Big Road Blues

Junior Parker was an extraordinary blues singer and harmonica player who laid down some superb material over the course of a twenty year career (1952-1971) before his life was cut short just prior to his fortieth birthday. It’s inexplicable, then, why he has such a low profile among blues aficionados. He hit the charts a fair bit through the 1960’s for Duke, retained a strong following among the black club audience but failed to break through to a wider audience. As such he was virtually ignored by the new white blues audience of the 1960’s. If Parker is mentioned at all these days it’s usually in association with his 1953 number “Mystery Train” which was picked up by Elvis.

Parker died in November 1971 during an operation for a brain tumor. Before he passed he sailed into the 1970’s in promising fashion cutting a pair of terrific albums; You Don’t Have To Be Black To Love The Blues circa 1970/1971 for Groove Merchant and I Tell Stories Sad And True for United Artists which was released in 1972. Parker’s singing on these albums, to quote critic Tony Russell, “could be used as a manual of blues singing;” his singing is a model of control and phrasing, almost delicate with it’s high, fluttering range, with every line placed perfectly for maximum effect. His harmonica playing is quite and melodic, parceled out in small but effective doses.

It sounds old fashioned, maybe even trite, but Parker really knew how to put across a song. He was a marvelous interpretor, a skill ably demonstrated on You Don’t Have To Be Black To Love The Blues a collection of mostly standards and revivals of his old numbers. The gorgeous “Five Long Years” sets the tone with his languid, delicate phrasing matched by a stripped down, very mellow backing group. Parker takes his time on exquisite versions of “That’s Alright”, “Tin Pan Alley”, “Sweet Home Chicago” and the fluttering vocal of “Man Or Mouse” a revival of a 1967 chart hit for Duke. “Way Back Home” is a funky, infectious soul/jazz instrumental sporting some fine, nuanced harmonica playing from Parker. Neither the album or the recent Blues Discography has a listing for the band but I was told that it was The Crusaders. This jibes with the overall sound, the fact that the song “Way Back Home” was written by member Wilton Felder and that The Crusaders also backed B.B. King during this period.

The date on I Tell Stories Sad And True is 1972 which means this must have came out posthumously and marks this as Parker’s last date. As such it makes one acutely aware of what a loss Parker’s untimely passing really was. Parker’s singing is every bit as good as the previous album as he once again puts his deeply personal stamp on a set of blues standards and stretches out quite a bit more more on harmonica which is certainly welcome. He’s backed by crack band including Wayne Bennett on guitar, Phil Upchurch on bass and a horn section that includes James G. Barge and Willie Henderson. The highlight is easily the nearly eight minute cover of Joe Hinton’s “Funny How Time Slips Away.” Parker delivers this as a hip, spoken rap, intermittently singing the song’s poignant lyrics in a hushed, gorgeous delivery. As the album opener it nearly overshadows the rest of this fine album. Parker puts across everything else in classy, intimate fashion including the Percy Mayfield numbers “Stranger In My Home Town”, “My Jug And I” plus standards like “Going Down Slow” and “The Things I Used To Do.”

As befitting his undervalued status, Parker’s recorded output seems to slip in and out of print. You Don’t Have To Be Black To Love The Blues seems to have been recently reissued on CD and can also be found in it’s entirety on Way Back Home: The Goove Merchant Years. I Tell Stories Sad And True has not been issued on CD as far as I know.

Five Long Years (MP3)

Funny How Time Slips Away (MP3)

Show Notes:

From 1949 through 1971, Prestige Records, owned and run by Bob Weinstock, was among the most famous and successful of the independent jazz labels. Perhaps only Blue Note, which had its reign during roughly the same period, provided Prestige with significant competition. By the late 50’s the company was looking to branch out and new categories were created within the Prestige catalog. There was the Folklore series, there was Moodsville, Swingsville and then there was Bluesville. The birth of Bluesville came at a time when when a young white audience turned their attention away from folk music to acoustic blues.

An important factor was the release in 1959 of Samuel Charter’s ground breaking book The Country Blues. In 1961 Charter’s hooked up with the label and played a important role getting talent for the label and did much of the producing. In addition to Charters there were a number of others whose dedication helped the label grow including Mack McCormick of Houston who provided a slew of Lightnin’ Hopkins records,Chris Strachwitz who would form Arhoolie Records, Art Rosenbaum who recorded Indianapolis artists Scrapper Blackwell, Shirley Griffith and J.T. Adams and Chris Albertson who was instrumental in getting Lonnie Johnson back in the studio.

Bluesville’s roster grew quickly including artists such as Reverend Gary Davis, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Williams, Jimmy Witherspoon and Memphis Slim among numerous others. A number of older artists such as Tampa Red and particularly Lonnie Johnson found a new home at Bluesville in which to revitalize their careers. In addition the label also caught some important artists on record for the first time or who recorded very little including Pink Anderson (except for two sides cut in the 20’s), Baby Tate, Wade Walton and Doug Quattlebaum to name a few. The Bluesville label tended to take a mainly folkloric approach to blues recording primarily acoustic artists. In line with this the label also cut records by folk singers such as Tracy Nelson, Dave Van Ronk, Geoff Muldaur and Tom Rush among others. There were some notable exceptions including LP’s by urban artists such as Otis Spann, Billy Boy Arnold and Homesick James.

The Bluesville series produced many releases in a short amount of time. Lightnin’ Hopkins was the label’s best selling artists but many of the lesser known artists sold only a couple of hundred copies. Because of this many of these original records are extremely rare and go for high fees on the collectibles market. Luckily Fantasy records now owns the Prestige catalog and has been reissuing many treasures from the vaults.

Samuel Charters was quoted as saying that the “Prestige/Bluesville catalog was one of the last great sweeps of the blues as social document and as the years pass this becomes increasingly meaningful as a measure of Bluesville’s achievement.” Listening to The Bluesville Years (an ongoing reissue series now at 12 volumes) make these words resonate all the more strongly. The recordings on the Bluesville label provide a vivid and entertaining snapshot of the 1960’s blues scene.

Show Notes:

For this week’s show an eclectic, wide ranging mix of blues spanning 1927 to 1977. We dust off a bunch of vinyl including two cuts from the excellent “Blues South Side Chicago”, a terrific set of Chicago blues recorded by Willie Dixon in 1964. Someone really should issue this on CD. Speaking of Chicago we feature a cut by the under recorded Kansas City Red. “K.C. Red’s Back In Town” comes from the fine LP “Bring Me Another Half-A-Pint” on the Barrelhouse label. Owned by George Paulus, the label issued some really good records throughout the 1970’s including ones by Big John Wrencher, Joe Carter, Easy Baby and others. Some of these have been reissued on the Japanese P-Vine label while others, including “Bring Me Another Half-A-Pint”, remain vinyl only. As for Kansas City Red he was a superb drummer who’s recorded legacy is slim with only a handful of sessions for Barrelhouse, JSP and Earwig. Also from Chicago a cut by the great Otis Spann from the Spivey LP “The Everlasting Blues vs. Otis Spann” recorded at the Cafe Au Go Go in NYC. Admittedly this isn’t one of Spann’s best recordings but it’s an interesting one and also features the great Johnny Young and Luther Johnson. The other guitarist is 21 year old Peter Malick who had this to say about the session: “Half way through the session, Victoria [Spivey] tripped over Luther’s guitar cord, and broke it. There was no other cord in the studio and therefore Luther is playing guitar on only half the LP. ” Spann also cut another Spivey LP called “Up in the Queen’s Pad” (recorded at Spivey’s apratment) that I have yet to hear and seems to be pretty hard to track down.

Moving over to the West Coast we spotlight a track off “Oakland Blues” on the World Pacific label. This is another great out of print record featuring excellent tracks by L.C. Robinson, Lafayette Thomas and Dave Alexander. The Alexander track we play is “Love Is Just For Fools” featuring George “Harmonica” Smith and Houston Twister (Albert Collins). World Pacific (originally Pacific Jazz) was mainly a jazz label although they issued some good blues records notably by Big Joe Williams (”Hand Me Down My Old Walking Stick”), George Smith (”Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter”), Luke ‘Long Gone’ Miles (”Country Born”) and “Down South Summit Meeting” by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Big Joe Williams among others.

As always there’s a good dose of vintage blues including some fine piano players. I’m a huge piano blues fan but I seem to be in the minority as the guitar players get all the attention. Of the great boogie-woogie players Jimmy Yancey may be my favorite. He could could play the uptempo stuff as good as anybody but he also had a more thoughtful, introspective side and put so much feeling into his playing as he shows on “Yancey’s Bugle Call.” In addition we spotlight cuts by Leroy Carr, Blind John Davis and the marvelous Sparks Brothers. Aaron “Pinetop” Sparks mostly handled the piano chores while brother Milton sang. They cut 15 sides between 1933-35 including the first versions of “Everyday I Have The Blues” and “61 Highway.” They may have cut more sides but were obviously quite busy dodging the law; Milton was arrested some 50 times while Aaron only 18 times.

The guitar players get their due including Sylvester Weaver and Walter Beasley’s with their gorgeous instrumental version of “St. Louis Blues.” Weaver was a Louisville artist who made the first solo recordings of blues guitar playing way back in 1923. Nothing is known about Bobby Grant who cut one 78 in in 1927. “Nappy Head Blues” is a beautiful, haunting slide number with full bodied singing. We also hear the great bottleneck guitarist on Kokomo Arnold on his “Down And Out Blues” and prominently backing the fine St. Louis Singer Alice Moore on the risqué “Grass Cutter Blues.” Moore was a very good nasal voiced singer who cut some three dozen sides but is little remembered today.

Country blues never goes out of style as Joe Calicott and Houston Stackhouse prove on some superb 1967 sides. These are field recordings by George Mitchell who also recorded R.L. Burnside, Robert Nighthawk, Johnny Woods and Fred McDowell during the same period. Nighthawk’s is playing bass behind Stackhouse due to declining health and these would be his last sides. The music harks back to Nighthawk and Stackhouse’s early delta days. Tommy Johnson’s influence looms large with five of his songs being covered at this session. In a way Nighthawk’s life had come full circle; he was once again playing with Stackhouse who taught how to play guitar, Stackhouse in turn learned directly from Tommy Johnson and here were the two old friends performing the songs of Johnson together one final time. Nghthawk died less than two months after these recordings on Nov. 5 1967 of congestive heart failure at the Helena hospital

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)

Charlie McCoy ranked among the great blues accompanists of his era and his accomplished mandolin and guitar work can be heard on numerous recordings in a wide variety of settings from the late 1920’s through the early 40’s. Jackson, Mississippi in the 1920’s was a city with a vibrant blues scene including artists such as Tommy Johnson, Walter Vincson, Ishman Bracey, Johnnie Temple, The Chatmon Brothers (Bo, Lonnie and Sam were the most prominent) Skip James and Rube Lacey. Lacey recalled McCoy being among the best of this talented group: “But I really believe Charlie got to be a better musician than I was. He was young, but he got to be about the best musician there was in our band, Charlie McCoy. He was wonderful. He could play anything pretty well you sing. …He was good as I ever want to see.”

The years 1927-31 saw the first commercial recordings of many of the Jackson musicians. Most extensively recorded were the Chatmons, Walter Vincson and Joe and Charlie McCoy. McCoy first recorded in 1928, strictly as an accompanist, backing singer Rosie Mae Moore, Tommy Johnson and Ishman Bracey. Moore was a powerful, rough voiced singer who receives excellent guitar support from McCoy who gets to stretch out quite a bit on “School Girl Blues”, “Staggering Blues”and who’s playing owes a strong debt to Rube Lacey. Better yet were the four magnificent songs he backed Tommy Johnson on over a two day period: “Cool Drink of Water Blues”, “Big Road Blues”, “Bye, Bye Blues” and “Maggie Campbell Blues.” McCoy’s second guitar is superb, not only duplicating Johnson’s guitar part but as, David Evans notes, uses “a flat pick and often strums the strings like a mandolin on his bass part, occasionally doing the same on the treble strings as a beautiful contrast.” McCoy also backed Bracey in very similar fashion on his two numbers, “Saturday Blues” and “Left Alone Blues.” Johnson, Bracey and McCoy returned on Friday, August 31, 1928 for another session for Victor. For whatever reason McCoy didn’t back Johnson but did play mandolin on Bracey’s “Trouble Hearted Blues” and “Brown Mama Blues.” McCoy’s playing is subdued on the beautiful, somber “Trouble Hearted Blues” but his bold, rippling mandolin is heard loud and clear on the equally fine “Brown Mama Blues.”

Between 1928-1931 he played on a variety of sides, many string band related, in the company of Walter Vincson and Bo Carter. In November 1928 Carter, McCoy and an unknown pianist backed singer Alec Johnson on four of six sides. Johnson’s music harks back to an earlier pre-blues era. As Tony Russell notes they “form a lively and expressive pit orchestra to accompany a set of antique minstrel songs and a couple of blues.”McCoy’s playing is superb on the blues”Miss Meal Cramp Blues” and older sounding material like “Sister Maud Mule”, and he rather discomforting “Mysterious Coon.” Also in November of the same year Carter, Vincson and McCoy backed singer Mary Butler on four numbers. Butler may in fact be Rosie Mae Moore who McCoy backed in February of the same year. McCoy plays mandolin on three of the four tracks including the tough minded “Electrocuted Blues (Electric Chair Blues)”, “Bungalow Blues” and “Mary Blues.” The session isn’t quite as strong as the earlier session.

With Walter Vincson he cut sides as the Mississippi Mud Steppers, with the addition of guitarist Sam Hill (plus Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon on one track) as the Mississippi Blacksnakes and with Carter and Vincson as the Jackson Blue boys. With the Mississippi Mud Steppers he cut the remarkable instrumental “Jackson Stomp”, based on the seminal “Cow Cow Blues”, (the song was modified as “The Lonesome Train That Took My Baby Away” at a Charlie McCoy session with Bo Carter on guitar). The song is a dazzling, virtuoso mandolin performance. McCoy further showcases his versatility on a trio of waltzes, playing mandolin on “Alma Waltz (Ruby Waltz)” and plays banjo on two numbers. With the Mississippi Blacksnakes his robust mandolin is heard on the bawdy “Grind So Fine” and the country tinged “Blue Sky Blues” both boasting terrific vocals from Vincson. Two days after the first Blacksnakes session the group recorded again with Bo Carter as the vocalist and either McCoy or Sam Hill on guitar. This is a bluesier session with McCoy again on mandolin/banjo with his mandolin heard in fine form on “It Still Ain’t No Good (New It Ain’t No Good)” and “Easy Going Woman Blues.” One more song by the group, “Bye Bye Baby Blues”, was cut the following day featuring fine slide from McCoy. The two tracks cut as the Jackson Blue Boys are interesting for featuring singing from Carter, Vincson and McCoy in unison and taking solo turns with McCoy playing mandolin.

Ishman Bracey - Brown Mama Blues (MP3)

Mississippi Mud Steppers - Jackson Stomp (MP3)

Show Notes:
It’s hard to keep up with glut of blues reissues mostly pumped out by European labels taking full advantage of the fifty-year copyright law. One label that deserves attention is Boulevard Vintage who for the past few years have been putting out intelligent well conceived multi CD sets of post-war down home blues. The label has zeroed in on a very specific, rich vein of blues history, roughly 1945-1955 when a whole slew of enterprising small labels were catering to an audience that still craved down home blues. Between 1944 and 1964, more than 600 record companies tried their hands at recording blues. Many failed or had limited success while others grew and became major players. As the notes say this was “the last grand hurrah of local blues recorded for, and often by, local entrepreneurs, neither folkloric nor college oriented, but music for the culture from which it grew.”

So far the label has issued five sets: Down Home Blues Classics 1943-1953 (4-CD), Down Home Blues Classics: Chicago 1946-1954 (4-CD), Down Home Blues Classics: Texas 1946-1954 (4-CD), Down Home Blues Classics: California & The West Coast 1948-1954 (2-CD), Down Home Blues Classics: Memphis & The South 1949-1954 (2-CD). Unfortunately the first box, which features music from all regions with no overlap with the other sets, is out of print and I have been unable to track down a copy. These are great sets filled with plenty of well known names but what’s nice about this series is that compilers tend to pull out the less anthologized, obscurer sides by these artists. There’s also plenty of mysterious, obscure artists who who left behind only a handful of fine sides before fading back into obscurity. Each set is rounded out by informative, well researched notes written by well respected blues scholars.

Review of Memphis & The South/California & The West Coast

Review of New York & The East Coast

I’ve been listening to quite a bit of country blues recorded in the 1960’s and 1970’s. There of course are the big names, the fabled blues rediscoveries of Son House, Skip James, Furry Lewis, Mississippi John Hurt, Bukka White among others. A parallel to this was a large body of recordings, in many case field recordings, of less famous artists who never had the opportunity to record before. Again there were acclaimed discoveries like Mississippi Fred McDowell and Robert Pete Williams but also a slew of lesser known worthy performers like Roosevelt Holts, Shirley Griffith, Houston Stackhouse, Jack Owens and many others. Unfortunately many of these recordings haven’t fared well in the reissue market which is the case with the recordings on Storyville’s Blues Scene USA Vol. 4 also issued as Blues Roots: The Mississippi Blues Vol. 1.

The recordings were made by noted writer, researcher and Testament label owner Pete Welding who had this to say about these performances: “…The music has been revealed as a living continuum, thanks to recordings - such as this album - made in the Sixties which have introduced the music of a large number of carriers of the state’s characteristic musical traditions. The most notable new performer of this blues renaissance was the gifted, exciting Fred McDowell, who sang and played as though time stood still, so fully had his powerful music been shaped by the old precepts. And after him comes a large body of singers, guitarists, harmonica players, violinists, etc., all of whose music is firmly allied to the oldest strains of the Mississippi blues. …For them, music was largely something to be self-generated in the family circle or for friends and neighbors; moreover, the music they created was by and large still shaped by the older traditions.”

These recordings were made circa 1964-1965 mainly in St. Louis and Chicago where many of these performers had migrated. The big names here are Johnny Young, Big Boy Spires, who made a batch of highly regarded sides in the 1950’s, and the prodigiously recorded Big Joe Williams who had a recording career stretching back to 1935. The rest will only be known to the most seasoned collector: Bert Logan, Russ Logan, Roosevelt Charles, Coot Venson, Avery Brady, Willie Lee Harris, Jimmy Brewer, Ruby McCoy, Jimmy Brown, Big John Henry Miller, Jimmy Lee Miller

Big Joe Williams appears on six of the cuts taking vocals on the sturdy “Long Road Blues” a loose variation of “Big Road Blues” with Coot Venson on harmonica. Backed by Big Joe, Venson takes the vocal on “Sugar Mama”(Big Joe played on the original by Sonny Boy Williamson I in 1937) laying down some fine down home harp. “Goin’ Back Home” and”I Can See My Baby In My Dreams” are wonderful numbers that hark back to the old string band sound with Big Joe supported by violinist Jimmy Brown and harmonica blower Willie Lee Harris who both take vocal chores. Big Joe also backs the wonderful, raw voice Ruby McCoy on “Rising Sun Blues” who’s singing, Welding accurately notes, “conjures up the ghost of Bessie Tucker.” Big Joe’s Uncles, Bert and Russ Logan, are featured on the ancient sounding, ramshackle, yet compelling “Four O’Clock in the Morning.”

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. His burnished voice sounds marvelous on the gently propulsive “21 Below Zero” backed by Johnny Young on guitar. His Testament sides were cut at the same session and it’s a shame they haven’t been released. Johnny Young turns in a superb solo version of “Pony Blues” showing off his deep roots.

Chicago residents Avery Brady and Jimmy Brewer both hailed from Mississippi and still retained strong roots to their home state. The sadly under recorded Brady waxed only a handful of sides and sounds terrific playing throbbing, rhythmic guitar on “I Don’t Want You No More” featuring his strong, plaintive vocals. Brewer delivers the albums’ tour-de-force, a surging, powerhouse version of Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road Blues.” It’s a beautifully sung number as Brewer plays percussive, intricate guitar, snapping the strings for added intensity. It also underscores just how influential Tommy Johnson was, something that became especially evident with the field recording of the 1960’s, in particular the recordings made by David Evans. Brewer cut two full length albums both unfortunately out of print.

Big John Henry Miller was another Mississippi performer who’s sole recording, “Down Here by Myself”, is a hypnotic, powerfully sung number that makes one wish he had recorded more. Perhaps the finest singer in the collection is Roosevelt Charles. This track appears to be an anomaly having been recorded by Harry Oster in 1960 at Angola Prison. Charles was prolifically recorded in 1959-1960 by Oster although many sides were never issued. Charles was a modest guitar player but a magnificent vocalist with a deep, burnished voice employed to gorgeous effect on “Bye Bye Baby Blues.” Charles is featured on several prison anthologies and on the long out of print Vanguard album “Blues, Prayer, Work & Trouble Songs.”

Jimmy Brewer - Big Road Blues (MP3)

Roosevelt Charles - Bye Bye Baby Blues (MP3)

Show Notes:

Jesse Thomas was the brother of Texas bluesman Willard “Ramblin’” Thomas and uncle of Lafayette Thomas. 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 most notably, ”Blues Goose Blues.” By the post-war era Thomas had developed a brilliant, highly individual style unlike anyone else. Document’s “Jesse Thomas 1948-1958” collects 28 tracks 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). 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.

Lafayette Thomas

Lafayette Thomas was a brilliant and influential guitarist, and fine singer, whose primary reputation resides on the stinging fretwork he laid down as a session guitarist. In his 1977 obituary Tom Mazzolini wrote: “Unquestionably the finest guitarist to emerge from the San Francisco-Oakland blues scene, there is hardly a guitarist around here today who doesn’t owe a little something to Lafayette Thomas…”

He was nicknamed “The Thing” due to his acrobatic style of playing. The bulk of his recordings were with Jimmy McCracklin’s combo in the 50’s and 60’s. During his lifetime only a scant fifteen sides were issued under his own name (a number were left unissued). His own records were made for small labels such as Jumping, Hollywood and Trilyte, but more often he cut odd titles at McCracklin’s 50’s sessions for Modern, Peacock (unissued) and Chess and three songs for King which were never issued.

Thomas was born June 13, 1928 in Shreveport, Louisiana and encouraged musically by his uncle, Jesse “Babyface” Thomas. The family moved to San Francisco soon after his birth and there he learned to play both piano and guitar. He started working club dates with Jimmy McCracklin’s band in 1948, eventually replacing guitarist Robert Kelton. He would remain intermittently with McCracklin for the rest of his career. Thomas worked with producer Bob Geddins during this period playing on many Jimmy Wilson sessions including numbers like “Blues At Sundown”, “Frisco Bay” and the popular “Tin Pan Alley.” Thomas also played on the first sides by Juke Boy Bonner plus on records by Roy Hawkins, James Reed and Big Mama Thornton during this period. He moved briefly to New York in 1959 to work for pianist Sammy Price. He made “Please Come Back To Me/Lafayette’s A-Comin’” the same year for Savoy with pianist Price, before returning to the West Coast. While in New York he also did session work for the Prestige label appearing on records by Little Brother Montgomery and Memphis Slim.

Thomas worked outside music for most of the 60’s, sharing one album session with pianist Dave Alexander and L.C. “Good Rockin’” Robinson in September 1968 for World Pacific. He remained semi active in the early 70’s working with Sugar Pie Desanto and again with Candyman McGuirt’s band. The comeback was brief and he spent his last years working as a hose assembler. He died on May 20, 1977 in Brisbane, California of a heart attack

Once again we dust off and review another fine out of print blues record. Oakland Blues was arranged/directed by Jimmy McCracklin and contains excellent performances cut in 1968-69 by three severely under recorded artists: L.C. “Good Rockin’” Robinson, Lafayette Thomas and Dave Alexander. The record was issued on the World Pacific label (originally Pacific Jazz) which was mainly a jazz label although they issued some good blues records notably by Big Joe Williams (”Hand Me Down My Old Walking Stick”), George Smith (”Blues With A Feeling: A Tribute To Little Walter”), Luke ‘Long Gone’ Miles (”Country Born”) and “Down South Summit Meeting” by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Big Joe Williams among others. Some of this material has been issued on CD by Capitol/EMI which owns the rights but Oakland Blues remains long out of print.

The five L.C. Robinson tracks that make up side one are, incredibly, his first recordings since waxing a lone record for the Rhythm label back in 1954 (”If I Lose You Baby” b/w “Why Don’t You Write To Me”). He also cut four sides for the Black & White label in 1945 as the Robinson Brothers with his brother A.C. Robinson. Robinson was a dynamic performer who played guitar and fiddle, but was really known for his incredible steel guitar style. Robinson’s fluid steel playing and laconic, yet impassioned singing is heard in fine fashion on “Clean Your House” the blazing instrumental “Jack Rabbit Boogie” and the shuffling “Bring My Baby Back Home” the latter two featuring some sparkling boogie piano from Dave Alexander. On “Train Time” he proves himself equally capable playing standard guitar. These tracks, sans the latter, also boast the sizzling guitar work of Lafayette Thomas which makes a nice contrast with Robinson’s steel playing. Robinson only got a couple of more opportunities to record; in the 1970’s he cut the outstanding House Cleanin’ Blues for Bluesway which has not been issued on CD and the excellent Ups And Downs for Arhoolie which has been reissued with bonus tracks as Mojo In My Hand.

Lafayette Thomas was a brilliant T-Bone Walker influenced guitar player who’s stinging fret work can be heard on numerous recordings by Jimmy McCracklin, Jimmy Wilson, Roy Hawkins, Juke Boy Bonner and many others. He was the perfect session man, one who made every record he was on sound better. During his lifetime only a scant fifteen sides were issued under his own name (a number were left unissued). The three songs here were unfortunately his last recordings under his own name. Thomas is in masterful form cutting loose on the rocking “Party With Me” laying down knotty, blistering T-Bone Walker like runs while putting it on simmer on “I Had A Dream” backed prominently by L.C. Robinson’s shimmering steel guitar and the insinuating, mellow blues of “A Fool’s Way Of Doin’ Things” the latter two showcasing Thomas’ fine soulful singing, an aspect of his talent that usually gets overlooked. As far as I know the only recordings he did after these were some 1970’s session work with Sugar Pie DeSanto.

Pianist Dave Alexander (later known as Omar Sharriff) makes his debut here with three songs in the company of heavyweights Albert Collins and George “Harmonica” Smith. Collins was hooked up with Imperial during this period which may be why he’s listed as the Houston Twister although Pete Welding mentions him by name in the liner notes. Perhaps the best number is the six minute “Love Is Just For Fools” a fine low down ensemble cut underpinned by big toned, mournful blowing from Smith and crisp stinging guitar from Collins. For his part, Alexander is a deliberate, easy going vocalist and versatile pianist at home playing boogies or more introspectively. “Good Soul Music” is more in a rock and roll vein boasting some wailing harp and rollicking boogie piano while “Highway 59″is a steamy instrumental with a bit of a soul-jazz feel featuring excellent ensemble playing from everybody. Alexander has recorded sporadically since this session cutting a pair of albums for Arhoolie in the early 1970’s and after a lengthy hiatus a record in the 1990’s with his latest issued in 2004.

Lafayette Thomas - Party With Me (MP3)

Dave Alexander - Love Is Just For Fools (MP3)