5 Songs Friday, July 11, 2025

Betcha you don't know all of these songs yet

The Stanley Brothers – “Jenny Lynn” 1961 from Sing the Songs They Like Best. There is plenty of singing on this album, but the cut we’re focusing on today has no vocals. It’s a showcase for Ralph Stanley’s banjo picking, I’m not sure who the fiddler is, but he’s playing full tilt, too. “Jenny Lynn” is one of those old time mountain tunes that made its way into the bluegrass world somewhere along the line – at least that’s the best I can assume from what little info there is easy to find on the internet. The Stanleys take it at super speed, with Carter chugging along on guitar in lock step with the bass. Ralph and the fiddle player take turns soloing on the melody, showing chops and a pure delight in playing such a catchy tune.

Casey Bill Weldon – “Round and Round” sometime in 1936 or 37, available on Red Hot Blues 1927-1937. For a guy who recorded some five dozen sides in the heyday of country blues, not much is certain about Casey Bill Weldon. One thing is obvious, though – his music jumps with an exuberance and delight not always associated with the genre at the time he was recording. “Round and Round” is one of those hokum songs so often dismissed by blues purists but which were clearly important in the southern African-American communities were blues thrived. This record manages to sit in the three-way intersection of blues, country, and jazz. Weldon’s steel guitar figure opens the record, but most of the music comes from a syncopated strummed guitar, an oompah bass, and some clarinets. Weldon sings of a series of misfortunes, but it doesn’t seem to bother him too much. Oh, and the rhythm speeds up slightly with each verse, most noticeable if you start the song over right after you finish hearing it.

Manu Dibango – “Miango” sometime in the 1980s available on Negropolitaines, Vol. 2. Even 53 years later, if there is one African record most Americans could identify, it would be “Soul Makossa” by Manu Dibango. (Of course, a certain percentage would remember it from Michael Jackson’s quotation of it in “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”) Dibango had a very long career, and the saxophone player from Cameroon made a lot more good records than just the mega-hit. Take this delightful instrumental, for example. Synthesizers had become popular in many African nations, and Dibango hired musicians who could make them fit organically with the grooves and melodies he knew so well. His alto sax tune is smooth and funky at the same time, and he holds focus over all the jazzy chords interpolated in what remains a very African approach to the music. After five minutes of this, see if you don’t want to start it all over again.

Leon Russell – “Down on Deep River” 1975 from Will O’ the Wisp. This was from the sixth album in Leon Russell’s solo career, which came just a couple years after the apex of his success in the public eye. I don’t know why, as much as I love his earlier records and the times I saw him live, I never checked this album out before. This song is a nice chuggler of a piano-driven country boogie. Russell sings with his usual conviction a song about hanging out in love by the still waters of a river – most rivers I’ve seen can hardly be described as still, but maybe this is a small one. The acoustic guitar works in tandem with the left hand on the piano to keep the beat rumbling. I’m not sure which electric guitarist takes the swinging lead part – it’s definitely not Steve Cropper and probably not J.J. Cale, both of whom appear on the album. But it adds a nice feel to the song when it comes in.

Langa Langa Stars – “Nzembe Elengi” 1983 single available on Les Meilleurs Succès de Langa Langa Stars. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard any soukous music, that wondrous guitar-driven sound from the Democratic Republic of the Congo back in the 80s. I don’t think I encountered the Langa Langa Stars back in the day, but they were apparently quite a popular group in their home territory and in France. With seven different vocalists, many of whom take turns in focus across this ten minute cut, they offered all sorts of melodic and rhythmic approaches. And those guitars – liquid tone, percussive and driving while at the same time just plain lovely. This cut, like many soukous performances, goes through multiple sections. It gets faster and more intense as it goes along, perfect for generating heat on the dance floor.