Tag Archives: Bo Diddley

Little Freddie King – Fried Rice & Chicken

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Little Freddy King
Title: Fried Rice & Chicken

Artist: Little Freddie King

Label: Orleans

Formats: CD, LP, Digital

Release date: April 6, 2018

 

 

Delta blues guitarist Little Freddie King has been a fixture on the New Orleans scene for decades, performing regularly at the NOLA Jazz and Heritage Festival as well as clubs in “the lowest bowels of the mighty Ninth Ward.” Though not as well-known as the other guitar slinging Freddie King from Texas, “Little Freddie” is still the real deal—a Mississippi-born bluesman who learned to play guitar on his daddy’s knee, claims Lightnin’ Hopkins as a cousin, and once toured Europe with Bo Diddley and John Lee Hooker.

In 1971, Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King released Rock N Roll Blues on the obscure Ahura Mazda label. As one might guess, this limited pressing didn’t provide King with much exposure beyond his adopted hometown, and it’s difficult to find a copy these days. Over two decades later, the local Orleans Records label released two of King’s first solo projects, Swamp Boogie in 1997 and Sing Sang Sung in 2000.

Fried Rice & Chicken is a compilation featuring the best tracks from King’s two contrasting albums for Orleans. The first half, recorded in the studio from 1994-1995, features backing by Earl “Pass the Hatchet” Stanley and Robert Wilson on electric bass, Jason Sipher on upright bass, Kerry Brown and Bradley Wisham on drums, with Crazy Rick Allen on Wurlitzer electric piano and organ. While not exactly polished, the tracks are at least a half step up from King’s raw club performances. Notable tracks include the opening song “Cleos Back,” which some might recognize from the Tom Hanks movie Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and “Mean Little Woman” featured in the HBO series Treme. Yes, Little Freddie has been getting some good exposure since these songs were initially released.

The second half of the album was recorded live at the Dream Palace, a club on Frenchman Street in the Faubourg Marigny section of New Orleans. You might say this is the real Little Freddie King, offering up the raw gut bucket blues of Southern juke joints. On these tracks King is accompanied by his regular band at the time: Wacko Wade Wright on drums, Anthony Anderson on electric bass, and Bobby Lewis DiTullio on harmonica. Highlights include the title track “Sing Sang Sung,” a great instrumental showcasing King and DiTullio, and “Bad Chicken” featuring “squawking” guitar licks.

Though there are a number of different Freddie King compilations, Fried Rice & Chicken encapsulates the best of his Orleans Records output.

Reviewed by Brenda Nelson-Strauss

Notable Reissues

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Let the Music Play: Supreme Rarities 1960-1969 (Hip-O Select, April 2008)

The producers of this CD combed through the Motown archives in order to come up with a two CD set of 47 previously unreleased takes. As is typical with compilations of this type, the alternate takes reveal elements of the creative and production process through altered verses and extended versions. If you’re only interested in hearing the final versions, this CD set is not for you.

Gladys Knight & the Pips: Claudine/Pipe Dreams. (Shout! June 2008)

Shout Factory has assembled on one compact disc two rare 1970s movie soundtracks featuring Gladys Knight & The Pips.  Claudine, released in 1974, was a film starring Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones, with music composed by Curtis Mayfield (this was two years after his much celebrated Superfly score).  The soundtrack includes the chart-topping single “On And On,” as well as the more poignant “Welfare Man.”  Pipe Dreams, released in 1976, actually featured Gladys Knight in the starring role. The film was not commercially successful and Knight’s acting career went no further. The soundtrack includes one hit single, “So Sad The Song,” though contemporary audiences may be more interested in “Alaska Pipeline.”

Bo Diddley.  Road Runner: The Chess Masters, 1959-1960. (Hip-O Select, June 2008)

This is the second installment of Hip-O Select’s tribute to Bo Diddley, who passed away earlier this year (the first installment, I’m A Man: The Chess Masters 1955-1958, was released in 2007).  The two CD set features 52 tracks in all, including 23 previously unreleased songs and alternate takes encompassing both his Chess studio recordings and various home recordings. Liner notes were provided by George R. White, Diddley’s biographer. This is great stuff and absolutely essential for anyone interested in the black roots of rock ‘n’ roll.

Yvonne Fair.  The Bitch is Black (Reel Music, June 2008)

The late Yvonne Fair performed with the James Brown Revue in the early 1960s and simultaneously released several singles which never took off, even though they were produced by Brown. She then took a stab at Motown, pairing up with Marvin Gaye, but success did not arrive until  Norman Whitfield produced several of her singles in 1974, which led up to her one and only album. The Bitch is Black, released in 1975, features some great “in your face” funky R&B from a little known performer. The accompanying booklet features photos and a biographical essay by A. Scott Galloway.

Joe Tex.  Get Way Back: The 1950s Recordings (Ace, August 2008)

Joe Tex (1933-1982) was Texas-born soul singer who rose to fame in the mid-1960s, but this compilation traces the beginnings of his career. The 27 tracks that he recorded for the King and the American Ace label, some released on CD for the first time, include elements of rock ‘n’ roll as well as New Orleans R&B. The accompanying booklet offers biographical information and previously unpublished photographs.

Best of Chess: Original Versions of Songs in Cadillac Records

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Title: Best of Chess: Original Versions of Songs in Cadillac Records
Artists: Various
Label: Chess/MCA/UMe
Catalog No.: 001241802
Release Date: Dec. 2, 2008

I haven’t yet had an opportunity to see Cadillac Records, the new biopic about Chicago’s legendary Chess Records, but I’ve already read numerous stories about the many liberties which were taken with the story, as one might expect from a major Hollywood feature film. Nevertheless, I plan to make a pilgrimage to the local theater the minute the movie opens, and I can’t wait to see Beyoncé’s portrayal of Etta James. Here is the official trailer:

A soundtrack from Cadillac Records was released last month, but if you want to hear the original hits in their full glory, check out the new compilation- The Best of Chess Records: The Original Versions of Songs in the Film “Cadillac Records.” This would be a great way to introduce your kids (or students) to blues, R&B, soul, and the roots of rock ‘n’ roll, all in one package. If you have a teenager that’s anything like mine, and they turn their noses up at music that’s not “contemporary,” i.e. familiar, maybe the movie tie-in will peak their interest.  

The CD includes 15 classic Chess tracks, recorded between 1948-1967, that are covered in the movie by Beyoncé (as Etta James), Jeffrey Wright (as Muddy Waters), Eamonn Walker (as Howlin’ Wolf), Cedric the Entertainer (as Willie Dixon), Columbus Short (as Little Walter), and Mos Def (as Chuck Berry).  The bulk of the CD is devoted to Chuck Berry and Etta James, with four tracks each. Berry’s “Maybellene” is certainly one of the highlights- this was his first big hit for Chess in 1955, and is considered one of the seminal early rock ‘n’ roll singles- it quickly topped the rhythm and blues charts, and then crossed over to the pop charts. Muddy Waters and Little Walter are each represented on three tracks, while the great Bo Diddley and Howlin’ Wolf only get one track each.

The complete track listing follows:

1. “No Particular Place to Go” – Chuck Berry
2. “At Last” – Etta James
3. “My Babe” – Little Walter
4. “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” – Muddy Waters
5. “I’d Rather Go Blind” – Etta James
6. “I’m a Man” – Bo Diddley
7. “Smokestack Lightnin‘” – Howlin’ Wolf
8. “Forty Days and Forty Nights” – Muddy Waters
9. “Juke” – Little Walter
10. “All I Could Do Is Cry” – Etta James
11. “Maybellene” – Chuck Berry
12. “I Can’t Be Satisfied” – Muddy Waters
13. “Last Night” – Little Walter
14. “Nadine” – Chuck Berry
15. “Trust in Me” – Etta James
16. “Promised Land” – Chuck Berry

Posted by Brenda Nelson-Strauss

The Blues Roots of the Rolling Stones

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Title: The Blues Roots of the Rolling Stones
Artists: Various Artists
Label: Snapper Music
Catalog No.: SBLUECD047
Release date: March 10, 2008

“We got heavily into the blues – Chicago blues particularly because every major, modern blues artist was coming out of Chicago. . . we weren’t writing our own songs then. We were just playing mostly blues & rock ‘n roll-Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters stuff.” – Keith Richards

“We used to watch Chuck Berry films over and over and over to see how he would play certain licks. Keith [Richards] and I would go to the cinema like 6 or 9 times just to see the Chuck Berry section. . . to see how he put his hands on the guitar, and how he played this part and this solo.” – Mick Jagger

The Blues Roots of the Rolling Stones is Michael Hendon’s valiant effort to bring together the most formative blues and rock influences on the members of this seminal rock band onto a single disk for Snapper Music’s Complete Blues series. Included among them are, of course, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, and Bo Diddley, but also Buddy Holly, Slim Harpo, B.B. King, Blind Boy Fuller, Robert Johnson, Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell, and Robert Wilkins.

Far from a smattering of well-known singles from these (mostly) heavily-compiled artists, Hendon’s liner notes make clear that the songs selected for this compilation were chosen carefully. Throughout, Hendon expends great effort to explicitly connect each song to the Stones and thus support the reason for its inclusion – usually either because the Stones frequently performed and/or recorded the song or because it is emblematic of the sound of a particular artist that was an important influence on the band.

Appropriately enough, the disk opens with Muddy Waters’ “Rolling Stone” and closes with another of his classics – “I Want to be Loved” (a version of which appeared as the B side of the Stones’ first single). The songs of Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley formed over half of the Stones’ early set lists, and Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me” was also featured on their third album (The Rolling Stones, Now!, 1965). Slim Harpo’s “I’m a King Bee” was featured on the Stones’ first album (England’s Newest Hit Makers, 1964) as was Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do.” In addition to this more urban-centered blues/rock spread, I especially like the attention paid on this compilation to the Delta/country blues influence on the Stones’ sound. One of the highlights in that regard is Robert Wilkins’ crackling 1928 recording “Rolling Stone – Part 1.”

Though Stones enthusiasts will undoubtedly notice omissions on The Blues Roots of the Rolling Stones, I think it is a perfect starting point for those who wish to trace the British blues explosion of the early 1960s back to the sounds that inspired it.

Posted by Anthony Guest-Scott