Vacation …

I will spent my vacations during the next 2 weeks in Portugal … And I wish all readers of this blog a good time …

And of course I will continue with this blog, when I´m back ! Bye, bye … see you soon !

Alexandre Bateiras – Canções da Lua Nova (2007)

Alexandre Bateiras started to play the Portuguese Guitar at the age of 15 by influence of his maternal grandfather.

After his grandfather died he continues his Guitar studies on his own on a self-taught manner. His main musical references are Carlos Paredes, Artur Paredes and Jorge Tuna together with the Coimbra interpretative technique. Besides the works of Carlos Paredes, Artur Paredes and Jorge Tuna he studied and plays the works of the main composers within the Coimbra technique since the beginning of the century to most recent times.

He has participated in several concerts as a soloist with the collaboration of João Gomes and José Tito Mackay or playing as well, the instrumental support of Coimbra singers such as Luiz Goes, António Sutil Roque e Augusto Camacho. In 1997, after an invitation from Luisa Amaro, he started to work the last compositions of Carlos Paredes which he presented in public in the Lisbon World Exhibition (Expo-98) and in the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Carlos Paredes (16-02-2000). 1997 was also the year of his first studio recordings on which he recorded two of the first compositions of his own. Another important moment on Alexandre’s career was his concert “Playing Coimbra from the past to the future” presented at Expo-98 and in the “Lisbon Concerts Season – 1999” at the Belém Tower in which he played pieces from the main composers of the Coimbra technique, starting in the early 20th century and ending with the most recent times, playing as well pieces composed by himself.

Alexandre Bateiras + João Gomes

On May 23rd 2002 he played on the 13th “Cantigas do Maio” (Worldwide Music Festival) which took place in Seixal. Also worthy of reference are his performances on the 1st Portalegre Portuguese Guitar Festival as well as the various Guitar concerts, which took place in different locations countrywide, in rooms. Some of them were: the Rivoli Theatre and Coliseu in the city of Porto; “Voz do Operário”, the Auditorium of Pancas-Palha Palace, the Aula Magna, the S. Luiz Theatre, the Jerónimos Monastery, the Tivoli Cine-Theatre and the Auditorium of S. João de Brito School in Lisboa; the Cultural Forum of Seixal; the Gil Vicente Theatre and the FNAC Auditorium (CascaisShopping) in Cascais, the Cultural Centre of Alvito and the Grand Room of Setubal Town Hall.

In the past few years Alexandre Bateiras has been focussed on producing and disseminating his own compositions aiming at the development of a new repertoire for the Portuguese Guitar. With this purpose he is presently working on the project “Canções da Lua Nova” – (Songs of the New Moon) for which recordings took place in the U.S.A. These recordings will be released on next October 12th by the netlabel Merzbau. For his performances Alexandre Bateiras makes use of Portuguese Guitars built by Gilberto Grácio. (by portaldofado.net)

In the past few years Alexandre Bateiras has been focussed on producing and disseminating his own compositions aiming at the development of a new repertoire for the Portuguese Guitar. With this purpose he is presently working on the project “Canções da Lua Nova” – (Songs of the New Moon) for which recordings took place in the U.S.A.(Signal Sound Studios, Quakertown, Pennsylvania, 2001)

This is instumental portuguese folk: real stories told and played with a portuguese guitar. Stories of a man and somehow of an old generation of people who lived in a quiet rural Portugal and stopped their adolescense to be part of a war.

Regardless the history lesson, these melodies are something that anyone hardly forgets. So take your own time to listen, discover and imagine all the tiny bits of existence that this record brings to life.

Porto Lago

Personnel:
Alexandre Bateiras (guitar)
João Gomes (guitar)

Tracklist:
01. Porto Largo 2.52
02. Canção de Alvito 5.36
03. Cante do Monte do Galaz 4.42
04. Dança das Estevas 4.23
05. Bolorina 4.50
06. Moinho da Azinheira
07. Canção da Ribeira
08. Variações sobre um Tema Melancólico
09. Tributo
10. Regresso
11. Valsa em F- Menor
12. Final

Music composed by Alexandre Bateiras

*
**

Larry Adler – The Larry Adler Album (1991)

Lawrence “Larry” Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914 – August 6, 2001) was an American musician, one of the world’s most skilled harmonica players. Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin composed for him. During his later career he collaborated with Sting, Elton John, Kate Bush and Cerys Matthews.

Adler was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Sadie Hack and Louis Adler. They were a Jewish family. He graduated from Baltimore City College high school. He taught himself harmonica, which he called a mouth-organ. He played professionally at 14. In 1927, he won a contest sponsored by the Baltimore Sun, playing a Beethoven minuet, and a year later he ran away from home to New York. After being referred by Rudy Vallée, Adler got his first theatre work, and caught the attention of orchestra leader Paul Ash, who placed Adler in a vaudeville act as “a ragged urchin, playing for pennies”.

From there, he was hired by Florenz Ziegfeld and then by Lew Leslie again as an urchin. He broke the typecasting and appeared in a dinner jacket in the 1934 Paramount film Many Happy Returns, and was hired by theatrical producer C. B. Cochran to perform in London. He became a star in the United Kingdom and the Empire, where, it has been written, harmonica sales increased 20-fold and 300,000 people joined fan clubs.”.

Adler was one of the first harmonica players to perform major works written for the instrument, often written for him: these include Jean Berger’s Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra “Caribbean” (1941), Cyril Scott’s Serenade (harmonica and piano, 1936), Vaughan Williams’ Romance in D-flat for harmonica, piano and string orchestra; premiered New York, 1952, Milhaud’s Suite Anglais (Paris, May 28, 1947), Arthur Benjamin’s Harmonica Concerto (1953), and Malcolm Arnold’s Harmonica Concerto, Op. 46 (1954, written for The Proms). He recorded all except the Scott Serenade, some more than once. Earlier, Adler had performed transcriptions of pieces for other instruments, such as violin concertos by Bach and Vivaldi – he played his arrangement of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A minor with the Sydney Symphony. Other works he played in harmonica arrangements were by Bartók, Beethoven (Minuet in G), Debussy, Falla, Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue), Mozart (slow movement from the Oboe Quartet, K. 470), Poulenc, Ravel (Boléro), Stravinsky and Walton.

During the 1940s, Adler and the dancer, Paul Draper, formed an act and toured nationally and internationally, performing individually then together in each performance. One popular number was Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm. After the blacklisting and an unsuccessful libel suit decided in 1950, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1951 and settled in London, where he remained the rest of his life. Another source indicates he stayed in London from 1949.

The 1953 film Genevieve brought him an Oscar nomination for his work on the soundtrack, and great wealth. His name was originally kept off the credits in the United States due to blacklisting. He scored a hit with the theme song of the French Jacques Becker movie Touchez pas au grisbi with Jean Gabin, written by Jean Wiener.

In 1959, a reviewer from the Village Voice called Adler “a great artist” after watching his twice-nightly performances at the Village Gate.

In 1994 for his 80th birthday Adler and George Martin, produced an album of George Gershwin songs, The Glory of Gershwin, on which they performed “Rhapsody in Blue.” The Glory of Gershwin reached number 2 in the UK albums chart in 1994. Adler was a musician and showman. Concerts to support The Glory of Gershwin showed he was a competent pianist. He opened each performance with Gershwin’s “Summertime”, playing piano and harmonica simultaneously. The album included Peter Gabriel, Oleta Adams, Elton John, Sting, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Meat Loaf, Sinéad O’Connor, Robert Palmer, Cher, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello, Courtney Pine, Issy Van Randwyck, Lisa Stansfield and Carly Simon, all of whom sang Gershwin tunes with an orchestra and Adler adding harmonica solos.

Adler appeared in five movies, including Sidewalks of London (1938), in which he played a harmonica virtuoso named Constantine. His other film appearances were in Three Daring Daughters (12-Feb-1948) playing himself; Music for Millions (8-Dec-1944) playing Larry; The Singing Marine (3-Jul-1937) playing Larry; and The Big Broadcast of 1937 (6-Oct-1936). He was a prolific letter writer, his correspondence with Private Eye becoming popular in the United Kingdom. Adler wrote an autobiography — entitled It Ain’t Necessarily So — in 1985, and was food critic for Harpers & Queen. He appeared on the Jack Benny radio program several times, entertaining disabled soldiers in the USA during World War II. A further biography, Me and My Big Mouth appeared in 1994 but he told The Free-Reed Journal: “That’s a lousy book and I don’t like it; it’s ghosted . … [It] has a certain amount of factual material but the author completely missed my style and my voice. That’s why I hate the book.”

Adler married Eileen Walser in 1952; they had two daughters and one son. They divorced in 1957. He married Sally Kline in 1959; they had one daughter. They divorced in 1963. At his death, in addition to his children, he had two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His son Peter Adler fronted the band, Action, and others, in Dublin, Ireland in the late 1960s. Adler was an atheist. His brother, Jerry Adler (1918–2010) was also an harmonica player.

He died in St Thomas’ Hospital, London, at 87, on August 7, 2001. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, where his ashes remain. (by wikipedia)

And this is a rare sampler with many, many highlights of his career … I guess it´s time to discover Larry Adler  …

Personnel:
Larry Adler (harmonica)
+
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent (12.)
Eric Gritton (piano on 12.)
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron (09 – 11.)
Gerald Moore (piano (on 08.)
Pro Arte Orchestra conducted by Francis Chagrin &​ Eric Robinson (o8.)

Tracklist:
01. Romanian Rhapsody No.1 (Enescu) 7.59
02. Rhapsody In Blue (Gershwin) 12.41
03. “Carmen” “Fantasy” (Bizet) 4.00
04. Bolero (Ravel) 4.23
05. Spanish Dance (Granados) 3.49
06. Jamaican Rumba (Benjamin) 2.13
07. It Ain’t Necessarily So (Gershwin) 2.44
08. Roumanian Fantasy (Chagrin) 14.38
09. Harmonica Concerto: Romanza (Benjamin) 6.31
10. Harmonica Concerto: Canzona semplice (Benjamin) 5.51
11. Harmonica Concerto: Rondo arnabile (Benjamin) 5.36
12. Romance (Williams) 6.42

*
**

Bryan Ferry – As Time Goes By (1999)

Roxy Music’s swan song, 1982’s Avalon, broke with nearly everything the band had done up to that point. A slow, lush, mournful, synth-laden collection of make-out music, it served as an ideal setting for the teardrops-and-cocktails persona frontman Bryan Ferry had been honing for years. So much so, in fact, that Ferry has spent the years since making solo albums that re-create the feel of Avalon with varying degrees of success. Taxi, Ferry’s 1993 covers collection, even applied the Avalon treatment to songs unsuited for it. A lifeless take on “Amazing Grace” served as a particular low point, but few of those tracks suggested that the interpretive skills displayed on previous cover albums, particularly the 1973 classic These Foolish Things, had survived into the ’90s. As Time Goes By, a collection of standards from the ’20s and ’30s, suggests otherwise. In many ways the opposite of These Foolish Things, which propelled itself with cheek and irreverence, Time’s approach remains respectful throughout. Largely discarding synths and 21st-century production sheen for the sound of a small jazz combo, Ferry sings his heart out, working through some of the greatest hits of the era between the two world wars. (These include the title track, “I’m In The Mood For Love,” “Easy Living,” three Cole Porter favorites, and an unearthly take on Kurt Weill’s ode to aging, “September Song.”) Of course, even in Ferry’s weakest moments, he’s able to skate by thanks to his inimitable voice, an asset that sounds healthier on As Time Goes By than it has in years. Vocal tics he seemed to discard years ago (check out that tremolo!) show up again, making the album one of his liveliest since Roxy Music’s dissolution. Ferry clearly owes a lot to the material here: Always more indebted to the cabaret than the arena, his connection with the songs can’t be faked. Like Paul McCartney’s new Run Devil Run, Time sounds like the work of an artist facing the future by getting in touch with the most important elements of his past, and the results are both predictable and thrilling, musically tasteful but as emotionally raw as good manners will allow. (by Keith Phipps)

Personnel:
Allan Barnes (saxophone, clarinet)
Philip Dukes (viola)
Bryan Ferry (vocals)
Robert Fowler (clarinet)
Colin Good (piano)
Bob Hunt (trombone)
Richard Jeffries (bass)
Peter Lale (viola)
Chris Laurence (bass)
Abraham Leborovich (violin)
José Libertella (bandoneon)
Tony Pleeth (cello)
Malcolm Earle Smith (trombone)
Nils Solberg (guitar)
Luis Stazo (bandoneon)
John Sutton (drums)
Enrico Tomasso (trumpet)
Jim Tomlinson (saxophone, clarinet)
Hugh Webb (harp)
Dave Woodcock (violin)
Gavyn Wright (violin)
+
Nicholas Bucknall (clarinet on 15.)
Paul Clarvis (drums on 06.)
Wilf Gibson (violin on 15.)
Phil Manzanera (guitar on 04.)
Andy Newmark (drums on 04.)
Anthony Pike (bass clarinet)
Timothy Pike (clarinet on 15.)
Alice Retif (vocals on 04.)
Tobias Tak (percussion on 06.)
Martin Wheatley (guitar on 13., banjo on 14.)
David White (clarinet on 15.)

Tracklist:
01. As Time Goes By (Hupfeld) 2.34
02. The Way You Look Tonight (Fields/Kern) 3.36
03. Easy Living (Robin/Rainger) 2.16
04. I’m In The Mood For Love (McHugh/Fields) 4.17
05. Where Or When (Rodgers/Hart) 3.19
06. When Somebody Thinks You’re Wonderful (Woods) 2.57
07. Sweet And Lovely (Daniels/Arnheim/Tobias) 3.10
08. Miss Otis Regrets (She’s Unable To Lunch Today) (Porter) 2.39
09. Time On My Hands (Adamson/Gordon/Youmans) 3.02
10. Lover Come Back To Me (Hammerstein II/Romberg) 2.54
11. Falling In Love Again (Hollaender/Lerner) 2.26
12. Love Me Or Leave Me (Kahn/Donaldson) 2.44
13. You Do Something To Me (Porter) 2.47
14. Just One Of Those Things (Porter) 2.46
15. September Song (Weill/Anderson) 3.03

*
**

Amy MacDonald – This Is The Life (2007)

The debut album from Scottish singer / songwriter Amy MacDonald, This Is the Life achieved a remarkable feat — it entered the charts at number two. MacDonald admits that the song “Poison Prince,” which received a limited release as a single, is based on the life of Babyshambles/Libertines singer Pete Doherty, but the first nationally released single “Mr. Rock & Roll” has nothing whatever to do with him. With a finger on the pulse of news items of 2007, she fills “Footballer’s Wife” with observations on WAG (wives and girlfriends) culture, in which female spouses are famous for nothing much more than their celebrity partners, and uses the title track “This Is the Life” to reflect upon the lifestyle she had always envied since the early days of practicing her guitar and honing her songwriting skills. Meanwhile, “Let’s Start a Band” is exactly what it looks like: a song about being successful in the fickle career of pop music, a theme that is further developed on the song “Barrowland Ballroom,” named after a venue in Glasgow that many an aspiring artist wishes to play. MacDonald captures the feelings of ordinary people in the crowd wishing that something exciting would happen in their lives (“I wish I saw Bowie playing on that stage”). There is a nostalgic feel to the album, which conjures up vocal images of Kirsty MacColl and vintage coffeehouse folk singers, and even the cover art evokes the ’70s with its frayed edges and warm, lived-in appearance. (by Sharon Mawer)

Personnel:
Seton Daunt (guitar)
Susan Dench (viola)
Jolyon Dixon (guitar)
Johnny Dyke (keyboards)
Sarah Erasmus (background vocals)
Adam Falkner (drums, percussion, harmonium)
Richard George (violin)
Jonathan Hill (violin)
Amy Macdonald (vocals, guitar)
Laura Melhuish (violin)
Audrey Riley (cello)
Jamie Sefton (saxophone, flugelhorn, trumpet, bass)
Chris Tumbling (viola)
Pete Wilkinson (keyboards, percussion)
+
Philip Mason (bagpipes on 19.b.)
Martina Nagel (cello on 05.)
Jamie Sefton (vocals on 15.)

Tracklist:

CD 1:
01. Mr. Rock & Roll (MacDonald) 3.35
02. This Is The Life (MacDonald) 3.06
03. Poison Prince (MacDonald) 3.29
04. Youth Of Today (MacDonald) 4.00
05. Run (MacDonald) 3.51
06. Let’s Start A Band (MacDonald) 4.05
07. Barrowland Ballroom (MacDonald) 3.59
08. L.A. (Wilkinson) 4.07
09. A Wish For Something More (MacDonald) 3.46
10. Footballer’s Wife (MacDonald) 5.05

CD 2 (Bonus Disc):
11. This Is The Life (acoustic version) (MacDonald) 3.19
12. This Much Is True (MacDonald) 2.44
13. Somebody New (MacDonald) 3.30
14. Footballer’s Wife (live from Glasgow Barrowlands) (MacDonald) 5.02
15. Fairy Tale Of New York (live from Glasgow Barrowlands) (MacGowan) 5.51
16. Mr. Brightside (live from Glasgow Barrowlands) (Keuning) 4.06
17. Mr. Rock & Roll (live from Glasgow Barrowlands) (MacDonald) 3.28
18. Rockbottom (MacDonald) 3.46
19a. The Road To Home (MacDonald) 2.24
19.b.Caledonia (MacLean)  2.07

*
**

The Shadows – Guardian Angel (1984)

Guardian Angel is the sixteenth rock album by British instrumental (and sometimes vocal) group The Shadows, released in November, 1984 through Polydor Records and Teldec (in Germany)

Guardian Angel was the group’s first album to be released on LP and CD simultaneously and only the group’s second CD release. It had the distinction of being the group’s 1980’s album, consisting entirely of original material, except for one track. The album wasn’t promoted with Polydor’s marketing machine fully behind it and the album failed in commercial terms, spending just one week at number 98 on the British charts. Also, only two tracks were performed live by The Shadows and then only during the January to March 1985 “down-under” tour in Australia and New Zealand; the two tracks being “How Do I Love Thee” and “Hammerhead”. (by wikipedia)

Released in time for Christmas 1984, Guardian Angel was surely little more than a contractual obligation, with 11 songs that exist for no better reason than to draw you one track closer to the end of side two. In a way, the lackluster sheen that replaced the band’s old brilliance had been growing ever since the band signed to Polydor in 1980; this was their third album for the label, and each one was a little (lot!) worse than its predecessor. Be especially merciless and you could say the same thing for every LP they’d released since re-forming in 1975. But Guardian Angel was the bottom of a barrel that didn’t have a bottom any more, and when Bruce Welch wrote his biography five years later, he didn’t even mention this album. One can’t blame him in the slightest. (by Dave Thompson)

And I can´t agree with this review: On this album you´ll find many magic moments and a song like “Turning Point” and “Our Albert” are another highlight in the history of “The Shadows” !

Hank Marvin

Personnel:
Brian Bennett (drums, percussion)
Cliff Hall (keyboards)
Alan Jones (bass)
Hank Marvin (leadguitar, vocals)
Bruce Welch (guitar, vocals)
+
Tony Rivers (vocals)

Tracklist:
01. How Do I Love Thee (Philips) 3.10
02. Hammerhead (Plant) 4.05
03. The Saturday Western (Renwick) 3.37
04. Look Back On Love (Bennett) 4.31
05. Johnny Staccato (Marvin/Welch/Bennett) 3.54
06. I Will Return (Cordell) 3.13
07. (I’m Gonna Be Your) Guardian Angel (Fitzpatrick) 5.53
08. Can’t Play Your Game (Wilkinson/Wimshurst) 3.54
09. On A Night Like This (Coleman) 3.51
10. Turning Point (Marvin/Welch/Bennett) 4.49
11. Our Albert (Marvin/Bennett) 2.52

*
**

Jeff Healey Band – In Concert (Diamond Club Toronto, November 1988)

Norman Jeffrey “Jeff” Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Healey was raised in the city’s west end. He was adopted as an infant; his adoptive father was a firefighter. When he was almost one year old, Healey lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. His eyes had to be surgically removed, and he was given ocular prostheses.

Healey began playing guitar when he was three, developing his unique style of playing the instrument flat on his lap. When he was 15, Jeff Healey formed the band Blue Direction, a four-piece which primarily played bar-band cover tunes and featured bassist Jeremy Littler, drummer Graydon Chapman, and a schoolmate, Rob Quail on second guitar. This band played various local clubs in Toronto, including the Colonial Tavern.

Healey began hosting a jazz and blues show on radio station CIUT-FM where he became known for playing from his massive collection of vintage 78 rpm gramophone records.

Shortly thereafter he was introduced to two musicians, bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen, with whom he formed a trio, The Jeff Healey Band. This band made their first public appearance at the Birds Nest, located upstairs at Chicago’s Diner on Queen Street West in Toronto. They received a write-up in Toronto’s NOW magazine, and soon were playing almost nightly in local clubs, such as Grossman’s Tavern and the famed blues club Albert’s Hall (where Jeff Healey was discovered by guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins).

After being signed to Arista Records in 1988, the band released the album See the Light, featuring the hit single “Angel Eyes” and the song “Hideaway”, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. While the band was recording See the Light, they were also filming (and recording for the soundtrack of) the Patrick Swayze film Road House.(by wikipedia)

And this is a very rare bootleg from the beginning, and it´s an excellent soundboard recording … And, much more important: it was an excellent and a powerful concert … if you like blues-rock … than … you know what I mean…

 Recorded live at Diamond Club, Toronto Nov.15, 1988
Recorded live at Massey Hall, Toronto Nov 11, 1988 (08. + 09.)

Personnel:
Jeff Healey (guitar, vocals)
Joe Rockman (bass, vocals)
Tom Stephen (drums)

Tracklist:
01. My Little Girl +  Blue Jean Blues (Healey+Gibbons/Hill/Beard) 13.16
02. Confidence Man (Hiatt) 4.06
03. White Room (Bruce/Brown/Clapton) 7.21
04. Don’t Let Your Chance Go By (Healey) 3.34
05. Introduction 1.23
06. Roadhouse Blues (Morrison/Krieger/Densmore/Manzarek) 6.16
07. See The Light (Healey) 9.44
08. I Need To Be Loved (Healey) 4.47
09. All Along The Watchtower (Dylan) 6.47

*
**

Muddy Waters – Fathers And Sons (1969)

Fathers and Sons is the seventh studio album by American blues musician Muddy Waters, originally released as a double LP by Chess Records in August 1969.

The album features both studio and live recordings recorded in April 1969 with an all-star band including Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Donald “Duck” Dunn of Booker T. & the M.G.’s and Sam Lay in Chicago, Illinois.

The album was Muddy’s biggest mainstream success, reaching #70 on the Billboard 200, which was his only appearance in the top half of the chart. Muddy would not make another appearance on the 200 until Hard Again in 1977.

According to Marshall Chess, the idea behind Fathers and Sons came when Mike Bloomfield was at his house and said that he and Paul Butterfield wanted to do an album with Muddy Waters because they would be in Chicago for a charity concert. Chess then rounded up Donald “Duck” Dunn, Otis Spann, and Sam Lay for the studio sessions.

While many blues purists criticized the Waters “psychedelic” album Electric Mud at the time, Fathers and Sons was received more favorably since it avoided psychedelia, instead showcasing the “classic” Waters sound of the 50’s. In many ways, the album anticipated the later, critically acclaimed Waters blues albums produced by Johnny Winter.

The studio disc of the album was recorded in April 21–23, 1969 at Ter Mar Studios. These sides were engineered by Ron Malo and featured rhythm guitarist Paul Asbell, who did not play on the live songs.

The live songs were recorded on April 24, 1969 at the Super Cosmic Joy-Scout Jamboree. These sides were engineered by Reice Hamel. Drummer Buddy Miles played on the second part of “Got My Mojo Working”.

The producer on all sessions was Norman Dayron, who would go on to produce The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions in 1970, among other items.

The cover illustration for Fathers and Sons was created by Don Wilson and was based on Michelangelo’s design on the Sistine Chapel. The original album’s design was by Daily Planet and was packaged in a foldout sleeve.

Put blues legends Muddy Waters and Otis Spann together in a recording studio with young upstarts such as Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, Buddy Miles, amongst others, and hope that the magic will flow. On Fathers and Sons it does, and then some. Originally a two-record  displays the love that these musicians shared for the blues and the care they put into getting that feeling down on tape. Standout cuts include “Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had,” “I’m Ready,” and “Standing ‘Round Cryin’,” which Eric Clapton covered in 1994. The live concert is loose and funky with everyone getting in their licks, especially Muddy Waters, who shines throughout. A fine touchstone for anyone looking into Chicago blues and generally good music. (by James Chrispell)

Personnel:
Paul Asbell (guitar)
Michael Bloomfield (guitar)
Paul Butterfield (harmonica)
Donald “Duck” Dunn (bass)
Sam Lay (drums)
Otis Spann (piano)
Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar)
+
Jeff Carp (harmonica on 01.)
Buddy Miles – drums on “Got My Mojo Working, Part 2”
Phil Upchurch (bass on 01.)

Tracklist:

Side A + B:  (in the studio)
01. All Aboard (Morganfield) 2.50
02. Mean Disposition (Morganfield) 5.42
03. Blow Wind Blow (Morganfield) 3.35
04. Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had (Morganfield) 3.03
05. Walkin’ Thru The Park (Morganfield) 3.07
06. Forty Days And Forty Nights (Roth) 3.04
07. Standin’ Round Crying (Morganfield) 4.01
08. I’m Ready (Dixon) 3.33
09. Twenty Four Hours (Boyd) 4.46
10. Sugar Sweet (London) 2.16

Side C + D: ( Live at the Civic Auditorium, Chicago, 1969)
11. Long Distance Call (Morganfield) 6.35
12. Baby, Please Don’t Go (Williams) 3.05
13. Honey Bee (Morganfield) 3.57
14. The Same Thing (Dixon) 6.00
15. Got My Mojo Working, Part 1 (Foster/Morganfield) 3.39
16. Got My Mojo Working, Part 2 (Foster/Morganfield) 5.33

*
**

Al Jarreau – The Masquerade Is Over (1965/1983)

More than ten years before he began to receive notice, Al Jarreau sat in with some friends in Illinois and recorded this superb album, his only strictly “pure jazz” recording to date. Accompanied by pianist Cal Bezemer, bassist Gary Allen and drummer Joe Abodeely, Jarreau already sounded quite recognizable. He comes across as a superior jazz singer on such numbers as “My Favorite Things,” “A Sleeping Bee” and “One Note Samba,” making this little-known LP (not yet reissued on CD) the high point of his jazz career, even though he apparently was not happy with its release over 15 years later. The album shows what could have been had Al Jarreau had the desire to be a jazz singer rather than chasing the money. (by Scott Yanow)

So much alternate frontcovers:

Personnel:
Joe Abodeely (drums)
Gary Allen (bass)
Cal Bezemer (piano)
Al Jarreau (vocals)

Tracklist:
01. My Favorite Things (Hammerstein/Rodgers)
02. Stockholm Sweetnin’ (Jones) 5.50
03. A Sleepin’ Bee (Arlen/Capote) 5.52
04. The Masquerade Is Over (Wrubel/Magidson) 6.34
05. Sophisticated Lady (Ellington/Mills/Parish) 4.14
06. Joey (Loesser) 3.42
07. Come Rain Or Come Shine (Arlen/Mercer) 6.56
08. One Note Samba (Mendonça) 4.24

*
**

John Klumper- Forbidden Fruit – UK Singles 1963 – 1969 No 11 + 12 (1988)

I have a large collection of fanzines and I will open my archive with a very special one: John Klumper´s “Forbidden Fruit” magazine from the 80´s of the last century.

Forbidden Fruit was an A5 size fanzine/booklett by a Dutch guy called John Klumper, and it came as 11 separate little A5 volumes. (the last one was Vols 11 & 12 Combined) It was subtitled “Uk Singles 1963-1969″

It was bought by a 4 issue per year subscription, and ran from 1985 to 1988.

It was a real work of love, as each band got it’s line up and some history if known, and all UK releases by them and type of music etc.. considering this was pre internet, the work involved was staggering.. (by woodbutcher)

And someone wrote in an internet forum called “verygoodplus.co.uk”: “Probably very hard to find but now at least I now know what I’m looking for.”

And here is the last issue: Nr. 11 + 12 … (published in 1988) … from Brian Withers to  Zuiderzee.

Plus: 60´s in the 70´s: “A survey of acts, mentioned in Forbidden Fruit and the singles threy released in the UK in the seventies” !!!

Plus: Additions & Corrections:

Hard to believe: all informations was written with a simple typewriter ,,, long time ago …

As I wrote: this is the last issue and I have to thank John Klumper for this fantastic work !

Hey John, where are you ?????

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Maybe I will upload the complete collection of
John Klumer´s “Forbidden Fruit” in a few months.