Archive Review: Robert Johnson’s The Centennial Collection (2011)

There are few musicians as legendary, as essential to the history of their genre as Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson is to the blues. Perhaps only Hank Williams (country), Elvis Presley (rock ‘n’ roll), and Charlie Parker (jazz) cast as long a shadow on their respective musical styles as does Johnson. It doesn’t hurt his legacy that a larger-than-life mythology has grown up around the enigmatic Delta bluesman, or that his life is largely shrouded in mystery, and that his youthful death at the age of 27 remains a subject of academic and historic controversy.

What is certain is that Johnson seemingly emerged out of nowhere as a great blues vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist that reportedly shook hands with the devil in a Faustian bargain to obtain his immense talents. Only two known photographs exist of the guitarist, and in spite of the general confusion about the specifics of Johnson’s life as a wandering blues troubadour, we know that in 1936 and 1937, Johnson made his way westward to San Antonio and Dallas, Texas to record 29 songs that were destined to change the course of blues music history.  

King of the Delta Blues Singers

Because of his itinerant ways, wandering from town to town across the southeast and performing in juke-joints and on street corners, Johnson experienced little commercial success during the brief six years (1932-38) that he plied his trade. Although he sometimes traveled with bluesmen like the younger Johnny Shines or Robert Lockwood, Johnson would disappear from an area for months, and his music had little impact, at the time, on but a few musicians that he had personal contact with like David “Honeyboy” Edwards.

In 1961, Columbia Records released King of the Delta Blues Singers on vinyl, the album representing the first modern-era release of Johnson’s performances. To say that the 16 songs included on the album had a major impact would be an understatement, King of the Delta Singers firing the imagination of young British musicians like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Keith Richards and others, jump-starting the British blues-rock boom of the 1960s. The album would have a profound effect on American musicians like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix as well, and would go on to be successfully reissued in various incarnations in the decades to come, including a second volume in 1970 with unreleased songs. Digging up every extant Johnson recording, Sony Music released The Complete Recordings as a two-disc set in 1990, earning the producers a Grammy™ Award and selling a truckload of copies.     

Robert Johnson’s The Centennial Collection

Robert Johnson – The Centennial Collection was released as a celebration of what would have been Johnson’s 100th birthday. Truth be told, Johnson only ever cut 29 original songs in his lifetime, with a handful of alternate takes pushing the number of performances up to 42, and The Centennial Collection differs from The Complete Recordings set only in sequencing and in slightly improved sound…to be honest, there’s only so much you can do when sourcing from antique 78rpm shellac recordings. Throw some interesting new liner notes from historians Ted Gioia and Stephen C. LaVere into a lavishly-illustrated CD booklet and you’ve accomplished putting a modern sheen on the same old songs…

These are some great old songs, however, regardless of the format in which they’re preserved. The Centennial Collection changes up the song sequencing somewhat and sticks the alternate takes at the end of each disc, behind the original versions, which makes for smoother listening in my mind. The improved re-mastering doesn’t seem compressed, and the songs are heard with a nice flow. The first CD, taken from the 1936 San Antonio sessions, offers up some of Johnson’s most popular material among its 16 songs, from the often-recorded “Kind Hearted Woman Blues,” which offers up sweetly warbled vocals and laid-back fretwork, to the blues standard “Sweet Home Chicago,” a spry stomp with soulful vocals and a vamping rhythm.

Hell Hound On My Trail

Johnson’s sly “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” with an incredible descending guitar riff, would later be re-worked into a hit by the Johnson-influenced slide-guitar master Elmore James, while the up-tempo rocker “Terraplane Blues,” the closest Johnson ever came to a hit song during his short career, is an overlooked gem in the bluesman’s catalog. The well-trodden “Cross Road Blues” loses not a lick of its emotional power due to familiarity, Johnson’s arcane tale as potent today as it was in 1936. “If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day” is equally strong, Johnson sounding like Blind Willie Johnson with his apocalyptic lyrics, haunting vocals, and energetic guitarplay.   

The second CD of The Centennial Collection documents the 13 song, 1937 Dallas sessions and includes some of Johnson’s most moving and lasting work. Most notable, of course, is Johnson’s “Hell Hound On My Trail,” the singer’s chilling voice wrapped around darkly poetic lyrics, accompanied by imaginative fretwork. In the same vein, “Me and the Devil Blues” offers a taut performance, Johnson’s voice often rising to a spine-tingling high falsetto. “Love In Vain Blues” is another often-covered Johnson song, and here it’s delivered as an almost unbearable romantic lament. Some overlooked treasures came out of the Dallas sessions, like “I’m A Steady Rollin’ Man,” a tale of lonely life on the road, or “Little Queen of Spades,” Johnson’s vocals rising and falling from warble to falsetto while his guitar line incorporates familiar Delta blues patterns with contemporary jug band licks.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

 
There’s not much that can be said about Johnson’s life and these 29 original songs that hasn’t been rehashed and worn out by critics, academics, and historians for 50 years since the release of King of the Delta Blues Singers. If you don’t already have a copy of Johnson’s The Complete Recordings on your shelf, then get thee hence to a record store (or online) and get your copy of The Centennial Collection, the latest and greatest reissuing of these blues classics. These are the songs that modern blues and rock music were built on, and if you’re a blues fan and have never heard Robert Johnson, you’ve only been hearing half of the story. (Sony Legacy Recordings, released April 26th, 2011)

Buy the CD from Amazon: Robert Johnson’s The Centennial Collection

Archive Review: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s Greatest Hits (1996)

There have always been blues guitarists on the fringe of pop music – a few of them great, most of them not quite so. By the late 1970s/early ‘80s, however, the blues had been eclipsed by rapidly changing currents in music. Punk, new wave, no wave, new romanticism, hardcore punk, disco, funk, punk funk...musical styles and trends were changing almost weekly during this period. A few dedicated artists kept the faith, faithfully working in the blues genre night after night in dirty little clubs in Memphis, in New Orleans, in Austin and elsewhere.

By 1983, with the musical world in flux, independent labels were providing a training ground for the stars of the ‘90s. College radio was making great inroads at breaking unknown “alternative” artists who played almost exclusively on a club level. Major labels had all but abdicated any effort at finding and signing original artists of any merit. It was into this vacuum that A & R great John Hammond stepped, unearthing one last musical jewel in what was already a lengthy and legendary career. Hammond had always loved the blues, and it was he who was to discover and bring to the world at large a young guitar wizard that had already created a buzz in his hometown of Austin, Texas: Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Vaughan was quite a find, a master technician who was capable of tearing down the boundaries between rock and the blues with some ease. He was a charismatic performer who, at his best, could mesmerize audiences as he brought his guitar to life on stage. Subsequent recordings could only attempt to capture the raw, primal energy and incredible talent that Stevie Ray brought to his art. Vaughan popularized the blues to a rock audience unlike any artist since his professed idol, Jimi Hendrix. Like Hendrix, Vaughan was a casualty of rock ‘n’ roll, dying in a fatal helicopter crash after a memorable performance alongside greats like Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Eric Clapton, and his brother Jimmie.

During his brief six year career, Stevie Ray, and his Double Trouble band released only a single live and four studio albums. It is a tribute to Vaughan, the artist, that the quality of his work was so high that this handful of albums has yielded so many memorable moments. As documented by the long-awaited Greatest Hits album, Stevie Ray was a true meat and potatoes artist, pouring every ounce of his talent into every performance. Choosing from so many Vaughan classics would be a daunting task for any producer, but Greatest Hits compiler Tony Martell does an admirable job, filling the disc with Vaughan standards like “Texas Flood,” “Pride and Joy,” and “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” Lesser known cuts like “Life Without You” or “Crossfire,” or covers like the Hendrix classic “Little Wing” or the Beatles’ “Taxman,” the collection”s lone unreleased cut. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more unreleased material; maybe on a second volume, eh?

The first time that I ever heard of Stevie Ray was from his brother Jimmie, a talented axeman in his own right. Hanging out backstage after a Fabulous Thunderbirds performance in Nashville, I complimented the older Vaughan on his skills with a six string. He replied with something along the lines of “hell, you think that I”m good, you should see my brother Stevie.” A couple of months later, I did get to see Stevie Ray play, shortly after the release of Texas Flood, his debut. A rowdy audience in the auditorium was silenced by the artist’s quiet dignity and enormous talent as Stevie Ray came out and played like the hellhounds of Robert Johnson’s nightmares were on his tail. Greatest Hits only reinforces this lasting impression I have of Vaughan, a great artist who conquered his own demons of addiction to forever influence the future of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s been five years since his death, and his absence is still strongly felt. No one will ever fill his shoes... (Epic Records, released 1996)
                
Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine

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Archive Review: Sam Cooke’s The Rhythm & the Blues (1996)

Sam Cooke is often forgotten during any discussion of the great R & B masters. Whether this is due to his late ‘50s break from the gospel tradition that nurtured him, and the resulting string of chart-topping pop hits that was to follow his entry into the secular music world, or due to the fact that Cooke worked outside of the soul factories of the era, R & B labels like Stax, Hi-Lo, and Atlantic that have their own passionate defenders; who can say. Either way, Cooke”s presence during the late 1950s and early ‘60s was immense, his recorded output magnificent, well deserving of another look.

The recently-released The Rhythm and the Blues is that long-awaited second look at Cooke’s vocal abilities. As pointed out in Cliff White’s extensive and appreciated liner notes, Cooke was a prolific singles songwriter, creating some of the most enduring moments that pop music has to offer. On album, however, which the conventional wisdom of the time declared must be aimed towards an adult audience, Cooke often forsook his own songwriting skills in favor of jazz and blues classics. It is from this background that The Rhythm and the Blues has been created.

The Rhythm and the Blues is primarily drawn from three early sixties Cooke albums: My Kind of Blues, the classic Mr. Soul, and Night Beat. Many of the cuts culled from these three discs showcase the kind of big band arrangement given R & B material in that day and time, with lush strings and sensual horns backing Cooke’s already formidable vocals. There’s little of anything really new and surprising to be found here for the long-time Cooke fan, although The Rhythm and the Blues stands well on its own as an introduction to the singer’s non-pop charting material.

Cooke’s wonderful vocal interpretation of classic gems like “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” or “Cry Me A River” – his voice swollen with passion, silky with soul – easily stand with the masters of the genre, serving to firmly place Sam Cooke’s name alongside the great performers of R & B, where it belongs. (Sony Legacy Recordings, released 1996)

Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine

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Archive Review: Various Artists - Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary box set (1995)

Living in suburban Nashville during the early ‘80s, my first exposure to rap music was what I read in Spin magazine, who were early champions of rappers like Schooley D and Kurtis Blow. At the time, I was more interested in the growing indie rock scene across the country, the hardcore punk sounding loud in Southern California and in the Music City’s first bands to be inspired by the changes occurring in rock. Rap music was, at the time, a largely urban phenomena, but at the urging of Spin, I sought out and grabbed 12” releases from folks like Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash.

By the time my short stint in the military had ended, mid-decade, rap was beginning to make waves in even the timid capital of country music and I was a big fan. “Big City” friends made during basic training turned me onto a whole slew of artists. About this same time, 1985 or so, Rick Rubin, along with local N.Y.C. music promoter Russell Simmons, formed Def Jam Records in order to promote their favorite rappers. A handful of successful single releases led to a distribution deal with Columbia Records. What has happened in the ten years since is a major part of rap and rock history.

Def Jam’s first national release was from James Todd Smith, a personable seventeen year old rapper with the street name LL Cool J. Hailing from Run DMC’s hometown of Hollis, Queens, Smith was part of Simmons’ Rush Productions stable of artists. LL Cool J’s “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” was an enormous success, the first major rap song to break through to a mainstream audience and the foundation upon which Def Jam’s success would be built, the label becoming a major music industry player and one of a handful of indie labels to bring rap to the mainstream masses.

The Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary collection chronicles the label’s history, culling material from throughout their decade of hits. The artists represented on the disc have helped shape rap into the commercial and critical force that it is today, stretching the genre’s musical boundaries, influencing subsequent generations of rappers and retaining rap’s popularity in the face of the ever-changing nature of popular music. The collection draws heavily from the works of its most popular and successful artists, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys, stretching 28 cuts from the trio across the 59-song, four CD collection. Other performers featured include Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, Onyx, EPMD, and Method Man, among others.

Some powerful moments from the history of rap are gathered together on the Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary set. LL Cool J’s hits “I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” “Mama Said Knock You Out,” and “Rock the Bells” are joined with influential, ground-breaking cuts like Public Enemy’s “Welcome To the Terrordome,” “Bring Tha Noize” (with Anthrax), and “Fight the Power.” The Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party,” along with its accompanying video, made the trio MTV favorites and successfully crossed hip-hop lyrics and style with punk attitude and a heavy metal soundtrack. More than just a mere rap label, Def Jam has also spawned hits from more soulful, R & B oriented artists like Montell Jordan, Warren G. and Oran “Juice” Jones, all of whom are also represented here.

With almost five dozen songs and over four hours of classic music (including a handful of bonus tracks recorded in 1995 exclusively for this collection), Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary is a marvelous document of the label’s history, and quite deserving of space on the shelf of any music lover or fan of rap. (While you’re out buying this set, you may want to drop by a bookstore and seek out a copy of Havelock Nelson and Michael A. Gonzales’ Bring The Noise, an integral guide to rap and hip-hop music that covers many of the Def Jam artists in depth). (Def Jam Records, released November 21st, 1995)

Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine

Archive Review: The Cocktail Slippers’ Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre (2009)

Fair or no, all-girl bands are judged by either the commercial success of such distaff outfits as the Go-Gos and the Bangles, or by nostalgia-enhanced memories of the queens of proto-punk, the Runaways. Never mind that female rock bands, though fewer in number than their masculine counterparts, are just as diverse, quirky, and creative as any other band, regardless of critical biases or preconceived notions.

This is the critical and commercial environment that welcomes Norway’s Cocktail Slippers, a five-woman band of Scandinavian bad girls, unabashed rockers all with hearts of gold. Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, the band’s sophomore effort, is a modern-day classic of garage-pop goodness, evoking memories of both the raging femininity of Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes as well as the snarling tomboy, take-no-shit attitude of Joan Jett’s best solo work.

The band members collectively write a fair rockin’ song, sweeter than the Donnas, punkier than the Eyeliners, and tunes like “You Do Run,” with their vocal harmonies and whipsmart lyricism, slashes of manic guitar and explosive drumbeats, pay homage to 40+ years of girl-group history. “Gotta Crush” is a delightful throwback to a simpler era, with engaging harmonies, a simple but universal plotline, and overwhelmingly beautiful wall-o-sound production. “Round & Round” rocks harder, with a punkish intensity, roaring riff-heavy guitars, and guttercrash drumbeats.

The best bet on Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, however, is the title track. Penned by producer Little Steven (Van Zandt), the song’s combination of ‘60s pop vulnerability and leather jacket tuffness is bolstered by delicious vocals and harmonies, a haunting melody, swells of genius keyboards, and a broken-hearted lyrical undercurrent that will have you reminiscing about your first love. If there was even a shred of justice in this cold, cold world then this song would be a mondo-huge radio hit, the album would sell multiple truckloads, and the Cocktail Slippers would be the toast of the town. (Wicked Cool Records, released March 21st, 2009)

Review originally published by Blurt magazine

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Archive Review: Disappear Fear's Deep Soul Diver & Live At The Bottom Line (1995)

I remember – it was a couple of years ago – I was digging through a crate of CDs that a local radio station I was affiliated with at the time was going to get rid of. I grabbed a dozen or so promising discs and raced home for an extended listening session. Many of those free discs ended up being reviewed in the early issues of this rag. One CD that I had picked out, to be truthful, entirely on the strength of the unknown band’s name – Disappear Fear – proved to be the best of the lot.

Subsequently, in the September 1993 issue of R.A.D!, this humble scribe wrote of Disappear Fear’s self-produced Live At The Bottom Line disc: “this incredibly talented duo move miles beyond the folk-influenced singer/songwriter vein in introducing songs that are as intense, personal and damn beautiful as any this critic as ever heard.” I continued to wax effusive about the duo of Cindy Frank and Sonia Rutstein: “songwriter Sonia’s Byronesque lyrics speak to the romantic hidden in every listener, masterfully describing the longings of the heart.” After quoting a few of Rutstein’s wonderful lyrics, I closed the review by saying “these songs present classic observations on love and relationships from a charismatic duo who, hopefully, have a lengthy and successful career in store for them.”

After listening to Philo/Rounder’s reissue of the album, with songs recorded in 1990 and 1991, as well as the previously unavailable track “Long Long Way To Go,” I stand by what I previously wrote and gladly add to my praise of Disappear Fear. They are an immensely talented pair, bringing to their material an intelligence and sensitivity that surpasses even the usual high standard for the folk / rock genre. Philo picked up the band a year or so ago, releasing an equally excellent new collection of tunes titled simply Disappear Fear. Just a few months ago the label reissued Live At The Bottom Line and the duo’s impressive 1989 debut album, Deep Soul Diver. Few of the songs from Deep Soul Diver are revisited on the live disc, allowing the material on this debut to stand on its own. The disc is an artistic triumph, the accumulation of years of songwriting and performing. Frank and Rutstein sound incredibly mature for a recorded debut, their beautiful harmonies and casual performances belying their tender ages.

I was lucky enough to see Disappear Fear play last summer at Nashville’s annual Summer Lights Festival, where I witnessed a phenomena I’ve seen only a few times during this critic’s existence. The duo drew an enormous crowd, exceptional, really, considering that they were one of a handful of out-of-town acts among the hundred or so scheduled performers on several outdoor stages. Quite a few members of the audience obviously had been following the band from town to town on their tour, and more than a few folks knew enough about the band and their material (only one album in print at this time, you must remember) to sing along with the pair’s electric performance. Disappear Fear rocked downtown Nashville that night, reaffirming what I had written almost a full year earlier: they definitely have a lengthy and considerable career ahead of them. (Philo/Rounder Records, reissued 1995)

Review originally published by R.A.D! (Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll) zine

Archive Review: Rory Gallagher’s Notes From San Francisco (2011)

By late 1977, Irish blues-rock guitarist Rory Gallagher had delivered six studio albums in as many years, and had toured constantly during the interim. After completing a particularly grueling six-month tour that finished in Japan, Gallagher and band flew back to San Francisco to record a new album with producer Elliot Mazer (who helmed Big Brother & the Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills album with Janis Joplin).

After a couple months of intense and difficult recording, the guitarist deemed the final mixing process to be “too complicated” when it obviously wasn’t getting anywhere, and he put the entire album on the shelf, subsequently breaking up his band of five years in the process. In early 2011, Gallagher’s nephew Daniel, son of Rory’s brother and manager Donal Gallagher, rescued these unreleased recordings from the archives after 34 years and remixed the album that would have been released between 1976’s Calling Card and 1978’s Photo-Finish. Recorded with a four-piece band, the album’s nine songs are Gallagher originals, around half of which would be re-recorded in different form with a three-piece band for Photo-Finish.

Rory Gallagher’s Notes From San Francisco

The question on everybody’s mind, of course, is Notes From San Francisco worth the wait? Yes, I’d have to say that it was. While Gallagher may have had an inordinate amount of trouble trying to get the performances to sound like he wanted during the mixing process, Daniel Gallagher’s nuanced mix – performed with modern equipment, of course – brings out facets of the guitarist and band’s performances that the primitive late-1970s technology overlooked. The album-opening “Rue the Day,” for instance, offers up some tasty honky-tonk piano running like a river beneath Gallagher’s twangy leads and roaring vocals. Martin Fiero’s blasts of sax help round out the sound, which is revved-up boogie-rock evoking 1970s-era Rolling Stones.

Only hardcore fans of Gallagher’s bootleg albums have heard “B Girl,” but for everybody else, it’s a new song, and a good ‘un at that. With a sleazy guitar riff circling in and out of the mix, the band lays down a fat, funky rhythm that dances beneath Gallagher’s comparatively gruff, whiskey-soaked vocals. It’s this contrast, between the guitarist’s dark-hued vocals and the band’s bright instrumentation that makes the song truly shine. A long-time live favorite, “Mississippi Sheiks” would be re-recorded by Gallagher for Photo-Finish, but it’s performed here with a different arrangement. Gallagher’s stunning guitar intro and the band’s stammering rhythms are akin to the sort of blues-derived hard rock pursued by Savoy Brown or Status Quo. But what sets this performance apart from all the others is the addition of Joe O’Donnell’s lively electric violin, which provides the song with an otherworldly, soulful vibe.

Wheels Within Wheels

Notes From San Francisco includes two different versions of the popular Gallagher song “Wheels Within Wheels,” the first being a gentle MOR radio ballad with touching vocals and Lou Martin’s rolling piano-play, while the second, alternate version is delivered at the same mid-tempo pace, but with a bluesier inflection in both the vocals and in Gallagher’s fretwork and with less emphasis on piano, sounding like a 1980s-era Eric Clapton ballad but with more heart and soul. Another track that would appear on Photo-Finish, “Brute Force & Ignorance,” lives up to its title with a muscular, bludgeoning performance with crashing drumbeats, brickhouse bass lines, and scorched-earth guitar. Fiero’s sax makes another appearance here, lending a bit of R&B feel behind Gallagher’s weeping, soaring guitar solo.
 
One of the lesser-known Photo-Finish tracks, “Fuel To the Fire” represents another outlier in Gallagher’s musical evolution. With sparse, but strong instrumentation behind his mournful vocals, Gallagher’s atypical fretwork finds him pursuing a less bluesy, more rock ‘n’ roll oriented sound with jazzy undertones and some odd, invigorating phrasing and extended solos that are simply beautiful. The album also includes two “bonus tracks,” including the previously-unreleased or re-recorded “Out On the Tiles,” a wildcat rocker with locomotive rhythms and a scattergun approach, Gallagher’s guitar spitting out notes with reckless abandon, razor-sharp tone accompanied by blistering speed and joyful chaos.

Live In San Francisco

Notes From San Francisco includes a second live disc, culled from a December 1979 performance at The Old Waldorf. Fronting the power trio had recorded Photo Finish, Gallagher leads longtime bassist McAvoy and drummer Ted McKenna through a set that includes a mix of the old and new material. Crowd favorites like the raucous “Shinkicker” and “Off the Handle” are perfect showcases for Gallagher’s onstage charisma and dynamic guitarplay, while old chestnuts like the soulful “Tattoo’d Lady” and “Calling Card” are provided new vigor by Gallagher’s incendiary fretwork and the band’s muscular backing rhythms.  

A handful of tracks from the live portion of Notes From San Francisco stand out in particular from Gallagher’s previous (and frequent) live sets. One is a performance of “Bullfrog Blues,” from the guitarist’s early British blues-rock band Taste. Revving up the tempo, Gallagher and band crank out an unabashed boogie blast with machinegun drumbeats and flamethrower guitar licks. The concert rarity “I’m Leavin’“ is another up-tempo raver with brokeback drums, rapidfire vocals, and raging fretwork all delivered with punkish intensity, while a cover of the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll gem “Sea Cruise” is amped-up and ramped-up from the original but manages to capture the restless, rockin’ soul of the song nonetheless.     

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Although collections such as Notes From San Francisco are typically aimed at a collector audience that eagerly grab up everything new or novel from a musician, in this instance this two-disc set serves as an excellent introduction to an underrated and too-often overlooked blues-rock talent. Gallagher’s guitar rages like an out-of-control wildfire throughout these studio tracks, and roars like a jet fighter on a bombing run in the live setting.

While hardcore Rory Gallagher fans will eat this stuff up, Notes From San Francisco is more than a mere musical curiosity. The album stands on its own as both a studio recording and a live document, and it would have been welcome had it been released in 1978 as planned. As such, its current release represents an important and impressive addition to the guitarist’s growing legacy. (Eagle Records, released May 17th, 2011)

Buy the album from Amazon: Rory Gallagher’s Notes From San Francisco

The Day The Music Died: Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper Commemorated As Bobblehead Figures!

 

Sixty-six years ago today, February 3rd, 1959 was “The Day the Music Died” as rock ‘n’ roll legends Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a tragic plane crash in a corn field northwest of Clear Lake, Iowa. All of the artists had performed in Clear Lake that night as part of their “Winter Dance Party” tour and were flying to Minnesota when bad weather took the plane down.  

To commemorate and celebrate the lives and careers of Valens and Richardson, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has announced its release of the first officially-licensed bobblehead figures of the late singers, as seen above. The figures are being produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum along with C3 Entertainment, representatives for Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and the Winter Dance Party brands. The über-cool bobbleheads were unveiled last week at the 2025 Winter Dance Party, held annually at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. Fun fact: C3 has been in business for 60+ years and was originally formed by comedy legends The Three Stooges as Comedy III Productions!

Ritchie Valens

Valens was born as Richard Valenzuela in 1941 in Los Angeles, his name later shorted to “Valens” by label owner and producer Bob Keane of the Hollywood-based Del-Fi Records, who signed the teenage prodigy to a deal. During Valens’ first session at Gold Star Studios in May 1958, backed by members of the “Wrecking Crew” session pros including Carol Kaye and Earl Palmer, he recorded his first single, the original song “Come On, Let’s Go” b/w the Leiber & Stoller song “Framed.” Rushed out on the market within days of its recording, the single was a modest hit that led to a quick follow-up single, “Donna” b/w “La Bamba.”

“Donna” peaked at #2 on the Billboard chart and would be Valens’ final success, selling better than a million copies to be certified Gold™ by the RIAA. The first Mexican-American rock star, Valens is considered a pioneer of Chicano rock, influencing artists like Los Lobos and Carlos Santana. Sadly, Valens was only 17 years old at the time of his death, but his legacy was ensured by the 1987 movie La Bamba, which starred actor Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, with Los Lobos contributing music to the film. In August 2024, the filming of a new Valens biopic was announced, with Luis Valdez, the writer and director of the 1987 movie, as executive producer. Valens was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of fame, and the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame.   

Jiles Perry “J.P.” Richardson, Jr. was born in Sabine Pass, Texas in 1930 and grew up in Beaumont, Texas, playing high school football before going to Lamar College to study pre-law. He worked part-time as a deejay for KTRM radio in Beaumont, quitting school in 1949 to work full-time at the station. He was drafted into the Army in 1955 and, after a two-year service at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, returned to KRTM where he would take on “The Big Bopper” nickname before eventually becoming the station’s program director. He began his music biz career as a songwriter, striking gold fairly quickly when George Jones recorded his song “White Lightning” as his first chart-topping country hit. Jones enjoyed another hit with Richardson’s song “Treasure of Love.” Richardson also wrote “Running Bear” for his friend Johnny Preston, which hit #1 on the pop chart nearly a year after Richardson’s death, and his songs would be recorded by country performers Hank Snow and Sonny James.

The Big Bopper

Signed as an artist to Mercury Records (Jones’ label at the time) by promotion director Harold “Pappy” Daily, Richardson released his first single, the country tune “Beggar To A King,” under his own name but it didn’t even wave at the charts. Richardson recorded his song “Chantilly Lace” as The Big Bopper for Daily’s D Records label; the single was picked up by Mercury and released in June 1958, subsequently hitting #6 on the pop chart, where it spent 22 weeks in the ‘Top 40’ on its way to selling over a million copies. Richardson followed it up with the novelty hit “The Big Bopper’s Wedding.” After performing in Clear Lake, Richardson – who was suffering from the flu – convinced Buddy Holly’s Crickets’ bandmate (and future country music legend) Waylon Jennings to give him his seat on the ill-fated flight.     

In a press release announcing the figures, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar says “we’re excited to unveil the first bobbleheads celebrating music legends Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. Taken far too early, both musicians made lasting marks and the bobbleheads will be must-haves for music fans.” The bobbleheads display Valens and Richardson holding guitars in poses that duplicate iconic photos of the artists.

Where can you buy these future additions to your rock ‘n’ roll collection? The bobbleheads are individually numbered in a limited edition of 2,025 figures each and are available only through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame & Museum online store [link]. The cost of each figure is $30, which is right around par for this kind of collectible, with shipping a flat rate of $8 per order; the figures are expected to ship in June. Tell ‘em that the Reverend sent ya!