Quinton Claunch

Back in 2008, when we were working on the O.V. Wright Memorial Weekend, Quinton Claunch (then 87 years old) agreed to join us for lunch at what we billed as the Goldwax Rendezvous, where he would be reunited with Roosevelt Jamison, the man who introduced him to O.V. (as well as to Goldwax mainstays James Carr and The Ovations). A last minute illness forced Claunch to cancel, but we never gave up.

In 2012 (thanks to Quinton's wife Nell, his son Steve and Roosevelt's wife Linda), John Broven and I were finally able to bring them together. Over the course of a lazy August afternoon spent at Leonard's Pit Barbecue, we were enthralled by these two men as they shared their stories about the very dawn of Memphis Soul.

We didn't know it then, but this would be the last time they would see each other. Roosevelt would pass away the following Spring, falling victim to the cancer that had ravaged his brain. Just a week after Jamison's funeral, Quinton and Nell were involved in a serious automobile accident - an accident from which she would never recover. She passed away from injuries sustained in the crash in June of 2013. After being married for sixty nine years, Quinton was suddenly alone.

He would find solace in his music and began writing songs again. Incredibly, at 92 years of age, Quinton returned to Muscle Shoals (where it had all started for him some seventy years before!) to produce an album on an artist he had discovered that just 'knocked him out', a young guitar player and singer from Kentucky named Alonzo Pennington.

Released on his own revitalized Soul Trax imprint, Claunch had dedicated the entire project "to the Memory of my Beloved Wife Nell," and invited John and I back to his house this past August to listen to the song he had written about her for the album, Taste Of Heaven.

To sit there in that place, in the same room where Quinton had sat on the floor with Roosevelt, O.V. and James Carr and listened to that mythic demo tape they had cut with Earl Forest fifty years before, was an experience we will not soon forget. Incredibly, even though Claunch was recently listed in Who's Who, even though his place in American Music History is secure as one of the greatest songwriters, label owners and producers of all time, he has been unable to find a record company willing to distribute the album.

Last I heard, he was still waiting for some of the friends he thought he had in the industry to return his phone calls... he deserves better.

- red kelly, June 2015

John Németh Testifies

Testify My Love

Soul Blues, that's what they call it. Although I'm not quite sure how they make the distinction, it's a category at The Blues Foundation's annual Blues Music Awards, and one that the myopic and increasingly irrelevant Grammys should look into. In 2011, when the only place the Grammys could figure out to put Solomon Burke's phenomenal Willie Mitchell-produced last album was in it's 'Contemporary Blues' designation, it lost out (understandably so) to Buddy Guy's Living Proof which, lo and behold, actually was a Contemporary Blues album. Back in Memphis, Buddy Guy's great record won as well, but there was still room for Nothing's Impossible to win as the Soul Blues Album of the Year, and for Solomon to be named (albeit posthumously) as the Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year.

This year's round of nominees for best Soul Blues Album included Otis Clay's truly wonderful Truth Is (Putting Love Back In The Music) and the cool Dave Keller CD we talked about last time out, Soul Changes, neither of which garnered any Grammy recognition at all (despite our man Darryl Carter's involvement in both of them). Although it was Bobby Rush who took home the award for his inspired Down In Louisiana, the fact that there is this 'grey area' between Soul and The Blues where records like these can find a home does my heart good, and has greatly increased my appreciation of the work that The Blues Foundation is doing.

So, who won Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year at the 2014 awards?

John Németh. "Who?" you might ask... I know I did when I first heard the name. Well, as it turns out, Németh is well known in 'Blues Circles' not only for his big fat harmonica, but for his albums with folks like Junior Watson and Elvin Bishop. To us guys over here on the 'Soul' side, not so much. When I heard that Németh was recording at Electraphonic with our friends The Bo-Keys, it didn't ring any bells, to say the least.

I think you already know how I feel about the work Scott Bomar is doing, work which I've referred to in the past as "...the place where Memphis Soul lives."

Németh (judging from the fact that he patterned his back cover photo after the famed Ernest C. Withers shot of the B.B. King bus) is apparently a student of the music, and 'gets' that too. Not only did he choose to cut this latest CD there in The Bluff City, he moved his wife and family there as well. Just like in the days he spent with his Elbows on the Wheel, Németh's in it for the long-haul.

Memphis Grease has been holding its own near the top of the Blues Charts since its release in March, and Németh and The Bo-Keys have been out touring in support of the record. Who was this guy that now had the best of Memphis behind him? Who is it that could possibly have Percy Wiggins singing background vocals for him? I didn't know what to expect when I attended a sold-out show here on Long Island last month, packed with the usual 'Blues' crowd.

Well, I'll tell you what folks, this guy can sing! Between those impressive pipes, his top-shelf songwriting skills, and the best possible backing band on earth, there, right in front of me, was the real deal. I think you can hear that in this obvious O.V. Wright tribute we're featuring here today. With the whole front-line (even Kirk Smothers!) joining in on the vocal harmonies, and Joe Restivo's shimmering Telecaster, this is the Sound of Memphis, baby!

After the show, as the Blues boys lined up to buy CDs and T-Shirts and stuff, you could tell that Németh and the Bo-Keys had gotten their message across: Long Live The Soul Blues!

Don't miss your chance to see Németh, Percy Wiggins and the gang from South Main this Summer:

May 17: The Doheny Blues Festival w/ John Németh. Dana Point, CA
June 11: W.C. Handy Blues Festival w/ John Németh. Henderson, KY
June 15: Long's Park Summer Music Series w/ John Németh. Lancaster, PA
June 16: Hill Country Barbecue Market w/ John Németh. Brooklyn, NY
July 4: Waterfront Blues Festival w/ John Németh. Portland, OR
July 11: Ottawa Blues Fest w/ John Németh. Ottawa, ON Canada



Tell 'em Red sent ya!

Dave Keller's got Soul

17 Years

Dave Keller's last album won the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge Best Self-Produced CD Award in 2012. Backed by The Revelations and produced by Bob Perry, Where I'm Coming From wasn't a Blues album, it was a Soul album. Obviously a huge fan of the music, Dave sings his heart out on covers of some of the greatest Southern Soul tunes of all time, no doubt introducing songs originally performed by the likes of O.V. Wright, James Carr, and Clarence Carter to a whole new generation of listeners. His take on one of my own personal favorites, Darryl Carter and Bobby Womack's classic More Than I Can Stand, stays pretty close to the Chips Moman produced original until Perry and The Revelations bring things into the present day and funk things up towards the end... very cool stuff!

So how do you follow an award winning album that had also climbed to #2 on the Blues charts on Sirius XM?

Go to Memphis, of course.

Bob Perry, who had co-produced the Revelation's last album, Concrete Blues, with our friend Boo Mitchell down at Royal Studios in 2011, knew it would be a perfect fit for Dave Keller as well. Dave liked the idea so much he launched his own Kickstarter Project to fund the journey, and cut six tracks down on Willie Mitchell Boulevard this past February.

Assembling a Dream Team of musicians that included Charles, Teenie and Leroy Hodges, Bobby Manuel and Lester Snell (along with a horn section led by old pals Marc Franklin and Kirk Smothers), Perry managed to re-create that patented Hi 'Sound of Memphis' and bring it to five of Keller's original compositions about Love and Loss.

The coolest thing he did though, in my opinion, was to bring in our man Darryl Carter to co-write this great song we have here with Dave. As I said about Darryl last year: "In a way, perhaps that has been his greatest strength, the rare ability to truly collaborate with other people, and create something greater than the sum of its parts." Which is something (he informed me just last week) that he learned from his mentor Chips Moman.

After talking to Keller about the recent break-up of his marriage, Darryl proclaimed "There's the song right there!" and - just as he told me he had done with O.V. Wright and Charles Hodges on Blind, Crippled and Crazy at Royal some forty years before - he and Dave "wrote that song together... in about 25 or 30 minutes, and we cut it that same day." With a horn chart that could have been written by James Mitchell, Dave's own stinging guitar work, and all those Hodges in the house, "This one," as Darryl said, "is a hit!"

In a truly once-in-a-lifetime Memphis moment, Dave told me that while they were cutting 17 Years, photographer Thom Gilbert (who would also provide the cover photo for the album) brought Bobby Bland down to Royal for a photo shoot as part of his Stax Records Memphis Music Project "Soul Men". After he helped Bobby make his way back to the control room, Dave sat there pretty much in awe as Bobby listened to the playback, then gave him a few pointers on how best to go about singing it. How very cool is that?

The rest of the album consists of five more worthy covers of great Soul tunes (including one that I called the "absolute best record" I ever put up on The B Side) cut with The Revelations back at their home base in Brooklyn, making Soul Changes an all-around must have that reflects the incredible talent of all involved.

In the liner notes, Keller quotes the great Louis L'Amour; "There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning."

I am right there with that.

A New Road for Nathan & The Zydeco Cha-Chas

In this post-Rounder Records world we're living in, Nathan Williams has landed squarely on his feet, with a new self-produced Zydeco Cha-Chas album that just rocks the house, and is sure to be a Grammy contender.

Like Nathan himself, A New Road remains vibrant and alive, while being firmly rooted in the Zydeco tradition handed down by Clifton Chenier and Nathan's good friend and mentor Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural.

With a brand new website, and an appearance later this month at New York's Apollo Theater, the hardest working man in Zydeco is back, and he's ready to sock it to ya! "Et Toi! F'attention!!"

A NEW ROAD is now available on ITunes. Be sure and visit the new site: zydecochachas.com

Darryl Carter is Back!

STARTING TOMORROW (edit)

Songwriter, producer, raconteur and all-around awesome person Darryl Carter is back on the other side of the microphone performing as an artist, which is something he hasn't done in a very long time. As you may know, we are big fans of Darryl's singing voice, and have been urging him to record an album for years. This EP is a start, with a remixed version of his own take on Woman's Gotta Have It giving Womack a run for his money!

Starting Tomorrow, a song he wrote with the late great Jonah Ellis, was originally slated for Syl Johnson, and had been on the shelf for over fifteen years before Carter decided to cut it himself... we're sure glad he did - can you say funky?! Ellis, who passed on in 2010, had been Darryl's songwriting partner for many years, and four of their amazing compositions (including the title track) were included on Otis Clay's latest release, Truth Is.

Darryl's EP is available at Amazon, and for $1.78 you owe it to yourself to download a copy. He's the real deal!

Reunion of The Southern Soul Legends

Southern Soul Legends Radio Spot

RAT ON!

Hi Folks... you'd never know it, but I'm a huge fan of Jerry 'Swamp Dogg' Williams. Although I've mentioned his work as a songwriter and producer any number of times, somehow I never got around to writing about him as the groundbreaking artist and all-around Great American that he is. Well, as it turns out, now I don't have to.

David Marchese has put together a knockout interview and profile over on SPIN that covers all the bases (and then some!). From his early days hawking songs in the Brill Building, to becoming the first black producer at Atlantic ("Just draw your money and shut the fuck up"), to the great records he cut for Canyon and Mankind on folks like Freddie North and Irma Thomas, to his emergence as an acid-fueled R&B visionary, Marchese has captured the tone and spirit of this uncompromising self-made Legend intact. Check it out!

The Dogg's first two albums, Total Destruction Of Your Mind and Rat On! were re-issued on high quality vinyl and CD just yesterday by Alive Naturalsound Records...

It's great to see Williams finally getting some of the respect and name-recognition he deserves in the mainstream press... after all, he is Tha Real Mother****ing Doggfather!!