SqueezeMyLemon

Liz Mandeville - On stage she's magic

2009-12-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

A really good review here

Liz holds the distinction of being the only white vocalist to perform regularly at the internationally known Blue Chicago nightclubs, where she held court from 1994 to 1999

Look At Me Look At Me

Ray Charles: Merry Christmas Baby

2009-11-24T01:02:00.000-08:00

Ray Charles singing and playing 'Merry Christmas Baby' in 1979.

According to a comment @ YouTube the players are;

Bass - Bert Thompson
Guitar - John C Marshall
Hammond - Jimmy Jackson
Drums - George Green
Ten Sax - Sal Nistico
Trombone - Slide Hampton
Trumpet - Carmell Jones
Trumpet - Benny Baily

Merry Christmas Baby: A Compilation

Ray Charles Christmas Music @Amazon.com

Ray Charles The Spirit Of Christmas

Kyla Brox - rising British Star

2009-11-23T10:25:00.000-08:00

another

Name Your Link

It's The Birthday of R.L. Burnside - Blues Story - Poor Black Mattie

2009-11-23T01:02:00.000-08:00

R. L. Burnside was born on November 23, 1926, and he passed away on September 1, 2005. May God rest his soul. I imagine that if heaven has a front poarch he is sitting out there playing his guitar.

He was a Delta blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who lived much of his life in and around Holly Springs, Mississippi. I remember when he came on my radar screen back in the early 1990s, I played a cassette tape of his over and over. Wanting everybody I knew to hear this music. You could tell that he had been playing and living the blues all his life. Too bad that he only received reconigition in the latter part of his life.

These two videos below, give a glimpse into his world and his music.

RL Burnside - Blues Story - Poor Black mattie

R.L Burnside talks bout killin a man

R.L. Burnside @SqueezeMyLemon
R.L. Brunside mp3s @Amazon.com

Woody Mann — Slow Motion

2009-11-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

This quote fronts his website - pretty impressive

"This is one of those names that should be uttered only in hushed tones. Not only was he taught by the peerless guitar picker the Rev Gary Davis, but Mann has played with Son House, Bukka White and John Fahey and has studied jazz under the great Lennie Tristano. In between he has also managed to cut some dazzling music...don't miss a chance to see him; you are unlikely to hear anything - or anyone – better in the fields that Mann has chosen to master."
- The London Times

A languorous track

an old one

Get Together

Death Don't Have No Mercy

2009-11-22T01:02:00.000-08:00

Rev. Gary Davis doing Death Don't Have No Mercy

Rev. Gary Davis @ SqueezeMyLemon

Rev. Gary Davis @ Amazon.com

Blind Boy Fuller Sonny Terry Pistol Slapper Blues

2009-11-21T01:02:00.000-08:00

"Pistol Slapper Blues" written by Blind Boy Fuller was recorded in New York City on April 05 1938 with Blind Boy Fuller doing the vocals and Sonny Terry on harmonica.

Charles Brown: Merry Christmas Baby

2009-11-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

Charles Brown singing "Merry Christmas Baby". Classic

Merry Christmas Baby: A Compilation @SqueezeMyLemon

Charles Brown & Bonnie Raitt Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Charles Brown – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - blues ♫

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Coco Montoya hot blues guitar

2009-11-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Coco Montoya (b. Henry Montoya, January 1, 1951 in Santa Monica, California) is a blues guitarist and former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - his career began in the mid-70s with Albert Collins as a drummer.

Some good staples on this album

The Essential Coco Montoya

The Essential Coco Montoya

John Hammond Mother in Law Blues

2009-11-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

John Hammond singing "Mother-in-law Blues".

John Hammond @Amazon.com

John Hammond @SqueezeMyLemon

Solomon Burke - None of Us are Free

2009-11-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Mr Cool

Amazon Store

Ma Rainey: Booze And Blues

2009-11-18T15:51:00.000-08:00

Ma Rainey singing "Booze And Blues"

Ma Rainey singing "See See Rider Blues" in 1925.

Ma Rainey Mp3s @Amazon.com

Notes from YouTube;

Recorded: New York , October 15 1924
'Ma' Rainey And Her Georgia Band
Ma Rainey (vcl), Howard Scott (cn), Charlie Green (tb), Don Redman (c), Fletcher Henderson (p), Kaiser Marshall (d)

Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 -- December 22, 1939), was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues. She did much to develop and popularize the form and was an important influence on younger blues women, such as Bessie Smith, and their careers.

Rainey was born in Columbus, Georgia. She first appeared on stage in Columbus in "A Bunch of Blackberries" at fourteen. She then joined a traveling vaudeville troupe, the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. After hearing a blues song at a theater in St. Louis, Missouri, sung by a local girl in 1902, she started performing in a blues style. She claimed at that time that she was the one who coined the name "blues" for the style that she specialized in.

In the one known interview she did, Rainey told the following story, In 1902 "a girl from town... came to the tent one morning and began to sing about the "man" who left her. The song was so strange and poignant that it attracted much attention,and Rainey learned the song fron the visitor, and used it soon afterwards in her "act"." Audiences reacted strongly to the song.

She married fellow vaudeville singer William "Pa" Rainey in 1904, billing herself from that point as "Ma" Rainey. The pair toured with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels as "Rainey & Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues", singing a mix of blues and popular songs. In 1912, she took the young Bessie Smith into the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, trained her, and worked with her until Smith left in 1915.

Also known, though less discussed, is the fact that she was bisexual. She was arrested in Chicago in 1925 for hosting an 'indecent party' with a room full of semi-naked women. Rainey celebrated the lesbian lifestyle in "Prove It On Me Blues", but hid behind a cross-dressing man-hating persona that was quite distinct from her regular public image:

In most of her songs, Ma projected herself as a passionate and often mistreated lover of men. In private, her preference was for young men. The poet Sterling Brown tells of approaching her as a fan with the musicologist John Work. She immediately propositioned them as she was having trouble with her young musicians. Brown wrote a moving poem about Ma Rainey and her huge popularity with Southern audiences.

Ma Rainey was already a veteran performer with decades of touring in African-American shows in the U.S. Southern States when she made her first recordings in 1923. Rainey signed with Paramount Records and, between 1923 and 1928, she recorded 100 songs, including the classics "C.C. Rider" (aka "See See Rider") and "Jelly Bean Blues", the humorous "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", and the deep blues "Bo Weavil Blues". In her career, Rainey was backed by such noted jazz musicians as cornet players Louis Armstrong and Tommy Ladnier, pianists Fletcher Henderson and Lovie Austin, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, and clarinetist Buster Bailey. Rainey recorded two vocal duets with Papa Charlie Jackson in 1928, which proved to be her last recordings; Paramount terminated her contract soon afterwards, claiming that her material had gone out of fashion.

Rainey's career dried up in the 1930s--as did the career of just about every other classic female blues singers of the previous decade. But her earnings were enough that she was able to retire from performing in 1933.

Ma Rainey @SqueezeMyLemon

Gospel? Blues? Jazz? - John Scofield

2009-11-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

What a pedigree this man has! Check out here

I wish I'd been here

A classic

Paradiso

Blind Boy Fuller Weeping Willow

2009-11-18T01:02:00.000-08:00

'Weeping Willow' BLIND BOY FULLER, Ragtime Blues Guitar Legend

Books about Blind Boy Fuller @ Amazon.com

Blind Boy Fuller mp3s @ Amazon.com

Blind Boy Fuller @SqueezeMyLemon

Cassandra Wilson: Jazz Grammy Winner

2009-11-17T23:27:00.000-08:00

Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy Award winner from Jackson, Mississippi. Two of her albums, Blue Skies (1988) and New Moon Daughter (1996), have topped the US jazz charts, and the latter also won her a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1997. More recently, Wilson’s latest album Loverly (2008) also won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album

I love this version of Neil Young's Harvest Moon including the couple of minutes orchestral at the beginning

and Fragile

John Hammond Slick Crown Vic

2009-11-17T01:02:00.001-08:00

Blues legend live at Little Brothers in Columbus, OH

John Hammond @SqueezeMyLemon

John Hammond @Amazon.com

Zydeco Party King

2009-11-16T15:01:00.000-08:00

Zydeco Party King is a reissue from an outfit called The Great American Music Company of some mid-sixties sides by Zydeco great Clifton Chenier. The sides were recorded originally for Crazy Cajun records. There are 15 songs, all of which are top rate. The instrumentation is sparce - bass, drums, piano and frattoir playing behind Chenier's primo accordion and vocals. Listeners used to later Chenier material featuring horns and even an organ may be a little surprised at the production.

When I listen to this CD I hear a master at work. This is going to get a lot of play around here. You can hear a sample here.

British Bluesman - Ian Siegal

2009-11-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia

Ian Siegal (born Ian Berry in 1971) is a British blues singer and guitarist, whose style reflects the more rootsy side of the genre, drawing on influences such as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Son House, Junior Kimbrough and Tom Waits.

Blues Book: Journeyman's Road

2009-11-16T01:02:00.000-08:00

click image for more info

Book Details

* Paperback: 208 pages
* Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press; 1 edition (December 1, 2007)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1572336250
* ISBN-13: 978-1572336254
* Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches

Back where we are going: Hokie Joint

2009-11-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

Rollin and Tumblin

2009-11-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

Here's R.L. Burnside

Captain Beefheart

Johnny Winter

Steve Freund

The Angel's Message To Me by Reverend Gary Davis

2009-11-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

Reverend Gary Davis doing his song Angel's Message

Rev. Gary Davis @ SqueezeMyLemon

Rev. Gary Davis @ Amazon.com

French Blues- Cadijo

2009-11-14T23:57:00.000-08:00

From Northwestblues.com

This release is somewhat of a pleasant surprise – caught live by Ken Peace in a Madrid club, Cadijo turns out to be a French harmonica player who delivers a lovely laid-back mix of Django Rheinhardt-flavoured ‘gypsy’ jazz and swing and rags, with sympathetic and unobtrusive support from Fred PG (guitar), Christophe Coletta (guitar), Greg Schultz (guitar) and the superb stand-up bass of Lionnel Garrigues.

His vocals, in both French and English, are again nice and laid-back – perfect for a nice sunny summer’s day – with his harmonica influences being on the jazz side, with a couple of Sonny Terry style instrumentals. The guitar players acquit themselves very well, although the sparse sleeve notes give little indication of who plays on which track or solo.

Again the spirit of Belgian swing/jazz master Django Rheinhardt dominates the guitar players – and very nice it is too – check out the swinging “Daphne” with both great harmonica and guitar; another stand-out is the country blues of “Louise” and the title cut, “Vagabond Blues”, complete with whistling intro and French vocal.

I would think this will be as hard to find as rocking-horse droppings, but check out the website at www.cadijo.com as a starting point – it is all really lovely and a change from over-loud electric guitars and 100w amps! Yet another name to add to the ever-growing list of impressive European bluesmen – check him out!

GRAHAME RHODES

FAQ: How do I get music to you for review

2009-11-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

How do I get my blues music to you for a review in your blog?

This question has been asked enough times that I will answer it here as a blog post to make it clear, and so that I can refer back to it as needed.

If you want to send me a CD (I prefer CDs) please mail it to;

Fitzgerald
Squeeze My Lemon Blues Blog
268 Middlebush Dr.
San Diego, CA 92114

Or you can send me a link where I can download some of your blues music for review please send the link in an email to fitzinator@gmail.com.

1. I love to review new music, but I am fairly slow at it. So please understand that it may take a while.

2. Because you send me CDs or links to your mp3s it does not mean that I will review it. Just want to make that clear, there is no quid pro quo.

3. I like a lot of different music, and I only write about music that I like. If I don't like your music I will probably not waste your or my time writing about it. That is just the way I am.

4. If I don't like your music, so what? There is no accounting for taste and I'm just one little guy blogging about the blues, so don't take it so hard.

Merry Christmas Baby: A Compliation

2009-11-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

I've always liked the Christmas song Merry Christmas Baby. The first version that I ever heard was the blues singer Charles Brown's version.

According to Wikipedia;

"Merry Christmas, Baby" is an R & B Christmas standard written by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore. It has been covered by many artists including Otis Redding, B.B. King and Chuck Berry. Perhaps the most notable cover of this song is performed by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band recorded live at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, and included on the Christmas album A Very Special Christmas, released in 1987.

Johnny Moore's Three Blazers was one of the hottest blues attractions on the West Coast when their recording of "Merry Christmas, Baby" reached position #3 on Billboard's R & B Juke Box chart during the Christmas of 1947. Guitarist Johnny Moore commandeered an impressive lineup of players for the recording session, including bassist Eddie Williams, guitarist Oscar Moore (then of the King Cole Trio), and singer/pianist Charles Brown[2]. A version of this song, recorded by Bonnie Raitt and Charles Brown, is included on the Christmas album "A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 2", released in 1992.

Please check out a few versions that I was able to find.

Hanson – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Elliott Yamin – Merry Christmas, Baby @ Blip.FM

Merry Christmas, Baby @ Amazon.com

Boney James – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - Vocal jazz

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Etta Jones – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - blues jazz ♫

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Dodie Stevens – Merry, Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - Vocal jazz ♫

Merry Christmas Baby b/w same @ Amazon.com

B.B. King – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - blues ♫

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Charles Brown – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - blues ♫

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Ramsey Lewis Trio – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - jazz piano ♫

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Russ Freeman – Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM - jazz instrumental ♫
Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Charles Brown & Bonnie Raitt Merry Christmas Baby @Blip.FM

Merry Christmas Baby @ Amazon.com

Wyclef Jean Stevie Wonder – Merry Christmas Baby - At the White House no doubt! #soul ♫