BluePower Presents....The Very First Show!

BluePower actually had it's first web site set up by Mr. Ted Randall in Nashville, Tennessee in 1994. It was set up via the main web site for the great, Cash Box Magazine. We didn't have much but a few news items in the way of content back then.

One day Ted Randall called me at Cash Box Magazine where I was working as Blues Editor and told me about a new miracle called "streaming audio". He said he could add audio to the then new, BluePower web site. Little did I know what would happen as a result.

I called a couple of friends and assembled a team to organize this first webcast. I called upon a co-worker at Cash Box who had a small recording studio and prevailed upon his good nature and need for quick cash and booked some time.

I then called a lunatic with whom I had worked for years, the most eloquent, Doc Nemo and told him what we were attempting to do. Being the totally insane person he is, Doc said instantly, "Count me in!" We did the show as John R. and Count von Blues. It took about a month for Ted to get the show up and running. Things sure have changed.

The first time I tried to listen with some friends, it took so long to download that we were able to go out for dinner and play a couple of games of pool while we were waiting. Still....as we sat together later, marveling at this miracle of progress, I realized I was determined to continue producing shows over the internet and that the web was the way to the future. I'll bet I smiled for a week after hearing this show come through those tinny little speakers for the first time.

That was 1995; now it's 2007. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge but BluePower is still here. We've had some 17 webmasters; 14 different web addresses; 10 or 11 hosts and, along the road, picked up an awful lot of listeners to which we must send thanks. For without you, the listener, we would not have been able to continue. Our most sincere thanks to you all.

Since producing this show in 1995, BluePower has produced a lot of shows for the internet. I don't know how many to tell the truth but I sold a bunch of guitars in order to pay for the time.

Many thanks must go to Mr. Mike Martinez, my boss and main Editor at Cash Box Magazine and to Mr. George Albert, owner of Cash Box, for giving me the opportunity to create within this (at the time) new medium.

From silence.net to BluePower.com, we've come a long way. Stay tuned in the next two months for some significant changes to BluePower. After all....you made us do it.

Here's the music:

1)...."Shakin' The Shack"....Mitch Woods and His Rocket 88s....Blind Pig
2)...."Oh Well"....Billy Sheehan....Viceroy
3)...."Get Your Lies Straight"....Terry Evans....PointBlank
4)...."Paintin' The Town"...Hans Theessink....Blue Groove
5)...."Bow Legged Woman"....Bobby Rush....Jewel/Paula
6)...."Cadillac Blues"....Blue By Nature....Shattered Music
7)...."Turn It On, Turn It Up"....Roomfull Of Blues....Rounder
8)...."Frosty"....Albert Collins....Blue Thumb

Also many thanks to Mr. Mike Toth of Spiralcraft in San Francisco for his fastidious work on behalf of BluePower, in the past and in the future. We love you Mike!

Love you all!
John Rhys/BluePower.com

Click here to listen to....BluePower Presents....The Very First Show!

Watch Out For This Man....Deutsch Is A Killer!

When I was the Blues Editor at Cash Box Magazine, I met a lot of very unusual people. One of the most endurable has been Doug Deutsch. Doug is the proprietor of Doug Deutsch Publicity Services here in Los Angeles.

The first time I met him he was plugging a band called Howard and The White Boys; he's still plugging Howard and The White Boys. That will show you how persistent Doug can be.

Many times I tried to throw him out of my office but he just wouldn't leave. Persistence is Doug's key feature and the man won't quit. Sometimes he's aggravating as hell but you can't put him down for that. He's just doing his job. That I can relate to as I was in the record promotion business for years and persistence was the key to getting a record played anywhere. You kept hammering.

Doug has worked on BluePower's behalf for a long time; with and without pay. So we here at BluePower want to send this special thanks to one hell of a guy....Doug Deutsch.

Doug can be contacted at....213-924-4901 or you can email Doug at....bluzmon@sprintpcs.com

We love you man!

John Rhys/BluePower.com

BluePower Presents....The Stax Story!

There's an old saying
That goes like so
Keep trying
And you'll get where you want to go
When things get rough
Buckle down
Don't give up
You can conquer the world with your original sound.
They knocked at the front door
And couldn't get in
They heard a sound and went to the back door
And the sound let them in.

(This is an unattributed poem from an early Stax Records publicity release.)

__________________________________________________________________

In 1961, I had the good fortune of working for a great gentleman and famous record promotion man, Joe Galkin.

We were traveling through the deep south, promoting along the way when we came to Memphis, Tennessee. Joe said the first stop we were going make was at some friends of his who had just started a small record label named Satellite.

We pulled into the black section of Memphis and turned onto McLemore Street and stopped in front of an old theatre; The Capitol. Inside The Capitol was a small record store. I was introduced a white lady whose name was Estelle Axton. She was selling records to a couple of young folks while the music blared through the small store.

Little did I know at the time that this was the humble beginning of what would become one of the most powerful music driven companies in the world....Stax Records.

There is no one in the world who has not heard a Stax record. This company also became one of the most important driving agencies for political change in the USA. Certainly a great deal more than Motown until Marvin Gaye was allowed to release his famous What's Goin' On LP.

Stax Records. The name today is still rich in associations. Carla and Rufus Thomas, Sam and Dave, Booker T. and the MG's, Otis Redding....the roll call could go on and on. A tiny label that started out in 1960 renting a unused movie theater in a shabby neighborhood that was going from white to black.

On the theater marquee would soon appear in giant letters of red plastic,

SOULSVILLE U.S.A.

BluePower is presenting these three shows in order that our listeners may hear all three shows with just one click. Once again....The music says it all!

John Rhys/BluePower.com

Part One....The Stax Story!
Part Two....The Stax Story!
Part Three....The Stax Story!

Parts of intro piece compliments of Peter Guralnick from his wonderful book....Sweet Soul Music.

Click here to go directly to....Concord Music Group!

Click here to go directly to....The Stax Museum!