To celebrate the new year, I’ll quite simply just share a few songs - two somewhat new and one somewhat old. All had a big impact on my musical journey….
The first newer song, and if you only have time for one song listen to it now, is Donny Hathaway’s Someday We’ll All Be Free, recorded in 1973. This is a New Year’s anthem for all of us to hold onto as the world spins around:
Hang on to the world as it spins around
Just don't let the spin get you down
Things are moving fast
Hold on tight and you will last
Keep your self-respect, your manly pride
Get yourself in gear
Keep your stride
Never mind your fears
Brighter days will soon be here
Take it from me, someday we'll all be free, yeah
Keep on walking tall
Hold your head up high
Lay your dreams right up to the sky
Sing your greatest song
And you'll keep going, going on
Take it from me, someday we'll all be free
Hey, just wait and see, someday we'll all be free, yeah
Take it from me, someday we'll all be free
It won't be long, take it from me, someday we'll all be free
Take it from me, take it from me, take it from me
The second newer song comes with a short story.
Next to Fred Astaire, perhaps no musician has influenced my early musical journey more than John Mayall. Both of these artists inspired me to become an artist: in the case of Astaire it was tap dancing, and with Mayall, it was playing the harmonica. John Mayall albums in my brother’s collection introduced me to Jazz before I even knew what Jazz was. A subtle introduction, it came on albums like this one with jazzmen Blue Mitchell, Clifford Solomon, and Freddy Robinson - all three had recorded with Blue Note:
In 1976, when I was 14 years old, I asked my mom if I could go see John Mayall at a venue on the other side of town. Much to my surprise, she agreed. She called up one of her girlfriends, and we all drove down to Chaska or Chanhassen, Minnesota to see John Mayall.
When we got there, my mom was able to finagle my way in, and we went looking for John Mayall. We found the hallway leading backstage, but there was a bouncer there. My mom, in her English accent, told the bouncer, “We’re here to see John Mayall.” To which the bouncer replied, “No. You can’t go back there. Band only.”
After a short pause, down the hallway, a head peeped out from behind a door, and we heard a man say, “I’m John Mayall.” My mom yelled down to him, “My son here loves your music and was wondering if you’d sign his record album.” He yelled back, “Yeah, sure. Come on down.” So we walked past the bouncer and headed down the hallway. I had injured my leg in some sporting accident and was on crutches, so I hobbled back, with the album tucked under my arm. He welcomed us into the room, and we sat down and chatted about things - mostly he talked with my mom about England.
When I handed him the album, I noticed he was surprised. It was his newest release, A Banquet of Blues. As I know now, Room To Move from The Turning Point was his big hit from a few years before that, and it annoyed him when he would get copies of that album handed to him rather than his new releases. But I liked his new stuff too, and he acknowledged that when he signed the album for me that night.
Notice below Mayall’s photo and next to John McVie’s is the “Fabulous Blue Mitchell” - much more on him next week on that Big River called Jazz….
One of the other John Mayall albums my oldest brother Paul had sitting around was Back To The Roots. Recorded in the fall of 1970, this is a monumental album, which features Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Harvey Mandel on guitars, Larry Taylor of Canned Heat fame on bass, and Sugarcane Harris on violin, along with many other great musicians. In fact, I think this album features some of both Clapton’s and Mick Taylor’s best guitar work - check out Mick Taylor on this classic, Marriage Madness.
An aptly named tune to close out 2021, here is Eric Clapton on lead guitar on Goodbye December:
I pretty much wore out this track on the record playing along with my harp.
Finally, the older song, and one I always listen to on New Year’s Eve, is the great Johnny Mercer tune Dream. I first heard it in Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron’s 1955 20th Century-Fox movie Daddy Long Legs.
This March 1945 version is sung by Frank Sinatra along with the Ken Lane Singers.
Next week, On that Big River called Jazz, we’ll restart our journey and finally dip our paddles into the waters of another great, but lesser-known, trumpet player, “the Fabulous Blue Mitchell.”
If you like what you’ve been reading and hearing so far on our journey and would like to share this with someone you think might be interested in learning more about our great American art form: Jazz, just hit the “Share” button at the bottom of the page. Also, if you feel so inclined, become a subscriber to my journey by hitting the “Subscribe” button here:
Also, find my playlist on Spotify: From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra.
Feel free to contact me at any time to talk shop. I welcome and encourage that.
Until then, keep on walking….