Johnny Rawls I Miss Otis Clay (Third Street Cigar Records) It’s always a pleasure to hear new music
from Johnny Rawls. He is indeed one of the best soul-blues musicians around today. I make a point to go hear him whenever he’s in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, performing at Checkers Tavern. His new album, I Miss Otis Clay is downright spectacular. I love it from start to finish. This poignant homage to Rawls’ close friend and Blues Hall of Famer Otis Clay, is an instant favorite for me. Recorded in Toledo, Ohio, the home of Third Street Cigar Records, the album features local blues musicians: guitarist Larry ‘Mr. Entertain- ment’ Gold, bassist Johnny ‘Hi-Fi’ Newmark, key- boardist ‘Cadillac’ Dan Magers, and drummer Scott Kretzer. Also appearing on the record are The Toledo Horns comprised of Ric Wolkins on trumpet, and Mark Lemie on sax. The hot buttery soul of “California Shaking
Again’ leads off with a funky backbeat, infectious riffs, and sweet blasts of brass. Rawls’ vocals are smooth and suave for this fantastic opening track. Celebrating those contemporaries who have helped keep the art of The Blues alive, he pays an endearing tribute with “Give a Toast to the Blues”. Guaranteed to set the mood for some good loving, Rawls’ soulful, romantic two-fer “Slow Roll It” and “Motion of the Ocean” are comfortably tucked in a cozy blanket of slow- groove.
Title track, “I Miss Otis Clay”, brings a tear
to my eye, as I listen to him sing about missing his friend. In 2014, Rawls and Clay released the album Soul Brothers, which won the 2015 Blues Blast Award for Soul Album of the Year. Clay sadly passed away from a heart attack in 2016. The bar has once again been set for Soul-Blues. I Miss Otis Clay, is my favorite Johnny Rawls album to date.
-Phillip Smith
phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/
David Bowie Conversation Piece (Rhino/Parlophone) Bowie is once again celebrated with this
five-disc boxed set tracking his early development between 1968 and 1969, via his home demos, BBC radio sessions, studio recordings with gui- tarist John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson and the experi- mental music and mime group, Feathers. Conversation Piece is filled with historic tracks, including twelve previously unreleased tracks/demos: “April's Tooth of Gold,” “The Rev- erend Raymond Brown (Attends The Garden Fête on Thatchwick Green),” “When I’m Five,” “Ani- mal Farm,” “Space Oddity” (Version 2, with John “Hutch” Hutchinson), “Conversation Piece,” “Jerusalem,” “Hole In The Ground” (with George Underwood), “Space Oddity” (Morgan Studios Version – Alternative Take, with Hutchinson), “Letter To Hermione” (Early Mix), “Janine” (Early Mix) and “An Occasional Dream” (Early Mix)
Conversation Piece’s release coincides
with both the Space Oddity album and single’s 50th anniversaries. Producer and collaborator Tony Visconti personally oversaw the 2019 mix of this project. The 2019 mix of Space Oddity will also be released separately. "It was so much fun to find hidden gems of
musicianship with more time to mix the second time around," Visconti said in a news release. It’s a joy to hear the 22-year-old David Bowie here, on the cusp of world domination. A beautiful 120-page hardback book ac-
companies Conversation Piece, and features im- ages of memorabilia from the personal collection of Bowie's late former manager Ken Pitt and the David Bowie Archive. The liner notes were writ- ten by Bowie experts Mark Adams, Tris Penna, and Kevin Cann; there are additional contribu- tions from Bowie's lifelong friend George Under- wood, Visconti and others. The box contains several variations on
“Space Oddity,” including three different solo home demoes, the Mercury Records demo, UK Mono Single Edit) [2015 Remaster], and a Mor- gan Studios alternate take. Other highlights in- clude: “An Occasional Dream” (Home Demo) [2019 Remaster]; “An Occasional Dream” (with John 'Hutch' Hutchinson) [Mercury Demo]; “Silly Boy Blue” (John Peel - Top Gear) [Recorded 13.5.68]; “Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed” (BBC Radio Session D.L.T. Show); “An Occasional Dream (2009 Remaster);”
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