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Every Friday we have the blues. Our production is about the privilege of bringing these legendary artists, together with the more obscure ones and their music to a worldwide audience .
What are for you, the authentic blues? ... On 'Backtracking' we play the music from as far back as a 100+ years, that's what this production is all about. By contrast, we dip a toe, tentatively, into the 50s / 60s and even the 70s. They too, have a message for us - listen and know the blues. We reflect, that as we travel back in time, are we not listening to the stories of those who KNEW the blues.. |
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Click / Download 'Backtracking' |
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Back to where it all began ... It all started in a small town bar in Louisiana; it was like travelling back in time, dusty, rickety tables, chairs, and a bare wooden floor. Sat on a little platform was a lady and a guy with a guitar, and then the lady began to sing the blues. I could have closed my eyes and would have been listening to Ma Rainey or Bessie Smith. Quietly listening, we knew and felt the songs were telling us of a deep sadness, borne of a deprivation beyond our comprehension. I was listening to the 'Blues' long before that, but never really understood, until then, what was meant by 'Feeling the blues'
Our research and journey since then has been a discovery of the ‘Blues’ that never ends, simply because the culture and history of the blues never ends. We're honoured and privileged to share with you this great music and its history, back a hundred years and beyond and through to the present day, a genre so rich, so vast and so diverse.
What started all those years ago with a handful of blues has grown exponentially with the help of our team and good friends, Alan, Terry and Graham, the ‘Doc’ to become a library so vast it’s often difficult to keep track of it all, and continues to grow.
And the shows: ... David Presents ‘Backtracking’, our wonderful guest contributors produce...
- Blues at 5
- Listen to the Blues talking
- Soul in Shades of Blue
Thank you for visiting with us and listening to our productions from here in the UK. Our team extend our best wishes to all.
David – PD Productions (UK) |
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Backtracking Preview / Archive |
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Discovering the blues |
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| PD Productions / Blog |
| Productions for radio |
| Blues Research |
| Licensing / Copyright |
| PD Updates blog |
Get Backtracking on your radio station - Free.
Find out more |
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| Featured artist of the week .... Black Boy Shine |
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Black Boy Shine - Bad luck town blues |
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Black Boy Shine born Harold Holiday (c. September 12, 1908 – March 28, 1952) was a Texas blues pianist, singer and songwriter. Little is known of his life outside of his recording career. He was part of the 'Santa Fe Group', a loose ensemble of black blues. He recorded almost twenty tracks between 1936 and 1937, two of his tracks, ‘Hobo Blues’ and ‘Ice Pick and Pistol Woman Blues’, depicted the lurid and violent lives of Harold and his listeners. However, Harold is remembered as a smooth underworld figure and the best of the Texas pianists.
Harold spent most of his life in Houston, which ultimately influenced his style of playing. Harold was noted as a smooth singer and pianist, with a sweet melodious voice and elegant playing. His songs ’Dog House Blues’ and ‘Back Home Blues’, were in a barrelhouse style. His repertoire dealt with the realities of life for his predominately black audience
In the mid 1930s, Black Boy Shine frequently met up with pianist, Moon Mullican, when performing around Houston. Combining nicknames, for a short time in the 1930s, they performed as a duo called "Moonshine". In 1935 to 1937, Harold recorded as an accompanist on a number of tracks for Bernice Edwards, Alongside Bernice; he recorded piano duets including one entitled ‘Hot Mattress Stomp’
Harold died in 1952, in Sugar Land, Texas, from tuberculosis. He was 43 years old. |
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| From the PD Productions archives ... |
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| Featured lady blues artist |
Algia Mae Hinton - Going down this road
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| Gospel Blues Train |
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Jesus is here today
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| North Mississippi blues / Hill Country Blues |
Mississippi Fred McDowell - Worried Mind
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| Zydeco Blues |
Gib Guilbeau - Happy Cajun Man
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| Appalachian blues trail |
Brownie McGhee - Pawn Shop Blues
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| Blues on the Bayou |
Tabby Thomas - Don't say
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| Prison work songs / The spirituals connection |
Pickin' Cotton, all day long
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| The Blues shack / Artists we'd almost forgotten |
Clifford Grandpappy Gibson - Bad Luck Dice - 1929
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| Sawmill Gravy Blues - Special Productions - December 2023 |
SMGB - The Legends
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| Railroad Blues |
Cannon's Jug Stompers - Big railroad blues
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| Jazz - Moods in Shades of Blue |
Cleo Laine - I gotta a right to sing the blues
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| Mississippi Moaners |
Mississippi Bracy - You scolded me and drove me from your door ... (1931)
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| The Sea Island Singers - Special feature |
An American folk / blues music ensemble from Georgia, United States.
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| Soul - in Shades of Blue - Guest production |
The sweetest soul in shades of blue from the latter part of the 20th Century ... and sometimes, from the Noughties, presented by Umm Leila.
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