Jam Logs, the Podcast of The 1937 Flood

 We have several new tunes to bring tomorrow night  for our latest gig at Sal’s Speakeasy in Ashland, Ky., including this one that the great Ray Henderson wrote almost a hundred years ago. This song  was first recorded by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra in the mid-1920s, but its real claim to fame came 15 years later when it was the title tune for a beloved Bing Crosby movie that was released on the eve of America’s entry into World War II. Here’s “Birth of the Blues.”

 There’s a reason why The Flood’s rendition of this Dylan classic sounds different from Bobby’s version — or anyone else’s take on the tune, for that matter. That’s because back in the early 1980s, when Roger and Charlie started playing around with opening chord progression here, they thought they were writing an original song of their own. But then Rog and his family moved away — leaving West Virginia for the green hills of Kentucky — and the piece they were working on was left an orphan. It didn’t even have a name or the first hints of a lyric. Only a year or so later, when Charlie was noodling with it at a jam session did Dave Peyton say, “Hey, you know what? If you tweaked the chords a bit and added the bridge, you could sing that Dylan thing over that!” And right there and then, an arrangement was born, and we’ve been playing it like this ever since.

 This sassy Lonnie Johnson song was written and recorded 80 years ago as a rhythm and blues hit, but we owe our version to our folk music heroes of the 1960s. To this day, it’s one of those perfect warmup tunes for us, because it provides plenty of stretching-out room for solos by everyone in the house, Danny and Sam, Randy and Jack.

 Wow, Jack Nuckols’ drumming has brought a whole new class of cool to the old band room. Whether it’s his tasty solos, or rocking along with Randy Hamilton’s bass under Charlie Bowen’s vocals, or making his wise and witty contributions to the ensemble supporting Danny Cox and Sam St. Clair’s solos, Jack’s rhythms have got us all wanting to get up and dance. Just listen to what he brings to this old hokum song from the late 1920s.

 This Bob Dylan classic has been in the Floodisphere forever — Roger and Charlie used to sing it together a half century ago — but only recently has it made a move to be in the regular repertoire. That’s when Randy stepped to sing his signature harmonies and Danny and Sam started doing double duty on the solos.

 It’s the end of a fun evening at the Bowen house, but nobody is quite ready to quit yet. Jack starts padding a cool swing rhythm on the house bongos and Randy jumps in with a bass line that fits it to a T. Charlie gets the chords going, just as Danny flies in with that cool melody over Sam’s smooth harmonica fills. Now, it’s a tune that’s not really in our repertoire. It’s more like an old friend who drops by way too infrequently, but when he does, everyone in the room is happy to see him. Here’s “Opus One.”

 When our friend, the remarkable percussionist Jack Nuckols, dropped in to visit with the band last week, we immediately drew him into the circle. First, we passed him the house bongos to play, but when a jug band tune came around, we put spoons in his hands. Jack was rocking it hard, we were digging on those rhythmic riffs and just as we were fixing to turn it over to him for a solo, darned if those spoons didn’t break in his hands. Now, Jack was apologetic, but — as you’ll hear — we all thought it was a hoot! What better way to end a song called, “Tear It Down”?

 Here’s a tune that has drifted in and out of The Flood repertoire many times over the years. It drifted back in recently when we gathered on a sultry summer night that had a decidedly New Orleans tang to it. Here’s our take on “Buddy Bolden’s Blues.”

 Our latest Duke Ellington number is a great vehicle for sassy solos by everyone in the band. Here’s “I’m Beginning to See the Light.”

 Well, this has been Bowen’s “Banjo Summer.” In early June, he dropped in to visit Paul Callicoat at Route 60 Music and, on a whim, Charlie traded an old guitar he had for a shiny new five-string that he spied on the wall there. Charlie didn’t know a thing about banjo, but he started watching some videos he found on YouTube from the remarkable Dr. Josh Turknett and his “Brainjo Academy.” He practice a bit every day and has been having an absolute ball. Now, we don’t think he’ll ever been an especially proficient player — honestly, banjo seems to be something you could study the rest of your life and still have more to learn — but… well, we remember a line in an old song that said, “I can be the doctor ’til the doctor comes…” We think the same could be said about banjo players. Here, from a recent rehearsal, was Charlie’s first bit of banjocity with the band, on a great old Tommy Thompson tune.