My Generation of 24 July 2016: Otis Spann, 1966 singles [Ed’s Show 2016-30]

Specials Otis Spann, 1966 singles ** The Flowerpot Men, Shakey Vick ** 
SHOWTIME CET (Brussels) Sundays 12:00 noon  > 16:00 hrs ** Repeated 16:00 > 20:00 hrs, 20:00 hrs > 24:000 hrs midnight and 24:000 hrs midnight > 04:00 hrs Monday Morning.
SHOWTIME GMT (London) Sundays 11 a.m. > 3 p.m. ** Repeated 3 p.m. > 7 p.m., 7 p.m. 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. > 3 a.m. UK Monday morning.

MY GENERATION  & BLUESIDE: THE PLAYLISTS

MY GENERATION (new show)
SPECIAL SINGLES 1966 THE BEATLES ** THE SMALL FACES ** THE CREATION ** THE KINKS ** THE WHO ** THE YARDBIRDS ** THE HOLLIES ** BILLY J. KRAMER ** THE FOUR PENNIES ** SIMON & GARFUNKEL ** LONGPLAYING: CRISPIAN ST. PETERS: FOLLOW ME ** ** THREESOME:  KEITH RELF

MY GENERATION BLUESIDE (new show)
SPECIAL:  OTIS SPANN: THE BLUES NEVER DIE, 1964, THE ENTIRE ALBUM feat. Muddy Waters, James (aka Jimmy) Cotton, James Madison, S.P. Leary ,** AND ALSO: RUTHIE FOSTER ** ROGER CHAPMAN, 2016** LUCINDA WILLIAMS  from “GOD DON’T NEVER CHANGE, the songs of Blind Willie Johnson”, 2016, Alligator, thanks to Alligator Records and V2 Records Belgium ** ALEXIS KORNER Inc. Feeat. Duffy Power ** Voice: Malcolm X.

MY GENERATION (repeated) 
SPECIAL:  THE FLOWERPOT MEN “PEACE ALBUM”  (1969)** AND ALSO: OTIS REDDING ** THE MICKEY FINN ** THREESOME:  VAN MORRISON, THEM ** NUCLEUS, 1969 **  WHITE PLAINS ** LONGPAYING: THE SOFT MACHINE **  Voice: ADRIAN MITCHELL

MY GENERATION BLUESIDE (repeated)
SHAKEY VICK SPECIAL  pt1. feat. SHAKEY VICK ** Exclusive Radio 68 Interview Snippets ** CHRIS BARBER with Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, James Cotton, Keith Scott, Alexis Korner  ** SONNIE & BROWNIE * CHAMPION JACK DUPREE with Brownie McGhee ** ARTHUR CRUDUP ** JOHNNY SHINES ** BIG WALTER HORTON ** ** AND ALSO: JIMMY DAWKINS ** HOWLIN’ WOLF **

MY GENERATION, incl. BLUESIDE: THE SHOW 
MY GENERATION / BLUESIDE is a four-hour show. Each week, a new 60 minute episode followed by the previous show, totalling two hours of all the sounds and the voices that shaped the 60s. Each show includes a special highlighting one artist, release, topic or trend. BLUESIDE: a new 60 minute episode every week, followed by the previous show, totalling two hours of the blues that influenced and inspired the sounds of the sixties – from the originators till the present day. Each show includes a special highlighting one artist, release, topic or trend. 
SPECIALS BACKGROUND

OTIS SPANN

(…) It was also in 1960 that he recorded his first full-length album, the extraordinary “Otis Spann is the Blues,” with Robert Jr. Lockwood on guitar, for a brand new company, Candid Records. This is considered his finest effort. He went on in the ‘60’s to record some fine records for Storyville, “Piano Blues,” Portrait in Blues.” Decca, “The Blues of Otis Spann.” Prestige, “The Blues Never Die!” He did sessions for Testament, some memorable Vanguard records, and recorded for other labels. A lot of his work has been reissued, and is available. Just as Spann’s superb and singular talent was being recognized as worthy of far more than sideman status, his health started to fail. Contemporary reports tended to suggest that this was alcohol related but his death in Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 1970 was through cancer following a series of debilitating illnesses. Probably best remembered for the much needed subtle and complementary support he provided for Muddy Water’s music, both on stage and in the recording studio, Spann nonetheless proved himself a fine recording artist in his own right. A variety of circumstances prevented him from demonstrating this particular skill as often as many of us would have liked.
Otis Spann was an authentic blues legend, and one hell of a piano player.
Source: James Nadal https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/otisspann

1966 THE SINGLES

I tend not to agree entirely with Jon Savage who claims that 1966 was the year that the decade – and pop music – exploded. I do, however, agree to say that 1966 spawned an amazing amount of fantastic pop singles and some wonderful LPs.  And “1966.The Year the Decade Exploded” is a great read anyways!
Radio 68 collected some LP tracks, b-sides and more stuff you may have forgotten about (Eddy Bonte)
“Nineteen sixty-six was the year of Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown a nd Paint It Black and Pet Sounds; the year of Revolver and John Lennon saying “we’re more popular than Jesus now”, which came back to haunt them when they toured America later in the year. It was also the year in which the Vietnam War continued to escalate, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale started the Black Panther Party, and the first gay riot, predating Stonewall by three years, took place in San Francisco”. Source: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/main-book-review-20160311-gngse5

THE FLOWER POT MEN: PEACE

On the one hand, The Flower Pot Men were a fraud. Master composers John Carter and Ken Lewis (the brains of The Ivy League) could write songs in any light pop genre style and, therefore, were able to take advantage of new trends. In 1967, with Hippie at its height, the duo wrote “Let’s Go to San Francisco” and within weeks had to cope with a serious problem: The Flower Pot Men were in the charts but didn’t actually exist – it was just one of many vehicles for their songs (like The White Plains). On the other hand, Carter and Lewis were masters of harmony, wrote fine lyrics and worked with the best singers and musicians. The duo developed one particular type of ‘hippie’ music: the soft, slow, melodious songs with unusual instruments (such as bells and harpsichords) and lyrics about heavens, new dimensions and, of course, love and peace. The fabulous follow-up ‘Take A Walk in the Sky’ flopped, but Carter and Lewis persisted and wrote a concept album titled ‘Peace’ in 1969. Their record company refused to release it and the whole project was shelved for decades. Whether they believed in Hippie or not, ‘Peace’ is a fine concept album with eight songs about peace, love, freedom and Vietnam framed between a Prologue and an Epilogue. The only non-original is the weakest track of all (Donovan’s ‘Colours’). The wonderful harmonies are supported by great playing: Mickey Keen on guitar, John Ford on bass and Richard Hudson on drums (yes,  Hudson and Ford of Strawbs fame!).

SHAKEY VICK

Born in 1937, Graham Vickery aka Shakey Vick for most of us, was among the lucky and privileged few who attended the first gigs by those famous American blues musicians who were being flown over to the UK at the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties. He picked up the harmonica his brother-in-law had given him for his ninth (!) birthday and formed his first group with singer-guitarist Chris Youlden in 1963. Although Shakey Vick would never equal the success of bands like The Yardbirds, he did record an entire album for Pye in 1969. Youlden eventually joined Savoy Brown and Shakey’s guitarist Rod Price found fame with Foghat. Being a bit of rebel who hates being told what to do, he stuck to his love for Chicago blues and the harmonica. In his own words: “Getting nowhere, but enjoying myself”. Or: “My blues life has been about me doing my direction and other people coming along with me, but not coerced”. It certainly did not stop him from recording and from touring the UK, Europe and the US. At the age of 78, Shakey can still be found playing Chicago blues at local venues in London. Radio 68 interviewed this modest and true British blues phenomenon in December 2015.
in Part 1, you can listen to interview snippets, tracks form the first album (Little Woman You’re So Sweet) and the 2005 cd  Greek Street, plus many of Shakey’s heroes. Watch out for part two with Chris Youlden solo and Savoy Brown.