The Daily Chat

A chatbox where we can post comments and have discussions on artists & songs. However, if you just want to say thank you for a particular post then please continue using the usual comment box located below each post.

Today's post 'The Very Best Of Blues, R&B, Soul & Gospel Recordings Vol 30' brings you 20 great blues/R&B/soul recordings from 1952 to 1978. Kicking things off is Gatemouth Brown with two post-war classics 'Dirty Work At The Crossroads' and 'Okie Dokie Stomp'. Following are Laura Lee, Johnny Jenkins, Otis Rush, King Curtis, Wilson Picket, Al Green, Syl Johnson and a few other R&B/soul greats. 

I was fortunate to meet Syl Johnson some years ago when he played a Perth blues pub. I went to the show with a very close friend (who sadly died from a drug OD a few years later). We watched a couple of local blues bands, then Syl Johnson came on and did a marvelous set: a fine mixture of funky soul numbers and solid Chicago blues. Along with his outstanding singing and guitar playing, Syl also played some jaw-droppingly-good blues harp. Unlike so many harp players who wail away with warbles & vibrato, Syl was mostly playing clean single notes, structuring strong melody lines. It was very impressive and showed what a high caliber musician he was. After the show, as we were leaving the pub, I saw Syl sitting at a table, so I went over and told him how much I enjoyed his set. We exchanged a few words, shook hands, and then we left. When we reached the carpark I was still staring at my hand and proudly said to my friend, "I just shook the hand that once shook the hands of Howlin' Wolf and Magic Sam."

Incidentally, this is the final volume in 'The Very Best Of Blues, R&B, Soul & Gospel Recordings', a series I compiled a few years ago that, for reasons I no longer remember, only has 30 volumes. Tomorrow sees the beginning of a new series titled 'Assorted Blues, R&B, Gospel & Soul Recordings', which as the title suggests, continues with similar content to the previous series.

And the 6th volume in 'The Best Of Country, Pre-War & Acoustic Blues' gives you early country blues giants Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi John Hurt, Tommy Johnson, and Barbecue Bob, along with tracks by Tampa Red, Victoria Spivey, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Sonny Boy Williamson and others. 

I'm a big fan of this Sonny Boy - John Lee Williamson - commonly known as Sonny Boy Williamson 1. He was an outstanding harp player/singer and a huge influence on the younger crop of blues harp players who were coming up during the period he was active. However, by the time I got deeply into blues, in the mid 1960s, Sonny Boy 1 was vastly overshadowed by Sonny Boy 2 (Rice Miller/Aleck Ford/Miller) who was hugely popular at the time.

Another interesting thing is among the many British migrant musicians who arrived in Perth during the mid-late 1960s and formed blues/rock bands, quite a few claimed to have played with Sonny Boy Williamson 2. At first we thought these guys were giving us some BS, but later we found out that SBW2 had played all over England using scores of relatively unknown local blues bands, in addition to regularly popping into pubs around the UK and Europe, and getting on stage jamming with numerous local groups.

Anyway my friends, dig in and enjoy the great music.