There's simply no sound in the blues as easily digestible, accessible, instantly recognizable, and as easy to play and sing as the music of Jimmy Reed. His best-known songs – "Baby, What You Want Me to Do," "Bright Lights, Big City," "Honest I Do," "You Don't Have to Go," "Going to New York," "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby," and "Big Boss Man" – have become such an integral part of the standard blues repertoire, it's almost as if they have existed forever. Because his style was simple and easily imitated, his songs were accessible to just about everyone from high-school garage bands having a go at it, to Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Lou Rawls, Hank Williams, Jr., and the Rolling Stones, making him – in the long run – perhaps the most influential bluesman of all.
Jimmy LaFave’s rich, effusive vocals command attention and when the Austin, Texas-based singer pairs them with the right material, wonderful music results. That’s what happens on nearly every track on his self-produced latest album. LaFave—whose voice reminds me at times of the great Michael Fracasso’s—brings out every bit of melancholy in Neil Young’s “Journey through the Past” and serves up a soulful, anthemic reading of Bob Dylan’s classic “Queen Jane Approximately.” (LaFave is no stranger to Dylan covers: a 1999 retrospective includes a dozen of Bob’s songs and 2007’s Cimarron Manifesto features a reading of “Not Dark Yet” that nearly equals the spellbinding original.)
Not a prolific composer, Thackery's strength lies in strong arrangements that make other people's material his own. He covers Stevie Ray Vaghan's "Rude Mood," and one suspects there will be comparisons made in this direction. His solos burn the motel down on Luther Johnson's "Lickin' Gravy," and he manages a more than credible job on Hendrix's "Red House." Of the two self-penned numbers, the title track is a convincing boogie driven by an ultra-cool, echoed, chicken-scratch guitar riff, while "Getting Tired of Waiting" offers a more traditional blues shuffle.
Tobacco Road was recorded limited line up live (without audience!) at "Golden Slipper" in Chicago with one on two guitars (Jimmy Johnson, David Matthews), bass (Ike Anderson) and drums (Dino Neal), October 19, 1977. Johnson with a high, soul infected voice sings and plays guitar in the tradition of three kings. He interpreted "Sweet Little Angel", by b.b.of Albert "Breaking Up Somebody's Home"."Look Over Yonder" comes from Elmore James.The title track of "Tobacco road",a classic,is known in versions by the Blues Magoos, Eric Burdon, Lou Rawls, Edgar winter, etc. The 1997 reissue of Storyville Records features four bonus tracks.
Hardly have we savoured the full taste of “Rhythm ’n’ Bluesin’ By The Bayou” than here comes another bucketful of steaming South Louisiana gumbo and this time it’s “Bluesin’ By The Bayou” – a spicy mix of guitars, harmonicas, and even the occasional accordion, accompanying those tales of despair or machismo that are the recipe for the blues. All the tracks stem from the studios of J.D. Miller in Crowley and Eddie Shuler in Lake Charles. These two men were wonders at spotting talent and getting the best out of the performers, as illustrated on the 28 tracks on this CD.
The second “Bluesin’” volume in the “By The Bayou” series concentrates on musicians from South Louisiana and South East Texas discovered and recorded by J.D. Miller and Eddie Shuler. These two giants of the post-war recording scene were supreme talent-spotters. They knew the sounds that appealed to the local record-buying public, their target audience. What they couldn’t have known, or even guessed at in their wildest fantasies, was that the appeal of their recordings would last so long and encompass the globe.
A travers des centaines d'entretiens et des documents d'archives, l'auteur revient sur les débuts des fondateurs et premiers employés de PayPal qui constituent aujourd'hui le réseau le plus puissant de l'industrie technologique. Il montre ainsi comment E. Musk, A. Rowe Klement, P. Thiel, J. Anderson et d'autres encore ont façonné le monde moderne et l'esprit d'entreprise du XXIe siècle. …