Something Blue for air 7-25-98  Delta Pickins

play - Willie Dixon, Seventh Son

Welcome to Something Blue. This is Hairy Larry and I've got the blues
... for you.

play - Luther Allison, Drowning at the Bottom
play - Albert Collins, T-Bone Shuffle

All right, the ice man, Albert Collins tearing it up with the T-Bone
Shuffle. Before that we heard Luther Allison, Drowning at the Bottom.
And kicking us off tonight Mr. Willie Dixon with his classic, Seventh
Son.

We are pleased to have Leon McEntire with us tonight. Leon writes the
Delta Pickins music review column on Delta Boogie and we are featuring
CDs he has reviewed.

leon - Thanks for having me on the show, Larry.  Willie Dixon has been a
huge influece on me since the early `70s and Albert Collins, well, he
was known for his exuberant guitar work and catchy song lyrics. I think
I learned more guitar from Albert and more songwriting from Willie.
Seems like everything that he wrote became a classic.

larry - I got to see Luther Allison play at B.B. Kings Club on Beale St.
I'll never forget the show he put on walking through the crowd with his
guitar wailing.

leon - The recordings that we have to remember him by are even more
precious now.  The man had a heart of gold and would take time to help
anyone who needed it. After his triumphant return to the U.S. from
France, and just as he was being accepted by the blues community at
large, he was called home.  Leaving us with a changed attitude and a
happier outlook, on life.

larry - Luther was a big star, all right, during the blues revival in
the sixties, overseas during the seventies and eighties, and then back
home to Handy Award recognition. And he was from Mayflower, Arkansas,
another great Arkansas bluesman.

Now let's hear Freddie King do an acoustic version of "That's All Right".

play - Freddie King, That's All Right
play - Buddy and the Juniors, Motif is Just a Riff
play - Percy Mayfield, Never Say Naw

And that's Percy Mayfield, the poet laureate of the blues, singing his
own song, Never Say Naw. Before that we heard Buddy Guy and Junior Wells
play an instrumental Buddy Guy wrote, "A Motif is Just a Riff".

leon - That tune was a virtual lesson in how to write a blues song.
Junior Mance, who also plays on most of the cd,(Buddy and the Juniors)
was floored by the session. Jamming is the heart of blues,
and these guys nail it.

larry - I first heard of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells on the "Chicago, the
Blues Today" album released in the sixties. We covered "Messin With the
Kid" at our next gig.

leon - Most of the songs on the disc were improvised and acoustic,
making this one of the first unplugged blues albums of all time.
After Buddy's grammy winning cds of late, it's nice to hear one come out
that recorded in `69, sounds as fresh as if it were done today.

larry - Hey, Leon, here's some more Percy Mayfield. We've got Mark
Naftalin on keys and Percy singing a medley.


play - Percy Mayfield, Medley
play - Luther Allison, Playin a Losin Game
play - Willie Dixon, Little Red Rooster

All right, Willie Dixon with his classic "Little Red Rooster", from the
"I Am The Blues" CD.  Before that we heard Luther Allison, talking back
to Willie with "Playin a Losin' Game" one he cowrote with his son
Bernard Allison.

leon - Luther taught his children well, it seems, as Bernard's latest
release "Keeping The Blues Alive" demonstrates. It is steeped in his
father's influences and yet pays homage to his contempories as well.
His performances on stage prove that.

Luther was a vocal advocate of education for children and he even
wrote songs telling the people to move away from the "hood".

larry - Like Johnnie Billington, using blues as a tool to educate and
inspire young people, and to teach them discipline and respect. Willie
Dixon's "Blues Heaven Foundation" is still pursueing these goals.

leon - Now this Freddie King tune that's comin up says it all. Lyrically
and musically.  Freddie never got the attention he deserved, just like
most of the others on tonight's show...although he has influenced every
guitarist from Clapton to Zappa.  Freddie's killer vocals stand out on
the song as well as his dynamic band from a `74 show recently released
on Black Top. Made two years before he died, this CD is a rare document
of great live blues.

larry - I guess if it wasn't for Scotty Moore and Carl Perkins we could
say that Freddie King and Albert King invented Rock n Roll guitar. Then
Albert Collins put it in the freezer.

We have been talking to Leon McEntire, music reviewer for Delta Boogie.
To read his column, Delta Pickins reviews music access the internet at
www.deltaboogie.com/leon. To contact Leon to suggest CDs for review or for
feedback email leon@deltaboogie.com. Also to find out more about
Something Blue access www.deltaboogie.com/somethingblue.

So here's the Ice Man, "Travelin' South" and then Freddie King sings
"Ain't Nobody's Business" taking us home tonight. Until next week, then,
this is Hairy Larry reminding you once again, Blues is the Mainstream.


play - Albert Collins, Travelin' South
play - Freddie King, Ain't Nobody's Business