Garnet Mimms is the guy who sang the original version of Cry Baby, better known (to me, at least) for Janis Joplin’s overwrought version, back in 1963.

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Happy Hallowe’en folks! And nothing says Hallowe’en like a Northern Soul banger with a spooky title.

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The growling blues-boogie of La Grange gave ZZ Top their big breakthrough in 1973, though they were already on to their third album by then – and would go on to enjoy a second lease of life in the ’80s.

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Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough did not come to fame until he was in his sixties – but made a lasting impression with his Hill Country Blues.

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“You got to have a J-O-B if you wanna be with me… No romance without finance.” This is one of the finest funk and soul singles of all time – despite its far-from-feminist materialistic message; it was the ’80s after all. (more…)

Leroy Van Dyke’s first job as a livestock auctioneer inspired the song that brought him to fame back in 1956.

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Lone Justice tackled The Undertones’ greatest song Teenage Kicks when they kicked off the LA cowpunk scene and paved the way for alt-country.

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The best thing about Television Personalities – the DIY punk band, not the narcissists on your telly – is their titles incorporating famous figures. And this song.

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Acoustic bluesman Eric Bibb found fame in his mid-forties and is still making remarkable music on his steel-strong guitar at the age of 73.

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Moving on from yesterday’s Ray Charles post, but not completely… in the early ’50s he went down to New Orleans to work with Guitar Slim, and this was the result.

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