Category: Music Life

Steve Goodman’s Debut Album: Steve Goodman (1971) – A Soundtrack for My Life!

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Steve Goodman’s Debut Album Became a Soundtrack for My Life!

I first discovered the magical, funny, and poignant music of Steve Goodman back in 1971, when his self-titled debut album came out. At the time, I was a student at the University of Florida — so I don’t think I heard about him from Gene Shay’s folk show in Philly. I’m pretty sure it was the liner notes on the back of the album that pulled me in. That’s where I read this from John Prine:

I been listening to the radio since I was nine years old. I figured I could see songs better than most people listen to them. The first time I heard Steve Goodman on the radio, I knew I was listening to a tall skinny cat with a little beard singing the best damn train song I ever heard. Two months later, in the back room of The Earl of Oldtown, I met a short stout fellow with no beard who wrote and sang the best train song I ever heard. His name was Steve Goodman. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
– John Prine, 1971

Since I had already discovered John Prine, that quote alone would’ve been enough to sell me on the album.

A Who’s Who of Folk and Country Greats

But wait — there was more. A who’s who of American folk and country players were listed on the back cover. The lineup included:

  • Bob Dylan – piano on “Election Year Rag”
  • Kris Kristofferson – backing vocals
  • John Prine – backing vocals
  • Vassar Clements – fiddle
  • Charlie McCoy – harmonica
  • David Briggs, Kenny Buttrey, Norbert Putnam – Nashville A-Team players
  • Also: Grady Martin, Ben Keith, Donnie Fritts, Martha McCrory, and a full brass section!

I already knew Dylan, Kristofferson, and Prine — and I recognized names like Vassar Clements and Charlie McCoy. I figured even if I didn’t love the songs, the music would be top-notch.

Spoiler: I loved the songs too.

🎶 My Favorite Tracks from Steve Goodman’s Debut

While I love all the songs on the album, Side Two was the one I played the most (yes, I think everyone always had a favorite side on an album). Here are six of my favorite songs from Steve Goodman (1971):

Side One

  • The I Don’t Know Where I’m Going But I’m Goin’ Nowhere in a Hurry Blues
    This one pops up in the jukebox in my head all the time. “It was on a Sunday morning about a hundred years or so…”
  • Donald & Lydia
    A beautiful, heartfelt cover of the John Prine original.
  • You Never Even Call Me By My Name
    Later made famous by David Allan Coe — but this is where it started.

Side Two

  • City of New Orleans
    The “best damn train song” Prine ever heard. And one that helped define Goodman’s legacy.
  • Turnpike Tom
    Another one that’s always in my mental jukebox — I just love the story.
  • Yellow Coat and Would You Like to Learn to Dance
    These show Steve’s softer, tender side. Both are among my favorite ballads by anyone.

Who Was Steve Goodman?

Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was a folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote “City of New Orleans,” co-wrote “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” and penned the Chicago Cubs anthem “Go Cubs Go.”

Goodman passed away from leukemia in 1984, but left behind one of the most enduring catalogs in American folk music.

Links For the Further Exploration of the Music of Steve Goodman

AllMusic

Facebook – Fans & Friends

Wikipedia

Amazon

🎧 Listen to Steve Goodman’s Debut Album Playlist

This album has been part of my life for over 50 years. Every time I hear one of these songs, I’m back in Gainesville, with the volume up and the liner notes wide open.

The Fifty Years Later Playlists (Then and Now Part I )

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Fifty year plus years ago, I was discovering new artists, who would become lifelong companions. Today, many of them are still making music – and I’m still listening. This playlist The Fifty Years Later Playlist looks back at where they started.. and where they are now.

The seeds of this playlist were sown on Monday of this week (May 26th) when I used my 20% off Holiday discount at Goodwill to buy a JVC Dual Cassette deck for $8.00. As a result, over the next several days I searched for my old cassette tapes.

One of them I found was a Charlie Mussellwhite 1969 release Tennessee W0man. Now I know I didn’t buy the tape in 1969. It’s more likely I bought the tape in the late 1990s when Tunes, store in Marlton NJ, my sons and I used to frequent, was clearing out its tape inventory. As I was listening to the album I reflected on the fact t that a few days previously I had been listening to Charlie’s recent release Look Out Highway. 

Anyway that thought started  me thinking about all the musicians I started to listen to in the late 60s early 70s that are still out there making great music and albums! Those thoughts lead me to create a playlist!! And here it is!! What I tried to do was start with two songs from each artist from the 60s and then I chose two songs from their most recent albums!

The Fifty Years Later Playlist (Part I)

Charlie Mussellwhite

While I don’t have a lot of  Charlie’s music in my library,  I have always admired his harp playing. I‘ve enjoyed blues harp since I first heard Sonny Terry way back in the 70s.

Then

      From: Tennessee Woman

  •  “Tennessee Woman” – How could  I not start the playlist with anything but the very song and album that inspired it.
  • “Blue Feeling Today“

An album on my fifty years later playlist
     

From Look Out Highway

Now

I am still getting to know these two songs but Charlie’s vocals and harp playing are as great as they ever were!

  • “Look Out Highway”- the title track of Charlie’s latest
  • “Hip-Shakin’ Mama” –
 

Jerry Jeff Walker

I followed Jerry Jeff’s career from the first album Mr. Bojangles to the last album It’s About Time. (1969-2018). Along the way in addition to placing a bunch of songs in the “Jukebox in my head” Jerry Jeff also introduced me to : David Bromberg, Guy Clark, Tom Russell, Chris Wall, Ray Wylie Hubbard and the great Lloyd Maines. And probably many others!

Then

          From Mr. Bojangles

  • “Gypsy Songman” – there’s better to start with when considering whose music I’ve been listening to for fifty years than Jerry Jeff.  And “Gypsy Songman” certainly captures the spirit of Jerry Jeff. I have rocked all of my grandchildren to “Mr. Bojangles”. The other day we were visiting my fifth grandchild Luca and my wife handed a crying Lucas to me. I started rocking and singing Mr. Bojangles and he quickly stopped crying. The power of Jerry Jeff.

From Drifting Way of Life

  • “Ramblin’ Scramblin”  – one thing I’ll probably never do is rock a grandchild to Ramblin’ Scramblin”.   I first heard this song many years ago – I’d never heard anything like it, and I immediately loved it!
An album on my fifty years later playlist

         From It’s About Time

Now

  • “My Favorite Picture of You” – through the year JJW covered several Guy Clark songs and this one found it’s way onto JJW’s last album and he made it his own in 2018, when JJW covered it on It’s About Time, two years before JJW passed in 2020.  Here’s a link to Guy’s version.
  • “ That’s the Way I Play”  – just a nice JJW song.

Tom Rush

While I didn’t discover Tom Rush’s music until he was several years into his career, I’ve been a fan since  The Circle Game was released in 1968. And while there was a big gap in the release of a studio recording in his career (from 1974‘s Ladies Love Outlaws to 2009’s. What I Know, Tom has never stop performing! His last two albums Voices (2018) and 2024’s Gardens Old , Flowers New are both terrific albums. He has aged like a fine wine!

Then

From The Circle Game…

  • “Urge for Going” – – Tom’s album The Circle Game is high on the list of my All-Time favorite Albums and it’s mainly because of his covers of then unknown artists like Joni Mitchell who penned both “Urge for Going” and the title song
  • “The Circle Game” – a brilliant cover -nuff said

 

An album on my fifty years later playlist

From Gardens Old, Flowers New

Now

I’m still getting to know these two new songs, but they are both vintage Tom Rush…..

  • “The Harbor”
  • “Sailing”

Eric Andersen

Like Tom Rush I didn’t discover Eric Andersen’s music until he released Blue River in 1972. At that point Eric was an established fixture in the Greenwich Village Music scene and had released six or seven albums. Eric says this about that period of his life:

I was documenting a whole other emotional and interior world moving through the ’60s and beyond,” he says. “My songs dealt more with inner perceptions, views, and feelings — songs that were perhaps the precursors to those of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. [Greenwich Village] felt
exciting because you knew it was a historical, breakthrough time, and it was amazing to belong to such a vibrant era.”

At one point, Cohen even told him that one of his songs inspired him to start writing and performing. Read More

Again my musical journey with Eric started with Blue River (1972) and has continued to today. Like Tom Rush, Eric had a gap in his musical career when he was in Europe. There was a fourteen year gap between Be True To You and Ghosts on the Road (1974-1989). And while his latest album Dance of Love and Death is a far cry from his Greenwich Village Days it is an outstanding album, in my humble opinion,

Then

From Blue River

  • “Is it Really Love at All” – this is one of my favorite songs of all-time. It’s just a great song.
  • “Wind and Sand” – another favorite – especially the last line…..
 

An album on my fifty years later playlist
From Dance of Love and Death

Now

  • “Dance of Life and Death”
  • “After This Life”

So check these artists and songs out!

Got a similar story or favorite artist who’s still going strong? I’d love to hear it.

As for me, I’m already at work on Part II of this playlist, which will feature some of the rock and blues artists who’ve grown older, wiser — and are still absolutely worth listening to!

Links for the Further Explorations of These Artists

Charlie Musselwhite
Jerry Jeff Walker
Tom Rush
Eric Andersen

The Fifty Years Later Playlist

 

Livingston Taylor – a Long Time Favorite Revisited

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Lingston Taylor - debut album

So all this writing about older albums that I don’t have in my library  has made me think about favorite albums I do have and have loved and listened to for years. Well, today I decided to listen to one of those albums I’ve loved for years.  I gave Livingston Taylor’s self-titled debut album. And I still love it after 54 years! Now Liv’s brother James’ Sweet Baby James album came first and was played a lot. I bet Liv’s album has been played more over the years.

About Livingston Taylor – Livingston Taylor

For me there is not a bad song on this album.

It would be difficult not to compare Livingston Taylor’s self-titled 1970 debut to his brother’s second solo release, Sweet Baby James, as the latter certainly brought attention to the former, but the Jon Landau-produced disc crafted in Macon, GA, is a world unto itself. Ten originals by Taylor along with one cover, the Earl Greene and Carl Montgomery country standard “Six Days on the Road,” make for a pleasantt

Livingston Taylor (born November 21, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Boston and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he is the brother of singer-songwriter James Taylor, singer-songwriter Kate Taylor, singer Alex Taylor, and innkeeper and singer Hugh Taylor.[[2

He has had top 40 hits such  “Carolina Day,” “Get out of Bed,” “I Will Be in Love with You” and “I’ll Come Running,” to “I Can Dream of You” and “Boatman,”( the last two recorded by his brother James), Livingston’s creative output has continued unabated. His musical knowledge has inspired a varied repertoire, and he is equally at home with a range of musical genres—folk, pop, gospel, jazz. You can also find Livingston performing with a full symphony  orchestea.

About His Debut Album and More……

I don’t think  there are many albums that I can sing along  to every song in the album, but this one I can. From the opening song “Sit On Back” to the closing  “Thank You Song”. I love them all!
Of course the are a few that play on the “jukebox on my mind” more than others. Like “Packet of Good Times” that I sing to Emma when I’m rocking her to sleep. And “Six Days on the Road” during car trips.

After his 19770 debut album  Livingston Taylor., his next three albums Liv ((1971), Over the Rainbow (1973) and 3-Way Mirror (1978) made it into my vinyl collection. Of those albums Liv is my favorite. Although  I do love his cover of “Over the Rainbow”

Between 1978 and 1988 Live released two Albums Echoes a compilation album and Man’s Best Friend a children’s album. Since then he has released seven more albums. Of those seven albums Life is Good (1988),  (1996) and There You are Again ((2006) are in my musical library. And after listening yesterday to 2010’s Last Alaskan Moon I will be on the lookout for that album!

Artist’s Website
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The Playlist

Here are six of my favorite Livingston Taylor songs, Well, five and one that will be!

Si Khan Home & The 30 Day Vinyl Challenge

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So the other day I was  watching an Instagram post from a young woman. She was listening to songs from her father’s album collection. He had resently passed away.. Now whether or not that’s true or how long ago that was, I don’t know.

Anyway.  it started me thinking about all the new albums I’ve found at Goodwill and the Princeton Record Exchange over the last year and how I haven’t been listening to them!Then I read a post somewhere about collectors who rotate through their albums on a regular basis.

As a result, I’ve created a 30 day challenge for me to randomly listen to at least one album a day for my newest purchases. I have most of those albums in crates grouped by genre, with the albums in alphabetical order. So I picked a crate and then used a random number generator to pick the album. The number was 26 and the album was Home from Si Khan.

I must admit I don’t know mush about Si Khan. I always heard his music on The Gene Shay show in Philly. I liked what I heard but never sought out his music. The probably may be that the majority of his music was release after 1980. Which means it coincided with my parenting years!

However, from what I read about Si at AllMusic I should have….

Discovering Si Kahn

The political balladry of Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton, and Phil Ochs is reflected in the songs of North Carolina-based singer/songwriter Si Kahn. Although his love songs are nearly as effective, Kahn’s greatest strides have come with his lyrical looks at the unemployed, the racially abused, the sexually harassed, and the working-class oppressed. Kahn’s songs, including “Go to Work on Monday” and “Aragon Mill,” have become labor union anthems.

Si Kahn (born April 23, 1944) and has released 21 albums over the course of his career.

Si Khan is about more than just music….

Kahn’s prolific output includes more than music and songs. He has written three plays including, Mother Jones, based on the life of the early union organizer, which featured Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers in the title role when produced in the early ’90s.  Kahn has also authored two books on political organizing: How People Get Power and Organizing.

Recorded during a 1993 concert, “In My Heart: Live in Holland” celebrated the 20th anniversary of Kahn’s first album and featured several of his best-known tunes. Profits from Kahn’s concerts continue to be donated to Grassroots Leadership, a political organization he founded in the mid-’70s.

About Grassroots Leadership

Grassroots Leadership founder Si Kahn gothis start as a young activist and organizer in the Southern Civil Rights Movement as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Si founded Grassroots Leadership in 1980 as a resource and training center for social justice organization building. Initially based in North Carolina, Grassroots Leadership worked throughout the South to help build progressive, multi-racial organizations to build power and create just organizations. Grassroots Leadership was one of the few organizations in the 1980s and 1990s to articulate in the board bylaws that no less than half of the board would be women and no less than half would be People of Color.  Read More

My Bottom Line

The bottom line is I need to listen to the other Si Khan albums I bought and seek out more albums! So check out his music and his grassroots activism!

 

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music and More of Si Khan

Artist’s Website
Facebook
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Amazon

 

Robert Jon & the Wreck – Red Moon Rising

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Roberet John and the Wreck - Red Moon Rising

Ok yesterday I was browsing on Spotify when spotted a recommendation for me. The recommendation was for “Rager” a single release from Robert Jon & the Wreck. The single also included “Hate to See You Go” . After listening to the songs and liking them a lot I checked out their Spotify home page and saw they released a full album Red Moon Rising back in June of this year. So I decided to check it out! I liked it also and this morning it became the soundtrack for my granddaughter  Emma’s walk! Here’s what I discovered about the band.

About Robert Jon & the Wreck

Robert Jon & The Wreck are a Southern California band which has taken the Southern Rock sound and made it their own. The band was formed in 2011 and the members include: Robert Jon Burrison (lead vocals, guitar), Andrew Espantman (drums, background vocals), Henry James Schneekluth (lead guitar, background vocals), Warren Murrel (bass) and Jake Abernathie (keyboards).

They have played  all over the world and have shared the stage with the likes of bills with talent the likes of Joe Bonamassa, Blackberry Smoke, Peter Frampton, Joanne Shaw Taylor, The Mavericks, Buddy Guy and Rival Sons.

Red Moon Rising is the band’s eleventh release and appears to have a little harder edge than their previous releases. At there website I read that  their release Shine A Light On Me Brother’  lead to a collaboration with Blues Rock icon  Joe Bonamassa’s Journeyman Records. That collaboration  has lead to new and exciting music. Their 2023 release  ‘Ride Into The Light’ is a  dynamic, multi-faceted album. It features material produced by GRAMMY-Award winners Don Was (Bonnie Raitt, The Stones, John Mayer) and Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Blackberry Smoke, Rival Sons), Kevin Shirley (Iron Maiden, The Black Crowes), along with guitar virtuosos Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith.  Wow! I’ll be listening to that soon!

About Red Moon Rising

Red Moon Rising is a hard driving blues Rock album with lots of great vocals and soaring guitars. It also has some quieter moments, like the closing track  “Give Love” . I slightly prefer the hard driving tracks. Bur I’m sure the slower tracks will grow on me the more I listen to the album.

So Check it Out! (Actually, with 67.2K listeners per month a lot of people already have checked them out!) So check out Red Moon Rising!   As for me, I’ve got a lot of back catalog to check out! Anyone want to recommend where to start?

 

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The Video

Here’s “Ballad of a Broken Hearted Man” from Red Moon Rising  by Rbobert Jon & the Wreck

 

Tab Benoit – I Hear Thunder Soundtrack for a Dental Trip

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I Hear Music Tab Benoit

So, I had a 35 minute drive Monday morning to get to a dental appointment, to have a wisdom tooth extracted. It was a good time to listen to one of the three blues albums that have been in my music rotation. I chose I Hear Thunder from Tab Benoit. And I’m glad I did! The more I listen to the album the more I like it

 

About Tab Benoit

If you are unfamiliar with Tab Benoit he is a Louisiana-based singer, guitarist, and environmental preservationist. His music has a Cajun-inflected blues-rock sound. While he first burst onto the blues music scene with his 1992 release Nice & Warm on the Vanguard label. I think I first  found Tab Benoit’s music around 2010, when I started blogging.

The first album I picked up was Night Train to Nashville. I can remember listening to that album on my way to many a job site for my job. Since part of my job was delineating wetlands his music and actions to protect wetlands struck a chord with me.

Anyway, since then many of Tab’s album  have found their way into my music library. The last one was  Medicine released 13 years ago! Today, as I was researching for this post, I discovered the reason for the gap was tha Tab had to free himself from a horrible record deal with Justice Records.

Justice Records  issued his first five albums. However, the label folded in the late ’90s. Tab’s contract and catalog transferred first to Vanguard, then Telarc, and finally Concord. All without his consent. Finally after releasing Medicine in 2011, he simply refused to issue another album without adequate compensation.

During the time span between Medicine and I Hear Thunder he founded Voice of the Wetlands, an organization promoting awareness of the receding coastal region of Louisiana. In addition,  created Tab Benoit’s Lagniappe Music Cafe, situated in downtown Houma.

For the duration of this period, Benoit still performed at local and regional gigs. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival issued two of his live recordings from the event in 2016 and 20.

In 2017 he founded  Whiskey Bayou Records. The label currently is home to a variety of artist including: Jeff McCarty, Alastair Greene, Eric Johanson, Dash Rip Rock, Eric McFadden, Damon Fowler, and JP Soars.

About I Hear Thunder

Now let’s get back to the aforementioned, I Hear Thunder. Currently the album is  number  8? On the roots music Report’s Blues Chart. I don’t think it will be long before it will be number 1! It’s a winner all round great songs, great vocals and great guitars. All ten of the tracks are Tab Benoit originals. Four songs were written by Tab alone and the remainder were cowritten with either Anders Osborne or George Porter Jr or both.

While I’m starting to like all of the tracks on the album. After the first couple of listens my favorites were “ I Hear Thunder”, “Still Gray” and “Watching the Gators Roll In”

The bottom line is check it out now! As for me I’m going back and listen to some of the earlier albums I have from Tab Benoit!

You can read a more complete review at AllMusic   Complete Album review at Allmusic

Artist’s Website
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Here’s the title track from I Hear Music

 

 

 

Zac Harmon was great! The Run not so much

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So more and more I am going to make this more a true Weblog! And by that I mean I’m going to make it more about what’s happening in my life, I will still be writing about books, music and turning back my biological clock. However, I usually struggle with analyzing why I like a book or even an album, so I have a hard time writing a review type post. I don’t like to write a complete analysis of each song on an album or a deep analysis of each book i read. I like to write a little about what the book is about, along with a little about the author. Hopefully, the posts I write may lead the reader to a new author or musician! With all that being said let’s see what happened today!

A Morning Walk/Run 

My last full run was about two weeks ago. When I started the run the plan was to run the 2,5 mile course I ran on that last run. However, soon after I started even though I was doing okt mi, I just didn’t have it. So I chose to walk about mid-way through the first half mile. From that point on I ran a little then walked a little. I ran/walked the first mile in 14:24 and the second in 14:59, Then I walked most of the last .55 mile in 16:19. The overall pace for the run was 15:02. If I had been paying attention I would have picked up the pace a little to get under 15 min/mile pace.

The Soundtrack – Floreada’s Boy By Zac Harmon

Floreada’s Boy has been in my music rotation  for a few weeks now and I like it more each time I listen to the album. Currently, the album made a big jump on the Roots Music Report this week. It rose from number 44 to No 3!Ir wouldn’t surprise me if it was No 1 next week. Zac sums up Floreada’s Boy as follows…

Floreada’s Boy is a reflection of my 50 years of musical performance. From the juke joints of Mississippi to stages all over the world. Not bad for an old countryests on Floreada;s Bo boy.

The Zac Harmon Band includes: Nate Robinson guitar, Gino Inglehart drums, and Corey Lacey on keyboards. Guests on Floreada’s Boy include: Texas Horns, Caleb Quaye, Sue Ann Carwell and Munyungo Jackson.

From Frank Matheis’s Review at Living  Blues

Every song on Floreada’s Boyis a keeper. On the blues side, Harman kicks it into overdrive with slashing guitar and the horns to bring you firecrackers like Big Dog Blues, a deep blues that could take its place right next to the best classics of the genre. There is plenty of funk, as in Let It Slide and Stress.

On the soul side there are five beautiful songs, most notably the languid and slow That’s the Way I Feel about Cha, with a distinct 1970s vibe featuring the great SueAnn Carwell. Never Forget is a gut-wrenching, broken-heart love song that could have fit perfectly on a Marvin Gaye or Ray Charles record. The blues has always had something important to say, and Zac Harmon is saying it as clearly as ever. He closes the album with the stunningly heavy, powerful, socio-critical, anti-gun violence song Stop the Killing. If he had recorded nothing but that poignant and impactful song, so imperative in our time, that alone would stand as a masterpiece, his magnum opus. If only people took it to heart. Stop the Killing should win every songwriting award on the planet if there is any justice. Sing it from the rooftops. Read More at Living Be albumlues

The Bottom Line

Floreada’s Boy is a triple treat for me. First great songs,, Second great vocals and finally great guitar work! So check it out!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Blues of Zac Harmon

Artist’s Website
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Here is the closing track “Stop the Killing” the closing track on Floreada’s Boy…

 

106 Miles to Chicago – The B Christopher Band – Keeps Me Running!

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The Nerdy Details as I Try to Start Running Again!

Ok so over the last two weeks I have semii-started to run again. I say semi because I have only run three times since July 26th.  Oh, and I had a stress test on August 5th. The first two runs were actually run/walks. On both of those runs I basically ran a little and then walked a little.

On the July 26th run I covered 2.1 miles in 32:27. That calculates to a 15:30 min/mile pace. However, during the run I ran for 14:45 minutes and walked for 17:41 minutes.

Likewise on my July 28th run I walked and ran but did a little better. I covered 2.68 miles in 39:36 for a 14:46 min/mile pace. However, during this run I actually ran more than I walked. I ran for 21:29 minutes and walked for 18:04 minutes.

Finally, on my August 11 run I did better still. On that run I covered 2.16 miles in 32′:53 for a pace somewhat slower than the preceding runs. The final pace was !5:13 min/mile. The good thing though about this run was that I ran (ok,jogged)  for 28:43 minutes while only walking for 4:07 minutes. I ran he whole first mile. Then I walked a quarter mile and almost ran the second mi le. Unfortunately I calculated how far I needed to run to get that last mile and came up a little short!

I’m planning on running again tomorrow morning and I’ll bore you with the details after the run! My goal may be to run for 30 minutes with no walking! Wish me luck!

The Soundtrack  August 11 Run – The B Christopher Band

The soundtrack for the majority of the run was the latest release from The B Christopher Band – 106 Miles to Chicago. The last time an album from the B Christopher Band was used as a soundtrack for a run was back in 2019. when I was a soon to be 68-year -old. The run was a 4.16 mile run at an average pace of 10:28 min/mile. You can read about it here.  Oh, how I long for those days!

About 106 Miles to Chicago

Anyway back to these days. Well I knew that there were a lot  of old songs on this album like n”Hey,Bartender “{, “She caught the Katy”, Sweet Home Chicago” and “Gimme Some Lovin’.”  But the reference to the Blues Brothers in the album’s title flew right over my head!  Anyway here’s the quote that provided the title to this album that is a tribute to the Blues Brothers!

Elwood:  It’s a hundred and six miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses. Jake: Hit it.

B Christopher is a fantastic guitarist and his band in this album is pretty dam good. It includes: Eddie Testa on lead vocals, Anton Fig on drums, Nick Douglas on bass and backing vocals. Bruce Katz on keys Andy Snizter on tenor and baritone sax, Ryan Keberle on trombone, Tony Kadleck on trumpet,Sharlotte Gibson provides backing vocals, and Studebaker John adds harmonica.

Additionally, Original Blues Brothers member Tom “Bones” Malone plays baritone sax on ‘Gimme Some Lovin’”,

The only bad thing about the album  is it only contains seven songs. And it is only 26 minutes and change long!  Anyway it is definitely and album that should be checked out!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of The B Christopher Band

Artist’s Website
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Here’s the opening track from 2106 miles to Chicago  “Hey, Bartender”

Toronzo Cannon Keeps Me Upbeat on My Run/Walk

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So, as I’ve written previously over the last year, particularly from September to June I only ran sporadically. And I’ll tell you that the summer is not an easy time for this 73 year old to start over! Anyway the way that I am trying to restart my running is by both running and walking, Basically, I’ll run about a half mile and then walk a quarter mile and keep that switching going for about 30 minutes or more. It also turns out to be running until my heart rate gets up to about 140 bpm and then walking until it drops back to 110 bpm or lower.  Anyway, here are the runs and the soundtrack Shut Up &Play from Toronzo Cannon

The Runs

Anyway I ran last Friday 7/26 I covered 2.09 miles in 32:27 for a 15:30 /mi pace. Overall, I ran for 14:45 and walked for 17:41. On Sunday I did a little better. I covered 2.68 miles in 39:36 for an average pace of 14:46/mi. The good thing was that my time running was 21:29 and walking time only 18:04. In addition on Friday my average heart rate was 117 BPM  and my max heart rate was 1369 bpm, While on Sunday my average heart rate was 125 bpm with a maximum of 151 (‘ during my old man sprint at the end – lol.  So I know it will take some time to get back running fairly well, but at least if I improve on each run I’ll be happy!

The Soundtracks – Shut Up & Play – Toronzo Cannon

The soundtrack for Friday’s run was Shut Up & Play the latest release from Chicago blues artist Toronzo Cannon.  From his website……

“I want my songs to be heard and experienced, not just listened to,” says cliché-defying, internationally beloved Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon. With his richly detailed, truth-telling original songs, blistering, inventive guitar work and impassioned vocals, Cannon is on the cutting edge of today’s contemporary blues scene and is known as one of the genre’s most creative artists. His sound is inspired by his heroes, including Hound Dog Taylor, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Albert King, Son Seals and Jimi Hendrix. On his third Alligator Records album, Shut Up And Play!, Cannon blazes his own path with 11 emotionally-charged originals. From serious to humorous, his imaginative songs are fueled by his powerful, cathartic guitar solos and his soulfully authoritative voice.

Toronzo wrote all of the twelve tracks on the album and he says this about his songs……

“I write what I know, what I feel,” Cannon says, “I like to put myself in the shoes of the subjects of my songs. This record is about the things going on in my life since 2019–it’s a document of what I’ve seen and been through, but the stories are universal. And it’s my way to get past negative things and keep my own sanity. Listen to the lyrics. I am a Black man in America. These are NOT protest songs. I try to create honest, common sense understanding with my songs.”

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that Shut Up & Play is a terrific album and one that should be in every blues lovers collection, My favorite tracks on the album include: “Had to Go Through it to Get to It”, “Can’t Fix the World”,  “Got Me by the Short Hairs” and the title track. So check it Out!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Toronzo Cannon

Artist’s Website
Instagram
Twitter
YouTube
Amazon

Here’s the title track “Shut up & Play”……

Jack Williams – Across the Winterline – A favorite!

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So I started off Saturday morning by deciding I would listen to some music from each of the music genres I listen to most often. Sometimes it would be new music and sometimes music that,s been in my music library for a long time.

Discovering Jack Williams

I actually picked an album that’s been in my library since the late 90s early 00s. Jack Williams’ 1997 release Across the Winterline. I bought the CD in the bargain bin at Tunes in Mount Laurel, NJ. I bought it at a time when my sons and I would go to Tunes almost every week. They were in their teens and I was getting back into buying music for me!

Anyway I fell in love with Jack’s guitar playing and his songs about life in the south i’ve been a fan since then .

The Music of Jack Williams

From Jack’s website

Jack Williams’ music has its , roots in his native South Carolina. Additionally, it has been shaped by his 65-year career. Along the way Jack has played folk, rock, jazz, R&B, classical and the popular music of the 30s, 40s and 50s.

He is counted among the most dynamic performers of his day– Dave Humphreys of Two-Way Street Coffeehouse in Downer’s Grove, IL.says Jack is“…one of the most enlightened and entertaining performers I’ve ever encountered“

Jack is considered a “musician’s musician”, an uncommonly unique guitarist, a writer of vivid songs with a strong sense of place, and a storyteller in an old Southern tradition who further illustrates each tale with his guitar

Buzz from his website

“…. his artistry… is nothing short of amazing. Dazzling picking, expressive voice, unique and interesting songs. He is a showman in the best sense of the word and just wowed our audience. I think they would have followed him anywhere.”
Rich Warren, WFMT “Midnight Special”, Chicago IL

I posted the above stuff from his website because they can tell you about Jack better than I can! All I can say he’s great and listen to his wonderful music! As for me, I need to check out and get a couple of his recent CDs

Artist’s Webstie
Facebook
Youtube
Jack’s Store

The Video

Here’s Jack performing a song from Across the Winterliine “Mama Lou” One of my favorites>