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Editorial staff: M ike Black, John Stiff, F ra n k Sidebottom and Alan Balfour.
Special th a n k s to: Dave Godby (special artw ork). Bill G reensm ith (photos) and all the
record com panies who have lent us their support.
Cover Photo:T h o m as Shaw by G erben K roese.
Blues-Link 1973
W elcom e to B lues-Link, th e new intern atio n al blues bi-m onthly, we hope you’ll
enjoy it. O u r aim in B lues-Link is to fill som e o f th e gaps in blues appreciation and
research by involving you — the reader. We invite you to subm it your letters, views,
news, articles, photos and discographical queries for inclusion in Blues-Link. Especially,
we’d like to h ear from those of you overseas, as we shall have regular coverage of the
international blues scene. O ther regular features will include a gospel page, a com plete
listing of all Jazz and Blues records issued in the two m onths prior to publication, a look
at obscure L P ’s, a readers letters page and o f course in depth record reviews.
For subscribers we aim to provide a F R E E C ontact Ads service. So, if you have
som ething to exchange, acquire etc., strictly non-com m ercial though — send it along to
us. For fuller details see th e C ontact Section at th e back.
Aside from the m agazine itself, B lues-L ink has other projects in the pipeline — not
just pipedream s either. B lues-L ink will publish a comprehensive address listing annually
from early 1974. If you’d like to be included ju st send your nam e, address, phone, age,
likes and we’ll do th e rest. W ork will be started on a com panion volume to B lues
Records, covering all gospel recordings m ade between 1943 and 1973, a blues
bibliography and finally B lues-L ink lim ited editions of recordings th a t are not usually
considered rem otely com m ercial.
B lues-L in k grew out of the attem p t m ade by M arcel Vos to launch B lues Friends
W orldw ide contact m agazine and address listing. In essence we have taken over where
he left off and we und erstan d from him th a t th e slate is clear with regards to repaym ents
of outstanding subscriptions to B F W . W e would like to take this opportunity to thank
Marcel and all those involved with his m agazine for their continuing support.
One final word. O u r address is strictly a m ailing one, callers will find no one there
unless they have previously arranged a m eeting.
See you in O ctober when we’ll have for you, “ M em phis Shakedow n; the M em phis
Jug Band on reco rd ” , “ Kokom o A rnold interview ” and “ The Rise and Fall of the
Leicester Blues E m pire” am ongst other goodies.
3
A Hodge Podge O f Blues
Bill Pearson
Some nam es we need to know m ore about.
T here is an area o f m usic lying somewhere between hard blues and the more
blatantly com m ercial R & B and Soul which holds a great fascination for me — b u t not,
it seems, for m any blues collectors. If th e reason for this is lack of inform ation and
recordings th en there is some justification for it, b u t argum ents against the m usic itself
are not really justified. I am speaking o f such figures as W illie M abon, Joe T urner, Roy
Hawkins, S aunders K ing and th e o th er in h ab itan ts o f this m usical netherw orld. No
doubt th e jazz overtones o f their work act as a d eterrent to some and you can’t elim inate
insularity in audiences, b u t to ignore th em alm ost completely is alm ost criminal!
T ak e W illie M abon as a starter. U ntil his recent tours in E ngland little was known
of this m an and even less o f his work was available. None of the Chess titles he cut at the
start o f his career are about at present as far as I know and later work for small labels
including Federal and U SA is equally h ard to come by. Sue did issue a couple o f things
here in th e early sixties (the “ G ot To Have Some” saga) and these were enough to
convince me th a t here was a m usical en tertain er working basically in the blues idiom.
Certainly, M abon is well aware of th e m usical spectrum he is p a rt o f and has stated his
musical policy-visually and vocally! — at a gig at 100 Club in London recently by stating
th at he regarded him self as an ‘e n te rta in e r’ first and forem ost. His approach is
refreshingly professional and allied to an engaging personality it should be doing great
business all over th e place. A fter all, th e blues aren ’t just about being down all the time!
M any o f th e lyrics o f his songs are o u tstan d in g and long before his more recent
successes M abon had been p utting out p o p u lar records with a real tongue-in-cheek
deadpan feel about them . I haven’t h eard his very first single on A pollo b u t the next, on
Chess, — “ W orry Blues” / “ I D on’t K now ” — was fairly straight blues. Later item s have a
larger brass section augm enting W illie’s piano and vocals. T here’s the jauntingly
dangerous “ Poison Ivy” for instance (not th e C oasters’ song) which includes verses like:
I bought m e a blade, one I could affo rd .
Too long to be a knife, too short to be a sword.
or
L a st nig h t som e cat got sm a rt with m y niece.
Now he wears (his sacks? ) a n d rest in peace!
All verses chorused with:
I d o n 't like to brag, I d o n ’t like to say what I ' ll do.
B u t I ’m like p o is on ivy. I ’ll break out all over you.
The boastful “ Seventh Son” contains th e lines:
N ow I can tell yo u r fu tu r e before it com e to pass,
le a n do things f o r you. . . m a ke y o u r heart fe e l glad,
I can look in the sky and p red ict the rain,
I can tell when a w o m a n ’s got another man.
All verses chorused with:
I ’m the one. I ’m the one.
The one they call th e seventh son.
O r there is th e wryly optim istic “ K nock O n W ood” :
I used to look in the m irr o r . . . m y teeth looked like carbon.
B u t now I ’m wearing d ia m o n d stu d d ed choppers!
I fo u n d m e a wom an who does everything she should.
E veryth in g ’s in m y fa v o u r a n d I'v e g o t to kn o ck on wood.
4
L ater records settle into a less tough m ould but still retain the M abon touch. “ Got
To Have H er” on M a d seems to act as th e precursor to “ Got To Have Some” on F orm al
cut two years later in 1962. A sim ilar lineup on USA continued the saga with “ Just Got
Some” in th e next year and altogether six 45’s were issued on th a t label including the
possible om inous double m eaning of “ I’m The Fixer” :
B aby I ’m th e fix e r . . . I am the fixer.
I 'm th e fix e r p retty baby. I got everything you need.
N ow when y o u r m an done fa ile d you a nd you ’re down and out,
I m a ke you fe e l so good you ’II w ant to ju m p a nd shout.
I bring jo y to the girls a nd lu ck to the men.
W hen you th in k I ’m gone. I ’m com ing back again.
M abon o f course, was based in Chicago but the South and W est seem to have been
stronger areas for this type o f ‘ju m p ’ m usic with the influence of New O rleans and Texas
having a noticeable effect on the sound of oth er figures worth m entioning. In the M iddle
West, Joe T u rn er and Clyde B ernhardt come to mind. T u rn er has travelled widely and
now resides in C alifornia b u t he began as a K ansas City singer and if his style can be so
labelled, it is still ju st th at. He is at his best belting out a song with a strong background
of riffing horns and tinkling piano and th ro u g h o u t the years he has m anaged to attain
those requirem ents on m any recordings. D etails of T u rn er’s life are scarce although
L iving Blues filled in a few gaps with a recent interview (No. 10 — A utum n, 1972). It’s
not the lyrics th a t count in Joe’s work; m ore the tim bre and em phasis applied to them
and the support given by bands often featuring the boogie piano of Pete Johnson. This
jazzy character rem ained in his work until the fifties when A tla n tic revitalised things a
bit with th eir fam ous sessions. These were still in the standard T u rn er idiom b u t used
more topical lyrics which appealed to the younger Rock ’n Roll audiences. Subsequently
Joe returned to the W est Coast where he has operated for years. Recordings were made
for R P M /K e n t and an LP was issued fairly recently from th a t source. D on’t ignore Joe
Turner!
Clyde B ern h ard t is a trom bonist who has been experiencing som ething o f a revival
recently und er th e auspices o f Derek Stew art-B axter who has supplied useful
biographical d a ta in Jazz Journal. Born in N orth C arolina, B ernhardt paid his musical
dues playing with m any bands thro u g h o u t th e thirties and forties and is not a K . C.
player b u t m uch m ore E ast coast orientated. Titles cut under his own nam e show the
jazz influence and he is usually supported by a fairly large band with vocal and trom bone
to the fore as required. Saydisc have p u t out two album s in the UK which provide good
coverage o f his work. “ Blowing My T op” on SDR 126 contains both old and new
recordings and is p erhaps th e best introductory choice. Incidentally, talking of Ber­
nhardt has b rought to m ind another trom bonist o f interest in Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’
Connors who is in the UK at the tim e of writing. He has worked on the W est coast a
great deal with Johnny Otis am ong others and plays a really fast trom bone! As another
player influenced by the jazz and R & B o f earlier days, and now resident in Europe, he
is worth a listen.
T u rn er worked with m any figures o f interest over the years including Pee Wee
Crayton whose b ran d of music has been sadly neglected partly due to lack o f available
records. M o d e m , who signed him up in th e late forties, put out a great deal o f m aterial
and there were later sessions for Im p eria l after which followed a long period in the
wilderness. Recently, blues interest resulted in an LP on the Vanguard label which I rate
quite highly despite the adverse com m ents m ade about it by some reviewers. Pee Wee
plays a m ean g u itar a t tim es and this has alm ost always featured in his work over the
5
years. W hen supported by sm all brass section the result is relaxed Texas influenced
blues w hich, while lacking th e toughness of the Chicago sound, have an em otional
quality of th e ir own. I suppose Pee W ee’s best know n hits are “ Blues After H ours” and
“ Texas H o p ” — both instrum entals and reissued on K e n t’s A rchive Series in the USA
(Vol. 12 — W est Coast Blues). Both titles accurately describe the m usic on those cuts —
hot ’n relaxed in the first instance with a sharp er jum pier em phasis in the second one.
The sam e album contains titles by three other singers I want to m ention — Roy
Hawkins, Saunders K ing, and Jim m y Nelson. All use a ‘laid b ack ’ vocal style b u t little
appears to be known (or at least w ritten) ab o u t them . B lues Records has a large disco for
Hawkins whose ‘Strange L an d ” was apparen tly a hit in the late forties. Later on a song
featured by him becam e a hit for B . B. K ing. T his was “ The T hrill Is G one” .
Saunders K ing’s “ S . K. Blues” is superbly sung with piano and m uted tru m p et
encircling th e singer who really drawls out the lyrics. This slurred quality is even more
ap p aren t on “ Som ething’s W orryin’ M e” issued on Rhythm 302:
I hang around the bars all evening d rinking anything I choose,
I 'm happy up until m id n ig h t ’cause th a t’s the tim e I get the blues.
and:
I ’m alright in the m orning. . . at noon I ’m feeling fine.
A t six o’clock I 'm happy b u t at m id n ig h t I lose m y m ind.
Good music!
Lastly, Jim m y Nelson. Again he is som ething o f a mystery to me unfortunately apart
from his “ T -99” which was a hit and has been sung by m any bluesm en including Otis
Spann. T he original M o d e m recording features a chanting chorus behind Nelson’s
singing about his m issing honeydripper! T here is a nice chunky g u itar solo on the record
— nothing specatacu lar b u t ‘rig h t’ nontheless.
Pee Wee C ray to n photo by G. Ben net
A nother of the K e n t series contains one title by Johnny ‘G u ita r’ W atson who was
some g u ita r player judging by the titles he cut for R P M in the fifties. T he track in
question is th e o utstanding “ T hree H ours Past M idnight” which comes com plete with
great g u ita r b reak full o f staccato rapidly picked notes which seem to have been
som ething o f a trad em ark . L ater recordings for King are apparently quite good if
som ewhat u nder the influence o f th e King ‘sou n d ’ b u t I’m not fam iliar with enough of
them to com m ent. Nevertheless, his work definitely w arrants attention.
And now from a guitarist to two pianists. N either Lloyd G lenn or Charles Brown
ever hit th e blues headlines these days b u t they are valuable bluesm en in their own way.
Glenn started recording in 1947 for Im p eria l and from then on had a series o f issues on
various labels including Sw ingtim e and A la d d in up to 1962. These were always in­
strum entals which have great appeal and an u n derstated quality about them , and the
strong Texas roots (G lenn was born there) com e through the lilting quality with boogie
overtones. Titles like “ Chica-Boo” , “ N ite-Flite” , and “ Blue Ivories” reflect the style
and character o f th e recordings. Before startin g out on his own G lenn worked with
num erous jazz b an d s b u t ended up with th e straight blues again in the early sixties
playing on B . B. K ing sessions!
Less inform ation is available on C harles Brown b u t he m ust have had a background
with sim ilar elem ents in it. Initially he worked with Johnny M oore’s T hree Aces and then
took over th e group him self with the success o f various songs including the fam ous
“ D rifting Blues” and “ Black N ight” . T hese are certainly individual with Brown’s nasal
vocal to th e fore backed with tinkling piano and guitar. Very moody m aterial which if
you prefer it in a m ore m odern setting can be heard effectively on an A B C Bluesway LP
or another issued b y Jewel. He h a sn ’t lost his touch and should be more appreciated.
T h a t then, ju st about rounds things o ff This has not been a com prehensive survey
by any m eans b u t I hope th a t it will serve to draw attention to some lesser known, or at
least under appreciated, nam es. It may well be th a t m ore of their m aterial will become
available in tim e (will Polydor put out some R P M /M o d e rn sides on Ju k e B lu est) but in
the m eantim e listen to the old records if you can. Anyone with m aterial by these artists
who wishes to p a rt with it is urged to contact th e author!
SOME RECORDS
Lloyd G lenn “ Chico-Boo”
A laddin LPM -9
Lloyd G le n n /P e te Johnson “ Boogie Blues”
Polydor Int. 423244
Charles Brown “ L egend”
Bluesway BLS 6039
Charles Brown “ Blues’n Brow n”
Jewel LPS 5006
Clyde B ern h ard t “ Blowing My T o p ”
Saydisc SDR 126
Pee W ee C rayton “ Things I Used To D o ”
V anguard VSD 6566
Willie M abon “ . . . is b ack ”
Blues on Blues 10004
Joe T u rn er “ Ju m p in ’ The Blues”
Arhoolie R2004
“ Best of the blues Vol. 1” (includes Brown)
Im perial LP 9257
“ Everyday I have the blues” (Brown, G lenn e tc . )
E m ber SPE 6601
“ W est C oast B lues” (H aw k in s/K in g /N elso n /C ray to n )
Kent KST 9012
“ C alifornia Blues” (Johnny W atson)
K ent K ST 9003
‘Johnny O tis Show Live A t M onterey” (T u rn er/C ray to n /C o n n o rs)
Epic 66295
BLIND JOHN DAVIS in Amstelveen (Holland)
photos; G erben Kroese.
In late M arch, early April o f 1973, th e legendary pianist Blind John Davis, who
accom panied so m any blues artists d u rin g th e th irties/fo rties for B luebird and Vocalion
briefly visited E urope. T his is a report of his visit to Amstelveen in H olland where I went
to see him in concert.
It was a cold Saturday night o f A pril 21st th a t I and a considerable num ber of
others w ent to pay hom age to th e 59 year old p ianist, who, for m ost o f us present had just
been a nam e in other peoples discographies. As is custom ary on m ost blues tours the
audience were w arm ed up by th e p o p u lar Hoochie Coochie Band who played well known
electric blues — everything from Elm ore Jam es to Slim H arpo. A lthough I had gone
specifically to see John Davis, I resigned myself to the fact th a t I would have to put up
with the H oochie Coochie Band, so did m y best to enjoy their set.
Blind John Davis finally cam e on stage at about nine-thirty for his first set, which
included som e nice blues and boogie pieces, and was to prove to be only one o f three such
sets. It was d uring the intervals between these th a t I, and others, m anaged to talk to
him. Arm ed with a bottle of O ld Crow whisky he prepared him self for the barrage of
questions.
I asked him if he was w orking at present and he told me th a t he regularly plays the
white night clubs in Chicago. M oving to th e subject of his lack o f solo recordings he
am used all present by saying th a t he was such an articulate chap th a t he was just not
suited to singing th e b lu es: ” .. . . they only wanted the guys with th e country accents” .
He also recollected th a t of all th e people he had worked with Big Bill Broonzy was the
most m em orable for his precision. C hanging th e subject slightly, I asked him how he
came to be booked for this to u r and w hat future plans he had. It was with some dism ay
th at I le a rn t th a t he would m ake this his only to u r and th a t it only cam e about because of
the insistance of K arl G ert Z ur H eide and M artin van O lderen both o f whom are great
lovers o f piano blues.
8
A lthough it w asn’t a stom ping evening, w hat Blind John Davis played I enjoyed very
m uch and was quite overwhelmed by his technical proficiency. Seeing him had m ade it a
worthwhile evening.
Kees van W ijngaarden.
As from next issue we will have a regular R agtim e feature and R agtim e record
reviews, b u t as space and tim e were short for this issue, all I can m ention is th a t Roger
M illington is startin g to organise a ‘R agtim e Collectors C lub’ and any enquiries or offers
of help for th is very worthwhile project should be sent to Roger at: 25 A lexandra Road,
K ingston-on-T ham es, Surrey, U . K.
JACKSO N LABEL — O U T NOW
T he R arest Pete Johnson Volum e 2
Jackson 1206
M eade Lux Lew is— Self P o rtrait
Jackson 1208
From : —
Hans W. Ewert, 5466 N e u sta d t/W ied,
Postfach 1126, G erm any.
B R U C E ’S RECO RD SH O P
For th e best selection o f blues this side
of th e G ovan Ferry. Send for our lists or
som eone will be after you with a big
stic k !
S . A . E. appreciated.
79 Rose Street, Edinburgh.
Phone 031-226-2804.
BLACK G O S P E L M U S I C ~bob sacre
This is a b rief look at a stream of black music which is som ew hat neglected
nowadays by white blues enthusiasts: black sacred singing.
After th e blues revival of the sixties m any specialised labels such as Yazoo, Origin
and R oots issued the cream of pre-w ar country blues (and still do) b u t it wasn’t until the
seventies th a t we saw th e first L P’s o f pre-w ar sacred music being com piled (see Note 1).
Today there are a lot available th an k s to Roots, Yazoo, Herwin and M atch b o x (se t Note
2) and if the tren d continues we’ll probably see even m ore reissues in the near future: a
glance at G odrich-D ixons’ “B lues & G ospel Records 1902-1942” shows th a t the
m aterial is ab u n d an t.
T his recognition by the blues reissue com panies is to be expected, for, basically
what we h ear is rural country blues m usic with religious words. Som ething th a t is still
hard to find on microgroove is the ‘live’ church services, sermons, and the like, probably
because o f th e ir rem oteness to the blues idiom, but hopefully som eday somewhere,
someone stuck for reissue ideas will rem em ber this stuff. By and large however, I think it
fair to say th a t pre-w ar religious m usic is well established and is appealing to blues fans.
The neglected area m ust surely be post-w ar Gospel M usic. I w on’t reiterate here
what has already been said elsewhere (see Note 3) but suffice to say th a t four different
styles can be distinguished:
i) M ale Q uartets
ii) Fem ale G roups
iii) M ale and fem ale groups
iv) Choirs
The R obert Patterson Singers
ph o to Bill G reensm ith.
M ostly choirs sing solemn, polished songs inspired by the Old Testament (these are
the Negro spirituals) as do m any m ale q u artets, whereas female groups and soloists
generally display exuberan t, joyful direct songs inspired by the New T estam ent (these are
Gospel songs) with their frequent references to current day life. O f course as in many
forms o f m usic, classification is not only difficult but quite often o f dubious value.
Despite being called Gospel Music it can swing and rock like any other music. It is a
collective vocal creation; any in strum ental accom panim ent being by p ian o /o rg an ,
rhythm section, guitar, drum s and very occasionally horns (viz Reverend Rice or Elder
Charles Beck). Blues lovers should be gospel lovers, after all, black roots, black feeling,
authenticity and heartfelt expression are present in both.
Nevertheless, gospel singers still aw ait th e recognition they deserve. They still await
the researchers and discographers b u t, with th e exception of Cedric H ayes’ highly
valuable research which Blues U n lim ited p u b lished short extracts from, gospel afficianados are still waiting for a work like Blues Records 1943-66" (see Note 4).
B ibliographical and critical works, field research, prom otion and m agazines are also
conspicuous by their absence (see Note 5).
The situation in the States is m uch th e sam e. T he specialised labels like Savoy.
Peacock, Songbird. Nashboro, Gospel T ruth and Jewel are big sellers but alm ost ex­
clusively to th e Negro m ark et; the white A m erican blues fan rejects gospel music. One
can only hope th a t the craze for pre-w ar sacred m usic will open the way for a post-war
gospel recognition and, th a t way, the efforts o f com panies like Vogue in France will at
last be fruitful. Vogue in Europe, have over th e past ten years issued sam plers from
Peacock archives (which helped ensure th e success o f the Gospel & Spiritual Festivals of
1965 and 1967) b u t as these records are nearly always limited editions of the ‘get it while
you can ’ variety they never stay in catalogue long. Some com panies have m ade available
‘highlights’ o f E uropean tours by th e P atterson Singers and the Stars of Faith (see Note
6 ).
I guess th a t sales are constant enough to allow the com panies concerned to go on
th at way. But it is saddening when one realises th a t in the Peacock vaults alone there is
enough m aterial for several hundred L P ’s not to m ention. King. G otham , and Specialty
(who incidentally have gospel m aterial recorded by Sam Cooke and Johnnie Taylor).
However, I th in k th a t all the signs point to a gospel revival especially with the in­
terest shown by blues critics W illie Leiser and Jacques Dem etre in the pages of Blues
U nlim ited. I t’s interesting to note th a t it was D em etre and the late Marcel Chauvard
who in 1959 b ro u g h t to the pages of Jazz H o t nam es of then unknown Chicago singers,
guitarists, h arp ists and piano players; J. B. Lenoir, Billy Boy A rnold, Snooky Pryor, all
of whom those pioneers had m et and heard live (see Note 3).
L et’s hope th a t Jacque D em etre can once more be a prophet and th a t his interest in
black gospel m usic today hails a gospel revival for tom orrow.
HOT BUTTERED SOUL ‘HBS’
‘HBS’ m agazine for all your B lues/S oul/R & B requirem ents. We specialize in detailed
label listings/interview s/discographies/biographies as well as up to date reviews and
news. W e w on’t say we’re good b u t our helpers include M ike L eadbitter o f B. U .; Alan
Balfour o f B lues-L ink; Bob Fisher of Leics. B lues Society, Eddie Cousins o f Blues &
G ospel Research Library as well as m any other well known Blues and Soul freaks. Why
not try a sam ple copy for 15p from Chris Savory, 36 Scrapsgate R oad, M inster, Sheppey,
Kent, U . K.
11
NOTES
1) T here have o f course been some previous com pilations, notably “ N earer My God To
Thee” (R oots 304) and “ In The Spirit, Vols 1 & 2” {Origin 12 & 13). It would be very
interesting to know the com m ercial im pact and sales o f these.
2) LP’s with pre-w ar religious m aterial currently available are:
B lues Classics 17 “ Sanctified Singers P t. 1’’ (with two post-w ar tracks)
Blues Classics 18 “ Sanctified Singers P t. 2’’ (6 pre-w ar and 8 post-w ar tracks)
Blues Classics 19 “ Singing Preachers and T heir C ongregations’’ (3 pre-w ar items)
(These 3 L P ’s are probably the best sam plers around).
H erw in 202 “ Bessie Johnson’’
H erw in 204 “ Blind Joe T ag g art”
H erw in 203 “ God Give Me L ight” (anthology)
Yazoo 1022 “ Ten Years of Black C ountry R eligion” (anthology)
Yazoo 1023 “ Blind G ary Davis”
R B F 5 “ An Introduction To Gospel M usic”
19 “ C ountry Gospel Song” (a m ixture o f both white and black)
H isto rica l 34 “ Christ W as Bom O n A C hristm as M orning” (anthology)
Biograph 12027 “ This Old W orld Is In A Hell O f A Fix” (anthology)
T r u th (from Roots) 1001 “ T raditional Jazz in Rural C hurches”
Truth 1002 “ G u itar Evangelists Pt. 1”
T ru th 1003 “ G u itar Evangelists Pt. 2”
The following are available b u t ra th e r m ore difficult to find:
R oots 328 “ Southern Sanctified Singers”
R oots 338 “ Rev. F . W. M cG hee”
M a tch b o x SDX 207 (2 vols. ) “ Black D iam ond Express to H ell” (Vol. 1 pre-w ar;
Vol. 2 postw ar).
Finally, th e m ost interesting set to ap p ear since th e B lues Classics:
C B S 67234 “ T he Gospel Sound 1” (2 L P ’s)
C B S 67280 “ The Gospel Sound 2” (2 L P ’s)
The above is a com plete cross section of pre and post-war gospel with carefully chosen
items to illustrate Tony H eilbut’s book (see Note 3). Both the book and records are a
m ust for every new com er and afficionado alike, especially if you like A rizona D ranes as
I do (two m ore tracks h 're, and with 9 track s elsewhere, we now have 11 of the 18 songs
she recorded — 2 with he Texas Jubilee Singers).
One note o f w arning. Because of the lack o f co-ordination between reissue com ­
panies, duplications are num erous on th e above list of records. The best selections are
those on CBS, Blues Classics, T ru th and Herwin.
3) A selected bibliography:
H E IL B U T , Tony: “ The Gospel S ound” (Essential work— how? w hen?, w here?,
who? )
LE ISE R , W illie: “ I’m a R oad ru n n er Baby” (A Blues U nlim ited booklet with m uch
inform ation on singers, groups and records)
G A R O N , Paul: “ Blues and th e C hurch: Revolt and R esignation” {Living Blues
Spring 1970)
LIN D EM A N N , Bill: “ Introduction to Black Gospel M usic (Living B lues A utum n
1970)
D E M E T R E , Jacques; “ Lonnie F arris” (Blues U nlim ited 96, November 1972)
STR A C H W ITZ, Chris: “ The Staples Singers” A talk in the A m erican F olk M usic
O ccasional 1)
FE A T H E R , Leonard: “ A T alk W ith M ahalia Jackson” (A m erican F olk M usic
12
O ccasional 1)
K EN T, Don: “ T he Early Days O f G ospel” {Am erican F o lk M usic Occasional 2).
The following Belgian m agazine has long vanished b u t it is worth looking out for:
R h y th m a n d B lues Panoram a 44/ 4 5, 1966: ‘‘Special Gospel 1”
and any copies o f Blues U nlim ited pre issue 70 with their bits o f post-w ar gospel
discography by Cedric Hayes and regular features by M artin H um m .
4) Cedric H ayes’ discography is included in:
BRUY N IN CK X , W alter: “ 50 Y ears o f Recorded Jazz”
a colossal work o f several thousand pages being a com plete discography of every jazz
record m ade between 1917 and 1967, blues, gospel songs and even ‘classic’ black Rhythm and Blues artists (Fats, C huck, Bo, e tc . ). Expensive if your m ain interest isn’t jazz.
Anyone interested should contact W alter at:
Lange N ieuw straat 135,
M echelen, 2,
Belgium.
5) There is one m agazine th a t I know of The G ospel M essenger which is m anaged by
black people and gives mainly religious news. Its m usic content is very sm all indeed but
there are some great photos of gospel artists. A subscription for 12 issues a year is five
dollars an d is available from:
P . O. Box 1994,
or
Freddy A ngstm ann,
P hiladelphia,
I . A . P.
19105 USA.
P . O. Box 28,
C . H. 8050 Zurich,
Switzerland.
6) The R obert Patterson Singers: “ Gospel M eeting T onight”
15153
The Stars o f Faith (of Black Nativity): “ Swing Low Sweet C h ario t”
M P S 15256
**Bob Sacre wishes to swap tapes with other collectors whose collections include preand post-w ar gospel m usic in particu lar U N ISSU E D tapes. Even if you have only a few
items drop Bob a line as it is possible there could be som ething th a t interests him . W hen
w riting t o him send th e following details, if possible: A rtist/T itle s/L a b e l/D a te /W h e th e r
45, 78 or album . For unissued stuff state A rtist/D a te /L o c atio n /L en g th in tim e of tape.
Bob will reply and send his lists. Contact him at 16, Avenue de L’O bservatoire, B-4000,
LIEG E, B E L G IU M . **
-Rev. L o n n ie F a r r i s (c o u r t e s y Terry W aghorne)
13
B I G B E A R B L U ES
...
A
'britain’s best-selling blues album' —
melody maker
p o l y d o r 2460 186
merican Blues Legends 73
w ith Lightnin' Slim,Homesick Jamies,
Snooky Pryor, WhisperingSmith, Boogie WoogieRed S Washboard W illie .
Doctor Ross-Live at Montreux
Johnny Mars-Blues from Mars
Mighty Flea -Let TheGood
GoodTimes
w.MickeyBaker
POLYDOR
2460 169
POLYDOR
2460 168
Ro l l
2460185
AUTUMN TOURS sept: Lightnin' Slim & Whispering Smith
oct : 19 7 3 CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL with
Homesick-Snooky-Erwin Helfer-OneArm
JohnWrencher- EddieT
aylor-JohnnyMars
oct : John Jackson (U.K . only]
nov: Eddie G uitar Burns
nov: The M ighty Flea
nov: Blind John Davis (U.K .only]
ENQUIRIES:
BIG BEAR M U SIC
32 D EBLEN DRIVE
B IR M IN G H A M B 16 9N G
PHONE 021455 9 4 9 4 .
AMERICAN
BLUES LEGENDS'73
Eddie Cousins
On Jan u ary 26th, at Coventry, saw th e sta rt o f the ABL to u r presented by Jim
Simpson o f Big B ear B lues — from here they played at different dates round G reat
Britain ta k in g in also Belgium , W. G erm any, H olland, Sweden to m ention b u t some.
The first o f th e ‘Blues Legends’ to his th e stage on the Liverpool date was Boogie
Woogie Red, the Louisiana b o m pianist ( 1 8 /1 0 /’25). He is a quiet m an with always a
trace o f a hidden smile about his w eathered features, but after listening to his brand of
Rollin’ piano and listening to him ta lk later in the evening, it was quite obvious th at he
had known his h ard tim es too.
One o f a large family from Rayville, M onroe, La, he was brought up in D etroit
where his fam ily moved to when he was aro u n d 11/2 years old.
Nicknam ed ‘Boogie W oogie R ed ’ because of his light colouring he becam e well
known round th e various b ars and later on started to play in Chicago and with the John
Lee H ooker b an d . H e stayed with th e H ooker group for m any years backing him on
John’s recording dates between 1950 and 1960.
As for R ed ’s own recordings — well they are sparse to say the least!, he has a track
on Paul O liver’s album “ Conversation with th e Blues” , called “ So m uch good feeling’’,
here he talk s and plays through in his own way b u t it does not fully represent his talent,
(as if one tra c k could) b u t up to last m onth this was his com plete output! Now he has
been recorded while on to u r and we have four m ore tracks of R ed’s on record. As this
album is being reviewed elsewhere in the m agazine I will not h arp on about the recor­
dings, except to say ju st listen to “ V iper Song’’ — perhaps som eone will record him
again — I th in k he is worthy o f it.
left-right:Boogie Woogie Red, Whispering Smith, Snooky Pryor,
Washboard Willie, Lightnin Slim, Homesick James, courtesy Polydor.
15
The m ost ostentatious Bluesm an o f th e package was w ithout doubt W ashboard
Willie the D etroit based m usician. He plays an assortm ent of percussion instrum ents
ranging from bass-drum to blocks and sings into a ‘strapped on’ m ike — he tends to call
out the key of th e blues h e’s going to play (w hether it’s right or wrong) and from there
leaps into action hittin g dru m , w ashboard etc., all in perfect tim e. Q uite am azing to
watch!
WASHBOARD
WILLIE
Born W illiam Paden Hensley in A labam a ( 2 4 /7 /’09) he was brought up in
Colum bus, G eorgia, where he was moved to with his family in c 1912. In the 1940’s he
moved to D etroit, where he has rem ained until this day. He has been featured on records
by Eddie B urns (1952), Baby Boy W arren (1953) but to nam e two, and has recorded
under his own nam e b u t not extensively. H e has two
s credited to him on the already
m entioned ABL73 album , perhaps “ I feel so fine” b ein g th a t m ore stronger th an his
am using “ K ansas City” .
A lthough by some he may be labelled in th e Blues ‘risque’ section because of his
hum orous asides such a s — “ . . . . when your lips m ake a date, th a t your hips can’t take
— th a t’s when you’re getting old” , and his painted drum th a t declares in big letters —
“ Yes, Yes, Yes, The F antabulous W ashboard W illie” it is interesting to know th a t in
D etroit he is regarded as one of the m ost entertaining acts around. T his was his first to u r
outside A m erica.
16
The h arm onica blues was represented by M oses ‘W hispering’ Smith and the
legendary Jam es ‘Snooky’ Pryor. Pryor was b o m in Lam bert, M ississippi, ( 1 5 /9 /’21)
and while young becam e friends with Jim m y Rogers. He left hom e when in his teens and
started playing the clubs in the neighbouring states. In the 40’s he moved to Chicago,
where he still lives, b u t decided to quit m usic because of the various disillusionm ents he
got from producers etc. A fter m any years out o f the music business this tour m arks his
com eback. He has a handful of recordings und er his own nam e ranging from 1948 to
cl 963. Both th e titles on the to u r album are to his credit — maybe it will induce him to
record again, and to come back to this side o f th e water, being his first m usical trip
outside the States.
January 25th, 1932, W est Brookhaven, M ississippi, was the birthplace and date of
Moses Sm ith. 25 years later he moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he still lives.
His brother-in-law had tau g h t him to blow h arp around the age of ten so by the m id­
fifties he was quite proficient on th e instru m en t. It was in the 50’s when L ightnin’ Slim
noticed him and later he got a job with Slim ’s band. M arried with a family he was not
able to move around so easily as some o f the other m usicians, so for a long tim e he went
and got labo u rin g work. O f late he has been touring extensively with L ightnin’ Slim, this
being his th ird trip to England. He started recording u nder his own nam e in 1963 for the
E xcello label an d his lovely “ Texas Flood” can be heard on the ABL album . He has the
deepest voice possible I would th in k and his h arp technique is unique as he employs a
kind o f hand-body jive to accom pany his music.
His side-kick L ightnin’ Slim I feel needs no introduction being one o f the Excello
label’s m ost successful bluesm en. Born O tis Hicks in St. Louis in 1913, he was raised on
a farm in Francisville, Louisiana, tak in g over when his father died. He did not learn to
play gu itar until around 1948, and then he becam e credited with the title — “ the first
photo Bill G reensm ith.
Boogie W oogie R ed
17
Lightnin’ Slim, H om esick Jam es & Snooky P ry o r
courtesy Polydor.
m an to play electric g u itar in L ouisiana” . Like th e story we hear so often about the
unfair record producers and the sharks, L ightin’ in fact retired from the m usic scene
twice, and only in 1972 did he start to get involved a g a in — yes at his age!
He has m any sides credited to him mostly on Excello ranging from 1954 to c . 1966
with varied personnels. . . including Lazy Lester, Katie W ebster and Bobby M cBride.
He has his hom e now in D etroit and has m ade once again the blues his livelihood. As can
be heard on the ABL album , “ Love B ug” and “ W alking in the P a rk ” — still have the
‘lazy’ L ouisiana blues style th a t is rem iniscent o f th e Lightnin’ o f yesteryear. He has now
visited G reat B ritain four tim e s . . . m ust say its nice after so long.
The last o f th e legends b u t by no m eans the least is Homesick Jam es, E lm ore’s
cousin. Born W illiam H enderson (though known also as Jam es W illiam son) in T en­
nessee on 3 / 5 / ’14 he was brought up on a farm and moved to Illinois when 16 years of
age, and then later found his way to th e big city Chicago. T hroughout his years of
travelling around he m et and played with m any recognised bluesm en — including
Broonzy and Estes.
In th e early fifties he joined up with Elm ore and can be heard on m any of his
records. H om esick has recorded quite a few sides under his own nam e starting for
Chance in c 1952.
A lthough not his first E uropean to u r it is his first m ajor appearance at top clubs
throughout th e C ontinent and E ngland. He is well represented on th e album perform ing
“ Dust My B room ” , the Elm ore Jam es h it, and “ Tin Pan Alley” .
For those who missed the live concerts (and those th a t d id n ’t) the LP Am erican
Blues Legends ’73 (Polydor 2460186S) which features the above m entioned artists is
worth every penny it costs. . . great album . . . well done Big Bear. . . and th anks the
ABL o f ’73.
18
SID E T R A C K IN ’ w ith F ran k Sidebottom : Some by-ways of blues.
Som etim es I will then again I th in k I won t (x2).
Som etim es I do then again I th in k I d o n ’t.............
“ R eelin’ and R ockin’’ — C huck Berry.
A facet o f Blues structure I am surveying here is th e ‘A nti-C lim ax’; th a t is, when a
positive statem en t is m ade in th e lyric, which is alm ost im m ediately cancelled or
neutralised by a negative one. This peculiar device is used not only by Blues singers on
occasion, b u t by m any wouldbe orators and politicians — have you noticed how
politicians never actually reach positive conclusions in their speeches? To illustrate this
further in a Blues context, here is Skip Jam es’ “ Devil G ot My W om an” , from both 1931
and th e 196? recordings:
The w om an I love,
W om an th a t I love,
Stoled her fr o m m y best frien d ;
B u t he got lucky-stoled h er b a ck again.
Then he got lucky-stoled her b a ck again.
Y ou know I could be right.
Y ou know I could be right.
Then again I could be w rong............ etc.
Skip carefully uses a lengthy build -u p for th e introduction to brin g to the listener a
sense of anticipation, b u t th e inevitable anti-clim ax sweeps all fantasy away— until the
next verse, o f course. This approach by th e artist has th e effect o f retaining great interest
in the atm osphere o f th e perform ance, even though on the face o f it th e m eaning o f such
a verse on its own would appear irrelevant or totally useless. In his 1960’s version,
however, Skip has had the courtesy to ‘forew arn’ his listeners by th e use o f the word
‘could’ — a very n eu tral expression which p erhaps in itself creates expectation within the
listener.
H ere is “ R am b lin ’ M in d ” by M uddy W aters:
G ot a m in d to ramble, got a m in d to go nowhere (x2).
Y o u know I c a n ’t fin d no help over here — ca n ’t f i n d no help over there.
A nti-clim axes th roughout this verse do have a m eaning, in its reflection of deeprooted dissatisfaction in black Am erica. Indeed, there is no point in going anywhere if
there is no progress to be m ade. M uch has been said in Blues literature appreciating the
position o f blacks in Am erica, particularly in th e p ast generations, and Blues in this
form can possibly be considered a safety-valve w ithin a song, for the relief o f the
listeners’ fru strations.
W om en are not far behind any m a n ’s fru stratio n , and R obert Johnson uses a form
of anti-clim ax to relieve it.. . . in “ Stones in my Passway” :
I have a bird to whistle, a n d I have a bird to sing, (x2),
I got a wom an th a t I ’m lo vin ’, boys b u t she d o n ’t m ean a thing.
Blues o f today may tend to be less serious, b u t love is as good a topic as any, for
L ightnin’ Slim in th is case (“ Love B ug” ):
Y ou know th a t Love B u g ’ll bite you darlin ’, little girl i f you d o n ’t watch
out.
Yes th a t Love B u g ’II bite you baby, little girl i f you d o n ’t look out.
Y es som etim es he m ight m a k e you h a p p y-a n ’ again he m ay kn o ck you
out.
19
W om en, love, money — all th e ingredients o f the Blues are useful to the purpose of
the anti-clim ax form ula verse. A recently recorded song by W ild Child Butler uses the
anti-clim ax form in th e chorus p a rt o f each verse to em phasise his song, in “ Axe and the
W ind” :
A i n 't gonna buy no m ore clothes a in 't gonna pay no m ore rent,
G o in ’ give m y m oney to these w om en ‘cos I d o n ’t need a cent,
‘Cos you c a n 't never tell — which way the w ind gonna blow,
I m ay wind u p rich — b u t then I m ay wind up poor.
It is not my purpose to read too m uch ethnic m eaning into the lyrics used in these
exam ples, as Blues is very m uch an en tertain m en t m edium ; and one of th e best form s of
en tertain m en t is comedy (viz. aforem entioned politicians! ), so for the last exam ple of
anti-clim ax stru ctu re here, I chose th e ridiculously comical situation of Tom Shaw, as he
portrays him self as a “ Prowling G ro u n d H og” :
I 'm the prowling g ro u n d hog, m am a, and I w alk round in m y den (x2).
N ow when I com e out a n ’ see m y own sh a d o w — L o rd a n ' I go back in.. . .
In conclusion it m ust be said th a t the anti-clim ax form used in Blues does have a
valid outlet; W hether or not its potential is fully realised is difficult to say—
M uddy W aters photo courtesy W. LEISER.
The Dutch Blues Scene
This is a b rief look at th e blues activities which took place in H olland since the first
real contact with live blues was m ade in 1965, when the A m erican Folk Blues Festival
visited our country for the first tim e. This account mainly recalls how things were for the
blues collector in those eight years with regard to: the inform ation available in
20
magazines, who could be seen or heard on rad io and television, w hat was on record and
naturally any visits m ade by th e artists them selves. I have chosen the year 1965 also
because I feel th a t a rising line (and occasionally a falling one) can be seen in the blues
scene here.
. . . READ THE NEWS ABOUT THE BLUES.
Prior to 1965 there was very little to read ab o u t the blues in D utch. T here was Paul
B rem an’s book “ The Blues” in 1962 and som etim es feature articles by jazz critics on
Ma Rainey, Bessie Sm ith, Big Bill Broonzy or Leadbelly. In this way a whole new
generation — or for th a t m atter a com plete older generation — o f blues singers were
neglected and were read by a completely different generation of fans.
The first m agazine to feature blues and aim at a younger generation was Ja zz
W ereld. M ost o f th e articles looked at th e m odem blues, opening up a com pletely new
world to m any fans who h a d n ’t at th e tim e discovered Blues U nlim ited. One o f Jazz
W ereld’s main contributors is A rend Jan H eerm a van Vos who at th a t tim e wrote m any
excellent articles and reviews. T he m agazine still appears every two m onths b u t as the
nam e suggests it contains mainly jazz.
A m agazine cam e out in 1966 called K in k which had a colum n on R & B and blues
by H arry K nipschild b u t it soon vanished again in 1967. In the sam e year another paper
called H itw eek (which later becam e A lcha) cam e on th e scene and from tim e to tim e had
blues item s. A year later some guys in th e H ague p u t out the first D utch blues m agazine,
M r. Blues. It was edited by W im Verbei and Leo Bruin who had also w ritten for Jazz
W ereld and H itw eek.
It was well produced and inform ative m agazine b u t one which becam e less and less
frequent until it disappeared in early 1970. T h a t sam e year yet another bi-weekly music
paper appeared called Oor (E a r, in English) with one page devoted to blues (an article
together with a news colum n) and some blues record reviews. It is now in its third year,
its contributors being th e old M r. B lues editors along with Cees van der H aar and Guido
van Rijn, who with one or two others do th e ir best to spread the word nationwide.
The only specialist m agazine at th e m om ent is T he Boogie Woogie A n d Blues
Collector which consists o f four double-sided stencilled sheets. It is published by the
‘D utch Blues an d Boogie O rganisation’ ru n by M artin van O lderen who together with
Guido van R ijn writes everything. It m ainly contains news and discographies. So after
eight years we are still devoid of a D utch blues m agazine, b u t let’s see w hat the next
eight years hold for us.
THE OTHER MEDIA
R adio and television in H olland have largely ignored the blues. It is quite easy for a
blues enthusiast to recite th e blues artists he has seen on the screen because there have
been so few. A m ong those th a t have appeared on television at one tim e or an o th er are: a
few A FB F’s, a film about Maxwell Street, a M onterey film featuring B . B . King and T.
Bone W alker, Buddy Guy and th e g u itar w orkshop of the 1967 Newport Jazz Festival,
Larry Johnson in H arley Cokliss’s film Chicago Blues. T hen there was the L ightnin’
Hopkins film by Les B lank and a British television film of M uddy, Cham pion Jack and
several white m usicians. The 24th of July 1972 saw M uddy and his band featured in a
pop program m e on television from a G erm an m ade film of the 1970 E uropean tour.
The situation on th e radio h a sn ’t been any better over the past eight years. Today
there is only one program m e which is a t all specialised called ‘Jazz and Blues’. Its m ain
draw back is th a t com pilers divide these tw o m usic form s so unequally: 75% jazz and
25% blues. D utch listeners can also pick up th e blues program m e o f our Belgian neigh­
bours called ‘Losjes in de Blues’ which goes out after the eleven o‘clock news on Radio
21
Brt 2 B ra b a n t and is well worth listening to.
A few years back you could listen to four blues program m es: M ike Raven on the
BBC , the Belgian station, th e twice weekly D utch ‘Blues Power’ and the ‘R & B H op’ on
the p irate R adio V eronica. Today m ost o f th e live shows organised by th e ‘Blues and
Boogie O rg an isatio n ’ are b roadcast by V PR O . You could say th a t this com pensates for
the earlier blues shows which have since disappeared. D uring the eight years not m uch
happened on th e two m ajor m edia form s which can be so im p o rtan t in im proving the
popularity o f th e blues.
I GOT THE VINYL BLUES
Over th e years those round black platters which they call records have been the
cause o f m any peoples desperation. Let m e explain. Those who liked blues m usic had to
do everything in their power to find records o f th e ir favourite obscure artist; there was a
dire shortage.
The situation for th e E uropean collector was fa r more unfavourable th a n for those
in the USA where m ost o f th e records were issued. In H olland the average dealer had,
and still has, only a few blues records in stock. These are mostly new John Lee H ooker
and M em phis Slim album s, together with a few o f th e less over recorded artists.
To find reissue lables like A rhoolie, Yazoo, Testam ent, A d e lp h i etc., you have to
seek out th e specialist shops or else im port th em from abroad. For years Dick M. B akker
was the only person in H olland where you could buy all these labels, together with quite a
few long deleted album s which he sells from his home. In the last few m onths a second
address where you can buy im ported blues reissue labels has appeared run by M artin van
O lderen. I’ve already stated th a t m ost record shops have little in th e blues line, b u t th ere
photos by Bill G reensm ith.
Johnny Shines and M icky Baker
22
are of course som e exceptions. In th e bigger cities like R otterdam , A m sterdam and the
Hague some shops have really nice collections o f blues records. For exam ple, since last
year Chess h as been available in H olland again, after disappearing about three years ago
when C B S /A rto n e dropped th e distrib u tio n . B ut now it seems to be in good hands with
P honogram because you can get all Chess releases starting with th e ‘V intage’ series.
O ther labels th a t were not so h ard to get (i. e. could be bought or ordered at local record
dealers) were B lu e H orizon, B lu e T h u m b , Bluesway and Storyville. A few years ago
French R C A b ro u g h t out ten D elm a rk album s on th e bargain priced G oody label, but
the pressings were ra th e r bad. Also from France, distributed by M elodise, cam e about
sixteen album s from th e A rhoolie catalogue. D uring the last few m onths th e A tla n tic
‘Blues O riginals’ and Polydor ‘Juke B lues’ series have found th eir way to the bigger
stores. But, to conclude, the situation for th e blues buying public has becom e, in my
opinion, m uch m ore healthy th a n it was a few years ago. As we have already seen
com panies are distributing m ore and m ore records themselves and along with th e two
‘special im p o rt’ addresses, who also d istrib u te foreign blues m agazines, the blues
collector, even th e m ost fanatical can ’t com plain com pared to some E uropean countries.
EIGHT YEARS OF LIVE BLUES
As m entioned earlier, 1965 was th e first year th a t the Lippm ann and R au prom oted
A m erica n F o lk B lues Festival visited our country: th e first real contact th a t the blues
generation o f today h ad with ‘live’ blues. I shall start from there looking at th e club and
concert activities which took place in those eight years between 1965 and 1973.
In 1966 th e A F B F paid us a second visit an d for m e this was one o f the best. 1967
saw the sam e th in g again except th a t this tim e the Lippm ann and R au to u r was not the
only blues to come to H olland. Buddy G uy cam e over with the N ew port Ja zz Festival.
In 1968 th e p redictable A F B F to ur again, E ddie Boyd with John M ayall. Also M uddy
W aters m ade his first D utch ap p earance in R otterdam with the N ew port Ja zz Festival.
The following year, 1969, was a b ad year for concert enthusiasts because the A F BF with
the best line u p th ere h ad ever been, passed us by. Agents and organisers were a p ­
parently afraid th a t they couldn’t fill concert halls to capacity for this rath er ‘stran g e’
music.
So, four years h ad passed, with us only seeing blues artists perform in cold
spherelike concert halls with their red plush seats. Only the local blues talen ts ever
appeared a t clubs like the H oochie Coochie and later T h e Bajes.
1970 was a bad blues year too b u t this tim e because of the lack of publicity. Johnny
Shines was here th a t year b u t it was k ept so quiet th a t m ost of us only got to hear o f it
after he h ad gone. W e were also missed out by th e B lues and G ospel Festival, as we were
the following year.
In spite o f all th is 1971 was to prove to be th e year live blues broke through in our
little country. In early A pril, M em phis Slim th e Paris based bluesm an played at the
Bajes C lub in Amstelveen und er th e supervision o f M artin van O lderen o f the B lues and
Boogie Organisation.
D uring th e late fall Freddie King toured o u r country with Leon Russel scoring m uch
more o f a success th a n the star of th e show. B. B. K ing m ade his second visit to H olland
in D ecem ber. T h a t sam e m onth Big Joe W illiam s should have appeared at the Zodiac
Club b u t was prevented from doing so by illness and was replaced by Jim m y ‘Fast
Fingers’ D aw kins and G atem outh Brown who m ade it a very w orthw hile evening.
T he D B & B O carried on its excellent work in 1972. In F ebruary E xcello bluesm an
L ightnin’ Slim was here and it was also hoped th a t Homesick Jam es would com e b u t due
to illness he d id n ’t an d Juke Boy Bonner was announced to ta k e his place. U nfortunately
23
he couldn ’t either and Mickey Baker finally stepped in. M arch was the m onth for the
now trad itio n a l, yet slowly dw indling F o lk B lues Festival. D etroit artists Baby Boy
W arren and Boogie W oogie Red appeared at the Bajes in May. M uddy m ade a short
tour in June, a m onth which also saw the one-m an b and Dr. Ross paying us a visit in­
stead o f John Lee G randerson. Then after a few m onths break, to give everybody a chance
to come to themselves again after th a t b u rst o f blues activity, in O ctober the D B & BO
brought Little B rother M ontgom ery to Amstelveen. In the sam e m onth B. B. King gave
two concerts in A m sterdam and R otterdam , and the second A F B F o f th a t year toured
round too. L ightnin’ Slim and W hispering Sm ith stayed on a little longer after the to u r
had left and perform ed in Amstelveen. As everybody was broke by now there was a
com pulsory b re a k to strengthen th e financial position of the blues addicts. This big blues
year (by D utch standards anyway) was b ro u g h t to an end by a visit from Thom as Shaw
who played a t the Bajes.
O n F ebruary 10th 1973, t he A m erica n Blues Legends — Homesick James, Snooky
Prior, W illie M abon and W ashboard W illie — opened our season o f live blues. They
were then followed by Big Joe W illiam s in M arch and the pianist Blind John Davis in
April.
T here are m any other concerts planned for this year. Blues fans in H olland owe a lot
to M artin van O lderen and the Blues a nd Boogie O rganisation who have nu rtu red live
blues appearances from rarity to regularity. They have been responsible for m aking the
blues scene far m ore ‘alive and well’ th a n it’s been in years.
Addresses; D utch Blues and Boogie O rganisation/B oogie W oogie and Blues Collector,
c /o M artin van O lderen, P reto riu sstraat 96, A m sterdam -oost.
Dick M. B akker, Stevinstraat 14, A lphen.
F l y r i g h t i s e st a b l i s he d as Europe' s l eadi ng
Blues c e n t r e . Our label f e a t u r e s 20 albums,
a l l f u l l o f the f i n e s t blues music. D e t a i l s
o f new r el eas es are l i s t e d below.
RECORDS
& D IS T R IB U T IN G COM PANY
NEW RELEASES ON THE FLYRIGHT LABEL:
LP 503 'THE WALKING VICTROLA' - set
o f l o v e l y v o c a l - g u i t a r blues by Lum
G u f f i n . Recorded by Bengt Olsson and
never issued elsewhere.
LP 504 'BLUES CAME TO CHAPEL HILL'
LP 505 'CAROLINA COUNTRY BLUES'
f e a t u r i n g comeback performances from
g r eat s l i k e Eddie K i r k l a n d , A l l e n ' Tarheel S l i m ' - Bunn, Frank Edwards,
W i l l i e T r i c e , G u i t ar Short y etc e t c !
A d d i t i o n a l l y our shop stocks o f B r i t i s h , US
and C on t i nen t al Blues (and roc k) recor ds i s
r unni ng i n t o t housands, many hard t o obt ai n
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e s s i b l e t o BLUES LINK readers v i a our f a s t ,
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SEND SAE/IRC FOR LISTS. DOZENS OF BARGAINS
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W r i t e: 21 WICKHAM AVENUE
BEXHILL-ON-SEA, SUSSEX, J. K..
24
Big Joe Williams In Holland
Kees van Wijngaarden
photo G erben Kroese.
O n Saturday, M arch 24th., the D utch B lues a nd Boogie Organisation, which does
such a great job here in H olland, had organised yet another concert. It was held in the
Zodiac Club in Amstelveen, a town near A m sterdam . About 500 people from all p arts of
the country h ad come to th e hot, ra th e r cram ped youth centre to see Big Joe W illiams,
who was m ak in g w hat was probably his last E uropean tour.
At ab o u t a q u a rte r past eight, ju st as th e disc jockey was poised to spin a Little
Brother M ontgom ery record, G uido van Rijn gave him a signal to tu rn off the music and
introduced Big Joe W illiam s. Big Joe was helped onto the stage and reaching for one of
his two nine-string guitars launced into “ Baby Please D on’t G o’’ which gave the people
from V P R O radio problem s because they h a d n ’t finished setting up their recording
mikes. A fter a m inute or so Big Joe broke off th e song abruptly because he w anted the
mike for his vocals tu rn ed up. T h a t done, he began another song b u t the process was
repeated, th is tim e it was his guitar th a t w asn’t right. Changing to a 12 string m odel with
only 9 on it, he at last seemed satisfied and sat down to his set with no fu rth e r interuptions
. M ost o f the num bers were favourite W illiams num bers like “ Highway 49’’,
25
“ D on’t You Leave M e H ere” , “ Nobody Knows Chicago” , “ Rooting G round H og” and
“ Shake Y our Boogie” . O n m any of th e songs he built up to a great m om entum but
often brok e off suddenly which was a b it disconcerting.
H ighlights o f th e first set were his trib u te to D r. M artin L uther King and President
Roosevelt along with “ T h in k You Need A Shot” , “ Bullcow B lues” , and “ Army M an In
V ietnam ” w ith its marvellous line:
W hen they d o n 't stop th a t war in V ietnam , I ’m going to drop that A to m ic Bom b.
Halfway through the set, after he h ad wiped th e sweat off his face with his big red
handkerchief, he d ra n k a glass of m ilk an d continued. It is really a pity th a t he doesn’t
com m unicate with his audience. It som etim es seems th a t he plays all th a t great m usic for
himself; we m ight as well not have been there. A nother striking point was his alm ost
exclusive use o f th e bottleneck b u t this could’ve been due to the fact th a t his fingers
aren ’t as nim ble as they used to be.
A fter an h o u r o f playing he took a b reak and rested awhile backstage drinking
apple-juice. I say he took a break, b u t he was subjected to too m uch questioning during
th a t interval, which he spent sat on a very h ard bench. W hen asked if he w asn’t u n ­
com fortable he said th a t he preferred sitting on h ard things. He revealed th at he even
found his bed at th e H otel too soft and declared th a t back hom e he sleeps on the floor
“ because it’s good for you! ” .
His interval l a s t e d h a lf an hour, after which he was back on stage for another very
long set which saw him in the sam e g reat form as th e first. Due to certain circum stances
(I was rushing about th e place a b it ch attin g to friends! ) I d id n ’t catch all o f his second
set b u t did h e a r great versions o f “ Sloppy D ru n k ” , “ M ean S tep fath er” and the
requested “ K ing Biscuit Stom p” . He finally left th e stage one and a h a lf hours later at
11.30 p . m . to th e very w arm applause o f th e audience.
In th e dressing room he returned to his wooden bench and spent the following hour
chatting; he seem ed tireless. ‘A m em orable evening’, I thought when I saw him clim bing
into his G erm an to u r ag en t’s station wagon.
W e will probably never see this great M ississippi bluesm an to u r Europe again. But
let’s hope he is as indistructable as he appears, so t hat the first word o f the predicate
‘living legend’ wont have to be struck out for a long, long tim e.
If any readers have m aterial about Big Joe W illiam s please contact Leo Bruin who is
com piling a book on Big Joe. Contact him a t Spijkerboor 12, post: A nnerveenschekanaal
(drente), H olland. (Sorry there are no prizes for getting the address rig h t! ).
PUBLICATIONS
JE FFE R SO N : No. 21. This is the m agazine of the Scandinavian Blues A ssociation and
is extrem ely well produced in A5 form at, m ainly in Swedish b u t contains some superb
photos. A m ust for Swedish blues fans!
T H E BLU ES: No. 8. This is the m agazine of the Japanese Blues Society and is mainly in
Japanese. A lthough it is well laid out unless you happen to speak Japanese there is not
m uch to interest English speaking readers.
V IN TA G E JAZZ M ART: M ay-June 1973. T H E m agazine for finding those records you
wanted to find. T he Exchange & M art o f the Jazz and Blues W orld; excellent value at
20p.
Jefferson, T egn erg atan 21, S-852,49 Sundsvall, SW EDEN.
The Blues, 1-4-12, M om ogaikecho, A benoko, O s ak a 545, Japan.
Vintage Jazz M art, 4 H illcrest G ardens, Dollis Hill, London NW2, U . K.
26
CARL JONES
“ HOW BLUES BEGAN” / “ HE M AY BE THE GUY”
C.J. RECORDS 661
This is th e first single we’ve had from Carl Jones since his M ercury days when he cut
“ M itzy” / “ T rouble In M in d ” . Both tunes were w ritten by “ C . J . ” and he is backed by
Lafayette Leake on O rgan, E arl D em us on Bass, Red Simms on Sax, and M erritt Hicks
on D rum s, who provide a very com petent backing. ‘‘How Blues Began” is a
m edium /slow nu m b er with nice sax and organ solos b u t ‘‘He M ay Be The G uy” , a
bouncy num ber, doesn’t get off th e ground despite a raunchy sax solo. One for the
com plete C arl Jones collection only.
Mike Black.
MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT
“ LAST SESSION”
VANGUARD VSD 79327
D o n ’t be put o ff by the sleeve, which is quantitatively adequate, b u t qualitatively a
bit of a rip-off. W e get a design layout which w ouldn’t tak e hours to conjure up, with two
photos o f H u rt, one o f which is already very well known, no sleeve notes, and a layout o f
song titles th a t could give the im pression th a t other artists are present. But this is to
quibble over relatively m inor m atters, as th e album itself is superb, as you would expect
from M ississippi J; and despite sleeve inferences, it is all him.
T h a t is, a p a rt from Patrick Sky, who guests as 2nd guitar on two tracks, and, in­
cidentally, produced th e whole thing. Recorded in 1966, not too long before his very sad
demise, it is an o th er very fine showcase o f his am azing, and highly individual talen t and
appeal. I ’ve long been a devoted fan of his light voice, his peculiar phrasing, and his
raggy waltz tem po, and listening to this you would never guess his age. Indeed, the cuts
could all well pass as recordings thirty years earlier. T he firm ness is still there, and the
assurance w ith which he sings and plays, as m uch as ever, and the w arm th in his voice,
which has th e quality o f soft silk.
M any stories have been told about the m an, both in and out of print, and I was
fortunate enough to meet a friend of his a year or two back, and h e ar some for myself.
Many are very sad, and his eyes betray a life tim e o f suffering, m any are am using, but
all are infused with an unasham ed love of the m an, and his unassum ing hum ility, his
genuine honesty and hum anity. This was no ego tripper, b u t quite simply a m an of the
earth. His songs too pervade this sam e sense, some to the degree of m aking the listener
feel intruder; b u t every song he sings is a statem ent from within him . W e can listen and
appreciate if we so wish, b u t it is no m a tte r to him either way. He is an artist whose giant
personality sim ply transgresses barriers; there are no theatrics, b u t you cannot help but
be won over by it all.
All th e num bers here are in a sim ilar vein, as all his are, (and w hat bluesm en aren ’t
the sam e? ), and w hether his own or not, they are all treated to his process, which even
makes a noddy tu n e like “ S hortnin’ B read” sound good. I am not asham ed to rave
about this to one and all; and w hat a great album to p u t on after a hard day! I t’s sheer,
unadulterated pleasure.
M ichael J.
W ALTER HORTON
“ With H ot Cottage”
London NAS 13526 (C anada)
Every now and then, a blues record crops up from C anada, b u t as usual they are no
earthshakers. H ot Cottage, a blues based rock b and from A lberta, has gone the route o f
Fleetwood M ac, C anned H eat, and oth er such groups to pick up a tem porary black
leader for a w hite band. C an ad a is m ainly noted for harpist Richard Newell a . k . a. King
Biscuit Boy, a decade old phenom enon with three album s on D a ffo d il (C anada). But the
pubs are craw ling with blues im itators, and Hot C ottage seems to have struck it rich with
C anadian L o n d o n Records (Decca in th e UK), for th e local issue here features W alter
H orton ‘assisting’ on th e nicely laid back tunes. This m ust be the first tim e a m ajor
bluesm an has recorded in C anada, and out on the Prairies too. His h arp meshes quite
nicely with th e b an d , and this is certainly not a loud record. Nancy Nash, the b a n d ’s
chick vocalist, wails scream ingly on “ H ound D og” th e only rocker here. O ther m aterial
includes such h a rp tunes as Sonny Boy W illiam son I I ’s “ Looka H ere” and Howlin’
W o lfs version o f “ Sugar M am a” . T he rem ainder can loosely be called originals, either
by H orton or by th e b an d , and th ere is one trick track: a 1972 rem ake o f H orton’s
“ W orried, W o rried ” , a parody of th e 1952 Chess original, right down to the clum sy
Chess m onophonic hollow sound. H orton has a better recent album with Carey Bell on
A llig a to r 4702, so this one is for th e com plete H orton collection, and few others.
D ean T udor.
ELMORE JAM ES/W ALTER HORTON — “ Cotton Patch Hotfoots”
Polydor 2383200
Elm ore Jam es: “ E lm o’s Shuffle” / “ M ake My D ream s Come T ru e ” / “ Sho N uff I
Do” / “ C a n ’t Stop Lovin’ ’’/ “ Strange K inda Feeling” / “ Late H ours At M id­
night” / “ Q u a rte r P ast N ine” / “ H aw aiian Boogie” .
W alter H orton: “ C otton Patch H otfoots” / “ Blues In T he M orning” / “ Little Boy
Blue” / “ W alter’s
B lues” / “ Black
G a l” / “ H ard
H earted
W om an” /
“ Ju m p in ’ B lues” / “ So Long W o m an ” .
A nother in th e Juke Blues series — featuring some typically exciting Jam es and
some very good H orton. O ne m inor point before we start, if you have K e n t LP9010 you’ll
have to m ak e sure you like th e H orton stu ff as all b u t one o f the Jam es’ tracks were
issued on th a t album .
T he E lm ore’s are, I suppose, typical b u t th en alm ost every side I ’ve heard by him
has been powerful and exciting enough to outweigh the alm ost obligatory nod tow ard
“ D ust M y B lues” . A lot o f people level th e “ D ust M y” repetition criticism tow ards
Jam es’ m aterial, b u t w hat would they have done in his shoes — and, hell, nobody else
could really sound like th is m an!
Now th e H ortons — well an apology is m ade on the sleeve for the sound quality, and
it certainly is lacking in some respects b u t no m ore so th an num erous issues on the blues
scene th a t were recorded around this tim e. T here is some really dow n-hom e stuff here —
no gloss, no pretentions — ju st rough, raw and gutsy. It seems crim inal th a t H orton
hasn ’t laid down stu ff like this in recent years, with m odern recording techniques,
stereo, e tc ., . . . it would blow your speakers a p a rt — g re a t!
As I said if you have 9010 — check out th e H ortons if you’re tig h t for money. If
none o f these m axim s applies — grab a copy, soon.
John Stiff.
28
“ AMERICAN BLUES LEGENDS ’73”
Polydor 2460186
Boogie W oogie Red: “ V iper Song” / “ A fter H ours” / “ R ed’s Boogie”
Snooky Prior: “ D angerous W om an” / “ Sloppy D ru n k ”
Homesick Jam es: “ T in Pan Alley” / “ D ust My Broom ”
W ashboard W illie: “ I Feel So Fine” / “ K ansas City”
B. W. Red and W hispering Sm ith: “ Sassy”
W hispering Sm ith: “ T ake Me Back Baby” / “ Texas Flood”
Lightnin’ Slim: “ Love B ug” / “ W alking In T he P a rk ”
For anyone who caught th e Blues Legends on th eir recent to u r th is record will m ake
the ideal souvenir, as have t h e AF BF records in previous years. T he order o f presentation
represents a typical program m e as featured on th e to u r, and runs to above-average
playing tim e. All track s are studio recordings, yet they seem to lack the coarse reckless
quality th a t enhanced m uch of th e Blues o f th e 1950’s (the era from which this musicstyle comes). The sound balance here is excellent, albeit a little ‘dry’ ; perhaps the a t­
m osphere m ay have been m ore evocative with a ‘live’ audience, despite the difficulties
associated with both th e recording and th e noise o f th e audience. This does not affect the
talent o f th e artists, an d th ere are m any highspots to prove it. Each artist has at least one
fast and one slow num ber to offer, b u t in the order as presented, and with too-frequent
use of pian ist Boogie Woogie Red, th e record doesn’t gather m uch m om entum until the
latter p a rt o f the first side. R ed’s talen t as a pianist is indeed m anifest, particularly on
his solo nu m b ers where he is free to im provise m ore th an when he is part of a backing
group. Snooky Prior (absent from recording for m any years) dem onstrates his abilities
with ease, control, and confidence, and yet he seems b etter suited to backing, rath er
than singing. His own style is always to th e fore, b u t often flashes of the Sonny Boy
W illiam sons (1 & 2) becom e ap p aren t, both in his vocal and instrum ental work.
Snooky’s accom panim ent to Hom esick Jam es is a joy, and H om esick’s two tracks
com plem ent this — the beautiful reproduction of E lm ore’s “ D ust My Broom ” should
surely pave th e way for m ore m aterial from H om esick Jam es, who has not featured
prom inently on the recording scene for some tim e. W ashboard W illie is no less artistic
but his repertoire consists o f plain songs which, if it w asn’t for his visual perform ance,
would be quite boring. A nice surprise is th e p ian o /h arm o n ica d u et (BW R & WS)
setting a funky m ood for th e final track s of the second side. W hispering Sm ith’s rocker
is followed by th e alm ost inevitable “ Texas Flood” (ag ain ? ), and the band is in full
swing for L ightnin’ Slim to tak e over th e last spot. LS and WS are now favourites in
Europe thro u g h perform ances such as those on this record. Q uite out of the blue comes
an unlisted finale jam , all rocking along in good-tim e fashion just like the to u r — nice
thought to include it.
T he colour cover features photos of all th e a rti sts plus some useful biographical
inform ation: there are no lengthy sleeve notes as m uch has been w ritten already on the
ABL’s. A p art from th e above sm all criticism s I would urge support for this record — the
price is quite reasonable — its success could m ean m any m ore superb Blues Legends
tours in th e future.
F rank Sidebottom .
29
M EADE LUX LEWIS
“ SELF PORTRAIT”
Jackson 1208
“ Celeste B lues” ( a ) / “ M r. Freddie Blues” ( b ) /“ Honky Tonk T rain Blues”
( c )/“ W h istlin ’ Blues” ( c ) /“ Bear C at C raw l” ( d ) /“ Solitude” ( e ) /“ M elancholy”
( e )/“ H onky Tonk T rain Blues” ( f ) / “ Yancey Special” (g ) /“ 19 W ays O f Playing A
C horus” ( h ) / “ Self P o rtra it” ( h ) /“ School O f R hythm ” ( h ) /“ Feeling Tom orrow ” (h).
(a) Celeste solo — Jan. 11th, 1936.
(b) Pno. solo — Jan. 11th, 1936.
(c) Pno. solo — M arch 7th, 1937.
(d) Pno. solo — Dec. 12th, 1938.
(e) Pno. solo — Jan. 6th, 1939.
(f)
Pno. solo — Jan. 1st, 1939.
(g) Pno. solo — A pril 9th, 1941.
(h) H arpsichord solo — April 9th, 1941.
An old book I have in my possession called A G uide To Popular M usic gives
a lengthy definition of the boogie woogie style, however, there is one short passage in the
definition which this album im m ediately rem inded me o f — “ T here is a great variety
within the form , ranging from utm ost delicacy to b ru te force. . . . ” — for this album
certainly does d em onstrate th e variety available within this lim ited style. “ Honky Tonk
T rain B lues” and “ Celeste Blues” , for instance, are worlds ap art in some respects yet
both are definitely boogie woogie. To the album — first a w arning, four of the tracks
were at one tim e available on a Swaggie 7-incher (“ Celeste” , “ F reddie” , “ Y ancey” and
the 1937 “ H onky T o n k ” ). However, even if you have this Swaggie, the album should
still be w orth consideration as there is some very fine Lewis here outside o f the four
tracks m entioned.
First let me deal with th e harpsichord pieces. I have a great personal liking for the
instrum en t so I am possibly prejudiced here when I say th a t they hold a peculiar appeal,
bu t despite som e annoying surface noise, th e music is well worth listening to ap art,
maybe, from “ 19 Ways. . . ” which is quite literally w hat the title says and is rath er
dispensable.
“ Celeste Blues” is a delightfully delicate piece with Lewis perfectly at ease, b u t,
here again, I have a personal liking for w hat is a lim ited instrum ent, so. . . . however,
nobody w ith any feeling will dislike. I’m sure. The 1939 version of “ Honky T onk” is an
air-shot (with atten d an t, b u t not b ad , m ushy sound) from a Benny G oodm an Camel
Caravan Show which roars along like an express train , b u t I prefer the 1937 version
which, although a few miles per h o u r slower, evokes the required atm osphere a lot
better. T he delightful “ Yancey Special” is beautifully played trib u te to another m aster
and th a t “ B ear C at” really crawls aro u n d ! I am not a whistling fan, so this probably
accounts for my not really liking “ W histlin’ ” although there is some nice playing
underneath . Two odd item s in th e shape o f “ Solitude” and “ M elancholy” , although
not strict boogie are played very nicely b u t, whilst “ Solitude” is a very moving piece,
“ M elancholy” is not in the sam e class as a com position.
Along with Am m ons, Yancey and Johnson they d id n ’t com e b etter th an M eade and
it is a pity th a t this style has lost its com m ercial appeal, or presum ably so, as there is not
much boogie woogie around on record these days, for it was a great style. I do not know
the price o f this record, b u t if it is at all reasonable I would suggest grab one now unless
you hate harpsichord. If th a t is th e case, look for the Swaggie or w ait a few years.. . .
Despite th e sometimes m oderate sound this will keep your record player w arm all the
year roun d .
John Stiff.
30
JOHN LEE HOOKER
“ Slim’s Stomp”
Polydor Juke Blues 2310256
“ Stom p
Boogie’7 “ W ho’s Been Jivin’ Y ou” / “ Black
M an
Blues” / “ Poor
Joe’/ “ N ightm are Blues” / “ Late Last N ight” / “ W andering Blues” / “ D on’t Go
Baby” / “ Devil’s Ju m p ” / “ I’m G onna Kill T h a t W om an” / “ M oaning Blues” / “ The
N um bers” / “ H eart T rouble Blues” / “ Slim ’s Stom p” / “ T hinking Blues” / “ D on’t You
Rem em ber M e? ” .
“ W hy do I need another John Lee H ooker record? ” you will ask yourself this on
seeing this new issue, the ninth in Polydor’s Juke Blues Series. Read on: you will not be
disappointed by the sixteen track s on this album despite the som ew hat prim itive sound
quality. T he track s on the record were draw n from very early (1948-1950) sessions
recorded under the pseudonym ‘Texas Slim ’ and offer a variety o f up-tem po rhythm s
which are not to be found in great abun d an ce on H ooker’s later recordings. A dm ittedly
it is very hard to extol the virtues of an artist who is, to say the least, over-recorded; yet
virtues are well pronounced to th e listener of this music.
All the track s feature H ooker solo with g u itar and quite often the stom ping in the
background sounds as if he is train in g for a ‘prize fight’! Some of it is taken at a frantic
pace, and th e m ono sound of the original 78’s (courtesy of Dave Sax) is retained.
Polydor’s new packaging is very attractive b u t why th e new higher price? Fifty per cent o f
the sleeve notes merely praise th e issue o f this p articu lar L . P .; some m ore biographical
inform ation would have been m ore fitting. These should not d etract the prospective
purchaser from w hat adds up to a mighty fine release. Highly recom m ended.
F rank Sidebottom .
JOHNNY OTIS
“ Pioneers of Rock Volume 3”
Starline SRS5129
“ Crazy C ountry H o p ” / “ T hree Girls N am ed Molly D oin’ The Hully Gully” / “ Ring-ALing” / “ Telephone Baby” / “ Hey Baby, D o n ’t You K now ? ” / “ Casting My Spell” / “ A11
I W ant Is Y our Love” / “ M um blin’ M osie” / “ A Light Still Shines In Y our W indow” / “ W illie A nd T he H and Jive” / “ Let T he Sun Shine In My Life” / “ Bye Bye
Baby” .
This lot for und er a £1! Otis certainly deserves th e ‘pioneer’ tag — where would the
rock ‘n ’ roll world have been w ithout things like “ W illie” and “ C ountry H op” ? This
m an. who is still so active and giving R & B a good kick in the pants as well as bringing
people like C leanhead Vinson, Joe H unter, Roy Brown, etc., back to the public, deserves
all the praise he gets.
As far as th is album goes there are one or two pieces th a t I’m not keen on — in
particular th e ‘b a lla d ’ style things, b u t th e stuff like “ C ountry H op” , “ Spell” ,
“ M osie” , ‘W illie” , and “ T hree G irls” are definite classics.
If you d o n ’t have the original Capitols and you’re looking for a true rock ‘n ’ roll
album you cannot afford to miss this. Next tim e you’re buying a record, spend another
pound (just under) and get yourself an absolute treat! Good on ya, EM I! — hand m e the
foot cream . I’ve got blisters from jiving!
John Stiff.
More reviews next issue!
31
OBSCURE L . P . ’s by Frank Sidebottom.
(These articles will look b ack on some of the unusual or hard-to-find album s o f recent
years; it is hoped th a t those now becom ing Blues fans will be able to catch up on items
they m ay have missed).
SKIP JAMES — DEVIL GOT M Y W OM AN, Vanguard 79273.
This record was released about 1968 as a follow up to the “ Today! ” album , but it
does not seem to have enjoyed the sam e publicity and distribution, particularly in
Europe.
Skip perform s solo in the sam e style as th e form er record, and possibly the tracks
here are from th e sam e sessions. The track s, in order, are: “ Good Road C am p Bl” .
(gtr); “ Little Cow and C alf Bl” . (pno); “ Devil G ot My W om an” , (gtr); “ Look at the
People S tanding at the Judgem ent” , (gtr); “ W orried Bl” . (gtr); “ 22-20” . (pno);
“ M istreating Child Bl” (pno); “ Sickbed Bl” (gtr); “ Catfish Bl” (gtr); “ Lorenzo Bl”
(gtr); “ Careless Love” (pno); “ Illinois Bl” (gtr).
As can be seen, three titles are from Skip’s pre-w ar recorded repertoire, and the
title track especially benefits from the additional playing-time allowed, expanding lyric
ideas to enhance the effect of th e perform ance as a whole. As with Skip’s other
‘rediscovery’ works, none of the vocal or instru m en tal atm osphere is lost, especially on
the piano accom panied num bers such as ‘ ‘ Little Cow’ ’ and ‘ ‘ 22-20’ ’. All the piano titles
are played in th e key of B flat (assum ing the recording was m ade at concert pitch and
th at my record player plays at concert pitch! ); the listener is led into hundreds of un­
charted m usical alleyways und er the spell o f S kip’s rem arkably complex, tu m bling piano
style.
T he v o cal/g u itar songs do m uch to introduce new lyrics, even some old ones which
wear very well as perform ed by Skip. T here is “ Judgem ent” , in some ways rem iniscent
of Blind W illie Johnson, and the am using “ W orried Bl” .
W stands f o r W om an, W M stands f o r W orryin ’ M e.
A nother facet of Skip Jam es’ originality is double-tim ing th e guitar, as shown here
on “ C atfish” , “ Sickbed” and “ Illinois” — these last two being noted for th eir recent
com postion.
T he cover features uncredited notes, a photo by David G ahr, and design by Fred
Holz. Few would deny th a t Skip Jam es was a tru e Blues Legend, and the legacy of his
genius is on th is record for anyone to claim . BU T — if obtaining this record proves
difficult, d rop a line to Blues-L ink, who will forward all correspondence to Vanguard.
“ M USIC FROM THE W INDY CITY”
G. Jackson.
Responsorial Role of Saxes in Urban ‘Chicago’ Bluesbands.
In recent m onths, argum ents have been raised in the m usical press i. e. M elody
M a k e r th a t criticised Chicago bluesbands (‘In d u strial’) for augm enting saxophone
sections (i. e. tens, bari, alt); b u t I contend th a t if th e reedsm en are technically proficient
and have an expressive style, their involvem ent in subtle instrum ental interplay with
other soloists is vital to create th e intensity needed in Blues and Jazz.
J. T. Brown with Elm ore Jam es and H arold Ashby with O tis Rush were fine
saxophonists in Chicago Bluesbands and a p a rt from droning or riffing to accentuate key
phrasing, they could act in the responsorial role effectively.
32
I agree th a t riffing reeds can be m arrin g to th e U rban Blues interpretation if the
phrases are m echanical an d unsubtle b u t if they can converse with the keyboards and
solos, they act as a responsorial voice to ‘calls’. Criticisms o f Earl H ooker’s R e d
L ig h tn in ' anthology “ T h ere’s A Fungus A m ong U s” {RL 009) are unfounded for the
convoluting organ is responsorial to H ooker’s b rillian t vocalised gu itar (lead, slide) work
and the te n o r sax p unctuates the d ram atic p h rasin g a p a rt from adding a certain Jazz
timbre.
U rban Blues m usicians have adopted a set o f Jazz values, and instrum ental self
expression in this A rt genre is as valid as vocal, if it has the intensity and m eaning —
hence, saxophonists have a specialised role in the music. O th er reedsm en of notability
from the ‘W indy City’ are: Red Holloway, Boyd A tkins, Johnny B oard, C huck Sm ith,
Eddie ‘Sax’ Crowder (tens and alts); Ja rre tt G ibson (ten) and D onald H ankins (bari).
To su b stan tiate my view, th e following classics in the genre used the reeds ef­
fectively: Elm ore Jam es phenom enal slow Blues “ Bleeding H eart” with the reeds and
brass im provising with the syncopated skill o f trad itio n al Jazzm en; th e powerful baritone
on Jam es’ “ Storm y M onday Blues” ; th e u n d erstated baritone sax on Freddie K ing’s
superb “ Som eday After Awhile” ; J. T. Brow n’s m elodic responses and solos on Sunnyland Slim and earlier Elm ore Jam es recordings; th e em bellishing big band sound on
Otis R u sh ’s “ G am b ler’s Blues” classic; th e beautiful droning by H arold Ashby on his
“ Double T ro u b le” — one of th e best U rb an blues renditions ever recorded! — and the
unidentified tenorist on Earl H ooker’s 1960-62 cuts for A g e Records in Chicago (e. g.
“ Blue G u ita r” ). O n all of these track s together with the saxophonists in John M ayall’s
Bluesbands, th e reeds play with real feeling and th e sound is alive and powerfu l. If the
sound is m echanical, th e tru e spirit and m ood o f th e Blues is lost.
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TH IS IS Y O U R SECTION O F T H E M A G A Z IN E!; AND IT IS U P TO YOU TO
HELP M A K E IT W O R K . C ontact ads are FR E E to Subscribers as long as they are
‘non-com m ercial’, if the ads are com m ercial or if you are not a subscriber please send
along 10p in stam ps (U K ) or 2 IR C ’s (overseas). Those o f you who wish to place Auction
Lists in this p a rt o f th e m agazine please w rite for fu rth er details.
The following contact ads. (1-73: 1-9) were received by M arcel Vos and although
they may be out o f date we hope it will not inconvenience anyone.
1-73; 1) Looking for any photos, reviews, articles, etc., on D etroit Bluesmen. —
Also L ig h tn in ’ Slim, A rth u r G unter, D r. Ross.
Fred Reif, P . O. Box 2241, Saginaw, M ichigan, U . S. A.
1-73:2) W ould like to w rite to Black Blues Lovers in Chigao, M ale or Female, age group
16-22 years.
Jari K olari, D am askuksente 4L, 00560-H elsinki-56, Finland.
1-73:3) W anted — Howling W olf Ch ess L P ’s 1434, 1469, 1590; S . B . W . II — Chess
1536; Issues o f B . U. 1-72.
M ichael G ray, Foster R oad, M irboo, V ictoria, A ustralia.
1-73:4) W anted issues o f C . C . ’s, early B .U . ’s pre 1966.
Steve Tracy, 4404 B razeestr., C incinnati, O hio 45209, U . S . A.
1-73:5) Have personal New E ngland Blues Archive, for purpose of creating com ­
m onplace Blues Index and will trad e tapes to fu rth er this aim.
Peter Aceves, R FD 2, H arrison, M aine 04040, U . S. A.
1-73:6) Looking h ard for following L P ’s: — K o ko m o K1(X)1, Fontana 682099, S ta x 702,
D W G D201, A u d u b o n AAE, Negro A r t 362, plus m any more. Let me know w hat you
have, condition etc.
Karl W eiss, Fernkom gasse 43, A 1100 W ein, A ustria.
1-73:7) Keen to tra d e tapes with oth er collectors and have large record and tape
collection — All kinds o f blues. E xchange lists?
Dave M oore, 19 W orthing Road, Patchw ay, Bristol BS12 5HY, E ngland.
1-73:8) Still h u n tin g for hundreds of records by num erous artists. — Send me your
sa le /tra d e /a u c tio n lists.
N orbert Hess, 1 Berlin 36, Zeughofstrasse 23, W est G erm any.
1-73:9) W anted num erous B. B. King sides. — Send your disposals list. Also wanted: L.
Jordan — P razz LP321/B o Diddley — C hecker L P 3013/T ina B ritt — M in it LP24023.
John Stiff, 14 Foxgrove Lane, Felixstowe, Suffolk, England.
1-73: 10) Records w anted: piano boogie woogie and blues, pre and post war, on records
(any speed) an d tapes, post war blues b an d s on LP, unissued post w ar blues on tapes,
from concerts, parties etc. W ho tapes large collection of piano blues 78’s? Nam e your
prices an d w ants. Can also trad e jazz L P ’s for blues L P ’s from huge collection. Send
wants, trad es, sales and auction lists.
H ans W . Ew ert, P . O. Box 1126,5466 N eustadt, G erm any.
34
1-73: 11) D ulcim ers — Both 3 and 6 string for sale. SAE to:
Ron B arnard, 29 Excelsior G ardens, Lewisham Road, London SE13 7PS, U . K.
1-73:12) W anted:
1-4, 11; 5 1 ^ 1 -6 , 8-20, 22, R & B M o n th ly \ A , 21-24, index; CC
1, 3-8, 10, 11; m ost issues of A lley M usic, B lu e Flame, R & B Collector, R & B
Panorama, R & B Scene, R h y th m a n d Blues. Send lists to:
Les Ong, c /o Tony’s Records, P . O. Box 955, Copenhagen NV2400, D enm ark.
1-73: 13) Leicester Blues A ppreciation Society: for m ore details please contact:
Bob Fisher, 16 Y orkshire R oad, Leicester LE4 6PJ, U . K.
1-73:14) Have you got ideas? Well why not d ro p B lues-L ink a line and tell us about
them . Photos, reviews, articles and letters an d d o n ’t forget those C ontact ads!
C. J/. Coil &
CHRIS W E L L A R D REC O R D S LTD.
SPECIA L O FFER S
ON BLUES L P’S
(H u rry Stocks Limited)
LO N ESO M E SU N D O W N Lonesome
Lonely Blues
£ 1 . 25
OTIS SPANN C racked S panner H ead
£ 1 . 25
SON H O U S E John T he Revelator
£ 1 . 25
E LM O R E JAM ES To Know A M an
( 2 L P set)
£ 1 . 79
JOHNNY O TIS Live At M onterey (2
L Pset)
£ 1 . 79
N O TH IN G B U T T H E BLUES (2 LP
set)
£ 1 . 79
F
ir m
a
R
eco rd s
“ New Releases”
‘ ‘ How Blues Began’’ ***
b /w
“ He M ay Be T he G uy”
By
Carl ‘C . J . ’ Jones
661
POST & PACKING:
1-2 LP’s 15p; 3 upw ards 25p; orders
over £ 4 . 50 p o s t-fre e . (O v e rse a s
custom ers please write before or­
dering).
“ Try It Y ou’ll Like I t”
b /w
“ I H ad A Love”
By
Pattie Lenoir
660
These and h u ndreds m ore BLUES
BARGAINS and all the latest releases
and im ports available from our Mail
O rder D ept. (B L1), 6 Lewisham Way,
New Cross, London SE14 6NN, U . K.
(01-692-5534).
(Also a good selection of Blues at our
other shop in Chequers Parade, O ff
Eltham High Street, E ltham SE9)
“ Give M e My W hite R obe”
“ P art O ne A nd Two”
By
Byther Sm ith
659
D . J . ’s & D istributors W rite:
C. J. Records 4827 S Prairie Ave
Chicago, III. 60615 (Call after 3 . 30
pm)
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blues, bottleneck guitar, bo og ie -w o o g ie piano, harm onica blues, gospel, cajun,
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* Just one of the m any great album s a v a ila b le from the Transatlantic B lu e s C atalogue.
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