View basket “Tellin’ Stories” has been added to your basket. Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder SKU: 0075597913552 Barcode: 0075597913552 19.00 £19.00 Genre: Blues Label: Nonesuch Released Date: 22nd April 2022 Buying Format: 1LP Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info They were so solid. They meant what they said, they did what they did… here’s two guys, a guitar player and a harmonica player, and they could make it sound like a whole orchestra.” – Taj Mahal “It was perfect. What else can you say?” – Ry Cooder Nearly sixty years after they first played together, Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal, longtime friends and collaborators, reunite with an album of music from two Piedmont blues masters who have inspired them all their lives: GET ON BOARD: THE SONGS OF SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE MCGHEE, on Nonesuch Records. With Taj Mahal on vocals, harmonica, guitar, and piano and Cooder on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and banjo – joined by Joachim Cooder on drums and bass – the duo recorded eleven songs drawn from recordings and live performances by Terry and McGhee, who they both first heard as teenagers in California. Explaining where Terry and McGhee took him musically, Cooder says, “Down the road, away from Santa Monica. Where everything was good. ‘I have got to get out of here,’ was all I could think. What do you do, fourteen, eighteen years old? I was trapped. But that first record, Get on Board, the 10” on Folkways, was so wonderful, I could understand the guitar playing.” Taj Mahal adds, “I started hearing them when I was about nineteen, and I wanted to go to these coffee houses, ‘cause I heard that these old guys were playing. I knew that there was a river out there somewhere that I could get into, and once I got in it, I’d be all right. They brought the whole package for me.” Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder originally joined forces in 1965, forming The Rising Sons when Cooder was just seventeen. The band was signed to Columbia Records but an album was not released and the group disbanded a year later. The 1960s recording sessions, widely bootlegged, were finally issued officially in 1992. GET ON BOARD is Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder’s first recording together since then. Harmonica player Sonny Terry and guitarist Brownie McGhee, both originally from the southeastern United States, had active solo careers as well as collaborating with some of the most celebrated musicians of their time. But they were best known for their forty-five-year partnership, which began in 1939 and included mesmerising live performances around the world and numerous acclaimed recordings. Their Piedmont blues style became popular during the folk music revival of the 1940s and ’50s, centered in New York City’s flourishing club scene for jazz, boogie-woogie, blues and folk music. Terry and McGhee traveled in the same circles as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly, and Josh White, among others in a rich mix of writers, actors and musicians. As a new generation emerging in the 1960’s drew inspiration from folk and blues, Terry and McGhee toured the world as the foremost exponents of the acoustic music of the Piedmont. They were named National Heritage Fellows in 1982 in recognition of their distinctive musical contributions and accomplishments. “You got the south on steroids, when you got the music of the south, the culture of the south, the beauty of the south, through Brownie and Sonny,” Taj Mahal says. He describes McGhee as a “solid rhythm player. To really play behind the harp like that. He would set stuff up. He wasn’t making many notes. Sonny had all the notes, running around. But Brownie, he laid it down.” Cooder adds: “This thing of squeezing the thumb and first finger and a little bit of the second finger, which I still do. I’d forgotten where it came from. That’s what Brownie did. I saw him do that and said, ‘I think I can do that.’” Taj Mahal calls Terry “a wizard harmonica player”. Cooder says, “Sonny had incredible rhythm for one thing. Making sounds with his voice and the harmonica so you couldn’t tell quite which was which. He was good at that.” “We’ve been doing this a while,” Cooder says. “Perhaps we’ve earned the right to bring it back. Taj Mahal concludes. “We’re now the guys that we aspired toward when we were starting out. Here we are now… old timers. What a great opportunity, to really come full circle.” Artist Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder Genre Blues Label Nonesuch Buying Options 1LP Format 1LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings 1. My Baby Done Changed the Lock on the Door 2. The Midnight Special 3. Hooray Hooray 4. Deep Sea Diver 5. Pick a Bale of Cotton 6. Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee 7. What a Beautiful City 8. Pawn Shop Blues 9. Cornbread, Peas, Black Molasses 10. Packing Up Getting Ready to Go 11. I Shall Not Be Moved Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Blues Nearly New View Product Quick View Various Artists Ma Rainey And The Classic Blues Singers Blues | CBS | 1LP Released 9th February 2019 £14.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Various Artists Ma Rainey And The Classic Blues Singers £14.00 Genre: Blues Label: CBS SKU: NN96701 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 9th February 2019 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View John Lee Hooker The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker Blues | Cornbread | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 14th July 2017 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders John Lee Hooker The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker £17.00 Genre: Blues Label: Cornbread SKU: CRNBR16036 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 14th July 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Lowell Fulson In A Heavy Bag Blues | Sundazed | 180g, 1LP Released 14th July 2016 £28.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Lowell Fulson In A Heavy Bag £28.00 Genre: Blues Label: Sundazed SKU: SUNDAZEDLP5207 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 14th July 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Eric Clapton & Friends Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale Blues | Polydor | 180g, 2LP Released 24th July 2014 £25.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Eric Clapton & Friends Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale £25.00 Genre: Blues Label: Polydor SKU: 3787764 Formats: 180g, 2LP Released Date: 24th July 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Nearly New View Product Quick View Chicken Shack Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve Blues | Simply Vinyl | 1LP Released 1st May 2024 £18.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Chicken Shack Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve £18.00 Genre: Blues Label: Simply Vinyl SKU: nn285908 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 1st May 2024 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View John Mayall Tough Blues | Ear Music | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 13th November 2020 £26.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders John Mayall Tough £26.00 Genre: Blues Label: Ear Music SKU: 0214266EMX Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 13th November 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View BB King Singin’ The Blues (Mono) Blues | Pure Pleasure | 180g, 1LP Released 26th January 2012 £34.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders BB King Singin’ The Blues (Mono) £34.00 Genre: Blues Label: Pure Pleasure SKU: CLP5020 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 26th January 2012 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Jonah Tolchin Thousand Mile Night Blues | Yep Roc | 180g, 1LP Released 5th August 2016 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Jonah Tolchin Thousand Mile Night £21.00 Genre: Blues Label: Yep Roc SKU: LPYEP2431 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 5th August 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Samantha Fish Kill Or Be Kind Americana / Country | Rounder | 1LP Released 20th September 2019 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Samantha Fish Kill Or Be Kind £20.00 Genre: Americana / Country Label: Rounder SKU: 1166100585 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 20th September 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Muddy Waters The Rough Guide to Muddy Waters: Country Blues Blues | Rough Guides | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 27th May 2011 £10.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Muddy Waters The Rough Guide to Muddy Waters: Country Blues £10.00 Genre: Blues Label: Rough Guides SKU: RGNET1233LP Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 27th May 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Blues Start again
Nearly New View Product Quick View Various Artists Ma Rainey And The Classic Blues Singers Blues | CBS | 1LP Released 9th February 2019 £14.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Various Artists Ma Rainey And The Classic Blues Singers £14.00 Genre: Blues Label: CBS SKU: NN96701 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 9th February 2019 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket
View Product Quick View John Lee Hooker The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker Blues | Cornbread | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 14th July 2017 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders John Lee Hooker The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker £17.00 Genre: Blues Label: Cornbread SKU: CRNBR16036 Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 14th July 2017 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Lowell Fulson In A Heavy Bag Blues | Sundazed | 180g, 1LP Released 14th July 2016 £28.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Lowell Fulson In A Heavy Bag £28.00 Genre: Blues Label: Sundazed SKU: SUNDAZEDLP5207 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 14th July 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Eric Clapton & Friends Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale Blues | Polydor | 180g, 2LP Released 24th July 2014 £25.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Eric Clapton & Friends Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale £25.00 Genre: Blues Label: Polydor SKU: 3787764 Formats: 180g, 2LP Released Date: 24th July 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
Nearly New View Product Quick View Chicken Shack Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve Blues | Simply Vinyl | 1LP Released 1st May 2024 £18.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Chicken Shack Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed And Ready To Serve £18.00 Genre: Blues Label: Simply Vinyl SKU: nn285908 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 1st May 2024 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket
View Product Quick View John Mayall Tough Blues | Ear Music | 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 13th November 2020 £26.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders John Mayall Tough £26.00 Genre: Blues Label: Ear Music SKU: 0214266EMX Formats: 2LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 13th November 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View BB King Singin’ The Blues (Mono) Blues | Pure Pleasure | 180g, 1LP Released 26th January 2012 £34.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders BB King Singin’ The Blues (Mono) £34.00 Genre: Blues Label: Pure Pleasure SKU: CLP5020 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 26th January 2012 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Jonah Tolchin Thousand Mile Night Blues | Yep Roc | 180g, 1LP Released 5th August 2016 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Jonah Tolchin Thousand Mile Night £21.00 Genre: Blues Label: Yep Roc SKU: LPYEP2431 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 5th August 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Samantha Fish Kill Or Be Kind Americana / Country | Rounder | 1LP Released 20th September 2019 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Samantha Fish Kill Or Be Kind £20.00 Genre: Americana / Country Label: Rounder SKU: 1166100585 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 20th September 2019 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders
View Product Quick View Muddy Waters The Rough Guide to Muddy Waters: Country Blues Blues | Rough Guides | 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 27th May 2011 £10.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Muddy Waters The Rough Guide to Muddy Waters: Country Blues £10.00 Genre: Blues Label: Rough Guides SKU: RGNET1233LP Formats: 180g, 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 27th May 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders