England's Newest Hitmakers

In April 1964, the Stones released their debut record in the UK, it would appear in a slightly different form in the US six weeks later. Recorded at the tiny Regent Sound studio in London, these would be their last recordings (aside from a few stray tracks) made in England until 1966's Between The Buttons. It's an amazing debut, and again is comprised almost entirely of covers. On the day of it's release in the UK, it sold 100,000 copies, and by early May had knocked With The Beatles off the top spot of the charts.

It opens with Bobby Troup's "Route 66," originally a hit for Nat King Cole, which they undoubtedly learned from Chuck Berry. Keith transposes Johnny Johnson's piano riff to the guitar, and it is one of their most searing live numbers of the early years. The song selection includes blues numbers they had been playing around London in the clubs, as well as their take on current US Soul and R&B hits. There's a version of Gene Allison's "You Can Make if you Try, which they probably learned from the Solomon Burke version, the b-side to "If You Need Me" which they would lay to wax months later at Chess Studios in Chicago. The single from the LP in the US, "Tell Me" was the first recorded Jagger-Richards composition, and went to #24 on the US Billboard charts. Keith plays a 12 string acoustic and sings harmony into the same microphone. It's also their first great pop record.

(to be continued)

Download:

"Route 66" mp3
by Chuck Berry, 1961.
available on New Juke Box Hits






"I Just Want To Make Love To You" mp3
by Muddy Waters, 1954.
available on His Best 1947-55

The boys get "roasted" by Dino:





"Honest I Do" mp3
by Jimmy Reed, 1957.
available on Best of the Vee-Jay Years



"Mona" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1957.
available on I'm A Man: The Singles As & Bs 1955-59

I'm A Man - The Singles As & Bs 1955-59 [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED]


"Now I've Got A Witness" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1964.
available on England's Newest Hitmakers



"I'm A King Bee" mp3
by Slim Harpo, 1957.
available on The Excello Singles Anthology

The Rolling Stones on the Mike Douglas Show:
Soundman out to lunch, but stay tuned for interview at the end.





"Carol" mp3
by Chuck Berry, 1958.
available on The Great 28



"Tell Me" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1964.
available on England's Newest Hitmakers





"Can I Get A Witness" mp3
by Marvin Gaye, 1963.
available on Gold



"You Can Make It If You Try" mp3
by Gene Allison, 1958.
available on You Can Make It If You Try

"You Can Make It If You Try" mp3
by Solomon Burke, 1963.
available on If You Need Me



"Walking The Dog" mp3
by Rufus Thomas, 1963.
available on Walking the Dog




part 1 : here

********************

Recent Acquisitions From The Fluville Museum of American Song

Here's something to be thankful about as you baste and bake your Thanksgiving dinner. This may be the greatest collection of songs ever assembled under one post here at the Boogie Woogie Flu. No turkeys. All certified Grade A meat.

Hear The Reverend Satchel Mouth Armstrong ask the musical question: "What kind of church is this?" Well, it's the kinda church where the parishioners smoke Louis Armstrong Special cigars. "More power to you, boys," says the Reverend.

Hear Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup take an early stab at a song that later became "That's Alright, Mama," long before the Tupelo Flash got his hands on it.

Hear Bill Monroe sing Jimmie Rodgers and The Stanley Brothers sing Bill Monroe.

Hear Tampa Red demonstrate what the Stones would've sounded like if they hired a clarinetist as a sideman on Beggars Banquet.

Hear Bo Diddley have his way with a violin and make it sound like a blues harp.

Hear all this and more, with at least three sides featuring the late great Earl Palmer on drums, including two by Professor Longhair with his Blues Scholars, the band he hired to replace The Shuffling Hungarians.

Glory, Hallelujah!


Download:



"The Lonesome Road (El Camino Solitario) " mp3
by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra, 1931.
available on 1931-1932



"St. James Infirmary" mp3
by Hot Lips Page, 1947.
available on Jump For Joy!



"The Honeydripper" mp3
Roosevelt Sykes, 1943.
available on The Honey Dripper



"If I Get Lucky" mp3
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, 1941.
available on 22 Greatest Songs



"Blue Yodel #4" mp3
Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1947.
available on All the Classic Releases 1937-1949



"Blue Moon of Kentucky" mp3
The Stanley Brothers, 1954.
available on The Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys: The Complete Mercury Recordings



"New Bad Luck Blues" mp3
by Tampa Red, 1946.
available on Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 13, 1945-1947



"Tollin' Bells" mp3
by Lowell Fulson, 1956.
available on The Complete Chess Masters



"The Clock Strikes Twelve" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1958.
available on I'm a Man: The Chess Masters, 1955-1958



"Boogie Uproar" mp3
by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, 1953.
available on Dirty Work at the Crossroads 1947-1954



"Jump Children" mp3
by Dave Bartholomew, 1954.
available on 1950-1952



"Heeby-Jeebies" mp3
by Little Richard, 1956.
available on The Georgia Peach



"In The Night" mp3
by Professor Longhair and his Blues Scholars, 1953.
available on New Orleans Piano




"Tipitina" mp3
by Professor Longhair and his Blues Scholars, 1953.
available on New Orleans Piano

Bo by Others

Okay here's some mo' Bo. This time performed by others. First up, four rave-up garage rock versions, then a couple by the Rolling Stones (early and later) a classic from The New York Dolls, a Buddy Holly track (that was later gussied up and released posthumously), and an anonymous recording rescued with other tapes from a pile of dirt by writer and archivist Robert Gordon when the original Stax studio was razed in Memphis in 1989.

"gonna put some dirt in your eye."

Download:

"Who Do You Love" mp3
by The Preachers, 1965.
available on Pebbles, Vol. 1

"Road Runner" mp3
by The Pretty Things, 1964.
available on Pretty Things

"Diddy Wah Diddy" mp3
by The Remains, 1965.
available on The Remains

"I'm A Man" mp3
by The Litter, 1966.
available on Distortions

***********************************
"Cops and Robbers" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1964.
Live at the BBC
bootleg

"Crackin' Up" mp3
by The Rolling Stones, 1977.
available on Love You Live

***********************************

"Pills" mp3
by The New York Dolls, 1973.
available on New York Dolls

***********************************

"Bo Diddley" (undubbed) mp3
by Buddy Holly and The Crickets, 1958.
available on What You Been A-Missin'
bootleg

***********************************

"Bo Diddley" mp3
by Drunk Man #2
date and artist unknown
from Ghosts Of Stax Past
not available

***********************************

Black Gladiator

As the Mayor of Fluville, I hereby declare this to be Bo Diddley Week at the Boogie Woogie Flu. That is, unless someone else dies. So, here's a few chestnuts from Bo's 1970 outing - Black Gladiator.

Download:

"I Got A Feeling" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1970.
from Black Gadiator
out of print

"Shut Up, Woman" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1970.
from Black Gadiator
out of print

"I Don't Like You" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1970.
from Black Gadiator
out of print

Moe Diddley

The genius of The Velvet Underground has for me always been the way they melded together (among other things) the sounds of dirty-ass rock 'n roll, New York vocal groups, literate lyrics, avant-garde 20th century classical music, Booker T and M.G's, and at the core, the drumming of Maureen Tucker, along with Sterling Morrison's (im)perfect guitar playing which owe as much to Bo Diddley as anything else. Here's Moe Tucker from her long out of print 1989 LP, Life In Exile After Abdication. She steps out from behind the drums here and plays guitar on "Bo Diddley." The rhythm section is Kim Gordon and Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth. Also, Jim Marshall, who has been like Santa Claus this week in Fluville, has supplied me with a recording of The Velvets rehearsing "Venus In Furs" at Warhol's Factory to the tune of "Crackin' Up," and has also pointed out that "The Gift" is John Cale reading over the Velvets playing a version of Bo Diddley's "Diddling."

Download:

"Bo Diddley" mp3
by Maureen Tucker, 1989.
from Life In Exile After Abdication
out of print

"Venus In Furs/Crackin' Up" mp3
by The Velvet Underground, 1966.
from At The Factory: Warhol Tapes
bootleg

"Diddling" mp3
by Bo Diddley, 1962.
from The Chess Years 12 CD Box Set
out of print

"The Gift" mp3
by The Velvet Underground, 1968.
available on White Light/White Heat

"Guess I'm Falling In Love" (Instrumental) mp3
by The Velvet Underground, 1967.
available on Another View