The Blues Time Machine

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'Sitting on Top of the World' with the Mississippi Sheiks Oct 18, 2013

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The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular string band of the 1920’s and 30’s, with a sound that was a crossover between country music and blues. Though Mississippi-based, their music differed from delta blues in some important ways.

'Nobody Knows You', Classic in Any Genre Oct 11, 2013

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This iconic hard-luck song was a hit when Bessie Smith recorded it in 1929, and with its timeless message and memorable melody, Nobody Knows You When Youre Down And Out has been a favorite for singers in almost every genre including jazz, blues, folk and rock. Bessie Smith was the most popular female jazz and blues singer of the 1920s, and the highest paid black entertainer of the day. Known as The Empress of the Blues, she often worked with the top tier players in the business, including Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and James P. Johnson. Although her career declined somewhat in the 1930s, its likely that she would have continued to be a major influence but for her death in a car wreck in 1937. This is the only film that exists of Bessie Smith, from the 1929 movie St. Louis Blues . Though the sound quality is primitive, her voice is still commanding: Josh White recorded Nobody Knows You When Youre Down And Out in 1945. A country bluesman in the Piedmont style, he was responsible

'Mercury Blues' Still Running after 60 Years Sep 27, 2013

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Cars make great musical metaphors, and theyve inspired some famous blues songs like Cadillac Boogie, Maybelline and Mustang Sally. K.C. Douglas came out with Mercury Boogie in 1949, a song that would go on to be a widely covered blues standard, known as Mercury Blues. Ford purchased the rights to the song for advertising (Crazy Bout a Ford Truck), and it was a #2 hit for country singer Alan Jackson in 1993. K.C. Douglas was born in Mississippi and as a young man in the 1930s performed with the influential bluesman Tommy Johnson. After relocating to the Bay Area, Douglas continued to record and perform into his 70s. Steve Miller began his career with an interest in blues. After playing in the Chicago blues scene in the mid 60s, he headed to San Francisco, eventually putting his own group together and having considerable success in the commercial music world. Miller released Mercury Blues on his album Fly Like an Eagle , which was called the best of album of 1976 by Rolling Stone

Patton's 'Pony Blues' Still Kicking Sep 20, 2013

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Charley Patton was one of the first to play what we might recognize as Delta blues, putting blues into a strong and syncopated rhythm. A powerful singer with an aggressive guitar style, he was also a masterful entertainer, and one of the best-known traveling performers of his time.

The Long Life of 'Stop Breaking Down' Sep 13, 2013

Show notes

Eric Clapton called Robert Johnson " the most important blues singer who ever lived." Saying that Johnson was a superlative guitar player, impassioned singer and masterful lyricist seems barely adequate to convey the importance of the work he accomplished in his 27 years.

Blues for the 'Big Boss Man' Sep 06, 2013

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Jimmy Reed is one of the most influential bluesmen in history and his songs will always be part of the blues repertoire. "Baby, What You Want Me to Do," "Bright Lights, Big City," “ You Don't Have to Go”, are just some of the songs Reed made popular. His style was easy-going and non-threatening, which made it accessible to white audiences of the 50’s and 60’s. Perhaps because of that, Reed sold more records than other blues stars like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.

'The Milk Cow Blues'—Alive and Well 80 Years Later Aug 30, 2013

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Sleepy John Estes was a Tennessee-based blues singer of the 1920’s and 30’s. Though not a flashy guitarist, his voice was packed with power, and the songs he wrote have lasted through the years to be sung by Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan.

4 Ways to Sing 'The Same Thing' Aug 23, 2013

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This deceptively simple blues song is a masterpiece of restraint and execution. Recorded first in 1964, it features the voice of Muddy Waters and the piano of Otis Spann in call-and-response. Buoyed by composer Willie Dixon’s bass, Waters slide guitar speaks only twice in the entire song, with bone-chilling results.

Blues Turns Electric with 'Crawling King Snake' Aug 16, 2013

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Big Joe Williams was part of the first generation of blues players, and lived to help spark the blues revival of the 1960’s. An active performing and recording musician, he traveled the country starting in the 1920’s, and by the 1970’s, had become very popular on the folk circuit as well. He is best known for the songs “Baby Please Don’t Go” and “Crawling King Snake” which he recorded in 1941. His unique sound came in part from his custom 9-string guitar, which could sound like a mandolin or banjo at times. He had a tremendous sense of rhythm and would also use the guitar percussively. John Lee Hooker also had an original sound, very different that the blues coming out of Chicago. Landing in Detroit, Hooker virtually invented his own genre of blues. Built on a traditional North Mississippi style that emphasized a droning, modal blues sound, he refined the fine art of the “endless boogie”. His “Crawling King Snake” was recorded in 1949. One of a few blues players to cross into pop

Gershwin's 'Summertime' Becomes a Rock Classic Aug 09, 2013

Show notes

“Summertime” is considered one of George Gershwin’s finest songs. Collaborating with his brother Ira and lyricist DuBose Heyward , Gershwin composed the piece for his 1935 “folk-opera” Porgy and Bess .

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