Musical Episode #073 : Bim Bam Blues, an hour of soul, blues and R&B 45s

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• Listen to this podcast as a Spotify playlist here (though note, spotify doesn’t have all / many of the songs featured on the site so some playlists may be incomplete or feature slightly different versions than the original 45s I’m referring to here.
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We’re back with another Musical Episode, this week we have a nice selection of of 45s from the R&B box. Today’s mix features a lot of guitar driven tracks, acoustic, electric, slide guitars, fuzzed out solos topped off with some foot stomping, driving harmonicas and plenty of wild energy.

I actually recorded this sort of off the cuff a couple weeks ago but was having internet issues so couldn’t post it. Since then I’ve almost finished the new book “Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters” by Lynnée Denise and it’s so so good, I highly recommend it and though I don’t usually spend as much time with blues and rhythm and blues it has me wanting to make a whole new mix! I’ll get this one up and put together another that’s more carefully considered at a later date. But I do recommend the book if you’ve got the time. That whole series is great, their Labelle and Marianne Faithful ones are the others I’ve read.

Back to the mix, it’s a bit all over the place in terms of chronology including some of the earliest music I think I’ve posted in all my mixes with Sticks McGhee clocking in at 1949. Though some of the other tracks stretch into the 70’s I think you’ll find a good bit of continuity which is one of the many inspiring things about the genre, what could feel like rote and rigid styles prove to be deeply flexible, expressive and enduring. Just look at the Howlin’ Wolf tracks which come in two full decades apart!

Anyhow hope you enjoy today’s mix and we’ll see you again soon!

Peace,

-George / Snack Attack

Tracklist:
Elmore James – Shake Your Moneymaker (Enjoy, 1961)
Sticks McGhee and His Buddies – Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (Atlantic, 1949)
Lightnin’ Slim – Just Made Twenty-One (Excello, 1955)
Marvin and Johnny – Tick Tock (Modern, 1954
Johnny Guitar Watson – Cuttin’ In (King, 1961)
Little Johnny Taylor – If You Love Me Like You Say (Galaxy, 1964)
Arthur Gunter – Let’s Play House (Excello, 1954)
Ted Taylor – Honey Lou (Ronn, 1968)
BB King – Bim Bam (RPM, 1956)
Grover Mitchell – That’s A Good Idea (Vee Jay, 1962)
Jeanette Baby Washington – Money’s Funny (Neptune, 1961)
Freddy King – Hide Away (Federal, 1961)
Little Johnny Taylor – There Is Something On Your Mind (Ronn, 1972)
Howlin’ Wolf – Do The Do (Chess, 1971)
Lightnin’ Slim – My Babe (Excello, 1971)
Lowell Fulsom – Tramp (Kent, 1967)
Jimmy Reed – Big Boss Man (Vee Jay, 1960)
Mighty Joe Young – Hard Times (Follow Me) (Dakar, 1966)
Howlin Wolf – Riding In The Moonlight (Modern, 1951)|
Otis Rush – You Know My Love (Chess, 1960)
Charles Brown – Dark Night (King, 1968)
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann – It’s Too Late (Fire, 1959)
Bobby Bland – That’s The Way Love Is (Duke, 1962)

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