He's responsible for the deliciously relaxed and understated guitar work you remember from
Rainy Night in Georgia and the driving chukka chukka whipsnap that propelled Aretha Franklin's
Rock Steady, as well as her version of
Spanish Harlem. And he's lent his masterful musical sense to many, many other tunes from artists as diverse as Ringo Starr, Archie Shepp, Joe Cocker, Miles Davis and Paul Simon. Guitarist
Cornell Dupree has died at
age 68. Primarily a studio musician, Dupree was more often heard than seen, but you can catch some glimpses of his Southern-fried six-string artistry on this live version of King Curtis'
Memphis Soul Stew.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 9, 2012 -
23 comments
Chances are that sometime, somewhere, out of the corner of one ear, at least, you've heard the iconic (yet all-but-forgotten) "Willie and the Hand Jive". Set to a Bo Diddley beat, it was an infectious little number that made quite a splash back in its day. Here's a fun
live version of the bouncy tune, complete with the three largest dancing girls you're ever likely to see, and here's the
original 1958 recording. The composer of the tune, the son of Greek immigrants who decided that the world of black music was where he wanted to be, was one
Johnny Otis, who has just
died at the grand old age of 90. Shortly after its release, "Willie and the Hand Jive" was covered by early rock icons like
Bo Diddley and, across the pond in England,
Cliff Richard. But apart from his most famous tune, Johnny did a LOT of recording and performing throughout his lengthy career, so there's...
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jan 19, 2012 -
42 comments
Somewhere along the line, you might've heard one of the biggest hits to ever come out of the world of jazz: it was a song originally made famous by Les McCann and Eddie Harris back in 1969, called
Compared To What. If you were in the right place at the right time, you might've even caught them doing it
live. Or, if you were born a little too late for all that, you might've heard the song performed by
John Legend and the Roots. Well, the man who wrote the song,
Gene McDaniels, has just
left us at age 76. RIP Gene McDaniels.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 2, 2011 -
25 comments
Louisiana-born, Texas-based record producer
Huey Meaux, the so-called "Crazy Cajun", has
died. He was the man behind
Barbara Lynn's 1962 hit
You'll Lose a Good Thing. Three years later, in a move to cash in on the British Invasion, he created a faux-British rock band called "the Sir Douglas Quintet" around San Antonio-born singer-songwriter
Doug Sahm, and produced their hit,
She's About a Mover. Meaux also produced Tex-Mex rocker
Freddy Fender's bilingual hit
Before the Next Teardrop Falls as well as Fender's
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights. Sadly, however, Meaux had a very ugly darker side: he was arrested not once but twice on child-sex charges, doing prison time in the late 60s, and an 11-year bid from '96 to '07. Some of the ugly details of this side of his life are detailed in this
Houston Press article from 1996, shortly after his arrest, which will pretty much make your skin crawl... Well, so long Huey.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Apr 26, 2011 -
50 comments
The man behind the classic sound of Al Green, Memphis producer and soulmeister supreme
Willie Mitchell has
passed on. Many of the Al Green sides are legendary, of course, and very well known (as is the fantastic "I Can't Stand the Rain, by Ann Peebles), but be sure and head over to the excellent
Funky 16 Corners where you can hear three of his lesser-known but
deeply grooving productions. Fat stuff. So long, Willie Mitchell, and thanks for the wonderful music.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jan 6, 2010 -
24 comments
"The quest to undercut fashion’s standards of perfection, and to find beauty in the disdained, overlooked or overripe, runs throughout Mr. Penn’s career. In an otherwise pristine still life of food, he included a house fly, and in a 1959 close-up, he placed a beetle in a model’s ear."
So long,
Irving Penn.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 7, 2009 -
20 comments
Back in 1972, there was a fellow who had a novel idea for a porno flick. But when his producer objected to the movie's title, fearing no one would understand it, Gerard Damiano reassured him: "Don't worry,
"Deep Throat will become a household word." And indeed it did. Now, 36 years after the infamous and influential film's release, director
Gerard Damiano, aka
Jerry Gerard, has gone on to that deep, deep throat in the sky.
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 30, 2008 -
73 comments
A musician
passed away just the other day. In all likelihood you never knew his name. But you've probably heard him, no exaggeration, on
thousands of occasions. He was
drummer Earl Palmer, and some of the thousands of songs he propelled with his versatile grooves and masterful sense of time include
Tutti Frutti and
Lucille,
La Bamba,
Let's Go Get Stoned,
I Don't Need No Doctor,
Unchained Melody,
You've Lost That Loving Feeling... the list goes
on and on. Oh, and there's the TV themes he drummed on, like say,
Mission Impossible. And here you can see New Orleans native Earl demonstrating how he put the beat under Professor Longhair's classic
Tipitina and on Fats Domino's
I'm Walkin'. He was one superb rhythmist. Au revoir,
Earl Palmer.
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 28, 2008 -
31 comments
Legendary record man and music producer
Jerry Wexler died on August 15, at the age of 91. His keen insight, and his deep love and appreciation for the artists he worked with resulted in an extraordinary enriching of American music.
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posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 17, 2008 -
16 comments
