I picked up the Billy Lavender CD last week and it seems to be stuck in the CD player of my car. Not literally but figuratively. Every time the CD finishes it starts over and it starts off with Singing the Blues and before you know it I’ve listened to the whole CD again.

That’s how it started but now I’m finding I’m really hooked. I love a Memphis sound in the blues. While the Mississippi Delta is considered the birth place of the blues there is no doubt Memphis, the commercial center just north, was responsible for giving the rest of us access. I have a feeling there is a lot of great music in Memphis but it doesn’t leave often.

I plan to go to Memphis this summer and I’m thinking there is probably something wonderful about being in Memphis and that is probably what kept Billy Lavender a secret and also inspired this break out album that I think we’ll be hearing frequently as the media picks up on this talent. Here is a video of Memphis Livin by Billy Lavender. I wonder if its representative of the life Billy’s been living in Memphis singing the blues?

Billy Lavender’s Memphis Livin CD is a virtual showcase of many Memphis talents. There is hardly room for anything else on the CD back cover. Here are a few of the more recognizable names:

Vince Johnson - Harmonica and vocals

Dan Cochran - Bass

Tony Adams - Drums & Percussion

Russell Wheeler - B3 Organ & Piano

Blind Mississippi Morris - Harmonica (rated by Bluzharp magazine as one of the 10 best harmonica players in the world)

All in all this is a can’t miss combo which gives us all a taste of Beale Street, Memphis.

One more thing I must add. As many of you know I’m a big fan of eMusic and MP3s vs collecting CDs. Billy Lavender’s Memphis Living album is available on eMusic and if you’re new to the service you should be able to pick it up for free as part of your free no risk trial membership by clicking this banner:

Thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy the fine sounds of Billy Lavender.

Billy Lavender on myspace

Billy Lavender at I55 Productions

kellyf

Being part of an acoustic blues band myself I always look forward to the acoustic category for the Blues Foundation Awards. So for your, and my, enjoyment, here is the list of nominees along with some previews and links.

Acoustic Album of the Year Nominees

David Maxwell & Louisiana Red
You Got to Move

Maria Muldaur & her Garden of Joy
Good Time Music for Hard Times

Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women
Havin’ The Last Word

Samuel James
For Rosa, Maeve and Noreen

Various Artists
Things About Comin’ My Way
A Tribute to the music of the Mississippi Sheiks

Acoustic Artist of the Year Nominees

Annie Raines & Paul Rishell

Doug MacLeod

Guy Davis

Louisiana Red

Samuel James

For the shoppers out there here are the prices at Amazon.com

I’m a huge Tom Waits fan but it saddens me sometimes that his performing arts (as I think his current performances are best referred to) obscure the incredible musical talent in favor of his amazing creativity. Obviously both are infinitely enjoyable. So I listen to my old Tom Waits when I want to listen to music and I listen to the new Tom Waits when I want raw entertainment in the form of performing arts.

Tom is such a quotable character with his sly wit and poetic phrasing. I think the turning point for Tom’s performances are best summed up by a quote from the man himself. In Tom’s own words “Once you start singing through a bull horn its hard to go back”. What has driven him in the current direction is also better summarized by his statement “I only make new records because I get sick of the old one”.

Listening to new Tom Waits seems almost out of context to me. I find myself thinking you would have to know Tom’s musical past to appreciate where he is now and how he got there. The fact that he has new fans at all who don’t know his past is certainly proof he is appealing to a new audience who may not even appreciate his early works.

All that said my goal here is to introduce people to Tom Waits through three excellent Tom Waits albums. I believe these albums serve well to illustrate the progression in Tom’s musical path and possibly appreciate Tom, the performing artist, as he now appears. I’ve provided three widgets since the three albums are unique (as every Tom album is) and need to be absorbed independently and slowly like three fine wines.

I’d like to thank @zenuuatu up on Twitter for tweeting out this excellent Tom Waits performing Small Change (1977 Live) and inspiring this post. Be sure to check out Zenuuatu’s excellent youtube channel for some awesome tunes. Tell him WorldOfBlues sent you.

I could go on and on about Tom Waits, and I probably will. I’ve given him his own category here on the WorldOfBlues. Thanks for reading and leave me a note if you’d like.

So without further ado, the winners are:

Now thats some smooth blues music! I love it when people send me suggestions that are new to me. That certainly was the case when @loubassist introduced me to Arthur Adams. I can’t claim to be an expert given this is my first introduction to the music of Arthur Adams but, I can tell you I know what I like and I really like the smooth voice and a guitar style that goes with it so perfectly on this CD. I found several references to Adams being influenced and inspired by B.B. King and I have to say I can hear that pretty clearly. But there is also a very unique style to the vocals here smoother than most for sure and the guitar playing is not as busy as many (sometimes the music is the quite between the notes).

So one more thing. I actually got Stomp the Floor by Arthur Adams free from emusic and you can too. Right now emusic is actually offering 35 (not 25 like the ad says) free downloads with your first months trial membership. If you don’t like the selection from emusic you can unsubscribe within the first 30 days and keep the downloads free. I’m betting that you won’t want to quit though. I’ve been finding a ton of great blues music up on Emusic and I think you will too. Apparently their collection is up to 7 million MP3s now! Click the link below and sign up for a free trial, you won’t be sorry. If you’d like to learn more about my emusic findings click here to go to the worldofblues.com emusic category.

It was interesting to note that the records seemed cheaper new on the Amazon.ca Canadian site than on the Amazon.com US site. So for those of you into Neil Young and into vinyl here are some fine records to pick up on Amazon.ca.

Note that the most popular Neil Young records appear to have been re-issues at reasonable prices, just a bit more than you’d pay for the CD. Some others though are definitely in the category of “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”. I put some of the more obscure ones at the end of this posting just to illustrate the price range - sort of makes you want to scramble for the basement to see what you have there, doesn’t it.

Paul’s Myspace profile can be found at http://www.myspace.com/paulbattojr

Louis Armstrong’s Recording of King Oliver’s West End Blues was inducted to the the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974. This song, originally recorded in 1928, is about the West side of the French Quarter in New Orleans. It’s a magical tune about a magical place. If you spent any time in Nawlens you’ll be transported back there in an instant by watching and listening to this youtube video.

West End Blues appears on The Legendary Satchmo Vol. 4 which you can preview by clicking the widget at the top of this page. It is available from Amazon.com in MP3 format for only $6.99 or you can just pick up the song for $0.89 or you can get it as one of 25 FREE MP3s when you sign up for a trial subscription at eMusic.com by clicking the banner below. I hope you’ll pick up this tune and enjoy. As a side note I think buying commercial MP3s is the best way to support a lot of artists these days, but that’s another post I’ll have to write someday. Thanks for reading.

A special thanks to Dave Gross, a rising star on the blues scene, and also really fun to follow on Twitter @davegrossblues, for bringing this amazing song to my attention.

My experience has been that eMusic had an incredible selection of music but not always the latest releases. Emusic is a particularly good source for older releases which obviously includes a lot of blues. I’m really happy with my subscription. $7.99 a month entitles me to download 30 MP3s a month and review many blues artists for my blog. What’s it all got to do with free MP3 versions of Luther Allison’s new release you may ask? Well to my surprise Luther Allisions new CD “Songs From The Road” is available now on eMusic and since you get 25 free mp3s for signing up for a trial subscription I assume that means you’d be able to get this album for free (some restrictions apply so I can’t guarantee the availability). Anyway the trial is no risk. You can sign up, download your mp3s and quit the service without ever paying a cent. If you’re a music fan like me though, I’m pretty sure you’ll be very happy with emusic’s selection and stay subscribed to get the next 30 tunes.

If you’re looking for a little more information please do click this link to see some of my other posts documenting my emusic experience. If you think you’re up to signing up for the service click the emusic icon below and while you’re at it check out Colin Linden, Gerry Hundt, Eric Bibb and of course Luther Allison all available on emusic.com.

Paul writes: I was born in 1967 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. When people ask me if I’m from the south I say YES - south of Europe. Growing up in a non-musical family I had to walk in through the back door, so to speak, but all I ever knew was I just had to do this. I have been asked many times about my decision to make noise for a living and my answer has always been - for lack of a better idea. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do.
My father observed how i always reacted to music as a kid and bought me my first guitar at the age of 5 - I strummed the thing with my thumb, got a huge blister and put the thing away for seven years. Picked it up again at about twelve and never put it down again.
Discovering the blues was a big thing and once it grows on you it never lets you go. I have been messin’ around with music for twenty some years now - singing gospel music, big band music etc. but I always end up back with with the blues. Someone once said to me : “It’s like coming home. You may go many places but you always come back to your good ol’ easy-chair”

Thanks Paul, that was well put.

Those who know me know I have a passion for blues and also a keen curiosity about the blues all around the world. But, this was not what attracted me to seek out Paul. I didn’t really know anything about him other than the music on his myspace page. I was in the mood for some mellow jazz and Paul really struck that chord for me with the tunes on his myspace page.

Thanks Paul, we’ve never met but you made my morning coffee very enjoyable this morning. I hope we hear lots from you in the future. Keep us all posted here at the worldofblues.com.

Paul’s Myspace profile can be found at http://www.myspace.com/paulbattojr

ps. A recent video of Paul with some awesome blues