I think it’s late enough for some Mick now. We have 2 live releases this time around. This first one, Live and Now, is from 2009 and it sounds like it is from Sacramento Blues Festival. Lots of interesting covers on this one.
Recorded by: The Band CD rip and prep for upload by Shayne
Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers- Live at Constable Jacks 2004 CD
This is a somewhat standard set from Mick, compared to the Bo Diddley- inspired one that is also in this series installment. One thing to mention- I don’t know why, but there is an hour of blank space after the last track ends. I have never had this happen when ripping CD’s before. Odd. So, once they seem to end the set at about 65 minutes, they really do.
Recorded by: The band Rip from CD and prep by Shayne
Today’s planned post has been pre-empted for a Local Spotlight. News came out last night about Sacramento blues legend Mick Martin’s passing. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but seeing so many of my friends’ tributes was really nice. What a life! I picked up this 2x CD set from my local Orangevale Goodwill about a year ago. Pretty much any time I see a local CD, I pick it up and I am glad I did! This thing has 31 songs, over 140 minutes of music! Bargain at twice the price.
Recorded by: David Houston, Wayne Smith and David Whitaker CD Extract and prep for upload by Shayne Stacy
Now a special announcement. In cooperation with Dennis Newhall from K-Zap dot org, we are starting a series of posts focused on Sacramento blues legend Mick Martin’s massive body of work.
Mick was the heart of the blues in Sacramento. He was the co-founder of the Sacramento Blues Society and released/appeared on over 40 albums and compilations- starting in the 1960’s with the band Joshua and performing into the 2020’s with hs band the Blues Rockers.
Mick passed away last year at the age of 76 years old. Today would have been his 77th birthday.
We will be releasing 2 Mick audio documents every 2 weeks, for the next 11 months- that’s how long it will take to put up his massive body of work! We still don’t know what to call the series- Months of Mick? Multitudes of Mick? Or maybe just something like the Mick Martin Memorial series.
Huge thanks to Mindy Giles for providing the majority of material for this project.
I figured it would be good to start with these 2: a “best of” which highlights his career, plus the Joshua demo from the 60’s, where it all started. Enjoy.
More images, liner notes, etc at sacramento music archive dot com- search for Mick Martin
Recorded by: The band Extract and prep for upload by Shayne Stacy From Mindy Giles and Dennis Newhall’s collections
Joshua- Demo 1960’s featuring Mick Martin xfer f/band archive tapes Psychedelic Blues
This is the one that started it all for Mick Martin- the band Joshua.
Here is what Mick had to say about it (taken from a Sacramento News and Review interview): “The first band of significance was called Joshua. We played at the Fillmore and we were a psychedelic band, but we were doing blues.”
The band was: Mick Martin- Lead Vocals and Harmonica Wayne Smith- Lead Guitar and Vocals Ray Halverson- Lead Guitar Larry Sherwood- Bass and Back-up Vocals Rick Yarrison- Drums
Recorded by: The band Extract and prep for upload by Shayne Stacy From Mindy Giles and Dennis Newhall’s collections
It’s time for another installment of the Mick Martin Memorial Series. Huge thanks to Mindy Giles for loaning her collection to make this happen. Massive thanks to Dennis Newhall for loaning his collection as well, along with advertising this series on kzap dot org.
Even with Dennis’ help, Mick’s posts are not viewed as much as the rest of the stuff I post. I don’t really care, I am here to document music history with a focus on Sacramento and the bay area… but I had an idea. I was posting the blues during the day. The blues is a nighttime type of music, enjoyed after you have a drink or 2. So I switched up the cadence and Mick will be every other Tuesday night. I bet view numbers are going to go crazy now!
Anyway, what you see in the image is all I know about this. It came from Mindy or Dennis, and there was no track listing.
Recorded by: The band CD rip and prep for upload by Shayne
Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers- In One Ear CD 2000 Local Sacramento Release
The second CD is an official release from Mick & the Blues Rockers. Released in 2000 on their own Blues Rock Records label.
It’s Tuesday, which means that it is time for a Mick Martin Memorial post! With this post, we are at 16 releases shared and about 33 more to go. We are 1/3 of the way there, folks. This installment has over THREE HOURS of music- How much Blues can you take?
This first one was a career-spanning retrospective with rarities included. Tons of guests on the tracks as well.
From Dennis Newhall and Mindy Giles’ collections CD Rip and prep by Shayne
The second one in this week’s memorial post is a disc that was released by the UK label JSP records. It goes to show you the global impact that Mick had. I have found releases from Belgium and the UK so far with this project. This one is more polished and subdued.
From Dennis Newhall and Mindy Giles’ collections CD Rip and prep by Shayne
It’s time for another installment of the Mick Martin Memorial Series. This is a project in collaboration with Dennis Newhall (K-ZAP dot org), Mindy Giles (Sacramento Blues Society) and the Sacramento Music Archive. Mick was so prolific that even with 2 releases every other week, we have over 10 months of material to share! Wow!! This week, we have 2 CD releases- one from 1997 and one from around 2009 or 2010. This one does not have a date listed on the CD, but the back photo was taken from a 40th anniversary Woodstock gathering which would place it in about 2009 or 2010. This CD seems to be mostly live with the bonus track being a studio recording. Even though this release is labeled as “Mick Martin”, it is a full band performance.
Recorded by: The band Extract from CD and prep for upload by Shayne Stacy
The Next one is a 1997 live CD at Sutter Street Saloon, which is now the location of the Powerhouse Pub in old town Folsom.
Recorded by: The band and the people you see in credits here Extract from CD and prep for upload by Shayne Stacy
It’s that time again- time for our bi-weekly Mick Martin Memorial post! This is #7 in a series of 20 or more. We are not even half done yet! First one is from 1996 and was from the CD Era, where bands would pack 70 minutes of material on a disc. This one features Johnny Heartsman, Steve Gundhi, Glenn Lane and Miss Lena Mosley
From Dennis Newhall and Mindy Giles’ collections Recorded by: The band Extract and rip from CD, prep for upload by Shayne
Come On if Youre Comin’ CD 2022
This one is about half the length of the other one- the craze to make CD’s as long as possible lost its appeal for many in the 2000s. This one features Kyle Rowland, Andrew Little and Todd Morgan. One of his last releases.
From Dennis Newhall and Mindy Giles’ collections Recorded by: The band Extract and rip from CD, prep for upload by Shayne
Alright, it’s Tuesday, so that means that it is time for the Mick Martin Memorial Series! We are up to #9 in this series where we post 2 of Mick’s releases each time. These 2 releases have similar names. So similar that I thought that one would just be the live version of the studio album… nope. 2 very different releases. This studio album was released in 1995 on Mick’s label.
Recorded by: The band CD rip and prep by Shayne
aaand:
Mick Martin’s Big Blues Band- Got to Play the Blues Live 2023
That’s right, this is NOT the GTPTB album being performed live. Totally different band, totally different tracklist. This was one of Mick’s last releases before his passing. Recorded live at the Crest Theater
It’s Tuesday, which means it is time for the Bi-Weekly Mick Martin post! Let’s keep the same thing going as past Mick posts- one released (but hard to find) thing and one rare thing. This one is the rare thing. Mick played a show with Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers) and someone had the presence of mind to record it. Thanks to Dennis Newhall for sharing this one.
Recorded by: Friend of Mick Transfer by and equipment unknown.
Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers- Blues Plate Special Out of Print CD 1994
The second one for the week is a CD that Mick released on his Blues Rock label back in 1994. Along with the “1 rare, 1 released” cadence, I am trying to include a studio recording each time as well. This one is a well produced studio deal.
It’s that time again- time for the Mick Martin Memorial series! This first one is one of Mick’s earliest releases on CD. If discogs is to be trusted (it is missing a LOT of Mick’s releases), this is his earliest CD. Not billed with the Blues Rockers- that would start in 1994, if (again) discogs is to be trusted.
Recorded by: The band CD rip and prep by Shayne from Dennis Newhall and Mindy Giles’ collections
Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers- Rockin the Blues Cassette LP transfer f/master
the second release is this apparent cassette-only release. There is no date anywhere in the tape or J-card, but I would guess anywhere from the late 80s to mid-90s. Mick mentions in an interview that he started the first incarnation of the Blues Rockers in 1987, so it could be from way back then as well.
Recorded by: The band Transfer by: Shayne Stacy Equipment used: Nakamichi Dragon and M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card
