Makin' Whoopee

 Honestly, we don’t know how a band that’s been around for nearly half a century — one that has a special love for novelty and good-time tunes of the 1920s and ‘30s — could have ever missed this one, but the fact is it’s only recently that The Flood has been playing around with this classic from the Roarin’ Twenties. Guess it just took our newest members — Veezy Coffman and Danny Cox — to open our ears to it. And we’re sure glad they did.

(When She Wants Good Lovin') My Baby Comes to Me

 This one has really deep roots. About 20 years after The Coasters released this song in 1957, The Flood started fiddling with it one fun summer night. After that, though, it went to sleep again for, oh, a half century or so. Then last winter, Randy started singing harmony with Charlie on the chorus and suddenly the song was back, evolving into a fine vehicle for cool solos by Danny, Veezy and Sam.

This Week's Freebie from The 1937 Flood

 Back in the days when we would ride on — and occasionally even got to perform on — the good ol’ Delta Queen steamboat, it often meant a reunion with a dear friend, the boat’s band leader, the legendary New Orleans cornetist Connie Jones.

 
We learned “Memphis in June” from Connie. On his album, it was an instrumental, but whenever we’d ask for it on board the boat, Connie would sing it.

Here from a recent rehearsal is our take on the tune,  conjuring up memories of sunny days up in The Delta Queen’s Texas Lounge, seeing Connie, eyes closed and grinning as he purred those sweet Paul Francis Webster lyrics. Here then, in memory of Connie Jones, is Hoagy’s sweet love song to summer.

Memphis in June

 This isn’t one of Hoagy Carmichael’s better known tunes, but it could easily become your favorite, especially this time of year. “Memphis in June” is a sweet love song to summer that is “peacefully dandy.”

Up a Lazy River

 Our buddy Doug Chaffin wasn’t feeling too swell earlier this week when Randy Hamilton, Danny Cox and Charlie Bowen landed on his doorstep. However, we brought with us a secret medicine just guaranteed to make him feel better. It’s Charlie’s new guitar, a sweet 2016 D’Angelico Excel — a hollow-body arch top jazz box, which we immediately put into Doug’s experienced hands. Well, after he’d strummed a chord or two, we could hear Doug already smiling behind his face mask. Listen to him just swinging in the living room on this great old jazz standard.