The Big Paws

The Big Paws 13/03/2010 – Listen Again

bounder — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:24:51 +0000

In which we’re half asleep really:

The Big Paws 13/03/2010 – Tracklisting

bounder — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:00:49 +0000

“Nom nom nom song” – ParryGrip
“Tainted Love” by The Inspiral Carpets
“A Stitch In Time” by The Smashing Pumpkins (it’s a free download)
“Die in the Summertime” by Manic Street Preachers

“The Ghost Who Walks (Live Acoustic)” by Karen Elson
“The Headmaster Ritual” by Lynit (it’s a free download)

Dick in a Box:
“Golden Green” by The Wonder Stuff

“Comme des enfants” (Le Matos Andy Carmichael remix) by Coeur de Pirate
“Moses” by Elizabeth Frazer
“It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)” by Phosphorescent
“Neon Noose” by Golden Triangle (it’s a free download)
“I Put A Spell On You” by Shane MacGowan and Friends

“Shallow Tears” by Light Asylum
“Faces in the Dark” by Generationals (it’s a free download)
Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour: “Messing Around The House” by Little Freddie King
“Don’t Look Down Or Back’ by Tunng
“Strachan” by The Hitchers

Songs to vacuum to: “Somebody To Love” by Jefferson Airplane

“Kill The Light” by Kitten (it’s a free download)
“Paradise Circus” by The Lilac Time

The Big Paws 13/03/2010 – Stuff we talked about

bounder — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:00:32 +0000

#dogsongs

Eat my shorts – Haiti fundraiser

DUMBO – Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass

Flatpack music docs

Flatpack in/on Wired

Brum Twestival

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour – Episode 2 – BJ’s Lounge, New Orleans

bounder — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:39:37 +0000

This week’s featured artist is Little Freddie King.

Born in New Orleans in 1940, Little Freddie is noted for his style known as ‘gut bucket blues’ — gutsy, lo-fi, stripped down, unpretentious.

Little Freddie’s 1970 recording Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King is believed to be the first electric blues album recorded in New Orleans.

Today, Little Freddie regularly performs monthly in BJ’s Lounge in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.

Little Freddie has a new CD out in March 2010 called ‘Gotta Walk With Da King’. It’s a ‘down and dirty straightforward, no-frills CD that captures real juke joint blues on a festival stage. Recorded live at the annual Thirsty Ear Festival in New Mexico’.

Episode 2 – BJ’s Lounge

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

Photo of Little Freddie King by Andrew Huff

Sweary News 13/03/2010

bounder — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:00:50 +0000

Wes on high speed rail, and about 10 pints by the sound of it:

Hitting Highway 61 in search of the blues

Gavin Wray — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:22:51 +0000

The Mississippi delta, the melting pot, a hot and humid brew of African, country and European sounds and rhythms. The south. The home. Where it all started.

I’m in New Orleans, Louisiana to start my blues heritage tour. Not quite an odyssey, but something akin to it.

New Orleans lies at the bottom end of Highway 61 — the Blues Highway — the popular route for blues performers travelling north from the Mississippi delta to seek fame and fortune in the northern Chicago metropolis.

The junction between Highway 61 and Highway 49 in Clarksdale, Mississipi is a famous crossroads. This is the place where, according to legend, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery over the guitar. Meeting at the crossroads at midnight, the Devil tuned Johnson’s guitar so that Johnson could play any song he wanted.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll drive north up Highway 61, stopping along the way to take in some sounds and interview characters from the local blues scene.

What was it like to hear Jimmy ‘Snooks’ Allen in a tiny bar in 1965?
Is there really a secret chord etched on the back of Elmore Jenson’s tombstone in Clarencetown?
Is it true that Thomas ‘Blind Boy’ Austin drove Eddie Fitch for over a year before Eddie’s manager discovered Austin couldn’t see?
I’m not a big drinker — can I still join the ‘12 bar blues’ club?
How do you eat a burger while pulling off a mean blues harp solo?

These are just some of the questions I’m hoping to find the answers to on this blues heritage tour.

How will I ride up Highway 61? In a chuffing fine car, that’s what: a red 1966 Ford Mustang.

Listen to interviews and music from the road trip each week on The Big Paws show from 6th March or subscribe to the podcast:

Episode 1

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

Subscribe to the podcast:

Archive Feed

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

bounder — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:00:56 +0000

A new regular feature starts next week for The Big Paws as our blues and soul expert travels up Highway 61 in a big fat red car — searching for the roots of blues.

You can hear the first episode right now (the full tracks from the blues legends are only available on The Big Paws, they’re restricted to clips on the podcast):

Episode 1

Gavin’s Blues Heritage Tour

Subscribe to the podcast:

Archive Feed

Another chance to hear the Brum Music Special on Saturday at 8am

bounder — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:46:53 +0000

One of our best shows was June’s Birmingham Music Month show with the lovely Jez Collins from the Birmingham Music Archive, and we’re broadcasting it again instead of a live show this Saturday (6/3) from 8am to 10am.

The show notes are here — and the tracklisting is here — so you can see what you’re in for.

We’re back live as usual next Saturday 13/3 — see you then.