HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 !!!

Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells A Story (1971)

Sir Roderick David Stewart CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 250 million records worldwide. He has had ten number-one albums and 31 top ten singles in the UK, six of which reached number one. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.

Stewart’s music career began in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In October 1963, he joined The Dimensions as harmonica player and vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars before joining The Jeff Beck Group in 1967. Becoming the singer for the Faces in 1969, he also maintained a solo career releasing his debut solo album that same year. Stewart’s early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, and R&B.[5][6] His third solo album, 1971’s Every Picture Tells a Story was his breakthrough, topping the charts in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. The ballad “Maggie May” off of it went to number one for multiple weeks in those same countries. His 1972 follow-up album, Never a Dull Moment, was another UK and Australian chart-topper while reaching the top three in the US and Canada. Its lead single, “You Wear It Well”, also topped the chart in the UK while being a moderate hit elsewhere.

After a handful more UK top ten hits, Stewart announced the breakup of the Faces in 1975. His next few singles were ballads with “Sailing”, off the 1975 UK and Australian number-one album, Atlantic Crossing, becoming a hit in the UK (number one), Germany (number four) and other countries, but barely charting in North America. A Night on the Town (1976), his fifth straight chart-topper in the UK, began a three-album run of going number one or top three in North America, the UK and Australia with each release. That album’s “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” spent almost two months at number one in the US and Canada, and made the top five in other countries. Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) featured the major hit “You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim) as well as the rocker “Hot Legs”. Blondes Have More Fun (1978) and its disco-tinged “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” both went to number one in Canada, Australia and the US (his second there) with “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” also hitting number one in the UK and the top ten in other countries.

After a disco and new wave period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stewart’s music turned to a soft rock/middle-of-the-road style, with most of his albums reaching the top ten in the UK, but faring less well in the US. The single “Rhythm of My Heart” was a top five hit in the UK, US and several other countries, with its source album, 1990’s Vagabond Heart, becoming, at number ten in the US and number two in the UK, his highest charting album in a decade. In 1993, he collaborated with Bryan Adams and Sting on the power ballad “All for Love”, which went number one in many countries. In the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook.

In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the “Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists”. A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at No. 33 in Q Magazine’s list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and he was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.

Every Picture Tells a Story, is the third studio album by Rod Stewart. It was released on 28 May 1971. It incorporates hard rock, folk, and blues styles. It went to number one on both the UK and US charts and finished third in the Jazz & Pop critics’ poll for best album of 1971.[3] It has been an enduring critical success, including a number 172 ranking on Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album is a mixture of rock, country, blues, soul, and folk, and includes Stewart’s breakthrough hit, “Maggie May”, as well as “Reason to Believe”, a song from Tim Hardin’s debut album of 1966. “Reason to Believe”, with Pete Sears on piano, was released as the first single from the album with “Maggie May” as the B-side; however, “Maggie May” became more popular and was a No. 1 hit in both the UK and US.

The album includes a version of Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right (Mama)” (the first single for Elvis Presley) and a cover of the Bob Dylan song “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” an outtake from Dylan’s 1963 album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (it would see release on 1971’s, Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II).

The backcover from the German edition:

All five members of the Faces (with whom Stewart at that time was lead vocalist) appeared on the album, with guitarist/bassist Ronnie Wood and keyboardist Ian McLagan on Hammond B3 organ being employed most. Due to contractual restrictions, the personnel listings were somewhat vague, and it was unclear that the full Faces line-up recorded the version of the Motown hit “(I Know) I’m Losing You”. Other contributors included Ray Jackson on mandolin (though Stewart allegedly forgot his name and merely mentioned “the mandolin player in Lindisfarne” on the sleeve). Micky Waller on drums. Maggie Bell performed backing vocals (mentioned on the sleeve as “vocal abrasives”) on the title track, and Madeline Bell sang backup on the next track, “Seems Like A Long Time”. Pete Sears played all the piano on the album except for one track, “I’m Losing You”, which had Ian McLagan on piano, along with the Faces as a band.

The album reached the number-one position in both the UK (for six weeks) and the US (four weeks) at the same time that “Maggie May” was topping the singles charts in both territories.

The Temptations cover, “I Know I’m Losing You” reached the top 40, at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

In his original Rolling Stone review, John Mendelsohn wrote: “Boring as half of it may be, there’s enough that is unqualifiedly magnificent on the other half.”[7] However, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave the album a glowing review, writing: “Rod the Wordslinger is a lot more literate than the typical English bloozeman, Rod the Singer can make words flesh, and though Rod the Bandleader’s music is literally electric it’s the mandolin and pedal steel that come through sharpest.”

The album has been an enduring critical success, including a number 172 ranking on Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. In 1992, the album was awarded the number-one spot in Jimmy Guterman’s book The Best Rock ‘N’ Roll Records of All Time: A Fan’s Guide to the Stuff You Love. It was ranked 99th in a 2005 survey held by British television’s Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. (wikipedia)

Rod Stewart & Maggie Bell:

Without greatly altering his approach, Rod Stewart perfected his blend of hard rock, folk, and blues on his masterpiece, Every Picture Tells a Story. Marginally a harder-rocking album than Gasoline Alley — the Faces blister on the Temptations cover “(I Know I’m) Losing You,” and the acoustic title track goes into hyper-drive with Mick Waller’s primitive drumming — the great triumph of Every Picture Tells a Story lies in its content. Every song on the album, whether it’s a cover or original, is a gem, combining to form a romantic, earthy portrait of a young man joyously celebrating his young life. Of course, “Maggie May” — the ornate, ringing ode about a seduction from an older woman — is the centerpiece, but each song, whether it’s the devilishly witty title track or the unbearably poignant “Mandolin Wind,” has the same appeal. And the covers, including definitive readings of Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is Such a Long Time” and Tim Hardin’s “Reason to Believe,” as well as a rollicking “That’s All Right,” are equally terrific, bringing new dimension to the songs. It’s a beautiful album, one that has the timeless qualities of the best folk, yet one that rocks harder than most pop music — few rock albums are quite this powerful or this rich. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

Personnel:
Lindsay Raymond Jackson (mandolin)
Sam Mitchell (slide guitar)
Dick Powell (violin)
Andy Pyle (bass)
Martin Quittenton (guitar)
Pete Sears (piano, celeste)
Rod Stewart (vocals, guitar)
Danny Thompson (bass)
Micky Waller (drums)
Ronnie Wood (guitar, pedal steel guitar, bass)
+
Long John Baldry (vocals on 01.)
Maggie Bell (vocals on 01. + 02.)
+
Kenney Jones (drums on 09.)
Ronnie Lane (bass, background vocals on 09.)
Ian McLagan (keyboards on 09.)

Tracklist:
01. Every Picture Tells A Story (Stewart/Wood) 6.00
02. Seems Like A Long Time (Anderson) 4.02
03. That’s All Right (Crudup) 4.00
04. Amazing Grace (Traditional) 2.00
05. Tomorrow Is Such A Long Time (Dylan) 3.45
06. Henry´s Time (Quittenton) 0.32
07. Maggie May (Stewart/Quittenton) 5.18
08. Mandolin Wind (Stewart) 5.33
09. (I Know) I’m Losing You (Whitfield/Holland/Grant) 5.23
10. (Find AA) ReasoT to Believe (Hardin) 4.08

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More from Rod Stewart:

A.L. Lloyd – English Drinking Songs (1956)

Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982), usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folksongs, and as such was a key figure in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. While Lloyd is most widely known for his work with British folk music, he had a keen interest in the music of Spain, Latin America, Southeastern Europe and Australia. He recorded at least six discs of Australian Bush ballads and folk music.

Lloyd also helped establish the folk music subgenre of industrial folk music through his books, recordings, collecting and theoretical writings.

Lloyd was born in Wandsworth, London, England. His father was an AA Patrolman and failed smallholder. His mother sang songs around the house and according to Lloyd mimicked the gypsy singers that she had heard. By the age of fifteen his mother had died and his father, an ex-soldier, was a semi-invalid, and Lloyd was sent as an assisted migrant to Australia in a scheme organised by the British Legion. There, from 1924–1930, he worked on various sheep stations in New South Wales and it was during this time that he began to write down folksongs he learned. In the outback of New South Wales he discovered that he could access the State Library and order books. His special interests being art and music he could get a grasp of those topics without seeing a painting or hearing any music. He also bought a wind-up gramophone and began to investigate some of the classical music he had previously read about.

When Lloyd returned to the UK in 1935, during the Great Depression, in the absence of a permanent job he pursued his interests in studying folk music and social and economic history, doing much of his research at the British Museum; he is quoted as saying that there is “nothing like unemployment for educating oneself”. In 1937, he signed on board a factory whaling ship, the Southern Empress, bound for the southern whaling grounds of the Antarctic.

During this decade, Lloyd joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and was strongly influenced by the writings of the Marxist historian, A. L. Morton, particularly his 1938 book A People’s History of England. In 1937, Lloyd’s article “The People’s own Poetry” was published in the Daily Worker (since 1966 renamed Morning Star) newspaper.

In 1938, the BBC hired Lloyd to write a radio documentary about seafaring life, and from then on he worked as a journalist and singer. As a proponent of communism, he was staunchly opposed to Adolf Hitler, and, in 1939, was commissioned by the BBC to produce a series of programmes on the rise of Nazism. Between 1945 and 1950 he was employed as a journalist by Picture Post magazine but he left the job in an act of solidarity with one of his colleagues.

By the 1950s, Lloyd had established himself as a professional folklorist—as Colin Harper puts it “in a field of one”. Harper went to note that, at a time when the English folk revival was dominated by young people who wore jeans and pullovers, Lloyd was rarely seen in anything other than a suit (and a wide grin). Ewan MacColl is quoted as describing Lloyd affectionately as “a walking toby jug”. In 1959, Lloyd’s collaboration with Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, was published.

The 1956 film, Moby Dick, directed by John Huston featured Lloyd singing a sea shanty as the Pequod first sets sail. There is also a brief visual clip of him.

In the early 1960s, Lloyd became associated with an enterprise known as “Centre 42” which arose from Resolution 42 of the 1960 Trades Union Congress, concerning the importance of arts in the community. Centre 42 was a touring festival aimed at devolving art and culture from London to the other main working class towns of Britain. It was led by Arnold Wesker, with MacColl and Lloyd providing the musical content and Charles Parker on production. Centre 42 was important in bringing a range of folk performers to the public attention: Anne Briggs, the Ian Campbell Folk Group, The Spinners and The Watersons.

A.L. Lloyd, Peggy Seeger, Alf Edwards and Ewan MacColl:

Lloyd recorded many albums of English folk music, most notably several albums of the Child Ballads with MacColl. He also published many books on folk music and related topics, including The Singing Englishman, Come All Ye Bold Miners, and Folk Song in England. He was a founder-member of Topic Records and remained as their artistic director until his death.

The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten includes a short biography and lists two albums he is closely associated with as classic albums, The Iron Muse[11]:30 and Frost and Fire by The Watersons.[11]:34 Track five on the second CD has Lloyd singing The Two Magicians from another album he was closely associated with, being The Bird in the Bush (Traditional Erotic Songs).

Mark Gregory interviewed him in 1970 for the National Library of Australia,[12] and Michael Grosvenor Myer for Folk Review magazine in September 1974.

Lloyd died at his home in Greenwich in 1982. (wikipedia)

And here´s is a real good album by A.L. Loyd; he wrote about this album:

There are songs men sing by the kitchen fireside and songs they sing at the tail of a plough. There are also the songs they bawl round the barroom table of a little country alehouse on a Saturday night, when the place is too crowded for playing darts or the silly game called Bumblepuppy.

The songs in this album come from such an alehouse on the gusty East coast of England. Its name is The Eel’s Foot, but its address is a secret; the regular customers don’t want a lot of tourists coming to spoil the singing and drink all the beer.

To The Eel’s Foot on a Saturday night the farmworkers bring their songs and match them against the songs of sailors and cattle-dealers and travelling tinsmiths. Everything is formal. A chairman keeps good order, with a cribbage-maker for a gavel. No one sings unless called upon, but each gets his turn. Mostly the songs are of the “Saturday night” kind that the genteel would call “bacchanalian”. These are not drinking songs in the strict sense—not songs merely in praise of liqueur—for in England such songs usually are made by men of booklearning who fancy themselves as rakes, and the folk will have none of them.

The beer drinkers at The Eel’s Foot like their songs to tell a bit of a story. And they like the singing to go on till closing time … and a little after. Here are some of the songs they sing… songs as sly as a tinker’s wink, as rough as a ploughman’s hand, songs as snug and social as The Eel’s Foot itself with the wind and the rain outside and the firelight and music within.

“English Drinking songs” was recorded in 1956 and was about the seventh album after recordings from 1953 onwards that had been released in various countries around the world.
This album is a great album. It is a historic recording and it is also an important release in the folk song revival. It is a wonderful collection of some fabulous English folk songs. The recordings are proffesional and enthusiatically performed. And although the sound recording was made back in 1961 it is very good through its re mastering. The sound is more than clear and strong enough for its acoustic interpretation and arrangements. It is a historic recording and reflects how English Folk songs were often performed. There is a strong sense of authenticity in the way that some people performed these songs. As with all Folk songs they have their unique interpretation. This time it is through the realisation of A. L. Lloyd.

The EP with songs from this album:

Some people have criticised this album and other classic recordings and Folk interpretations from the 50s and 60s for being old recordings and for having songs and performance that is limited or stale by its historic snapshot of song and performance.
This is unfair. These were some of the earliest recordings of folk songs and helped to save them from being lost forever. They inspired other people to record these songs and “experiment” with different performance and interpretation. Without these recordings there may never have been any other recordings or interpretations by anyone else. The style of performance was unique to Lloyd with his own interpretation of how he had learned the songs from others. It was an “experiment” to jump from no recordings to actually recoding them. These recordings are just as valid today as the recordings that came after them by other people with their own unique interpretation and experimentation. If we criticise these recordings for their age and interpretation then we must also level the same criticism at any recording made before tomorrow. It would be unfair to do so and that is why I believe these recordings are still powerful in their own right.

To understand the interpretation and performance style of the time these recordings were made and the validity of this project we need to remember that The performer was an experienced and recognised Folklorist. He had experienced these folk songs as they had been performed by the ordinary folk of manual workers, sailors and families across England. Albert Lancaster Lloyd , usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English folk singer and collector of folk songs, and as such was a key figure in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. His parents were both musical and he learned folk songs from them. He went to Australia to work in New South Wales at sheep stations and learned folk songs there from his fellow workers. Much of these songs originated from England.
When he returned to the UK in the Great Depression of the early 1930s, in the absence of a permanent job, he pursued his interests in studying folk music and social and economic history, doing much of his research at the British Museum:
In 1937 he signed on board the factory whaling ship the Southern Empress bound for the southern whaling grounds of the Antarctic where he learned even more folk songs and sea shanties. He was later hired by the BBC for documentaries about sea songs and life at sea and by the 1950s was established as a folklorist. In 1959 his collaboration with Ralph Vaughan Williams, The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, was published.

The inserts from the EP:

Lloyd recorded many albums of English folk music, most notably several albums of the Child Ballads with Ewan MacColl. He also published many books on folk music and related topics, including The Singing Englishman, Come All Ye Bold Miners, and Folk Song in England. He was a founder-member of Topic Records and remained as their artistic director until his death in 1982.

There are some fabulous songs in this set. The album is just over 36 minutes long but it is pure quality instead of quantity. The album has the concept of Drinking songs or songs related to Drink. There are familiar songs such as “Maggie May”, “John Barleycorn”, “The Derby Ram”, “The foggy dew” and “The drunkan maidens” as well as other songs such as “The farmers servant”, “The parson and the maid” and “All for me grog”. A selection of some of these songs were also released as an EP called All for me Grog in some countries. A. l. Lloyd sings and has help from Alf Edwards on concertina and Al Jeffery on Banjo and Harmonica. This is a most enjoyable album. (Marcia)

And everyone should know “John Barlecorn” by Steve Winwood & Traffic !

Personnel:
Alf Edwards (concertina)
Al Jeffery (banjo)
A. L. Lloyd (vocals)
+
Al Jeffery (harmonica on 04.)

Alternate front + backcover:

Tracklist:
01. The Darby Ram 3.21
02. The Foggy Dew 3.21
03. Maggie May 2.02
04. When Johnson’s Ale Was New 2.19
05. The Butcher And The Chambermaid 2.04
06. A Jug Of Punch 3.03
07. The Parson And The Maid 1.39
08. Three Drunken Huntsmen 2.02
09. All For Me Grog 2.09
10. The Drunken Maidens 1.44
11. Rosin The Beau 4.41
12. The Farmer’s Servant 2.21
13. John Barleycorn 2.46
14. A Jug Of This 2.07

All songs: Traditionals

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There was three men come out of the west
Their fortunes for to try,
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn should die.
They ploughed, they sowed, they harrowed him in,
Throwed clods upon his head.
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn was dead.

There were three men come out of the west
Their fortunes for to try,
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn should die.
They’ve ploughed, they’ve sown, they’ve harrowed him in,
Throwed clods on his head.
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn was dead.

They let him lie for a very long time
Till the rain from heaven did fall,
And little Sir John sprung up his head
And that amazed them all.
They let him stand till midsummer
And he growed both pale and wan.
Then little Sir John, he growed a long beard
And so become a man.

They’ve let him lie for a very long time
Till the rain from hea’en did fall,
And little Sir John sprung up his head
And soon amazed them all.
They’ve let him stand till midsummer day
Till he looked both pale and wan.
And little Sir John’s grown a long, long beard
And so become a man.

They hired men with the scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee.
And poor little Johnny Barleycorn
They served most barbarously.
They hired men with the sharp pitchforks
To pierce him to the heart.
And the loader, he served him worse than that
For he bound him to the cart.

They’ve hired men with the scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee.
They’ve rolled him and tied him by the waist,
Serving him most barbarously.
They’ve hired men with the sharp pitchforks
Who pricked him to the heart.
And the loader, he served him worse than that
For he’s bound him to the cart.

They wheeled him all around the field
A prisoner to endure,
And in the barn poor Barleycorn
They laid him upon the floor.
They hired men with the crab tree sticks
To cut him skin from bone,
And the miller, he served him worse than that
For he ground him between two stones.

They’ve wheeled him round and around the field
Till they came into the barn
And there they’ve made a solemn mow
Of poor John Barleycorn.
They’ve hired men with the crab tree sticks
To cut him skin from bone,
And the miller, he has served him worse than that
For he’s ground him between two stones.

I’ll make a boy into a man,
A man into an ass.
I’ll change your gold to silver, lass,
And your silver into brass.
I’ll make the huntsman hunt the fox
With never a hound or horn.
I’ll bring the tinker into gaol
Says old John Barleycorn.

Here’s little Sir John in the nut-brown bowl
And here’s brandy in the glass
And little Sir John in the nut-brown bowl
Proved the strongest man at last.
For the huntsman, he can’t hunt the fox
Nor so loudly to blow his horn,
And the tinker, he can’t mend kettles nor pots
Without a little barley corn.

Oh barley wine is the choicest drink
That was ever drunk on land.
It will make a man do miracles
By the turning of his hand.
You can tip your brandy in a glass,
Your whiskey in a can,
But barley corn and his nut-brown ale
Will prove the stronger man.

Grant Green – Gooden’s Corner (1961)

Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer.

Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms throughout his career. Critics Michael Erlewine and Ron Wynn write, “A severely underrated player during his lifetime, Grant Green is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz guitar … Green’s playing is immediately recognizable – perhaps more than any other guitarist.”[2] Critic Dave Hunter described his sound as “lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy”.[3] He often performed in an organ trio, a small group with an organ and drummer.

Apart from guitarist Charlie Christian, Green’s primary influences were saxophonists, particularly Charlie Parker, and his approach was therefore almost exclusively linear rather than chordal. He thus rarely played rhythm guitar except as a sideman on albums led by other musicians. The simplicity and immediacy of Green’s playing, which tended to avoid chromaticism, derived from his early work playing rhythm and blues and, although at his best he achieved a synthesis of this style with bop, he was essentially a blues guitarist and returned almost exclusively to this style in his later career. (wikipedia)

This is an album of real beauty and synergy between Green and pianist Sonny Clark, who along with Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums rounds out the quartet. Green, an expert with standards, offers “Moon River,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” and “Count Every Star.” This album was also released on The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Grant Green and Sonny Clark. (by Michael Erlewine)

Grant Green was such a busy and consistently superb guitarist for Blue Note during the first half of the 1960s that some of his most exciting recording sessions became temporarily lost in the shuffle. Very few record collectors own the original version of Gooden’s Corner, a 1961 quartet album with pianist Sonny Clark that in the 1960s was only available in Japan. It seems remarkable that this record was so rare for so many years.

Green performs dazzling and definitive versions of such songs as “On Green Dolphin Street,” “What Is This Thing Called Love” and “Moon River.” Clark, one of the truly great bebop pianists, is heard in one of his last sessions. His interplay with Green is magical and telepathic, making one grateful that these two greats teamed up on records even if few at the time ever heard this. Gooden’s Corner, a long-lost treasure. (musicmattersjazz.com)

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, December 23, 1961

Personnel:
Sonny Clark (piano)
Grant Green (guitar)
Louis Hayes (drums)
Sam Jones (bass)

Alternate frontcover:

Tracklist:
01. Gooden’s Corner (Green) 8.25
02. Moon River (Mancini/Mercer) 5.45
03. On Green Dolphin Street (Kaper/Washington) 6.35
04. Shadrack (Blakey/Drew/Heath/MacGimsey) 6.30
05. Two For One (Green) 7.50
06. What Is This Thing Called Love (Porter) 6.00

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More from Grant Green:

Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings – Struttin’ Our Stuff (1997)

Bill Wyman (born William George Perks; 24 October 1936) is an English musician, record producer, songwriter and singer. He was the bassist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. Since 1997 he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. He has worked producing records and films, and has scored music for films and television.

Wyman has kept a journal since he was a child after World War II. He has published seven books. Wyman is also a photographer, and his works have been displayed in galleries around the world. He became an amateur archaeologist and enjoys metal detecting. He designed and marketed a patented “Bill Wyman signature metal detector”, which he has used to find relics in the English countryside dating back to the era of the Roman Empire.

Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings is an English blues-rock band founded and led by former Rolling Stones bass guitarist Bill Wyman. Other personnel have varied depending on availability, an arrangement described in The Telegraph as a “a fluctuating squad of veterans”. Their concerts and albums tend to emphasize cover songs of blues, R&B and early rock and roll hits from the 1950s. Wyman formed the Rhythm Kings after leaving the Rolling Stones in 1993 subsequent to the extended world-wide tour to support Steel Wheels, citing a desire to work in smaller clubs and avoid the pressure of being in one of the most successful rock bands in the world.

On 10 December 2007, Wyman and his band appeared alongside a reunited Led Zeppelin at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at the O2 in London.

In 2009, ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor was invited as a guest performer with Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.(wikipedia)

And Struttin’ Our Stuff is the first studio album from Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.

Struttin’ Our Stuff, Bill Wyman’s first album in nearly 15 years, is a surprisingly successful collection of blues and rock & roll. These performances are surprisingly energetic, even if they’re a little too polished to accurately capture the gritty, roadside vibe they’re trying to achieve. Nevertheless, there are a number of fine moments here, from covers of “Green River,” “Tobacco Road” and “Mystery Train” to guest appearences from Eric Clapton, Albert Lee, Peter Frampton and Georgie Fame. (by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)

In other words: a great and wonderful “old fashioned” album including a real hot version of the John Loudermil classic “Tobacco Road” !

Personnel:
Graham Broad (drums, percussion)
Dave Hartley (piano)
Terry Taylor (guitar, organ on 02., 05.)
Bill Wyman (bass, vocals on 01., background vocals)
+
Gary Brooker (organ on 05.)
Paul Carrack (vocals on 12.)
Eric Clapton (guitar on 03.)
Ray Cooper (percussion on 04., 06.)
Georgie Fame (organ, background vocals on 03. + 11., vocals on 08.)
Peter Frampton (guitar on 12.)
Geoff Grange (harmonica on 07.)
Albert Lee (guitar on 02., 09., 10.)
Frank Mead (saxophone on 04.)
Max Middleton (piano on 01., 02., 12.)
Nick Payn (harmonica on 12.)
Mike Sanchez (vocals on 09.)
Beverley Skeete (vocals on 03., 05.)
Geraint Watkins (vocals on 06., 07.)
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brass section:
Frank Mead – Nick Payn – Martin Drover – Andy Hamilton – Nick Pentelow – Derek Watkins – Pete Beachill – Andy McIntosh
+
background vocals:
Beverley Skeete – Janice Hoyte – Keeley Smith – Melanie Redmond – Susie Web – Natasha Kristie – Barbie Carey – Maggie Ryder – Zoe Nicholas

Tracklist:
01. Green River (Fogerty) 3.09
02. Walking On My Own (Hunter/Taylor/Wyman) 3.08
03. Melody (Jagger/Richards) 4.54
04. Stuff (Can’t Get Enough) (Wyman) 3.42
05. Bad To Be Alone (Wyman) 3.20
06. I’m Mad (Mabon) 3.25
07. Down In The Bottom (Dixon) 2.53
08. Motorvatin’ Mama (Taylor/Wyman) 3.36
09. Jitterbug Boogie (Taylor/Wyman) 3.12
10. Going Crazy Overnight (Taylor/Wyman) 3.53
11. Hole In My Soul (Burland) 4.04
12. Tobacco Road (Loudermilk) 4.31

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The Bill Wyman website:

Rod Price – Open (2002)

Roderick Michael Price (22 November 1947 – 22 March 2005) was an English guitarist who was best known for his work with the rock band Foghat. He was known as ‘The Magician of Slide’, and ‘Slide King of Rock And Roll’, due to his slide guitar playing.

At the age of 21, Price joined the British blues band Black Cat Bones (replacing Paul Kossoff), which recorded one album, Barbed Wire Sandwich. The album was released at the end of 1969, when British blues was being supplanted by rock, and though artistically successful it was a commercial failure. The band dissolved, and Price joined Foghat when the group was first formed in London in 1971. He played on the band’s first ten albums, released from 1972 through to 1980. His signature slide playing ability helped propel the band to being one of the most successful rock groups in the United States during the 1970s. His slide playing was featured distinctly on Foghat songs “Drivin’ Wheel”, “Stone Blue”, and the group’s biggest hit, “Slow Ride”, which was a top 20 hit in 1976. Price’s final performance with Foghat before he left for the first time was at the Philadelphia Spectrum on 16 November 1980. He was replaced by guitarist Erik Cartwright.

Price virtually disappeared from the music business until 1990, when he briefly joined forces with Foghat vocalist Dave Peverett. Foghat had actually split a few years after Price left, and drummer Roger Earl had reformed the band without Peverett, who decided to start up his own version of the band and invited Price to participate. Price was in and out of the band for the next couple of years, but agreed to commit totally to a reunion featuring all four original Foghat members in 1993.

Foghat then released Return of the Boogie Men in September 1994. The album failed to gain as much commercial success as the band had previously earned, but nevertheless they hit the road and began touring regularly across North America, rebuilding their reputation as an excellent live act. Foghat released the Road Cases CD in 1998, a live recording. A DVD entitled Two Centuries of Boogie, was recorded at a 1996 concert in Dayton, Ohio.

Price once again left Foghat in 1999, after vocalist Dave Peverett was diagnosed with cancer. The singer returned to the band after several months of recuperation, but by this point Price had decided he wanted to step away from full-time road work and parted company with Foghat. He was replaced by guitarist Bryan Bassett.

Price began a solo career at the beginning of the 21st century, and returned to his blues roots. He released two CDs, Open (2002) and West Four (2003).[2] He toured and performed in blues clubs across the United States, and was featured at guitar seminars and workshops as well during this period.

Price died at his home in Wilton, New Hampshire, on 22 March 2005, after he fell down a flight of stairs after suffering a heart attack. He was survived by his wife Jackie and five children.

Price was married to Robyn Renzi in the 1970s but they divorced in 1979. The marriage produced no children.

During his long career, Price also collaborated with Shakey Vick’s Blues Band, Champion Jack Dupree, Duster Bennett, Eddie Kirkland, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, and David “Honeyboy” Edwards.(wikipedia)

And here´s is his first solo-album:

Of all the smoky, anonymous blues clubs, I have to walk into this one. And what a find. A tight combo playing slow to medium paced numbers, delivered with a wailing harp and searing, melodic slide. Rod Price was an unsung hero when he died a few years ago. If you’re a fan of electric bottleneck, you need this album. (by Craig)

This is the first ever solo disc from this former Foghat lead guitarist, and it is a return to the music that he loves the best. The music here is the blues as seen and translated by the English guitarists who started the revitalization of the blues as a viable medium. He revisits the standards of many of the old blues masters: Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Johnson, and Slim Harpo, to name a few. He takes his slide guitar to the forefront as the lead instrument on these, leaving the lead vocals to his old buddy and harp player, Shakey Vick (a happy and long-overdue reunion). The interplay between these two is a pleasure to hear; listen to the way they complement and play off each other on the Chester Burnett standard “Sitting on Top of the World.” There is nothing earthshakingly new here, but there is some of the finest lead guitar work ever, with a band that allows plenty of room while at the same time giving good solid support. It brings back and adds to that wonderful style that was first brought to listeners by Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Peter Green, and the rest of the British guitarists. (by Bob Gottlieb)

Rod Price at his finest!!
This album is excellent!! If you’re a blues/rock fan then you will appreciate this album. More of a blues sound than Foghat,but it still rocks! (by jspohr)

Personnel:
Kinny Landrum (keyboards, vocals)
Rod Price (guitar, slide-guitar, vocals)
Bruno Ravel (bass)
John O. Reilly (drums)
Shakey Vick (harmonica, vocals)

Tracklist:
01. Sitting On Top Of The World (Chatmon/Vinson) 5.31
02. Walking Blues (Johnson) 4.48
03. Key To The Highway (Broonzy/Segar) 4.34
04. Dynaflate (Price) 3.59
05. Bluebird Blues (Williamson I) 7.09
06. Long Distance Call(Morganfield) 5.47
07. Got Love It You Want It (Moore) 4.59
08. One More Time (Tillis) 4.10
09. The Stumble (King/Thompson) 3.01
10. Elevator Woman (Williamson II) 4.03

*
**

Leadbelly – The Midnight Special (1964)

Huddie William Ledbetter (January 23, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known as Leadbelly or Lead Belly, was an American folk musician, notable for his clear and forceful singing, his powerful use of the 12-string guitar, and the rich songbook of folk standards which he introduced. In addition to the guitar, he could also play the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, concertina, and accordion.

Lead Belly was one of the most colorful, albeit notorious figures in American folk music. After spending time in and out of southern prisons for violent crimes, including murder and attempted murder, he was discovered in 1933 in the Angola State Prison in Louisiana by folklorists John and Alan Lomax. Gaining early release, Lead Belly moved to New York under the patronage of the Lomaxes, where he eventually befriended well-known folk singers such as Pete Seeger and Woodie Guthrie and became particularly popular in left-wing folk music circles. Lead Belly’s repertoire drew from an extraordinary range of folk music, including prison work songs, field hollers, traditional songs, blues, and popular Tin Pan Alley tunes.

Huddie Ledbetter (foreground) with fellow prisoners in the Louisiana State Penitentiary:

The topics of Lead Belly’s music were equally wide ranging, including songs about women, cowboys, prison, sailors, cattle herding, racism, natural disaster, and the news makers of the day. His most famous songs, “Good Night Irene,” “Pick a Bale of Cotton,” “Midnight Special,” “Roberta,” and others, express a plaintive longing for human bonding and explore the tragedy of separation that Lead Belly himself experienced, largely through his own reckless and violent life. Alan Lomax would come to regard Lead Belly as the single greatest repository of American folk music he ever encountered in a lifetime field work.

Once a matter of debate, Huddie Ledbetter’s birthday is now generally recognized as January 23, based mainly on his World War II Draft registration of 1942, which he, himself, helped fill out. The year of his birth is more contentious. He gave his birth year as 1889 when he registered for the Draft, but other genealogical evidence suggests he was born January 23, 1888.

Leadbelly playing an accordion, his first instrument;

In any case, Lead Belly was born to Wesley and Sallie Ledbetter as Huddie William Ledbetter, on a plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana. The family moved to Leigh, Texas, when he was five. It was here that he received his first instrument, an accordion, from his uncle. By 1903, Huddie was already a “musicaner,” a singer and guitarist of some note. He performed for nearby Shreveport, Louisiana audiences in St. Paul’s Bottom, a notorious red light district in the city. He began to develop his own style of music after being exposed to a variety of musical influences on Shreveport’s Fannin Street, a row of saloons, brothels, and dance halls in the Bottom.

At the time of the 1910 census, he was still officially listed as “Hudy,” and was living next door to his parents with his first wife, Aletha “Lethe” Henderson, who was then 17–years–old, and would have been 15 at the time of their marriage in 1908. By his early 20s, after fathering at least two children, he left home to find his living as a guitarist (and occasionally as a laborer). On the road, he was anything but faithful to his wife and would later brag that as a youth he would “make it” with eight to ten women a night.

Ledbetter’s boastful spirit and violent tendencies sometimes led him into trouble with the law, and in January 1918 he was imprisoned in Dallas, Texas for the second time, after killing one of his relatives, Will Stafford, in a fight. In prison, he entertained guards and fellow prisoners with his playing and singing and thus won high marks for good behavior. He was released seven years into his 20-year sentence, reportedly after writing a song appealing to Governor Pat Morris Neff for his freedom and by appealing to Neff’s strong religious values:
Huddie Ledbetter (foreground) with fellow prisoners in the Louisiana State Penitentiary

In 1930, however, Ledbetter was back in prison, this time in Louisiana for attempted homicide. It was in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, in July 1933, that Huddie first encountered folklorist John Lomax and his son Alan, who were collecting recordings for the Library of Congress. The two men were enchanted by his talent, passion, and singularity as a performer. They recorded hundreds of his songs on portable recording equipment. The following year Ledbetter was once again pardoned, this time after a petition for his early release was taken to Louisiana Governor O.K. Allen by the Lomaxes.

Ledbetter acquired his famous nickname while he was imprisoned in Louisiana. His fellow inmates dubbed him “Lead Belly” as a play on his last name and a testament to his physical toughness. By the time he met the Lomaxes, he was using the nickname as a pseudonym, and the name stuck ever since.

Indebted to the Lomaxes, Lead Belly allowed Alan Lomax to take him under his wing. In late 1934, he migrated to New York City with Lomax. In 1935, he married Martha Promise and began recording with the American Record Corporation (ARC). However, the ARC insisted he record blues songs rather than the folk music with which he was more proficient. He achieved little commercial success with these records and struggled financially. His inclination toward violence had mellowed somewhat, but after he reportedly threatened Lomax with a knife their friendship came to an end. By 1939, he was back in jail for assault.

Upon his release in 1940, however, Lead Belly returned to a surging New York folk scene and befriended such early folk stars as Woody Guthrie and the young Pete Seeger. Their association would provide the former convict with a willing audience for his style of singing and playing, and he became a popular performer with New York left-wing and trade union folk audiences. During the first half of the decade, he recorded for RCA, the Library of Congress, and for Moe Asch, the future founder of Folkways Records.

A painting of a Leadbelly recording session by Gordon Parks (1976):

Lead Belly was unique among black recording artists of his day. His driving vocal style and equally powerful strumming of his 12-string guitar were his trademarks, along with his one-of-a-kind renditions of folk songs such as “Midnight Special,” “John Henry,” “Cotton Fields,” “The Boll Weevil Song,” “Careless Love,” “John Hardy,” and his signature song, “Good Night Irene,” considered by many to be his own composition but in reality a case of the folk process resulting in an original version of an older song.

Influenced by his association with Seeger, Guthrie, and others, Lead Belly also recorded a large number of topical songs, including “Bourgeois Blues,” “Jim Crow Blues,” “Scottsboro Boys,” and “Hitler Song.” He often performed with his new friends at hootenannies and union halls in support of left-wing causes. Throughout his career, he failed to gain a wide audience among either urban or rural blacks, but remained popular in folk circles.

In 1944, he headed to California, where he recorded strong sessions for Capitol Records. In 1949, he began his first European tour, but fell ill before its completion, and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Lead Belly died later that year in New York City, and was buried in Mooringsport, eight miles west of Blanchard, Louisiana, in Caddo Parish, in the Shiloh Baptist Church cemetery. (newworldencyclopedia.org)

And here´s a great sampler from 1964 … with many of his classic tunes … most of us will know them from groups and musicians like Ry Cooder, Grateful Dead, The Spencer Davis Group, Colin Hodgkinson, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others …

In other words: This compilation is essential !!

All songs recorded June 15 and June 17, 1940.

Personnel:
Huddie William Ledbetter (guitar, vocals)
+
The Golden Gate Quartet (vocals on 03.,06., 08., 09., + 14.)

Alternate front + backcover (France, 1969):

Tracklist:
01. Easy Rider (Jefferson) 3.08
02. Good Morning Blues (Ledbetter) 2.53
03. Pick A Bale Of Cotton (Ledbetter) 3.01
04. Sail On, Little Girl, Sail On (Ledbetter) 3.14
05. New York City (Ledbetter) 3.00
06. Rock Island Line (Ledbetter) 2.35
07. Roberta (Ledbetter) 2.57
08. Gray Goose (Ledbetter) 2.56
09. The Midnight Special (Ledbetter) 3.06
10. Alberta (Ledbetter) 3.10
11. You Can’t Lose-A Me Cholly (Ledbetter) 3.03
12. T.B. Blues (Ledbetter) 3.07
13. The Red Cross Store Blues (Ledbetter) 3.07
14. Whoa Back Buck (Ledbetter) 3.05
15. Don’t You Love Your Daddy No More? (McMillian) 3.02
16. I’m On My Last Go-Round (Ledbetter) 3.05

*
**

The Connells – Darker Days (1985)

The Connells are an American band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a guitar-oriented, melodic, jangle pop style of rock music with introspective lyrics that reflect the American South. Though mostly dormant, the band continues to play to this day. The band is best known for their song “’74–’75”, which was successful across Europe, topping the charts in Sweden and Norway and becoming a UK Top 20 hit in 1995.
ContentsGuitarist Mike Connell formed the band in 1984 along with his brother David Connell on bass, Doug MacMillan on lead vocals,[1] and future filmmaker John Schultz on drums. This initial four-person line-up was quickly supplemented by the addition of George Huntley on second guitar, keyboards, and vocals. Around the same time, former Johnny Quest drummer Peele Wimberley replaced Schultz, finalizing the “classic” line-up of the band.

An early version of “Darker Days”, recorded by the band’s initial four-piece lineup, appeared on the North Carolina indie compilation More Mondo in 1984. A re-recorded version of “Darker Days” provided the title track to the band’s debut album, which was produced by fellow North Carolinian Don Dixon. The album was released in 1985 on Elvis Costello’s Demon Records in the UK and the band’s own Black Park Records label in the U.S., with slightly different track listings for each country. In addition to the title track, one of the most notable songs on the album was “Hats Off”, an attack on then-President Ronald Reagan. After the release of the Darker Days album, the band re-recorded a more aggressive take of “Hats Off” for a 12″ single, which was the second Connells release on Black Park, and the last until 2000. During this period, videos for the songs “Seven” and “Hats Off” were aired on MTV’s 120 Minutes program.

After touring heavily behind Darker Days, the Connells re-entered the studio in 1986 with producer Mitch Easter to record their second album, Boylan Heights. The decision to work with Easter continued to perpetuate the comparisons to R.E.M. Mike Connell’s songwriting on Boylan Heights would provide most of the foundation for the band’s live show sound for the remainder of their career. The opener, “Scotty’s Lament”, featured the most explicit Celtic influence in the band’s songbook, while the chorus lyric “I delight in my despair” satirized the band’s early image as doom and gloom merchants a la Morrissey and The Smiths. Also notable is that the lyrics for that song originally included the sardonic twist, “I delight in your despair.”

“Choose a Side” incorporates synths (played by Huntley), and “Over There” features an ironic military trumpet counter-melody. Closing ballad “I Suppose” was a haunting tribute to the Raleigh upper class neighborhood of Boylan Heights. Although the band shopped Boylan Heights to various labels, the major record companies, including Columbia Records, which expressed some mild interest, passed on it. The record was ultimately released in 1987 on mid-major TVT Records, which had made its name releasing a series of “Tee Vee Toons” television theme song compilation CDs. TVT would prove to be no commercial match for R.E.M.’s own mid-major label, I.R.S. Records, and over the next decade, The Connells would engage in a series of disputes with the label, on at least one occasion suing, unsuccessfully, to break their recording contract.

Boylan Heights was a substantial college radio hit, and The Connells continued to tour relentlessly. During this period, both Connell and Huntley began to move away from their twelve-string Rickenbackers towards six-string Fender and Gibson guitars, leading to a heavier, less folky sound, although elements of the band’s patented jangle were still audible on “Hey Wow”, the lead single from Fun and Games, the 1989 follow-up album. Other songs, such as “Something to Say” and “Upside Down” were heavier, featuring power chords, as well as the most self-lacerating lyrics to date from Connell. Fun and Games also saw Huntley’s role as a songwriter grow; after contributing one song each to Darker Days and Boylan Heights, Huntley wrote or co-wrote five tracks on Fun and Games, with the anthemic “Sal” quickly becoming one of the most popular songs in the band’s live set. CD pressings of Fun and Games included a bonus track, “Fine Tuning”.

Fun and Games was quickly followed in 1990 by One Simple Word, which was recorded in Wales with U.K. producer Hugh Jones. Jones had previously produced various British bands that the band had admired. Despite the high quality of the songs and improved playing by the band, notably on the Connell-MacMillan collaboration “Stone Cold Yesterday” and Connell’s own “Get a Gun” which were both college radio hits with videos, the band struggled to reach a higher level of success, although “Stone Cold Yesterday” notched the band a No. 3 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, where “Get a Gun” also reached No. 24. This album saw the band stretch their sound and playing further, as on Connell’s debut as a lead vocalist, the plaintive ballad “Waiting My Turn”, which featured Kate St. John on cor anglais, but also saw the reworking of two songs that dated back to the Darker Days era, “Too Gone” and “Take a Bow”. Some critics have contended that the album/tour/album cycle was by this point outstripping Connell’s ability to compose new material. This is why the increasing contribution of other songwriters in the band became important as lead vocalist, Doug MacMillan also contributed a song, “Another Souvenir”, that he had written on his own.
’74–’75 and European success.

After a three-year recording hiatus, which included more legal jousting with TVT Records and the addition of Steve Potak on keyboards, a rejuvenated Connells released Ring in 1993. Though the lead single, “Slackjawed”, was another college radio hit in America, the band was initially disappointed with the album’s reception and considered breaking up. However, the follow-up single, “’74–’75”, another Celtic-influenced ballad, took off in Europe shortly thereafter and became a top-20 hit across the continent, including in the United Kingdom where it peaked at No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart,[3] as well as Sweden and Norway, where it even managed to top the charts. This led to the band touring extensively in Europe and opening stadium shows for Def Leppard. “’74–’75” won numerous European music awards in the mid-1990s, leading to greater financial and radio success than the band had known to that point. “’74–’75” also appeared in the 1995 film, Heavy. However, while European music fans made Ring a platinum record outside the United States, such high level success in America still remained elusive. Ring reached No. 36 in the UK Albums Chart.[3] Ring also marked the debut of David Connell stepping up as a songwriter by co-writing a song for the record, “Hey You”. MacMillan’s role as a songwriter also increased on this album, contributing three songs. The band also played “Slackjawed” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

1996’s Weird Food and Devastation expanded the band’s sound in new directions, but failed to build on the momentum established by its predecessor. It was produced by the band’s longtime soundman, Tim Harper, later known for his production work for Whiskeytown. The title of the album reportedly alluded to the band’s impressions of Europe during their seemingly endless tours there in support of “’74–’75”. It featured a starker and heavier production than the more melodic Ring. By now, Connell and MacMillan shared songwriting duties about equally, with Connell’s style taking a quirkier turn on songs such as “Adjective Song”. Lead single “Maybe” was more in line with the anthemic pop songs of the band’s early days, but his remaining songs on the album were often odd and dissonant compared to his previous work. “Friendly Time” abandoned coded attacks on Ronald Reagan for coded attacks on rock critics such as Robert Christgau and J. D. Considine. The album also debuted the songwriting efforts of drummer Wimberley with the track “Any”, who also landed an outtake, “Bitter Pill”, on the soundtrack of the film Scream. The band shot music videos for “Maybe” (a parody of the Burt Reynolds film Deliverance) and “Fifth Fret” (which was a parody of the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho). The band was invited to perform for a second time on Late Night with Conan O’Brien where they performed “Maybe”. Their tour for the album was cut short in early 1997 when MacMillan became extremely ill prior to a show. He had been experiencing stomach pains for over a year, but believed it was due to his poor diet while on the road. After undergoing emergency surgery, he was diagnosed with diverticulitis and took several months off to recover

In 1998, the band released Still Life, which marked their final album for TVT. Produced by Jim Scott, Still Life marked a departure from the harder sound of Weird Food and Devastation with an overall softer feeling reminiscent of the Counting Crows and Teenage Fanclub. Mike Connell’s contributions to the record included a long-standing song with the band that was originally known as “Brown”, which was re-titled “Dull, Brown, and Grey”. It was the band’s only album to include songwriting contributions from all members, with MacMillan taking a decreased role in the album’s writing. Peele Wimberley departed the band later that year and was replaced by Steve Ritter.

The band released Old School Dropouts on the revived Black Park Records label in 2001. The band produced and recorded the record in Steve Potak’s studio and promoted it sparingly in the American South. The song “Washington” received some airplay on alternative radio.

After the release of Old School Dropouts, George Huntley left the band to spend more time with his family and begin a career in real estate. Mike Ayers was added in George’s place on lead guitar. Meanwhile, Peele Wimberley briefly played with another band called Parklife, and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue interests in Hollywood and in electronic music. He is currently a member of the Los Angeles band, The Lamps. David, who lost his first wife to cancer, remarried and has a career in landscape painting and art shows, and brother Mike is practicing law in Raleigh. Huntley is now selling real estate and working part-time at the University of North Carolina music department. In 2010, Joel Rhodes played on trumpet and flugelhorn until 2017. After several years with Steve Ritter and Chris Stephenson on drums, Rob Ladd was added as the drummer in early 2012.

Due to family and career commitments, the band does not play together as regularly any more.[1] The performances are normally in the southeastern United States, usually at benefit concerts and music festivals.

The band’s catalog was acquired by Bicycle Recording Company, an independent publisher based in Beverly Hills, CA in April 2010  and has reissued the band’s TVT catalog digitally through IODA (The Independent Online Distribution Alliance). The releases became available August 31, 2010 on most digital music stores.

As of April 2013, the band was recording new material at Baby Topanga Studios. New songs include “Stars”, “Burial Art”, “Mr. Lucky”, and “Helium”.

On September 27, 2014, The Connells celebrated their 30th anniversary with a show in their hometown of Raleigh, NC. The show featured a surprise appearance from original member George Huntley playing and singing on multiple songs throughout the show.

On January 25th, 2020, the band played at Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore playing a set that included three songs from a “new record” supposedly coming out in 2020.

Darker Days is the debut album by the American pop/rock band The Connells, initially released in 1985 on independent label Black Park Records in the United States, and on Demon Records in the UK. The Black Park and Demon versions are distinct, with different cover art and running order, the substitution of “In My Head” for “Dial It”, and several remixed tracks. The Black Park version of the album was re-released in 1987 on TVT Records. (wikipedia)

Raleigh, North Carolina’s Connells were a band apparently designed by a bunch of college radio analysts. Jangly dueling 12-string Rickenbackers, check. Morrissey-style crooning, check. Indie label, check. R.E.M.-style songwriting, check. That all being said, the band – while they did devolve into pseudo-Hootie alternacrap with their more recent post-1993 records – did at one point seem set to challenge the Smiths and R.E.M. for most favored status on college radio station playlists.

Their debut LP, 1985’s Darker Days, is perhaps the most derivative of all – though some argue that they shared the same influences as the Smiths/R.E.M., hence a similar sound. But singer Doug MacMillan has admitted to a Morrissey/Ian McCulloch (Echo and the Bunnymen) fixation around this time, which would account for his strange vocal stylings on this LP that he’d soon abandon for a more gentle, less affected style.

The songwriting on Darker Days is top-notch though – and it’s also very hard to find these days. So I’m presenting it here, slightly modified from the original release. It has some would-be-classics-in-an-alternate-universe such as the title track, “Hats Off” and the New Order-meets-R.E.M. vibe of “Dial It”.

The band self-released it Stateside on their own label Black Park Records, and around the same time released it in the UK as well, on Demon Records. The tracklistings were different, and each release had a track the other didn’t. I’m particularly fond of the UK tracklisting, however – it flows better and is a better introduction to the band. (thepowerofindependenttrucking.blogspot.com)

Personnel:
David Connell (bass)
Mike Connell (guitar)
George Huntley (guitar, keyboards, vocals)
Doug MacMillan (vocals)
Peele Wimberley (drums)

Alternate front + backcover:

Tracklist:
01. Darker Days 3.13
02. Much Easier 3.50
03. 1934 2.13
04. Brighter Worlds 2.21
05. In My Head 2.51
06. Hats Off 4.04
07. Holding Pattern 3.20
08. Seven 3.13
09. Unspoken Words 3.22
+
10. Dial It 1.38

All songs written by Mike Connell,
except 03., written by George Huntley

*
**

More from The Connells:

Eddie Condon and His All Stars – Bixieland (1955)

Albert Edwin “Eddie” Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang.

Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of John and Margaret (née McGraw) Condon. He grew up in Momence, Illinois, and Chicago Heights, Illinois, where he attended St. Agnes and Bloom High School. After playing ukulele, he switched to banjo and was a professional musician by 1921.

When he was 15 years old, he received his first union card in Waterloo, Iowa.

He was based in Chicago for most of the 1920s, and played with such jazz notables as Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, and Frank Teschemacher. He and Red McKenzie formed the Chicago Rhythm Kings in 1925. While in Chicago, Condon and other white musicians would go to Lincoln Gardens to watch and learn from King Oliver and his band. They later would frequent the Sunset Café to see Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five for the same reasons.

In 1928, Condon moved to New York City. He frequently arranged jazz sessions for various record labels, sometimes playing with the artists he brought to the recording studios, including Louis Armstrong and Thomas Fats Waller. He organised racially integrated recording sessions—when these were still rare—with Waller, Armstrong and Henry ‘Red’ Allen. He played with the band of Red Nichols for a time. Later, from 1938 he had a long association with Milt Gabler’s Commodore Records.

A handful of records were issued under his own name: a July 28, 1928 two-song session was recorded for OKeh, but only issued in England. On October 30, 1928, an OKeh was issued as “Eddie Condon and his Footwarmers”, featuring Jack Teagarden. A further session on February 8, 1929 yielded a record issued under the name “Eddie Hot Shots” and issued on Victor’s hot dance series. In 1933, a further two sessions were recorded for Brunswick consisting of 6 recordings, only 2 of which were released in the US. From 1938 on, Condon recorded for Commodore and one session for Decca.

From the late 1930s on he was a regular at the Manhattan jazz club Nick’s. The sophisticated variation on Dixieland music which Condon and his colleagues created there came to be nicknamed “Nicksieland.” By this time, his regular circle of musical associates included Wild Bill Davison, Bobby Hackett, George Brunies, Edmond Hall, and Pee Wee Russell. In 1939, he appeared with “Bobby Hacket and Band” in the Warner Brothers & Vitaphone film musical short-subject, On the Air.

Condon did a series of jazz radio broadcasts, Eddie Condon’s Jazz Concerts, from New York’s Town Hall during 1944–45[6] which were nationally popular. These recordings survive, and have been issued on the Jazzology label.

From 1945 through 1967 he ran his own New York jazz club, Eddie Condon’s, first located on West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village, then 52nd Street near Sixth Avenue, on the present site of the CBS headquarters building; then later, on the south side of East 56th Street, east of Second Avenue. In the 1950s Condon recorded a sequence of classic albums for Columbia Records. The musicians involved in these albums, and at Condon’s club, included Wild Bill Davison, Bobby Hackett (cornet), Billy Butterfield (trumpet), Edmond Hall, Peanuts Hucko, Pee Wee Russell, Bob Wilber (clarinet), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity, George Brunies (trombone), Bud Freeman (tenor sax), Gene Schroeder, Dick Cary, Ralph Sutton (piano), Bob Casey, Walter Page, Jack Lesberg, Al Hall (bass), George Wettling, Buzzy Drootin, Cliff Leeman (drums).

Condon toured Britain in 1957 with a band including Wild Bill Davison, Cutty Cutshall, Gene Schroeder and George Wettling. His last tour was in 1964, when he took a band to Australia and Japan. Condon’s men, on that tour, were top mainstream jazz musicians: Buck Clayton (trumpet), Pee Wee Russell (clarinet), Vic Dickenson (trombone), Bud Freeman (tenor sax), Dick Cary (piano and alto horn), Jack Lesberg (bass), Cliff Leeman (drums), Jimmy Rushing (vocals). Billy Banks, a vocalist who had recorded with Condon and Pee Wee Russell in 1932, and had lived in obscurity in Japan for many years, turned up at one of the 1964 concerts: Pee Wee asked him “have you got any more gigs?”.

In 1948, Condon’s autobiography We Called It Music was published. Eddie Condon’s Treasury of Jazz (1956) was a collection of articles co-edited by Condon and Richard Gehman.

A latter-day collaborator, clarinetist Kenny Davern, described a Condon gig: “It was always a thrill to get a call from Eddie and with a gig involved even more so. I remember eating beforehand with Bernie (Previn, trumpet) and Lou (McGarity, trombone) and everyone being in good spirits. There was a buzz on, we’d all had a taste and there was a great feel to the music.”

Condon toured and appeared at jazz festivals until 1971.

Condon married fashion copywriter Phyllis Smith in 1942. They had two daughters, Maggie and Liza.

On August 4, 1973, Condon died of a bone disease at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York. He was 67. His funeral was held at Frank E. Campbell Chapel in Manhattan. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. (wikipedia)

Although a tribute to the music of the legendary cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, the ten selections on this 1955 LP are really jam sessions with no attempt to recreate Beiderbecke’s recordings or solos. Condon’s band on this occasion features Wild Bill Davison or Bobby Hackett on cornet, trombonist Cutty Cutshall, Dick Cary on alto horn, clarinetist Edmond Hall and a fine rhythm section. Highlights include “At the Jazz Band Ball,” “I’ll Be a Friend with Pleasure,” “Fidgety Feet” and “Royal Garden Blues.” (by Scott Yanow)
Bixieland is the very best Dixieland album ever made. The liner notes refer to Pete Pesci on cornet, but it was not Pete, it was Bobby Hackett. Hackett was under contract to Capital so he could not appear on a Columbia release. So Condon made up the tale that it was Pesci, the night manager, on cornet. Bixieland is classic New Your Dixieland, a close cousin to the Chicago style. Those who prefer Bix should listen closely to Hackett on Singing the Blues. Wild Bill Davison does his usual growly stuff superbly, particularly on Old Man River. Ed Hall is so melodic on clarinet.
Every song is a major treat — including the unusual Duff Campbell’s Revenge, a tune written (apparently) by Turk Murphy, but never performed by the Condon mob until this album. Cutty Cutshall is great on trombone on this one. My favorite though is From Monday On. (by Robert Ritter)

Personnel:
Dick Carey (alto horn)
Eddie Condon (guitar)
Cutty Cutshall (trombone)
Wild Bill Davison (cornet)
Edmund Hall (clarinet)
Walter Page (bass)
Pete Pesci (trumpet)
Gene Schroeder (piano)
George Wettling (drums)

Alternate front+backcover from Netherland:

Tracklist:
01. At The Jazz Band Ball (LaRocca/Shields) 4.47
02. Ol’ Man River (Hammerstein II/Kern) 3.31
03. I’ll Be A Friend With Pleasure (Pinkard) 2.50
04. Singin’ The Blues (Robinson/Conrad) 4.20
05. Fidgety Feet (LaRocca/Shields) 5.12
06. From Monday On (Barris/Crosby) 4.11
07. I’m Comin’ Virginia (Heywood) 2.57
08. Royal Garden Blues (C.Williams/S.Williams) 5.05
09. Louisiana (Johnson/Schafer/Razaf) 3.12
10. Jazz Me Blues (Delaney) 3.44

*
**

Phoebe Snow – Same (1974)

Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1975 songs “Poetry Man” and “Harpo’s Blues” and her credited guest vocals backing Paul Simon on “Gone at Last”. She was described by The New York Times as a “contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves.” Snow also sang numerous commercial jingles for many U.S. products during 1980s and 1990s including General Foods International Coffees, Salon Selectives, and Stouffer’s. Snow experienced success in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s with five top 100 albums in that territory.

Phoebe Ann Laub[3] was born in New York City in 1950, and raised in a musical household in which Delta blues, Broadway show tunes, Dixieland jazz, classical music, and folk music recordings were played around the clock. Her father, Merrill Laub, an exterminator by trade, had an encyclopedic knowledge of American film and theater and was also an avid collector and restorer of antiques. Her mother, Lili Laub, was a dance teacher who had performed with the Martha Graham group. She was Jewish.

Snow was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, and graduated from Teaneck High School in 1968.[10] She subsequently attended Shimer College in Mount Carroll, Illinois, but did not graduate.[11] As a student, she carried her prized Martin 000-18 acoustic guitar from club to club in Greenwich Village, playing and singing on amateur nights. Her stage name came from an early 1900s fictional advertising character used by Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. In the railroad’s print ads, a young woman dressed all in white emphasized the cleanliness of Lackawanna passenger trains. (Its locomotives burned anthracite coal, which created less soot than bituminous coal.)

It was at The Bitter End club in 1972 that Denny Cordell, co-owner (with Leon Russell) of Shelter Records, was so taken by the singer that he signed her to the label and produced her first recording. She released an eponymous album, Phoebe Snow, in 1974. Featuring guest performances by The Persuasions, Zoot Sims, Teddy Wilson, David Bromberg, and Dave Mason, Snow’s album went on to sell more than a million copies in the United States and became one of the most acclaimed recordings that year.

The album spawned a Top Five 1975 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Poetry Man” and was itself a Top Five album in Billboard, for which she received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The cover of Rolling Stone magazine followed, while she performed as the opening act for tours by Jackson Browne and Paul Simon. (She provided credited guest vocals backing Simon on the gospel-tinged hit single “Gone at Last” later in 1975—#23 on the Hot 100.) The same year, 1975, also brought the first of several appearances as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, on which Snow performed both solo and in duets with Simon and Linda Ronstadt. During the 1975 appearance, she was seven months pregnant with her daughter, Valerie. Her backup vocal is heard on Simon’s hit song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” along with Valerie Simpson and Patti Austin, from 1975. Both “Gone at Last” and “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” appear on Simon’s Grammy-winning 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years.

Legal battles took place between Snow and Shelter Records. Snow ended up signed to Columbia Records. Her second album, Second Childhood, appeared in 1976, produced by Phil Ramone. It was jazzier and more introspective, and was an RIAA Certified Gold Album for Snow, with the Gold Album awarded on July 9, 1976.[13] She moved to a more rock-oriented sound for It Looks Like Snow, released later in 1976 with David Rubinson producing. 1977 saw Never Letting Go, again with Ramone, while 1978’s Against the Grain was helmed by Barry Beckett. After that, Snow parted ways with Columbia; she would later say that the stress of her parental obligations degraded her ability to make music effectively. In 1979, she toured extensively throughout the US and Canada with noted guitarist Arlen Roth as her lead guitarist and musical director. Her January 1979 cover of the Paul McCartney song “Every Night” reached No. 37 in the UK.[14] In 1981, Snow, then signed with Mirage Records, released Rock Away, recorded with members of Billy Joel’s band; it spun off the Top 50 hit “Games”.

The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide summed up Snow’s career so far by saying: “One of the most gifted voices of her generation, Phoebe Snow can do just about anything stylistically as well as technically. … The question that’s still unanswered is how best to channel such talent.”

Snow spent long periods away from recording, often singing commercial jingles for AT&T, General Foods International Coffees, Salon Selectives, Stouffer’s, Hampton Bay Ceiling Fans, and others to support herself and her daughter.[15] Snow’s voice was also featured on commercials for Cotton Incorporated and their The Fabric of Our Lives campaign in 1990s. During the 1980s, she also battled her own life-threatening illness.[clarification needed][15] Snow recorded the theme song for the first season of the TV series 9 to 5. (Dolly Parton’s vocals were used for the rest of the show’s run.) Snow also sang the theme song for NBC’s A Different World during the show’s first season (1987–88).

In 1988, a duet with Dave Mason, called “Dreams I Dream,” reached No. 11 on the US adult contemporary charts. Snow returned to recording with Something Real in 1989 and gathered a few more hits on the Adult Contemporary charts. Also, Snow composed the Detroit’s WDIV-TV “Go 4 It!” campaign in 1980. She sang “Ancient Places, Sacred Lands,” composed by Steve Horelick, on Reading Rainbow’s tenth episode, The Gift of the Sacred Dog, which was based on the book by Paul Goble and narrated by actor Michael Ansara. It was shot in Crow Agency, Montana, in 1983.

Snow performed in 1989 on stage at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City as part of Our Common Future, a five-hour live television broadcast originating from several countries.[16]

In 1990, she contributed a cover version of the Delaney & Bonnie song “Get Ourselves Together” to the Elektra compilation Rubáiyát, which included Earth Wind & Fire guitarist Dick Smith. In 1992, she toured with Donald Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue and was featured on the group’s album recorded live at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Throughout the 1990s, she made numerous appearances on the Howard Stern radio show. She sang live for specials and birthday shows. In 1997, she sang the Roseanne theme song a cappella during the closing moments of the final episode.

In 1995, Snow participated in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True at the Lincoln Center in New York City, singing a distinctive medley of “If I Only Had a Brain; a Heart; the Nerve”. In addition, the concert featured performances by Jewel, Joel Grey, Roger Daltrey, and Jackson Browne, among others. An album of the concert was released on compact disc on Rhino Records as catalog number R2 72405.

Snow joined with the pop group Zap Mama, who recorded its own version of Snow’s “Poetry Man” in an impromptu duet on the PBS series Sessions at West 54th. Hawaiian girl group Nā Leo Pilimehana also had a hit on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1999 with its cover version of “Poetry Man”.

In May 1998, Snow received the Cultural Achievement Award from New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. She was also the recipient of a Don Kirshner Rock Award, several Playboy Music Poll Awards, New York Music Awards, and the Clio Award.[citation needed]

Snow performed for US President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and his cabinet at Camp David in 1999.

In 2003, Snow released her album Natural Wonder on Eagle Records, containing 10 original tracks, her first original material in 14 years. Snow performed at Howard Stern’s wedding in 2008, and made a special appearance in the film Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom as herself. Some of her music was also featured on the soundtrack of the film. Her Live album (2008) featured many of her hits as well as a cover of “Piece of My Heart”.

Between 1975 and 1978 Snow was married to Phil Kearns (who later came out as gay). She had a daughter, Valerie Rose, who was born with severe brain damage. Snow resolved not to institutionalize Valerie, and cared for her at home until Valerie died on March 19, 2007, at the age of 31. Snow’s efforts to care for Valerie nearly ended her career. She continued to take voice lessons, and she studied opera informally.

Snow resided in Bergen County, New Jersey, and in her later years she embraced Buddhism.

Phoebe Snow suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on January 19, 2010, and slipped into a coma, enduring bouts of blood clots, pneumonia and congestive heart failure. She died on April 26, 2011, at age 60 in Edison, New Jersey.

Phoebe Snow is the debut album by singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow, released in 1974. It contains her Top 5 Billboard pop hit, “Poetry Man”.

Sessions were held in Los Angeles, Nashville and in Tulsa to find the right approach for the album. “She’d play with whoever was around and we’d record and analyze the recordings, try and work out what was ideal for each song, which approach to take,” said Shelter president Denny Cordell. “I think she found that rather a long and painful study, but it obviously had its rewards.” After the album’s release, legal battles took place between Snow and Shelter Records. Snow eventually signed with Columbia Records. It would be two years before her next release on Columbia. (wikipedia)

It’s been said many times that being difficult to categorize or pigeonhole can be the kiss of death commercially, and no one bears that out more than Phoebe Snow — a pearl of a singer who never caught on because she simply didn’t fit neatly into any one category. Known primarily for her haunting single “Poetry Man,” this self-titled classic (which was recorded in 1973 and released on LP in 1974) found the earthy vocalist drawing on everything from folk and pop to soul, jazz, and blues. If anyone has bridged the gap between Joni Mitchell and Aretha Franklin, it’s Snow, who is as confident on the soul-influenced “Good Times” as she is on the introspective jazz offering “Harpo’s Blues.” In fact, many of the players backing Snow are jazzmen, including cool jazz great Zoot Sims (tenor sax) and piano legend Teddy Wilson. With as many risks as she takes, the album is generally quite accessible. (by Alex Henderson)

Personnel:
David Bromberg (guitar, dobro on 04.)
Steve Burgh (guitar on 01., 06. + 09.)
Chuck Domanico (bass on 02., 03., 07. + 08.)
Chuck Israels (bass on 05.)
Bob James (organ on 02., 03., 06., 07. + 08.)
Ralph MacDonald (percussion on 02., 03. + 07.)
Dave Mason (guitar on 09.)
Hugh McDonald (bass on 01., 06. + 09.)
Steve Mosley (drums on 01., 02., 06. + 09.. percussion on 08.)
Margaret Ross (harp on 02., 03. + 07.)
Zoot Sims (saxophone on 02., 03. + 08.)
Phoebe Snow (guitar, vocals)
Teddy Wilson (piano on 02.)
+
The Persuasions (background vocals (on 01.)

Tracklist:
01. Let The Good Times Roll (Cooke) 2.43
02. Harpo’s Blues (Snow) 4.22
03. Poetry Man (Snow) 4.36
04. Either Or Both (Snow) 3.50
05. San Francisco Bay Blues (Fuller) 3.27
06. I Don’t Want The Night To End (Snow) 3.48
07. Take Your Children Home (Snow) 4.14
08. It Must Be Sunday (Snow) 5.47
09. No Show Tonight (Snow) 2.54

*
**

We see these manifold expressions
All at once on his face
And that’s when we make our confession
He has conquered inner space
Take your children home
I am one, I am one
Take your children and tell them
All the peoples of the world
Should be as one
So take your children home
I am one

He kept on tickling us until
We laughed screamingly for mercy
And we marveled at his skill
He said I’m glad you didn’t curse me
He might be my demise
Cause he’s such a good magician
I’d like to get behind his eyes
And sing and cry from that position