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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!
Please email me at Info@Bmansbluesreport.com
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
J & R Adventures artist: Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards The Daylight - New Release Review and Free Download
Well, Joe's done it again! Joe Bonamassa has a new release, Driving Toward The Daylight, coming out on May 22 and it is really consistently good. Although I have enjoyed Bonamassa's work since I first heard it, many of the releases has really strong tracks mixed with a few lesser tracks which were carried by the strength of his mastery of the guitar. This release,with only 4 original tracks is very consistent with the addition of Aerosmith's Brad Whitford on guitar, Blondie Chapman on guitar, Anton Fig on drums and percussion, Arlan Schierbaum on keys, Michael Rhodes on bass Carmine Rojas on bass, Jeff Bova and the Bova Brass, Pat Thrall on guitar and Whitford's son Harrison on guitar. This album has a more 60/70's rock/blues/r&b sound due to each players influence... but it's still Joe. The cd opens with Dislocated Boy, a blues rocker with a cool back beat. This song is constructed more along the lines of classic rock design (Lez Zep) where it's a great tune but you never lose track that's it's really about the guitar with a few blistering guitar solos. Next up is Robert Johnson's Stones In My Passway which is given given an update which sound quite modern but follows the footsteps laid by the British blues rockers of the earlier days. I really like it. The composition shows it's definite roots in the early blues and only tipping of the hat to the sons who brought the fathers of the blues to light... with a fresh approach. The title track, Driving Toward Daylight, is a ballad crafted to fit into airplay formatting again with a strong guitar interlude. Howlin' Wolf's Who's Been Talking? is well done with shimmery Peter Green like chords. It's delivered in a Wolf no messing around style and has a solo that compliments the track very well. Destined to be a crowd pleaser, Willie Dixon's I Got All You Need takes the format of a number of Bonamassa tracks from the past with the contemporary swing. A Place In My Heart written by Bernie Marsden, is a soul style blues track with a "singing guitar" solo like you might expect from Steve Hunter, Ronnie Montrose or David Gilmore but it's Joe behind the wheel and he has his own sound ....very nice. Bonamassa interprets Bill Withers' Lonely Town Lonely Street in a very cool fashion with alternating shredding and ripping guitar solos trading with the drums over a strong driving rhythm. Bonamassa's Heavenly Soul has clues to an old country western song by Stan Jones but done by over 50 artists through the years. Tom Wait's New Coat Of Paint is transformed into one of Bonamassa's great guitar showcase songs with some really cool guitar riffs played under the music as well as the strong lead guitar component. Certainly one of the strongest tunes on the recording. Bonamassa's Somewhere Trouble Don't Go turns on a straight up blues rock style track. There are some really nice guitar riffs on this track that may get past you if you're only looking for the extended solos. Slide work is nice and clean with some chicken pickin added in. Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes sings lead vocals on this last track, Too Much Ain't Enough, a 1987 hit by Barnes. This gets back to the R&B sound. Barnes has a great voice and gives Bonamassa a solid vehicle to play his guitar at will. Overall this may be Bonamassa's best complete release to date. I can't say that there is any one song that carry's the load like in previous releases as much as the cd is well balanced and enjoyable.
Get your FREE Download of Joe Bonamassa's single
"Slow Train"
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Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Back From The Edge - New Release from Mark Anderson
SoCal Singer-Songwriter Mark Anderson Releases Back From The Edge
(Los Angeles, Calif) - Mark Anderson began his career at the age of 17, singing in the night clubs of his home town Dayton, Ohio. Opening for many national acts including The Stray Cats, Steppenwolf, Jeff Healey, The Producers, and BadFinger to name a few. After winning a local radio contest at WTUE-FM, Mark had a regional hit with "Marginal Man" and toured extensively through out the MidWest and South before moving to Los Angeles.
Once in Los Angeles Mark met producer/trumpet player Gary Grant. Grant produced Anderson's first CD "No Easy Way Out". for independent label KMA Records. Mark gained a large following with his songs "Hey Mister,", "So Hard to Find" and "Torn Flag'" In 2002 Mark stopped touring but continued to write and record. In 2010, he joined forces with producer/guitarist Bob Boykin to record his new CD "Back From The Edge." They assembled a team of top musicians from Los Angeles and Nashville, among them Mark Jordan, Joel Taylor, Jimmy Z, Lee Thornburg, Bernie Dresel, Tom Walsh, Bob Birch, Johnny Griparic, Jimmy Earl, Christina Vierra, and Randy Crenshaw. Anderson's musical influences include Howlin' Wolf, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Tom Waits, The Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Ramones, and many more.
The media has taken notice of Mark Anderson and Back From The Edge. "From big band blues like w/ "Cat House Blues" to the hot rocker "The Truth Is," I like the lyrical writing on this well produced album," writes reviewer Scott Thomas in Guitarz Forever. "Mark has a way with words that he weaves within his music to create blanket of solidarity within each song... I highly recommend this CD for those who were top 40 listeners of the late 70's. I know these songs will give you sweet memories of yesteryear and good vibes of today," concludes Thomas. Rockwired Radio's Brian Lush opined, "singer/songwriter Mark Anderson is just the sort of troubadour that we need right now...in a world that seems to be collapsing before our eyes, Anderson's message of remaining true to one's self is one that can be heard loud and clear on Back From The Edge." David Mobley, host of Songwriters Webcast, had this to say: "It is rare indeed to have a solo artist of this caliber wondering the haloed halls of the underground music scene searching for an ever greater offering than he has already created to this point. One listen and you will find yourself lost in the labyrinth of all things possible."
"I started singing at the age of four in the church behind my parent's house," recalls Anderson in a recent interview. "My first band was called the Electric Chords, which I played with in front of my whole school in seventh grade. "I won my high school talent contest," Anderson continues, singing "Takin' Care of Business" (by Bachman Turner Overdrive). I then entered a radio contest at WTUE-FM in Dayton, Ohio and won the top spot on a compilation album of the best local artists." Regarding his influences, Anderson cites trumpeter Gary Grant (who worked with the late Michael Jackson) and David Haley, Anderson's first songwriting partner and band mate in the Beat Boys. As for his influences? "Whatever inspires the most in this world I'm traveling through. Heart breakers and soul shakers." Asked whether he prefers the studio or playing live, Mark replies "playing live, because of the energy of the crowd." Where does he hope to be five years from now in his career? "Working, working, working" was his reply.
Catch a live performance and interview by Mark Anderson on Actors E Chat Thursday, August 18 (www.actorsentertainment.com to watch live) at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Anderson will also be the Spotlight Artist on American Veterans Radio the week of September 18.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Mississippi Heat
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Jimmy Byron - Transition - New release review
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Monday, June 18, 2012
Nadine - Buddy Reed
Monday, April 29, 2013
I ain't Drunk - Alex Jenkins & The Bombers
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, - ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Hideaway - Left Hand Frank Craig
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Hideaway / Linda Lu - Left Hand Frank
Southpaw guitarist Frank Craig died January 14, 1987) andlike many of his peers, he played an axe strung for a right-hander, strapping it on upside down, never really transcended his reputation as a trusty sideman instead of a leader -- and that was just fine with him. But he stepped into the spotlight long enough to sing four fine tunes for Alligator's Living Chicago Blues anthologies in 1978.
Craig was already conversant with the guitar when he moved to Chicago at age 14. Too young to play inside the Club Zanzibar (where Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Wolf held forth), Frank and his teenaged pals, guitarist Eddie King and bassist Willie Black, played outside the joint for tips instead. Legit gigs with harpist Willie Cobbs, guitarist James Scott, Jr., Jimmy Dawkins, Junior Wells, Good Rockin' Charles, Jimmy Rogers, and Hound Dog Taylor kept Frank increasingly active on the Chicago circuit from the mid-'50s to the late '70s. He moved to Los Angeles not too long after the Alligator session, eventually hanging up his guitar altogether due to health problems
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There's a video but I can't show : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGs3B-81uCQ
Monday, December 3, 2018
Blues Legend Jody Williams: February 3, 1935 -- December 1, 2018
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photo by Dan Machnik
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Funeral arrangements are as follows:
Leak & Sons Funeral Home, 7838 S. Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago, IL
Friday, March 2, 2012
Stormy Monday - Lefty Bates
Leroy Clyde Bates
Born: May 7 , 1924
Died: March 2, 1991
Leroy was a session bass player for Chess and Vee Jay records in Chicago. He worked for many of the great Blues players of the day.
Biography
Leroy Clyde Bates was a session bass player in Chicago for Vee Jay records and the Chess label. He played the guitar also. Most of the recordings that Lefty played on list the bass player as "unknown". He worked with Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Pinetop Perkins, Eddie Taylor, and his personal favorite and good friend, Sunny Land Slim. You can hear him on "Big Boss Man" and "Bright Lights, Big City" by Jimmy Reed. He moved to Indianapolis in the 1950's to work as a truck driver as a better means for supporting his family. He continued through out the 1960's to do session work and helped lead the Ink Spots in the early 1970's.
Leroy is buried at Washington Park North Cemetery located on the north side of Indianapolis. Sadly, he has no grave marker. It is our hope that enough funds will be raised to purchase a proper monument befitting to his memory. Lefty was not only a superb bassist and guitarist, but was also a friend and mentor to a countless number of young musicians in the Chicago and Indianapolis areas.
Please note: There are actually 2 (two) Lefty Bates' of the same era. The "other" Lefty Bates is William Bates. He was also a musician and incredibly he also played guitar (not bass) with Jimmy Reed. It is difficult at times when researching Lefty Bates because of the similarities in not only nickname but also style of music and the fact that both men lived in Chicago at the same time. Leroy was all too aware of these strange coincidences but he never seemed bitter that he was not as well recognized as is the "other" Lefty Bates.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
You Didn't Have To G0 -- Johnny B. Moore
Johnny B. Moore (born Johnny Belle Moore, January 24, 1950, Clarksdale, Mississippi) is an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of Koko Taylor's backing band in the mid 1970s, but has recorded nine solo albums since 1987. Moore's music retains a link to the earlier Chicago blues of Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters, who also travelled to the Windy City from the Mississippi delta.
"If Johnny B. Moore isn't a star in the making," stated Allmusic's Bill Dahl, "there's no justice in the world." The European blues historian Gérard Herzhaft commented that "[Moore's] albums reflect a strong Delta flavor that is refreshing in the present blues scene, dominated by rock or funk overtones."However, the blues historian, Tony Russell, noted in 1997 that Moore "was still one of Chicago's interesting secrets"
Moore's Baptist minister father, Floyd Moore, taught his son to play the guitar from the age of seven. John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen'," was the first piece Moore mastered, but he was influenced by the style of Magic Sam. In his early days Moore performed gospel music in his hometown of Clarksdale, and later in Chicago with the Gospel Keys group.
In 1964, the teenage Moore relocated to Chicago with his father. In high school Moore learned to read music, and his education was enhanced listening to blues records with Letha Jones, Little Johnny Jones' widow. By the late 1960s Moore was working in a lamp factory, but after work continued to play. He was further tutored by Jimmy Reed, whom he first met in his childhood, and then with the Charles Spiers band.
By 1975, Moore found a further musical outlet by joining Koko Taylor's backing band, the Blues Machine, as lead guitarist. His lead guitar work appeared on Taylor's album The Earthshaker (1978).
He toured separately with Taylor and Willie Dixon, undertaking European jaunts with both, and worked in Dixon's band until the latter's death in 1992. He also augmented his income by appearing more often under his own name. Moore appeared on the bill on June 10, 1984, at the inaugural Chicago Blues Festival.
His debut album, Hard Times, was released in 1987 on the B.L.U.E.S. label. In the 1990s Moore recorded six more efforts of his own, and started the new millennium with Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi (2001) for the Austrian based Wolf record label. His Live at Blue Chicago (1996), was recorded in that club's basement, and featured Ken Saydak on keyboards. The 1999 live album, Acoustic Blue Chicago featured Willie Kent, Lester Davenport and Bonnie Lee. Moore more often used a bottleneck on his guitar solos.
Moore appeared again at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2002. In addition, he has made several guest appearances on other blues musicians albums. These included Willie Kent's Too Hurt to Cry (1994).
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Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Delmark Records artist: Tail Dragger - Live at Rooster's Lounge
There is also some story telling by Dragger as a bonus track which gives you some insight into his life and history.
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Thursday, March 16, 2017
James Cotton has passed - My thoughts are with his family
Cotton began his professional career playing the blues harp in Howlin' Wolf's band in the early 1950s. He made his first recordings in Memphis for Sun Records, under the direction of Sam Phillips. In 1955, he was recruited by Muddy Waters to come to Chicago and join his band. Cotton became Waters's bandleader and stayed with the group until 1965. In 1965 he formed the Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet, with Otis Spann on piano, to record between gigs with Waters's band. He eventually left Waters to form his own full-time touring group. His first full album, on Verve Records, was produced by guitarist Mike Bloomfield and vocalist and songwriter Nick Gravenites, who later were members of the band Electric Flag.
In the 1970s, Cotton played harmonica on Waters's Grammy Award–winning 1977 album Hard Again, produced by Johnny Winter.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
I'm King Bee - Johnny B. Moore
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Hoochie Coochie Man - Vinir Dóra And Chicago Beau
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Living Blues Comeback Artist of the Year is....
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Is It Because I Am Black - Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson (born July 1, 1936) is an American blues and soul singer and record producer.
Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States, he migrated with his family to Chicago in 1950; blues guitarist Magic Sam was his next-door neighbor. Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed for Vee-Jay in 1959. He made his solo debut that same year with Federal, a subsidiary of King Records of Cincinnati, backed by Freddie King on guitar.
He then began recording for Twinight Records of Chicago in the mid 1960s. Beginning with his first hit, "Come On Sock It to Me" in 1967, Johnson dominated the label as both a hitmaker and producer. His song "Different Strokes", also from 1967, featured on the Ultimate Breaks and Beats breakbeat compilation.
Like other black songwriters of the period, several of his records at this time explored themes of African-American identity and social problems in songs including "Is It Because I'm Black", which reached Number 11 in the US Billboard R&B chart in 1969.
In 1971, Willie Mitchell brought Johnson to Hi Records, the two recording three albums which spawned a number of singles. Produced in Memphis with the Hi house band, these yielded the hits "We Did It", "Back for a Taste of Your Love" and "Take Me to the River", his biggest success, reaching Number 7 on the R&B chart in 1975. However, at Hi Records, Johnson was always to some extent in Al Green's shadow commercially, if not artistically. Mitchell also chose to use mainly in-house material rather than Johnson originals.
After the Hi years ended, Johnson produced two LPs for his own Shama label, the latter of which (Ms. Fine Brown Frame, 1982) was picked up for distribution by Boardwalk Records and produced Johnson's last hit record, the title cut.
Around the mid-1980s, Johnson started a fast-food fish restaurant business, and became semi-retired from performing, only making occasional appearances at blues club gigs.
In 1992, Johnson found out that his song "Different Strokes" had been sampled by number of rappers including Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Kool G Rap, Hammer, and the Geto Boys. Stimulated by this fact, he decided to make a comeback in the music industry. In 1994, he released the album Back in the Game on Delmark Records. The album featured the Hi rhythm section and his youngest daughter Syleena Johnson.
Blues guitarist and singer Jimmy Johnson, and bassist Mack Thompson are his brothers.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Little Red Rooster - Henry Gray
While he is best known for his lengthy tenure with Howlin’ Wolf, Gray also backed a virtual who’s who of legendary Chicago blues artists in the studio, and on the bandstand.
Gray’s style was, and still is, instantly recognizable. Rather than play chords like most of his contemporaries, Gray instead plays a busy cluster of notes on his right hand, overtop of the solid blues or boogie bass that he plays with his left hand. His style shone brightest on Wolf’s early 1960s recordings like, “Tail Dragger,” “Goin’ Down Slow” and “You’ll Be Mine.” But, even earlier, he enhanced Billy Boy Arnold’s, “I Wish You Would,” G. L. Crockett’s, “Look Out Mabel,” and Jimmy Rogers, “Blues All Day Long,” to name but a few.
Born January 19, 1923, at Kenner, La, he moved with his family to rural Alsen, La, when he was one year old. Little Henry began playing piano at the age of 10. He took formal lessons, but in 2002 he admitted, “There was no feeling in doing that.”
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