Way back in the early 1960s...my Daddy went to the local Super X Drug Store and brought home a stack of 45s (For those who don't know this, 45s are records...scan a dictionary (ahem)).
Amongst the James Brown and Fats Domino and Ray Charles was one by Jr. Walker and the All-Stars...entitled "Shotgun."
Jr. Walker was a sax player and man, could he blow! That song was an instant hit.
It also inspired me to play sax in Jr. and high schools. I was no Jr. Walker, but I got pretty good at it.
(Another story for another time...)
Jr. went on to record such hits as "Pucker Up Buttercup", "Shake and Finger Pop", and his biggest smash, 'What Does It Take."
The artist passed away in the late 1990s but that music is here to stay and "Shotgun" has been featured in several films.
It is also available at good 'ol Amazon.com." Look under "Greatest Hits."
Blues singer Bobby 'Blue' Bland dies
AP Photo: The Commercial Appeal, Nikki Boertman. Bobby 'Blue' Bland is honored with a standing ovation as he is named as an inductee to the Memphis Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony Oct. 16, 2012, in Memphis, Tenn.
By Adrian Sainz of Associated PressRodd Bland said his father died about 5:30 p.m. Sunday due to complications from an ongoing illness at his Memphis, Tenn., home surrounded by relatives.
Bland was known as the "the Sinatra of the blues" and heavily influenced by Nat King Cole, often recording with lavish arrangements to accompany his smooth vocals. He even openly imitated Frank Sinatra on the "Two Steps From the Blues" album cover, standing in front of a building with a coat thrown over his shoulder.
"He brought a certain level of class to the blues genre," said Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell, son of legendary musician and producer Willie Mitchell.
Bland was a contemporary of B.B. King's, serving as the blues great's valet and chauffer at one point, and was one of the last of the living connections to the roots of the genre. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
Born in Rosemark, Tenn., he moved to nearby Memphis as a teenager and, as the hall of fame noted, was "second in stature only to B.B. King as a product of Memphis' Beale Street blues scene."
After a stint in the Army, he recorded with Sam Phillips at Sun Records in the early 1950s with little to show for it. It wasn't until later that decade Bland began to find success.
He scored his first No. 1 on the R&B charts with "Further On Up the Road" in 1957. Then, beginning with "I'll Take Care of You" in early 1960, Bland released a dozen R&B hits in a row. That string included "Turn On Your Love Light" in 1961.
His "I Pity the Fool" in 1961 was recorded by many rock bands, including David Bowie and Eric Clapton, who has made "Further On Up the Road" part of his repertoire.
"He's always been the type of guy that if he could help you in any way, form or fashion, he would," Rodd Bland said.