Bloggerhythms

This is a word-for-word rerun of a post originally published here on September 8, 2007. It's definitely worth running again. I'm going to assume you have never heard of Sterling Harrison. Until a few weeks ago neither had I. Harrison was a rhythm & blues singer working out of Los Angeles who had a long career performing in low rent bars and nightclubs for the last couple of decades. Over the course of fifty years Harrison made only a handful of records. The first was recorded in 1955 -  at age fourteen - before John Lennon met Paul McCartney and before Elvis Presley became a star.  The soul man's few opportunities to put his voice on vinyl for posterity never produced anything worthwhile yet many who saw his live act swore Harrison's showmanship and vocal skills made him the greatest hidden treasure rhythm & blues ever produced. In the 60s, Harrison opened for Sam Cooke, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jackie Wilson, and Otis Redding. While he was performing i...

The R & B world seems to produce all-star level talent who should be legends but instead perform for many years - often decades - in undeserved obscurity. Many never found an audience even among the genre's own fans. Such is the case with hard luck Arthur Alexander who died in 1993 before Lonely Just Like Me could make him a star. Alexander's resume contained a few minor hit records in the early 60s but he is mostly known for one song. Beatles fans will surely recognize him as the composer of "Anna" a song they covered on their very first album, Please Please Me , all the way back in 1963 before America and their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show . Lesser known is "Soldier Of Love" a Beatles cover that only appears on their  Live At The BBC double set. The Rolling Stones released "You Better Move On" as part of  their 1964 eponymous EP and "Sally Sue Brown" was reworked by Bob Dylan for his 1988 album, Down In Th...

The Indie label Hacktone Records described themselves as "Musical revisionaries who rescue albums unjustly languishing in obscurity" because " some r ecords just don't deserve their fate."   The now-defunct label took pride in releasing older music that has either long been forgotten or never got its due the first time around. A prime example is First Landing , the debut album by R&B vocal group The Dynamics. Their first of two LPs was released in 1969 and it appeared on CD for the first time ever in 2007. The Dynamics were a Detroit quartet who did not record for the giant Motown hit factory. Instead, their manager, Ted White, Aretha Franklin's husband, moved the singers to Memphis, and as he did with Franklin he put a bunch of all-star, studio musicians behind them. Visualize The Temptations recording at Atlantic or Stax instead of Motown and you'll understand the sound of this album. The group was smoother than most Memphi...

Most of the CDs featured in Bloggerhythms Mid-year Review remain at the top of the list as 2007 winds down. Because I don't want to bore everyone by restating for a third time all of the great things I wrote about these discs (most were praised in their individual reviews and at the year's half way point) I'll just list the winners in order with a link to each CD's original review and add any additional comments I feel are worthy. You know it was an eclectic year because new music by some old reliable classic rockers share the list with a few who released their first CDs after Y2K, and so not wanting to snub any of my favorite CDs, I expanded this year's list from five to ten. There is essentially a three way tie for the top spot. Deciding who recorded the best CD of 2007 is almost an impossible task. America's album, released early in the year, wins in a photo finish because it held the number one position for most of it. The Cat Empire also deserves to ...

In 1975 film director Jim Szalapski had a burning desire to film a documentary showcasing the new generation of singer-songwriters and performers he believed were about to change the face of country music. Fortunately his dream came true even though it took six years for the fruits of his labor, Heartworn Highways , to be released in 1981. Many of the unknown artists featured in Szalapski's film include now respected alt-country or outlaw-country artists Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, David Allan Coe, and John Hiatt. Lesser known but still talented performers such as Larry Jon Wilson, Gamble Rogers, and Steve Young are featured here too. Detailed liner notes stress that this CD version of Heartworn Highways is not a "literal soundtrack" to the film because producers David Gorman and Michael Nieves wanted a "CD that stood on its own as an audio companion to the movie." Gorman and Nieves sought to create a specific mood for ...

The Salvation Blues is Mark Olson's first true solo CD. Olson was the leader of The Jayhawks until he left them in the good hands of co-founder Gary Louris in 1995. One of the reasons he cited for leaving the band was to be with his wife, singer-songwriter Victoria Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. Then, leading a loosely organized group called The Creekdippers, he and Williams made several CDs together. Unfortunately Olson and Williams eventually divorced which sent him into a period of depression. He moved out of his home and began a period of aimless world traveling. He lived with his aunt in Colorado, then with friends in Wales. From there it was on to Krakow, Poland, then back to his original home town in Minneapolis, and finally back again with his aunt. The Salvation Blues was written during Olson's travels. It's a cathartic collection of songs he felt compelled to write. His state of mind is evident all over the disc. "Keith" is about ...

Lewis Taylor's latest CD, The Lost Album , was recently released in America on a new indie label, Hacktone Records. The disc is generating a lot of positive heat with both radio and critics. Taylor's music has often been described as psychedelic soul. The British rocker is frequently compared to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Todd Rundgren, Paul McCartney, and The Beach Boys. His influences on the The Lost Album seem to be narrower than advertised, (mostly Prince and The Beach Boys) and it is more rock and roll than soul. That doesn't matter, it's still a CD loaded with great music. There are catchy melodies and gorgeous harmonies all over the album. Imagine you are on the beach listening to the Wilson Brothers harmonize when suddenly, out of nowhere, Prince storms out with a mighty, rocking, electric guitar solo that takes over the song. The two divergent styles blend well together into a cohesive whole that is never jarring. At times Taylor's music sou...