cooper). Check out the Slapp Happy / Henry Cow "Desperate Straights" album @ SL&HC/DS and the Slapp Happy & Faust brilliant "Acnalbasac Noom" recording @ SL&F/AN Don't forget to listen to Hatfield And The North's "The Rotters Club" album which is one of the 1970's great Canterbury/Progressive Rock albums.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

A1 Industry - Tim Hodgkinson (6:58)
A2 The Decay Of Cities - Tim Hodgkinson (6:55)
A3 On The Raft - Tim Hodgkinson (4:01)

B1 Falling Away - Lindsay Cooper (7:38)
B2 Gretels Tale - Lindsay Cooper (3:58)
B3 Look Back - Lindsay Cooper(1:19)
B4 1/2 The Sky - Lindsay Cooper , Tim Hodgkinson (5:14)

MUSICIANS

Saxophone [Soprano], Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Electric], Bass - Fred Frith
Bassoon, Oboe, Saxophone [Soprano, Sopranino], Tape - Lindsay Cooper
Piano, Trumpet, Drums, Electronic Drums, Noises - Chris Cutler
Hawaiian Guitar, Piano, Organ, Clarinet, Saxophone [Alto] - Tim Hodgkinson
Trombone, Violin - Annemarie Roelofs
Piano - Irene Schweizer
Bass - Georgie Born

REVIEWS

...exhausting, sometimes jaw droppingly gorgeous and occasionally very scary... While most 70s progressive rockers had their noses stuck deep in the works of Herman Hesse or Tolkien and spent their time copping licks from Ravel or Mussorgsky, the members of Henry Cow were reading Marx, Mao and Walter Benjamin and preferred Varese, Cage or Sun Ra for inspiration. One of the first signings to Virgin records in 1973, the Cow were responsible for some of the most dazzlingly complex rock ever recorded, merging British psychedelia, free improvisation and modern classical with a healthy dose of revolutionary polemic. The band gained a reputation for immense seriousness depite their occasional sly Dadaist humour, though to be fair there pobably weren't many fart jokes in the Henry Cow tour bus. Western Culture was recorded in 1978 some time after their difficult split with Virgin, and was made in the knowledge that the group was to fold afterwards (a previous attempt at recording had failed a few months earlier). Though these were obviously tricky times for all concerned, you wouldn't know it from the music on this CD, which is some of their finest and dispatched with awesome precision and economy. Compositional duties are split between saxophonist/keyboardist Tim Hodgkinson and bassoonist Lindsay Cooper (possibly the only ever fulltime bassoonist in a rock band). Their dense, cerebral compositions are restless, angular affairs with nervy, timeshifting rhythmic dexterity from drummer Chris Cutler (who has to be one of the finest, most inventive drummers this country has ever produced) and guitarist Fred Frith (doubling on bass). Frith is superb, switching from fuzzed out, oblique rockisms to querulous Derek Bailey acoustic scrabble ("The Decay of Cities") and occupying a few thousand points inbetween. There are no pointless displays of prog virtuosity though; despite the sometimes bewildering complexity of the music, not a note is wasted throughout. Guest pianist Irene Schweizer provides a spot of free jazz fire on Coopers doleful "Gretel's Tale", while Anne Marie Roeloffs's trombone and violin add extra textural grit. The most affecting track is "Half the Sky", where lush chords underpin Friths Frippish glides and Hodgkinsons chattering alto sax, eventually breaking out into an almost klezmer-esque melody over Cutler's tumbling percussives. Three extra tracks round off this long unavailable re-issue including "Viva Pa Ubu" (featuring former vocalist Dagmar Krause, here uncredited) and the all too short cut and thrust of "Slice". Exhausting, sometimes jaw droppingly gorgeous and occasionally very scary, Western Culture is a fitting testament to possibly the most progressive of all English rock bands. Bless 'em. © Peter Marsh 2002-11-20, www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5zf9

The group's fourth and final studio LP, Western Culture remained for a long time Henry Cow's hidden treasure. Two factors were instrumental to its occultation (and one more than the other): first, it was not released by Virgin like the other ones; second, it did not have the "sock" artwork common to its brothers. Obscurity aside, Western Culture remains one of the group's strongest efforts in the lines of composition, especially since the unit was literally torn apart at the time. Side one consists of a suite in three parts, "History & Prospects," written by Tim Hodgkinson. The opener, "Industry," stands as one of Henry Cow's finest achievements, the angular melody played on a cheap electric organ hitting you in the face so hard it makes an imprint in your brains. Side two features another suite, this one in four parts and by Lindsay Cooper. While Hodgkinson's music leans toward rock, energy, and deconstruction, her writing embraced more contemporary classical idioms. Filled with contrasting textures and delicate complicated melodies, these pieces showcased another aspect of the group's sound while foretelling her later works. Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer performed a cadenza of sorts in "Gretel's Tale." © François Couture, allmusic.com

At the end of the day, perhaps it comes down to the argument of escapism versus elitism. It's been so long since prog was a popular genre that the argument over its relevance has seemingly been left by the wayside. However, there are several attitudes we take for granted today that may never have existed outside of the general pop-critic population, but seem to have been perpetuated over the past thirty years to the point of being distorted and disproportionately trusted. Ultimately, that there is a humbly active prog scene today (check the cults of oddly named groups such as Spock's Beard or the Flower Kings if you're in doubt) might be the funniest anti-climax in rock. Allow me to shoot down some stereotypes: "Prog is pretentious and bloated." Yes, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer are often cited as the prime examples. While I can't defend a couple of those later 70s Yes albums, and the insane clown affair that is Pictures at an Exhibition, I will say that at their worst, these bands never approached the bombast of the slightest Sex Pistols or Stooges album. "Only Dungeons & Dragons nerds listen to prog." This idea may stem from prog's often-whimsical subject matter or mythical album covers, though I have to say that I've never heard a prog tune about the King of Carrot Flowers. Prog doesn't rock." Despite the superficiality of these kinds of criticisms, many of the original bands took them to heart, and by 1977 or so, most of them had receded into crass commercialism, or were forced out of the music business entirely due to changing trends. The ones that lived on were generally one of two ilks. The first was the style chameleon: Yes and Genesis are the two most famous examples, with the latter band going so far as to allow their frontman to lead them into the worst regions of MOR banality. The second type was the far more interesting proposition: bands that graduated from prog into even stranger realms. Henry Cow was this type of band, and what follows may change your perception of prog forever. Henry Cow was founded at Cambridge University, England by guitarist Fred Frith and keyboardist/reed player Tim Hodgkinson. Percussionist Chris Cutler joined in 1971, by which time the band had settled into a regular unit. A diverse mix of influences (Zappa, modern classical composition, free jazz, etc.), along with the natural creativity and intelligence of the group members (most had finished their college degrees before Leg End was released in 1973), spawned a sound unlike any contemporary prog band. They were one of Virgin Records' first acts, and made their first tour with relative "superstars" Faust (and would later tour with Captain Beefheart)-- all of this during the heyday of "symphonic" prog bands like Yes and Genesis. Henry Cow's sound always seemed to me a direct response to what was popularly passing as experimental music during their time. Where a band like Gentle Giant (one of the more compositionally complex prog bands) would take classical counterpoint and color it with rock groove and volume, the Cow would remove color altogether, opting for sheer intensity through concept (often manifested in Marxist political statements) and relentlessly dry arrangements. It wasn't enough that their tunes sounded like boisterous Schoenberg etudes, but they usually featured chamber classical instruments such as oboe, bassoon, clarinet and violin. And, where a typical prog band would have used this to evoke the Romanticism of composers like Brahms or Strauss, Cow laid all their cards on the table by naming themselves after the experimental American composer Henry Cowell. They seemed very intent on opposing (Cutler would later even initiate the musical collective Rock In Opposition) any stereotype one might throw at them. I must admit this has always colored my perception of the band. If Yes were the double coconut-fudge of rock, perhaps best for escapist fantasies, then Henry Cow were certainly wheat germ. It's not that they weren't cool in their way, but there's a not-so-subtle academic aftertaste to much of their music for me. Western Culture was their final record, and is probably the most overtly influenced by modern classical composition. It's not very hard to hear why this music is important, in the sense that it lays the groundwork for a whole school of avant-rock and prog that doesn't cause cavities. My caveat would be one of aesthetics, because if you're looking for a party, you'd best dig out "Long Distance Runaround" instead. By the time Western Culture was released in 1979, the group was mostly separated. Cutler and Frith would soon form the excellent Art Bears with Dagmar Krause (who had performed with Cow during several occasions), and Hodgkinson and reedist Lindsay Cooper wrote the pieces on this album exclusively. "Industry" begins things with a brain-freeze, as the opening organ screech gives way to dissonant guitar and hacking drums. Hyper-rhythmic figures (but certainly not "beats"), accentuated by stinging guitar and angular violin lines, suggest quite well whatever inhuman, technological madness the title implies. There are no vocals anywhere on the album, so the difficult melodies rely on the arrangers' skill with voicing in order to stand out. Now, if all of this sounds a bit technical, rest assured, that's probably appropriate. "The Decay of Cities" brings in familiar sonorities with Frith's rather gorgeous acoustic guitar exposition. All of the players were unsung in the grand scheme of prog, though Frith was arguably the most important element for this group if only because he brought a much needed touch of the "real world" to the music. After the intro, an ominous trombone and piano duet ensues, and Frith reenters with guitar figures at once Asian and Cageian. There are some very clever things happening here, with kinetic trading of figures by percussion, guitar, piano and winds. Later on, saxophone carries the tune, sounding like a cross between an intense, somber jazz balladeer and flighty, post-Ornette bopper. Cooper's first piece, "Falling Away," opens with a chorus of woodwinds, similar to some of Zappa's classical/jazz fusion experiments of the early 70s. This reference is short lived, as the band bangs through with drums and a mad ostinato line that reminds me of their Belgian brethren Univers Zero (another classically minded band, who were somehow even more deadly serious than the Cow). This leads to some of the most intense stuff on the record, as themes fly by at breakneck pace, while Cutler never stops pounding his kit (and still never actually playing beats). "Coretels Tale" is more of the same, with enhanced moodiness via creepy flutes, and some nicely Cecil Taylor-esque piano playing. The original Western Culture closes with "1/2 the Sky" (though the reissue includes three more tunes, including a tribute to one of Cutler's favorites, Pere Ubu). Still no rest for weary ears, though I must say that I've always been impressed at Henry Cow's purity of vision. Whatever you want to say of prog, even on the experimental end, bands that remain true to their original spirit are rare enough that I respect these musicians based merely on principal. Of course, all of the individuals involved here would go on to very interesting careers in any number of odd settings, and I would be remiss if I didn't point out that even twenty years later they are more interesting than the majority of current experimental rock groups. So they're not as "entertaining" (or as easy to poke fun at) as Yes, or as cool to name drop as Can or Faust, but Henry Cow were as original an act as ever played "rock," and will probably continue to challenge listeners for as long as their work remains available. © Dominique Leone, March 21, 2002, © 2009 Pitchfork Media Inc. All rights reserved

ABOUT HENRY COW

The progressive-rock genre spawned many groups who became top-grossing arena acts — Pink Floyd and Genesis are two — as well as many who progressed right into obscurity. Henry Cow was one of the best-known and most widely traveled English bands of the progressive era (though only a cult-favorite in the U.S.), and their music has aged amazingly well over the last 20 years due to diverse influences (Oliver Messiaen, Kurt Weill, Frank Zappa, and Soft Machine were a few) and uncompromising creativity. The group functioned more or less as a collective, with a true group identity that changed from album to album as members came and went. This turnover was one factor in the consistent vitality of Henry Cow; another was the dedicated core of the band, a serious, politicized trio whose interest in improvisation served to leaven the complexity they supplied as primary writers. Tim Hodgkinson played keyboards and reeds; Chris Cutler (later of Pere Ubu) played drums, Fred Frith provided a variety of instruments, specializing in strings (the guitar in particular); all of them sang. The three appear on all of the Henry Cow albums recorded between 1973 and 1978. Other longtime members included multi-reedist Lindsay Cooper, bassist John Greaves, and German singer Dagmar Krause, who worked with Frith and Cutler in the spinoff Art Bears band and later recorded bilingual renditions of songs by Brecht & Weill. Together, their sound was so mercurial and daring that they had few imitators, even though they inspired many on both sides of the Atlantic with a blend of spontaneity, intricate structures, philosophy, and humor that has endured and transcended the "progressive" tag. Since the demise of Henry Cow, its members have continued in creative directions, mostly working in Europe with rock-based or improvising ensembles. Over the years they have reunited in various units, with resultant recordings being distributed worldwide through the Recommended Records network spearheaded by active improviser Chris Cutler. © Myles Boisen, allmusic.com

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe White - Home Made Ice Cream - 1973 - Warner Bros.

"Home Made Ice Cream" could loosely be described as "country rock". There are lines to be drawn between "country", "country & western", and "country rock" and these lines are not easily drawn. Some of the great seventies albums were classified as "country rock", and included artists like the Eagles, Allman Brothers, and Poco. Even Steely Dan's "Pearl Of The Quarter" track from their classic "Countdown To Ecstasy" album had a distinct counrty sound. However the bands mentioned also incorporated strong rock elements into their music. When we talk about "country & western" music, we usually generally associate it with the Nashville sounds of Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich, etc. Pure "country" music is much more difficult to define, and contains elements of early American bluegrass, gospel, folk, and can be traced back to countries like Ireland, and Scotland. Check Wikipedia for a more comprehensive insight into the derivations of these musical genres. The point here is that Tony Joe White's "Home Made Ice Cream" album contains all these "country" genres, and his somgs are womderful examples of the early seventies non-commercial "country" soumd. The album is influemced by Tony Joe White's Louisiana blues, soul, gospel, and cajun roots, and contains eleven well written songs, all well played by good musicians who obviously love their music. This album demonstrates the authentic side of Southern homespun "country" music and is really enjoyable. Good laid back "swamp rock" music by a great artist. The great John Fogerty is another artist who has given "country" music a new meaning. Check out his great "Centerfield" and "Deja Vu (All Over Again)" albums. It is also worth hearing Tony Joe White's "Train I'm On" album. Read the story of Tony Joe White's life @ TJW/BIO

TRACKS

A1 Saturday Night In Oak Grove Louisiana
A2 For Ol' Time Sake
A3 I Want Love ('Tween You & Me)
A4 Homemade Ice Cream
A5 Ol'Mother Earth
A6 Lazy

B1 California On My Mind
B2 Backwoods Preacher Man
B3 Takin' The Midnight Train
B4 No News Is Good News
B5 Did Somebody Make A Fool Out Of You

All songs composed by Tony Joe White

MUSICIANS

Reggie Young - guitar
Kenny Malone - drums
David Briggs - piano, organ
Tony Joe White - vocals, guitar, harmonica
Norbert Putman - bass guitar

REVIEW

In 1973, the year singer-songwriter and guitarist Tony Joe White recorded his third solo album, country music was on the cusp of moving permanently into the mainstream of American pop music. Charlie Rich’s Behind Closed Doors came out the same year, the duet of George Jones and Tammy Wynette was making headway on the charts and Willie Nelson was just a few years away from becoming the public face of the genre. Homemade Ice Cream never made the splash any of the above did, partly because White’s sound is too modest, and partly because it doesn’t try to straighten out the tangled roots of country music, roots that feed on mountain music, early American folk, jazz and early R’n’B. In these 11 originals, the born-and-bred Louisiana native shows he's comfortable with both the White southern gospel his musical family probably played and the blues of Jimmy Reed and Lightnin’ Hopkins, two of his first inspirations. White uses a quartet of musicians - guitarist Reggie Young, organist David Briggs, bassist Norbert Putnam and drummer Kenny Malone – that bring out the soulful strut and stomping blues of these songs. On “No News is Good News,” White’s funked-up wah riffing, backed by Briggs’ chunky organ, is reminiscent of another swamp-funk unit from the Louisiana, the Meters. “Backwoods Preacher Man” celebrates a gospel country preacher with greasy slide guitar and a heavy low-end. On such pieces, White sounds as much like a soul singer as a good ol’ country boy, never climbing out of a husky bass-baritone range. With no adjusting, the dusky grind of “Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You” could be covered by such deep-throated soul masters as Solomon Burke and Isaac Hayes. He laces his velvety shudders on “Taking the Midnite Train” with powerful sensual ambiguity, as much sexual as it is sentimental. In other places, White reflects other influences from Country’s melting pot. “Ol’ Mother Earth” and “California On My Mind” float on the easy breeze of folk-rock. “For Ol’ Times Sake” is just a string section and choir away from pure Nashville pop. And of course, nostalgia, one of Country’s favorite moods, crops up repeatedly. The instrumental title track, with the bleary buzz of White’s harmonica, tugs the listener backwards to an idyllic childhood sweetness. The boogie of “Saturday Nite in Oak Grove, Louisiana” reminiscences about "going to town and circling the Dairy Queen to see who is hanging out" and pick-up trucks with fiberglass mufflers. “Lazy,” which celebrates fishing and the liberation it bestows, brings the album full circle. The song rocks dreamily, a porch-swing blues White could most likely write in his sleep. Intentionally or not, White sums up Country music’s complicated, mongrel origins in just a few simple songs. © Matthew Wuethrich, © 2002-2005 Dusted Magazine. All Rights Reserved



BIO (Wikipedia)

Tony Joe White (born July 23, 1943, Oak Grove, Louisiana) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie", and for "Rainy Night in Georgia" which he wrote but was firstly made popular by Brook Benton, and "Steamy Windows" - a hit for Tina Turner in 1989. "Polk Salad Annie" was also recorded by Elvis Presley and Tom Jones. Nicknamed "the Swamp Fox" in France (according to a European documentary),he is regarded as an original exponent of the sub-genre swamp rock. His songs have been recorded by at least 60 major artists. Tony Joe White was born one of seven children and raised on a cotton farm near the small town of Oak Grove, Louisiana.. When Tony Joe was 16, Charles, the oldest of the White children, brought home a Lightnin' Hopkins album and started teaching blues guitar to his younger brother. As a child he listened not only to local bluesmen and country singers but also to the distinctive cajun music of Louisiana, a hybrid of traditional musical styles introduced by French-Canadian settlers at the turn of the nineteenth century. White began performing at school dances, and after graduating, started playing in night clubs in Louisiana and Texas. He formed his first band, 'Tony White & His Combo', while still in his teens. The three youngsters (Tony Joe White, 20, Robert McGuffey, 19 and Jim Griffith, 22) played a night club in Kingsville,Tx for an uninterrupted engagement of eight months (six nights a week) in 1964. 'Tony White & His Combo' was followed by 'Tony Joe And The Mojos' and 'Tony's Twilights' and for the next seven years White worked the small clubs of the South before deciding to embark on a solo career singing his own compositions. In 1967 White signed to Monument Records which operated from a recording studio in the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee, and produced a variety of sounds, including Rock and Roll, Country and Western, and Rhythm and Blues. Billy Swan was his producer. Over the next three years White released four singles with no commercial success stateside (although "Soul Francisco" was a hit in France). "Polk Salad Annie" had been released for nine months and written off as a failure by his record label when it finally entered the U.S. charts in July 1969. It climbed into the Top Ten by early August eventually reaching No. 8. It was the biggest hit Tony Joe White ever had. White's first album, 1969's Black and White, was recorded with Muscle Shoals musicians David Briggs, Norbert Putnam, and Jerry Carrigan, and featured "Willie and Laura Mae Jones" and "Polk Salad Annie", along with covers of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman". Three more singles quickly followed, all minor hits, and White toured with Steppenwolf, Sly and the Family Stone, Creedence Clearwater Revival and other big rock acts of the 1970s, playing in France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and England. In 1973 Tony Joe White appeared in the film Catch My Soul, a rock-opera adaption of Shakespeare's Othello. It was directed by Patrick McGoohan and produced in the UK by Richard Rosenbloom and Jack Good. The cast included Richie Havens, Season Hubley, Susan Tyrrell, Bonnie Bramlett, Lance LeGault, Delaney Bramlett and Family Lotus. Tony Joe White played and sang four and composed seven songs for the musical. In late September 1973, White was recruited by record producer Huey Meaux to sit in on the legendary Memphis sessions that became the landmark Southern Roots album of Jerry Lee Lewis. By all accounts, these sessions were a three-day, around the clock party, which not only reunited the original MGs (Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson Jr. of Booker T. and the MGs fame) for the first time in three years, but also featured Carl Perkins, Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders), and Wayne Jackson plus The Memphis Horns. Between 1976 and 1983 White released three more albums, each on a different label. Trying to combine his own swamp-rock sound with the at the time popular disco music, the results were disappointing and White gave up his career as a singer on concentrated on writing songs. In 1989 Tony Joe White produced Tina Turner's "Foreign Affair album". Playing a variety of instruments on the album, he also wrote four songs, including the title song and the hit single Steamy Windows. As a result of this he became managed by Roger Davis, who was Tina Turner's Manager at the time, and he obtained a new contract with Polydor. The resulting album; 1991's "Closer to the Truth" was a commercial success and put White back in the spotlight. He released two more albums for Polydor; "The Path of a Decent Groove" and "Lake Placid Blues" which was co-produced by Roger Davis. In the '90's White toured Germany and France with Joe Cocker and Eric Clapton and in 1992 he played the Montreux Festival. In 2000, Hip-O Records released "One Hot July" in the U.S., giving White his first new major-label domestic release in 17 years. The critically acclaimed "The Beginning" appeared on Swamp Records in 2001, followed by "Heroines", featuring several duets with female vocalists including Jessi Colter, Shelby Lynne, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and Michelle White, from Sanctuary in 2004, and a live Austin City Limits concert, "Live from Austin, TX", from New West Records in 2006. In 2007 White released another live recording, "Take Home the Swamp", as well as the compilation "Introduction to Tony Joe White". One of his more recent performances was on 14 July 2006 in Magny-Cours, France, as a warm-up act for Roger Waters' Dark Side of the Moon concert. White's album entitled Uncovered was released in September 2006 and featured collaborations with Mark Knopfler, Michael McDonald, Eric Clapton, Waylon Jennings and J. J. Cale. Rory Gallagher did a cover of White's song "As The Crow Flies" on his live album, Irish Tour. Southern Culture On The Skids paid tribute to White in their 1996 song "Voodoo Cadillac" with the first stanza lyric: "Come on baby, take a ride with me / Up the Mississippi, down to New Orleans / Tuck and roll, FM stereo / Got some Tony Joe White on my radio." In 2005 UK blues singer Elkie Brooks covered White's "Out Of The Rain", releasing it as a single and featuring it on her album Electric Lady. The version is now a staple of Elkie's repertoire. Coincidentally Brooks had recorded an old number of White's, "Aspen, Colorado" with her first rock band, 'Dada' in 1970. The following is an incomplete list of artists who have covered Tony Joe White songs: Wendel Adkins, Chet Atkins, John Anderson, The Animals, Long John Baldry, Brook Benton, Eric Burden, Solomon Burke, Ace Canon, Clarence Carter, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Mark Collee, Jessi Colter, Rita Coolidge, Randy Crawford, Clifford Curry, Climax Blues Band, Dada, Joe Dassin, David Dee, Donnie Fritts, Rory Gallagher, Amos Garret, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Johnny Hallyday, Andy Hamilton, Johnny Hammond, Emmylou Harris, Isaac Hayes Movement, Roy Head, Levon Helm, Richie Holmes, John Holt, Chuck Jackson, Etta James, Jason & the Scorchers, Waylon Jennings, Rodney Jones, Tom Jones, Patricia Kaas, Jim Kahr, B.B. King, Kris Kristofferson, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Sleepy LaBeef, Light Of Darkness, Delbert McClinton, Freddie North, Herbie Mann, Dutch Mason, John Mayal, Freddie North, Roy Orbison, Christine Perfect, The Persuasions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Powell, Elvis Presley, Boots Randolf, Jerry Reed, Charlie Rich, Nelson Riddle, Billy Lee Riley, Johnny Rivers, Otis Rush, Earl Scruggs, Troy Seals, Ronnie Sessions, Joe Simon, Dusty Springfield, Candi Staton, Amii Stewart, Betty Swan, The Jazz Crusaders, BJ Thomas, Irma Thomas, Nicky Thomas, Little Tony, Tina Turner, Conway Twitty, Sam Moore, Kenny Vernon, Jacky Ward, Great White, Wild Cherry, Hank Williams Jr, Bluesboy Willie, David Wills, Nancy Wilson, Philippe Winling, Link Wray, Paul Young, Zetterberg & Co.

Paul Carrack

Paul Carrack - I Know That Name - 2008 - Absolute

Surely, the very words I Know That Name have been uttered about Paul Carrack on more than one occasion, just as the words "I Know That Voice" have been said about this blue-eyed soul singer, who was the lead on hits for Ace, Squeeze and Mike & The Mechanics. There's a friendly familiarity to the title of this, his twelfth proper studio album, that carries over to the very sound of the album, a sound that's as soft and comfortable as a well-worn robe. The newest wrinkle for Carrack here is a slight emphasis on elastic reggae grooves, congregated toward the back stretch of the album, but other than that I Know That Name glides by on a mellow, soulful groove that never gets too heated, nor does it ever get too cool. It''s easy-rolling and even-handed, offering no surprises but plenty of comfort if you've ever been a fan of any of Carrack's work over the years. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

Good album from Paul Carrack. His name may be unfaniliar to many, but his great soulful voice is one of the most recognizable voices in the rock business. He has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well. His distinctive voice shows up on some of his affiliated bands' best-known hits, two of the most memorable being "How Long" with Ace, and "Tempted" with Squeeze. "I Know That Name" is not Paul's strongest album, but as usual, his great voice strengthens some of the weaker songs. Arguably, the reggae influenced tracks here are not really suited to Paul's soulful voice, but leaving that aspect side, the album is well worth hearing. Paul's best solo album is probably "It Ain't Over". If you want to hear the best of Paul Carrack's voice, and songwriting talents, that is the album to buy. Paul's "Satisfy My Soul" album can be found @ PCK/SMS and check out Ace's "Five-A-Side" album @ ACE/5AS For music in the same vein, listen to Michael McDonald's classic "If That's What It Takes" album, and Daryl Hall and John Oates' (Hall & Oates) outstanding "Voices" album.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Ain't No Love In the Heart of the City - Walsh, Dan/Price, Michael
2 I Don't Want To Hear Anymore
3 It Ain't Easy (To Love Somebody)
4 No Doubt About It
5 I Don't Want Your (I Need Your Love)
6 Stay Awake (I'm Coming Home) - Carrack, Paul/Difford, Chris
7 Just 4 Tonite
8 Love is Thicker Than Water - Carrack, Paul/Difford, Chris
9 If I Didn't Love You
10 Who Am I?
11 Eyes of Blue
12 Am I In That Dream? - Carrack, Paul/Difford, Chris

All songs composed by Paul Carrack, except where stated

MUSICIANS

Paul Carrack (vocals, various instruments)
J.T. Corenflos (guitar)
Craig Young (bass guitar)
Mike Rojas (Clavinet, Hammond b-3 organ)
Brian Pruitt (drums)
Steve Beighton (saxophone)
Ed Collins (trumpet)
Don Henley/Timothy B. Schmit (vocals on Track 2)

BIO

Paul Carrack was pop music's ultimate journeyman. A vocalist and keyboardist who enjoyed considerable success over the course of his lengthy career while in the service of bands ranging from Ace to Squeeze to Mike + the Mechanics, his finest work often came at the expense of his own identity as a performer; indeed, of the many big hits on which the unassuming singer was prominently featured, only one, 1987's "Don't Shed a Tear," bore his own name. Carrack was born April 22, 1951, in Sheffield, England; he joined the pub rock group Ace in 1972, eventually writing and singing their debut single, "How Long." After reaching the Top 20 in the group's native Britain, the record hit the number-three position in the U.S.; however, after subsequent material failed to match the success of "How Long," Ace disbanded in 1977, and Carrack signed on with country artist Frankie Miller. He soon resurfaced in Roxy Music, appearing on the LPs Manifesto and Flesh and Blood before releasing his solo debut, Nightbird, in 1980. Carrack next joined Squeeze, replacing keyboardist Jools Holland; in addition to contributing to the group's 1981 creative pinnacle East Side Story, he also assumed lead vocal duties on the single "Tempted," their best-remembered hit. However, Carrack's stay in Squeeze was brief, and after working with Nick Lowe he again attempted to forge a solo career with the 1982 LP Suburban Voodoo, cracking the U.S. Top 40 with the single "I Need You." A tenure as a sideman with Eric Clapton followed, and in 1985 he joined Genesis' Mike Rutherford in his side project Mike + the Mechanics. Their hits include "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" and "All I Need Is a Miracle." While remaining a rather anonymous figure at home, Carrack achieved a higher level of visibility in America as a result of Mike + the Mechanics' success; subsequently, his third solo album, One Good Reason, proved to be by far his most popular effort to date, with the single "Don't Shed a Tear" reaching the Top Ten. Another tenure with the Mechanics followed, and with the title track of 1988's The Living Years, the group scored their first number-one hit. After the 1989 Carrack solo LP Groove Approved, Mike + the Mechanics issued 1991's Word of Mouth, which failed to repeat the chart performance of its predecessors; by 1993, Carrack was again a member of Squeeze, appearing on the album Some Fantastic Place and also resuming lead chores for a re-recording of "Tempted." However, he was once again back in the Mechanics' fold for 1995's Beggar on a Beach of Gold; the solo Blue Views was issued the next year, followed in 1997 by Beautiful World. Satisfy My Soul was issued in 2000, his first album for Compass Records. © Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

MORE ABOUT PAUL CARRACK

After years spent bringing a little soul to artists as diverse as Mike & The Mechanics, Nick Lowe, and Squeeze, singer's singer Paul Carrack makes his most persuasive play so far with the release of his stunning new album Satisfy My Soul. Recorded with minimal outside assistance at his Hertfordshire home studio, the album represents a quantum leap beyond Paul's previous work, showcasing his songwriting abilities and allowing his natural soul qualities to shine through with a new clarity and power. In the past, he's often tended to let others mould and direct his considerable talents, but Satisfy My Soul serves to re-establish Paul Carrack as a major solo artist, with both the vision and the capabilities to take control of his own career, and the musical instinct to know which direction it should take. A lot of people are going to be pleasantly surprised by this latest chapter in the life of one of pop music's most distinctive voices. Paul was first bitten by the music bug as a small child back in his native Sheffield, where he would bash away at a home-made drumkit up in his parents' attic, playing along with an old wind-up gramophone. By the time he reached his teens, the Mersey Boom was in full swing, and the young Carrack proceeded to swindle his way into a series of local bands, learning to play the organ and following the gig circuit to Germany, where he underwent the obligatory Hamburg nightclub baptism, as pioneered by such as The Beatles. In the early '70s, his progressive rock outfit Warm Dust released a few albums, but it was only when his pub-rock band Ace had a huge global hit with his song How Long that Paul's career really started to take off. Immediately, the band was catapulted from the British college circuit into huge American arenas, as How Long soared into the US singles chart, eventually reaching #1. When Ace broke up toward the end of the '70s, Paul found himself wrong-footed by the punk-rock boom, but secured some session work, playing on albums by Frankie Miller and Roxy Music, and touring with Roxy, an experience which gave him a taste for the big time. Paul's 1980 solo debut, Nightbird, failed to establish him as an artist in his own right, so he continued playing sessions, biding his time, and honing his talents as a musician and songwriter. As the '80s proceeded, Paul reached a rapprochement with the new-wave scene, playing on albums by The Undertones, The Smiths, and The Pretenders, and joining Squeeze for their masterwork East Side Story, helping redefine the group's profile with his soulful vocal on the hit single Tempted. After leaving Squeeze, obstensibly to pursue a solo career, he hooked up with Nick Lowe, an association which, though resolutely out of step with public taste and radio formats, would nevertheless generate five albums for Lowe and another for Paul, 1982's Suburban Voodoo. Though largely ignored in the UK, the album was a critical success in the US, where it was cited as one of Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 20 Albums of the Year. I Need You, a Carrack composition lifted from the album, provided him with another US Top 40 hit, and was subsequently covered by Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville. The biggest break in Carrack's career came in 1985 when he was invited to contribute vocals to a solo album being recorded by Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford. Despite the apparent differences in their musical styles, the very first track Paul sang on, Silent Running, became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Encouraged by such instant success, Mike & The Mechanics developed into more of a group, touring America extensively and securing a string of hit albums and singles over the next decade. Before they could produce a follow-up album, however, Paul found time to sing and play on Roger Waters' Radio KAOS album and record another solo album of his own, 1987's One Good Reason, scoring another couple of hits through the title track and Don't Shed a Tear, which again broke into the US Top Ten, staying on Billboard's Hot 100 for nearly half a year. Even better was to come when Mike & The Mechanics resumed recording. Sung by Paul, the title-track of their second LP The Living Years was a huge worldwide hit, peaking at number one in America, and hoisting the band to megastar status. Further touring was followed by another Carrack solo album, 1989's Groove Approved, whose standout track - the Motown-flavoured Carrack / Lowe composition Battlefield - was later covered by Diana Ross. The following year, Paul was co-opted to perform at Roger Waters' grandiose presentation of The Wall in Berlin, where he sang Hey You in front of over 250,000 people. A third Mike & The Mechanics album, 1991's Word of Mouth, saw Carrack's creative input increasing, with four songwriting credits; and also donated a performance of Ain't That Peculiar recorded with Paul Shaffer's house band on Late Night with David Letterman to Nobody's Child, a charity album for Romanian orphans. Between tours again, in 1993 Paul busied himself with Spin 1ne 2wo, a classic rock covers collaboration with Rupert Hine, Tony Levin, and Steve Ferrone, and rejoined Squeeze for their Some Fantastic Place album. The next year was spent touring the world with Squeeze, working on an ultimately abortive band project with Don Felder, Timothy Schmidt, and Joe Walsh of The Eagles (which nevertheless garnered Paul an award for the most played song in America that year, when the reformed Eagles covered Love Will Keep us Alive, a song he co-wrote with Peter Vale and Jim Capaldi), and recording another Mike & The Mechanics album, Beggar on A Beach of Gold. This contained another couple of Carrack co-compositions, including his collaboration with Mike Rutherford, the hit single Over my Shoulder, which revived the band's flagging fortunes in the UK and Europe, paving the way for a subsequent Greatest Hits compilation. Paul's fifth solo album, Blue Views, appeared in 1995, and despite problems occasioned by the collapse of the record label, it was still highly successful in Europe, earning him a gold disc in Spain. When it was finally released a couple of years later in America on another label, the single For Once in Our Lives became a Top Five hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, cementing Carrack's growing reputation as a singer-songwriter of class and distinction. He was also developing a parallel reputation as an able and accomplished sideman to the stars, playing keyboards on albums by Eric Clapton, BB King, Simply Red, Mark Knopfler and Elton John, and being invited by Elton to play on Something About the Way You Look Tonight, which, as the B-side of "Candle in the Wind '97," is officially the biggest-selling single ever. Unfortunately, a management change at EMI resulted in his next album, Beautiful World failing to get the promotional push it deserved, and a bitterly dissillusioned Paul elected to take matters more into his own hands. After years spent biding his time, contributing to other musicians' projects and allowing outside producers to impose their designs on his material, it was a long overdue move, and one which reflected Paul's growing belief in himself as a singer-songwriter. Accordingly, he recorded his new album, "Satisfy My Soul" at his home studio, relying on his own musical instincts and playing everything himself, with the exception of the sax parts (which are by Steve Beighton), some backing vocals (by Lindsay Dracass) and some of the drum parts (by Ian Thomas or Paul's old chum Andy Newmark, the former Sly & The Family Stone sticksman.) Steeped in the classic and funk sounds of the '60s and '70s, but with an ear firmly trained on the future, Satisfy My Soul is clearly a labour of love, and features some of Carrack's most accomplished songwriting, with three tracks being co-written by Squeeze lyricist Chris Difford. Carrack's journey to make a record that truly does satisfy his soul has come full circle. "I've been doing this a long time, and I've often made it quite difficult for myself, one way or another, but I'm at the point now where I just want to enjoy my musicality, and I have the technical resources and the stability to be able to follow my instincts more confidently. Alot of the time, I've gone against my own instincts, but I'm not fighting them any more, I'm doing what comes naturally now. I'll be happy just to reach the people who already like what I do, but who knows, by making a more personal record, I might reach more people anyway." Satisfy My Soul brings Carrack to Compass Records, also the American home to other British popsters Robbie McIntosh, Hamish Stuart, Eddi Reader, Boo Hewerdine and Clive Gregson. © 2003-2008 Compass Records. All Rights Reserved

Paul Kossoff

Paul Kossoff - The Best Of Paul Kossoff - 2003 - Track

Seventeen great tracks involving the late, great Paul Kossoff. During his short life, Paul played with bands like the legendary Free, Black Cat Bones, and Back Street Crawler. He is a very much underrated guitarist, and some of his greatest playing can be heard on Free's classic "Tons of Sobs" album

TRACKS / COMPOSER/S

The Hunter - Junior Wells, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Booker T. Jones, Al Jackson, Jr.
The Stealer - Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser, Paul Kossoff
Ride on a Pony - Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser
The Highway Song - Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser, Paul Kossoff
Fire & Water - Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser
All Right Now - Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser
Mr. Big - Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser, Paul Kossoff, Simon Kirke
Little Bit of Love - Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser, Paul Kossoff, Simon Kirke
Molten Gold - Paul Kossoff
Back Street Crawler - Paul Kossoff
Hoo Doo Woman - Paul Kossoff
New York, New York - Mike Montgomery
Jason Blue - Mike Montgomery
The Band Plays On - Terry Wilson
Some Kind of Happy - Terry Wilson
Selfish Lover - John "Rabbit" Bundrick
Stop Doing What You're Doing - Paul Kossoff, Mike Montgomery, Terry Slesser

N.B: Tracks 1 - 8 with Free; Tracks 9, & 10 with Paul Kossoff ; Tracks 11 - 17 with Back Street Crawler

MUSICIANS

Conrad Isidore, Clive Chaman, & Jean Roussell play on "Back Street Crawler", & Jess Roden plays on "Molten Gold"

FREE

Paul Kossoff Guitar
Paul Rodgers
Simon Kirke
Andy Fraser

BACK STREET CRAWLER

Paul Kossoff
Terry Wilson
Terry Wilson - Slesser
Mike Montgomery
Tony Braunagel
John "Rabbit" Bundrick

REVIEW

In the early '70s, Paul Kossoff was a much-heralded young guitarist from a much-heralded young rock band called Free. In a short period of time, Kossoff and his cohorts punched out some classic rock. A brief solo career followed for the inspired axeman, but his untimely death in 1976 from a drug-related heart attack put an end to the potential that his peers and fans were looking forward to seeing fully realized. All one can do is celebrate and enjoy what this stylistically unique and utterly precocious musician left behind, and this 17-track disc, which culls Kossoff's best work from both his days with Free and as a solo performer, is an excellent way to do just that. A player who made his name with unusual phrasings, brazen fills, and an intuitive use of sustained notes -- and rarely going for fretboard-smoking speed -- Kossoff had a prototypical signature sound. His ability to do the work of two guitarists -- Free, for the most part, was a barebones guitar/bass/drums/singer outfit -- was one of his greatest strengths and, despite a good deal of studio dubbing, you can hear it in places on this album. The best cuts are definitely the eight Free tracks, which include the raunchy "The Hunter," the good-time rock-blues of "Ride on a Pony," the dramatic "Fire and Water" and "Mr. Big," and the band's all-time classic, "All Right Now." On yet another Free number, "The Stealer," Kossoff delivers one of his most searing solos, ripping arcane sounds from his Les Paul as if communicating a secret language through the instrument. The material from Kossoff's solo disc, Back Street Crawler, and the band of the same name which he subsequently assembled, is not to be sniffed at either. The songs, with the possible exceptions of "Molten Gold" and "New York New York," may not be as distinctive, but Kossoff's playing is. Throw in the fact that this album also features the singing of the inimitable Paul Rodgers (who later formed Bad Company), the stunning bass work of boy wonder Andy Fraser, and a swag of other fine musicians, and this one's vintage, baby, vintage. © Adrian Zupp, All Music Guide

BIO



Throughout the years, rock music has been littered with talented musicians whose lives were cut short due to drug-related deaths. Free/Back Street Crawler guitarist Paul Kossoff was one such casualty. Kossoff was born in London, England, on September 14, 1950, and early on studied classical guitar (before giving up on the instrument by his teenaged years). But upon discovering the British blues-rock movement of the '60s, Kossoff's interest in guitar perked up once again, especially after catching a John Mayall's Bluesbreakers live show with Eric Clapton. Kossoff soon purchased an electric guitar (a vintage Gibson Les Paul, which eventually become his trademark guitar) and began playing in local bands. Through one such band, Black Cat Bones, Kossoff became good friends with their drummer, Simon Kirke, who would serve a prominent part in Kossoff's musical future. Eventually feeling that the band had reached its zenith, the band broke up after the Black Cat Bones backed bluesman Champion Jack Dupree on a song called "When You Feel the Feeling." Kossoff and Kirke set out to form another group, hooking up with vocalist Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser, the quartet decided to go by the name Free (which was supposedly christened by British blues icon Alexis Korner). Just as the new band signed a deal with Island/A&M Records, Kossoff had fully blossomed into an outstanding guitarist, renowned for his fluid, slow, and melodic leads and bluesy riffs. Free issued a pair of albums in the late '60s that went largely unnoticed -- 1968's Tons of Sobs and 1969's self-titled release -- as Kossoff grew slightly disillusioned by the group's lack of commercial progress and tried out for guitar openings in such groups as the Rolling Stones and Jethro Tull. But big-time success would prove to be just around the corner for Free as their 1970 release Fire and Water spawned the massive hit single (and eventual classic rock standard) "All Right Now" and helped secure the group a spot at the esteemed 1970 Isle of Wight Festival (which also included performances by the Who and Sly & the Family Stone, as well as one of the final performances ever by both Jimi Hendrix and the Doors). But, this would prove to be Free's commercial apex as after one more release, 1971's underappreciated Highway, the group brokeup. In the wake of their split, Free's record label issued the concert set Free Live, while its members indulged in other projects. Both Kirke and Kossoff decided to stay together, forming the short-lived Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu & Rabbit, along with bassist Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, issuing a lone self-titled release the same year. To the delight of fans, Free's split was short-lived as the quartet reunited in 1972, offering a strong "comeback" album, Free at Last. But behind the scenes, things were in disarray: Kossoff, by this time, had developed a dangerous drug dependency, which led to Fraser's exit from the band. With Yamauchi taking Fraser's place in the lineup (and Bundrick on board for good measure), the new lineup of Free attempted to record a sixth studio album, but due to his problems, Kossoff's input was minimal (with Rodgers and another guitarist subbing in for Kossoff). When Free supported the resulting album, 1973's Heartbreaker, with a tour, Kossoff was replaced with Wendell Richardson and upon the tour's completion, Free split up once more, but this time for good (as both Rodgers and Kirke would go on to form Bad Company). The same year as Free's swan song, Kossoff was able to pull himself together long enough to record a solo album, Back Street Crawler, which surprisingly featured contributions from his former Free bandmates (as well as Yes drummer Alan White). Happy with the results, Kossoff decided to form a full-time solo outfit, named after the title of his solo debut. In addition to Kossoff, Back Street Crawler featured singer Terry Wilson-Slesser, keyboard player Mike Montgomery, bassist Terry Wilson, and drummer Tony Braunagel and the lineup signed on with Atlantic Records to issue a total of two releases -- 1975's The Band Plays On and 1976's Second Street. But Kossoff's health kept worsening; while in a London drug rehab in 1975, Kossoff narrowly escaped death when his heart stopped beating and he had to be revived. Undeterred, Kossoff continued on his destructive path and on March 19, 1976, Kossoff died from a drug-induced heart attack while on a plane flight from Los Angeles to New York at the age of 25. In the wake of his tragic death, a 16-track career retrospective of Kossoff's, titled Koss (after his nickname), was issued in 1977. Subsequently, several British Kossoff releases were issued in the '80s on the Street Tunes label: 1981's The Hunter, 1982's Leaves in the Wind, 1983's Mr. Big, and 1984's Croydon June 15th, 1975. The late '90s saw a renewed interest in Kossoff and another career retrospective was issued, 1997's 14-track Blue Blue Soul, as well as five-disc Free box set Songs of Yesterday, and a Free biography entitled Heavy Load -- The Story of Free. © Greg Prato, All Music Guide