Podcasts about songsters

Silver Quintette - "Sinner's Crossroads" [0:00:00] Humbels Gospel Singers of Brookly, NY - "He Heard Me Cry" [0:03:44] Madame McCoy - "You Must Be Born Again" [0:03:46] Madame McCoy - "You Must Be Born Again" [0:11:42] Mary E. Huguley - "My Trouble Will Roll Away" [0:14:11] Radio Gospel Kings - "I Found Jesus" [0:16:43] Songsters of Harmony - "Raise Up a Nation" [0:23:11] Sensational Zion Seekers - "I KNow I've Been Converted" [0:24:12] Mighty Covington Gospel Singers of Brooklyn, NY - "Why Should I Suffer" [0:27:02] Four Kings - "Daniel's Son" [0:29:29] Willis Sisters - "Lord God He Save Me" [0:38:12] Unknown - "Unknown" [0:38:33] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/145406

The Songsters from Seattle's Rhapsody Project connect their musical roots in the KNKX Studio X

Episode 166 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “Crossroads", Cream, the myth of Robert Johnson, and whether white men can sing the blues. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-eight-minute bonus episode available, on “Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips" by Tiny Tim. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Errata I talk about an interview with Clapton from 1967, I meant 1968. I mention a Graham Bond live recording from 1953, and of course meant 1963. I say Paul Jones was on vocals in the Powerhouse sessions. Steve Winwood was on vocals, and Jones was on harmonica. Resources As I say at the end, the main resource you need to get if you enjoyed this episode is Brother Robert by Annye Anderson, Robert Johnson's stepsister. There are three Mixcloud mixes this time. As there are so many songs by Cream, Robert Johnson, John Mayall, and Graham Bond excerpted, and Mixcloud won't allow more than four songs by the same artist in any mix, I've had to post the songs not in quite the same order in which they appear in the podcast. But the mixes are here -- one, two, three. This article on Mack McCormick gives a fuller explanation of the problems with his research and behaviour. The other books I used for the Robert Johnson sections were McCormick's Biography of a Phantom; Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson, by Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow; Searching for Robert Johnson by Peter Guralnick; and Escaping the Delta by Elijah Wald. I can recommend all of these subject to the caveats at the end of the episode. The information on the history and prehistory of the Delta blues mostly comes from Before Elvis by Larry Birnbaum, with some coming from Charley Patton by John Fahey. The information on Cream comes mostly from Cream: How Eric Clapton Took the World by Storm by Dave Thompson. I also used Ginger Baker: Hellraiser by Ginger Baker and Ginette Baker, Mr Showbiz by Stephen Dando-Collins, Motherless Child by Paul Scott, and  Alexis Korner: The Biography by Harry Shapiro. The best collection of Cream's work is the four-CD set Those Were the Days, which contains every track the group ever released while they were together (though only the stereo mixes of the albums, and a couple of tracks are in slightly different edits from the originals). You can get Johnson's music on many budget compilation records, as it's in the public domain in the EU, but the double CD collection produced by Steve LaVere for Sony in 2011 is, despite the problems that come from it being associated with LaVere, far and away the best option -- the remasters have a clarity that's worlds ahead of even the 1990s CD version it replaced. And for a good single-CD introduction to the Delta blues musicians and songsters who were Johnson's peers and inspirations, Back to the Crossroads: The Roots of Robert Johnson, compiled by Elijah Wald as a companion to his book on Johnson, can't be beaten, and contains many of the tracks excerpted in this episode. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript Before we start, a quick note that this episode contains discussion of racism, drug addiction, and early death. There's also a brief mention of death in childbirth and infant mortality. It's been a while since we looked at the British blues movement, and at the blues in general, so some of you may find some of what follows familiar, as we're going to look at some things we've talked about previously, but from a different angle. In 1968, the Bonzo Dog Band, a comedy musical band that have been described as the missing link between the Beatles and the Monty Python team, released a track called "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?": [Excerpt: The Bonzo Dog Band, "Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?"] That track was mocking a discussion that was very prominent in Britain's music magazines around that time. 1968 saw the rise of a *lot* of British bands who started out as blues bands, though many of them went on to different styles of music -- Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, Chicken Shack and others were all becoming popular among the kind of people who read the music magazines, and so the question was being asked -- can white men sing the blues? Of course, the answer to that question was obvious. After all, white men *invented* the blues. Before we get any further at all, I have to make clear that I do *not* mean that white people created blues music. But "the blues" as a category, and particularly the idea of it as a music made largely by solo male performers playing guitar... that was created and shaped by the actions of white male record executives. There is no consensus as to when or how the blues as a genre started -- as we often say in this podcast "there is no first anything", but like every genre it seems to have come from multiple sources. In the case of the blues, there's probably some influence from African music by way of field chants sung by enslaved people, possibly some influence from Arabic music as well, definitely some influence from the Irish and British folk songs that by the late nineteenth century were developing into what we now call country music, a lot from ragtime, and a lot of influence from vaudeville and minstrel songs -- which in turn themselves were all very influenced by all those other things. Probably the first published composition to show any real influence of the blues is from 1904, a ragtime piano piece by James Chapman and Leroy Smith, "One O' Them Things": [Excerpt: "One O' Them Things"] That's not very recognisable as a blues piece yet, but it is more-or-less a twelve-bar blues. But the blues developed, and it developed as a result of a series of commercial waves. The first of these came in 1914, with the success of W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues", which when it was recorded by the Victor Military Band for a phonograph cylinder became what is generally considered the first blues record proper: [Excerpt: The Victor Military Band, "Memphis Blues"] The famous dancers Vernon and Irene Castle came up with a dance, the foxtrot -- which Vernon Castle later admitted was largely inspired by Black dancers -- to be danced to the "Memphis Blues", and the foxtrot soon overtook the tango, which the Castles had introduced to the US the previous year, to become the most popular dance in America for the best part of three decades. And with that came an explosion in blues in the Handy style, cranked out by every music publisher. While the blues was a style largely created by Black performers and writers, the segregated nature of the American music industry at the time meant that most vocal performances of these early blues that were captured on record were by white performers, Black vocalists at this time only rarely getting the chance to record. The first blues record with a Black vocalist is also technically the first British blues record. A group of Black musicians, apparently mostly American but led by a Jamaican pianist, played at Ciro's Club in London, and recorded many tracks in Britain, under a name which I'm not going to say in full -- it started with Ciro's Club, and continued alliteratively with another word starting with C, a slur for Black people. In 1917 they recorded a vocal version of "St. Louis Blues", another W.C. Handy composition: [Excerpt: Ciro's Club C**n Orchestra, "St. Louis Blues"] The first American Black blues vocal didn't come until two years later, when Bert Williams, a Black minstrel-show performer who like many Black performers of his era performed in blackface even though he was Black, recorded “I'm Sorry I Ain't Got It You Could Have It If I Had It Blues,” [Excerpt: Bert Williams, "I'm Sorry I Ain't Got It You Could Have It If I Had It Blues,”] But it wasn't until 1920 that the second, bigger, wave of popularity started for the blues, and this time it started with the first record of a Black *woman* singing the blues -- Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues": [Excerpt: Mamie Smith, "Crazy Blues"] You can hear the difference between that and anything we've heard up to that point -- that's the first record that anyone from our perspective, a hundred and three years later, would listen to and say that it bore any resemblance to what we think of as the blues -- so much so that many places still credit it as the first ever blues record. And there's a reason for that. "Crazy Blues" was one of those records that separates the music industry into before and after, like "Rock Around the Clock", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", Sgt Pepper, or "Rapper's Delight". It sold seventy-five thousand copies in its first month -- a massive number by the standards of 1920 -- and purportedly went on to sell over a million copies. Sales figures and market analysis weren't really a thing in the same way in 1920, but even so it became very obvious that "Crazy Blues" was a big hit, and that unlike pretty much any other previous records, it was a big hit among Black listeners, which meant that there was a market for music aimed at Black people that was going untapped. Soon all the major record labels were setting up subsidiaries devoted to what they called "race music", music made by and for Black people. And this sees the birth of what is now known as "classic blues", but at the time (and for decades after) was just what people thought of when they thought of "the blues" as a genre. This was music primarily sung by female vaudeville artists backed by jazz bands, people like Ma Rainey (whose earliest recordings featured Louis Armstrong in her backing band): [Excerpt: Ma Rainey, "See See Rider Blues"] And Bessie Smith, the "Empress of the Blues", who had a massive career in the 1920s before the Great Depression caused many of these "race record" labels to fold, but who carried on performing well into the 1930s -- her last recording was in 1933, produced by John Hammond, with a backing band including Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden: [Excerpt: Bessie Smith, "Give Me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer"] It wouldn't be until several years after the boom started by Mamie Smith that any record companies turned to recording Black men singing the blues accompanied by guitar or banjo. The first record of this type is probably "Norfolk Blues" by Reese DuPree from 1924: [Excerpt: Reese DuPree, "Norfolk Blues"] And there were occasional other records of this type, like "Airy Man Blues" by Papa Charlie Jackson, who was advertised as the “only man living who sings, self-accompanied, for Blues records.” [Excerpt: Papa Charlie Jackson, "Airy Man Blues"] But contrary to the way these are seen today, at the time they weren't seen as being in some way "authentic", or "folk music". Indeed, there are many quotes from folk-music collectors of the time (sadly all of them using so many slurs that it's impossible for me to accurately quote them) saying that when people sang the blues, that wasn't authentic Black folk music at all but an adulteration from commercial music -- they'd clearly, according to these folk-music scholars, learned the blues style from records and sheet music rather than as part of an oral tradition. Most of these performers were people who recorded blues as part of a wider range of material, like Blind Blake, who recorded some blues music but whose best work was his ragtime guitar instrumentals: [Excerpt: Blind Blake, "Southern Rag"] But it was when Blind Lemon Jefferson started recording for Paramount records in 1926 that the image of the blues as we now think of it took shape. His first record, "Got the Blues", was a massive success: [Excerpt: Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Got the Blues"] And this resulted in many labels, especially Paramount, signing up pretty much every Black man with a guitar they could find in the hopes of finding another Blind Lemon Jefferson. But the thing is, this generation of people making blues records, and the generation that followed them, didn't think of themselves as "blues singers" or "bluesmen". They were songsters. Songsters were entertainers, and their job was to sing and play whatever the audiences would want to hear. That included the blues, of course, but it also included... well, every song anyone would want to hear.  They'd perform old folk songs, vaudeville songs, songs that they'd heard on the radio or the jukebox -- whatever the audience wanted. Robert Johnson, for example, was known to particularly love playing polka music, and also adored the records of Jimmie Rodgers, the first country music superstar. In 1941, when Alan Lomax first recorded Muddy Waters, he asked Waters what kind of songs he normally played in performances, and he was given a list that included "Home on the Range", Gene Autry's "I've Got Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle", and Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo-Choo". We have few recordings of these people performing this kind of song though. One of the few we have is Big Bill Broonzy, who was just about the only artist of this type not to get pigeonholed as just a blues singer, even though blues is what made him famous, and who later in his career managed to record songs like the Tin Pan Alley standard "The Glory of Love": [Excerpt: Big Bill Broonzy, "The Glory of Love"] But for the most part, the image we have of the blues comes down to one man, Arthur Laibley, a sales manager for the Wisconsin Chair Company. The Wisconsin Chair Company was, as the name would suggest, a company that started out making wooden chairs, but it had branched out into other forms of wooden furniture -- including, for a brief time, large wooden phonographs. And, like several other manufacturers, like the Radio Corporation of America -- RCA -- and the Gramophone Company, which became EMI, they realised that if they were going to sell the hardware it made sense to sell the software as well, and had started up Paramount Records, which bought up a small label, Black Swan, and soon became the biggest manufacturer of records for the Black market, putting out roughly a quarter of all "race records" released between 1922 and 1932. At first, most of these were produced by a Black talent scout, J. Mayo Williams, who had been the first person to record Ma Rainey, Papa Charlie Jackson, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, but in 1927 Williams left Paramount, and the job of supervising sessions went to Arthur Laibley, though according to some sources a lot of the actual production work was done by Aletha Dickerson, Williams' former assistant, who was almost certainly the first Black woman to be what we would now think of as a record producer. Williams had been interested in recording all kinds of music by Black performers, but when Laibley got a solo Black man into the studio, what he wanted more than anything was for him to record the blues, ideally in a style as close as possible to that of Blind Lemon Jefferson. Laibley didn't have a very hands-on approach to recording -- indeed Paramount had very little concern about the quality of their product anyway, and Paramount's records are notorious for having been put out on poor-quality shellac and recorded badly -- and he only occasionally made actual suggestions as to what kind of songs his performers should write -- for example he asked Son House to write something that sounded like Blind Lemon Jefferson, which led to House writing and recording "Mississippi County Farm Blues", which steals the tune of Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean": [Excerpt: Son House, "Mississippi County Farm Blues"] When Skip James wanted to record a cover of James Wiggins' "Forty-Four Blues", Laibley suggested that instead he should do a song about a different gun, and so James recorded "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues": [Excerpt: Skip James, "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues"] And Laibley also suggested that James write a song about the Depression, which led to one of the greatest blues records ever, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues": [Excerpt: Skip James, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues"] These musicians knew that they were getting paid only for issued sides, and that Laibley wanted only blues from them, and so that's what they gave him. Even when it was a performer like Charlie Patton. (Incidentally, for those reading this as a transcript rather than listening to it, Patton's name is more usually spelled ending in ey, but as far as I can tell ie was his preferred spelling and that's what I'm using). Charlie Patton was best known as an entertainer, first and foremost -- someone who would do song-and-dance routines, joke around, play guitar behind his head. He was a clown on stage, so much so that when Son House finally heard some of Patton's records, in the mid-sixties, decades after the fact, he was astonished that Patton could actually play well. Even though House had been in the room when some of the records were made, his memory of Patton was of someone who acted the fool on stage. That's definitely not the impression you get from the Charlie Patton on record: [Excerpt: Charlie Patton, "Poor Me"] Patton is, as far as can be discerned, the person who was most influential in creating the music that became called the "Delta blues". Not a lot is known about Patton's life, but he was almost certainly the half-brother of the Chatmon brothers, who made hundreds of records, most notably as members of the Mississippi Sheiks: [Excerpt: The Mississippi Sheiks, "Sitting on Top of the World"] In the 1890s, Patton's family moved to Sunflower County, Mississippi, and he lived in and around that county until his death in 1934. Patton learned to play guitar from a musician called Henry Sloan, and then Patton became a mentor figure to a *lot* of other musicians in and around the plantation on which his family lived. Some of the musicians who grew up in the immediate area around Patton included Tommy Johnson: [Excerpt: Tommy Johnson, "Big Road Blues"] Pops Staples: [Excerpt: The Staple Singers, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken"] Robert Johnson: [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Crossroads"] Willie Brown, a musician who didn't record much, but who played a lot with Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson and who we just heard Johnson sing about: [Excerpt: Willie Brown, "M&O Blues"] And Chester Burnett, who went on to become known as Howlin' Wolf, and whose vocal style was equally inspired by Patton and by the country star Jimmie Rodgers: [Excerpt: Howlin' Wolf, "Smokestack Lightnin'"] Once Patton started his own recording career for Paramount, he also started working as a talent scout for them, and it was him who brought Son House to Paramount. Soon after the Depression hit, Paramount stopped recording, and so from 1930 through 1934 Patton didn't make any records. He was tracked down by an A&R man in January 1934 and recorded one final session: [Excerpt, Charlie Patton, "34 Blues"] But he died of heart failure two months later. But his influence spread through his proteges, and they themselves influenced other musicians from the area who came along a little after, like Robert Lockwood and Muddy Waters. This music -- or that portion of it that was considered worth recording by white record producers, only a tiny, unrepresentative, portion of their vast performing repertoires -- became known as the Delta Blues, and when some of these musicians moved to Chicago and started performing with electric instruments, it became Chicago Blues. And as far as people like John Mayall in Britain were concerned, Delta and Chicago Blues *were* the blues: [Excerpt: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, "It Ain't Right"] John Mayall was one of the first of the British blues obsessives, and for a long time thought of himself as the only one. While we've looked before at the growth of the London blues scene, Mayall wasn't from London -- he was born in Macclesfield and grew up in Cheadle Hulme, both relatively well-off suburbs of Manchester, and after being conscripted and doing two years in the Army, he had become an art student at Manchester College of Art, what is now Manchester Metropolitan University. Mayall had been a blues fan from the late 1940s, writing off to the US to order records that hadn't been released in the UK, and by most accounts by the late fifties he'd put together the biggest blues collection in Britain by quite some way. Not only that, but he had one of the earliest home tape recorders, and every night he would record radio stations from Continental Europe which were broadcasting for American service personnel, so he'd amassed mountains of recordings, often unlabelled, of obscure blues records that nobody else in the UK knew about. He was also an accomplished pianist and guitar player, and in 1956 he and his drummer friend Peter Ward had put together a band called the Powerhouse Four (the other two members rotated on a regular basis) mostly to play lunchtime jazz sessions at the art college. Mayall also started putting on jam sessions at a youth club in Wythenshawe, where he met another drummer named Hughie Flint. Over the late fifties and into the early sixties, Mayall more or less by himself built up a small blues scene in Manchester. The Manchester blues scene was so enthusiastic, in fact, that when the American Folk Blues Festival, an annual European tour which initially featured Willie Dixon, Memhis Slim, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, and John Lee Hooker, first toured Europe, the only UK date it played was at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, and people like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Jimmy Page had to travel up from London to see it. But still, the number of blues fans in Manchester, while proportionally large, was objectively small enough that Mayall was captivated by an article in Melody Maker which talked about Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies' new band Blues Incorporated and how it was playing electric blues, the same music he was making in Manchester. He later talked about how the article had made him think that maybe now people would know what he was talking about. He started travelling down to London to play gigs for the London blues scene, and inviting Korner up to Manchester to play shows there. Soon Mayall had moved down to London. Korner introduced Mayall to Davey Graham, the great folk guitarist, with whom Korner had recently recorded as a duo: [Excerpt: Alexis Korner and Davey Graham, "3/4 AD"] Mayall and Graham performed together as a duo for a while, but Graham was a natural solo artist if ever there was one. Slowly Mayall put a band together in London. On drums was his old friend Peter Ward, who'd moved down from Manchester with him. On bass was John McVie, who at the time knew nothing about blues -- he'd been playing in a Shadows-style instrumental group -- but Mayall gave him a stack of blues records to listen to to get the feeling. And on guitar was Bernie Watson, who had previously played with Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages. In late 1963, Mike Vernon, a blues fan who had previously published a Yardbirds fanzine, got a job working for Decca records, and immediately started signing his favourite acts from the London blues circuit. The first act he signed was John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and they recorded a single, "Crawling up a Hill": [Excerpt: John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, "Crawling up a Hill (45 version)"] Mayall later called that a "clumsy, half-witted attempt at autobiographical comment", and it sold only five hundred copies. It would be the only record the Bluesbreakers would make with Watson, who soon left the band to be replaced by Roger Dean (not the same Roger Dean who later went on to design prog rock album covers). The second group to be signed by Mike Vernon to Decca was the Graham Bond Organisation. We've talked about the Graham Bond Organisation in passing several times, but not for a while and not in any great detail, so it's worth pulling everything we've said about them so far together and going through it in a little more detail. The Graham Bond Organisation, like the Rolling Stones, grew out of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. As we heard in the episode on "I Wanna Be Your Man" a couple of years ago, Blues Incorporated had been started by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, and at the time we're joining them in 1962 featured a drummer called Charlie Watts, a pianist called Dave Stevens, and saxophone player Dick Heckstall-Smith, as well as frequent guest performers like a singer who called himself Mike Jagger, and another one, Roderick Stewart. That group finally found themselves the perfect bass player when Dick Heckstall-Smith put together a one-off group of jazz players to play an event at Cambridge University. At the gig, a little Scottish man came up to the group and told them he played bass and asked if he could sit in. They told him to bring along his instrument to their second set, that night, and he did actually bring along a double bass. Their bluff having been called, they decided to play the most complicated, difficult, piece they knew in order to throw the kid off -- the drummer, a trad jazz player named Ginger Baker, didn't like performing with random sit-in guests -- but astonishingly he turned out to be really good. Heckstall-Smith took down the bass player's name and phone number and invited him to a jam session with Blues Incorporated. After that jam session, Jack Bruce quickly became the group's full-time bass player. Bruce had started out as a classical cellist, but had switched to the double bass inspired by Bach, who he referred to as "the guv'nor of all bass players". His playing up to this point had mostly been in trad jazz bands, and he knew nothing of the blues, but he quickly got the hang of the genre. Bruce's first show with Blues Incorporated was a BBC recording: [Excerpt: Blues Incorporated, "Hoochie Coochie Man (BBC session)"] According to at least one source it was not being asked to take part in that session that made young Mike Jagger decide there was no future for him with Blues Incorporated and to spend more time with his other group, the Rollin' Stones. Soon after, Charlie Watts would join him, for almost the opposite reason -- Watts didn't want to be in a band that was getting as big as Blues Incorporated were. They were starting to do more BBC sessions and get more gigs, and having to join the Musicians' Union. That seemed like a lot of work. Far better to join a band like the Rollin' Stones that wasn't going anywhere. Because of Watts' decision to give up on potential stardom to become a Rollin' Stone, they needed a new drummer, and luckily the best drummer on the scene was available. But then the best drummer on the scene was *always* available. Ginger Baker had first played with Dick Heckstall-Smith several years earlier, in a trad group called the Storyville Jazzmen. There Baker had become obsessed with the New Orleans jazz drummer Baby Dodds, who had played with Louis Armstrong in the 1920s. Sadly because of 1920s recording technology, he hadn't been able to play a full kit on the recordings with Armstrong, being limited to percussion on just a woodblock, but you can hear his drumming style much better in this version of "At the Jazz Band Ball" from 1947, with Mugsy Spanier, Jack Teagarden, Cyrus St. Clair and Hank Duncan: [Excerpt: "At the Jazz Band Ball"] Baker had taken Dobbs' style and run with it, and had quickly become known as the single best player, bar none, on the London jazz scene -- he'd become an accomplished player in multiple styles, and was also fluent in reading music and arranging. He'd also, though, become known as the single person on the entire scene who was most difficult to get along with. He resigned from his first band onstage, shouting "You can stick your band up your arse", after the band's leader had had enough of him incorporating bebop influences into their trad style. Another time, when touring with Diz Disley's band, he was dumped in Germany with no money and no way to get home, because the band were so sick of him. Sometimes this was because of his temper and his unwillingness to suffer fools -- and he saw everyone else he ever met as a fool -- and sometimes it was because of his own rigorous musical ideas. He wanted to play music *his* way, and wouldn't listen to anyone who told him different. Both of these things got worse after he fell under the influence of a man named Phil Seaman, one of the only drummers that Baker respected at all. Seaman introduced Baker to African drumming, and Baker started incorporating complex polyrhythms into his playing as a result. Seaman also though introduced Baker to heroin, and while being a heroin addict in the UK in the 1960s was not as difficult as it later became -- both heroin and cocaine were available on prescription to registered addicts, and Baker got both, which meant that many of the problems that come from criminalisation of these drugs didn't affect addicts in the same way -- but it still did not, by all accounts, make him an easier person to get along with. But he *was* a fantastic drummer. As Dick Heckstall-Smith said "With the advent of Ginger, the classic Blues Incorporated line-up, one which I think could not be bettered, was set" But Alexis Korner decided that the group could be bettered, and he had some backers within the band. One of the other bands on the scene was the Don Rendell Quintet, a group that played soul jazz -- that style of jazz that bridged modern jazz and R&B, the kind of music that Ray Charles and Herbie Hancock played: [Excerpt: The Don Rendell Quintet, "Manumission"] The Don Rendell Quintet included a fantastic multi-instrumentalist, Graham Bond, who doubled on keyboards and saxophone, and Bond had been playing occasional experimental gigs with the Johnny Burch Octet -- a group led by another member of the Rendell Quartet featuring Heckstall-Smith, Bruce, Baker, and a few other musicians, doing wholly-improvised music. Heckstall-Smith, Bruce, and Baker all enjoyed playing with Bond, and when Korner decided to bring him into the band, they were all very keen. But Cyril Davies, the co-leader of the band with Korner, was furious at the idea. Davies wanted to play strict Chicago and Delta blues, and had no truck with other forms of music like R&B and jazz. To his mind it was bad enough that they had a sax player. But the idea that they would bring in Bond, who played sax and... *Hammond* organ? Well, that was practically blasphemy. Davies quit the group at the mere suggestion. Bond was soon in the band, and he, Bruce, and Baker were playing together a *lot*. As well as performing with Blues Incorporated, they continued playing in the Johnny Burch Octet, and they also started performing as the Graham Bond Trio. Sometimes the Graham Bond Trio would be Blues Incorporated's opening act, and on more than one occasion the Graham Bond Trio, Blues Incorporated, and the Johnny Burch Octet all had gigs in different parts of London on the same night and they'd have to frantically get from one to the other. The Graham Bond Trio also had fans in Manchester, thanks to the local blues scene there and their connection with Blues Incorporated, and one night in February 1963 the trio played a gig there. They realised afterwards that by playing as a trio they'd made £70, when they were lucky to make £20 from a gig with Blues Incorporated or the Octet, because there were so many members in those bands. Bond wanted to make real money, and at the next rehearsal of Blues Incorporated he announced to Korner that he, Bruce, and Baker were quitting the band -- which was news to Bruce and Baker, who he hadn't bothered consulting. Baker, indeed, was in the toilet when the announcement was made and came out to find it a done deal. He was going to kick up a fuss and say he hadn't been consulted, but Korner's reaction sealed the deal. As Baker later said "‘he said “it's really good you're doing this thing with Graham, and I wish you the best of luck” and all that. And it was a bit difficult to turn round and say, “Well, I don't really want to leave the band, you know.”'" The Graham Bond Trio struggled at first to get the gigs they were expecting, but that started to change when in April 1963 they became the Graham Bond Quartet, with the addition of virtuoso guitarist John McLaughlin. The Quartet soon became one of the hottest bands on the London R&B scene, and when Duffy Power, a Larry Parnes teen idol who wanted to move into R&B, asked his record label to get him a good R&B band to back him on a Beatles cover, it was the Graham Bond Quartet who obliged: [Excerpt: Duffy Power, "I Saw Her Standing There"] The Quartet also backed Power on a package tour with other Parnes acts, but they were also still performing their own blend of hard jazz and blues, as can be heard in this recording of the group live in June 1953: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Quartet, "Ho Ho Country Kicking Blues (Live at Klooks Kleek)"] But that lineup of the group didn't last very long. According to the way Baker told the story, he fired McLaughlin from the group, after being irritated by McLaughlin complaining about something on a day when Baker was out of cocaine and in no mood to hear anyone else's complaints. As Baker said "We lost a great guitar player and I lost a good friend." But the Trio soon became a Quartet again, as Dick Heckstall-Smith, who Baker had wanted in the band from the start, joined on saxophone to replace McLaughlin's guitar. But they were no longer called the Graham Bond Quartet. Partly because Heckstall-Smith joining allowed Bond to concentrate just on his keyboard playing, but one suspects partly to protect against any future lineup changes, the group were now The Graham Bond ORGANisation -- emphasis on the organ. The new lineup of the group got signed to Decca by Vernon, and were soon recording their first single, "Long Tall Shorty": [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Long Tall Shorty"] They recorded a few other songs which made their way onto an EP and an R&B compilation, and toured intensively in early 1964, as well as backing up Power on his follow-up to "I Saw Her Standing There", his version of "Parchman Farm": [Excerpt: Duffy Power, "Parchman Farm"] They also appeared in a film, just like the Beatles, though it was possibly not quite as artistically successful as "A Hard Day's Night": [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat trailer] Gonks Go Beat is one of the most bizarre films of the sixties. It's a far-future remake of Romeo and Juliet. where the two star-crossed lovers are from opposing countries -- Beatland and Ballad Isle -- who only communicate once a year in an annual song contest which acts as their version of a war, and is overseen by "Mr. A&R", played by Frank Thornton, who would later star in Are You Being Served? Carry On star Kenneth Connor is sent by aliens to try to bring peace to the two warring countries, on pain of exile to Planet Gonk, a planet inhabited solely by Gonks (a kind of novelty toy for which there was a short-lived craze then). Along the way Connor encounters such luminaries of British light entertainment as Terry Scott and Arthur Mullard, as well as musical performances by Lulu, the Nashville Teens, and of course the Graham Bond Organisation, whose performance gets them a telling-off from a teacher: [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat!] The group as a group only performed one song in this cinematic masterpiece, but Baker also made an appearance in a "drum battle" sequence where eight drummers played together: [Excerpt: Gonks Go Beat drum battle] The other drummers in that scene included, as well as some lesser-known players, Andy White who had played on the single version of "Love Me Do", Bobby Graham, who played on hits by the Kinks and the Dave Clark Five, and Ronnie Verrell, who did the drumming for Animal in the Muppet Show. Also in summer 1964, the group performed at the Fourth National Jazz & Blues Festival in Richmond -- the festival co-founded by Chris Barber that would evolve into the Reading Festival. The Yardbirds were on the bill, and at the end of their set they invited Bond, Baker, Bruce, Georgie Fame, and Mike Vernon onto the stage with them, making that the first time that Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce were all on stage together. Soon after that, the Graham Bond Organisation got a new manager, Robert Stigwood. Things hadn't been working out for them at Decca, and Stigwood soon got the group signed to EMI, and became their producer as well. Their first single under Stigwood's management was a cover version of the theme tune to the Debbie Reynolds film "Tammy". While that film had given Tamla records its name, the song was hardly an R&B classic: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Tammy"] That record didn't chart, but Stigwood put the group out on the road as part of the disastrous Chuck Berry tour we heard about in the episode on "All You Need is Love", which led to the bankruptcy of  Robert Stigwood Associates. The Organisation moved over to Stigwood's new company, the Robert Stigwood Organisation, and Stigwood continued to be the credited producer of their records, though after the "Tammy" disaster they decided they were going to take charge themselves of the actual music. Their first album, The Sound of 65, was recorded in a single three-hour session, and they mostly ran through their standard set -- a mixture of the same songs everyone else on the circuit was playing, like "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Got My Mojo Working", and "Wade in the Water", and originals like Bruce's "Train Time": [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Train Time"] Through 1965 they kept working. They released a non-album single, "Lease on Love", which is generally considered to be the first pop record to feature a Mellotron: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Lease on Love"] and Bond and Baker also backed another Stigwood act, Winston G, on his debut single: [Excerpt: Winston G, "Please Don't Say"] But the group were developing severe tensions. Bruce and Baker had started out friendly, but by this time they hated each other. Bruce said he couldn't hear his own playing over Baker's loud drumming, Baker thought that Bruce was far too fussy a player and should try to play simpler lines. They'd both try to throw each other during performances, altering arrangements on the fly and playing things that would trip the other player up. And *neither* of them were particularly keen on Bond's new love of the Mellotron, which was all over their second album, giving it a distinctly proto-prog feel at times: [Excerpt: The Graham Bond Organisation, "Baby Can it Be True?"] Eventually at a gig in Golders Green, Baker started throwing drumsticks at Bruce's head while Bruce was trying to play a bass solo. Bruce retaliated by throwing his bass at Baker, and then jumping on him and starting a fistfight which had to be broken up by the venue security. Baker fired Bruce from the band, but Bruce kept turning up to gigs anyway, arguing that Baker had no right to sack him as it was a democracy. Baker always claimed that in fact Bond had wanted to sack Bruce but hadn't wanted to get his hands dirty, and insisted that Baker do it, but neither Bond nor Heckstall-Smith objected when Bruce turned up for the next couple of gigs. So Baker took matters into his own hands, He pulled out a knife and told Bruce "If you show up at one more gig, this is going in you." Within days, Bruce was playing with John Mayall, whose Bluesbreakers had gone through some lineup changes by this point. Roger Dean had only played with the Bluesbreakers for a short time before Mayall had replaced him. Mayall had not been impressed with Eric Clapton's playing with the Yardbirds at first -- even though graffiti saying "Clapton is God" was already starting to appear around London -- but he had been *very* impressed with Clapton's playing on "Got to Hurry", the B-side to "For Your Love": [Excerpt: The Yardbirds, "Got to Hurry"] When he discovered that Clapton had quit the band, he sprang into action and quickly recruited him to replace Dean. Clapton knew he had made the right choice when a month after he'd joined, the group got the word that Bob Dylan had been so impressed with Mayall's single "Crawling up a Hill" -- the one that nobody liked, not even Mayall himself -- that he wanted to jam with Mayall and his band in the studio. Clapton of course went along: [Excerpt: Bob Dylan and the Bluesbreakers, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"] That was, of course, the session we've talked about in the Velvet Underground episode and elsewhere of which little other than that survives, and which Nico attended. At this point, Mayall didn't have a record contract, his experience recording with Mike Vernon having been no more successful than the Bond group's had been. But soon he got a one-off deal -- as a solo artist, not with the Bluesbreakers -- with Immediate Records. Clapton was the only member of the group to play on the single, which was produced by Immediate's house producer Jimmy Page: [Excerpt: John Mayall, "I'm Your Witchdoctor"] Page was impressed enough with Clapton's playing that he invited him round to Page's house to jam together. But what Clapton didn't know was that Page was taping their jam sessions, and that he handed those tapes over to Immediate Records -- whether he was forced to by his contract with the label or whether that had been his plan all along depends on whose story you believe, but Clapton never truly forgave him. Page and Clapton's guitar-only jams had overdubs by Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, and drummer Chris Winter, and have been endlessly repackaged on blues compilations ever since: [Excerpt: Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton, "Draggin' My Tail"] But Mayall was having problems with John McVie, who had started to drink too much, and as soon as he found out that Jack Bruce was sacked by the Graham Bond Organisation, Mayall got in touch with Bruce and got him to join the band in McVie's place. Everyone was agreed that this lineup of the band -- Mayall, Clapton, Bruce, and Hughie Flint -- was going places: [Excerpt: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Jack Bruce, "Hoochie Coochie Man"] Unfortunately, it wasn't going to last long. Clapton, while he thought that Bruce was the greatest bass player he'd ever worked with, had other plans. He was going to leave the country and travel the world as a peripatetic busker. He was off on his travels, never to return. Luckily, Mayall had someone even better waiting in the wings. A young man had, according to Mayall, "kept coming down to all the gigs and saying, “Hey, what are you doing with him?” – referring to whichever guitarist was onstage that night – “I'm much better than he is. Why don't you let me play guitar for you?” He got really quite nasty about it, so finally, I let him sit in. And he was brilliant." Peter Green was probably the best blues guitarist in London at that time, but this lineup of the Bluesbreakers only lasted a handful of gigs -- Clapton discovered that busking in Greece wasn't as much fun as being called God in London, and came back very soon after he'd left. Mayall had told him that he could have his old job back when he got back, and so Green was out and Clapton was back in. And soon the Bluesbreakers' revolving door revolved again. Manfred Mann had just had a big hit with "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", the same song we heard Dylan playing earlier: [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "If You Gotta Go, Go Now"] But their guitarist, Mike Vickers, had quit. Tom McGuinness, their bass player, had taken the opportunity to switch back to guitar -- the instrument he'd played in his first band with his friend Eric Clapton -- but that left them short a bass player. Manfred Mann were essentially the same kind of band as the Graham Bond Organisation -- a Hammond-led group of virtuoso multi-instrumentalists who played everything from hardcore Delta blues to complex modern jazz -- but unlike the Bond group they also had a string of massive pop hits, and so made a lot more money. The combination was irresistible to Bruce, and he joined the band just before they recorded an EP of jazz instrumental versions of recent hits: [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"] Bruce had also been encouraged by Robert Stigwood to do a solo project, and so at the same time as he joined Manfred Mann, he also put out a solo single, "Drinkin' and Gamblin'" [Excerpt: Jack Bruce, "Drinkin' and Gamblin'"] But of course, the reason Bruce had joined Manfred Mann was that they were having pop hits as well as playing jazz, and soon they did just that, with Bruce playing on their number one hit "Pretty Flamingo": [Excerpt: Manfred Mann, "Pretty Flamingo"] So John McVie was back in the Bluesbreakers, promising to keep his drinking under control. Mike Vernon still thought that Mayall had potential, but the people at Decca didn't agree, so Vernon got Mayall and Clapton -- but not the other band members -- to record a single for a small indie label he ran as a side project: [Excerpt: John Mayall and Eric Clapton, "Bernard Jenkins"] That label normally only released records in print runs of ninety-nine copies, because once you hit a hundred copies you had to pay tax on them, but there was so much demand for that single that they ended up pressing up five hundred copies, making it the label's biggest seller ever. Vernon eventually convinced the heads at Decca that the Bluesbreakers could be truly big, and so he got the OK to record the album that would generally be considered the greatest British blues album of all time -- Blues Breakers, also known as the Beano album because of Clapton reading a copy of the British kids' comic The Beano in the group photo on the front. [Excerpt: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, "Ramblin' On My Mind"] The album was a mixture of originals by Mayall and the standard repertoire of every blues or R&B band on the circuit -- songs like "Parchman Farm" and "What'd I Say" -- but what made the album unique was Clapton's guitar tone. Much to the chagrin of Vernon, and of engineer Gus Dudgeon, Clapton insisted on playing at the same volume that he would on stage. Vernon later said of Dudgeon "I can remember seeing his face the very first time Clapton plugged into the Marshall stack and turned it up and started playing at the sort of volume he was going to play. You could almost see Gus's eyes meet over the middle of his nose, and it was almost like he was just going to fall over from the sheer power of it all. But after an enormous amount of fiddling around and moving amps around, we got a sound that worked." [Excerpt: John Mayall with Eric Clapton, "Hideaway"] But by the time the album cane out. Clapton was no longer with the Bluesbreakers. The Graham Bond Organisation had struggled on for a while after Bruce's departure. They brought in a trumpet player, Mike Falana, and even had a hit record -- or at least, the B-side of a hit record. The Who had just put out a hit single, "Substitute", on Robert Stigwood's record label, Reaction: [Excerpt: The Who, "Substitute"] But, as you'll hear in episode 183, they had moved to Reaction Records after a falling out with their previous label, and with Shel Talmy their previous producer. The problem was, when "Substitute" was released, it had as its B-side a song called "Circles" (also known as "Instant Party -- it's been released under both names). They'd recorded an earlier version of the song for Talmy, and just as "Substitute" was starting to chart, Talmy got an injunction against the record and it had to be pulled. Reaction couldn't afford to lose the big hit record they'd spent money promoting, so they needed to put it out with a new B-side. But the Who hadn't got any unreleased recordings. But the Graham Bond Organisation had, and indeed they had an unreleased *instrumental*. So "Waltz For a Pig" became the B-side to a top-five single, credited to The Who Orchestra: [Excerpt: The Who Orchestra, "Waltz For a Pig"] That record provided the catalyst for the formation of Cream, because Ginger Baker had written the song, and got £1,350 for it, which he used to buy a new car. Baker had, for some time, been wanting to get out of the Graham Bond Organisation. He was trying to get off heroin -- though he would make many efforts to get clean over the decades, with little success -- while Bond was starting to use it far more heavily, and was also using acid and getting heavily into mysticism, which Baker despised. Baker may have had the idea for what he did next from an article in one of the music papers. John Entwistle of the Who would often tell a story about an article in Melody Maker -- though I've not been able to track down the article itself to get the full details -- in which musicians were asked to name which of their peers they'd put into a "super-group". He didn't remember the full details, but he did remember that the consensus choice had had Eric Clapton on lead guitar, himself on bass, and Ginger Baker on drums. As he said later "I don't remember who else was voted in, but a few months later, the Cream came along, and I did wonder if somebody was maybe believing too much of their own press". Incidentally, like The Buffalo Springfield and The Pink Floyd, Cream, the band we are about to meet, had releases both with and without the definite article, and Eric Clapton at least seems always to talk about them as "the Cream" even decades later, but they're primarily known as just Cream these days. Baker, having had enough of the Bond group, decided to drive up to Oxford to see Clapton playing with the Bluesbreakers. Clapton invited him to sit in for a couple of songs, and by all accounts the band sounded far better than they had previously. Clapton and Baker could obviously play well together, and Baker offered Clapton a lift back to London in his new car, and on the drive back asked Clapton if he wanted to form a new band. Clapton was as impressed by Baker's financial skills as he was by his musicianship. He said later "Musicians didn't have cars. You all got in a van." Clearly a musician who was *actually driving a new car he owned* was going places. He agreed to Baker's plan. But of course they needed a bass player, and Clapton thought he had the perfect solution -- "What about Jack?" Clapton knew that Bruce had been a member of the Graham Bond Organisation, but didn't know why he'd left the band -- he wasn't particularly clued in to what the wider music scene was doing, and all he knew was that Bruce had played with both him and Baker, and that he was the best bass player he'd ever played with. And Bruce *was* arguably the best bass player in London at that point, and he was starting to pick up session work as well as his work with Manfred Mann. For example it's him playing on the theme tune to "After The Fox" with Peter Sellers, the Hollies, and the song's composer Burt Bacharach: [Excerpt: The Hollies with Peter Sellers, "After the Fox"] Clapton was insistent. Baker's idea was that the band should be the best musicians around. That meant they needed the *best* musicians around, not the second best. If Jack Bruce wasn't joining, Eric Clapton wasn't joining either. Baker very reluctantly agreed, and went round to see Bruce the next day -- according to Baker it was in a spirit of generosity and giving Bruce one more chance, while according to Bruce he came round to eat humble pie and beg for forgiveness. Either way, Bruce agreed to join the band. The three met up for a rehearsal at Baker's home, and immediately Bruce and Baker started fighting, but also immediately they realised that they were great at playing together -- so great that they named themselves the Cream, as they were the cream of musicians on the scene. They knew they had something, but they didn't know what. At first they considered making their performances into Dada projects, inspired by the early-twentieth-century art movement. They liked a band that had just started to make waves, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band -- who had originally been called the Bonzo Dog Dada Band -- and they bought some props with the vague idea of using them on stage in the same way the Bonzos did. But as they played together they realised that they needed to do something different from that. At first, they thought they needed a fourth member -- a keyboard player. Graham Bond's name was brought up, but Clapton vetoed him. Clapton wanted Steve Winwood, the keyboard player and vocalist with the Spencer Davis Group. Indeed, Winwood was present at what was originally intended to be the first recording session the trio would play. Joe Boyd had asked Eric Clapton to round up a bunch of players to record some filler tracks for an Elektra blues compilation, and Clapton had asked Bruce and Baker to join him, Paul Jones on vocals, Winwood on Hammond and Clapton's friend Ben Palmer on piano for the session. Indeed, given that none of the original trio were keen on singing, that Paul Jones was just about to leave Manfred Mann, and that we know Clapton wanted Winwood in the band, one has to wonder if Clapton at least half-intended for this to be the eventual lineup of the band. If he did, that plan was foiled by Baker's refusal to take part in the session. Instead, this one-off band, named The Powerhouse, featured Pete York, the drummer from the Spencer Davis Group, on the session, which produced the first recording of Clapton playing on the Robert Johnson song originally titled "Cross Road Blues" but now generally better known just as "Crossroads": [Excerpt: The Powerhouse, "Crossroads"] We talked about Robert Johnson a little back in episode ninety-seven, but other than Bob Dylan, who was inspired by his lyrics, we had seen very little influence from Johnson up to this point, but he's going to be a major influence on rock guitar for the next few years, so we should talk about him a little here. It's often said that nobody knew anything about Robert Johnson, that he was almost a phantom other than his records which existed outside of any context as artefacts of their own. That's... not really the case. Johnson had died a little less than thirty years earlier, at only twenty-seven years old. Most of his half-siblings and step-siblings were alive, as were his son, his stepson, and dozens of musicians he'd played with over the years, women he'd had affairs with, and other assorted friends and relatives. What people mean is that information about Johnson's life was not yet known by people they consider important -- which is to say white blues scholars and musicians. Indeed, almost everything people like that -- people like *me* -- know of the facts of Johnson's life has only become known to us in the last four years. If, as some people had expected, I'd started this series with an episode on Johnson, I'd have had to redo the whole thing because of the information that's made its way to the public since then. But here's what was known -- or thought -- by white blues scholars in 1966. Johnson was, according to them, a field hand from somewhere in Mississippi, who played the guitar in between working on the cotton fields. He had done two recording sessions, in 1936 and 1937. One song from his first session, "Terraplane Blues", had been a very minor hit by blues standards: [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Terraplane Blues"] That had sold well -- nobody knows how well, but maybe as many as ten thousand copies, and it was certainly a record people knew in 1937 if they liked the Delta blues, but ten thousand copies total is nowhere near the sales of really successful records, and none of the follow-ups had sold anything like that much -- many of them had sold in the hundreds rather than the thousands. As Elijah Wald, one of Johnson's biographers put it "knowing about Johnson and Muddy Waters but not about Leroy Carr or Dinah Washington was like knowing about, say, the Sir Douglas Quintet but not knowing about the Beatles" -- though *I* would add that the Sir Douglas Quintet were much bigger during the sixties than Johnson was during his lifetime. One of the few white people who had noticed Johnson's existence at all was John Hammond, and he'd written a brief review of Johnson's first two singles under a pseudonym in a Communist newspaper. I'm going to quote it here, but the word he used to talk about Black people was considered correct then but isn't now, so I'll substitute Black for that word: "Before closing we cannot help but call your attention to the greatest [Black] blues singer who has cropped up in recent years, Robert Johnson. Recording them in deepest Mississippi, Vocalion has certainly done right by us and by the tunes "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Terraplane Blues", to name only two of the four sides already released, sung to his own guitar accompaniment. Johnson makes Leadbelly sound like an accomplished poseur" Hammond had tried to get Johnson to perform at the Spirituals to Swing concerts we talked about in the very first episodes of the podcast, but he'd discovered that he'd died shortly before. He got Big Bill Broonzy instead, and played a couple of Johnson's records from a record player on the stage. Hammond introduced those recordings with a speech: "It is tragic that an American audience could not have been found seven or eight years ago for a concert of this kind. Bessie Smith was still at the height of her career and Joe Smith, probably the greatest trumpet player America ever knew, would still have been around to play obbligatos for her...dozens of other artists could have been there in the flesh. But that audience as well as this one would not have been able to hear Robert Johnson sing and play the blues on his guitar, for at that time Johnson was just an unknown hand on a Robinsonville, Mississippi plantation. Robert Johnson was going to be the big surprise of the evening for this audience at Carnegie Hall. I know him only from his Vocalion blues records and from the tall, exciting tales the recording engineers and supervisors used to bring about him from the improvised studios in Dallas and San Antonio. I don't believe Johnson had ever worked as a professional musician anywhere, and it still knocks me over when I think of how lucky it is that a talent like his ever found its way onto phonograph records. We will have to be content with playing two of his records, the old "Walkin' Blues" and the new, unreleased, "Preachin' Blues", because Robert Johnson died last week at the precise moment when Vocalion scouts finally reached him and told him that he was booked to appear at Carnegie Hall on December 23. He was in his middle twenties and nobody seems to know what caused his death." And that was, for the most part, the end of Robert Johnson's impact on the culture for a generation. The Lomaxes went down to Clarksdale, Mississippi a couple of years later -- reports vary as to whether this was to see if they could find Johnson, who they were unaware was dead, or to find information out about him, and they did end up recording a young singer named Muddy Waters for the Library of Congress, including Waters' rendition of "32-20 Blues", Johnson's reworking of Skip James' "Twenty-Two Twenty Blues": [Excerpt: Muddy Waters, "32-20 Blues"] But Johnson's records remained unavailable after their initial release until 1959, when the blues scholar Samuel Charters published the book The Country Blues, which was the first book-length treatment ever of Delta blues. Sixteen years later Charters said "I shouldn't have written The Country Blues when I did; since I really didn't know enough, but I felt I couldn't afford to wait. So The Country Blues was two things. It was a romanticization of certain aspects of black life in an effort to force the white society to reconsider some of its racial attitudes, and on the other hand it was a cry for help. I wanted hundreds of people to go out and interview the surviving blues artists. I wanted people to record them and document their lives, their environment, and their music, not only so that their story would be preserved but also so they'd get a little money and a little recognition in their last years." Charters talked about Johnson in the book, as one of the performers who played "minor roles in the story of the blues", and said that almost nothing was known about his life. He talked about how he had been poisoned by his common-law wife, about how his records were recorded in a pool hall, and said "The finest of Robert Johnson's blues have a brooding sense of torment and despair. The blues has become a personified figure of despondency." Along with Charters' book came a compilation album of the same name, and that included the first ever reissue of one of Johnson's tracks, "Preaching Blues": [Excerpt: Robert Johnson, "Preaching Blues"] Two years later, John Hammond, who had remained an ardent fan of Johnson, had Columbia put out the King of the Delta Blues Singers album. At the time no white blues scholars knew what Johnson looked like and they had no photos of him, so a generic painting of a poor-looking Black man with a guitar was used for the cover. The liner note to King of the Delta Blues Singers talked about how Johnson was seventeen or eighteen when he made his recordings, how he was "dead before he reached his twenty-first birthday, poisoned by a jealous girlfriend", how he had "seldom, if ever, been away from the plantation in Robinsville, Mississippi, where he was born and raised", and how he had had such stage fright that when he was asked to play in front of other musicians, he'd turned to face a wall so he couldn't see them. And that would be all that any of the members of the Powerhouse would know about Johnson. Maybe they'd also heard the rumours that were starting to spread that Johnson had got his guitar-playing skills by selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads at midnight, but that would have been all they knew when they recorded their filler track for Elektra: [Excerpt: The Powerhouse, "Crossroads"] Either way, the Powerhouse lineup only lasted for that one session -- the group eventually decided that a simple trio would be best for the music they wanted to play. Clapton had seen Buddy Guy touring with just a bass player and drummer a year earlier, and had liked the idea of the freedom that gave him as a guitarist. The group soon took on Robert Stigwood as a manager, which caused more arguments between Bruce and Baker. Bruce was convinced that if they were doing an all-for-one one-for-all thing they should also manage themselves, but Baker pointed out that that was a daft idea when they could get one of the biggest managers in the country to look after them. A bigger argument, which almost killed the group before it started, happened when Baker told journalist Chris Welch of the Melody Maker about their plans. In an echo of the way that he and Bruce had been resigned from Blues Incorporated without being consulted, now with no discussion Manfred Mann and John Mayall were reading in the papers that their band members were quitting before those members had bothered to mention it. Mayall was furious, especially since the album Clapton had played on hadn't yet come out. Clapton was supposed to work a month's notice while Mayall found another guitarist, but Mayall spent two weeks begging Peter Green to rejoin the band. Green was less than eager -- after all, he'd been fired pretty much straight away earlier -- but Mayall eventually persuaded him. The second he did, Mayall turned round to Clapton and told him he didn't have to work the rest of his notice -- he'd found another guitar player and Clapton was fired: [Excerpt: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, "Dust My Blues"] Manfred Mann meanwhile took on the Beatles' friend Klaus Voorman to replace Bruce. Voorman would remain with the band until the end, and like Green was for Mayall, Voorman was in some ways a better fit for Manfred Mann than Bruce was. In particular he could double on flute, as he did for example on their hit version of Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn": [Excerpt: Manfred Mann "The Mighty Quinn"] The new group, The Cream, were of course signed in the UK to Stigwood's Reaction label. Other than the Who, who only stuck around for one album, Reaction was not a very successful label. Its biggest signing was a former keyboard player for Screaming Lord Sutch, who recorded for them under the names Paul Dean and Oscar, but who later became known as Paul Nicholas and had a successful career in musical theatre and sitcom. Nicholas never had any hits for Reaction, but he did release one interesting record, in 1967: [Excerpt: Oscar, "Over the Wall We Go"] That was one of the earliest songwriting attempts by a young man who had recently named himself David Bowie. Now the group were public, they started inviting journalists to their rehearsals, which were mostly spent trying to combine their disparate musical influences --

Major Adrian Allman is the speaker this week when the Songsters are visiting Wellingborough Salvation Army. We will also publish the Bible Message from Wellingborough by Lt Col Gill Heeley in due course

Today we learn just three birds with warbling songs.  Only one is a wood warbler.  We learn about Yellow Warbler (1:31), Warbling Vireo (6:04) and Lazuli Bunting (11:00).     Helpful Links:  https://www.audubon.org/ https://www.allaboutbirds.org/ https://xeno-canto.org/   Feedback is always welcome.  You can write a review, or leave a comment at the podcast website at: https://birdingbyearpodcast.podbean.com/ You can also message me on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/BirdingByEarPodcast   

The meeting is titled "A Prayer for Peace" and we will be lifting up the situation in Ukraine to God in the very best Salvation Army way.Music from the International Staff Band and Songsters, Sunbury Junior Singers, Canadian Staff Band, Portsmouth Citadel Songsters and much more...Music from composers including Eric Ball, Ray Steadman-Allen, Kenneth Downie, 'Gowans & Larsson' and Howard Davies are blended with prayers from Salvationists worldwide...asking God to intervene in the current turmoils and warfare.

There can be no doubt about it!God HAS blessed The Salvation Army over the 157 years of its existence.  He still blesses our ministry today - in well over 130 countries all around the world.  Hallelujah!But, there can be no denying it, the membership/soldiery of the Army has declined to numbers well below those we remember in years gone by.  Should we shake our heads and wonder what has happened, while we fade away even further?  Or do we take our inspiration from parts of the world where The Salvation Army is STILL GROWING - and growing fast?It's time to shake ourselves into action and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!  I'm going to anyway - that's why, tonight, I am 'raising my Ebenezer' and looking to the Lord to lead the way towards turning that corner!Some great songs tonight and music from some of the Army's greatest writers including Arthur Gullidge, William Pearson, John Larsson, Len Ballantine, Chris Mallett and there's also Ballington Booth to top it all off!Ensembles featured include Norfolk Fellowship Brass, International Staff Band and Songsters, Chelmsford Singing Company, Portsmouth Citadel Songsters and Jonny Searle.

When David wrote Psalm 51 he seemed to be asking for a New Testament forgiveness - hundreds of years before it became a 'thing'!Ashamed and horrified by his sinful behaviour he opened his heart to God and begged to be given another chance.  According to Jewish Law, the only way he could achieve this was through making a sacrifice, a burnt offering to God - yet he realised that this was NOT what God wanted at all.  David asked to be purged of all evil, washed whiter than snow - as if by Jesus blood!  How amazing is that!This week's meeting has the aim of bringing us all closer to God - for each of us to claim that 'washing' in Christ's blood - to be made more and more like Jesus with every day we live.Songs include: 'Whiter  than the snow', 'To Be Like Jesus' and 'All My Work is for the Master'.  Music comes from the International Staff Songsters (Moment by Moment), Portsmouth Citadel Singing Company (Hand me down my Silver Trumpet) and the Boscombe Band with one of the very best of Salvation Army marches - Rosehill (there's even the chance to join in with that great chorus 'In the Army Ranks are We')Join me for an hour of praise, worship, reflection and re-dedication.Hallelujah!!

Silver Quintette - "Sinner's Crossroads" - No LP [0:00:00] True Divine Baptist Church Choir - "I Can Go To God In Prayer" - NO LP [0:04:15] North Philadelphia Jrs. - "Come By Here" - NO LP [0:08:35] Kelly Brothers - "I Still Remember" - No LP [0:13:56] Singing Stars of Louisburg, N.C - "Take Me To The Water" - No LP [0:16:39] Glory Aires - "Goin' Across The River" - No LP [0:18:03] Rev Drayton - "By and By" - No LP [0:20:29] Echoes of Glory of Augusta, GA. - "Journey On" - NO LP [0:23:20] Songsters of Harmony - "Jesus Take This Heart Of Mine" - No LP [0:25:41] Israel Stars Gospel Singers - "Lord You Been Good To Me" - No LP [0:27:57] Sons of David - "Wonderful Jesus" - NO LP [0:34:25] Sensational Six - "I Saw The Light" - No LP [0:37:32] Soul Stirring Cannon Aires - "Stranger In The City" - No LP [0:40:01] Meditation Singers - "I've Been Buked" - No LP [0:44:03] Spiritual Stars - "Some Glad Morning" - No LP [0:45:32] Sensational Golden Stars of Chicago - "I've Been Born Again" - No LP [0:48:35] Trumpelettes - "Jesus Traveled This World Before" - I Had A Dream [0:52:20] Spirit of St. James - "Any Way You Bless Me Lord" - NO LP [0:57:13] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/112162

This week's meeting is based on a 2 word phrase that God spoke to me a few years ago - so clearly it may as well have been though my hi-fi speakers:TRUST MESimple?  Well, not as simple as it sounds...but great advice all the same!But it's a message not just for us as individuals - I BELIEVE IT'S ALSO A MESSAGE FOR THE CHURCH - as we step out into a world that has largely forgotten and ignored its Christian roots.Music from Norwich Citadel Band, the ISB, National Songsters, Melbourne Veterans Band, Shirley Singing Company, the Royal Albert Hall and Butlins and some great songs to sing along with too!

This week's Meeting for Fortress Radio - the 52nd in my series - has a very special guest speaker - Capt Nicholas J. Samuel - CO at the London (Ontario) Corps in Canada.  You may know his name also as a well-known SA composer of band and songster music.He reads from and speaks about Judges 2 - with insight about a wandering people and their relationship with an ever-faithful God.Some great songs (And Can It Be?  To the Hills and music from the International Staff Songsters, Clydebank Singing Company, Excerpt from a RAH festival, Portsmouth Citadel and Enfield Citadel Bands - and much more!

Tired of the same old promises to change?  Still biting your nails?  Not losing weight...again?The world needs more from Christians than trivial changes like these - it needs us to create a REVOLUTION!  If ever this world needed the knowledge of its loving Saviour, Jesus Christ then it needs is right now - it needs the PEACE of Christ, the LOVE of Christ, the HEALING POWER of His Holy Spirit.Tonight's meeting reflects on the WONDER of Christmas - the MAJESTY of God, the AMAZING world and universe in which we are privileged to live.and the fact God should send His own Son to be the ANSWER to all mankind's problems.Songs include:Praise My Soul, How Excellent is Thy Name, In The Love of Jesus, In this Quiet Moment and 'Send the Fire' while there is also music from the International Staff Band and Songsters, Sunbury Junior Singers and American Salvationist Major Albert Avery.Start a revolution in YOUR life this year - for GOD'S sake!

The theme for the meeting tonight proclaims Jesus as 'The Light of the World'.At this time of Advent  I am always made acutely aware of the aptness of Joy Webb';s beautiful song 'Come Into Our World'.  Yes, of course it is really HIS world but, as the song alludes 'men have forgotten Him and how to pray'.Certainly, if EVER this dark world needed a light it is NOW...if ever it needed JESUS - it needs Him now.We often think this is the job of professional preachers, church leaders and the very keenest and bravest of our fellow Christians - but that is not so:  if WE do not take Jesus into this world ourselves then there is no-one else TO do it!Sit back and enjoy an hour of real Salvation Army worship and music - some great songs and music from the International Staff Band and Songsters, The German Staff Band, The Southern Chorus, The Sunbury Junior Singers, The Three Sopranos, Richard Phillips and the cast of Jesus Folk and a very real challenge for us allGod bless you all!

It's been a while, friends.It is only now I am feeling so much better that I can look back and appreciate quite how poorly I had become in the late spring/early summer this year.  It is WONDERFUL to feel better and also to be back producing these meetings.This meeting I described as a 'Salvation Army Extravaganza' - and it's theme is the Universal message we share with the whole world about the saving power found only in the Blood of Jesus Christ!Music from David Daws and Enfield Citadel Band, the International Staff Songsters, Wellington Citadel Singing Company and The Egon Band help us in our worship along with some of our favourite Salvation Army songs and choruses.May God bless you richly as you listen - and, if you are not currently in the Lord's service please 'come home to God'.Marc

Ascension!For the 46th in my series of Salvation Meetings for Fortress Radio. I am delighted to welcome my old friend Lt Col. Ced Hills who speaks on the subject of the Ascension. The meeting is a bit of a 'Portsmouth Citadel Reunion'. Ced sat next to me on the euphonium section at Portsmouth when he was our CO a decade or so ago and we became good friends. So both Portsmouth Citadel Band ( John Hanchett) and Songsters (Julie Wheeler) take part in this meeting as well as there being some fine congregational songs and there are also contributions from the International Staff Songsters, Exeter Temple Singing Company (Jane Cox Williams) and the Birmingham Citadel Contemporary Music Group.

Dare To Be a........Thomas?   The disciple Thomas sometimes gets a bit of a rough ride, I think. His reputation and legacy seems to be based on nothing but his 'doubting' - and hence his name has been used for millennia as the epitome of scepticism! Join me for the Salvation Meeting on Fortress Radio where we look at so much more that we can learn from Thomas - enough that, instead of Daniel for a change, might not some of us even 'Dare to be a Thomas'? Music from the ISB, Portsmouth Citadel Songsters, Wealdstone Singing Company (1970) and much more - plus, of course, some great songs and a brand new poem by Commissioner Harry Read. Plus songs and the message - of course.

This Easter Day Salvation Meeting is very much a celebration of the Risen Christ - and it's great to be able to welcome Colonel Phil Maxwell (who delivers the sermon), his wife Deslea who also speaks and my friend Matt Woods as well. When Col Maxwell sent a vocal solo to accompany his message he got Matt's name slightly wrong (Mark instead of Matt) and it was only when I listened to the beautiful voice I realised that it was young Matthew at once, of course! Join me then, for some of the great Easter hymns and songs, songsters, singing company, soloist and one of the all time great Dean Goffin classics from the band.

'Meditative Music and Readings for a Holy Day'There is, for today, a BRAND NEW episode of the "Going to the Army!" podcast - especially for Good Friday. This is not a 'normal' GttA episode but a complete 'act of worship' - subtitled a: 'Meditative Music and Readings for a Holy Day' the 2 hour programme I have prepared with the help of the wonderful Jeannine Ridha has music by Salvation Army Bands and Songster Brigades, Singing Companies, Soloists and a even Rock Group. Although the programme will be aired on Fortress Radio several times today it will be, necessarily, broken up by news bulletins - for complete, uninterrupted listening please use the podcast link here. Readings are taken from dramatic presentations, poems and, of course, the Bible itself. Joining me with these dramatic readings is prominent Lincolnshire actress Jeannine Ridha who has strong links to Grimsby SA and has a career in musicals and other stage shows spanning 50 years. Immerse yourself in the Good Friday experience and join me. God bless you all.

  STRESS...WORRY...CARES....ANXIETIES... Symptoms of life that we just have to live with in 2021? Or is there a solution? Peter gives us the answer in the last Chapter of his First Epistle - and comes up with 'one of the best verses in the whole bible'! This week's Salvation Meeting - the 42nd meeting I have produced since the start of the pandemic and marking a whole year of online ministry - is the last in our series looking at Peter's 1st letter. Some great congregational song arrangements to join in with, a Joy Webb classic, one of the best of all Gowans/Larsson songs of all, a classic cornet solo and much more to enjoy and inspire. Music from the International Staff Songsters, Philip Cobb, Portsmouth Singing Company, the TMS Ladies Voices Group, The Joystrings and many more adds to the worship and reinforcement of the meeting's theme - casting all our cares on Jesus - because He cares for us. There's also a strong challenge to us all...so beware! It could be dangerous going to church! You never know what God might change! Marc  

  'Suffering for being a Christian' This week's meeting is the the 41st Salvation Meeting in the current series on Fortress Radio  We continue our look at the first epistle of Peter, reaching chapter 4 and the portion headed 'Suffering for being a Christian'. Our guest speaker for the meeting is Major Estelle Blake - who has worked extensively for The Salvation Army in the field of human trafficking and abuse.     Music comes from Leicester South Corps, Kettering SA Band, Portsmouth Citadel Songsters, Boscombe Singing Company, the ISB, USA WT Staff Songsters and so many more - and many blessings, challenges and inspiration is promised! God bless you all. Marc  

This week's SALVATION MEETING for Fortress Radio is the 40th in the series I have prepared since the first lockdown almost a year ago. This time we take a look at part of 1 Peter ch 3 and try to apply the advice there to our lives at this specific time. Major Estelle Blake opens in prayer, there is a fine testimony from SL Paul Dale (one of my oldest and best friends) and some great Army songs and choruses, band pieces and songs from the songsters - including some Gowans and Larsson classics and a modern masterpiece from Andrew Maycock. Featuring the Staff Songsters, musicians from a Scottish Congress, the Sunbury Junior Singers ,William Booth Memorial Halls Band and soloist Eric Tebbett. Marc

"My time, matey, not yours!" - is what God told me very clearly earlier this week as I was growing impatient for inspiration! This is the 39th meeting I have prepared for FORTRESS RADIO since the Covid lockdowns began in March 2020 This meeting is the third in the series based on the 1st Epistle of Peter - this time -chapter 2.  How can we best be 'walking advertisements' for Jesus in this evil world?If you like some of the GREAT Salvation Army songs then this one's for YOU!Plus music from the Amsterdam Staff Band, International Staff Band and Songsters, Croydon Citadel Songsters, Portsmouth Citadel Singing Company...and more besides!Thoughts are centred around Major Darren Shaw's wonderful 'Guardian of My Soul'

  BE HOLY (but you don't have to be a hero) Welcome to another hour of Salvation Army worship - featuring the International Staff Band and Songsters, Santa Ana Singing Company, Barbara Allen, and even my old friend Roger Marsh!     This is the 2nd meeting in the series in which we examine the 1st Epistle of Peter... We are told to 'BE HOLY'. God doesn't expect us to achieve the target overnight...it might take a lifetime - but that's OK as He has the patience - and an unlimited amount of LOVE and FORGIVENESS to help us get there! Some good Army songs, a band classic from Robert Redhead and an update of an oldie from the pen of Richard Phillips...and there is EVEN MORE in the podcast version (which is not time limited) including music from  Kevin Larsson. My wife  Sarah Harry reads the bible for us and one of my favourite songs from the pen of John Gowans...     God bless you all. Marc

Doom and Gloom   If a month has five Sundays then the 5th will always be a good old Salvation Army praise meeting - yes the kind you might remember from your childhood and younger days - often accompanied, if you recall, with indigestion caused by rushing down a full roast dinner in the hour you might have managed to get at home between morning and afternoon activities at the army! This week we have music from Erik Leidzen, Robert Redhead, William Himes, Trevor Davis, Karl Westwood & Ivor Bosanko - some great songs, a wonderful testimony from Zara Rose  Stone....band, songsters, YP Band and a double helping of singing company...oh...and even the Cobham Chorus for good measure! ...And if that's not enough there's bible teaching about being JOYFUL and how to deal with all the DOOM AND GLOOM that surrounds us every day! Christians have been blessed with the best GOOD NEWS of all - the Gospel of Jesus - so share it!  Avoid doom and gloom - and share a smile!  

"Which Way are YOU Going?"   This Salvation Meeting - the 35th in the series I have produced for Fortress Radio since the Covid-19 Pandemic struck in March 2020 - is all about walking our life's pathways with Jesus.Do you walk with Him?  Talk with Him? There are many times when it is difficult for all of us - and many of us have been directly affected by the virus, of course.Rest assured, that whatever might happen to us here on Earth we, as Christians, are always promised a joyous eternity in Heaven with our Lord and Saviour.Some parts of the meeting are based on some writing I encountered earlier in the week by Commissioner Harry Read - and we also hear his lovely song 'Become Aware of Him'.The band piece is an all-time classic, Ray Steadman-Allen's 'In Quiet Pastures' and some of the songs from that piece are either sung in the service or referenced in my talk.Other music is provided by groups including Wood Green Singing Company, the International Staff Band and Songsters, the Canadian Staff Band, The Melbourne Veterans Band - and there is a lovely solo from Canadian Salvationist Dayna Curtis.  All that - and an excerpt from a much-loved Gowans/Larsson musical.God bless you all - and thank you for listening.Marc

Salvation Meeting (34) for Fortress Radio "Jesus - our Foundation"   This meeting, the 34th in the series I have prepared for Fortress Radio since March 2020, the start of the Covid pandemic, is centred around i Corinthians ch 3 - in which the Apostle Paul exhorts the younf church in Corinth to stop bickering about trivialities and ensure they build on a solid foundation.Songs include 'I Dare to Be Different', 'How Firm a Foundation" and "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand."  Musical items, by Norwich Citadel Band, Canadian group 'Witness', cornet soloist David Daws and the Southern Youth Chorus include favourites such as 'Total Praise', 'A New World' and Norman Bearcroft's 'Songs of Testimony'.  Portsmouth Citadel Singing Company remind us of the foollish man who built his house on 'Sandy Land'.This ministry continues to be listened to right round the world both on Fortress Radio and here in the Podcast version.  Feedback is always welcome as are requests for songs or items - or you might want to record a word of personal testimony and become part of a meeting yourself?

  "Epiphany" One of my friends posted this week that he likes to 'linger a little longer at the manger' at Christmas each year. Well, today is only '10 Lords a Leaping' day, I think - so our first Salvation Meeting of 2021 this evening has a distinctly 'Epiphany' theme - and the terms 'Worship and Adoration' would make a suitable title for the meeting. Music comes from Pasadena Tabernacle Band, Regent Hall Band, Ilford Songsters, The International Staff Band & Songsters, East London Youth Chorus - and The Joystrings. Wave goodbye to the Christmas season this year with the Wise Men - bowing at the feet of the Son of Man.This is 33rd meeting prepared for Fortress Radio since the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic by Bandmaster Marc Harry of Lincoln Salvation Army, UK Territory.  Marc is well-known as a euphonium soloist, singer, pianist and songwriter and also hosts the (now occasional) "Going to the Army!" Podcast.

Welcome to the Fortress Radio/Going to the Army Carol Service 2020   I am delighted to invite you to join with the listeners from Fortress Radio to tonight's 'meeting' - the 32nd Sunday Evening Service I have been privileged to record and share with you since March 2020.The world this year has changed so very much - but God's Love for the world He made is the same today as it was then - in fact, I believe He is holiding our world even tighter as it lurches from crisis to crisis in this unique year.Tonight we join with the musicians of the Norwich area, East Anglia for our Carol Service - as much of the material for tonight's service is taken from a CD I was privileged to make with them a few years ago - titled 'Joy to the World'.Tonight, I wanted us to all be able to simply sit back, relax in God’s presence and celebrate Christmas in a quite traditional way.  There will be carols, readings and musical items as we spend this hour together – united in our love for the Lord and our prayers that the world would simply ALLOW Him to be the answer to all the problems it seeks answers for!So, I speak a little less than usual - but am grateful for help from Stuart Hall, the owner of Fortress Radio and his wife Lorraine - who have contributed readings.  Also to Kaytie Harding, Jane Brill, Ira Thomas and Sharon Kent who have made a new recording of 'Mary, Did You Know' that we are featuring.  You will also hear the International Staff Band and Songsters, The Sunbury Junior Singers, Hendon Corps and Chalk Farm Band with musical items.The service also includes my own song 'My Christmas Wish' - the title track of my 2001 CD.God bless you all - and may we all have a Wonderful, blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.Marc  

Salvation Meeting (31) - 13th December 2020 (Advent 3)   This meeting, the 31st in the series produced for Fortress Radio in 2020, marks the 3rd Sunday of Advent.   In a world that needs Jesus more than ever before Christians are praying for the world to turn to its Saviour as we prepare to celebrate His birth.The meeting has some great Salvation Army songs, Songster and Singing Company music and one of the greatest brass band pieces ever composed, from the pen of Eric Ball. Of course, we are also preparing ourselves for Christ's return - the Second Coming - or Second Advent, as I refer to it.  We look at Isaiah's prophecy  and are left with the words of Major Joy Webb's beautiful song "Come into our World - NOW, Lord Jesus"

The Songsters are back with a short series of Christmas Car Share.. This time George shares some Christmas Tips to make buying presents less stressful(maybe) and then Songster Leader Lesley car shares with Emma from the Soprano section

The Songsters are back with a short series of Christmas Car Share.. This time Steph shares some Christmas Tips to help make wrapping presents less stressful(maybe) and then Deputy Leader Lucy car shares with Matthew from the Bass section

Hear Ben Thomas of All Things Business UK give his monthly round-up, followed by 'Singing Solicitor' Kevin Rogers of Wilson Browne Solicitors and some fellow 'Santa Songsters" - Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce's Kate Denne and Scott Norville of Silverstone Fleet Management #WeAreSFM - explaining how and why they are putting a smile on all our faces to get us in the Christmas mood. Originally broadcast on Open4Business on NLive Radio 1stDecember 2020 - https://nliveradio.com/shows/open-for-business/

Praise and Salvation Meeting (29) - 29th November 2020This is my latest meeting produced for  Fortress Radio - the 29th such meeting I've been privileged to make this year. This week's PRAISE and TESTIMONY meeting includes an enjoyable mix of band, songster and singing company music, some grand songs and a quite remarkable testimony and solo from Kaytie Harding Great songs of praise and testimony - Bible teaching from Ephesians, a Gowans Larsson classic Band Selection, songster songs and an amazing testimony!  Finally, one of the Army's greatest marches to conclude after the Benediction I continue to be both amazed and thoroughly blessed by the way 2020 has opened up a whole new avenue of service and ministry that God has led me into in this strangest of all strange years.

Tonight's Salvation Meeting for Fortress Radio is all about TRUST. This, the 28th meeting in the series that I have prepared most weeks since lockdown began in March 2020. God is using this online ministry in ways I - and many others - could never have imagined and I count it both a great privilege and responsibility to have this opportunity and to be part of this tremendous witness. Music this evening includes items from Coventry City Singing Company, Norwich Citadel Songsters and the Household Troops Band. There are some truly wonderful songs included with a brand new recording of an old favourite from me. The band item is an Eric Ball Classic and other music includes 'Christ is All' and 'I Know a Fount'. The band even play The Red Shield after the benediction! Join me at 6pm tonight or on the "Going to the Army!" podcast site soon afterwards. God bless you all. Marc

Remembrance Sunday - Prayer Tonight's meeting for Fortress Radio has a dual focus - Praying, particularly for Peace in the world and we also mark Remembrance Day, of course. As usual, plenty of great songs/hymns and items from the ISB, Portsmouth Citade Songsters, Worthing Singing Company  and the Southern Territorial Songsters as well as the voices of Kaytie Harding and Gail Dickson and the playing of Howard J Evans and John Starkes. Prayers are led by Chris and Jo Lyons (Gainsborough) and  readings and prayers from Stephen Poxon and Ivan Stead (Grimsby). ...And something new - a drama item featuring my son Ieuan Harry!

I Want to Live Right!   This week's Salvation Meeting (the 26th in the series!) for Fortress Radio is largely based on the old chorus 'I Want to Live Right'. Some great Army and church songs & hymns; Kettering Citadel Band and Hendon Songsters, the East London Youth Chorus, Jude Gotrich and US (South) contemporary group 'Transmission' priovide musical items while the 'testimony' is directly from the mouth of St Paul!  Major Chris Herbert opens the meeting in prayer.

The Songster's podcast continues this week with Edwina, one of the Deputy Leaders, providing singing tips to help keep your voice in shape while we cannot sing as a choir. She then has a conversation with Adam, a member of the group, and asks those all important questions.

Gowans and Larsson Special This week's Salvation Meeting - the 25th in the series of meetings prepared since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic - uses songs and other music written by (or based on songs by) Generals John Gowans and John Larsson. Young composer/officer John Larsson was teamed with another poet/officer John Gowans in the 1960s to work together on a 'new venture' for The Salvation Army: they were asked to write a stage musical.  The result was 'Take Over Bid' - a greatsuccess. The rest, as they say, is history! TEN very successful musicals later and many, many songs added to the Army's songbooks both young officers rose through the ranks eventually to the top rank of all - and their music and lyrics have become an intrinsic part of every Salvationist's life. This evening all the music featured in the meeting is from their pens - but there is more than that...much of the spoken content of the meeting is also directly from the 'Two Johns'.Music used in this meeting include Hundreds and Thousands - in a vintage LP recording from 1972 by the Goulburn Singing Company, 'Bill Broughton's 'Gowans and Larsson Overture' played by the Enfield Citadel Band and 'I'll Not Turn Back' by Portsmouth Citadel Songsters...as well as a very fine testimony from our friend Freddie - who has always struggled to keep himself on the 'straight and narrow'...Several of John Gowans's own poems are included, read by the author - and the sermon is led by General Larsson.  

"Going to the Army!" is a podcast series featuring Salvation Army music. This 37th Episode is for October 2020 and continues the "Going to the Army!" ministry, which is now in its 7th year of broadcasting. My sincere apologies to any listeners who may think the GttA podcast has taken a bit of a 'back seat' this year as I have found and been developing a new ministry through the Salvation Meetings produced in partnership with Fortress Radio. Hopefully, as time goes by, we can continue to produce both. This episode (bringing the total number of podcasts produced to over 60 in total, including the Salvation Meetings and seasonal specials) features bands, songsters, Youth Choruses, a massed item from the Royal Albert Hall, and soloists including Susan Turner and Al Avery - all sharing with us music from the vast Salvation Army repertoire. There is no overall theme for this episode but a reminder of how, why and when "Going to the Army!" first began back in 2013. Composers featured include Arthur Gullidge, Joy Webb, Eric Ball, Paul Lovatt-Cooper, Howard Davies, Bramwell Coles and William Himes. A feature that continues with this episode is the inclusion of a special segment to highlight famous SA soloists , both vocal and instrumental. Featured soloists this time include the great euphonium player Derick Kane and Katie Harding (former International Staff Songster). If you have a favourite soloist you would like to hear please send me an email to marc@marcharry.com and I will try to source a recording, if one exists. Originally begun for just a few friends and family members GttA has become SO MUCH MORE than that. The Episodes and 'specials' have been listened to or downloaded HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of times in all continents and more than 50 countries throughout the world - and has been played to even more by listeners who share them with family, church shut-ins and other friends who do not have access to the internet. This new podcast continues the ever-growing ministry of GttA around the world and features both new songs and pieces and others that have been well-loved and very well-blessed for many years throughout the Salvation Army World. I am particularly grateful to people who send me requests for items they would like featured on GttA. "Going to the Army!" has also grown far more than I ever envisaged or even hoped! As a result we have needed to upgrade the hosting service on Podomatic many times and the renewal costs are now quite substantial - however donations to theis ministry have been generously made and continue - particularly as a result of a recent JustGiving appeal. I am hoping to complete work on a new, purpose-built stuidion to continue and expand my ministry further in the coming days. Any further donations to this ministry are gratefully received and my be sent via PayPal through the link on the right hand side of the podcast's main page at: www.goingtothearmy.podomatic.com The "Going to the Army" Facebook group recently passed 4,100 members from all around the world. "They shall come from the East, They shall come from the West and sit down in the Kingdom of God". Hallelujah! Much of the featured music is from my own transfers of old SA LPs, 78s and cassettes but some CD and original recordings are also included. Presented by lifelong Salvationist musician and actor Marc Harry this podcast features music by bands, songsters, singing companies and soloists. In addition, background information about the music, the Salvation Army and the presenter's own experiences are included. Feedback is welcomed - as are requests for songs/pieces that can be considered for future podcasts. - either here, on this page or to goingtothearmy@marcharry.com

The Songster's podcast continues this week with the Leader, Lesley providing singing tips to help keep your voice in shape while we cannot sing as a choir. She then has a conversation with Caroline, a member of the group, and asks those all important questions.

Always Shine For Him This week's Salvation Meeting - the 24th in the series of meetings prepared since the start of the Caronavirus Pandemic - has a rather 'celebratory' feel about it.  we are celebrating LOVE - not just the wonderful, life-changing love of God for us but also various aspects of our own 'human love'.   This week our family has marked birthdays and anniversaries (including my own and that of my youngest daughter) and it has also been the 40th wedding anniversary of two of our most loyal listeners - one of whom reads the bible for us this week.  We concentrate on 1 Corinthians 13 - the 'love chapter', as it is often known...in a week of birthdays and anniversaries we celebrate the love of a family - as well as the love of God - and how we need to shine for Him in this world of darkness. With music from the ISB and ISS as well as the Sunbury Junior Singers, we have guest contributors: Estelle Blake and Jeannine Ridha (who is celebrating her own 40th Wedding Anniversary today!) and solo items from: Barbara Allen and Jared Littlewood There's even a brand new recording of a popular children's chorus thrown in for good measure by myself - I hope you enjoy some of the tricks I can do in my little studio!  I had fun doing it anyway! "Let your light so shine" (Matt 5:16)

In this new series of Podcasts, we will be offering some basic singing tips to help keep your voice in shape while we can't sing in choirs. We will also be meeting a member of our group who shares some facts that you may be interested in. This week features Deputy Leader Lucy providing the singing tips and then interviewing Rob, a member of the Bass section in the choir

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 4th October, 2020. It's the SIMPLEST thing in the whole world! Receiving Salvation! Just say to Jesus "I love You. I trust you." Objective achieved. Yet, we seem to overcomplicate everything...the old acronym was K I S S - Keep It Simple, Stupid! Songs this evening include 'Hallelujah to the Lamb', 'Since Jesus Came Into My Heart' and 'Just as I Am'. Musical items are provided by ther International Staff Band and Songsters, Chicago Staff and Chalk Farm Bands (soloist: Ray Todd), Southampton Shirley Singing Company and Jude Gotrich. "Enter - Enter - Right into my heart, Lord - Enter now..."

Harvest Festival - Songs of Praise Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 20th September, 2020. This week's service is part of a day of celebration on Fortress Radio marking the Harvest Festival - as we thank God for all His goodness to us throughout the year It features music by Kettering Citadel Singing Company, the Enfield Citadel Band, Canadian Massed Bands and Choir, United Youth Choruses of the UK Territory, The London Singers, John Gowans, The Melbourne Veterans Band and more. There are also powerful prayers, bible teaching and some truly fabulous songs of praise to our wonderful Lord and Creator. Join us and enjoy taking part in this hour of fellowship! Throughout the world we are in the grip of a dreadful pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc with the day to lives of countless millions of people. One of the consequences is the fact that we cannot, for the time being, meet in worship in our churches and Salvation Army corps. So FORTRESS RADIO has stepped in to provide two 'meetings' each Sunday at least for the duration of the curfews and lockdowns. I am pleased to be preparing the evening - or Salvation Meeting each week and the twentieth of these has just been broadcast this evening. This is the meeting as it was broadcast. I am sharing the meeting here so people can listen again if they wish or hear it in places where Fortress Radio is unavailable.

CONQUERING DEATH! Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 13th September, 2020. This week's service continues the short series of meetings based on the miracles of Jesus - this week - Conquering Death (The Widow of Nain) It features music by the International Staff Band, The International Staff Songsters, Norridge Citadel Band with vocal group Onward, Pendleton Band and the Portsmouth Citadel Songsters, The Sunbury Junior Singers and the Norfolk Fellowship Brass. There are also powerful prayers, bible teaching and some truly fabulous songs. Join us and enjoy taking part in this hour of fellowship! Throughout the world we are in the grip of a dreadful pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc with the day to lives of countless millions of people. One of the consequences is the fact that we cannot, for the time being, meet in worship in our churches and Salvation Army corps. So FORTRESS RADIO has stepped in to provide two 'meetings' each Sunday at least for the duration of the curfews and lockdowns. I am pleased to be preparing the evening - or Salvation Meeting each week and the twentieth of these has just been broadcast this evening. This is the meeting as it was broadcast. I am sharing the meeting here so people can listen again if they wish or hear it in places where Fortress Radio is unavailable.

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 6th September, 2020. This week's service continues the short series of meetings based on the miracles of Jesus - this week - Stilling the Storm It features music by the Wellington Citadel Band, The Amsterdam Staff Band, The International Staff Songsters, The USA Western Territory Songsters and the Portsmouth Citadel Songsters, The London Singers and the Former Students of the National Music School at Cobham Hall. There are also powerful prayers - including almost 40 prayer requests, bible teaching and some truly fabulous songs. Join us and enjoy taking part in this hour of fellowship! Throughout the world we are in the grip of a dreadful pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc with the day to lives of countless millions of people. One of the consequences is the fact that we cannot, for the time being, meet in worship in our churches and Salvation Army corps. So FORTRESS RADIO has stepped in to provide two 'meetings' each Sunday at least for the duration of the curfews and lockdowns. I am pleased to be preparing the evening - or Salvation Meeting each week and the twentieth of these has just been broadcast this evening. This is the meeting as it was broadcast. I am sharing the meeting here so people can listen again if they wish or hear it in places where Fortress Radio is unavailable.

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 9th August, 2020. This week's service marks the start of a short series of meetings based on the miracles of Jesus - this week - Water into Wine It features music by the Mont Clair, and The Bristol Easton Band, The International Staff Songsters and The Male Voices of the Norwich Citadel Band, The Exeter Temple Singing Company and as there is a wonderful testimony by Ruth Dutfield - who reflects on the 30th anniversary of the sudden Promotion to Glory of her brother Gareth who was such a loved salvation Army character. There are also powerful prayers, bible teaching and some truly fabulous songs. Join us and enjoy taking part in this hour of fellowship! Throughout the world we are in the grip of a dreadful pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc with the day to lives of countless millions of people. One of the consequences is the fact that we cannot, for the time being, meet in worship in our churches and Salvation Army corps. So FORTRESS RADIO has stepped in to provide two 'meetings' each Sunday at least for the duration of the curfews and lockdowns. I am pleased to be preparing the evening - or Salvation Meeting each week and the eighteenth of these has just been broadcast this evening. This is the meeting as it was broadcast. I am sharing the meeting here so people can listen again if they wish or hear it in places where Fortress Radio is unavailable.

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, PRAISE, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 2nd August, 2020. This week - in response to requests from listeners we are enjoying a good Salvation Army Praise Meeting - such as we used to enjoy on a Sunday between our roast dinners and granny's great Sunday tea! It features music by the International Staff Band, Birmingham Citadel Young Peoples Band and Songsters, Wood Green and Portsmouth singing companies, Norwich Citadel & Portsmouth Citadel bands as well as the Norfolk Fellowship Band and Kenya East Ladies band who have aided our congregational singing – and, in addition, the Solid Rock Band. There are also powerful prayers, bible teaching and some truly fabulous songs. Join us and enjoy taking part in this hour of fellowship! Throughout the world we are in the grip of a dreadful pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc with the day to lives of countless millions of people. One of the consequences is the fact that we cannot, for the time being, meet in worship in our churches and Salvation Army corps. So FORTRESS RADIO has stepped in to provide two 'meetings' each Sunday at least for the duration of the curfews and lockdowns. I am pleased to be preparing the evening - or Salvation Meeting each week and the seventeenth of these has just been broadcast this evening. This is the meeting as it was broadcast. I am sharing the meeting here so people can listen again if they wish or hear it in places where Fortress Radio is unavailable.

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 26th July, 2020. The theme of this week's service is 'Banners Floating High! It features music by the Melbourne Staff Band, and The Norfolk Fellowship Band, The Agincourt Temple Songsters and The Hammond Family Band, The Boscombe Singing Company and as well as Tristan and Mandy Lanceley, who also testify. There are also powerful prayers, bible teaching and some truly fabulous songs. Join us and enjoy taking part in this hour of fellowship! Throughout the world we are in the grip of a dreadful pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc with the day to lives of countless millions of people. One of the consequences is the fact that we cannot, for the time being, meet in worship in our churches and Salvation Army corps. So FORTRESS RADIO has stepped in to provide two 'meetings' each Sunday at least for the duration of the curfews and lockdowns. I am pleased to be preparing the evening - or Salvation Meeting each week and the tenth of these has just been broadcast this evening. This is the meeting as it was broadcast. I am sharing the meeting here so people can listen again if they wish or hear it in places where Fortress Radio is unavailable.

Welcome to another 65 minutes of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 5th July, 2020. The theme of this week's service is 'JESUS - the Lamb of God' - what a subject! It features music by the Chicago Staff Band, and The Egon Virtuoso Bands, The International Staff Songsters and Pasadena Songsters, The Sunbury Junior Singers and a the Southern Singers as well as powerful prayers, bible teaching and some truly fabulous songs. Join us and enjoy taking part in this hour of fellowship! Throughout the world we are in the grip of a dreadful pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is wreaking havoc with the day to lives of countless millions of people. One of the consequences is the fact that we cannot, for the time being, meet in worship in our churches and Salvation Army corps. So FORTRESS RADIO has stepped in to provide two 'meetings' each Sunday at least for the duration of the curfews and lockdowns. I am pleased to be preparing the evening - or Salvation Meeting each week and the tenth of these has just been broadcast this evening. This is the meeting as it was broadcast. I am sharing the meeting here so people can listen again if they wish or hear it in places where Fortress Radio is unavailable.