Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder have been playing Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee material together! I’m really enjoying these songs. Back when I was a teenage blues freak I listened to Sonny & Brownie’s music a lot, and when they came to town, my first visit to a bar was to sit a few feet from the stage at the old El Mocombo here in Toronto, drink watered down Labatt’s 50 on tap, and listen to two masters at work. That show was mind-blowing. I had never heard live music like it. It’s great to see their work get some attention today.

My first exposure to Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee was on a television commercial they did. It was something to do with showing what people with disabilities can do. They showed the two of them and said that one was blind and the other lame, then showed them playing and said they were two of the best loved musicians in the world. I was intrigued so I went down to Sam the Record Man’s main downtown location and bought one of their albums. Piedmont blues. Wow! I loved it.

Here are Sonny & Brownie from back in the day…

Here’s a video Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder released about the making of Get on Board, their album reinterpreting Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee songs.