Joe Henderson - 'The State Of The Tenor: Live At The Village Vanguard Vols. 1 & 2'

 

Both volumes of The State Of The Tenor: Live At The Village Vanguard, were recorded on November 14, 15 and 16, 1985.  Volume 1 was released in 1986, with Volume 2 being released in 1987 on the Blue Note label.

This is a substantial collection that illustrates skilled musicians in peak performance, original song selections and arrangements, captivating interplay, and exceptional sound quality. 

As with all late period Joe Henderson, the playing overall gives the impression of sophistication and calm.  But amidst all of this, there is a fiery, questioning, anguished, boundary-pushing musical connection and expression.

These recordings are in a trio setting with Ron Carter on bass, and Al Foster on drums, whom are both Jazz legends in their own right.  Ron Carter's playing is (as always) masterful, weaving moments of tension, lyricism, delicacy, and dissonance into his baselines and solos.  Al Foster's drums are varyingly subtle, loud, obnoxious, and seamless when the moments call for it.

Joe's playing is masterful, always accessible yet simultaneously questioning and unexpected.  I’ve been listening to these two volumes since their release, and they remain fresh and intelligent even after hundreds upon hundreds of repeated listens.

For the freeload, who are some of your favorite saxophonists?

Bab's Bootleg Bonanza - Steely Dan Edition

Here's a very nice Steely Dan "Boot".

Not much to say about this one.  As you can see, it has a good setlist (I saw three shows from this tour, and the setlist varied from night to night.)  The performances are excellent, as are the arraignments, and so is the quality of the audio — everything we expect from a Steely Dan show.

For the freeload, what's your main form of entertainment?

Super Black Blues

A few days ago I was shopping for fruits and vegetables over in Chinatown.  One of the fruit stands was selling Huolong Guo (Dragon Fruit) and pineapples, and I stopped to buy some. The fruit stand had a boombox that was tuned to Q104.3 FM "New York's Classic Rock" [the new elevator/supermarket music - Ed], and as I was paying for the fruit, Foghat's version of "Big" Joe Turner's "Honey Hush" came on.  It occurred to me, I haven't listened to "Big" Joe in quite some time.

When I got back to the button factory, I looked for and old favorite, 'The Best Of Joe Turner — 14 All-Time Hits' on the Atlantic Records label, which I thought I had on CD.  In the middle of some of Big Joes CDs was 'Super Black Blues', something else I haven't listened to in quite some time.  So I put in the CD transport, and continued my search for 'The Best Of Joe Turner — 14 All-Time Hits'.

'Super Black Blues' is a blues all-star album that was recorded in Los Angeles CA, on October 17, 1969.  It was produced by Bob Thiele, and released on the Bluestime label, a subsidiary of Bob's Flying Dutchman label.

This is a gem of a Blues album with T-Bone Walker on vocals and guitar, Joe Turner on vocals, Otis Spann on piano, Ernie Watts on tenor saxophone, George "Harmonica" Smith on harmonica, Arthur Wright on guitar, Ron Brown on bass, and Paul Humphrey on drums.

There are just the four tracks on 'Super Black Blues', but such is the relaxed nature of their musical interplay (not unlike Miles' 'Kind Of Blue'), they stretch out to over 10 minutes more than once as the musicians and singers trade breaks and verses.  The only "short" song is also the only song not credited to T-Bone Walker, it's a delicious reading of the standard 'Here Am I Broken Hearted'.  

There are different blues styles East Coast, Kansas City, Mississippi, and Chicago blues—that blend perfectly.  The overall vibe of this album, is Blues Masters having fun and showing off. And why not?

The sound quality is superb — something we expect from Bob Thiele.

Simply stated, 'Super Black Blues' is an album that belongs in every blues collection.

I (eventually) did find my copy of 'The Best Of Joe Turner -14 All-Time Hits', but on vinyl.  This was originally released in 1962, and as far as I can tell never released on CD, there are quite a few best of Joe Turner releases out there, but his one is my favorite.  It also has lots of sentimental value, I bought this album in either '67 or '68 at Canterbury Records in Pasadena, CA, which was a short walk from California Institute of Technology.  I ripped this album (24bit/48kHz) and will be part of the freeload, it has that nice warm "tubey" sound.

'The Best Of Joe Turner -14 All-Time Hits' has blues, jump blues, jazz, R&B and early rock and roll, a genre which "Big" Joe helped invent. It's been said, that if Joe was a good-looking Caucasian dude with lots of teeth, he'd be would have been a "household name".  So it goes…

For the freeload, let's talk about some of your favorite so-called "Super Groups"?

Miles Davis - Live in 1969 (Antibes & Rome)

 

Miles in 1969
Photo by Guy Le Querrec.
A print hangs in the Button Factory.

In 1969, Miles Davis embarked on a transformative journey, breaking free from his previous musical identity and embarking on one of the most exhilarating career trajectories in modern music history.  He ventured into uncharted territories, giving birth to entirely new genres and embarking on musical quests that continue to captivate audiences to this day.

Miles's band on this pivotal point on which his career would turn were, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Jack DeJohnette.  This line-up became known as "The Miles Davis Lost Quintet" as it did not record in the studio in this configuration.  

While Miles' 1970–1972 bands were funkier and the gigantic 1973–1975 ensembles took abstraction to its limits.  The 1969 quintet was the first and only to delicately balance the frantic bop of Miles’ pre-electric period with what would become one of the most revolutionary albums in music history, Bitches Brew.

'1969 Miles: Festiva de Juan Pins' was recorded live at La Pinède, Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France, July 25th, 1969.  It was produced by Teo Macero, and released in October 1993, for the Japanese domestic market.

Tracklist
1. Directions
2. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down

3. Milestones

4. Footprints

5. 'Round Midnight

6. It's About That Time

7. Sanctuary

8. The Theme

The Davis Quintet toured Europe in October-November 1969 as part of the Newport Jazz Festival in Europe produced by George Wein. 

'Gemini' is a bootleg, that has one song, a 45-minute version Miles' composition, "Gemini".  In typical bootleg fashion, this CD claims to have been recorded live in Paris, November 3, 1969, but this is a Radio Televisione Italian (RAI) radio broadcast from Teatro Sistina, Rome, Italy on October 27, 1969.

Be that as it may the performance and audio is sweet.

For the freeload, what were you doing in 1969?

Tom Waits - 'Nighthawks at the Diner'

'Nighthawks at the Diner' was at recorded at The Record Plant in Hollywood, CA. on July 30 & 31and released in 1975 as a double LP on the Elektra/Asylum Records label.

This is Tom at his peak as a beat-poet, barroom philosopher.  It blends moody, late-night jazz with spoken-word monologues and storytelling, evoking a smoky, intimate, 2 a.m. lounge ambiance, featuring characters like drunks, dreamers, and hookers, and delivers a highly atmospheric, almost cinematic experience.

Tom wanted to record a live album. Asylum Records founder David Geffen whom at the time was pushing Tom into a jazzier direction came up with the idea of staging it in a studio to emulate the atmosphere of a small club. Why they just didn't record it in an actual small club, is beyond me.

Be that as it may…

They rented the back room of the Record Plant, which had a large seating area and a glass booth for the recording equipment.  Four shows were planned for the last two days of July 1975 with a different audience attending each show.  Admission was by invitation only, though free tickets were handed out at Tom Waits’ old haunt, the Troubadour in West Hollywood.  As such, the crowd was filled with friendly ears conducive to his charms, from hip Elektra-Asylum employees to existing fans of the musician.  The back room of the Record Plant was set up like a nightclub: big tables with candles, checkerboard tablecloths, peanuts, pretzels, wine, and beer. 

Tom's backing band was Pete Christlieb on saxophone, Bill Goodwin on drums, Jim Hughart on bass, and bandleader Mike Melvoin on piano.  All were elite session musicians who recorded with Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Vince Guaraldi, and many others.  The interaction between the band and Tom is wonderful. You can hear this innate connection between the musicians 51 years later; their patience, trust, and responsiveness are remarkable.

The opening act for all the four shows was an old-fashioned tassel twirling burlesque stripper named "Dwana" [sigh…—Ed] who was an old friend of Toms.  What could be more appropriate for the warm-up for a Waits show than an old school stripper?

Tom Waits’ one-liners, non sequiturs, surprisingly sweet asides, scatting, self-deprecating stories, observational humor, and sadness all contribute to a perfect personality portrait in 'Nighthawks at the Diner'.

Waits’ wandering words paint a vivid picture of a funny, broken boozer, almost transcending the music itself.  The recorded evidence shows that Waits had truly developed his stage persona, characterized by a joking, rambling, Beat-rhetorical style reminiscent of Charles Bukowski poetry or Lenny Bruce routines. This showcases a whiskey-soaked, and gravelly-voiced persona, with long, often humorous, spoken-word introductions that sometimes overshadow the songs.

The freeload is limited edition CD-sized gatefold mini LP replica Japanese reissue from 2010, It was remastered by Isao Kikuch for the Japanese domestic market, and it sounds terrific.  If you've freeloaded any of my previous Tom Waits posts, you know what I'm talking about.

For the freeload, what are some of your favorite Tom Waits quotes and lyrics?

Muddy Waters – 'Live (At Mr. Kelly's)'

 

'Live (at Mr. Kelly's)' was originally released in September 1971 on the Chess label.  It was recorded on June 11 and 12, 1971 during Muddy's three-week engagement at Mister Kelly's nightclub in Chicago, and was produced by Ralph Bass.

For some reason this album gets "lost in the shuffle", which is a shame because this is an essential live blues album, with Muddy and his band on top of their game.

Along with Muddy on vocals and slide guitar (natch) are:
Paul Oscher on harmonica
James "Pee Wee" Madison on guitar
Sammy Lawhorn on guitar
"Pinetop" Perkins on piano
Calvin "Fuzz" Jones on bass
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums
This band defined Muddy's sound for the 1970s

Also on the album is James Cotton who guested on one of the nights and plays harmonica (what else?) on "What Is That She Got," "Strange Woman," and "Boom, Boom".  On the original 1971 Chess release, James is credited as "Joe Denim" to circumvent contractual issues.  It's interesting to hear both James' and Paul Oscher's distinctive harmonica styles.

Mister Kelly's was located on Rush Street in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood.  It was one of the hotspots of Chicago nightlife in the 1950s through the mid-1970s.  The nightclub offered top-notch entertainment, showcasing both established talents and emerging stars who later achieved international fame.  Legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Mort Sahl, Barbra Streisand, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, and Richard Pryor graced the stage at Mister Kelly’s.

Some blues fans say that this live album should have been recorded in a Southside blues club.  While I don't necessarily disagree with that, I think that Mister Kelly's had better acoustics (the album's audio is excellent), and a three-week engagement at Mister Kelly's was financially rewarding for Muddy.  And after all, he was in the music business, right?.

Today's freeload is the 1992 CD reissue.  Tracks 10 ("She's Nineteen Years") and 12 ("Long Distance Call") are bonus tracks, not on the original 1971 release.

For the freeload, let's talk about albums that have been overlooked or "lost in the shuffle", but are essential in their respective genres.

Art Pepper - 'An Afternoon in Norway: The Kongsberg Concert'

 

"Do not go gentle into that good night", Dylan Thomas wrote it and Art Pepper in his later years lived it.  In 1980, Art was 54; his health was poor, but his creativity was at its peak. 

'An Afternoon in Norway: The Kongsberg Concert' is a 2-CD set, that was recorded on June 29, 1980, at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Norway.  It was produced by the award-winning "Jazz Detective" Zev Feldman in collaboration with Laurie Pepper (Art's widow) and the Art Pepper Estate.  It was released on May 9, 2025, on the Elemental Music label.

Art Pepper's sound changed over the course of his career.  There was the cool almost Lee Konitz sound of the 1950s, through to the jagged John Coltrane influence in the 1960s to the driven, go-for-a-broke, passionate sound of his latter years.

Art toured almost constantly; by the 1980s he'd adopted an experimental dimension on-stage in his solos.  Art's backing band was Bulgarian pianist Milcho Leviev alongside bassist Tony Dumas and drummer Carl Burnett.  This quartet brought a deep-blue, hard-swinging, intuitive approach to loosely frame Art's playing, and is a master class in accompaniment.

An Afternoon in Norway: The Kongsberg Concert picks up the afternoon after a show at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London ended at 1:30 a.m., and they were whisked to Norway, without time to sleep, in order to make this afternoon set as the closing act at Norway's Konigsberg Jazz Festival.

You know how some double albums feel like an eternity to get through?  This one is just the opposite, it's so enjoyable that the next thing you know it's over.

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

Traffic - 'On The Road'

So just what did Babs get up to on her road trip?



Speculation over at False Memory Foam was…

Mr Grimsdale wrote:

"worrying about the cost of petrol, eating overpriced crap from the garage...

"

Farquhar Throckmorton III replied:

… read that as "garbage".



Swear to Dog, I had the same dyslexic moment.

vincentsear wrote:


"haute cuisine and truck stops."

Sounds like Steely Dan lyrics

Bombshelter Slim wrote:


"Asking for directions from strangers and arriving at her destination safely and ahead of schedule!

"

We actually did arrive safely and ahead of schedule.
 
When my husband Jerry and I did road trips, no matter where we were in the continental United States, for "shits and giggles" Jerry would ask strangers "Do you know the way to Passaic, New Jersey?" followed by, "What time does the police station close around here?"  On toll roads and bridges, at the toll booth, he’d pay the toll for the car behind us, take off really fast, and the car behind us would try to catch up to us, to see who we were.



mcultice wrote:


"No good, no doubt."

No shit.



Andy T wrote:


"Blue pills and red pills x
"

Sativa gummies for the drive to and from Florida.  Spliffs and frozen drinks on the beach.

  Martinis, Negronis, red Bordeaux, white Burgundy and spliffs in the evening.

cityghost96 wrote:


"Dodging those pesky drones.

"

Freaking drones!



notBob wrote:


"Getting a mild sunburn & a major buzz.

"

Who doesn't like nice tan lines and a major buzz?

Farquhar Throckmorton III wrote:

"
Listening to Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra on th' Pinto 8-track.

"

Have you been talking to Sundar Pichai again?



Farquhar Throckmorton III wrote:


"Picking up Rutger Hauer on a rainswept road at night.

"

I'm picturing Denise "The Grease" telling John Ryder (as we say in New York) 'where it's at':
"You're gonna sit in the back between Patty and Michelle.  You’re gonna act like a perfect gentleman at all times, or I’ll pop a cap in your dick quicker than you can say…um…um…yo Babs what’s that word you use for dick?"  "Do you mean Schwanzstücker, Denise?"  "Yeah that’s it…quicker than you can say schwanzstücker with…um …um…yo Babs what’s those two little dots over the u called?"  "Umlauts, Denise."  "Yeah that’s it…I’ll pop a cap in your dick quicker than you can say schwanzstücker with friggin’ umlauts!  Capiche Blondie?"

Eric S. Wrote:


I'm hoping Denise the Grease is along for the ride...as for Rutger in the rain, I imagine he and Babs will watch the attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion and C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate....like tears in rain. But no dying, we need her. kbaithx.



"The Grease" rode shotgun. 


I’d hang with Rutger and "dose" our drinks (200 µg each) just for laughs while watching those glittering C-beams




Bambi wrote:
"Apart from chilling at the waters edge Babs will be on the beach perfecting the Wicked Pickett Soul Train dance at a breathtaking speed - a girls gotta keep fit."

A girl does indeed, Bambi.

[False Memory Foam is a music blog, I highly recommend.  It's good clean fun - Ed]

Be that as it may…

Traffic's 'On The Road' was originally released (as double LP on initial European releases, and a single U.S. release) on the Island Records label in 1973.  The album was recorded in Frankfurt Germany, on Traffic's Spring tour of 1973, and captures their extended, jazz-fusion-influenced sound perfectly. 

The lineup includes core Traffic members Steve Winwood on vocals, guitar, and piano. Jim Capaldi on drums, vocals, and percussion. Chris Wood on saxophone and flute. Backing musicians are Reebop Kwaku Baah on congas and percussion, and the Muscle Shoals rhythm section: Roger Hawkins on drums, David Hood on bass, and Barry Beckett on keyboards.

The freeload is a remastered limited edition SHM-CD, released for the Japanese domestic market in 2008 as part of USM Japan's 'Rock Legend Series'.  It has excellent sonics.

As a bonus, I'm adding

This is the 2CD deluxe edition.

For the freeload, what's street traffic usually like in your neck of the woods?

Wilson Pickett - 'The Complete Atlantic Albums Collection'

Announcement

I’m taking a short break, and my next post will be either on April 1st or 2nd.

Some friends and I are embarking on a road trip to visit a friend. (Flying in March 2026 is a complete nightmare.)

If anyone is looking for me, I’ll be on the beach in Boca Raton.

In the meantime, here’s

Wilson Pickett’s recording career didn’t begin at Atlantic Records. Instead, he achieved three charting R&B singles for Harold Logan and Lloyd Price’s independent label, Double-L, in the early 1960s. However, it was Atlantic Records that truly propelled his musical career, enabling him to reach a broader audience and gain mainstream recognition.

Wilson's tenure with the Atlantic Records label lasted seven years, from 1965 to 1972.  During that time he racked up almost fifty charting singles and released ten albums, which can all be found in 'The Complete Atlantic Albums Collection'.

This box set captures Wilson Pickett during a prolific seven-year period when he was at the height of his musical prowess.  Each album in the set is solid and well-crafted, with hardly any "filler" whatsoever.

Wilson Pickett – The Complete Atlantic Albums Collection is a 10CD set, that was released in 2017.  It has replica mini LP sleeves in a clam shell-style box.  These recordings have never sounded better.  Surprisingly, there's no booklet. 

Given that "In The Midnight Hour" was Pickett’s debut smash for Atlantic Records, it was no surprise that his inaugural album for the label had the same title.  Though just 24 at the time, in terms of his searing vocal performances and magnetic stage presence, he seemed much older than his years.  That was probably due to the experience he gained from his apprenticeship in the Detroit R&B band, The Falcons.  Other highlights of his Atlantic debut album, which,was recorded at Stax studios in Memphis, included the hits "Don’t Fight It" and "I Found A Love".

Pickett’s next album, 1966’s 'The Exciting Wilson Pickett', featured the classic hits "634-5789 (Soulsville USA)" and "Land Of 1,000 Dances". The album was recorded at Fame studios in Alabama and did better than his debut.

1967's 'The Wicked Pickett' was another hit album packed with gems, among them the perennial favorite, "Mustang Sally"

'The Sound Of Wilson Pickett' also from 1967 included the chart-topping single, "Funky Broadway".

On 'I'm In Love', released in 1968, Wilson covered four Bobby Womack songs, including the gentle title cut that was a Top 5 US R&B hit.  The album showed that Pickett was more than a soul shouter, and could play the role of accomplished balladeer as well.

Wilson's second album of 1968, 'Midnight Mover', also had considerable input from Pickett’s songwriting buddy, Bobby Womack, again, and they wrote the LP’s strutting title track together.  The Womack-co-penned "I Found A True Love" is also another high point on the LP with its raucous energy and Pickett’s blood-curdling screams.

Up to this point, all of Wilson Pickett’s Atlantic LPs had charted in the Top 10 of the US R&B albums, but 1969’s ‘Hey Jude,’ could only make #15.  Its title song was a mellow, soul-infused cover of The Beatles’ epic 1968 ballad, complete with the "Na-Na-Na" sing-along chorus at the end, with Pickett wailing over the top like a banshee.  The growing influence of rock can be felt on an energized cover of Steppenwolf’s counterculture anthem, "Born To Be Wild", which expressed a sentiment that the volatile Wilson Pickett could no doubt relate to.  Another highlight of the album is Duane Allman's guitar.  Fun fact: at one point during the sessions, Duane dosed the water cooler with mescaline.

1970’s ‘Right On’ album also found Wilson tackling rock with Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe’, and pop in the form of The Archies' "Sugar Sugar", which some critics and fans perceived as a sign that the singer was losing his way.

Just when Wilson Pickett’s career seemed to be losing momentum and direction, he unleashed a masterpiece in the shape of 'In Philadelphia' recorded under the direction of rising production duo, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, who had produced hits for Jerry Butler in the late-’60s and would go on to found Philadelphia International Records in 1972.  In terms of its production and lush orchestral arrangements, 'In Philadelphia' was eminently more sophisticated than his previous LPs.  Yielding the memorable hits "Engine No. 9" and the searing ballad, "Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You", it proved to be one of Pickett’s most cohesive artistic statements and still sounds potent today.

The final album in the collection is 1972’s 'Don’t Knock My Love', which mopped up earlier singles, 1971’s R&B chart-topping title cut and the top 10 hit, "Call My Name, I’ll Be There".  The album also included an R&B reconfiguration of British blues-rockers Free’s "Fire & Water"

After this, Wilson Pickett moved to the RCA label in 1973, but it signalled the start of an artistic decline from which he never truly recovered.  When the disco era came along, it put a stop to any chances of a full-blown career renaissance.

Link
https://workupload.com/file/SHUJnwBwrv6

Van Morrison & The Chieftains - "Irish Heartbeat'

 

In a few hours, I'm heading up to the Saint Patrick's Day Parade on 5th Avenue here in Manhattan.  But first, let's take a trip down memory lane to Saint Patrick's Day 1965…

In New York City there's a time honored rite of passage of high school kids in their senior year cutting school, going to the parade, and getting drunk.  This never ended well for kids who weren’t given alcohol at home, such was the case with Denise "The Grease".  One of the many, many paradoxes of "The Family Grease" was that they didn't drink alcohol.

In my family we always had wine, with our evening meal.  As a little girl I was given a small serving of watered down wine, the bigger I got so did the serving, until my fourteenth birthday, when I was given straight wine, and in a stemmed wine glass no less.  Oh, and my mother rubbed Cognac on the gums of her teething children and grandchildren.  My husband Jerry once quipped about my mother's practice: "That explains quite a bit".

But I digress…

Denise "The Grease" is slumped over a garbage can throwing up [giving Linda Blair in the Exorcist a run for her money—Ed].  A member of the NYPD asks me, "Is she OK?" I told him, "She’s fine, I think she had a bad hot dog."  He laughed and said, "Yeah, I’ll bet she did".  In those days, most parade revelers had a bottle of something in their hands, and as long as they behaved themselves, nobody (including the police) minded.  These days it's a different story.

When I finally got "The Grease" relatively sober, I took her home.  "Mrs. Grease" took one look at Denise who looked as pale as an Irish person, and grounded her for a month.  Denise told her mother "I only had one beer!"  Truth was she quickly gulped down almost an entire bottle of Thunderbird! (a strong cheap "bottom shelf" wine)

In high school, when we drank Thunderbird we had a call and response, that went:

What's the Word?
Thunderbird!
How's it sold?
Good and cold!
What's the price?
Thirty cents twice!
(The hipper kids added):
What's the Jive?
Bird's alive!

For more Saint Patrick's Day shenanigans, here's a link to what myself, my husband Jerry, with our friends Sherman and Fatima got up to in 1975, which I posted last year.  Happy St. Patrick's Day with Sherman and Van Morrison 

So for your Saint Patrick's Day 2026 dinning and dancing pleasure, we have:

Both Van Morrison and the Chieftains have recorded more than their share of classic albums during their respective careers, but the sparks that flew during these sessions were of the once-in-a-lifetime order. The material is mostly traditional Irish folk songs, ranging in temperament from the tragic, heartbreaking "Carrickfergus" to the giddy, carefree  "I’ll Tell Me Ma".  Van sings with joy and a fierce sense of Irish pride remarkable even for a man long recognized as a master at communicating these sentiments.  At times, he seems so lost in the rapture of the moment that his chanting and droning sound almost supernatural.

The freeload is a 2020 24bit/96kHz remaster, and it sounds sweet.

For the freeload, tells us about an underage drinking "adventure" you had.

Harmonica Frank Floyd - 'Blues That Made The Roosters Dance'

Happy Pi Day!

Harmonica Frank Floyd in 1973

I first became aware of Harmonica Frank Floyd in 1968, when I bought the excellent blues compilation titled 'Memphis And The Delta — 1950s' on the Blues Classics label in which his song, "Goin' Away Walking" was included.  Harmonica Frank's songs appeared on many all-black blues compilations in the 1960s, collectors (not unlike my self) being unable to distinguish his race.  (I'll add 'Memphis And The Delta — 1950s' to the freeload, it's worth hearing)  Frank was also featured in Greil Marcus's wonderful book, 'Mystery Train' published in 1975

Frank’s career began in the 1920s, performing in traveling carnivals and medicine shows.  There, he developed a repertoire of songs, jokes, and "Hokum".  As a one-man band, he played harmonica without a neck brace, holding it "cigar-style" in his mouth while singing from the other side.  He could also play harmonica with his nose or even play two at once.  But Frank was not just a novelty act, he possessed serious musical chops.

He started working in radio in 1932 and recorded a few sides for Chess Records in 1951, the most famous one was "Swamp Root".  In 1954, he recorded the extremely primitive "Rockin’ Chair Daddy" for Sam Phillips' Sun Records, making him the first white musician to record at the studio.  Frank’s eclectic mix of "hillbilly" music and country blues allegedly influenced Sam's quest for a young white singer who could replicate a similar sound, ultimately resulting in the rise of Elvis Presley.

Frank returned to his birthplace in Toccopola, Mississippi, where he became a farmer growing corn.  After decades of obscurity, record producer, music historian and record collector, Stephen C. LaVere tracked down Frank in 1972.

In the following years recorded two albums for the Adelphi and Barrelhouse labels, and played many folk festivals during the 1970s and 1980s.

Frank Floyd died on August 7, 1984, at the age of 75, in Blanchester, Ohio, due to complications from Type II diabetes and lung cancer.

'Blues That Made The Roosters Dance' was recorded on June 28, 1975, at Glass Finger Studios in Chicago, IL by George Paulus for his Barrelhouse Records label.  At the time of the recording, Frank was 67 years old.

This is not a record to spin in "polite company".  While many Blues artists use double entendres, Frank is much more explicit.  As an example, in his song, "Shampoo, The Whorehouse Special" (see what I mean?), Frank drops "F-bombs" left, right and center. 

Be that as it may…
The freeload is a vinyl rip, of the original 1975 release from The Button Factory Archives.

As I've previously mentioned, Frank was rediscovered in 1972.  So for the freeload, who are some of your favorite Blues artists that were rediscovered?