The Blues Blogger

Ten Random Music Blips

Many of the posts you read on this blog have me venturing out to the country and engaging on a hike with my dog Lucille. Well, the past weekend Lucille stayed home and I took the family dirt biking instead. It was certainly a different experience for us.

Unfortunately, I guess I’m not as familiar with the word clutch as I thought and lost control of the bike. One thing for sure, I realized dirt biking was not my scene. Later that night, battered and bruised my wife gave the following Twitter update:

DIRT BIKE ACCIDENT: @TheBluesBlogger sustains injury. He is fine… However, the shed will never be the same. More to follow. ~TBBW

Not wanting to concern anyone, I sent the following tweets the next day:

Yesterday my doctor gave me some good advice when she said, “You should really stick to hiking.”

“I feel very fortunate… Thankfully, the barbecue & lawn mower cushioned my blow on the way into the steel shed.”

As a result of my accident, there won’t be an @TheBluesBlogger post this weekend. However, I will be doing some random blips shortly.

It’s unusual for me not to bring you a post each and every weekend. I felt bad and was a little bummed Sunday night. So I went on Twitter and came up with ten music blips that randomly came to mind at the time… So, while my writing skills are a little off at the moment, I thought for those that are either not on Twitter, didn’t see my sidebar updates, or just missed it, I’ve decided to publish this post… I’ve also added two additional videos to further enhance the piece.

You can click on each highlighted blip to hear that individual song… Enjoy.

Blip 1 of 10: Let’s get this BlipFest started with The Allman Brothers Band “Whipping Post.” ♫

Blip 2 of 10: If you’re feeling funky… Billy Preston – “It´s Alright Ma (I´m Only Bleeding)” ♫

Blip 3 of 10: Pretty hard to feel down when you’re listening to Electric Flag “Killing Floor.” ♫

Blip 4 of 10: Some medicine for the soul. Gary Moore “Hard Times.” ♫

Blip 5 of 10: With music like this, I’ll be up & running laps in no time. Joe Bonamassa “Blues Deluxe.” ♫

Blip 6 of 10: Recovering from this weekend’s dirt bike accident. So you’re “Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues.” ♫

Blip 7 of 10: Now that the meds have kicked in, here’s a wild choice… Jimi Hendrix “If 6 Was 9.” ♫

Blip 8 of 10: Susan Tedeschi is a fantastic artist. Her song “Learning the Hard Way” comes to mind. ♫

Blip 9 of 10: One more to go. Hope u liked the selections… Here’s Junior playing “Hoodoo Man Blues.” ♫

Blip 10 of 10: That’s it for me. Nite everyone. Here’s Luther taking it back to “Sweet Home Chicago.” ♫

Thanks to all who sent their messages my way. I truly appreciate your concern in regards to this most ridiculous scenario…. I’m sore, but will be up and around very soon.

TheBluesBlogger

Tags: 1969, Blues Reflections, Reflections, The Seventies, The Sixties, Twitter by The Blues Blogger
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“You like blues? I’ll give you the blues. Don’t call your mother for another week, and I guarantee you’ll have the blues…” ~ my mom

During the last 18 months that I’ve written for TheBluesBlogger site, I rarely mention my mother. Since its Mother’s Day, I thought I’d give her a bit of a plug… This year I bought her a digital photo frame that plays music. So I’ve been loading a bunch of pictures from the past and present. The frame includes some of her favorite artists and some selected tunes… At the same time, I wanted to write something for this Sunday… And who better than the “Mother of the Blues?”

Ma Rainey
Born as Gertrude Pridgett in a poor neighborhood of Columbus Georgia in 1886, she was recalled by her family as “singin soon as she was talking.” Gertrude was raised in a showbiz family that performed minstrel and vaudeville shows. In 1904 and not quite twenty years old, she married song and dance man William “Pa” Rainey. From that moment she became known as “Ma Rainey”. Her husband ran a traveling minstrel show and there she displayed her talent for the next 20 years.

During those times, black musicians and dancers took over the old minstrel shows. Ma and Pa traveled a circuit that was confined to the South, the Midwest, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. Every city had its segregated theater, and in the country there were tent shows. It was a humiliating picture of their own race, but there wasn’t many opportunities in the entertainment industry at that time until jazz and blues gained respect and popularity.

Rainey reached her greatest success in the 1920s when the phonograph and radio opened up jazz and blues to a mass audience. She made over a 100 recordings between 1923 and 1928, most of them hits. She collaborated with the likes of Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins and a young Louis Armstrong.

Ma Liked Her Women

In the year 1925 police in Chicago police responded to a noise complaint and found a room full of naked women in “intimate” situations. Rainey spent the night in jail for hosting an indecent party. She was bailed out the following morning by friend and fellow blues singer Bessie Smith.

The legend goes that when Bessie was a young teen, she was kidnapped and dropped at Ma’s feet in a potato sack. Rainey would go on to mother Bessie and act as a mentor; teaching her to sing the blues and develop her stage presence. There were rumors to the effect that Smith and Rainey were connected romantically, but there was never any proof. One thing was for sure, Rainey was outspoken on women’s issues and was seen as a role model for future women entertainer’s who wanted to take over their own careers.

The Great Depression

ended Rainey’s career as people were unable to afford records. She would go home and retire with her earnings from her success. At the age of 53 in 1939, Ma died of heart failure. Her death would scarcely be noticed at the time. It wasn’t until 1992 that her home was restored by the city of Columbus and nominated in the national register. She would later be selected into The Blues Hall of Fame in 1983, The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and then honored on a U.S postage stamp in 1994.

It may be interesting to note that her song See See Rider Blues had over a 100 different versions, but was made into a number 1 hit by Chuck Willis entitled C.C. Rider. It was also made famous by the band The Animals back in 1966. Other renditions would be sung by Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich and Janis Joplin.

When you go back through music history there is little documentation of any other woman that sung the blues before Ma Rainey and therefore rightly became known as The Mother of the Blues.

Growing Up in the Sixties

my mother wasn’t around much. Working a 12-14 hours day 6 days a week didn’t leave much time to enjoy some of the finer things in life. My mother was tough, but always fair. She worked hard to provide for her family. As a result I was able to further develop my love for music. She was never discouraging, and through her support, I was able to share some cool experiences from my youth and some others later down the road. Something that would never have been possible without her. And for that I will forever be grateful.

So how did you spend your Mother’s Day? How familiar are you with The Mother of the Blues? Any other musical memories you’d like to share on this special day? Your comments are welcome as usual.

Happy Mother’s Day,

TheBluesBlogger

Tags: Blues Reflections, Reflections, The Sixties, blues by The Blues Blogger
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This coming Thursday May7th the 30th Blues Music Awards will be presented at The Cook Convention Center in Memphis. Janiva Magness will be performing and is also nominated in several categories. In addition, Magness is a national spokesperson for Casey Family Programs which promotes foster care. They’re also a sponsor for The Blues Awards this Thursday. And since May represents National Foster Care Month, I thought I would re-post one of my earlier articles from last summer as the timing seemed right. ~tbb

This weekend my family headed off on a little getaway, so it’s quiet in TheBluesBlogger household. Both my golden retriever Lucille and I are lazing around catching up on a little reading, and of course listening to some music… An artist that has caught my attention lately is Janiva Magness. I’ve heard a lot of great things, but wasn’t too familiar. So I printed off some biographical information and went out on the deck… With Lucille resting at my feet, I started flipping through the pages, getting intrigued by Janiva’s story.

It didn’t take long before Lucille got up and forced her snout into my hand; continuously flicking my wrist as a reminder of my promise of an early walk… So I loaded up some of Janiva’s songs on my MP3 player and after a quick drive, we went on our evening hike. As we headed down the trail I recalled what I was reading earlier…

Adopted by the Blues

Janiva Magness is no stranger to the music industry. She is currently entering her career’s third decade, and the light that shines upon her gets brighter every day. Born in Detroit, Magness was influenced by blues and country music she heard while listening to her father’s record collection. She was also inspired by the city’s rich soulful Motown sound…

Tragically losing both her parents to suicide by the time she was in her early teens, Magness lived on the streets enduring an incredible amount of conflict going from one foster home to another. And would become a teenage mother who gave her child up for adoption.

Wearing a heavy heart, she traveled from city to city; feeling discouraged and distressed. On a cold winter night while hitchhiking across Minneapolis to attend an Otis Rush concert, Magness saw a path that lead her to the future.

“There was something that happened to me that night,” Magness says. “Otis … is such a vibrant musical force. Everything he played [was] with such complete commitment — you know, no half-steppin’ anything. And I knew when I left that club that morning in the wee hours that whatever it was that happened to me that night, I had to have more of that experience.”

While working as an intern at a recording studio, she got her first real break when her boss asked if she would sing support vocals on a track. She would begin her career as a background singer, eventually making her way to Phoenix in the early eighties where she met Bob Tate. (who was once the musical director for the late great Sam Cooke.) Magness formed the band The Mojomatics which was extremely popular in the Phoenix area. She would then re-locate to Los Angeles in 1986 and slowly find work.

After her cassette debut More Than Live, she married musician Jeff Turmes and together they recorded her second album It Takes One to Know One in 1997. After three independent releases, Janiva signed with Northern Blues and recorded Bury Him at The Crossroads in 2004 and Do I Move You in 2006. Both of these releases were co-produced by Canadian roots artist Colin Linden, and they created a huge amount of critical acclaim for Magness. The word was definitely spreading now…

Janiva won the best contemporary female artist award in 2006 and 2007. She was nominated for the 2008 B. B. King Entertainer Of The Year award at the Blues Music Awards. Magness also traveled to Iraq and Kuwait co-headlining Bluzapalooza in the Spring of 2008; the first-ever blues concert tour to perform for American troops.

Casey Family Programs

Janiva Magness has come full circle. She is now a national spokesperson for Casey Family Programs promoting National Foster Care for the organization. She has recently re-connected with her daughter that she gave up for adoption and is now a grandmother. Magness has dedicated her latest release What Love Will Do on Alligator Records to this this fantastic cause. Here’s a link that you should definitely check out. It’s one of her songs called “Sometimes You Got To Gamble.”

Back on the Trail

As Lucille and I started to make our way back home, out of nowhere a rabbit swiftly crossed in front of us. Lucille’s natural instincts took over and she snapped the poor fella up. We both seemed shocked as it all happened so fast. Lucille is trained to drop on command, but was the thrill of the catch too tempting to let go? It took a few seconds, but I firmly asked her to drop the rabbit. With only a slight hesitation and very delicately, she did. The little hare hopped away totally safe and unscathed, running down the path before taking the yield through the forest. Lucille stood there looking up at me as if to say, “Did you see that? Wasn’t that awesome!”

As we continued our hike, I listened to Magness belt out her tunes on my MP3 player. I found myself incredibly moved by the power and feeling of Janiva’s music and her story… She is somebody that sure has a right to be singing the blues as she certainly has lived them. What an incredible journey she has taken!

I started thinking that as popular as Magness was getting, if I even made one more person aware of her wonderful talent, then this post would be well worth it… What do you think? Your comments are always welcome.

For more information on Janiva Magness you can go to her official website by clicking here.

Tags: Blues Music Awards, Blues News, Blues Reflections, Reviews by The Blues Blogger
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