Tobacco Teens

If you search “Tobacco Road” on Wikipedia, you get lots of results. It mentions a football rivalry, a football play, a film, a novel, and (drum roll please) a song. I’m going to focus on the song for this blog entry. The song was written by John D. Loudermilk and was a hit for a group called “The Nashville Teens.”

I’ve never owned this version, but it’s pretty catchy. I guess The Teens were a power sextet? I’d hate to be in charge of band practice for that outfit. Getting back to the song, it’s kind of like a blues 2-for-1. You have the sort of “Hoochie Coochie Man” main riff and then the middle section takes on a different but still bluesy feel. The version I owned was by David Lee Roth and featured guitarist Steve Vai, bassist Billy Sheehan, and drummer Gregg Bissonnette.

I like Roth’s version, but it might be a little too 80’s sounding for some. While researching this song, I found there are over 100 out there, including a nine minute plus version by Edgar and Johnny Winter. Edgar gets his scat on big time.

I love the wailing vocal note he hits around the 7 or 7:30 mark. It sounds like Janis Joplin to my ears. I could revisit this song with another volume. Eric Burdon has some versions with The Animals and a 14 minute version with War. There are plenty of epic versions and stripped down ones as well.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Sunrise Of Blues

Eric Clapton has a pretty extensive recording catalog when you think about it. He has live recordings, his J.J. Cale influenced stuff, his time in Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes, and more. He’s also done duets with the likes of B.B. King and others. Two records blues purists enjoy are “the Beano album” with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Clapton’s 1994 album “From the Cradle.” It opens with his cover of “Blues Before Sunrise.”

For blues lovers, the slide guitar style on this song screams “Elmore James.”

I must have missed the songwriting credits, but “Blues Before Sunrise” was actually written by pianist Leroy Carr and originally recorded with guitarist Scrapper Blackwell.

It’s interesting to hear how the song evolved from its original shape to the one recorded by James and then Clapton. Elmore James is probably better known for his recordings of “Dust My Broom”, “Shake Your Moneymaker”, and “The Sky is Crying”, but I like this one as well.

Guitarists might be interested to hear other versions by Leslie West and another by Gov’t Mule with Warren Haynes.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Billy, Rikki, and Weird Al

Don’t ask me why, but a Phil Collins song from the 1980s popped into my head this morning. The song I mentioned was released as “Don’t Lose My Number” most places, but as “(Billy) Don’t Lose My Number” in Australia.

Give the Aussies credit for getting the accurate song title. I wonder who was responsible for that? I watched part of the official video and it’s parody-centric. From what I read, Collins said he just improvised the lyrics so there may not be an actual Billy. When I was typing this blog entry, I accidentally typed “Lumber” instead of “Number”, which could make for a great Weird Al song.

Mr. Yankovic aside, this song made me think of “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number” by Steely Dan. I was never a big fan of theirs, but definitely heard them on classic rock radio.

From the little research I did, there might have been a real Rikki. Naturally, that’s debatable. I have a better appreciation for Steely Dan than I used to — I think that stems from their jazz influences. I think they were too mellow for me as a teenager. The catchy bass part was apparently from “Song for my Father” by Horace Silver.

Maybe my musical taste has changed a bit over the years or I’ve gotten a little more patient. I like the Horace song.

For the heck of it, I searched for “lose my number songs” and found another one. It’s called “Baby Don’t You Lose My Number” by Darren Jay and the Delta Souls.

This song has some Jerry Lee Lewis style piano and great guitar tone in it. Apparently, Darren Jay is based in Chicago.

Because of texting technology, I don’t know that losing someone’s number is much of an issue these days but losing your cell phone is cause for a complete meltdown.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Van’s Bob Dylan Blues

I had the honor of visiting Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Bob Dylan Center https://bobdylancenter.com/ during the past year, which I thoroughly enjoyed. During said trip, I answered an interactive question…What’s your favorite Bob Dylan song? Talk about a loaded question!

I officially went with “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat.” The title alone makes me smile, but there are plenty of others in the running. My personal preference is on the bluesy side. I think “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” is a safe choice. I heard that for the first time when I rented a VHS tape of George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. Another personal favorite of mine is “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” I would be hard pressed to find a better version than the one featuring Van Morrison in the group Them.

I like the bass guitar intro and the instrumentation on it…like the sad sounding organ …not to mention Van Morrison on lead vocals. I’m guessing I heard the Them version on a Van Morrison collection. The original Dylan version from “Bringing It All Back Home” is more sparse as it’s just Bob’s nasal shout, acoustic guitar, and harmonica. However, you have to give Dylan credit for the lyrics and chord changes. I also found an alternate take.

As far as I can tell, this song has been recorded over 100 times so you have lots of choices: Grateful Dead, Marianne Faithful, Joan Baez, Link Wray, The Byrds, and Echo & The Bunnymen. If you’d like to test some obscure waters, check out the version by a guy named Leroy Van Dyke. Van Dyke is best known for his oddball country song called “The Auctioneer.” There’s also a heavier take on it from 13th Floor Elevators.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Bluesy Guitar or Jazzy Guitar??

For whatever reason, it seems like many people lump blues and jazz into the same category, which normally pisses me off. Try searching Audacy.com for a blues station and you’ll see what I mean. I tend to listen to/stream a station called Waterfront Blues Radio, which is confusingly labeled as Jazz/Blues. I’d love to drop a prolific explanation on the difference between what I consider blues vs. jazz, but I feel like I know it when I hear it. When I think of blues, I think about recording artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, and Little Walter. As for actually naming a jazz recording artist, I would be able to give you some names, but would not claim to know much about them or own much actual jazz music. A younger version of myself might say something like blues music is scorching and smooth jazz is not.

That said, I definitely like some songs I would describe as jazzy. Recently, I was talking with a guitarist friend of mine who didn’t know the song “Chitlins Con Carne” by name. I have the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan to thank for my familiarity with this one.

The original was composed and recorded by guitarist Kenny Burrell. Wikipedia describes the tune as a blues jazz instrumental.

Another song which might be labelled a bluesy-jazzy-instrumental is called “Five Spot Blues”, which I heard for the first time on Waterfront Blues Radio. The name of blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa caught my attention.

When I Googled the name Oz Noy, the label jazz guitarist popped up. The song was actually written and originally recorded by Thelonius Monk. To make things less clear, the tune also is labelled as “Blues Five Spot.”

Apparently the Five Spot was a jazz club in New York City. So what did I figure out about blues vs. jazz? Nothing really. Maybe I should just think about blues-jazz or jazz-blues like the town of Texarkana? You’re in the same region, but it can be a little unclear what exact state you’re in.

Till next time keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Thin Twin Blues

When most people think of an electric guitar, they get a specific image of a Gibson Les Paul ( a sunburst most likely) or a Fender Stratocaster (Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” for example). There’s also Keith Richard’s Butterscotch Blonde Telecaster and Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstrat. You get the idea, right?

One electric guitar which may be a little under the radar to the general public is the Kay Thin Twin, which is associated with the often-underrated Jimmy Reed. (Some even call the K-161 “The Jimmy Reed Guitar.“) When I think of Reed, the image I get is the black and white publicity photo of him holding this particular guitar with his harmonica in a neck rack and huge smile on his face. You can easily recognize the formula of Reed’s songs like “Caress Me Baby.”

Reed, however, wasn’t the only one to play this particular model. I recently saw a documentary on Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Burnett) and they showed a similar P.R. photo of a young, clean-cut looking Wolf holding a Thin Twin model guitar as well. (By the way, other guitarists associated with Reed and Wolf include Eddie Taylor and Hubert Sumlin — both are underrated in my book.)

So why is it called the Thin Twin? The thin part refers to the guitar’s thin body and the twin part refers to its two pickups. Pretty catchy name…I wonder who coined the phrase? Apparently, they were only in production for about 3-4 years. I don’t recall ever seeing one of these guitars (or reissues) in the real world, but I would welcome the opportunity to play one. They don’t come cheap.

Has it reached iconic status? For me, it definitely has. Not only is it associated with some great music and the musicians who made it, but it’s pretty easy on the eyes. Some recent players include T-Bone Burnett, Jimmy Vivino, and even Bob Dylan.

Reed played the “blonde” model with tortoise shell pickguard as opposed a black and white version. Yes, it has a vintage vibe to it and I’m good with that.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

The B Side of Beatle George

If you mention the song title “Old Brown Shoe” by The Beatles, I think many people would say, “Huh? What?” I mean it’s not exactly as well known as “She Loves You”, but it is a fantastic song from the pen of the often overshadowed songwriter George Harrison. (To put things into perspective it was the B side of “The Ballad of John and Yoko.”) I found this early demo version on YouTube featuring more prominent vocals and piano.

https://youtu.be/XrvXGdDNYd4

Lyrically, the song is pretty interesting. The Wikipedia entry compares it to McCartney’s “Hello, Goodbye” in the sense there are themes of opposites and conflicts in both. In “Old Brown Shoe” Harrison sings about wanting “a short haired girl who sometimes wears it twice as long.” To me, the middle eight section is great both lyrically and musically. “When I grown up I’ll be a singer, wearing rings on every finger.” Give Paul McCartney credit for some interesting bass lines here.

Harrison later recorded this song on his 1992 album “Live in Japan.” If you don’t think this song is bluesy enough for you, check out the version by Leslie West (Mountain) on “Song from the Material World – A Tribute to George Harrison.” It’s also been played by Conan O’Brien and Gary Brooker (Procul Harum) at tribute concerts.

The first time I heard this song was on the cassette version of “The Beatles Greatest Hits 1967-1970.” I thoroughly enjoyed the song’s different texture then and still do now.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Non-Grunge 90s Rock

The Nineties…do you get a bad taste in your mouth when someone mentions this decade? It wasn’t all bad, but it seems pretty easy to be a hater. It was all about Seattle. You know, Starbucks, grunge, whale watching, and those type of things. Neil Young and his resplendent flannel couldn’t have been any more hip — or is it hipper? (Personally, I was a big fan Neil’s before the whole “Godfather of Grunge” thing. ) What was I doing in the Nineties? I spent some time and money at St. Louis Riverport Amphitheater and Busch Stadium trying to see as many legendary rockers who were doing their alleged-farewell tours — The Who, The Stones. I also saw Ringo Starr a couple of times as well. I even saw Neil Young on an acoustic tour.

Despite the whole grunge thing, there were some contemporary bands getting radio airplay on Album Oriented Rock (A.O.R.) stations. The band “Cry of Love” out of North Carolina had a couple of hits in the early 90s including one called “Peace Pipe.”

I always liked this song and their other hit “Bad Thing.” I did an internship at A.O.R. radio station in St. Louis around this time and wound up with Cry of Love’s album “Brother” on cassette — it also featured a K-SHE 95 sticker and station mascot “Sweet Meat” the sunglasses wearing pig. Pretty cool, huh? Cry of Love’s lead singer with the big bluesy voice was named Kelly Holland.

Around the same time (circa. 1993), K-SHE was also playing a bluesy rock song by another Southern band called “Brother Cane.”

“Got No Shame” is a great, frantic piece of rock n roll. Besides the wailing harmonica in it, I always liked the line “I found shelter, Helter Skelter”. Damon Johnson was the lead singer on this one. Many members of both bands went on to play with some other well-known bands/artists like The Black Crowes, Thin Lizzy, Sheryl Crow and more.

Are both bands considered “Southern Rock” because they’re from the South? I don’t know. I’m just grateful they threw some bluesy vocals and rockin’ music into all of that flannel.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Mean Old World

Some people don’t really enjoy or “get” blues music. They think it’s slow, sad, and depressing. Repetitive or simple, too. (Some say the same about country music.) While opinions vary, and I would disagree with that, this song makes a strong argument for those things. “Mean Old World” was first recorded by blues guitarist/musician/songwriter T-Bone Walker, but harmonica phenom Little Walter had a hit with the song in the R & B charts.

If you like the Little Walter version, there are several others in that vein. Artists who followed in his footsteps include Canned Heat, Van Morrison, and Chicken Shack (featuring Christine Perfect on lead vocals).

Christine Perfect would later be part of Fleetwood Mac and marry John McVie to provide her with the better known moniker of Christine McVie. Incidentally, there’s also a live Fleetwood Mac version of the song with Peter Green on guitar.

“Mean Old World” was also recorded with a completely different feeel/arrangement by blues guitarists Eric Clapton and Duane Allman. Their version apparently inspired North Mississippi Allstars to record it as well.

Duane Betts — the son of Allman Brothers’ guitarist Dickie Betts — plays on this track along with Jason Isbell.

Somehow this blog entry unintentionally turned into a Who’s on First -who’s related to who type of thing, but it’s still about the song. If you don’t like any of these versions, check out one by B.B. King or the original by T-Bone Walker. As great as Little Walter was on harmonica, I love his vocals on this one. Ike and Tina Turner have a straight blues of this one with killer vocals, too.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon.

Soaring Blues of Steve Marriott

It might be hard to believe a fresh faced kid in the musical “Oliver!” went on to write songs like classic rock radio staple “30 Days in the Hole.” That kid was Steve Marriott. While I’m no expert on Marriott, he was definitely part of the swinging sixties with mod band The Small Faces. I’ll say this: That guy developed one killer set of blues “pipes.” During the past few years, I found a great cover of the Otis Redding tune “Mr. Pitiful”.

I also heard a great live version of Ray Charles’ “Hallelujah I Love Her So” by Marriott.

What words can you use to describe his voice? Bluesy. Powerful. “Soaring” might most accurately describe it. If you remotely like the voice of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, you owe it to yourself to listen to Marriott. I know folks who don’t go for Marriott’s voice, but I think it’s fantastic. Maybe the combo of his voice and harder edge blues instrumentation is too much for some people to take.

Marriott may best be remembered for putting together the band Humble Pie (which also featured guitarist Peter Frampton for a time) and their previously mentioned hit “30 Days in the Hole.”

https://youtu.be/S74n2YF7WOI

The song has about a million references to various drugs along with getting locked up for 30 days. It’s an interesting track. A capella intro, crunchy guitar, wailing harmonica, and the vocals of Steve Marriott. Personally, I love the spoken word bit about “getting your hair cut” during your 30 day stint. Apparently Marriott struggled with drug addiction like many rock n rollers do. He died in a fire in his home, but his vocal legacy should live forever.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!