Spider Blues
Encyclopedia
Spider Blues is the debut solo album by blues
artist "Spider" John Koerner, released in 1965. He was member of the loose-knit blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover
at the time of its release.
, Koerner was recording on the Elektra
label. While recording the trio's albums Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers
and The Return of Koerner, Ray & Glover
he recorded a number of solo tracks. These tracks were assembled into Koerner's debut solo album. He also appeared at the Newport Folk Festival
that same year, accompanied by trio member Tony Glover.
His style would change with his subsequent releases from the blues to more traditional folk music. In a 2000 interview, Koerner said, "I finally decided I was not a blues guy. How could I be? I was too young and too white, all that shit. So I took a year off and when I started playing again, I treated the subject in general as folk music. It's a new culture; it's not music being made on a back porch anymore."
Spider Blues was reissued on CD in 2010 by Wounded Bird Records
.
excoriated the album and wrote, "This is, without any doubt, one of the worst records I have had to review for many a long day. In a sleeve note notable for the inane quotes from Koerner himself, Paul Nelson
of The Little Sandy Review, which I understand is one of the better folk publications, makes the remarkable claim that 'Koerner's art is like Chaplin's
, as great and lasting as it is entertaining'. I nominate this as the most absurd remark of the year in the sleeve note field. In fact, Koerner is a passably competent guitarist, a poor harmonica player and a quite dreadful singer. "
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
artist "Spider" John Koerner, released in 1965. He was member of the loose-knit blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover
Koerner, Ray & Glover
Koerner, Ray & Glover is the name of a blues band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band featured Tony "Little Sun" Glover on harmonica, "Spider" John Koerner on guitar and vocals, and Dave "Snaker" Ray on guitar and vocals. Koerner, Ray & Glover were part of the early folk/blues explosion in the...
at the time of its release.
History
As a member of the blues trio Koerner, Ray & GloverKoerner, Ray & Glover
Koerner, Ray & Glover is the name of a blues band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band featured Tony "Little Sun" Glover on harmonica, "Spider" John Koerner on guitar and vocals, and Dave "Snaker" Ray on guitar and vocals. Koerner, Ray & Glover were part of the early folk/blues explosion in the...
, Koerner was recording on the Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
label. While recording the trio's albums Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers
Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers
Lots More Blues, Rags and Hollers is an album by the blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, released in 1964.-History:Between this release and their next, Dave Ray and John Koerner would each record a solo album, Snaker's Here and Spider Blues respectively...
and The Return of Koerner, Ray & Glover
The Return of Koerner, Ray & Glover
The Return of Koerner, Ray and Glover is an album by Koerner, Ray & Glover, released in 1965. It was their last recording for Elektra and it would be seven years before the trio's next release....
he recorded a number of solo tracks. These tracks were assembled into Koerner's debut solo album. He also appeared at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
that same year, accompanied by trio member Tony Glover.
His style would change with his subsequent releases from the blues to more traditional folk music. In a 2000 interview, Koerner said, "I finally decided I was not a blues guy. How could I be? I was too young and too white, all that shit. So I took a year off and when I started playing again, I treated the subject in general as folk music. It's a new culture; it's not music being made on a back porch anymore."
Spider Blues was reissued on CD in 2010 by Wounded Bird Records
Wounded Bird Records
Wounded Bird Records is a CD only, re-issue record label, that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from both popular and lesser known artists, including Deborah Harry, Chic, David Blue, Marilyn Martin, Gordon Haskell, Jon Anderson, Adrian Belew, Ellen...
.
Reception
In his 1965 Jazz Monthly review, music critic Albert McCarthyAlbert McCarthy
Albert McCarthy was an English discographer and historian of jazz.McCarthy began listening to jazz in his teens, and edited publications of the Jazz Sociological Society in the 1940s...
excoriated the album and wrote, "This is, without any doubt, one of the worst records I have had to review for many a long day. In a sleeve note notable for the inane quotes from Koerner himself, Paul Nelson
Paul Nelson (critic)
Paul Nelson was a folk and rock music critic who wrote for Sing Out! and Rolling Stone. He was instrumental in launching and supporting the careers of Bob Dylan, The New York Dolls, Elliott Murphy, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon...
of The Little Sandy Review, which I understand is one of the better folk publications, makes the remarkable claim that 'Koerner's art is like Chaplin's
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, as great and lasting as it is entertaining'. I nominate this as the most absurd remark of the year in the sleeve note field. In fact, Koerner is a passably competent guitarist, a poor harmonica player and a quite dreadful singer. "
Side one
- "Good Luck Child" – 2:07
- "I Want to be Your Partner" – 3:07
- "Nice Legs" – 2:27
- "Spider Blues" – 2:17
- "Corrina" – 3:15
- "Shortnin' BreadShortnin' Bread"Shortnin' Bread" is a song by James Whitcomb Riley.-History:...
" – 2:08 - "Ramblin' and Tumblin'" – 3:12
- "Delia HolmesDelia GreenDelia Green , a fourteen-year-old African-American murder victim, has been identified as the likely inspiration for several well-known traditional American songs, usually known by the titles "Delia" and "Delia's Gone."...
" – 2:54
Side two
- "Need a Woman" – 2:05
- "I Want to do Something" – 3:35
- "Baby, Don't Come Back" – 2:39
- "Hal C. Blake" – 1:42
- "Things Ain't Right" – 3:30
- "Rent Party Rag" – 9:29
Personnel
- "Spider" John Koerner – guitar, harmonica, kazoo, vocals
- Tony "Little Sun" Glover – harmonica on "Good Luck Child", "Spider Blues", "Things Ain't Right"
- Paul NelsonPaul Nelson (critic)Paul Nelson was a folk and rock music critic who wrote for Sing Out! and Rolling Stone. He was instrumental in launching and supporting the careers of Bob Dylan, The New York Dolls, Elliott Murphy, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon...
– liner notes
External links
- Spider John Koerner in the UK Retrieved May 22, 2010.
- John Koerner discography