Songs The Yardbirds Taught Us (#4): Jimmy Reed - I Ain't Got You

The Yardbirds did a blistering version of I Ain't Got You with Eric Clapton at the helm. It appeared on The Yardbirds US debut album, For Your Love.

I Ain't Got You dates back to 1955 when both Billy Boy Arnold and Jimmy Reed recorded the number for the Chicago based Vee Jay Records. It is almost a certainty that The Yardbirds got their inspiration from this version which has a distinctive harmonica retort that is not in Billy Boy Arnold's version.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Songs The Yardbirds Taught Us (#2): Billy Boy Arnold - I Wish You Would

We're back after a whopping 27 hours off! We return to our look at songs The Yardbirds covered. Yesterday we did the Flip-Side of The Yardbirds' debut single. Today we look at the A-Side. The A-side of their 1964 release was a scorcher of a version of I Wish You Would, a song written and performed by Billy Boy Arnold. Billy Boy Arnold went to Chess Records to get some releases and was told to go packing. Down the road apiece was rival Vee Jay Records. They opened the studio and Billy Boy Arnold came out with this Bo Diddley influenced number. It was released in June of 1955. Probably early in the morning. You know, like maybe around the break of day. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: Little Richard - I Don't Know What You Got, But It's Got Me

Something about I Don't Know What You Got, But It's Got Me just melts my soul.

Little Richard's days in the sun were setting by the time he recorded this Don Covay penned number in October of 1965 for Vee Jay Records, but the quality of Little Richard Penniman's work sure wasn't. Here we have the hugely influential rock-n-roll pioneer exploring his gospel roots, and lordy-lord, does he testify. Just like the wonderful Don Covay track to which we just linked, the guitarist on this track is none other than Jimi Hendrix. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

And what an awesome photo we have for you below. Mercy. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: The Honeycombs - It Ain't Necessarily So

Warning: Nerd rock is laid on thick in this post. That's because we're talking about London's The Honeycombs who were one of the many Joe Meek produced bands to be unleashed on the listening public. The Honeycombs have one of the best names you will ever hear. "What?", you say, "Honeycombs isn't very good of a name." Ahh, but wait for it my child. The band got the name The Honeycombs after their drummer, Honey Lantree who was….a hairdresser. Get it. Honey. Combs. The woman, Honey, combs hair. The Honeycombs. Sheesh, that took you too long to figure it out. The rest of this unhip combo were Dennis D'Ell singing, Martin Murray, Alan Ward, and Honey's brother, John Lantree.

We're going to feature their bizarre little cover of George Gershwin's bizarre biblical reference number, It Ain't Necessarily So. It's bizarre. That's why we like it. It was featured on the Flip-Side of their debut album, released in the UK on Pye Records and in the US on Vee Jay Records in 1964.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: "High & Lonesome" Jimmy Reed

Listen - Jimmy Reed performs High & Lonesome

Jimmy Reed originally hailed from Mississippi, and after a stint in the US Navy during WWII, found himself, like so many other Mississippi men of a certain age and socio-economic status, migrating north to look for work. Reed landed in Gary, Indiana where he cut his teeth in clubs and on radio shows playing with the likes of John Brim, Elmore James, and Eddie Taylor. Like each of those men, Reed failed to satisfactorily impress Chess Records executive Lejzor Czyz (now renamed Leonard Chess).

Chess Records' loss was Vee Jay Records' gain as Jimmy Reed took his catchy, stripped down approach to writing and performing the blues and strung together certifiable hit after certifiable hit that would become industry standards once the Brit invasion hit. Songs like Big Boss Man, Baby What You Want Me To Do, Bright Lights Big City, Ain't That Loving You Baby and Honest I Do would become the bedrock of the song list for bands from both sides of the pond, like The Animals, The Rolling Stones, The Pretty Things, The Shadows of Knight, Link Wray and countless other bands looking to find that nexus of danceable, catchy and gritty. In short, Jimmy Reed defined that nexus perhaps better than any of his contemporaries.

Today we listen to Jimmy Reed's first recording ever. Before the hits started rolling in, before he got a contract with Vee Jay Records, and before alcoholism would turn the tap of hits off. The song is High & Lonesome and it was recorded in Chicago in 1953 for Chance Records. It's primal and the number of measures varies with his whim. And it is damn good.

Enjoy.