Until Berry Gordy founded Motown in 1960, Don Robey's Duke-Peacock, and its several subsidiary labels, was the largest black-owned record company inAmerica. Sonically, it was a diverse outfit. Robey never confined his roster to regional artists, and he released all styles of blues, soul, R&B and gospel, and even dabbled in jazz and white rock 'n' roll. As with other black-oriented indies, the emphasis was on singles, and the label produced its fair share… more »
In the 19th century, the most popular instruments played by black musicians in America were the banjo and the fiddle, and black and white string bands had virtually indistinguishable sounds. By the early days of the recording industry, though, both were on the way out. Yet the fiddle in particular was still prevalent enough that a fair number of black players were recorded, particularly in blues and jazz, and that's a good thing. With its… more »
Postwar, electric blues guitar in Texas all derives from T-Bone Walker, says conventional wisdom, and when you hear a great stylist like Pee Wee Crayton soloing in that jazzy, single-string tradition, it seems like an immutable law. But there were Texas guitarists who weren't influenced by Walker, and most who were brought enough of their own thing to T-Bone's to keep it interesting. Even today, the tradition not only lives on, but continues to evolve.… more »
They grew up together in Houston's rough-and-tumble Third Ward, played in bands together as teenagers. Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland and Joe Hughes were all devotees of the classic Texas electric guitar sound of T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. But all three absorbed their primary influences early on, and took the sound to three strikingly different places.
Collins was the first to emerge nationally. In the late '50s and early '60s, he cut a string of… more »
A delightfully eclectic program spotlighting nearly all of Gate’s musical leanings — blues, jazz, country, even a hearty taste of “Louisiana Zydeco” — and a revealing glimpse of his multi-instrumental abilities: he plays guitar, violin, drums, and piano! There’s a tender remake of the Chuck Willis R&B ballad and a funk-tinged update of “Got My Mojo Working,” but everything else is from Brown’s own pen. – Bill Dahl
