Ian Collard & Lester Butler

Thought I would try my hand at embedding a youtube blues clip into a post here as an experiment and at the suggestion of Brad Knapp to try it. Maybe I'll stick something up every now and then that really peaks my interest, but I don't plan to go overboard with it. I've gotten about as hi-tech as I plan to get on the blog--but a vid every now and then won't hurt. I do figure that anyone reading along on their computer can pull up youtube and search for anyone that I've mentioned during the past 8 months or so.

What prompted Brad's suggestion was a youtube clip that I sent him of Paul 'The Kid' Size playing with Lester Butler's Red Devils at a European festival. It is a good example of his guitar skills. I'm not going to embed that one here, but I am going to share a link that better represents Lester Butler's blues harp when the band was The Blue Shadows and before they signed a recording contract with Rick Rubin and Def American records and that Stephen S turned me onto. Now, you might know that the clip can't be embedded because Checker 764 reserves the right to not allow that. So, I'll pass along the Blue Shadows link. Warning: you might get lost off into some Lester Butler for awhile. The Red Devils were the darlings of the Hollywood set. Particularly promote by the likes of Bruce Willis and Mick Jagger. Some of you might have a bootlegged copy of Mick Jagger's first solo album that was great low down blues backed by the Red Devils, but was never officially released. These guys were on their way when Butler overdosed at age 38.

I am going stick some Collard Greens and Gravy up in here for those that are not familiar with Ian Collard's playing and his band. This is a great example of what the band does when covering the legends such as Howling Wolf and is a good example of what Ian gets going with amplified harp.