December 31, 2022

20,000 vinyl LPs 329: Jimi Hendrix ~ Band of Gypsies

 ~  
vinyl LP front cover
cover photo by Jan Blom 
photo of album cover by Styrous®


Fifty-three years ago today, on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1969, Jimi Hendrix introduced his group Band of Gypsies at a show at the Fillmore East in New York. Parts of that show and the following show on January 1 were recorded and later released as this live album, Band of Gypsys.        


vinyl LP back cover
cover photos by Jan Blom 
photo of album cover by Styrous®

 
It the first and only album without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and featured Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums. Some of the songs represent a change in Hendrix's music from his Experience repertoire and became the basis of funk rock. Band of Gypsies contains previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death.     
 
 
vinyl LP label, side 1
photo by Styrous®  

 
According to Sean Westergaard of AllMusic, Band of Gypsies is one of the best live albums of all time and an important recording for Hendrix.        


vinyl LP label, side 2
photo by Styrous® 

 
Sputnikmusic's Hernan M. Campbell believed Machine Gun is one of Hendrix's most captivating performances. Miles Davis commented about the song that "Jimi liked what I had done with Kind of Blue and some other stuff and wanted to add more jazz elements to what he was doing. He liked the way Coltrane played with all those sheets of sound, and played his guitar in a similar way. Machine Gun is as much about the late 1960s American race riots as the war in Vietnam. Guitarist Vernon Reid describes it as "like a movie about war without the visuals. In many commentaries about Band of Gypsies, Machine Gun is singled out as the highlight of the album.      

What a way to end the year!
 



   
Tracklist:
       
Side 1:
        
A1        Who Knows    9:34
A2        Machine Gun    12:38
       
Side 2:
       
B1        Changes - Written by B. Miles*  5:11
B2        Power To Love    6:55
B3        Message Of Love    5:24
B4        We Gotta Live Together, written by B. Miles*  5:51
       
Companies, etc.
       
    Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
    Mastered At – Sterling Sound
    Published By – Bella Godiva Music, Inc.
    Published By – Miles Ahead Music Inc.
       
Credits:
       
    Design – Victor Kahn (2), Victor Kahn (2)
    Lacquer Cut By – RL*, LH*
    Performer – Billy Cox, Buddy Miles, Jimi Hendrix
    Photography By – Jan Blom (2)
    Producer – Heaven Research
    Recorded By [Live] – Wally Heider
    Supervised By [Remixing & Engineering Supervision] – Eddie Kramer
    Written-By – B. Miles* (tracks: B1, B4), J. Hendrix* (tracks: A1, A2, B2, B3)
       
Notes:
       
Recorded Live-New Year's Eve 69-70 At Fillmore East New York City
Green Capitol labels. Labels with Capitol™, not Capitol ® as shown on other green labels.
       
Barcode and Other Identifiers
       
    Matrix / Runout (Side A runout (Variant 1)): STAO-1-472-A Z5#1 LH Sterling RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side B runout (Variant 1)): STAO-2-472-B Z5#1 LH Sterling RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side A runout (Variant 2) ): STAO-1-472 X1#1 STERLING RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side B runout (Variant 2)): STAO-2-472 X1#1 STERLING RL
    Matrix / Runout (Side A label): STAO 1-472
    Matrix / Runout (Side B label): STAO 2-472
    Rights Society: ASCAP
    Matrix / Runout (Side 1 (Variant 3)): STAO-1-472 X1#2 STERLING RL 0
    Matrix / Runout (Side 2 (Variant 3)): STAO-2-472 X1#3 STERLING RL 0
 
Jimi Hendrix* – Band Of Gypsys
Label:    Capitol Records – STAO-472
Format:    Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Country:    US
Released:    1970
Genre:    Rock
Style:    Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock
         
Viewfinder links:        
         
John Coltrane         
Billy Cox           
Miles Davis        
Jimi Hendrix        
Buddy Miles        
        
         
        
Net links:        
        
         
        
        
         
        
        
YouTube links:        
        
Changes         
Machine Gun         
Message Of Love         
Power To Love         
We Gotta Live Together        
Who Knows                  
         
        
        
         
        
        
Styrous® ~ Saturday, December 31, 2022       
       
 
 
















Billy Cox articles/mentions

 ~        
      
     
     
mentions:     
Jimi Hendrix ~ Band of Gypsies           
Jimi Hendrix Experience ~ Smash Hits           
     
     
     
     
Billy Cox - 1969    
photographer unknown     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
 
 
 
 
 

Buddy Miles articles/mentions

 ~        
      
     
     
mentions:      
Jimi Hendrix ~ Band of Gypsies     
     
     
     
     
     
Buddy Miles - 1969    
photographer unknown     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
 
 
 
 
 

December 25, 2022

Christmas Joy

 ~         

      Bon Nadal

sretan Božić
 
Feliz Navidad       

 Joyeux noél
      
      
              
Viewfinder links:      
       
Styrous®      
              
             
      
Styrous® ~ Christmas Day, December 25, 2022  
 




        






Christmas ~ 2022

 ~          
Christmas Joy         
    
    
    
    

   
   
   

Styrous® ~ Christmas - 2022 
video/GIF by Styrous®





        








December 24, 2022

Jingletown Fog in Shades of Gray @ The Gray Loft Gallery

 ~           

 
My photograph, Jingletown Fog, is currently on view in Shades of Gray at the Gray Loft Gallery in the Jingletown section of Oakland, CA.       
 
I remember the day I shot this scene. I've crossed these tracks a thousand times and each time has been different from any others in one way or another. This is natural, it's why many photographers, artists, etc., become fixated on one thing or another.         
 
I was trudging home from BART, tired and exhausted when I crossed the tracks. Midway I stopped dead and was transfixed at what I saw, or rather didn't see; mystery presenting itself to me to ponder the depth, emotion, ideas it generated. Would I be able to capture all this?     
 
I have loved fog since I was a little kid (link below). I loved to hear the sound of the fog horns with their heavy bass echoing through the velvety blanket of fog. I miss the sound of them.    
 
It was such a great shot I decided it had to be with a totally different type of frame than what I've always used, black or white. Tom (link below) usually passes on black and white frames; often making his own, some funky, some not but all interesting. Every so often he has a work that needs a fine set of duds; I took his lead and did just that with this.        

I was fortunate enough to have found a great framer in Alameda, Cheap Pete's, that opened recently just before my previous exhibition, Jingletown Originals (link below). I was happy with the solution they had come up with so went back to them.
 
 

Styrous® ~ Jingletown Fog
             


Shades of Gray
10th Anniversary Photography Exhibition


Shades of Gray was urated by by Ann Jastrab, executive director of Center for Photographic Art, and Jan Watten, founder of Gray Loft Gallery.     
 
 
The exhibition will be open until 
 Saturday, January 21, 2023

 
Other Participating Photographers 

Laurel Anderson Malinovsky, Norman Mark Aragones, Minerva Amistoso, Ryn Arnold, Francis Baker, Jayne Biehn, Rose Borden, Maria Budner, Kimberley A. Campisano, Jessica Chen, Sara Chieco, Norma Córdova, Anthony Delgado, Tony Devarco, Ann Marie Donahue, Gene Dominique, Bonnie Drucker, Rory Earnshaw, Allyson Ely, Diane Fenster, Robel Fessehatzion, David Gardner, J. M. Golding, Marsha Guggenheim, Najib Joe Hakim, Chuck Harlins, Brenton Haslam, Richard Hay Jr., Matthew Hoang, Christine Huhn, Candice Jacobus , Becky Jaffe, Phoenix Kanada, Ellen Konar and Steve Goldband, Nadine Levin, Richard Lohmann, Ernie Luppi, Erik Mathy, Sonia Melnikova-Raich, Don Melandry, Melina Meza, Charles Moulton, Eric Murphy, Steve Napoli, Charlotte Niel, Deborah O’Grady, Eben Ostby, Mark Overgaard, Ginny Parsons, Anne Rabe, Steven Raskin, Mary Curtis Ratcliff, Charles Reilly, Philip T. Sager, Jenny Sampson, Neocles Serafimidis, Ellen Shershow, Douglas Stinson, Styrous, Gordon Szeto, Alison Taggart-Barone, Michael Teresko, Vince Thomas, George Tomberlin, Jeff Weston, Susan West, Stephanie Williamson, Nick Winkworth, Yelena Zhavoronkova        

Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 1:00 to 5:00 pm Masks requested in the gallery.


Gray Loft Gallery
2889 Ford Street, third floor
Oakland, CA 94601


      
Viewfinder links:       
         
J. M. Golding           
Gray Loft Gallery        
Ann Jastrab           
Jingletown Originals           
Deborah O’Grady        
Eben Ostby            
Jenny Sampson       
Shades of Gray            
Ellen Shershow         
Styrous®           
Michael Teresko        
Vince Thomas          
Jan Watten                 
Tom White            
Stephanie Williamson              
     
Net links:        
         
Cheap Pete's          
Gray Loft Gallery        
Ann Jastrab                   
Deborah O’Grady        
Jenny Sampson               
Michael Teresko         
Vince Thomas            
Jan Watten                           
Tom White            
Stephanie Williamson                       
        
        
        
       
       
Styrous® ~ Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24, 2022     

































December 21, 2022

Gray Loft Gallery ~ Shades of Gray exhibition

 ~           
             


Shades of Gray
10th Anniversary Photography Exhibition
Saturday, December 10  to Saturday, January 21, 2023


 
Curated by by Ann Jastrab, executive director of Center for Photographic Art, and Jan Watten, founder of Gray Loft Gallery.    
 
Participating Photographers 

Laurel Anderson Malinovsky, Norman Mark Aragones, Minerva Amistoso, Ryn Arnold, Francis Baker, Jayne Biehn, Rose Borden, Maria Budner, Kimberley A. Campisano, Jessica Chen, Sara Chieco, Norma Córdova, Anthony Delgado, Tony Devarco, Ann Marie Donahue, Gene Dominique, Bonnie Drucker, Rory Earnshaw, Allyson Ely, Diane Fenster, Robel Fessehatzion, David Gardner, J. M. Golding, Marsha Guggenheim, Najib Joe Hakim, Chuck Harlins, Brenton Haslam, Richard Hay Jr., Matthew Hoang, Christine Huhn, Candice Jacobus , Becky Jaffe, Phoenix Kanada, Ellen Konar and Steve Goldband, Nadine Levin, Richard Lohmann, Ernie Luppi, Erik Mathy, Sonia Melnikova-Raich, Don Melandry, Melina Meza, Charles Moulton, Eric Murphy, Steve Napoli, Charlotte Niel, Deborah O’Grady, Eben Ostby, Mark Overgaard, Ginny Parsons, Anne Rabe, Steven Raskin, Mary Curtis Ratcliff, Charles Reilly, Philip T. Sager, Jenny Sampson, Neocles Serafimidis, Ellen Shershow, Douglas Stinson, Styrous, Gordon Szeto, Alison Taggart-Barone, Michael Teresko, Vince Thomas, George Tomberlin, Jeff Weston, Susan West, Stephanie Williamson, Nick Winkworth, Yelena Zhavoronkova        


 installation photos by Styrous®
 
 
 































Detail photos on Gray Loft Gallery blog (link below).
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 1:00 to 5:00 pm Masks requested in the gallery.


Gray Loft Gallery
2889 Ford Street, third floor
Oakland, CA 94601


      
Viewfinder links:       
         
J. M. Golding           
Gray Loft Gallery        
Ann Jastrab           
Deborah O’Grady        
Eben Ostby            
Jenny Sampson       
Shades of Gray            
Ellen Shershow         
Styrous®           
Michael Teresko        
Vince Thomas          
Jan Watten                 
Stephanie Williamson              
     
Net links:        
         
Gray Loft Gallery        
Ann Jastrab                   
Deborah O’Grady        
Jenny Sampson               
Michael Teresko         
Vince Thomas            
Jan Watten                          
Stephanie Williamson                       
        
        
        
       
       
Styrous® ~ Thursday, December 8, 2022     
























Dave Edmonds articles/mentions

 ~        
      
     
     
mentions:     
Carl Perkins ~ Blue Suede Shoes     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
      
     
     
     
     
Dave Edmonds     
date & photographer unknown     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
 
 
 
 
 

December 19, 2022

45 RPMs 72: Carl Perkins ~ Blue Suede Shoes

  ~ 
Carl Perkins ~ Blue Suede Shoes
     45 RPM record label, side 1


    
Seventy-two years ago today, on December 19, 1955, Carl Perkins recorded Blue Suede Shoes for Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennesee.                

I was heavy into rhythm 'n blues and was intrigued by this "new" sound and went crazy over the song. When Elvis Presley later released a cover of it on August 31, 1956, I hated his version and wouldn't buy it. It is the only Presley song from his early period I don't have on 45.         

This was the only Top 40 hit for Perkins on the pop charts but his influence reaches much further. He was extremely influential to other artists, including Presley, The Beatles and Johnny Cash. Perkins was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. This was the first song to hit the US Pop, Country, and R&B charts at the same time. Released on January 1, 1956, the song made a slow climb up the charts, appearing on all three in May, which is when it reached its peak of #2 on the Pop charts.       

Blue suede shoes were a luxury item in the South, a stylish footwear for a night out. Perkins never owned a pair, but Johnny Cash told him a story about someone who did.                   

The lyrics describe things Perkins would prefer over getting his shoes scuffed, and the list includes derelict behavior: stepping on his face, stealing his car, burning down his house and drinking his liquor. Some in the Sinatra-loving older generation were horrified, and used the song to back their case that rock 'n' roll was the Devil's music.         
 
 
Well, it's one for the money two for the show
Three to get ready now go, cat, go

But don't you step on my blue suede shoes
Well you can do anything but
Lay off of my blue suede shoes

Well, you can knock me down, step in my face
Slander my name all over the place
Do anything that you want to do
But uh-uh honey, lay off of my shoes

Don't you step on my blue suede shoes
You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes
Now let's go cats (oh walk the dogs)

You can burn my house, steal my car
Drink my liquor from an old fruit-jar
Do anything that you want to do
But uh-uh baby, lay off of my shoes

Don't you step on my blue suede shoes
You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes
Rock it

Well, it's one for the money, two for the show
Three to get ready now go, cat, go

But don't you step on my blue suede shoes
Well you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes
Go cat uh

Blue, blue suede shoes oh baby
Blue, blue suede shoes uh ha
Blue, blue suede shoes oh baby
Blue, blue suede shoes
You do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes

Songwriter: Carl Perkins


Perkins wrote Blue Suede Shoes on a 1953 Gibson Les Paul, a solid body electric guitar; he also used it on all of this Sun recordings. The guitar was originally a Gold Top when Perkins bought it new in 1953 and after his hit Blue Suede Shoes he had it painted Blue.       


1953 Gibson Les Paul

 
One of Perkins last appearances was with Dave Edmunds performing Blue Suede Shoes on The Jay Leno Show in 1997 (Perkins died the next year).         

        
Tracklist:

Side 1:

A Blue Suede Shoes - 2:14

Side 2:

B Honey, Don't! - 2:48

Companies, etc.

     Published By Hi-Lo Music

    Written by Perkins*
 
Credits:
 
A & B: Hi Lo Music (BMI)
 
Notes:

Runouts are etched.

Barcode and Other Identifiers
        
        
    Rights Society: BMI
    Matrix / Runout (A side label): U 176
    Matrix / Runout (B side label): U 177
    Matrix / Runout (Side A runout): U-176-45
    Matrix / Runout (Side B runout): U-177-45
 
Label: Sun – 234
Format:    Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single
Country: US
Released: Jan 1, 1956
Genre: Rock
Style: Rockabilly
        
        
        
        
Viewfinder links:       
         
Johnny Cash       
Dave Edmonds         
Carl Perkins         
Elvis Presley          
     
Net links:       
         
         
         
Songfacts ~ Blue Suede Shoes        
     
YouTube links:      
        
Carl Perkins ~ Blue Suede Shoes         
Elvis Presley ~ Blue Suede Shoes                   
        
        
         

Blue Suede Shoes sheet music
         
        
        

Styrous® ~ Monday, December 19, 2022