Bill Evans Trio - 'Turn Out the Stars : The Final Village Vanguard Recordings'

My husband Jerry and I saw Bill Evans every chance we got, and living in Manhattan, a chance presented itself often.  In June 1980, Bill was booked to play the Village Vanguard from June 4th through the 8th, and we scored tickets for the June 4th and 8th shows.  Jerry and I had a few inside jokes regarding Bill, that date back to the time when we first saw Bill together back in 1969 at The Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach, CA.  That night, Bill was visibly ripped on dope (we were ripped on "Orange Sunshine", but that's another story), and while he was staggering to his piano Jerry said to me, "I've got five bucks that says he doesn't make to the piano" (Bill made it to the piano, and played a set, nothing short of sublime).  That joke got repeated throughout the years whenever we saw Bill live, and for the last time on June 8th.  Little did we know that in three months, Bill would be dead from a combination of peptic ulcer, cirrhosis, bronchial pneumonia, and untreated hepatitis. [Sigh - Ed.]

'Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings' is a 6 CD set that wasn't released until 1996 on the Warner Bros. label in 1996.  On these recordings, Bill is a wealth of creative flair, and stretches out in his patented relaxed and fluid style, while getting some great support from trio members Marc Johnson on bass and Joe Labarbera on drums.

Anyone who hears Bill's trio recordings from The Village Vanguard in 1961 with Scot LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums would be hard-pressed to consider the possibility that Bill would find partners as mutually empathetic and individualized in their own playing.  But he certainly did in bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe Labarbera.  To my ears, Bill took as much inspiration from them as he offered to them.

Over the course of these 6 CDs, we find the trio cycling through a fairly extensive repertoire without any sense of monotony.  On the contrary, any given take of "Nardis" or "Days of Wine and Roses" find the threesome rediscovering their individual and collective musicianship, not to mention the material itself.

'Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings' wonderfully bookends with 'The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings' from 1961.

For the freeload, what are some of your favorite live albums?

Robin Trower - 'Bridge of Sighs' (50th Anniversary Edition)

 

Whenever I hear Robin Trower's 'Bridge of Sighs' album, I think of my friend Kathy, who I met at a Dead show in the early 1970s.  Kathy was a real character who grew up in a traveling circus, where her parents were sideshow "mind readers".  She earned her living as an Astrologer, and made expensive astrological birth charts for well-heeled New Yorkers.

Kathy put ads in The Village Voice (a weekly New York alternative newspaper) for her astrology business, and would rent a small reception spaces in hotels throughout midtown Manhattan.  There she'd ply her trade to people who thought astrology just might be final word in matters of destiny.  I witnessed several of these soirées, she served her perspective clients cheap wine served out of expensive decanters and mediocre cheeses on ornate serving platters.  While the people were drinking wine and eating cheese, Kathy worked the room.  She would get their names and have a brief conversation with each and every guest.  Afterward, she'd have them joind hands around her in a circle, where she'd announce that after the brief conversations she knew everyone's astrological sign.  Then she would go around the circle, remembering all their names and telling them what their astrological sign was.  Kathy never made a wrong guess, once I saw her guess the signs of forty people, and all forty dumbstruck people wanted her to do their astrological birth chart.

I lost touch with Kathy in the 1980s, when she moved to Las Vegas, became a magician's assistant, and then had her own psychic lounge act as "Katherine Cayce", and implied she was a direct descendant of clairvoyant Edgar Cayce, this of course (among many other things), was bunkum.

The last I heard about Kathy was through a mutual friend, in the early 1990s, who informed me Kathy had been indicted on credit card and wire fraud charges in Las Vegas.  [You'd think she would have seen that coming, right? - Ed.]

I know what you're thinking: so what does this have to do with Robin Trower?  Well, Kathy drove an old Volkswagen Beetle she named "Lilly", after her deceased grandmother, who she inherited the car from.  The ashtray was filled with cigarette butts and three-quarter smoked joints.  It also was fitted with an 8-track player [the biggest loser in the history of musical media - Ed.], and in the player was 'Bridge of Sighs', which seemed to be the only 8-track cartridge in the car.  So every time you got in Kathy's car, you heard 'Bridge of Sighs'.  Oh, and the cartridge changed tracks during my favorite part of "Too Rolling Stoned".

Robin Trower made his reputation playing the guitar for Procol Harum during their glory years, before jumping ship to join a short-lived band called Jude.  When Jude failed to secure a recording contract, Robin split, and took bassist and lead singer James Dewar with him.  He then recruited Reg Isidore to play drums, and presto, the Robin Trower band was born.  1974’s 'Bridge of Sighs' was their second release, and their most successful by leaps and bounds.

Today's freeload is the 50th anniversary edition, which is a 3 CD set.

• CD 1 is the original 1974 album, remastered in 2024 and it sounds excellent.
• CD 2 is a new 2024 stereo mix, plus outtakes and rarities.
• CD 3 is Live At The Record Plant, in Saulsalito,  CA on the 29th May 1974. This has been widely bootlegged over the years, but not with this audio quality.

For the freeload, what is your astrological sign?

John Lee Hooker – 'The Vee-Jay Years 1955-1964'

 

After nomadic label-hopping for the first seven years of his remarkably long recording career, Mississippi Delta émigré John Lee Hooker settled into a relatively exclusive relationship with Chicago’s Vee-Jay Records in 1955.  Things had changed dramatically on the Blues/R&B front since 1949; no longer would a haunting solo blues piece like the Hook's "Boogie Chillen" find its way to the top of the charts now that rock 'n' roll had captured the teenage demographic.

Nevertheless, there remained a solid African-American market for blues, and Hook was happy to help fill it on Vee-Jay through 1964 (granted, there were involvements with a number of other labels during that span).  His first Vee-Jay date, conducted in Chicago in October of '55, found him in the company of labelmate Jimmy Reed, guitarist Eddie Taylor (a steadying presence for both Reed and Hook whenever they entered the studio), bassist George Washington (no really), and drummer Tom Whitehead, who had been playing sessions with the "Boogie Man" since 1953 and clearly knew the territory.

Reed was absent for Hook’s Vee-Jay encore session, held March 27, 1956, but the rhythm section remained constant.  Among the enduring gems laid down that day was the rollicking "Dimples", a standard in Hook's repertoire from then on.  Hook was playing an electric guitar instead of the acoustic he used on his first Detroit sessions (ironically, he’d have to retrieve it when the folk-blues trend hit).

Hook's Vee-Jay stint produced some of the most polished recordings he ever made, thanks to stellar musicianship by Eddie Taylor and his fellow musicians, who seemed to cope with Hook's erratic timing better than just about anyone else he recorded with.  At the end of 1958, Hook would find his way back onto the R&B charts for the first time in more than seven years with "I Love You Honey".  He scored nationally again in 1960 with "No Shoes".  But as it turned out, the John Lee Hooker story was just getting underway.

'John Lee Hooker The Vee-Jay Years 1955-1964' was released by the Charly R&B label in 1992, as part of their Red Box series and was sympathetically remastered by Andy Pearce.  It's a 6CD (127 track) box set compilation featuring a complete as possible collection of recordings, with previously unreleased tracks, and a 28-page booklet (included in the freeload).

Hook's stint with the Vee-Jay label has some of my favorite of John lee's recordings, with many being the definitive versions from John lee's long and storied career.

For the freeload, tell us who are some of your favorite blues guitarist from the classic 1940/50s era.

 

Weather Report - 'Night Passage'

 'Night Passage' is Weather Report’s 9th album, and was released by Columbia Records in late 1980. While it is not credited as a live album, tracks 1 through 7 were actually recorded live in the studio before an audience of 250 people in August 1980. The last track on the album titled "Madagascar" was recorded live in Osaka, Japan, in June of the same year.

When the album was released, I was expecting more music along the lines of the synthesizer synth-driven 'Mr. Gone' and I was pleasantly surprised by the return to more jazzy directions.

Wayne Shorter's saxophone playing is much more prominent than was the case on the last couple of albums. The rhythm section is top-notch on this album, too. 


 Out of the first three albums with Jaco Pastorius on bass, "Night Passage" is his most impressive. Some of the things he plays on this album are outstanding.  Just listen to his performance on a song like "Port of Entry". The drumming by Peter Erskine is also outstanding and greatly enjoyable, while the percussion playing by Robert Thomas Jr. adds a special exotic flavor to Weather Report's music. 

What's most interesting about "Night Passage", in addition to the outstanding musicianship, is the high quality of the compositions. There's great variation on the album, and not a single track is sub-par to the rest. The production on 'Night Passage' is excellent; organic, warm and powerful.

For the freeload, tell us what the weather has been like in your neck of the woods.

Roxy Music - 'Platinum SHM-CD Collection (1972-1982)'

 

Formed in the early seventies, Roxy Music began with a sound fired by raucous outbursts and wild mood swings, only to evolve into one of the most finely controlled and heartfelt bands of all time.  On the one hand, they satirized glamour, romance, and style, while on the other displaying their ideals of self-expression.  And while they drew on common genres, including glam, free jazz, and art rock, but they suffered none of their clichés.  Oh, and somewhere along the way, they made oboe solos a thing.  In what universe does the story of Roxy Music make sense?

Roxy Music featured a core band that included Bryan Ferry on vocals, Phil Manzanera on guitar, Andy Mackay on saxophone and oboe, Paul Thompson on drums, a seemingly endless succession of guys on bass, and Brian Eno, who initially joined as a technical adviser, on synthesizers.  Eno played a profound role in the band’s sound but left after two LPs due to creative differences with Bryan Ferry.  I've run across a number of self-proclaimed "avant gardists" who think Eno’s departure marked the end of Roxy Music as a great band, but I don't agree with that.

When it comes to who can lay claim to being rock’s most dapper and consummate lounge lizard, Bryan Ferry without a doubt has no competition.  A tuxedo clad sophisticate and jaded Casanova who still harbors a torn shred of belief in true love in his cynical heart.  He's been crooning about finding something beyond sex in the discos and singles bars of his decidedly unsentimental imagination since the early seventies.  With Bryan's songwriting, the tension has always been between disco Lothario (or as my friend Zelda would say: "Such a pussy hound") and true love seeker, and the game for us the listener has always been to figure out exactly which Ferry is singing at the time.



Today's freeload is Roxy Music's Japanese 'Platinum SHM-CD Collection (1972-1982)'.  These are the best sounding versions of the CDs you'll ever hear, and will make for a nice upgrade for your collection.

For the freeload, tell us who your favorite singer is.

Various Artists - ‘Anthology Of The Blues’

 

In 1969 and 1970 Kent Records released 'Anthology Of The Blues', a 12-volume LP series of recordings originally made for the Bihari brothers' (Lester, Jules, Saul and Joe) Modern Records label in the 1940s and 1950s.

It was in 1969 when my then boyfriend (and future husband) Jerry and I first came across the 'Anthology Of The Blues' series, at Canterbury Records (it’s still in business) in Pasadena, CA, which was a short walk from California Institute of Technology.  Back then, it was run by a gentleman named Lenny, who was a hysterically funny man and had an encyclopedic knowledge of Jazz.  One Saturday, Jerry and I stopped in to look through the record bins.  When we entered the store, Jerry greeted us and told us he had some new releases of old Blues records.  Lenny showed me 'Vol. 1 The Legend Of Elmore James' looking at the track list on the back of the record, there were a few tracks I was familiar with, but most of them I had never heard.  It was the same with 'Vol. 2 Memphis Blues' and 'Vol. 3 California Blues'.  Lenny told us they weren’t selling that well, and he thought it was because of the covers that mostly featured African-American children.  I told Lenny, I thought they were charming, and Lenny said, "Well, you know how some people are" and rolled his eyes.  Over the next few months we bought all the volumes released in 1969, and then the 1970 releases in Boston, MA. where we moved to further our studies.

The Bihari brothers, and Modern Records

In the late '40s and early '50s, Modern Records was able to attract many fine blues performers to the labels, including B.B. King, Roscoe Gordon, Elmore James, Smokey Hogg, Lightnin' Hopkins, Little Willie Littlefield, Jimmy McCracklin, Jimmy Witherspoon, Pee Wee Crayton and John Lee Hooker.  Modern also leased masters from Sam Phillips in Memphis, and was the first label to release material by the legendary Howlin' Wolf.  A split between the Bihari brothers and Sam Phillips occurred when Phillips started leasing the Howlin' Wolf masters to Chess Records in Chicago.


In the mid-'50s Joe Bihari made several trips into the Deep South to gather field recordings of living, breathing Juke Joint blues players, and the recordings he brought back weren't quaint, archaic folk pieces but raw and raucous delicious slices of blues.  The Bihari's guide in all of this was a young Ike Turner, who was Joe’s right-hand man, chauffeur, and played piano (not guitar) on many tracks.  The resulting material is moonshine loose, charmingly rough, ragged, and they hit like the proverbial "ton of bricks".

In common with almost all record companies at the time, the Biharis would often add their names to the writing credits to get some of the cash from publishing royalties. Jules was "Jules Taub", Joe was "Joe Josea" and Saul was "Sam Ling".  For example, John Lee Hooker’s 'Turn Over a New Leaf' is credited to Hooker/Ling.  On the other hand, the brothers were music fans, and very approachable characters, as many of their artists have noted.  While they may have been "nice guys", those practices just don't sit well with me.

The Modern label went bankrupt in the mid 60s, so the brothers set up Kent Records, which bought the Modern group’s back catalog.  They continued producing new Blues and R&B records until Saul’s death in 1975, at the age of 56.



For the most part, I'm not a big fan of Blues compilations, as I find them pedestrian and fine for beginners, with the usual hits such as Elmore James' "Dust My Broom", Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy", John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen" and other Blues classics we’ve all heard thousands upon thousands of times.  'Anthology of the Blues' is different, while it has Blues giants such as Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf, the songs included are what I like to call "deep cuts".  It also has lesser known Blues artists, but equally talented artists, who should be more well known, including: Willie Nix, Big Bill Dotson, Charlie Bradix, James "Peck" Curtis and many others.  In my eye, these twelve LPs belong in every Blues collection.

The 12-volume series: ‘Anthology of the Blues’ are:


Vol. 1   The Legend Of Elmore James
Vol. 2   Memphis Blues
Vol. 3   California Blues
Vol. 4   Blues From The Deep South
Vol. 5   Texas Blues
Vol. 6   Detroit Blues
Vol. 7   Arkansas Blues
Vol. 8   Lightnin' Hopkins: A Legend In His Own Time
Vol. 9   Mississippi Blues
Vol. 10 The Resurrection Of Elmore James
Vol. 11 B.B. King 1949-1950
Vol. 12 West Coast Blues

In the comments of the Candi Staton post, steVe asked, "So Babs, living on the west coast, I've wondered if you live in a Brownstone or skyscraper? Or what?", which turned into inside jokes from the Th' Isle O'Foam©.  So, for the freeload, tell us what type of dwelling you live in?

Miles Davis - 'The Complete Columbia Studio Sessions 1965-68'

 

The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968 is a box set of six CDs covering the work of Miles Davis and his second great quintet which featured Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams.  This is my favorite band of any genre.

The box set includes all songs from the albums 'E.S.P.', 'Miles Smiles', 'Sorcerer', 'Nefertiti', 'Miles in the Sky', the quintet tracks from 'Filles de Kilimanjaro'; and 'Water Babies' as well as some rehearsal and alternative takes. The track list is sequenced in chronological order, with the alternative takes preceding the final album version.  A few of the tracks were previously unissued.

 By 1965, the world of jazz had changed almost unrecognizably from just five years ago, and Miles Davis was in danger of being left behind.  After the triumphs of his first few years with Columbia, it seems Miles had had enough.  His past few records and his live performances found him falling back on old habits, exploring standards and hard bop pieces that he'd been playing for the past several years.  Meanwhile, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and Albert Ayler shook the foundations of jazz and John Coltrane in December 1964 had just aligned himself with them by recording his masterpiece "A Love Supreme".  All this time, Davis had been standing still, but he'd assembled a new quintet, completed by plucking Wayne Shorter from Art Blakey's band to add to his working band of pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drum protégée Tony Williams.  And while his band dutifully played the hard bop he was paying them for, they wanted to stretch out, to build on the innovations of Coleman, Taylor, Ayler and Coltrane, and remarkably, they inspired Miles to do so as well.  In January 1965, they went into the studio to record their first album together-- "E.S.P", and it was clear that, to steal an Ayler song title, change has come.

Granted, the music here isn't free jazz, but it's certainly a lot more adventurous than anything Miles had done since "Sketches of Spain".  Miles by and large let his sidemen stretch their wings.  Departing from the previous use of standards and compositions by contemporaries, virtually all the material by the quintet came from within the quintet (in fact, of the 45 or so compositions on this set, only two come from outside the quintet).  Early on, Wayne Shorter carried the lion's share of composition with Miles taking this role later (as he began experimenting with electric instruments, he began composing more), but everyone contributes. By and large, they're extraordinarily adventurous hard bop tunes, that in the vein of the kind of work Eric Dolphy was doing, or perhaps even a less detailed Mingus; who tended to use larger ensembles. The performances are vibrant and inventive, with dynamic interaction between the members of the band and the rhythm section stealing the performances from the soloists at times.

From the beginning, it is evident that the music was of an unmatched quality and power.  The outstanding musical talent of Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams all gels into a cohesive symphony of sound under the guiding hand of the "Prince of Darkness", himself.  You can trace the development of each member's compositional talents and its effect on Miles' musical approach throughout the group's tenure.  Each successive disc demonstrates how the group explored uncharted musical territory with each session.  A few years later, Davis would take his art in a new, more electric direction, thus ending this important period of jazz history.

Sonically, the set is nothing short of superb.

Track Listing:
CD1
1. E.S.P.
2. R.J.
3. Eighty-One
4. Little One
5. Iris
6. Agitation
7. Mood
8. Circle
9. Orbits
10. Dolores
11. Freedom Jazz Dance

CD2
1. Ginger Bread Boy
2. Footprints
3. Limbo - (alternate take)
4. Limbo
5. Vonetta
6. Masqualero - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
7. Masqualero
8. Sorcerer, The
9. Prince of Darkness
10. Pee Wee
11. Water Babies

CD3
1. Nefertiti
2. Capricorn
3. Madness - (previously unreleased, rehearsal take)
4. Hand Jive - (previously unreleased, take 1)
5. Hand Jive - (previously unreleased, take 2)
6. Hand Jive $0.99
7. Madness - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
8. Madness
9. Sweet Pea
10. Fall
11. Pinocchio - (alternate take)

CD4
1. Pinocchio
2. Riot
3. Thisness - (previously unreleased)
4. Circle in the Round - (previously unreleased, 33-minute version)
5. Water on the Pond
6. Fun
7. Teo's Bag - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
8. Teo's Bag

CD5
1. Paraphernalia - (with George Benson)
2. I Have a Dream - (previously unreleased, rehearsal take)
3. Speak Like a Child - (previously unreleased, rehearsal take)
4. Sanctuary
5. Side Car I
6. Side Car II
7. Country Son
8. Country Son - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
9. Black Comedy - (previously unreleased, alternate take)

CD6
1. Black Comedy
2. Stuff
3. Petits Machins
4. Tout de Suite - (previously unreleased, alternate take)
5. Tout de Suite
6. Filles de Kilimanjaro

For the freeload, put any device you have that plays music on shuffle, and post the first five results.

Candi Staton - 'FAME records Compilation'

 

Candi Staton was born in 1943, and spent her childhood picking cotton, and singing in the church choir in Hanceville, Alabama.  At the age of eighth, Candi was already singing in a gospel group, "The Four Golden Echoes".  When she was ten, her mother moved the family north to Cleveland in order to escape her alcoholic husband, and Candi was sent to a boarding school in Nashville, where she joined "The Jewel Gospel Trio", and toured with Mahalia Jackson, The Staple Singers, and a young Aretha Franklin.  At seventeen, she ran off to Los Angeles, CA with "The Pilgrim Travellers" singer Lou Rawls.

In 1968 the legendary Rick Hall, owner of the FAME Records label, was looking for a female blues singer, and heard Candi when she was a backup singer for her future husband, Clarence Carter.  Rick signed her, and launched her solo career as a Southern soul stylist, earning 16 R&B hits for Rick Hall's FAME Studios and gaining the title of "First Lady of Southern Soul" for her Grammy-nominated R&B renditions of the songs "Stand by Your Man" and "In the Ghetto".

The records Candi made at FAME are some of the finest examples of what is known now as Southern Soul, with its tough, funky, provocative, soulful and proud sound, that still sound terrific today.  The sound is more complex than the hits that had previously come out of other southern studios, like the
Stax Records label. Today, over fifty years after they were recorded, the songs of this compilation remain as bright as ever.

For the freeload, tell us what your favorite candy bar is or was (as a child).

Derek and the Dominos - 'Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'

 

Eric Freaking Clapton: I’ve been running hot and cold on hm for decades now, and would most likely completely despise him (for his racist comments, Covid conspiracies, innumerable mediocre solo LPs, and general lack of a chin, to say nothing of “Tears in Heaven”) were it not for the ace up his sleeve, namely 1970's 'Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs' by Derek and the Dominos.  One of rock’s greatest albums, Layla offers up a vision of a Clapton one will find nowhere else. Impassioned, funky, and loose, the Clapton of Layla is a man free at last of the shackles of this supergroup or that, and he has something to prove.  Which he does, on a bunch of songs that sound as fresh, frenetic, world-weary, heartbroken, and wild as they did when they were recorded.

The story behind the double LP is well known. Clapton hooked up with a stellar cast of musicians (Bobby Whitlock on organ, piano, vocals, and acoustic guitar; Jim Gordon on drums, percussion, and piano; Carl Radle on bass and percussion; and coup of all coups, Duane Allman on guitars), all but Allman being alumni of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, with whom Clapton, happy to be sideman for once, had been playing. Clapton and Whitlock co-wrote a good number of the originals, five were covers, and so on. The musical rapport between Clapton and Allman was, by all accounts, instantaneous, and Clapton was thrilled by his sidemen, saying later, “Carl Radle and Jimmy Gordon are the most powerful rhythm section I have ever played with” and calling Gordon “the greatest rock’n’roll drummer who ever lived.”

As for the recording sessions, we've all heard mythical stories of Clapton singing while flat on his back because he was too stoned to stand, but he was yet to become a full-fledged junkie and said later, "We kept ourselves going with… a cocktail of drink and drugs, mostly cocaine and Mandrax [in the US, Mandrax was known as Quaaludes - Ed.]. 'Mandies' were quite strong sleeping pills, but instead of letting them put us to sleep, we would ride the effect, staying awake by snorting some coke or drinking some brandy or vodka, and this would create a unique kind of high."

'Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs' marked a moment of divine synchronicity, when Eric Clapton and Duane Allman got together on a whim and produced an LP that is far more than the sum of its parts.  Clapton and Allman had an unerring ability to play both against and with one another.  To my ears, Bobby Whitlock is the album’s "secret weapon", while Carl Radle and Jim Gordon nail the whole thing down without flash but with an uncanny ability to keep things both loose and tighter than a drum.

'Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs' is about a classic as a classic rock album can get, it just has one problem; and that problem is the audio. The album sounds hissy, and has a poor high-end timbre.  Enter our old friend Mickboy, of 'Torn and Frayed' productions!

Those of you who freeloaded Mickboy's Rolling Stones "Remasters", know that his "remasters" sound different from and, in some cases, better the official releases. On 'Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs', the "mix" sounds the same, but with better sonics.  Give it the ol' "Audiophool's" A/B test, and you'll see.

For the freeload, in a recent comment, D in California said:
"Some freeload soon, ask us about our favorite background singers :^)"
So let's go with that.

 

James Brown - 'Star Time'

My parents were in the restaurant/bar business in Brooklyn, NY.  They had an Irish bar/restaurant called 'Molly Maguire’s Pub' and an Italian restaurant called 'Mario’s Trattoria'.  Neither of my parents were Irish nor for that matter Italian.  I remember my older brother cracking wise, telling my father, "You should open a Chinese joint, and call it: Sum-Dum-Fuk" to which my father replied, "Why would I name a restaurant after you?"

In 1963, when I was sixteen, my parents opened a nightclub called Bentley’s, which attracted a mixed gay/straight African-American crowd.  Mom and Dad weren’t African-American, either.  My father was a mild-mannered WASP, originally from Kennebunk Maine, and my mother was a feisty French woman, who was born in Marseille, and grew up in Québec City, Canada.

One afternoon, I was out with my father, and we stopped by Bentley’s.  Inside there was a long horseshoe shaped bar, an area with tables and a large dance floor, it had lots of lights and speakers hanging from the ceiling.  There was a table on a raised platform at the end of the dance floor, that had audio equipment on it, and the largest speakers I had ever seen on the floor.  The waitstaff were preparing to open, and setting tables. There were noises and aromas coming out of the kitchen.  Standing behind the bar was a six-foot six African-American man, who reminded me a little of Little Richard.  This was the first time I met Blue, who smiled at me and said, "You must be Babs, would you like a coca-cola, my dear?"  I nodded my head and replied, "You must be Blue, the DJ!" At home, I heard stories about what a character Blue was, so his reputation preceded him.  My father went into the kitchen, and Blue said, "Let's play some records" he put on a record, and asked, "Do you dance?" so I started dancing.  He watched me, clapped his hands, laughed and said, "What was that girl, the damn Bunny Hop?  I’m going to call you Babs Bunny!" and did so for the rest of his life.

My father came out of the kitchen with Alton who was Bentley’s manager he was also African-American, and looked like he played middle linebacker for the New York Giants.  Blue introduced me to Alton as Babs Bunny and told me, "Alton’s my roommate".  Later that evening, I told my brother about meeting Blue and Alton. My brother said, "You know what they are, right?" and I said, "Yeah, they’re Gay, so what?" this surprised my brother, and he said, "My little sis is growing up!  They’re a pisser, right?"  My brother was a world-class wise ass, but a very cool one, especially for the time.

Around this time, my parents thought it was time for me to start learning the family business, so most afternoons after school, I went to one of the businesses.  My favorite place was Bentley’s because Blue was there.  In the kitchen I leaned to do food prep, and cook.  In the main room, Blue taught me how to mix drinks, open wine bottles, set up tables and how to use the sound system.  Every afternoon, Blue gave me a dance lesson, while R&B 45s played.  He always yelled, "Let your backbone slip, girl! Let it SLIP!".  We had a dance routine, we did to James Brown’s "Night Train".  Bentley’s was known for its music, which was very much "right now" so every few weeks Blue gave me a pile of 45s he referred to as "over" and "tired".  Blue also taught me to sip cocktails and smoke cigarettes, but that was our secret.

Throughout high school on the weekends, I was waiting tables at Molly Maguire’s Pub and Mario’s Trattoria, which were all along the same subway line, as was Bentley’s which was off limits to me at night.  So one night instead of going home, I dropped by Bentley’s to see what was going on, and to see if all the stories I heard were true.  I could hear the music from a few doors away, and when I went inside the place was going wild.  At the end of the dance floor was Blue spinning records, when he saw me, he waved me towards him.  As I walked toward him, a large hand grabbed my arm, it was Alton, who told me, "You ain't supposed to be here at this time of night, in this neighborhood, Miss Babs!"  Blue said to Alton: "Just one dance."  He picked up his microphone and said, "I’m going to dance this one with my girlfriend, Babs Bunny" which caused everyone to laugh.  Blue played "Night Train", and we did our dance routine.  Afterward, while Alton was escorting me out, to put me in a cab home, a woman said to me, "That was pretty good.....yeah, for a white girl".

When I went away to college, Blue and I wrote letters to each other, and every so often a package of 45s would arrive.  During the summers when I returned to New York, Blue and I would party, only now weed entered the mix along with cocktails, Dexamyl, and cigarettes.  One magical Sunday in the summer of 1968, we dropped acid in Central Park, and on our way to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, we did our Night Train routine by Bethesda fountain to the amusement of the hippies.

In the 70s, Alton and Blue moved to San Francisco, where they opened a Disco. Whenever I hear James Brown, I think of Blue.

Star Time is a 1991 71-track, 4-CD box set by James Brown.  Its contents span most of the length of his career up to the time of its release, starting in 1956 with his first hit record, "Please, Please, Please", and ending with "Unity", his 1984 collaboration with Afrika Bambaataa.  Its title comes from the question Brown's announcer would ask concert audiences, as heard on the album 'Live at the Apollo, "Are you ready for star time?"



For the freeload, tell us what was the last thing you bought that wasn't food or drink?

 

Phil Woods With Red Garland - 'Sugan'

Released in 1957, 'Sugan' is a tour de force between Phil Woods and Red Garland.  This genius of Phil Woods fully emerges on this album that puts him in a looser, more intimate setting.  The approach is a bit like Phil's sublime work for Epic Records, but more soulful, and very different from some of his "chamber jazz" work on RCA, or the more blowing-session styled records on some of the Prestige recordings.

What makes 'Sugan' a classic is the undeniable chemistry between Phil and Red Garland who made many classic piano albums just as much he did as a sideman, in Miles Davis’ first classic Quintet of the 1950s and other guest appearances he made on albums by Art Pepper, Jackie MacLean, Coleman Hawkins, among others.  The album is rounded out by Ray Copeland on trumpet, and the rhythm section of Teddy Kotick on bass and drummer Nick Stabulas, who were frequent players in Phil’s quartets.

Beginning with their take on Charlie Parker’s signature classics "Au Privave" and "Steeplechase" they proceed head on with original compositions written by Phil himself, like the minor low-key "Fast Fling", "Green Pines", the first-rate titled track and ending with another Parker classic "Scrapple From The Apple". 

All in all, this is a superb session of bebop classics by master musicians, with outstanding solos by Phil Woods, excellent trumpet solos by Ray Copeland and the always sublime piano of Ray Garland.

For the freeload, tell us what was the last album you played from start to finish.

Ronnie Wood - 'Anthology: The Essential Crossexion'

 

Ronnie Wood 'Anthology: The Essential Crossexion' is a 2CD compilation of Ronnie Wood from 2006.  It includes solo work and music from Wood's bands The Birds, The Creation, Jeff Beck Group, The Faces and The Rolling Stones.

To Me, Ronnie is the consummate Rock & Roll sideman. He's the ultimate reliable team player, whose versatility has allowed him to carve out a career spanning over 50 years.  There’s no one who has played Wood’s position with as much skill, suave, and swagger as he has, yet, the guitarist has no problem pumping out licks in the background.  He also boasts numerous solo ventures, in particular, the aptly titled 'I’ve Got My Own Album To Do', which featured legendary musicians such as George Harrison, Ian McLagan, and Stones bandmate Keith Richards, proving that Wood could be front-and-center whenever he wanted.  Instead, he remains among the best sidemen in rock history – and that’s quite an honor to have.

CD1 - (Ronnie Solo)

1. I Can Feel the Fire
2. Cancel Everything
3. Far East Man - Ronnie Wood
4. Big Bayou
5. If You Don't Want My Love
6. 1234
7. Fountain of Love
8. Seven Days
9. Always Wanted More
10. Breathe on Me
11. Somebody Else Might
12. Josephine
13. Testify
14. Whadd'ya Think
15. This Little Heart
16. Little Mixed Up
17. You Strum and I'll Sing

 

CD2 (With Groups)

1. You're on My Mind - The BirdsYou Don't Love Me - The Birds
2. No Good Without You Baby - The Birds
3. How Can It Be - The Birds
4. Midway Down - The Creation
5. Girls Are Naked - The Creation
6. I Ain't Superstitious - Jeff Beck Group
7. All Shook Up - Jeff Beck Group
8. Plynth (Water Down the Drain) - Jeff Beck Group
9. Jailhouse Rock - Jeff Beck Group
10. Flying - Faces
11. Gasoline Alley - Rod Stewart
12. Miss Judy's Farm - Faces
13. Too Bad - Faces
14. Maggie May - Rod Stewart
15. Stay with Me - Faces
16. Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart
17. Ooh La La - Faces
18. Everything Is Turning to Gold - The Rolling Stones
19. Black Limousine - The Rolling Stones

For the freeload, tell us who your favorite Rock sideman is.

King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa

 'King Kong' is probably the most important cornerstone in Jean-Luc’s career, in that it’s both the turning point that gave him a visibility that his previous work in mainstream Jazz would have never made possible, and the opportunity to escape the growing pressure from "the suits" at his record label who wanted to push him into commercial music.

The source of Jean-Luc’s breakthrough was the mutual admiration he developed with Frank Zappa.  Jean-Luc the saw Frank’s sophisticated music as a serious alternative to the mainstream simplicity he was being coerced to experiment with, whereas the first thing Frank did after hearing a Jean-Luc record was to invite him to play on "Hot Rats".  Frank was so interested in Jean-Luc’s mix of classical background and ability to improvise, and impressed by his work with the then unknown George Duke, that when the violinist’s producer asked him if he’d like to arrange some of his music for Jean-Luc’s next album.  Frank had the charts ready in a few weeks time.    

The result was this mind-blowing and unique album in Jean-Luc’s career, deeply Zappa-esque in its aesthetics, fed by the unconditional support of a line-up of musicians experienced in diversified areas, but whose guiding lights are Jean-Luc’s virtuoso playing and a progressive vision of music no one had ever tried to adapt to the violin.

Personnel:
Jean-Luc Ponty – electric violin, baritone violectra
Frank Zappa – guitar
George Duke – piano, electric piano
Ernie Watts – alto and tenor sax
Ian Underwood – tenor sax
Buell Neidlinger – bass
Wilton Felder – Fender bass
Gene Estes – vibraphone, percussion
John Guerin – drums
Art Tripp – drums
Donald Christlieb – bassoon
Gene Cipriano – oboe, English horn
Vincent DeRosa – French horn, descant
Arthur Maebe – French horn, tuben
Jonathan Meyer – flute
Harold Bemko – cello
Milton Thomas – viola

For the freeload, post your favorite Frank Zappa quote (not lyrics).

Mickboy's Rolling Stones "Remasters"

 

"Mickboy" is a legend in the world of bootlegging.  His "remasters" have a warm and analog-like sound to them, with great separation that jumps from the speakers.  They sound nothing like the original.

'Get Your Kicks On This Vols. 2-3' is Rolling Stones 'No. 2'  and  'Out Of Our Heads' in excellent mono on 2 CDs.

'Only When It's Frozen' is Aftermath-era Stones, with exceptional audio on 2CDs.

'Mentholated Sandwich: Beggars Banquet Rekindled' is 'Beggars Banquet' plus outtakes and extras, with exceptional audio.

'Get What You Need' is 'Let It Bleed' plus outtakes and extras, with exceptional audio.

'Tastes Sooo Good' is (you guessed it) 'Sticky Fingers' plus outtakes and extras, with exceptional audio.

'Main Street Revisited' is 'Exile' with outtakes and extras, with excellent audio.

'Dancing So Free: Goats Head Soup Reheated' outtakes and extras, with extraordinary audio

'Short And Curlies: It's Only Rock'n'Roll By The Balls' is a 2CD set of outtakes and extras, with extraordinary audio.

'From Rags To Excess...B&B2' is 2CDs of 'Black and Blue' outtakes and extras, with excellent audio.

If you're a Stones fan, get these while they're hot!

For the freeload, post one verse or chorus of your favorite Stones' song.

Ben Webster - 'At The Renaissance'

Tenor saxophonist, Ben Webster, is considered one of the three most important “swing tenors” along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.  Known affectionately as “The Brute” or “Frog”, he had a tough, raspy, and brutal tone on stomps (with growls), yet on ballads he played with warmth and sentiment.

'At The Renaissance' was recorded live in Hollywood on Oct 14, 1960, but not released until 1985.  Along with Ben on this date are pianist Jimmy Rowles, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Red Mitchell, and drummer Frank Butler.  The musicianship is consistently wonderful.  Whether showing warmth and sentimentality on "Georgia on My Mind" and "Stardust" or growling and roaring on "Caravan" and "Ole Miss Blues", Ben is in superior and creative form.  Not unlike many of Ben's recordings, this is a great late night listen.

Today's freeload, is the Analogue Productions limited-edition 24K Gold release disc mastered using all Tube gear, and it sounds sweet.  It also has those "you are there" sonics.

For the freeload, what albums do you play late at night?

The Definitive Charley Patton

 

‘The Definitive Charley Patton’ is a 3CD set, released on the Catfish label in 2001, and contains all of Patton's originally issued recordings in chronological order, from 1929 to his untimely death in 1934.

  Charley (or "Charlie" as the man himself seemingly insisted) was a Blues pioneer, a raconteur, a country clown, and an extremely popular performer with African-Americans.  He also had an insatiable appetite for cocaine, which back then was legal, and widely available at any pharmacy.



On these recordings, the warmth and skill of Patton's performance never fails to break through and his percussive guitar playing alongside a melodic vocal delivery, less raw than the likes of contemporaries Son House and Blind Willie Johnson, Charley steals the show at every turn.  Widely considered to be a savvy, crowd-pleasing showman who crossed a number of stylistic boundaries when performing live, Patton's recorded works are largely rooted in the blues, presumably for commercial reasons, but he nonetheless keeps his options open by attempting to appeal to as wide an audience as possible through the subject of his songs.  For instance, a handful of sanctified numbers such as "Lord, I'm Discouraged", "Jesus Is A Dying-Bed Maker" and "I'm Goin' Home" are included to reach out to church-going folks while Patton's own habit of cocaine use and womanizing are documented in the likes of "A Spoonful Blues" and the innuendo-laden "Shake It And Break It (But Don't Let It Fall Mama)" respectively.  Elsewhere, Patton's signature tune "Pony Blues" and the two-part document of the devastating Mississippi flood of 1927 "High Water Everywhere" cement Patton's standing as one of the true greats.



Catfish Records did a nice job with the audio, but despite being “digitally remastered,” the sound quality is undoubtedly poor, and it's easy to see why deciphering Patton's lyrics has been a frustrating task for blues historians over the years.  Sadly, like other record companies during the Great Depression, Paramount Records sold most of its master recordings as scrap metal, while some of the company's recordings were said to have been thrown into the Milwaukee River by disgruntled employees when the company was closing in the mid-1930s.  It's also important to remember that these 78s were subpar even for their time: cheaply made and poorly recorded, but were reasonably priced for African-Americans with very little disposable income.  Due to its use of cheap materials and inferior equipment, Paramount has become virtually synonymous with poor sound.  Paramount Records was an offshoot of the Wisconsin Chair Company, created in 1917 to help sell the phonographs the furniture company built.  It was very similar to Apple creating iTunes in order to sell iPods.  Paramount was incredibly influential in its 15-year run.


For the freeload, tell us 
about songs you misheard the lyrics to.

Bruce Springsteen - 'The Ties That Bind: The River Collection'

 Back in 1979, Bruce Springsteen was all set to release the follow-up to the previous year’s 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'.  After legal problems made the wait between that album and its predecessor, the breakthrough 'Born to Run', a long three years and an eternity in the ’70s, Bruce was more than ready to get back into the studio.

Bruce had written and recorded hundreds of songs for 'Darkness' and its follow-up, which was going to be called 'The Ties That Bind'.  The single-record project, like the album before it, took on a somber tone, as Bruce, approaching his 30s, explored grown-up themes like marriage and responsibility.  But something happened on the way to the album’s release. Springsteen pulled the record and decided to revisit the project with more upbeat songs, and ended up with the double-LP epic 'The River' in 1980 instead.

'The Ties That Bind: The River Collection' is a box set of 52 songs from the sessions on four CDs, and tells the story of how one of music’s most determined artists scrapped a great album and replaced it with an even better one.  Lengthening the 10-song The Ties That Bind made the double-LP 'The River' a more expansive record, and not just in physical size.  By broadening his scope, Springsteen guaranteed 'The River' wouldn’t be just Darkness on the Edge of Town Part II.

The original Ties That Bind is collected here in its entirety and made up of some songs that ended up on The River, some that didn’t and some that did in different versions, scales back the breadth of the two-record edition, tightening some of the loose ends and in some ways laying a more solid foundation for the songs.  But The River works better as narrative and as the next step in Springsteen’s evolution as one of rock’s most masterful songwriters.

For further proof as to just how prolific and consistent he was during this period, check out the 22 outtakes from the album’s sessions.  Several ended up as B-sides, bonus tracks and songs on 1998’s odds-and-ends box set 'Tracks', but they take on new perspective in this light, not only revealing that Springsteen had enough material for a four-LP set but also how differently The River might have sounded with some alterations.

Like 2010s The Promise, which gathered a ton of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' leftovers, 'The Ties That Bind: The River Collection' is more rewarding if you’re familiar with the original material.  Songs like "Meet Me in the City," "Roulette," "Where the Bands Are," "Living on the Edge of the World" and "Held Up Without a Gun" are great songs that fit into The River‘s concept, but what would they replace? It’s tough to say.

In the end, 'The River' was the album Springsteen needed to make at that time. 

 For the freeload, tell us about the worst Boss you ever worked for.