Listening to music with overt religious overtones – regardless of the religion – probably isn’t to the liking of most folks detached from organized worship. But it seems that the last decade’s worth of compilations from places like Thailand point to an enthusiasm to hear and bear witness to other cultures. So, if you dig R&B and rock sounds, don’t let the Jesusy implications of this album being helmed by a reverenced steal away any of the potential enjoyment. I mean, Rev. Gary Davis is probably one of the best guitarists to ever record a side and he loved Jesus. Rev. Louis Overstreet is just as cool – as Davis, not Jesus. Get it straight.

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Mike Bloomfield was an in-demand guy for a bit during the sixties and even early into the seventies. Of course, if his name doesn’t ring out exactly, it has to do with the Chicago born guitarist ran into a bit of trouble with heroin, curtailing his substantial talents and making him a problematic session man.

If you do recognize his name, though, it well may be as a result of playing on some of Bob Dylan’s most well received electric work. Apart from that, though, Bloomfield did time in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and was a member of the ensemble during the time during which it issued some of the most essential updated blues albums of the decade.

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Like any number of pre-ware blues players, the impetus of Papa Charlie Jackson’s career is up for debate. It’s generally agreed upon that the man hailed from New Orleans, moved to Chicago and kicked the bucket by 1938. But everyone seems foggy on the details – not to shocking considering the time.

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It’s usually hard to feel bad for folks coming out of a background that’s not too troubled. Yeah, well off people suffer hardship, but it’s usually mitigated by a bit of cash fixing things. And while the accident Jackson C. Frank went through, scarring him mentally for the rest of his life netted him a decent sum of money, it apparently wasn’t able to fix a soon to be wrecked life.

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Singer, song writer, Bobby Hebb has died at the age of 72. He is the man who wrote the instant pop standard, the 1966 classic that every body (Cher, Johnny Rivers, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, The Four Seasons, the Four Tops, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Les McCann, Dusty Springfield, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett and Jose Feliciano), have recorded -- the song, "Sunny." Anyone who was/is into the pop music of the last half of the 20th century has heard his music.

The Associated Press reports, Bobby Hebb wrote the song after suffering the loss of his older brother Harold who was killed in a knife fight outside a Nashville nightclub.

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Before Julie Andrews made being a nun romantic and fun, The Sound of Music was a live musical enjoyed by children and adults alike. Now through Sunday, St. Louisans can see the performance live at The Muny in Forest Park.

I remember watching The Sound of Music as a child and just being enchanted by Andrews in the film. “A Few of My Favorite Things” is a song I like to hum when I’m in a sticky situation—at the dentist or about to throw up, for example—that seems to make me calm down. (I have no idea why.) Since then, there have been dozens of remakes of the song by artists such as Tori Amos, Luther Vandross, Barbara Streisand, Outkast, and many others; Andrews’ version remains my favorite.

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With the death of Jack Rose and a momentary cessation to the endless John Fahey re-issues, it might appear that the American Primitive Guitar feeding frenzy the occurred a few years back is at an end. Of course, Leo Kottke still tours on a regular basis, but there aren’t really any other high profile acts like that working this music any longer.

To stave off complacency, though, Tomkins Square Records began a series of compilations detailing acoustic guitar players residing in the Bay with 2006’s Berkeley Guitar. That first offering focused on just a few players, but its newly released companion piece, Beyond Berkely Guitar, features a handful of folks and almost as many different perspectives on the style.

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The capitol city of Sacramento, California comes alive during the summer with the California Musical Theater and Music Circus back to back musical productions.

One of my personal favorites Oklahoma! is currently playing (July 27 - August 1).

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Rev. Gary Davis

Manchester Free Trade Hall, 1964

(Document Records, 2007)

When blues moved to urban areas, like Chicago, the focus became blues shouters or those that simply hollered. Well, the Reverend is not from the city, but in stark contrast to Skip James, Davis possessed a guttural grunt that could very probably not be replicated. Through his catalog, as he aged, listeners can hear how his voice progressively became more and more intimidating and gruff. Although on later sides, as on the Biograph ’71 releases, Davis seems almost dazed and out of touch with his art. The Manchester show provides us with a glimpse into the Reverend’s powers shortly after his re-emergence from obscurity.

Firstly, it must be noted that the recording itself is of a higher quality than might be expected. And while, surely, it’s not perfect – it’s relatively clean, in a dusty blues sorta way. Davis’ sets were able to run from overtly religious in tone to irrefutably secular. Here though, listeners aren’t offered the charming religiously flavored tunes, but instead the recording begins with a song that the Stones as well as Fred McDowell played, “You Got to Move”. While not the strongest version put to disc, it’s strong enough not to obviously point to the aging of a master.

The guitar and vocal powers of this original purveyor of blues do show ware occasionally as on “Cocaine Blues”. But given the subject matter, it seems oddly befitting. There are a few instrumental tracks that serve to further illustrate Davis’ age – but really even at this point of his life, the Reverend’s stronger than countless rockers who ape his cool that it doesn’t really matter. Included amongst these instrumentals, and the closer to this set, is a Scott Joplin number, “Maple Leaf Rag”. It’s a charming and stately way to close an evening, while a flaw or two is apparent,

again, it’s the Reverend, so it really doesn’t matter.

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Mention Brit rock act Fleetwood Mac and there should instantly be the sound of unfettered moans hinting at the broad perception of the band as a cheeky, female fronted pop act. That last bit’s true, but the band didn’t reach that point until at least the mid point of its career.

An initial clutch of records finds Fleetwood Mac, as helmed by Peter Green, mining straight blues for a few albums before moving on to an amalgam of bucolic sounds and stoned revelry. Of course, the quick transitioning between approaches didn’t result in the strongest albums recorded during the sixties, but each of these four initial discs is better than what your mom would rock out to while making dinner – for the most part.

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