Classie Ballou RIP + others

As ever there are some music deaths to report. Classie Ballou, who has died aged 84, was in at the very start of zydeco when he played guitar on Boozoo Chavis's first zydeco 45 'Paper In My Shoe' in 1954. Born in Louisiana, he grew up in Waco, Texas, and was brought in by record man Eddie Shuler to play on the record despite never having heard of zydeco. According to John Broven's book 'South To Louisiana' the recording session was not going well until someone gave Boozoo some booze. Eddie Shuler said: 'I couldn't see from the control room but I knew Boozoo was getting saturated. Suddenly there was a colossal crash in the studio but as the take was the best so far I didn't check what had happened until the number was finished. When I opened the door, before me lay Boozoo. He had fallen off his stool but managed to keep his accordian in the air and play on without missing a note.' Boozoo toured with Classie for a while after that and later Classie recorded for Excello and Goldband with singles such as 'Crazy Mambo, 'Confusion' and 'Hey Pardner'. He went on to play with the Joe Turner Band and played guitar on Rosco Gordon's 'Just A Little Bit'. I saw him perform at the Ponderosa Stomp in 2010 and 2011, (pictured above) where he played 'Hey Pardner and 'Confusion'. He also appeared at a swamp pop show in Crowley, La, in 2011, where he played five numbers including 'Crazy Mambo' and 'The Thrill Is Gone'.

Another death is that of Jim Sohns, (75) lead singer and founder member of the Shadows of Knight, a Chicago band who made their name with a cover of Them's 'Gloria'. They overcame a local radio ban on the version by Them as 'the band had slightly altered the song's lyrics, replacing Morrison's original "she comes to my room, then she made me feel alright" with "she called out my name, that made me feel alright".' According to the band 'the Stones, Animals and the Yardbirds took the Chicago blues and gave it an English interpretation. We've taken the English version of the Blues and re-added a Chicago touch." Their follow up, the Bo Diddley song 'Oh Yeah', was a minor hit but the group broke up in 1967 with only Jim Sohns remaining of the original line up. My copy of the above is one of several review copies that I still have from my time as a record reviewer on the Croydon Advertiser in the sixties. By coincidence, when I was in the Vintage record shop in Livorno, Italy, last week I came across a copy of their first LP on the US Dunwich label. I was put off by the price, but maybe now I regret not having bought it. Finally a mention for Bernard Cribbins, aged 93, a talented English actor and comedian who also had two top ten hits in 1962 with 'Hole In The Ground' and 'Right Said Fred' and a smaller hit with 'Gossip Calypso'. RIP to them all.

Porretta photos part 2

Here is another batch of photos from the Porretta Soul Festival taken on days three and four. Above is one of Terrie Odabi taken on Saturday and below are Johnette and Scott, who were the opening act that evening.

This is them again but with Nona Brown and Larry Batiste.

Here is West Coast singer Curtis Salgado.

Anthony Paule with his horn section.

This is Larry Springfield, a newcomer to Porretta who sings regularly at B B King's clubs in the US.

This is soul/bluesman Ernie Johnson.

From Sunday's show here is Mitch Woods, whose set was enlivened by a team of dancers.

Here's another photo of Larry Springfield from Sunday's show.

This is Ernie Johnson with Selassie Burke.

Here's another of Selassie Burke.

This is Terrie Odabi during Sunday's performance.

Here's John Ellison.

This is John Ellison with his guitarist 'Roger'.

This is the final act on Sunday, Chick Rodgers.

Here are some photos of me with some of the stars: John Ellison, Terrie Odabi, Nona Brown and Ernie Johnson and Larry Batiste.

Finally I took a photo of this exotic lady during Sunday's show (with her permission). I wonder who she is.

Porretta final day + photos

Sunday, the final day of the Porretta Soul Festival, began with the usual press conference, only this time it was focused on Scott Billington and his new book 'Making Tracks'. This tells the story of his record production career at Rounder and elsewhere and his recordings with artists such as Johnny Adams, Irma Thomas, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, James Booker and Louisiana soul singer Dalton Reed, who died young. This was followed by the traditional photocall involving many of the artists on the steps on the Helvetia Hotel (pictured above). The evening's entertainment as usual was a revue featuring cut down versions of the acts of the earlier nights. The first half was pretty dull, with a repeat set by Johnette and Scott, rather too much of Curtis Salgado and a run through of numbers by the Anthony Paule Band and the background singers which was good, but much the same as on earlier nights. Things livened up with the return of Larry Springfield and the second half, during which the acts were limited to two numbers each, was excellent. Highlights were Terrie Odabi, in a bright green gown, singing 'You're Gonna Make Me Cry', John Ellison, this time playing guitar alongside his sidekick Roger, Selassie Burke doing a duet with MC Rick Hutton on 'Everybody Needs Somebody', Ernie Johnson doing 'Dreams To Remember' and Chick Rodgers reprising a couple of Aretha Franklin songs. As a finale all the acts took to the stage to close what had been yet another highly enjoyable festival.

Now I'm back home I am able to feature some of the photos I took during the four days of Porretta. More will follow. Above is Leon Beal, who was one of the stars of the first day, while the photo below shows Fred Wesley.

Also from the first night here is Martha High.

And from the second night this is J P Bimeni.

Next up. here is Anthony Paule.

This is Anthony's trombonist Derek James.

Boogie woogie keyboard player Mitch Woods.

Background singers Omega Rae, Larry Batiste and Nona Brown.

Here is Selassie Burke.

This is John Ellison.

Final act on day two was Chick Rodgers.

Saturday night in Porretta

Saturday is always the busiest night at Porretta and last night was no exception. Rufus Thomas Park was packed and thousands of people thronged the food and drink stalls on the street outside. It was a varied evening music-wise and a long one but a pretty good one overall. The first act, Johnette and Scott, was a strange act for a soul festival. Scott is record producer Scott Billington, who is in town to promote his book 'Making Tracks' which tells the story of record production at Rounder and elsewhere for artists such as Johnny Adams Irma Thomas, James Booker and others. Together with Johnette the duo sang some early blues and gospel songs accompanied only by their harmonica and ukulele. these included 'When I Lay My Burden Down', 'Goodnight Irene' and 'Jesus On The Main Line', on which they were joined by Larry Batiste and Nona Brown. Pleasant enough but not soul. Things moved up a gear with the next act, Curtis Salgado and his band but only to a degree. There was blues, rock and a load of old cobblers of a song about Cleopatra and ancient Rome but not much soul until near the end. Curtis is a pro however and brought life to his songs, the best being '20 Years of B B King', 'Walk A Mile In My Blues', the O V Wright song 'Born All Over' and the highly appropriate in my case 'The Longer I Live The Older I Want To Get'.The ever reliable Anthony Paule band, dressed in red this time, took the stage after a brief interval and reprised some of the previous night's numbers with songs once again from the three backing singers Larry Batiste, Omega Rae and Nona Brown, who was excellent on "You Don't Know Nothing About Love'. Next up was Larry Springfield, a young soul singer from Memphis and a new name to me, who in many ways was the purest sixties soul singer of the weekend. All his numbers were covers but he has the uncanny knack of sounding like Johnnie Taylor on 'Who's Making Love' and 'Steal Away, like Otis on 'Hard To Handle and 'Try A Little Tenderness', like Al Green on 'Tired Of Being Alone' and 'Still In Love With You', like Tyrone Davis on 'Can I Change My Mind' and 'Turn Back The Hands Of Time', even like Marvin Gaye on 'Let's Get It On'. A flexible voice and a dynamic stage act makes Larry a natural for Porretta. After a second break along came the artist who was the undoubted highlight of the night, Terrie Odabi. She put real soulful emotion into her songs which included 'Breaking Up Somebody's Home', 'Wade In The Water', the Staple Singers' 'Why Am I Treated So Bad' 'Love Trumps All' Bobby Bland's 'I'll Take Care Of You', 'Love Out Loud' and 'Aint Nobody Gonna Turn Me Around'. She included several songs written by Christine Vitale, wife of Anthony Paule, including 'Hate Take A Holiday ' and 'After A While'. When MC Rick Hutton called for 'one more time' as he always does Terrie closed with her song about neighbourhood change 'Gentrification Blues'. This was aching, emotive soul singing of the highest order. There are few if any better female soul singers around today. The final act of the evening was soul/bluesman Ernie Johnson, who arrived wearing a brown jacket and matching cap. Ernie, from Dallas, is an old school blues singer with a gruff voice, a little like that of Bobby Bland. The hour was late and people were leaving but he managed to come across well on numbers which included 'I'm In The Mood For Blues', 'Loving You', 'Move Along', 'Baby What You Want Me To Do', 'Take It Where I Find It' and 'I'd Rather Be Six Feet In My Grave Than Let You Waste My Time'. Sadly time was against him but he finished strongly with 'Dreams To Remember' during which he attempted a crowd walk among a thinning audience. The end to another great night at Porretta.

Porretta Soul Festival day 2

Day two at Porretta proved to be a superb one, with a stand out performance by John Ellison, once of the Soul Brothers Six, taking top honours. But first it was the turn of J P Bimeni, a Burundian refugee now living in London, to take the stage with his Spanish band the Black Belts. He featured tracks from his two albums, 'Free Me' and 'Give Me Hope', including the two title tracks which allowed him to explore themes of racism and freedom. One number - 'James Stern' - told the story of a black activist in the US while another, 'I Miss You' was a story of lost love. He also included one cover, 'Keep On Running.' J P has an engaging personality and a reasonable voice and provided a lively start to the evening. After a short break the main backing band for the evening, and now a regular at Porretta the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra set up and kicked off with 'Memphis Train' and 'Town Without Pity' , both exemplary. Boogie woogie and R and B keyboardist Mitch Woods followed with some lively jump blues which brought some variety to things. His excellently performed numbers included 'Solid Gold Cadillac' , 'Mojo Mambo' (a tribute to Professor Longhair), 'Stomping At Savoy' and 'House Of Blue Lights'. Next it was the turn of Anthony Paule's three backing singers to sing two solo numbers each. Omega Rae sang 'Its Love That Makes A Woman'. Then Larry Batiste performed 'Drowning In A Sea Of Love' and 'Real Good Lies' which he co-wrote for the late Wee Willie Walker. Finally Nona Brown included 'I'm Just A Prisoner' before all three sang 'Just One Look' together. Good stuff and an improvement I thought on some previous backing singers. Final act before the break was Selassie Burke, one of Solomon's many offspring who showed that he has inherited his fathers singing ability. His set included two Otis Redding numbers 'Dock Of The Bay' and 'Try A Little Tenderness' and three of his dad's, 'Don't Give Up On Me', 'Cry To Me' and 'Everybody Needs Somebody'. Selassie seems quite a talented lad and could go far. Things really took off after the second break with the emergence on stage of John Ellison wearing white flowing robes, a white jump suit and shades. It was quite an entrance and he launched into 'Let's Get This Party Started' only for the power to fail, meaning there was no amplification and limited lighting. Fortunately it was quite quickly fixed and John was able to continue, with outstanding performances of 'I'll Be Loving You', the Soul Brothers Six song 'I Wanna Thank You Baby', 'If I Had One Wish' with quite effective audience input, an acapella version of 'Unchained Melody' and the upbeat 'Getting The Love Line' from his soon to be released album. It was a super set but the best was yet to come. John said he had met up earlier with a young girl who was a fan and who knew all the words to his 60s hit 'Some Kind Of Wonderful'. He invited her onstage and her parents brought up a young girl who appeared to be partially sighted. The resulting duet was excellent and really rather touching as the girl clearly did know the song and contributed well (pictured above). A bit of a spine tingling moment I reckon. Finally it was the turn of Chick Rodgers who must now be considered the new Queen of Porretta. Looking good with blonde hair she stuck mostly to Aretha Franklin numbers which suit her voice perfectly. These included 'Don't Play That Song', 'Ain't No Way', 'Natural Woman' and, as an encore 'Chain Of Fools'. Other songs included Ray Charles' 'Let The Good Times Roll' and B B King's 'To Know You Is To Love You'. All covers of course but well executed and a good finish to what had been another great Porretta night.

Back to Porretta

Three long years after my last visit I am back in Italy for the Porretta Soul Festival surely the best and longest lasting soul festival on the planet. Alan Lloyd and I toured Tuscany in the extreme heat, taking in the port city of Livorno, the tourist infested town of Pisa and the walled city of Lucca before arriving in the pretty spa town of Porretta Terme. We had escaped the highest recorded temperatures in England only to discover it was even hotter in Italy. The first evening of music was quite hot too. First act was Boston born Leon Beal with the Luca Giordano band. like many of the acts at Porretta this year he has been on before, but he has a decent voice and good stage presence. His set included Bobby Bland numbers, including 'Don't Cry No More' and 'Turn On The Love Light', Otis Redding songs such as 'Glory Of Love' and several Sam Cooke songs including Sam's adaptation of 'Little Red Rooster', 'Good News' and 'A Change Is Gonna Come'. There were also fine versions of 'Keep On Pushing' and 'Hole In The Wall' plus one original, 'I'm Still Here'. An excellent start to proceedings overall. Next up was the venerable trombonist Fred Wesley who at 79 is still at the top of his game. His band the New JBs includes some excellent musicians including Herman Rodriguez on sax and flute and Gary Winters on trumpet (pictured above), and the fair sized crowd loved the band's funky rhythms on numbers such as 'Phase Four', 'Four Play' 'Breaking Bread', and 'Pass The Peas'. Personally I thought the set improved as it went on, with 'Trick Bag', 'Funky Good Times" and 'House Party' outstanding. Final act of the evening was Martha High with her band the Italian Royal Family. Martha, now 77, was with James Brown's band for over 30 years but this set featured mostly new material from her new album 'Nothing's Gone Wrong'. She remains a dynamic performer and was great on the title number and others such as 'Room At The Top' and 'TCB or TYA'. But then she moved into audience participation time and persuaded the crowd to stand so the four of us, now including Rod Jolliffe and Dave Carroll, headed for the bar.

Adam Wade RIP

There have been mercifully few significant music deaths lately but one that did catch my notice this week is that of Adam Wade, at the age of 87. Adam was born in Pittsburg and had a soft voice in the mould of Nat King Cole or Johnny Mathis. He signed with the Coed label and had his first success in 1960 with 'Ruby'. In 1961 he had three top ten US hits - 'Take Good Care Of Her', 'As If I Didn't Know' and 'The Writing On The Wall'. He had little success in the UK apart from 'Take Good Care Of Her' which reached number 38 but several singles were released of both his Coed material and later Epic recordings and two LPs were released - 'Adam and Evening' and 'One Is A Lonely Number', plus two EPs. In 1975 Adam became the first African American to host a US TV game show ('Musical Chairs') and appeared regularly on stage in musicals and in TV sitcoms such as 'Sandford and Sons'and the Jeffersons'.

Another recent death is that of Peter B Lowry, a folklorist and record producer who specialised in the Piedmont blues originating from Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. He founded the Trix record label which released albums by David 'Honey Boy' Edwards, Eddie Kirkland and Robert Lockwood Jr among others. He was also an early contributor to magazines such as 'Living Blues'and 'Blues Unlimited' and produced reissue series such as the Atlantic blues series.