Roots of rock & roll: “hillbilly & blues/R&B”

I came across this 1951 video of the great Western Swing Band, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys on Twitter recently (posted by Afropop Worldwide no less!), singing their 1930’s hit “Ida Red”  — a song first recorded a decade earlier (by Fiddlin’ Powers and Family), and has roots back to an 1878 popular song, “Sunday Night”. The video is a terrific capture of one of the seminal bands that pushed country music boundaries in the pre-World War Two era. Wills was known as the “King of Western Swing” and recorded over a 40 year period. But the song made … Continue reading

Billy Joe Shaver: videos from Buffalo show, Dec 1

I took a drive down the QEW last week to catch one of my favourite performers, the great singer and songrwriter from Waco, Texas, Billy Joe Shaver at Sportsman’s Tavern Billy’s music has always been about his life, and he has led a more than remarkable life. (www.to-music.ca/bjs.htm). A couple of videos from the night: His story about how he came up with one song: And a mix of some of the songs from the night: