A Little Review of the Revue: Classic Soul

"Oh she may be weary

Young girls they do get weary

Wearing that same old Shaggy dress, yeah yeah

But when she gets weary

Try a little tenderness, yeah yeah"

Yeah, a little weary. Two weeks, five shows, two interviews, three states. A lot of preparation, a lot of writing, a lot of fun. While I finish up my official duties, just wanted to share a little about last night's show. But first, my review of Eric Burdon at the Highline Ballroom is now live over at ourvinyl.com. Check it out by clicking... Eric Burdon Review.

Last night I was at BB King's Blues Club in Manhattan to see A Decade of Soul: Classic Soul and Motown Revue. I wasn't planning on doing a review, just going as a civilian for a change. But the show was so enjoyable and so well done, I thought I'd just give a little taste of it. And well, when it comes to sharing music, I can't help myself.

From the introduction when you could hear the opening notes of "Dancing in the Street," to the end of the show with "Stand by Me" as part of a medley, there wasn't one down minute. Anchored by Prentiss McNeil who spent 28 years with The Drifters and Bruce "Big Daddy" Wayne, one of Wilson Pickett's Midnight Movers, you also had Janelle Jones filling in for Aretha, Martha, Tina and the rest... quite wonderfully.

"Midnight Hour," "Try a Little Tenderness," "Proud Mary," even "Sex Machine," they ran the gamut from Smokey, to Stevie, to James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and more... complete with a little dancing and one hell of a band.

It was a great show. While seeing the hot bands and the headliners is always fun, there is so much joy in just experiencing the music itself. The Revue featured very talented artists and how could you go wrong with the catalog of music they featured? The best times are often when you think outside the box. This was one of them.

How can you go wrong when you start a show with this...

.

Almost Showtime: A Preview

Just a little preview as to what's coming up this week. There are a couple of reviews of shows I have seen in the past week, one is Eric Burdon which should be published soon. Then there is a Beth Hart review which is being written now. I'll set up the links here as soon as they go live.

Now about the weekend. It was a road trip which included a show and an interview. So there will be an interview and a review coming on that too. The band was Survivor and the interview was with founding member and lead guitarist, Frankie Sullivan. It was a lot of fun, can't wait to get it all together.

Just a little note about the night. As we were waiting for the interview to start, we were backstage in basically a corridor. The walls were once white, but now were covered with the signatures of all the artists who have played at the Mohegan Sun. As a music nut, it was fascinating to look at the history. Everyone from Sheena Easton to Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Toto, the Outlaws, Robert Cray to Air Supply either signed or doodled on the wall. For me, standing there in the same spots of so many gifted musicians, gave me the chills.

I'll be back as soon as I get my stuff together, but in the meantime, here are a couple of photos from the show.

And on the Life blog, I wrote a little bit about the ride up to the Casino in a post titled "Road Trip Blues: A Diary for the Musically Inclined"

Feeling Good with Nina Simone

This month has been filled with shows, reviews and interviews. Way too much going on at the moment, and while it's a lot of fun, there are only so many hours in the day. Alas, this music blog has suffered, for that I am sorry. Hopefully, I will get back to a few posts a week sooner rather than later.

Happy for me, this week's 100 Word Song Challenge is one of those tunes, I could not resist writing a little somethin' somethin'.

The choice this week is the incomparable Nina Simone. Everything she sings is exquisite, this song is no exception. "Feeling Good" is the inspiration for this little story, where the idea came from, I have no clue.

My 100 words...

Raye woke up on the wrong side of the bed, literally. For eight years Robert would have been on her left; but not this morning. And after last night, he would never be again.

The first sliver of morning light crept through the wooden blind. It was too late to go back, but early enough to claim a new day, a new life. For Raye, it was never about denial but rather her lack of embracing. As she watched  Aleah ‘s breasts slowly rise and fall with each breath, Raye felt she’d grown wings.

Now it was time to fly.

Brainstorming or Brain Dead: Either Way Some Good Music

Just a quick post. Even though I wasn't planning on writing a music blog this morning, sometimes they just write themselves.

Here's how it started. Watched a clip on youtube the other day, a trailer for the upcoming Beth Hart/Joe Bonamassa release. Let me tell you, that album is gonna blow it out of the park. Anyway it was a little tease of Beth doing Tina Turner's "Nutbush." Unbelievable. Watch it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ynHVLoA2h00

Anyway, that song has been in my brain ever since, so I decided to tweet and post on FB the original by Tina and another version of her doing it 30+ years later. That's when the conversation began. One of my online friends Lance, creator of the 100 Word Song Challenge that I do quite often, replied that the weather where he lives in Atlanta was nasty and the song he was hearing in his head was "Flood" by Jars of Clay. And so it went.

So, here is the conversation... in song. Putting in all the videos, take a look.


"Ever wake up with a song bouncing around your brain. Yeah that."

"And half lifetime later, she still rocked it."

Lance answered with... it won't stop raining here so I woke up with this: 

Jars of Clay "Flood"

I replied "bummer,bout the rain.not the music. hopefully you won't be...lost in the flood."

Lance came back with "well, at least I don't live in Texas, although hanging w an alive Stevie Ray would've been worth the rain"

And it ended with me saying "well hell yeah. but you know he couldn't stand the weather...   damn I miss that man."

A fun conversation and some great music for a Sunday morning.
Hope it keeps bouncing around in your head.



.

The Hoochie Coochie Man: Just Muddy

Ok, so I have featured him before. Trust me, ain't nobody gonna complain that I'm featuring him again today. Thirty years ago he went to sleep and never woke up. I hope that last dream was a doozy, god knows he had a life and career most people can only dream of.

McKinley Morganfield, better know as Muddy Waters, was born in Mississippi but became known as the King of Chicago Blues... a title he shares with another blues legend Howlin Wolf. And really, who can choose the better of the two.

Whatever the music genre, Muddy had an influence on it. Whoever the band, they were influenced by him. One of the first to play the blues electric, there is no mistaking the Muddy Waters sound.

Just a little taste to get your "mojo working"...

"I'm A Man"

Doesn't get much better than that.

.