Showing posts with label imperials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label imperials. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Christian music news: Little Anthony & the Imperials play Westhampton
Latest christian music: Though their golden anniversary is fast approaching, Little Anthony and the Imperials are having a banner year in 2009 - getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, celebrating a new album, "You'll Never Know," and declaring their independence from the "doo-wop reunions" tours.
Little Anthony himself, Anthony Gourdine, says the group's recent honors, including being part of Paul Simon's Brooklyn Academy of Music run last year, make him feel like it's the days of "Tears on My Pillow" and "Hurts So Bad" all over again.
Have you come down from the Rock Hall induction yet?
My wife and I were just talking about that and she said, "I realize it's over and I don't want it to be over. . . . The induction really validates our career. It's us being judged on our body of work, not by some catchphrase. We haven't been a doo-wop group since we were 16 or 17 years old.
Source
Little Anthony himself, Anthony Gourdine, says the group's recent honors, including being part of Paul Simon's Brooklyn Academy of Music run last year, make him feel like it's the days of "Tears on My Pillow" and "Hurts So Bad" all over again.
Have you come down from the Rock Hall induction yet?
My wife and I were just talking about that and she said, "I realize it's over and I don't want it to be over. . . . The induction really validates our career. It's us being judged on our body of work, not by some catchphrase. We haven't been a doo-wop group since we were 16 or 17 years old.
Source
Monday, August 24, 2009
Christian music news: Little Anthony and the Imperials
Latest christian music: Anthony Gourdine (vocals; born January 8, 1940), Clarence Collins (vocals; born March 17, 1941), Tracy Lord (vocals; born tk), Glouster “Nat” Rogers (vocals; born tk), Sammy Strain (vocals; born December 9, 1941), Ernest Wright, Jr. (vocals; born August 24, 1941)
Little Anthony and the Imperials were one of the finest vocal groups to emerge from the talent-rich New York scene. Moreover, they enjoyed unusual longevity for an act of that type, having hits in both the doo-wop Fifties and the soul-music Sixties. They outlasted their peers by virtue of “Little Anthony” Gourdine’s powerful, beseeching vocals and the consummate professionalism of the Imperials, who mastered a broad range of material and knew how to work a stage.
It all started in Brooklyn, where Gourdine and friends grew up in the throes of the vocal-group craze. His first groups were called the Duponts (after the chemical company) and the Chesters. The latter group got signed to music-biz impresario George Gouldner’s End Records. Wanting a name more regal than the Chesters, the label rechristened them the Imperials. It was Alan Freed, then an influential New York disc jockey and concert promoter, who christened Gourdine “Little Anthony,” for the youthful quality in his voice. Both Freed and fellow deejay/promoter Murray Kaufman (a.k.a. “Murray the K”) liked Little Anthony and the Imperials and helped launch their career with airplay and concert bookings.
“Tears on My Pillow,” their first single as the Imperials, was released on End Records. This classic vocal-group ballad was one of the biggest hits of 1958, reaching #2 on the R&B chart and #4 on the pop chart. Little Anthony and the Imperials were suddenly stars. The story might have ended there, with “Tears On My Pillow” fondly recalled as a vocal-group classic from one of the many one-hit wonders from that era. In fact, some of their followup singles did flop, strong as they were. But the group rebounded with an uptempo number, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop,” that capitalized on a dance craze.
Little Anthony and the Imperials enjoyed even greater success in the Sixties with a string of chart singles on the DCP label. Their renaissance followed a two-year hiatus during which Little Anthony pursued acting while the Imperials worked the “borsht belt” circuit of resorts in the Catskills. The time off served to season both parties, and they reunited stronger than ever. Against fierce competition from the British Invasion and Motown, Little Anthony and the Imperials had back-to-back Top Ten hits with “Goin’ Out of My Head” (#6) and “Hurt So Bad” (#10). Both were dramatic pop-soul epics about romantic loss that were keyed by Little Anthony’s fevered, confessional delivery and a strong vocal arrangement. Each song has been heavily covered by other artists, as well. The Letterman returned “Goin’ Out of My Head” to the Top Ten in 1968 and Linda Ronstadt did the same with her revival of “Hurt So Bad” in 1980.
The story didn’t end there. Little Anthony and the Imperials became the first group from the contemporary realm to play New York’s prestigious Copacabana nightclub, predating the Temptations and Supremes into this more “adult” room. The group also continued their hitmaking ways, charting ten more singles between the mid-Sixties and mid-Seventies, including “Take Me Back” and “I Miss You So.” In 1974, they reached #25 on the R&B chart with “I’m Falling in Love With You.” It was their final hit of any consequence. All totaled, Little Anthony and the Imperials placed 21 singles on the pop or R&B charts in three different decades – a formidable record of achievement for this durable vocal group.
In 1969, Ernest Wright left the Imperials and was replaced by Bobby Wade. In the early Seventies, Sammy Strain left to join the O’Jays and was replaced by Harold “Hal” Jenkins, who served both as vocalist and musical director. Little Anthony himself exited in 1975 for a solo career. The remaining trio of Collins, Wade and Jenkins kept the Imperials going through 1979, getting steady work in the Las Vegas lounges and on cruise ships.
Little Anthony and the Imperials reunited in 1992 to make a well-received appearance on an oldies bill at Madison Square Garden. Shortly thereafter, they performed on the 40th anniversary special for American Bandstand. Deciding to make the reunion permanent, Little Anthony and the Imperials have remained active on the touring circuit. The current lineup includes Gourdine, Collins, Wright and Harold Jenkins.
They received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and have been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2008, Little Anthony and the Imperials released You’ll Never Know, an album of new songs and rerecorded oldies to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a group.
Source
Little Anthony and the Imperials were one of the finest vocal groups to emerge from the talent-rich New York scene. Moreover, they enjoyed unusual longevity for an act of that type, having hits in both the doo-wop Fifties and the soul-music Sixties. They outlasted their peers by virtue of “Little Anthony” Gourdine’s powerful, beseeching vocals and the consummate professionalism of the Imperials, who mastered a broad range of material and knew how to work a stage.
It all started in Brooklyn, where Gourdine and friends grew up in the throes of the vocal-group craze. His first groups were called the Duponts (after the chemical company) and the Chesters. The latter group got signed to music-biz impresario George Gouldner’s End Records. Wanting a name more regal than the Chesters, the label rechristened them the Imperials. It was Alan Freed, then an influential New York disc jockey and concert promoter, who christened Gourdine “Little Anthony,” for the youthful quality in his voice. Both Freed and fellow deejay/promoter Murray Kaufman (a.k.a. “Murray the K”) liked Little Anthony and the Imperials and helped launch their career with airplay and concert bookings.
“Tears on My Pillow,” their first single as the Imperials, was released on End Records. This classic vocal-group ballad was one of the biggest hits of 1958, reaching #2 on the R&B chart and #4 on the pop chart. Little Anthony and the Imperials were suddenly stars. The story might have ended there, with “Tears On My Pillow” fondly recalled as a vocal-group classic from one of the many one-hit wonders from that era. In fact, some of their followup singles did flop, strong as they were. But the group rebounded with an uptempo number, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko Bop,” that capitalized on a dance craze.
Little Anthony and the Imperials enjoyed even greater success in the Sixties with a string of chart singles on the DCP label. Their renaissance followed a two-year hiatus during which Little Anthony pursued acting while the Imperials worked the “borsht belt” circuit of resorts in the Catskills. The time off served to season both parties, and they reunited stronger than ever. Against fierce competition from the British Invasion and Motown, Little Anthony and the Imperials had back-to-back Top Ten hits with “Goin’ Out of My Head” (#6) and “Hurt So Bad” (#10). Both were dramatic pop-soul epics about romantic loss that were keyed by Little Anthony’s fevered, confessional delivery and a strong vocal arrangement. Each song has been heavily covered by other artists, as well. The Letterman returned “Goin’ Out of My Head” to the Top Ten in 1968 and Linda Ronstadt did the same with her revival of “Hurt So Bad” in 1980.
The story didn’t end there. Little Anthony and the Imperials became the first group from the contemporary realm to play New York’s prestigious Copacabana nightclub, predating the Temptations and Supremes into this more “adult” room. The group also continued their hitmaking ways, charting ten more singles between the mid-Sixties and mid-Seventies, including “Take Me Back” and “I Miss You So.” In 1974, they reached #25 on the R&B chart with “I’m Falling in Love With You.” It was their final hit of any consequence. All totaled, Little Anthony and the Imperials placed 21 singles on the pop or R&B charts in three different decades – a formidable record of achievement for this durable vocal group.
In 1969, Ernest Wright left the Imperials and was replaced by Bobby Wade. In the early Seventies, Sammy Strain left to join the O’Jays and was replaced by Harold “Hal” Jenkins, who served both as vocalist and musical director. Little Anthony himself exited in 1975 for a solo career. The remaining trio of Collins, Wade and Jenkins kept the Imperials going through 1979, getting steady work in the Las Vegas lounges and on cruise ships.
Little Anthony and the Imperials reunited in 1992 to make a well-received appearance on an oldies bill at Madison Square Garden. Shortly thereafter, they performed on the 40th anniversary special for American Bandstand. Deciding to make the reunion permanent, Little Anthony and the Imperials have remained active on the touring circuit. The current lineup includes Gourdine, Collins, Wright and Harold Jenkins.
They received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and have been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2008, Little Anthony and the Imperials released You’ll Never Know, an album of new songs and rerecorded oldies to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a group.
Source
Monday, August 10, 2009
Christian music news: Feelin' the blues
Latest christian music: Roomful of Blues is noncommittal when it comes to touting a particular style of blues, said its band leader Chris Vachon.
Having a meaty horn section gives the New England blues band a swing sound, but lately, the guys have moved closer toward New Orleans style blues.
But, Vachon said, really, the sound the band aims for is “authentic.”
“The way you’re supposed to do it,” Vachon said, in a recent phone interview with The Herald-Mail. “There are a lot of people who sort of try to play that stuff but don’t get all the nuances of it.”
It’s sort of like learning a language but speaking it in the wrong accent, he explained.
“You have to spend a lot of time listening to what’s on those records to get the real approach to those styles,” Vachon said.
Roomful is in Saturday’s band roster at the Western Maryland Blues Fest, a four-day string of concerts set in and around downtown Hagerstown.
Blues Fest starts tonight with a free show at University Plaza Park and runs through Sunday with another free concert at City Park. The focal points of the event are the concerts Friday and Saturday in Hagerstown’s Central Lot downtown. Roomful of Blues’ show comes ahead of Saturday’s headliners The Derek Trucks Band.
For Vachon, performing blues is a pleasure.
“I think the fact that it’s an open-ended, improvisation type of thing, where you don’t have to play the same thing every night in the same song,” Vachon said. “It’s not like copying verbatim because people want to hear it exactly that way because they heard it on a record. So if you get into a different mood and you’re doing a solo, then you’ve got to do something different. The freedom of that is something we all like.”
They bring that live aspect into the recording studio — they don’t do overdubs.
“I think we’d probably freak out if we had to do a bunch of overdubs,” Vachon said. “Sometimes the little mistakes you make on a record, you end up keeping as something you probably couldn’t come up with if you’re sitting around trying to overdub. It’s kind of fun that way.”
The band’s latest album, “Raisin’ a Ruckus” was released in early 2008 by Alligator Records, the home to Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor.
This year, Roomful’s label mates Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials will also be performing at Blues Fest. Alligator was the source of several past Blues Fest performers, including Nappy Brown, Buckwheat Zydeco and Guitar Shorty.
Roomful of Blues was founded in the late 1960s. Vachon said that 55 musicians have since come and gone. Sax player Rich Lataille joined the band in 1970, when the band added a horn section, making him the longest-tenured member in the eight-man blues band.
“We’ve had very few people that we were happy to see go,” Vachon said.
In fact, the band has only recently replaced one of its members, veteran trumpet player Bob Enos, who died at the age of 60 in 2008. He had been with the band for more than two decades.
“We were on tour over in Georgia,” Vachon said. “We were waiting for him in the morning to get on the bus and he didn’t show up so a couple of us went up there and had the hotel let us in the room and he had passed away.
“It knocked the wind right out of us for a while.”
Six months ago, the band brought in a new trumpet player, Doug Woolverton, who has performed with The Temptations.
“He’s a younger guy, very good. Very good attitude, very positive fellow,” Vachon said.
As for what’s next, Vachon said the band plans to record a new record this fall.
Source
Having a meaty horn section gives the New England blues band a swing sound, but lately, the guys have moved closer toward New Orleans style blues.
But, Vachon said, really, the sound the band aims for is “authentic.”
“The way you’re supposed to do it,” Vachon said, in a recent phone interview with The Herald-Mail. “There are a lot of people who sort of try to play that stuff but don’t get all the nuances of it.”
It’s sort of like learning a language but speaking it in the wrong accent, he explained.
“You have to spend a lot of time listening to what’s on those records to get the real approach to those styles,” Vachon said.
Roomful is in Saturday’s band roster at the Western Maryland Blues Fest, a four-day string of concerts set in and around downtown Hagerstown.
Blues Fest starts tonight with a free show at University Plaza Park and runs through Sunday with another free concert at City Park. The focal points of the event are the concerts Friday and Saturday in Hagerstown’s Central Lot downtown. Roomful of Blues’ show comes ahead of Saturday’s headliners The Derek Trucks Band.
For Vachon, performing blues is a pleasure.
“I think the fact that it’s an open-ended, improvisation type of thing, where you don’t have to play the same thing every night in the same song,” Vachon said. “It’s not like copying verbatim because people want to hear it exactly that way because they heard it on a record. So if you get into a different mood and you’re doing a solo, then you’ve got to do something different. The freedom of that is something we all like.”
They bring that live aspect into the recording studio — they don’t do overdubs.
“I think we’d probably freak out if we had to do a bunch of overdubs,” Vachon said. “Sometimes the little mistakes you make on a record, you end up keeping as something you probably couldn’t come up with if you’re sitting around trying to overdub. It’s kind of fun that way.”
The band’s latest album, “Raisin’ a Ruckus” was released in early 2008 by Alligator Records, the home to Buddy Guy and Koko Taylor.
This year, Roomful’s label mates Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials will also be performing at Blues Fest. Alligator was the source of several past Blues Fest performers, including Nappy Brown, Buckwheat Zydeco and Guitar Shorty.
Roomful of Blues was founded in the late 1960s. Vachon said that 55 musicians have since come and gone. Sax player Rich Lataille joined the band in 1970, when the band added a horn section, making him the longest-tenured member in the eight-man blues band.
“We’ve had very few people that we were happy to see go,” Vachon said.
In fact, the band has only recently replaced one of its members, veteran trumpet player Bob Enos, who died at the age of 60 in 2008. He had been with the band for more than two decades.
“We were on tour over in Georgia,” Vachon said. “We were waiting for him in the morning to get on the bus and he didn’t show up so a couple of us went up there and had the hotel let us in the room and he had passed away.
“It knocked the wind right out of us for a while.”
Six months ago, the band brought in a new trumpet player, Doug Woolverton, who has performed with The Temptations.
“He’s a younger guy, very good. Very good attitude, very positive fellow,” Vachon said.
As for what’s next, Vachon said the band plans to record a new record this fall.
Source
Monday, August 3, 2009
Christian music news: For the love of the blues
Latest christian music: Recently I have found myself feeling a little homesick for the blues, and, let’s be honest, while Enid has a lot to offer, blues is not among those offerings. Live music in Enid is somewhat akin to the punch line in the “Blues Brothers” movie when Jake and Elwood stroll into Bob’s Country Bunker Saloon and the bartender tells the boys not to worry because the bar has “both” kinds of music: “Country AND Western.”
So, off I went in search of some genuine live blues in Oklahoma and let me tell you, the pickings were rather scarce. So imagine my relief when I found a juke joint in a little town called Rentiesville. Better yet, the club was bringing in Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials, one of the top blues acts out of Chicago. But a pretty cool thing happened along the blues highway; I not only found some great blues but also found a genuine love story.
Rentiesville is a small community about 75 miles southeast of Tulsa. It’s so small it does not even have its own post office, but it is the epicenter of Oklahoma blues. It’s also one of only 13 towns remaining out of an original 40-50 communities that were founded in eastern Oklahoma by freed black slaves following the civil war with an eye toward making the area the nation’s first all-black state. Obviously that never materialized.
Rentiesville also is the home to D.C. Minner’s Down Home Blues Club which is run by Selby Minner, the charming, engaging and talented widow of the late D.C. Minner, a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame who, aside from being an established blues star in his own right, played alongside musical greats like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Freddie King. And for Rhode Island native Selby Minner, who has called Rentiesville home since 1988 when she and D.C. moved here after spending several years touring the nation, with a heavy emphasis on the West Coast, this has become a true labor of love in every sense of the word.
Together, D.C. and Selby (they married in 1979 after meeting in California) became the first couple of Oklahoma blues when they made the decision to renovate the property where D.C.’s grandmother operated a “corn whiskey house” several decades earlier. “It was a place with a jukebox and where people came for entertainment and bootleg whiskey,” Selby told me while taking me through a tour of the blues club. “They also made and sold choc beer,” which I learned was good old-fashioned home-brew.
The blues-loving couple completed renovating the house a few years after moving back home. “D.C. did all the work by hand,” Selby explained. But it didn’t end there.
Together, the Minners established the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in 2004. “That’s what D.C. wanted — he understood he wasn’t going to get wealthy playing blues, but at the end of the day what made it worthwhile was the recognition by his peers. We wanted to share that.”
The couple went on to organize the three-day outdoor “Dusk Til Dawn” blues festival which takes place every Labor Day weekend on the grounds of the blues club and, in 1999, also were recipients of the prestigious “Keeping the Blues Alive” award.
Selby continues to do more than her part in “keeping the blues alive” through the “Blues in the Schools” program as well as offering young people a place to perform on the first Friday of each month (the club is only open the first weekend of each month), with a coffeehouse atmosphere where the bar is closed off and young people are invited to perform during their “Java Jam.”
On this night, Selby’s band, “Blues On The Move” opened up for Lil Ed and Selby’s engaging stage presence, on guitar and vocals, demonstrated how her love of the blues, and for D.C., (who passed away last year at the age of 73) clearly keeps her going. She sang some of D.C.’s original material — apparently there is a veritable treasure trove of unpublished D.C. Minner-penned tunes — and then later jammed onstage with the headliner.
This funky little juke joint seemingly in the middle of nowhere is not, however, just about the blues. It stands as a living, thriving testament to the enduring bond between Selby and D.C. that remains today. You can see it in her eyes and feel it in her words when she speaks about D.C. and, most of all, you feel it in her music.
Source
So, off I went in search of some genuine live blues in Oklahoma and let me tell you, the pickings were rather scarce. So imagine my relief when I found a juke joint in a little town called Rentiesville. Better yet, the club was bringing in Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials, one of the top blues acts out of Chicago. But a pretty cool thing happened along the blues highway; I not only found some great blues but also found a genuine love story.
Rentiesville is a small community about 75 miles southeast of Tulsa. It’s so small it does not even have its own post office, but it is the epicenter of Oklahoma blues. It’s also one of only 13 towns remaining out of an original 40-50 communities that were founded in eastern Oklahoma by freed black slaves following the civil war with an eye toward making the area the nation’s first all-black state. Obviously that never materialized.
Rentiesville also is the home to D.C. Minner’s Down Home Blues Club which is run by Selby Minner, the charming, engaging and talented widow of the late D.C. Minner, a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame who, aside from being an established blues star in his own right, played alongside musical greats like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Freddie King. And for Rhode Island native Selby Minner, who has called Rentiesville home since 1988 when she and D.C. moved here after spending several years touring the nation, with a heavy emphasis on the West Coast, this has become a true labor of love in every sense of the word.
Together, D.C. and Selby (they married in 1979 after meeting in California) became the first couple of Oklahoma blues when they made the decision to renovate the property where D.C.’s grandmother operated a “corn whiskey house” several decades earlier. “It was a place with a jukebox and where people came for entertainment and bootleg whiskey,” Selby told me while taking me through a tour of the blues club. “They also made and sold choc beer,” which I learned was good old-fashioned home-brew.
The blues-loving couple completed renovating the house a few years after moving back home. “D.C. did all the work by hand,” Selby explained. But it didn’t end there.
Together, the Minners established the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in 2004. “That’s what D.C. wanted — he understood he wasn’t going to get wealthy playing blues, but at the end of the day what made it worthwhile was the recognition by his peers. We wanted to share that.”
The couple went on to organize the three-day outdoor “Dusk Til Dawn” blues festival which takes place every Labor Day weekend on the grounds of the blues club and, in 1999, also were recipients of the prestigious “Keeping the Blues Alive” award.
Selby continues to do more than her part in “keeping the blues alive” through the “Blues in the Schools” program as well as offering young people a place to perform on the first Friday of each month (the club is only open the first weekend of each month), with a coffeehouse atmosphere where the bar is closed off and young people are invited to perform during their “Java Jam.”
On this night, Selby’s band, “Blues On The Move” opened up for Lil Ed and Selby’s engaging stage presence, on guitar and vocals, demonstrated how her love of the blues, and for D.C., (who passed away last year at the age of 73) clearly keeps her going. She sang some of D.C.’s original material — apparently there is a veritable treasure trove of unpublished D.C. Minner-penned tunes — and then later jammed onstage with the headliner.
This funky little juke joint seemingly in the middle of nowhere is not, however, just about the blues. It stands as a living, thriving testament to the enduring bond between Selby and D.C. that remains today. You can see it in her eyes and feel it in her words when she speaks about D.C. and, most of all, you feel it in her music.
Source
Monday, July 20, 2009
Christian music news: Raucous crowd enjoys thrills at Western Maryland Blues Fest
“Somebody scream,” Lil’ Ed urged hundreds of music fans Friday night, but there was no need. They already were raucous, pumped full of electric blues flying from his slide guitar.
A few minutes earlier, Lil’ Ed — Ed Williams of Chicago — had ratcheted up the thrill level by stepping down from the back of the stage and wading through the crowd, playing all the while.
He got up close with dozens of hard-core Western Maryland Blues Festers, the ones dancing and hollering and waving their arms with unbridled glee.
No one, though, seemed to be having a better time than the frontman for Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials. If he wasn’t grinning, he was laughing, and it seemed to be contagious.
“He’s fantastic,” said Linda Overstreet of Silver Spring, Md. “There’s nothing like seeing a performer who’s having a ball.”
Lil’ Ed’s band gave way to Friday’s headline act, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, capping Day 2 of the four-day Blues Fest.
The festival continues today in the city’s central parking lot off North Potomac Street, then Sunday at City Park.
Williams kept smiling and laughing as he signed autographs after his set.
“I like what I do,” he said.
Asked about the enthusiastic Hagerstown crowd, he said, “I love them. They’re wonderful — tremendously wonderful.”
For Beverly Wilson of Hollywood, in southern Maryland, the admiration was mutual.
Wilson and her husband, Steve, had front-row seats, but were on their feet a lot. Beverly Wilson was part of the crush that surrounded Lil’ Ed as he passed by with his guitar.
“He makes you happy,” she said later. “The blues makes you happy.”
Marie Messick got right up to Lil’ Ed for several seconds and grooved with him, face to face.
That left her giddy. She shared the fun with her friend, Nancy Borne.
Messick said the Blues Fest has established itself as a tradition in her life, even though this only was her second time attending.
Messick, who is from California, got to know her husband, Dennis, who is from Martinsburg, W.Va., online. They met in person in Georgia. A few months later, in April 2008, they got married.
They treated last year’s Blues Fest as an extension of their wedding.
“This is like a reception with people you don’t know,” Marie Messick said.
This year, they shared the party with Borne, who used to live in New Orleans.
“This is like a little bit of home for me,” Borne said.
Marie Messick said she was ready to top last year’s feat of dancing for five straight hours.
Friday also was a day for the regulars, who go from blues festival to blues festival and become friends along the way.
That group includes Jeff Jackson of Columbia, Md., and Bob Lubbehusen of Annandale, Va., who got Lil’ Ed to pose for pictures with them after he played.
Jackson said the fan group’s last stop was the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival on May 16 and 17.
Jackson complimented Hagerstown’s event as a nice venue with good acts, good food and good drinks.
Overstreet said she was depressed when she missed last year’s blues fest because of other things going on in her life.
“I hear blues and my body wants to move,” she said.
Source
A few minutes earlier, Lil’ Ed — Ed Williams of Chicago — had ratcheted up the thrill level by stepping down from the back of the stage and wading through the crowd, playing all the while.
He got up close with dozens of hard-core Western Maryland Blues Festers, the ones dancing and hollering and waving their arms with unbridled glee.
No one, though, seemed to be having a better time than the frontman for Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials. If he wasn’t grinning, he was laughing, and it seemed to be contagious.
“He’s fantastic,” said Linda Overstreet of Silver Spring, Md. “There’s nothing like seeing a performer who’s having a ball.”
Lil’ Ed’s band gave way to Friday’s headline act, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, capping Day 2 of the four-day Blues Fest.
The festival continues today in the city’s central parking lot off North Potomac Street, then Sunday at City Park.
Williams kept smiling and laughing as he signed autographs after his set.
“I like what I do,” he said.
Asked about the enthusiastic Hagerstown crowd, he said, “I love them. They’re wonderful — tremendously wonderful.”
For Beverly Wilson of Hollywood, in southern Maryland, the admiration was mutual.
Wilson and her husband, Steve, had front-row seats, but were on their feet a lot. Beverly Wilson was part of the crush that surrounded Lil’ Ed as he passed by with his guitar.
“He makes you happy,” she said later. “The blues makes you happy.”
Marie Messick got right up to Lil’ Ed for several seconds and grooved with him, face to face.
That left her giddy. She shared the fun with her friend, Nancy Borne.
Messick said the Blues Fest has established itself as a tradition in her life, even though this only was her second time attending.
Messick, who is from California, got to know her husband, Dennis, who is from Martinsburg, W.Va., online. They met in person in Georgia. A few months later, in April 2008, they got married.
They treated last year’s Blues Fest as an extension of their wedding.
“This is like a reception with people you don’t know,” Marie Messick said.
This year, they shared the party with Borne, who used to live in New Orleans.
“This is like a little bit of home for me,” Borne said.
Marie Messick said she was ready to top last year’s feat of dancing for five straight hours.
Friday also was a day for the regulars, who go from blues festival to blues festival and become friends along the way.
That group includes Jeff Jackson of Columbia, Md., and Bob Lubbehusen of Annandale, Va., who got Lil’ Ed to pose for pictures with them after he played.
Jackson said the fan group’s last stop was the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival on May 16 and 17.
Jackson complimented Hagerstown’s event as a nice venue with good acts, good food and good drinks.
Overstreet said she was depressed when she missed last year’s blues fest because of other things going on in her life.
“I hear blues and my body wants to move,” she said.
Source
Friday, July 17, 2009
Christian music news: Blues Music Awards honor best of genre
Latest christian music: Magness scored the Contemporary Blues Female Artist honor in addition to being named the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.
King received the Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year award and his 2008 release, "One Kind Favor," was named Traditional Blues Album of the Year.
In the acoustic categories, Eden Brent was a big winner with awards for Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year for "Mississippi Number One."
Band of the Year honors went to Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials and Best New Artist Debut accolades went to Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm.
Other BMA winners included Jeff Healey (Rock Blues Album), Etta James (Soul Blues Female Artist), Bobby Rush (Soul Blues Artist) and Koko Taylor (Traditional Blues Female Artist).
Taylor made a surprise appearance during the seven-hour show to perform with The Mannish Boys, who went into the evening with the largest number of BMA nominees--six.
B.B. King also made an unscheduled appearance, performing with Curtis Salgado before presenting his namesake award to Magness.
Source
King received the Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year award and his 2008 release, "One Kind Favor," was named Traditional Blues Album of the Year.
In the acoustic categories, Eden Brent was a big winner with awards for Acoustic Artist of the Year and Acoustic Album of the Year for "Mississippi Number One."
Band of the Year honors went to Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials and Best New Artist Debut accolades went to Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm.
Other BMA winners included Jeff Healey (Rock Blues Album), Etta James (Soul Blues Female Artist), Bobby Rush (Soul Blues Artist) and Koko Taylor (Traditional Blues Female Artist).
Taylor made a surprise appearance during the seven-hour show to perform with The Mannish Boys, who went into the evening with the largest number of BMA nominees--six.
B.B. King also made an unscheduled appearance, performing with Curtis Salgado before presenting his namesake award to Magness.
Source
Monday, July 13, 2009
Christian music news: Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials at Red Miles Blues Festival
Latest christian music: The spot-checking of artistic influences was abundant in the music that Chicago guitarist Lil' Ed Williams summoned to close the inaugural Red Mile Blues Festival. The syncopated groove to Housekeeping Job was coated with Peter Green-style Brit blues, and Woman, Take a Bow suggested Carlos Santana with a melodic hook that sounded — improbable as this might seem — like a light-funk interpretation of the 1973 Edgar Winter instrumental hit Frankenstein. But the lightning electric-blues jolt of Hound Dog Taylor, Elmore James and Williams' esteemed uncle, J. B. Hutto, really fueled the performance. When Williams leaned heavily into the roadhouse cheer of those elders during the sly blues shuffles Pride and Joy (not the Stevie Ray Vaughan tune of the same name) and Take Out Some Insurance, or the densely patterned grind of Hold That Train, the Blues Imperials summoned a roaring juke-joint fire. The music sounded like the work of an honest-to-goodness blues band instead of the usual tired blues outfit siphoning rock 'n' roll for cheap, accessible thrills. Especially impressive was how keen, clean and mean Williams' slow blues excursions sounded. Even the semi-novelty tune Check My Baby's Oil, with all its cheesy lyrical innuendo, sounded quietly urgent. Like the entire show, this slice of underplayed Chicago blues served with playful menace sounded very sweet indeed.
Uncle Woody Sullender at Land of Tomorrow: The brittle passages at the core of this brief 40-minute set by Brooklyn banjoist Sullender possessed a stark, ancient air that seemed to predate bluegrass. Of course, this was in no way a traditional music program. Pedal effects and laptop-guided electronic enhancements created progressive, often otherworldly harmony. At times, the electric accents rose like voices in another room. Or mounting waves of static chatter. Or chimed bells at a dance. Or chattering insects. Or a lone, chirping bird. None of this made the performance seem like a novelty act, though. What was continually absorbing was how the natural timbre of the banjo would dissolve even as the electronics would continue to react against — or, more often than not, harmonize with — the tense strums and plucks pronounced on the strings. On Violence of Volk, especially, the electronics entered like a squall that rode shotgun to Sullender's more agitated playing. Of course, the real ingenuity of this music came not from the rise or fade of the electronics but with the cunning Sullender displayed as a soloist. On Where the Flowers on the River's Green Margin May Blow, the effects took a breather so he could experiment with the banjo's given tone and temperament. At times contemplative, at others exquisitely giddy, Sullender's music was just as progressive when surrounded by pure acoustic solitude as it was when all the dizzy electric gremlins crashed the party.
Source
Uncle Woody Sullender at Land of Tomorrow: The brittle passages at the core of this brief 40-minute set by Brooklyn banjoist Sullender possessed a stark, ancient air that seemed to predate bluegrass. Of course, this was in no way a traditional music program. Pedal effects and laptop-guided electronic enhancements created progressive, often otherworldly harmony. At times, the electric accents rose like voices in another room. Or mounting waves of static chatter. Or chimed bells at a dance. Or chattering insects. Or a lone, chirping bird. None of this made the performance seem like a novelty act, though. What was continually absorbing was how the natural timbre of the banjo would dissolve even as the electronics would continue to react against — or, more often than not, harmonize with — the tense strums and plucks pronounced on the strings. On Violence of Volk, especially, the electronics entered like a squall that rode shotgun to Sullender's more agitated playing. Of course, the real ingenuity of this music came not from the rise or fade of the electronics but with the cunning Sullender displayed as a soloist. On Where the Flowers on the River's Green Margin May Blow, the effects took a breather so he could experiment with the banjo's given tone and temperament. At times contemplative, at others exquisitely giddy, Sullender's music was just as progressive when surrounded by pure acoustic solitude as it was when all the dizzy electric gremlins crashed the party.
Source
Monday, July 6, 2009
Christian music news: Lil' Ed And The Blues Imperials
Latest christian music: Lil’ Ed Williams and his long-standing band The Blues Imperials crank their native Chicago blues just a notch over the top, making it as party-ready as any good up-tempo soul act. In addition to those giddy slide-guitar leads, Lil’ Ed tends to look a bit more flamboyant than your average bluesman, especially when decked out in red Chuck Taylors and one of his flashy fez hats. The titles of his Alligator Records releases stretching back to the ’80s tend to reflect this ecstatic quality—Roughhousin’, Get Wild, and last year’s Full Tilt—and with this band, revving up the blues is just another route to the genre’s richness.
Source
Source
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Christian music news: Christian music news: Summer concerts music to our ears
Latest christian music: Those are just some of the performers coming to New Jersey this summer. If there is any place in America that offers more opportunities to see popular musical acts, we've yet to hear about it. Once again this summer, the bounty seems limitless.
Latest christian music: Although the ticket prices for many of the concerts seem to have ignored the fact we are in a recession — many artists these days apparently are worried about paying their bills as well — it has prompted a tidal wave of groups on tour. With record sales slumping, many acts, new and old, are compensating by hitting the lonely road so many of them bemoan in their songs. That's music-lovers' good fortune.
In Monmouth and Ocean counties alone, the choices this summer are endless. Name acts again will appear on the marquees at PNC Banks Arts Center, Count Basie Theater, Paramount Theater, Convention Hall, Stony Pony, Great Auditorium, Six Flags Great Adventure and BlueClaws Stadium.
Among those who will be performing at the Shore: Beach Boys, Motley Crue, Oak Ridge Boys, Creed, the Drifters, Fabian, Lee Ann Rimes, Nine Inch Nails, Rascal Flatts, The Fray, Elvis Costello, Frankie Avalon, Counting Crows, Frank Valli and the Four Seasons, .38 Special, Asia, Melissa Etheridge, Yes, Little Feat, Bobby Rydell, Poison and George Thoroughgood.
Also, Styx, Tommy James and the Shondells, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Southside Johnny, Weezer, Dream Theater, Cheap Trick, Melissa Etheridge, Peter Frampton, John Mellencamp, Incubus, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Pretenders, ZZ Top, Loggins & Messina, Felix Cavaliere and The Rascals, The Smithereens, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Moe and John Cafferty.
If you want to broaden your choices, you can always hit the casinos in Atlantic City, the Susqehanna Bank Center in Camden, the Izod Center and Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, the Bergen Performing Arts Center, Wellmont Theater in Montclair and the Mayo Center for Performing Arts in Morristown.
Source
Latest christian music: Although the ticket prices for many of the concerts seem to have ignored the fact we are in a recession — many artists these days apparently are worried about paying their bills as well — it has prompted a tidal wave of groups on tour. With record sales slumping, many acts, new and old, are compensating by hitting the lonely road so many of them bemoan in their songs. That's music-lovers' good fortune.
In Monmouth and Ocean counties alone, the choices this summer are endless. Name acts again will appear on the marquees at PNC Banks Arts Center, Count Basie Theater, Paramount Theater, Convention Hall, Stony Pony, Great Auditorium, Six Flags Great Adventure and BlueClaws Stadium.
Among those who will be performing at the Shore: Beach Boys, Motley Crue, Oak Ridge Boys, Creed, the Drifters, Fabian, Lee Ann Rimes, Nine Inch Nails, Rascal Flatts, The Fray, Elvis Costello, Frankie Avalon, Counting Crows, Frank Valli and the Four Seasons, .38 Special, Asia, Melissa Etheridge, Yes, Little Feat, Bobby Rydell, Poison and George Thoroughgood.
Also, Styx, Tommy James and the Shondells, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Southside Johnny, Weezer, Dream Theater, Cheap Trick, Melissa Etheridge, Peter Frampton, John Mellencamp, Incubus, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Pretenders, ZZ Top, Loggins & Messina, Felix Cavaliere and The Rascals, The Smithereens, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Moe and John Cafferty.
If you want to broaden your choices, you can always hit the casinos in Atlantic City, the Susqehanna Bank Center in Camden, the Izod Center and Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, the Bergen Performing Arts Center, Wellmont Theater in Montclair and the Mayo Center for Performing Arts in Morristown.
Source
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
