So, what have you been listening to lately?

[Dave W]

Like Nadine, another memory from my high school years.

[morrow]

Keith put the band together . Johnnie Johnson became well known after playing the show , although he had been playing with Berry since 1952 . Joey Spampinato from NRBQ on bass . One of the better known Dano players . Berry’s vocals were all over dubbed on the film .

[Granny Gremlin]

Like Nadine, another memory from my high school years.

Love this song.  The Stones did give it a bit more swing, but it also proves the point that Macca was right: they are a blues cover band (I mean the hole dang first record, but that was normalish for the time).

[uwe]

I too heard the Stones version first. That whole Stones debut album was actually quite good and has aged well.



Yes, they were a blues cover band, but with a style of their own. Jagger didn't sound white, yet he didn't really ape black singers either.

There was only one self-penned song on that debut, but I thought that great as well, very catchy. It was basically a doo-wop pastiche.



Re Rufus, a black artist with a white backing band, was that a usual sight in 1964, Dave? Or was that the house band of the show that simply backed everybody?

[Basvarken]

The first time I heard that song was on the first Aerosmith album.

[4stringer77]

Rufus Thomas recorded on Sun records way back in the fifties. That label had a few white guys on the roster you may have heard of too.
Too bad Aerosmith or the Stones didn't keep making Rufus Thomas covers. Would be fun to hear them take on Funky Chicken or The Breakdown. 

[Granny Gremlin]

I'd never heard the Aerosmith version before.  Bit too cockrock for my tastes (that doesn't even sound like Steve Tyler so much but their earlier stuff is like that - before he discovered his distinctive screech).  Odd because I had some superfan friends in HS.

Speaking of Bear Cats, one of those superfans loved this one too:



Drove me mental with how often she'd play it.  But that somehow brings my brain to George Thorogood, who I always enjoyed as an acceptable respite from everything else being played on cottage country and various Dads' garage radios; a rootsier less crazy Nugent.

[uwe]

Aerosmith turned it into a rock number. Nothing wrong with that, it is what they set out (and were paid) to do. I still love Tyler's comment re the "Rolling Stones copycats" allegations against Aerosmith in the 70ies: "We never copied the Stones, we both just stole from the same people!" Priceless. BTW, here's your 'screech', Jake:



Say what you will about Aerosmith, one thing they never ever lacked: groove (among white hard rock bands they are way up there as regards that). Also a testament why I prefer Brad Whitford's solos to Joe Perry's.

For more traditional-minded folks:



This is nicely groovy unless you hate the Tower of Power treatment they gave it:

[slinkp]

Midnight Oil from 1994.  I think it may be illegal for a bass to sound this good in some parts of the world now.

I saw them sometime in the mid-90s and they were one of the best live bands I've seen. Never huge here in the states sadly.

I always loved the hooks in this one.... and never saw Bones Hillman playing a T-bird!
(EDIT: I thought maybe it was a greco but maybe not??)

[uwe]

That song does have cool harmony changes too - indeed!

[Granny Gremlin]

Aerosmith turned it into a rock number. Nothing wrong with that, it is what they set out (and were paid) to do. I still love Tyler's comment re the "Rolling Stones copycats" allegations against Aerosmith in the 70ies: "We never copied the Stones, we both just stole from the same people!" Priceless. BTW, here's your 'screech', Jake:



Say what you will about Aerosmith, one thing they never ever lacked: groove (among white hard rock bands they are way up there as regards that). Also a testament why I prefer Brad Whitford's solos to Joe Perry's.

For more traditional-minded folks:



This is nicely groovy unless you hate the Tower of Power treatment they gave it:

LOL, I don't not like it because they rocked it up, I just don't like the treatment.  That later live version is better (Tyler backs off the screech a bit - probably has to due to it being lower, but yeah, it's there) but still not gonna be my favorite version. 

Love that quote though.

[westen44]

I saw them sometime in the mid-90s and they were one of the best live bands I've seen. Never huge here in the states sadly.

I always loved the hooks in this one.... and never saw Bones Hillman playing a T-bird!
(EDIT: I thought maybe it was a greco but maybe not??)

In this article from an Australian magazine, it mentions that Bones Hillman sometimes switched from his usual P bass to a Thunderbird.  That's why it can get a little confusing.  Because if you look up their videos, most of the time he is playing a Fender.  Scroll to the section "Underwater - Breathe" 1996.

https://mixdownmag.com.au/features/seven-of-bones-hillmans-best-bass-moments-with-midnight-oil/

[Dave W]

Re Rufus, a black artist with a white backing band, was that a usual sight in 1964, Dave? Or was that the house band of the show that simply backed everybody?

I don't know about that show, pretty sure they were Brit musicians, but Rufus was recording for Stax in those years, and the Stax house band was the mixed race Booker T & the MGs. That was unusual at the time.

Sam Phillips recorded Rufus even before founding Sun. This was recorded in Memphis by Sam Phillips in 1950.

I saw a documentary on Sam and Sun, Rufus was critical of Sam.

[4stringer77]

Rufus Thomas's career spaned an incredibly large cross section of the American musical evolution. I feel Carla Thomas, his daughter should be mentioned as well. She also had some significant output with Stax.

[uwe]

Sam Phillips recorded Rufus even before founding Sun. This was recorded in Memphis by Sam Phillips in 1950.

That sounds astoundingly jazzy still, like from another time.