John Kessler

The Legend of John Henry is an iconic myth of American railroad history, a battle between man and steam drill. One of the intriguing things about the legend is that no one knows for sure if John Henry existed. At least part of the myth is based  on historical events from the mid-1800’s; some say the source lies in Alabama, others point to West Virginia, both places where significant railroad tunnels were dug.

Musicians generally get along with each other, but when their disagreements happen in public, things get interesting.

It all started when Beyonce portrayed Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records, and sang Etta’s signature song “At Last”. What got Etta angry was when Beyonce sang the song at President Obama’s inaugural dance, prompting Etta to say, “She has no business up there…singing my song that I've been singing forever…she's going to get her a—whipped!” Beyonce harbored no hard feelings and when Etta James died this year Beyonce said she was one of the greatest vocalists of our time. No one could sing “At Last” like Etta:

Tampa Red was a slide guitar pioneer who helped create the template for modern blues. His distinctive use of single-string slide melodies in the 1920’s would go on to influence virtually every slide player who followed him, including Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters.

In the days before amplification, he played a steel-bodied resonator guitar, the loudest and showiest guitar available. And he was one of the early adopters of the electric guitar, making the switch in the 1940’s.

In a foul and farcical fillip of fate, the woman who created Mother’s Day became its biggest critic. Anna Jarvis worked hard to make Mother’s Day a holiday. She started the effort in 1908, and by 1914 convinced President Woodrow Wilson to declare it an official national holiday. But nine years later, commercialization of the day had become so rampant, that she became a major opponent of the very holiday she helped create. She was actually arrested while protesting against it.

While we lament commercialization, we also don’t want to be ungrateful sons, so we adhere to the Mother’s Day ritual Record Bin Roulette-style.

Anna Jarvis worked hard to make Mother’s Day a holiday. She started the effort in 1908, and by 1914 convinced President Woodrow Wilson to declare it an official national holiday. But nine years later, commercialization of the day had become so rampant, that she became a major opponent of the very holiday she helped create. She was actually arrested while protesting against it.

This week we show our gratitude to Mom with a collection of distinguished sayings…

His life reads like a blues song … 1920’s, a young preacher playing the blues, despite his church’s opposition. Kills a man in self-defense, 2 years in prison, and comes out to team up with the best-known blues man of the day, Charley Patton.

After limited commercial success of his own, he fades from view, working on farms and railroads. Thirtyfive years later, some dedicated blues fans track him down and he begins performing around the world, finally getting recognition as a blues master.

It’s getting harder to keep a secret these days--between your ATM card, Facebook and the NSA snooping on emails and phone calls, our lives are pretty much on record in some form.  Of course people will continue to lie and try to keep secrets, but even the Secret Service couldn’t keep their Columbian Expedition under cover...

Otis Rush brought such passion and emotion to his singing and guitar playing that his music has been called “frighteningly intense”. Rush never achieved the commercial success that he might have, but along with Buddy Guy and Magic Sam, he is acknowledged to be one of the architects of the Chicago blues sound of the 1950’s and 1960’s.

For many of us singing in school or church choir was our first experience making music. By high school we had been assigned to our respective risers. BASS-- for the boys who had matured early. These tended to be football players, many with facial hair in the 9th grade. TENOR-- for those boys who were still waiting for the big change. Some tenors had voices higher than the ALTOS, who were generally more sensitive and bookish than the haughty SOPRANOS, who were generally acknowledged to be the loudest and therefore most important.

 But who would have guessed that a humble school choir could elevate a pop song to the top of the charts? Ray Stevens employed Nashville’s Oak Hill Elementary School chorus to sing on his 1970 smash hit “Everything is Beautiful”.

Sonny Boy Williamson was a blues originator who helped shape the sound of modern blues. In his life, he knew the first generation of Delta bluesmen, and would go on to see the birth of modern rock music. He played with Robert Johnson in the 1930’s, and with Eric Clapton in the 1960’s.

He was a major radio star in the 1940’s on King Biscuit Time, America’s first live blues radio show. He wrote dozens of songs that became blues standards, notably “Help Me” and “Eyesight to the Blind." He recorded “Bring It On Home” in 1963, but didn’t release it until 1966.

Aging is a high price to pay for maturity. But, getting old seems to be the only way to live a long time. One advantage of being old … you’ve already learned everything the hard way.

Charley Patton is considered by many to be the father of Delta Blues. What does that actually mean? A combination of location, timing and talent, put him at the leading edge of the new musical direction of the 1920’s. He was one of, if not the first, to play what we might recognize as blues.

This week we play Doctor, examining those practitioners of psychiatry, proctology and podiatry with our chilly stethoscopes. Now bend over a bit, this may feel a little uncomfortable…

In 1942, Alan Lomax discovered a community of musicians in North Mississippi, who played their own hybrid music that was unmistakably African-sounding. Called “Fife & Drum” music because of its military background, it hearkens back to post Civil War days, when this special and local tradition originated.

Although drumming is a central element of African music, drumming was generally banned during the slavery era. With restrictions easing after the War, and the availability of one-time military drums, Fife and Drum music became a key part of North Mississippi culture.

Pop stars and Nuns. They don’t usually go together, with some notable exceptions.

But in 1973, Sister Janet Mead, a Roman Catholic nun from Australia had an international smash hit on her hands with her single “The Lord’s Prayer."