There were over 200 submissions in our frisson contest the other day. The Byrds set goes to Jill G in Florida for her incredible essay about "Luka" by Suzanne Vega. Ten honorable mentions for exceptional paragraphs-- each of which could easily have won-- by Ivan (Brel's "Le Port d'Amsterdam"), Jeff B ("All Along the Watchtowner" by Hendrix), eel ("How Soon Is Now" by The Smiths), Shawn T ("It's All Over Now Baby Blue" by Them), Michael D (Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"), David C ("How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths), Damien G (Smiths' "How Soon Is Now" again), Bob W ("East/West" by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band), Tom ( Radiohead's "Paranoid Android") and Steve W who went with a live Dylan version of "Like A Rolling Stone" from a 1966 concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Thanks everybody who spent the time and effort on those amazing entries. I loved reading them!

Jill gets her boxset and tonight's LNMC pick:

Love Songs
	Artist: Etta James

Happy Mother's Day. Hope everybody has a Sunday kind of love.

Whatcha listening to this evening?

Sessions
	Artist: Fred Neil

Fred Neil singing the Percy Mayfield classic. [h/t Susie Madrak]

Many of Fred Neil's songs are being re-packaged this year. Check them out.

Whatcha listening to tonight?

Other Side Of This Life
	Artist: Fred Neil

Fred Neil
	Artist: Fred Neil

(hat tip: Schmoochie)

Spent a lazy weekend kicking back with the bf, reminiscing about the music that made the biggest impacts on us Way Back When. ‘Horace Silver’, says the bf. Oh, yeah, then a lazy weekend afternoon arguing about just which of Horace Silver tracks was The Best – The Preacher? Doodlin’? Opus de Funk? Filthy McNasty? Nica’s Dream? Sister Sadie?

Silver isn’t one of those names that have impacted on the American consciousness in the same way Nat King Cole or Billie Holliday or Louie Armstrong or Bennie Goodman or Ella Fitzgerald have – names that even those who don’t know their music still recognise – but he pioneered Hard Bop jazz that fused gospel, rhythm and blues and jazz into an art form unsurpassed then or since. He composed numerous arrangements and his recordings were almost exclusively his own original works. For half a century, his music has influenced younger musicians and he himself has promoted and championed succeeding generations of musicians. And not just jazz; Steely Dan’s biggest hit, ‘Rikki, Don’t Lose That Number’ used the bass riff that opens ‘Song for My Father’. Silver has always been conscious of and active in tense social and cultural issues, via the medium of jazz music in the 60s and early 70’s with his three albums, United States of Mind, and has spent much of the last couple of decades exploring deeper philosophical questions through his music.

In recent months, it’s been a depressing litany of RIPs of major musical artists, and I’m so happy to be able to say Horace Silver is still with us. So sit back and enjoy what the bf and I finally agreed was our favourite tune, Senor Blues, recorded here in 1959.

Sad news today in the blues world:

Koko Taylor more than once said she hoped that when she died, it would be on stage, doing the thing she loved most: Singing the blues.

She nearly got her wish. The Chicago musical icon died Wednesday at age 80 of complications from gastrointestinal surgery less than four weeks after her last performance, at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tenn. There she collected her record 29th Blues Music Award, capping an era in which she became the most revered female blues vocalist of her time with signature hits "Wang Dang Doodle," "I'm a Woman" and "Hey Bartender."

Taylor died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital 15 days after her May 19 surgery. She appeared to be recovering until taking a turn for the worst Wednesday morning, and was with friends and family when she died.

Often called the "Queen of the Blues", Taylor was never one to take many breaks, continuing to perform, record and receive awards throughout her fifty-year long career. Enjoy the Willie Dixon-penned song that was a million-seller for Taylor in 1966 (how many artists have their biggest hit at 38, by the way?!), "Wang Dang Doodle".

Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt
	Artist: Bonnie Raitt

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We love Bonnie Raitt here at C&L, for lots of reasons. First, we love how she plays the slide guitar. We also love how she sings. (And incidentally, so do the people who make up the "100 Greatest" lists at Rolling Stone: She's No. 89 in their list of greatest guitarists, and No. 50 on their list of greatest singers.)

We also love that our friend Mike Finnigan -- one of C&L's original cofounders, and originator of Mike's Blog Roundup, and also one of the greatest living Hammond organ players -- plays in her band and is featured prominently.

This week, after a grueling 85-date tour in support of Bonnie's awesome new album, Slipstream, the band flew out to New York and did the teevee thang. First they appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night; then they were on The View this morning.

Here's Bonnie's interview on The View, which was surprisingly touching:

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And then the performance:

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Ain't Nothing In The News

Freddie North covers the state of the world in this song from 1971, and he sure paints a bleak picture. Got a favorite song that reminds you of current or past world affairs?

Blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin died December 4th at the age of 80. Best known as Howlin' Wolf's guitarist for 23 years, his playing was described as "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions". He certainly made an immeasurable impact on the Blues, and was an inspiration to me and countless others. R.I.P.

Odetta, widely honored as the "Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" died Tuesday, age 77. When I was a kid infatuated with Bob Dylan and Joan Baez I looked for their roots in the blues and found Odetta. I booked her to play at my college and was blown away by the authenticity of her music.

Odetta Holmes was born in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 31, 1930, in the depths of the Depression. The music of that time and place-- particularly prison songs and work songs recorded in the fields of the Deep South-- shaped her life.

"They were liberation songs," she said in a videotaped interview with the New York Times in 2007 for its online feature "The Last Word." "You're walking down life's road, society's foot is on your throat, every which way you turn you can't get from under that foot. And you reach a fork in the road and you can either lie down and die, or insist upon your life."

She never had anything like what you would call a hit but her version of this Lead Belly song was something everyone loved around my campus, well, not the Young Republicans, but everyone else.

When you come to my town you will, of course, visit Buddy Guy's Legends, which any true blues truffle hound knows is at 8th and Wabash and is somewhat smaller on the inside than pictured in this video :-)

Buddy Guy - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl