Music Discoveries and Recommendations

[Garth Osborn]

I thought it might be interesting to start a thread about music in general and blues in particular. What other COBS members are listening to and enjoying.

My first recent discovery is a 2005 CD by Robin Trower called Another Days Blues. Trower is an amazing blues player. And the vocals by Davey Pattison are quite reminiscent of the late, great James Dewar, who played bass and sang with Trower for many years. There is really only one song on the CD that has that real Hendrixy-vibe that permeated Bridge of Sighs. Trower's phrasing and tone are incredible. A real treat for any blues fan.

[BoogieKing Steve]

FYI...February 19 in Portland at the Roseland, Robin Trower will be there along with Tab Benoit. Interesting combination.

[BoogieKing Steve]

I have some favorites that I am playing on my radio show...a CD with a guitar guy from Italy named Maurizio Pugno featuring Sugar Ray Norcia on the harp and doing most of the vocals, entitled "That's What I Found Out." This is a great CD. Arsen Shomakhov, a Russian guitar slinger who won the Helena (King Biscuit) blues festival emerging artist competition has a CD entitled "Dangerous." Another fine exhibition of guitar playing. OK...blues from Italy and Moscow (no...not Idaho, but Moscow,Russia). So let's get closer to home...The Ty Curtis Band's "Stubborn Mind" is the first CD by this 20 YO blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Damn...20 years old!! He has added Hank Shreve (another 20 YO) to his band playing harp. OK...so you are probably saying...20 YOs...playing the blues HaHa!! OK...some more info. Ty is from Salem and Hank from down here my way close to Springfield. They have the stuff for sure. The band is excellent and so is the CD. I am sending a CD to Barb for review...

[BoogieKing Steve]

Barb

Nothing like hearing him live! Check out where he is playing and take a road trip! I know he will be doing a parking lot thing at Salem Harley Davidson (they sponsor him a little) in the spring I think...but he is around just about every weekend. Ty and his band are excellent!

[Charlie DeMo]

Hey Garth, can you file share that CD. I saw Trower back in 71 when 'Bridge of Sighs' was released and as blown away then. I thought he just faded away. charly

[Garth Osborn]

Charly,

I"m an idiot when it comes to file sharing, etc. All I can say is I'll try to get a copy to you. It's modern blues, all guitar-based, of course. But some really amazing playing. Trower always was a blues-based guitarist. This straight forward CD shows just how excellent he really is.

[Garth Osborn]

My latest discovery is not really a discovery at all. Most folks know of my admiration for Mark Knopfler, who fronted the Dire Straits band for many years. I recently purchased All The Live Roadrunning, which has a CD and a DVD of a concert he performed in collaboration with Emmylou Harris...she of the early 70's country rock set in LA. Emmylou has always been pegged mostly as a country singer, though her sweet, clear voice is more folk music in origin.

Anyway, it was a treat for me to see Knopfler play an amazing array of guitars with the world class band he had assembled. Remember, he became famous with Dire Straits for his pure Stratocaster tones (remember Sultans of Swing?). Now he plays a guitar for the tones it lends to a particular song. On this DVD, he plays slide on a Danelectro, plays a couple different Les Pauls, a Gretsch, a couple different Strats, a Telecaster, the National steel bodied resonator and Martin acoustic.

The other guitarist in his band, Richard Bennett, plays a variety of instruments as well, but a Strat plugged into a Vox AC-30 amp produced the most luscious, sparkly clean Strat tones you can imagine.

The real thrill for me is to see this large band (7 or 8 strong) play some of the mellower songs that Knopfler has written, as well as a couple Emmylou tunes. You gotta be GOOD to play that type of music well, and to let the song come first. That's what I wish I could find in Bend...a few musicians who are all about the SONG and are able to put the "loud solo twice thru in every song" stuff somewhere else.

I'd like nothing better than to just play guitar parts and let someone else do the vocals, and let the dynamics of the song shine thru. It takes a commitment to the song to play a part and leave your ego out of it and not worry whether you play a solo or not.

[Garth Osborn]

I'd like to share an important musical discovery (important to me) from 35 years ago...the day I discovered Rory Gallagher. Geez, I feel old!

On Friday night there used to be a late night TV show called In Concert with Don Kirshner. Kirshner would give a brief intro of that evening's musical guests. My twin brother and I had a few friends over to the house as Mom and Dad were out of town visiting relatives. I was really excited because the featured act that particular evening was the Allman Brothers Band. They were my absolute favorite band at that time. This was about a year after Duane Allman had died. I believe Les Dudek was playing guitar along with Dickey Betts in the band. It was late 1972 or early 1973.

A band whom I don't recall opened the show. Then another artist came on before my beloved Allman Brothers Band. I was saying stuff like, "who the hell is this guy? Who has ever heard of Rory Gallagher?"

Rory came on with a lean, mean 3-piece power trio and proceeded to unleash the most fiery guitar playing and singing I had ever heard. That battered old Strat left an indelible impression in my mind, as did the way he could play a scorching lead and sing at the same time. He pulled a slide out of his hip pocket and ripped some incredible slide passages, then stashed the thing back in his pocket like it was nothing. He added a little showmanship and was like a runaway locomotive on the stage. His band absolutely rocked and the audience was thrilled. I remember sitting there a bit dumbfounded at what I had just seen and heard.

When the Allman Brothers were introduced, Gregg Allman said something to the effect of, "We'd like to thank whoever put us on behind Rory Gallagher," knowing that Gallagher had already stolen the show.

At the time I was living in Rock Springs, Wyoming...not exactly a musical mecca, if you know what I mean. But I never ever forgot the name, knowing that I'd find some of his recordings eventually.

Just a few years ago, I was visiting an Internet music forum and ended up corresponding with a fellow from Texas who was also a big Rory Gallagher fan. One day a UPS truck came down my driveway. I met the driver and signed for a box from McAllen, Texas. Inside were several videos of Rory Gallagher in concert from different periods, including the entire 1974 Irish Tour video. Incredible! My buddy Steve also sent some CD's of Gallagher that were recorded in clubs. Hearing him play live is a real treat.

Gallagher also expanded the blues envelope and recorded some of the best blues rock and straight ahead rock of all time. In particular his 1977 album Top Priority showcased his high octane rock, along with the signature blues and blues rock that he produced.

I heartily recommend to any blues fan the music of Rory Gallagher. One of the best electric slide players who ever lived, and certainly on the par talent-wise with any blues/rock player who ever lived. He just wasn't as well known.

Sadly, Gallagher died in 1995 about a week before Jerry Garcia died. The press was whining about what a great loss the music world had suffered with Garcia's death, and perhaps rightly so. I never was a big Grateful Dead fan. But to me, the more significant loss was the gentle Irishman who heard the blues, infused it with a bit of Irish soul and produced some of the most incredible music I've ever heard.

Rory Gallagher is #1 on my list of guitar heroes. Okay, he's tied with Clapton, who is the reason I started playing the guitar in the first place.
Garth

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

It was only a couple of years ago that I really discovered Rory ... through email with a blues group and in particular one member and online acquaintance of Cliff's from Germany, who goes to all the tribute concerts, and is friends with Rory's brother. There are some tribute bands that play only Rory Gallagher tunes that appear at these tributes, and Rory's ol beat up Strat was on display. She had a couple of VCR tapes of Rory and sent them to me as they were incompatible format in Europe, and I transferred them onto DVD for her. They are Live at Rockpalast ... if you don't have em, let me know and I'll make some for ya ... not the best quality but acceptable ...

Barb

[Cliff]

I had the opportunity to see several of Ozzie's heros in the past!
Allman Bros Band complete with Duane in North Carolina (1970-ish). I was in the Army and broke! A friend suggested we pool our limited funds and we purchased some vitamin C tablets and yellow food coloring. Sold them all outside the venue and got our tickets. One dude wanted some more 'cuz it was sooo good - lol.
Rory Galagher - caught him at a 3-day outdoors music festival in Frankfurt ,Germany (1972). What a blast that was! Rained a couple of time but - what the hell!! Also saw Chuck Berry; Beck, Bogart and Appice, Rod Stewart, the Family, Sly and the Family Stone, and a host of others that slip my mind right now.
Eric - Caught him also in in Frankfurt at an indoor gig (1972). Good thing - it was winter and very cold!
Never got to see Trower - like his live album, tho

Cliff!

[Garth Osborn]

Thanks for the offer, Barb. I do have several videos from the Live At the Rockpalast. My favorite is the one from about 1976...I think at that time, Rory Gallagher was the premier rock/blues guitarist going. Maybe Robin Trower could compare, but Gallagher's fiery playing and energetic stage presence simply out-shone just about anybody of that era.

I've noticed in a couple stores the past few months that a lot of Rory's Rockpalast stuff is now available on DVD. I never seem to have any extra cash when I see those. He was very popular in Germany and played there often. One of my favorite tapes was recorded live in a TV studio. Rory starts out with several acoustic blues tunes, then introduces the band and they roar to life. It's pretty amazing to see someone with a total command of the instrument.

Some of the other concert footage I have is later. One of my faves is Rory's band playing at the Cork Opera House, around 1982. The physical change in Gallagher from the 1975-1978 years is staggering. He was probably already ill, had put on a lot of weight and didn't bound about the stage very much. But his playing...never better.

One tape I have I can't even watch. It's from France in about 1994, just a few months before Rory died. He looked quite ill, was playing up to only about half of his potential. I watched it once and vowed never again. It was painful.

[Slim Lively]

Trower is an incredible player. Have been listening to him for years. I will be seeing Robin in Portland tonight on a very strange double-billing with 2007 Blues Music Award winning Entertainer of the Year Tab Benoit. Can't figure this booking out as both Robin and Tab have been known to pack venues each on their own. Haven't seen this double-billing posted elsewhere in the country. Their doing separate shows in Seattle and then Robin heads out to Memphis.

Currently I have been really getting into the latest disc from a Memphis band called Delta Highway. Their leader Brandon Santini has been a good friend for a number of years, as has guitarist Justin Sulek. This new disc The Devil Had A Woman is well-worth the time to find. A nice blend of Delta/Piedmont/Mississippi Hill Country styles. If you like that RL Burnside-style beat with catchy harp playing added, this may be the band you're looking for.

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Greg, that is going to be one awesome show! Lucky you :)

Hope you will upload some pics here soon !

Barb