Booker T. Jones of the MG’s fame continues a streak of new records with The Road To Memphis and once again he is in the great shape. This time he collaborates mainly with the Roots, but there are also other great contributors. Thee Oh Sees from San Francisco also have a new record, called Castlemania and a new compilation of singles. Peter Case also has a new compilation, this time consisted of rare recordings and it’s called The Case Files. Our good friends at Vacilando ’68 sent out another package and this time we pick out a new name for us, band called the Pocket. This is a project of another guy from that label, John Bisset. Check out our bonuses, both Mystery Train and Sympathy for Rock’n’roll offer fantastic tributes to Bob Dylan, who is sweet little seventy since yesterday!
Booker T. & The MGs – Mrs. Robinson;
Booker T. Jones – Hey Ya;
Booker T. Jones – Down In Memphis (Featuring Booker T On Vocals);
T. Rex – Electric Warrior – Woodland Rock;
Ty Segall – Woodland Rock;
Thee Oh Sees – Carol Anne;
Thee Oh Sees – A Wall, A Century;
Timothy Bracken Three-Way – Everyday things;
Peter Case – Banks of the River;
Peter Case – Anything (Closing Credits);
Lil’ Band o’ Gold – Shirley;
John Fred – Shirley;
Hawkwind – Urban Guerilla;
Mudhoney – Urban Guerilla;
Ron Jetson – Mrs. Van Saker;
Pocket – Ready To Go;
Angst – Colors.
May 8 marks hundred years of birth of the famous bluesman Robert Johnson. At least officially, as the exact date of his birth is unknown. But, the man’s influence on rock’n’roll and all other blues related music genres is impossible to measure. The majority of Johnson’s music was recorded between 1936 and 1937, long before rock’n’roll really had its name. But in 1961 his music was reissued on an LP and the young rockers embraced Johnson as a great precursor of their music. Black blues musicians of the 50s, like Howlin’ Wolf and Dinah Washington were a link, as they were playing Robert Johnson’s songs even before the 1961 LP. British rockers like Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones followed and brought Johnson’s music to the masses. Still, two of my favorite Johnson’s rock’n’roll covers belong to the 80s underground era: Rainer Ptacek’s version of If I Had Possession Over The Judgment Day and Gun Club’s Preachin’ The Blues. But indisputable strength of Johnson’s quality as a songwriter and guitar player is not the only link to the rock’n’roll. His entire short life is filled with mysticism, charisma and myth that also became an essential fabric for a decent rock’n’roll biography. Today, we pay a tribute to that.
Several new records today… Kid Congo Powers plays nowadays with The Pink Monkey Birds and they have a new record out called Gorilla Rose. They also have a new single which they split with Hunx and His Punx (which we introduced in our previous epizode). Matt Sweeney and Bonnie Prince Billy also share the new single. Beastie Boys are back with Hot Sauce Committee Part Two which is their first album with vocals in seven years. New names today are Amanda Shires, a singer songwriter from mythical Lubbock TX, but now based in Nashville. Another band debuts at the Little Lighthouse from over in Nashville – Natural Child. We also have Raphael Saadiq for the first time today. The dude is a famous mainstream pop and hip hop producer, but now he has a new retro funky/soul record called Stone Rollin’ which I can really appreciate.
We are sad to hear that two ladies that influenced pop and rock music greatly from completely opposite directions passed away recently within a single day. One is Poly Styrene, legendary front woman from the X-ray Spex. This punk sister changed the music forever with the unforgettable opening lines “Some people think that little girls should be seen and not heard. But i think: oh bondage, up yours! 1,2,3,4!”. The other one is Phoebe Snow, a singer songwriter from New York City that also changed the face of the music with her first album in 1974. Many performers today, and not only women, borrow today a lot from these two and they will be remembered. Other than paying tributes to Phoebe and Poly, we also introduce a new female singer songwriter Bonnie Whitmore from Nashville. Sam Phillips is also back with her new album. Then we also have a brand new EP for Ty Segall, which entirely consists of T Rex covers. Another new name today is Hunx and His Punks, also from San Francisco, just like Ty Segall.