I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled From Combat to Carpet: The Art of Afghan War Rugs— including world maps, cityscapes, tanks and helicopters — is at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut through May 14th.
In New London, ConnecticutHAIL and FAREWELL to the retired PBS “Nightly Business Report” television business show host Paul Kangas — who always signed-off with “I’m Paul Kangas, wishing all of YOU ... the best of good buys” — who has died at the age of 79 ….. and to the veteran jazz pianist Horace Parlan— overcoming childhood polio to work with Charles Mingus and Archie Shepp — who has died at the age of 86.
PHOTO of the DAY — this is an old one, of course …. but look at China (in the upper left-hand corner), then South Korea (in the bottom right-hand corner) at night. And what’s in-between?
Something’s missing … actually, it’s thereWhile it definitely makes for some excellent nighttime viewing of the stars, I’ll pass on North Korea (with its capital city of Pyongyang the only bright spot on its map).
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Tattoo the Cat — who went missing in upstate New York four years ago …. but will now be reunited with his family (now relocated to Washington state) due to his microchip.
Tattoo the CatWITH TWO MONTHS to go before the French presidential election, talk has been about who would go into the (expected) 2-candidate runoff election against xenophobic candidate Marine Le Pen: and with the conservative candidate François Fillon weighed down by scandals, the 39 year-old independent center-left candidate Emmanuel Macron— pro-European, anti-Trump, English-speaking and a believer in climate change — has a good chance to be elected.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named SWAT Cat— an adopted mascot of the Boston Police Department, whose members built her a comfortable outdoor home.
SWAT CatA SHORT yet COMPELLING interview with the brother of the xenophobic Dutch politician Geert Wilders reveals his childhood angst, the uneasiness he causes within their family today and how the brother avoided public comment about Geert … until one day when he crossed-a-line.
BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
SEPARATED at BIRTH — two deceased men noted for their religion: Nobel Laureate, Judaism scholar and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel (who died last year) and evangelical Christian activist Doug Coe (who died last week).
Elie Wiesel (1928 — 2016) Doug Coe (1928 — 2017)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… while he did not live to see (and profit from) the blues revival of the late 1960’s, the guitarist Elmore James can be heard in many modern slide guitarists today. The All-Music Guide analyst Cub Koda thinks there were more proficient post-WW II players (such as Robert Nighthawk and Earl Hooker) but no one matched his sound and urgency. Add to that a singing style that could reach a fever pitch …. and it’s no wonder he is recalled 50 years later.
Born in January, 1918 in Canton, Mississippi to an unwed mother, he fashioned his first guitar from a broom handle and a lard can. Influenced by Robert Johnson and Tampa Red, he was playing weekends by age 14 and eventually worked with Rice Miller, the second man to adopt the Sonny Boy Williamson monicker.
In 1943, he joined the Navy, was promoted to coxswain and was part of the invasion of Guam. Afterwards, he moved to Memphis briefly, was heard on the King Biscuit Flour radio show before returning to Mississippi.
One key to his success was his electrical prowess. He was a radio repairman by trade, and was able to reconfigure his guitar amplifier to get a raw, dirty sound that would not become commonplace until decades later. He configured two DeArmond pick-ups on his guitar in unusual spots, making his sound that more unique. According to one source, he used that sound (along with drums) as early as 1939 — which is before most historians cite as the marriage of Delta Blues, electronics and percussion.
On the downside, he developed heart trouble in the 1940’s, and it became aggravated over the years due to asthma and his chronic alcoholism.
His big break came in 1951 when — working with Sonny Boy Williamson for a time — he recorded an electrified, up-tempo version of Robert Johnson’s Dust My Broom — which became his signature tune, and especially for the arpeggio riff that opens and is the song’s hook. It became an R&B hit in 1952 and led to a contract with the Bihari Brothers, leading to a move to Chicago.
His other ace-in-the-hole was his back-up band, the aptly-named Broomdusters — with Johnny Jones on piano, J.T. Brown on tenor sax and his cousin Homesick James Williamson on rhythm guitar. They were the equals of any band in Chicago during the 1950’s, and they were a regular feature attraction that decade. (Homesick Williams performed into his nineties, until his 2006 death).
Besides “Dust My Broom”, some of his other tunes famous in the blues-rock world include Shake Your Money-maker (performed by such bands as the old Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, George Thorogood and the Black Crowes), One Way Out and “Done Somebody Wrong” (made famous by the Allman Brothers) and The Sky is Crying— which Albert King and especially Stevie Ray Vaughn made famous.
They moved to Mel London’s Vee-Jay label in the late 1950’s and then began alternating his home between Chicago and Mississippi, particularly when his heart trouble acted up (and he always had work back home in radio repair). He was sanctioned in 1961 by the musicians’ union (for non-payment of dues) and played local gigs back home, but planned a Chicago recording session of new songs in May, 1963.
But on May 24th, 1963 (the night before the session) he suffered his final heart attack and died at the age of only 45. His wake was attended by over 400 people from the music world, before his body was returned to Mississippi for burial, and his grave is part of the Mississippi Blues Trail.
His influence today as noted is immense, as these quotes can attest to:
“You can hear his signature riff at least once a night from every slide guitarist working,” music historian Tony Glover has written, “but no one has ever quite matched that vocal intensity, which transformed the lonesome moan of the Delta into a Chicago scream.”
"I practiced 12 hours a day, every day, until my fingers were bleeding, trying to get the same sound as Elmore James got," Robbie Robertson (of The Band) said. "Then somebody told me that he plays with a slide."
Says former Allman Brothers slide guitarist Derek Trucks, "There was something unleashed in his playing, that acoustic guitar with the electric pickup. When he's singing, you hear his voice through the electric pickup."
Later in 1963 (at the beginning of his long career) John Mayall recorded a tribute song entitled Mr. James and many others acknowledge his influence. Elmore James was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (as an Early Influence) in 1992 and named by Rolling Stone as #30 in its 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list. And while he left this Earth over fifty years ago, his son Elmore James Jr. carries-on his musical spirit to this day.
Elmore James (late 1930’s) and later on (1918 — 1963)My favorite song of his became a classic recorded by many others, It Hurts Me Too— which is based upon a different tune (“Things 'Bout Comin' My Way") recorded by one of his childhood influences, Tampa Red. Elmore James recorded his updated version in 1957 which was not a hit — but which he re-recorded in the early 1960’s and became a hit … and defined the song.
Among those covering the Elmore James version: Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Foghat, Susan Tedeschi, the Rolling Stones and a 1967 version by John Mayall which is my favorite. But below, you can hear Elmore James’ version.
You say you hurt — you've almost lost your mind Because the man you love hurts you all the time
He's got another woman — and I love you! But you love him ... and stick to him like glue
He'd better leave you — or you gotta put him down Because I won't stand to see you pushed around
When things go wrong … go wrong with you It hurts me, too
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