The Magnificent Goldberg

Breakfast with Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' in the moonlight Etta James - Etta James Lloyd Glenn - Chica-boo Now Charlie Brown - Why is everybody always pickin' on me MG

Yeah, I grew up with the MJQ, but I also had (maybe it had been my aunt's record), and still have, a 78 of 'Ridin' on the L&N'/'Midnight sun'. So I got both kinds of vibes at the same time. And on THAT 78, an R&B type number and an important bop standard. I think Hamp was happy with all kinds of jazz. MG

More alto playing from Ray on this one, from 1957, the year before the Newport gig. In 1959, he added Hank Crawford on baritone to the band. David Newman had doubled on baritone & tenor before. Now he doubled on alto and tenor and Ray didn't play much alto ever afterwards. MG

LOL MG

Get the original version of 'Ray Charles at Newport' There's some hot soloing in that from 1959. And it's damn good Ray Charles anyway. MG

This afternoon, ripped three Dixie Hummingbirds LPs from a not so good period, though there are still good things among the rather commonplace. Your good deeds - Peacock 1967 Ye shall know the truth - 1969 Thanks to thee - 1975. They're very well dressed, but not as gospel singers And more on the reverse MG

Funnily enough, this morning I was ripping this Lionel Hampton LP of radio performances from the period in 1948 when there was a MU strike: You get the big names on the front but the total band is: Wendell Culley, Fats Navarro, Teddy Buckner, Leo 'The Wailer' Shepherd, Richard 'Duke' Garrett, Jimmy Nottingham, Walter Williams, Benny Bailey - tp. Britt Woodman, Andrew Penn, Sonny Craven, James Wormick, Lester Bass, Al Grey - tb. Bobby Plater, Johnny Board - as. Ben Kynard - as& bars. Billy Williams, Johnny Sparrow - ts. Charlie Fowlkes - bars. Milt Buckner - p. Billy Mackel, Wes Montgomery - g. Charles Mingus, Charlie Harris, Roy Johnson - b. Earl 'The |Fox' Walker. The arrangements are very modern and I'd not be surprised if Mingus didn't do them all, even though he isn't on all tracks. There are a couple of solos from him and one from Wes. On some tracks there's no Lionel Hampton solo. THAT'S a modern band for its period, I'd say. The sound's not terribly brilliant, but I like it. MG

Nope. I don't go for Ethiopian stuff. A couple of decades ago, the guy who used to import US CDs for me, gave me an Ethiopian album that came from his supplier in the USA by mistake on the grounds that it was African and I might be interested. It was an album of Jewish liturgical music from Ethiopia and the most horrible music I've ever heard! I gave it to a colleague who, when I told him how horrid it was said he might like it. In the sixties, my Mum had a lodger from Ethiopia - a student who'd come to learn English better. He was very hip. Loved Sam Cooke AND Dr Lonnie Smith; thought musicians put their best hats on when working for Blue Note. So I'm happy to believe that there's some stuff I'd like in Ethiopia. (For future reference, I don't have anything from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini or Botswana. MG PS Oh, or Liberia or Togo or Angola or Chad or Central African Republic or Guinea Bissau (though GB does have a bit of stuff I might like, so that's not a closed book). MG

Breakfast with Sir Waziri Oshoma & his family - T S makers - Decca (West Africa) Ami Koita - Tata sira - Bolibana Charles Williams - Trees and grass and things - Mainstream The sleeves are coming out wrong. MG

You're right, Mike. I had the feeling there was another one. It's a bit better than 'Round about 1 AM' (but not a lot). Diz sang quite a bit and shouldn't count for this but, on 'Swing low, sweet Cadillac', James Moody joins in the vocalising. I've got it in mind that James sang on another album I've got (not Eddie Jefferson who usually did the vocals on his albums). Can't think of which one it was at present. Grady Tate sang quite a bit but nowhere nearly as much as he played drums. And Kenny Burrell seems to have made a few albums on which he sang, most uninterestingly, in recent years. MG

I've got it in mind that someone else did something similar... AH! Walter Perkins, on Charles Earland's 'Mama roots'. MG

Quite right and noted. MG

No. The Government stopped reporting deaths of people who've been vaccinated a couple of months ago. Draw your own conclusions. But at that time, that was the official number. MG

Is that unavailable video Gene Ammons? MG

Couldn't find one. There are a few TV programmes on YouTube, but they didn't use the outro from the radio shows. MG

Oh, Jug sang on one of his early fifties Prestige cuts - 'Round about 1 AM' (16 Jan 1951). It's not marvellous. MG

I don't know. But you'd have to listen to half an hour of trash to get to the theme. MG

I have. I LURVE this album. He sings on every track. It's not QUITE my favourite Milt Jackson album, but not far off. MG

As well as ripping Earl Grant LPs today, I've ripped this: It's the only classical LP I've still got, and I LOST it. When you've only got one classical LP left, where do you file it? But I've now only got two feet of unripped LPs, so it was no more than extraordinarily difficult to find it again. I kept it for sentimental reasons as my mate and I attended the UK premiere of the Debussy piece in 1968. It was spoken by Mrs Lieberson herself and probably the only reason it was recorded (there are no other versions, I believe) was because her old man ran Columbia Records. It was done very beautifully, however, with half a dozen young lady students from Sussex University wearing shortie nighties dancing around Vera, pretending to be lesbians. Next up was a Shostokovich nonet, amusingly performed, as each player would stand up when it was his turn to solo for a few seconds. The grand finale during which my friend and I left, bored stiff, was Beethoven's fourth (I think) string quartet. Really enjoyed it. Not so much the Hindemith, despite the Mallarme. MG

My earliest memory, that I can pretty well date, is of singing along with my Mum to 'Open the door, Richard'. It was played a LOT. The Lord discography lists about 150 versions all recorded in 1947! A GREAT song. I don't know which was the popular version in Britain; probably Louis Jordan's or Count Basie's (which was #1 on the US pop charts). But my period was 1950-53 and there was no end of really terrible records around in that period. About a zillion Guy Mitchell records, Jim Reeves' 'Bimbo' and I shudder to think what else. So I never got into music until '56, when I heard Fats Domino's 'I'm in love again'. MG

Ain't got Covid. I'm staying at home with Missus and we're not getting the jab because it makes you too trusting. Apparently half the people who've died with the Indian variant, have died after two jabs. Only time I go out is to walk the dog. He's OK, too You OK, TTK? Been ripping Earl Grant LPs today and thinking of you. MG

Not exactly what you had in mind but, when I was about seven-ten, we used to listen to Billy Cotton on the radio every Sunday. His outro was unlike anything else his band played. It was a medium riff with a guitar solo by, I believe, Judd Proctor. I always thought it was interesting, though I didn't know what jazz was in those days. No one ever said what it was. I've looked for it but never found it. Anyone know? MG

Billy did the vocal on the title track of Donald Byrd's 'Slow drag' - a GREAT vocal. MG

Two very nice Mali Kunkan albums. Breakfast today with African Fiesta Sukisa - Air Zaire vol 1 - Super International Orchestre Leopards du Congo - Air Zaire vol 2 - Super International Syran Mbenza - Africa: the golden years - African Music Gallery MG

OK #1 is a Sam Lazar 45, recorded shortly after his Playback album and probably with the same personnel. MG