All posts tagged: blues

Bedtime blues: London ‘killing off nightlife’ as UK city with strictest licensing rules

Bedtime blues: London ‘killing off nightlife’ as UK city with strictest licensing rules

Published by Sam Flores

London has the earliest council-mandated bedtime of any other city in the UK as a result of policies in nightlife districts that oppose any new bar or restaurant opening past 11pm. These strict restrictions on pubs and bars are “killing off nightlife” in the capital, experts have said, while other cities including Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds are experiencing an after-hours boom because they have more lenient rules. Councils across the capital have “core hours policies” in place, meaning that when new venues wish to open, the licensing committee is directed to refuse any openings past a certain time. In Hackney – the east London borough previously known for its vibrant nightlife – this curfew is set at 11pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends. Westminster council, which is in charge of Soho and the West End, London’s nightlife district, has a core hours policy meaning applications for new bars and restaurants opening past 11.30pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends are refused. The council has defined its main nightlife district as what it calls a …

Morgan Freeman Is Producing a Blues Album

Morgan Freeman Is Producing a Blues Album

Published by Daniella Wilson

Morgan Freeman can add record producer to his long list of accolades across his six-decade career, as the iconic actor is partnering with a collection of celebrated blues musicians to deliver a 12-song album that documents 100 years of the blues. Freeman is both the producer and narrator on the project, titled Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience. The album will release Aug. 7 through Decca Records. “Rooted in stories carried from West Africa to the American South, the blues became a testament to the unbroken human spirit, the sound of America’s past and present, and the heartbeat of a culture that refused to be forgotten,” Freeman said in a statement. The actor tapped a mixture of legendary and more contemporary blues musicians for the project, including Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’ and Shemekia Copeland. The album starts with Blind Willie Johnson’s famed “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” and covers the whole history of the blues’ evolution from the Mississippi Delta region and beyond, with covers of songs like “The Thrill Is Gone” and …

Clarence Carter dead: ‘Strokin’ blues singer was 90

Clarence Carter dead: ‘Strokin’ blues singer was 90

Published by Sam Flores

Clarence Carter, the blues and soul singer famous for songs including the raunchy hit “Strokin’” featured in Eddie Murphy’s “The Nutty Professor,” has died. Fame Recording Studios in Carter’s native Alabama announced the singer-songwriter’s death Thursday morning. In a statement shared to Facebook, the studio said Carter “was more than an artist to us,” adding he “was family.” The post did not disclose additional details about Carter’s passing, including the cause of death. Carter was 90. The Grammy-nominated musician, who was blind since age 1, was most popular in the late 1960s and early ’70s, with chart-busting hits including 1968’s romantic “Slip Away,” 1970’s “Patches” and the Christmas hit “Back Door Santa.” He released a steady stream of music through the ’90s — Carter released 22 studio albums over the course of his career — and earned two Grammy Award nominations. Carter received his first nod in 1970 for composing ex-wife Candi Staton’s single “I’d Rather Be an Old Man’s Sweetheart,” which was nominated for the rhythm & blues song category. He received his own …

Wasteful Villa’s away day blues continue with defeat at Fulham

Wasteful Villa’s away day blues continue with defeat at Fulham

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON, April 25 : Aston Villa’s poor away form will be a real concern for coach Unai Emery as they slipped up again at a venue where they have enjoyed much success of late following a 1-0 Premier League loss to Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Ryan Sessegnon’s first-half strike in the week in which he signed a contract extension settled a contest where Villa dominated possession but could manage only one shot on target as Emery’s side’s inexplicable poor form on the road continues. Fourth-placed Villa, who have reached the Europa League semi-finals, are still on track for Champions League qualification via their league position as they sit eight points above sixth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion. However, Villa have one win in their last eight away league games, a victory at Newcastle United, with their loss at Fulham a fourth defeat in that run. They had won their last six matches against Fulham and on their last two visits to Craven Cottage. “Today we have lost a very good opportunity. The players did …

A Newly Discovered Recording Lets You Hear Delta Blues Legend Robert Johnson in Stunning Clarity

A Newly Discovered Recording Lets You Hear Delta Blues Legend Robert Johnson in Stunning Clarity

Published by José Betancourt

Great swathes of rock music since the nine­teen-six­ties would nev­er have exist­ed, we’re some­times told, were it not for the record­ings of Robert John­son. Cer­tain­ly the likes of Kei­th Richards, Eric Clap­ton, Robert Plant, and Bob Dylan have nev­er hes­i­tat­ed to acknowl­edge his influ­ence. “From the first note the vibra­tions from the loud­speak­er made my hair stand up,” Dylan writes in his auto­bi­og­ra­phy of his first encounter with John­son’s music. “The stab­bing sounds from the gui­tar could almost break a win­dow. When John­son start­ed singing, he seemed like a guy who could have sprung from the head of Zeus in full armor. I imme­di­ate­ly dif­fer­en­ti­at­ed between him and any­one else I had ever heard.” Not bad for a record­ing old­er than Dylan him­self. In the ear­ly nine­teen-six­ties, the blues as John­son played it seems to have sound­ed elec­tri­fy­ing­ly rev­e­la­to­ry to the gen­er­a­tion of then-young musi­cians who man­aged to hear it, regard­less of their own ori­gins. All such record­ings date from 1936 or 1937, the fruits of just two ses­sions in makeshift Texas stu­dios over­seen by pro­duc­er …

She Knows a Place | Sophie Abramowitz

She Knows a Place | Sophie Abramowitz

Published by José Betancourt

There’s a recording I hold close, Joan Armatrading’s “Woncha Come on Home.” When the song was released in 1977, it was common for music producers to double-track vocal lines, recording two nearly identical takes and layering them on top of each other to produce a full, uniform sound. The vocals in “Woncha Come on Home,” too, are doubly layered, but with a difference. Rather than merging into a solitary fullness, Armatrading’s two voices harmonize but stay distinct, a split self shifting irresolutely between one and two parts. In “Woncha Come on Home,” thickness of voice isn’t matched by lush instrumentation. It’s just her, a guitar, and, bracing her appeal (“Oh babe, won’t ya come on home?”), the purposeful rise and fall of an mbira. On both instruments she accompanies herself. The song’s gravelly, low-register refrain, “you know I hate to be alone,” is suffused with achy warmth. Marring that warmth is a certain danger: three variations on “there’s a madman standing at the corner/And he keeps on looking at my window.” On the surface, an …

Why We Get the Winter Blues

Why We Get the Winter Blues

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s been a very long winter for those of us who live in the northeast United States. We’ve had several big snowstorms—one of which left me stuck in Arizona for several days—and a major arctic outbreak that resulted in freezing temperatures for weeks. Some states experienced their coldest winter in decades, and there were even reports from Florida of iguanas freezing and falling out of trees. But winter didn’t just bring freezing temperatures; it also brought with it a wave of seasonal depression, or what some call seasonal affective disorder, or appropriately SAD. SAD affects about 5 percent of adults, and milder forms of “winter blues” affect up to 20 percent of people. It is most common in higher latitudes, like New Hampshire, and less common in places like Florida, where it’s typically warmer (regardless of falling iguanas) but affects people all over the world. International studies, for example, have shown that while the prevalence rate for SAD is only about 3 percent in Saudi Arabia (where the sun shines reliably for most of the …

Avalanche Beat the Blues 3-1 to Clinch Central Division and Top Seed in the Western Conference

Avalanche Beat the Blues 3-1 to Clinch Central Division and Top Seed in the Western Conference

Published by Sam Flores

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin scored twice and Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Tuesday night to clinch the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference. It is the third time in five seasons, and first since 2023, that the Avalanche finished as the top team in the conference. Martin Necas also scored and Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves for Colorado, which has earned points in eight of its last 11 games. Wedgewood was shaken up midway through the third period after Philip Broberg made contact with him after being tripped by Sam Malinski. Wedgewood was driven awkwardly into the post and stayed down for several minutes, but remained in the game. Robert Thomas scored and Joel Hofer made 34 saves for the Blues, whose slim playoff hope took a hit with the loss. Colorado outshot St. Louis 17-3 in the first period and had a two-goal lead as a result. Nichushkin gave the Avalanche the lead with 3:49 left in the first and Necas made it 2-0 …

‘I was getting down with a guy and he decided to put on One Love. It was creepy’: Duncan James from Blue’s honest playlist

‘I was getting down with a guy and he decided to put on One Love. It was creepy’: Duncan James from Blue’s honest playlist

Published by Sam Flores

The song I inexplicably know all the lyrics toCan’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis – the song I sent off on tape as my audition to Blue. The song I do at karaokeI had my 30th birthday party in a karaoke bar above a Chinese restaurant. My mum was doing It’s Raining Men by Geri Halliwell, just as Geri herself walked in, so she grabbed her, brought her on stage, and went: “Sing. It’s your song.” I thought: “Mum. She’s just arrived. Chill out!” The first single I bought I spent a lot of time with my grandparents because my mum was a nurse. My gran said pop music hurt her ears, so I asked my friend Tracy to buy me something from Woolworths that my gran would approve of. She bought Sadeness (Part I) by Enigma, which has Gregorian chanting and a sexual bit where a woman sounds as if she’s having an orgasm. The first song I fell in love with I remember jumping on the sofa, doing twizzles in the air, going mad to …