BIgWater

We included some songs from the Playground Catalogs that we re-recorded and available for licensing as well as the originals. We included a couple of Jill Songs, a Great Dan Penn Biker song called “Tiny Hineys and Hogs”. We’ve worked with Dan over the years and has been a great inspiration. WE have included other songs that we like and perform from time to time. There are standout performances by Clayton Lancaster as he leads us through all of his songs with ease, style and headroom. “Sweet Daddy”, sung and written by Jill was recorded in Nashville many years ago and features Hal Newman on piano! “Clever Devils” written by Mason Arnold is one of our favs for all reasons. My old friend and compadre Mississippi Bobby Maxwell is playing and singing with me and Jill.. we recorded it slick in Nashville with all of the heroes but ended up using the track from the garage. You should be able to buy this here
www.playgroundrecordingstudio.com

SOUTHERN AMERICANA MUSIC

License Music from the 60's, 70's to 2015 to current

representing Chu-Fin Music BMI and

Southern Americana Tunes BMI

When the best and the most expensive are not

synonyms.

Noteworthy

The Playground Team (Jim and Jill) took off on Saturday April 2nd and drove to Memphis to attend the unveiling ceremony of Jim Dickinson's Brass Note on Beale Street.

The ceremony was held on April 3rd in front of the New Daisy.

John Fry from Ardent studio opened remarks. His first was that Jim was the first independent record producer he had ever worked with. John and Jim were contemporaries and basically the same age, but it occurred to me that Dickinson was one of the first independent producers anywhere. John continued with well deserved endearing remarks.

Knox Phillips followed John. Channeling some of his Dad's revival spirit he told studio war stories of unique situations involving Dickinson sessions which included known felons in drag, Harleys playing to Gene Chrisman's beat on a Dan Penn track. firearms and mojo charms. We very much enjoyed Knox's genuine heartfelt presentation. There were other speakers including Congressman Steve Cohen, wife Mary Lindsay, sons Luther and Cody. All in all it was a moving ceremony and we were able to visit with many an old friend and compadre. We were spiritually uplifted.


There was an impromptu jam session following the ceremony across the street at the Old Daisy. Jill and I played gigs and events with Jim and MudBoy and the Neutrons at both Daisys. Jim's 3 day 50th birthday celebration was at the New Daisy.





On the trip back to Playground, Jill made me stop in Jackson to visit the site of Ace Records where I grew some teeth in the record biz with Johnny Vincent back in the 70's. This is the Mississippi Blues Trail Marker that now stands in front of the old studio site. A special thanks to Jim O'Neal for including me on the sign.. I can send my grandchildren there sometime in the future

Lots of memories were remembered and experiences relived. A special thanks to the Turley's who hosted us in Memphis



Photo from the Mississippi Blues Trail Marker of a record I recorded for Johnny.
Ace 2028 Genuine Mississippi Blues.. I believe they are still available for purchase
Chief

With Sabres In Our Hands

http://soundcloud.com/playgroundrecording/with-sabres-in-our-hands

Excerpt from Robert Gordon to accompany the song
This was 1974, and the divergent forces in Memphis music came together that night at the post-Elvis studio built by the master around the corner from Sun. It was a session for Jerry McGill, whose Topcoats were the South Memphis hoods that East Memphis mamas were too scared to hire in the late 1950s. McGill's one released recording had been for Phillips some twenty-five years earlier. Jim Dickinson was producing the session, using demo money he'd wrangled from Warner Brothers. Those present included Danny Graflund, Campbell Kensinger, Marcia Hare, and another of the Mud Boy dancers. Impresario Jim Blake was there, as was writer Stanley Booth. Knox Phillips, Sam's elder son, was engineering the session.
Campbell sat in the control room drinking Wild Turkey from a fifth, bouncing the bottom of the glass bottle on the floor as he listened to other people tell stories. "You ever think of 'the Law' as a whole fucking table?" Campbell asked. And he picked up a coffee table, put the corner in his mouth, tried to bite it off.
Stanley Booth, who was practiced in the martial arts, leapt up and karate chopped a decorative wooden shingle into two pieces. Campbell was extremely unimpressed. Blake remembers Campbell saying, "These guys in my gang walk around with these guns and knives and shit and they think they're tough. I'll show you tough," and Campbell whipped his noonchuks from his back pocket and started hitting himself on the left side of the head. "About twenty times," says Blake, "stuff that would have not only disabled me or you, but would have given us permanent brain damage. And he said, 'Now that's tough.' Hey, nobody could disagree with that."
Knox and Dickinson, who was thinly slicing hog tranquilizer for sustenance, kept their attention on McGill, who was overdubbing the vocal. Knox remembers that he was singing "Desperados Waiting for a Train," but Dickinson believes it was a Civil War song called "With Sabres in My Hand." In the latter number, there is a line that upset McGill every time, a line at the end of the song in which the Southern narrator refers to "the lost cause." Dickinson leaned to Knox to confirm that he'd frisked McGill before the session.
"Yes," said Knox, "I got his gun."
"Gun?" said Dickinson. "Guns!"
At that moment, Eggleston was entering the studio floor with his video camera, and McGill's fuse lit. It was bad enough admitting defeat on audio tape, but to have it chronicled on video was too much. Eggleston crept closer as the song neared its climax. The camera was on top of McGill when he said the scurrilous words. The goddamn line sung, the final notes fading, McGill reached into his jacket and stated, "Lost cause my ass," unloading his six gun into the ceiling. Instinctively, everyone in the control room ducked. When Dickinson looked up, Knox was still at the board.
"What're you doing?" he hissed.
Stated the ace engineer, "The gun needs mo' echo."

The Alabama Musicians Hall of Fame induction Ceremony.. was a blast.. congrats to all inductees.. all well deserved accolades. Special kudos to Jerry Carrigan, Paul Hornsby and Buddy Buie.

This is a post from the current Uk mag "In The Basement". Playground alumnus Len Wade is picked #3 all time blue-eyed soul singers with his 1966 cut of "It Comes and It Goes".. truly an amazing track and a scorching vocal. Thanks to David for publishing this great rag!

Steve Fisher "Nothing But Hope"

As the New Year has turned over.. we can hardly say 2010 much less write it down.. however studios are like casinos.. no natural light and no clocks.. after a three year project, Steve Fisher's "Nothing But Hope" is finally on the forecast to be released. Masters have been sent to the manufacturer and art is on the way.. so we are about a month out for retail copies. Steve has crafted some fine songs into an Americana Symphony.. actually we like to call it the "Boggy Bayou Hobo Orchestra". To accompany these quatrains, some fine musicians are featured on this disk. Clayton's guitar work exceeds Nashville twang. This is what a telecaster is supposed to sound like. Fred Dumalot overdubbed drums on the entire project (a feat in itself) and Doug plays some memorable mandolin on these American poems. There will be a limited amount available on the Playground website www.playgroundrecordingstudio.com. The cover photo is by Shelley Swanger and graphic art by Willie Warren Meigs