Category: Blues
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B.B. King, Hells Angels and the Naked Hippie Girl
In a used record shop in Nottingham in January I find a 1970 B.B. King LP with a picture of a guitar made from a watermelon on the cover. It’s £8, and called “Indianola Mississippi Seeds”. Inside the beautiful gatefold cover is a photo of the birth certificate of Riley King, and amongst the musicians…
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He Wrote For Elvis And Performed The Greatest Ever Beatles Cover Version: The Story of Junior Parker
The first thing you should know about Little Junior Parker is that he wrote the song “Mystery Train”, which Elvis Presley covered and made famous. The funny thing is, as a songwriter Junior Parker wasn’t prolific. You could say he didn’t fulfil his early promise. But, to think about it another way, perhaps he fulfilled…
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Rory Gallagher’s Music Lives On: Michael Katon’s New Tribute
It has been nearly 22 years since Irish bluesman Rory Gallagher last plugged a Stratocaster into a Fender amp and made it sing. But this week, an American bluesman with Irish roots will release a tribute to Rory Gallagher. Michael Katon hails from Hell, Michigan, and has had a colourful career, from being a Kerrang!…
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Is it cheaper to buy vinyl online or in record shops? The Verdict.
The day came for us to finally resolve the question. Is it cheaper to buy vinyl online or in record shops and fairs? We had a couple of minor rules – we would try to buy a) Aretha Franklin’s Atlantic albums up to 1972, b) copies should be in VG+ condition or better, and c)…
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How To Buy Aretha Franklin on Vinyl
Previously, we saw how “I Never Loved A Man” became a smash hit for Aretha Franklin. But what about those other LPs on Atlantic? Between 1967 and 1972 Aretha Franklin released eight studio albums, two live albums and a Greatest Hits. Which ones should you start with? And what are the best versions to get?…
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The Making of Aretha Franklin’s “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)”
Wilson Pickett moved towards Percy Sledge, ready to punch him, hard. Sledge had popped in during one of Pickett’s recording sessions at the Muscle Shoals Fame Studios, and as his name would suggest, began to sledge Pickett, telling him first he sounded like Otis Redding, and then like James Brown. That’s the best way to…
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Aretha Franklin’s Emotional First Performance
…and Why It Took Nine Albums To Score Aretha’s First Hit Aretha Franklin sat at a piano in her father’s church, just days after her mother’s death. She was just ten years old and about to make her first ever public performance. There were two thousand people in the congregation waiting to hear this recently…
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Hidden Gems and Criminal Records: Forgiving Roberta Flack For That Peabo Bryson Duet
In five minutes, by the end of reading this, you will have discovered, or possibly rediscovered, an absolute belter of a song, so bear with me… I’m going to ask you to listen to a relatively obscure forty five year old album track I recently discovered. It has been rattling around in my head and…
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An Alternative best of Stevie Ray Vaughan
Has it really been twenty five years since Stevie Ray Vaughan died? Sadly yes. One of the greatest guitar players of any generation died on 27 August 1990 after the helicopter that was carrying him went down in fog, killing all on board. In the UK the newspaper headlines told me “Eric Clapton Helicopter Crash”…
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Chess Records’ Forgotten Duo: Maurice & Mac
As we have seen over the last couple of weeks, “You Left The Water Running” is a damn fine tune. Versions by Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Fire Dept all sound fab and groovy – and other artists that have covered the song include Sam & Dave, (“Hold On! I’m Comin’”) and Barbara Lynn (The Rolling…
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You Left The Water Running: Another Side of The Wicked Pickett:
Part 2 of a look at various artists who have recorded the song “You Left The Water Running”. Part 1 is here… I am the wicked….I am named the wicked, I got to be the wicked.” “I’d describe my sound as a good piano player, a guitar in tune, a bass in tune, a funky…
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You Left The Water Running: Why This Otis Redding Track Went Unheard For A Decade…
A “vertical tasting” of R&B classic “You Left The Water Running” “You Left The Water Running” is a song with some great mythology around it. It appears in Nick Hornby’s classic tale of record collecting (oh, well, I suppose there were one or two parts about relationships and stuff as well) Hi-Fidelity. You’ll remember the…
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Fifty Years Ago Today: The Moment The Rolling Stones introduced Howlin’ Wolf To America
Regular readers know we like to celebrate a good anniversary here at ERTAS. Yesterday was the fiftieth anniversary of The Kinks’ most legendary fight, not to mention Pete Townsend’s 70th birthday. Today, 20th May 2015 is the fiftieth anniversary of the day a white British rock n roll band introduced America to one of its own recording…
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Five Reasons Why The Rolling Stones’ “Out Of Our Heads” Rocks…
Here’s The Best Rolling Stones Song You Have Never Heard.. Or, part four of a quest to discover whether it’s worth buying those early Stones albums on vinyl… (Here’s Part one, which should explain what’s going on…) Out of Our Heads With two parts of the quest complete, my friend Chris was on the warpath,…
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Which is Best? The Cover or Original? Going Down by Freddie King…
Ever hear a great tune by one of your favourite musicians without realising they are covering someone else’s song? It happens to me all the time. And rather than feeling disappointed, as I imagine a One Direction fan might feel upon realising that, somewhat inexplicably, “One Way Or Another” wasn’t, in fact, written by Harry…
Every record tells a story 