Sun 14 Jun 2009
Big Road Blues Show 6/14/09: All The Way From Texas - Down Home Texas Blues 1947-1953
Posted by Jeff under 1940's Blues, 1950's Blues, Texas Blues
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| ARTIST | SONG | ALBUM |
|---|---|---|
| Leroy Ervin | Rock Island Blues | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Peter Warfield | Morning Train Blues | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Any Thomas | My Baby Quit Me Blues | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Perry Cain | All The Way From Texas | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Lee Hunter | Back To Santa Fe | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Jesse James | Please Ma'am Forgive Me | Down Home Blues Classics Texas |
| Charlie Braddix | Boogie Like You Wanna | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Willie Lane | Howlin' Wolf Blues | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Rattlesnake Cooper | Lost Woman | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Mercy Dee Walton | Evil And Hanky | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Johnny Beck | You Gotta Lay Down Mama | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Manny Nichols | No One To Love Me | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Lil Son Jackson | Cairo Blues | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Sonny Boy Davis | I Don't Live Here No More | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Buddy Chiles | Jet Black Woman | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Dr. Hepcat | Hattie Green | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| James Tisdom | Winehead Swing | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Stickhorse Hammond | Alberta | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Lawyer Houston | Western Rider Blues | Lightnin' Special Vol. 2 |
| Smokey Hogg | Penitentiary Blues Pts. 1 & 2 | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| John Hogg | West Texas Blues | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Luther Stoneham | January 11, 1949 Blues | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| The Sugarman | Which Woman Do I Love | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Sam Suitcase Johnson | Sam's Coming Home | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Alex Moore | Neglected Woman | Texas Down Home Blues 1948-1952 |
| Thunder Smith | Big Stars Are Falling | Lightnin' Special Vol. 2 |
| L.C. Williams | You Can't Take It With You Baby | Lightnin' Special Vol. 2 |
| Frankie Lee Sims | Married Woman | Lucy Mae |
| Ernest Lewis | No More Lovin' | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Miss Country Slim | In My Girlish Days | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Little Son Tillis | Skin And Bones | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Sonny Boy Holmes | TNT Woman | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
| Big Son & Lillian Tillis | Ten Long Years | Down Home Blues Classics Texas 1946-52 |
Show Notes:

The music on today’s program spans a fascinating period, roughly the first decade of post-war blues, when the blues was evolving into what would be called R&B and a short hop later to rock and roll. Today’s however is a throwback; this is rough and tumble down-home blues geared towards an audience that was still eager to hear earthy rural blues. Many of these listeners were still in the south while many other were transplanted southerners still eager to hear the older styles. These were exciting times with numerous small labels throwing their hat in the ring to try to cash in on the market. Our spotlight is on the Texas variety of down-home blues. Some of today’s artists achieved a measure of success such as Lightnin’ Hopkins, Lil Son Jackson and Smokey Hogg while those like Lawyer Houston, Ernest Lewis, Manny Nichols, Stickhorse Hammond, Sonny Boy Holmes, Johnny Beck and others cut fine sides but remain utterly obscure outside of hardcore collectors. Between 1944 and 1964, more than 600 record companies tried their hands at recording blues. Many failed or had limited success while others grew and became major players. This was “the last grand hurrah of local blues recorded for, and often by, local entrepreneurs.”
By the early 1950’s, competition among independent record labels in Texas was intense. Macy’s, Freedom, and Peacock (as well as Bob Shad’s New York-based Sittin-In-With) were all involved in recording local and regional blues musicians. In Houston there were fewer opportunities for recording than in Dallas until after World War II, when several independent labels were started. The earliest to record blues was Gold Star, founded by Bill Quinn in 1946 as a hillbilly label to record Harry Choates. In 1947 Quinn decided to enter the “race” market by recording Lightnin’ Hopkins. Today’s program features several Gold Star artists including Lil Son Jackson, Leroy Ervin, Andy Thomas, Lee Hunter and Perry Cain who gives us the title for today’s show. Among the Dallas labels we spin tracks form Blue Bonnet and (Star) Talent. Blue Bonnet Records was formed by Herb Rippa in 1947 in Dallas as a hillbilly label but near the end of Blue Bonnet’s three-year existence Rippa began recording a handful of blues artists, most notable being Frankie Lee Sims. Pianist Charlie Braddix cut two sides for the label in 1948. Both Willie Lane and Rattlesnake Cooper cut sides for (Star) Talent, a Dallas label owned by father and daughter Jesse and Louise Erickson. The label recorded blues, country and gospel and cut the sides first sides by Rufus Thomas and Professor Longhair.

The spirit of Lightnin’ Hopkins looms over many of these recordings and we play tracks by some who were in Hopkins orbit. Thunder Smith played piano behind Hopkins on his first two sessions for Aladdin in 1946 and 1947, never achieving the success that Hopkins did. Hopkins backed Smith on a four song session for Aladdin in 1946 with Smith cutting one session apiece in 1947 for Gold Star and in 1948 for Down Town. He reportedly died in Houston in 1965. L.C. Williams was a singer/tap dancer who also occasionally drummed behind Hopkins. He arrived in Houston in 1945 and was one of the many characters who hung around in Lightning’s orbit, sitting on stoops drinking beer and wine, shooting the breeze with passers-by. He made his first record in 1947 with Hopkins on piano and guitar. Hopkins plays guitar on a four-song session for Gold Star in 1948 with Williams making some final sides for Eddie’s and Freedom between 1948-1950. He died in Houston of TB in 1960. Frankie Lee Sims claimed to be a cousin of Lightnin’ Hopkins. Sims cut his first 78’s for Blue Bonnet Records in 1948 in Dallas, but didn’t taste anything resembling regional success until 1953, when his “Lucy Mae Blues” did well down south. Sims recorded fairly prolifically for Los Angeles-based Specialty into 1954, then switched to the Ace label in 1957 to cut great rockers like “Walking with Frankie” and “She Likes to Boogie Real Low.” He recorded for Bobby Robinson in late 1960 but these sides were unreleased and didn’t surface until decades later when they were released on the British Krazy Kat label. Robinson ran the NYC based labels Fire, Fury and Enjoy. Sims died at age 53 in Dallas of pneumonia.
Mercy Dee Walton was a Texas émigré, who had played piano around Waco from the age of 13 before hitting the West Coast in 1938. He debuted on record in 1949 with “Lonesome Cabin Blues” for the tiny Spire logo, which became a national R&B hit. Those sides were cut in Fresno, but Los Angeles hosted some of the pianist’s best sessions for Imperial in 1950 and Specialty in 1952-53. After a lengthy layoff, Walton returned to the studio in a big way in 1961, recording prolifically for Chris Strachwitz’s Arhoolie label. He died the following year in December 1962.
In 1946, Lil’ Son Jackson shipped off a demo to Bill Quinn, who owned Houston based Gold Star Records. Jackson scored a national R&B hit, “Freedom Train Blues,” in 1948. It would prove Jackson’s only national hit, although his 1950-1954 output for Imperial Records must have sold consistently, judging from how many sides the L.A. firm issued. He gave up the blues during the mid-’50s after an auto wreck, resuming work as a mechanic. Arhoolie Records boss Chris Strachwitz convinced Jackson to cut an album in 1960. Jackson died May 30, 1976, in Dallas, TX, from cancer.
Smokey Hogg was a down-home bluesman who scored a pair of major R&B hits in 1948 and 1950 (”Long Tall Mama” and “Little School Girl”) and cut prolifically for a slew of labels including Exclusive, Modern, Bullet, Macy’s, Sittin’ in With, Imperial, Mercury, Specialty, Fidelity, Combo, Federal, and Showtime). Smokey’s cousin John Hogg also played the blues, waxing six sides in 1951.
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One of the last of the old-time Texas barrelhouse pianists, Alex Moore was an institution in Dallas, his lifelong home. Moore had one of the longest recording careers in blues history. Moore began performing in the early ’20s, playing clubs and parties around his hometown of Dallas; he usually performed under the name Whistlin’ Alex. In 1929, he recorded his first sessions, for Columbia Records. Moore didn’t record again until 1937, when he made a few records for Decca. Moore didn’t record again until 1951, when RPM/Kent had him cut several songs. Arhoolie Records signed the pianist in 1960, and those records helped make him a national name. For the rest of the ’60s, he played clubs and festivals in America, as well as a handful of festival dates in Europe. He continued to perform until his death in 1989. The year before his death, he recorded a final album titled Wiggle Tail.
Among the great unknowns are artists such as Manny Nichols, Son Tillis, Laywer Houston, Nathaniel “Stickhorse” Hammond, Wright Holmes, Lee Hunter, Sonny Boy Holmes, Luther Stoneham and Dr. Hepcat among others. Manny Nichols cut nine sides between 1949-1953 for several small labels, first in Texas and then in California. He also recorded as West Texas Slim. In addition he backed the mysterious Miss Country Slim on one record. J.R. Fullbright, owner of Elko Records, first brough Son Tillis in the studio in Longview, Texas but these were unreleased. He then brought him over to Gold Star where he cut several sides. Interviewed in 1968, Fullbright though Tillis was in the penitentiary for life for murder. Nathaniel “Stickhorse” Hammond is one of the oldest performers featured, having been born in Dallas in 1896. Laywer Houston cut an eight-song session for Atlantic in 1950 and another eight-song session circa 1953/54 that was never issued. Lavada Durst AKA Dr.Hepcat was the first black disc jockey in Texas on Austin‘s KVET. He published The Jives of Dr.Hepcat based on his outlandish radio patter. He cut early records on Peacock, Uptown and later recordings on Documentary Arts. Wright Holmes had only three sides issued in 1947, with several unissued. He was rediscovered and interviewed by Blues Unlimited magazine but had turned to relgion and was no longer playing blues. Lee hunter was the brother of the more famous Ivory Joe Hunter and cut a lone 78 for Gold Star in 1948.





Among the label’s big hits were “The Honeydripper” by Joe Liggins inn 1945 and “Pink Champagne” five years later, posting many more solid sellers in between. Inspired by the success of his brother Joe, Jimmy jumped into the recording field in 1947 on Art Rupe’s Specialty logo. His “Tear Drop Blues” hit the R&B Top Ten the next year, while “Careful Love” and “Don’t Put Me Down” hit for him in 1949. “R.M. Blues” was a million seller for Roy Mitlon in 1945 and really got Specialty off and running. Rupe knew a good thing when he saw it, recording Milton early and often-through 1953. He was rewarded with 19 Top Ten R&B hits. Camille Howard was installed as pianist with drummer Roy Milton & the Solid Senders sometime during World War II, playing on all their early hits for Art Rupe’s Juke Box and Specialty labels (notably the groundbreaking “R.M. Blues” in 1945). Rupe began recording her as a featured artist at the end of the year. Her biggest hit was the romping instrumental “X-Temporaneous Boogie” but she was also a very fine vocalist.
In 1952, Rupe made his first field trip to the south, being impressed with the music of Fats Domino on another Los Angeles-based label, Imperial. He went to Fats’ hometown of New Orleans to search for talent. He announced on a radio show that he was looking for talent and for artists to come to Cosimo Matassa’s recording studio for auditions. The auditions had not produced anything worthy of recording, and Rupe was packing up to head back to Los Angeles when a 17 year old named Lloyd Price came in and sang his own composition, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” Rupe canceled his plane ticket home and stayed in New Orleans to record the song. He got Fats Domino to play piano and Dave Bartholomew to assemble the other backing musicians. The record became the #1 R&B record for 1952 on both the Billboard and Cash Box charts, and Lloyd Price was the Cash Box “Best New R&B Singer of 1952.”
Mercy Deed Walton debuted on record in 1949 with “Lonesome Cabin Blues” for the tiny Spire logo, which became a national R&B hit. Those sides were cut in Fresno, but Los Angeles hosted some of the pianist’s best sessions for Imperial in 1950 and Specialty in 1952-53. His “One Room Country Shack” was a huge R&B hit in 1953 and has become a blues standard.


Between 1929-1936 Charlie cut scattered sides under his own name or as lead in various bands. By the early 1930’s many of the Jackson musicians began to disperse, either heading to the delta or like Johnnie Temple and Charlie McCoy to Chicago. By 1932 all of McCoy’s recordings were waxed up North. He did cut several sessions between 1929-1930 in Memphis and Jackson. The bulk of the recordings again feature McCoy’s pals Walter Vincson and Bo Carter on material that ranges from hokum, blues and string band. Billed as Charlie McCoy with Chatman’s Mississippi Hot Footers they cut hokum sides in the vein of the immensely popular “It’s Tight Like That” such as “It Ain’t No Good - Part 1 & II” and “It Is So Good - Part 1 & II” the latter sporting prominent mandolin from McCoy. When not sharing the vocals with his partners, McCoy proves himself a fine reedy singer on straight blues numbers such as “You Gonna Need Me” and the superb “Last Time Blues” where he lays down some watery slide playing. With Carter on violin McCoy delivers “Your Valves Need Grinding”managing to sound wistful and racy at the same time, the string band blues of “Blue Heaven Blues” and takes it solo on the low down “Gland Hand Blues” framed by some imaginative guitar figures. The highlight from a December 15, 1930 session is “That Lonesome Train Took My Baby Away” a rippling mandolin showcase based on the theme of “Cow Cow Blues” and wonderfully sung by McCoy. Four days later, on a duet with Bo Carter, he cut a pair of interesting topical numbers: “The Northern Starvers Are Returning Home” and “Mississippi I’m Longing For You” both with a strong country feel.
After Joe and Minnie separated Joe occupied himself in small bands, singing with the Harlem Hamfats, working as a songwriter and working with his brother Charlie. The Harlem Hamfats were based in Chicago, and were put together by record producer and entrepreneur J. Mayo Williams simply for the purpose of making studio recordings. The band usually consisted of: Joe McCoy (guitar, vocals), Charlie McCoy (guitar, mandolin), Herb Morand (trumpet, vocals), John Lindsay (bass), Odell Rand (clarinet), Horace Malcolm (piano), Freddie Flynn and Pearlis Williams (drums). The band’s sound blended blues, dixieland and swing jazz. Led by Morand and Joe McCoy, the main songwriters, the group initially provided instrumental backing to artists including Frankie “Half Pint” Jaxon, Rosetta Howard, and Johnny Temple. Their first major hits were “Oh! Red”, recorded in April 1936, and “Let’s Get Drunk And Truck” (originally recorded by Tampa Red), recorded in August of the same year. “Oh! Red” was popular enough to be covered by Count Basie, The Ink Spots, Blind Willie McTell and, later, Howlin’ Wolf.
Washboard Sam recorded hundreds of records between 1935 and 1949 for the bluebird label, usually with backing by guitarist Big Bill Broonzy. Out of all the washboard players of the era, Sam was the most popular, which was due not only to his washboard talent, but also his skills as a highly imaginative songwriter and powerful, expressive vocalist. As an accompanist, Washboard Sam not only played with Broonzy, but also backed bluesmen like Bukka White, Memphis Slim, and Jazz Gillum. Sam added a phonograph turntable and a couple of cowbells to his washboard for added tone and his washboard playing is consistently driving and swinging. Washboard Sam (born Robert Brown) was the illegitimate son of Frank Broonzy, who also fathered Big Bill Broonzy. Sam was raised in Arkansas, working on a farm. He moved to Memphis in the early ’20s to play the blues. While in Memphis, he met Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon and the trio played street corners, collecting tips from passerby’s. In 1932, Sam moved to Chicago. Initially he played for tips, but soon he began performing regularly with Big Bill Broonzy. Within a few years, Sam was supporting Broonzy on the guitarist’s Bluebird recordings. Soon, he was supporting a number of different musicians on their recording sessions, including pianist Memphis Slim, bassist Ransom Knowling, and a handful of saxophone players, who all recorded for Bluebird. In 1935, Sam began recording for both Bluebird and Vocalion Records. Throughout the rest of the ’30s and the ’40s, Sam was one of the most popular Chicago bluesmen, selling plenty of records and playing to packed audiences in the Chicago clubs. In 1953, Washboard Sam recorded a session for Chess Records and then retired. In the early ’60s, Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim tried to persuade Sam to return to the stage to capitalize on the blues revival. Initially, he refused, but in 1963 began performing concerts in clubs and coffeehouses in Chicago; he even played a handful of dates in Europe in early 1964. He cut his last sides in 1964 before passing in 1966.
Easily the most important harmonica player of the pre-war era, John Lee Williamson almost single-handedly made the harmonica a major instrument, leading the way for the amazing innovations of Little Walter and others who followed. Already a harp virtuoso in his teens, he learned from Hammie Nixon and Noah Lewis and ran with Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell before settling in Chicago in 1934. Sonny Boy signed to Bluebird in 1937. He recorded prolifically for Victor both as a leader and behind others in the vast Melrose stable (including Robert Lee McCoy and Big Joe Williams, who in turn played on some of Williamson’s sides). Sonny Boy cut more than 120 sides in all for RCA from 1937 to 1947. John Lee was popular enough that by the 1940s, another blues harp player, Aleck/Alex “Rice” Miller, who was based in Helena, Arkansas, began also using the name Sonny Boy Williamson. His first recording session was supported by the great Big Joe Williams, at the beginning of his distinguished career playing delta blues guitar. After this session Sonny Boy alternated between guitar and piano backups, occasionally using both at the same session. His most frequent accompanists were Big Bill Broonzy and the record company’s “house” piano player Blind John Davis. Other famous accompanists over the years were Eddie Boyd, Yank Rachel, Big Maceo and Willie Dixon. But some say the best accompanist was Joshua Altheimer, a piano player who played on the seven numbers of a 1940 session and then died the next year. Writer Pete Welding noted that the only significant difference between Big Joe Williams and Sonny Boy and those of say Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf is the matter of electric amplification. Othewise all the ingredients are the same: guitar, harp, bass and drums. He continues, “Big Joe and John Lee stand as vital, connecting links between the older Mississippi style and those of the postwar years.” Sonny Boy Williamson wouldn’t live to reap any appreciable rewards from his inventions. He died at the age of 34, while at the zenith of his popularity (his romping “Shake That Boogie” was a national R&B hit in 1947 on Victor), from a violent bludgeoning about the head that occurred during an apparent mugging on the South side. “Better Cut That Out,” another storming rocker later appropriated by Junior Wells, became a posthumous hit for Williamson in late 1948. Williamson’s style had a profund influence on those who followed including Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells, Little Walter, and Snooky Pryor among many others.
Tampa was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia with various birth dates given between 1900 and 1908. His parents died when he was a child, and he moved to Tampa, Florida, where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and adopted their surname, Whittaker. He emulated his older brother, Eddie, who played guitar, and he was especially inspired by an old street musician called Piccolo Pete, who first taught him to play blues licks on a guitar. In the 1920’s, having already perfected his slide technique, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and began his career as a musician, adopting the name “Tampa Red” from his childhood home and red hair.
the loudest and showiest guitar available before amplification; acquiring one in the first year they were available. This allowed him to develop his trademark bottleneck style, playing single string runs, not block chords, which was a precursor to later blues and rock guitar soloing. The National guitar he used was a gold-plated tricone, which was found in Illinois in the 1990s and later sold to the “Experience Music Project” in Seattle. Tampa Red was known as “The Man With The Gold Guitar”, and, into the 1930s, he was billed as “The Guitar Wizard”.
Through the 1940’s Tampa remained a prime seller among black audiences with hits like “Let Me Play With Your Poodle” and “She Wants To Sell My Monkey.” During his Bluebird stint, between 1934 and 1953, he recorded over 200 sides. In addition to recordings he regularly played the clubs such as Club Georgia, the Flame Club, Sylvio’s, the Purple Cat , the 708 club, the Zanzibar, the Peacock and the C&T Lounge all of which were black clubs on Chicago’s South and West sides. Tampa’s music continued to evolve as Jim O’Neal notes: “…He was right there swinging with horns when big band jump blues were in fashion, and he had the boogie numbers down, too; even on his last Victor sessions he had adapted to the mainstream ’50’s Chicago blues sound with featured harmonica backing from Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and Big Walter Horton. He was following trends, but setting them too with numbers that many other bluesmen were to re-record in later years. …Less frequently was Tamap a solo act; Big Maceo teamed up with him for for a while, and after Maceo suffered a stroke, Sunnyland Slim filled in until Maceo’s protege Johnnie Jones took over on piano. By now Tampa also had added support from a drummer, Odie Payne Jr., and Johnnie would sing about half the numbers when he, Tampa, and Odie worked the Peacock and the C&T in 1949. Johnnie also sang on at least a dozen of Tampa’s later records.” His last hit was 1949’s “When Things Go Wrong With You (it Hurts Me Too)” which briefly hit the national R&B charts. By the early 1950’s Tampa rarely played the clubs anymore and he made his final commercial recording for Victor in 1953.

played on street corners and at house parties in Winston-Salem, Danville, and then Durham, North Carolina. In Durham, playing around the tobacco warehouses, he developed a local following which included guitarists Floyd Council and Richard Trice, as well as harmonica player Sonny Terry and washboard player/guitarist George Washington. In 1935, Burlington record store manager and talent scout James Baxter Long secured him a recording session with the American Recording Company (ARC). Allen, Davis and Washington recorded several tracks in New York City, including the traditional “Rag, Mama, Rag”. To promote the material, Long decided to rename Allen as “Blind Boy Fuller”, and also named Washington “Bull City Red.” Over the next five years Fuller made over 120 sides. In April 1936, Fuller recorded ten solo performances, and also recorded with guitarist Floyd Council. The following year, having auditioning for J. Mayo Williams, he recorded for the Decca label, but then reverted to ARC. Later in 1937, he made his first recordings with Sonny Terry. In 1938 Fuller was imprisoned for shooting a pistol at his wife, wounding her in the leg, causing him to miss out on John Hammond’s “Spirituals to Swing” concert in NYC that year. While Fuller was eventually released, it was Sonny Terry who went in his stead, the beginning of a long “folk music” career.Fuller was criticized by some as a derivative musician, but his ability to fuse together elements of other traditional and contemporary songs and reformulate them into his own performances, attracted a broad audience. He was an expressive vocalist and a masterful guitar player; best remembered for his up-tempo ragtime hits including “Step It Up and Go.” At the same time he was capable of deeper material. Fuller died in 1941 at the age of 33, of blood poisoning that resulted in kidney failure, popularly ascribed to his heavy drinking.

Today’s show revolves around the six CD’s in the Ace records series
Modern Records opened for business in 1945 and, in order to capitalize on success in its home market on the West Coast, the company soon established a national distribution network utilizing the services of jukebox operators and distributors in most of the major cities throughout the US. Once this was in place (around 1947), Modern commenced leasing masters by successful artists from smaller labels that only had limited local distribution. Following success with down-home blues masters from labels such as Gold Star in Houston(Lightning Hopkins), Blue Bonnet in Dallas (Smokey Hogg) and Sensation in Detroit (John Lee Hooker), Modern decided to expand its search for this kind of material.
Modern Downhome Blues Sessions Vol. 4: The Southern Country blues Guitarists 1948-1952 features recordings mostly recorded in Atlanta and Dallas between 1948 and 1952. This is essentially an expanded version of the original Kent LP Blues From The Deep South. In around 1950 a group of artists sent in a batch of unlabeled acetates that were discovered at Modern in 1970. These recordings have remained a focal point for intense discussion ever since. When these sides were first issued on the Blues From The Deep South LP, so Arkansas Johnny Todd and Leroy Simpson were invented for two sides released. It turns out that Todd is actually Lane Hardin who cut the classic “Hard Time Blues b/w California Desert Blues” in 1935. He also backs Leroy Simpson who still remains a mystery. Other featured artists include Alex Moore, Charlie Bradix, Pine Top Slim, Jesse Thomas, Big Bill Dotson, Little Son Jackson and Smokey Hogg.
The latest collection is no exception, boasting exhaustive but fascinating notes from Dave Sax and several unissued alternate takes among the 26 tracks. A doomy brand of blues pervades this collection like the fog that obscures the rain slicked streets and neon signs in those classic film noirs of the 1940’s (yes, I’ve been watching way too many old movies!). Geddins discovery James Reed was an exceptional vocalist delivering downtrodden tales with terrific, minimalist accompaniment on “This Is The End”, “Dr Brown”, “My Love Is Real” and “My Momma Told Me” (the latter two featuring the always outstanding guitar of 

Tell On Me”, indicates: “Now get out this here. This is the last one you got now. When you play these blues, you ain’t got to play no more. Let’s get on like you like it. These your own blues you makin’ now. Y’know this is what your wife likes, yeah …You don’t need to hurry now, just take your time and play it right cos you ain’t got to play ‘nother’n after this.”


