Wednesday 30 January 2013

It just gets better.
With the Mixcloud system of storing the shows we can now put old shows on there so, if you missed one of the interviews we've done, they are now on there.
Go to the Mixcloud site, type in Monday Morning Blues, and they should be there (or click on my name [not sure about the tech])
You can also download a free app for smartphones, so you can catch up anywhere :-)
We'll keep you updated with any changes.
Thanks for listening.
"Legs"

Monday 28 January 2013

This week's playlist

Janis Joplin - "Kozmic Blues"
Seasick Steve - "Hobo Low"
Bukka White - "Bukka's Jitterbug Swing"
Clarence 'Frogman' Henry - "Ain't Got No Home"
'Champion' Jack Dupree - "Big Time Mama"
James 'Buddy' Rogers - "Guitar Sue"
Blind Blake - "Come On Boys Let's Do That Messin' Around"
Cannon's Jug Stompers - "Pretty Mamma Blues"
Hooker 'N' Heat - "Let's Make It"
Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown - "Choo Choo Boogie"
Seasick Steve - "My Home (Blue Eyes)"
Buster Brown - "Crawling King Snake Blues"
Leadbelly - "Rock Island Line"
Seasick Steve and The Level Devils - "Hobo Blues"
Blind Boy Fuller - "Untrue Blues"
Chris Rea - "Boss Man Cut My Chains"
Kevin Selfe - "Second Box On The Left"
Brownie McGhee - "Dealing With The Devil"
Blind Gary Davis - "Cross And Evil Woman Blues"
Memphis Minnie - "Black Rat Swing"
Peter Karp and Sue Foley - "More Than I Bargained For"
Josh White - "Good Gal"
Professor Longhair - "Every Day I Have The Blues"
Seasick Steve - "Walking Man"
Leroy Carr - "Mean Mistreatin' Mama"

Featured Artist: Seasick Steve

Steven Gene Wold,
commonly known as Seasick Steve, (born 1941)
Wold was born in Morocco. When he was four years old, his parents split up. His father played boogie-woogie piano and at five or six years old, Wold tried to learn but could not. At age eight, he learned to play the guitar (he later found out that it was blues) from K. C. Douglas, who worked at his grandfather's garage. Douglas wrote the song "Mercury Blues" and used to play with Tommy Johnson.
Wold left home at 13 to avoid abuse at the hands of his stepfather, and lived rough and on the road in Tennessee, Mississippi and elsewhere, until 1973. He would travel long distances by hopping freight trains, looking for work as a farm labourer or in other seasonal jobs, often living as a hobo. At various times, Wold worked as a carnie, cowboy and a migrant worker.
Of this time he once said:
Hobos are people who move around looking for work, tramps are people who move around but don't look for work, and bums are people who don't move and don't work. I've been all three.
In the 1960s, he started touring and performing with fellow blues musicians, and had friends in the music scene including Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell. Since then, he has worked, on and off, as a session musician and studio engineer. In the late 1980s, while living in Olympia, near Seattle, he worked with many indie label artists. Kurt Cobain was a friend. In the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf of May 31, 2011 Steve denied this, saying (in translation): "Just like everybody else I saw him pass by in the street and said hello to him. That doesn't make us friends, does it?". Regarding his 'friendship' with Janis Joplin (same source): "We both lived in San Fransisco in the sixties. Period". In the 1990s he continued to work as a recording engineer and producer, producing several releases by Modest Mouse, including their 1996 debut album “This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About”.
At one time, living in Paris, Wold made his living busking, mostly on the metro. After moving to Norway in 2001, Wold released his first album, entitled “Cheap”, recorded with The Level Devils (Jo Husmo on stand-up bass and Kai Christoffersen on drums) as his rhythm section. His debut solo album, “Dog House Music” was released by Bronzerat Records on November 26, 2006, after he was championed by an old friend, Joe Cushley, DJ on the Ballin' The Jack blues show on London radio station Resonance FM.
Seasick Steve performing in 2009 at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London's Hyde Park.
Wold made his first UK television appearance on Jools Holland's 'Annual Hootenanny' BBC TV show (broadcast on New Year's Eve 2006) where he performed a live rendition of "Dog House Boogie" on the 'Three String Trance Wonder' and the 'Mississippi Drum Machine' (see below). After that show his popularity exploded in Britain.
He was well received in the UK, winning the 2007 MOJO Award for Best Breakthrough Act and going on to appear at major UK festivals such as Reading, Leeds and Glastonbury. In 2007 he played more UK festivals than any other artist.
Wold toured early in 2008, playing in various venues and festivals in the UK. He was joined on stage by drummer Dan Magnusson. KT Tunstall also dueted with Wold at one concert (Astoria, London, January 24, 2008). Wold also played many other festivals throughout the world in 2008, including Fuji Rock in Japan, East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival in Australia (also in April 2008), and Roskilde in Denmark.
Wold's major-label debut, “I Started Out With Nogthing And I Still Got Most Of It Left” was recorded with Dan Magnusson on drums, was released by Warner Music on September 29, 2008, and features Ruby Turner and Nick Cave's Grinderman.
In 2009, Wold was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist. That same year, BBC Four broadcast a documentary of Wold visiting the southern USA entitled Seasick Steve: Bringing It All Back Home. On January 21, Wold hosted "Folk America: Hollerers, Stompers and Old Time Ramblers" at the Barbican in London, a show that was also televised and shown with the documentary on BBC Four as part of a series tracing American roots music.
In February 2010, Seasick Steve was nominated for a Brit Award in the category of International Solo Male Artist for the second consecutive year.
In 2010, Seasick Steve made numerous festival appearances throughout the summer, including the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, the main stage at V Festival, the main stage at the Hop Farm Festival and many more. Also, he collaborated with Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall on a song called "Golden Frames", for her third album “Tiger Suit”.
In February 2011, Seasick Steve signed to Play It Again to release his new album with the exception of the US, where it will be released on Third Man Records. Subsequently his new album “You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks” was released on his new labels and it was announced that former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones had played on the new album, and performed alongside Seasick Steve to promote it.
In July 2011, Seasick Steve played on stage with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters & John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin (both of whom are members of the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures) at Milton Keynes National Bowl in front of a sold-out audience of 65,000.
In August 2011, Seasick Steve played at Reading and Leeds Festival, and the Fairport's Cropredy Convention, sharing the stage with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
On August 20, 2011, Seasick Steve finished his European festival season of 2011 with a show on the Lowlands Festival in Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands
On May 28, 2012, Seasick Steve played on the main-stage of the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, The Netherlands.

Monday 21 January 2013

This week's playlist

Harry Bodine - "Travellin' The Southland"
Tom Archia - "Ice Man's Blues"
Maria Muldaur - "Soulful Dress"
The John Pippus Band - "Mean Hearted Woman"
The Jelly Roll Kings - "Catfish Blues"
Lonnie Johnson - "Life Saver Blues"
Mississippi Sarah and Daddy Stovepipe - "Greenville Strut"
Five Harmaniacs - "What Makes My Baby Cry?"
Mississippi John Hurt - "Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight"
Gaye Adegbelola - "The Dog Was Here First"
Albert King - "I Won't Be Hanging Around"
Charnley and Grimes - "Pay Day"
Harmonica Frank - "Howlin' Tomcat"
Marcia Ball - "Roadside Attractions"
The Super Super Blues Band - "Who Do You Love"
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - "Tennesse Stud"
Jimi Hendrix - "Red House"
Little Walter - "Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights)"
Shaun Murphy - "Ugly Man Blues"
J.J. Cale - "Any Way The Wind Blows"
Laura Rucker - "Crying The Blues"
Philipp Fankhauser - "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark"

Featured Artist: Chess Records

 Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases.
Run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess, the company produced and released many important singles and albums, which are now regarded as central to the rock music canon. Musician and critic Cub Koda described Chess Records as "America's greatest blues label."
The Chess Records catalogue is now owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records.
Chess Records was based at several different locations on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, initially at two different locations on South Cottage Grove Ave. The most famous location was 2120 S. Michigan Avenue from around 1956 to 1965, immortalized by British rock group The Rolling Stones in “2120 South Michigan Avenue”, an instrumental recorded at that address during their first U.S. tour in 1964; the Stones would record at Chess Studios on two more occasions. The building is now home to Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation. In the mid-60s Chess re-located to a much larger building at 320 East 21st Street, the label's final Chicago home.
Leonard bought a stake in a record company called Aristocrat Records in 1947; in 1950, Leonard brought his brother, Phil into the operation and they became sole owners of the company, renaming it Chess Records.
The first release on Chess was the 78 RPM single "My Foolish Heart" b/w "Bless You" by Gene Ammons, which was released as Chess 1425 in June 1950, and became the label's biggest hit of the year.
In 1951, the Chess brothers began an association with Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service One of the most important recordings that Phillips gave to Chess was “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats which topped Billboard magazine's R&B Records chart and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 because of its influence as a rock and roll single.
One of the most important artists that came out of Memphis was Howlin' Wolf, who stayed with the label until his death in 1976. Many songs created by Chess artists were later reproduced by many famous Rock n' Roll bands and artists such as "The Beatles", "The Rolling Stones", "The Beach Boys" and "Eric Clapton." Some of the core riffs created by Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters and others were the basis of a wide amount of Rock n' Roll.
In 1952, the brothers also started Checker Records as an alternative label for radio play (radio stations would only play a limited number of records for any one imprint). In December 1955, they launched a jazz and pop label called Marterry (a name created from the first names of Leonard and Phil's sons Marshall and Terry). This was quickly renamed Argo Records, but the name was changed again in 1965 to Cadet Records to end confusion with an older British classical music label.
In 1953, Leonard Chess and Gene Goodman set up Arc Music BMI, a publishing company that would publish songs by many rhythm and blues artists.
In the mid 1950s the Chess brothers received two doo-wop groups by Alan Freed, the Coronets and the Moonglows; the former group was not very popular but the latter achieved several crossover hits including “Sincerely”, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. Several of Chess's releases gave a writing credit to Alan Freed.
During the 1950s, Leonard and Phil Chess handled most of the production. They brought in legendary producer, Ralph Bass in 1960 to handle the gospel output and some of the blues singers. Bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon was also heavily involved in organizing blues sessions for the label, and is now credited retroactively as a producer on some re-releases. During the 1960s, the company's A&R manager and chief producer for soul/R&B recordings was Roquel "Billy" Davis, who had previously worked with Motown founder Berry Gordy on songs for Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Marv Johnson and on early Motown releases.
In 1958, Chess began producing their first LP records which included such albums as “The Best Of Muddy Waters”, “Best Of Little Walter” and “Bo Diddley”.
Chess Records was also known for its regular band of session musicians who played on most of the company's Chicago soul recordings, such as drummer Maurice White and bassist Louis Satterfield, both of whom would later shape the funk group Earth, Wind & Fire; guitarists Pete Cosey, Gerald Sims and Phil Upchurch; pianist Leonard Caston, later a producer with Motown; and organist Sonny Thompson.
In 1969, Chess Records established a subsidiary label called Middle Earth Records in the U.K., which was distributed by Pye Records. The subsidiary specialized in Psychedelic rock and was a joint venture with the Middle Earth Club in London. The Middle Earth label released only 4 albums titles and about a dozen singles before it was closed in 1970.
The company was briefly run by Marshall Chess, son of Leonard, in his position as vice-president between January and October 1969, and then as president, following its acquisition by GRT, before he went on to found Rolling Stones Records. In 1969, the Chess brothers sold the label to General Recorded Tape (GRT) for $6.5 million. In October 1969, Leonard Chess died and by 1972, the only part of Chess Records still operating in Chicago was the recording studio, Ter-Mar Studios.
Although Chess had produced many R&B number ones and major pop hits over the years, it was in 1972 that the label finally reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with Chuck Berry's “My Ding -a-Ling”, a live recording from a concert in Coventry, England. However, this became the company's 'swansong' release. GRT had moved the label to New York City, operating it as a division of Janus Records. Under GRT, Chess effectively vanished as an important force in the recording industry. In August 1975, GRT sold what remained of Chess Records to New Jersey-based All Platinum Records.
In the early 1980s, noticing that much of the Chess catalog was unavailable, Marshall Chess was able to convince Joe and Sylvia Robinson, who ran All Platinum, to re-issue the catalog themselves under his supervision (All Platinum had been licensing selected tracks out to other companies, which ultimately resulted in the disappearance of some original master tapes). The re-issued singles and LPs sold well, but by the mid-80s, All Platinum fell into financial difficulties and the Chess master recordings were acquired by MCA Records, which itself was later merged into Universal Music imprint, Geffen Records.
In February 1997, MCA started releasing eleven compilation albums for the 50th anniversary of Chess Records.
In the 2000s, Universal's limited-edition re-issue label, Hip-O Select began releasing a series of comprehensive box-sets devoted to such Chess artists as Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry.
Chess Records was the subject of two films produced in 2008, “Cadillac Records” and “Who Do You Love?”. In addition to the Chess brothers, both films feature portrayals of or based on Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Chuck Berry, Howlin Wolf and Etta James.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Just to let you know that, if you missed the show, from now on you can catch up on Mixcloud.
Type in Monday Morning Blues, and you'll find us there.
There is also an app. you can download for free to your smart phone, so you can hear us anywhere.
Enjoy!

Monday 14 January 2013

This week's playlist

"Bright Lights, Big City" - Jimmy Reed
"Sa M'Appel Fou (They Call Me Crazy)" - Clifton Chenier
"Lullaby" - Ginger St. James
"Beer Bottle Pockets" - Ginger St. James
"Mean Old World" - The Mannish Boys
"Rising Sun Blues" - King David's Jug Band
"Sugar Mama" - Tail Dragger and Bob Corritore
"24 Hours" - Eddie Boyd
"In The Mood" - John Lee Hooker
"Sleep Talking Blues" - Ma Rainey
"Please Mr. Driver" - Ginger St. James
"Heygana" - Ali Farke Toure
"Didn't Mean No Harm" - Frank Frost
"Lost My Baby Blues" - Tresa Street
"Trick Bag" - Johnny Winter
"Boyfriend Blues" - Jo-Ann Kelly
"West Side Baby" - Little Willie Anderson
"Boogie Woogie Blues" - Clarence Samuels
"Salvation" - Ginger St. James
"Back In The Doghouse" - Seasick Steve

Featured Artist: Ginger St. James


Ginger St. James
A tiny firecracker of a woman, raised on a farm near Hamilton has become a serious artist who combines, night after night, two great American traditions: Burlesque and the blues.
St. James found her way into the entertainment business the way most kids do — a guitar at 13, a cheerful streak of exhibitionism , talent contests, and — a defining moment — a guest appearance with a burlesque troupe in a little theatre. A challenge, she says now, looking back: “I was a little nervous backstage, and then it’s like "bring it on!’” In 2002, she first appeared on the Toronto scene as a member of Les Coquettes as a sultry singer; her affection for good old rock and roll and the lure of footlights led her to Broadway songs. And Les Coquettes, one of the first Burlesque troupes in Canada to revive the old vaudeville tradition, led her to form her own group in her hometown, the Steeltown Sirens.
Eighty shows later, St. James had emerged as a singer as well as a saucy soubrette with slithery moves, legs to die for and a smile to melt the ice in your gin and tonic. Along the way, she worked as an artists’ model, took the femme fatale role in Lucky 7, an indie film feature and performed as a guest with many well known Hamilton bands.
Backed by her band, it was her voice, sultry and surprisingly strong, that took her to her present level as one of Ontario’s most exciting new artists. This was, after all, an artist who could handle show tunes, swing, rockabilly, country and good ol’ rock and roll. Most of all, though, she developed a taste for the blues — which she vivaciously mixes with the rest of the musical genres she loves.
​The first folk to take notice were the editors of View Magazine, Hamilton’s guide to what matters in Steeltown — for four consecutive years, beginning in 2008, she was picked as Best Female Artist. Her debut recording Spank, Sparkle and Growl earned St. James the Alt/Country Recording of the Year at the 2010 Hamilton Music Awards and nominations for Female Artist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year.
Following the success of her debut EP, St. James’ dance card has been packed with gigs at major festivals, clubs and two East Coast tours. With the 2012 release of her sophomore recording, aptly titled Tease, Ginger St. James has now well and truly broken out of her role as a Hamilton phenomenon; the rest of us are discovering her. Now, with the confidence and smarts she’s acquired since she shed most of her clothes at her first burlesque shows all those years ago, she has become a singer with the heart and soul and sexiness of the blues.
Ginger St. James, in short, has arrived. And you should — you will — pay attention. Blues, Country and Rock n' Roll are her primary weapons, though it's her sultry, expressive voice that steals the show.

Monday 7 January 2013

This week's playlist

"Needle And Spoon" - Savoy Brown
"Long Legged Woman" - Rick L. Blues
"Look Again" - The SOME X 6 Band
"Curveball" - The SOME X 6 Band
"Please Take Care" - Grainne Duffy
"The Rooster's Crowing Blues" - Cannon's Jug Stompers
"Give It Up Or Let Me Go" - Bonnie Raitt
"Dimples" - John Lee Hooker
"Hoochie Coochie Gal" - Etta James
"Little Stevie's Shuffle" - The Elmores
"The Old Folks Started It" - Minnie Wallace
"Hey Stranger" - The SOME X 6 Band
"The Sky Is Falling Down" - Walter Trout
"Paper In Your Pocket" - Mitch Laddie
"Company Underground" - Hat Fitz and Cara
"Could Be You, Could Be Me" - Eric Bibb
"I'm A King Bee" - Slim Harpo
"Stick To The Promise" - Giles Robson and The Dirty Aces
"All Right Now" - Jeff Black
"Cops And Robbers" - Bo Diddley
"The Stomp" - The SOME X 6 Band
"Walked All Night Long" - Byther Smith

Featured Artist: The SOME X 6 Band


Since 2002, founding member, songwriter, vocalist and bassist Brad Curtis has played with a variety of excellent musicians, each helping shape the sound we now know as The SOME x 6 Band
In the early years the band was influenced by artists such as The Doors, Jimi Hendrix , Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Robin Trower and BB King, but the biggest influence on early SOME x 6 was Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Murray McLaughlan was the original guitar player in SOME x 6 and left the band in 2009 to "go fishin". Murray stops in for an occasional jam now and then.
Brad has surrounded himself with very capable players in Bart Dwyer and Gordon Cole, both on Guitar.
The band is released it’s new all original CD “The Hoodoo Shake” August 31 at The Cottage Bistro, Vancouver.
Some x 6 has supported many causes over the past 10 years and is a big supporter of The Cancer Relay For Life events !
The SOME x 6 Band is currently performing all original songs and plays with a blues/rock style.