In 1978 Steve Agetstien was documenting the blues scene in Oakland and we got a little close to some of the crowd around Eli's Mile Hi Club and I got these bits on the old reel to reel while Steve busied himself shootin' up some video at JJ's house one week day evening. Troyce played an old snare drum and a cymbol and JJ played alot of piano. He reminded me alot of Bobby Timmons but a lot more funky. Great stuff with great heart. Paul Green stopped by to blow some harp and Bob Klien laid down the bottom line on his bass. A couple of camera mics was all we had available but we caught a few wild fine moments regardless. Anyway I figure it's ok to let these bits get heard 'cause I don't think there's too much of this around and besides this is merely the sound track on the documentary that never quite got made. If'n we actually make any dinero on this one, I promise to turn over anything above the cost of making these dubs over to JJ next time he makes it up the coast.
Recorded by Peter Black and dubbed direct from the reel to reel. (46:22)
Here are the mp3 files for the 9 cuts on this CD. Enjoy JJ and God Bless!
A Walk In The Park (4:37)
I Got Excited (5:24)
Some People Got Together (6:21)
Where's Your Diamond Ring (2:25)
Let's Take A Break (5:19)
A Pretty Picture (8:42)
Roll It Up (4:32)
Nineteen Year Old Blues (7:31)
Do We Have Anything? (1:11)
You enjoy these? Drop us an e-mail to nufstuff@mcn.org from here and we'll keep you informed as we load on some more of the Oakland blues we gathered up around these times.