Rockin'XXL: March 2018

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Ryan Adams (USA)

David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and poet. He is best known for his solo career, during which he has released sixteen albums, and as a former member of alternative country band Whiskeytown, with whom he recorded three studio albums.

2001

Lost Highway 170256/ 16 tr./ 70:22 min.

2002

Lost Highway 170333/ 13 tr./ 45:53 min.

Johnny Adams (USA)

Laten John Adams Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the oldest of 10 children. He became a professional musician on leaving school. He began his career singing gospel with the Soul Revivers and Bessie Griffin's Consolators, but crossed over to secular music in 1959. His neighbor, the songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie, supposedly persuaded him to start performing secular music after hearing him sing in the bathtub. He recorded LaBostrie's ballad "I Won't Cry" for Joe Ruffino's Ric label. Produced by the teenaged Mac Rebennack (later known as Dr. John), the record became a local hit. Adams recorded several more singles for the label over the next three years, most of them produced by Rebennack or Eddie Bo. His first national hit came in 1962, when "A Losing Battle", written by Rebennack, reached number 27 on the Billboard R&B chart.
After Ruffino's death in 1963, Adams left Ric and recorded for a succession of labels, including Eddie Bo's Gone Records, the Los Angeles–based Modern Records, and Wardell Quezergue's Watch label. His records had little success until he signed with Shelby Singleton's Nashville-based SSS International Records in 1968. A reissue of "Release Me", originally released by Watch, reached number 34 on the R&B chart and number 82 on the pop chart. Its follow-up, "Reconsider Me", a country song produced by Singleton, became his biggest hit, reaching number 8 on the R&B chart and number 28 on the pop chart in 1969. Two more singles, "I Can't Be All Bad" and "I Won't Cry" (a reissue of the Ric recording), were lesser hits later the same year, and the label released an album, Heart and Soul. Adams left SSS International in 1971 and recorded unsuccessfully for several labels, including Atlantic and Ariola, over the next few years. At the same time, he began performing regularly at Dorothy's Medallion Lounge in New Orleans and touring nightclubs in the south. In 1983, he signed with Rounder Records, for which he recorded nine critically acclaimed albums produced by Scott Billington, beginning with From the Heart in 1984. These records encompassed a wide range of jazz, blues and R&B styles and highlighted Adams's voice. The albums included tributes to the songwriters Percy Mayfield and Doc Pomus. The jazz-influenced Good Morning Heartache included the work of composers like George Gershwin and Harold Arlen. Other albums in this series are Room with a View of the Blues (1988), Walking on a Tightrope (1989), and The Real Me (1991). These recordings earned him a number of awards, including a W.C. Handy Award. He also toured internationally, with frequent trips to Europe, and worked and recorded with such musicians as Aaron Neville, Harry Connick Jr., Lonnie Smith, and Dr. John.
He died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1998 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

1988

Rounder 2059/ 10 tr./ 46:02 min.

1989

Rounder 2095/ 10 tr./43:36 min.

1991

Rounder 2109/ 11 tr./ 46:27 min.

2005

Rounder 2182/ 12 tr./ 53:09 min.

2016

GCM / 10 tr./ 39:02 min.

Arthur Adams (USA)

Arthur Adams (born December 25, 1943) is an American blues musician from Medon, Tennessee. Inspired by B.B. King and other 1950s artists, he played gospel music before attending college. He moved to Los Angeles, and during the 1960s and 1970s he released solo albums and worked as a session musician. In 1985 he was tapped to tour on bass guitar with Nina Simone, and he staged a comeback in the 1990s when he released Back on Track, and became a respected Chicago blues player and bandleader in B.B. King's clubs. A prolific songwriter, with a blues style that incorporated a variety of genres, and a vocalist with a funky, soul-driven sound, Adams is known for his collaboration with many of blues' elite and continues to perform to date.

1999

Blind Pig 5055/ 11 tr./ 45:24 min.

2004

PM Records 60301/ 11 tr./ 42:55 min.

2009

Delta Groove 135/ 12 tr./ 46:46 min.

2017

Cleopatra 594 (2CDs)/ 26 tr./ 102:22 min.

Alberta Adams (USA)

Adams was born as Roberta Louise Osborn on July 26, 1917, in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was raised in Detroit by family members, initially an aunt. From an early age she wanted to be an entertainer. Escaping a difficult home life at age fourteen, she began living on her own, getting a small apartment near Woodward, where she stayed for five or six years.
She began performing as a tap dancer in Detroit's Hastings Street clubs in Detroit and began singing shortly after. In the 1940s, she appeared at the B&C club as a tap dancer, among artists such as John Lee Hooker. When headliner Kitty Stevenson was too ill to perform one night, Adams gave an impromptu two-song performance, as a result of which the club hired her as a vocalist for a five-year stint. Among her contemporaries and musical teachers on Hastings Street were Hooker, Big Maceo Merriweather, Eddie Burns, and Eddie Kirkland. In her solo career, she secured a recording contract with the now-defunct Cannonball Records and recorded two albums for them: Born with the Blues (1999) and Say Baby Say (2000). Her 2004 album, I'm on the Move, was released by Eastlawn Records. In 2006 she released the EP Detroit's Queen of the Blues, which was named Outstanding Blues/R&B Recording at the 2006 Detroit Music Awards. At age 91 she recorded Detroit Is My Home, with Ann Rabson and Thornetta Davis. She died on 25th December 2014.

16.February 1999

Cannonball 29106/ 11 tr./ 53:55 min.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Charlie A'Court (CAN)

Charlie A'Court is from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada.

2002

Herman's 31/ 12 tr./ 60:24 min.

2004

Herman's 33/ 11 tr./ 68:21 min.

2006

Pepper Cake 2017/17 tr./ 69 min.

2006

Live Heimathaus-Twist/ 11 tr./ 77:57 min.

Geoff Achison (AUS)

Australian-born Geoff Achison earned a reputation in the mid-'90s as one of the more acclaimed young blues guitarists, including winning the Albert King Award for most promising guitarist in 1995, leading to an endorsement deal with Gibson Guitars. Born in Victoria, Achison made his way to Melbourne and learned the blues from local artists. His recorded debut arrived with Big Machine in 1994 and the record garnered strong notices from critics and fans alike. Following his Albert King Award win at the 12th Annual International Blues Talent Competition in Memphis, Achison released the solo acoustic album Mystery Train, earning him more critical accolades. Gettin' Evil (1999) featured his U.S. touring band the Soul Diggers backing him and Live at St. Andrews and Souldiggin' in the U.K. were issued over the next two years (the latter being a live studio recording). Keeping a relentless touring schedule, Achison spent a portion of 2000 on the road in the States with Hot Tuna and has taught at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Guitar Ranch.

2009

Jupiter II 340/14 tr./ 58:29 min.

2012

Jupiter II 707/ 17 tr./ 69 min.

2014

Jupiter II 709/11 tr./ 79:28 min.

2016

Jupiter II 19/ 14 tr./ 61:16 min.

The Aces (USA)

The Aces was one of the earliest and most influential of the electric Chicago blues bands in the 1950s, led by the guitarist brothers Louis and Dave Myers, natives of Byhalia, Mississippi. The brothers originally performed as the Little Boys. With the addition of the harmonica player Junior Wells, they rechristened themselves the Three Deuces and then the Three Aces. With the enlistment of the drummer Fred Below in 1950, they became the Four Aces and finally the Aces.Influenced in large part by jazz, they developed an urbane, sophisticated style well ahead of its time; in particular, Below's refined rhythms led to the rise of the blues shuffle beat and helped launch the drums to a new prominence in blues bands. In 1952, Wells quit to join the Muddy Waters band, filling the vacancy created by the recent departure of Little Walter from that group. Walter quickly signed the remaining Aces as his new backing unit, renaming the trio the Jukes to capitalize on his current hit single, "Juke". A series of seminal recordings followed—"Mean Old World," "Sad Hours," "Off the Wall," and "Tell Me Mama" among them, until Louis Myers left the band in 1954. The resulting gradual dissolution of the Jukes as Little Walter's band freed the members to reform as a backing band for other Chicago blues musicians, including Otis Rush, Eddie Boyd, and others. In the late 1950s Dave Myers switched from the guitar to the electric bass, becoming one of the first Chicago bluesmen to adopt this relatively new instrument and helping to popularize it in Chicago blues. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the original Aces periodically reunited for recordings, tours, and festival gigs.

1973

Vogue 30174/ 11 tr./ 38 min.

1973

Black & Blue 33.508/ 16 tr./ 60:58

1976

Storyville 8049 (2001)/ 16 tr./ 64:07 min.

1975

Vivid 011 (1989)/ 14 tr./ 59:25 min.

1975

Vivid 033 (1989)/ 14 tr./ 61:58 min.

2010

Delmark 809/ 19 tr./ 65:46 min.

1977

Delmark 640/ 17 tr./ 48:38 min.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

The Aces (SWE)

This Band is from Sweden. Line-up: Guitar/Voc - Eric Engström, Guitar - Kenn Bäckström, Harp - Calle Engström, Organ&Piano - Simon Martensson, Bass - Martin Olsson, Drums - Alexander Fahlström.

2009

El Toro Rec. 6044/ 10 tr./ 44:10 min.

2013

The Aces SE3VA001/ 10 tr./ 37:29 min.

Frank Ace Blues Band (USA)

Frank Ace....guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, author... whichever hat (s) he's wearing, he's a "professional." Yes like most real Bluesmen, Frank pitched watermelons and picked cotton growing up in Arizona during the 1940's and 1950's. Like most real Bluesmen, he traded "pickin" cotton for "pickin" a guitar, and since he was 16 years old has spent most of his life with his guitar in his hands. Whether he's performing his own compositions or old standards, his full, rich baritone will make you an instant fan. His "scratching" technique on the guitar adds a texture to his sound that is unique and memorable. From Blues to R&B and from Rock to Country, Frank's styling transforms across musical lines. Frank spent many years touring, whether as bandleader for himself or other entertainers, USO shows, cruise ships, hotel circuits or Job Corps. He has graced the stage in all 50 states and four continents. With a wealth of experience performing in such a wide array of venues, Frank transforms his show to appeal to the immediate audience.
Rodney Cunningham (bass), Orlando Zuniga (saxophone), and Mick Munoz (drums) and David Bynes on keyboards and harp joined Frank in 2015. All are seasoned musicians, and have varied backgrounds in Blues, Country, Rock, and Jazz. Their combined individual talents create the unique sound of the Frank Ace Blues Band.

2000

Chueffa 69042/ 11 tr./ 51:25 min.

2005

Chueffa 69043/ 12 tr./ 54:08 min.

2007

Chueffa 69044/ 11 tr./ 44:29 min.

2007

Chueffa 69045/ 8 tr./ 71:56 min.

AC/DC (AUS)

Brothers Malcolm, Angus, and George Young were born in Glasgow, Scotland living at 6 Skerryvore Road in the Cranhill area. The Big Freeze of 1963 was the worst winter on record in Scotland with snow eight feet deep. A TV advertisement at the same time offered assisted travel for families for a different life in Australia.15 members of the Young family left Scotland by aeroplane in late June 1963. Before moving into a house at 4 Burleigh Street in the suburb of Burwood they initially stayed at Villawood Migrant Hostel (a site later developed as Villawood Immigration Detention Centre) in Nissen huts, where George Young met and became friends with another migrant, Harry Vanda. George was the first to learn to play the guitar. He became a member of the Easybeats, one of Australia's most successful bands of the 1960s. In 1966, they became the first local rock act to have an international hit, with the song "Friday on My Mind". Malcolm followed in George's footsteps by playing with a Newcastle, New South Wales, band called the Velvet Underground (not to be confused with the New York-based Velvet Underground). Their older brother Alex Young chose to remain in Britain to pursue musical interests. In 1967, Alexander formed and played bass in the London-based band Grapefruit—initially called "The Grapefruit"—with three former members of Tony Rivers and the Castaways, John Perry, Geoff Swettenham, and Pete Swettenham. Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is an abbreviation meaning "alternating current/direct current" electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances of their music. "AC/DC" is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as "Acca Dacca" in Australia. The AC/DC band name is stylised with a high voltage sign separating the "AC" and "DC" and has been used on all studio albums, with the exception of the international version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

1975

Albert 477083/ 9 tr./ 42:04 min.

1976

ATCO 36142/ 9 tr./ 44:20 min.

1976

Atlantic 250323/ 9 tr./ 40:26 min.

1977

ATCO 92414/ 8 tr./ 40:51 min.

1978

ATCO 19212/ 10 tr./ 52:42 min.

1978

Atlantic 781548/ 9 tr./ 39:45 min.

1979

ATCO 19244/ 10 tr./ 41:29 min.

1980

Atlantic 250735/ 10 tr./ 42:01 min.

1992

ATCO 92215 (2 CD)/ 14 tr./ 71 min.

2008

Columbia 33289/ 15 tr./ 55:38 min.

DVD 1996

Warner 40192-6/ 20 tr./ 122 min.

Backtrack Blues Band (USA)

The Backtrack Blues Band was formed in 1980 in Florida by Sonny Charles (Harp) and Little Johnny Walter (Guitar). Smokin' Sam Spear on guitar, Sleepy Boy Bradley on bass and Gary Babich on drums. The bands line up has changed after all these years on the road and the the actual line up is still with Sonny Charles and Little Johnny Walter and Kid Royal on guitar, Joe Bencomo on drums and Stick Davis on bass.

1983

True Tone 101, 10 tracks, 41:12 min.

1991

Ichiban 9005, 10 tracks, 35:17 min.

2012

Harpo Rec. 70409, 9 tracks, 55:05 min.

2016

Harpo Rec. 10007,10 tracks, 46:30 min.

2017

Harpo Rec. 64773, 9 tracks, 49:33 min.

Tiny Grimes (USA)

Tiny Grimes is one of my all time favorite guitar player.
Grimes was born in Newport News, Virginia, United States, and began his musical career playing drums and one-fingered piano. In 1938 he took up the electric four-string tenor guitar. In 1940 he joined the Cats and the Fiddle as guitarist and singer. In 1943 he joined the Art Tatum Trio as guitarist and made a number of recordings with Tatum.
After leaving Tatum, Grimes recorded with his own groups in New York and with a long list of leading musicians, including vocalist Billie Holiday. He made four recordings with his own group, augmented with Charlie Parker: "Tiny's Tempo", "Red Cross", "Romance Without Finance", and "I'll Always Love You Just the Same", the latter two featuring Grimes' singing.
In the late 1940s, he had a hit on a jazzed-up version of "Loch Lomond", with the band billed as Tiny "Mac" Grimes and the Rocking Highlanders and appearing in kilts. This groups included tenor saxman Red Prysock and singer Screaming Jay Hawkins. Grimes continued to lead his own groups into the later 1970s and he recorded on Prestige Records in a series of strong blues-based performances with Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Pepper Adams, Roy Eldridge and other noted players including, in 1977, Earl Hines. With Paul Williams, he co-headlined the first Moondog Coronation Ball, promoted by Alan Freed in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 1952, often claimed as the first rock and roll concert. In 1953 he may have played on the Crows one-hit wonder, "Gee", that has been called the first original rock and roll record by an R&B group. Grimes died in March 1989 in New York City from meningitis at the age of 72.

28.February 1958

Prestige 8172, 5 tracks, 44:59 min.