I Can’t Get Started (and Other Phony Excuses)

Rozetta Johnson @ Classic And Rare Soul Sisters 50S – 70S: Like so many African-American singers who defected from the church for a tantalising taste of secular pastures, cult soul siren Rozetta Johnson became disillusioned with the music business and eventually returned to her gospel roots

Johnny Hodges @ Downbeat : The premier soloist and section leader in Duke Ellington‘s orchestra over nearly four decades, Johnny Hodges was the most influential alto saxophonist prior to Charlie Parker. He played with with consistent excellence and an instantly recognizable style that lent itself to lyrical ballads and low-down blues.

Jimmy Mcgriff : In 1962, while McGriff was performing in Trenton, New Jersey, a scout from a tiny record label called Jell was struck with the organist’s arrangement of “I’ve Got a Woman” and offered him a contract. As McGriff’s single was taking off, Sue Records in New York purchased the master and it became a smash, peaking at No. 5 on Billboard’s r&b chart and at No. 20 on the pop list

Bunny Berigan – The Miracle Man Of Swing : Berigan and his soaring trumpet catapulted the Benny Goodman band, along with the rest of the country, into the swing era and assured Goodman’s coronation as the “King of Swing.” Berigan’s uninhibited jazz style inspired and dominated every group with which be played, including the bands of Hal Kemp, Paul Whiteman, and Tommy Dorsey.

New York Times : Known as Uncle George to thousands of fans, the diminutive Mr. Na’ope (he stood barely five feet tall and weighed less than 100 pounds) was considered a hula lo’ea, or hula master, according to Maile Loo, executive director of the Hula Preservation Society in Kaneohe, Hawaii.

Bob Rivers : Bob Rivers is a well-known American rock and roll radio on air personality in the Pacific Northwest as well as a prolific producer of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas song parodies.

Dennis Coffey : Only in America (and specifically, only in Detroit) could one man play guitar with a group of legends as diverse as Del Shannon, The Temptations, and George Clinton and Funkadelic

Sekouba “Bambino” Diabaté @ Africa Sounds : For several years Sekouba “Bambino” Diabaté has been Guinée’s most popular singer. His story has been well documented: Born in 1963 into a “griot” family and discovered as a young vocal talent in his home in Siguiri in Haute Guinée.

Eddie Hinton @ Swampland : Jerry Wexler, producer of Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke, called Eddie the White Otis Redding for his soulful singing. In his biography, Wexler cited an incident in which he watched Eddie and Bob Dylan trading acoustic guitar licks at Muscle Shoals Sound.

Eddie Hinton @ Swampland : Jerry Wexler, producer of Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke, called Eddie the White Otis Redding for his soulful singing. In his biography, Wexler cited an incident in which he watched Eddie and Bob Dylan trading acoustic guitar licks at Muscle Shoals Sound.

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