 |
|
Continue reading Today: The late Robert Nighthawk was born in 1909 – 103 years ago
Top 10 Motown albums
According to Hallgeir
It is Berry Gordy’s birthday today. I use the occasion to set up a list of my favourite Motown albums. As always it is a snapshot of my mind at this particular moment, done to tomorrow, it would have resulted in a different list.
Berry Gordy, Jr. (born November 28, 1929) is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries. He was also a very competent songwriter and producer.
I chose to honor him with a list of great albums from his hit factory. So here we go:
1 What’s Goin on by Marvin Gaye
Highlights: What’s goin on, Mercy Mercy Me, Innecity Blues (makes me wanna holler)
2 Innervisions by Stevie Wonder
Highlights: Too high, Living for the city, Higher ground
3 Imagination by Gladys Knight and The Pips
Highlights: Midnight train to Georgia, Best thing that ever happened to me, I’ve got to use my imagination
4 Let’s get it on by Marvin Gaye
Highlights: Let’s get it on, Come get to this, You sure love to ball
5 Talking Book by Stevie Wonder
Highlights: Superstition, Maybe your baby, You’ve got it bad girl
Bob Dylan songs covered by Jimi Hendrix
“Sometimes I do a Dylan song and it seems to fit me so right that I figure maybe I wrote it. Dylan didn’t always do it for me as a singer, not in the early days, but then I started listening to the lyrics. That sold me.” – Jimi Hendrix, Beat International 1969
Though they were not close friends, Jimi Hendrix was a huge fan of Bob Dylan and covered five of his songs (to my knowledge), both live and in the studio. These tracks are “Like a Rolling Stone,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Drifter’s Escape” , “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” and “Tears of Rage” (by Dylan and Richard Manuel)
From Seven Ages of Rock (BBC):
“First time I saw him, he was playing with John Hammond. He was incredible then. I’d already been to England and beyond, and although he didn’t sing, I kinda had a feeling that he figured into things. The last time I saw him was a couple of months before he died. He was in that band with Buddy Miles. It was an eerie scene. He was slouched down in the back of a limousine. I was riding by on a bicycle. I remember saying something about that song “Wind Cried Mary,” it was a long way from playing behind John Hammond. That was my favorite song of his – that and “Dolly Dagger”… I don’t know, it was strange, both of us were a little lost for words, he’d gone through like a fireball without knowing it, I’d done the same thing like being shot out of a cannon…” -Bob Dylan (Biograph liner notes)
Like a Rolling Stone:
“I love Dylan. I only met him once, about three years ago, back at the Kettle of Fish on MacDougal Street. That was before I went to England. I think both of us were pretty drunk at the time, so he probably doesn’t remember it.” – Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stone Magazine
A tender cover of Bob Dylan and The Band‘s classic Tears of Rage from the 4cd set “West Coast Seattle Boy” (Spotify):
Leonard Cohen: The Future (24 November, 1992)
Give me absolute control
over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby,
that’s an order!
Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that’s left
and stuff it up the hole
in your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
give me Stalin and St Paul
I’ve seen the future, brother:
it is murder.
(“The Future”)
Natural Born Killers – The Future:
Continue reading Leonard Cohen: The Future (24 November, 1992)
Today: The late Donald “Duck” Dunn was born in 1941 – 71 years ago
As the bassist for Booker T. & the MG’s, Donald “Duck” Dunn became, like James Jamerson at Motown, the man who provided a groove for an entire generation to dance to. In Dunn’s case it was the legendary Memphis record label Stax/Volt, where he laid down basslines for soul stars such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Albert King, helping to create one of the largest bodies of soul and R&B music that exists.
~Steve Kurutz (allmusic.com)
Short intro:
Booker T & the MG’s – green onions:
From Wikipedia:
| Birth name | Donald Dunn |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Duck |
| Born | November 24, 1941 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | May 13, 2012 (aged 70) Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | Rock, soul, rhythm and blues |
| Occupations | Songwriter, producer, actor |
| Instruments | Bass guitar |
| Years active | 1960–2012 |
| Associated acts | Otis Redding, Booker T & the MG’s, Albert King, Mar-Keys,The Blues Brothers, Sam and Dave |
| Website | duckdunn.com |
Donald “Duck” Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.’s and as a session bassist for Stax Records, which specialized in blues and gospel-infused southern soul which became known as Memphis Soul. At Stax, Dunn played on thousands of records including hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, and many others. Dunn also performed on recordings with The Blues Brothers, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, Isaac Hayes, Levon Helm, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wilson Pickett, Guy Sebastian, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, Roy Buchanan, Steely Dan, Tinsley Ellis and Arthur Conley.
Booker T. & The MG’s – Time Is Tight (Live, 1970):
Dunn played himself in the 1980 feature The Blues Brothers, where he famously uttered the line, “We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline!”
Awards:
- In 1992, Dunn was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T & the MG’s.
- In 2007 Dunn and several Booker T & the MG’s members (Lewie Steinberg, Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, and Barbara Jackson, the widow of Al Jackson) were given a “Lifetime Achievement” Grammy award for their contributions to popular music.
Album of the day:
Other November 24:
Continue reading Today: The late Donald “Duck” Dunn was born in 1941 – 71 years ago