Traffic: The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

Back to our Atypical Tuesday feature of unusual album packaging. Two weeks ago, I featured Grand Funk Railroad’s “E Pluribus Funk” that was shaped like a coin. Today, we travel back to 1971 when a six-sided die cut cover when combined with the album’s artwork gave the visual impression that the cover was actually a cube.

The band would repeat the effect with their next album, “Shoot out at the Fantasy Factory.”  Although the LP did not have a high charting single release, “Low Spark” did quite well charted at #7 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart.

Traffic’s sixth LP “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” is, in my opinion, one of their best albums. It features a reconstituted lineup of Traffic that was introduced on the preceding album, “Welcome to the Canteen.” It doesn’t feature Dave Mason, however, as he again left the band shortly after the previous tour and would never again return to the band.

By the recording of “Low Spark,” Traffic had grown from its core membership of Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood with the additions of bassists Ric Grech, drummer Jim Gordon, and percussionist Rebop Kwaku Baaha.

This allowed for a number of things to occur, but most importantly the band could replicate on stage much of what they recorded. It took Winwood off of the bass, as if he still didn’t have too much to do playing guitar and keys. Capaldi moved out from the drum kit to a more visual role with vocals and percussion. The Latin percussion of Rebop added a new flavor to a band with an already mature sound.

“The Low Spark of High Heeled” boys features Capaldi on lead vocals on two cuts: “Rock & Roll Stew” and today’s feature “Light Up and Leave Me Alone.” Capaldi was the sole author of this cut. Even though he is prominently featured as the lead vocalist, Winwood still contributes greatly to this song with what appears to be double tracked rhythm guitars, electric piano, a killer lead guitar, and perhaps more that I’m missing. He also is using a wah-wah pedal on one of the guitar tracks and on the electric piano. Good stuff from one of my all time favorite bands – Traffic.

The Moody Blues: The Story In Your Eyes

Probably one of my favorite songs by The Moody Blues is “The Story in Your Eyes.” Released in 1971 as single from their album “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour,” it charted on the Hot 100 at #23. The album, by the way, did much better by peaking at #2.

Incidentally, the album’s title was named from the British mnemonic to remember the lines on the treble staff in musical notation. In America, the popular version of the mnemonic was Every Good Boy Does Fine – at least that is how I learned it during three and half years of piano lessons.

The song features the fantastic guitar work from Justin Hayward who plays both the acoustic and electric guitars. Hayward, who penned the tune, also sings lead and is joined on backup vocals by Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas, and John Lodge. The vocals are also accentuated by orchestral and choir voicings on the Mellotron at the hands of Pinder – who also plays the rollicking piano part.

Lodge provides the driving bass line – and you don’t hear someone say this too often, but I think his bass runs are absolutely beautiful. Graeme Edge handles the drums and percussion and Thomas adds the tambourine. I would imagine that Hayward is playing one of his Gibson ES335 electrics on this song, but I cannot find anything to corroborate this. Every live cut I’ve seen of this song, however, has him playing his red 335.

Original Version

Here’s a longer alternative version that was not released until the remastered edition of “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” was issued in 2008. The vocals and the overall mix are different as well.

Paul Gilbert: Bach Partita in Dm

Paul Gilbert is probably the only 15-year old guitarist to be featured in Guitar Player magazine. That was some time ago and Gilbert is currently 46, but is still wowing audiences and the media with his guitar prowess. GuitarOne rated Gilbert at #4 in the Top 10 of Guitar Shredders and he appears on the unranked Guitar World’s “50 Fastest Guitarist of All Time” list.

Today’s Tasty Licks Tuesday selection comes from Gilbert’s 2010 album “Fuzz Universe” and includes his take on J.S. Bach’s “Partita in Dm.” Many of the best guitarists in the world have been influenced by classical music and shredders like Gilbert share much in common with these composers of old. Crank it up.

Johnny Smith: Walk Don't Run

Johnny Smith died on June 11 and not much fanfare occurred with is passing at nearly 91 years of age. I heard about it a week later and intended on doing a tribute for him, but failed to make this happen until now. Smith was a jazz guitarist whose most notable contribution to the music scene was the composition “Walk Don’t Run.” It will be the song for which he will always be remembered.

He recorded “Walk Don’t Run.” in 1954 which was five years prior to The Ventures’ having a #2 hit with their version. Five years later, The Ventures re-recorded the tune as Walk Don’t Run ’64 and it too was a Top 10 hit charting at #8. Smith’s version appeared on his “In A Sentimental Mood” album and featured Smith and Perry Lopez on guitars, Arnold Fishkin on bass, and Don Lamond on drums.

Growing up, I had heard The Ventures’ version of this classic and always thought it was their original song – not so – but sadly, they were not directly influenced by Smith’s recording. The Ventures heard Chet Atkins’ cover of the song and based their rendition on his arrangement.

I first learned about Johnny Smith during the spring of 1977. My Uncle Walt had moved back to Pennsylvania that year and I saw him a number of times when I was home on break from college. He was very generous to me giving me books for school, a camera, and two multi-disc jazz compilation albums.

He was aware that I was doing a jazz program every week at WKCC radio and he helped it along by giving me these albums that chronicled the history of jazz from the 20s to the 60s. One of the album sets had the Johnny Smith Quartet’s version of “Walk Don’t Run.” I had never heard it before and it became a favorite of mine that I played frequently on my show.

Since that time, I hadn’t heard it, but when I heard that he passed, I played it again. It brought back the magic of that first listen. My wife, who was a big fan of The Ventures’ recording of “Walk Don’t Run” loved it as well. She never knew of any version other than The Ventures.

Ironically, 35 years later I’m back in the same building where the radio station was once housed. It is long gone, but if you walk down the hallway on a Wednesday night between 10 and 11 PM, you might here the strains of Mose Allison, Stan Getz, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, and Johnny Smith.

While his was not a household name, he was a legend – a guitar legend that three guitar companies (Guild, Gibson, and Heritage) build and market Johnny Smith signature models. Play on Johnny – we’ll miss you, but we have the discs to keep the memory alive.

Amy LaVere: If Love Was A Train

There several female stand-up bass players out there, but it is always interesting to encounter another one, as it is an unlikely feminine instrument. Not being sexist, it’s just the size of the monster that typically is found in the larger hands of the male of the species. The ladies who have made the acoustic bass their instrument of choice have reveled in it and have made it their own. Amy LaVere is one of those bassists.

From her 2009 EP “Died of Love,” Amy LaVere tackles Michelle Shocked’s “If Love Were A Train” with a rockabilly flair. LaVere’s vocals remind me of Ellen Jewell – they have similar phrasing; however, Jewell’s voice is lower. This is a great little cut and showcases her former lead guitarist Steve Selvidge.

Capricorn Records: Nothing Matters But The Fever

Day Three of our tribute to Capricorn Records with a band which was named as a twist of the name of its leader, Chuck Leavell – C. Leavell – Sea Level. Sea Level was an offshoot of The Allman Brothers Band featuring three of its members, Leavell, Jai Johnny Johanson, and Lamar Williams. They were joined by Jimmy Nalls to fulfill the complement of the original version of this fusion band. Shortly after their first album, the band enlarged to six members.

“Nothing Matters But the Fever” came from the band’s 1977 self-titled debut album. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what effect Leavell is using on his acoustic piano on this song. It almost sounds like he is fooling with a synthesizer mod wheel, but this was about five years or so before realistic piano sounds could be emulated by an electric keyboard. Good stuff from south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Ray Manzarek - Another Door Closed

Yesterday, I learned the unfortunate news of the passing of one of members of The Doors – keyboardist Ray Manzarek. At 74 years of age, Manzarek succumbed at a clinic in Germany where he was being treated for bile duct cancer. Along with Jim Morrison, Robbie Krieger, and John Densmore, the four were architects of a sound that helped define a generation.

Key to that sound was Ray Manzarek. One of the best examples of Manzarek’s keyboard talent is found on the last song recorded by the band, “Riders on the Storm.” Released as a single from their LP “L.A. Woman” just prior to Jim Morrison’s death in 1971, the single only peaked at #14, but it remains one of their best known tunes.

While credited to all the members of the band, Manzarek was the primary author having been inspired by the western tune “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” Unlike earlier recordings by the band which featured Manzarek on standard keyboard instruments and a Fender Rhodes keyboard bass, “L.A. Woman” used an actual session musician, Jerry Scheff, playing bass. He can be heard on this cut.

The song was written in E Dorian mode and Manzarek’s Fender Rhodes piano is integral to the song including imitating rain drops with his classic run down the keyboard – probably one the better known keyboard licks in all of rock music. Typical of the Rhodes, there is a little bit of distortion from the instrument.

Morrison’s vocals were recorded on two tracks – one in which he sung the main vocal line and another where he whispered the lyrics – creating a unique faux echo effect at the end of the tune. Add to this real sound effects of thunder and rain and the keyboard interplay with Robby Krieger’s guitar, the final mix created a haunting melody. I can’t imagine a world without Ray Manzarek – we are the fortunate ones to have heard him play and improvise. Long live his music. Rest in Peace Ray.

David Uosikkinen's In The Pocket: I Ain't Searchin'

I stumbled on this video a while back, and being a fan of The Hooters, I was intrigued by David Uosikkinen's In The Pocket project of “The Essential Songs of Philadelphia.” One of the songs was In The Pocket’s rendition of The American Dream’s “I Ain’t Searchin’” -- our Tasty Licks Tuesday selection for today.

The original version of “I Ain’t Searchin’” was recorded by the Philadelphia based band in 1970 and was produced by Todd Rundgren. It is said that it was Rundgren’s first attempt at producing a record. The single, which appears to be somewhat of a rarity, was released on the short-lived Ampex Records label as a single. While it wasn’t a national hit, it was favored selection in the City of Brotherly Love.

Nick Jameson, the songwriter and former member of The American Dream, also released a solo version of “I Ain’t Searchin’” in 1977 that appeared on his “Already Free” LP. “In The Pocket’s” rendition of the tune is a little grittier than the older versions of the song. It was recorded on November 6, 2012.

While David Uosikkinen's In The Pocket had a floating lineup, the personnel on this rendition includes Uosikkinen (drums) and Eric Bazilian (vocals, guitar, and harmonica) , Steve Butler (guitar and backup vocals), and singer/songwriter Cliff Hillis (bass and backup vocals). Uosikkinen played in both The Hooters and Smash Palace and is joined by guitarists from both bands: Bazilian from The Hooters and Bulter from Smash Palace.

Eric Bazilian and the author

The tune was recorded live in the studio, and if you pay attention to Eric Bazilian’s gold-top Les Paul, he is playing with a broken string, but that did not deter him from completing the task.  He also is using a dropped D tuning (DADGBE).  Butler, who plays the first lead break on the cut, used standard tuning. I had a chance to meet both Uosikkinen and Bazilian in 1986 and had an opportunity to talk to Eric in depth about his music. Uosikkinen's surname, by the way, is pronounced Wah-sik-in-en.

The Concussions: Guitorgan

It’s an organ. It’s guitar. It’s two instruments in one. That was Bob Murrell’s idea when he unveiled the first Guitorgan at the 1967 National Association of Music Merchants’ (NAMM) show in Chicago.

Produced by Murrell’s Musicsonics International (AKA MCI), this Frankenstein of an instrument merged organ circuitry into the body of a thin line hollow bodied electric guitar. The guitars were imported from a variety of Japanese companies and were retrofitted with the organ electronics

The organ circuitry was developed by Baldwin and the sounds were triggered when the string grounded on the segmented frets to produce the individual notes. Fully polyphonic, the organ had 12 oscillators – one for each note. In addition, switches controlled the various organ stops, pipe lengths, vibrato, and sustain. Over the years, the design was improved; however, it never was a popular instrument.

Today’s selection appropriately named “Guitorgan” apparently features the unusual instrument. If you listen closely, you can hear some inherent tracking problems with the organ sounds – but they are ever so slight. The Concussions, who merge surf and other retro sounds while playing vintage designed instruments, are today's featured artist. Like the drawing on the cover of their “Magic Fingers” CD, the band members wear skull masks while performing in public.

Steve Hillage: Palm Trees (Love Guitar)

I’ve been going through my massive album collection and reintroducing myself to albums that I have forgotten. In 1978, I purchased a British import album by former Gong guitarist Steve Hillage. Although I was not familiar with Hillage, I purchased the album solely for the reason that it was pressed on green vinyl. The album was appropriately named “Green.”

I don’t believe this LP was released in the US at the time, but I found this record with many of its ethereal and enigmatic passages absolutely wonderful. Hillage contributed vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, and guitar and keyboard synthesizers.

My favorite cut on the LP ends side one and is titled “Palm Trees (Love Guitar).” If the sound on “Green” has a Pink Floyd feel, then you have very astute ears. The album was produced by Floyd drummer Nick Mason. Enjoy.

Stax Records: Hang 'Em High

Today’s Stax Records feature reminds me of the days I worked for WWNR in Beckley, WV. We had an oldies format for the majority of my time I worked there and in the album stacks was Booker T. and the M.G.’s “Greatest Hits” album and “Hang ‘Em High” was one of the cuts I played frequently. Not only did I like it, but the album version was fairly lengthy and that helped cut down on the monotony of the sea of 2:30 cuts we normally played.

The original score for the film was done by Domenic Frontiere and the main instrument besides guitar was harmonica on the title cut. While it was an excellent choice for the soundtrack, it couldn't translate into a top 40 hit. Hugo Montenegro’s cover attempted imitate his previous hit recording of the “Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”; however, the added vocal tracks destroyed the song’s credibility.

Booker T. and the M.G.’s version of the song made it palatable to radio and it peaked on the Hot 100 at #9 in 1968. It was one of the few songs by the M.G.'s that charted higher on the Hot 100 than it did on the R&B chart where it stalled at #35. The recording featured the classic version of the band that had Booker T. Jones on organ, Steve Cropper on guitar, Duck Dunn on bass, and Al Jackson on drums.

As an aside, the group was named for the MG sports car; however, fear of trademark infringement (which would not have occurred) caused Stax Records to fabricate the story that MG stood for Memphis Group. In addition, a grammatical error of an apostrophe followed by an “s” incorrectly named the group when the name should have just had the plural “s.” This is common grammatical error in the US and the M.G.’s were not the only group to confuse the possessive with the plural case.

Booker T. Jones’ explains his technique

A number of years ago, Booker T. Jones demonstrated how he played his Hammond B3 on “Hang ‘Em High” in an interview with Keyboardmag.tv. What I find interesting that Jones credits George Shearing as one of his major influences for the chord voicing on this song.

Mashup: Uptight Religion

Our Tasty Licks Tuesday selection for this week takes a look at some “tasty” production techniques with a musical mashup. The creator of this particular production took the instrumental track from R.E.M.’s “Losing my Religion” sped it up and overlaid Stevie Wonder’s vocal track from “Uptight (Everything’s Alright).”

I stumbled on this video on YouTube totally by accident and was pleasantly surprised when I played it. Kudos to the YouTube subscriber “THEmotownboy” for being able to hear this mashup work prior to doing the production - that's talent.

This particular mashup reminds me of the production on The Beatles “Love” CD where different Beatle song elements were strung together and overlaid.Because the chords are different in the two songs, the vocals of one song over the instrumentation over the other creates a new chordal harmonic. I hope you enjoy this mashup as much as I have.

Locomotiv GT: Rock Yourself

I was looking for something in my rather large record collection yesterday and found a number of albums that I have forgotten to have owned. Unfortunately, after several moves, my collection has no discernible order. One album I found was a 1974 release on ABC Records for the Hungarian band Locomotive GT.

The album didn’t see much action in the US and this debut LP was a conglomeration of material from their first three albums that were released in their native Hungary. I first heard the band during the summer of 1974 on WZUM “Sweet 16 on your AM Dial” – so their advertisements on National Record Mart bags declared.

At that time, WZUM in Carnegie, Pennsylvania – a suburb of Pittsburgh – was owned and operated by NRM; hence, their ability to pay for such advertising in the Pittsburgh market – which was the 10th largest metro area in the US at the time. It has since dipped to the number 22 spot.

WZUM was not a powerhouse station. At 1,000 watts, this day timer was at the second worst spot on the AM band at the time – 1590 kHz. Living 13 miles to the east of downtown, I had a difficult time picking up the station; however, after 4PM in the afternoon, they played the most amazing music until signoff - which was as late as 8:30 during June. It was a limited time, free form, AOR format and the staff played music that was not heard on the two AOR FM stations in the market, WDVE and WYDD.

Throughout that summer, I heard Locomotiv GT on WZUM and I eventually bought the album at a used record store. The album is pretty good and the songs were mostly in English with some Hungarian lyrics thrown in for good measure. The album was produced by Jimmy Miller who had produced The Rolling Stones, Traffic, Blind Faith, and others during the period. Ex-Cream member Jack Bruce appears on one cut of the album playing harmonica. Miller himself, who lent his expertise with the cowbell to the Stones' “Honky Tonk Woman,” played percussion on Locomotiv GT's LP.

Our cut today, “Rock Yourself,” was the first single to be released from the album; however, it failed to chart. It was co-written by Anna Adamis – who was not a member of the band and Gabor Presser – the band’s keyboardist.

The song has a real fusion feel to it and features the alto sax of Thomas Somlo – who was also the band’s bassist and also was featured on electric violin and vocals. Thomas Barta is featured on guitar and vocals and Joseph Laux was the band’s drummer. A wah-wah pedal was used on the guitar and perhaps on the electric piano as well. “Rock Yourself” also features a mysterious conga player who is credited only as “XY.”

“XY” was probably someone who Jimmy Miller knew, but was under contract with another label. Some top contenders in my book would be Charlie Watts, Jim Capaldi, Rebop Kwaku Baah, or Jim Gordon. We may never know for sure. In the middle of the song, the band breaks into Hungarian. This was probably edited out of the American single, but I cannot say for certain as I don't have a copy of the single edit; however, it would make sense that would have been cut in the US. Enjoy this lost treasure from the early 1970s.

Episode 1100: Junior Brown: Surf Medley

Today’s post marks our 1,100th edition of this blog and before we get into the nitty gritty of the numbers thus far, we’ll head to today’s musical selection. Since it is Tasty Licks Tuesday, I thought I might share a number from Junior Brown. If you are not familiar with this iconic guitarist, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Brown plays a custom made guitar that combines a six-string electric guitar with a neck from an 8-string lap steel. Because of this combination, his “guit-steel” is fastened to a stand that allows him to switch between guitar necks. He keeps his steel in a pocket that rests above the six-string.

Typically, Brown has been pigeonholed into the country genre; however, he has recorded Jimi Hendrix tunes with remarkable agility and aplomb. In today’s selection, Brown shows that he is equally adept in performing par excellence in the surf guitar realm.

His “Surf Medley” incorporates The Chantays’ “Pipeline,” The Ventures’ “Walk Don’t Run,” The Marketts’ “Out of Limits,” and Johnny Rivers’ “Secret Agent Man.” If you haven’t heard anything else of Brown’s music, I would encourage you to check out his other videos.

RBTG’s 1,100th Post Retrospect

Like I had reported with every other 100th post anniversary, I took a look backward on how we are doing visitor wise. I began this blog on September 26, 2009, but did not start monitoring the visits until October 16, 2009. Currently, we have 59 declared followers of the blog – up from 57 in September 2012. There are many others who have visited frequently without declaring themselves as followers. The statistics are listed below:

Variable	Statistic
Unique Visitors	101,474
Times Visited	112,018
Number of Pages Viewed	166,866
People Visiting 200+ Times	1,527
People Visiting 101-200 Times	486
People Visiting 51-100 Times	459
People Visiting 26-50 Times	488
Number of Visitor Countries Represented	172
Percentage of Visitors Referred from Search Engines	63.44%
Percentage of Visitors Referred from Other Sites	27.81%
Percentage of Visitors via Direct Access	8.75%

The Top Ten Charts

As one would find in music trade magazines, I have prepared some Top Ten Charts for "Reading between the Grooves."

The Top Ten Visitor Countries

The rankings remain static when compared to the previous 1,000th Anniversary. Eight new countries and territories were added since September 2012. They include one from Europe (Gibraltar), one from the Caribbean (Dominica), and the remainder from Africa (Angola, Benin, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).

Rank	Country	Visits
1	United States	53,741
2	United Kingdom	9,325
3	Canada	6,348
4	Germany	4,717
5	France	3,176
6	Italy	2,788
7	Australia	2,450
8	Brazil	2,446
9	Netherlands	1,875
10	Spain	1,816

The Top Ten Pages via Direct Access

While most people (6,010) have visited the home page for “Reading Between the Grooves,” others enter distinct pages through page specific links and via search engine returns. Elliott Murphy’s “Eva Braun” reentered the top 10 and Mike Deasy’s “All God’s Children” placed in the top listing for the first time. This particular chart is slow moving as it is cumulative – newer features on this site will have to be really popular to catch up to the total direct access of these ten songs.

Rank	Artist: Song	Visits
1	Deep Purple before “Smoke on the Water”	5,845
2	Mungo Jerry: “In the Summertime”	4,661
3	Elliott Murphy “Eva Braun”	3,931
4	Fleetwood Mac: Landslide	2,031
5	The Art Reynolds Singers: “Jesus Is Just Alright”	1,422
6	Fairport Convention: “Matty Groves”	1,290
7	Derek & The Dominoes: “Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs”	1,267
8	Mike Deasy: “All God’s Children”	1,179
9	Sister Rosetta Tharpe: “Up Above My Head”	1,172
10	Kittyhawk and the Chapman Stick®	1,094

The Top Days by Total Visits

This chart represents the days that encountered the most visits and the content that was featured on those particular days. All but two of the selections, the number one and number six slot, came from the last 100 days. Five of the pages were from new features that were added since September – the Second Week Special and the Fourth Week Label Special.

The #1 day is an anomaly as it represents a day that had intensive viewing of the entire blog by two new visitors. These two individuals spent a great deal of time on the blog and looked at hundreds of pages during one single weekend.

Rank	Day	Date	Associated Content	Visits
1	SAT	16 JUL 2011	Nektar: Let it Grow	625
2	THU	24 JAN 2013	Ariola Records: Flying	476
3	THU	17 JAN 2013	Steppenwolf: Sookie Sookie	395
4	SAT	12 JAN 2013	Farfisa: See Emily Play	383
5	FRI	4 JAN 2013	Foreigner: Night Life	372
6	WED	13 JUN 2012	The Stories: Brother Louie	362
7	SUN	6 JAN 2013	Farfisa Organ: Wooly Bully	361
8	SUN	9 DEC 2012	The Band’s Namesake is Not the Lead Vocalist: Manfred Mann	358
9	FRI	7 DEC 2012	In Memory of Mr. Skin - Ed Cassidy	341
10	FRI	11 JAN 2013	Farfisa Organ: Double Shot (of my Baby's Love)	333

The Top Days by New Visitors

This chart represents the days that encountered the most visits by first time visitors and the content that was featured on those particular days. Except for Sandy Denny’s version of “Easy to Slip,” all of the other positions on this chart were featured during the last 100 posts. As with the Top Ten Days, five of these positions were from our two newest categories.

Rank	Day	Date	Associated Content	New Visitors
1	SAT	12 JAN 2013	Farfisa: See Emily Play	261
2	THU	17 JAN 2013	Steppenwolf: Sookie Sookie	234
3	FRI	4 JAN 2013	Foreigner: Night Life	217
4	SUN	6 JAN 2013	Farfisa Organ: Wooly Bully	215
5	FRI	7 DEC 2012	In Memory of Mr. Skin - Ed Cassidy	214
6	MON	16 JUL 2012	Sandy Denny: Easy to Slip	213
7	SUN	9 DEC 2012	The Band’s Namesake is Not the Lead Vocalist: Manfred Mann	209
8	THU	24 JAN 2013	Ariola Records: Flying	209
9	FRI	11 JAN 2013	Farfisa Organ: Double Shot (of my Baby’s Love)	203
10	WED	5 DEC 2012	Show of Hands: Country Life	202

As always, I want to take this time to thank all of you for your support of this site and the encouragement to keep going forward. Thanks again for Reading between the Grooves.

Cream: Cat's Squirrel

Last week I learned about an early guitar effect, which somehow escaped my knowledge over the years. The unit made by Dallas Arbiter was called the Rangemaster and was a treble booster which produced a fuzz tone in the process. This early signal booster/distortion unit was used on countless recordings. In an article that Dennis Harris provided me, a number of songs were listed.

One by Cream from their debut album, “Fresh Cream,” caught my eyes, memories, and ears – the instrumental “Cat’s Squirrel.” I hadn’t listened to this album in decades and all of the memories of this LP came flooding back. The song, which had previously appeared as the flipside to Cream’s first single, “Wrapping Paper,” opened side two.

While the British version was slightly different from the American version, I bought my copy when ATCO was divesting its stock of the Robert Stigwood Organisation’s material that was soon to be released on Polydor’s USA label. Unable to get an ATCO version, I bought the British import.

The album differed from the American release in that the album’s title was graphically different and the UK album included the song “Spoonful,” which had been released in America as a single, but not on the album. “I Feel Free,” which was released in both countries as a single, was included on the American version, but not the original British release. Additionally, as many albums from the UK were printed on a thinner and glossy stock, these releases were prone to finger prints, scratches, and creases more than the American issues.

“Cat’s Squirrel” features Jack Bruce on harmonica and a Fender VI six-string bass. Of course Ginger Baker is supplying the rhythm while Eric Clapton is doubling Bruce’s harmonica. The guitar is being run through the Rangemaster. This song as well as the rest of the album is not mixed to my liking – Robert Stigwood produced it. I prefer the later Cream album mixes by producer Felix Pappalardi. With that said, “Cat’s Squirrel” is on one of the best tunes on the album - “Alright, alright, alright, alright.”

Ten Years After: Choo Choo Mama

I don’t know about you, but I am warm and dry inside while it is a winter wonderland of 18 inches of wet, heavy snow outside my door. I’ve been out twice today and I’ll think I’ll stay put. What better way to warm up is with a little guitar music from Alvin Lee and his band Ten Years After.

“Choo Choo Mama” was issued as a single from the “Rock & Roll Music to the World” album.  What a driving song – it is just powerful. Leo Lyons and Ric Lee keep the rhythm going while Chick Churchill pounds away on the piano. All this is a perfect backdrop for Alvin Lee, one of the fastest guitarists of rockdom, to lay down some leads that punctuate the holes where he is not singing.

Both the single and album were issued in 1972. It was their eighth studio album and second for their new labels – Chrysalis in the UK and Columbia in the US.

Pat Martino: Blue Bossa

One thing with this blog is that I have made some long lasting friendships with some folks that had made some visits in the past. It appears that the strongest of these relationships are centered on a post that I made back in 2009 about Harry Abraham and his radio show on WHAM in Rochester, NY. One of these friends is Stu Weissman who lives in New York State. Stu has been a constant friend and has been an inspiration during my lung illnesses of late.

Not only has Stu proved to be a good long distance friend, he is an excellent guitarist – I’ve heard some of his recordings and he is one talented dude. The other night, Stu mentioned an artist in an email that I had not thought about in several decades and that person is guitarist Pat Martino.

I don’t believe I’ve ever owned any of Martino’s albums – which is sad, but I am familiar with his work from doing a jazz radio program in the 1970s. Since I subscribed to Guitar Player magazine for a number of years, I also had read their interviews with this jazz guitar master.

I think the reason I lost track of Pat Martino is related to a brain aneurysm that he suffered in 1980 and the resulting surgery left him unable to remember how to play the guitar. Suffering from general amnesia as well, it was through the persistence of friends and by using his old recordings as a guide that allowed Pat to return to the music business in 1987.

Today’s Tasty Licks Tuesday selection comes from Pat’s 1997 album “Cream.” “Blue Bossa” was composed by jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham and which was first recorded by Joe Henderson in 1963. The song draws upon George Shearing’s “Lullaby of Birdland” for the opening riff. Martino’s interpretation shows his talent as well as that of his backing musicians. Enjoy.

Stephen Stills: Old Times Good Times

There is no denying that Stephen Stills is an excellent guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, and vocalist. On his albums as well as the albums by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, he was often placed in roles other than that of lead guitarist. Let that talent take a backseat to others with whom only a superlative could describe and you have a product that is par excellence.

On his self-titled solo album, Stills is joined by a number of other great musicians. On the song “Old Times Good Times,” the lead guitar duties were relegated to none other than Jimi Hendrix. In addition, Booker T. Jones of Booker T. and the MGs plays the fantastic organ runs.

Released in late 1970, the album peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart. The album was recorded at Island Studios in London and includes a star-studded cast of players. Although “Old Times Good Times” was not a single from the album, its inclusion of Hendrix and Jones on their respective instruments make it a perfect Tasty Licks Tuesday selection.

The album is dedicated to the late James Marshall Hendrix who died nearly two months to the day before the album was released.

Charlie Christian Jammers: Waiting for Benny

Today is the last day you can register your vote to see if “Reading Between the Grooves” continues after tomorrow. This is post 999 and post 1,000, which lines up with the third anniversary tomorrow, is planned to be the last – that is, unless enough of you urge me to continue. To do that, register your feelings at the survey found at http://tinyurl.com/8juv863.

Back in the early to mid 1970s, I was a subscriber to Guitar Player magazine and was amazed by the number of artists who credited influence from a 25 year-old guitarist named Charlie Christian. Christian’s one note solos were revolutionary during the short period (1939-1942) where he was in the spotlight as a member of Benny Goodman’s band.

At first Goodman wasn’t sure of the electric guitar, but was urged by John Hammond to add Christian to the band. Hammond, who was Goodman’s father-in-law, always had a good ear for talent – just ask Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

While many guitarists were doing only rhythm and chord leads, Christian’s style emulated the horn players surrounded him and he sounded more like sax and trumpet players than he did other guitarists. The single note leads were revolutionary for the period and his pre-bebop style was fresh sounding. Thousands of guitarists owe a debt of gratitude to the man who started it all – Charlie Christian. Because of this early influence, Christian was immortalized in the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame.

One can only imagine the range of influence and the changes in the music scene had Christian not died at 25 from tuberculosis. He contracted the disease in 1940 and finally succumbed to it on May 2, 1940.

Besides reading about Charlie Christian, I was introduced to his music with the purchase of the 1972 double album: “Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian.” I bought my copy sometime around 1976; however, I don’t remember the circumstances on where specifically I got my used copy. I know I played it during my Wednesday night jazz program over WKCC from 1976 to 1978.

The cut I have chosen is credited to the Charlie Christian Jammers – one of two cuts on the album that prominently features the guitar work of Christian. This recording was not indented for release; however, we can be thankful for the engineers at Columbia Records who recorded everything on acetate – including this jam that occurred while they were testing the recording equipment.

The song is titled “Waiting for Benny,” as Goodman was late showing up for the session. This warm up included Christian, Cootie Williams on trumpet, George Auld on tenor sax, Johnny Guarnieri on piano, Artie Benson on bass, and Dave Tough on drums. This warm-up was recorded in New York on March 31, 1941. A ten second warning to “stand-by” was given by one of the engineers. This is truly great stuff.

Pat Metheny Group: Last Train Home

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One of my favorite guitarists is Pat Metheny and I became aware of him back when I immersed myself in jazz music during the 1970s. I was particular fond of the albums that were released on Manfred Eicher’s German based ECM Records label.

In fact, I purchased albums in the mid ‘70s simply because of the strength of the label - having never heard the artist and Pat Metheny's recordings were of that number. Outside of a few avant-garde records from the early seventies that I didn’t like, the later recordings were masterpieces and I frequently featured my personal ECM catalog on my Wednesday night jazz show on WKCC.

Pat Metheny was one of those acts and time came for the Pat Metheny Group to move to a label with greater marketing and distribution. In 1987, Metheny moved to Geffen Records which had great success since David Geffen founded the label in 1980. Geffen had also founded Asylum Records in 1970, which was sold to Warner Communications in 1972.

“Still Life (Talking)” was the Pat Metheny Group’s first album with Geffen and it features the song “Last Train Home.” I could have used this song for TV Thursday feature as the song is frequently heard on the Weather Channel and was used by the Lakeland, Florida based Publix supermarket chain as background music for a Christmas commercial. The commercial ran from 1987 to 1996.

The brush work on the snare by drummer Paul Wertico and driving acoustic bass of Steve Rodby gives the illusion that you are actually riding the rails. Lyle Mays’ keyboards provide the necessary piano fills, strings and occasional train sound effects.

Although the instrument is not credited, Pat Metheny used a Coral electric sitar. He did make a modification to the instrument as it does not have the original Danelectro pickups – it appears that he is using Stratocaster pickups as replacements. I am not sure what he is processing the instrument through, but it gives it a nice sound.

During the bridge, Mark Ledford, David Blamires, and Armando Marçal provide vocals. Marçal is also the percussionist for the band. It’s a great tune that always brings a smile to my face. It exudes happiness.