| Today: Little Walter was born in 1930, 84 years ago (read more)
— ..king of all post-war blues harpists,…. The fiery harmonica wizard took the humble mouth organ in dazzling amplified directions that were unimaginable prior to his ascendancy. |
 |
| Wayne “The Train” Hancock (Born May 1, 1965) is a country musician. Hancock began writing songs at the age of 12, and at 18 won a talent contest called the “Wrangler County Showdown.” Immediately after the contest, he was shipped to recruit training and served four years with the United States Marine Corps. In 1994 he performed in the musical Chippy. Hancock released his debut album in 1995, and has continued to tour and record albums since then. He lives in Austin, Texas.His music is comparable to that of Hank Williams and Hank Thompson.Hank Williams III, who is often compared to Hancock, has recorded some of Hancock’s material, including “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs” and “87 Southbound”. The two have also recorded a live duet of Hancock’s “Juke Joint Jumpin'”. |  |
| “I Walk the Line” is a song written by Johnny Cash and recorded in 1956 & released as a single May 1, 1956. After three attempts with moderate chart ratings, “I Walk the Line” became the first number one Billboard hit for Cash. The single remained on the record charts for over 43 weeks, and sold over 2 million copies.Check out: |  |
| Johnny Colt (born Charles Brandt May 1, 1966, Cherry Point, North Carolina) is an American bass guitar player. He was the original bassist for The Black Crowes which formed in Atlanta, Georgia. |
 |
| Bob Dylan recorded: Precious Angel, Property of Jesus, Watered Down Love, Let’s Stick Together… and best of the bunch.. : New Pony @ Rundown Studios, Santa Monica, California May 01, 1978. |
 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience released “Hey Joe” (single) May 1, 1967 (US) |  |
Spotify Playlist – May 01 |
|
Tag Archives: music calendar
April 26 in music history
| 20 year anniversary for Johnny Cash’s American RecordingsAmerican Recordings did something very important — it gave Cash a chance to show how much he could do with a set of great songs and no creative interference, and it afforded him the respect he’d been denied for so long, and the result is a powerful and intimate album that brought the Man in Black back to the spotlight, where he belonged. ~Mark Deming (allmusic.com) |
 |
| William “Count” Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry “Sweets” Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie’s theme songs were “One O’Clock Jump” and “April In Paris”. |
 |
| Johnny Shines (April 26, 1915 – April 20, 1992) was an American blues singer and guitarist. According to the music journalist Tony Russell, “Shines was that rare being, a blues artist who overcame age and rustiness to make music that stood up beside the work of his youth. When Shines came back to the blues in 1965 he was 50, yet his voice had the leonine power of a dozen years before, when he made records his reputation was based on”. |
 |
| Devils & Dust is the 13th studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, and his third folk album (after Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad). It was released on April 25, 2005 in Europe and on April 26 in the US. It debuted at the top of the US Billboard 200 album chart. |  |
| Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886? – December 22, 1939) was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues. |
 |
| Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically “twangy” sound, including “Rebel Rouser”, “Peter Gunn”, and “Because They’re Young”. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. |
 |
– Hallgeir
April 25 in music history
| The late Albert King was born in 1923 “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” ~”Born Under A Bad Sign” – Albert King is truly a “King of the Blues,” although he doesn’t hold that title (B.B. does). Along with B.B. and Freddie King, Albert King is one of the major influences on blues and rock guitar players. Without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does — his style has influenced both black and white blues players from Otis Rush and Robert Cray to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com) |
 |
| Bruce Springsteen: Fox Theatre, Detroit, MI, USA April 25, 2005 (Videos)This is the first concert from Springsteen’s “Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic” tour. |  |
| Ella Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as the “First Lady of Song”, “Queen of Jazz”, and “Lady Ella”, was an American jazz vocalist with a vocal range spanning three octaves (D♭3 to D♭6). She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccablediction, phrasing and intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.Fitzgerald was a notable interpreter of the Great American Songbook. Over the course of her 59-year recording career, she sold 40 million copies of her 70-plus albums, won 13 Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush. |  |
| Jerome “Jerry” Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and Mike Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. Stoller was the composer and Leiber the lyricist. Their most famous songs include “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Don’t”, “Kansas City”, “Stand By Me” (with Ben E. King), and “On Broadway” (with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil). Today, their songs are managed by Sony/ATV Music Publishing. |  |
| Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor (Round Midnight, Warner Bros, 1986). He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone. His studio and live performance career were both extensive and multifaceted, spanning over 50 years in recorded jazz history. |  |
| Bob Dylan recorded master version of “Let Me Die In My Footsteps” @ Studio A – Columbia Recording Studios, NYC in 1962 – 51 years ago.Let Me Die in My Footsteps is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in February 1962. The song was selected for the original sequence of Dylan’s 1963 album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, but was replaced by “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”. This version was recorded at Columbia studios on April 25, 1962, during the first Freewheelin’ session, and was subsequently released in March 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991. | |
| Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, (born 25 April 1958, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland) is a Scottish singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion. |  |
-Egil
Today: Elvis Presley recorded Always on my Mind in 1972 42 years ago
Always on my Mind is seldom considered among the best of Elvis’ 70’s output, but if you ask me it’s at the top of the list. The recording sessions was great, it included Burnin Love and For the good times. I almost cry when I listen to it, it embodies everything, everything I love about Elvis, heartbreak, slow ballads, empathy and true feelings. What a voice!
Peter Guralnick writes in his book Careless Love:
The trouble was, he (Elvis) wasn’t interested in cutting a hit record. “He was trying to get something out of his system.”
…
On the second night Felton finally got his way, but he was under no illusion that Elvis was doing it for any other reason than to indulge his producer. With encouragement from Joe Esposito and Jerry Schilling, and with Charlie pounding away on acoustic guitar, they got a good, energetic version of “Burning love”, the song Felton had brought to the session, but it was tossed off in six quick takes, in almost throwaway style, and everyone could see that Elvis’ heart wasn’t really in it. They kept working till four in the morning but got only one more song that night and two the following night, including “Always on my mind”…
Continue reading Today: Elvis Presley recorded Always on my Mind in 1972 42 years ago
Today: Jerry Jeff Walker is 72 Happy Birthday
“the first time I set foot in Texas, particularly in Austin, I knew I was home.”
Jerry Jeff Walker was born March 16, 1942 (in upstate New York) he is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is associated with the “outlaw” country scene that centered around Austin, TX, in the 1970s.
“Mr. Bojangles” is perhaps his most well-known and most-often covered song, written for his debut album in 1968.
Walker was a hard drinker throughout much of his early career (his nickname was “Jacky Jack”), and this reputation became part of his identity. He’s since cleaned up his act, in part thanks to his wife, Susan, whom he married in 1974. He has continued to record into the ’00s.
His best known album, it is also his best by the way, is Viva Terlingua, recorded in 1973 in Luckenbach, Texas with the Lost Gonzo Band. The album went gold, and it’s still his best-selling record. His 70s output especially are highly regarded, sadly none of these albums are available on Spotify.
Happy Birthday Jerry Jeff Walker!
Mr. Bojangles:
Continue reading Today: Jerry Jeff Walker is 72 Happy Birthday