I just like the blues better than rock ‘n’ roll.
~Johnny WinterWhen I started workin’ with Muddy. That convinced me that I could get away with doin’ the blues.
~Johnny Winter
Continue reading “February 23: The late great Johnny Winter was born in 1944”
I’m not one to interpret my own songs, but if you can’t figure out ‘What I Say’, then something’s wrong. Either that, or you’re not accustomed to the sweet sounds of love.
—Ray CharlesThe feel comes from gospel but the resulting witty, elegant essay on rhythm and sex and why they’re inseparable is purely pagan.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock & Soul)
Continue reading “February 18: Ray Charles recorded What’d I Say in 1959”
I like this town, it’s really great. They’ve put me in The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. This town is about music. It’s about the kind of music I like.
~Otis BlackwellI used to go down every year for the remembrance of Elvis’ birthday. Memphis State College invited me to sit in the auditorium and speak to the people for one of those Elvis days.
~Otis BlackwellBlackwell’s songwriting style is as identifiable as that of Willie Dixon or Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller. He helped formulate the musical vocabulary of rock & roll when the genre was barely breathing on its own.
~Bill Dahl (allmusic.com)
All Shook Up -Elvis Presley:
Great Balls Of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis:
Continue reading “February 16: The late Otis Blackwell was born in 1931”
The Beatles were such a prolific album act that it’s sometimes hard to abstract their later singles; here, they ride their roots as a bar band in Liverpool and Hamburg to a new kind of glory.
~Dave Marsh (The Heart of Rock & Soul)The opening circular riff, played on 12-string guitar by George Harrison, was a signpost for the folk-rock wave that would ride through rock music itself in 1965.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)
Continue reading “February 15: The Beatles recorded Ticket To Ride 1965”
“Shake Your Money Maker may not be stunningly original, but it doesn’t need to be; it’s the most concise demonstration of the fact that the Black Crowes are a great, classic rock & roll band.”
– Steve Huey (allmusic)
Shake Your Money Maker is the debut studio album by The Black Crowes, released 13th of February 1990 on Def American Recordings. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Jeff Cease. The album is named after a classic blues song written by Elmore James. The Black Crowes have played the song live many times over the years, but it is not included on this album.
Continue reading “February 13: The Black Crowes released Shake Your Money Maker in 1990”
“To me he was like a natural treasure”
– Jim JarmuschI came into this world black, naked and ugly. And no matter how much I accumulate here, it’s a short journey. I will go out of this world black, naked and ugly. So I enjoy life.
~Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Screamin Jay Hawkins – I Put A Spell On You:
Continue reading “February 12: The late great Screamin’ Jay Hawkins died in 2000”