Jim R

On the JJM site, one of the comments began with: "I find it strange that no one else included “Rah,” the first album by Mark Murphy". WTF? Anyway, I don't get all the "strange" references. There's nothing strange going on here. As Clunky said above, "Just like the polls here, ask 100 people get a hundred answers....." It's bizarre that someone would find it "strange" that one of their personal favorites wasn't mentioned, unless it was some universally-recognized classic (and even then, it might be too subjective to voice an objection). What was more surprising to me was that two of the participants in the linked story selected JJ's "Proof Positive". That's not to say I don't think it's worthy, but what were the odds? Even in one decade, the number of choices is immense. I might have chosen a Hawes Contemporary title too, btw, but probably "I'm All Smiles" or "Here And Now" over "Green Leaves", particularly because the material was generally more "contemporary" to the 60's. Completely agree in the sense you mean it - I think what I meant was just that I found it curious that the first one which came into my mind was the Hawes...forced to bet on it, I'd have had to put the money on the first thing popping into my mind being some Ellington, probably p.s. Love those two Hawes too! Just something about the title track which gets to me about Green Leaves... I'm with you on the title track. One of my older brothers learned it on trumpet for a high school band performance circa 1965, and played it around the house enough that it's stayed with me ever since. The theme from "The Alamo" (the original version, of course).

On the JJM site, one of the comments began with: "I find it strange that no one else included “Rah,” the first album by Mark Murphy". WTF? Anyway, I don't get all the "strange" references. There's nothing strange going on here. As Clunky said above, "Just like the polls here, ask 100 people get a hundred answers....." It's bizarre that someone would find it "strange" that one of their personal favorites wasn't mentioned, unless it was some universally-recognized classic (and even then, it might be too subjective to voice an objection). What was more surprising to me was that two of the participants in the linked story selected JJ's "Proof Positive". That's not to say I don't think it's worthy, but what were the odds? Even in one decade, the number of choices is immense. I might have chosen a Hawes Contemporary title too, btw, but probably "I'm All Smiles" or "Here And Now" over "Green Leaves", particularly because the material was generally more "contemporary" to the 60's.

Roy Book Binder Nathan Page Wilbur Marker

As much as I love (and prefer) Wes, and as hugely influential as he was, I don't think he could ever equal Charlie Christian's influence on the evolution of guitar playing. Without CC, you might not have had Wes at all. You can't be a big influence on B.B. King and not be considered hugely important in the world of guitar music.

The Chicago Fire The Portland Blazers The Miami Heat

As a bonus, you also get the artist.

Charlie Christian, who not only influenced an entire generation of post-war jazz guitarists (including Wes), but was also a huge influence on a guy named B.B. King, whose musical influence is equally immeasurable.

Jerry Buss Bobby Vann Trukk Munkey: http://www.xboxlivescore.com/profile/Trukk-Munkey

I got turned on to The Crusaders when I was in high school in the early 70's, and got to see them live on two occasions in those years. For me, that music has stood the test of time (as has the music from their previous incarnation), and I expect it always will. So many good memories. RIP, Mr. Henderson.

John D'Angelico Antonio Stradivari (pay) the fiddler

1. Very nice opener. I've never heard this, and it strikes me as an uncommon blending of a spiritual feel, blues feel, and cool jazz ballad feel. Really nice sound quality too. This is one of the more interesting tracks on this BFT for me, and one of the few I couldn't find (yet)… 2. Well, I think I have heard this (may have owned it at one time, before I thinned the herd). I'd recognize that voice anywhere, as well as that Gibson Firebird solidbody guitar he played in his later years. The one and only CGB, doing a Louis Jordan classic, from "Sings Louis Jordan" on the Black & Blue label. Saw Gate live a couple of times, and he never disappointed. 3. Two tenors doing A-Train, and we get a little "Rhapsody In Blue" right out of the gate (and then another R.I.B. quote later in the solo). Nice "gypsy in my soul" quote too. A tenor with some honk, but at least on this recording he doesn't sound as hard-toned as some. Seems to like the mid-to-upper register of the horn. The thing that's puzzling me here is that there are two saxes playing the opening and closing themes, but only one guy seems to be soloing. No law against that, but it just strikes me as a little out of the ordinary. Not sure why this one is so hard to figure out. 4. "Don't Be That Way". The unmistakable sound of the great B.B. (not King) on guitar, also on the B&B label (hmmm…. a theme going here?). I remember when I got this recording, and being very happy and grateful to have it, but also regretful that the man's recorded output as a leader was so limited. At his best, there's no guitar player I would rather listen to than Billy. 5. "DNTYHFM". Didn't know who the bone player might be, but it sounded like Lockjaw on tenor. [Okay, based on what I know after listening to all the tracks here, and assuming this is on B&B too, and doing a bit of searching, I'm guessing this is Butler comping on guitar, Wild Bill Davis on organ, and Oliver Jackson on drums. That would leave the trombone to be Gene Conners, a name I will confess that I had never heard of until today. ] 6. "Mean To Me", trumpet and piano duet, which made it pretty easy to narrow down. Sweets and Fatha on B&B (yeah, definite theme!). 7. Know the tune, but don't know the name of the tune… dixieland style, not a style I know very well, so I'm bailing. 8. "Billie's Bounce". Interesting guitar tone and style here, which I can't say I recognize. Not sure I've heard this recording, but nice playing. After doing a bit of searching based on narrowing down the guitar players who appeared on B&B and their syles, this has got to be Lonnie Smith, Melvin Sparks and Alvin Queen, from "Lenox and Seventh". 9. "B&S". Another B&B label recording, Willis Jackson and Groove Holmes, live in France in 1980. Probably could not have identified this based on the playing alone. 10. "TWNBAY". As with A-Train above, this tune is such a popular blowing vehicle that I thought I'd find lots of versions on B&B. Not…… so much. Found a couple, but not with this instrumentation. Anyway, this tune has kind of been worn down for me, and this version didn't really do much for me. 11. "Sugar". Trying to figure out which B&B artist would have selected this "latter-day" (at the time) tune, and… I haven't found anything yet. 12. "Blues Abrupt", from "Ain't That Funk For You" (B&B). Al Grey, Arnett Cobb, Ray Byant, John Duke, J.C. Heard. 13. "Until The Real Thing Comes Along". Candy Johnson ("Candy's Mood", B&B), with Milt Buckner, CGB (interesting setting in which to find Gate!). Nice track! 14. Nice groove. Not often that piano and organ can co-exist so well on a recording (although it's happened a couple of times on this test!). Haven't been able to figure out this one either. 15. Dixieland style again… I'm out of my comfort zone. 16. Another one that I couldn't have identified without knowing it was on B&B. "He May Be Your Man" by Helen Humes. Not a singer I ever latched onto. 17. "Red Top". B&B. Cleanhead & Jay McShann. Anytime I don't get a vocal from Cleanhead, I feel like I should get a partial refund. On the other hand, I didn't have to pay for this, so it's cool. 18. "Comin' Home Baby". Lockjaw Davis, of that I'm sure. Not sure if I have this one (I see now that I never did get around to buying this… it's on… wait for it… Black & Blue!). I do have a recording of him doing this tune several years later (same arrangement, except with piano) on an obscure Swiss (?) label. Anyway, I see on Discogs.com that they list this track as having Bill Doggett and Eddie Vinson present (??). 19. Lou Rawls, singing the theme song for this BFT. It's been quite awhile since I heard this. Never was a big Rawls fan, for some reason. Well, DG, you were right that once the theme was established, the dominos would start falling. This turned into a new sort of BFT experience for me, and a fun one at that. I like to solve riddles almost as much as I like music, so it was fun to look through the B&B labelography (so to speak... in actuality I went to Amazon), listen to lots of online samples, and re-acquaint myself with some artists and tunes that I don't normally spend much time listening to. Thanks Dan. Now I'll be paying attention to see where the remaining mystery tracks came from, if I can't figure them out myself...

I think this is sweet in every way. It's even sweet of you to share this publicly. To be honest, the thing that strikes me the most is not the actual music you composed, or the animation you chose, but just the fact that you're singing to your daughter, and giving her this lovely gift. It's great. Kids grow up so fast!! Anyway, thank you for sharing this, and enjoy every moment with your little precious little girl.

Ready to go. DL, please&thanks.

When I click on this link, I see a photo of a bunch of bottles, and no article or description. If I enlarge the photo in order to try to read the labels, the image begins to blur. Is it just me? I don't think I've had a light beer for at least a couple of decades. I'd rather drink a bit less of something good than more of something blah. Not only that, but sampling the big wide world of craft beers (which feels like a never-ending journey of discovery at the moment) doesn't leave time for drinking the lite stuff.

One from 2005: One from 2008 (started by you ):

It would have been much easier to list the tv shows that he never appeared on (and I think I might be serious). Anyway, I remember him as an actor, and a good one. I never knew he was a musician until some time in the late 80's.

Andy Bey Ron Cey Susan Dey

May Pang Thurston Hunger D. Zeyer

Carl Eller The Purple People Eaters a one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater

I can see it now... droid A is going through a rack of rare LP's. Droid B, hovering right behind, reaches in and tries to grab a clean original copy of a rare Blue Note, and immediately gets vaporized by droid A. Now, if we could just develop the technology to make sure that droid B's owner also gets vaporized. Not that I ever had anything like that happen to me, of course, at record shows... flea markets... estate sales... CHURCH rummage sales... When I looked at the interior photo of DG, I almost immediately began to wonder how much of that building and inventory I paid for. I know it's gotta be less than half...

The Rocking Highlanders Connie Selleca Adam Carolla

Chipper Jones Glumdalclitch Ronnell Bright

Nessie Nessa Ness