Tag: Blue Harlem

Imelda May – Mayhem

After doing the post on Blue Harlem… I noticed both lead singers but started to listen to Imelda May. She has so many good songs that I could have flipped a coin. This song was the title cut off of her album released in 2010. The guitar riff that the lead guitarist Darrel Higham played as the intro won me over right away. 

Her influences include Billie Holiday, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent. That sounds about right after hearing her perform. A few weeks ago, CB featured this song (Johnny Got A Boom Boom) on his site. I wanted to feature that one but I figured I would try something else…give it a listen! She has collaborated with artists such as U2, Noel Gallagher, Sinéad O’Connor, and Ronnie Wood to name a few. She also has worked with producers such as Tony Visconti, Peter Asher, and T Bone Burnett.

The album Mayhem peaked at #1 in Ireland, #7 in the UK, and #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Charts. The song Mayhem peaked at #24 in Ireland in 2010. The album won Album of the Year in Ireland as well. 

It would be fair to say I’m picky about female artists’ voices. I was discussing with Stewart on his UK Number Ones Blog about female pop singers. The female singers I like are Janis Joplin, Bessie Smith, Aretha Franklin, Tanya Tucker, Bonnie Tyler, and voices like that. Imelda May belongs to that group. What a voice May has and it can go from 0 to 60 in a split second. 

I have quotes on this blog quite a bit…but these I really like. 

Imelda May: Some people think the only way of doing well or of having a career in music is to go the X Factor route, but a lot of people lose the joy out of music by going that way, possibly because they’re so incredibly focused on other people’s ideas of success.

Imelda May: For me, rockabilly is very, very exciting music. It’s electric and kind of wild, you know? It’s ‘make your hairs stand up on the back of your neck’ kind of music.

Imelda May: I don’t tend to set out on huge world domination goals or have anything in mind. I just like to play. I like to gig a lot; I like to write music.

The below live Walking In The Sand has to be one of the best entrances ever. You have Billy Gibbins, Ronnie Wood, Johnny Depp, and Imelda May. This entrance is burned into my mind.

Mayhem

He said he didn’t even hear trains let alone the few wordsThe ladies maybe sayin’ about himShe freaks and tells her closest friendThat she’ll never love againBut she’ll never, no not everLive without him

Wouldn’t believe it, if you seen itOh, mayhem doo doo doopYeah, mayhem doo doo doopYeah, mayhem doo doo doopA lotta mayhem, woh oh oh yeah

She said he didn’t mean a thingSo she threw her diamond ringOut the window of a black cab in CamdenHe couldn’t take it, what she did,So he threw a hissy fitAnd he took it out on anyone at random

Wouldn’t believe it, if you seen itOh, mayhem doo doo doopYeah, mayhem doo doo doopYeah, mayhem doo doo doopA lotta mayhem, woh oh oh yeah

Dinning sound, lights spinning round,Some mother’s sonGotta fight or got to run run run runRun run run run run

Ten pints and then he starts a fightAnd he lands himself a nightIn a cell wearing gray pants and bruisesTwelve mates bangin’ on the door,Oh the back up vans galoreNever saw such a street full of losers

Wouldn’t believe it, if you seen itOh, mayhem doo doo doopYeah, mayhem doo doo doopYeah, mayhem doo doo doopA lotta mayhem, woh oh oh yeah

Mayhem doo doo doopYeah, mayhem doo doo doopA lotta mayhem doo doo doopA lotta mayhem oh yeah

Oh mayhem

…

Blue Harlem – Hallelujah! I Love Him So

CB recommended this band and it’s fresh sounding and I like their choice of covers. When I heard Imelda May sing…that was all I needed. I heard Hound Dog first and it sounds very 40s but yet modern. They now have a different singer but she is also great…Sophie Shaw. This is different for me and I like it…it’s nice to switch up occasionally. When I heard Hallelujah! I Love Him So it got me into them much more. I know this song very well…it was one of the first songs Quarrymen recorded and that led me to Ray Charles who wrote and recorded the song. 

Blue Harlem has been one of the top swing/jump-blues bands on the London scene for over 25 years. They have become regular favorites at venues such as the world-famous Ronnie Scott’s, The 100 Club, The Hippodrome, Hideaway, Jitterbugs, and more. They have been invited on three occasions to perform at Highgrove House charity balls for the Prince’s Trust. 

They are a British band formed in 1996 by tenor saxophonist and arranger Al Nicholls. Known for blending jazz and rhythm and blues, they take inspiration from the swing and jump blues styles of the 1940s and 1950s. 

.They have also enjoyed international recognition, performing at festivals across Europe and the Middle East. Blue Harlem played a huge role in launching the career of vocalist Imelda May, who gained fame and success after performing with them. Sophie Shaw now serves as their lead singer, bringing a new feel to the band’s sound.

Imelda May left the group in the early 2000s.  After leaving, May quickly rose to fame in her own right with the release of her debut solo album No Turning Back in 2003, followed by her breakthrough album Love Tattoo in 2008.

Hallelujah! I Love Him So was on the album Talk To Me released in 2005 with May lead singing. I added Hound Dog by Blue Harlem as well…it was on their Me And My Radio album released in 2011. 

I have three songs. The bottom two feature Imelda May singing Hound Dog and Hallelujah! I Love Him So. Below is Sophia Shaw singing Swing Brother, Swing. She is a very good singer as well but I like May a little more. 

 

Hallelujah! I Love Him So

Let me tell you ′bout a boy I know
He is my baby and he lives next door
Every morning before the sun comes up
He brings my coffee in my favorite cup
That’s why I know, yes I know
Hallelujah I just love him so

When I′m in trouble and I have no friends
I know he’ll go with me until the end
Ev’rybody asks me how I know
I smile and tell them he told me so
That′s why I know, yes, I know
Hallelujah I just love him so

Now if I call him on the telephone
And tell him that I′m all alone
By the time I count from one to four,
I hear him on my door
In the evening when the sun goes down
When there is nobody else around
He kisses me and he holds me tight
He tells me “baby everything’s all alright”
That′s why I know, yes I know
Hallelujah I just love her so