Blues, Off The Record Mon May 30 with Sonny Boy Williamson III on WPRB Princeton 103.3 FM

hello all happy decoration day

@ Sonny Boy III (host) And a Happy Decoration Day to you, too, SBW3rd!

I didn't know it was called that before 1967.

When my mother was a girl growing up in north central NJ ... this would be the early to mid 1920s ... families observed "Decoration Day," putting arrangements flowers on the graves of loved ones. So, while an important observance in the South, it was practiced up north, too. Thanks for mentioning it and playing Howlin' Wolf "Decoration Day Blues."

The central conceit of "Decoration Day" blues is about a dead lover wanting their grave decorated every year on the holiday. The holiday seems to have shifted in the direction of parades and hamburgers... even if grave visits are still part of it. I'm not sure when veteran's day was added to the calendar.

Otis Hale on the electric tenor sax on this cut

Earl Hooker on guitar

@ Sonny Boy III (host) Oh my! This James Cotton live track is solid, the real deal. As much great roots music has been recorded in studios, there's something extra about "live."

I agree! Sounds great.

@ Sonny Boy III (host) Yank Rachel Rules!

@ Sonny Boy III (host) Sounds like an electric amplified mandolin on this one ... Don't think I have this in my collection, I gotta scope it out. Thanks for playing it.

What the L ? I left off an L! Yank Rachell ...

:)

And that demonstrates forcefully shows why Woody Herman's jazz big band was called "The Thundering Herd" ...

Didn't know that!

@ Sonny Boy III (host) Yep! In the late 1980s, I wrote a newspaper preview of Herman before he played at Raritan Valley College, and of course went to the show. Woody was a bit over the hill at that point in his career but still spry -- plus he had a full band of young, spirited and very talented musicians. My date and I sat about 3rd row center, and they dang near blew us out of our seats! It was excellent.

First heard Uncloudy Day by way of Willie Nelson. Same goes for many songs, standard and spiritual etc

@ Brian D Yes, indeed! So glad you chatted that. It should never be forgotten that in addition to composing and performing pathbreaking original music, Willie Nelson -- and Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, et al -- turned on their listeners to wonderful old American roots music. Yet another reason to be grateful for their lives and artistry.

You can hear the influence of Robert Petway and Catfish blues on this Smoky Babe number

The path that started earlier in life with my mom's many Willie Nelson and many folk records from all over the world. And the path that started with delving into the beautiful wide world of Grateful Dead later on in life... Those paths opened up many many doors.

My gateway artists were Dylan and Led Zeppelin

I loved learning how to imitate a train sound on electric gtr. Some gtr magazine bit. Volume knob off and a little 3 string chord inversion. Strum it while gtr is still silient, then one note gets bent upwards as you turn up the volume knob.

Yes Dylan and Zeppelin too!

@ Brian D Beautifully expressed, Brian. Thank you!

I think of Jeff Beck on "Train Kept a Rollin"

I used to try to do the train whistle sound on my electric guitar as a teenager... drove my mom nuts

And 80s hard rock/metal. And a fun crazy band from Minnesota that played every kind of folk music in the world known as Boiled in Lead. Learned a bunch from many diff nooks and crannies. The songs/styles the artists covered in some cases. Sometimes signing up for the mailers and flyers and seeing a record catalog of other bands on their labels or associated labels. And many previously unknown worlds of music just opened up wide...

And of course WPRB! Many new worlds to discover each minute/hour/day/week/month. "There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)" - Sun Ra

Thanks Brian! It's great to be part of a station that helps so many people discover great new (and old!) music.

John Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr) is one of the best out there. Knows the material well.

Just read that Ronnie Hawkins passed. The man that gave us The Band. Great hard working performer. Some of the best lines in Last Waltz came from The Hawk

RIP! He was also in Scorsese's Documentary/Mockumentary about the rolling thunder revue

Which I recommend!

Loved those little fictions all thrown into the mix on the Rolling Thunder docu! Good book on Rolling Thunder tour is "Shelter From the Storm: Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Years" by Sid Griffin.

Thanks for the rec!

@ Sonny Boy III (host) On Decoration Day/Memorial Day, you have Decorated our morning with another Memorable show. Thanks, SBW3rd !

aw thanks Richard!

Have a great day everyone!

9:59 AM		Mississippi Jook Band Hittin' the Bottle Stomp Blind Roosevelt Graves (1929–1936)
10:02 AM		Howlin' Wolf Decoration Day Blues Cadillac Daddy: Memphis Recordings, 1952
10:05 AM		Etta James Security Her Greatest Sides Vol. 1 Written by Otis Redding
10:08 AM		Junior Walker and the All Stars Pucker Up, Buttercup Anthology
10:11 AM		Joe Louis Walker Main Goal The Gift HighTone Records 1988
10:15 AM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
10:16 AM		Johnny "Big Moose" Walker Rock Me Mama Rambling Woman
10:19 AM		James Cotton Mean Old World (Live) Late Night Blues (Live at the New Penelope Café - 1967) Justin Time Records 1998
10:25 AM		Sonny Boy Williamson II Come On Back Home King Biscuit Time
10:27 AM		Buddy Holly Brown-Eyed Handsome Man A Rock and Roll Collection
10:32 AM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
10:32 AM		Yank Rachell Des Moines, Iowa Blues Mandolin Man Blind Pig Records 2011
10:36 AM		Otis Rush You Know My Love Door to Door Geffen 1969
10:40 AM		Bobby Bland and BB King Medley: Stormy Monday Blues & Strange Things Happen Together Again... Live
10:46 AM		Pee Wee Crayton But On the Other Hand Things I Used to Do Vanguard Records 2006
10:51 AM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
10:53 AM		Muddy Waters Blow Wind Blow The Chess Box Geffen 1989
10:55 AM		Lil Hardin Armstrong and Her Orchestra Bugle Blues Chicago: The Living Legends Riverside 1993
10:59 AM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
11:02 AM		Woody Herman and His Orchestra Caldonia Big Bands' Greatest Hits
11:05 AM		Bessie Smith Dirty No-Gooder's Blues Any Woman's Blues
11:07 AM		Clyde McCoy and His Orchestra Sugar Blues Big Bands' Greatest Hits
11:10 AM		Pernell Charity War Blues The Virginian
11:15 AM		Blind Pete Burrell I'll Fly Away Roosevelt Holts and His Friends
11:16 AM		Rev. Gary Davis The Uncloudy Day If I Had My Way with Kinny Peebles
11:20 AM		Rev. Gary Davis Civil War Parade If I Had My Way
11:27 AM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
11:28 AM		Smoky Babe Too Many Women Hot Blues
11:30 AM		John Hammond See That My Grave Is Kept Clean The Best of John Hammond Vanguard Records 2006
11:35 AM		Josh White Nobody Knows You When Your Down and Out Josh White Everest Records 1964
11:39 AM		Shirley Griffith Flying Eagle Blues Mississippi Blues
11:43 AM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
11:44 AM		Big Bill Broonzy & Washboard Sam Little City Woman Big Bill Broonzy & Washboard Sam Geffen 1962
11:46 AM		Sonny Terry, Johnny Winter, Willie Dixon, and Styve Homnick Sonny's Whoopin' the Doop Whoopin'
11:51 AM		Dan Smith The Train Now is the Time
11:53 AM		Eddie Boyd Zip Code Legacy of the Blues Vol. 10
11:58 AM		Elizabeth Cotten Till We Meet Again Shake Sugaree Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 2004

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Blues, Off The Record