Saw "Lincoln Lawyer" this weekend with M. Mccnonaughey. The movie opens with this great Bobby Blue Bland song from 74 that I had never heard. It's made me rediscover this great blues soul singer and got me thinking about how the Stones shifted musically. This song has Jagger written all over it, not that it sounds like a Stones song, but I do get a sense of where Jagger's head may have been musically in the early to mid 70s because it was such a fertile time for soul...moving away from the more straight blues to more soul into B&B and SG and beyond. After IORR, the Stones seemed to be more influenced by soul and funk than blues. This was what made me fall in love the Stones before I knew anything about Muddy Waters - I loved their funky grooves.

Superb stuff. This is new to me, too (although Whitesnake covered it a few years later - this knocks spots off that version though, of course)

I can absolutely see where you're coming from. The Stones covered Dobie Gray's 'Drift Away' around this time too, of course.

I remember Dylan being asked in the late 70s what artists/singers he liked and he mentioned Bland right away.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-03-22 03:46 by Gazza.

Doing some research, I found that reference to Whitesnake and cannot for the life of me imagine and Ill just leave it at that because its too jarring.
But Bland is something of an under-the-radar artist it seems. He gets mentions and props, but not nearly as many as visible as some others - we don't see him at the ROck and ROll Hall of Fame shindigs, ala other soul, r&b, blues artists...but this song is fantastic. I shall purchase a complete collection this weekend.

You know Gazza, you mentioned Dylan and I immediately thought of "Gotta Serve SOmebody"....call me crazy, but that slow, rolling deep bass drum groove on the bottom and that gritty vocal delivery.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-03-22 04:24 by stupidguy2.

An all time fave is Bobby's cover of Lowell Fulson's Reconsider ....

Find the album because for some reason every Bland comp has Wayne Bennett's stunning guitar trimmed from intro .....

Total Sacrilege....



ROCKMAN

Bobby's the one in the centre ...............



ROCKMAN

great song... Graham Parker also covered it, in the '80s, along with "I Wouldn't Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me)."

Can't you just hear Keith and Taylor in those slinky opening chords and riffs, with Mick doing his best soulful strut?
Its a perfect Stones song!

Listen to Bill in 'If I was a dancer' and 'Miss You', both the dance versions from Rarities, thats funky...



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Funkiest Stones-tracks: Miss You (preferly the 12" version), Hot Stuff, Fingerprint File, Heartbreaker

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DiscoVolante
Funkiest Stones-tracks: Miss You (preferly the 12" version), Hot Stuff, Fingerprint File, Heartbreaker

Dance and ER too.

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stupidguy2
Doing some research, I found that reference to Whitesnake and cannot for the life of me imagine and Ill just leave it at that because its too jarring.
But Bland is something of an under-the-radar artist it seems. He gets mentions and props, but not nearly as many as visible as some others - we don't see him at the ROck and ROll Hall of Fame shindigs, ala other soul, r&b, blues artists...but this song is fantastic. I shall purchase a complete collection this weekend.

he was inducted into the blues hall of fame in '81, the RnRHoF in '92 and got a Grammy lifetime achievement award in '97 according to wikipedia. To be honest, thats something I didnt know because as you say he seems to be somewhat under the radar. Your thread inspired me to do some downloading on soulseek over the last few hours. He's certainly worth checking out.

'Ain't no love...' is from the superb album Dreamer. Definitley worth checking out.

The final track of the album, 'Who's foolin' who', I always thought would be great covered by the Mick/ Stones....

I saw Bobby 'Blue' Bland a number of times in the mid-90s in an intimate setting at the House of Blues in L.A. There's an open floor dance area in front of the stage and the women would flock to get close to the man. He was old by that time and couldn't hit the high notes anymore, but the women loved him. I can still hear him croon to them, "Take off your shoes if you're going to walk on my heart".

I'm not even sure if he appears at all anymore. He's 81 and we have Blues Festivals a couple times of year in the Southern California area, and I never see his name.

The beginning of this performance from '75 is so cool, funky, and soulful...

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Gazza

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stupidguy2
Doing some research, I found that reference to Whitesnake and cannot for the life of me imagine and Ill just leave it at that because its too jarring.
But Bland is something of an under-the-radar artist it seems. He gets mentions and props, but not nearly as many as visible as some others - we don't see him at the ROck and ROll Hall of Fame shindigs, ala other soul, r&b, blues artists...but this song is fantastic. I shall purchase a complete collection this weekend.

he was inducted into the blues hall of fame in '81, the RnRHoF in '92 and got a Grammy lifetime achievement award in '97 according to wikipedia. To be honest, thats something I didnt know because as you say he seems to be somewhat under the radar. Your thread inspired me to do some downloading on soulseek over the last few hours. He's certainly worth checking out.

Same here...nice thread! Picked up "His California Album" and downloaded "Dreamer"...sweet stuff.

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24FPS
I saw Bobby 'Blue' Bland a number of times in the mid-90s in an intimate setting at the House of Blues in L.A. There's an open floor dance area in front of the stage and the women would flock to get close to the man. He was old by that time and couldn't hit the high notes anymore, but the women loved him. I can still hear him croon to them, "Take off your shoes if you're going to walk on my heart".

I'm not even sure if he appears at all anymore. He's 81 and we have Blues Festivals a couple times of year in the Southern California area, and I never see his name.

i like bland, but try saying bobby blue bland 3 times fast and you can pull a muscle in your tongue.

also - later in life he develop some annoying vocal mannerisms/tics - those who have heard him perform in the past 20 years know what i mean....

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StonesTod

also - later in life he develop some annoying vocal mannerisms/tics - those who have heard him perform in the past 20 years know what i mean....

Kind of like Mick Jagger heh?

'later in life he develop some annoying vocal mannerisms/tics' - Stones Tod

Like I said, he couldn't hit the high notes and just sort of growled through them. But just to be in his presence was enough. I saw John Lee Hooker in one of his last appearances, headlining a Blue Festival, and all he did was sit on a chair and go 'Haw, Haw, Haw' through a twenty minute 'Boogie Chillen'. Still, his presence was felt. Keith's singing (See 'Learning the Game' from Zilker Park) is barely intelligible now, but still can be effective on certain songs.

inopeng, I've never heard that version of Heartbreaker! Love it... I find it interesting that even way back then RW was pretty much abandoning MT's solo and doing his own thing. The funky interlude in the middle has a different feel than the '72 versions as well.