“My Friend Sin” Bernard Fowler ((( “I Drank from The Devil’s Cup.”)))
Electrically Recorded (Not Licensed for Radio Broadcast)
Billie Holiday spoke of how difficult it was for her to sing “Strange Fruit,” saying she never finished without weeping, sometimes so much she couldn’t continue.
Howlin’ Wolf Little Feat Lowell George Waiting for Columbus Martin Scorsese “Blues” documentary Chess Moves Keith’s last word with Bernard
Tack>>Head 2023 — Keith LeBlanc’sNew Moves record of remixed and reinterpreted Blues classics out of the Chess Records archive. Keith was a longtime friend of Marshall Chess, and had produced a similar record, Chess Moves, in 2012. Ten Years later, Keith called New Moves the best record he ever made. That might be true. Unfortunately it was his last.
Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Burnett) Lowell George — While introducing “Apolitical Blues” in 1973 at the Santa Monica Civic Center, Lowell George told the story of his meeting his idol, Howlin’ Wolf. From the stage, he described a backstage jam session he was a part of at the Cafe A Go Go in New York City. In it, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Elvin Bishop were playing, and as George says as a joke, but viciously, “AND STEPHEN STILLS WAS WATCHING.” All told before the real punch line, Lowell reveals Wolf’s unexpected answer to his heartfelt request (autograph) of his idol.
“Preachin’ Blues” Living Colour 2016 — Hartford, Connecticut ((( Home Recording )))
Kick Ass Rock N Roll @ The Orange Bowl in Miami (Little Havana) 1989 — Jethro Tull v Metallica Space Shuttle Return (After Challenger) Major Malfunction Major Malfunction
were in the grips of a Hard Rock Grammy Scandal, like no one had ever seen. How could a band with a flute come out on top of Metallica, the new kings of Masculine Metal? The Rolling Stones reemerged, more corporate and wealthy than ever. The Steel Wheels Stage eclipsed even those of Pink Floyd. The Stones were back, and at the Orange BowlKick ass Rock N Roll at the Orange Bowl in Miami (Little Havana) Living Colour in Florida. Shuttle Launch Atlantis equipping the Hubble Telescope.
“Wannee Soul Stew” Derek Trucks 2005 — Wannee Festival ((( Native North Floridian )))
“Jungle Love” Prince 2011 — Los Angeles Forum (April 28) ((( ? )))
Glam Slam (Washington Avenue, Miami Beach)
Vernon produces and plays on three Blues records with James “Blood” Ulmer, taking the well known Free Jazz, Outside guitarist, back to his more traditional roots. Reid of Living Colour made sure not to exclude the present when diving deep into the past.
1986 — B.B. King at the Carefree Theater in West Palm Beach. King was the first act Jon Stoll booked when his parents helped him get started in the concert promotion business. Stoll was sixteen years old. In 1986, Stoll’s business had grown into Fantasma Productions, one of the country’s largest concert promoters, especially in South Florida. The Comedy Corner, restaurants, galleries, Clarence Clemons club. Stanley Clarke, first week in West Palm Beach, and the next year with George Duke. Edgar Winter w/ Leon Russell, Sam Kinison, My dinner (lunch) with Bob Dylan (Tom Ryan). Clematis Street. Roxy’s, Pat and Ken, Baseball (pitcher) son. Bruce Helander …
1966 — “Paint It Black” (Rolling Stones) MUSIC ’66— Good Vibrations, Strangers In The Night, These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ Eleanor Rigby, Summer In The City, Reach Out I’ll Be There, When A Man Loves A Woman.
“Preachin’ Blues” Living Colour 2017 — Shade ((( 100th )))
— yZ.
Last of the Mississippi Jukes
Robert Johnson(studio portrait) CROSSROADS (1986)MOVIE Robert Johnson at 100 “Preachin’ Blues” Living Colour @ The Apollo Theater (2012)
Eric Clapton — “Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived.” He recorded several of Johnson’s songs as well as an entire tribute album, Me and Mr. Johnson (2004). Clapton feels that rather than trying to recreate Johnson’s originals, “I was trying to extract as much emotional content from it as I could, while respecting the form at the same time.”
Bob Dylan — “In about 1964 and ’65, I probably used about five or six of Robert Johnson’s blues song forms, too, unconsciously, but more on the lyrical imagery side of things. If I hadn’t heard the Robert Johnson record when I did, there probably would have been hundreds of lines of mine that would have been shut down—that I wouldn’t have felt free enough or upraised enough to write. [His] code of language was like nothing I’d heard before or since.”
Robert Plant — “A lot of English musicians were very fired up by Robert Johnson [to] whom we all owe more or less our existence, I guess, in some way.” Led Zeppelin recorded “TRAVELING RIVERSIDE BLUES” and quoted some of Johnson’s lyrics in “THE LEMON SONG.”
Keith Richards — “I’ve never heard anybody before or since use the [blues] form and bend it so much to make it work for himself… he came out with such compelling themes [and] just the way they were treated, apart from the music and the performance, [was appealing].” The Rolling Stones recorded “Love in Vain” and “Stop Breaking Down.”
Johnny Winter — “Robert Johnson knocked me out—he was a genius. [He and Son House] both were big influences on my acoustic slide playing.”[145] He recorded “Dust My Broom” with additional guitar by Derek Trucks.
VIDEO: LIVING COLOUR PERFORM ROBERT JOHNSON’S “PREACHIN’ BLUES” AT THE APOLLO THEATER IN NEW YORK
by Axl Rosenberg
Earlier this week, The Blues Hall of Fame held an all-star benefit concert, dubbed “Robert Johnson at 100,” at the Apollo Theater here in New York. In case the title didn’t give it away, the concert featured a whole mess of cool artists — including Elvis Costello, Taj Mahal, Chuck D., and Macy Gray — performing covers of the legendary guitarist’s music.
So, obviously not really a metal event, although one of our favorite kinda-sometimes metal bands, Living Colour, performed. And this morning, the band tweeted the below video, of them doing a pretty amazing rendition of Johnson’s “Preachin’ Blues.” The quality of the video is obviously far from perfect — for one thing, it seems to have been filmed from the back of the stage, so you can barely see the band — but it still highlights all the things that make Living Colour so amazing, including Vernon Reid’s painfully good guitar playing, and Corey Glover’s incredible voice. If you wanna know why I get so cranky about autotune, dudes like Glover are your answer. When someone this talented exists in the world, why the hell do people settle for Phil Labonte?
Ocala blues musician Rev. Billy C. Wirtz explores the Florida clubs and artists that defined Black music during the days of Jim Crow.
Muddy Waters stepped up to the mic and spit out the words, “You can’t lose what you ain’t never had.” Otis Spann hit a C major trill on the piano and somewhere deep inside me, a switch was thrown.
It wasn’t just the music but the look as well. Muddy looked like a ruler from some incredibly cool universe. His sky-high hair, styled in the chemically processed “conk” of the time, glimmered in the late-afternoon sunlight. He wore a purple sharkskin suit, wraparound shades and black patent-leather alligator-grain Beatle boots.
The year was 1968. I was a 14-year-old, middle-class white kid attending the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Up until then, I had wanted to be a park ranger. But after I saw and heard Muddy, that ambition veered from the trail and fell off a rocky ledge.
I wanted to be part of a world where people made music like that, and where grown men with names like “Muddy” wore patent-leather, razor-toed, Cuban-heeled footwear to work.
I bought every book on blues and soul music that I could find, spent all my money on albums, worked in record stores and went to the few concerts I could get into. I bought a guitar, joined a band and have devoted the rest of my life to gospel, blues and roots music.
I’ve played it, written about it, programmed it on my own radio shows on the East Coast, the West Coast and places in between, slept on the couches of blues legends and stayed up after shows soaking up their stories until dawn. Some 50 years later, the switch remains fully in the “on” position.
I’ve traveled down a lot of back roads in music, but no trip has been as transformative as my journey through the history of the Chitlin’ Circuit, an assortment of nightclubs, dance halls, juke joints and theaters—mostly located across the Midwest and Southeast, with many in Florida—where many now legendary African American performers and their audiences could connect during segregation.
Although it’s thought that the term “Chitlin’ Circuit” was first used in 1972, in a Chicago Defender article about Ike and Tina Turner, the circuit had its heyday from the 1930s through the 1960s. (The name comes from a soul-food staple called chitterlings, or chitlins—pig intestines, boiled then fried.) The Chitlin’ Circuit provided musicians of color with safe lodgings and food and on-the-job training for young players who showed promise. These venues were also the explosive incubator of some of the greatest blues and soul music ever played.
“Last of the Mississippi Jukes”refers to a 2003 documentary film about the Subway Lounge in Jackson, Mississippi, and the preservation efforts to save it and the surrounding Summers Hotel. Though the efforts were unsuccessful, and the buildings were demolished in 2004, the film captured the vibrant, authentic blues culture of the location, featuring performances and insights from notable figures like Morgan Freeman. The documentary now stands as a record of a disappearing cultural space.
Title: Last of the Mississippi Jukes Director: Robert Mugge Subject:The documentary showcases the Subway Lounge, a late-night club in Jackson, Mississippi, which served as a setting for live juke joint blues. Content: It explores the efforts to preserve the Subway Lounge and its host building, the Summers Hotel, highlighting the role of blues music and community figures like Morgan Freeman in these preservation efforts. Release: The film was released in the United States on March 18, 2003. The Subway Lounge & Summers Hotel Location:The Subway Lounge was located in the basement of the Summers Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi. Fate: Despite preservation efforts, the Summers Hotel and the Subway Lounge were demolished in 2004. Legacy: The documentary serves as a valuable historical record of the venue, capturing a slice of authentic Mississippi Delta blues culture before the buildings were lost. Juke Joints: Juke joints like the Subway Lounge were historically significant as spaces for Black communities to gather, socialize, and experience music, particularly the blues. Cultural Significance: They offered relief and entertainment, especially after hard work, and served as important cultural centers for the South. Decline: Many juke joints have closed over time due to factors such as structural decay and changing times. In essence, the film Last of the Mississippi Jukes is a tribute to a now-demolished cultural landmark and a vital part of Mississippi’s rich blues heritage.
“Taste of Honey”/”Hard Day’s Night” Herb Alpert / The Beatles 1966 — Imigrant Songs ((( Listen)))
First Fusion, Rock and Blues, Black and White. Louis Jordan (saxophone). Les Paul (guitar). The guitar, after being mostly a background instrument in big bands and orchestra, plugs in, and steps into its enduring lead, musical role. Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly. Rock, Blues, and don’t forget the Soul. Big Mama Thornton (“Hound Dog”), Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone. Jeff Beck, Stevie Wonder, Jack Bruce, Marvin Gaye.
“Crossroads” Eric Clapton 1975 —E.C. Was Here ((( Electrified Blues)))
“Me And The Devil Blues” Robert Johnson 1936 — ((( The Original Sinner)))
“My Friend Sin” Bernard Fowler 2015 —Drinking from the Devil’s Cup ((( The Bura)))
“King Bee” Bernard Fowler 2017 —Drinking from the Devil’s Cup ((( The Rolling Stone)))
Bernard Fowler ((( “My Friend Sin”)))
About the Author
A Florida Journalist, Photographer, and Art Director with an eclectic client list of individuals and organizations with musical, visual, educational, and editorial interests.
