Joined: 19 Sep 2003 Posts: 646 Location: City of Trees, USA
Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:09 am Post subject: Info about "Discovering the Blues"?
Just to make sure my collection is as complete as possible, I found and bought a copy of "Discovering the Blues," dated 1997 on the Avenue Jazz label, with recordings of Robben from shows at the Ash Grove and Golden Bear in 1972. Anyone know anything about these shows, or what the other guys in the band (Nagle, Poplin, Baum) are up to these days? Or anything else about the recordings? Robben's credited on sax on some of the cuts, which puts his sax-playing days a little later than he has talked about at his Clinics. One of the producers of the CD is Jerry Goldstein, who I had the pleasure of meeting a while ago by coincidence at an education-related function. Learned from him that his film about Hendrix (in the can since he filmed it in 1969) may actually be released this year, what with decades-running rights problems, etc., finally resolved. _________________ - BlueRunner
Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 908 Location: Tampa Bay, FL
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:08 am Post subject:
There's some great slow Blues on "Discovering the Blues" and the other Avenue Jazz release "Anthology". I've always liked Robben's early recordings as much as his more recent releases.
The Anthology booklet/liner notes gives some background about these recordings and how Jimmy Witherspoon and Robben first met. Most of the recordings on these two releases were made during the 15-20 minute sets that Robben and the band (keyboardist Paul Nagle, bassist Stan Poplin and drummer Jim Baum) played before Jimmy Withspoon came on stage. They were recorded from a remote truck, owned by Jerry Goldstein ("We had our own remote truck so it was easy to record him at different venues.")
How Jimmy Witherspoon and Robben first met, according to Jerry Goldstein's account in the liner notes, "Jimmy Witherspoon was playing a gig in Northern California and Robben was the opening act on the show. 'Spoon came back to the office and started raving about this incredible teenage sax player. He said that the kid reminded him of John Coltrane. He didn't even know that he played guitar! Then 'Spoon and I went to see him again and this time Robben was on guitar. I remember 'Spoon saying 'I can't even believe this!"
Jimmy Witherspoon soon after hired Robben and his band, and they toured together for much of 1972-1974.
I have some other CDs with Stan Poplin, The Charles Ford Band's "A Reunion Live" (1983 LP, 1994 CD), "Luther Tucker & The Ford Blues Band" (recorded in 1993, released in 1995 CD), "Jimmy Witherspoon and Robben Ford Live at Notodden" (1991), "Charles Ford Band" LP (released by Arhoolie), and the Robben Ford "Blues Collection (1997 CD), which is a Blue Rock'It release of Robben's early music. All the Blue Rock'It releases are great. My favorite one is still "Fords & Friends" (1996).
I'm curious what happened to the original band members, as well. _________________ Travelling by train of thought
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Just to make sure my collection is as complete as possible, I found and bought a copy of "Discovering the Blues," dated 1997 on the Avenue Jazz label, with recordings of Robben from shows at the Ash Grove and Golden Bear in 1972. Anyone know anything about these shows, or what the other guys in the band (Nagle, Poplin, Baum) are up to these days? Or anything else about the recordings? Robben's credited on sax on some of the cuts, which puts his sax-playing days a little later than he has talked about at his Clinics. One of the producers of the CD is Jerry Goldstein, who I had the pleasure of meeting a while ago by coincidence at an education-related function. Learned from him that his film about Hendrix (in the can since he filmed it in 1969) may actually be released this year, what with decades-running rights problems, etc., finally resolved.
