things and time will tell.

Syl Johnson & Jimmy Johnson – Two Johnsons Are Better Than One Evidence – ECD 26122-2 CD, Album, USA & Canada, 2002 info A quick post, but after talking to R a couple days ago I realized I should share this one. Chicago lost two of our unsung musical treasures last week. Tragically, the losses came just a few days apart from the same family when soul singer Syl Johnson followed his big brother, blues guitarist Jimmy Johnson, in passing. Jimmy was 93 and Sylvester (who is also the father of R&B singer Syleena Johnson ) was 85. Jimmy was under appreciated, slugging away working the Chicago blues circuit for decades. He had backed other artists on guitar, but I'm pretty sure he was 50 or so before putting out an album under his own name. Syl was best known for the great soul sides he had cut in the late 60s and early 70s for Twinight here in Chicago and, later, Hi Records in Memphis. He kept recording blues and soul records for smaller labels into the 1990s, but his later ...

Little Axe ‎– Bought For A Dollar/Sold For A Dime Echo Beach ‎– EB 133C Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Germany, Sep 2018 (original release: digital 2008/CD 2010) info This is the 2018 vinyl version of Little Axe's sixth LP, Bought For A Dollar/Sold For A Dime . Skip McDonald's blues-dub-hip hop hybrid "band" again features the rest of Tackhead (Doug Wimbish on bass, Keith LeBlanc on drums, and a mixdown by On-U Sound main man Adrian Sherwood) on nearly every track. But this is Skip's show, with the guitarist leading the group in some subtly different directions on their second set of recordings after signing to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records.  Bought For A Dollar...  is probably the slickest and most commercial sounding Little Axe production, but that's not a critique (and it may be my favorite of their records). Cutting to the chase: it's a remarkable record. I promise you'll love it with no background, history lessons, or color commen...