Confessing The Blues » eMusic

Confessing The Blues #10

admin — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:09:09 +0000

00:13 Welcome to Episode #010 of Confessing the Blues!

02:40 Tribute to Lena Horne

With the recent passing of this amazing performer, we decide to point out a few of her more noteworthy songs and give a few notes on her incredible life.

“I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But the Blues” off The Young Star (Bluebird’s Best), available on eMusic.
“Hesitating Blues” on A Fine Romance and available on eMusic.
“St. Louis Blues” and “Stormy Weather,” both on Stormy Weather on eMusic.

11:56 New Music

“New Orleans Bump’” by Jellyroll Morton, collected on the Doctor Jazz Properbox which is available on Amazon.
“Lost a Good Woman” from Johnny Shines on Back to the Country, found on eMusic and Amazon.
“Standing at the Crossroads” by James “Son” Thomas on Hard Times, on eMusic and Amazon.
“Goin’ Down Slow” done by Cousin Joe off of Bad Luck Blues from eMusic and Amazon. His autobiography is available on Amazon.
The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn were awesome enough to let us play a full track off their album Good Night Harry! We chose to play “Let It Roll,” which you can go buy from them on cdBaby.

37:30 Blues Shout! The Post-Mortem

We discuss several of the points of how we feel about the event, and wanted to discuss the particulars of the two bands that played over the weekend.

Omar and the Howlers were the Friday band, their website is here.
“Dream Girl” is off of their latest album Big Town Playboy, available on their website or on eMusic.
The Asylum Street Spankers played Saturday, their site is here.
“Got My Mojo Workin’” is off of their album Mercurial, available on their website or on eMusic.

We also have a few picks from the instructors at Shout!

Nelle Hatley chose “Further On Down the Road” by the Crazidays, you can hear more of them on MySpace.
Heidi Fite went with “I Pity the Fool” from Bobby Blue Bland off of Two Steps From the Blues, found on Amazon.
Roy Rydbeck offers up “Rain” by Charlie Baty; the song is available on the Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection, available on Amazon. The credit on the track is Rick Estrin; it’s the same song, Charlie formerly played with Estrin in the band they’d formed, Little Charlie and the Nightcats.

60:15 Competitions and Performances: Relevance?

We discuss the ways that competitions and performances are pertinent to the music you hear at dances, and how important it is that we pay attention to what people do with these events. One of the primary points we discussed over Shout was the music used for the competitions, and we discuss how we differentiate between them and offer some examples.

“The Mooche” by Sidney Bechet on Vive La France on eMusic (seems like a nice set).
“I Want to Talk About You” as done by John Lee Hooker on That’s My Story, available on eMusic and Amazon.
“Slow Down” by Louis Jordan on The Complete 1950-1952 Decca Recordings, which you can find on Amazon (ouch!).

90:36 Feedback

Doug Sutton comments on how we’re helping give him more to think about and play in his sets as a new DJ. Thanks, Doug!
Damon Stone is back again, this time wanting to mention Down Home Blues coming up this summer. Check out the website for details.

94:10 Thanks!

( – Just a reminder, instead of playing the show from the website, click the Download link and save it to your computer or MP3 player/iPod to listen to later, OR subscribe to the show via iTunes or using our RSS feed on the front page – )

Confessing The Blues #07

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:33:42 +0000

00:13 Welcome to Episode #007 of Confessing the Blues!

01:38 Upcoming Events

Mile High Blues is March 26-28 in Denver, CO! Twitter feed still right here.
BluesSHOUT is LOOMING OVER YOU, stomping into Austin April 16-18 2010! *queue Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla”*
Ottawa Blues Blast erupts into Canada April 23-25!

03:24 New Music To Check Out

“Hesitation Blues” off of James P. Johnson’s Classic Piano Blues on eMusic.
“Nickel’s Worth of Liver” done by Edith North Johnson and Henry Brown on the Classic Blues collection on eMusic.
“Every Night About This Time” from Magic Sam on The Essential Magic Sam: The Cobra and Chief Recordings 1957-1961, as available on eMusic.
“Lonesome Blues” by Nathan James & Ben Hernandez, released on Make a Change Sometime, available on eMusic and cdbaby.
“I Got a Woman” as done by Marvin & Turner Foddrell on Classic Appalachian Blues on eMusic.
If you really, really must…”Night Time is the Right Time” by Elvin Bishop on eMusic.

20:48 The Grammy Recap

The Grammies happened. And there were winners. These are the two winning albums and a track from each of them.

Best Traditional Blues Album: Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, A Stranger Here, available on eMusic and Amazon. Our preferred track this week is “Grinnin’ In Your Face.”
Best Contemporary Blues Album: The Derek Trucks Band, Already Free, available on Amazon. Check out “Down Don’t Bother Me” off of this.

27:53 Jelly Roll? Something Sweet for Valentine’s Day

“Jelly Jelly” by Lowell Fulson off of Classic Cuts 1946-53, available on eMusic .
“Jelly Roll Baker” done by Frankie Lee Sims Masterly Texas Blues and released on eMusic .
“I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None of This Jelly Roll,” version done by Lizzy Miles with Sharkey & His Kings of Dixieland on Jazzin’ the Blues 1943-1952, found on eMusic.
“Jelly Roll Blues” from Louis Armstrong’s Butter and Eggman available on eMusic.

41:49 Work Songs

All of the samples for this section were taken off of Field Recordings vol. 6, recorded by Neil and Alan Lomax in prisons across Texas. It’s available on eMusic.

61:54 Feedback

Wendel Ramsey offers up some positive feedback; check out his work here.
Kristin Buxton has questions about instrumental blues. Check back with us next month, Kristin…
Kate Bramley-Moore emailed from Sweden wanting to let us know about a workshop coming up there, with info on the event available here. The website is entirely in Swedish; Google will turn that into something almost, but not quite, entirely unlike comprehensible English. Please help us learn how to be more cruel DJs.

67:40 Thanks!

68:36 What the…

Confessing The Blues #06

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:09:32 +0000

00:08 Welcome to episode #006 of Confessing the Blues!

01:21 Upcoming Events

Enter the Blues DIY Blues Workshop gives you control of your fate in Atlanta Feb. 19-21.
Sweet Molasses Blues rolls through Boston Feb. 26-28!
Steel City Blues puts you to the forge March 5-7 in Pittsburgh
Blues Before Sunrise comes to Melbourne, Austraila in March 5-7
Mile High Blues is next on the road March 26-28 in Denver, CO! Twitter feed still right here.
BluesSHOUT is IMPENDING, smashing into Austin April 16-18 2010! *queue most any music from a Michael Bay movie”*

02:31 New Music To Check Out

“Red House” by the great Jimi Hendrix on Blues, a recent addition to eMusic.
“Times Won’t Be Hard Always” from George Smith off of Now You Can Talk About Me, eMusic-available.
“Steamroller Blues” as done by Elvis Presley on Elvis 75, on eMusic.
“Blues for Gamblers” by Big Joe Williams (not that one, the other one), from Have Mercy! which is, as usual, on eMusic.
“With My Maker I Am One,” a new release from Eric Bibb from his album Booker’s Guitar from eMusic.

21:30 New Additions to eMusic: Warner Music Group

This isn’t your normal addition to an already huge library of music. Warner Music Group includes a wide selection of music that wasn’t previously available to eMusic users, and we can offer a couple of examples why you should take note.

“Night Time is the Right Time” by Aretha Franklin from the album The Delta Meets Detroit: Aretha’s Blues.
“Mr. Charles Blues” is from Ray Charles’s The Genius Sings the Blues.

27:53 Blues That Ain’t: Songs That Aren’t Blues That People Keep Playing

“Glory Box” by Portishead? Why not try out a little Ike & Tina Turner, doing “I Smell Trouble” from The Soul Anthology on eMusic?
Feel like playing “Sweat” by Popa Chubby? The kids’ll just love to hear “I Just Want to Make Love to You” by Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon off of At the Village Gate With Pete Seeger. Can be found on eMusic and Amazon.
Does playing “Fire” by Babyface and Desiree’ get you down? Try putting Howlin’ Wolf’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” out there off of The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions, available on Amazon. The Wiki for this album can be found here.
If playing “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5 makes you blue, try some actual blues! “Fine and Mellow” by Ella Fitzgerald, on Bluella: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Blues. Get it on eMusic or Amazon.

63:39 Feedback

Carter Halloran from London recommends Kenny Neal’s “Going to the Country” off of Bayou Blood, available on eMusic and Amazon.
Stokie writes back in wanting our listeners to hear The Hottest Aussie Blues and Roots, available on eMusic or Amazon. We liked “Much Too Much” by Diamond Dave and the Doodaddies and “Little Journey” by Juzzie Smith.