Today in Music – 1937 – Bluesman – Joe “Guitar” Hughes was born!

When I saw that, Joe “Guitar” Hughes was born on this day in 1937 in Houston, Texas. I thought ok any artist that puts “Guitar” in their name is usually pretty damn good and since I had never heard of Mr. Hughes I thought I’d see what I could find out… at Wikipedia I read: Joe “Guitar” Hughes (September 29, 1937 – May 20, 2003[1]) was an American blues musician, from Houston, Texas, United States. Hughes was an inventive and versatile performer who was equally adept at playing a slow blues or Texas shuffle as well as R&B hits. Hughes…

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Today in Music – 1893 – “Blind” Lemon Jefferson was born!!

So aside from his name, I don’t know much about the man, who many label “The Father of Texas Blues” Blind Lemon Jefferson. Since today is his birthday, I figure it’s a good day to find out a little about the man! From Wikipedia Blind” Lemon Jefferson (Lemon Henry Jefferson; September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929) was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled “Father of the Texas Blues”.[2]   Jefferson’s singing and self-accompaniment were distinctive as a result of his high-pitched…

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“Into the Night” with some Blues from Mike Zito – Gone to Texas!

Mike Zito and the Wheel’s latest album  Gone to Texas was released on Ruf Records back in June of this year, and has occupied a spot at the top of the Roots Music Report’s Blues Chart for most of the summer. For the last two weeks it has held steady at No. 7! From Mike’s biography at his website: Mike Zito couldn’t help but be great. It was either that, probably, or end up on a wanted poster in the post office. There is something deep down in Zito’s soul that will not stop screaming, pushing him to take life to…

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2013 Blues from Phil Gates – Live at the Hermosa Saloon

So this afternoon I listened to some blues from Phil Gates and his band. I had put their new album Live at the Hermosa Saloon on the iPhone the other day and never had a chance to listen to it! Boy did I like what I heard! I’m off to work at Target tonight, and will listen on the way there and back, and can tell you more about the album tomorrow!! Here’s some background from Phil’s website: Phil Gates was born in Chicago Ill., into a family of musicians that helped form his music style, and ability. Phil began…

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Life’s Soundtrack’s – A Strong Run with B B King – An Afternoon with Trooper and Knopfler!

So I ran today for the third Monday in a row! Now if I can only get two more days in a week, maybe I can get back into some kind of shape. Today’s run was probably my best run since I started back running regularly last month. Like my last run, it’s nice to look down at the iPhone and see paces that are less than 10 minutes per mile. I think I also stayed below 11 minutes per mile going uphill on Pancoast!! On earlier runs, I struggled to stay under 12 minutes per mile going uphill!! Here…

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Today in Music – 1925 – “Blues Boy” Riley King is born!!

So today is the 88th birthday of probably the greatest blues musician of all time and certainly the one whose been at the top of his craft the longest, B.B. King!! First, here’s  the obligatory background information from Wikipedia, like he needs and introduction: Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925), known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time (previously ranked No. 3 in the 2003 edition of the same list),[1] and he…

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Life’s Soundtrack – Running’s Easier with Blues from Lisa Mann’s Satisfied!!

So I ran last night, but I didn’t write a post about the run. I ended up spending the evening  transferring my iTunes library from the desktop to my laptop, because I use the laptop more than the desktop now, while I watched the Phils lose, By the time I was ready to write, I was too tired! I think the trick is to write the post as soon after the run as possible!! Anyway  I still am running a lot slower than I was in the  spring, but the run last night was the easiest since I’ve started up…

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The Musicians Train ends with The Rides – Can’t Get Enough!

So now if you get to old timers together like Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg together and they start thinking, hey how about we do an album like Super Session. We’ll get some guys together and just have some fun making music. So how should they round our their little group?…. hum maybe by getting a young Mike Bloomfield which they by adding Kenny Wayne Sheppard to round out their trio!! The result is supergroup of great talented musicians Stephen Stills, Barry Goldberg and Kenny Wayne Sheppard and they call themselves The Rides.  Today I  listened to their new album…

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The Train of Musicians keeps Chugging along Stills, Kooper, Bloomfield and Goldberg!

So about a year before Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons were forming The Flying Burrito Brothers, two blues musicians from Chicago went west to form the great American blues band.  The result was the short-lived band The Electric Flag and the album A Long Time Comin’ has always been a favorite of mine. The album introduced me to the music of Mike Bloomfield. From Wikipedia: The Electric Flag was a blues rock soul group, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other well-known musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks….

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Today in Music – 1990 – The Music World loses Stevie Ray Vaughan

So often late on a Friday night, and I’m working at Target, and not feeling particularly chipper, Jerry Jeff Walker’s song “Blue Mood” pops into the jukebox in my head. Well, tonight, as I reviewed the musical events that occurred on this date, the final verse of the song came in loud and clear. Here it is….. 03 Blue Mood clip Yes, on this date 23 years ago, the music world lost one of the best blues guitarist ever, Stevie Ray Vaughan. From Wikipedia: On August 27, 1990, Vaughan had just performed with Double Trouble at Alpine Valley Music Theatre…

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