“Good evening and welcome to Time For The Blues…”
I’m not sure I can count the number of times I’ve had the pleasure of saying that to our audience. It may have been the first full sentence I ever said as a child. That’s how long I’ve been saying it, but I still get a thrill whenever I get the chance.
I’ve been in a reflective mood since our 16th Anniversary Show, and I’ve been looking back at some of the things we’ve played and a lot of the things we haven’t played yet and I wonder how much of this great blues music will we be able to share with you over the next 16 years.
So, Henry and I hope you will tune in this Saturday night, August 20th, at 9:00 as we bring you more of the kind of music you love and the jokes that make you groan. This week, we’ve got a look at one of the all-time greats, Koko Taylor, and a look back at some things we missed the first time around.
Everybody knows Koko Taylor now, but there was a time when she had found herself on the outside of the business looking for a way in. She had recorded a couple of albums but they had not sold very well, and she found herself in dire straits. For years she was just Cora Taylor who made a living cleaning people’s houses.
Somehow she managed to get to Bruce Iglauer, the head of Alligator Records and eventually got him to produce and release an album of hers and the blues world went mad for her talent. (By the way, if you haven’t read Iglauer’s book, Bitten By The Blues, I highly recommend it. Trust me, you’ll love it!)
Well, over the years, we’ve featured some of Taylor’s work here and there, but this week, she gets her own showcase. We’ve got a few sides from her digital album, The Best of Koko Taylor. To the best of my knowledge, it’s only available from the Alligator website, but if you love Koko Taylor (and who doesn’t?), I suggest you go and download it post haste.
Our next spotlight falls on the duo of Peter Karp and Sue Foley. We’ve featured each of these great artists in individual sets, but somehow we missed them when they teamed up. Well, this week, we rectify that oversight and are bringing you tracks from their two albums together: He Said She Said and Beyond the Crossroads. Both are available on Blind Pig.
But there is still more. Henry isn’t finished with The Rides just yet, so we’ve got one more side from them, plus another group noted for their using the blues as a gateway to their own music, Led Zepplin.
And there is still more.
We have a song from our pal Eliza Neals from her latest album and we’ll have more from her in due time. And we’ve got one more, a tune from Liz Mandville-Greeson.
Henry Cook and I will be glad to have your company if you care to join us at 9:00 this Saturday night. That’s August 20th, and you can find us on one of these great VPM Stations: 89.1 WCNV, Heathsville; 90.1 WMVE, Chase City; and the flagships, 93.1 and 107.3 VPM-Music and 88.9 HD2, Richmond, and streaming online at VPM.org where it’s always Time For The Blues!