Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

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Lots of interesting records on tap for our latest mix show.  We spotlight a few artists today including a period of later period Percy Mayfield cuts, two by Louis Myers, a trio of sides by the marvelous Foddrell brothers and a set revolving around Roosevelt Sykes and Memphis Slim. In addition we spotlight a number of fine unheralded artists who recorded between the 50's and 70's like  Little Oscar, Willie Williams, Newton Greer, Dusty Brown and Charles Walker among others. Also on board are some heavyweights from the pre-war era like Bukka White, Charlie Patton, Mississippi Sheiks, Kokomo Arnold and Barbecue Bob.

Percy Mayfield's main hit making period was from 1950-1952 when he scored seven top ten hits for the Specialty label including "Please Send Me Someone To Love", the biggest hit ever for the label. He stuck with the label through the decade, cutting a few singles for Chess, Cash and Imperial along the way, but never matched his early success. In the 1960's Mayfield's song "Hit The Road, Jack"came to the attention of Ray Charles who was also starting his own record label called Tangerine. Charles hired on Mayfield as a writer and also gave him a chance to record for the label. Mayfield was at the height of his abilities penning songs for Charles like "Hide Nor Hair", "At The Club", "Danger Zone" and "On The Other Hand, Baby." Mayfield's own sides for Tangerine were every bit as good and have been collected on Rhino's limited addition, His Tangerine And Atlantic Sides. After leaving Tangerine Mayfield moved to Brunswick, cutting the exceptional Walking On A Tightrope album in 1968 which we spotlight today. The album features an excellent band arranged by Willie Henderson and remembered by the singer only as "Chicago cats." Mayfield's fine run of albums extended into the 70's with a trio of superb records he cut for RCA in the 1970's, all unfortunately out of print: Percy Mayfield Sings Percy Mayfield (1970), Weakness Is A Thing Called Man (1970) and Blues…And Then Some (1971).

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Marvin and Turner Foddrell were born into a musical family near Stuart in the Virginia Piedmont and for the major parts of their lives played regularly only at community gatherings, never professionally. Discovered in the 1970s', the Foddrells became a regular fixture at the annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival at nearby Ferrum College (the college's he Blue Ridge Institute recorded the brothers extensivley) and were also featured at many other festivals including some in Europe. The Foddrell Brothers recorded only two commercial records: The Original Blues Brothers on Swingmaster and Patrick County Rag on Outlet (unfortunately I have yet to track down a copy of the latter). They also appeared alongside more famous traditional musicians on a number of recorded anthologies. Both brothers have since passed away. Pete Lowry recorded them extensively in 1979 but none of these recordings were ever issued. Pete was nice enough to let me play Turner Foddrell's "Crow Jane" which Pete notes  is "different from most."

Louis Myers will forever be recognized first and foremost as a top-drawer sideman and founding member of the Aces, the band that backed harmonica wizard Little Walter on his classic early Checker waxings. Myers played with Otis Rush, Earl Hooker, and many more. But his own recording career was practically non-existent; after a solitary 1956 single for Abco, it wasn't until 1968 that two Myers tracks turned up on Delmark. The Aces re-formed during the '70s and visited Europe often as a trusty rhythm section for touring acts. Myers cut a fine set for Advent in 1978 called I'm a Southern Man. He cut a final album in 1991 before passing in 1994. From 1968 we hear Myers with magic Sam on "That's All Right" and "Money Marbles and Chalk" from 1971 with the twins guitars of Sammy Lawhorn and Eddie Taylor.

We spotlight a trio of cuts from the album Double Barreled Boogie the results of a collaboration in a studio in Paris in 1970. Roosevelt Sykes was a major blues pianist-vocalist since the late 1920s, inspiring Memphis Slim who emerged a decade later. Sykes and Slim reminisce about the old days, talk about the origin of some of their songs, and joke a bit on this charming set. Utilizing two pianos, they play together (taking "M & S Boogie" as an instrumental) and alternate vocals.

We spotlight several lesser known, little recorded artists today including Little Oscar, Newton Greer, Dusty Brown and Charles Walker. Little Oscar Stricklin cut some terrific 45's in the 60's and 70's for a batch of tiny Chicago labels. The best known was his "Suicide Blues" cut in 1967 which has been reissued several times on various anthologies. After the cutting these sides he basically dropped out of sight. Newton Greer pops up on just one song, "Born Dead", a mesmerizing reading of the J.B. Lenoir song of the same name. The song comes for the 1971 album Harmonica Williams with Little Freddie King issued on the Ahura Mazda label and supposedly the first electric blues album recorded in New Orleans. Charles Walker was a fine New York musician who cut handful of sides in the 50's, 60's and early 70's. His "Juice Head Woman" comes from the fine out-of-print album Blues From The Apple issued in 1974 on the Oblivion imprint. Dusty Brown was born in Mississippi in 1929 and migrated to Chicago in 1946. In 1955 he cut four sides for the Parrot label and four more sides for Bandera in 1958. Dusty embarked on a tour of Europe in 1972. In 1975 he opened a lounge in Chicago Heights, Illinois called Dusty's Lounge and featured many of his Chicago blues friends. He moved back down South in the early '90's and in recent years returned to Chicago where he has been reviving his music career appearing at many clubs and festivals