LONG JOHN BALDRY & THE HOOCHIE COOCHIE MEN
''LONG JOHN'S BLUES''
AUGUST 1964
42:18
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1 Got My Mojo Working 03:11 (McKinley Morganfield)
2 Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You 03:56 (Don Redman, Andy Razaf)
3 Roll 'em Pete 03:29 (Pete Johnson)
4 You're Breaking My Heart 04:33 (Willie Dixon)
5 Hoochie Coochie 03:48 (Willie Dixon)
6 Everyday (I Have The Blues) 03:06 (Chatman)
7 Dimples 02:22 (Hooker)
8 Five Long Years 05:06 (Eddie Boyd)
9 My Babe 02:34 (Willie Dixon, Stone)
10 Times Are Getting Tougher Than Tough 02:25 (Witherspoon)
11 Goin' Down Slow 03:53 (James Burke Oden)
12 Rock The Joint 03:50 (John Baldry)
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Ian Armitt/Keyboards
Long John Baldry/Vocals
Cliff Barton/Bass Guitar
Jeff Bradford/Guitar, Harmonica
Bill Law/Drums
Rod Stewart/Banjo
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REVIEW/AMG
Dave Thompson
One of the unsung jewels of the British R&B scene, Long John's Blues is, astonishingly, the sole surviving document of what was, at one point, among the most exciting live acts on the entire circuit. Baldry himself was dynamite, with a grasp of blues singing that left his contemporaries foundering. His takes on "Got My Mojo Working," "Dimples," and "Hoochie Coochie Man" alone are worth the price of admission, no matter how many other versions you may own, while "My Times Are Getting Tougher Than Tough" and, best of all, "Everyday I Have the Blues" pack a punch that reminds us just what great musicians Baldry surrounded himself with, former Cyril Davies All-Stars veterans Jeff Bradford and Cliff Barton among them. An excellent sleeve photo, stylishly mod as only Long John could be, completed the original vinyl package, but even in the record's later incarnation, as part of a two-fer CD with the sleeve barely visible, Long John's Blues stands proud among the most essential British blues albums of them all.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Richie Unterberger
Like Cliff Richard, Chris Farlowe, Slade, Blur, and eel pie, Long John Baldry is one of those peculiarly British phenomena that doggedly resists American translation. As a historical figure, he has undeniable importance. When he began singing as a teenager in the 1950s, he was one of the first British vocalists to perform folk and blues music. In the early '60s, he sang in the band of British blues godfather Alexis Korner, Blues Incorporated, which also served as a starting point for future rock stars Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce, and others. As a member of Blues Incorporated, he contributed to the first British blues album, R&B at the Marquee (1962). He then joined the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars, taking over the group (renamed Long John Baldry and His Hoochie Coochie Men) after Davies' death in early 1964. This band featured Rod Stewart as a second vocalist, and also employed Geoff Bradford (who had been in an embryonic version of the Rolling Stones) on guitar.
In the mid-'60s, he helped form Steampacket, a proto-supergroup that also featured Stewart, Julie Driscoll, and Brian Auger. When Steampacket broke up, he fronted Bluesology, the band that gave keyboardist Reg Dwight -- soon to become Elton John -- his first prestigious gig. He was a well-liked figure on the London club circuit, and in fact the Beatles took him on as a guest on one of their 1964 British TV specials, at a time when the Fab Four could have been no bigger, and Baldry was virtually unknown.
Ironically, his greatest commercial success came not with blues, but orchestrated pop ballads that echoed Engelbert Humperdinck. The 1967 single "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached number one in Britain, and Baldry had several other small British hits in the late '60s, the biggest of which was "Mexico" (1968). (None of these made an impression in the U.S.)
The commercial success of his ballads led Baldry to forsake the blues on record for a few years. He returned to blues and rock in 1971 on It Ain't Easy, for which Rod Stewart and Elton John shared the production duties. The album contained a tiny American chart item, "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock'n'Roll," and Stewart and John split the production once again on the 1972 follow-up, Everything Stops for Tea. Baldry never caught on as an international figure, though, and by 1980 had become a Canadian citizen. He continued to record, and did commercial voice-overs as well as the voice of Doctor Robotnik in children's cartoons. After battling a severe chest infection for several months, Long John Baldry passed away on July 21, 2005, while hospitalized in Vancouver.
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TO THE TOP
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''LONG JOHN'S BLUES''
AUGUST 1964
42:18
********************
1 Got My Mojo Working 03:11 (McKinley Morganfield)
2 Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You 03:56 (Don Redman, Andy Razaf)
3 Roll 'em Pete 03:29 (Pete Johnson)
4 You're Breaking My Heart 04:33 (Willie Dixon)
5 Hoochie Coochie 03:48 (Willie Dixon)
6 Everyday (I Have The Blues) 03:06 (Chatman)
7 Dimples 02:22 (Hooker)
8 Five Long Years 05:06 (Eddie Boyd)
9 My Babe 02:34 (Willie Dixon, Stone)
10 Times Are Getting Tougher Than Tough 02:25 (Witherspoon)
11 Goin' Down Slow 03:53 (James Burke Oden)
12 Rock The Joint 03:50 (John Baldry)
********************
Ian Armitt/Keyboards
Long John Baldry/Vocals
Cliff Barton/Bass Guitar
Jeff Bradford/Guitar, Harmonica
Bill Law/Drums
Rod Stewart/Banjo
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Dave Thompson
One of the unsung jewels of the British R&B scene, Long John's Blues is, astonishingly, the sole surviving document of what was, at one point, among the most exciting live acts on the entire circuit. Baldry himself was dynamite, with a grasp of blues singing that left his contemporaries foundering. His takes on "Got My Mojo Working," "Dimples," and "Hoochie Coochie Man" alone are worth the price of admission, no matter how many other versions you may own, while "My Times Are Getting Tougher Than Tough" and, best of all, "Everyday I Have the Blues" pack a punch that reminds us just what great musicians Baldry surrounded himself with, former Cyril Davies All-Stars veterans Jeff Bradford and Cliff Barton among them. An excellent sleeve photo, stylishly mod as only Long John could be, completed the original vinyl package, but even in the record's later incarnation, as part of a two-fer CD with the sleeve barely visible, Long John's Blues stands proud among the most essential British blues albums of them all.
********************
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Richie Unterberger
Like Cliff Richard, Chris Farlowe, Slade, Blur, and eel pie, Long John Baldry is one of those peculiarly British phenomena that doggedly resists American translation. As a historical figure, he has undeniable importance. When he began singing as a teenager in the 1950s, he was one of the first British vocalists to perform folk and blues music. In the early '60s, he sang in the band of British blues godfather Alexis Korner, Blues Incorporated, which also served as a starting point for future rock stars Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce, and others. As a member of Blues Incorporated, he contributed to the first British blues album, R&B at the Marquee (1962). He then joined the Cyril Davies R&B All Stars, taking over the group (renamed Long John Baldry and His Hoochie Coochie Men) after Davies' death in early 1964. This band featured Rod Stewart as a second vocalist, and also employed Geoff Bradford (who had been in an embryonic version of the Rolling Stones) on guitar.
In the mid-'60s, he helped form Steampacket, a proto-supergroup that also featured Stewart, Julie Driscoll, and Brian Auger. When Steampacket broke up, he fronted Bluesology, the band that gave keyboardist Reg Dwight -- soon to become Elton John -- his first prestigious gig. He was a well-liked figure on the London club circuit, and in fact the Beatles took him on as a guest on one of their 1964 British TV specials, at a time when the Fab Four could have been no bigger, and Baldry was virtually unknown.
Ironically, his greatest commercial success came not with blues, but orchestrated pop ballads that echoed Engelbert Humperdinck. The 1967 single "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached number one in Britain, and Baldry had several other small British hits in the late '60s, the biggest of which was "Mexico" (1968). (None of these made an impression in the U.S.)
The commercial success of his ballads led Baldry to forsake the blues on record for a few years. He returned to blues and rock in 1971 on It Ain't Easy, for which Rod Stewart and Elton John shared the production duties. The album contained a tiny American chart item, "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock'n'Roll," and Stewart and John split the production once again on the 1972 follow-up, Everything Stops for Tea. Baldry never caught on as an international figure, though, and by 1980 had become a Canadian citizen. He continued to record, and did commercial voice-overs as well as the voice of Doctor Robotnik in children's cartoons. After battling a severe chest infection for several months, Long John Baldry passed away on July 21, 2005, while hospitalized in Vancouver.
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TO THE TOP
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1 comment :
Great to see some good old British R & B!
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