Big Road Blues

I first came across the Sparks Brothers some twenty years ago on The Piano Blues Volume Twenty: Barrelhouse Years 1928-1933, the second to last installment of the Magpie label’s groundbreaking piano blues series. Featuring the arresting, high pitched vocals of Milton “Lindberg” Sparks and the sensitive, rolling piano of Aaron “Pinetop” Sparks, the songs, “Down On The Levee”, “Louisiana Bound” and “East Chicago Blues”, made a strong impression on me. I believe it was in the 1990’s when Document got around to issuing their complete recorded works on CD.

Aaron and Marion (he changed his name to Milton in 1929) were twins born to Ruth and Sullie Gant in Tupelo, Mississippi. Soon after the twins were born Ruth married Carl Sparks. According to Cleveland Sparks, uncle of Aaron and Marion: “Piano player Aaron he learned how to play piano before he could holler and shout…it was a coloured fellow teaching him. He had a joint y’know selling bootleg whiskey back in the corner. He just had a crowd there all the time and he just learned to play. His name Arthur Johnson and he been dead so long nobody down there would know him–’cause he was a old man when he was teaching that boy.” Henry Townsend, who often accompanied Marion, had this to say: “He just kept getting better and better and got to playing for illegal joints y’know. …Pinetop was doing a lot of house-party playing and uh ’cause this was a trend then. We would go from house-party to house-party and make some money to pay the rent. We’d go from place to place like that I mean it’d be announced at this party before it was over that there would be such and such a place to get their rent paid and Pinetop would play for those kind of parties where they had a piano–and I kinda went around him quite a bit.” Now at that time Milton wasn’t singing, Pinetop was the star when it come to singing. And so just out of nowhere Milton decided he was going to sing and he’d start. …Aaron got the name Pinetop because “He was very good at the number that Smith made [Pinetop Smith’s “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie”]. Yeah he was very good with that number and as most guys do he just started to call himself Pinetop himself y’know. The nickname “Lindberg”, Townsend suggests, was probably due to Milton’s prowess in dancing the Lindberg or Lindy Hop. In addition to the recollections of Townsend and Cleveland Sparks, biographical background on the brothers was gleaned from their thick police files; Milton was arrested some 50 times for fighting and gambling and other minor offenses while Aaron was picked up 18 times.

The brothers cut four sessions, the first for Victor and the other three for Bluebird, between 1932 and 1935. Milton cut two songs for Decca in 1934 under the name Flyin’ Lindberg. Aaron backed a number of St. Louis artists at their second session: Elisabeth Washington, Tecumseh McDowell, Dorotha Trowbridge, James “Stump” Johnson and Charlie McFadden. The brothers’ led rough and tumble lives reflected in songs that dealt with gambling, jail, alcohol, woman, hoboing and railroads. In spite of their lyrics and rough background, the music the brothers made was surprisingly tender and wistful. Milton possessed a strong, nasal voice that is extremely appealing while Milton had a warm, sensitive vocal that occasionally dips into a mellow falsetto. Aaron was an exceptional and versatile piano player as Chris Smith appraises: “Aaron’s playing features the steady chordal basses typical of St. Louis, and a very inventive right hand, endowed with melodic grace and propulsive energy. He was also a capable boogie player, with a singing line and a fondness for medium tempos.”

Their first recording date yielded four songs under the name Pinetop and Lindberg. This was an exceptional session as Milton sings wonderfully in his high, powerful nasal voice on the sing-sing “Louisiana Bound” with superb flourishes from Aaron who lays out with a nice mid-tempo solo as Milton encourages him on. The brothers excelled at thoughtful, mid-tempo blues such as “East Chicago Blues”, “4X11=44″ a reference to number combination for playing policy and “I Believe I’ll Make A Change.” Throughout Aaron lays down some mellow, highly inventive piano work, a perfect contrast to Milton’s almost wistful vocals with Milton encouraging “Pine” on with some engaging spoken patter. “East Chicago Blues” shares similarities to “Chicago’s Too Much For Me” which was cut at their second session and is also notable for making reference to a 1917 riot in East St. Louis where many African-Americans were killed, with a similar riot two years later in Chicago:

I was in Chicago I had my good rags on
I’m in this town, got all my new suits in pawn

East Chicago is on fire, East St. Louis is burnin’ down…

The following year the brothers were in Chicago where they cut three sides for Bluebird on August 2, 1933. At this session they cut the enduring “61 Highway” that would pass into common blues currency with it’s now familiar verse:

61 Highway, longest highway that I know (2x)
It runs from New York City down into the Gulf of Mexico

“Down On The Levee” was a typically sensitive mid-tempo number featuring Milton’s fine, mellow delivery and some wonderful right hand flourishes from Aaron. “Chicago’s Too Much For Me” was in a similar vein with with more forceful playing from Aaron with Milton probably sharing the sentiments of many who first visited Chicago:

Going back to St. Louis
Chicago’s too much for me
I may get in trouble, people don’t you see
In St. Louis I had my glad rags on
Now I’m in Chicago got all my glad rags in pawn

Aaron’s fine abilities as an accompanist extend to his backing a trio of St. Louis ladies. Elisabeth Washington was an appealing, slightly nasal singer with a good sense of delivery; “Riot Call Blues” and “Whiskey Blues” are particularly tough blues with the latter opening with the line “Everyday I have the blues” a song that the brothers would debut two years later. Tecumseh McDowell and Dorotha Trowbridge are solid, if unexceptional singers, who stylistically bear some resemblance to the then popular St. Louis singer Alice Moore.

The next year, August 24, 1934, Milton was in Chicago where he cut two songs for Decca as Flyin’ Lindburg. Milton recorded with Peetie Wheatstraw on piano, possibly Bill Lowry on violin and unknown clarinetist and guitarist. Milton’s powerful vocals easily rise above the small band behind “I.C. Train Blues” (a reference to the Illinois Central) which, while a bit rough and raucous, is nonetheless quite effective. “No Good Woman Blues” is a bit more sedate but equally entertaining.

Milton was absent from a four of the eight songs which comprised their final session on July 28, 1935 which featured guitarist Henry Townsend on seven of the eight numbers. Townsend explained: “Yeah Pinetop sang–Milton was supposed to be the singer of the two when the session was drewed up. Pinetop didn’t go there to sing at all–he went to play for his brother Milton. And when we got there, why, just going through measures like musicians carry on, he hummed off a tune or two. So everybody thought he should go ahead and do a number. So he went ahead and did a number. It turned out that his number was the better number after all.” Aaron possessed a warm, mellow vocal heard to good effect on the marvelous, melodic “Tell Her About Me”, the wistful “Workhouse Blues” and the driving boogie of “Got The Blues About My Baby.” The most famous song was “Every Day I Have The Blues” sung in a wonderful high falsetto that may sound surprising to those more familiar with modern versions. Milton’s numbers were not up to his usual standards although “Grinder Blues” contains a frank tribute to his wife Janie’s charms:

Don’t you know I got a little grinder.
She lives in St. Louis, her number is 2721 Stoddard Street.
That little woman grind me to death, boy.
I’m telling you the truth. I don’t love nobody but that little woman–her name is Janie.
Hey man I feel a verse coming down

Blues I ain’t gonna sing these blues no more (2x)
I got my mind on Janie, mean I swear I got to go

In the 1950’s Milton rejoined the church and renounced the blues. He died in 1963. Aaron reportedly died much earlier although no death certificate has been found. There is a hint of an early death in both Cleveland Sparks’ and Townsend’s recollections.

Louisiana Bound (MP3)

Down On The Levee (MP3)

Tell Her About Me (MP3)

Everyday I Have The Blues (MP3)

Sources:

-Russell , Tony and Smith, Chris. The Penguin Guide To The Blues. Penguin Books, London, England, 2006.

-Dixon, Robert M.W., John Godrich, Howard W. Rye. Blues & Gospel Records 1890-1943. 4th edition. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1997.

-Rowe, Mike and O’Brien, Charlie. Well Them Two Sparks Brothers They Been Here And Gone. Blues Unlimited no. 144 (Spring 1983): 9-14.

-Oliver, Paul. Blues Fell This Morning. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1960.

RIP 1931 - 2007

Show Notes:

By now everyone knows that Ike Turner has passed. Just about every notable publication had an obituary or opinion on Ike and not surprisingly many focused on his well publicized troubles instead of his musical legacy. Serious blues and rock fans know that well before Tina, Ike was a major player on the R&B and blues scene of the 1950’s.

Ike and his Kings of Rhythm were right in the thick of things when blues and R&B was coalescing into rock and roll. Ike made his mark as rock solid boogie piano player and was also a distinctive guitarist with a biting tone who was one of the first to make the whammy bar an integral part of his sound. Growing up in Clarksdale Ike’s first inspiration was pianist Pinetop Perkins who also inspired Ike’s life long friend Ernest Lane. “Anyway”, he recalled, “we started talkin’ to Pinetop and he started teaching us different little boogie-woogie things. And from there, that started my musical life.” It should be noted that Lane was still touring with Ike at the time of death and remains a fine piano player in his own right, and is one of the last who plays in the rock ribbed, boogie based style.

As a teenager talked himself into a DJ slot on the local radio station, where he played everything from the jump blues of Louis Jordan to country & western. He formed his first band while still in high school, and by the late ’40s had assembled an outfit dubbed the Kings of Rhythm. After “Rocket 88” Turner and his band became session regulars around Memphis; they went on to back legendary bluesmen like Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Bobby Bland, Jr. Parker, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and a host of Sun artists . During the early ’50s, Turner switched from piano to guitar, and also doubled as a talent scout for the Bihari Brothers’ Los Angeles-based Modern Records, where he helped get early breaks for artists like Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King. For many years Turner was the linchpin of Modern, working as a talent scout for Joe Bihari, a go-getter, a good pair of hands in the studio, and a fine musician to boot. On today’s program we feature sides by Howlin’ Wolf, Charley Booker, Elmore James, Driftin’ Slim and Baby Face Turner all featuring Ike’s piano.

Also featured today are many sides Ike cut with the mighty Kings of Rhythm, some of which came were issued variously as Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm, Ike Turner and His Orchestra and other variations. The Kings of Rhythm employed several fine vocalists including Jackie Brenston, Billy Gayles, Billy Emerson, Dennis Binder, Clayton Love, Lonnie “The Cat”, Johnny Wright. Many of these sides were issued under the singer’s name and we feature a number of these sides on today’s show. In addition we feature many of Ike’s many scorching instrumentals. Ike’s ferocious whammy-bar and ultra-aggressive string-bending solos were way ahead of their time from the mid-1950s onwards. He always considered himself foremost a boogie pianist who picked up electric guitar during the early 1950s because he had difficulty finding a reliable axeman for his band. “It sounds like I was a guitar player,” said Ike. “But I’m not.” We counter that claim by playing a number of Ike’s jaw dropping guitar workouts like “Loosely (The Wild One),” “Go To It (Stringin’ Along),”"Prancing, “The New Breed” among others.

Ike relocated to St. Louis in he late 50’s frontong one of the hottest live acts in the area. The late 50’s were leaner times for Ike cutting an unissued session for Sun, scattered 45’s for Cobra/Artistic in Chicago (backing Otis Rush, Betty Everett, Buddy Guy in addition to cutting thier own material). Though his hitmaking activities with Tina began to relegate Ike’s wild guitar to the background from 1960 on, he found time to cut an instrumental album for Sue in 1962 called Dance With Ike & Tina Turner’s Kings of Rhythm. Ike Turner Rocks The Blues was issued on Crown in 1963 and was a collection of his 50’s sides. Ike and Tina did cut a couple of solid blues based albums for Blue Thumb in 1969; Outta Season and The Hunter which actually featured an uncredited Albert Collins on guitar. Also in 1969 when he was out on tour in 1969 with his regular gig, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Ike Turner cut the instrumental album A Black Man’s Soul which was reissued by Funky Delicacies in 2003 with bonus cuts. Strange Fruit was another instrumental outing cut in 1972 for United Artists and the aptly titled Blues Roots was also cut for United Artists in 1972.

Ike has been well served on CD reissues. Among those featured on today’s show include: Traiblazer (Charly) a collection of late 50’s sides for Federal, Ike Turner: 1958-1959 (reissued by Fuel 2000 as King Cobra: The Chicago Sessions) a collection of his Cobra sides, Rhythm Rockin’ Blues a collection of early-’50s sessions with the Kings of Rhythm, Ike’s Instrumentals, Blues Kingpins a 18-track collection drawn from the vaults of RPM, Modern, Crown, and Sue. In addition Ike’s role as talent scout is meticulously documented on the 4-CD Ace label series Modern Downhome Blues Session which collects sides Joe Bihari and Ike Turner recorded in the deep South for Modern between 1951 and early 1952. Notewriter Jim O’Neal sets the scene for these recordings: “The tale of their [the Bihari brothers] exploits in the land of cotton has all the elements of a Dixie docu-drama, complete with an indignant Southern heroine [Lillian McMurry of Trumpet Records], a double-dealing native talent scout [Ike Turner], small town sheriffs and police, subterfuge, disguise, raiders, traitors, spies, and clandestine operations. But no shots were fired in these skirmishes, and the only casualties were in lost record sales revenue, broken contracts, violated trusts, and one unfortunate blues artist’s shattered career. The Biharis’ battle wagon was a flashy new Cadillac, their artillery a four-channel Magnecord tape recorder, and their ammunition reels of magnetic tape and rolls of cash.”

Ike Before Tina

Ike Turner New York Times Obit

Ike Turner Discography

It was Mamie Smith’s recording of “Crazy Blues” in 1920 that set off the blues craze, proving there was indeed a substantial market for blues records. Record companies sought to repeat the success by signing numerous blues ladies including some of the era’s most celebrated singers like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Victoria Spivey and Ida Cox. In addition to the big stars there were countless second and third stringers who recorded, most of whom have faded into obscurity. Mary Johnson of St. Louis (sometimes billed as “Signifying Mary”) came late to the game, making her debut in 1929, cut just shy of two dozen songs, achieved modest success and never recorded again after 1936 despite living until 1970. while it’s true that Johnson wasn’t in the same league as Bessie and Ma, she left behind a small, very impressive body of work that merits more attention.

Johnson got her start in show business as a teenager in St. Louis. and frequently worked with Lonnie Johnson who she married in 1925. They had six children together and divorced in 1932. Strangely the two never recorded together. Johnson was a fine singer with a clear, low, moaning style that came across well on record. She also wrote a number of moving songs, many filled with vivid violent and sexual imagery and an unrelenting bleak view of the world. Johnson was blessed with superb backing musicians throughout her brief career that elevated her recordings above many of her contemporaries. She was accompanied by either Henry Brown, Judson Brown, Roosevelt Sykes, or Peetie Wheetstraw on piano, many selections featuring trombonist Ike Rodgers, guitarists Tampa Red and Kokomo Arnold and violinist Artie Mosby.

She recorded 8 selections in 1929, 6 sides in 1930, two in 1932, four in 1934, and two final numbers in 1936. All of the 1929 sides feature the fine piano of Henry Brown and trombonist Ike Rogers on five of the eight sides. On her first coupling from May 7, 1929 is the superbly mournful “Muddy Creek Blues” sporting some prominent low down trombone from the always fine Ike Rogers. Johnson’s sets the tone for future records with a slow, deliberate, moaning vocal that perfectly suites the somber and chilling lyrics:

I went to the muddy creek this morning with my razor swinging in my hand (2x)
I said good morning Mr. Tadpole have you seen anything of my man

and concludes:

I say I’m black and evil, you sure don’t know my mind (2x)
I’ll cut you’re throat Mr. Tadpole, drink you’re blood like cherry wine

The phrase “black and evil” was echoed a few months later by fellow St. Louis singer Alice Moore in “Black And Evil Blues”, her biggest hit which also featured Ike Rogers. Two days later Johnson waxed one more 78 with the same group; “Black Men Blues” sans Rogers and “Western Union Man”were strong blues in the same mold as her first numbers. Her final session in November 1929 yielded four more numbers, notably “Barrel House Flat Blues” and “Key To The Mountain Blues.” The latter is a surreal, sexual number as she sings “My man’s in the mountain(2x)/And I got the mountain key” before a lengthy passage where she moans suggestively in response to Roger’s seductive trombone lines and makes spoken asides like “play it for your freakish mama” and “Oh it feels so good.” She never cut anything else quite like this and oddly the song was covered by Jesse Thomas who recorded it in Los Angles in1948 as “Mountain Key Blues.”

Johnson cut six sides at two sessions in 1930. The April 8, 1930 was outstanding do in large part to the shimmering slide guitar of Tampa Red and the excellent piano of the under recorded Judson Brown. The two work beautifully behind Johnson on the mournful “Three Months Ago Blues” with Tampa shinning on “Dawn Of Day Blues” and the magnificent “Death Cell Blues” which opens in tough, forthright fashion:

I killed my man last year, lord, the man I really love
He did not treat me right now he’s with the good lord above
Woman don’t never love so hard, until you take your good man’s heart
When they put you in the death cell the whole world seems dark
(spoken) Lord, lord I’m bound for the death cell

“Friendless Gal Blues” has echoes of Lonnie Johnson’s “Friendless And Blues” from 1938. The themes of alienation an loneliness, of being adrift in an unforgiving world, are wonderfully evoked by Johnson’s moaning, moving delivery punctuated by Tampa’s sympathetic slide:

I’m just a friendless little girl
I’m traveling from door to door
Everywhere I go they tell me that I can’t come here no more
People I ain’t got no mother, I ain’t got no dad
Trouble is the only thing that I have ever had

The next day she cut two more strong numbers with backing just from Judson Brown who’s marvelous ragtime flavored playing is heard to good effect particularly on “Morning Sun Blues.”

1932 found Johnson cutting one 78; “Rattlesnake Blues” and “Mary Johnson Blues” which Chris Smith notes “are clearly a response to the recent, acrimonious end of her marriage.” Once again she’s in good company with Roosevelt Sykes on piano, in quite lively fashion on the former number, and violinist Curtis Mosby on the latter track.

Johnson was back in the studio in 1934 with old friends Henry Brown and Ike Rogers on board. Four songs were cut at three sessions including “Those Black Man Blues” and remake of 1929’s “Black Men Blues” which was a modest hit. Perhaps she was running out of inspiration as she also cut a variation of Joe Pullum’s huge hit “Black Gal What makes Your Head So Hard?” which Pullum cut just five months prior. Her version, “Black Gal Blues”, is quite good as she emulates Pullum’s delivery which makes the song sound different than anything else she recorded and also fiddles with the lyrics giving it her own personal stamp. Perhaps the standout is the gorgeous “Peepin’ At The Risin’ Sun” featuring terrific piano from the ever reliable Henry Brown who also gets plenty of room to stretch out on the fine “Deceitful Woman Blues.”

Johnson’s final sessions were done in 1936 at three different sessions with only two songs released and four numbers unissued. The May 22 session saw only “Delmar Avenue” issued with heavyweight support from Peetie Wheatstraw on piano and Kokomo Arnold on guitar. Johnson immortalizes the well known St. Louis thoroughfare on a solid number that finds her voice sounding a bit heavier then usual: “Sitting on Delmar Avenue, watching the cars go by(2x)/Well I could not see nothing but the blue clouds in the sky.” Henry Brown described the avenue this way to Paul Oliver: “Deep Morgan …they call it Delmar Avenue now …That was all just them low-down sportin’ houses and receration parlours you know, call ‘em receration parlours. Like a barrelhouse joint.” The next day she cut “I Just Can’t Take It” which bears a resemblance to the “Dirty Dozens” with stomping piano support from Wheatstraw as Johnson exhorts him to “play it Peter, play it.”

After these recordings Mary Johnson abandoned the blues for religion. Supposedly she recorded some religious sides but these were never issued. Paul Oliver interviewed her in 1960 for his book “Conversation With The Blues” and described her this way: “Living with her mother Emma Williams in an apartment on Biddle Street, St. Louis, above the premises of a wholesale dealer in live fish, Mary Johnson has known considerable poverty for many years” Sadly it’s common story and despite a fairly successful career as a blues singer it had little marked improvement on her way of life and left no safety net for later years. While her early sides are admired by collectors she remains virtually forgotten today.

Muddy Creek Blues (MP3)

Death Cell Blues (MP3)

Peepin’ At The Risin’ Sun (MP3)

Another dozen sides were cut in 1949 including two unissued and one rejected side. Many more ballads were cut during this period including the dreamy “Bewildered”, “Don’t Play With My Love”, “I Found A Dream”, “I’m So Afraid” and his last hit “Confused” which charted in February 1950. Of special interest were a pair of instrumentals backed by a group called The Three Clouds, particularly “Playing Around” a pure jazz number sporting fine tenor from Paul Renfro and a truly jaw dropping guitar solo from Johnson. On the blues front were “You Take Romance” a take on “Romance Without Finance” featuring a stunning, nearly thirty second solo and the grinding “She’s Sweet” featuring a hard blues edge that contrasts nicely with Johnson’s bittersweet delivery. Johnson tapped into country music covering a pair of 1946 tunes by label mates the Delmore Brothers. It’s not a great leap as the Delmore Brothers were strongly blues based and Johnson turns in marvelous covers of “Troubles Ain’t Nothing But the Blues” and the haunting “Blues Stay Away from Me.”

Johnson cut eight sides apiece in 1950 and 1951, following a typical pattern of blues and ballads. “I’m So Crazy For Love” and “Nobody’s Lovin’ You” were two of the ballad highlights of 1950, that latter featuring a particularly heartfelt vocal while “You Only Want Me When You’re Lonely” was a standout of the 1951 sessions. The earlier session yielded several fine blues including “Little Rockin’ Chair”, the jivey jump blues “Nothin’ Clickin’ Chicken” both featuring lengthy guitar flights of fancy plus the low down “Nothing But Trouble.” The first two numbers illustrate both sides of Johnson’s views on love. On “Little Rockin’ Chair” he sings:

Yes, I’m so tired of being disappointed, so tired of being all alone (2x)
Yes, I’m so tired of laying down at night, worried ’bout where my baby’s gone

Sometimes when the sun is rising in the morning, still walking up and down my floor (2x)
My two pillows so covered with tears, and I can’t rest in my bed no more

While in “Nothin’ Clickin’ Chicken” he takes a guarded, wiser outlook in contrast to the joyous tone of the song:

Nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here (2x)
Now, I know you’re mellow and you’re mighty fine
But you can’t get your hands on this bank-roll of mine
Nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here

There’s nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here (2x)
You want to make courts in a Cadillac car
Who in the devil do you think you are
There’s nothing clicking chicken, chicken you get nothing here
You won’t find nothing, ain’t got nothing here

The 1951 recordings are complimented by tenor saxophonists Ray Felder and Wilbur “Red” Prysock. These sessions showcase a trio of fine cuts: “It Was All in Vain” and “Me and My Crazy Self” are sublime blues ballads featuring some of Johnson’s best vocal performances plus some nice guitar and tenor echoing off each other beautifully and the simmering “Seven Long Days.”

Johnson concluded his King stint with a four song session in June 1952. Here Johnson is backed by trumpet, three tough saxes, and a kicking rhythm section headed by pianist Todd Rhodes. Backed by a wailing, full bodied band Johnson croons mightily on “I’m Guilty”, “You Can’t Buy Love” and the soaring “Can’t Sleep Any More” the only number on which he solos for any length, and a typically fine one to boot. Surprisingly none of these numbers hit the charts.

Johnson’s King sides have been rather spottily collected and not all of them have been reissued. In 2005 the French Classics label issued “1948-1949″ and in 2007 issued “1949-1952″ which collects all of the King recordings from those respective years. For some reason they haven’t issued a collection of his 1947 recordings. Charly’s “Me And My Crazy Self” collects 20 of Johnson’s bluesier sides for the label and in 2005 Collectables released “The Very Best of Lonnie Johnson” containing 25 King sides. Also issued in 2005 was Proper’s 4-CD “The Original Guitar Wizard” which contains nearly a disc’s worth of King material. Hopefully some enterprising company will issue a box of all of the King sides but I won’t hold my breath.

Little Rockin’ Chair (MP3)

Playing Around (MP3)

Can’t Sleep Any More (MP3)

Between December 10 and the 14th 1947 Johnson recorded twenty-one sides all of which were issued. Despite the success of the ballad “Tomorrow Night” most of the material was straight blues. Johnson recycled many of his earlier triumphs including one of his most enduring themes, a superb update of “Falling Rain Blues.” Johnson first recorded the song back in 1925 accompanying himself on violin, in 1929 as “The New Fallin’ Rain Blues” again on violin (lyrically the song is about floods where the earlier one was a metaphor for misery) and in 1937 as “New Falling Rain Blues” a faithful remake of the 1925 version but played on guitar and the model for his King version. “Blue Ghost Has Got Me” was a remake of 1927’s “Blue Ghost Blues” (remade in 1938 with the same title), “Feeling Low Down” was a remake of 1942’s “When You Feel Low Down”, “Working Man’s Blues” a remake of 1941’s celebrated “Crowing Rooster”, “Lazy Woman” a remake of 1941’s “Lazy Woman Blues”, “Chicago Blues” a remake of the same titled 1941 number while “Jelly Roll Baker” a remake of his 1942 smash “He’s A Jell-Roll Baker.” Two other updates were “Drunk Again” which shares lyrics with 1926’s “Bed Of Sand” while “Friendless Blues” is a remake of 1938’s “Friendless And Blue.” Both were marvelous updates and really get at the heart of Johnson’s lyrical sensibility. There’s a consistent feeling of alienation, loneliness and a haunted psyche that’s always been at the core of Johnson’s songs. In “Friendless Blues” he sings:

Don’t the world seem lonesome, battling by yourself (2x)
Yes, to think the one you love, is turned her back for someone else
When my mother and dad left me, I was too small to help myself (2x)
And my sisters and brothers, they drove me away to somebody else
So many nights and days, I tramped through the rain and snow (2x)
I wanted to go back home but I know I’m not wanted there no more

And in “Drunk Again” he sings:

Friends I drink to keep from worrying and I smile to just keep from crying (2x)
I try to cover my troubles so the public don’t know what’s on my mind
My brains is so cloudy the world seems upside down (2x)
Yes I would feel so much better if was no liqueur around
Love has caused so many men to drink and gamble, and stay out all night long (2x)
Love will drive a man into places, friends, where he don’t belong

1948 saw only fourteen sides recorded (one was unissued) including big hits “Pleasing You (As Long As I Live)” and “So Tired” (which hit the charts in early 1949) first recorded in 1928 as “I’m So Tired Of Living All Alone” (the song became a hit in 1951 for Roy Milton). Among the blues material were a fine version of Bessie Smith’s “Backwater Blues’ which Johnson first covered in 1927 (three months after Bessie’s version) and a lovely cover of “Careless Love.” Special mention goes to “I Know It’s Love” recorded in 1941 as “That’s Love Blues.” The newer version has more of a pop song feel but Johnson’s guitar is remarkable, and as Per Notinl noted he lets his guitar speak for an amazing 48 bars.

Drunk Again (MP3)

I Know It’s Love (MP3)

Lonnie Johnson’s place in blues history would have been immortalized if even if he had never recorded past the 1930’s. It certainly would have made blues critics life easier who generally tend to dismiss Johnson’s later recordings. Unfortunately, for them, Johnson persisted hooking up with the King label in the late 1940’s, enjoying the biggest commercial success of his career and after a fallow period in the 1950’s made a full fledged comeback in the 1960’s before passing in 1970.

In latter years Johnson couldn’t win with blues or jazz fans. In the 1960’s the blues and folk audience looked away in embarrassment when he sang “How Deep Is the Ocean,” “My Mother’s Eyes,” or “Red Sails in the Sunset.” The jazz crowd dismissed him as a relic. Supposedly Duke Ellington, with whom Johnson recorded with in 1928, declined to appear with this “old blues guy” when he guest-starred with Ellington’s band at Town Hall in 1961. The New York Daily News caught the flavor of the moment with the headline “The Janitor Meets the Duke.” As singer Barbara Dane noted: “…He was a very sophisticated player in a moment when the world was looking for the rough and earthy Delta players. …Lonnie had a strong attraction for the romantic pop songs like “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” etc. which he played when the audiences were looking for the gritty blues. People during the early ’60s searching for blues roots wanted to hear ‘funky and back-alley’ and Lonnie played clean and uptown. Lonnie craved respect for what he created, like any other musician. The (white) public at that time was mostly looking for someone who could personally introduce them to their fantasy of black culture. In other words, he was out of tune with the times.”

We’ll save Johnson’s 1960’s sides for another time which also warrant more attention. In this article we reassess Johnson’s stint with King which ran from 1947 through 1952 and resulted in close to seventy issued sides. When Johnson signed with King in 1947 his music and music in general was changing. By 1947 he had switched to electric guitar, was incorporating more ballads into his repertoire while the music was in transition from blues to R&B. It is true that Johnson reworked several of his earlier songs and perhaps over relied on a few signature guitar phrases during this period. Still, while many were unprepared for the changing musical times, Johnson seamlessly sailed into the new era not only achieving commercial success but also cutting music of a consistently high artistic caliber.

On December 10, 1947 Johnson entered the King Records studio at 1540 Brewster Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio and recorded what was probably the most successful record of his long career, “Tomorrow Night”, often subtitled on the King label as “Lonnie Johnson’s Theme Song.” By 1950 “Tomorrow Night” had sold a million copies. With his guitar subdued, Johnson’s bittersweet voice is at the fore as he croons what is essentially a pop number. In a bluesier mode from this same session are the laid back “What A Woman” and the outstanding “Happy New Year Darling”a melancholy love song with superb guitar:

Christmas Eve morning, baby I was on my way back home to you (2x)
It was your love that kept me fighting, kept me safe the whole war through

It seems a long, long time since I been fightin’ the Japs ‘cross the deep blue sea (2x)
Yes, that’s why I’m so glad darling, to have a little wife love still waitin’ for me

It’s so great to have you darlin’, to have a little wife like you (2x)
My three brothers couldn’t make it, but they say happy new year to you

Johnson’s songwriting is often undervalued. He wrote well crafted and imaginative songs usually filled with dark imagery, longing and an unflinchingly misogynist view of woman and love. The rest of Johnson’s King tenure would find him recording a mix of ballads in the manner of “Tomorrow Night”, straight blues and a sort of hybrid of the two styles.

Tomorrow Night (MP3)

Happy New Year Darling (MP3)

While the music of artists such as Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Son House, to name the most obvious, have been endlessly dissected, analyzed and debated there are many artists of comparable talent who have been left in the dust. Clifford Gibson’s name doesn’t have the romantic glow of the above artists; he wasn’t from Mississippi, didn’t die young or lead a life filled with mystery, yet he left behind a small batch of superb, highly creative recordings that deserve wider attention.

Gibson cut ten sides (four have either never been found or were never issued) in June 1929, four sides in November 1929, eight sides in December 1929 and two sides in 1931. In addition he did some session work and lasted long enough to wax a few scattered post-war sides in the 1950’s and 60’s. Gibson’s early sides can all be found on Document’s Complete Recorded Works 1929-1931 while his later sides can be found on Document’s Rural Blues Vol 2 1951 - 1962. A complete discography can be found here.

Gibson was a guitarist to be reckoned with who’s playing is unflaggingly inventive, employing a sharp, limpid tone and, while bearing a high degree of originality, was clearly influenced by Lonnie Johnson. With his unpredictable, scattershot guitar runs he also bears some comparisons to Blind Lemon Jefferson although Gibson was a more sophisticated player. As Tony Russell noted, his unique sound also “depended on his using a capo as high as the fifth or even seventh fret. That and his preference for open tunings served to separate his style from… Lonnie Johnson.” By contrast his singing is strong, clear and calm a good match for his often wry, albeit gloomy songs, which are also noteworthy for keen observation and unconventional turns of phrase.

His first session features several fine numbers including the somber “Beat You Doing It”, the mournful moan of the appropriately titled “Whiskey Moan Blues” underpinned by short staccato guitar runs with both numbers featuring impressive extended solos. “Tired Of Being Mistreated, Pt. 1 & 2″ is perhaps the session’s finest track sporting an irresistibly propulsive guitar line and Gibson’s bouncy vocals as he deliver a seemingly endless litany of invective against his woman:

Ain’t gonna cut no kindling
Ain’t gonna pack no coal
I wouldn’t spend a nickel not to save your soul
‘Cause I’m tired of being mistreated, by the way you do
Want to tell everybody that I’m down on you

You taken my money, you left me cold in hand
I’m gonna black your eye and you can tell your man
‘Cause I’m tired of being mistreated, by the way you do
Want to tell everybody that I’m down on you

Gibson’s short second session produced two outstanding numbers: “Ice And Snow Blues” and “Don’t Put That Thing On Me.” Catherine Yronwode notes that the latter track is a hoodoo number: “Although ‘that thing’ is never named, the idiomatic phrase ‘don’t put that thing on me’ refers to a specific form of conjure in which a hoodoo uses physical means — generally a powder containing minerals, roots, and herbs — to curse or jinx the victim, often, specifically, the victim’s sex life.” It’s a beautiful, dreamy number as Gibson’s laconic vocal casts a spell over the listener perfectly matching the subject matter. The former number is a prime example of Gibson’s unconventional imagery:

I’m gonna build me a castle, out of the ice and snow
So I can freeze these barefooted woman, way from around my door
Just because you were a cheater, I won’t give up the game
It don’t break my heart to win, when I lose I feel the same

All eight songs from Gibson’s third session were issued including first rate material like “Bad Luck Dice”, “Levee Camp Moan”, “Blues Without A Dime” and “Society Blues.” Gibson’s mournful vocal keenly describes the mind set of the die hard gambler in the first number while “Levee Camp Moan” is a lovely, deliberately paced number and “Blues Without A Dime” is lyrically standard but stands out due to Gibson’s heartfelt delivery. The latter number sports some of Gibson’s typically lively imagery:

When I was society, the woman would not let me be
Now I’m wild and reckless, and nobody cares for me

and

Cigarettes is my pleasure and whiskey I do crave
And some long tall and slender to follow me to my grave

Gibson’s two 1931 sides find him in the company of pianist Roosevelt Sykes. The duo make a fine team on “She Rolls It Slow” which bears a strong Lonnie Johnson stamp while “Railroad Man Blues” is lyrically similar to “Beat You Doing It” from his first 1929 session. At the same date Gibson recorded two other sides in support of R.T. Hanen which may be a pseudonym for J.D. Short. The numbers feature Will Kelly on piano who is surely Roosevelt Sykes. “She’s Got The Jordan River In Her Hips” is a superb, powerfully sung number:

Now Your motor don’t run, like no Cadillac or Ford
Run like a Packard, mama, out on the road
You got Jordan river in your hips
Daddy’s screaming to be baptized

Another fascinating collaboration from 1931 finds Gibson backing country singer Jimmie Rodgers on the unissued “Let Me Be Your Sidetrack” (the issued side features just Rodgers on guitar). Interesting not only for it’s rare black/white collaboration, the two make a pleasing team with Gibson offering an inventive guitar bed to Rodgers’ lazy blues vocal. Other session work includes supporting Ed Bell on a handful of 1929 tracks and backing Jimmy Strange on a pair of 1931 numbers.

Gibson stuck around long enough to wax two sides in 1951 and four more in 1960. The 1951 sides are acetates cut at Baul Studios in St. Louis and find Gibson in good shape but pale in comparison to his early work. Lyrically both “Sneaky Groundhog” and “Let Me Be Your Handy Man” are fairly standard but Gibson’s singing is good while his guitar work shows only faint glimpses of it’s former glory. The 1960 sides, cut for Bobbin, find Gibson in a small band setting: “The Monkey Likes To Boogie” and “It’s Best To Know Who You’re Talking To” are novelty numbers with the latter finding Gibson sounding out of touch as he tries to ape a contemporary sound. “I Don’t Want No Woman” and “No Success Blues” featuring a muted electric guitarist work much better, retaining some of the timeless quality of his early sides. Clifford Gibson died as few short years later in 1963, right at the heart of the folk/blues boom, and while highly regarded among collectors, more widespread claim has eluded him.

Tired Of Being Mistreated, Pt. 1 (MP3)

Don’t Put That Thing On Me (MP3)

Levee Camp Moan (MP3)