Digital Blues News Archive  

Here you will find stories which have appeared on our News page but which have been moved to make room for new stories. 

Original Blind Boy of Alabama Dies

George Scott, founding baritone of Gospel vocal group the Blind Boys of Alabama, died March 9 at his home in Durham, North Carolina, according to a statement. He was 75.

"We're grateful to the Lord for letting us have George for as long as we did," said Blind Boys leader Clarence Fountain, who was one of the last people Scott spoke to before his death. "He and I grew up together and sang together from little boys to old men. George was a great singer, he could sing any part in a song. We loved him and he was one of the 'Boys.' He lived a life of service and now he's gone on to his reward."

Born George Lewis Scott in Notasulga, Alabama, the artist met Fountain and Jimmy Carter in 1936 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind. Three years later they formed the traditional Gospel singing group, which Scott also accompanied on guitar.

In recent years, the group enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and recently won the Grammy for best traditional Soul Gospel album for There Will Be a Light, recorded with singer-songwriter Ben Harper. The set featured Scott singing lead on the album's opening track, "Take My Hand."

Though Scott retired from touring last year, he continued to record with the group and will be heard on its new album, Atom Bomb, due March 15 from Real World Records. No changes are planned in the Blind Boys' touring schedule, which picks up again with a March 18 showcase at the South x Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. 

Funeral services are scheduled for Tuesday (March 15) at Monumental Faith Church in Durham. His family has asked that mourners make donations to the American Diabetes Association or send flowers to the city's Holloway Funeral Home. 

Scott is survived by his wife, Ludie Lewis Mann Scott; his mother, Hassie Lou Scott; and his sister, Benzie Jackson.

Courtesy of match_box_blues@yahoo.com - 12 March 05

Cadillac Kings Announce New Guitarist

Following the departure of Oliver Darling late last year, the Cadillac Kings have been seeking a replacement guitarist. During the early months of 2005 both Big Boy Bloater & Chris Pearson covered to great effect. 

Mike Thomas tells me that their new man is the magnificently named Del Van Dee who, like Orlando, their great bassman, also hails from that mecca of blues & my home town, Brighton. Del has played with bands both here & in the States over the last ten years & after some time away from gigging & the business of moving to Brighton, he fancied getting involved again. Mike says: “We tried Del out on a couple of big jive dances up north & he was great. We had around 30 inquiries about joining the band (including some very well established names) and in the end we auditioned 5 players in a studio in Central London. Del

fitted the bill perfectly.”

The future continues to look good for the CK’s. Mike tells me that a couple of weeks ago they played the Courtyard Theatre at Norden Farm Arts Centre in Maidenhead & drew the best crowd for a blues gig they've had there for ages.

They are also playing The Swamprock Club in early March (where the hardened devotees of Louisiana music go once a month) in Finchley & are doing a 'Mardi Gras special' “-first set - our swing-blues stuff, second set – a Professor Longhair/ Neville Bros/ Cajun/ Zydeco knees-up. Should be great fun, I'm really looking forward to it.”

And in a couple of weeks' time they are sharing the bill with Dr Feelgood at the opening concert of the Nantwich Jazz & Blues Festival held in their civic hall. Now there’s a contrast!

Record-wise, Dutch DJ Nico Bravenboer made 'Highway 17' his album of

the month in February, which has led to a booking at the 'Bluezy Festival' near Rotterdam in April.

Way to go! 

March 12, 2005

Essex Delta Blues CD Distribution Deal

Ray Bartrip of Bad Moon Records has announced that he has struck an exclusive distribution deal with Proper Music in respect of the Essex Delta Blues....A Sampler" CD released last year on Ray's Bad Moon Records label featuring 17 bands & artists from Essex. At the moment details of the release dates for the shops are awaited but it is expected that these will to be around 18^th April 2005.

Whilst the deal does not include pro-active marketing or promotion it will mean that there will be adverts in trade papers etc. and the album will be on lists and databases available to all the shops including the major outlets and it is to be hoped that some, at least, will order one or more copy. It will mean that the CD will given exposure all over the country and online at outlets such as Red Lick etc. which, as Ray says: "can’t be bad for all of us".

Copies of the CD can still be obtained from the bands and artists appearing on it or from Bad Moon Records.

For more details visit the SX Delta Blues page of this site or the Essex Delta Blues website at www.essexdeltablues.co.uk 

Trafficker Changes

Trafficker, the band lead by stunning guitarist/ singer/songwriter Tommy Allen is now a three-piece, featuring the superb Barry Pethers on bass (often seen with Dr JJ) and the equally excellent Craig Bacon on drums  Reports of the new line-up are that it is even better than before! 

ROBIN TROWER - ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

'One of the greatest guitar players in Rock history'

As revealed to Digital Blues by Dave Bronze on Eastgate FM last December, news from ARM Management and Manhaton Records confirms that Robin Trower is undertaking his first UK tour in 20 years during March & April 2005. He also has a new Album 'Living out of Time' which will be released in March 2005 and it has been announced that Fender are to release a Robin Trower Strat 'signature' Guitar.

Robin Trower's career has already spanned more than four decades, from the early days with The Paramounts and Procol Harum, to enjoying huge success in America with his own band. Robin embarked on his solo career after leaving Procol Harum in 1972, where he began to define his fluid and powerful Fender Strat-fueled guitar style that lead to the success of his legendary album 'Bridge of Sighs' which was a US Top 10 record selling a million and a half copies, a record which still sells 15,000 units worldwide even though it was released back in 1974. The 90's saw Robin touring his power trio in the US consistently, whilst finding time to re-unite with Procol Harum for 'Prodigal Stranger' in 1991. Over the last few years Robin has concentrated on writing and producing film music, including the music for 'Good Humour Man'. During this period, Robin co-produced and played on Bryan Ferry's 'Frantic' album. Robins' latest album 'Living out of Time' is released by Manhaton records on 21st March to coincide with his first tour of the UK in over 20 years, as well as dates in Germany, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. His band will feature Dave Bronze (Bass), Pete Thompson (Drums) and Davey Pattison (Vocals)

Full details of the tour are at www.trowerpower.com

From Rolling Stone.com:
Muscle Shoals Studios Close


Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, the Alabama venue where Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Wilson Pickett, the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon all made classic records, has closed its doors forever.
"It's a sad day in America," says producer, session musician and arranger Al Kooper. "So many great records were made there. The musicians, engineers and the magic of the room made it special."

Muscle Shoals Sound Studios was founded in 1969 in an old Sheffield, Alabama, casket warehouse by musicians Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Jimmy Johnson, who doubled as its famous house band, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (a.k.a. "the Swampers," as immortalized in Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"). Their first client was Cher, who recorded her 3614 Jackson Highway album there, and named it after the studio's address.

Atlantic Records producer/executive Jerry Wexler was an early supporter, booking many of the label's artists into the studio. "It seemed we could do nothing but make good records: Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson -- Lulu came from England," says Wexler. "We had this little hideaway, this little retreat with these really terrific musicians, these incredible white boys who played the blues so authentically that it caused a lot of head-scratching. The best part of my career was not the gold records or the Hall of Fame or awards -- it was hearing the music being recorded live at that time."

After more than three decades of operation, the studio -- which moved to a 31,000 square-foot building on the banks of the Tennessee River in 1978 -- recorded its last sessions in December and shuttered on
January 14th because of declining business. The two Neve consoles have been sold to studios in Los Angeles and Detroit, the studio owners are exploring donating memorabilia to the Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame, and a local film production company has purchased the property.

"It almost brought me to tears when I had to do this," says co-owner Wolf Stephenson, who, along with his two fellow executives of blues/gospel label Malaco Records, purchased the studio from the Rhythm Section members in 1985. "It's heartbreaking."

"It's a strange thing," adds Hood. "All of a sudden, the gold records are down off the walls . . . I'm not sure I know what to think yet."

However, for artists like Bob Seger -- who, after hearing the Rhythm Section's work on Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music," recorded five albums at Muscle Shoals -- it was not the building but the band that
made the studio special. "Muscle Shoals did the ballads like 'Main Street' much better than my band," Seger says. "The wonderful thing about them is the second you started playing the song, it sounded
like a record."

Another attraction was that the studio's small-town location was far away from big-city distractions and prying eyes. "The town never impinged upon anyone," says Wexler, recalling a day when the Rolling
Stones ordered breakfast at the local Howard Johnson's. "One little waitress said, 'Are you a group?' One of the members said, 'Yeah, we're a group. We're Martha and the Vandellas.'"

Scottish-born rocker Mark Knopfler, who first recorded with Bob Dylan at the studio, found the cuisine somewhat lacking. "Jerry introduced me to salted ham and grits," he says of Wexler. "I don't understand grits. To me, they always tasted like wet newspaper." But, for Knopfler, recording at Muscle Shoals made it all worth it. "Laptops and home stations are fine, but it's another thing to be in a proper
recording studio full of creative people all sharing in the same piece of music at the same time."

Hood, whose son Patterson fronts the Drive-By Truckers, maintains that all that magic still resides in Alabama. "I don't want the closing of Muscle Shoals Sound to make anybody think that music is no
longer happening here," he says. "It's been happening since before I started, and it's still going on today. It was always the people."

BEVERLY KEEL
(Posted Feb 18, 2005)
(c) Rolling Stone.com 2005 - Reproduced with full acknowledgment 

Terry Wisbey's Texas Thunder - New Drummer

Terry Wisbey’s TEXAS THUNDER is pleased to announce that Matt Cowley is joining the band to replace James Ivey on the drums.

Matt, 31, who hails originally from the North East, is a first rate pro drummer with wide experience. He became smitten by the drums from an early age encouraged by a guitar-playing father and hearing Ginger Baker playing on a beaten up copy of “The Best of Cream”.

Since then Matt has played everything from Orchestral Percussion through Rock and Jazz to the blues. Describing himself as a “musical chameleon”, his influences are impeccable – Max Roach, Kenny Clarke, Jim Keltner, Earl Palmer and Steve Gadd to name but a few. He has studied at the Trinity School of Music and Drum-Tech and has received tuition from some of the UK’s finest teachers.

All-in-all Matt is a seasoned player with great natural feel. His first gig with the band will be on March 16^th at The Maltshovel Tavern, Northampton.

Adieu Hershey & the 12 Bars

Sad news reaches me from Richard Shirman - Hershey himself.
"I thought that I ought to let you know the HERSHEY AND THE 12 BARS are no more. Mike Summerland, the lead guitarist, left and, not long afterwards, Chas Cronk ( bass ) told me that THE STRAWBS ( f whom he was an original member) had quite a bit of work in the United States this year so he would be unable to commit to HERSHEY AND THE 12 BARS.
However, my 'sixties group, THE ATTACK are having a complete works released on the SANCTUARY label at the end of June and we will be performing a launch gig at THE 100 CLUB on June 23rd. One or two of the people in the group will be names that may be familiar to you but it's a bit early to be revealing all ! The last guitar player I had in that group (also one hell of a songwriter) will be with me, John Cann who later went on to even greater things with ANDROMEDA, ATOMIC ROOSTER and THIN LIZZY."

Digital Blues will bring you news of this when we receive it


Cadillac Kings are the Dog's again!