Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White by the Fabulous Thunderbirds

Who wants to go south of the border? Not sure how I’ve lived my life and not been hip to this tune. But it’s a lot of fun! A harmonica, 1st position.

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Kim is king :crown:

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I love this tune

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I’m partial to Kim’s version. Didn’t hurt to have Jimmy Vaughn on guitar. But I remember when Pérez Prado, the Cuban band leader, had it as a #1 hit in the 50’s (there was a lot of unusual “top 10 music” in the early 50’s before rock took over the charts). Also, my parents took me as a kid to Lake Tahoe to see the Harmonicats who recorded the song in 1960. https://youtu.be/z7vG3hyqrvg

But a favorite version for me remains Chuck Berry’s. Back in the day most (blues) guys didn’t just play blues. Chuck satisfied club audiences by playing a mix of rock, blues, ballads, pop tunes and Latin. In the small clubs he was likely to pull out this Cherry Pink mambo alongside Johnny B. Goode, Havana Moon, Too Much Monkey Business or some T-Bone Walker song. Watching him, you could tell how much he enjoyed it.

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@BnT WOW! I had no idea this song has been such a standard in popular American repertoire! Thank you for sharing this. I’ll have to do some research into this!

@davidkachalon I really haven’t listened to him very much. What are your favorite recordings of his?

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I’ve pretty much got all of Kim’s Albums, you can’t really go wrong with him as a harp player or a Vocalist. My favorite Fabulous Thunderbirds track is “She’s Tuff” I just love the harp solo, which he does completely different live. That’s another thing with Kim he never plays the same solo, he always does something different

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Luke,
This isn’t Kim’s “best recording”, and probably not even his best version of Little Walter’s “Oh, Baby” (lots of him doing it on YouTube). But this has got to be the most fun – from Ringwood Library in New Jersey, not some big concert or fancy club.
[https://youtu.be/AxLhY4kWiRQ]

I always liked the song because Little Walter played it using a key of C Koch slide diatonic with the button pushed in (the band in Ab, not G); his only recording using a Koch.

Kim’s best recording? I think it changes depending on your mood. I (now) prefer live videos to studio recordings because of the feeling and energy he puts into it.
https://youtu.be/2J-UHtQyDFU?

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I’m finding that the first link won’t open

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Andy2
Thx. Fixed.

My fav tracks are his cover of Just a Feeling. I also love dont bite the hand that feeds you. Great cut.

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