Pat Blythe – The Women of Blues Revisited – Part IV – Maggie & Janis

I have “moved” Janis Joplin from my Women in Rock series to this one. When I started the “Women of ……” series, I felt she had a foot in both camps. However, the more I listen to Joplin the more I realize her feet were far more firmly planted in the blues as her voice alone attests. There have been comparisons over the years between Maggie Bell and Janis Joplin. They are reminiscent of each other and that starts with the hair. Scotland is steeped in the blues (just listen to the pipes and some of the Celtic music) but the seeds were planted, and the roots run to the core of the earth, in the U.S.’s “deep south”. Keep in mind, much of the southern U.S. became home to the Scots fleeing the oppressive English in the late 1700’s. Combine that with the African “slave” songs….mix with oppressive heat and stir….so, sometimes I wonder, who exactly influenced whom?

Pat Blythe: The Women of Blues Part Four – Maggie Bell

Pat Blythe continues her series The Women of Blues with this fourth installment on a Legendary Scottish singer….

Roxanne Tellier: Love Stinks

February is the perfect month in which to have a Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? The dark days of winter mirror the endless darkness of your so called life and press on your last nerve, and the cold sneaks through the windows and under the doors like icy fingers, seeking out your most tender bits. What better time to join in a mass celebration of tawdry lingerie and heart shaped chocolates? Snuggle up to your honey, maybe even take off the socks that you’ve been wearing to bed for two months, and get your cuddles on.

Or at least, that’s what we’re told to expect.

Frank Gutch Jr: They Will Never Pass This Way Again— Musicians We Lost in 2013, Part One; Plus Notes…..

The first time I think I even thought about death was when Hank Williams died back in 1952.  New Year’s Eve it was, but I only remember the headlines.  I was five years old and Hank was a regular part of my day.  Dad, the curator of the famous Gutch record collection, had only a few records at that time and Never Again (Will I Knock On Your Door) was one of them.  I loved that song so much that I begged and begged Dad to play it every time he headed toward the record player and, usually, he obliged.  I remember Dad humming along in a grunting kind of way, almost as if the music was going to bust out of him at any moment, but it seldom did.  Dad was a lot like myself in that when the music was playing, singing along seemed a lack of respect.

Roxanne Tellier: I Like Dreaming …

Those who know me too well say I’m an “insta crash.” I have the ability to fall asleep in the most awkward of places and the strangest of times. It’s a gift.

And I dream. I dream in colour, the dreams have plot lines, no matter how insane, and if I don’t like my dream, I can wake up, figure out how to change the plot, and fall back asleep to finish off the story. In the words of that insipid 1977 Kenny Nolan song, I like dreaming. And I do it very well.