JJ Cale--Crazy Mama (1972)

     John Weldon Cale was born in Oklahoma City and has had a long and successful as an singer and songwriter who's laid back style has incorporated country, jazz, and the blues. He adopted the monicker JJ as a way to distinguish himself from another John Cale who was with the Velvet Underground. Cale's is probably best known for a pair of songs covered by Eric Clapton, "After Midnight", and "Cocaine", but had this tasty slice of blues back in 1972. A story has been told that he was invited to do American Bandstand to promote the song, but refused when told that he could not bring his band, and that he would have to lip sync. He was just nominated for induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame....

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Bonnie Raitt--Runaway (1977)

     Bonnie Raitt was one of those folks who never had breakthrough success until much later in her career. She had developed her bluesy chops into a viable commercial sound, but it took 20 years for that to happen. Back in the 70's however, she was a very respected artist who was a staple on FM rock stations.

     The daughter of Broadway actor John Raitt and his first wife, pianist Marjorie Haydock and raised Quaker, Bonnie had no intention at all to perform, much less to play the blues. It wasn't until she was in college at Harvard's Radcliffe College that her ideas began to change. She had met blues promoter Dick Waterman doing a radio interview while in school, and soon afterward moved to Philadelphia to immerse herself in the blues scene there. Through Waterman she soon found herself jamming with the likes of Howlin' Wolf and Mississippi Fred McDowell.  

     Her career began with a blues/rock hybrid, with the emphasis on the blues. Her early work reflected the development to more of a mainstream sound, which produced several fine albums throughout the period and easily found a home with the newer FM rock format. "Runaway" which is a cover of the Del Shannon hit of the early 60's was her only single of the 1970's era, reaching #44 in 1977.

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Muddying the Waters...one of the great influences on Rock and Roll...

On this day in 1915, McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters was born in Mississippi. We could not have a relevant discussion about rock and roll without him. The great guitarists from the 60's who became the launching pad for all of modern rock; Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Allman, were influenced heavily by Waters. Am going to play a couple (or three) songs that he is best known for. Happy Monday all...

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