E. Mark Windle. 27 May 2021 The backing of Mike Williams and a record release on a major label, even if not more than a regional success, had given the Branch brothers a taste for what could be, and they were shooting for a recording contract. Within a short few years, the group had progressedContinue reading “The Tempests (part 3): Finding Hazel”
Tag Archives: Tempests
The Tempests (part 2): Love Have Mercy! Atlantic Records.
E. Mark Windle. 16 May 2021 You could say music was in the family genes. But it was country, not R&B, that first inspired the Branch children to pick up an instrument. John Roger Branch’s grandmother was a not-too-distant relative of the famous Carter family, and a pretty competent guitar player at that. When notContinue reading “The Tempests (part 2): Love Have Mercy! Atlantic Records.”
Allen Toussaint, Sea-Saint Studios and Hurricane Katrina
E. Mark Windle 20 June 2022. Photo: Courtesy of Phil Shields For Roger Branch, original founder of the sixties R&B band The Tempests, New Orleans had an attractive pull for studio engineering and production work. Like most musicians in the South, there was a deep affinity for the city’s musical cultural vibrancy. Branch had alreadyContinue reading “Allen Toussaint, Sea-Saint Studios and Hurricane Katrina”