Mojo Mike's Blues Revue

08/01/2024

Legendary Blues guitarist Buddy Guy is celebrating his 88th birthday today. Buddy is a mainstay of the Chicago blues and has influenced white blues-rock musicians such as, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

During the 1960s Guy was a member of Muddy Waters' band and was a house guitarist at Chess Records. Guy had a long musical partnership with harmonica player Junior Wells.

Guy was ranked 30th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

While Buddy was a 'house' guitar player at Chess Records, the company didn't want to let him to do any of his own records because label owner Leonard Chess thought his music was 'noise'.

And a beautiful noise it was.

Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!

Photo: performing at the Doheny Blues Festival in 2018, courtesy of Craig Erickson (Mr. Chairman)

06/10/2024

"Mojo Mike's Blues R***e is back live tonight from 8-10pm on 101.9fm, KVSH, or streaming at voiceofvashon.org, or ask Alexa to play KVSHLP.

Tonight we celebrate the birth of "Howlin Wolf!"

05/20/2024

"Mojo Mike's Blues R***e" will be a "Golden Oldie" tonight due to Fire Dep't. training.

04/22/2024

Hell yeah! 🤘💙🙏
Join Here 👉 Music From All Around

02/21/2024

Keith Richards on meeting Howlin' Wolf:
It's like meeting a great big old bull elephant that knew it all. He would just sort of wisely nod his head: "Very good." To me, at that age, it was overpowering. And he was such a big guy, and gentle. The strong guys are gentle, always. It's only weak guys that come on strong. These guys were so kind to us, and this was no sucking-up sort of thing. It wasn't two or three years later when they'd all had hit records again, maybe thanks to the Beatles and us. Then we did our gig. But this was even before they had any real need to be that way. There was no payback involved. They were just gentle from the start, like Muddy on the ladder, Howlin' Wolf. They were always the sweetest.

Willie Dixon was another one -- encouragement from the start. And we were some snotty-nose little kids from London, taking over their turf, but that's what being a man is all about. Willie, man, what a guy. It was a pleasure for us to do his songs.

If you could transcend time, which historic musicians would you see?
Robert Johnson. Big BillBroonzy. I'd love to see him live. I missed him just by a hair's breadth. There's a great film of him singing "When Did You Leave Heaven" in a little club in Belgium. It was a classic video before its time.

Why would you want to see Robert Johnson?
Just to see how he did it, man. Just one time. He was a flash. I spoke to Son House about him, and when he came back six months later, he was knocking everybody dead.

Interview by Jas Obrecht, 1992

Keith Richards, 1967. 📷 Dezo Hoffmann.

02/20/2024

"Mojo Mike's Blues R***e" is on the air tonight 8-10pm! tune in to 101.9fm of stream at voiceofvashon.org, or ask Alexa to play kvshlp.

Tonight we celebrate the birthdays of Lou Ann Barton and "Magic" Sam, as well as President's day!

02/19/2024

02/18/2024

"I didn't learn nothing from a book," Buddy Guy tells NPR's Neal Conan. "I learned by ... being quiet, keep your ears open and listen."

"Boogie Chillen'" by John Lee Ho**er - that's the first record I ever bought. That's the first one I could afford, matter of fact. I think that 78 cost about, what, 63 cents or something like that, from Randy's Record Shop out of Tennessee. You had to order it through the mail out in the country where I was born.

"... My sisters and brothers made my mother and father run me out of the house because I sounded like a bunch of bees [practicing that song on a three-string guitar]. You know, you couldn't play nothing [on it]. And I went out to the woodpile ... and gathered the wood for to make the fires, and my mom and them, they cook on the wood stove.

"A lot of young kids can’t afford satellite radio and can’t afford these concerts I’m playing and don’t know nothing about the blues. You know, everyone is looking for some kind of role model and when I was coming up the radio stations played all kinds of music, gospel, jazz, blues, whatever and now you don’t get that on the radio anymore. I just want to be a role model for these young kids growing up and listening to music."

Chad Faries Interview
Photo: Paul Natkin