sweartotellthetruth

January 27, 2014

Blues and Rhythm Show 116 on 93.3 CFMU (Hamilton, Ontario)

Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, January 28, 2014 (1:00-2:30 pm)

Two themes on The Blues and Rhythm Show this week. We’re playing a fairly random assortment of blues from the Chess label of Chicago. Some big names and an ace inastrumentalist in the mix. Also, a wide-ranging selection of R&B tracks recorded between 1945 and 1960. 

On the Show:

Sidemen – Little Walter – Muddy Waters – Little Milton – Fenton Robinson – Mr. Bear & His Bearcats – Jesse Price – Sam “Highpockets” Henderson – Lee Roy Little – Jack de Keyzer

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until February 24th.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

You can also follow the program at sweartotellthetruth@nosignifying on Twitter.

Next week (February 4th)

We’re doing research for a program of railroading songs and railroad themes in blues, R&B and gospel song. We haven’t settled on a theme for next week’s program.

Last week

We played Booker T. & the MGs’ “Chinese Checkers” and described it as a clever bit of “chinoiserie”. According to Rob Bowman, the song wasn’t originally conceived that way. Booker T. Jones devised the piece on an electric piano he had obtained. Some of the keys didn’t work and he wrote the piece using a 5-note scale. By the time the piece was recorded, however, its “Chinese” character seems to have been something Booker T. and the band embraced.

 

cmc

 

January 20, 2014

Blues and Rhythm Show 115 on 93.3 CFMU (Hamilton, Ontario)

Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, January 21, 2014 (1:00-2:30 pm)

One major and one minor theme on this week’s program. Major theme is a feature devoted to Robert Nighthawk, a legendary figure who recorded in four different decades but should be better known and recognized for his achievement. Nighthawk reportedly never stayed long in Chicago but and because he spent so much time in the south he may have missed opportunities for larger success as a recording artist. Through radio, he was a recognized figure in the Delta and live recordings from the sixties show what a fine and versatile performer he was. Had he lived longer someone surely would have explored his large and diverse repertoire in studio recordings. His commercial recordings from the forties and fifties provide only a partial picture of his abilities. Although Peter Guralnick’s novel, Nighthawk Blues, is said to be based upon the life of Big Joe Williams, the title seems to invoke the sense of romance and mystery around the figure of Robert McCollum, who adopted his mother’s surname, McCoy, after being involved in a shooting, and later changed it to Nighthawk from his best known early record, “Prowling Night-Hawk”. 

We’re also going to play a few tracks from the Stax label and some related material on this week’s program–instigated by Robert Gordon’s recently published study of Stax, Respect Yourself, which we’ve begun reading. 

On the Show:

Rufus Thomas – Ruby Johnson – Stax Records, Little Richard – Bill Doggett – Rita Chiarelli – Robert Nighthawk – Dixie Nightingales – and others

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until February 17th.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

You can also follow the program at sweartotellthetruth@nosignifying on Twitter.

Next week (January 28th)

We plan to put on a program of railroading songs soon but we aren’t sure how much preparation it will take. Next week’s program will likely be more eclectic.

cmc

 
 

January 13, 2014

Blues and Rhythm Show 114 on 93.3 CFMU (Hamilton, Ontario)

Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, January 14, 2014 (1:00-2:30 pm)

We said on air this week’s show would be a grab-bag and so it is. Some R&B recorded between 1950 and 1959, including tracks from  the under-estimated Derby label; some 1950s Chicago blues especially for those who think we don’t play enough; a few live soul recordings. We try to bring you the essential tracks as well as the stuff you are unlikely to hear on other shows and, in spite of our haste in putting this program together, we think it qualifies.

On the Show:

The Majors – Eunice Davis – Titus Turner – Big Jay McNeely – Snooky Pryor – J.B. Hutto – Willie Mabon – Geno Washington – Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – Mel Brown – and others

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until February 10th.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

You can also follow the program at sweartotellthetruth@nosignifying on Twitter.

Next week (January 21st)

Haven’t had time to figure out next week’s show. We’ll try to provide some advance notice.

cmc

January 5, 2014

Blues and Rhythm Show 113 on 93.3 CFMU (Hamilton, Ontario)

Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, January 7, 2014 (1:00-2:30 pm)

We decided a while back not to engage in year end “Best Of” list making on this program. One reason is that we’re not sure the audience is interested in such things. Another is that we don’t follow the record companies new release schedules closely enough and we are often unsure when albums have actually been released. Finally, we make a point of talking about he availability of music that we play week to week when it seems relevant. We’re making an exception this week, on our first program of 2014. We’re designating a certain album the Most Useful Reissue of 2013The album is a compilation called I Heard the Angels Singing from Tompkins Square and it documents the Nashboro label gospel catalogue between 1951 and 1981. It was issued at the end of 2013. We’re going to take a detailed look at this compilation which fills a void in what is available from Nashboro’s huge catalogue of mostly southern gospel music. Located in Nashviile, Nashboro was an offshoot of Ernie Young’s retail and mail-order record business and the ability to sell the catalogue through the mails, combined with its marketing reach through Nashville’s powerful radio superstation. WLAC, is probably what enabled Nashboro to maintain such a large and diverse gospel catalogue. Part of what makes this collection important is the unavailability of Nashboro’s recordings in recent years, so we’ll be taking a detailed look at this set

Also on the program, we pick up a few threads from recent editions of the show–some R&B and some soul music.

On the Show:

Doctor Feelgood & the Interns – Melvin Smith – Del Thorne – The Whiteley Brothers – Swanee Quintet – Sister Lucille Barbee – Slim & the Supreme Angels – Bevins Specials – Geater Davis – Doris Duke – Earl Gaines – Bobby “Blue” Bland

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until February 3rd.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

You can also follow the program at sweartotellthetruth@nosignifying on Twitter.

Next week (January 14th)

No plan as yet. We’ll try to provide some advance notice.

cmc

January 1, 2014

Blues and Rhythm Show 112 on 93.3 CFMU (Hamilton, Ontario)

Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, December 31st, 2013 (1:00-2:30 pm)

Our New Year’s Eve program is already in the books, to coin a phrase. We failed to have a description of the program in advance this week. If you go to the CFMU website the program you will find is a mixture of mostly up-tempo blues and R&B, with a few soul tracks along the way. A lot of music from Chicago, a bit of post T-Bone Texas blues, a few East Coast tracks and some current and some older local recordings. 

On the Show:

Elmore James – Red Prysock – live Hound Dog Taylor – Kendall Wall Blues Band – Lester Williams – Guitar Nubbit – Lula Reed – live Magic Sam – Lou Pride – King Biscuit Boy – and many others

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until January 27th.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

You can also follow the program at sweartotellthetruth@nosignifying on Twitter.

Next week (January 6th)

No 2013 year end review but we will feature the most useful reissue album we encountered in the past year.

cmc

Blog at WordPress.com.