Monkey on a Stick

In the military, Granville entertained his buddies as he played his guitar. One of the songs that McGhee was best known for was “Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee“.
In their first Atlantic session “Stick and his Buddies”, comprising of brother Brownie ,Wilbert “Big Chief” Ellis ,Gene Ramsey and an unknown drummer (possibly Gene Moore) cut six tracks (Tall Pretty Woman Blues was released) on Valentine’s day 1949. The band was in quite good form, having practised Drinking Wine over and Over again and Granville’s writing style and performances were versatile. He could move effortlessly from proto rock and roll to somewhat unpolished crooning jazz styling and of course he was a fine blues performer…

Instrumental progressive rock album "Levin Torn White" is the kind of complex, intelligent, and experimental album that makes journeys into the genre rewarding and surprising. "Levin Torn White" is composed of Tony Levin on bass guitar and chapman stick, David Torn on guitar, and Alan White playing drums. On opening track "No Warning Lights", the calm, unfamiliar background noise gives way to a frantic drum and bass assault that sounds like the Space Mountain ride hurtling to hell.

The concept of TALKING WITH THE BLUES is based on a view of the various US states as blues regions. Even casual blues listeners are familiar with the fact that there is Chicago Blues or Mississippi Blues and the gripping social history of the music is very much marked by its geography. But there is much more that just those two places and to this day blues music stays committed to local styles. Moreover, many US states are endowed with a unique cultural identity grown out of the prevailing social, historical and ethnic realities. Reflections of these specific identities are also expressed in the blues.