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Posts Tagged B.B. King

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December 9, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Some Albums That Got Me Into The Blues: The Starter Kit

I’m up watching a doco – Blind Willie’s Blues. I love blues. The best blues. The good blues. The true blues. But I hardly ever write about it. There’s a funny relationship between me and blues music. I do not go to blues-club meetings, there are a lot of local blues bands that have sent […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Albert Collins, Albert King, B.B. King, Blind Willie McTell, Blog, Blues, Blues Music, Charley Patton, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Gary Moore, Genre, Guitar, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, John Lee Hooker, John Mayall, Muddy Waters, Peter Green, Robert Cray, Robert Johnson, Some Albums That Got Me Into The Blues, Some Albums That Got Me Into The Blues: The Starter Kit, SRV, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Starter Kit, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 2, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 39 – Stevie Wonder, “Characters”

Stevie Wonder, Characters, 1987 Stevie Wonder is, as we all know I’d hope, A MUSICAL GENIUS! But this is where he absolutely runs out of juice I think. As rum as his 1980s was overall this is the nadir. This is the album where he sounds bored and desperate to be relevant – the curse […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1987, B.B. King, Characters, Crap, Crap Abums, Crap Albums, Crap Albums I Love, Crap Albums I Love # 39, Michael Jackson, Shit, Shit That's Good, Shit That's Good - Crap Albums I Love, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 39, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 39 – Stevie Wonder, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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June 29, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

B.B. King & Eric Clapton: Riding With The King (Deluxe Edition)

B.B. King & Eric Clapton Riding With The King (Deluxe Edition) Reprise Records You know those reviews that accompany retro/reissue/archival releases, all breathless with excitement…lost classic this, forget all about it that, underrated at the time…finally revealed as a true classic… Yeah…this is not one of those…
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged $20, 20/20, 2000, 20th Anniversary, B.B. King, B.B. King & Eric Clapton: Riding With The King (Deluxe Edition), Deluxe Edition, Eric Clapton, Reissue, Reprise, Reprise Records, Riding With The King, Riding With The King (Deluxe Edition) ·

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June 4, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: I’m No Oil Painting Of Course – Nor Am I Willing To Be. I Like Hanging Around In Art Galleries But Not For THAT Long!

In the movie about Chess Records* the role of Etta James was played by Beyoncé.. Look, it ain’t gonna be me that shits on Queen B. She has a fine-enough set of pipes and plenty to recommend her beyond that. But when I first heard – and saw Miss Etta James she was locked in […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged B.B. King, Bey, Beyonce, Cadillac Records, Chess, Chess Records, Dr John, Etta James, I’m No Oil Painting Of Course – Nor Am I Willing To Be. I Like Hanging Around In Art Galleries But Not For THAT Long!, Poem, Poem: I’m No Oil Painting Of Course – Nor Am I Willing To Be. I Like Hanging Around In Art Galleries But Not For THAT Long!, Queen B ·

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October 5, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast: Episode 84 – Midge Marsden

Welcome to episode 84 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and Le Petite Chocolat. Up in Auckland recently I finally got to have a sit-down chat with Midge Marsden. We’ve talked about doing this a few times, he and I have corresponded over the years – but this was the first time we’d […]
Posted in Blog, Podcasts · Tagged 2ZB, Auckland, B.B. King, Bari & The Breakaways, Bari and The Breakaways, Blues, Burning Rain, Colin Morris, Darren Watson, ep.84, Episode 84, Episode Eighty-Four, Eric Clapton, Guitar, harmonica, iTunes, Janna Lapidus, Janna Lapidus Leblanc, John Mayall, Keith Marsden, King of Kiwi blues, Kiwi, Kiwi Blues, Kiwi Blues King, Le Petite Chocolat, Liberation, Midge Marsden, New Plymouth, New Zealand, NZ, Off The Tracks, Podcast, Rodger Fox, Simon Sweetman, Sonny Day, Soundcloud, SRV, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sweetman, Sweetman Podcast, Sweetman Podcast: Episode 84 – Midge Marsden, T Leaf T, The Blues, The Breakaways, The Midge Marsden Connection, Tony Cowper, Wellington, Yeastie Boys ·

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June 27, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Got Live Cos I Want It: 10 Important Live-in-Concert Albums In My Life of Listening

I know I’ve written about live albums before – several times, and I always will, I love live albums! – but I thought I’d give you a list of the ten live albums that I consider the most important. That is to say important to me, these lists are a chance for me to remind […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 10 Important Live-in-Concert Albums In My Life of Listening, Absolutely Live, B.B. King, Big Swing Face, Bill Withers, Buddy Rich, Concert, Cook County Jail, Erykah Badu, Frampton Comes Alive, Got Live Cos I Want It, Got Live Cos I Want It: 10 Important Live-in-Concert Albums In My Life of Listening, Jay-Z, Live, Live Album, Live At Carnegie Hall, Live At Leeds, Live At The Regal, Live At The Village Vanguard, Live In Concert, Live In Cook County Jail, Live Magic, Peter Frampton, Queen, The Buddy Rich Big Band, The Doors, The Roots, The Who, Wynton Marsalis ·

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February 15, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 583

Chicago Smoke Shop, Mind On My Sleeve [Single] (1988) Long before I knew Darren Watson or any of his music as a solo performer I knew this song – and a couple of others from the band. I remember seeing the clips on TV, I never saw the band live – but they were a big […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1988, 1989, Albert Collins, Albert King, B.B. King, Blues, Chicago Smoke Shop, Darren Watson, EP, Fuss And Fight, LP, Mind On My Sleeve, R'n'B, Robert Cray, Single, Smoke Shop, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Vinyl Countdown # 583, Vinyl ·

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December 8, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

Five Songs For Friday: # 4 – Five Great Tracks From Five Great Live Albums

Not all live albums are created equally – many are built in the studio after with overdubs, some just feature crowd-noise endlessly, Neil Young’s brand new live album has him substituting out the crowd for animal noise. There are some great, great live albums out there – where the energy of the crowd is so […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged B.B. King, Breakdown, Concert, Do You Feel Like We Do, Double Live Album, Five Great Tracks From Five Great Live Albums, Five Songs For Friday, Five Songs For Friday: # 4, Five Songs For Friday: # 4 - Five Great Tracks From Five Great Live Albums, Frampton Comes Alive, Friday, How Blue Can You Get, King Curtis, Live, Live Album, Live At Fillmore West, Live at the Harlem Square Club 1963, Live In Chicago, Memphis Soul Stew, Neil Young, Pack Up The Plantation, Peter Frampton, Sam Cooke, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Weekend, Ween ·

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October 28, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

Check out Chris Cain: He’s Got The Blues in his Soul and at his Fingertips

Chris Cain is an American blues guitarist and singer.  He writes his own songs – has nearly a dozen albums to his name, but it’s the blues he carries inside him, a repertoire of songs by the greats, the legends – B.B. King and Albert King, for example – that make Cain worth seeing and […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged "Singer", Albert Collins, Albert King, B.B. King, Bettye LaVette, Blues, Blues Guitar, Check out Chris Cain, Check out Chris Cain: He’s Got The Blues in his Soul and at his Fingertips, Chris Cain, Guitar, Guitarist, He’s Got The Blues in his Soul and at his Fingertips, Interview, Podcast, Rodger Fox, Rodger Fox Big Band, Singer/Songwriter, Sweetman Podcast ·

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September 28, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 625

Billy Ocean, No More Love On The Run [Single] (1984) I was pretty into Billy Ocean in the mid-80s. His songs were on the radio, we taped the radio and kept the best songs to play over and over and my aunty bought cassette tapes of all the new artists with fresh hits. So she […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1984, A-side, African Queen, African Queen (No More Love On The Run), B-side, B.B. King, Billy Ocean, Caribbean Queen, Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run), DJ, European Queen, European Queen (No More Love On The Run), LP, No More Love On The Run, Record, Single, The Vinyl Countdown # 625, Vinyl ·

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March 23, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

Gig Review: Chris Cain, Roy Phillips – Together in Concert for the First Time w/ The Rodger Fox Big Band (Wgtn, March 23)

Chris Cain/Roy Phillips – Together in Concert for The First Time w/ The Rodger Fox Big Band The Grand Wednesday, March 23 Billed as The USA – UK Connection (featuring The Rodger Fox Big Band) we essentially had 2-for-1, a double-bill that started with The UK’s Roy Phillips. He’s been living in New Zealand since […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged B.B. King, Blues, Chris Cain, Gig Review, Gig Review: Chris Cain, Jazz, Live, Live Gig, March 23), Rodger Fox, Roy Phillips, Roy Phillips - Together in Concert for the First Time w/ The Rodger Fox Big Band (Wgtn, The Grand, The Peddlers, The Rodger Fox Big Band, The USA - UK Connection, Wellington ·

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March 21, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

Chris Cain with The Rodger Fox Big Band: King of the Blues

Chris Cain w/ The Rodger Fox Big Band King of the Blues TBone Records American guitarist Chris Cain is a regular visitor to these shores and late last year he recorded this set with The Rodger Fox Big Band. Consider it a business card, of sorts. Here you get to hear Cain do his B.B. […]
Posted in Blog · Tagged Album Review, B.B. King, Blues, Bryn van Vliet, Chris Cain, Chris Cain w/ The Rodger Fox Big Band, Chris Cain with The Rodger Fox Big Band, Chris Cain with The Rodger Fox Big Band: King of the Blues, Eilish Wilson, Erna Ferry, Guitar, King of the Blues, NZ Tour, Rodger Fox, Sweetman Podcast, TBone Records, The Rodger Fox Big Band ·
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