Hey Bo Diddley!!! Hey Bo Diddley!!!

Jacksonville, Florida, June 2nd, 2008,
The cigar box guitar has been silenced,
Bo Diddley has passed on...

"She rolled right up to my front door,
Knocked an knocked 'till her fist got sore,
When she turned and walked away,
All I could hear my baby say:

Hey bo diddley, oh bo diddley,
Hey bo diddley, oh bo diddley."

Bo Diddley - "Have Guitar Will Travel"

I think that one of the most incongruous and kitsch album covers I have ever seen was the Bo Diddley record album "Have Guitar Will Travel" from 1959, and now that Bo Diddley has passed on, I was thinking that this also may symbolize the man - a mix of kitsch and flashy facade with the "real thing" to back it up.

What I mean is that behind the gimmick of the rectangular bodied bright red guitar, the flashy clothes, glasses and haircut, this man could really produce the goods!!
He created a new style of playing the electric guitar, a new set of jumpy Blues rhythms, and a treasure of catchy new songs in the Blues and Rock and Roll idiom.

Between 1955 and 1959 Bo Diddley wrote and recorded a number of unforgettable Blues and/or Rock and Roll songs that have become both standards of the Blues and Rock and Roll tradition, as well as identifiable icons for Bo Diddley himself.
Among these are:
I'm a Man,
Bo Diddley,
Who Do You Love,
Hey Bo Diddley,
Diddley Daddy,
Before You Accuse Me
You Don't Love Me (You Don't Care)
Hush Your Mouth
Bring it to Jerome
Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover (written by Willie Dixon)


Rest in peace Ellas "Bo Diddley" McDaniel
the angels up in heaven must now be dancing to a funkier beat!!!

Who Do You Love?
Ellas McDaniel (Bo Diddley) 1956

I walked forty-seven miles of barbed wire, I got a cobra snake for a necktie
A brand new house on the road side, and it's a-made out of rattlesnake hide
Got a band new chimney made on top, and it's a-made out of human skull
Come on take a little walk with me Arlene, and tell me who do you love?

Who do you love? Who do you love?
Who do you love? Who do you love?

I've got a tombstone hand in a graveyard mind,
just twenty-two and I don't mind dying

Who do you love? (4x)

I rode around the town, used a rattlesnake whip,
take it easy Arlene don't give me no lip

Who do you love? (4x)

The night were dark when the sky was blue, down the alley a ice wagon flew
hit a bump and somebody screamed, you should've heard what I seen

Who do you love? (4x)

Now Arlene took a-me by my hand,
she said "ooh ee Bo you know I understand, who do you love?"

Who do you love? (4x)

This month at the Fingerboard Coffeehouse - Champagne Charlie!!!

On Saturday, November 26, 1977, in the basement of the 519 Church St. Community Center in Toronto, Canada, Thom "Champagne Charlie" Roberts gave a command performance at the Fingerboard Coffeehouse.
The poster for the Fingerboard was designed and drawn by my multi-talented cousin Elliott Rovan.
I had just taken over the management of the Fingerboard at the end of August, and I had befriended Champagne Charlie earlier in the year. I was quite honored to have an artist of his professional caliber and style in the club, as most of the artists who performed there were not necessarily seasoned professional musicians - many were on their way to becoming established or even famous, but few had the stature or history that someone like Champagne Charlie had at that time.
Champagne Charlie would play with his big chimney sweep moustache, opened the Martin guitar case with the large Donald Duck decal on the back, and pulled out his Martin 000-28 (triple "O" twenty eight), a sweet sounding guitar that I dreamed of buying for myself for only the last thirty years...
I don't recall the exact repertoire that he played, but most likely it included a few Rev. Gary Davis songs and instrumentals, as Thom taught me some of them later as our friendship progressed. Songs like "Death Don't Have No Mercy", "the Maple Leaf Rag", "Cincinnati Flow Rag", "Buck Dance" were regular parts of Champagne Charlie's arsenal, as were "The Beat From Rampart Street", "Yas Yas Yas", "Windin Boy", and other Ragtime and New Orleans parlor type Blues songs.

"The Beat From Rampart Street", a song by Larry "Fast Fingers" Johnson from his first solo album, is an upbeat two-step with a tricky double-syncopated beat that was very hard to learn at first - I think it took me two months or more before I could play that pattern automatically. That song is still one of my favorites, and I perform it to this day.

Here are the humorous lyrics:

"Well gather 'round people, gonna sing a little song
Pay close attention, 'cause it won't be long
Gonna sing about that beat, down on Ramapart Street

Looky here people what Rampart's done
Made Grandma marry her young grandson
When she heard that beat, down on Ramapart Street

Playin'nice an' easy,
Soft and sweet
When you hear that beat, down on Ramapart Street

Now I have a little cousin named Cripple Lou John,
He dropped his crutches and walked right on
When he heard that beat, down on Ramapart Street

Yeah John, nice to see you standing straight again
come on over and do that two step for us

Now my old aunty loved my uncle so
That she dropped her drawers like years ago
When she heard that beat, down on Ramapart Street

Now when I die, don't bury me at all,
Just pickle my bones in alcohol
Gonna hear that beat, down on Ramapart Street

You can hear it in the alley
You can hear cross the fence,
By golly it don't make no sense,
Talkin' 'bout that beat, down on Ramapart Street

Playin' all night long,
Let me hear that band moan
Playin'nice an' easy,
Soft and sweet
When you hear that beat, down on Ramapart Street,
that's all!"

R.I.P. Champagne Charlie a.k.a. Thom Roberts

Thomas Charles Roberts a.k.a. Champagne Charlie, Canadian Jazz, Blues, and Ragtime guitarist and singer, born in Ottawa on January 5th, 1945, passed away in Guelph Ontario on April 4th, 2008. Thom was a good friend, and important musical mentor to me.

"Champagne Charlie is my name
Champagne Charlie is my name,
Champagne Charlie is my name by golly,
and roguein' an' stealin' is my game"
- Blind (Arthur) Blake

Sketch of Champagne Charlie in concert
(copyright Eli Marcus 1977)

I first met Thom in the personage of Champagne Charlie, Ragtime guitarist extraordinaire, at the Fingerboard Cafe in downtown Toronto. It was a Wednesday night , March 16, 1977, and a young Colin Linden (almost 17) and also Dave McClean were on hand to make it the perfect evening of Blues music at the small Folk-club in the basement of the 519 Church St community center. I was very impressed with all three performers, but Champagne Charlie, with his chimney-sweep black moustache that covered his mouth, a dark cap of some kind and a nice black dinner jacket impressed me the most. Thom also had a distinctive guitar - a Martin 000-28 which is slightly more compact than a standard full sized guitar, yet has a much fuller and rounder tone.

The blue Martin hardshell case that carried his guitar also had a large Donald Duck decal on the back, so you could spot Thom a mile away just by his guitar case.
That night at the Fingerboard I befriended Thom, and over the next few months he and I would hang out at different clubs where he or Colin were playing. Thom had many colorful stories about his history in music and life in general, and even if they didn't all ring true, it was fascinating to hear him tell them. He definitely had a distinctive style to his voice whether he was singing or speaking, as well as a very unique and hearty laugh.

One late summer night, close to midnight, Thom and I were walking through the streets of downtown Toronto, when we came upon a nice chair that was put out on the corner for garbage. Now, you must understand that a nice chair with a good padded seat, no arm rests, and just the right height is something of value to an acoustic guitarist to be able to sit comfortably when you play guitar - so Thom gave me his guitar case to carry, and he loaded that chair on his shoulder, and off we went.


We stopped off at the co-op student rooming house where I lived at the time,
went into a vacant room with a wooden floor, Thom sat on his newly acquired chair, and I sat on a guitar case. It was sometime around midnight, the proverbial bewitching hour when Blues musicians sell their souls to the devil to acquire more musical prowess... Thom showed me a few Ragtime style chords and progressions to a Reverend Gary Davis tune (probably "Death Don't Have No Mercy"), and to a tune called "The Beat From Ramparts Street". That is how Thom became my musical mentor.

A friend of mine from the University had just opened up a little cafe on Brunswick Ave. and Thom and I spent hours playing music and just taking it easy there (the food was pretty good too!).
Later that summer, I had to leave the Innis College co-op residence, and I had no idea where I would find a place to live. Thom told me there was a little one room "bachelorette" apartment next to him up at 159 Walmer Rd. - I ended up living there for the next two years. During that time, Thom and I became great friends, and Thom had decided to study a bit of formal Jazz guitar, and he would pass on tips and songs to me, and sometimes we'd accompany each other on old Duke Ellington tunes and others he was learning at the time, the doors to our rooms were always open when we were home, and for a while Thom was like the older brother I never had...

I'll leave you with a song - one of Thom's favorite tunes at the time was a number written by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell, and covered by singers like Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole. Thom would sing it out loud and put special emphasis on the very last line:

"Do Nothing 'Till You Hear From me"

Do nothing till you hear from me
Pay no attention to what's said
Why one should tear the seam of anyone's dream
Is over my head

Do nothing till you hear from me
At least consider our romance
If you should take the word of others you've heard
I haven't a chance

True, I've been seen with someone new
But does that mean that I'm untrue?
While we're apart, the words in my heart
Reveal how I feel about you

Some kiss may cloud my memory
And other arms may hold a thrill
But please do nothing till you hear it from me
And you never will!

42 IF - Jeff Healey's birthday - and a "Mess of Blues"

Jeff Healey would be 42 years old by now had he survived the cancer that plagued him throughout his life (Healey passed away in Toronto, Canada on March 2nd, 2008, and his 42nd birthday was on Tuesday March 25th, 2008 )
Well, Happy Birthday Jeff, wherever you may be!!!

Last month, hardly a fortnight after he passed away, "Mess of Blues", Healey's first commercial album in 8 years was released in Europe - an album chock full of Blues, Rock & Roll, and just plain fun music!

Starting with Sonny Thompson's upbeat Blues classic "I'm Tore Down" (often identified with Otis Rush), Healey is at home both vocally and on guitar as he goes from straight electric Blues to slightly more modern Rock territory. Next is the classic "How Blue Can You Get" with a very soulful guitar solo by Jeff. Four of the tunes on this album were recorded live on stage in London England, and at Healey's own club in Toronto (Healey's Roadhouse), but the studio tracks also have the quality of a live show because they were recorded with the same band that he played with onstage for a good number of years, and they are all very comfortable with each other both on stage and in the studio.
The next tune is a vintage 50's Blues-Rock & Roll chestnut named "Sugar Sweet" which Healey performs in his own inimitable way and then he ventures into the Lousianna Bayou, letting loose with the good time swamp tune "Jambalaya".
Next up is "the Weight", the old standard made famous by the Band back in the movie Easy Rider, which seems to be making a revival lately as at least 3-4 other artists have recently covered the tune on their newest releases.

The album title tune, the Doc Pomus song "Mess of Blues" was a hit for Elvis Presley way back when, and Healey has fun with this upbeat Rock & Roll number.

Neil Young's "Like A Hurricane" brings Healey's special emotional rendition and has all the makings of the designated "hit single" from the album, and hopefully it could become a posthumous commercial hit for the benefit of Healey's wife and young children.
The album closes with a light rendition of the folk/bluegrass/country Blues standard from the 1920's - "Sittin' On Top of the World", and the Rock & Roll standard "Shake Rattle and Roll".
Overall, this is a fun album filled with lots of Blues and the joy of music. The band is tight and professional all the way, but the session is pretty laid back, and Healey is playing to please both himself and his regular audience at the club...

Rest in peace brother Jeff, even though you left us much too soon, you've earned your place in heaven.

Kelly Joe Phelps - a style that's all his own

Kelly Joe Phelps -
“Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind”
live concert recordings
Rykodisc, 2004
*********************************
A few years ago on the Blues discussion groups on the internet (Blues-L), I was reading the occasional comment about this guy out in the Northwest who was a new phenomenon of the acoustic blues and slide guitar. It took me a while before I could get my hands on his first three albums, “Lead Me On“, “Roll Away The Stone”, and “Shine Eyed Mister Zen”.

Kelly Joe Phelps soon rose to popular acclaim and fame in Folk and Blues circles. While the first three albums were classic solo acoustic ventures, his next two albums became more complex and filled with additional instrumentation and personnel, which spoiled for me the intimate, immediate and personal nature of his music.
Now comes a new album that was recorded live, with only a man and his guitar – pure, bare, personal, meditative, lovely!

The album opens with a 10 minute rendition of the classic Nehemiah (Skip) James “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” and also includes a cover of the Rev. Gary Davis tune “I Am the Light of This World” (which has been identified with Jorma Kaukonen’s repertoire for the past 35 years).There are plenty of evocative and lyrical singer-songwriter folk numbers penned by Phelps, alongside the Blues numbers which are his forte.

Kelly Joe Phelps is a fine guitar picker as well as slide player, playing with the acoustic guitar on his lap. He also has a very pleasant mellow voice with just a hint of that smoky rasp of singers like Dave Van Ronk. This album is highly recommended for late night listening, meditation, or for those who love hearing lots of fine acoustic guitar fingerpicking…

Geoff Muldaur - Blues with class

Geoff Muldaur
“the Secret Handshake” (Hightone Records, 1998)
“Password” (Hightone Records, 2000)
**************************
Geoff Muldaur has class, and that is a double entendre, because he not only has class in the sense of culture and quality, but he also has a thing or two to teach us, as if her were holding classes in Blues and Jazz appreciation.

I have always known that Geoff Muldaur has impeccable taste in music, his repertoire has always been a wide mix of styles that are both entertaining and instructive. More often than not, his repertoire has inspired me to go do a bit of research and discover new artists or musical sub-styles in the rich American Folk/Blues/Jazz heritage that I wasn’t previously aware of or familiar with. Longtime fans of Ry Cooder will know what I’m talking about, if he doesn’t already have one, Geoff Muldaur should have an honorary degree in ethnomusicology…


Geoff has always made music very personal, never compromising over the arrangements or orchestrations or complexity of musical ideas, nor the fine musicians that accompany him. He began recording in the mid 60’s with the (Jim) Kweskin Jug Band alongside his wife, singer Maria (born D’Amato) Muldaur, continuing with his own solo efforts with Maria, and also as part of Paul Butterfield’s Better Days band. He even had a bit of good fortune when his recording of the song “Brazil” was used as the theme song in the popular Terry Gilliam futuristic science-fantasy film “Brazil”.


I recently rediscovered the magic that Geoff does with music in a pair of solo albums on Hightone records – “the Secret Handshake” (1998) and “Password” (2000). Both records are similar in their scope and flavor, labeled by Muldaur as “American Music: Blues and Gospel”, ‘though for my tastes I would characterize the first one as more dynamic and eclectic, and the second one as more subdued and introspective.
Make no mistake, both albums are interesting and varied, but I simply feel a stronger connection to “Secret Handshake”.

The album begins with an acoustic rendering of “The Wild Ox Moan” (from the late 30’s Library of Congress recordings of Vera Hall) where Geoff does a beautiful falsetto moan. The opening number is followed by a full brass band and vocal choir for the Gospel classic “This World Is Not My Home” and then we suddenly switch to a Zydeco groove for the classic Leadbelly song “Alberta”. This is followed by a quiet personal tale of Geoff’s escapades as a youth in trying to find the grave of Blind Lemon Jefferson in East Texas in order to sweep it off as the classic Blind Lemon verse on the gravestone epitaph requests – “see that my grave is kept clean”- “Got To Find Blind Lemon – Part One” (part two can be heard on the album “Password”).
A couple more Zydeco style numbers follow, a country stringband number, a solo piano and vocal song, a lovely blues arrangement of Sleepy John Estes’ “Someday Baby”, and closing with solo vocal and guitar. I can almost guarantee that you’ll play this album over and over again before you have heard enough.

Some Memories of Willie P. Bennett

I keep getting the picture in my mind of a festival (probably the Ottawa Festival For the Folks, summer 1977 or 1978)
where it started pouring rain in the afternoon, and everyone was looking for shelter,
Willie spontaneously (or so it seemed to me) saved the day by starting to perform in some old dinning hall on the grounds,
completely acoustically, no mics or amplifiers,
as all of us huddled inside - it was hard to hear, but still a great experience - experiencing his voice live in front of you was always something special....

or the time that he showed up at the Toronto Folklore Centre (TFC) on Avenue RD. (in an old redbrick house on the west side,right near the bridge of the railroad tracks) right after he had shaved his head for the first time and everyone was inspecting and questioning him, and he just picked up a harmonica and started to play...he used to hang out at the TFC quite often in the middle of the day, sometimes trying out guitars, sometimes just resting (or waking up)...I wasn't on speaking terms with him, just on "hey there" nodding to each other kind of terms.

these are some of the nice memories I have of him

R.I.P. - Willie P. Bennett

I just received the sad news today -
legendary Canadian Folk/Country singer songwriter Willie P. Bennett
has passed on to the other side following heart trouble over the last year.
*************************
****Willie P. Bennett****
October 26 1951 - February 15, 2008
http://www.williepbennett.com/
***********************************
Some of you may have heard me speak in reverence of Willie P. Bennett and
I have sung his songs many times at the local Tel Aviv Folk Club and other venues,
songs such as "Take My Own Advice" or the song quoted at the end of this post, "Down to the Water".
I think that the best way we can help commemorate this man is by learning more about him and his music
you can hear many of his songs here: http://www.williepbennett.com/sounds.html

I feel so lucky to have known Willie back in the glory days of Folk Festivals
and Folk Clubs in the late 70's in the Toronto area.
Willie was a one of a kind troubadour, guitarist, mandolin player, harmonica player,
and a powerful singer with a deep voice.
He was an amazing songwriter who could make you laugh, or melt your heart, or leave your jaw hanging in awe of his lovely words.
He was a man who "didn't take sh*t from no one", and dealt in the bare truths of life in his writing.

It is no wonder that three of his musical friends formed a popular band based on his music - "Blackie and the Rodeo Kings" or "B.A.R.K." (after one of Willie's classic songs)with Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing, and Tom Wilson, and sometimes Willie himself joined in.

here are the lyrics to one of Willie's classic songs:

"Down To the Water"
From "Tryin' To Start Out Clean"
LP originally released 1975


My mind was sinking in a sea of darkness
My eyes were blinded by the light of you
The reasons for leaving were not all that harmless
The lessons I learned both straight and true
The stars were rising in a light of triumph
The time for leaving was about half gone
The sun was drowning in sea of silver
My heart was as low as the sun in the dawn

So come on...
Let's go down to the water
And show me what you think is the truth
You know that you could
Let's go down to the water
I'd show you my crown if I could

My mouth was frozen in a thousand faces
My words were hanging in the air
My thoughts were scattered in a thousand places
How come you start out running scared
The time was running on a little further, and further
The moon was rising right beside your head
You always lose yourself in someone else's need
Always looking to find love in a bed

So come on...
Let's go down to the water
And show me what you think is the truth
You know that you could
Let's go down to the water
I'd show you my crown if I could


Thinking about the ways of the seagull
Spending my time on every one
You could keep on reaching out forever and forever
With out ever touching anyone

So come on...
Let's go down to the water
And show me what you think is the truth
You know that you could
Let's go down to the water
I'd show you my crown if I could



here is a message from Willie's website:
"Dear friends,

It is with pain in our hearts and deep sadness that we formally inform the music community that our friend, lover, troubadour, mentor, and musical artist Willie P. Bennett passed away suddenly at his home in Peterborough Ontario, Friday February 15th 2008.

More information will be available soon at the discretion of Willie's partner Linda and the Bennett family.

Thank you for your compassionate words and positive thoughts. Willie always expected the best from us, especially in our kindnesses to each other, and I am sure he is still proud to call us his friends.

Letters of condolence and support may be sent to:

his companion in love,

Ms. Linda Duemo,
272 Bold Street
Hamilton Ontario L8P 1W2

his family,

Mrs. Margaret Bennett
Box 526
Picture Butte, Alberta T0K 1V0

care of his mother Margaret, sister Esther, (son Richard Barrett, wife Judy,grand-nephews William James and Jason Alexander), and brothers David (Brian), and Paul (Shelley, nephews Ryan, Adam and Brandon)

".....we'll understand it all in time......."

Best wishes to you all

Robin "

The previous 8 posts were formerly on another ...

The previous 8 posts were formerly on another blog that I thought might be a good idea - "Now Playing In My Car", record reviews combined with gripes about driving my car to work or elsewhere on the highway,
but alas, nobody seemed to notice.
So here they are again, maybe someone will take notice and try some of these recording out for themselves!

John Scofield - Blue Matter

Ok, so I'm driving home again after an annoying and tiring day at the office, where I also felt at one point like I had food poisoning from the onion soup at the vegetarian restaurant...I needed a cool kind of album to "chill out" on the way home.

I've got the windows down to enjoy some of the breeze of the fall night, as I slip in another of my favorite John Scofield albums - "Blue Matter" .
If "Still Warm" has a warmish texture to it, "Blue Matter" is a bit more cool and distanced, especially due to some of the seriously dated synthesizer sounds from Mitchell Forman - if there is one thing that seems to date an album more than anything else, it's the embarrassing synth sounds that are often used in many 70's and 80's recordings, in Fusion and modern Jazz in particular. Getting past that, this album still has some great tunes on it with a killer rhythm section in bassist Gary Grainger and super drummer Dennis Chambers.

I saw Dennis Chambers live once or twice, and he nearly stole the show the second time - he is such a powerful and funky drummer with an amazing groove, that I don't think anyone today can come near him in this niche, I mean he's like Steve Gadd, Billy Cobham, and Dave Weckl all in one, playing on amphetamines...

As I'm waiting for some of the congestion to clear up along the 2 1/2 lane boulevard that passes by the Yarkon river, I get a waft of the local sewage treatment station along the way - oh putrid!!! - gotta crank up the volume on "Now She's Blond" and try to ignore the olfactory affront. As I pass the Diamond Exchange business area, another waft of sewage comes up - you can also get that whnever you pass by the Sheraton City Tower on the highway heading north, it always seems to smell terrible around there, at least for the last 3-4 years...

I flip back to one of my favorites - "Blue Matter", the first track on this album and what originally sold me on it when I bought the fine German pressing of the LP around 20 years ago, and I used to sit with the album and try to pick out the tune on my own guitar.

Just a couple of years after that album came out, I managed to help persuade someone that it would be a good idea to have Scofield over here for a live concert or two, and I even got to meet my idol and get him to autograph my Ibanez guitar (a similar model to the one that he plays).

Cool, I've chilled out now...