Some more swinging Blues from our AOM! From Etta’s 1961 debut At Last! the performance here let’s the listener know who’s in charge from the first note song. Written by the great Willie Dixon and originally recorded by Muddy Waters and then I believe a couple of guys from England may have taken a crack at this song as well.
One of the most enigmatic and talented Soul men of all time, Bobby Womack has been a sort of Soul Forrest Gump, serving as a link from 50s Gospel to 60s Soul to 70s Rock and to some of the greatest musicians in each genre. Born in an extremely devout religious family, he was singing Gospel with his brothers Cecil, Friendly, Harry and Curtis as the Womack Brothers while he was still a child. The talented group was discovered by Gospel/Soul legend Sam Cooke, who redubbed them the Valentinos and transformed them into a teenage secular vocal group. By the early 60s they were touring with James Brown and scoring on the R&B charts with their first hit, “Lookin’ For A Love.” Cooke’s death in 1964 sent the group on a spiral from which it would never recover. Also, Womack encountered some public fallout when married Cooke’s widow less than a year later (even more ironic was that brother Cecil ultimately married Cooke’s daughter, Linda, who became his partner in the popular writing/singing group Womack & Womack). (more…)
B.B. King in Atlanta
In the ever present hustle of life, I often have to make the consciouses effort to step back and breathe in the moment. I’ve found that the fruitless pursuits of mirages and mirrors can insidiously make you lose sight of God’s most precious blessings. For some, it may be the infectious giggle of your child and for others, it may be the moment you said “I do”. Life is filled with a number of magical flashes and can surprise you with phenomenal people along the way. However if you’re not careful, you can easily fall into the trap of taking things for granted when greatness is right before your eyes. This past Sunday at Chastain Park, I’m glad I didn’t miss my moment and had a chance to literally kneel before music royalty. Who am I referring to you ask? None other than Chicago blues great, Buddy Guy and Lucille’s old man, B.B. King. (more…)
Something that has always struck me about this tune is the drum track. The drum track literally sings the song. Whether you play or program drums I really think that you should spend sometime checking out how Charlie Watts approaches this groove. There are also some interesting things that they do with the form and phrases. Definitely Grown!
A perfect lazy Sunday afternoon groove. One of my favorite parts of this song has always been listening Sonny Rollins blow over this Caribbean influenced track.
BTW, through the joys of You Tube/Major Labels etc., you cannot embed the original video, so thanks to these nice folks who put this video together, that has not gotten snatched down…yet.
