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...
[more inside]
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along the line, you might've heard one of the biggest hits to ever come out of the world of jazz: it was a song originally made famous by Les McCann and Eddie Harris back in 1969, called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
"The "chitlin' circuit" sounds like something that's gone, and with good reason. After all, the name itself derives from the "soul food" of chitterlings (fried pig intestines) that was a staple at early performances. But from CC Blues Club on Thomas Street to the Cannon Center downtown, thousands of Memphis music fans flock to hear stars like Marvin Sease and Bobby Rush sing what's too risqué for radio play, and to watch dancers shake what's too big for TV. That's both the beauty of the chitlin' circuit and the reason for its survival. While its roots run back to racial segregation, it thrives today because performers give audiences what they can't get through mainstream media. It's called "grown folks music," and it's all in the name of the blues."
Soul-blues singer
Marvin Sease has
died at age 64. Here's
a comprehensive playlist of his (sexually-explicit/NSFW) songs on YouTube, including the one that never received any radio airplay but whose title the former gospel singer took as his professional nickname:
Candy Licker [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Feb 9, 2011 -
15 comments
She's been called "the greatest posthumous success story in music history." But when she died of melanoma at age 33, few people outside of the Washington DC-area had heard of
Eva Marie Cassidy.
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Jun 17, 2010 -
62 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
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.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Sep 28, 2008 -
31 comments
Master of the 'didge' - after veins burst in his throat some years ago while he was playing the didgeridoo, doctors warned that continued playing would threaten his life. Admitted to hospital last week with bleeding on the brain, he died on Sunday from a brain haemorrhage. He was 40.
[more inside]
posted by tellurian
on Feb 28, 2008 -
18 comments
San Carlo of the Symphony. Il Maestro
Carlo Maria Giulini, orchestra conductor who passed away Tuesday at 91 "had an almost uncanny ability to transform the sound of an orchestra, any orchestra, into a dark and intense glow, which became his trademark over the years". "We have lost one of the greatest musicians of our time," says
Esa-Pekka Salonen (.pdf), music director of the LA Philharmonic. Giulini has been called "the last humanist", a gentle man beloved by his orchestras, so humble in his approach to music that, always feeling the necessity to "fathom" each new work, it wasn't until the 1960s that he finally felt ready to conduct Bach, or the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven. This from a man who, at the beginning of his career (as a viola player) had played under Richard Strauss. "I had the great privilege to be a member of an orchestra," Giulini said in 1982. "
I still belong to the body of the orchestra. When I hear the phrase, 'The orchestra is an instrument,' I get mad. It's a group of human beings who play instruments." More inside.
posted by matteo
on Jun 16, 2005 -
11 comments
