End of an era...Wolfman RIP

The last few months saw the end of the Elizabathan era in September, after 70 years, and, it seems the end of a musical era too. Jerry Lee Lewis, the last major rock and roll star still surviving, died in October and since then two original American artists who appeared at Tales From The Woods shows in recent years have also passed away - Roddy Jackson and Charlie Gracie. The number of original artists still alive, never mind performing, has declined dramatically over the last few years as would be expected. I gave up going to Rhythm Riot several years ago when they stopped booking US originals and the Ponderosa Stomp has ended permanently it seems. The Porretta Soul Festival continues to be excellent but increasingly relies on a newer generation of artists. Other festivals, such as Viva Las Vegas and the Rockin' Race, are following a similar course. The pace of decline is relentless but I will continue to seek out original performers whenever I can.

One of the latest deaths is that of Walter 'Wolfman' Washington, (79) a performer who I must have seen on every visit to New Orleans since my first in 1989. Walter played in Lee Dorsey's band when he was still a teenager and made several singles for local labels in the sixties, including 'Mickey Mouse Boarding House' and 'Goody Man'. He joined Johnny Adams band in the 1970s and formed his own band, recording his first album 'Leader Of The Pack' for Hep Me in 1981. He went on to record several more albums for Rounder and other labels and was a regular performer at the Maple Leaf and more recently DBA in New Orleans. He was at heart a bluesman but his shows were often funky and soulful with jazz influences as well. He was a brilliant guitarist and never failed to entertain. His loss will leave a huge hole in the live music sector in the Big Easy. Top photo shows Walter in typical pose at Jazzfest in 2013.

It's farewell too to Gordon Fleming, who was my companion on several trips to the US and Spain, including to Viva Las Vegas and the Rockin' Race. Gordon had a fund of knowledge about early rock and roll and doowop and all of us Woodies will miss him. Photo above shows Gordon with Big Jay McNeely who we met in Los Angeles in 2014. RIP Gordon. There have been other deaths recently as well. One of these is Thom Bell, who was born in Jamaica but made his name in Philadelphia as a songwriter and one of the main producers, along with Gamble and Huff, of many of the biggest soul groups of the seventies, including the Delfonics, the Stylistics and the Spinners. Also: Luther 'Guitar Junior' Johnson, a Mississippi bluesman who moved to Chicago where he played with Magic Sam and Muddy Waters before forming his own band the Magic Rockers and recording albums with Bullseye Blues among other labels; and lap steel guitar player Freddie Roulette who recorded with the Daphne Ray Blues Band and artists such as Earl Hooker and Charlie Musselwhite.

Late addition: Leroy Calliste, better known as Black Stalin, has died aged 81. One of Trinidad's top calypsonians he was noted for his songs opposing colonisation and won the Calypso Monarch title on five occasions. I recall seeing him at the New Orleans Jazzfest in 1995 and was impressed.

Christmas top tens 1960 to 1965

As regular readers may know, I kept a record of my top ten favourite records from early 1960 to the end of 1965. So here are my top tens closest to Christmas in each of those years. Hope they are of interest - and Happy Christmas to my readers.

1960: 1. Hushabye Little Guitar - Paul Evans; 2. Last Date - Floyd Cramer; 3. My Girl Josephine - Fats Domino; 4. Stay - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs; 5. Counting Teardrops - Emile Ford; 6. Like Strangers - Everly Brothers; 7. Corrine Corrina - Ray Peterson; 8. Why Why Bye Bye - Bob Luman; 9. Perfidia - The Ventures; 10. Poetry In Motion - Johnny Tillotson.

1961: Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen - Neil Sedaka: 2. So Long Baby - Del Shannon; 3= Run To Him - Bobby Vee; 3= The Avenger - Duane Eddy; 5. Multiplication - Bobby Darin; 6. Let There Be Drums - Sandy Nelson; 7. Language Of Love- John D Loudermilk; 8. Peppermint Twist - Joey Dee and the Starliters; 9. Walk On By - Leroy Van Dyke; 10. Happy Times - Tony Orlando.

1962: 1. Love Came To Me - Dion; 2. Stop The Music - The Shirelles; 3. I Can't Help it - Johnny Tillotson; 4. If You Were A Rock And Roll Record - Freddy Cannon; 5. Under Your Spell Again - Lloyd Price; 6. Spanish Lace - Gene McDaniels; 7. Don't Hang Up - The Orlons; 8. Your Cheating Heart - Ray Charles; 9. Nothing Can Change This Love - Sam Cooke; 10= Chains - The Cookies; 10= I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter - Connie Francis.

1963: 1. Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry; 2. Swinging On A Star - Big Dee Irwin; 3. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Big Dee Irwin and Little Eva; 4. Fine Fine Boy - Darlene Love; 5. Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying - The Miracles; 6. 24 Hours From Tulsa - Gene Pitney; 7. Little Red Rooster - Sam Cooke; 8. Hey Little Girl - Major Lance; 9. Drip Drop - Dion; 10. Don't You Know - The Lockets.

1964: 1. Needle In A Haystack - The Velvelettes; 2. The Jerk - The Larks; 3. Oh No Not My Baby - Maxine Brown; 4. How Sweet It Is - Marvin Gaye; 5. Dance Dance Dance - The Beach Boys; 6. Getting Mighty Crowded - Betty Everett; 7. Night Train - James Brown; 8= Sidewalk Surfin' - Jan and Dean; 8= Going Out Of My Head - Little Anthony and the Imperials; 8= That's What Love Is Made Of - The Miracles.

1965: 1. My Girl - Otis Redding; 2. Rescue Me - Fontella Bass; 3. You're Gonna Make Me Cry - O V Wright; 4. Don't Fight It - Wilson Pickett; 5. Everything's Gonna Be Alright - Willie Mitchell; 6. All Or Nothing - Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles; 7. 1-2-3 - Len Barry; 8. Ain't That Peculiar - Marvin Gaye; 9. Don't Have To Shop Around - The Mad Lads; 10= These Hands- Bobby Bland; 10= My Girl Has Gone - The Miracles.

Charlie Gracie RIP

No sooner have I paid tribute to the many musicians who have died this year than I hear that Charlie Gracie - possibly the last original rock and roll artist to be performing on a regular basis - has died at the age of 86. Originally from Philadelphia Charlie was a five times winner on the Paul Whiteman Teenagers TV show and recorded some singles for the Cadillac label in 1952, including one called 'Rockin' and Rollin', but his worldwide success began when he joined Cameo in 1956. Fantastic double sided 45s (or 78s) included 'Butterfly'/ 'Ninety Nine Ways', 'Fabulous'/ 'Just Lookin', 'Wandering Eyes'/ 'Love You So Much It Hurts' and 'Cool Baby'/ 'You Got A heart Like A Rock'. These singles alone would have ensured his place in rock and roll history but later sides such as 'Doodlebug', 'The Race' and 'Pretty Baby' were almost as good. Charlie first visited London in 1957 where he starred at the Hippodrome and was a regular visitor over the years. Every time I saw him he proved yet again what a great guitarist and singer he was.

These shows included the Rhythm Riot in 2014 and the Ponderosa Stomp in 2013 (pictured above) and memorably, a Tales From The Wood show at the Spice of Life in 2017 (top photo). On that occasion I wrote on the Vinyl Word: 'The star of the show was Charlie Gracie, a man who made his name at much the same time as Chuck Berry was making waves back in the fifties. Now 80, Charlie is still an excellent guitarist and has an easy stage manner. His first number, 'Caldonia', showed off his guitar playing to good effect, and he ran through many of his best known numbers included 'Just Lookin', 'Wandering Eyes', 'Butterfly', 'Ninety Nine Ways', 'Cool Baby', 'Heart Like A Rock' and, of course, his biggest hit 'Fabulous'. He's been to London many times over the years and has picked up a Dick Van Dyke type accent, which he put to use on snippets of 'Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner' and even 'I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts'. Other numbers included 'Rock A Beating Boogie', 'Don't Worry About Me' (a tribute to his friend Eddie Cochran), 'I Love You So Much It Hurts', 'Tootsie', 'What'd I Say', 'Cottonfields' and, as an encore, 'Shake Rattle and Roll'. All of them were two minute master classes and much enjoyed by the packed crowd in this tiny venue. Charlie is welcome back any time. Well done Keith (Woods) on another enjoyable show.'

Charlie was due to headline at the Wildest Cats In Town recently but ill health prevented him from attending. Sadly Charlie was the second artist to have appeared at a TFTW show at the Spice of Life, after Roddy Jackson, to have died in recent days. Any record collector is sure to have some original Charlie Gracie 78s or 45s in their collection - indeed they were such big hits that even the BBC was known to play them on occasions. But incredibly Charlie remained a brilliant performer, and throroughly nice man, well into his eighties. Photo above shows Charlie performing at the RNA Club in Plaistow in 1992 with D J Fontana on drums. RIP Charlie. Photo below: with Charlie in 2017.

Death list 2022

Every year at around this time I pay tribute to musicians who have died during the year. There have been many deaths of course and the list is far too long to include everyone. So here are those that made the biggest impact on me. Thanks to all of them for the pleasure they have given over the years.

Jerry Allison - Crickets drummer and songwriter; Ernie Andrews - West Coast jazz and blues singer; J J Barnes - Northern Soul star; Jet Black - Stranglers drummer; Black Stalin - Trinidad calypsonian; Alan Blaikley - prolific English songwriter; Gary Brooker - lead singer of Procul Harum; Steve Broughton - drummer with Edgar Broughton band; Joe Bussard - US record collector; Irene Cara - 'Fame' singer; Classie Ballou - zydeco singer and guitarist; Morty Craft - record label owner and producer; Don Craine - lead singer of the Downliners Sect; Bettye Crutcher - Stax songwriter and singer; Dino Danelli - drummer with the Young Rascals; Betty Davis - funk singer and ex-wife of Miles (top photo); Lamont Dozier - Motown songwriter and singer; Judith Durham - Australian lead singer of the Seekers; Inez Foxx - R and B singer, sister of Charlie; Dallas Frazier - country musician and songwriter; Millage Gilbert - blues guitarist; Mickey Gilley - country singer and songwriter; Glen Glenn - rockabilly singer; Sam Gooden - member of the Impressions; Robert Gordon - rockabilly revival singer; Howard Grimes - Memphis soul drummer; Guitar Shorty - blues singer and guitarist; Claire Hamlin - keyboardist in Tales From The Woods band; William Hart - Delfonics lead singer; Ronnie Hawkins - Canadian rock and roller; Rosa Lee Hawkins - member of the Dixie Cups; Bobby Hendricks - R and B singer and Drifters member; Freddie Hughes - West Coast soul singer; Ivy Jo Hunter - Motown songwriter and producer; Roddy Jackson - Specialty rock and roller; Joni James - fifties pop singer; Mable John - soul singer sister of Little Willie (pictured above);

Fred Johnson - bass singer with the Marcels; Jimmy Johnson - blues guitarist and singer, brother of Syl; Luther 'Guitar Junior' Johnson - Chicago bluesman; Syl Johnson - blues and soul singer (pictured above); Wilko Johnson - British pub rocker; Naomi Judd - country singer member of the Judds; Anita Kerr - American singer and producer; Art Laboe - American DJ and producer; Jerry Lee Lewis - rock and roll piano hell raiser (pictured below); Ramsey Lewis - jazz pianist and composer; Peter B Lowry - American folklorist and producer; Loretta Lynn - country singer; C W McCall - truck driving country singer; Deborah McCrary - member of McCrary Sisters gospel group; Ian McDonald - founding member of King Crimson; Christine McVie - singer with Fleetwood Mac; Meat Loaf - American rock singer; Joe Messina - Funk Brothers guitarist; Jody Miller - country and pop singer; Ben Moore - soul singer and member of James and Bobby Purify; Barbara Morrison - jazz singer; Sandy Nelson - rock and roll drummer; Olivia Newton-John - Australian born singer; Nichelle Nichols - Star Trek actor and singer; Monty Norman - composer of James Bond theme; Chris Owens - New Orleans club owner and singer; Fred Parris - lead singer of the Five Satins; Richard Pratt - member of Blue Magic; Bob Rafelson - Monkees creator; Red Kelly - music blogger and historian; Freddie Roulette - lap steel guitar player; Bobby Rydell - sixties Philly singer; Art Rupe - founder of Specialty record label;

Pharaoh Sanders - jazz saxophonist; Jim Seals - one half of Seals and Cerofts rock duo; Jim Schwall - blues guitarist and vocalist; Donald 'Tabby' Shaw - member of Mighty Diamonds; Joyce Sims - R and B singer/songwriter; Jim Sohns - Shadows of Knight singer; Ronnie Spector - member of the Ronettes, solo artist and ex wife of Phil (pictured below); Jim Stewart - Stax co-founder; Creed Taylor - jazz record producer; R Dean Taylor - Canadian born Motown singer; Jimmy Thomas - Northern Soul singer; Timmy Thomas - R and B singer and keyboardist; Sonny Turner - singer with the Platters; Vangelis - Greek composer of electronic music; Adam Wade - American soft soul singer; Natty Wailer - reggae musician with Bob Marley; Walter 'Wolfman' Washington - New Orleans blues/funk guitarist; Norma Waterson - English folk singer and songwriter; Bobby Weinstein - songwriter with Teddy Randazzo; Sonny West - rock and roll singer and songwriter; Joel Whitburn - American author and music historian; Don Wilson -Ventures guitarist.

Late news: just heard of the death of Bertha Barbee McNeal, a founder member of Motown group the Velvelettes. Their best known record was 'Needle In A Haystack' (a number one in my personal top ten in 1964) but they also had success with 'He Was Only Saying Something', 'Lonely Lonely Girl Am I' and 'These Things Will Keep Me Loving You'. I was lucky enough to see them at the Detroit A Go Go in 2019 when all four original members took part (pictured below). They were superb.

RIP too to Terry Hall of the Specials, whose Coventry based two tone band the Specials helped to revive interest in ska music. And to Tony Watson, co-owner and production editor of Blues and Rhythm magazine. And to Charlie Gracie (see separate obituary). Also Memphis soul man Sam Hutchins who recorded as a solo artist with Chips Moman before becoming a member of the Masqueraders.

J J Barnes - King of Northern Soul RIP

Very sorry to hear that yet another soul great has passed on - this time J J Barnes who only a few weeks ago was one of the stars of this year's Detroit A Go Go. He was 79. James Jay 'JJ' Barnes was born in Detroit and recorded for the Mickay's Label and then for Ric Tic, where oustanding tracks included 'Please Let Me In', 'Real Humdinger', 'Say It' and 'Day Tripper'. His most successful 45 was 'Baby Please Come Back Home' for Groovesville and he also recorded for the Stax subsidiary Volt which led to a joint album 'Rare Stamps' with Steve Mancha. J J's records were picked up by Northern Soul fans and he moved to England in the seventies where he signed to Contempo, which led to an LP - 'Sara Smile' - and several singles. Some of his early Ric Tic singles were re-released on Tamla Motown and he later recorded a version of Frank Wilson's 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)' and in the nineties recorded with producer Ian Levine. I saw J J at the Detroit A Go Go in 2019 (pictured above) where he appeared in a pink suit but still managed to look like a respectable bank manager. His singing was excellent and it's hard to argue with organiser Phil Dick's description of him as 'The King of Northern Soul'. RIP JJ.

Roddy Jackson passes on

Music deaths are coming thick and fast at the moment, the latest being rockabilly artist Roddy Jackson, aged 80, who recorded some memorable records for Specialty in the fifties but never had a major hit. Roddy was a regular on the rock and roll scene in recent years and played a great Tales From The Woods show at the Spice of Life in 2013. I also saw him at the Rhythm Riot the following year and most recently at Viva Las Vegas in 2018. Here's my review of the TFTW show: 'Roddy Jackson must be one of the wildest original rockers to hit a London stage in many a long year. Last night's Tales From The Woods show in the downstairs room of the Spice of Life pub on the edge of Soho was the first time that this 1950s Californian rock and roller - dubbed the Central Valley Fireball - has played a central London venue, despite appearing at several rockabilly festivals over the years. It was a show to remember, with some exciting, raucous vocals, combined with Roddy's Jerry Lee Lewis-styled piano playing and frantic sax work. Roddy had a brief recording career with Specialty in LA when he was discovered by Sonny Bono and introduced to label owner Art Rupe, but never quite made it despite three top class rockabilly 45s. He stuck mainly to his own compositions last night with a couple of nods to his idol and fellow Specialty artist Little Richard in the form of 'Lucille' and 'Good Golly Miss Molly'. Roddy is fun, as well as being a genuine rocker, as his first number, his own novelty song 'Hiccups', showed. He followed this with another early rocker 'Any Old Town', 'Juke Box Baby' and the slower 'No One Else Will Do'. His keyboard playing was nothing short of manic on 'Baby Don't You Do This To Me' and he moved on to one of his 'love' songs (one of many, he said, as he would fall in love several times a day in those days), 'Gloria', and then to Larry Williams' 'She Said Yeah', a song he co-wrote with Sonny Bono. Other originals flew thick and fast - 'I Found A New Girl', 'There's A Moose On The Loose' (the B side of 'Hiccups', with some great vocal sound effects), 'Love At First Sight', 'Johnny's Last Ride', 'She's My One And Only' and 'Consider', before launching into his first 45 - one that would have made him a star, he said, if a promised appearance on American Bandstand had gone ahead - 'I've Got My Sights On Someone New'. Finally he gave the band a chance to shine individually with 'Come On Everybody Let's Go Rock and Roll'. They did! The TFTW house band were tremendous throughout, with Claire (Hamlin) taking over keyboard duties when Roddy moved on to the saxophone, and Alex (Bland) and Sid (Phillips) reciprocating on horn duties when he played keyboards. As someone said, Roddy is the 'real deal' of rock and roll. I can't argue with that.'

Top photo shows Roddy at the Spice of Life show with TWTW house band guitarist John Spencely. Second photo is of Roddy at Rhythm Riot.

Jim Stewart RIP - and others

Sorry to hear of the death, at the age of 92, of Jim Stewart, co-founder of the Stax record company. Jim was a part time country fiddle player working in a bank in Tennessee when he launched his first record label, Satellite, in Memphis in 1957. He was joined in his venture by his sister Estelle Axton and the label name later changed to STAX, with Jim's surname representing the first two letters of the name and Estelle's the second two. Early recordings were produced by Chips Moman who changed the emphasis from country and pop to R and B, resulting in a hit for Rufus Thomas and his 16 year old daughter Carla with 'Cause I Love You'. From there Stax became a racially mixed record company (at a time when the South was segregrated) and a long stream of soul hits from the likes of Otis Redding, William Bell, Isaac Hayes, Booker T and the MGs and many others made it the most important soul music label in the US with the possible exception of Motown, helped by a distribution deal with Atlantic. Success continued with the arrival of Al Bell as head of promotions but problems arose following the death of Otis, the end of the Atlantic deal and the assassination of Martin Luther King. Jim broke with Estelle but Stax continued, despite losing its back catalogue to Atlantic, with Jim in partnership with Al Bell. After the influential WattStax concert in 1972 Al Bell took control of the company but when financial problems hita few years later Jim put most of his money back into the company, eventually losing nearly everything. Afterwards Jim kept a fairly low profile but was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002. The photo above shows four of the earlier UK Stax record releases - all of them highly influential in the history of soul music.

There have been several other notable music death in recent days. One is Christine McVie, (79) who for many years was a vocalist and keyboardist with Fleetwood Mac and who wrote several of their biggest hits including 'Don't Stop' and 'Songbird'. She began under her maiden name of Christine Perfect with R and B band Chicken Shack and had success too as a solo artist, before marrying John McVie of Fleetwood Mac and moving to the fellow Blue Horizon band in the early seventies.

The Vinyl Word raises a glass too to guitarist and singer Wilko Johnson, who was part of pub rock band Dr Feelgood and of Ian Dury's Blockheads and as a solo artist was a significant figure in the UK rock scene and helped put Canvey Island on the map music-wise. Also to Irene Cara who enjoyed enormous success in the early 80s with 'Fame' and 'Flashdance - What A Feeling'.

Tommy McLain - still going strong

Swamp pop singer and keyboardist Tommy McLain played a gig with C C Adcock at the Lexington pub in London last night. Sadly I couldn't be there due to transport issues, but I did see them twice when I was in Nashville in September and very good they were too. Tommy is 82 and has recently had his first album released in over 40 years - 'I Ran Down Every Dream' - which demonstrates that his unique voice remains as powerful as ever. He and C C have been regular visitors to the UK in the last few years, having played the tiny Laylow club in Ladbroke Road twice and opening three times for Nick Lowe on this latest visit at Nell's in West Kensington. In Nashville he and C C played first in the rather cramped Roberts bar, where they faced in opposite directions as Tommy played keyboard and C C his guitar. The second show was more satisfactory as they did a full set at the Riverside Revival (top photo). On both occasions Tommy sang numbers from his new album as well as his 1967 hit 'Sweet Dreams'.

Tommy is one of the few Louisiana and New Orleans artists from the sixties still performing. His career goes back to the early sixties when he was a member of Louisiana group the Boogie Kings. which has been described as 'the ultimate Gulf Coast White Boy Rhythm and Blues Revue'. He didn't have another significant hit after 'Sweet Dreams' but recorded some excellent material from time to time, including the 1979 album 'Backwoods Bayou Adventure' produced by Huey Meaux at Sugar Hill Studios in Houston, which is well worth looking out for. He also did a great version of Fats Domino's 'Before I Grow Too Old', a song which has become the theme song of the Woodies roots music group as we try to extend our festival and gig going experience for as long as we can. Several years ago I picked up a copy of the single, released in the UK on the Oval label, with a fascinating sleeve on which was written a note from noted music expert and presenter Charlie Gillett to 'Denis' at BBC Radio Two. In it he wrote: 'We think we have a Radio Two anthem here - hope you agree.'(pictured below)

Over the years I've seen Tommy on many occasions, including at Jazzfest in New Orleans in 1991 (pictured below). He was also frequently a guest singer with Louisiana super group Little Band Of Gold, who I saw many times both in New Orleans and in London. He was brilliant on every occasion. Long may be continue.