Tag Archives: Texas

Blues, Music Calendar, Rock'n Roll, Soul

Today: Delbert McClinton is 72

The venerable Delbert McClinton is a legend among Texas roots music aficionados, not only for his amazing longevity, but for his ability to combine country, blues, soul, and rock & roll as if there were no distinctions between any of them in the best time-honored Texas tradition.
~Steve Huey (allmusic.com)

2011 Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association Hall of Fame Inductee:

From Wikipedia:

Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist.

Active as a side-man since 1962 and as a band leader since 1972, he has recorded several major record label albums, and charted singles on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Rock Tracks, and Hot Country Songs charts. His highest-peaking single was “Tell Me About It”, a 1992 duet with Tanya Tucker which reached No. 4 on the Country chart. He has also had four albums that made it to No. 1 on the U.S. Blues chart, and another that reached No. 2.

He was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame, in March 2011, along with Lee Roy Parnell, Bruce Channel, Gary Nicholson and Cindy Walker.

“Giving It Up For Your Love” @ Austin City Limits:

Album of the day:

Live (2003)

Hal Horowitz (allmusic.com):
The best way to experience Delbert McClinton‘s rowdy roadhouse combination of blues, roots rock, R&B, country, and Tex-Mex is on-stage with a couple of hundred other fans on a Saturday night. In that spirit,McClinton’s second live album, and first since 1989’s Live from Austin, documents a single 2003 performance at Norway’s Bergen Blues Festival. Originally intended only as a radio broadcast, this is an unpolished example of a typical show. Although it shares five songs with its single-disc predecessor, Livefeatures McClinton weaving newer material in with hits he’s been playing for decades, such as “B-Movie Boxcar Blues,” “Giving It Up for Your Love,” and “Going Back to Louisiana.” McClinton’s in terrific voice and spirits throughout, and his seven-piece band (including two horns) is tight but loose and ragged enough to grind through rockers with garage band enthusiasm. “Rebecca, Rebecca,” the album’s slow blues showcase, proves how comfortable McClinton is with his band and being on-stage. This is clearly his forte, and even though he’s released some terrific, if not quite classic, studio albums, this is the best way to get an overall dose of his talents. The career-spanning set list isn’t a greatest-hits collection, but that just makes it more enjoyable as the singer throws in a few curve balls.
……. read more @ allmusic.com

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Country, Music Calendar

Today: The late Hank Thompson was born in 1925

 

The glamour of the gay night life has lured you
To the places where the wine and liquor flow
Where you wait to be anybody’s baby
And forget the truest love you’ll ever know
~”The Wild Side of Life” H. Thompson 

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Henry William Thompson
Born September 3, 1925
Waco, Texas, USA
Died November 6, 2007 (aged 82)
Genres country
Western swing
Occupations singer and songwriter
Instruments electric guitar
Years active 1946–2007
Website www.hankthompson.com

Henry William Thompson (September 3, 1925 – November 6, 2007), known professionally as Hank Thompson, was an American country music entertainer whose career spanned seven decades. He sold more than 60 million records worldwide.

Thompson’s musical style, characterized as honky tonk Western swing, was a mixture of fiddles, electric guitar and steel guitar that featured his distinctive, smooth baritone vocals.

His backing band, The Brazos Valley Boys, was voted the top Country Western Band for 14 years in a row by Billboard. The primary difference between his music and that of Bob Wills was that Thompson, who used the swing beat and instrumentation to enhance his vocals, discouraged the intense instrumental soloing from his musicians that Wills encouraged; however, the “Hank Thompson sound” exceeded Bob Wills in Top 40 country hits.

Although not as prominent on the top county charts in later decades, Thompson remained a recording artist and concert draw well into his 80s.

The 1987 novel Crazy Heart by Thomas Cobb was inspired by Thompson’s life, specifically by his practice of picking up a local band to back him when he toured. In 2009 Cobb’s novel was turned into a successful film directed by Scott Cooper and starring Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges. 

From cmt.com – Ronnie Pugh:

Few performers in any era of the music have known and appreciated its history as well, and Thompson, elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989, was a big part of that history. His warm and rich baritone graced hits from the 1940s to the 1970s, as his award-winning Brazos Valley Boys band gave those honky-tonk hits a distinctive flavor of Western swing, much in the pattern followed later by fellow Texan George Strait.

The Wild Side of Life:

A Six Pack to Go:

Album of the day – Vintage Collection (1996):

Other September-03:

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Blues, Music Calendar

Today: Stevie Ray Vaughan passed away in 1990 – 22 years ago

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He was the greatest blues guitarist of his generation.
~ Mick Jagger

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Stephen Ray Vaughan
Also known as SRV
Born October 3, 1954
Dallas, Texas, United States
Died August 27, 1990 (aged 35)
East Troy, Wisconsin, United States
Genres Rock, blues, blues rock,electric blues, Texas blues
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1965–1990
Labels Epic, Legacy, Sony
Associated acts Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Jimmie Vaughan, Doyle Bramhall,David Bowie, Lonnie Mack,Albert King, Jeff Beck
Website srvofficial.com

Stephen “Stevie” Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Often referred to by his initials SRV, Vaughan is best known as a founding member and leader of Double Trouble. Together with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, they ignited the blues revival of the 1980s. With a career spanning seven years, Vaughan and Double Trouble consistently sold out concerts while their albums frequently went gold.

I remember when he first came out, he was doing that Hendrix song [Voodoo Chile], and I heard all these people going, “Ah, he’s just trying to do Hendrix. But he went a lot further than that. He was absolutely 100-proof, pure blues. Albert Collins, Muddy Waters – the essence of that was in everything he played. More than the Allman Brothers, he was straight-down-the-line blues.
~Gregg Allman
–
Stevie was always playing. After he’d get offstage, he’d get on his bus. And he had all these Stratocasters hanging there. He’d grab one and start goin’.
~Gregg Allman

–

From allmusic.com (Stephen Thomas Erlewine):

With his astonishingly accomplished guitar playing, Stevie Ray Vaughan ignited the blues revival of the ’80s. Vaughan drew equally from bluesmen like Albert King, Otis Rush, and Muddy Waters and rock & roll players like Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, as well as the stray jazz guitarist like Kenny Burrell, developing a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre. Vaughan bridged the gap between blues and rock like no other artist had since the late ’60s. For the next seven years, Stevie Ray was the leading light in American blues, consistently selling out concerts while his albums regularly went gold. His tragic death in 1990 only emphasized his influence in blues and American rock & roll.    …read more @ allmusic

Texas Flood – Live:

Pride & Joy – live at the Montreux 1985

Album of the day – Texas Flod (1983):

Other August 27:

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Country, Featured Articles

Billy Joe Shaver – Best Songs & more…

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A stone thrown from Heaven, skippin’ ‘cross the water
Would disappear in ripples left behind
A book with no cover, a rhyme with no reason
Guess i’ll always be one of the rovin’ kind

‘Cause movin’s in my soul, i guess a gypsy boy got a hold
Of somebody in my family long ago
If some night while half asleep you hear the back door softly squeak
You’ll touch my empty pillow,then you’ll know

That restless wind,is calling me again
Her warmin’ hand is tuggin’ at my soul
Summer’s gone,and winter’s comin’ on
And i can’t let it catch me standin’ in the cold

– From “Restless Wind” (one of his best songs)

–

“He may be the best songwriter alive
today” – Willie Nelson

«He’s a real writer like Hemmingway.
He’s timeless» – Kris Kristofferson

«Billy Joe is unique. One of a kind.
They threw away the mold. The best.»
– Robert Duvall

I’m listening to Billy Joe Shaver
And i’m reading James Joyce
-Bob Dylan (I Feel a Change Comin’ On)

Billy Joe Shaver turned 73 yesterday.

He is one of my greatest “Honky Tonk Heroes”, but due to Elvis’s  death the same day in 1977.. I could not put him first in yesterdays calendar post.

I need to honor him someway.. this is it…

«Throughout my career as a songwriter, I’ve just written songs about me – the good and the bad, the funny and the sad….. – Billy Joe Shaver

«The songs are my story…» – Billy Joe shaver

«..I’ve lost part of three fingers, broke my back, suffered a heart attack and a quadruple bypass, had a steel plate put in my neck and 136 stiches in my head, fought drugs and booze, spent the money I had, and burried my wife, son & mother in the span of one year…»… .. «I’m not proud of my misfortune – I’m proud of my survival» – Billy Joe Shaver

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Elvis Presley, Memphis, Music Calendar

Today: Elvis Presley passed away in 1977 – 35 years ago

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is music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country.

President Jimmy Carter
August 17, 1977

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Elvis Aaron Presley
Born January 8, 1935
Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S.
Died August 16, 1977 (aged 42)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres Rock and roll, pop, rockabilly, country, blues, gospel, R&B
Occupations Musician, actor
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active 1953–77
Labels Sun, RCA Victor
Associated acts The Blue Moon Boys, The Jordanaires, The Imperials
Website elvis.com

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is commonly known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King“.

From Allmusic (Richie Unterberger):

Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was phenomenal. Dozens upon dozens of international smashes from the mid-’50s to the mid-’70s, as well as the steady sales of his catalog and reissues since his death in 1977, may make him the single highest-selling performer in history.
More important from a music lover’s perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements.Presley was not the very first white man to sing rhythm & blues; Bill Haley predated him in that regard, and there may have been others as well. Elvis was certainly the first, however, to assertively fuse country and blues music into the style known as rockabilly. While rockabilly arrangements were the foundations of his first (and possibly best) recordings, Presley could not have become a mainstream superstar without a much more varied palette that also incorporated pop, gospel, and even some bits of bluegrass and operatic schmaltz here and there. His ’50s recordings established the basic language of rock & roll; his explosive and sexual stage presence set standards for the music’s visual image; his vocals were incredibly powerful and versatile.

Read more @ allmusic.com

Suspicious Mind:

Mystery Train:

If I Can Dream:

Album of the day:

Other August-16:

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