Sun 2 May 2010
Big Road Blues Show 5/2/10: Times Is Hard (So I’m Savin’ for a Rainy Day) – The Year 1930 Pt. 1
Posted by Jeff under 1930's Blues, Blues Ads, Playlists
[3] Comments
| ARTIST | SONG | ALBUM |
|---|---|---|
| Garfield Akers | Dough Roller Blues | Mississippi Masters |
| Willie Harris | Never Drive A Stranger From Your Door | A Richer Tradition |
| Bukka White | The Panama Limited | The Vintage Recordings 1930-1940 |
| Oliver Cobb | Cornet Pleading Blues Pt. 1 | Male Blues of the Twenties Vol. 1 |
| Willie "Scarecrow" Owens | Travelling Blues | Jazzin' The Blues Vol. 1 1929-1937 |
| Lena Matlock | Stop Bittin' Other Women In The Back | Jazzin' The Blues Vol. 1 1929-1937 |
| Judson Brown | You Don't Know My Mind Blues | Piano Blues Vol. 1 1927-1936 |
| Mozelle Alderson | Tight In Chicago | Barrelhouse Mamas |
| Joe Dean | I'm So Glad I’m Twenty One Years Old Today | Piano Blues Vol. 1 1927-1936 |
| Big Bill Broonzy | I Can't Be Satisfied | Big Bill Broonzy: All The Classic Sides |
| Ed Bell | Carry It Right Back Home | Ed Bell 1927-1930 |
| Pillie Bolling | Shake It Like A Dog | Ed Bell 1927-1930 |
| Kansas City Kitty & Georgia Tom | How Can You Have The Blues? | Kansas City Kitty 1930-1934 |
| Butterbeans & Susie | Times Is Hard (So I'm Savin' for a Rainy Day) | Classic Blues & Vaudeville Singers Vol. 5 1922-1930 |
| Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe | I Called You This Morning | Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe Vol. 2 1929-1930 |
| Mississippi Sheiks | Boolegger’s Blues | Honey Babe Let The Deal Go Down |
| Shreveport Home Wreckers | Fence Breakin' Blues | Texas Blues: Early Blues Masters from the Lone Star State |
| Georgia Cotton Pickers | She's Coming Back Some Cold Rainy Day | Atlanta Blues |
| Little Hat Jones | Bye Bye Baby Blues | Early Masters From the Lone Star State |
| Jim Jackson | St. Louis Blues | Jim Jackson Vol. 2 1928-1930 |
| Blind Blake | Hard Pushing Papa | All The Published Sides |
| Clara Burston | 1930 Mama | Barrelhouse Women Vol. 1 1925-1930 |
| Leola Manning | Laying In The Graveyard | Rare Country Blues Vol.1 |
| Bessie Smith | Moan Mourners | The Complete Recordings (Frog) |
| Freddie Redd Nicholson | You Gonna Miss Me Blues | Down In Black Bottom |
| Speckled Red | Speckled Red’s Blues | Speckled Red 1929-1938 |
| John Oscar | Whoopee Mama Blues | Down In Black Bottom |
| J.T. Funny Papa Smith | Howling Wolf Blues No. 1 | J. T. ''Funny Paper'' Smith 1930-1931 |
| Blind Willie McTell | Talkin' To Myself Blues | The Classic Years 1927-1940 |
| Bayless Rose | Frisco Blues | Broke, Black And Blue |
| Troy Ferguson | Mama You Gotta Get It Fixed | Rare Country Blues Vol. 4 1929-c.1953 |
| Kokomo Arnold | Paddlin' Madeline | Kokomo Arnold Vol. 1 1930-1935 |
| Famous Hokum Boys | Pig Meat Strut | Big Bill Broonzy: All The Classic Sides |
Show Notes:
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| Blind Willie McTell, Chicago Defender Ad, August 27, 1930 |
Today’s show is the fourth installment of an ongoing series of programs built around a particular year. The first year we spotlighted was 1927 which was the beginning of a blues boom that would last until 1930; there were just 500 blues and gospel records issued in 1927 and increase of fifty percent from 1926 a trend that would continue until the depression. To feed the demand other record companies conducted exhaustive searches for new talent, which included making trips down south with field recording units. Between 1927-1930 Atlanta was visited seventeen times, Memphis eleven times, Dallas eight times, New Orleans seven times and so on. The record companies advertised their records in black newspapers, mainly in the Chicago Defender, which was the nation’s most influential black weekly newspaper.
The Depression, with the massive unemployment it brought, had a shattering effect on the pockets of black record buyers. By 1931 race record sales accounted for only about 1% of total industry sales, as against 5% four years earlier. By the fall of 1929, the Depression closed down a lot of the large touring shows and theaters. Record companies went bankrupt and sales plummeted. However, by 1937, the industry recovered and by 1937 they were almost as many new blues records produced as the peak years of the 1920′s. The depression hit the record business hard; Columbia for example was pressing 11, 000 blues and gospel records in 1927 and by May of 1930 they were pressing 2,000 records, with the number halving by year’s end. Blind Willie Johnson’s first records had sold no better than the average disc in the Columbia 1400D series – in early 1929 they would manage about 5,000 as against Barbecue Bob’s 6,000 and Bessie Smith’s 9,000 or 10,000. In mid-1930 the blind evangelist became the star of the list – his records were still selling 5,000 copies, although Barbecue Bob was down to 2,000, Bessie Smith to 3,000 and the average release had initial sales of only just over 1,000. The other labels were hit equally hard: Paramount placed their last ad in the Chicago Defender in April, Victor placed its last ad in December, the Gennett imprint was discontinued in 1930 and Warner, who owned the Brunswick group of labels, discontinued field trips at the end of 1930. Despite the hard times, there was some superb records being produced and today we spotlight some of the big names of the blues along with several who remain utterly forgotten.
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| Bessie Smith, Chicago Defender Ad, July 2, 1930 |
With the gradual rundown of Paramount, Brunswick became the leader in the race market. Among their stable of artists was Leroy Carr and Tampa Red, among the era’s biggest blues stars. Brunswick continued to record in the field and in 1930 they made recordings in Memphis where they recorded Memphis Minnie, Robert Wilkins, Jim Jackson and Garfield Akers among others. Today we spin Jim Jackson performing a rousing version of ”St. Louis Blues” and Garfield Akers’ “Dough Roller Blues.” Akers made his debut in 1929 backed by Joe Callicott and waxed the classic “Cottonfield Blues” Pts. 1 & 2 for Vocalion which was advertised in the February 2nd, 1930 Chicago Defender. In Knoxville they recorded Leola Manning and the Tennessee Chocolate Drops and in Dallas they recorded Gene Campbell.
In February 1930 the OKeh field unit called at Shreveport, Louisiana, to do some recording at the request of a local radio station. while there, they recorded a small black group who called themselves the Mississippi Sheiks. Their records went down so well that OKeh recorded 14 more numbers in San Antonio in August and a further 16 in Jackson, Mississippi, just before Christmas. The Mississippi Sheiks became the most popular string bands of the late ’20s and early ’30s. The band blended country and blues fiddle music and included guitarist Walter Vinson and fiddler Lonnie Chatmon, with frequent appearances by guitarists Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon, who were also busy with their own solo careers. The Sheiks had their first and biggest success with “Sitting on Top of the World,” which was a crossover hit and multi-million seller. The Mississippi Sheiks’ popularity peaked in the early ’30s, and their final recording session happened in 1935 for the Bluebird label.
In 1930, when most companies were considering cutting back on their race issues, the American Record Corporation entered the field. ARC had been formed in August 1929 by the merger of three small companies: the Cameo Record corporation, whose labels included Banner and Oriole, and the Pathe Phonograph and Radio Corporation, owners of Perfect. In April 1930 ARC decided to revive the Perfect race series, and this time they made sure that they used currently popular artists singing up-to -the-minute material. In April 1930 they recorded some solo blues by Georgia Tom, and some Tampa Red styled numbers by a group called The Famous Hokum Boys that included Georgia Tom and Tampa Red and Big Bill Broonzy. ARC also recorded five solo records by him and issued them under the name Sammy Sampson. In September ARC had another recording session involving once again Georgia Tom, Sammy Sampson and The Famous Hokum Boys. Hokum had been hot since Tampa Red & Georgia Tom’s “It’s Tight Like That” was a huge smash in 1928 and the labels continued to try and cash in on the craze. “Hokum” was a common vaudeville term for rowdy comedy or clever stage business.
In February 1930 Vocalion recorded sides by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe, with the duo hitting big with “Bumble Bee” issued in May. Columbia had recorded the duo the year before but didn’t issue all the titles. Once they saw how well “Bumble Bee” was selling they belatedly, in August 1930, issued the version they had recorded fourteen months previously.
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| Bukka White, Chicago Defender Ad, November 11, 1930 |
Among some of the other major blues artists who cut records in 1930, we spin tracks by Blind Willie McTell, Bessie Smith, Bukka White, Big Bill Broonzy and Blind Blake. White made his debut in 1930 for Victor, cutting two 78’s, one blues coupling and one gospel under the name Washington White. His “I Am In The Heavenly Way” was advertised on October 11, 1930 in the Chicago Defender. Blind Blake, one of the most popular bluesmen of the 1920’s. His only rival in popularity was Blind Lemon Jefferson, also a Paramount artist. Blake was advertised heavily in the Chicago Defender between 1926-30,with twenty-four ads appearing. He cut some 80 sides before mysteriously disappearing after a final session circa June 1932. In her heyday Bessie Smith was the highest paid black entertainer in America. She was advertised as The Empress of the Blues a title hard to argue with. She recorded prolifically between 1923-1931 with a final four-song session in 1933. Broonzy made his debut in 1928 and was an in demand session guitarist as well as waxing hundreds of sides under his own name. Today we spin Broonzy’s superb “I Can’t Be Satisfied” as well as “Pig Meat Strut” in the company of The Famous Hokum Boys. The group was a studio outfit that consisted of Big Bill Broonzy, Georgia Tom, Frank Braswell who cut close to two-dozen sides in 1930 .




After neglecting the race market, Victor decided to jump in the field in 1926 with negligible results. Victor’s fortunes turned around when they hired Ralph Peer who had been responsible for building up the race and hilliby catalogs for OKeh. In February 1927 Peer ventured out with the Victor filed unit to Atlanta, Memphis and finally New Orleans. Among the artists recorded in Memphis were the Memphis Jug Band, Furry Lewis and Frank Stokes. In Atlanta recordings were made by Julius Daniels, Blind Willie McTell and others. In New Orleans the major find was songster Richard “Rabbit” Brown who recorded six sides.












As writer Elijah Wald summarizes: “For roughly ten years, from the dawn of the blues recording boom in 1920 until the Depression temporarily destroyed the ‘race record’ industry, blues was the most popular music in black America, and the Chicago Defender was the principle venue for record advertisements aimed at African American consumers.” Where the earlier reproductions of these ads were taken from adverts in the Chicago Defender newspaper, Tefteller’s are copied from distribution posters. They are large reproductions and they have been beautifully reproduced with stunning clarity with each month featuring a large sized ad. The ads are lurid, sensational, politically incorrect and often bear a striking disconnect to the actual subject of the record. This year we are treated to the following full page reproductions: Blind Blake (“Night & Day Blues”), Kokomo Arnold (“Milk Cow Blues”), Charley Patton (“Shake It And Break It”) [Patton's named is spelled Charley, the way he would have spelled it. According to Tefteller: "Final proof of this occurred in 2008 when Bernard MacMahon found Patton's original handwritten military draft papers for World War I where Mr. Patton clearly signs his name 'Charley'."], Skip James (“Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader”), Paramount All Stars (“Home Town Skiffle”), Buddy Boy Hawkins (“Jailhouse Fire Blues”), Blind Lemon Jefferson (“Worried Blues”) [this is listed in the discographies as "Lemon's Worried Blues"], Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie (“Cherry Ball Blues”), Ida Cox (“Graveyard Dream Blues”), Elgar’s Creole Orchestra (“Nightmare”) [the cover illustration and Robert Crumb's favorite record related graphic], Rev. Emmett Dickenson (“The Death Of Blind Lemon”) and Rev. A.W. Nix (“Death May Be Your Christmas Present”). Many of the illustrations include an actual photo of the artist. In addition we get some smaller ads included on each calendar page that, despite the small size, are just as crisp and readable as the larger images. The usual anniversary dates for Christmas, Easter are listed plus anniversaries for blues singers like Son House and other luminaries such as Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglass. Brief artist biographies are included and there is an informative introduction from Tefteller where he gives the providence of the newly discovered records.
the Blake). “Hot Dog” b/w “The Laffing Rag” was uncovered in February 2008 in a small stack of beat-up 78′s in Missouri. I’ve never been a huge fan of Curry who’s music seems to harks back to the minstrel era, except for the hilarious “Adam And Eve In The Garden.” Proving that not every lost record is a classic, Curry’s pairing are raucous and primitive as he flails away on banjo and toots away on harmonica. If anything they did bring a smile to my face – or was that a grimace!? Also previously unreleased are two test pressings of “Home Town Skiffle” a super group of Paramount’s biggest selling artists including Charley Spand, Will Ezell, The Hokum Boys, Papa Charlie Jackson and Blind Blake. According to Tefteller: “Paramount, however, told a lie on this one – claiming on both the record label and the ad that Blind Lemon Jefferson appears on this record. Not true! Collectors long suspected that Blind Blake simply imitates Jefferson’s guitar licks and they are correct! Newly discovered test pressings of other takes of the song reveal this. We include one of those complete tests on this year’s CD so you can clearly hear for yourself that Jefferson was not in the room for these sessions.” Considering the rarity of these recordings, Richard Nevis of Yazoo fame has done and an excellent job remastering these ancient sides.





