Come On (Part 1)

Jimi Hendrix

This past week, while doing some stuff around the house where some assembly was required, I found it helpful to have some energetic music going to help me get my work done. For whatever reason, I was feeling the need to get some Jimi Hendrix rolling through the house, as Jimi's music always had a very special energy.

Hendrix was certainly one of the more creative spirits in the history of popular music; fusing his own musical background of Southern rhythm & blues, Chicago blues, adding the groundbreaking showmanship that was pioneered by those musicians, along with a healthy dose of British and American rock 'n roll, and running it all through the psychedelic filter of his own revolutionary guitar techniques. Hendrix was the right guy at the right time in music history. His star burned very brightly for too short a time, but he left us with a wealth of incredible music; the influence of which is still reverberating in squalls of feedback today.

Coincidentally, my son-in-law had recently mentioned an interest in doing some hard listening to Jimi's music. It always thrills me when younger folks express a serious interest in musicians of the past. I always try to encourage them to remember when they're listening that there was a time when Jimi's music was fresh, with bewildering lyrical poetry and astonishing originality. In other words, there have been 10,000 guitar players who've come on the scene since Hendrix, so that tends to blur the view a bit. But back when Jimi was a new discovery, people thought he was from Mars or certainly of some different form of consciousness. He was absolutely unique. To this day, Hendrix is often imitated, but like his contemporaries, The Beatles, he may never be duplicated.

The music that influenced Hendrix early on popped up frequently in his playing. From his staggeringly great third album, "Electic Ladyland", here's Jimi Hendrix with "Come On (Part 1)". Dig, y'all.

Earl King

People who enjoy electric blues guitar often refer to "The 3 Kings", meaning Albert, B.B., and Freddie. But there was a fourth King and his name was Earl.

Earl King was born Earl Silas Johnson IV in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1934. He started to play guitar at age 15. Soon after, he started entering talent contests at local clubs. It was at one of those clubs where he met his idol, Guitar Slim, who was a huge influence on King's musical directions. His first recording came in 1953 when the Savoy label released a 78, "Have You Gone Crazy" b/w "Begging At Your Mercy", under his own name, Earl Johnson. In 1954, Guitar Slim was injured in an automobile accident, right around the time he had a #1 R&B hit with "The Things That I Used To Do". King was quickly deputized to continue Slim's band tour as a stand-in, representing himself as Slim!

In 1960, legendary New Orleans bandleader and arranger Dave Bartholomew invited King to record for Imperial Records. It was there that he recorded his signature songs "Come On" and "Trick Bag". Both songs remained as standards for decades, notably covered by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who essentially covered Hendrix's version, and Anson Funderburgh. "Trick Bag" has also been widely covered, including versions by The Meters and Robert Palmer. You can probably walk down Bourbon St. in New Orleans on any given evening and hear either or both of these songs.

Here's Earl King's classic, "Come On (Part 1). It's original New Orleans R&B at it's finest!

 

For some reason, any album by Earl King is unreasonably expensive, even used. You're best off getting Earl's hits on a good collection of New Orleans R&B, like this excellent one from Rhino Records, at about 12 bucks, previously enjoyed. The other great hits on that CD will make it worth your investment. There's a highly recommended Volume 2 available also.

And, as you might imagine, you can get experienced with all the Jimi Hendrix music you can handle at Amazon.