Big Road Blues

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)

Show Notes:

I’ve always be fascinated by topical blues songs and this week we spotlight songs dealing with blues artists’ response to war. In this week’s show we hear songs dealing with WW I, WW II, Korea and Vietnam. I plan to do a follow-up show or two spotlighting topical songs dealing with natural disasters, social issues and politics.

In the “Jim Crow” world of pre-1945 America, black servicemen confronted not only the hostility of enemies abroad but that of enemies at home. African-American soldiers and sailors had two formidable obstacles to deal with: discrimination and segregation. Yet, black servicemen in both world wars repeatedly demonstrated their bravery, loyalty, and ability in combat or in support of frontline troops.

World War I (1914-1918) – More than 350,000 African Americans served in segregated units during World War I, mostly as support troops. No black men were allowed in the Marines, Coast Guard or Air Force. They were allowed in the Navy only as messmen. Several units saw action alongside French soldiers fighting against the Germans

President Roosevelt established the country’s first “peacetime draft” when he signed into law the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 following the fall of France to the Nazis. More than 10 million men were drafted during World War II. More than 2.5 million blacks were registered for the draft in World War II, and about 909,000 served in the Army. At its peak in In 1944 there were over 700,000 blacks in the Army. Segregated troops remained official U.S. Army policy throughout World War II.

With the onset of World War II the government found it necessary to ration food, gas, and even clothing during that time. In the spring of 1942, the Food Rationing Program was set into motion. Rationing ended in 1946. Reconversion refers to moving the economy from wartime economy to a peacetime economy and Louis Jordan’s “Ration Blues” and “Reconversion” humorously sums up the situation.

One response to the war was the idea of burrowing underground either to escape a nuclear attack or avoid the draft. We play three such songs: Jimmy Rogers (“This World Is In A Tangle”), Honeyboy Edwards’ (“Build A Cave) and Arthur Crudup’s (“I’m Gonna Dig Myself A Hole”). In addition several others have used this imagery including John Lee Hooker (“Build Myself A Cave”), Robert Lockwood & Sunnyland Slim (“I’m Gonna Dig Myself A Hole”), Lightnin’ Hopkins (“War News Blues”).

The Korean War began as a civil war fought between 1950–1953 on the Korean Peninsula, which had been divided by the post-World War II Soviet and American occupation zones. The civil war began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea attacked South Korea. The civil war was greatly expanded when the United Nations, led by the United States, and later China entered the conflict. The conflict ended when a cease-fire was reached on July 27, 1953. Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “There’s Peace In Korea” was cut on July 27, 1953 the very day armistice was declared in Korea.

In 1948 the draft was re-instated. It was expanded by the Universal Military Training and Service Act in 1951, in response to the manpower needs caused by the Korean War. African-Americans served in all combat and combat service elements during the Korean War and were involved in all major combat operations, including the advance of United Nations Forces to the Chinese border. In June 1950, almost 100,000 African-Americans were on active duty in the U.S. armed forces. In October 1951, the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment, a unit established in 1869, which had served during the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II and the beginning of the Korean War, was disbanded, essentially ending segregation in the U.S. Army.

The Vietnam War saw the highest proportion of blacks ever to serve in an American war. During the height of the U.S. involvement, 1965-69, blacks, which formed 11 percent of the American population, made up 12.6 percent of the soldiers in Vietnam.

U.S. involvement in Vietnam unfolded against the domestic backdrop of the civil rights movement. From the outset, the use, or alleged misuse, of African American troops brought charges of racism. Civil rights leaders and other critics, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., described the Vietnam conflict as racist—”a white man’s war, a black man’s fight.” Volunteers and draftees included many frustrated blacks whose impatience with the war and the delays in racial progress in America led to race riots on a number of ships and military bases.

The Vietnam War was especially well documented in soul circles. Apart from country music, no other genre of music can offer anywhere near as much social commentary on the subject. It is no coincidence that the overwhelming majority of enlisted personnel came from either poor white or poor black America, where Country and Soul ruled their respective musical roosts.

Jesse Thomas recorded sporadically from the late 1920′s through the early 1990′s and despite his longevity didn’t achieve much in the way of success or recognition. In 1929, at 18, Thomas cut four excellent sides for Victor showing a prowess beyond his years. Three of the number are strongly indebted to Lonnie Johnson while the session highlight, “Blues Goose Blues”, is clearly inspired by Blind Blake. By the post-war era Thomas had developed a brilliant, highly individual style unlike anyone else. For proof just listen to Document’s “Jesse Thomas 1948-1958″ which collects 28 tracks the enterprising Thomas cut for nine different West Coast labels over the course of a decade (“Gold Mine Blues” cut in 1948 is not included for some reason). For a complete discography click here.

The music ranges from solo down home numbers, rollicking band driven R&B and smoky after hours cuts. Thomas’ guitar playing is dazzling; by this time he had developed a harmonically sophisticated style, playing highly unpredictable, inventive guitar phrases in a manner that incorporated both down home and uptown styles. His guitar playing, while highly individual, still bears a Lonnie Johnson influence but also owes a debt to T-Bone Walker. Thomas developed his sound, as Chris Smith notes, “in part by transferring saxophone solos and his own piano playing to electric guitar.” Thomas’ singing is equally striking, a deep burnished voice that a times sounds like Robert Johnson.

The solo sides, featuring superb integration between guitar and vocal, find him at his best. High points include the catchy “Same Old Stuff”, “Mountain Key Blues” and “Zetter Blues.” All display fine songwriting and characteristic of many of his songs, he inserts long pauses between lyrics that enhance the dramatic effect, punctuated by short, unpredictable guitar runs. The remarkable “Double Due Love You” opens with a tongue twisting run of words that is sort of a vocal equlivalent to his knotty guitar phrases. On the laid back, conversational “Gonna Move to California”, a variation on the classic “Kansas City”, Thomas plays some deft acoustic guitar.

The small group recordings are generally successful backed by a combination of piano, bass drums and saxophone. “Melody in C” is a jazzy instrumental backed by unknown bass and piano that finds Thomas playing in very sophisticated style with a nod to T-Bone Walker. “Let’s Have Some Fun” is a rocking full band number with wailing tenor and baritone featuring some draw dropping electric guitar solos while the shuffling, irresistibly catchy “I Can’t Stay Here” benefits from the rippling piano work of Lloyd Glenn. Glenn pops up to good effect on all four of Thomas’ Swing Time numbers including the bouncy “It’s You I’m Thinking Of.” Backed by an unknown band and booting sax man, Thomas rocks on “Cool Kind Lover” from 1951 that is as close to rock & roll as he ever got. Another highlight is “Another Fool Like Me” a propulsive boogie number with Thomas just accompanied by a unknown but wailing harmonica blower.

Jesse Thomas died in 1995 and continued cutting material intermittently on his own Red River imprint, Ace and Delmark. However, he never quite matched the sheer brilliance of these late 40′s and 50′s sides.

Double Due Love You (MP3)

I Can’t Stay Here (MP3)

Gonna Move To California (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)

Show Notes:

Working in his hometown of New Orleans, Dave Bartholomew helped develop and define the sound of rhythm & blues in the Fifties. He was a bandleader, trumpet player, songwriter, producer, arranger, talent scout, businessman, and more. Although he never made the pop charts under his own name, Bartholomew was a key figure in the transition from jump blues and big-band swing to rhythm & blues and rock and roll. Bartholomew is most famous for having discovered and produced Domino, with whom he produced and wrote songs for through the Fifties and beyond. But he’s worked with a who’s-who of New Orleans R&B figures: Smiley Lewis, Lloyd Price, Shirley & Lee, Earl King, Roy Brown, Huey “”Piano”” Smith, Chris Kenner, Robert Parker, Frankie Ford, James Booker, Jewel King, James “”Sugar Boy”” Crawford, Tommy Ridgley and more.

In the late 40s, he formed his own band, which became one of the most popular and accomplished in the city. Between 1947 and the early 60’s Bartholomew recorded prolifically under his own name mostly for Imperial but also for Deluxe, Aladdin, Specialty, King and Jax. His records featured the cream of New Orleans musicians like Earl Palmer, Ernest McClean, Edgar Blanchard, Lee Allen, Alvin “Red” Tyler, Frank Fields and others.

Fats Domino & Dave Bartholomew

In the first hour we spotlight a batch of those terrific, often overlooked, sides Bartholomew cut under his own name. The music swings like crazy, melding blues, R&B, big band and a distinctively New Orleans beat into an irresistible sound. All these sides can be found on three volumes on the Classics label which collect everything from 1947-1955. Hour two features those artists Bartholomew worked with as a trumpeter, producer, arranger and songwriter. All these come from the excellent 2-CD set “The Spirit of New Orleans: The Genius of Dave Bartholomew” which is now out of print.

Wrapping up our look at great 1970′s blues albums we once again head to Chicago to check in with Alex Randle who goes by the handle Easy Baby. Much less well known than Fenton Robinson or Son Seals, Easy Baby nonetheless cut one of the great blues records of the 1970′s. There’s nothing fancy about “Sweet Home Chicago Blues” (1977), just good old fashioned Chicago blues honed to sweet perfection.

Fame and fortune never found Easy Baby who worked as a mechanic by day and the Chicago clubs at nights. “Sweet Home Chicago Blues” was easy to overlook; it was released on the small Barrelhouse imprint (released on CD on the Japanese P-Vine label), the generic title likely didn’t help as did the fact that the set list was standard Chicago favorites.

To say that Easy Baby and his talented cohorts transcended those limitations is an understatement. Easy Baby is a disciple of Little Walter. Like Walter his harmonica playing is unflaggingly inventive, putting forth one of the most gorgeous and commanding tones you’ll ever hear. Easy Baby is a terrific soulful, world weary singer with a conversational manner that’s deeply engaging. A large part of the record’s success goes to the band: Eddie Taylor’s fleet fingered playing is every bit as inventive as his band leader while Kansas City Red’s drumming is so crisp and in-the-pocket it should be used as a clinic for up and coming blues drummers. The music is straight out of 1950′s Chicago starting with the shuffling instrumental “Madison Street Boogie” that displays ensemble work so precise and well integrated it’s a thing of beauty. As befits his name, Easy Baby is magnificent on slow and easy numbers like “So Tired” and the aching “All My Life.” His tasteful harp work gives way to jaw dropping on the nearly minute and a half solo he drops in to close “You Gonna Miss Me.” Even songs that have become clichés like “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Rock Me Baby” receive invigorating treatment.

Easy Baby, is well, taking it easy these days and rarely plays out anymore. He did play the 1998 and 2000 Chicago Blues Festivals and found time to cut “If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Another” for Wolf in 2000, an outstanding session that falls just short of his glorious debut.

Madison Street Boogie (MP3)

My last review was of Fenton Robinson’s “Somebody Loan Me A Dime” and keeping in that vein we take a look at another great record from the 1970′s. If subtlety and taste were the hallmarks of Fenton’s style, Seals’ took a more raw, hard hitting approach. His self titled debut was as raw as an open wound while his 1976 follow-up, “Midnight Son”, was considerably more polished and ranks as one of the 1970′s great blues albums.

Seals’ 1973 debut was a rough, tough no-nonsense affair, not far removed from his Arkansas roots. It was an auspicious opening shot, a ferocious blast of raw boned blues featuring some fine originals like “Our Love Is like a Cancer” and “Cotton Picking Blues.” Cut three years later,”Midnight Son” was a powerful leap forward and set the stage for a string of exceptional records.

“Midnight Son” is a more focused, more polished effort that still retains all of Seals’ raw power with the key addition of a terrific horn section. As the notes make clear: “All of the horn arrangements were worked out between Son and the horn players, and were an integral part of Son’s concept for this album, not an overdubbed afterthought.” “I Believe” opens with just Seals’ searing guitar line before the surging horns kick in, ratcheting up Seals’ ominous reading of the Ray Charles number to an incredible intensity. “No, No Baby” is a funky, swaggering plea to his baby with the horns taking a more subdued role. The horns return front and center on the swinging “Four Full Seasons Of Love” that gallops along like a runaway train and displays a healthy dose of Seals’ sweet, stinging guitar work. I alway felt this song should have become a standard but I don’t know of anyone who’s covered it. “Telephone Angel” is a smoldering mid-tempo number once again featuring incredible interplay between guitar and horns while the closer, “Going Back Home”, shows Seals’ at his most soulful and thoughtful.

“Midnight Son” is where Seals really hit his stride and in my opinion was his finest moment. The album set up a superb run of top shelf records including “Live And Burning” (1978), “Chicago Fire” (1980) and “Bad Axe” (1984).

Four Full Seasons of Love (MP3)

Show Notes:

A wide swath of blues for this week’s show spanning from 1928 to 1973. We played a few vinyl only tracks today including the opener, Larry Johnson’s “Hoodoo Doctor.” This one comes from the LP ”Victoria Spivey Presents The All Star Blues World of Maestro Willie Dixon and his Chicago Blues Band” backed by Carey Bell, Buster Benton, Lafayette Leake and Willie Dixon. This came out on Victoria Spivey’s Spivey label, a very interesting and eclectic label. Spivey and her partner Len Kunstadt ran the label from 1961 until Spivey’s death in 1976. Kunstadt kept the label going until his death in 1996. None of these records have been issued on CD but plans are in the works to do so soon (see below links). I plan to do a feature on the label in the future.

We also played the Raful Neal 45 “It’s Been So Long” a fine swamp blues number. He cut a only a few full length records including ‘Louisiana Legend” on Alligator which is well worth tracking down. Our final selection is an epic nine minute plus version of “Prodigal Son” by the great Rev. Robert Wilkins. This comes from his 1964 comeback “Memphis Gospel Singer”, his first recordings since 1935, and which has amazingly never been issued on CD.

Lots of country blues today including the previously unissued “Talkin’ To You Wimmen About The Blues” by Blind Willie McTell & Mary Willis. This is from collector John Tefteller’s collection and is the only known copy. It’s a great track which hasn’t been heard since it’s release in 1931!

As good of a singer as Mary Willis is she’s got nothing on the incredible Leola Manning. Manning sings with a ferocious passion, bringing an almost religious zeal to her blues numbers that cuts right through the scratchy recordings. She cut only six sides including fascinating topical tracks like the harrowing “The Arcade Building Moan”about a fire in Knoxville’s Arcade building and the violent imagery of “Satan Is Busy In Knoxville” about an apparent serial killer loose in Knoxville!

Another blues lady spotlighted is the great Victoria Spivey who reunites on this 1961 date with old partner Lonnie Johnson for the first time since 1929. Lonnie is also featured by himself on “Can’t Sleep Any More”, a wailing number with Lonnie crooning his heart out, laying down some terrific electric guitar backed by a smoldering band.

A few artists featured here will be spotlighted in more depth on upcoming shows including Clifford Gibson and Jesse Thomas. Gibson cut a couple dozen sides in 1929 and 1931 and was a very fine singer, guitarist plus an excellent songwriter. He cut two sides in 1951 and a final four sides in 1960. One of my all time favorite collections is Document’s “Jesse Thomas 1948-198″ featuring tracks Thomas cut for a slew of mostly small West Coast labels. Chris Smith sums it up well in The Penguin Guide To Blues: “These 28 tracks were recorded for nine companies, with accompaniments ranging from solo guitar to a rocking R&B bands to smoky tenor sax and rippling piano. The common denominators are Thomas’s ringing guitar, his imaginative. often optimistic lyrics, and his strong, almost strident voice. His playing is indebted to earlier Texan styles, but Thomas developed an unpredictable, energetic and harmonically advanced sound, in part by transferring saxophone solos and his own piano playing to electric guitar.”

I’ve often heard and read that the 1970′s wasn’t a good period for blues; from a popularity standpoint that may have been true but certainly not from a recording standpoint. One of the era’s true masterpieces is Fenton Robinson’s magnificent “Somebody Loan me A Dime” cut for Alligator in 1974. Fenton had been recording sporadically since the late 1950′s, cutting some terrific material, but “Somebody Loan me A Dime” was his pinnacle.

Fenton was the antithesis of Alligator’s Genuine Houserocking Music slogan, playing and singing with a subtlety and imagination far removed from the rest of the label’s roster. Fittingly, his Japanese fans dubbed him “the mellow blues genius.” Fenton’s guitar playing draws deeply from B.B. King and T-Bone Walker but with a strong jazzy inflection and plenty of grit; his guitar darts and weaves in unexpected directions, is full of probing invention and breaks out into some truly stupendous solos. His voice is a thing of beauty, a deep, rich baritone that glides along and is a perfect counterpoint to his elegant guitar work.

The title tracks envelopes the listener, opening with a dramatic drum shuffle before Fenton’s bold guitar intro kicks in with amazing power. There’s a timeless quality to this song that has classic stamped all over it. Another dramatic opening for “Directly From My Heart To You” as Fenton lays down a thick, probing guitar vamp pushed along by some pulsing horns before breaking into a stunning, soaring falsetto vocal that’s enough to set the hairs on your neck on end. The production throughout is a model of perfection and the band impeccable. The funky, minor-key “You Don’t Know What Love Is” throbs along with a subtly and complexity rarely heard in blues circles, “You Say You’re Leaving” is a gentle swinger as Fenton unleashes a draw dropping solo, while the gorgeous “Texas Flood” (Fenton played guitar on Larry Davis’ original) strips the songs to it’s essence. From top to bottom every song is a winner making for an enthralling experience when listening to the album in it’s entirety.

Fenton had cut a number of these songs previously but this is one of the rare cases where the remakes pack even greater power. Fenton never again recorded anything quite as powerful although his Alligator follow-up, “I Hear Some Blues Downstairs” (1977), had many fine moments.

Somebody Loan Me A Dime (MP3)