KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Blues from the Green Earth Café, 2 of 3
Analog Audio
Event Type
MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
AM.1977.04.16.BProgram Length
91 minPart
2 of 3Dates
1977-04-16 | broadcast| 1977-04-16 | created
Description
Excerpts from a benefit concert for KPFA, held at the Green Earth Café in San Francisco on April 16, 1977, featuring a number of relatively obscure Bay Area blues musicians. The program begins with the down home blues music of harpist J. C. Burris, who accompanies his energetic harmonica playing with hand slaps and yells, and sounds more like a recording from the Mississippi delta rather than the City by the Bay. This is followed by a funky set of electric blues by the Mike Henderson Blues Band which performs a hard driving set of standards before the microphone is passed to Sonny Rhodes for an exquisite selection of slow songs performed on slide guitar. The program then concludes with two songs by the little known Matthew “Boogie Jake” Jacobson, which leaves the listener wondering why he did not become a mainstay of the blues circuit. The history of the blues seems to be one of many talented musicians tirelessly performing in dimly lit bars, more interested in the reaction of the crowd before them than in the fame and fortune that comes with commercial success. This program captures the electricity and excitement that can only be found in a small club, as well as serving as a primer on the San Francisco Bay Area blues scene in the late 1970s.Genres
Popular musicMusical Selections
Don’t You Lie To Me (5:22) / Mike Henderson Blues Band -- [”I’ll Soon Forget You”] (7:45) / Mike Henderson Blues Band -- I’m Ready (9:10) / Mike Henderson Blues Band -- [”Standing at the Crossroads“] (6:13) / Mike Henderson Blues Band -- Next Time You See Me [excerpt] (4:51) / Mike Henderson Blues BandPerformers
Mike Henderson Blues Band:Mike Henderson, guitar and vocals
Freddie Roulette, guitar
David Hoerl, harmonica
Jimmy Gillen, drums
Mike Billo, bass
Subjects
Popular musicBlues (Music)
Related places
San Francisco (Calif.) (was recorded at)Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)
Related Entities
Mike Henderson Blues BandHenderson, Michael, 1951-
Roulette, Freddie
Hoerl, David
Gillen, Jimmy
Billo, Mike