TRICK/TREAT: MAMA, HE TREATS YOUR DAUGHTER MEAN

Change of heart here, I was originally going to do a treat track, something looked forward to, held with relish. Then I heard this, by chance, on i-pod shuffle, by Ruth Brown, remembering what an unsung talent she was, a holding post between the raw blues of Bessie and the smoother soul of Aretha, in the relative early 50s graveyard of popular music, missing most of the peak genres littered before and after. Uncertain where to place her, jump jive or straight forward big band r'n'b, with the emphasis on b, I think she needs more listens.

This song, a traditional good girl done bad belter, was based upon a song heard by the song's authors and which included the title, so the standard semi-plagiarism that has bedevilled any blues based music to this day. Ruth Brown, already successful, requested it sped up a bit, whereupon she took it to a 1952 no.1 on the r'n'b Billboard chart. (Re-recorded a decade later, she took it to 99 in the full chart.) Personally, I can do without the yelps in the original, but I prefer the full big band arrangement to the later more standard happy-clappy version.

So what of Ruth Brown? Born in 1928, she was an early recipient of the Queen of r'n'b crown, following a string of singles during the early 50s, themselves helping define Atlantic records as a label of discernment in such areas. However her star faded as the 60s beckoned, spending her time quietly in suburbia. The mid 70s saw a resurgence in her career, predominantly as an actress in films such as the iconic 'Hairspray', playing Motormouth Maybelle Stubbs, a character prominent in black (music) rights. This was then something she addressed in real life, being responsible for the idea of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, which still fights for the royalties and rights of african-american musicians in the field of r'nb. On the back of this she revived her own musical career, touring more or less until she couldn't, dying in 2006 at the age of 78. You can see her supporting Bonnie Raitt on Raitt's 1995 DVD, 'Road Tested', along with, no relation, similar legend, Charles Brown. Listen to the plaudits offered in the voice-over.

The song hasn't exactly faded from sight, being a staple still in blues (and rhythm) circles. Here is a version from 2 decades after the original: Koko Taylor,

and another 2 decades after that: Susan Tedeschi,

Ain't they all a treat?
Indulge.

POSTSCRIPT: I discover Darius of this parish featured this self-same song a mere 9 years ago. Sorry, Bro', but if it's good enough for you.....

MIDDLE: LOVE IN THE MIDDLE/RUTHIE FOSTER

I don't think Ruthie has had a mention in these pages before. She is part of a select coven of female guitar slingers of a distinctive bluesy feel that I adore. Oddly for this genre, and I mean in the "modern" day, so as to avoid upsetting the myriad fans of icons like Sister Rosetta Tharp, she is black. (A quiet pause as I quickly check I am allowed to say that.) But, yes, it is odd, with all the Bonnies and Susans that seem now to epitomise the style, even my old home-town girl prodigy, Joanne. I make this point on neither any grounds of race/ethnicity, nor of blue men (women) sing the whites authenticity, merely an observation.

With a textbook background in a gospel choir dynasty, she took the unusual career choice of a would-be musician and joined the U.S. Navy, honing her chops in forces recruitment band 'Pride'. On de-mob she headed for the big Apple, being wooed, I guess, as a latterday Tracy Chapman, before returning to her roots, both musically and geographically, Texas.

Her first album, 'Full Circle', was self-released, cutting sufficient headwind to be picked up by local label, the combination aptly/ironically titled Blue Corn, for whom she has continued to work, another 6 studio and 2 live sets appearing over the next few years. Awards were also piling up, a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy in 2009 being followed by a Best Blues (now not just contemporary) Album in 2012.  Accolades elsewhere are aplenty, continuing right up to the present, earning her a second  Koko Taylor Award for Best Traditional Female Blue artist, in 2016. So, from contemporary to traditional in just 7 years!

Stylistically I think she reminds me most of Robert Cray, although this may more be more how, like him, she has engineered a wonderful earthy soul, R'n'B meets gospel, into the sometime rigidity of the blues. I guess these were always assumptions and understatements within the idiom, the various all arising from the same source(s), but reintroduced and reiterated so as to remind that the child is ever the father to the man. (Have I lost you?)

Recent years seem to see her pushed more as a vocalist than a guitarist. Maybe not as stellar on the instrument, maybe, as her above-mentioned peers, she is no slouch, and I for one prefer the idea and image of her, plugged in and playing. To my eyes there is little less pleasure than the sight of a woman toting an electric, slung low, but that may be too much information.

So have you heard of her? If not, I hope this taster gives you appetite and that, in the middle (SWIDT!) of all these posts you can find space for her Love in the Middle. The song itself comes from 2009's 'The Truth According to Ruthie Foster'.

Buy it!

Metals: You Got The Silver

The Rolling Stones: You Got The Silver [purchase]

Susan Tedeschi: You Got The Silver [purchase]

A blast from the past to clear the palate and the plate for the second half of the week. The loose, surprisingly sparse original was the first Stones song to feature Keith Richards on solo vocal, way back on their seminal 1969 recording Let It Bleed; the cover, from modern blueswoman extraordinaire Susan Tedeschi, retains both the arrangement and the pacing of the original -- the slow start, the high wailing finish -- but tightens it up a notch throughout. Both are beautiful.

Dylan Covers: Lord Protect My Child

Susan Tedeschi: Lord Protect My Child

[purchase]

As a coverblogger specializing in folk music, I've posted dozens of Dylan covers in my day, and though there's sure to be some songs too good to pass up, my personal goal not to bring too many repeat tracks to the table this week isn't likely to be much of a challenge: even if I stick to the folkworld, I'm sure to find dozens more tracks as-yet unposted, ripe for the sharing. But sifting through the collection this afternoon, looking for Susan Tedeschi's wonderful blues cover of Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (which I've included as a bonus track below), I finally took a shine to Tedeschi's other Dylan cover, a surprise after months of false starts and half-hearted dismissal. Since I can only assume others are likely to experience their first listen as I have, I'm asking you to trust me today, folks: there's something about this cover that merits listening enough times to appreciate it.

New England blues phenomenon Susan Tedeschi is an acceptable vocalist, but she's really most notable for her blazing blues guitarwork; as such, though this is ultimately a relatively faithful rendition of Dylan's mid-eighties melody, those who listen for the vocals to match the yearning keen of Dylan's original father's prayer, originally released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3, may miss the point. And this track is also an anomaly for Tedeschi, one much slower and production-heavy, easily dismissed as one of very few weak cuts on her otherwise-stellar, unusually broad-ranging 2005 covers album Hope and Desire.

But listen again, with an open mind, and remember that Hope and Desire is predominantly a turning point for Tedeschi, one which attempts to redefine her as a frontwoman as much as her previous work defined her as a soulful guitar virtuoso. Instead of her usual raw vocals and loud blues jam guitar mastery, it is the retro gospel blues arrangement (complete with piano and choir), and the subtle touch on the slide which emerges slowly from the stew of sound after the halfway mark of the track, building to a stunningly subtle yet powerfully emotive instrumental solo, which stand out here. The subtlety is not Tedeschi's strong point -- she really shines better on blazing bluesfunk -- but that just makes the song's success all that more effective, when it comes down to it.

It helps, of course, that I consider this to be one of Dylan's most powerful songs. Maybe you have to be a father to understand, but the sentiment -- that your child could be an object of such wonderment, it makes you consider your own mortality with new stakes; that you might thus fear and pray for his safety, should you suddenly not be around -- cuts right to the heart. Turning Dylan's vocal wail into a guitar cry makes it no less powerful; indeed, splitting off the lyric from the instrument of its sentiment creates a mature tension and depth in what was once a much simpler emotional approach. For that, Tedeschi deserves her second listen, and then some.

Of course, subtlety isn't the only form of power Tedeschi has at her disposal when it comes to interpreting Dylan. As promised, here's her earlier take on another of his tunes.

Susan Tedeschi: Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

[purchase]