In February 2008 Clapton and Winwood played 3 sold out shows at Madison Square Garden playing a set of Cream, Blind Faith and Traffic songs and covers.
The stand has finally been released as a 2CD set and a 2DVD with bonus song, interviews, sound check , photos and documentary " The Road To Madison Square Garden ".
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2 hour tribute to the legendary UK DJ features documentary and live in the studio performances from Pink Floyd, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Ron Geesin, The Faces, David Bowie, Captain Beefheart, Bridget St John, Roxy Music, Thin Lizzy, Bob Marley, Brinsley Schwarz, Siouxsie, Joy Division, Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Specials, The Fall, The Smiths, Elastica, Pulp, Blur, White Stripes & more. A fitting tribute to a great man.
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Now Lookie Here!
Spotlight on Blues & R'n B
Lightnin' Hopkins :
"King Of The Texas Blues"
Born Mar 15, 1912 in Centerville,Texas, Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins was the most prolific, successful, and consistently 'country' of the post war Texas country blues men. A precocious child, at the age of eight he made his own 'guitar' and when he encountered Blind Lemon Jefferson at a Baptist picnic, he played right along. The great man asked who was playing and was apparently impressed when it turned out to be this young kid. 'Boy, you keep that up you gonna be a good guitar player.' Sam decided right there the life of a sharecropper was not for him.
As a teen he travelled throughout East Texas playing wherever money or a meal were on offer, at picnics, in bars or on the streets. Around this time he picked up with Alger 'Texas' Alexander his cousin…a singer in need of a guitarist. They knocked around Texas for a while until Lightnin' landed himself some trouble, serving time on chain-gangs(!) and one time running off to Clarksdale, Mississippi coming back married!
1946 and back in Houston, he was approached by talent scout Lola Anne Cullum. Our hero was busy shootin' craps at the time, and when he heard her toot the horn he said: 'Tell her I ain' t here.' (He was up 30cents or so). Her reply: 'Tell Mr Hopkins would he be interested in earning $1000 right now?' Soon he was in Los Angeles along with pianist Wilson 'Thunder' Smith to record for Aladdin. The pair cut four titles each and apparently it was the engineer who concocted Sam's nickname to complement Smith's own.
Sadly for Smith neither of his records went anywhere but Lightnin's combination of "Katie Mae Blues" and "That Mean Old Twister" was an immediate success. Within a year or so Lightnin' was recording for Bill Quinn's Houston-based Goldstar as well. (Aladdin would also record him in Quinn's studio, keeping an eye on their contracted player.)
Musically his style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. With his distinctive finger style technique he would play in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, percussion (by tapping or slapping the body of his guitar) and vocals. Much of his music follows the standard 12-bar blues template but his phrasing was very free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, though he was a powerful and confident singer. The songs were the usual 'bad luck and trouble' though often performed with humor and good nature. And yes, he did like double-entendres.
During the forties, at one point, Hopkins and his wife lived (and worked) on a farm north of Dallas owned by one Tom Moore. Conditions there were notorious all over and Lightnin' of course wrote a song about it. It came out on local label Goldstar ever so slightly disguised as "Tim Moore's Farm"
and included the following lyrics:
You know Mr Tim Moore's a man.
Don't ever stand and Grin,
He sees you by the graveyard,
Says I'll save you time getting' in.'
Fellow Texan Mance Lipscombe knew of the situation there and also had a version of the song but never performed it in Texas. He remembers Moore barking: 'Lightnin' Hopkins from Houston. If I see that bastard I'll kill him...'
The wily songster is pretty much at the top of his game around this time, cutting sides (both solo and with a small rhythm section) for Modern/RPM, Goldstar, Sittin' in With, Jax, Mercury, and Decca. In 1954 he records with Herald where he tears it up on heavily-amplified guitar on a number of blasting rockers including: "Lightnin's Boogie", "Lightnin's Special" and the awesome "Hopkins' Sky Hop". If you have a shopping list, this stuff should be at the top of it. And if you're lookin' for more of the good stuff those early Aladdin sides would be right up there.
All good things come to an end, I guess, and our man had a rough three years or so with flagging sales and dwindling opportunities. He was back on the Houston scene largely forgotten by '59 when Sam Charters tracked him down and recorded him in Lightnin's one-room apartment with one mike, a borrowed guitar and a bottle of hooch. This is the Smithsonian Folkways release, it's a great dose of pure undiluted Lightnin' and it too comes highly recommended.
Lightnin' had been dusted off and re-presented as a folk-blues troubadour to a whole new audience (white, educated) and he took to this like a duck to water!! He went from playing back-alley gin joints to playing for college kids, there were TV appearances, gigs with the Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead, and (not bad for a man that hated travelling) a tour of Europe! His recording career picked up more than a little (to put it mildly) with albums on Vee-Jay, World Pacific, Bluesville, Fire, Candid,Tradition, Arhoolie, Prestige, Verve, Jewel and more. There was an International Artists release too…the 1968 LP "Freeform Patterns" with The 13th Floor Elevators rhythm section - although it's far from his best output. He was the subject of a documentary in 1967: "The Blues According to Lightnin' Hopkins". The film-maker was Les Blank and a snippet is available for viewing on YouTube, which is pretty cool
Lightnin' Hopkins died of cancer in Houston 1982, He was 69 years old.
Lee
Selected Discography
Lightnin Hopkins (Smithsonian Folkways)
And the blues(Herald Sessions).
Bring Me My Shotgun (Fire Records)
Lightnin Strikes (Vee Jay)
Jake Head Boogie
Hello Central (Columbia)
Hootin' The Blues (Prestige)
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Got Vinyl Records To Sell?
Need to sell some of your vinyl records?
We are always buying - either email: info@mojomusic.com.au
or else phone us at (02) 9262-4999.
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The Mojo Playlist
Funkadelic- Free your mind etc.
Hendrix / Band of Gypsies-Live At The Fillmore
The Standells - The Best of The Standells
Ardent Records Story - Thank you Friend
Houndog Taylor-Release The Hound
Mike Bloomfield - Fillmore 69
Canned Heat - Future Blues
Esther Phillips - The Kudu Years 71-77
Ten Years After - Watt
Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers
The Shadows Of Knight - The Best of
Ike & Tina Turner - Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter
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Mojo Is Now An Oz Tix Agent
Mojo recently became an agent for Oz Tix. This means that you can buy tickets at Mojo for concerts and shows that are handled by Oz Tix.
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Nev's Picks
The Cobra Singles
Vols 1 and 2 (Each Vol. 2 CDs)
Question:
Even though they both had Willie Dixon, what's the difference between Cobra and Chess Records
Answer:
Cobra had a horn section and grit writ with a capital G!
This is a must-have collection of postwar blues - the complete singles on Chicago's legendary Cobra Records label - plus other titles from the Abco and Artistic imprints as well! Each volume contains 2 CDS - all up there are 96 songs! Artists include The Rip Chords, Arbee Stidham, Betty Everett, Willie Dixon, Otis Rush, Shakey Horton, The Calves, Harold Burrage, Duke Jenkins, and Magic Sam .
All killer - no filler!
Nev
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If you are after anything on CD, DVD, or vinyl, email us at info@mojomusic.com.au |
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