Frankly, I'm surprised they merited an episode of the TV show at all. If you look at the list of performers, the vast majority were young acts who were making waves with hit songs or albums, or at least songwriting reputation. Terry and McGhee represented an older generation. By the time this show was recorded, both of them were around 60 years old. They'd been playing as a duo since 1942.
They didn't have any hit album or single when this show was recorded (or later), but they'd steadily built up a reputation in Britain during the blues boom there in the 1960s. While sticking to traditional acoustic blues for the most part, they were savy to musical trends to some degree. For instance, on their 1973 album most recent to this concert, they recorded songs written by Randy Newman and Curtis Mayfield, and had leading blues musicians play on it, including Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, John Mayall, and John Hammond, Jr. So perhaps it's not so surprising after all that they were considered "hip" enough to have a British audience for an episode of this TV show.
This album is just 35 minutes long, but they packed a lot in it, performing eight songs and telling some stories too. It's just Sonny Terry on harmonica and vocals and Brownie McGhee on guitar and vocals.
01 talk (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
02 Ride N' Roll (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
03 talk (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
04 I'm a Burnt Child (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
05 talk (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
06 Hootin' the Blues (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
07 talk (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
08 Livin' with the Blues (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
09 talk (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
10 Conversation with the River (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
11 Ballin' the Jack (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
12 Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
13 talk (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
14 Rock Island Line (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
15 Keep On Walkin' (Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee)
Since I found the video of this concert on YouTube, the cover photo is a screenshot I took from it. I also took the font colors and type from the opening credits, though I added in the orange line to convey some extra information.
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ReplyDeleteYes, Sonny and Brownie were hip back in the early 70's, as were many of the old blues guys. I saw S & T, Muddy, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon and others around that time. No one thought of them as old or uncool, though that would soon change. The '60's and early 70's music scene was wide open and welcoming of all genres, races and ages.
ReplyDeletePS: S & T put on a great show, although supposedly they couldn't stand each other by that time. Brownie was smooth and super-talented, but he needed Sonny's energy (and personality; BM was a bit of a dick). Sonny was dynamic but limited. They needed each other, which pissed Brownie off.
DeleteGood point about the old blues guys being hip back then. But what's weird is that Terry & McGhee were the ONLY ones given an episode of the "In Concert" TV show out of dozens and dozens of artists. Why not, say, Muddy Waters, who was very busy and popular in the 1970s?
DeleteThanks for this. One small correction: Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and John Hammond, Jr were all American, not British.
ReplyDeleteGood point. I just removed the British mention there.
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