Blues Southside chicago

This review kicks off an ongoing spotlight we’ll be doing sporadically on out of print records. With the glut of blues reissues one would think just about everything worthwhile has been reissued but that’s far from the case. There’s many vinyl only treasures to be discovered for those collectors willing to do a little hunting. A case in point is “Blues Southside Chicago” a superb collection of Chicago blues artists recorded by Willie Dixon in 1964 and originally issued on UK Decca and reissued by Flyright in 1976. Additional sides from this session appeared on “Have A Good Time - Chicago Blues” issued in 1970 on the Sunnyland label which is also out of print.

Mike Leadbitter discusses the aim of the record in his liner notes: “This album was recorded In Chicago’s Southside by Willie Dixon with one aim in mind-to provide the English enthusiast with blues played as they are played in the clubs, without gimmicks and without interfering A & R men. This album is not intended to be commercial in any way and by using top artists and top session men an LP has been produced that doesn’t sound as cold as studio recordings usually do.” In a 1977 interview pianist Henry Gray recalled this session: “I remember, in 1964, Willie Dixon was asked by an English company to produce a couple of so-called Southside Chicago sessions. [Dixon was a very close friend of Howlin’ Wolf and they talked together about that;] Wolf was not personally interested but he induced me to go and support some of the artists chosen by Dixon…Poor Bob Woodfork, Robert Nighthawk, Shakey Horton. That was issued on British Decca label. Yeah, I think it was representative of the kind of music we were playing in the Southside clubs at that time.”

Certainly one of the highlights is the two marvelous songs by Robert Nighthawk. Nighthawk influenced a generation of artists including Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Earl Hooker and supposedly Elmore James. In many ways Nighthawk was the archetype of the classic bluesman spending his entire adult life rambling all over the South with frequent trips to the North playing a never ending string of one nighters punctuated by sporadic recording dates. Nighthawk was tragically under recorded which make the two included songs all the more valuable. “Lula Mae” is a cover of the 1944 Tampa Red song and it was Tampa who was Nighthawk’s main influence. This is an exceedingly tough Chicago blues with Nighthawk’s heavy, gloomy vocals hanging over the song punctuated by the waling amplified harp of Walter Horton. “Merry Christmas” (Nighthawk cut another version for Testament the same year) is more of the same again with some extroverted playing by Horton. Nighthawk’s bottleneck playing is exceptional although a bit buried in the mix.

Johnny Young, who plays second guitar on the above sides, was a pal of Nighthawk’s and the two often played together on Maxwell Street. Young was a brilliant mandolin and guitar player who like Nighthawk was sadly under recorded. Backed by the same band as Nighthawk, Young is in fine form on the stripped down, heartfelt “Little Girl” laying down some intricate mandolin work while the shuffling “One More Time” virtually pops out of the speakers again with some dazzling harp from Horton.

Walter Horton always sounded best on other people’s records but comes across magnificently on “Can’t Help Myself” which opens with a lengthy upper register harmonica solo before Horton’s plaintive, impassioned vocals kick in. Horton’s harmonica work is stunning and it’s a shame he gets consistently overshadowed by Little Walter.

Guitarist Poor Bob (Woodfork) worked with Otis Rush, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers and others but despite Leadbitter’s confidence that “he should go a long way after this superb start” this was the only session he ever recorded (two other songs appeared on the above mentioned Sunnyland LP). Backed by Buddy guy and Mighty Joe Young on guitars, Poor Bob delivers a an exciting blast of contemporary blues in “The Sun Is Rising” and the loping mid-tempo “I Won’t Be Happy” both highlighting his powerful, declamatory vocals.

Like Nighthawk, Homesick James was a bottleneck guitarist but with a more rudimentary technique, owing quite a bit to his cousin Elmore James. By the time of these recordings he was relatively under recorded with some scattered singles and one full length album cut for Prestige a few months prior. The combination of Homesick’s ringing bottleneck and emotionally charged vocals make a potent force on “Got To Move” and “Crutch And Cane” a thinly disguised version of “Look On Yonder Wall.”

Leadbitter calls the piano blues a dying art form and these days the tradition is hanging on by a lifeline. Back then there was still numerous fine piano men including Henry Gray (still with us thankfully) and Willie Mabon who back some of the other artists on this collection and Sunnyland Slim and Eddie Boyd who get two sides apiece under their own names. Sunnyland is in commanding form, hollering out the blues with abandon on the shuffling “I Got To Get To My Baby” and the regal “Everytime I Get To Drinking” a number he first waxed back in 1949, both sporting marvelous solos by Buddy Guy. Boyd is in equally strong form on “Losing Hand” and the bouncy “Where You Belong” again with outstanding contributions from Buddy guy.

A real treat is a gospel number by Ronda Mitchell & Mrs. Lovell in remembrance of the late President Kennedy. Kennedy’s assassination had a profound effect on the African-American community and there were many blues and gospel songs written in the wake of his death (1964 saw the release of “Can’t Keep From Crying” on Testament, a moving collection of these songs). “J.F. Kennedy’s Reservation” is a beautiful, moving, bluesy tribute sung in unison. It’s a wonderful track and I have no idea if the duo cut anything else.

Robert Nighthawk - Lula Mae (MP3)

Walter Horton - Can’t Help Myself (MP3)