October 2006 Rambling Podcast

I've been toying with the idea of doing a podcast for a while, and after acquiring the necessary software and doing a first selection of music, I'm finally ready to release my first attempt at a downloadable, portable radio show. I call it the Rambling Podcast. The first show is available here : Rambling Podcast #1.

It's quite a large mp3 file, around 45Mo, si I'd strongly recommend downloading it rather than listening to it streaming as this can lead to glitches and doesn't allow you to skip forward or backwards easily. So, right click on the link, Save Target As... and be patient ! Depending on your available download bandwidth, downloading the whole file may take from ten minutes to over half an hour, so do it while you're working on something else and then listen to it ! I just tested it from my connexion at home and it took 29 minutes to download. It's been pointed out to me that there are still people on dial-up connections out there. If you're one of them, dowloading this could take something like 6 hours. You've been warned !

I've never been very keen on illegal music downloads. I understand why people do it, and I dispute the idea that it's killing the industry (I think the industry is killing itself brilliantly with no need for outside help) but I've never been a fan myself, I like my CDs too much. I know that many podcasts out there don't give a damn about music rights and just use the music, but I wanted to avoid that as much as possible, even though I have no illusions on the limited ditribution of the Rambling Podcast.

The compromise I've found is as follows : all music featured on the Rambling Podcast will either be sourced from unreleased non-commercial bootlegs or be included with the express authorisation of the artists. It's probably still a step on the wrong side of the law, but at least I'm not infringing on the major label's copyright. As for the artists, as much as humanly feasible, I will promote their commercial work and hope that if you enjoy what you hear you will go and purchase their records.

As to contents, in this first "show" you will hear little of my voice and lots of music, and that's the way I like it to be although I don't exclude the possibility of short interview segments in the future, depending on availability, of course. Since one of the main entry points of this blog is the harmonica, the Rambling Podcast will feature harmonica, but not only. I listen to a lot of music that doesn't feature harmonica, and these are things I want to share with you too; additionally, as I often tell my harmonica students, it's not good to listen to one instrument to the point that you lose sight of the music. Ooops, here's me rambling again...

Anyway, here's for the detailed tracklist and artist detail of this first show (You can also  download a text playlist indicating sources here) :

• El Fish - Rail Roll Love Song: The opening number is an amazing rock number by late Belgian band El Fish. It's a track called Rail Roll Love Song, and the version presented here is a live rendition recorded in Luxemburg in 1998. It's a little rough round the edges with some saturation, as bootlegs are often prone to be, but the energy of the band and the virtuosity of its harp player more than compensates ! Wait for the eastern flavoured middle section ! Steven de Bruyn (the harp player) now fronts his own band, The Rhythm Junks. They have released one album (Virus B-23) and have a second on the way. There are contacts on their website through which, I believe, you can still get hold of El Fish's Rewinder (the album on which the studio version of this song is to be found) as well as Steven's more recent work.
• The Derek Trucks Band - Greensleeves: I don't need to mention again my love of the DTB. I discovered their wild jazz-rock version of the classical chestnut Greensleeves live in Paris earlier this year and I've loved it ever since. This rendition is from a live radio show in August 2006 on NPR. You can still listen to the whole show streaming at the NPR archive. Greensleeves is not featured on any of the studio or live albums by the Derek Trucks Band yet, but you can find it on the excellent live DVD The Derek Trucks Band - Songlines Live! If you're into bootlegs, you can also knock yourself out listening to one of over 400 live shows of the DTB legally stored at the Live Music Archive.
• The Jeff Beck Group - Ain't No Sunshine: One doesn't introduce Jeff Beck, guitarist extraordinaire and staple of 70s rock, despite still being in activity today. His best work in my opinion was in those early days and this track, taken from a 1972 radio show is a slow and intense rendition of the Bill Withers classic Ain't No Sunshine. According to my edition of Pete Frame's Complete Rock Family Trees, the excellent vocalist heard here is Bobby Tench. This particular (and in my mind, excellent) version of the Jeff Beck Group recorded two albums, Rough & Ready and Jeff Beck Group.
• Willie Dixon & the Chicago Blues Allstars - Rock Me: Willie Dixon certainly wasn't the best of vocalists but he was the consummate bluesman, and as this slow and powerful interpretation of the blues classic Rock Me demonstrates, he knew who to play with and how to get them to play right. It's especially telling that Sugar Blue, a harmonica player whose virtuosity was both his greatest asset and his most blatant weakness is heard here in control, energetic but not wild, and most importantly, appropriate to the material. This track is from a 1982 show of the Chicago Allstars in Montreal. There is only one - out of print - album of Willie Dixon's featuring Sugar Blue, the 1988 release Hidden Charms, but if you want to check out Dixon in fine company and at the height of his powers both as a singer and a bassist, you could do worse than acquire Aux Trois Mailletz. As for Sugar Blue, while his Alligator releases are, in my opinion, nothing to write home about, his early 80s work as collected on the also out of print From Paris to Chicago are well worth hunting down.
• Oscar Peterson Trio - Hymn to Freedom: This piece is undoubtedly one of the most moving in my jazz collection. This version of Hymn to Freedom is performed live in Stockholm in 1967 and Oscar Peterson is accompanied by Sam Jones (b) and Bobby Durham (d). The original release of this beautiful and intense ballad is to be found on Night Train, the bluesiest of Peterson's albums and a very accessible entry point into his discography.
• Scrapomatic - Ain't Nohting Wrong with Me: Scrapomatic is a blues-ish duo formed of the articulate Paul Olsen on guitar and vocals and the superb Mike Mattison on vocals. Mike is the resident vocalist of the Derek Trucks Band, which is how I discovered him, but this side project is more than worth the attention. I reviewed Scrapomatic's excellent first album Scrapomatic last year (you can find the review here), and the second one, Alligator Love Cry has only been out a few weeks and is not yet in my hands. Ain't Nothing Wrong with Me is from an October 2004 gig which can be found in extenso and legally on the Live Music Archive, alongside several other Scrapomatic gigs.
• Michel Herblin - Jacava: Michel Herblin is one of the most amazing musicians I know, and his instrument happens to be the diatonic harmonica. He's had a rough time these last few years, and his only commercially released album Matin aux Pommes is out of print, altough you can find one of the tracks from that CD, Voices, on the harmonica compilation Inspiration: 22 Harmonica Performances. However, he sells directly what he calls his "outtakes", live or homemade recordings he burns himself and sends over in exchange for money. The musical styles represented are varied, from musette (as featured here) to mediaeval ballads, romantic instrumentals, blues, jazz, etc. If you're interested in his music, get in touch with him at http://www.herblin.com. As a bonus, you'll probably get custom CD wrappers made out of gitane cigarette packs !

And that's it for the first Rambling Podcast. I especially want to thank Michel Herblin for allowing me to use the only commercially available release of Jacava and to Bill Barrett for letting me to use the intro and outro from his amazing piece Corn on the Cob (Available on Brother Weasel's Swingin' & Groovin' - Dennis pointed out that could easily and cheaply get hold of that record here) as a jingle for the show. Oh, and for being the oddly shaped character on the logo, although he gave no authorisations for that. It'll teach him about goofing around with a camera !

I will try and maintain a monthly rate of release of Rambling Podcasts, but it's a lot of work, so don't hold it against me if I don't quite manage it. Most importantly, if you enjoyed it please post comments and/or send me emails of remarks, queries and encouragement, since this is a heavy investment in time for me.

Also, I hate saying this, but maintaining this blog actually costs quite a bit of money each month and if this podcast is successful it will cost more as I'll need to up the bandwidth. The only way for me to recoup it is through Amazon Affiliation, so a good way of supporting Harmonica Ramblings at no additional cost to you is to purchase records (or anything else, for that matter) on Amazon by clicking either on the album links in the text or on the banner visible on the right of this page. Once you do that, anything you purchase on that session from Amazon will earn Harmonica Ramblings a small % of the value of the products purchased. For now, it's far from compensating the subscription costs for the blog, but I can hope, right ?

Comments

[Benoit]

Mille merci...que du bonheur ! Voilà une idée lumineuse qui risque de rendre accro de ce podcast !

[JP]

Very nice! Thanks for that. I think it's very cool you've started a 'cast. As for suggestions, right off the bat I'd say bring the volume of your speaking voice up. A.) It's hard to hear it over the theme and B.) I had to turn up the volume in between songs to hear you speak. Also, instead of posting the song list directly to the blog, you could make it a separate, downloadable file, like a text file or a PDF. Just my two cents. Otherwise, I loved the music. I'm sure you'll keep us posted on how the blog goes. Also, it's good you mention the Amazon links. I just recently bought a CD you'd recommended here but did not know you received any money from the click-thru. Had I known that, I would have been sure to purchase it after clicking over from your site. I'll keep it in mind in the future.

[Ben Felten]

Thanks for the comments, Benoît and JP. About the voice levels, duly noted. I hear myself well, but then again I tend to know what I'm going to say before hand. Regarding the playlist, it's an excellent suggestion that goes well with another made earlier today by email, indicating time signatures. I'll try and do that tonight and edit the post.

Out of curiosity, what was the CD you purchased ?

[JP]

It was the Harmonica Swing CD, which I first heard about right here. I'm dying to receive it!

[Bill Barrett]

Thanks for turning me onto more amazing music Ben.

It's a cool show & very ecclectic; from Musette to Indo-Blues to El Fish's odyssey from the Mississippi to Tigris and Euphrates

Jacava is beautiful. I'm going to start the searching for Matin aux Pommes. i must have some Michel Herblin.

Steven DeBruyn is insane! I'm anxious to hear the new Rhythm Junks record and your next show.

Thanks for including my tune.

Bill

[Charlie]

Tu vois cher Benoît que l'on peut rester "accro" du vinyle et venir de temps en temps prendre son pied en écoutant ce Rambling podcast...
Merci a toi , c'est fabuleux !
Charlie ( harmonicaland member)

[Brad Smith]

I like the podcasts