Bman's Blues Report

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Bobby Keys, a saxophonist and lifelong rock 'n' roller who played on recordings by Buddy Holly and John Lennon and performed one of the all-time blowout solos on the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar," has died at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 70 years old. Michael Webb, who played keyboard with Keys, said Keys died Tuesday after a lengthy illness. Keys had been on tour with the Stones earlier this year before his health prevented him from performing. "The Rolling Stones are devastated by the loss of their very dear friend and legendary saxophone player, Bobby Keys," the band said in a statement. "Bobby made a unique musical contribution to the band since the 1960s. He will be greatly missed." Known for his heavy jowls and raw, raucous style, the Lubbock, Texas, native was born on the same day as Keith Richards — Dec. 18, 1943 — and the Stones guitarist would often cite Keys as a soul ma...

I have been informed that Andy Johns has passed. My thoughts are with his family and friends. I will provide more information as it becomes available. Andy Johns (January 1, 1952 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer, who worked on well-known rock albums such as Led Zeppelin's IV and The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. His sound is exemplified by Free's album Highway, which he engineered and produced. Johns, the younger brother of Olympic Studios engineer Glyn Johns, attended The King's School, Gloucester, England in the mid to late 1960s. Before his nineteenth birthday, he was working as Eddie Kramer's second engineer on recordings by Jimi Hendrix and many others. In a career spanning more than thirty years, he engineered or produced records by artists ranging from Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones to Van Halen and Rod Stewart, whose sales total in excess of 160 million copies. Johns was the father of Hurt's former drumm...

Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969), was an English musician and a founder member of The Rolling Stones. Jones' main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other musical instruments and was a talented multi-instrumentalist. His innovative use of traditional or folk instruments, such as the sitar and marimba, was integral to the changing sound of the band. Originally the leader of the group, Jones' fellow bandmembers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards soon overshadowed him; especially after they became a successful songwriting team. He developed a serious drug abuse problem over the years and his role in the band steadily diminished. He was asked to leave the Rolling Stones in June 1969 and guitarist Mick Taylor took his place in the group. Jones died less than a month later by drowning in the swimming pool at his home on Cotchford Farm in East Sussex. Original Stones bassist Bill Wyman stated about Jones: "...he fo...

Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts (born 2 June 1941) is an English drummer, best known as a member of The Rolling Stones. He is also the leader of a jazz band, a record producer, commercial artist, and horse breeder. Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts was born to Charles Watts, a lorry driver for a precursor of British Rail and his wife Lilian (née Eaves) at University College Hospital, London, and raised (along with his sister Linda) in Islington and then Kingsbury. He attended Tylers Croft Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1956; as a schoolboy, he displayed a talent for art, cricket and football. Watts' parents gave him his first drum kit in 1955; he was interested in jazz, and would practice drumming along with jazz records he collected. After completing secondary school, he enrolled at Harrow Art School (now the University of Westminster), which he attended until 1960. After leaving school, Watts worked as a graphic designer for an advertising company called Cha...

Former Rolling Stones guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mick Taylor will make a rare New York City appearance for a week of shows at Iridium from May 9 to 14. The final night, May 14, will mark the launch of "Guitar World & The Iridium Present," a new monthly series highlighting the world's best guitarists performing with The Les Paul Trio. Tickets are on sale today, with an exclusive pre-sale available to fans of Iridium on Facebook. Taylor, ranked No. 37 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time, was in The Rolling Stones from 1969 to 1974 and appears on the classic Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. albums. He came to the band as a 20-year-old, following several years with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. After his time with the Stones, he went on to perform with everyone from Bob Dylan to Percy Sledge, even rejoining The Bluesbreakers for a tour in the early '80s. At the Iridium, Taylor will perform with an a...

Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969), known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones. Original member Bill Wyman stated about Jones: "...he formed the band. He chose the members. He named the band. He chose the music we played. He got us gigs ... Very influential, very important, and then slowly lost it - highly intelligent - and just kind of wasted it and blew it all away." His main instruments were the guitar and the harmonica, but he played a wide variety of other musical instruments and was a talented multi-instrumentalist. His innovative use of traditional or folk instruments, such as the sitar and marimba, was integral to the changing sound of the band. He was originally the leader of the group, but Mick Jagger and Keith Richards soon overshadowed him, especially after they became a successful songwriting team. Jones developed a serious drug abuse problem over the years and his role in the band steadily di...

This is great old footage of the Stones doing a Slim Harpo song. Everyone knows the Stones and everyone knows that the Stones loved the blues...since I got no film of Slim Harpo... Slim Harpo (January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues musician. He was known as a master of the blues harmonica; the name "Slim Harpo" was derived from "harp," the popular nickname for the harmonica in blues circles. Named Slim Harpo by producer J.D. "Jay" Miller, he started his own recording career in 1957. His solo debut was the Grammy Hall of Fame single "I'm a King Bee" backed with "I Got Love If You Want It." Harpo recorded under A&R man J.D. "Jay" Miller, in Crowley, Louisiana for Excello Records based in Nashville, Tennessee, and enjoyed a string of popular R&B singles, including Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee "Rainin' In My Heart" (1961) and the number one Billboard R&B hit "Baby Scr...

A modern version of an old Fred McDowell tune. The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones (guitars, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica) and Keith Richards (guitars). Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early lineup. The Rolling Stones raised the international regard for the primitive blues typified by Chess Records' artists such as Muddy Waters, who wrote the song after which the band is named, Rollin' Stone. American R&B and blues cover songs dominated the Rolling Stones' early material, but their repertoire has always included rock and roll. The Rolling Stones have endured and stayed relevant, said critic and musicologist Robert Palmer, by remaining "rooted in traditional verities, in rhythm-and-blues and soul music", while "more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone". Jones initially led the band, but after teaming as songwriters, Jagger and Ri...

No introduction needed...the Rolling Stones!! Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Heart of Stone" was scheduled as a single release in the United States. In the United Kingdom it appeared as a track on the UK album Out of Our Heads and on an EP with a subsequent single. Richie Unterberger says, "'Heart of Stone' a slow and soulful, dramatic ballad with the kind of vaguely discordant, droning guitars heard on many an early Rolling Stones slow number. What was impressive was how the Jagger/Richards song, though similar in some respect to American soul ballads of the period...was not explicitly derivative of any one blues or soul song that they were covering on their mid-60s records. The lilt of the verses owed something to country music and the mournful harmonies heard on the latter part of the verses added to the overall feeling of melancholy moodiness. Get Facebook support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE "

One of my favorite Stones songs. Get Facebook support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE Enjoy

The Rolling Stones was one of the first popular bands to pick up on the blues. He's a 1964 cut of Willie Dixons song for comparison. Get Facebook support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE