Killer Music

Jessi Teich with my favorite guitar player Ronnie Earl.

Come see Jessi 4/18 (12:30pm) at Sellersville Theater.

 Chris Cain's is a KILLER guitar player /vocalist. He has the voice of a young B.B. King (say no more) and a thick toned Gibson guitar sound reminiscent of Albert King. He plays sophisticated blues, funk, jazz, and gospel. As a child, Chris was taken by his parents to concerts by B.B. King, Ray Charles, Johnny Otis, Fats Domino, and Freddie King. He took up the guitar at 8 years old and was playing gigs at fifteen. Cain plays piano, bass guitar, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone. He studied jazz which is clearly one reason his playing is so interesting. It is true that many of the blues greats are gone but Chris Cain is here now and is a huge reason that blues still matters. http://youtu.be/acQsoKp5DCQ

The world just lost a great talent. Bobby sang gospel when he was a teenager. He served as a chauffeur for B.B. King and then started hanging out on Beale Street. In the 50s Bland matured into a masterful singer and assured entertainer. He developed a soulful blues delivery. While his voice was like velvet he also had a powerful growl that could blow you off your feet. By 1960 he developed a style that had the women throwing themselves at him. Just listen to “I’ll Take Care of You” and you’ll know why. He had hit after hit and was embraced by white audiences through his duets with B.B. King. I saw Bobby at the Philadelphia Blues Festival in the 70s with a fantastic big band that included the great Wayne Bennett on guitar. He was escorted on stage by his bodyguard (a clone of Mr. T with huge gold chains matched only by the size of his pectoral muscles). Mr. T had his hands full trying to escort a petite blond who ran to Bobby, got on her knees “dirty dancing”. You had to be there but take my word it was gut-busting hysterical.

 1. “That Did It” You may have heard this covered by The Tedeschi Trucks Band

 2. “ I’ll Take Care of You”

 http://youtu.be/UmUsPTp7p2o

Danny Gatton was a guitar virtuoso who played country, bluegrass, jazz, rock, rockabilly and blues. Guitar Player magazine called him “The Greatest Unknown Guitar Player”. He was nicknamed “The Humbler” and had a cult following at home in Washington, D.C. He dazzled audiences playing the Fender Telecaster and his beer bottle slide guitar technique. It was almost impossible to market him. He put out great albums but they just didn’t fit into any category.

 1. Check out Danny playing Jackie Gleason’s (to the moon Alice) Melancholy Serenade. 2. In case you never saw Danny’s beer bottle slide. 3. I just had to put Sleepwalk" too

 http://youtu.be/l7XLm_Vpwyg

 http://youtu.be/GQ2Q2D3G6Rs

Celebrating the life of Richie Havens

Richie Havens was known for his distinctive intense, rhythmic guitar style and soulful voice. He was from Brooklyn where he and his friends sang doo-wop on street corners. When he was 20 years old, he moved to Greenwich Village where he recited poetry and drew portraits. After listening to the folk music, he started playing guitar.

In 1967 he released a killer album “Mixed Bag.”  In 1968 “Something Else Again” made the Billboard charts. His reputation spread and his opening spot at Woodstock exposed him to an international audience. In 1970 “Stonehenge” did well on the charts. He was on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show.

Over the decades his music remained relevant. He toured and recorded for over 40 years. On stage, his gentle and compassionate nature came across to the audience. He had a wonderful presence.

There aren’t enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe Andy Bey who was John Coltrane’s favorite vocalist. He does things with his 4 octave voice that no one else can. Although he is a jazz musician he is not at all stuck in one genre. Andy is from Newark N.J. which is also the home of his idol Sarah Vaughn. He sang in public at the age of 8 and started his recording career at 13. At 17 years old “Andy and the Bey Sisters” toured Europe. In the 60s and 70s, Andy was featured by Max Roach, Gary Bartz and Horace Silver. Andy cut one KILLER solo album “Experience and Judgement.” Much of the subject matter was either too political or metaphysical for mainstream consumption.

For many years Andy was busy playing but there were no album releases. Finally in 1996, Andy was back with the gorgeous “Ballads, Blues and Bey” which had Andy alone and breathtaking. In 1998 came “Shades of Bey” and  in 2001“Tuesdays in Chinatown.” There are fantastic covers of Nick Drake, Sting and Milton Nascimento from Brazil (who will be the subject of a future blog). The 2004 the release “American Song” features songs from the American Songbook while the 2011 “Ain’t Necessarily So” is a live set from the 90s. The recently released “Chillin with Andy Bey” is a solo set from 2003. Everything Andy does is superb. If there was ever a class act, he is it.

 It’s been said that if you want to play the blues, you just need to know the 3 kings (Albert, Freddie and B.B.) Today we will take a look at Albert. Actually I was pleasantly surprised when Rolling Stone put him #13 on the list of greatest guitar players. Albert was born on a cotton plantation and as a child sang gospel in church. Early on he played drums. After hearing Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lonnie Johnson he took up guitar. His first was a home made cigar box guitar. The instrument he is known for playing is the Gibson Flying V that he named “Lucy.”

In the 50s he had a few minor hits but his first big hit in 1961was the killer “Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong.” In the 60s, King cut a number of killer sides including “Crosscut Saw, “As The Years Go Passing By” and “Born Under A Bad Side.” There was also a great live album “Live Wire/Blues Power.” King was great on stage and it comes through on this album.

He became nationally known and influenced so many including Clapton, Hendrix and later Stevie Ray Vaughn. King continued to play great blues throughout his life and his influence on the blues is monumental. Do check out covers of “Born Under A Bad Sign” by Cream and also by Hendrix. Be sure to listen to Albert and Stevie Ray on the album “In Session.”

Sam McClain was born Monroe, Louisiana in 1943. He’s been singing since he was 5 years old in his mother’s Gospel Church. He left home when he was thirteen. In the song “Keep on Movin” Sam writes “There was this man who didn’t like me too much, he hit me upside my head … I knew right then I wasn’t going for that so I hit the road instead.” That when Sam did his time on The Chitlin Circuit. His first hit record came in 1966 when he recorded Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams.” Sam was homeless for 15 years. The Neville Brothers had him open for them in Japan. That set featured the legendary guitarist Wayne Bennett. This was recorded and "Live in Japan" is available. By the early 1990's Sam networked his way to New England and appeared on "Hubert Sumlin Blues Party" project." Next came back to back KILLER blues, gospel drenched soul albums, “ Give It Up To Love" and "Keep On Movin." I’m talking killer soul like Bobby Blue Bland, Little Milton, Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. While driving in my car I first heard him cover “Al Green’s “I Feel Good.” Barely able to contain myself, I almost lost control of the steering wheel. He moved to New Hampshire and continued to put out KILLER stuff including "Sledgehammer Soul, DownHome Blues" "Journey" and "Joy and Pain”. There much more as Sam has continued to record through the decade. No, I did not say he is the greatest soul singer ever. Yes, I am saying he in that elite group. Please enjoy these videos! What you want me to do

You just can’t say enough about Marvin Gaye. As a singer-songwriter and producer his gifts were enormous. He was a pioneer of R&B music. Marvin developed an early love for music. He sang in his father’s church and learned to play piano and drums at a young age.

He sang in doo-wop groups before getting the attention of Berry Gordy with Motown. His first hit record was “Stubborn Kind of Fellow”. After a few hit records, he recorded duets with various female artists. The big success were with Tammi Terrell. Next came his  biggest hit to date “I Heard It Through the Gapevine”.

In 1971 came the groundbreaking “What’s Going On” which explored socially relevant themes. The very sensual “Let’s Get It On” followed. Both were huge artistic and commercial successes.  Marvin continued to explore with the sexually charged  “ I Want You” and “Hear My Dear” (the story of Marvin’s failed marriage to Berry Gordy’s sister).

His personal challenges were great as his second marriage failed and his drug addictions deepened. He continued to create wonderful music until tragically he was shot and killed by his own father.

      David Bromberg is a multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, dobro and guitar) who plays bluegrass, blues, jazz, country and western and rock and roll. His lyrics and approach are sometimes side-splitting funny and yet he has also has a sweet sentimental side. He studied with the great Reverend Gary Davis and around 1970 introduced me to this style of playing. Whether acoustic or electric, hearing Bromberg play live (my favorite is with his big band) is always a great treat. David got tired of the road and opened a violin shop. In 2007 he released his first studio album in 17 years. Thankfully he has also been doing live performances. If you get a chance to see him, you won’t regret it.

This first video is a relatively new song that I found extremely touching.

Ronnie Earl was in college when he saw Muddy Waters perform. This experience prompted him to seriously study the guitar. He played with Roomful of Blues, a high energy band with a kickin’ horn section before branching out to a solo career. His early albums were based on the Chicago style of blues. You can hear the influences of Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Freddie King, T Bone Walker, Carlos Santana and Kenny Burrell. Then something wonderful happened. Ronnie  found his own unique gorgeous voice. He sings through the Stratocaster so beautifully there is no need for a vocalist. Due to heath reasons Ronnie had scaled back his live performances. Fortunately his health has improved and he has been doing more live shows. I highly recommend seeing him. I hope you enjoy hearing:

1.     Ronnie calling my daughter Jessi Teich to the stage

2.     Ronnie’s recent KILLER version of his song "Miracle" that I was fortunate to hear live recently at BB King’s in NYC

     Taj Mahal was brought up in a musical family and exposed to world music at a young age. He plays piano, guitar, clarinet, trombone and harmonica. His major influences include blues, Caribbean styles, bluegrass and the music of Hawaii.  He seems to have an insatiable appetite as far as music styles go. Because of this his music catalog is very diverse.

His first group was the Rising Suns with Ry Cooder in 1964. Being an interracial group at the time, they had little chance of success. He played with most of the great blues musicians in the 60s. Taj’s approach of blues music makes a good argument that blues is not at all sad music.