THE BEST (AND WORST) OF SPRING 1987

NOTE - Today's show was inadvertently split into two uneven pieces. Part One is 50 minutes, while Part Two is app. 7 minutes in length.
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By 1987, the singles market began to dry up, especially when compared to the sales of full-length cd’s. In the Spring of 1987, there were so few notable singles that we barely managed to scrape up a pair of them, plus one notoriously horrible ‘bad hit’. The balance of our show is dedicated to album tracks, culled from some of the best long-playing releases from this era. We hope you can stay tuned past the Kenny G. song long enough to hear the album tracks, which should compensate for at least some of your pain and discomfort….
Here’s a list of featured music from today’s show;
1) With or Without You – U2
2) Ship of Fools – World Party
3) Songbird – Kenny G. (as a ‘Bad Hit’)
4) U Got the Look – Prince
5) Housequake - Prince
6) Hawaiian Island World – World Party
7) All Come True – World Party
8) Skyway – The Replacements
9) Can’t Hardly Wait – The Replacements
10) Bullet the Blue Sky - U2

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 8c - NEW ORLEANS JAZZ

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Today we conclude our series on early Kings of New Orleans Jazz by looking at a few remaining classics that we haven’t yet discussed. This show allows to focus a bit more on King Oliver’s work, while also addressing other pivotal artists such as Jimmie Noone, Omer Simeon, Tommy Ladnier, Wingy Manone, and Henry Allen. For the most part, we have been sticking to a chronological timeline, so if you’ve been attentive, you may notice a greater emphasis on individualism throughout today’s show, especially when compared to the two previous episodes. This exemplifies the development of Jazz music towards a form of individualistic expression, and away from the ensemble style of playing. Here’s a list of songs featured in today’s program;
1) That’s a Plenty – The New Orleans Owls
2) Wolverine Blues – Jelly Roll Morton, with Johnny and Baby Dodds
3) Apex Blues – Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra
4) Smokehouse Blues – Omer Simeon
5) High Society – Monk Hazel Bienville Orchestra
6) Panama – Luis Russel Orchestra
7) Tar Paper Stomp – Barbecue Joe and his Hot Dogs
8) I’ve Found a New Baby – The New Orleans Feetwarmers
9) Chimes Blues – King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band
10) Canal Street Blues - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 8b - NEW ORLEANS JAZZ

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In our previous program, we played a few of the white and/or Creole orchestras that personified early jazz. The main reason for this was that most of the earliest recordings ignored the Black bands, but these early recordings do an excellent job of displaying the ensemble style that defined jazz music in its earliest stages, including the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the
New Orleans Rhythm Kings, the Halfway House Orchestra and Johnny Bayersdorffer’s Jazzola Novelty Orchestra. I find it interesting to note that J.B. refers to his own style of music as a “novelty”. We continue our exploration of early New Orleans jazz by listening to a few classic recordings that took place outside of the crescent city (but with New Orleans personnel). It seems incredible to note this, but only six “Black’ bands were recorded in New Orleans during the 1920’s, so next, we take some time to play one track from each of these bands, and our show concludes with one more recording by our featured artist, Joe “King” Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band.
1) 29TH and Dearborn – Luis Russell’s Hot Six
2) Gate Mouth – New Orleans Wanderers
3) Wild Man Blues – Johnny Dodd’s Black Bottom Stompers
And the six New Orleans bands –
4) New Orleans Wiggle – Armand Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra
5) Frankie and Johnny – Fate Marable’s Society Syncopators
6) Papa’s Got the Jim-Jams – Papa Celestin’s Original Tuxedo Orchestra
7) To-Wa-Bac-A-Wa – Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola Eight
8) Bogalusa Strut – Sam Morgan’s Jazz Band
9) Astoria Strut – Jones and Collins Astoria Hot Eight
And one final classic –
10) Snag It – King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band

THE BEST OF MAY 1957

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Normally, base commercialism is beneath us…but today’s show was practically screaming for a “Two for Tuesday” format, so I relented. It is rare when the same artist debuts on the singles chart twice in the same month. This was even more rare of an occurrence in the ‘50s, but in May 1957, it happened twice.
The Coasters had a rare ‘double-sided’ hit, and at the same time, a Johnny Mathis craze swept the nation, causing two of his singles to rise to prominence simultaneously. That more or less set the mold, so I continue the format by playing an oft-neglected Everly Brothers track to accompany their own debut hit single. We then follow this with two selections from an Elvis EP of Gospel songs that debuted in May 1957. We could have played two tracks from Sinatra’s May 1957 album, “A Swingin’ Affair,” but instead we opt to play three separate versions of a Cole Porter classic, all sung by Sinatra. One early version on Columbia Records dates from the forties, the middle version (on Capitol Records) dates from this May 1957 release, and the third is taken from his latter day recordings with Reprise. This makes for a unique method of comparing the phases of Sinatra’s career, and it ends our “Two for Tuesday” program by throwing in one extra version, just for good measure!

1) Searchin’ – The Coasters
2) Young Blood – The Coasters
3) Wonderful Wonderful – Johnny Mathis
4) It’s Not for Me to Say – Johnny Mathis
5) Bye Bye Love – The Everly Brothers
6) I Wonder if I Care as Much – The Everly Brothers
7) Peace in the Valley – Elvis Presley
8) Take My Hand, Precious Lord – Elvis Presley
9) Night and Day – Frank Sinatra (Columbia Records)
10) Night and Day – Frank Sinatra (“A Swingin’ Affair, ”Capitol Records)
11) Night and Day – Frank Sinatra (“Sinatra and Strings,” Reprise Records)
12) You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To - Frank Sinatra

HOW MUSIC CHANGED, PART 8a – NEW ORLEANS JAZZ

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One of the most interesting (but also confusing) aspects of music history pertains to the early music scene of New Orleans, Louisiana. While many critics now maintain that it isn’t necessarily correct to state that jazz was invented there, I have never heard a critic or musician state some other locale as its unequivocal birthplace, either. I think the confusion stems from the fact that so many musicians left the city between 1916 and 1925, causing most of the best jazz recordings to take place somewhere else besides New Orleans. As far as I’m concerned, though, the point isn’t whether the recording sessions took place in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Richmond, Indiana. What matters is the personnel on these recordings, and so many of the primary innovators learned their trade while growing up in New Orleans.
To adequately cover the early years of jazz development, we will dedicate three shows to the New Orleans musicians who helped spread the gospel of jazz music. Due to their age, many of these recordings may challenge the contemporary listener. The lack of fidelity could present a problem to those of us accustomed to digital recording, so I will ask you to imagine a time before computers, before tape recorders, before television, and even before radio – FM or AM. Perhaps you were lucky enough to live near somebody who owned a newfangled Victrola. Otherwise, the only music you could hear was live music, and the live music you heard usually consisted of piano rolls, marching bands, or the mixed bag of minstrel music. If you were wealthy, you might hear an orchestra, or see an opera. Jazz represented a brand new sound, something so totally different that it frightened the establishment, and invigorated virtually everyone else. It was ‘hot’ music, and old-fashioned folks would dismiss it as vulgar, much like what happened during the advent of rock and roll. Can you imagine the impact of hearing these recordings for the very first time? Right here, with these recordings, is when America’s true identity first became audible. It is our music, and this is our heritage. Here is a list of songs from today’s program;
1) Oh! Didn’t He Ramble – Preservation Hall Jazz Band
2) Tiger Rag – The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
3) Ory’s Creole Trombone – Kid Ory’s Sunshine Orchestra
4) Tin Roof Blues – New Orleans Rhythm Kings
5) Dipper Mouth Blues – King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band
6) I Wonder Where My Easy Rider’s Riding Now? – Johnny Bayersdorffer & his Jazzola Eight
7) Cake Walking Babies from Home – Red Onion Jazz Babies
8) Cake Walking Babies from Home – Clarence Williams’ Blue Five
9) Barataria – Halfway House Orchestra
10) Careless Love – The Original Tuxedo Orchestra

Celebrating New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2007

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Heidy and I have returned (regrettably) from our annual pilgrimage to New Orleans for the Jazz and Heritage Festival. As usual, it was a blast and is quickly becoming a complete blur. Too much food, friends, music and good times will wear you out after a while, but who’s complaining when there is so much fun to be had? It must be said that the citizenry have made tremendous inroads since the onslaught of Katrina, but the sacrifice has been monumental. This was our 4th trip since that disaster, and we were genuinely pleased and impressed to see so much progress and determination among the local population. A lot has been accomplished, but there is still an incredible amount of work to be done. The people of New Orleans recognize the cultural value of their city, and the success of the Jazz and Heritage Festival was a testament both the people of the city and their culture. Heidy is a native of New Orleans (born and raised), and the both of us feel a deep personal commitment to this very special place, so for today’s show we want to send a little ‘Thank You’ note to the people of New Orleans.
Anyway, this all sounds much too serious for the rollicking good time that we had this year. I’ll let the music tell most of the story, while Heidy and I fill in the gaps. For our song selection, we will pick a few of the musical highlights from this year’s trip.
Here is a list of songs covered in today’s program;
1) Palestine, Texas – T-Bone Burnett
2) Evening Train – Van Morrison
3) It Tears Me Up – Percy Sledge
4) See You Later Alligator – Bobby Charles
5) Poor Side of Town – Johnny Rivers
6) Drinking Wine Spo-De-O-Dee – Jerry Lee Lewis
7) Don’t Shake Me Lucifer – Roky Erikson
8) El Orangutan – The Iguanas
9) Gin Instead of Whiskey – Morning 40 Federation
10) Polk Salad Annie – Tony Joe White