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| PD Productions. Media, Broadcasting and Radio productions for stations worldwide |
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Back to where it all began ... Thank you for taking the time to visit us. My name is David Howard, PD Productions is based in the South West of the UK, but that isn't where our journey into the blues began .... It all started in a small town bar in Louisiana; it was like travelling back in time, dusty, rickety tables, chairs, and a bare wooden floor. Sat on a little platform was a lady and a guy with a guitar, and then the lady began to sing the blues. I could have closed my eyes, although I didn’t realise it at the time, I could have been listening to Ma Rainey or Bessie Smith. Quietly listening, and with encouragement from others we joined with the ‘Tell us your story’...
We knew and felt the songs were telling us of a deep sadness, borne of a deprivation beyond our comprehension. I was listening to the 'Blues' long before that, but never really understood, until then, what was meant by 'Feeling the Blues' ... Each time I produce ‘Backtracking’ I try to show my love and respect for the people and the lives these songs are about, this deprivation, sadness and misery. We are honouring them by keeping their presence and their simple music alive and well.
Each time, we are taking a journey back in time to the abomination of slavery, the depth of the spirituals and of course the expressive blues from all those years ago. Our research and journey since that day has been a discovery of the ‘Blues’ that never ends, of a culture and history that has faded in the mists of time, but remains for us to find. We're honoured and privileged to share with you this great music and its history, back a hundred years and beyond, a genre so rich, so vast so diverse and so real.
Now based in Somerset (UK) What started all those years ago with a handful of blues tracks, a few faded photographs and books has grown exponentially with the help of our good friends, Alan, Terry and Graham, the ‘Doc’ even my dear late cousin Len (Houston) the never ending patience of Pam and so many people from around the world, far too many to mention, Backtracking has become a library of music and resources so vast it’s often difficult to keep track of it all, as it continues to grow.
Thank you for listening to ‘Backtracking’ from here in the UK. At PD Productions, we extend our best wishes to you all.
David – PD Productions (UK) |
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Every Friday we have the Blues ... At PD Productions, our research and journey of discovery never ends, simply because the culture of the blues never ends. We're honoured and privileged to share the music within the genre of the Blues back in time a hundred years and beyond, a genre so vast and so diverse.
So many people from around the world have contributed to our research, and indeed, our library of music, far too many to mention by name. Released every Friday, we invite you to join Backtracking, the blue time machine as we go back to the Roots of the Blues, back, to where it all began. |
| Featured on Backtracking .. |
- The lady sings the blues.
- Blues on the Bayou.
- Gospel blues train.
- Featured artist of the week.
- Spirituals – The blues connection.
- Prison work songs.
- Myths and Legends of the blues.
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The Blues Club Showcase
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This section is for our friends in the UK, Europe and the US to showcase their stuff, including the gems they have discovered. Look out for some exciting clips coming down the line in 2025. Showcasing Interviews, video clips, audio productions and much more. In short, the very best of the blues.
Send your file to us at: ... Attach file link. |
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Review / Download page .....
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Mississippi Moaners generally thought of as between 1927 and 1942. Isaiah Nettles is documented as the original moaner, but we know the 'Mississippi Moan' is almost a style / genre in it's own right. Reading research documents and books, it's almost as if no one else was ever defined as a 'Mississippi Moaner', of course, nothing could be further from the truth. This week we're featuring just four. Visit our Review / download page and enjoy this style of what is perhaps, an example of authentic blues.
Indeed, these songs are variable: If you like your Mississippi Moaner blues off the wall, you might lend an ear to this one, they don't come much stranger - it's on the Review / Download page this week, Tommy Settlers and His Blues Moaners.. |
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Current production ....
Gospel blues revival
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Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting two sides of the same coin, it has been said, the blues and the spirituals flow from the same pen of experience, and neither is an adequate interpretation of Coloured life without the other. Spirituals and hymns preceded gospel, a genre that evolved through the work of Thomas Dorsey, a former blues singer and composer often called the father of gospel music, and others. The influence between religious music and blues has long been mutual, both genres have their own distinct characteristics, many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics.
Countless blues, R&B and soul performers started out singing in church. B.B. King, Denise LaSalle, Charley Patton, Son House, Muddy Waters, Bukka White, Memphis Minnie, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lonnie Pitchford, Otha Turner and Leo Bud Welch, a list by no means exhaustive, these are among the many Mississippi blues artists who have also recorded gospel and spirituals.
Clarksdale-born Sam Cooke, famed for his gospel singing with the Soul Stirrers, made a controversial crossover into rhythm & blues to become a pop icon, while others, such as Gatemouth Moore and Pops Staples, left the blues behind to become preachers or gospel singers. Otis Clay was among those who maintained a foot in both worlds, continuing to sing both sacred and secular music. Blues and gospel singers often recorded for the same companies and socialised with each other, performed in the same communities, and during the segregation era shared similar touring experiences when many places of accommodation and facilities were closed to African Americans. |
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Featured artist of the week .... Carolina Slim
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Edward P. Harris (August 22, 1923 – October 22, 1953), known as Carolina Slim, was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer. Possibly he’s best-known for his recordings of Black cat trail (certainly my favourite) and I'll never walk in your door,
He used various pseudonyms during his brief recording career he recorded 27 songs, using names such as Country Paul, Jammin' Jim, Lazy Slim Jim and Paul Howard. . Details of his life outside of his music career are few and those that exist are questionable, even the reasons for the use of different names are unclear, although it was probably for recording contractual reasons.
Edward was born in Leasburg, North Carolina. (There is some dispute regarding his place of birth) He learned to play the guitar from his father, essentially influenced by Lightnin' Hopkins and Blind Boy Fuller
In 1950, he relocated to Newark, New Jersey, and made his recording debut for Savoy Records, finally using the name Carolina Slim. His first single was Black Chariot Blues backed with "Mama's Boogie", recorded on July 24, 1950, and released by Acorn Records, a subsidiary of Savoy. In 1951 and 1952, he recorded a further eight tracks for King Records in New York City, this time using the name Country Paul Howard.
Slim's style blended Piedmont blues, prominent in songs such as Carolina Boogie and Rag Mama Rag, with the influence of Hopkins steering him increasingly towards Texas blues. He occasionally incorporated  a washboard as well as his guitar, as if wishing to emphasise his Carolina roots.
His recordings were not hugely popular but sold in sufficient numbers for him to retain his recording contract. In June 1952, he recorded four more tracks for Savoy, these were his final recordings.
He died in Newark, New Jersey, from a heart attack, which occurred during surgery for a back complaint. He was just 30 years old. |
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