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Johnny Otis: 1921-2012
Johnny Otis, the great bandleader, writer/performer/producer, nurturer of musical talent, political activist, broadcaster, preacher, visual artist, and apple grower has died. He was 90 years old....
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Etta James: 1938-2012
R&B legend Etta James, who would’ve turned 74 in a couple of days, has passed away after a long battle with leukemia complicated by dementia. Discovered by Johnny Otis (he was the one who...
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Money (That’s What I Want)
This piece originally ran as an Origin of Song column in Crawdaddy! in the Spring of 2010. It’s time to play it again, man. These unprecedented times of bail-outs and world economic crisis have me...
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What Makes a Legend? Solomon Burke
Classic Track: “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.” Recorded by the Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett, the 13th Floor Elevators, the North Mississippi Allstars, and even the Blues Brothers, Solomon Burke...
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This Business of Music is a Buzzkiller
Injustice in the music business is one of the themes shared by three summer music documentaries now playing in theaters or on demand. Twenty Feet From Stardom, A Band Called Death and Big Star: Nothing...
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Happy Birthday Etta James
Today is the birthday of the great R&B singer, performer and songwriter, Etta James. Californian by birth, Jamesetta Hawkins entered this world on January 25, 1938, the child of a wayward mother...
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Remembering Mike Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield died in San Francisco, CA on February 15, 1981 Bob Dylan calls him “the best guitar player I ever heard.” Carlos Santana remembers his distinctive style: “With an acoustic guitar, a...
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What Makes A Legend: Darlene Love
Classic Track: “He’s A Rebel” Born Darlene Wright in Hawthorne, California, and christened Love by Phil Spector, Darlene was a member of the vocal group the Blossoms and an A-list singer on the...
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Furry Lewis Born Today, 1893
Good morning, judge. What may be my fine? Fifty dollars and eleven twenty nine So sung Walter “Furry” Lewis, born on March 6, 1893 in Greenwood, Mississippi and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He sung...
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Memphis Minnie’s Blues
In what is perhaps the best-known story of a blues woman as legend, Big Bill Broonzy tells of the “cutting” contest he lost to Memphis Minnie following her 20-minute performance of “Me and My Chauffeur...
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The Staple Singers: The Long March on Freedom’s Highway
In April of 1965, just weeks after the historic marches for voting rights across Alabama, the Staple Singers convened at a South Side Chicago church for a service dedicated to the marchers. The...
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Remembering The Outlaw: Eugene McDaniels
A portion of this post originally appeared here as an obituary in July, 2011. It has been updated and amended as a remembrance. Rare groove chasers know well the name Eugene McDaniels; his 1971 album...
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Now Playing: “Yes We Can Can”
This is a repost in memory of Allen Toussaint passing today. I was thinking about the Pointer Sisters today—The 1973 Pointer Sisters—and how their first album was one that rarely left my turntable that...
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Furry Lewis: Born to Blues
Good morning, judge. What may be my fine? Fifty dollars and eleven twenty nine So sung Walter “Furry” Lewis, born on March 6, 1893 in Greenwood, Mississippi and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He sung...
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Happy Xmas
Some time in New York City, 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono came up with a Christmas song for the ages, its subject peace on earth during wartime, its melody extraordinarily similar to “Stewball,” a...
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Music is the answer for God’s Children
God’s Children, from left to right in center: Lil’ Ray , Little Willie G. and Lydia Amescua. Cover design by Barb Bersche for Minky Records God’s Children: Music is the Answer, The Complete Recordings,...
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