Beldon's Blues Points: Bob Corritore

An update on the condition of Curtis Salgado is included in the latest edition of a newsletter released by noted harmonica player Bob Corritore::


Curtis Salgado Surgery. Blues/soul singer & harmonica player extraordinaire Curtis Salgado( Here's his website: http://www.curtissalgado.com/ )had successful surgery on July 18th, removing a cancerous spot on his lung. This is the second surgical procedure in the last few years for Curtis. Jake Lankheit of Intrepid Artists reports that the procedure went incredibly well and that Curtis is currently recovering in the hospital and plans to be performing again soon! Nick Moss (Curtis' close friend and blues collaborator, here's his website: http://www.nickmoss.com/) has set up an online fund to help with costs at http://curtissalgado.chipin.com/curtis-%20salgado-medical-%20fund. Curtis recently released Soul Shot on Alligator Records to much critical acclaim. Well wishes and prayers for this great artist.

Tail Dragger and the late Willie "Big Eyes" Smith receive awards in Spain! Thanks to the Hondarribia Blues Society in Spain for honoring Tail Dragger (here's an article about him: http://centerstage.net/music/whoswho/TailDragger.html ) and the late Willie "Big Eyes" Smith ( here's his website: http://www.williebigeyessmith.com/ ) last weekend with awards at the Hondarribia Blues Festival (the festival website is at http://www.blueshondarribia.com/es) in Spain . Tail Dragger was performing at the fest part of a Chicago blues package that also included Zora Young(here's her myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zorayoung )and Eddie Shaw (here's his website: http://www.midcoast.com/~bluesman/eddie_shaw.html ). Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith was on hand to accept the award for his father Willie. To read the article (in Spanish) Click here: http://www.noticiasdegipuzkoa.com/2012/07/11/especiales/varios/reconocimiento-de-dos-grandes-del-blues , and for an explanation (in English) about the awards on the festival website click here: http://www.blueshondarribia.com/en/premio_hbf/ .


The Year Of Mud! An article in Argentina's Malbec & Blues online magazine (here's a link for it: http://malbecblues.blogspot.com/ ) refers to this year as "El Año De Mud" or "The Year Of Mud." The article refers to Mud Morganfield (here's his website: http://www.mudmorganfieldsite.com/ ), and his first national release Son Of The Seventh Son (for more on that, check out http://www.bobcorritore.com/photos169.html ). The article speaks of all the fanfare this CD has received with airplay, chart positions, reviews, major festival headlining slots, and the cover story of Living Blues Magazine (here's their website: http://www.livingblues.com/ ). Mud Morganfield is of course, the eldest son of Muddy Waters and bears an uncanny resemblence to his father in both look and sound. He has been taking the blues world by a storm. Mud is currently on tour in South America. To see the "Year Of Mud" article click here http://malbecblues.blogspot.com/ and scroll down the page.

T-Model Ford Documentary in Production! Chaz Geisler is currently in the process of producing a film documentary of Mississippi blues hero T-Model Ford (here's his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/tmodelford ). The film, titled Put A Stamp On It: This Is T Model Ford, will contain live performances, interviews, life on the road and at home, as well as commentary by musicians and friends such as Lightnin' Malcolm, Gravel Road, Jimbo Mathus, Dan Auerbach (Of the Black Keys), Bob Corritore, Scott Barretta, Jim O'Neal and others. The film will contain previously unreleased recordings. Look for this to be debuted at film festivals early next year. T-Model Ford is currently alive and well but is taking time off from performing to recover from a recent stroke. If anyone has footage, posters, photos or any T-Model Ford paraphernalia please contact Chaz at info@putastamponit.com. Updates will be posted on http://www.putastamponit.com/ or the film's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/putastamponit . On a sad sidenote, Chaz reports that T-Model's longtime drummer who was affectionately called Spam, had passed away earlier this year. If we can gather enough biographical information for Spam we will present a proper obituary at a later date.

Big Pete Pearson releases new CD! Veteran blues vocalist Big Pete Pearson (here's his website: http://www.bigpeteblues.com/ )has a wonderful new CD out currently called Choose. This album features backing by The Gamblers, an Italian band with whom Big Pete does bi-annual European tours.

Bukka White on YouTube! Here is a great example of the pure power of country blues. Please enjoy Bukka White (here's his website: http://www.myspace.com/bukkawhite#! performing the Aberdeen Mississippi Blues from the 1960s. He uses his guitar for equal parts melody and percussion. Check out this video to see:

Beldon's Blues Points: Images from music's past

Saw this picture on Facebook the other day and just had to share it. I don't have to say who's in it. From what I could determine, here is how it came about: It was taken by recording engineer/producer Eddie Kramer who frequently snapped informal pictures of the musicians he worked with. It was apparently Hendrix's birthday in 1969--I guess that would have been his last birthday--and he decided to spend it at Madison Square Garden where Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones were playing. The picture was taken of the two as they were chatting backstage. What makes it so cool is that Hendrix and Jagger are just sitting around as if they were regular folks, not iconic rock stars. Incidently, it recently went up for sale at a San Francisco exhibit. The price tag? $2,500.

Beldon's Blues Points: Wily Bo Walker

Remember Wily Bo Walker? We've talked about him before. Anyway, a song he sings on is being released to the public Sunday, July 15. It's called "A Long Way to Heaven," and its the third track fromA Long Way From Heaven, a forthcoming album he is releasing with singer Kareña K. You will find that song and others from Walker among the Reverbnation links above. As you know, Wily (pronounced like Wile E. Coyote) Bo and Kareña hail from the United Kingdom. Wily lives in the London suburb of Amersham and Kareña in Ealing, a section of West London. Like James Brown, Wily is a hard-working man in show business. First, he is the frontman for Rattlin Bone, a festival band which regularly tours across Europe. He also fronts the guitar-based Mescal Canyon Troubadors, with which he is recording the album "Stone Cold Beautiful." The group has released four bluesy tracks: "Storm Warning," "Loan Me a Dime," "Motel Blues" and "September Red." He also plays traditional jazz through the Wily Bo Walker Quintet, which at the beginning of 2011 recorded a cover of the popular Billie Holiday classic “You Don’t Know What Love is." The new single features members of Scandal, a 1980's band that reunited in the 2000's and in 2009 debuted "Hard For You To Love Me," its first single in over 24 years. The band is normally lead by singer Patty Smyth, who is also known for "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough," a 1992 duet she recorded with Don Henley of the Eagles. She will not be on the single, which also features the New York Brass, a stable of musicians which has backed Queen Latifah, Kanye West, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Rihanna among others and which advertises itself with the phrase "GO REAL! Synth Sucks!" Kareña K is Walker's bandmate in Rattlin Bone and The Mescal Canyon Troubadors. Two singles from the album, "Angels In the Night" and "Did I Forget," have already been released.

Beldon's Blues Points

Welcome to the latest edition of Beldon's Blues Points, a list of events going on in the music--and particularly the blues--world. We'd like to start with this video from a show Kenny Wayne Shepherd recently gave at D.C.'s Howard Theatre: Speaking of D.C., those of you who live in this area or may be visiting here next week may want to mark their calendars for performances from one of our premiere performers, Nadine Rae. As many as you know, Nadine has pulled herself back together—almost literally performance-by-performance—from a December, 2009 car accident that left her seriously injured and in doubt that she would be able to continue her career (for details of her struggle, check out the following post on Beldon’s Blues Point: http://beldonsbluespoint.blogspot.com/2010/10/taking-stage-monday-for-blue-monday.html) On Thursday, July 12, she and her All Stars will perform from 6-8:30 p.m. at 7th and Water Streets SW as part of the DC concert series. The next day will be Friday the 13th, but nothing but the best of luck—and music—will befall anyone who spends that evening at Proud Mary’s restaurant, where Nadine will perform with her band from 8-11 p.m. Proud Mary’s is located at 13000 King Charles Terrace in Ft. Washington, MD. You can call them at 301-292-5521, or check them out online at http://www.proudmaryrestaurant.com/ And on Saturday, July 14, Nadine travels to Baltimore to perform at the Harborplace Ampitheatre as part of the Baltimore Harborplace Concert Series, located between the Pratt and Light Street Pavillions. The show will run from 6-8 p.m. If you’d like to find out more check outhttp://harborplace.com/events/2012-summer-live-concert---series. You can actually make a dinner date of it, as the venue is located near the Cheesecake Factory, Phillips Seafood and numerous other restaurants. And if you have any doubts about whether Nadine is worth the trip, look at this video of her in action at last year’s D.C. Blues Society Festival at Carter Barron Amphitheatre: Next, we learn of a lot of happenings in the traditional blues world from Bob Corritore, who, in addition to being a highly respected harmonica player himself, regularly lets us in on what his colleagues are doing through a newsletter he writes. The following is from the July 5, 2012 edition: *2012 Blues Blast Music Awards Announced! Bob Corritore, Mud Morganfield and Diunna Greenleaf garner nominations! Blues Blast Magazine will reflect upon and celebrate the blues world with it's annual awards! This being the awards 5th anniversary it feels like both the magazine and the awards have grown to be an industry standard - thanks to the foresight and hard work of editor Bob Kieser and his great staff. In the running are so many great and worthy artists and among them are nominations for Mud Morganfield, Diunna Greenleaf and Bob Corritore. Voting for the 2012 Blues Blast Music Awards is now open and continues until August 31st, 2012. To see a complete list of nominees, and to vote, click here: http://thebluesblast.com/bbma/2012/12bbmavote.php Voting is open to the public! Thank you Blues Blast Magazine! *Living Blues Awards voting now in progress! Voting closes on July 15. The 2012 Living Blues Awards represent a reflection of the blues music industry through ten categories of achievement. Voting online is open to everyone! We are pleased to announce that Tail Dragger is up for "Most Outstanding Blues Singer" and "Best Live Entertainer" and Bob Corritore is nominated for "Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica)." Voting is going on as we speak and will conclude on July 15th. There is a voting ballot inside the latest issue of Living Blues with Mud Morganfield on the cover. You can also vote online athttp://www.livingblues.com . Just go to the site and click the vote icon! Thank you Living Blues! *Floyd Dixon Concert DVD Documentary in production! Bob Auerbach and Kid Ramos inform us that the long awaited documentary DVD of the 2006 Floyd Dixon Celebration show is now in editing and production and is slated for a 2013 release. The show took place on June 1 and 2, 2006. With the news of Floyd Dixon having terminal cancer, High John label owner Bob Auerbach quickly put together a plan to document this great man. He called upon the services of Kid Ramos who lovingly assembled a great band and headed a production team that also included Bob Auerbach, Clarke Rigsby and Bob Corritore. A two day concert filming at the Rhythm Room was scheduled and it was just in a nick of time. The show was all about Floyd but also featured some of his friends and fellow keyboard legends. Pinetop Perkins and Henry Gray were included on the bill, as was Johnny Tucker, Joe Banks, and Kim Wilson. So with a four camera shoot and Clarke Rigsby on audio, a pair of incredible and heartfelt nights of music were captured. Floyd was in fine form and the meaning of this show to him was everything that he stood for. Floyd would die just a few months later and High John records rushed out the CD release titled Time Brings About A Change: A Floyd Dixon Celebration. Now after many years the DVD is being edited and compiled by husband/wife documentary specialists Phillip and Lissett Cruess, and will be available by early next year! In addition to beautiful concert footage there will be interviews with all the artists, and recent interviews with Kid and Bob Auerbach which will privide insights on the this event and the man it was built around. To see photos from this event click here: http://www.bobcorritore.com/photos56.html *Tail Dragger and Bob Corritore interview on Blues - Finland website! Thanks to our friends in Finland for their huge support of the collaboration of Tail Dragger & Bob Corritore. In April of this year, the Finnish Blues Society and the US Embassy brought Tail Dragger and Bob to Helsinki to perform a spirited set at the Stompin' At The Savoy Festival with the great Tomi Leino Band. On June 7, a number of our friends from Finland came out to support the Tail Dragger / Bob Corritore CD Release Party at B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted in Chicago (which was also a pre-party for the Chicago Blues Festival). The latest issue of the printed magazine Blues - Finland has Tail Dragger on the cover and a review of the CD (Click here to see the cover). We are told that the next magazine issue will feature a Bob Corritore interview. And most recently a separate joint interview with Tail Dragger & Bob appeared on the Blues Finland website which you can see by clicking here. Thanks so much to all our friends and supporters from the beautiful country of Finland! To see the 65 plus reviews for the Tail Dragger / Bob Corritore CD Longtime Friends In The Blues on the Delta Groove label, click here:http://www.bobcorritore.com/tdbc_rev.html Also note that this CD will be featured on Stan Bindell's "Blues Magician" show which will air from 7-8 pm, July 9 with streaming on KUYI.net *Japanese documentary features 1983 Chicago blues clips with Eddie Taylor, Tail Dragger, and others! This clip was brought to our attention via Shoji Maito who comments "My Japanese friend posted this old Japanese news show clip. This must be very rare and the TV station will take it down as soon as they find this." In the clip you see Eddie Taylor at home playing a beautiful deep blues, Maxwell Street musicians Iceman Robinson and John Henry Davis rockin' the blues, and great a segment from the Delta Fish Market with Tail Dragger and a great band with Hubert Sumlin, Johnny B. Moore, Shorty Gilbert, Dave Waldman, and Kansas City Red! This clip really showcases both the music and the vibe of Chicago blues. To see this clip, click here. Last is a video that I have very personal feelings about--because I, Kirk Jackson, personally play bass on it! Here is a performance of the--well, we don't really have a name--recorded at the May, 2012 D.C. Blues Society monthly jam: Well, that's it for now. Any comments, or anything you think might be of interest to our readers, PLEASE let us know at beldonsbluespoint@yahoo.com. Take care!

Stronger For It: Janiva Magness Speaks

Singer Janiva Magness had a tough childhood. Born in Detroit, she lost both of her parents to suicide by the time she was 16. First she spent time on the streets. Then, she was shuttled around to different foster homes. She became a teen-age mother at 17, and had to give up the child, a girl, for adoption. But through the hardships, Magness always had music to lift her spirits. Around her house, it was her father’s blues and country collection. On the streets of Detroit, it was the Motown sound. It was a concert by bluesman Otis Rush in Minneapolis that set her on the path to becoming a blues singer. It was the intensity of Rush’s performance that struck her; he played “as if his life depended on it.” Afterwards, she took in every blues show she could, listening to artists such as Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland. She also listened to recordings by the cream of R&B at the time: James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Etta James and others. Opportunity came many years later while Magness was interning at a St. Paul, Minnesota recording studio and her boss asked her to sing supporting vocals on a track. After a while she began performing regularly as a backup singer. Moving to Phoenix in the early 1980’s, she befriended Bob Tate, onetime music director for Sam Cooke. He helped her with her first band, Janiva Magness and the Mojomatics, which was eventually dubbed the city’s best blues band by the Phoenix New Times, an influential publication. Moving to Los Angeles in 1986, she recordedIt Takes One to Know Onein 1997. It was her second studio album after the cassette-only More than Live. She made three more independent recordings before joining Northern Blues in 2004. While at Northern Blues, she joined forces with Canadian roots star Colin Linden (now with Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, Linden talked about Magness’ work on the Rodeo Kings' Kings and Queens album in the following interview: http://beldonsbluespoint.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-they-formed-blackie-and-rodeo.html), who co-produced two of her CD’s: 2004’s Bury Him At the Crossroads and 2006’s Do I Move You? For Bury Him At the Crossroads, the two won the prestigious Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers of the Year. In 2008 Magness released What Love Will Do with Alligator Records.” Her songs run the gamut of emotions from sorrow to joy,” wrote the Chicago Sun-Times of the recording. ”A master of the lowdown blues who is equally at ease surrounded by funk or soul sounds, Magness invigorates every song with a brutal honesty.” That same year, she traveled to Iraq and Kuwait with other blues artists to perform for U.S. servicemen in the Bluzapalooza tour. In 2009, Magness became the second woman—behind Koko Taylor—to win the Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. In 2010 she followed upWhat Love Will Do with her albumThe Devil Is An Angel Too. This year she releasedStronger For It, her third album with Alligator and her tenth overall. Apparently not forgetting her own upbringing in the foster care system, she has for six years served as a spokesperson for CaseyFamily Programs National Foster Care Month Campaign. She also promotes National Foster Care Month as an Ambassador for Foster Care Alumni of America. Magness spoke about her life in the following interview, which was recorded in late May after she had performed in the D.C./Annapolis area: Here, she performs "Make it Rain" from Stronger For It: Here she performs "Whistlin' in the Dark:" Thanks for tuning in. Any comments, contact us at beldonsbluespoint@yahoo.com

Curtis Salgado ill

This just in from American Blues Scene about harmonica player Curtis Salgado:

Award-winning soul blues singer/harmonica master Curtis Salgado to undergo lung surgery By Casebeer – June 29, 2012Posted in: Blues Articles, News, West Coast Blues Curtis Salgado Award-winning soul blues singer/harmonica master Curtis Salgado will undergo surgery on July 18 in Portland, Oregon, to remove a cancerous growth from his lung, according to his manager Shane Tappendorf. A partial lobectomy will be performed to remove a segment of Curtis’s left lung where a metastasized mass was found. It is suspected to be the same type of cancerous mass that was removed from his lung in 2008. Salgado will be hospitalized for a period of four to six days and will require a recovery time of up to four weeks. The acclaimed blues singer and his doctors anticipate a complete recovery. Winner of the 2012 Blues Music Award for Soul/Blues Artist of the Year, Curtis Salgado has recorded eight critically acclaimed solo albums. He tours internationally with his own band and has also toured as vocalist with the Robert Cray Band, Roomful of Blues and Santana. Salgado is also credited with being the inspiration for John Belushi’s character of Joliet Jake in The Blues Brothers. Salgado’s new CD, Soul Shot, on Alligator Records, is being hailed as his greatest album to date and continues to receive rave reviews and radio airplay worldwide. Blues Revue calls Soul Shot, “A joyous celebration of life. Soul Shot is this millennium’s finest soul blues record…deep, commanding, and essential.” “I am extremely grateful for the overwhelming support of my family, friends and fans and the courageous people that have faced this fight before me,” the 58-year-old Salgado wrote from his home this week. “I also want to thank the promoters and venues for their understanding regarding my medical situation. We will do our best to reschedule all of our performances affected by my surgery.” I texted Curtis and told him we’d do what ever we could to help and in true Salgado fashion, here’s his reply: “Cool beans….will pop this bad boy out and move on….it’s showtime!!!! Salgado, who was diagnosed with liver cancer on March 23, 2006, underwent successful liver transplant surgery on September 30, 2006 at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. If you’ve spent anytime on this website at all you know how fond we are of Curtis’s music and as Curtis as a human being. He is truly one of the most caring individuals on the planet. If you are in a position to help this cause, you can do so below: Donations to help with Curtis’s expenses can be made online at: http://curtissalgado.chipin.com/curtis- salgado-medical- fund. Donations can also be made to the Curtis Salgado Fund c/o Odaglas LLC Donation Account at all US Banks or by mail to US Bancorp, 2550 NW 188th Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97124. For additional information please visit www.curtissalgado.com and Curtis’s Facebook page CURTIS SALGADO MEDICAL FUND

Guitar Shorty

Saw this great article about Guitar Shorty in the Los Angeles Times:

By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times

June 23, 2012
Blues musician Guitar Shorty has pretty much given up the mid-performance back flips and other extreme physical antics that helped establish his onstage persona in the 1960s and '70s.

It's not because he's no longer capable, says the 72-year-old guitarist, singer and songwriter. But the stunts were always just a means to an end: getting audiences to notice his music.

"I don't have to do that any more," he said by cellphone on a tour that brings him back to the Southland for an appearance Sunday at the 2012 Long Beach Bayou and Blues Festival at the city's seaside Rainbow Lagoon Park. "When you play so much guitar like I do, you don't have to do all that crazy stuff. I figure once in a while, it can give me a little advantage, so I might play with one hand, put the guitar behind my back or sometimes play guitar with my mouth. . . Sometimes I do a flip. The last time was a few years back."

The acrobatics Shorty (born David William Kearney) relies on these days are primarily musical, his approach crystallized in the title of his latest album, "Bare Knuckle," released in 2010.

It opens with a wry request to the nation's chief executive, "Please Mr. President," in which Shorty speaks on behalf of all working people when he asks "Please Mr. President, lay some stimulus on me."

"I'm a family man who's trying to take care of my family," he said, "like everybody out there who are trying to find jobs today."

And like the back flips of yore, it's also a not-unsubtle bid for a little more attention.

"I got so many calls from people saying, 'Shorty, how come Obama doesn't have you there to play in the White House?' I just say, 'Maybe it's not my time yet.' I got another one I've started that's about him. I'm singing 'Obama for President — and you better listen to me!' Maybe that'll get me in there," the Houston native said with a laugh.

Playing for the president is one of two goals Shorty cites when asked about any dreams that still lie ahead, the other being "I want to play with Eric Clapton so bad it hurts. That'd be my dream because it would be a chance for a lot of people to see me. I want to be on that Crossroads blues festival of his."

"Bare Knuckle" contains a solid cross section of the various hues of blues Guitar Shorty incorporates into his wide-ranging live shows: the chugging shuffle of "Texas Women," the ominous churn of the talking blues-rooted "Slow Burn," the muscular rock punch of "Too Hard to Love You" and the hard-swinging swagger of the boastful "Temporary Man." His voice shares some of the same clenched emotive quality of B.B. King's, and he's capable of an earthy growl like John Lee Hooker's signature "how-how-how-how."

He picked up a lot of what he learned during years of apprenticeships playing in the bands of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and others after leaving Texas to pursue his career.

"I had a wonderful time with Ray," he said. "Going on the road with him was the first tour of my life. I was shaking like a tree. Sometimes he would yell at me and I'd be happy and glad and scared too. I learned a lot from him."

The life of a working blues musician often is a hardscrabble existence, but Shorty has seen signs of continued growth in recent years. His 2004 album "Watch Your Back" became his biggest seller to date, according to his record label, Chicago-based Alligator Records, and the 2006 follow-up, "We the People," earned him a Grammy nomination and a contemporary blues album of the year win at the annual Blues Music Awards.

"That hit me so hard, words are not enough," he said. "I put a lot of work into what I'm doing, and I try to reach more people as well. I want to be happy, too, doing it, and an award like that makes me work even harder for the next one."

He's been a Southland resident for most of the last 40 years after moving to Anaheim in 1971. He recently went home to Texas for a short time, but decided he'd rather be back in Southern California, so he moved back last year.

One thing he came away with from those who mentored him was a lifelong respect for the importance of encouraging young musicians. So he sometimes brings talented young musicians on stage with him, or even gives lessons on his days off.

That also ties in with an observation he shares with King and other accomplished blues players who have bemoaned the dearth of young black musicians taking up the form.

"A lot of the kids today figure they'll go after the money real fast, and so they go into R&B and rap," he said. "But that's not the real music.

"One day they are going to be playing the blues," he said. "The older they get, they'll be playing it. I was fortunate to be born with the blues. The real music is the blues. Everything else that's out there comes from the blues. The mother of all music is the blues."

randy.lewis@latimes.com