LONG JOHN BALDRY
''LIVE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY 1987''
NOVEMBER 3 2009
41:28
********************
1 Going Down Slow 10:29
2 Every Day I Have The Blues 06:35
3 It Ain't Easy 05:22
4 Respect Yourself 03:59
5 You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman 05:12
6 Iko Iko 04:49
7 Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock 'n' Roll 04:59
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Long John Baldry
Kathi McDonald
Joseph Ingraio
David Norris-Elye
David Hutchinson
Papa John King
George Sweetnam
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Dave Thompson
Unlike rock stars, whose unseemly struttings at sixty-plus years old should be must-see TV for all abstinence-only classes, blues singers just improve with age. Exhibit one: Long John Baldry 30 years after he first took to the stage, thrilling an appreciative Midwestern crowd at Iowa State University. The decades have barely worn his voice, roughening it at the edges a bit, but it remains as big, booming, and emotive as ever. Backed by a phenomenal band, and a phenomenally versatile one at that, and accompanied by the fabulous Kathi McDonald, who seems to simultaneously channel both Etta James and Janis Joplin, this was an unforgettable night, one of many in Baldry's career. Live Iowa State University 1987 begins in relaxed, porch-pickin' blues style with "Going Down Slow," with the heat gently rising until the song begins to simmer and steam, a gumbo of a number, where all the bandmembers are given the opportunity to showcase their silky skills. "Every Day I Have the Blues" is done in brash boogie style, and Baldry enjoys every second of the song. From R&B to reggae is no leap at all, and "It Ain't Easy" bends easily to the latter style, a gentle reminder that reggae itself grew out of R&B, but with this version owing as much to Sly & the Family Stone as to the Skatalites. McDonald joins Baldry on that number, and then takes over the mike for a storming cover of "Respect" and an incredibly powerful take on "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman." Stunning performances both. Baldry returns to accompany her on a calypso-fied cover of "Iko Iko" that's so much fun, you can actually hear his eyes twinkling with delight. The jazzy arpeggios that follow give no warning as to the set's finale, a barrelling "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock'n'Roll," which morphs in and out of a '60s Stax style. It's the perfect curtain closer for a superb show where everyone on the stage that night shines brighter than the north star.
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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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''LIVE IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY 1987''
NOVEMBER 3 2009
41:28
********************
1 Going Down Slow 10:29
2 Every Day I Have The Blues 06:35
3 It Ain't Easy 05:22
4 Respect Yourself 03:59
5 You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman 05:12
6 Iko Iko 04:49
7 Don't Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The King Of Rock 'n' Roll 04:59
********************
Long John Baldry
Kathi McDonald
Joseph Ingraio
David Norris-Elye
David Hutchinson
Papa John King
George Sweetnam
********************
REVIEW/AMG
Dave Thompson
Unlike rock stars, whose unseemly struttings at sixty-plus years old should be must-see TV for all abstinence-only classes, blues singers just improve with age. Exhibit one: Long John Baldry 30 years after he first took to the stage, thrilling an appreciative Midwestern crowd at Iowa State University. The decades have barely worn his voice, roughening it at the edges a bit, but it remains as big, booming, and emotive as ever. Backed by a phenomenal band, and a phenomenally versatile one at that, and accompanied by the fabulous Kathi McDonald, who seems to simultaneously channel both Etta James and Janis Joplin, this was an unforgettable night, one of many in Baldry's career. Live Iowa State University 1987 begins in relaxed, porch-pickin' blues style with "Going Down Slow," with the heat gently rising until the song begins to simmer and steam, a gumbo of a number, where all the bandmembers are given the opportunity to showcase their silky skills. "Every Day I Have the Blues" is done in brash boogie style, and Baldry enjoys every second of the song. From R&B to reggae is no leap at all, and "It Ain't Easy" bends easily to the latter style, a gentle reminder that reggae itself grew out of R&B, but with this version owing as much to Sly & the Family Stone as to the Skatalites. McDonald joins Baldry on that number, and then takes over the mike for a storming cover of "Respect" and an incredibly powerful take on "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman." Stunning performances both. Baldry returns to accompany her on a calypso-fied cover of "Iko Iko" that's so much fun, you can actually hear his eyes twinkling with delight. The jazzy arpeggios that follow give no warning as to the set's finale, a barrelling "Don't Try to Lay No Boogie Woogie on the King of Rock'n'Roll," which morphs in and out of a '60s Stax style. It's the perfect curtain closer for a superb show where everyone on the stage that night shines brighter than the north star.
********************
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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