Okay so these are the songs on the 09 Handy Play-list. Some are actual songs performed by the artist that were there, some are the originals that were covered by artist @ the 09 Handy Fest, some might be the only song that I had by that artist, some might be a song that wasn't performed by a particular artist but I wish it had been...you get the idea...Artist are showcased in the chronological order that they appeared. I think this years playlist has a wide variety of blues sub-genres in it and it flows pretty well with possibly a few exceptions. The goal here is for people to find something they didn't expect to like, and wouldn't have found otherwise...
Track 1 "Stack o' Lee Blues" By Mississippi John Hurt. Eric Bibb opened both of his sets with this song. This song later morphed into what is now know as "Stagger Lee". Not the greatest of sound quality but what do you expect from something that was recorded in the early 30's? It tells a great story if you can make it out. Guess where Mississippi John Hurt was born? Yep, Alabama, go ask Joe, he can tell you all about it.
Track 2 "Shine On" By Eric Bibb. Awesome song. Only song of this Grammy nominated artist that I had in my collection. Wasn't played at the 09 Handy Fest, but feel like it showcases Mr. Bibb's talent in a big way.
Track 3 "What you gonna do now?" By The Tommy Castro Band. Song comes from his #1 album (On the Billboard Blues Charts, yes there is such a thing) "Gratitude". Love the horns. The Gratitude CD came out around the time that David and I attended the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, so it's kind of special.
Track 4 "Big Sisters Radio" By The Mighty Mike Schermer Band. The Tommy Castro band performed this song at this years festival. Me and Dave were like "Who does this?!", "Who does this?!", "We have this song!" We couldn't remember for nothin'...Bout three songs later I was like "It's The Mighty Mike Schermer Band!" If you like this song I guarantee you will like the whole CD.
Track5 "Serves Me Right to Suffer/Syndicator" By John Lee Hooker w/Van Morrison. Maybe the most unapproachable song on the play list for the uninitiated? Just a hunch... Also known as somebody please stop my porch from spinning at 3 AM music. The Tommy Castro Band's version at the Handy Fest included Tommy strolling thru the crowd soloing. For reasons it would take way to long to explain here in this forum, this song holds a special significance for me. I do loves me some John Lee...
Track 6 "Meet me in the City" By Junior Kimbrough. A blues band from Wichita, Kansas introduces me to a Northern Mississippi Hill Country Blues-man that I had never of before. Whats not to love about that? Had to go find the CD. Not a bad song on "The Essential Junior Kimbrough" Moreland and Arbuckle did a fine job with this number at the Handy Fest. I can still hear their version in my head.
Track 7 "Bring It On Home" By Willie Dixon. Don't get me started bout Willie Dixon and what he wrote or played bass on, the list is simply too long, lets just say The Doors, The Stones and a ton of others owe a huge deal of gratitude to Mr. Dixon. What's not to love about this song? Lil Walter on Harp (I believe?), Hubert Sumlin on guitar. If you were wondering where Zepplin got that shit from, well, they got it from here. The Nighthawks did a most admirable job with this song Sat. afternoon.
Track 8 "Woke Up This Morning" By The Alabama Three. Song has appeared the last few years at the Handy Fest. Tommy Castro plays it as his lead in number which kind of gets everybody all fired up. This year the Nighthawks played it live, stripped down without all the special effects, samples and loops, and they played it very well.
Track 9 "Mystery Train" By Elvis Presley. First time for everything I suppose, Elvis makes the Handy Fest Play list! Song was written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips borrowing heavily from the Carter Family's "Worried Man Blues" and was the flip side of Elvis's "I forgot to Remember to Forget" which spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Counrty Charts in 1956. The Nighthawks once agian whippin out some old school stuff here. Always loved this song. Odd case where the flip side of the single became the more memorable song.
Track 10 "Spoonful" By Howlin Wolf. "I came out and I didn't have no money and I've been Howlin ever since" Wolf says in "The Howling Wolf Story". Howlin Wolf on vocals, Willie Dixon on bass, Hubert Sumlin on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, how much better does it get? The Rock - n - Roll Hall of Fame listed it as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll, and Rolling Stone Magazine list it #219 in their 500 greatest songs of all time. To see Hubert Sumlin playing this live (with The Nighthawks) was just awesome, he's 80+ years old and it looked like he was having the time of his life. I changed my ring tone and the wallpaper on my phone in tribute to Mr. Sumlin after seeing him live.
Track 11 "Killing Floor" By Howling Wolf. Most people have heard the Hendrix version of this song, particularly the live version from Montery Pop. Opening riff in this tune just absolutely kills me. Mostly the same suspects as listed above, Howling Wolf on Vocals, Hubert Sumlin on Guitar etc...Not played at this years Handy Fest, but it should have been!! Hubert Sumlin and The Nighthawks could have played this song and "Spoonful" and walked off the stage and I would still be raving about it to everyone.
Track 12 "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" By Stevie Ray Vaughn. Played by Albert Cummins at this years handy fest...winds kickin up, banners blowing all over the place, dark clouds rollin in off the river and Albert says, "it's just Jimi passin through..." pretty unforgettable stuff. Something cool about havin a Henrix cover follow a song that Hendrix covered in the flow of this years play list.
Track 13 "It's 2 AM" By Shemekia Copeland. Her set got cut short due to rain and I don't have any of her newer stuff, but me and Dave (and Black Cloud) saw this woman absolutely tear the house down in front of 30,000+ people with this song.
Track 14 "Hold that Train" By Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials. From their Alligator Records release "Full Tilt". I couldn't tell you where I even found this, but I had a hunch and did a search and sure enough 1 lone Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials song shows up in my collection. I don't even know if they played Saturday night (due to the rain) or not but after hearing this I would have liked to have seen them. Maybe next time.
Lookin forward to readin some comments...
Now playing: Big Twist & the Mellow Fellows - 300 Pounds of Heavenly Joy via FoxyTunes
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