Fri 19 Dec 2008
Blues In The News: Pete Mayes & Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Posted by Jeff under Blues News
1 Comment
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| Pete Mayes in 1996 (Photo by Jeff Dunas) |
More sad news in the blues world as The Houston Chronicle reports that Pete Mayes, a staple of the Houston scene for the past 50 years, died December 16th at the age of 70. Mayes played guitar with greats like Junior Parker and Bill Doggett. He has fronted his own band, the Houserockers, for 40 years. Mayes owned and maintained the historic Double Bayou Dancehall, which once served as a regular venue for Amos Milburn, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Joe Turner, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and scores of others. It was there that Mayes, then just 16 years old, first heard T-Bone Walker who became a major influence. According to his own story, by the age of 14 he had already worked with Lester Williams, although he did not meet T-Bone Walker until 1954. During the next 20 years, he often worked with Walker and made the acquaintance of many other bluesmen who would later come to fame, most prominently Joe Hughes. Mayes and the Double Bayou Dancehall were profiled in Roger’s Wood’s Down In Houston – Bayou City Blues published in 2003. Mayes’ discography is slim with just three full length albums; Pete’s Sake (Antone’s, 1998), I’m Ready (Double Trouble, 1986) and Live! At Double Bayou Dance Hall (GoldRhyme Music, 2005). According to The Blues Discography 1943-1970 he cut the following singles: “The Things I Used To Do” (Home Cooking, 1965), “Crazy Woman” (Ovide, 1969) and “Movin’ Out” (Ovide, 1969). The LP Houston Shuffle (Krazy Kat, 1984) includes “Crazy Woman” plus “Lowdown Feeling” both of which are listed in the notes to have been cut circa 1965-1966. According to the notes: “One time resident of Beaumont, Texas, Pete Mayes was a member of Gatemouth Brown’s band where he would stage local guitar battles with Curley Mays; no relation despite their name. He had a long stint with Junior Parker and been on European tours, recording with Bill Doggett’s Orchestra in Paris for Black & Blue. He still plays around Texas and was instrumental in relocating Houston guitarist Goree Carter.”
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Battle Of The Guitars
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Crazy Woman (MP3) 
Lowdown Feeling (MP3)
Gospel legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe has finally received a headstone after 35 years. From the press release: Philadelphia, PA – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the pioneering gospel musician and instrumentalist, finally has a gravestone marking her resting place at Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia. Since her passing in 1973, the gravesite of Sister Rosetta had been a barren plot lacking any memorial. Today, a beautiful, rose-colored monument bears respect to one of America’s most influential artists of the 20th Century. Sister Rosetta’s monument was partially funded by a benefit concert at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA on January 11, 2008, that featured performances by gospel and spiritual music legends—The Dixie Hummingbirds, Odetta, Marie Knight, Willa Ward, The Johnny Thompson Singers, and The Huff Singers. Additional financial contributions were provided by Philadelphia’s Rhythm & Blues Foundation, and the Blues Foundation in Memphis. Red the entire press release.
| Sister Rosetta Tharpe – “Up Above My Head.” Unknown performance date (appox. around the 1960′s) on the show TV Gospel Time with the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church |
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[...] Pete Mayes played guitar with greats like Junior Parker and Bill Doggett. He has fronted his own band, the Houserockers, for 40 years. Mayes owned and maintained the historic Double Bayou Dancehall, which once served as a regular venue for Amos Milburn, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Joe Turner, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and scores of others. It was there that Mayes, then just 16 years old, first heard T-Bone Walker who became a major influence. During the next 20 years, he often worked with Walker and made the acquaintance of many other bluesmen who would later come to fame, most prominently Joe Hughes. Mayes’ discography is slim with just three full-length albums and cut just a handful of singles in the 1960’s. [...]