This past August, the world at large observed the 50^th anniversary of Woodstock. Here at BLUES JUNCTION we celebrated the 50^th anniversary of what is considered the first ever blues festival, which took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, two weeks before the famed rock festival in upstate New York.

Blues musicians had famously played at jazz and folk festivals, but never had an entire weekend stage been set aside for the form, the blues, in its purest state. The artists who performed August 1st-3rd included:

Luther Allison

Clifton Chenier

James Cotton

Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup

Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins

Sleepy John Estes

Howlin’ Wolf

Lightnin’ Hopkins

JB Hutto and the Hawks

B.B. King

Freddy King

Sam Lay

Magic Sam

Fred McDowell

Muddy Waters

Charlie Musselwhite with Freddy Roulette

Otis Rush

Son House

Roosevelt Sykes

Big Mama Thornton

T-Bone Walker

Junior Wells

Big Joe Williams

This might be the best unadulterated blues line-up ever assembled. To commemorate this historic anniversary Third Man Records just made available 24 never before released tracks from these performances.  This package includes never before seen photographs, artist bios, exclusive reminiscences from the festival’s producers and detailed liner notes. Spotify that!  Check out our Recommended Listening feature in this edition of BLUES JUNCTION.

While you are rooting around in our Recommended Listening column you will notice nine new and exciting blues recordings. If I steer any of you wrong, I want to hear from you.  

These brand-new and soon to be released CDs include the latest offering by a true blues legend, Junior Watson. His upcoming October release Nothin' To It But To Do It on the Little Village Foundation label sits in our Monthly Album Spotlight.

We also have another new installment of old noise via Charlie’s Re-Issue Rodeo.

Enjoy a couple of pieces that discuss the live music experience in features entitled The Soul of Orange County and Concerts in the Park.

Our Monthly Artist Spotlight this month shines on one of the best bass players working today. His name is Rodrigo Mantovani. He was a founding and long-time member of the highly acclaimed Prado Blues Band out of São Paulo, Brazil. He has recently moved to Chicago. He is now a member of the Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling.

On August 19^th, the renowned bassist Larry Taylor finally lost his long battle with cancer. He was a consummate musician. I thought the best way we could honor Larry Taylor and his legacy would be to let him tell his own story. He was kind enough to sit down with me and talk about his journey through American music which included several important cultural flashpoints.

Larry Taylor played at the White House in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway with the Hollywood Fats Band and a residence in Washington D.C on Pennsylvania Avenue which shares the same name. He played at the historic Woodstock Music Festival in upstate New York in August of 1969 with Canned Heat and at the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, California, as a member of Kim Wilson’s Blues All-Stars in December of 2012. He played on the first two Monkees’ albums and with Tom Waits for decades. From juke joints in Louisiana behind chicken wire to Carnegie Hall, it is quite a story.

My thoughts remain with his wife of many years, Andrea and the rest of the Taylor family. I know these last few years have been very difficult to say the least but I respected the privacy that surrounded Larry’s health issues. I like the fact that this drama didn’t play itself out in public.  Like Larry…this was a class act all the way.

Be well and be in touch.

-  David Mac

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