Month: April 2021

Reaching back into the music shelves of my mind for those forgotten tunes off the beaten path of the late sixties early seventies.

I reach in and pull out a sleeve, play a song and then …what would be the next song ?

Vol 28 along with The Pink Floyd we bask in the sun by the banks of a lazy river

Vol 27– Starts with a hypnotic version of Tomorrow Never Knows from Junior Parker.

Vol 26 –We start with Jennifer Warnes singing Leonard Cohen and seem to arrive at the Chinese Cafe singing old love songs and looking for The Heart Of Saturday Night

Vol 25 The Rascals, Sopwith Camel,Stones,Love,Ozark Mntn Daredevils, Electric Flag, Frank Zappa, etc in a jazzish compilation.

Vol 24 Some guitar from Jan Ackerman, Jeff Beck, Tom Verlaine, Durutti Column, Santana, Peter Green

Vol 23 Santana does Miles Davis, Peter Frampton with Larry Carlton,Tim Buckley,Sandy Bull,Yardbirds,Gabor Szabo,Hot Tuna etc

Vol 22  Do the hand jive with Eric Clapton, JJ Cale, Jesse Winchester, Stealers Wheel,Three Dog Night, Randy Newman, The Band, the Moments, The Hollies, The Wilburys etc

Vol 21 Both Sides Now from Joni Mitchell, Israel Kamikawi, Van Morrison, John Martyn, Jimmy Somerville, Dubxanne, Madeline Peyroux, Tom Waits, Richie Havens etc

Vol 20 Almost like the Blues with Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, Amy Winehouse, Lhasa de Sela, Tom Jones, Paul Simon, Sting, Tracy Chapman, George Harrison, Richard Thompson, Rufus Wainwright, etc

Vol 19 with some Strange Pleasures from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, Hollies, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Dr John, Big Brother 

Vol 18. I wonder if Louse is home ? Appletree Theatre, Nillson,Miuke Nesmith,Country Joe, New Riders, Donovan,Arlo Guthriue, Ellen Mcllawane, Byrds, etc

Vol 17–Blood Sweat Tears, The Fugs, Frank Zappa, Flatt & Scruggs,Bob Dylan, Don and Dewey, Lovin Spoonful, Paul Kantner, Firesign Theatre etc

Vol 16–Are we glad ? Traffic, Dan Hicks, Mark Almond, Al Kooper, Bamboo, Brewer And Shipley, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Hot Tuna , Quicksilver etc 

NO VOL 14 or 15

Vol 13 In The Beginning with Appletree Theatre, West Coast Pop Area Exp Band, Love, Blues Project, Niullson, Sandyt Bull, Beach Boys, Mothers of Invention, Electric Flag, 13th Floor Elevators, Hendrix etc

Vol 12- Incredible String Band, Mothers, Electric Flag, Jack Nitzche, Pearls Before Swine etc

Vol 11  On a Trip to Cirrus Minor with Pink Floyd, Spirit, Jefferson Airplane, Beatles, Stones, Traffic, Country Joe etc

Vol 10 -Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun with the Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Starship, Grateful Dead, Traffic,etc

Vol 9 Tim Leary, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Donovan, Kim Fowley, The Fuga, Electric Prunes,Rortary Connection, The Who etc

THERE IS NO VOL 8

Vol 7 Lying by the banks of a river on hot summer day with Pink Floyd, United States of America, Cyrus Faryer, Simon Dupree, Donovan, Fleetwood Mac, Rickie Lee Jones, Jimmie Spheeris,

Vol 6 ?

Vol 5 –Driving Along Coast Highway Number One with Steve Miller, Van Morrison, Fred Neil, Ellen Mcllawaine, Beatles, Doors, Country Joe,Byrds, Donovan etc

Vol 4 Santana, Steve Stills, Al Kooper, Seatrain, John Mayall, Buffalo Springfield,etc

Vol 3 Live tracks. Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Allman Bros, Quicksilver, Hendrix, Big Brother, Joe Cocker,Buddy Milkes, Sly Family Stone etc

Vol 2-Spirit,the Fugs, Rotary Connection, Cosmic Sounds, Traffic, Rascals, Blues Project, Love, Nick Drake, , Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, Mark Almond, Buffalo Springfield, Steve Stills.

Vol 1- has a Jagger-Richards theme but with  orchestral and jazzy influences from Rotary Connection, ,The  Rascals, Sergio Mendes, Andrew Oldham Orchestra, Beaver And Krause, Simon Dupree, Love, Doors, Cosmic Sounds, etc

Worldbeat Music from around the world.

Below- A gentle musical collection of west African sounding music from many sources.

U.S. Folk Rock: From the coffee houses of New York’s Greenwich Village to the coffee shops of London’s Soho-the singer songwriter boom of the early sixties to today.

BRITISH FOLK ROCK : From my own experience the singers of the Folk Rock scene in the sixties in Britain. See also the page on The Incredible String Band here.

This one above starts with Lavinia Blackwall singing a song that Sandy Denny made a classic version of. The Richard Farina song Quiet Joys. She is backed by the now deceased ex Fairport Convention fiddler Dave Swarbrick playing his unique lonesome reel. On to Fairport themselves with Sandy singing a pleasant song with Ian Mathews (he of Southern Comfort). Vashti Bunyan a very unique wisp of a voice followed by Traffic. John Renbourn singing about the famous floating folk club on the Thames called The Barge. Ends with Sandy doing a song not too long before she too sadly passed on.

Below: The Incredible String Band

Some choice cuts from their first albums.

BELOW: Leonard Cohen songs sung by other singers.

The Flamingo Club on Wardour St in London’s Soho flourished during the mid sixties.  It was an all night club that catered to the mods from the suburbs of London, the West Indians, and American GI’s on leave for the weekend . The music reflected this mix playing Jamaican ska (which was an early form of reggae), soul and R&B dance music plus very danceable jazz.

 There was no official alcohol license, just soft drinks (usually spiked with illicit additives). Mainly the place was fuelled all night by amphetamines and ganja smoked outside. Resident band was Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames maybe the coolest band in England at the time. 

Here is their big hit Yeah Yeah  played live on Ready Steady Go. Here Brian Epstein introducing them on US television.  The drummer here was Hughie Flint who later joined John Mayall to be replaced by Mich Mitchell later of Jimi Hendrix fame. John McLoughlin also played with  the Blue Flames.

A brief history  of the Flamingo is here. The connection between the Flamingo, Lucky Gordon, and the Profumo affair.

Below-Vol 1– Starting with live at the Flamingo resident band the Blue Flames (1964).

Another regular band at the Flamingo was Herbie Goines and the Nightimers and there is a video of them here. Note John Mcloughlin playing guitar and Speedy Aquiye on congas- who had moved on from The Blue Flames.  The pre Jimi Hendrix Noel Redding also played drums at one point.

Geno Washington with the Ram Jam Band was another popular player at the Flamingo along with  Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.

Below– Zoot Money a regular at the Flamingo with The Big Roll Band at the door, perhaps showing a little too much appreciation for the passers by.

For a bit of the history of this venue see here.

Above Looks like Christine Keeler “at work ” to me .

IF YOU LIKE THESE MIXES  THEN YOU MAY ALSO LIKE… Dancing at the Club A Go Go  WHICH FOCUSSES ON THE MORE BLUES BASED STYLE PLAYED UP NORTH IN NEWCASTLE.

 

 

“It’s midnight….. lights off….. clothes off…… candles glowing….. incense is fading away……. don’t need no electricity, baby- I’ll be your amplifier, because we can boogie in the dark'”

So  San Francisco disc jockey Voco introduced himself every Saturday night at midnight.

it is 1971 (give or take a few years)- and you tune into KSAN San Francisco on a weekend night to hear the midnight show with Voco and Dusty Street. They played mostly R and B of the day from both the black and white ends of the spectrum and often featured the local Bay Area artists such as Sylvester, Tower of Power and Stoneground.

Though called it Lights Out it was anything but sleepy. So my attempt at recreating the mood.

Vol 15 Country Joe, Cold Blood, Santana, Tracy Nelson, Paul Butterfield etc

Vol 14 Junior Parker start the show followed by The Rev Al Green giving his eulogy to Junior-

Vol 13 starts with that organ piece from Ray Manzarek of the Doors isolated from the other players.

Vol 12- Bobby Humphries plays some funky flute followed by Donny Hathaway, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Tower of Power etc

Vol 11-The Temptations, Donny Hathaway Oscar Brown Jnr, Bobbi Humphrey , Ann Peebles, Undisputed Truth etc

Vol 10-White wall tires taking you the River along Harlem River Drive with Bobby Humphrey, William De Vaughan,Al Green, Bill Withers, Boz Scaggs, Quincey Jones et al

Vol 9-This show kicks off with the great Harvey Mandel playing the gospel tune Take Me To The River backwards (and forwards) on guitar.

Vol 8- Isaac Hayes, The 5th Dimension, Laura Nyro, Marvin Gaye,The Dramatics,Bobby Bland, Dusty Springfield, Curtis Mayfield, Paul Butterfield, Brian Auger, Cold Blood et al

Vol 7- Van Morrison, Ben Sidran, Boz Scaggs, Africa, Herbie Hancock,Bonnie Raitt, Mose allison, Leon Russell, Maria Muldaur, Booker T, Herbie Mann, et al

Vol 6- Electric Flag,Country Joe,Janis Joplin,Tracy Nelso, Tower of Power, Santana,Cold Blood, Ben Sidran, Van Morrison, Loading Zone, Al Kooper et al

 

Toe tappin’ stuff from the the heyday of The Jazz Age when swing was in it’s infancy. From Harlem to Paris to London.

Harlem and the Cotton Club were not the only place that had good swing in the thirties. Paris had a vibrant scene with Django Reinhart and Stephane Grapelli which gave swing a certain unique gypsy flavor  This was true of most capital cities of Europe at that time. London also had its own flavor which was quirky and almost comedic in attitude.

After the First World War many black Americans found  a home in France especially Paris where their abilities playing music were appreciated. This provided a base for many others to come later in the thirties (and then post war). On this compilation many of these artists were playing with Django Rinehart and his orchestra but the recordings sometimes came out under their own names.

In Britain the material was mostly derivative from records brought in from the US.  The best players were well above average many of whom had hits, toured and were stars in the US at the time. For instance this video of Black Coffee with Nat Gonnella with images of the night clubs where this kind of “new” music was played.

Watch Nat Gonnella and his Georgians. These guys were all white boys. Nat went on to some success in the U.S. Many bands were filled with black players. Either Caribbean, African or in some cases ex US servicemen staying on in Europe.

For more like this hear SWING and how this style of music developed into Swing.

 

 

ATMOSPHERIC JAZZ FOR THE DEEP OF NIGHT

Lights Out was a midnight radio hour on KINK FM in Portland Oregon through the seventies and eighties which is where I first heard some of these quiet pieces.  In those days there wasn’t any other way to hear new music except by radio…unless you had a friend who worked in a record store.

 

Vol 8- El Chicano, Colman Brothers, Bebo Best, Nicola Conte, Joe Livoti, Candido, etc

Vol 7 –Yello, Club Belugas, Ry Cooder, Ballistic Brothers, Clark Terry, Jack Costanza,Nortec Collective, Soel, Campo, Bebo Best, Bahama Soel,Klement Julienne.

Vol 6- John Powell, Bahia Black, Ballistic Brothers, Dodo Da Bahia, Bebo Best, Bebel Gilberto, New Phink Theory, Gilberto Gil

Vol 5-Sergio Mendes, Dodo Bahia, Bahia Black,Club Belugas, Mo Horizons, JuJu Orchestra,Ballistic Brothers, Nicola Conte,St Germain, Souljazz orch,

Vol 4- De Phazz, Mo Horizons, Stephane Pompou, Major Boys, Bahama Soul, S Tone, Bebo Best, Ju Ju Orch, Club De Belugas, Jazz Juice.

Vol 3-Bahama Soul, Juju Orchestra,Iain Mackenzie, Soel,St Germain, meytropolitan Jazz, Jazz Juice, Nicola Conte, Ballistic Brothers,

Vol 2 Bajofondo,Gotan Project, Dublex, David Benoit, Chico Hamilton, JuJu Orchestra, Jazz Juice,Marco Di Marco, Tao of Groove, Roberto Roena, Monty Alexander, Nicola Conte, Ballistic Brothers etc

Vol 1-Chico Hamilton, Sergio Mendes, Poncho Sanchez,Gare Du Nord, Ry Cooder,Rodrigo Amarante,Mongo Santamaria,Jazzinuf, Willie Bobo, Jack Constanza, Joe Burton Qt,Marc Ribot

OLD SCHOOL LATIN:

Below-Mex Mix- a playful mix of Mex inspired tunes.

SUNDAY MORNING ECLECTICA  are companion shows to SUNDAY MORNING CLASSICAL -(which are of course classical music). These shows take classical music further afield into what might be loosely called jazz.

Vol 6 ?

The funkier end of jazz.