Rhythm and Blues Shows
The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966 Volume 1
The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe as an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe and the United Kingdom to leading blues performers of the day, most of whom had never previously performed outside of the US. The tours attracted substantial media coverage, including TV shows, and contributed to the growth of the audience for blues music in Europe. David Peck & Jon Kanis of Reelin’ In The Years Productions and John McDermott & Janie Hendrix of Experience Hendrix were responsible for archiving and preserving these performances. Volume 1 was recorded in a small German TV studio and presents these songs: “Call Me When You Need Me” (Shakey Jake with T-Bone Walker on Guitar), ”Hootin’ Blues” (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee), “The Blues is Everywhere” (Memphis Slim), “I Can’t Quit you Baby” (Otis Rush). “Another Night to Cry” (Lonnie Johnson), “Woman be Wise” (Sippie Wallace), “Hobo Blues” (John Lee Hooker), “Five Long Years” (Eddie Boyd), “Shakey’s Blues” (Walter ‘Shakey’ Horton), “Hoodoo Man Blues” (Junior Wells), “Mean Stepfather” (Big Joe Williams), “Going Down to the River” (Mississippi Fred McDowell), “Weak Brain and Narrow Mind” (Willie Dixon), “Nine Below Zero” (Sonny Boy Williamson II), “Spann’s Blues” (Otis Spann), “I’ve got my Mojo Working” (Muddy Waters), “Bye Bye Blues” (Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon).
The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966 Volume 2
Volume 2 songs: “Bye Bye Bird, my Younger Days” (Sonny Boy Williamson), “Come on Home Baby” (Sunnyland Slim), “Nervous” (Willie Dixon), “Mojo Hand” (Lightnin’ Hopkins), “Black Snake Blues” (Victoria Spivey), “Every day I Have the Blues” (Memphis Slim), “Don’t Throw Your Love on me so Strong” (T-Bone Walker), “Tall Heavy Mama” (Roosevelt Sykes), “Sittin’ and Cryin’ the Blues” (Willie Dixon), “Murphy’s Boogie” (Matt “Guitar” Murphy), “Stranger Blues” (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee), “Shake for Me”, “I’ll be Back Someday”, “Love me Darlin’” (Howlin’ Wolf), “Down Home Shakedown” (Big Mama Thornton).
The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966 Volume 3
Volume 3 songs: “Hound Dog” (Big Mama Thornton), “Gulfport Boogie” (Roosevelt Sykes), “Out of Sight” (Buddy Guy), “Feel So Good” (Dr. Isaiah Ross), “Flip, Flip and Fly” (Big Joe Turner), “All Night Long”, “Crow Jane” (Skip James), “Got Sick and Tired” (Bukka White), “Death Letter Blues” (Son House), “Wild About You” (Hound Dog Taylor and Little Walter), “Wang Dang Doodle” (Koko Taylor and Little Walter), “Stranger Blues”, “Burnt Child (Afraid of Fire)”, “Gonna Move Across the River” (Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee), “The Blues Ain’t Nothin’ but a Woman” (Helen Humes).
Blues Stars in Europe During the Sixties
Music from two special venues. The first was “one of the most unique and intimate concerts from the British blues revival of the 1960s was the Blues and Gospel Train filmed in a suburb of Manchester, England. It was staged on May 7, 1964, by Granada TV. Fans who were lucky enough to get tickets–some 200 of them–were instructed to meet at Manchester’s Central Station at 7:30 that evening for a short train ride to the abandoned Wilbraham Road Station in Whalley Range. When the train pulled in at Wilbraham Road, the audience poured out and found seats on the platform, making their way past Muddy Waters, who was singing. The opposite platform, decorated to look like an old railway station in the American South, served as a stage for a lineup of now-legendary blues artists. (earlyblues.org)” Songs from this event are: “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had” and “Blow Wind Blow” (Muddy Waters), “Didn’t it Rain” and “Trouble in Mind” (Sister Rosetta Tharpe). The remaining songs are from the American Folk Blues Festival events: “Keep it to Yourself” (Sonny Boy Williamson II), “I’ve Got my Mojo Working” (Muddy Waters), “It’s too Late to Cry” (Lonnie Johnson), “Baby, Please Don’t Go” (Big Joe Williams), “Gettin’ Out of Town” (Sonny Boy Williamson II), “Come on Baby” (Lightnin’ Hopkins), “Baby What You Want Me to Do” (Sugar Pie Desanto), “Smokestack Lightning” (Howlin’ Wolf), “Feelin’ Happy” (Big Joe Turner), and “What’d I Say” (Junior Wells).
The Electric Blues Guitar Story
This Musical Kaleidoscope show presents five electric blues guitar and vocalist greats, beginning with the pioneer of the genre, T-Bone Walker, who then influenced B.B. King, followed by two more (unrelated) kings: Freddie King and Albert King, and winding up with the great white electric-blues guitarist and singer Lonnie Mack. The performances are as follows: T-Bone Walker – “Hey Hey Baby” (1965), “Woman, You Must Be Crazy” (1966), and “Goin’ To Chicago Blues” (1966); B. B. King – “That’s Wrong, Little Mama” (1968), “To Know You is to Love You” (1974), and “Sweet Sixteen” (1974); Freddie King – “Key to the Highway”, “Woke up this Morning” (1975), “Hideaway” (1966), and “Funny Bone” (1966); Albert King – “Oh, Pretty Woman” (1970) and “Blues Power” (1970); and finally, Lonnie Mack performing “Stop”.
Early B. B. King (1968 & 1974)
We begin with B.B. King in 1968 from Ralph Gleason’s Jazz Casual television show. B.B.’s band consisted of James Toney playing organ, Mose Thomas on Trumpet, Lee Gatlin playing Saxophone, and Sonny Freeman on Drums. The songs are: “Whole Lotta Lovin’”, “I’ve Got a Mind to Give Up Living”, “Think I’ll Move to The Jungle”, “Darling You Know I Love You”, and “That’s Wrong, Lil’ Mama”. From the concert performance Live in Africa in 1974, we include the songs: “To Know You is to Love You”, “I Believe to my Soul”, “Why I Sing the Blues”, “Ain’t Nobody Home”, “Sweet Sixteen”, “The Thrill is Gone”, “Guess Who”, and “I Like to Live the Love”.