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July
2006
Various Artists Jamaica To Toronto Light in the Attic/Koch
Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy Light in the Attic/Koch
Jamaica To Toronto is sub-titled Soul Funk & Reggae
1967-1974 and sheds a welcome light on an important chapter in our musical history.
McGhie, with his record collection, is the main artist in
the first CD as well, it being a compilation of songs released by Jamaican musicians working out of the
West Indian Federation Club in the late 60's. McGhie's 1970 solo album had become an eagerly sought
item by DJs, who loved its drum breaks. Jay
Douglas was eventually able to find McGhie, who had had serious health problems and dropped out of sight for twenty years.
The Sounds of Joy CD, released in 2004, had done well enough that it was decided to compile this collection. The first thing that you notice is that these mostly-Jamaican trained musicians are playing mostly soul and funk, honed through many
nights of touring throughout Ontario & Quebec, relatively little reggae sneaks in. I want to start the highlights, though, with a song that doesn't involve McGhie. Jay Douglas was one of the singers for a band
known as the Cougars, named after the Ford car. He was then known as
Clive Barry, and the other singer was Jackie
Richardson. For a spell, they were the house band at Le Coq D'Or on Yonge Street. You must
hear the raindrop-filled, previously unreleased version of the
Temptations' "I Wish It Would Rain", set to
The Band's "Up On Cripple Creek" rhythm; if this had been released (it was recorded in 1970), it
would have been in everyone's collection! They have another good song here too - "Right On" was intended for the `B' Side and if there is any more material please let there be enough for a volume three.
McGhie's first recording here was with Jo-Jo & The
Fugitives, whose 1968 Cobra 45 had "Chips-Chicken-Banana Split" &"Fugitive Song" both excellent soul tunes with great
horns. Jackie Mittoo's "Grand
Funk" is exactly that, taken from the
Wishbone LP. More of McGhie's funk guitar shines on "Love is the Answer", a 45 by
RAM on Tuesday Records. "You're So Good To Me Baby", by
Eddie Spencer, taps into that "Hold On I'm Coming" riff and is easily up to that song's rousing standard. Spencer pre-dated
Grant Smith in The Power and would go on to sing with
Lighthouse. Also excellent is "Mr. Fortune" by
The Hitch-Hikers with The Mighty
Pope on vocals and McGhie on guitar from 1970. The CD concludes with a previously unknown 1974 soul song by McGhie, "Here We Go Again". I can't say enough
about the musicianship on these songs - for sessions that were often done on the cheap, there are no compromises here. Much of the info comes from the superior booklet included with this set which also includes
the appropriate (and no doubt rare) photos and label shots. Hats off to
SIPREANO aka Kevin Howes for doing such a fine job putting these together. This is simply great music wrapped in a great package,
whatever label you might attach to it - get them both!
Mr. Hamm opens the `Into the Blues' disc with a delightful story about receiving his Juno Award for his contribution to
Holger Petersen's 1990 Saturday Night
Blues CD and getting a letter from Revenue Canada in the same mail advising him to quit music and get a real job! I think you'll agree on listening to this that he made the correct choice. Four shows were recorded with his blues material on one disc
and his more folk oriented on the second. He has lived with these songs a long time and knows their every nook and cranny. The generous program mixes his spirited versions of country blues standards and his
own excellent songs, "North Wind Blues" and "North Road Blues". From "Bad Luck Blues' to "Key to the Highway" to "Winin' Boy Blues" to "Maybellene" to "Roll and Tumble", you are treated to an
hour's entertainment that has few equals. Of special note is his medley of
Bukka White's "Fixing to Die" and
Bob Dylan's "From a Buick 6", it artfully shows Dylan's musical roots for this song. The often
humourous introductions and asides are obviously well received by the audience and that warm ambience goes a long way to re-creating these live shows in your listening room. This is much more difficult to do than
you might think.
Eddie Turner The Turner Diaries NorthernBlues/Festival
The second one from Mr. Turner since his former employer
Otis Taylor left the fold, it continues to mine the deep vein created by
Jimi Hendrix and builds on that solid foundation. Hendrix-isms
abound: although all but one of the songs are originals, "Cost of Freedom" sounds an awful lot like Hendrix's "Freedom". Lyric references, to the `new rising sun', for example reinforce this further and that's not
even mentioning the guitar playing. Turner is no simple copyist, however, and along with
producer Kenny Passarelli, there is far more imagination applied here than to most CDs I hear. There are more references
than simply to Hendrix, too. "I'm A Man, I'm A Man" is based on a simple acoustic slide guitar riff and quickly adds numerous instruments and vocal effects while the lyrics pay tribute to
Muddy Waters, including a reference to `two trains running'. It got me to thinking that
Electric Mud would have sounded like this had it been done right. "Shake 4 Me" has a
Junior Kimbrough drone foundation but this Hill
Country is not in Mississippi. The one cover is "Tore Down", one of
Freddie King's most electric songs, so of course Turner goes acoustic with a guest vocalist,
Anna Givens and friends contributing to a
jam-like performance that's actually very good if not very representative of the rest of the album. "So Many Roads" is the same title as the famous
Otis Rush song and I'm sure the reference is intentional as he deals
with the same emotional territory in a new song. As with most of the NorthernBlues catalogue, this is blues with a difference - another album that repays repeated listening.
About ten years ago, among the veterans in that first batch of Fat Possum CDs, was a young
Lil' Dave Thompson, with hands like Robert
Johnson's. That album spoke of great potential but little more
was heard of Mr. Thompson on record, only a JSP CD that sank without a trace.
Andrew Galloway caught sight of him however and invited him to here last winter to record and play for our Christmas Party. The
new CD shows him to be a charter member in the Albert
King/Carl Weathersby branch of the blues _ high praise, I think. It is a crowded field however and to stand out there has to be some good material. He
has plenty. He excels at slow, minor key blues and there are several excellent examples: "Player's Card" being the best with "I Got the Blues" and "I Wonder" following close behind. "Need for Speed" is the
showcase for those hands and it's a good `un. He recorded here at Liquid Sound with an all-Canadian band:
John Lee & Jim Boudreau, on organ and drums respectively, from
Mel Brown's Homewreckers; Russell
Jackson, bass player extraordinaire from Vancouver & a veteran of the
B.B. King Orchestra and Pat Carey from
Downchild and numerous other bands on tenor sax. It's good to have him back.
Lil' Ed is the keeper of the Hound Dog
Taylor flame at Alligator and he does not disappoint. Even though he is closer in style to his uncle,
J.B. Hutto, the comparison is good enough for me. There are
plenty of new dancing songs here and a few more serious ones that are far more than just a change the pace. "Icicles in my Meatloaf" has a storming, rockabilly-like groove that you just want to keep going and live
it no doubt does. The lyric, which mostly is the title, may change with every performance. The two openers, "Leaving Here" and "Tired of Crying", "You Just Weren't There" is the first of the serious ones.
Written by his wife, Pamela, this one has a
Lonnie Brooks feel to it. Lil' Ed delivers it with style. A bigger change of pace is
Billy Joe Shaver's "Tramp On Your Street". This blues band playing country &
western works for me primarily because they play it straight. "Nobody's Fault But My Own" is the best of them, a tour de force of a slow blues. Written by Lil' Ed, it doesn't really contains anything unusual, it is
just a superb performance, building to a magnificent climax, 6 minutes and 49 seconds later.
Michael Garrett is on rhythm guitar, James "Pookie"
Young on bass (and songwriting on "Maybe Another Time")
and Kelly Littleton on drums. Johnny
Iguana is on keys and this unit is as good as they come.
Cephas & Wiggins Shoulder to
Shoulder Alligator/Fusion
From electric Chicago blues to contemporary acoustic Piedmont blues, all with Alligator Records.
John Cephas & Phil Wiggins show how it's done _ no need to go back to your old 78s, the real
thing is right here. They are joined by
Saffire's Ann Rabson, on piano on six songs. I think Saffire and Cephas & Wiggins started performing in the Washington DC area around the same time so calling them old
friends might be an understatement. Their music making proves it. There is actually quite a variety of blues here, with
Skip James' "Catfish Blues", Charlie
Patton's "Dirt Road" and Sleepy John
Estes' "Broke and Hungry" adding to six originals. A live performance of the original "The Blues Three Ways" is a closing highlight.
Daniel "Slick" Ballinger is coming to the Silver Dollar Room on July
13th. So he sent along his CD, on John
Prine's Oh Boy label, produced by none other than
Jim Gaines, he of Santana and Stevie
Ray Vaughan fame. I must say I was very pleasantly surprised. Instead of another sacrifice at the altar of rock radio, we get a slice of Hill Country blues, slightly re-interpreted. Ballinger is 21 years old and has
only been playing guitar for six years. He was born in North Carolina but moved to Mississippi and apprenticed with
Otha Turner, living on his farm. Slick is a quick learner. With just
Leon Baker on drums and Blind Mississippi
Morris on harp, he turns in an accomplished and honest debut. He seems to have patterned his vocal style after
Johnny Shines and occasionally gets carried away, over-emoting when
Shines would've pulled back. He writes very effective, traditional-sounding songs with "Mississippi Soul" well chosen as the title. Morris is excellent on harp and if this is the unit playing the Dollar, you are in
for a fine night indeed. Check out his web site at
www.slickballinger.com.
- John Valenteyn,
jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Ken Hamm Live '05 North
Track/Festival
Lil' Dave Thompson Got To Get Over
You Electro-Fi/Festival
Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
Rattlesnake Alligator/Fusion
Slick Ballinger presents Mississippi
Soul Oh Boy
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