Welcome back!

It’s Friday and the end of what has been an incredibly long week is finally in sight! Those that know me well will be aware my vinyl habits aren’t restricted to just Soul and Funk music. I regularly dabble in other strands of the soul music genre, such as Gospel and Blues. Of late my listening habits have included a lot of this as well as Jump Blues and Rockabilly, and its some of these tracks that I’d like to share with you today. So I also thought I’d hurl one of those special curve balls at you all and switch things up with a mini compilation styled post.

All of today’s inclusions, while not strictly Soul or Funk are certainly tinged and touched with the good stuff.

So lets get started! Crank up the listening device of your choice and press play as we get things going with Little Junior’s Blue Flames and their 1953 top 5 hit ‘Feeling Good’. It’s simply impossible to sit still to this track!! This was released on a Sun Records 78 originally and has been doing the rounds at a few London nights, and justifiably so!

The band are led by Herman Parker Jr. who hailed from Clarksdale (although this has been often disputed) He was discovered by Ike Turner, who went on to sign him to Modern Records before he was picked up by Sun Records in 1953. Sadly he died in 1971 during brain surgery, aged only 39. The chicken scratch guitar on the track is high in the mix, but almost nicely acts as a form of percussion keeping the beat. Parker’s vocals are immense and when he lets rip you know your listening to something special.

Little Juniors Blue Flames - Feeling Good

Next up is a trio of cuts from Legendary Texas slide guitarist Blind Willie Johnson, a man truly ahead of his time in terms of musical ability. Overlook the raw productions as all three of these tracks were recorded during five sessions carried out during 1927-1930 for Columbia Records.

It’s cited that Blind Willie Johnson lost his sight when he was only seven years old. His father had beaten his mother after catching her with another man, in retaliation his mother threw lye in Willie’s eyes to punish his fathers actions.

He honed his distinct and powerful style whilst busking on the streets and seems to have two very different singing voices. The first is rough, raw and almost aggressive in nature, you can hear this in ‘You’ll Need Somebody On Your Bond’. The second is smooth and honeyed and examples can be heard on ‘Go To Me With That Land’, as well as ‘Let Your Light Shine On Me’, a track which has become somewhat of a Gospel standard.

Most of his recordings have church influenced lyrics, as was the norm for that time period. The recordings from the five known sessions also feature a female vocalist, whose angelic voice balances out Blind Willie Johnson’s rough tones. It is thought to be his first wife Willie B. Harris, although this, like many details of the mans life are fairly speculative as there are no solid records to fall back on. Blind Willie Johnson spent the last years of his life begging, busking and preaching before his house caught fire and burned to the ground. Too poor to do anything else he slept in the damp ruins and eventually died of pneumonia in 1947.

Blind Willie Johnson has been a huge influence to many artists from Bob Dylan, through to The White Stripes, who covered Johnson’s track ‘John The Revelator’. Its also worth noting that his music was included on the Voyager Golden Record that was sent up into space in 1977. Truly Soulful music from a remarkable man!

Blind Willie Johnson - You’ll Need somebody On Your Bond

Blind Willie Johnson - Go To Me With That Land

Blind Willie Johnson - Let Your Light Shine On Me

My next two tracks come from a slightly more recent artist! Seasick Steve is almost the modern day equivalent of Blind Willie Johnson, having spent a large portion of his life living rough, hand to mouth. His instruments are also basic, a three string guitar and a wooden box with a car license plate attached which he stamps on to provide percussion!

Both of the tracks I’ve pulled out come from his 2006 album ‘Dog House Music’, and are good examples of the style of blues he plays so well.

Seasick Steve - Cut My Wings

Seasick Steve - Fallen Off A Rock

Another Texas Bluesman, Jesse Powell is an extremely accomplished tenor sax player who made his bones with Louis Armstrong and Count Basie to name just two. ‘Walkin’ Blues (Walk Right In, Walk Right Out)’ features Fluffy Hunter, who I profess to knowing little about. Her risqué, yet playful vocals round up a great track.

Jesse Powell Orchestra - Walkin’ Blues (Walk Right In, Walk Right Out)

If you’re unaware of who Ray Charles is then you must have been living in a box somewhere! ‘(Night Time Is) The Right Time’ is the flip side to his 1960 single ‘Tell The World All About You’ released on Atlantic Records, the label he had great success with before moving to ABC in a big money deal. The song was originally recorded by Roosevelt Sykes back in 1937, Ray Charles lays a more upbeat spin on the record than the original version and released this with The Raelettes. Margie Hendricks provides the call and answer style female lead on the record. A truly great cut and possibly my favourite of Ray Charles’ many releases!

Ray Charles And The Raelettes - (Night Time Is) The Right Time

That about wraps it up for today, we’ll be doing our thing at La Havana Bar in Chichester tomorrow night. See the tabs at the top of the page for more information. So if you’re on the South Coast head on down for what will hopefully be another great night. For those that make it, see you out on the floor, for those that can’t we’ll be back after the weekend with more of the good stuff for you!