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Showing posts from June, 2009

Garfield Akers !

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I'd rather see you dead, buried in some cypress grove… The throbbing guitar sound of Garfield Akers was a primary influence on subsequent generations of Mississippi bluesmen, with the likes of John Lee Hooker and Robert Wilkins citing him as an influence! Born around 1902 in Bates, Mississippi, Akers remains a shadowy figure; after honing his skills at local dances and house parties, he relocated to the Hernando area, where he worked by day as a sharecropper. After moving on to Memphis, in 1929 he made his first Vocalion label recordings at the Peabody, accompanied by guitarist Joe Callicott; between this first date and a 1930 session for Brunswick, four Akers performances still exist - his two-part signature "Cottonfield Blues," "Jumpin' and Shoutin' Blues," and "Dough Roller Blues," one of the first variations on Hambone Willie Newbern's seminal "Roll and Tumble." His most well-known song is his debut, the Cottonfield Blues, whi

Mickie Most & The Gear !

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...that's me. Yep, before he became the successful record producer of The Animals, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Suzi Quatro and the Jeff Beck Group to name a few, Mickie Most (born Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003)) travelled to South Africa with his wife Christina, and formed a pop group, Mickie Most and the Playboys. (not with his wife though). The band scored 11 consecutive Number 1 singles playing mostly cover versions of Ray Peterson, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran. Returning to London in 1962, Most appeared on package tours as well as recording "Mister Porter", a minor hit in 1963, and….BANG !, he recorded these two bloody fantastic tracks in 1965 with a young Jimmy Page hammering out the guitar work ! Yeah ! Mickie Most & The Gear : * That's Alright * * Money Honey *

Paul Evans !

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Howdy Folks ! Due to popular demand (and a proper avatar), here’s Paul Evans ! Evans ((born 5 March 1938, in Queens, New York) performed in his high school years, got a scholarship to Columbia University and promptly set up his own radio show. His early career days were spent crooning in small clubs and aboard a cruise ship ! Evans began to score hit records in the early '60s, including "Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat", the fantastic "Happy-Go-Lucky Me" and "Hushabye, Little Guitar". He came up with another hit in 1979 with the morbid "Hello, This Is Joannie". His activities as a songwriter easily pass up this perfectly respectable track record. Besides the ultra-hit written for Bobby Vinton ("Roses Are Red, My Love"), there was also a timely hit for the Kalin Twins entitled "When", a series of donations to the cause of Elvis Presley including "Something Blue" and "I Gotta Know" and many o

The Tornadoes !

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All hail The Tornadoes ! A bloody brilliant surf band from Redlands, California, and a real family band, their lineup consisted of two brothers (Gerald and Norman Sanders), their cousin Jesse Sanders and a friend, Leonard Delaney. They started out as an instrumental group from San Bernardino, CA, called the Vaqueros. The Tornadoes were the first band to receive national airplay with a surf instrumental !The song was of course, "Bustin' Surfboards", released on Aertaun Records in 1962, and it has since become a classic and mainstay of the surf genre ! The album with the same name was released in 1963. And for the record, the band temporarily changed their names to The Hollywood Tornadoes, because the British band the Tornado(e)s, were charting with the song "Telstar". Enjoy ! The Tornadoes : * Vaquero * * Maleguena * * Bustin' Surfboards *