Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

Today’s show inaugurates a running series that I call Forgotten Blues Heroes. The idea is to provide shows devoted to lesser known blues greats who don’t have enough recordings to build a whole show around. Most shows will spotlight a few different performers who usually have some connection to one another. Our series kicks off with a batch of great unheralded Chicago artists who’s heyday was the 1950’s and 1960’s. Today’s featured artists cut very few numbers under their own name, in a few cases many sides were unissued for decades, and all did varying amounts of session work. Today’s show spotlights piano players Lazy Bill Lucas and Little Johnnie Jones, guitarist Big Boy Spires and multi-instrumentalist Baby Face Leroy Foster.

Arthur “Big Boy” Spires

Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Spires cut a handful of brilliant down home sides for Checker and Chance in the 1950’s and unissued sides in the 1960’s for Testament before arthritis cut his career short. Spires had only four released sides all of which we will play are featured today: “One of These Days”, “Murmur Low”, “Which One Do I Love” and “About To Lose My Mind.” Spires was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1912 and was inspired by local musicians. Lightnin’ Hopkins would come through Yazoo City and Spires would play second guitar. Spires moved to Chicago in 1943 and in the late 1940’s began playing the Southside clubs with Eddie El and Little Earl Dranes. The trio made some demo recordings and Spires was picked up by Chess Records. He first pairing was “Murmur Low b/w One of These Days” which was issued on Checker in 1952. In 1953 he cut a session for Chance resulting in one issued record: “About To Lose My Mind b/w Which One Do I Love.” He cut four other Chance sides that were not issued at the time but released decades later on various collections. Around this time he formed his own band called the Rocket Four playing various clubs around town until giving up music around 1959. In December 1954, Al Smith used his basement at 5313 South Drexel (which he normally employed as a rehearsal space) for two casual recording sessions. One was by Spires and pianist Willie “Long Time” Smith. Everyone on the date but Long Time Smith and the bassist was a member of Spires’ working group. Although Leonard Allen of the United label was interested in this session the the tapes went into the United vaults and he never released anything from it. This session first appeared on a Pearl LP, Morris Pejoe / Arthur “Big Boy” Spires: Wrapped in My Baby, in 1989. Delmark reissued it on CD in 1998. In 1965 Spires and Johnny Young cut a batch of sides for Testament that went unissued except for “21 Below Zero” which came out on a compilation on the Storyville label. After the Testament session he worked mainly outside music and passed away in 1990.

Piano player and vocalist, Lazy Bill Lucas, was born May 29, 1918, in Wynne, Arkansas, and came to Chicago in 1941 where he met Big Joe Williams and toured with John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson in the 40’s. Lazy Bill also played piano on records by Homesick James, Little Willie Foster, Little Hudson, Snooky Pryor and Jo Jo Williams. He cut “She Got Me Walkin b/w I had A Dream” for Chance in 1953. Two other songs from the same session, “My Baby’s Gone b/w I Can’t Eat, I Can’t Sleep”, were not issued until decades later. In 1955 he cut two sides for Excello with the group the Blue Rockers: “Calling All Cows b/w Johnny Mae” with Lazy Bill taking the vocals on the latter. He moved to Minneapolis in 1962 where he was active for close to two decades. He was the first host of the Lazy Bill Lucas Show on KFAI and cut three LP’s during this period: Lazy Bill (Wild, 1969), Lazy Bill Lucas & His Friends (Wild, 1970) and Lazy Bill Lucas (Philo, 1974). He remained active right up to his death on December 11, 1982.

Johnny Jones may never have made it past his 40th birthday but in that time he established himself as one of the finest piano players in Chicago. Best know for his rock steady accompaniment in Elmore James’ band he also backed just about everyone else worth mentioning on the Chicago scene. The handful of times he stepped in front as leader produced a number of excellent sides and more than a few classics.

Johnnie & Letha Jones

Jones blew into the windy city from Mississippi in 1946 and was first influenced by Big Maceo and followed him into Tampa Red’s group in 1947 after Maceo was stricken by a stroke. He even helped play right hand for the elder man on a few tunes. Jones quickly hooked up with Tampa playing piano behind him for RCA Victor between 1949-1953. During this period Jones also played piano behind Muddy Waters on a 1949 Aristocrat (soon to become Chess) session resulting in the tracks: “Screamin’ and Cryin”, “Where’s My Woman Been” and “Last Time I Fool Around With You.” At the tail end of this session Jones cut his lone 78 for the label “Shelby County Blues b/w Big Town Playboy” with Muddy Waters, Baby Face Leroy and Jimmy Rogers backing him up on both sides. His most famous association began in 1952 when he became the pianist for Elmore James and His Broomdusters. He remained with James through 1956 playing on classic recordings for the Bihari brothers’ Meteor, Flair and Modern labels as well as dates for Checker, Chief and Fire. The Broomdusters (with saxist J.T. Brown and drummer Odie Payne) held court on the West Side playing at Sylvio’s for five years. It was this association with James that resulted in his second stint as leader recording in 1953 for Flair. “I May Be Wrong” and “Sweet Little Woman” were issued as Johnny Jones and the Chicago Hound Dogs with backing from Elmore James and J.T. Brown. Jones last official stint as leader came in 1953 when Atlantic Records came through Chicago and teamed Elmore and the Broomdusters behind Big Joe Turner resulting in the classic “TV Mama.” Once again he recorded a couple of sides at the tail end of a session resulting in four songs: “Chicago Blues”, ‘Hoy Hoy’, “Wait Baby” and “Doin’ the Best I Can (Up the line).” Jones was backed by the full Broomdusters plus Ransom Knowling on bass.Jones wasn’t caught on tape again until 1963 where he was working with Billy Boy Arnold in a Chicago folk club called the Fickle Pickle run by Michael Bloomfield. Norman Dayron recorded Johnny on portable equipment which has been released on the Alligator record titled Johnny Jones with Billy Boy Arnold. Jones last session was recorded in 1964 and is something of a mystery. Possibly backed by Boyd Atkins on sax and Lee Jackson guitar he cut three songs: “Prison Bound Blues”, “Don’t You Lie to Me” and “I Get Evil” the last being unissued. “Prison Bound Blues b/w Don’t You Lie to Me” was subsequently issued on Rooster as a 45.

Johnny Jones died from lung cancer in 1964 leaving a huge space on the Chicago scene. Mike Leadbitter wrote at the time of Jones death, “In a Chicago full of guitarists and with comparatively few top-rate pianists, the death of Little Johnny Jones is a great loss, as it is to us, who were never really given a chance to appreciate him.”

Between 1948 and 1952 Baby Face Leroy Foster waxed a handful absolutely terrific sides under his own name for a number fledgling Chicago labels aided by some of the windy city’s best blues musicians. In addition his vocals, drumming, and guitar playing can be found backing some of the greatest Chicago blues records of the era. His death in 1958, at the age of 38, robbed the blues world of a singular, memorable talent and likely did much to hasten his unwarranted obscurity.

Foster was first cousin to Little Johnny Jones and Little Willie Foster and came up to Chicago in 1945 in the company of Jones and Little Walter. He worked for tips on Maxwell Street before graduating to the clubs playing with the likes of Sunnyland Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson and Lee Brown. Around 1947 he became one of the founding members of the fabled “Headhunters”, a group who included Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers and got their name for cutting the heads of any musicians foolish enough to cross their path. Foster first appeared on record backing Lee Brown in 1946 and during this period also backed James (Beale Street Clark), Little Johnny Jones,Floyd Jones, Muddy Waters, Snooky Pryor and Sunnyland Slim.Foster made his debut for Aristocrat at the end of 1948 with “Locked Out Boogie b/w Shady Grove Blues” with the record billed as Leroy Foster and Muddy Waters. Foster’s next entry was a lone outing in 1949 record for J.O.B., “My Head Can’t Rest Anymore b/w Take A Little Walk With Me” backed by Snooky Pryor on harmonica and Alfred Elkins on bass. In 1950 Foster cut eight remarkable sides for the small Parkway label. The Baby Face Leroy Trio (featuring vocals by Leroy Foster) and Little Walter sides were recorded in one 8-tune session. Perhaps the most outstanding record was ”Rollin’ And Tumblin’ - Part 1 & 2″ issued as Parkway 501. The record was as primal and raw as anything waxed up North resembling more of a southern field recording than a commercial Chicago blues record. Leroy Foster returned to JOB after Parkway failed in the middle of 1950 (he had quit Muddy Waters’ band after recording for Parkway, in the mistaken belief that his Parkway releases would establish him as a bandleader). Backed by Sunnyland Slim and Robert Jr. Lockwood, Foster cut “Pet Rabbit b/w Louella” in 1951 and “Late Hours At Midnight b/w Blues Is Killin’ Me” in 1952. All of Leroy Foster’s sides under his own name, plus the four Little Walter Parkway sides, can be found on Leroy Foster 1948-1952 on the Classics label.

Between 1948 and 1952 Baby Face Leroy Foster waxed a handful absolutely terrific sides under his own name for a number fledgling Chicago labels aided by some of the windy city’s best blues musicians. In addition his vocals, drumming, and guitar playing can be found backing some of the greatest Chicago blues records of the era. His death in 1958, at the age of 38, robbed the blues world of a singular, memorable talent and likely did much to hasten his unwarranted obscurity. Mike Rowe summarized his appeal in Chicago Breakdown, his classic survey of the Chicago blues scene: “He was a fine singer with a warm insinuating voice which, like the late Sonny Boy [Williamson], ‘got to people’. Baby face had a curious style; high pitched, it was a mixture of Sonny Boy’s and some of the eccentricities of Doctor Clayton, and between verses he kept up a constant barrage of shouts and encouragements, admonitions and asides. Baby Face’s natural exuberance never trivialized his performance, and he sings movingly on bouncy up-tempo songs and slow blues alike. …He played unfussy drums in the tight, Chicago manner and guitar, not too well, in the sparse city style. But his main talents were drinking, singing and clowning and he was very popular.”

Foster was first cousin to Little Johnny Jones and Little Willie Foster and came up to Chicago in 1945 in the company of Jones and Little Walter. He worked for tips on Maxwell Street before graduating to the clubs playing with the likes of Sunnyland Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson and Lee Brown. Around 1947 he became one of the founding members of the fabled “Headhunters”, a group who included Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers and got their name for cutting the heads of any musicians foolish enough to cross their path. Foster first appeared on record in 1945 playing guitar on Lee Brown’s “My Little Girl Blues” b/w “Bobbie Town Boogie” on the Chicago label. He pops up again with Lee Brown on a 1946 date for the Queen label, backs James (Beale Street Clark) the same year, Little Johnny Jones in 1949 (”Big Town Playboy” b/w “Shelby County Blues”), J.B. Lenoir in 1950, Little Walter in 1948 and 1950, Floyd Jones in 1948 (he plays drums on “Hard Times”), Muddy Waters in 1948 and 1949 (notably “You’re Gonna Miss Me (When I’m Dead and Gone),” “Mean Red Spider,” and “Screamin’ and Cryin’”), Snooky Pryor in 1949, Mildred Richards in 1950 (only two copies of this rare record are known to exist) and Sunnyland Slim in 1948 and 1950.

Foster made his debut for Aristocrat at the end of 1948 with “Locked Out Boogie” b/w “Shady Grove Blues” with the record billed as Leroy Foster and Muddy Waters. Propelled by Ernest “Big” Crawford’s thumping bass, “Locked Out Boogie” is an infectious, rough and tumble shuffle with Foster’s engaging, lively delivery. The song is essentially a vocal version of “Muddy Jumps One” cut at the same session with the same group. The mellow “Shady Grove Blues” is sung in what would be Foster’s trademark intimate, laconic style featuring Muddy’s down-home guitar that was so popular with audiences and propelled him to stardom.

Foster’s next entry was a lone outing in 1949 record for J.O.B., “My Head Can’t Rest Anymore” b/w “Take A Little Walk With Me” backed by Snooky Pryor on harmonica and Alfred Elkins on bass. This was a magnificent coupling again with Foster’s reflective, dreamy singing backed superbly by Pryor’s calm, masterful harmonica blowing as Foster encourages him on with Pryor doing the same.

In 1950 Foster cut eight remarkable sides for the small Parkway label. According to the Red Saunders Research Foundation: “Parkway is one of those small Chicago postwar blues labels that developed a legendary reputation based on a handful of recorded sides. In all, the label was in business for little more than 4 months and produced only 23 recordings, of which 14 were released at the time—four by the Baby Face Leroy Trio, four by the Little Walter Trio, two by Memphis Minnie, two by Sunnyland Slim, and two by harmonica-blowing Robert Jenkins. Just four singles are known to have come out on Parkway. …The Baby Face Leroy Trio (featuring vocals by Leroy Foster) and Little Walter sides were recorded in one 8-tune session… Most outstanding of the four Baby Face sides was the two-part “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” which ranks as one of the most exhilarating products of the Chicago postwar bar-band blues explosion (Muddy Waters and Little Walter were both in the band). The notable Little Walter Trio release featured blues harpist Little Walter on “Just Keep Lovin’ You” and “Moonshine Blues.” Two other Little Walter sides were sold to Regal and not released on Parkway. …Foster played guitar on some of the sides while operating the bass drum and high-hat with pedals.” “

Red Headed Woman” and “Boll Weevil” were paired for release on Parkway 104 featuring Little Walter, Muddy Waters and possibly Jimmy Rogers. “Boll Weevil” is in the best southern blues meets Chicago tradition as Foster relates a well worn theme that has been covered by Ma Rainey and Charlie Patton among others. “Red Headed Woman” is a chugging, wailer that crackles with energy, boasting stupendous blowing from Walter.

Perhaps the most outstanding record was”Rollin’ And Tumblin’ - Part 1 & 2″ issued as Parkway 501. The record was as primal and raw as anything waxed up North resembling more of a southern field recording than a commercial Chicago blues record. Part 1 was a wordless moaning and humming by all participants while Foster sings the verses on the second. According to the Red Saunders website: “Waters had been playing in clubs with this lineup in the previous months, and was frustrated by Leonard Chess’s lack of interest in recording it. The session, reportedly, did not take place in a regular studio. Muddy Waters’ biographer, Robert Gordon, declared that it took place in a ‘warehouse.’” This bit of moonlighting on Muddy’s part got him into trouble as Mike Rowe relates from a story told to him by Jimmy Rogers: “Leonard [Chess] didn’t want Muddy to use that slide on any other label-but here’s Muddy slipped off and cut this thing and Leonard heard it y’know. Then Muddy had to record this same number by himself on Chess.” Foster also plays drums on four Little Walter numbers for Parkway: “Bad Actin’ Woman”, “I Just Keep Loving Her”, “Muskadine Blues” and “Moonshine Blues.”

Again according to the Red Saunders website: “…Leroy Foster returned to JOB after Parkway failed in the middle of 1950 (he had quit Muddy Waters’ band after recording for Parkway, in the mistaken belief that his Parkway releases would establish him as a bandleader). Backed by Sunnyland Slim and Robert Jr. Lockwood, Foster cut “Pet Rabbit” b/w “Louella” in 1951 and “Late Hours At Midnight” b/w “Blues Is Killin’ Me” in 1952. All four songs are built in the same slow, deep blues mold and once again Foster’s laid back, conversational singing casts a compelling, powerful spell over the listener nicely counterpointed by Sunnyland’s rumbling piano.

All of Leroy Foster’s sides under his own name, plus the four Little Walter Parkway sides, can be found on Leroy Foster 1948-1952 on the Classics label. Stayed tuned in the next month or two as we spotlight Foster’s music on an upcoming radio program.

My Head Can’t Rest Anymore (MP3)

Boll Weevil (MP3)

Red Headed Woman (MP3)

Rollin’ And Tumblin’ - Part 1 (MP3)

While there are a few modern day blues mandolin revivalists, the instrument has largely consigned to the dustbin of history. Although little-heard on commercial recordings after the 1940s, the mandolin played an important role in blues and early rural black music. The mandolin can be heard on numerous recordings of the 1920’s and 1930’s particularly on several black string band and jug band recordings. Johnny Young was the most famous of the post-war mandolin players who after waxing a couple of exciting 78’s for Ora Nelle and Planet/Old Swing-Master circa 1947-48 didn’t resurface on record for fifteen years. Thankfully the 1960’s and 70’s were a different story with Young recording for Testament, Arhoolie Vangaurd, Spivey, Blue Horizon, Blues On Blues, Bluesway as well as a number of of other scattered sides. Young played traditional Chicago blues, rooted in the 40’s and early 50’s, and didn’t share much in common with more modern upstarts like Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Magic Sam. He also had one foot in his home state of Mississippi, his music still tied to the southern blues style of the 1920’s and 30’s and the vibrant string band tradition.

The general consensus ranks his Arhoolie recordings among his best but for my money his Bluesway album, I Can’t Keep My Foot From Jumping, is one of his finest and one that gets unjustly ignored. Of course it doesn’t help that the album has been long out of print and that the Bluesway label doesn’t have the best reputation. Producer Al Smith has been the target of much of the animosity against the label summed up writer Pete Lowry in a 1974 Living Blues review: “Here was a strange man-I don’t know if he was any kind of bass player, but he surely produced some screwed-up sessions. I won’t go into artist “relations,” but merely deal with the sessions; there have been some predictable characteristics. Lousy liner notes, replete with phonetic spelling (to be kind), incomplete or wrong personnel data, as well as often incomplete or disordered listings of the tunes… As for the records themselves, they varied from good to near disasters. The results of Al’s Special Ninety Minute Album Sessions included inconsistent levels on instruments, as if the warm up/test stuff was mixed for release (as was most likely the case!), some strange sounding stuff (out-of-synch echo units), and just total lack of programming. Al seems to have assembled albums in the order recorded, with no concept of the album as a programmed whole. For an artist to survive this sort of “production” he had to be damn good, or be having a better than average day in the studio.”

In 1969 Young cut a record for Blue Horizon that was titled Fat Mandolin in the UK. I’ve had the US version for years which goes under the less inspired title of Blues Masters Vol. 9. My impression of this one has been less than favorable although admittedly I hadn’t listened to it in years. Apparently I’m not the only one as Mike Vernon relates: “To the best of my recall, the album got little press coverage. It was, of course, certainly reviewed by the blues magazines of the time but with little real enthusiasm.” Now with the release of Johnny Young: The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions it’s time for a reassessment. For his part, Young had scorn for both labels: “Them people really cheated me, man. You know how much they gave me to make the LP? $50.”

After listening to the The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions I’ve revised my opinion of theses sessions and have to say they hold up quite well although I don’t think they rival the Bluesway and Arhoolie recordings. Mike Vernon’s assessment is right on the mark: “What you will be listening to is tough, straight ahead, no messin’ Chicago blues, echoing the great 40’s era, as exemplified in the work of Big Maceo Merriweather and John Lee Williamson.” Young plays mandolin on the bulk of the cuts aided by members of Muddy Waters’ band: Otis Spann, Sammy Lawhorn, Paul Oscher and S.P. Leary. Young was a warm, powerful singer and magnificent mandolin player. Thankfully this set features a good dose of his rippling mandolin work on numbers like “Moaning And Groaning”, “Lula Mae” which suffers from a very abrupt fade, “Prison Bound” and a rocking version of “Stealin’ that fades just when things are really cooking. The latter track is one of three unreleased tracks, the others, “Go Ahead On (With That Funky Broadway Sound”, a slow number despite the title, and “Johnny’s Mess Around” are fun but a bit loose and aimless. The band, as to be expected is very good and of course Spann is always a joy to hear. While overall a very solid set, there’s a spark missing, a sense of excitement and energy that’s lacking.

That spark is clearly evident on I Can’t Keep My Foot From Jumping a 1973 outing that was to be his final album. Young died the following year. Young’s brawny, rippling mandolin playing is better recorded then the Blue Horizon, much more up front in the mix, and there’s a crackling energy lacking in the earlier session. The band locks into a rock solid groove behind their leader: Louis Myers, Bill Warren and Richard Evans. The pianist is uncredited but may be Bob Reidy who Young had been playing with for several years and who appears on a Blues On Blues LP from around the same time period. Young plays mandolin on every track and there’s an innate sense of swing beginning with the chugging title track, not only an instrumental showcase for Young’s mandolin prowess but also for the band, including blistering guitar from Myers and in-the-pocket drumming from Bill Warren. Several of the same songs appear on both albums with the Bluesway versions superior; those include “Lend Me Your Love”, “Train Fare Out Of Town” and a knockout version of “Deal The Cards.” There’s not a bad track to be found with favorites going to “I Gotta Find My Baby”, “Stop Breaking Down” and the jumping shuffle “I Know She’s Kinda Slick.” Vocally young has rarely sounded better and the album as a whole serves as a clinic on blues mandolin playing.

Just about everything Young cut is worthwhile and despite some caveats I would certainly recommend the Blue Horizon set. Blue Horizon has been doing a superb job with their reissue series with all the releases boasting excellent sound and notes plus bonus tracks. Now if only someone would do this for the Bluesway catalog which, outside of a few which have made it onto CD, have languished in the cut out bin for far too long.

Moaning And Groaning [Blue Horizon](MP3)

Stealin’ [Blue Horizon](MP3)

Deal The Cards [Bluesway] (MP3)

I Know She’s Kinda Slick [Bluesway](MP3)

I’ve had a long running interest in Robert Nighthawk and am always pleased when he gets some recognition. I recently received an email from somebody involved with the Mississippi Blues Commission. The commission are the folks behind the Mississippi Blues Trail which when completed will be composed of more than 100 historical markers and interpretive sites located throughout the state. From the press release: “On Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 2:00 PM, MDA Tourism Heritage Trails Program, the Mississippi Blues Commission and the Clarksdale/Coahoma Tourism Commission will honor blues legend, Robert Lee “Nighthawk” McCollum. The ceremony will take place at the Hirsberg Drug Store located at 649 2nd Street in Friars Point, MS.” Nighthawk spent his entire life rambling around the country but Helena and Friars Point were places close to his heart. He lived and married in Friars Point as well as cutting the magnificent “Friars Point Blues” for Decca in 1940.

Nighthawk stayed in Chicago periodically but he related the following to writer Don Kent: “He told me he frankly preferred the South. It was cheaper, apt to be less violent than the City, and he was better known.” When he was in Chicago he was a regular on Maxwell Street, Chicago’s bustling open-air market. The market was a magnet for musicians just arriving to Chicago as well as those already established on the local blues scene.

We are extremely fortunate that filmaker Mike Shea was on the scene back then. In 1964 Shea was filming a documentary about the Maxwell Street market. The filming took place every Sunday capturing the vibrant sounds of the market including sidewalk merchants, street preachers, gospel singers and blues musicians. Disappointed by the film’s reception, Shea let the tapes languish in a warehouse for years until they were finally thrown away in the 70’s. Fortunately the audio tapes had been stored separately so all the original music has been preserved. In 2000 Rooster issued the 3-CD set And This Is Free containing all the recordings, the bulk of which feature Robert Nighthawk. Apparently much of the video has been lost although at one point it was available on VHS but is now out of print and difficult to find. Studio IT is currently soliciting a distribution deal to put out the original video. Below is a clip from the documentary I stumbled upon on the web. The song was listed as Going Down to Eli which was the title given to the song on the Rounder album Live On Maxwel Street 1964 but is actually a cover of Doctor Clayton’s “Cheating And Lying Blues” and correctly titled on the Rooster release.

It’s inevitable, if perhaps unfair, to judge the music of the rediscovered blues artists of the 1960’s with the recordings they made in their prime in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Sleepy John Estes held up quite well in what was a very successful comeback; he cut several solid albums for Delmark and performed at festivals all over the US, Europe and even the Far East. On The Chicago Blues Scene is a remixed, remastered version on the 1968 album Electric Sleep, the title a play on the psychedelic records of Muddy Waters (Electric Mud) and Howlin’ Wolf (This Is Howlin’ Wolf’s New Album), the latter called “birdshit” by Wolf for what it’s worth.

Fortunately label owner Bob Koester was wise enough to forgo the psychedelic route, instead putting Estes in a modern Chicago blues context. Koester recalls the genesis of that decision: “…later that year (1964) in a sub-cellar jazz club in Dusseldorf, while John was touring Europe for the first time with the American Folk Blues Festival John sat in at an impromptu session with Hubert Sumlin, (Howling Wolf’s guitarist), Sonny Boy Williamson, Sunnyland Slim and some other local musicians. I was amazed at how comfortably John was able to sing with such relative modernists. I promised John that one day we would cut an album with such a sound…”

On The Chicago Blues Scene is that album finding Estes backed by Sunnyland Slim on piano, Jimmy Dawkins on guitar, Carey Bell on harp, Odie Payne on drums and various bassist including Earl Hooker. Estes voice had coarsened over the years but he remained an expressive, still plaintive singer who’s style remained utterly distinctive. Big Bill Broonzy aptly called Estes style “crying the blues”, a good description of Estes high pitched, fragmented singing which, although blurred on these later recordings, is still highly expressive. As he did on his prior Delmark records, Estes draws extensively from his early records turning in fine versions of “Laura Had A Dream (originally titled “Little Laura Blues”), “Divin’ Duck Blues”and a particularly strong take on “Everybody Oughta Make A Change” featuring some sensitive harmonica from Carey Bell. Bell also shines on “May West” a thinly veiled version of “Hobo Jungle” which he first cut in 1938 with Hammie Nixon on harmonica. “Sweet Little Flower” seems to be one of the few new numbers while the oddly titled “Newport Blues”, a tribute to John Kennedy, was recorded on the album In Europe as “Blues For JFK.”

All in all a worthwhile project that holds up quite well some 40 years down the line. The band acquits themselves well, playing with sensitivity and restraint, and Estes remains a striking and captivating singer. Still after listening to this record I can’t help but hear the echo of those marvelous, poetic early sides when he was in the full flower of his creativity. If you haven’t heard them I urge you to check them out.

Everybody Oughta Make A Change (MP3)

May West (MP3)

Johnnie & Letha Jones

The group cut two exceptional sessions in March and November of 1950 once again prominently featuring Jones’ vocal abilities. “195o Blues” opens with a watery, flowing slide solo and settles into a a marvelous sing along vocal, with both men wonderfully complimenting each other in an easy, playful manner. Tampa’s slide is particularly incisive as the two sing: “I’ve been you’re dog baby, since 1934, (spoken: And that’s a mighty long time)/But this is 1950 and I won’t be you’re dog no more.” Harking back to Tampa’s early days is the rollicking “It’s Good Like That” a boogie update of his big hit “It’s Tight Like That” while “Love Her with a Feelin’” is an inspired remake of 1938’s ” Love With A Feeling” and ‘Sweet Little Angel” was cut in 1934 as “Black Angel Blues” and originally waxed by Lucille Bogan in 1930, although Tampa claimed the composition for his own. The latter song was a hit for Robert Nighthawk who cut it in 1949 as “Sweet Black Angel” (the flip “Anna Lou” was another Tampa song) and later covered by B.B. King as “Sweet Little Angel” in 1956. “New Deal Blues” was another notable number from these sessions prominently spotlighting Tampa’s ringing slide as Jones urges him on with spoken asides.

1951 followed a similar pattern with two four song sessions in March and July. There was plenty of high energy, good time music including the rocking “She’s Dynamite”, “Boogie Woogie Woman”, “She’s A Cool Operator” which put the focus less on Tampa’s guitar, but not his kazoo, all featuring Jones’ ample, rock ribbed piano playing. For the first time Jones takes the lead vocal on the insinuating “Early in the Morning” and takes a fair share of the humorous “I Won’t Let Her Do It” which harks back to 1942’s “She Want to Sell My Monkey” where Big Maceo played the role that Jones does. Tampa’s slide resurfaces on the marvelous “Green And Lucky Blues” another song B.B. King would later record.

Around this time, Letha Jones (Johnnie’s wife), recalled: “Tampa stopped having a band. I think he got sick or he got tired, he kept saying he was gonna retire. He quit playing out in the clubs.” While Jones and Payne continued to play on Tampa’s records they had since teamed with guitarist L.C. McKinley and later with Elmore James. Playing with Tampa also got Jones noticed by rising star Muddy Waters who employed Jones on a 1949 session that produced “Screamin’ And Cryin.” Through Muddy he also recorded two seminal numbers for Aristocrat in 1949, “Big Town Play Boy” and “Shelby County Blues.” By 1952 Jones, Payne and Knowling became Elmore’s backing band, The Broom Dusters, appearing on dozens of classic sides.

Two more sessions followed in April and November of 1952 with the addition of Bill Casimir on tenor sax. These are not up to the standards of Tampa’s previous earlier sessions. “I’m Gonna Put You Down” is a driving number with Jones stretching out liberally but is otherwise unexceptional with “Look A There Look A There” in a similar mold. “True Love” has a rhumba beat but is rather tepid with the same being said for sing along numbers like”But I Forgive You” which sound a bit tired by this point. The highlight is “Got A Mind To Leave This Town” featuring a particularly sensitive vocal from Tampa.

Tampa cut his final three sessions in 1953. On January 29th 1953 Tampa Red briefly stepped away from Victor, cutting four sides for the independent Sabre label. Using the pseudonym Jimmy Eager, he was accompanied on guitar by L. C. McKinley (who was making his recording debut) and an unknown pianist and drummer (possibly Bob Call and Odie Payne). His final two sessions found Tampa in much more contemporary company. The September session featured Tampa’s regular band of Jones, Payne and Knowling beefed up with RCA session guitarist Willie Lacey and harmonica player, Sonny Boy Williamson. It was a solid outing with a fairly typical Jones/Tampa duet on “So Crazy About You Baby” and “If She Don’t Come Back”, perhaps the best of the bunch, with some wailing harmonica from Sonny Boy. Better was Tampa’s final Victor session in December with Walter Horton taking over for Sonny Boy. “Big Stars Falling Blues” with it’s fine group vocal and fleet fingered guitar from Lacey is a winner although Horton is a bit submerged in the mix while the romping “Evalena” showcases Horton and Lacey at their best. “Rambler’s Blues” is by far the highlight, a stunning, up-to-date blues with a rhumba lilt showcasing a terrific vocal from Tampa and a shattering harmonica solo from Horton. It’s a shame the group didn’t record more but it put a fine exclamation point on a long and illustrious career.

All of the Tampa/Jones sides can be found on volumes 14 and 15 of Document’s complete recordings of Tampa Red. Unfortunately these may be out of print.

Love Her With A Feelin’ (MP3)

1950 Blues (MP3)

She’s Dynamite (MP3)

Rambler’s Blues (MP3)

By the time Johnnie Jones had taken over the piano chair in Tampa Red’s band in March 1949 Tampa had been a recording star for twenty years. Outside of a national hit in 1949 Tampa’s career was on the wane and his recording career essentially ended in 1953 outside of two disappointing albums for Bluesville in 1960. Tampa suffered the fate of famous blues artists who cut some of their most memorable early on and had lengthy careers, which is in effect to have later material overlooked. Certainly Tampa’s partnership with Big Maceo from 1945 to 1947 has been justly praised pairing Maceo’s rolling, thundering piano with Tampa’s ringing slide ranking them in the upper ranks of great piano/guitar duos. Less celebrated is the teaming of Maceo’s protege, Johnnie Jones, with Tampa beginning in 1949 and lasting through 1953. Clearly the infusion of new blood, chiefly Jones’ rolling two fisted piano playing and insinuating, warm vocal plus the addition of drummer Odie Payne added an exciting new charge to Tampa’s music.

Before discussing his later sides it’s worth providing a bit of background. One of the best things written about Tampa was Jim O’Neal’s thoughtful notes to the 1975 2-LP set Guitar Wizard. He neatly sums up Tampa’s significance: “Few figures have been as important in blues history as Tampa Red; yet no bluesman of such stature has been so ignored or misunderstood by today’s blues audience. As a composer, recording artist, musical trendsetter and one of the premiere urban blues guitarists of his day, Tampa Red remained popular with black record buyers for more than 20 years and exerted considerable influence on many post-World War II blues stars who earned greater acclaim for playing Tampa’s songs than Tampa himself often did.” Tampa always adapted to changing musical styles as O’Neal observed about the later records: “His records show he was still on top of things-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 from Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and Walter Horton. He was following trends, but also setting them too with numbers that many bluesmen were to re-record in later years.”

Big Maceo had a stroke in 1946 which left him unable to play piano although he continued to sing and resorted to using Eddie Boyd and then Johnny Jones on piano. With Maceo singing and Tampa on guitar, Boyd handles the piano chores on a February 1947 session with Jones popping up on a April 1949 session. Maceo took Jones under his wing when he arrived in Chicago and helped him hone his piano style. It was Tampa who encouraged Jones to get a union card and then hired him on his first gig at the C&T Lounge in 1947.

By the time of Tampa Red’s session in March 1949 Jones had been permanently installed as Tampa’s piano man. With bassist Ransom Knowling and drummer Odie Payne on board, it was an auspicious start featuring a pair of fine boogie numbers including the bouncy “It’s A Brand New Boogey” and “Come On, If You’re Coming” giving ample room for Jones’ robust two fisted piano. The highlight was the poignant “When Things Go Wrong with You”, with echoes of Tampa’s 1940 classic “It Hurts Me Too”, a perfect combination of fluid slide, rippling piano and wonderful duel vocal that would be one of their hallmarks. Tampa’s next session in July 1949 followed a similar pattern with the romping “That’s Her Own Business” and the sing along vocal of “I’ll Find My Own Way.” If Tampa was cutting some very up to date material during this period he never gave up his fondness for the kazoo, much to some critics lament. To be fair he played the kazoo with as much expressiveness as possible for the instrument. “Without doubt, however,” O’Neal notes, “Tampa became the most popular blues kazooist of all time-for what that’s worth-and he did inspire a number of other musicians to blow their own “jazz horns.”"

It’s A Brand New Boogey (MP3)

When Things Go Wrong With You (MP3)

Show Notes:

It’s not much of a stretch to call Otis Spann the greatest of the post-war Chicago piano men. Perhaps his only rival was Little Johnny Jones, who like Spann, never made it past his his fortieth birthday. Spann was born in Belzoni, Mississippi and inspired by local piano players Friday Ford and Tolley Montgomery, sibling of Little Brother Montgomery. He won a talent contest at age eight and began playing local vaudeville acts. After his mother died in the mid-40’s he headed to Chicago where his father and aunt lived. After playing with Morris Pejoe and others, he heard from Jimmy Rogers that Muddy Waters needed a piano player and he was promptly hired in 1951. Between 1953 and 1969 and played on the bulk of Waters’ Chess recordings. He also became a key session pianist backing Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, Lowell Fulson, Junior Wells, Chuck Berry and many others.

Starting in 1960 he launched a solo career parallel to his day job with Muddy Waters. Despite being an almost daily presence in the Chess studios, he cut only two sessions as leader. His own Chess output was limited to a 1954 single, “It Must Have Been the Devil,” that featured B.B. King on guitar, and sessions in 1954 and 1956 that remained in the can for decades. Chess may not have been impressed but the sides hold up well and I’ve decided to play them all for this feature. Spann cut albums for numerous labels including Candid, Prestuge, Bluesway, Storyville, Testament, Spivey and Vanguard among others. Spann rarely sounded less than inspired but he was occasionally ill served by his record companies and his sidemen. Unqualified successes include his Candid recordings with Robert Lockwood (issued in it’s entirety with bonus cuts, but out of print, as the Complete Candid Recordings: Otis Spann/Lightnin’ Hopkins Sessions) as well as those for Storyville and two albums for Bluesway (issued together on Down To Earth: The Bluesway Recordings) backed by the Muddy Waters band. Also quite good are The Blues of Otis Spann, hailed as one of the best blues albums ever made in Britain and The Biggest Thing Since Colossus (reissued with many bonus cuts as the 2-CD set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions) finding Spann backed by three-fifths of Fleetwood Mac. Less successful are recordings made for Vanguard, Prestige and the two albums for Spivey which have never been issued on CD.

Mahalia Lucille Jenkins began as a church gospel singer in Mississippi and continued to practice when her family moved to Chicago around 1952. She met Otis Spann in the 1960’s. The two began a musical collaboration and would later marry. Lucille and Otis performed regularly at college gigs and would record together until Otis passed in 1970. Lucille continued to work in music performing at the 1972 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival and making a few recordings before passing in 1994.

Lucille was a strong, gospel inflected vocalist who at times could be quite affective while at other times her vocals leaned to the histrionic side. Her 1960’s recordings are all in the company of her husband and she’s featured on recordings Otis did for Bluesway, Vanguard and Spivey. A couple of her best sides, “Chains of Love” and “Love With A Feelin’” (both on Chicago Blues Masters Vol. 3) were cut for World Pacific in 1968, and both featured in our show. There is also Last Call, recorded live in 1970, three weeks before Otis Spann passed, featuring Lucille taking all the vocals. Overall this is a depressing listening experience and not the way anyone would choose to remember Spann. In the 1970’s Lucille sang “Dedicated to Otis” at the 1972 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival which is on the 2-LP companion album, cut her only album, Cry Before I Go, for Bluesway in 1973 and waxed the 45’s Country Girl Returns Part 1 & 2 and Woman’s Lib for Torrid.

Charlie McCoy’s primary output in Chicago was that of a very busy session musician working with the top blues artists of the day. Among those he backed include: Big Bill Broonzy, Bumble Bee Slim, Jimmie Gordon, Frankie Jaxon, Curtis Jones, Memphis Minnie, Monkey Joe, Johnnie Temple, Casey Bill Weldon, Peetie Wheatstraw, Sonny Boy Williamson, Harlem Hamfats and many others. I’m not going to go through all of these sessions but it’s worth spotlighting a few notable ones. Pianist Curtis Jones was well into a successful career when he teamed up with McCoy on sessions in May and June 1938; McCoy’s mandolin is hard to hear on a remake of Jones’ hit “Lonesome Bedroom Blues No. 2″ but heard in fine fashion on “Palace Blues” and the hokum feel of “Who You’re Hunchin’.” Also in June 1938 he played mandolin on on an eight song session with former sister-in-law Memphis Minnie; His mandolin is featured prominently on the pop number “As Long As I Can See You Smile”, “I’ve Been Treated Wrong”, “Keep On Eating” and “I’d Rather See Him Dead.” Monkey Joe (Jesse Coleman) was a Jackson pianist/vocalist who McCoy likely knew prior to these recordings and in fact his pal Walter Vincson plays guitar on Monkey Joe’s first session. McCoy plays guitar and mandolin on his second session from 1938; Joe is an expressive, if not overly original singer and pianist, who benefits from McCoy’s talents particularly on “Some Sweet Day” where he steals the show with some dazzling mandolin work and also shines on “O.K. With Me Baby” and the raucous “Hair Parted In The Middle.” McCoy played on a number of sides between 1935-1937 with another Jackson artist, Johnnie Temple, who moved to Chicago around the same time as McCoy. McCoy plays second guitar behind Temple much in the way he accompanied Tommy Johnson. The two make a good team on numbers like “Lead Pencil Blues (It Just Won’t Write)”, “Louise Louise Blues” and “Snapping Cat.” McCoy shows up on guitar playing on a 1941 session for Sonny Boy Williamson; McCoy is rather subdued on these sides but contributes some imaginative playing to “Black Panther Blues” and “I Have Got To Go.”

Between 1936-1939 McCoy recorded extensively with the Harlem Hamfats appearing on all their records sans the very last session in September 1939. Tony Russell describes the band this way: “The Hamfats can be described as the first group to promote a successful synthesis of jazz and urban blues - if ‘jazz’ is shorthand for the presence of trumpet and clarinet as lead voices, and ‘urban blues’ for the voice/piano/guitar blend pioneered by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell. Herb Moran’s trumpet is the dominant horn, and the effect is of a youngish Louis Armstrong, flanked, in Odell Rand, by a vaudeville clarinetist of more than average ability, fronting a conventional Chicago blues band the 30’s. The main singer - for the first year of the band’s life virtually the only singer - is the gravelly voiced Joe McCoy.” The band also moonlighted as the Palooka Washboard Band as well as backing Johnnie Temple and Frankie Jaxon. McCoy plays primarily mandolin and is featured prominently on numerous tracks: the bouncy hit “Oh! Red”, “What You Gonna Do?”, “Move Your Hand”, “Sales Tax On It (But It’s the Same Thing)”, “Southern Blues”, “Bad Luck Man”, “My Daddy Was a Lovin’ Man”, “Growling Dog”, “Keep It Swinging Round and Round”, “I Love That”, “What’s On Your Mind?” and “Little Girl” among others.

Charlie McCoy was an exceptionally versatile musician whether playing mandolin, guitar or banjo and sounded at home performing blues, hokum, swing, in a string band setting or just about any other style you could throw at him. His sides under his own name prove he could hold his own as a lead artist but he seemed most at home enhancing other artists’ records - in that he was the perfect session musician making every record he appears on sound that much better. The war cut short McCoy’s career, and he made no more recordings after 1942, dying in Chicago on July 26, 1950. A good chunk of McCoy’s recordings can be found on the following Document CD’s: Charlie McCoy (1928-1932), Mississippi String Band & Associates (1928-1931), The McCoy Brothers - Vol. 1 (1934-1936) and The McCoy Brothers - Vol. 2 (1936-1944).

Monkey Joe - Some Sweet Day (MP3)

Harlem Hamfats - Growling Dog (MP3)

Harlem Hamfats - Bad Luck Man (MP3)

Between 1929-1936 Charlie McCoy cut scattered sides under his own name or as lead in various bands. By the early 1930’s the 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.

By the early 1930’s McCoy was in Chicago where he settled in as a much in demand session musician although he managed a few sides under his own name. In February 1930, As Papa Charlie McCoy, he cut the excellent “Times Ain’t What They Used To Be” playing terrific banjo with guitar from either his brother Joe or Tampa Red. The following day, with Georgia Tom on piano, he cut “Too Long” an insinuating, bluesy pop song that proved to be a sizable hit. In 1934 under the pseudonym Mississippi Mudder he waxed the bouncy “Candy Man Blues”, the wonderful hard time blues of “Charity Blues” featuring some strong piano from Chuck Segar, “Baltimore Blues” a variation on the “Sweet Old Kokomo/Sweet Home Chicago” theme with brother Joe on guitar and the moody slide driven “Motherless & Fatherless Blues.” In 1936 he led a group listed as Papa Charlie’s Boys (Papa Charlie); McCoy is in superb form on vocal and jazzy mandolin on a sparkling remake of “Too Long”, “Let My Peaches Be” and “You Can’t Play Me Cheap” laying down some acrobatic mandolin solos, and the heartfelt “Gypsy Woman Blues.”

Joe McCoy was well known for his association with his wife Memphis Minnie where he played the part of Kansas Joe. The two made many popular recordings between 1929-1932 and after they separated he occupied himself in small bands, singing with the Harlem Hamfats, working as a songwriter and working with his brother Charlie. The two recorded, with Joe as lead bill, for Decca in 1934 as The Mississippi Mudder (Mud Dauber Joe) on notable numbers like “Evil Devil Woman Blues” a smoother version of Skip James’ “Devil Got My Woman” with mandolin like guitar from Charlie and “Going Back Home Blues” strongly influenced by Tommy Johnson. Three sessions in 1941-1942 are listed as Big Joe And His Rhythm a group containing, at times, Robert Lee McCoy, Washboard Sam, Ransom Knowling, Alfred Elkins, Amanda Sortier and Harman Ray. The music is hard to define with Tony Russell dubbing it “skiffle Blues” and describing it this way: “the blend of perky harmonica, stolid rhythm guitar and washboard produces an unusual but shallow ensemble sound and, although it is somewhat freshened by the addition of Charlie McCoy’s mandolin…the half dozen examples…may for some listeners be all the late Joe McCoy they need.” Overall the music is entertaining particularity a follow-up to the Hamfat’s popular “Oh! Red” in “Oh Red’s Twin Brother”, the prominent mandolin of “I’ll Get You Off My Mind” and “It Ain’t No Lie” once again featuring the “Cow Cow Blues” motif and “Bessie Lee Blues.”

Papa Charlie’s Boys - Let My Peaches Be (MP3)

Charlie McCoy - That Lonesome Train Took My Baby Away (MP3)

Big Joe And His Rhythm - It Ain’t No Lie (MP3)