General Comments for all Naweedna cds



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General Comments for all Naweedna CDs


  • Will Moyle’s Jazz Alive, a locally produced master collection of classic jazz. The Will Moyle stuff is the best collection of jazz I’ve ever heard. Originally recorded by me in the 80s.




  • FFUSA: Folk Festival USA, a nationally distributed collection of excerpts recorded live at various folk festivals around the country – varying from traditional country to purely ethnic, to socio-political (one lesbian festival, in fact). FFUSA is eclectic, and the live recordings often catch a lot of crowd noise as well as bad microphone placement. Originally recorded by me in the 80s.




  • GTWG: The Glory That Was Grease, another locally produced broadcast that featured the formative years of Rock and Roll from the 50s and 60s – my youth. The “Grease” may have been “Greece”, the Rochester suburb where the program originated. The GTWG is marginal but good for reminding my generation of their teenage years – if that can be considered a good thing. Originally recorded by me in the 80s.




  • BBGR: Big Band Go Round, yet another local program featuring … Big Band, but also including most anything recorded from 20s to the 50s. The BBGR is so broad that it is unlikely to be duplicated anywhere. However, you have to have a fondness for the crackle of scratchy old 78’s and an appetite for schmaltz to fully appreciate it. Originally recorded by me in the 80s.




  • PHC & PHC-D: Prairie Home Companion – the middle years. I didn’t get started with PHC until the 80s, so I missed the early period, and I stopped recording when Garrison retired – for the first time. Remember the unfortunate guy who took over the time slot from Garrison? Me, neither. AS IF anyone could do that – a classic no-win situation. When Garrison un-retired (like Michael Jordan), the second version of the show was based in NYC, and I didn’t care for it that much, so I didn’t record it. A few years later I discovered that he had gone back to the old format and was broadcasting from St Paul, MN. I’ve been digitizing those programs in real time over the last couple years, and they are designated as PHC-D. The PHC stuff contains the essence of American music – in my not-so-humble opinion. The only nationally broadcast show that ever came close to matching PHC for quality and variety was the TV show, Northern Exposure – go figure. I have two Northern CDs; if there are more, I would like to know about them ASAP.




  • The dates represent the release date of the album or CD source. These dates are as accurate as I can obtain. The dates for some tracks from compilations reflect the release date of the compilation.

As usual, my comments are in blue. The other information comes from www.allmusic.com. Additions and corrections are welcome … encouraged, in fact.


A1 Hello Love - Hank Snow

Download (1974)
Hello Love used to be the opening song on PHC. This is Hank Snow version that inspired Garrison’s version.
Canada's greatest contribution to country music, Hank Snow was famous for his "traveling" songs. It's no wonder. At age 12 he ran away from his Nova Scotia home and joined the Merchant Marines, working as a cabin boy and laborer for four years. Once back on shore, he listened to Jimmie Rodgers records and started playing in public, building up a following in Halifax. His original nickname, the Yodeling Ranger, was modified to the Singing Ranger when his high voice changed to the great baritone that graced his hit records. In 1950, the year he became an Opry regular, his self-penned "I'm Moving On" (the first of his many great traveling songs) became a smash hit, reaching number one and remaining their for 21 weeks. "Golden Rocket" (also 1950) and "I've Been Everywhere" (1962), two other hits, show his life-long love for trains and travel. But he was as much at home with two other styles, the ballad and the rhumba/boogie. Among his many great ballads are "Bluebird Island" (with Anita Carter, of the Carter Family), "Fool Such as I," and "Hello, Love" a hit when Snow was 60 years old. Snow appeared regularly on the Opry into the '90s, proving that his incredible voice suffered no loss of quality over the last half-century, as well as what a tasteful, understated guitar stylist he is. With small stature and huge voice, Snow was a country traditionalist who gave much more to the business than he took.

Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Hank Snow (born Clarence Eugene Snow) moved in with his grandmother when he was eight years old, following the divorce of his parents. Four years later, he re-joined his mother when she re-married, but his stepfather was an abusive, violent man who frequently beat Hank. Tired of the abuse, Snow ran away from home when he was 12 years old, joining a fishing boat. For the next four years, he served as a cabin boy, often singing for the sailors onboard. When he was 16, he returned home, where he began working odd jobs and trying to launch a performing career. His mother had given him a stack of Jimmie Rodgers records which inspired him greatly. Within a few weeks of hearing Rodgers, Snow ordered a cheap, mail-order guitar and tried to learn his idol's trademark blue yodel. For the next few years, he sang around Nova Scotia befrore finally mustering the courage to travel to Halifax in 1933. Snow landed a weekly unpaid appearance on CHNS' Down on the Farm, where he was billed as both the cowboy Blue Yodeller and Clarence Snow and His Guitar. The following year, CHNS' chief announcer Cecil Landry suggested to Snow that he should change his name to Hank, since it sounded more Western.


Hank continued to perform in Halifax for the next three years, often struggling to get by. The severity of the financial situation was compounded when he married Minnie Aaiders in 1936, but the couple was soon relieved when he landed a regular paid program on the network Canadian Farm Hour, billed as Hank the Yodeling Ranger. By the end of the year, Snow had signed a deal with RCA-Victor's Montreal branch and recorded two original songs: "The Prsoned Cowboy" and "Lonesome Blue Yodel." The songs were hits, beginning a string of Canadian-only hit singles that ran for the next ten years; during that time, he recorded nearly 90 songs. In the early '40s, he had a regular show on CBC, based in Montreal and New Brunswick. In 1944, he switched to CKCW in New Brunswick. Around that time, he switched his stage name to Hank the Singing Ranger, since his voice had deepened and he could no longer yodel.
Though he had become a star in Canada, the American market remained untapped. Snow tried to break into the USA several times, playing The Wheeling Jamboree in West Virginia, briefly moving to Hollywood and performing concerts with his trick pony Shawnee, but he was having no luck finding fans. The problem partially lies with the fact that he was trying to find an audience that wasn't there, since most citizens were concentrating on World War II. Another stumbling block was RCA Records themselves, who refused to let Hank release records in America until he was well-known in the country. By 1948, Snow was singing on The Big D Jamboree in Dallas, Texas, where he befriended the honky tonk legend Ernest Tubb. ET pulled enough weight at the Grand Ole Opry to get Hank a slot on the in early 1950, and by that time, RCA had agreed to record Snow for the American audience.
Hank Snow's American debut single "Marriage Vow" became a minor hit at the end of 1949, but it fell off the charts after a week. Similarly, his debut appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in January was not well-received, prompting Hank to consider moving back to Canada. However, those ideas were soon abandoned when his breakthrough arrived in the summer of 1950. That July, "I'm Moving On" began its remarkable ascent up the charts, eventually landing at number one and staying there for a full 21 weeks. In the year after the release of "I'm Moving On," "The Golden Rocket" and "The Rhumba Boogie" both hit number one (the latter staying there for eight weeks), establishing Hank Snow as a genuine star. Between 1951 and the end of 1955, Snow had a remarkable 24 Top Ten hits, including the massive hit single "I Don't Hurt Anymore" which spent 20 weeks at number one in 1954. Snow not only played his trademark traveling songs, but also country-boogie, Hawaiian music, rhumbas, and cowboys songs. By the middle of the decade, he was a star not only in the United States and Canada, but throughout the world, gaining a particularly strong following over the years in the United Kingdom.
Around 1954, Snow formed a booking agency with Colonel Tom Parker, who would later become infamous for being Elvis Presley's manager. Indeed, Hank played a formative role in Presley's early career, convincing the Grand Ole Opry to give the singer a chance in 1954. Though Elvis' appearance at the Opry was ill-received, Snow continued to push Presley to move towards country and Hank was quite upset when Parker took complete control of Elvis' management around 1955. Still, Hank found a way to combat rock & roll - he recorded some light rockabilly singles himself. "Hula Rock" and "Rockin', Rollin' Ocean" were attempts to capture the beat of rock & roll, but diluted with the rhumbas and boogie that made his singles hits during the early '50s. Though he was experimenting with the new genre, he hadn't abandoned country and he continued to regularly chart in the country Top Ten until 1965 with hits like "Big Wheels" (#7, 1958), "Miller's Cave" (#9, 1960), "Beggar to a King (#5, 1961), "I've Been Everywhere (#1, 1962), and "Ninety Miles an Hour (Down a Dead End Street)" (#2, 1963).
During the latter half of the '60s, Snow's career slowed down considerably, as he wasn't able to make the transition to the new, heavily orchestrated country-pop sounds, nor was he able to keep pace with the twangy roll of Bakersfield. Instead, his singles placed in the lower reaches of the charts, while his concerts and Grand Ole Opry appearances continued to be quite popular. It wasn't until 1974 that another monster hit arrived in the form of "Hello Love," which unexpectedly climbed to number one. Instead of sparking a revival, "Hello Love" proved to be a last gasp; between its release in 1974 and 1980, Hank had only two other Top 40 hits, which both arrived the same year as "Hello Love." Despite his declining record sales, his profile remained high through his concerts and several lifetime-achievement awards, including his induction to the Nashville Songwriters International Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1979.
In 1981, Hank Snow's recording career ended when RCA dropped him after a 45-year relationship. Snow was very upset with the label's treatment of him, as well as the direction that country music was taking, claiming that "80% of today's country music is a joke and not fit to listen to." He was equally angry that country's roots were being diluted by pop and rock production values. Though he never recorded again, Snow remained active in the Grand Ole Opry into the '90s, and he spent a lot of time working for his Foundation for Child Abuse. In the late '80s, Bear Family began a lengthy retrospective of several multi-disc box sets that chronicled his entire recording career. In 1994, Snow published his autobiography, The Hank Snow Story. Late the following year, he was stricken with a respiratory illness, yet he recovered in 1996, returning to the Grand Ole Opry in August of that year. Snow died December 20, 1999 at the age of 85. - David Vinopal
A2 Railroad Man - Larry Johnson

Download (unknown date)
I have an old Larry Johnson vinyl that I like very much (on Naweedna 2001), so I downloaded some more. This is by far the best of the newer stuff.
Among the post-war generation of blues artists, Larry Johnson - from Riceville, Georgia - is one of the most devoted to the pure Delta and Texas styles of the '20s. An excellent picker and singer, he has albums out on a variety of labels including Biograph and Spivey. - Richard Meyer
A3 Hold'em Hootie - Jay McShann

Blues from Kansas City (1942)
Does this sound like 40s stuff? Not to me. I like almost all of McShann’s tracks I have. I first heard him on Will Moyle’s Jazz Alive program. The CD listed below looks like the best one, if you’re only having one ;-)
The great veteran pianist Jay McShann (also known as Hootie) has had a long career and it is unfair to primarily think of him as merely the leader of an orchestra that featured a young Charlie Parker. He was mostly self-taught as a pianist, worked with Don Byas as early as 1931 and played throughout the Midwest before settling in Kansas City in 1936. McShann formed his own sextet the following year and by 1939 had his own big band. In 1940 at a radio station in Wichita, KS, McShann and an octet out of his orchestra recorded eight songs that were not released commercially until the 1970s; those rank among the earliest of all Charlie Parker records (he is brilliant on "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Lady Be Good") and also feature the strong rhythm-section team McShann had with bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Gus Johnson. The full orchestra recorded for Decca on two occasions during 1941-42 but they were typecast as a blues band and did not get to record many of their more challenging charts (although very rare broadcasts have since surfaced and been released on CD by Vintage Jazz Classics). In addition to Bird (who had a few short solos), the main stars were trumpeter Bernard Anderson, the rhythm section and singer Walter Brown. McShann and his band arrived in New York in February 1942 and made a strong impression but World War II made it difficult for any new orchestras to catch on. There was a final session in December 1943 without Parker but McShann was soon drafted and the band broke up. After being discharged later in 1944, McShann briefly reformed his group but soon moved to Los Angeles where he led combos for the next few years; his main attraction was the young singer Jimmy Witherspoon.

McShann was in obscurity for the next two decades, making few records and mostly playing in Kansas City. In 1969 he was rediscovered and McShann (who had first sung on records in 1966) was soon a popular pianist/vocalist. Sometimes featuring violinist Claude Williams, he has toured constantly, recorded frequently and appeared at many jazz festivals since then, being active into the mid-'90s. Jay McShann, who has recorded through the years for Onyx (the 1940 radio transcriptions), Decca, Capitol, Aladdin, Mercury, Black Lion, EmArcy, Vee Jay, Black & Blue, Master Jazz, Sackville, Sonet, Storyville, Atlantic, Swingtime and Music Masters among others, is a vital pianist and an effective blues vocalist who keeps a classic style alive.


Blues from Kansas City

Artist Jay McShann

Album Title Blues from Kansas City

Date of Release Apr 30, 1941 - Dec 1, 1942

AMG Rating 5 * checked

Genre Jazz

Type compilation

Time 60:10

This CD surpasses all former collections of pianist Jay McShann's early recordings, for it is comprised of every commercial side made by McShann during 1941-1943, including 11 delightful, if rarely heard, trio and quartet numbers (featuring McShann, bassist Gene Ramey, and drummer Gus Johnson), along with four lesser-known vocals by the limited but talented Walter Brown that are normally skipped. The result is as complete a musical picture of Jay McShann's early piano style and his orchestra (at least how they sounded in the studios) as is possible. Altoist Charlie Parker has five influential if brief solos (best is "Sepian Bounce") and trumpeters Orville Minor and Buddy Anderson, altoist John Jackson, and Paul Quinichette on tenor also have their spots. However, McShann is clearly the main star of this definitive set by the last of the great Kansas City swing big bands. Highly recommended. — Scott Yanow

1. Swingmatism performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:36

2. Hootie Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:53

3. Dexter Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:53

4. Vine Street Boogie performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:34

5. Confessin' the Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:50

6. Hold 'Em Hootie performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:37

7. One Woman's Man performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 3:01

8. 'fore Day Rider performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:53

9. So You Won't Jump performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:36

10. New Confessin' the Blues [#] performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 3:02

11. Red River Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:53

12. Baby Heart Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:44

13. Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:29

14. Hootie's Ignorant Oil performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:41 (future Naweedna selection)

15. Lonely Boy Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:54

16. Get Me on Your Mind performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 3:01

17. The Jumpin' Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 2:59

18. Sepian Bounce performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 3:06

19. Say Forward, I'll March performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 3:06

20. Wrong Neighborhood performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 3:18

21. Hometown Blues performed by Jay McShann Orchestra - 3:04


A4 Look-A-Here - Ramsey Lewis

The Choice! (1965)
Okay, I love Ramsey Lewis. I have several old vinyls and this track comes from one of them. There will be more Ramsey in future Naweedna CDs. Some of you intermediate aged people may remember The In Crowd and the Young Holt Unlimited. The Ramsey Lewis Trio, always referred to in my time as RLT, was composed of Ramsey Lewis, Eldee Young and Red Holt. Therein lies the connection. Ramsey plays in the style I learned to call “funk” back in the sixties.
Ramsey Lewis has long straddled the boundary between bop-oriented jazz and pop music. Most of his recordings (particularly by the mid-'60s) were very accessible and attracted a large non-jazz audience. In 1956, he formed a trio with bassist Eldee Young and drummer Red Holt. From the start (1958), their records for Argo/Cadet were popular, although in the early days, they had a strong jazz content. In 1958, Lewis also recorded with Max Roach and Lem Winchester. On the 1965 albums The In Crowd and Hang On, Ramsey made the pianist into a major attraction and from that point, on his records became much more predictable and pop-oriented. In 1966, his trio's personnel changed with bassist Cleveland Eaton and drummer Maurice White (later the founder of Earth, Wind & Fire) joining Lewis. In the 1970s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and hiring an additional keyboardist. He can still play melodic jazz when he wants to, but Ramsey Lewis has mostly stuck to easy listening pop music during the past 30 years.
The Choice! The Best of the Ramsey Lewis Trio

Artist Ramsey Lewis

Album Title Choice! The Best of the Ramsey Lewis Trio

Date of Release 1965

AMG Rating 4.5 *

Genre Jazz

AMG REVIEW: Before assaulting the R&B and pop charts with "The in Crowd," the Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded exemplary swinging club jazz. This 1965 package came out in the same year that "The in Crowd" exploded and represents the Ramsey Lewis Trio's most popular recordings prior to their emergence. There's more improvising and the arrangements are intricate enough to display each member's chops. The selections revisit the trio's debut, Ramsey Lewis & His Gentlemen of Swing (Argo, 1956), with "Carmen." The Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded for three labels under Chess' umbrella: Argo, Cadet, and Chess. A good LP if you can find a copy; it represents their early years well. — Andrew Hamilton

1. Something You Got (future Naweedna selection)

2. Little Liza Jane

3. Memphis in June

4. Travel On

5. Delilah (Young)

6. C. C. Rider

7. Lonely Avenue (Pomus) (future Naweedna selection)

8. Look-a-Here

9. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It

10. Hello, Cello

11. Blue Spring

12. Carmen

13. Blues for the Night Owls


A5 Blue Shadows On The Trail - Sean Blackman & Dakota Dave Hull

River of Swing (1988)
I can’t find much about Dakota Dave Hull or Sean Blackman. Sean has been an occasional performer on PHC. I think I first learned about them from Rich Kilbury back in the early 80s. Whatever, I like the music, and there will likely be additional tracks on future Naweedna compilations. Oh, there is a real PHC connection with this album. Here are some of the familiar side men: Butch Thompson, Peter Ostroushko, Bill Evans, Prudence Johnson, and Tommy Lieberman.
River of Swing

Artist Dakota Dave Hull w/ Blackburn

Album Title River of Swing

Date of Release 1988 (release)

AMG Rating 3 *

Genre Country


Deep Water

Mississippi Shore

Money

What’s the Use



I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire (future Naweedna selection)

The Wicked Wind of Fargo

River of Song

Blue Shadows On The Trail

Searchin’ The Desert For The Blues

Annie’s Waltz (future Naweedna selection)

Rollin’ Along
A6 Can't Get My Ass In Gear - Coco Montoya

Road Trip Blues (2000)
We got this CD and one called Superharps from WXXI. This track and Canned Heat’s On The Road Again are by far the best.
Though he grew up as a drummer and was raised on rock & roll, Coco Montoya became an outstanding blues guitarist in the '90s after stints in the bands of Albert Collins and John Mayall. Montoya debuted as a leader in 1995 with the Blind Pig album Gotta Mind to Travel and garnered an award for Best New Blues Artist at the following year's Handy Awards ceremonies.
Born in Santa Monica, Montoya played drums for a local rock band that toured the region during the mid-'70s, playing in area clubs. Although he had recently been turned on to blues at an Albert King show, he was somewhat unprepared to sit in with another blues legend — "the Iceman" Albert Collins — when a bar-owner friend of Montoya invited the bluesman to play at his nightclub. Though his inexperience showed, the young drummer impressed Collins enough to hire him for a Pacific Northwest tour three months later. The tour soon ended, but the pair's affiliation remained for more than five years, while Montoya learned much about the handling of blues guitar from "the Master of the Telecaster."
By the early '80s, Coco Montoya was back in the small-time nightclub business, playing guitar with several regional bands. At one night's show, he realized that John Mayall was in the audience, so he dedicated a cover of "All Your Love" to the British blues maestro. The song prompted Mayall to hire Montoya as lead guitarist for a new version of the Bluesbreakers he had formed. Despite the enormous pressure of filling a spot once held by Eric Clapton and Peter Green, Montoya jumped at the opportunity.
His first album with the Bluesbreakers came in 1985. Mayall had not released an album in five years at that point and the Bluesbreakers had been dead for more than 15, but the live album Behind the Iron Curtain proved Mayall's viability thanks mostly to the fiery work of Montoya. The guitarist appeared on three studio albums with Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, but then struck out on his own by the mid-'90s. Signed to Blind Pig, Montoya released Gotta Mind to Travel in 1995 with help from Mayall and another former Bluesbreaker compatriot, rhythm guitarist Debbie Davies. After years of toil under Collins and Mayall, Montoya was finally in the spotlight and his award as Best New Blues Artist of 1996 proved quite ironic, given his years of experience. His second album, Ya Think I'd Know Better, was followed by 1997's Just Let Go. At that point, Montoya and Blind Pig parted company and he signed with Alligator Records. Suspicion was released in 2000, followed two years later by Can't Look Back, a disc that incorporated a definitive soul/R&B approach.
Road Trip Blues

Artist Various Artists

Album Title Road Trip Blues

Date of Release Mar 14, 2000

Genre Blues

Type various artists

1. Can't Get My Ass in Gear performed by Coco Montoya - 4:03

2. Stay Out of Automobiles performed by Wilder, Webb & The Nash Vegans - 3:08

3. Drive to Survive performed by Thackery, Jimmy & The Drivers - 4:10

4. Cadillac Blues performed by Bassett, Johnnie & The Blues... - 5:17

5. Too Many Drivers performed by Johnson, Big Jack - 2:51

6. Every Woman I Know performed by Emerson, Billy "The Kid" - 2:45

7. Any Place I'm Going (Beats Any Place I've... performed by Otis Rush - 4:38

8. 13 Highway performed by Muddy Waters - 3:03

9. Ride With Me performed by Hunter, Long John - 3:27

10. Pretty Baby performed by Junior Parker - 3:02

11. Motel King performed by Jame Harman Band - 2:49

12. Highway 49 performed by Omar & The Howlers - 4:27

13. Pontiac Blues performed by Williamson, Sonny Boy - 2:43

14. The Road performed by Morgam, Mike & The Crawl - 3:33



15. On the Road Again performed by Canned Heat - 4:59

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