Lady Marmalade by Deacon John and the Ivories
James Brown Brings Scandalous Soul to the Opry
Debauche live at Tips
Debauche at Tipitinas in New Orleans
The Blues Continues – Octogenarians Mayall, Rush and Guy Steal the Show
The 2018 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is now in the books. This time around the blues tent was the place to be! Grammy winner Bobby Rush also stood out in the interview stage jamming with his producer Scott Billington on blues harp). John Mayall, the dean of British blues, regained his dueling lead guitar format with Carolyn Wonderland. And not to be left out Buddy Guy sizzled on guitar, as he took his case directly to the audience (see photo).
Peter Case – Blues Center Interview #9
Peter plays and talks thru his years with the Plimsouls and the Nerves in BCI #9 with Ric Stewart. We detail his solo debut on Geffen with T-Bone Burnett producing. He recounts Elvis Costello playing him “Pair of Brown Eyes,” inspiring a Byrds-like electric folk re-cut with Roger McGuinn, Van Dyne Parks, Jim Keltner and T-Bone backing him. “Old Blue Car” gets a revamp and a 1996 version of “Walk in the Woods” provides the backdrop for an awesome encounter with Bruce Springsteen.
Peter Case – Blues Center Interview #9
Peter plays and talks thru his years with the Plimsouls and the Nerves in BCI #9 with Ric Stewart. We detail his solo debut on Geffen with T-Bone Burnett producing. He recounts Elvis Costello playing him “Pair of Brown Eyes,” inspiring a Byrds-like electric folk re-cut with Roger McGuinn, Van Dyne Parks, Jim Keltner and T-Bone backing him. “Old Blue Car” gets a revamp and a 1996 version of “Walk in the Woods” provides the backdrop for an awesome encounter with Bruce Springsteen.
Gravity A
Gravity A performing at the Leaf
Janiva Magness – Blues Center Interview #8
Janiva Magness traces her career and New Orleans inspirations in the Blues Center interview with Ric Stewart. She gets started as an engineer, then a background singer for soulman Herman Jones. Later she cuts three attention grabbing releases for Alligator. She talks country and blues sources Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Tex Ritter and Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell. With powerful stage performances of “Long As I Can See The Light” “Moth to a Flame” and more.
Janiva Magness – Blues Center Interview #8
Janiva Magness traces her career and New Orleans inspirations in the Blues Center interview with Ric Stewart. She gets started as an engineer, then a background singer for soulman Herman Jones. Later she cuts three attention grabbing releases for Alligator. She talks country and blues sources Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Tex Ritter and Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell. With powerful stage performances of “Long As I Can See The Light” “Moth to a Flame” and more.
Billy Vera – Blues Center Interview #7
Singer-Actor-Songwriter-Bandleader-Music Historian Billy Vera is the guest for Blues Center Interview #7. With a star on the Hollywood walk of fame right outside the Capitol Records building lauding him mid-career, he has blazed a continual path across the related fields of the entertainment business. His 2017 documentary From Harlem to Hollywood describes his early songwriting success for Ricky Nelson with “Mean Old World” which appeared on the Ozzie and Harriet Show to his #1 hits for Dolly Parton, and then for himself with “At This Moment” in 1987.
His soul duo with Judy Clay, signed to Atlantic and worked with super producer Jerry Wexler to cut wrote “Storybook Children” in 1967. The pairing created a racially integrated act at a time of great tension and rose to fame at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Some of his other exploits, over 300 liner notes and reissue production credits. He won the Grammy for his liner notes to Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles of Ray Charles in 2013.
In this interview he discusses Specialty Records and its remarkable run of hits with Little Richard, Lloyd Price, Larry Williams and more. He also discusses the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant. A fascinating journey across the decades.