Johnnie Johnson ‘Johnnie B. Bad’
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#798 in the Series) is Johnnie Johnson, Johnnie B. Bad On New Year’s Eve 1953, history was made when Check Berry walked on stage for the first time with the Sir John Trio creating an embryonic musical moment pairing up Johnnie Johnson, the Grand Poobah of the Piano, with arguably the greatest guitar player of all time, creating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup worthy blending of scorching three chord guitar rock with boogie woogie piano blues. Using the same “If Lee Harvey Oswald was never born would John F. Kennedy still be alive?” progression of thought, it would be relatively safe, albeit futile, to assume that had Chuck Berry not walked on...
JT Coldfire “Always and Never”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#739 in the Series) is JT Coldfire, Always and Never (Crazy Sun Publishing) The first thing that hits you between the ears when you play the first song from the new JT Coldfire album, Always and Never, is the finely crafted Chuck Berry Inspired “Get it on (In the Back of the Bar)”, a song that grabs your ears and staples them to the speaker. The second thing you quickly realize in listening to the whiskey soaked vocals and the somewhat bawdry lyrics, is that in Coldfire, you are in the process of being introduced to a pure and genuine “diamond in the rough” musical find, who adds some much needed “hair...
The 44s “Americana”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#737 in the Series) is The 44s, Americana (Rip Cat Records) Not since Rickey Henderson has there been a better lead-off batter than “Hanging Tree,” the opening track from the new 44s’ Album, Americana, recently released on Rip Cat Records. The song, “Hanging Tree,” tears into it loud and proud, and shares the same DNA with the ZZ Top classic, “La Grange.” The in-your-face guitar riffs, courtesy of Johnny Main, also the lead vocalist, and the dirty blues harmonica blasts of Tex “The Weeping Willow” Nakamura set the blueprint quite nicely, and provide an appealing first impression of this excellent record for the listener, many of whom are experiencing this band for...
The Shadows of Knight “Gloria”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#728 in the Series) is The Shadows of Knight, Gloria There’s this great moment during the final encore of Rickie Lee Jones’ “Live at Red Rocks”: she and band are midway through an improvised-sounding reading of Van Morrison’s composition “Gloria” that, to these ears anyway bears as much homage to the Shadows of Knight as Morrison’s Them…and while the band vamps those three indelible chords, she tells the audience, “I was 12 when this song came out and I have never forgotten. I will never forget! That’s why I will never get old!” And I’m like: how true that is! The Shadow’s “Gloria” debuted on the WLS Silver Dollar Survey in mid-February,...
The Siegel Schwall Band “The Siegel Schwall Band”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#719 in the Series) is The Siegel-Schwall Band, The Siegel- Schwall Band It seems like a contradiction in terms to use words like “joyous” and “blues” in the same sentence but this is a brilliant set of tunes that demands it. Sad to say I never got to hear these guys live. These sounds have seen me through ecstatic times and provided solace through some of the most grievous. It’s billed as a studio album but at least the first and last songs are obviously live recordings. In any event, this is such a tight band I gotta believe everything else here was recorded essentially live and whole, without the benefit of...
Bobby “Blue” Bland “Two Steps From the Blues”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#613 in the Series) is Bobby “Blue” Bland, Two Steps From the Blues Released in 1961, the Bobby “Blue” Bland masterpiece, Two Steps From the Blues is generally considered to be a classic in the blues genre and a must-have disc on your own personal desert island. While this recording is not an original “album” in the strictest sense of the word since in keeping with a common practice of the day it is actually a compilation of singles, it is a perfect, soulful, bluesy, passion-filled representation of an iconic bluesman at the absolute peak of his powers. Not your prototypical blues artist, Bobby doesn’t play an instrument like Buddy Guy or...
Bonnie Raitt “Give It Up”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#551 in the Series) is Bonnie Raitt, Give it Up. Give it Up was her second album, released in September of 1972. Far from suffering the “sophomore slump” jinx of second albums that so many artists seem to, Give it Up remains to this day one of Bonnie’s most complete and thoroughly satisfying collections. Many don’t know of her early work, not really hearing of her until the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s with albums like Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw. Do yourself a favor and check out this wonderful recording from her early days. Give it Up is a mix of blues, folk ballads and funk...
Tom Waits “Closing TIme”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#535 in the Series) is Tom Waits, Closing Time (Asylum) With the recent release of his first proper full length release since 2004, Bad as Me, I got to thinking about my somewhat tortured relationship with the enigmatic troubadour. Appreciating Tom Waits is like drinking a six pack of beer for the first time. Your first taste is kind of bitter where over indulging can cause a violent reaction the likes of which you probably have not experienced since that god awful last episode of “Cheers”. The chances of this first experience being a negative one increase exponentially especially if you’re Tom Waits de-flowering happened to be in the not so gentle arms...
Garland Jeffreys “The King of In Between”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#520 in the Series) is Garland Jeffreys, The King of In Between Ladies and Gentleman, we have another entry in the running for “Album of the Year.” The latest being Garland Jeffreys’ The King of In Between. I didn’t even know that Garland had any projects in the works. One day, I’m putting together a list on who was going to appearing on the coming weeks late night talk shows here in the states. One name jumped out at me, was of course Garland Jeffreys. I’ve always been a fan, going all the way back to 1977 when he was Rolling Stone Magazine’s Best New Artist. Everyone remembers “Wild in the Streets.” After...
Roy Buchanan “You’re Not Alone”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#381 in the Series) is Roy Buchanan, You’re Not Alone. Many of you are aware of Roy Buchanan. In fact, we’ve featured him once before. You probably know him as this guitar slinging blues player with the fastest licks in the business. This would be true, but this album is a little different. Yes, he still plays those killer notes. The music still has some blues base to it, but this was still quite different. OK, what makes it different? Firstly, Roy tackles some pretty well known cover tunes on this record. He plays Neil Young’s” Down By the River” and Joe Walsh’s “Turn to Stone.” Another interesting aspect here was the use...
