ELVIN BISHOP: LET IT FLOW

Man, when I bought this LP on vinyl, back in '74 - I played the living hell out of it.  The first time I went to hear Elvin Bishop play out live, he was touring in support of this album in the summer of 1975 and it was one of the most memorable nights I've ever spent.  I went to the hall where he was going to play right after lunchtime and with a phony press pass that I'd put together, I got myself and a friend a pair of promised seats right up in the front row.  We were just told to be back at the hall that afternoon, two hours before show time. 

No problem, boss!  We'll be there!

Elvin and his band, fronted by that amazing guitarist John Vernazza (a.k.a. "Johnny V" in those days) blew our minds.  They just played everything on that great old album and dug into a bunch of blues standards while they were at it.  I caught Elvin again in '79 on a double bill with the Marshall Tucker Band and while that was a time (both bands joined together for a good long jam on Will the Circle Be Unbroken for the encore), it didn't touch that night in '75.

Here are the particulars for Let It Flow:

TRACKLIST:

Sunshine Special

Ground Hog

Honey Babe

Stealin' Watermelons

Travelin' Shoes

Let It Flow

Hey, Good Lookin'

Fishin'

Can't Go Back

I Can't Hold Myself in Line

Bourbon Street

PERSONNEL:

Dickey Betts: Guitar

Elvin Bishop: Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Slide Guitar

Stephen Miller: Piano

Mickey Thomas: Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)

Toy Caldwell: Guitar (Steel)

Philip Aaberg: Piano, Keyboards, Clavinet

Jo Baker: Percussion, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)

Randall Bramblett: Saxophone

David Brown: Saxophone

Debbie Cathey: Vocals

Charlie Daniels: Guitar (Acoustic), Fiddle, Guitar, Violin, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Washboard 

Vassar Clements: Strings

Gideon Daniels: Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)

Paul Hornsby: Organ, Keyboards

Jerome Joseph: Conductor, Conga

Bill Meeker: Drums

Annie Sampson: Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)

Johnny Sandlin: Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Percussion, Guitar (Electric), Tambourine

Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart: Organ, Keyboards

John Vernazza: Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Vocals (bckgr), Slide Guitar

David Walshaw: Percussion, Tambourine

Harold "Ivory" Williams: Saxophone

Donny Baldwin: Drums, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)

Michael Brooks: Bass, Guitar (Bass)

Not too shabby, eh?  This is a release you might want to hunt down.

The most remarkable tune off that album was Travelin' Shoes.

This is TRAVELIN' SHOES from a 1974 edition of the the TV show ABC In Concert.  It features Elvin's touring band from the Let It Flow release.  Check out the heavy "Shoulder Shakin' Shit" going on at the 2:09 mark.  Ah, but weren't the 1970s a funny time?

HAPPY HOLIDAZE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY has always been my favorite seasonal tune.  Many have covered it, but only Charles Brown's rundown does it for me.  His voice is so cool and his playing is so smooth.  You also can't beat the audience's calls out to Charles throughout this clip. 

And I just can't get into the spirit unless I get a dose of DAN HICKS & THE CHRISTMAS JUG BAND!

FRANCO & LE TP OK JAZZ BAND

Congolese guitarist, Franco (a.k.a François Luambo Makiadi) was one of the greatest artists to come out of the African continent and was one of my favorites as well.  I first heard his music 20 years ago, when I visited the city of Nairobi.  I spent a day with my wife, just looking for local music and we came upon a small camera shop that had stacks and stacks of cassettes by various African musicians.  I'd heard Franco's tune "Mamou" on the radio while I was in Kenya and so I went looking for a recording of it.  I left that camera shop with an armload of tapes, not all by Franco - but quite a few of them were by him and his great group Le TP OK Jazz Band.  He was a pioneer of the Congolese sound.   

Franco is joined by the great Madilu System (a.k.a. Madilu Bialu Jean) on vocals on this clip.  They made great, great music together in their day.

MAMOU

DUETS WITH ELIS REGINA AND GAL COSTA

Elis Regina and Gal Costa are two of the greatest bossa singers ever, period...subject closed.  You want me to prove it to you?  Let's assume I decide to match them up with two of the most celebrated bossa nova composers of all time and have each of them sing a duet with one of those guys.  Think the ladies would shine?  As Warner Wolf was so fond of saying: "Let's go to the video tape!"

Águas de Março - Tom Jobim & Elis Regina

Que Pena - Jorge Ben & Gal Costa

THE 3 COOLEST THEMES OF ALL TIME

Growing up, I always felt that the James Bond Theme was the single coolest piece of music ever written.  Little has happened to change my opinion on this.  So this morning, I though we'd listen to an extremely hip rundown of this classic by the Skatalites. 

Turn your speakers way up, GO HERE and dig!

Of course, the second coolest tune was the Mission Impossible Theme, this time covered by Melo-M.  Listen for quotes of the Peter Gunn Theme and the James Bond Theme at the 2-minute mark.

This last one is so rare! I swear that this may well be my favorite rundown of this theme.  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, as interpreted by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

And that should get your juices flowing this Monday morning! 

GOOD GOSPEL & HYMNS

In 1982, I volunteered at a radio station in Massachusetts, spinning discs for a Sunday jazz  segment that ran from 6AM - 6PM.  One of the first weeks I was on the air, I was informed that we rotated the early 4-hour block, so as not to burn one person out.  Cool, I said.  Then I was informed that from 7AM - 8AM, I was expected to program an hour of gospel music.  Now at the risk of offending some of the members of our little on-line community - I am not a christian.  Not even close.  So I tried to weasel out of it.  Sorry, the folks at the station said, if you're on the air - you do the segment when it's your turn.  I ended up diving into the music of the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Andrae Crouch, Shirley Ceaser, Marion Williams, Albertina Walker, and best of all - the Rev. James Cleveland.   

This is one of the best examples of Rev. Cleveland's remarkable sound.

Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus

I dare you to not turn that up loud this morning!  I double dare you!!

SLIPPING AWAY (KEITH RICHARDS)

I was listening to some ballads this morning and I started to think about the ones that are among my favorites.  A few obvious choices came to mind: Nature Boy, Naima, and Angel Eyes.  But then I remembered how much I love listening to Keith Richards sing his lovely tune, Slipping Away.  I was on the phone last night with a good friend and I recommended this selection to him as an example of an almost perfect ballad.  If you don't know this one, please give it a listen today.  If you already know of it, well, then you've got no excuse not to blast this - even if you're at work!  It's a short week anyway.

SLIPPING AWAY

STANLEY TURRENTINE

I first heard about Stanley Turrentine when I was in high school.  A friend of mine had started collecting CTI records, which were truly amazing discs.  Creed Taylor wrote checks to what seemed like everybody to produce these lavish jazz sessions.  Joe Farrell, Freddie Hubbard, Airto, Deodato, Ron Carter, and dozens of other great artists ended up recording for CTI.  My favorite was Stanley Turrentine.  When I entered Tufts University in the fall of 1975, I met a guy who was a huge Turrentine fan.  One day he told me that Stanley was going to play at the University on a double bill with Larry Coryell.  We snagged tickets in the balcony and well, it was elegant!  Since then, I've made a point to collect Stanley Turrentine recordings.  I guess he's my favorite sax player.  I own more of his stuff than just about any saxophonist, although I only got to hear him play live one other time, at Iridium in New York City in 1999.  Enjoy these two clips!

Sugar

Don't Mess With Mr. T

 

CYRIL & BUGS

I was thinking back on one of my earliest memories.  When we were little kids, NBC would broadcast the musical, Peter Pan, which starred Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard.  This was not the 1955 release, which was actually a live TV broadcast of the famous Broadway show, but a staging of that same show in a studio located in Brooklyn, taped in 1960.  The 1960 version was shown several times when I was a kid and I always loved Ritchard's over-the-top performance as Captain Hook.  In what I still consider to be the best scene in the whole production, Hook is tantalized by what he believes at first to be a spirit of the forest.  With the help of a flimsy disguise, Peter Pan undergoes a cross-dressing transformation into a mysterious woman who flirts with the Captain.  Hook realizes the ruse and he rallies his crew to attack Pan, but to no avail.  Pan escapes and routes the pirates.

It all sounds vaguely familiar doesn't it?  Think of another genre and you'll see what I mean.  It's like the classic love tale.  Elmer Fudd meets Bugs Bunny.  Elmer tries to kill Bugs.  Bugs appears as a cross-dressing vamp and steals Elmer's heart. Elmer realizes he's been made a fool of and...well, you know the rest.    Enjoy the 2 clips below!

OH MY MYSTERIOUS LADY
WHAT'S OPERA DOC

JAMES HUNTER

I first caught on to James Hunter 5 or 6 years ago and he is a wonder!  He's got a great voice, chops that he hasn't even used yet, and charisma up the old ying-yang.  All this and his band simply smokes.  If you're at work and they won't let you turn your tunes up loud, save it until you get home.  But if you can, blast this right now!

No Smoke Without Fire

The Hard Way

JOAO BOSCO

I came across this clip several months ago.  It's a performance of one of my favorite of Joao Bosco's beautiful songs, O Bêbado e a Equilibrista.  Notice that Bosco actually sings very little of the tune as the audience takes over for him during the first verse.  This is normal, at least for many of the live recordings I've heard of this song.  There's a very strong emotional connection between the singer, the song and the crowd.  People literally tear up as they sing along to the music.

Just so you can hear how gorgeous the words to this song are, I've included another performance.    Joao Bosco is joined by Zizi Possi on O Bêbado e a Equilibrista.  Happy Monday!


O Bêbado e a Equilibrista 
Lyrics: Carla Cristina
Music: Aldir Blanc/João Bosco


Caía a tarde feito um viaduto
E um bêbado trajando luto me lembrou Carlitos
A lua, tal qual a dona de um bordel
Pedia a cada estrela fria um brilho de aluguel
E nuvens, lá no mata-borrão do céu
Chupavam manchas torturadas
Que sufoco louco
O bêbado com chapéu-coco fazia irreverências mil
Pra noite do Brasil, meu Brasil
Que sonha com a volta do irmão do Henfil
Com tanta gente que partiu num rabo de foguete
Chora a nossa pátria, mãe gentil
Choram Marias e Clarices no solo do Brasil
Mas sei que uma dor assim pungente não há de ser inutilmente
A esperança dança na corda bamba de sombrinha
E em cada passo dessa linha pode se machucar
Azar, a esperança equilibrista
Sabe que o show de todo artista tem que continuar


The Drunk and the Tightrope Walker
Translation: Steven Engler

Evening fell like an off-ramp
A drunk in a funeral suit reminded me of Chaplin's tramp
The moon, like some brothel madam
Begged a rented shine from each cold star
And clouds, up there in the blotting paper sky
Sucked at tortured stains
What insane pressure
The drunk with the bowler hat made a thousand bows
For Brazil, my Brazil's night
Is dreaming of the return of Henfil's brother
Of so many people who left, shot off like rockets
Our country is crying, gentle mother
Marias and Clarices are crying on Brazilian soil
But I know that a pain this sharp can't be pointless
Hope dances on the tightrope with an umbrella
With each step on that rope you can hurt yourself
Bad luck. Balancing hope
Knows that each artist's show must go on

FAREED HAQUE

In 2002, I found myself working for a very strange little consulting firm.  My job was training people  how to market their products and services on the Web.  The guy who worked with me on this project was named Akhil and for reasons that made sense to no one in particular, the company would send us to various places around the country to train our clients.  I say that it was nonsensical because they always provided us with an expense account.  Silly bastards.

In October of that year, they shipped the two of us off to Chicago for a week.  I’d like to say that we were responsible some kind of major incident while we were there, but we simply had too much work to do to be that creative.  We did go out at night though and one evening we made our way to the Green Mill.  I had prevailed upon Akhil to visit the place, as it was arguably the oldest jazz club in the USA and by default (given that jazz was born in this country), the entire world.  I didn’t care who was playing there that night.  I just wanted to be in the room.

But we got lucky.  Fareed Haque was on the tiny bandstand and while we only came in for one round, we stayed until closing.  Why?  Well, click on the links below and you’ll see and hear why!

Fareed Haque Group

Fareed w/The Flat Earth Ensemble

Fareed w/Garaj Mahal

LA INDIA

Man, oh man did I love La India back when she broke out with Eddie Palmieri's band!  She was just a smoldering, smoking singer then and the way she growled out the lyrics was always a rush.  That, and Eddie's band was about as good as anyone could ask for. 

This clip, Mi Primera Rumba shows these two great talents at their best.  Dig how much Eddie grins through the performance too!  The song was originally recorded for the 1992 release, Llegó la India Via Eddie Palmieri.

I've got one more, a duet with Marc Anthony titled - Vivir Lo Nuestro.  It's a song they performed together on India's 1996 release, Dicen Que Soy.

OFRA HAZA

Ofra Haza was one of the most remarkable vocalists of her time.  She passed away in 2000 - after a incredible career as an international recording star.  She was only 42 years old.  Her interpretation of Yemenite songs made her a legend throughout most of the world.

Im Nin Alu

Elohi

LONG JOHN BALDRY

I don't remember the first time I heard Long John Baldry's classic Conditional Discharge/Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On the King of Rock 'n Roll.  I do recall listening to him play it at the Jazz Workshop in Boston sometime in 1976 though.  He had backup singers that slithered and shimmied while wrapping themselves in long feather boas and one of the loudest bands I'd ever heard in such a tiny room.  And his voice...it was like an explosion.

Turn this one up full volume on your computer speakers.  The weekend's almost upon us!

SHAKE THAT THANG!