Message Board Archive: Thread Number 70

Greetings browsers of the board...
Here's a threadbare topic for a thread - what's been in your CD
player/cassette deck/8-track of late? Try and keep it in the acoustic
blues arena (for lack of a better term to describe a woefully
underappreciated art form).
Here's what's been in & out of mine recently:
1. The Complete Early Recordings of Rev. Blind Gary Davis
2. The Complete Recordings of Blind Lemon Jefferson, vol. 2
3. The Complete Recordings of Charley Patton, vol. 1
4. Washington Phillips - I am Born to Preach the Gospel
5. Ramblin' Thomas & the Dallas Blues Singers
6. Clifford Gibson - Beat You Doing It
Yikes!! They're all dead!! The music sounds pretty alive, though... :)
C'mon, now... What're ya listening to?
Frank

Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 10:53:02 -0500 (EST)
From: Owner-HyperNews@ComCAT.COM (Tom)
Subject: flavor of choice
Message Number: 70.1

Flavor of choice? -- In the words of Barbque Bob, "chocolate to the
bone!"

My approach to what I listen to may be a little different than most. I
create a "mix" tape of the songs that I have learned, or want to learn,
on guitar. I play that tape during my drive time. The tape includes:

Blind Willie McTell -- Broke Down Engine ** William Brown -- Mississippi
Blues** Blind Blake -- That'll Never Happen No More** Thomas Dorsey/Ari
Eisinger -- If You See My Savior** Blind Lemon Jefferson -- Black
Horse/He Arose/Piney Woods, Money Mama** Blind Boy Fuller -- Weepin'
Willow** Robert Johnson -- Love In Vain** Blind Willie Johnson --
Titanic** Blind Rev. Gary Davis -- I Am the Light of this World/I Saw
the Light** ...among others.

Yikes! they're all blind (almost). Thanks to Document Records, many
formerly obscure, hard-to-find titles are being released, which has
greatly expanded my listening domain in the past few years.

Hey Ari, How come I can't make a list with a common left margin? You
mean my typing skills are as remedial as my guitar playing? ; )

Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 18:02:35 -0500 (EST)
From: zeppa@earthlink.net (Frank Basile)
Subject: Feedback: Message formats n' stuff
Message Number: 70.1.1

Tom queried:
> How come I can't make a list with a common left margin?
Try the second format option (Word Processor) when you're adding to the
board. Works just fine...
Frank

Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 21:04:15 -0500 (EST)
From: ari@secondmind.com (Ari Eisinger)
Subject: Feedback: Text formatting
Message Number: 70.1.2

You can't use tabs because the tab key takes you out of the "Enter your
message here" section. However, if you use the same number of leading
spaces on every line with the default "Smart Text" option, you can get
the same effect:

     I
     put
     five
     leading
     spaces
     on
     each
     line.

Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 11:41:55 -0500 (EST)
From: rob@hub.org (Rob Hutten)
Subject: More: My current listening
Message Number: 70.2

Here's what I've been listening to lately:

  * John Hurt - all his recordings. He's been high on my list of
    favourites for years, but the last month or two... I just can't get
    enough.
  * Charlie Patton: King Of The Delta Blues (Yazoo)
  * Furry Lewis: Fourth and Beale (1969 at-home recording on the Lucky 7
    label)
  * Ishmon Bracey (complete recordings on Document) - He's another
    can't-get-enough artist for me. Shame about the horrible sound
    quality of these recordings, but in my book songs like Suitcase Full
    Of Blues and Trouble Hearted Blues are as good as it gets.

-Rob

Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 21:02:25 -0500 (EST)
From: zeppa@earthlink.net (Frank Basile)
Subject: Ok: Re: What's been the flavor of choice lately?
Message Number: 70.3

My god! He's replying to his own post! What unmitigated gall...
Fear not... I reply only to add no. 7, which I inadvertently omitted
from my original post:
7. The Greatest Songsters - A Document compilation of the
    complete recorded works of Rabbit Brown, Mississippi John
    Hurt and (one of my faves) Hambone Willie Newbern...
Frank (sings as he punches the enter key ...way down in Arkansas...)
but I'm really from New Jersey...

Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 01:02:20 -0500 (EST)
From: john.i@mediaone.net (John Irving)
Subject: More: re:"What's been the flavor of choice lately?"
Message Number: 70.4

Blues based lifeforms: My latest favorites in the cd player, half of
which are borrowed from the local library...(these cd thing-a-ma-jigs
get expensive)

     Lightnin' Hopkins/Mojo Hand-LH Anthology
     Larry Johnson/Fast & Funky  (my copy)
     Skip James/Today!
     Elmore James/The Sky is Crying
     Mississippi Sheiks/Stop and Listen (my copy) 
     Sleepy John Estes/Vol.2(37-41) (my copy)

---John Irving

Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 07:37:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: jvtdc@electro-net.com (Doc_John)
Subject: about Larry Johnson.....
Message Number: 70.4.1

Is this the same fellow who did an album with John Hammond Jr. Many
years ago (70's or early 80's?). I have that album and thought he showed
promise but then never heard about him again. I visited your LJ sight
the other night briefly. Will go there again as time allows. Sounds like
I need to pick up his new CD. By the way, the library is also one of my
favorite places to check out CD's that I don't necessarily want to
purchase.

See you on the message boards,

regards, John

Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 07:34:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: abalfour@dial.pipex.com (Alan Balfour)
Subject: Feedback: If it's the Larry Johnson I'm thinking of....
Message Number: 70.4.1.1

He was born in Atlanta, Ga, 15 May 1938, a harmonicist/ guitarist and a
Gary Davis protege. First recorded in 1965 for Presitge-Bluesville, cut
a few sessions for Bobby Robinson in New York between 1968/70, recorded
for Nick Pearls's Blue Goose label in 1970 as well as Victoria Spivey
and L&R Records in the 70s/80s which included a couple of nice sessions
with harmonica player Nat Riddles in 80s.

But there again it may be a totally different Larry Johnson so all this
is meaningless!

Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 13:46:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: john.i@mediaone.net
Subject: More: re:"If it's the Larry Johnson I'm thinking of...."
Message Number: 70.4.1.1.1

Hi,

It's the same guy. He's kind of on the comeback trail. If you want more
info you can visit the webpage I did for him at:
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/john.i/Larrysite.html

Click on the Tour Info page if you want to see his schedule for 1998,
and let me know if you have any comments or suggestions for the site.

I saw him twice in February at the House of Blues in Cambridge, MA and
he was amazing. I'm told by longtime fans that he's in the finest voice
of his career(he quit smoking in 1996), and his guitar playing is really
great. I was able to talk to him after the show for a short while, and
he's just a no-nonsense guy incredibly focused and dedicated to that
pre-war acoustic blues style.

If you get a chance, the Baltimore Blues Society also has a webpage
devoted to him at http://www.mojoworkin.com/larry.html which includes
RealAudio clips.

He's got this great semi-autobiographical tune called "MY Game Blues,"
track 13 on his CD Fast&Funky, that is just awesome. BTW, that CD has
been referred to as the greatest acoustic blues record made after 1930.

I guess you can tell that I'm a big fan, huh?

Take care,

John

Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 20:51:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: jvtdc@electro-net.com (DocJohn)
Subject: my current play list...
Message Number: 70.5

I also check stuff out from the library...a good way to see if a certain
disc is worth it...plus I love to pick out things I've never heard of
without laying out the bucks...anyway I discovered a current player
named "Preacher Boy" kind of a blues reviver for the lolapalooza
set...pretty interesting take on some old songs and styles.

also - Kokomo Arnold, one of my favorites; Black ace has been in or near
the turntable since the late 70's; a woody mann book of transcripotions
(does that count?); recently ordered a Charly Patton collection.

I haven't visited here much lately, it's awfully good to see more
posters!!!! Keep in touch fellow blues hounds

Regards, DocJohn

Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 14:33:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Owner-HyperNews@ComCAT.COM (Tom)
Subject: what library
Message Number: 70.5.1

Which library do you frequent that you can find Preacher Boy and other
blues players? My local library has lots of books that when you open
them you start to sneeze!

Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 07:28:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Owner-HyperNews@ComCAT.COM (dobro)
Subject: LOL, they can be pretty pathetic....
Message Number: 70.5.1.1

but our county lib. system in Tallahassee, Fla has a great multimesia
department with lots of video tapes and a huge CD collection. My wife
does most of the lib. visiting and brings me 6 new CD's every two weeks.
Many of them are things she just glances at then throws on her stack for
me. So some a winners and some are weeners. But it's fun to explore.
Actually, I think the exploration is the most fun thing about music in
general and blues specifically. Good luck.

regards,

John

Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 22:58:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: hclewman@mindspring.com (Harry Lewman)
Subject: CD's in heavy rotation at my house
Message Number: 70.6

A chance to plug some of my favorite acoustic blues CD's, allright!

I just got Alvin Youngblood Hart's latest on Rykodisc called
"Territory". Although it is not all acoustic blues, I am knocked out by
it.

Roy Bookbinder's latest CD Polk City Ramble has one of the most fun
songs written in the last few years entitled "Ballad of Amazing Grace
and Sideshow Dan"

Steve James CD on Antone's label called Art and Grit is good, but not
much solo acoustic blues.

For those of you who record acoustic music, I highly recommend A Meeting
by the River on the Water Lily Acoustics label. It features Ry Cooder
and V. M Bhatt. The recording technique used shows that dynamic
compression does not need to be employed for acoustic recordings, and
often can be just the type of technique to squeeze the life out of them.

Oh yes, I do listen to Barbecue Bob, Willie McTell and just got into
Blind Blake. How people can play like he did is just amazing.