Esther Phillips died 34-years ago today, on August 7th, 1984, aged just 48. Esther lead a storied, and troubled life. Aged just 13, Esther Mae Jones won an amateur talent contest in 1949 at the Barrelhouse Club in Los Angeles, owned by Johnny Otis. That started an on, off troubled […]
CTI Artists on TV
Enjoy two great live performances from artists from CTI. Both comes from VHS tapes I managed to buy from ebay. I was hoping to avoid getting into converting VHS tapes, as they are often more trouble than they are worth. On the full length video of the 1976 awards, George […]
Spotify Does CTI
I’ve become a recent convert to Spotify, thanks to my Wife, and there are some great CTI Playlists on Spotify. My music collection spans some 4,500 albums, approximately two thirds are vinyl, of what’s left are of mix of CD’s and digital music MP3’s bought mostly from Amazon Music. I […]
On This Day: Black Out
(You can play Black Out while you read, via one of these streaming services. Youtube Music is free, but is ad-supported) My enthusiasm for CTI, and all things Creed Taylor was driven by two amazing websites put together by jazz historian and CTI enthusiast Douglas Payne. A few years ago, […]
On This Day: Motown Distribution
It was reported on October 13th 1974, Creed and his team had been convinced either through challenges with their own distribution, or by promises of greater sales, to form a distribution deal with Motown Records. What turned to be a short term deal, lasting only a couple of years had […]
On This Day: RIP Ennio Morricone
When I turned on the BBC radio early this morning, already past lunchtime in the UK, it was announced that Ennio Morricone had passed. A legend for film and music, Ennio was age 91. You might wonder why I’d mark his passing here? Apart from being an absolute legend especially […]
Happy Birthday Lonnie Smith
The doctor is in the house! Today is Lonnie Smith’s birthday, born July 3rd, 1942, for those that are counting, that makes Lonnie a tender 78 years old. I have a special place in my music pantheon for Lonnie, his track, Afrodesia was a dance floor classic in 1975 London. […]
ON THIS DAY: CTI Opens Canada Wing
Distribution was critical when vinyl was the medium. Many of Creed’s early months with his new management team would likely have been spent negotiating distribution deals. The Canadian deal was announced in Billboard Magazine – August 11th, 1970. Effective July 2nd, 1970, CTI had an office and warehouse in Montreal […]
CT 508
CT 508 – Black Out Parts 1 & 2 – Fats Theus Side A: Black Out (part 1)Side B: Black Out (part 2)(from Black Out)Fats TheusIssues: CTI CT 508 [45]Master No.: CT 508 A/CT 508 BRecorded: July 16th and 22nd, 1970 and Rudy Van Gelder’s StudioReleased: Single released the first week of Sept. 1970, album […]
Weekend In London
Looks like George Benson will have two “new” releases later this year. News has reached me that Benson’s new label, Provogue, part of the Mascot Label Group, are going to release a sequel to the 1978, Warner Brothers, Weekend In LA live album. The new album, also recorded live, is […]