Scratch Perry, the Upsetter, RIP - and others

There has been much media coverage of the death of Jamaican reggae pioneer Lee 'Scratch' Perry, who has died aged 85. A true original, he was renowned for the development of dub music and record production with a range of artists from Bob Marley to the Beastie Boys. Before that he worked with Coxsone Dodd and Joe Gibbs and I first became aware of him through his single 'People Funny Boy, which was aimed at Gibbs after he had a disagreement with him. His recordings with his studio band the Upsetters in the late sixties and early seventies were what really made his name and remain great to this day. His studio the Black Ark was to produce many innovative tracks by the likes of Bob Marley, Junior Murvin, the Heptones and Max Romeo. But then, apparently in a rage, he burnt the studio to the ground. After that he spent much of his time in the UK and the US and settled in Switzerland. He became famous for his eccentric style and was involved in a wide variety of work which was impressive even though it wasn't always to my taste. RIP Scratch, the Upsetter.

There are a few other musicians whose deaths are worthy of mention, the first being Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, aged 80. Not surprisingly his death attracted many tributes and memories from fellow musicians, especially drummers, who appreciated his controlled and insistent beat that kept the Stones honest over the years. I remember seeing the Stones in their early days before worldwide fame arrived. They were a competent R and B covers band who developed as the years went by, and Charlie was always at the centre of things. As he reportedly said to Mick 'I'm not your drummer - you're my vocalist'. A link with one of the earliest doowop groups has ended with the death at 88 of Maryland Pierce, lead singer of the Five Keys, whose hits included original versions of 'The Glory of Love', 'Ling Ting Tong', 'The Verdict', 'Gee Whittakers' and 'The Wisdom Of A Fool'. Maryland is pictured on the far left on the LP photo below.

Finally, I understand from a FB post from Noah Scaffer that Frank Troutt, an original member of the Majors, has died. I loved the Majors' early hits including 'A Wonderful Dream', 'She's A Troublemaker', 'What In the World' and 'Ooh Wee Baby'. I saw a later version of the group, which included Frank, at the Long Island Doowop Festival a couple of time and also at Viva Las Vegas. Here's a photo of me with the Majors, with Frank on the second left, taken at Long Island in 2017. Also their EP issued in the UK on London.

Finally, my thoughts go out to all those in New Orleans and Louisiana who have been affected by Hurricane Ida. Stay safe - and hope to see you all again soon.

Blues LPs part 8

I'm completing this series on blues LPs with some photos of albums by some of the blues greats and some compilations. The first photo features one by Katie Webster, who I remember seeing at The Venue in New Cross in the early nineties. The rest are all by the great Muddy Waters and includes one on the Python label, of which only 99 copies were made. There are also quite a few on Pye International and Chess.

The next group starts with an LP by Washboard Sam with Big Bill Broonzy and Memphis Slim, and two by Chuck Willis, whose R and B hits included 'C C Rider' and 'What Am I Living For' but who died aged just 32.There are three by by exciting R and B performer Barrance Whitfield, who is equally at home performing at rock and roll and blues shows. The remaining LPs are by Josh White, who was possibly the first blues artist to cut through in the UK, and include two ten inch London LPs and two on the Bounty label. Josh was an early advocate for black rights and was sadly caught up in the McCarthy era anti communist witch hunt.

Photo number three includes one more LP by Josh White and two by Delta blues guitarist Bukka White. There's also one by Artie 'Blues Boy' White, which he signed for me when he appeared, alongside Travis Haddix, in a village hall near Peterborough in 2007. There are also four albums by blues harmonica player Junior Wells, who i saw several times playing alongside Buddy Guy. Also one by Leo Buddy Welch - another signed LP which I bought from him on the street in Clarksdale in 2015. Although born in 1932 his recording career didn't begin until 2014, three years before his death. There's also one by Jimmy Witherspoon, one by Delta bluesman Big Joe Williams with Sonny Boy Williamson and one by jazz singer Joe Williams with the Count Basie band.

The next montage includes one more by Big Joe Williams and one by Otis Williams, former member of doowop group the Charms, with the Midnight Cowboys. There's one by Sonny Boy Williamson and half a dozen by Jimmy Witherspoon, including albums with Wilbur de Paris, Ben Webster and Brother Jack McDuff. The final LP is by Billy Wright who was a big influence on Little Richard.

Photo number five begins with three LPs by early boogie woogie pianist Jimmy Yancey, including one with his wife. We then move on to blues compilations and I have been fairly selective here, just picking those of most interest. This selection includes several compilations of recordings from the Duke/Peacock and Veejay labels, including 'The Duke and the Peacock', which came out in the UK on Island. Also included are two LPs of Texas blues on Arhoolie, and two double LPs on Blue Horizon.

The next group includes several compilations on the Chess, Pye International and Golden Guinea labels and two classic Stateside LPs from the early sixties featuring Excello artists.

Finally here is another selection which includes one from Blues at Newport 1964 and one of several featuring artists who came over to Europe on the folk blues tours of the mid sixties - my first introduction to live blues. There are also three examples of urban blues and rural blues compilations on Liberty/Imperial, 'Dirt Blues' on Minit and a couple in the Southern Folk Heritage series released on London Atlantic.

Don Everly RIP

Yet another link with the earliest days of rock and roll has been broken by the death, aged 84, of Don Everly. I loved the sweet harmonies of the Everlies from their first hits on Cadence - 'Bye Bye Love', 'Wake Up Little Susie', 'Should We Tell Him', 'All I Have To Do Is Dream', 'Bird Dog', 'Problems', 'Poor Jenny', ('Til) I Kissed You', 'Let It Be Me', 'When Will I Be Loved' and 'Like Strangers' - many of them written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. All of them gems. When they moved to Warner Brothers in 1960 their fans feared that the quality might deteriorate. But songs like 'Cathy's Clown, 'Walk Right Back', 'Crying In The Rain', 'How Can I Meet Her' and 'No One Can Make My Sunshine Smile' maintained a high standard. However their career was affected by Wesley Rose's ban on them recording songs written by the Bryants or themselves after their move to Warners. Eventually the onslaught of the Mersey sound dented the Everlies' ability to have major chart hits, even in the UK where they were more successful than in the States in the mid sixties. Animosity between the two brothers did not help, resulting in the duo splitting up in 1973. Both brothers recorded as solo artists with Don having success in the country charts, but they were always better together than alone and they reunited at a reunion concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1983. They toured again and recorded sporadically and their live performances showed just what the music world had been missing in the intervening years. Their influence, on everyone from the Beatles to the Beach Boys and just about every other harmony group since, was immense. When I kept my personal top ten from 1960 to 1965 the Everly Brothers had more chart entries (23) than any other artist (even Sam Cooke) and this was largely because they recorded so many wonderful double sided records. Who can forget 'I Wonder If I Care As Much', 'Maybe Tomorrow', 'Claudette', 'Devoted To You', 'Love Of My Life', 'Take A Message To Mary', 'Lucille', 'Ebony Eyes', 'Stick With Me Baby', 'Don't Blame Me' and 'That's Old Fashioned' - all of them B sides. The Everlies toured the UK a number of times in the sixties and I was lucky enough to catch them a few times, including their 1963 tour with Bo Diddley and the Rolling Stones low down on the bill. Two years ago, on one of our US road trips, we visited Central City, Kentucky, the home town of the Everly Brothers where there is a museum dedicated to them (see bottom photo). There's a marker to Phil Everly in a cemetery nearby. Now it's time to say farewell to Don - a sad day indeed.

Blues LPs part 7

I'm continuing with some more blues LPs from the collection. The first selection includes several Smiths: Arthur 'Guitar Boogie' Smith should more rightly be in the country section; Bessie Smith, the 'Empress of the Blues' was one of the foremost blues singers of the Jazz Age; Carrie Smith was a blues and jazz singer who actually played Bessie Smith on stage at Carnegie Hall in 1974; Clara Smith was another early blues singer, known as the 'Queen of the Moaners', who mentored Josephine Baker, and harmonica player Little George Smith. Also featured is a ten inch LP by Brother John Sellers, who came from Clarksdale and was discovered by Mahalia Jackson, and one by another singer from the Delta, Son House, one of the most influential of early blues men who was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1941 and was rediscovered in the sixties.

The next montage starts with four LPs by Chicago pianist Otis Spann, who played with Muddy Waters for many years, and recorded for Decca in London in 1964 as well as for Vanguard and BluesWay. There's one by Roosevelt Sykes, who was known as 'The Honeydripper', and one by another blues pianist from the Delta who moved to Chicago, Sunnyland Slim, one by Eddie Taylor, a Mississippi blues guitarist who taught Jimmy Reed how to play, and one by Hound Dog Taylor, another Mississippi guitarist who moved to Chicago. There are also a couple of LPs by Chicago blues shouter Ko Ko Taylor, who I had the pleaure of seeing on a couple of occasions, and two by Arkansas born blues and soul singer Little Johnny Taylor, not to be confused with soul man Johnnie Taylor.

The third selection starts with two more albums by Little Johnny Taylor, one by Fingers Taylor, a harmonica player recorded with Anson Funderburgh, and one by Dewey Terry, one half of rock and roll duo Don and Dewey. Next are five LPs by harmonica player Sonny Terry, including three with his his long time partner Brownie McGhee. There is one LP by Tiny Topsy, an R and B singer who died aged just 34, and one by Tabby Thomas, who ran a club called Tabby's Blues Box in Baton Rouge for many years. Finally there is an LP by Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin' Hopkins and Larry Williams on Arhoolie.

Montage number four features 12 LPs by Joe Turner, including one on London and several on the Pablo and Black and Blue labels. 'Big' Joe Turner was known as 'The Boss Of the Blues' and was a blues shouter without whom it was said (by Doc Pomus) that rock and roll would never have happened. The Kansas City star was featured singer with the Count Basie orchestra and was picked up by Atlantic, where he recorded 'Shake Rattle and Roll', 'Flip Flop and Fly' and many other pioneering rock and roll records. I bought nearly all of these LPs at a car boot sale for 50p each many years ago.

The final selection this time includes three more Joe Turner LPs, including one with Count Basie, and an Ike Turner album on United Artists. There's also one each by boogie woogie player Precious Clarence Turner, sax player Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson with Roomful of Blues and Joe Louis Walker, the man whose playing at the 100 Club in London a few years back resulted in total deafness in my left ear the next day (no doubt a culmination of many loud shows in reality), and a couple by guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in a helicopter crash in 1990. Finally there are three LPs by renowned Texas guitarist T-Bone Walker.

Roy Gaines RIP + others

Sorry to hear of the death of bluesman Roy Gaines at the reported age of 84. The Texas born guitarist and vocalist was the younger brother of Grady Gaines and played with many of the greats from the fifties onwards, including Roy Milton, Joe Turner, Chuck Willis - even the Everly Brothers. Later he played with or recorded with the likes of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Bobby Bland and many others. It wasn't until 1982 that he recorded his first album 'Gainelining', a rush job in London with members of the Crusaders with whom he was touring at the time. It included possibly his best known number 'A Hell Of A Night Tonight', co-written with Joe Sample. As far as I know I never did see Roy Gaines perform live - but I nearly did. He was due to perform at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans in 2017 but the second day was cancelled due to a threatened hurricane that never arrived. A number of the acts performed at the Ace Hotel and Aussie DJ Mohair Slim tried valiantly to arrange for a performance by Roy, but to no avail. We got to chat to him anyway and the photo above shows Roy with me, Noah Shaffer and Marc Engel. The picture below shows Lloyd (Mohair Slim) in earnest conversation with Roy.

Another recent death is that of reggae instrumentalist and singer Jo Jo Bennett. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he played with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires but made his name in Canada where he was a member of the Fugitives and formed a pop reggae band called the Saatalites. In between he recorded in Jamaica with Harry Mudie's All Stars and made an album with them called 'Groovy Jo Jo' in 1970.

Finally we say a fond farewell to character actress Una Stubbs, who was a mainstay of many UK films and TV series, including 'Til Death Do Us Part', 'Worzel Gummidge', 'The Worst Witch' and 'Sherlock'. She wasn't a singer but she did star in two of Cliff Richard's early sixties movies - 'Summer Holiday' and 'Wonderful Life' (see photo).

Blues LPs part 6

I'm continuing my series of photo montages of blues LPs, beginning this time with the letter M. There's an LP by Willie Mabon, one by Magic Sam and three by Taj Mahal, including two on the Direction label and two on CBS. I've seen Taj Mahal a few times, the most recent being in New Orleans in 2016 when he was on top form. There's also a more modern LP by Johnny Mars and one by the superb blues singer/songwriter Percy Mayfield. There's one by blues guitarist Larry McCray and two by Jimmy McCracklin, who memorably appeared at Porretta in 2007.

The next group of LPs starts with another three by Jimmy McCracklin, including one on US Imperial and one on Stax. There's one by country blues man Mississippi Fred McDowell plus one by him with his wife Annie Mae. Also three by Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry who did so much to popularise the blues in the UK, and two by Big Jay McNeely, who I had the great pleasure of meeting up with in LA. He died shortly after his 91st birthday show at Joe's Great American Bar and Grill in Burbank in 2018. There's one by sax player and bandleader Jack McVea and an album by one of the earlier blues artists Memphis Minnie.

The third set features five LPs by Memphis Slim, including one on United Artists and two on Xtra, and two by R and B singer and pianist Amos Milburn. There are also two by jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader Roy Milton, and one by singer, actress and civil rights activist Odetta. Finally there are two by the incredibly influential Johnny Otis, including one on UK Capitol.

Next up we have four by Junior Parker, including one on Mercury and two on the People label. There is also an LP by Lucky Peterson, one by Piano Red, who was perhaps better known as Dr Feelgood, and one by the Prisonaires, who recorded 'Just Walking In the Rain' for Sun in 1953 while still incarcerated. There are also four albums by Jimmy Reed, including one on Stateside and one on Veejay.

The fifth group of LPs begins with two more by Jimmy Reed, one by Sonny Rhodes and the Texas Twisters, who I got to see a couple of times, a couple by Chicago bluesman Fenton Robinson, and one by the Rhode Island based white blues band Roomful of Blues. There's an LP by Bobby Rush, who continues to entertain enormously well into his eighties, and a couple by blues guitarist and songwriter Otis Rush. Finally there's an LP by singer and pianist Jimmy Rushing, who was the vocalist in Count Basie's Orchestra, an LP on Malaco by David St George, a funk singer who made just one album about whom I know nothing, and an album by Frankie Lee Sims on Specialty. More soon.

Charles Connor RIP + others

It's time to catch up on some of the music deaths that I've become aware of recently. The most recent is that of drummer Charles Connor at the age of 86. His 16 bar intro to Little Richard's 'Keep A Knockin'' is one of the most exciting pieces of drumming in rock and roll. Born in New Orleans, Charles joined Little Richard's band The Upsetters in 1953, having previously played with the likes of Professor Longhair, Smiley Lewis and Guitar Slim and his hard driving drum style is said to be the inspiration for Richard's 'a-wop bop-a loo-mop, a-lop bam-boom' at the start of 'Tutti Frutti'. Charles was interviewed in one of the conference sessions at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2017 (pictured above) under the heading 'Make It Sound Like A Train'. He said that he had been on the road with Shirley and Lee when Little Richard saw them in Nashville and invited him to join the Upsetters. He visited Australia with Little Richard when he gave up secular music temporarily and Sam Cooke took over the band. He also played with Jackie Wilson and James Brown, who said that Charles 'put the funk into the rhythm'. Later Charles formed his own version of the Upsetters and reunited with Richard briefly in 1990 performing 'The Girl Can't Help It' on stage in Sweden.

Another music great who has died, aged 91, is Willie Winfield, who was the founder, lead singer and permanent fixture with doowop group the Harptones. Their best known songs included 'A Sunday Kind of Love' (1953), 'Why Should I Love You?', 'Life is But a Dream', 'The Shrine of St. Cecilia' and 'What Will I Tell My Heart' in 1961. I saw Willie with the Harptones at the Long Island Doowop Festivals of 2016 and 2017 when they sang the group's biggest hits. In 2016 , when they were joined on stage by MC Bobby J singing bass, I reckoned they were the act of the day. 'Sunday Kind of Love' was sublime.

There has been much media coverage of the death at 72 of Dusty Hill, who was the bass player and singer with Z Z Top and one of the band's trademark bearded front men. Originally from Dallas, he played with his brother Rocky and future Z Z Top member Frank Beard in local bands including American Blues. Rocky left and Dusty and Frank joined with Billy Gibbons to form the rock band Z Z Top, who released their first single, 'Salt Lick' in 1969. The band went on to have enormous success in the rock scene with albums such as 'Tres Hombres', 'Fandango', 'Tejas' and 'El Loco'.

One death that I missed earlier in the year was that of American teen pop star and actor Johnny Crawford, aged 75. He was a member of the Mouseketeers and was just 12 when he got an acting role in 'The Rifleman' TV series. Recording for Del-Fi he had hits in 1962 and 1963 with 'Cindy's Birthday', 'Rumors'. 'Your Nose Is Gonna Grow' and 'Proud'. After his pop career fizzled out he returned to acting and appeared in several movies in the sixties and seventies.

Blues LPs part 5

I'm continuing this series with a batch of LPs by one of the greatest of all blues men, B B King. They include a couple on the US United label and several recorded for ABC in the States, which were released on HMV, Stateside, Probe and MCA in the UK. I saw B B quite a few times prior to his death in 2015, the most recent being at the New Orleans Jazzfest in 2010.

The next selection continues with a couple by B B and five by the third 'king of the blues', Freddie King, including two on RSO.There is one by eighties blues band the Kinsey Report and 'Blue Guitars', an LP on Parlophone by guitarists Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson. There's one by Larry (Johnson) and Hank (Adkins), about whom I know very little, and a couple by the queen of the blues Denise Lasalle.

Third photo shows some more albums by Denise Lasalle, including several on Malaco. Denise was a great performer who I was lucky enough to see several times, including at Porretta and in New Orleans prior to her death in 2018. There's one by the Legendary Blues Band, which was formed after Muddy Waters' death in 1980 and included Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith and Pinetop Perkins. Also one by soul/blues singer Frankie Lee, who I saw at Utrecht in 1997, one by Leadbelly and one by early blues artist Julia Lee, including a ten inch LP on Capitol. Also included are three LPs by Excello artist Lazy Lester, who was such an omnipresent artist at festivals up to his death in 2018.

Montage number four includes two LPs by influential Chicago bluesman J B Lenoir and a later one by soul/blues singer Jimmy Lewis on Hotlanta. Also 'Natchez Trace' by harmonica player Papa George Lightfoot who was rediscovered in the late sixties and found brief fame, one by brothers Jimmy and Joe Liggins and one by each of them including Joe's best known hit 'Honey Dripper'. There is also one LP by Little Charlie and the Night Caps and a couple by Little Milton.

Finally in this selection we have three more LPs by Little Milton, including recordings for Chess and Stax, and five by Chicago harmonica player Little Walter. These include one on the Python label, of which only 99 were produced. There's one album by Excello bluesman Lonesome Sundown with Texas artist Philip Walker and one by Louisiana Red. Also featured is an LP by band leader and sax player Preston Love featuring Chuggie Otis, and one by another bandleader and sax player Joe Lutcher, younger brother of Nellie Lutcher.