This week's #TuneTuesday theme is #BlackMagick. Here are the first five songs that I came up with:

Screamin' Jay Hawkins: I Put A Spell On You (1956)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjq-PmryUmA

Ann Cole with the Suburbans: Got My Mo-jo Working (But It Just Won't Work On You) (1957)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24xsTHiVaXg

The Johnny Otis Show (with Marci Lee): Castin' My Spell (1959)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlCnXdMmAGE

LaVern Baker: Voodoo Voodoo (1958/1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yph72Lbp0Y

Betty Harris - Mo Jo Hannah (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7P3bhZM0U4

#music #screaminjayhawkins #anncole #johnnyotis #johnnyotisshow #marcilee #lavernbaker #bettyharris

Okay, I have a problem with "information" on the web regarding who is credited for the theme music to "Diagnosis Murder" because I heard that music played on #NPR #FreshAir which re-aired a 1989 interview with #JohnnyOtis when they came to the topic of #HarlemNocturne .

Wikipedia and a wide assortment of other sources say that Richard Benedictis and Joel Goldsmith were the composers (not arrangers), while "Harlem Nocturn" was composed by Earle Hagan for the TV show "Mike Hammer". To my ear, they're both the same piece of music. What's up with that?

Johnny Otis – Rock 'N Roll Hit Parade Volume 1, released in 1957 on Dig Records

Johnny Otis (December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012), born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes (Greek: Ιωάννης Αλέξανδρος Βελιώτης), was a Greek American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, talent scout, and preacher. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He discovered numerous artists early in their careers who went on to become highly successful in their own right, including Little Esther Phillips, Etta James, Alan O'Day, Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Ace, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, and The Robins, Sugar Pie Desanto, among many others. Otis has been called the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues" - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_zUUtoZBcU&list=PLoG9hdV2igcvCYf79Tmw85G9MHHQoWL-2&index=7

#johnnyotis #rockandroll #rnb #1957inmusic #midnightcreeper

This week's #JukeboxFridayNight theme is #BodyParts. This is what I came up with:

The Johnny Otis Show: Willie and the Hand Jive (a 1959 live version with the Three Tons of Joy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEeeGMpM_Nk

The Flares: Foot Stomping - Part 1 (1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjNGR4Yx8Rc

The Miracles: From Head to Toe (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W58UhlRdr1Y

Little Jerry Williams: Baby, You're My Everything (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv9_tzNrE6c

And finally, with a content warning for death, tragedy and extreme bad taste:

Jimmy Cross: I Want My Baby Back (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo8DhbQw_O4

#music #johnnyotis #theflares #themiracles #smokeyrobinson #swampdogg #jimmycross #teenagedeathsongs

Today's #ThursdayFiveList theme is #CaliforniaDreaming. These are the first five California songs that I came up with:

John Lee Hooker: Frisco Blues (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsBAKqBQH_U

Joe Simon: San Francisco Is a Lonely Town (1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2IkVFM1pKM

Jackie DeShannon: L.A. (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4r4PqNCtFM

The Johnny Otis Show: The Watts Breakaway (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8j-NzrdM_g

The Penguins featuring Cleve Duncan: Memories of El Monte (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ0odI8W2U4

#music #blues #soul #doowop #johnleehooker #joesimon #jackiedeshannon #johnnyotis #penguins #frankzappa #losangeles #sanfrancisco

Remembering Esther Phillips on the day she would have been 89-years old.

I've written a lot about Esther, I have a soft spot for her singing and am fascinated by her life story.

I have at least one more piece to write based on some history from #johnnyotis - It explains a great deal about why Esther made some of the choices she did.

For today though, I want to remember a ballsy woman who once walked into Creed Taylors office with a baseball bat under her fur coat to demand her royalty check.

Posts via the jazzjump or link in bio

#estherphillips #ctirecords #creedtaylor #ctproduced @davidmatthewsjazz

For the music nerds in the house: I would be remiss if I did not point out that "World's Greatest Sinner" has an early soundtrack by Frank Zappa. He said this was the world's worst movie, but was willing to put his name on his work (unlike Edgar G. Ulmer who worked on the cinematography under a pseudonym).

In the still from the original post here, the band in the background is the Johnny Otis show (name can be seen on the drum set).

#Zappa #JohnnyOtis #Rockabilly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHm2_neYGkw