The Meaning of Katy

[SpondonBassed]

This is undoubtedly common knowledge for a lot of forum members but I thought I'd share it for those who, like myself, have not been exposed to as wide a variety of musical styles in their lives as perhaps they'd have liked.

I was looking up YT clips for [i]She Caught the Katy[/i]. If someone had asked me who released it I might have given the Blues Brothers credit but I had an inkling that it was a standard like the other songs from the film. I am glad that I looked it up because of the entertainment I got watching some of the clips along the way.

Just before, last week in fact, I discovered an artist called Taj Mahal that I had previously been unaware of. I had seen him perform from a mule drawn cart in the Bloody Sunday Sessions clips on YT doing [i]Queen Bee[/i] and [i]Good Morning Ms Brown[/i]. I looked out some of his earlier performances and collaborations on the back of that. I enjoyed some cracking recordings.

After a couple of days I decided to find out the origin of the lyric “S[i]he caught the Katy[/i]”. Taj Mahal's name popped up. He is credited as one of the writers of the song released in 1968. The clip on YT is a good 'un.
Taj Mahal;
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_mcvifJ5N0[/media]

Then I noticed a clip by Big Joe Williams. Again, the artist is one who I had not previously been aware of. He did a song which has a train and a mule in it as well. It is interesting because the clip is claimed to be from 1966.
Big Joe Williams;
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-ebiCuVpo[/media]

I am looking forward to having some quality time going through some of Big Joe Williams' YT clips over the next few days.

The Katy? Well, I had an idea that it was a train as the lyric hints that way. It was. The [i]KT[/i] is a contraction of MKT, the abbreviation for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railway. I feel like I have finally got at an out-of-reach itch between my shoulders now that I know that! Sad innit?

Edited October 25, 2017 by SpondonBassed

[Happy Jack]

It's always weird when someone who is clearly an experienced musician posts up a blind spot like this.

I probably have more than most, since I dropped completely out of music (playing, listening, anything) for nearly 20 years. You would all be amazed by the artists I've never heard of. It was only through my then 14-year-old daughter getting into Foo Fighters that I discovered a guy called Dave Grohl who apparently used to play for some strange outfit called "Nirvana". Bet they never got anywhere with a name like that.

I've been a mahoosive Taj Mahal fan for (on & off) 40 years though ...

Just buy a copy of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Progress_%26_in_Motion:_1965%E2%80%931998

[SpondonBassed]

Thanks for the link Jack.

I have to thank the Internet for this sort of thing. I can be as curmudgeonly about technology as, say, Victor Meldrew might have been had he not been knocked down on a wet night many years ago.

This sort of thing however, I'll allow.

Long live Victor;
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvwIelHqE9A[/media]

PS: Where on earth did you get the notion that I am experienced as a musician? You must know by now that I spend half my time talking out my bum?

Edited October 25, 2017 by SpondonBassed

[pfretrock]

Seemed like unusual string spacing on Big Joe William's guitar. Google found this: http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2102.0

[Grangur]

There are a lot of songs that people think as coming from "The Blues Brothers". Sadly, I don't believe anything originates from that film.

I used to listen to the tracks and think "I'm sure I know this from somewhere else". So I looked some up and here are some of the tracks and their origins.

[b]Peter Gunn Theme[/b]
"Peter Gunn" is the theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the television show of the same name. The song was the opening track on the original soundtrack album, The Music from Peter Gunn, released in 1959 as RCA Victor LPM/LSP-1956.

[b]Gimme Some Lovin'[/b] - Spencer Davis Group 1967
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcxYX8KPhGk

[b]Shake a [/b][b]tail[/b][b] Feather[/b]
Written by Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice, and Andre Williams, this is a song originally recorded in 1963 by the Chicago-based group The Five Du-Tones
Does shake your tail feather mean get moving or move quickly or something? ... Nope, it means shake your ass. It was a song recorded by several artists.


[b]"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"[/b] is a song written by Bert Berns, Solomon Burke and Jerry Wexler, and originally recorded by Solomon Burke under the production of Bert Berns at Atlantic Records in 1964. Burke's version charted in 1964, but missed the US top 40, peaking at number 58.
Wilson Pickett covered the song in 1966, and his version (which explicitly mentions Solomon Burke in the opening section) made it to #29 pop, and #19 R&B in early 1967. Other notable versions of "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" were recorded by The Rolling Stones and The Blues Brothers.

"Let Us Go Back to the Old Landmark", also known as [b]"The Old Landmark"[/b], is a gospel song. Sometimes credited as "traditional", it was written by W. Herbert Brewster and published in 1949 in an arrangement by Virginia Davis. It was recorded by Brewster's own group, the Brewster Singers, and by many other gospel performers including Edna Gallmon Cooke, Clara Ward, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and The Staple Singers. Later recordings were made by Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Some of the recordings credit the writing of the song to Adeline Brunner (as A.M. or A.H. Brunner). It is featured in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, where it is performed by James Brown with the Rev. James Cleveland Choir. It also appears on the film's soundtrack album.

[b]Minnie the Moocher[/b]
http://youtu.be/8mq4UT4VnbE
"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over a million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed ("scat") lyrics (for example, "Hi De Hi De Hi De Hi"). In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a form of call and response. Eventually Calloway's phrases would become so long and complex that the audience would laugh at their own failed attempts to repeat them.

"Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
In case you're wondering, the "hoochie coochie" is a catch-all term to describe any of a number of sexually provocative belly dance-like dances.

[b]Sweet [/b][b]home[/b][b] Chicago[/b]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8hqGu-leFc
"Sweet Home Chicago" is a blues standard first recorded by Robert Johnson in 1936. Although he is often credited as the songwriter, several songs have been identified as precedents. The song has become a popular anthem for the city of Chicago despite ambiguity in Johnson's original lyrics. Numerous artists have interpreted the song in a variety of styles.

Still, you have to give it to The Blues Brothers, they gave us some good versions of all these songs.

While I'm at it; an old blues fav of mine is "Little Red Rooster". The Rollin' Stones gave us a good version. Howlin' Wolf covered it, but the original was written and performed by Willie Dixon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfJVeHKVcE8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW4FE8WkvuM

...and, as he's no longer with us, as of 2017.

http://youtu.be/LOxiSJsjjU0

Hope you enjoy these.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1508943646' post='3395528']
Seemed like unusual string spacing on Big Joe William's guitar. Google found this: [url="http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=2102.0"]http://weeniecampbel...hp?topic=2102.0[/url]
[/quote]

Yes. The nine strings were yet another interesting fact. Three machine heads along the end of the headstock - magic! The story in your link suggests he was modifying the guitar himself to stop someone else "messin" with it during the interval. The tunings were quite unexpected too.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1508945747' post='3395540']
...Hope you enjoy these.
[/quote]

Cheers Grangur. Great post.

The Blues Brothers film was a marvellous way to showcase those standards without making it look like musical theatre. As you say, there was little in the way of original music for the film with the possible exception of incidental music but even that might be said to be an extension of the previously released material.

I'd heard a lot of the music before as you had but was not up on artist names or backgrounds. Back then we did not have the Internet to help us satisfy our curiosity like we do now.

[Grangur]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1508963019' post='3395718']
Cheers Grangur. Great post.
[/quote]

Thank you for kicking it off and reminding me to do the search I've intended to do for years.

[Happy Jack]

Pah! Next thing you know, he'll be telling us that Jake and Elmore are fictional characters ...

[SpondonBassed]

...or that sequels are every bit as good as the first film.

[ivansc]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1508937255' post='3395482']
Just buy a copy of this: [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Progress_%26_in_Motion:_1965%E2%80%931998"]https://en.wikipedia...65%E2%80%931998[/url]
[/quote]

Dayum! That is some mega album!! I have just about everything he has done on vinyl, now recorded digitally, and I am getting a strong urge to get this lot so I am still "official". My all time fave of his is that double live album with all the horns. Magic stuff.

Edited October 27, 2017 by ivansc

[Kirky]

Youtube surfing is a brilliant way to discover "new" old music (and new new music). Rather like your exploration of the origins of songs from the film, I really liked all the covers that the Detroit Cobras so, and have gradually tracked down originals and discovered so many amazing artists. My favourite amongst them is the Five Royales, and the Olympics too.