Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

For someone who recorded so little Tommy Johnson’s influence was unusually vast and long lasting; after all his recorded output only consists of six issued sides for Victor in 1928 and six issued sides for Paramount in 1929. A welcome surprise in recent years has been the discovery of several recordings of unissued material. It was Johnson’s Victor sides that were the most influential and oft covered: “Cool Drink of Water Blues”, “Big Road Blues”, “Bye-Bye Blues”, “Maggie Campbell Blues”, “Canned Heat Blues” and “Big Fat Mama.” Unlike the Paramount records these sold fairly well and were apparently the songs Johnson sang most often in person. As David Evans wrote: “For about thirty years Tommy Johnson was perhaps the most important and influential blues singer in the state of Mississippi.”

Johnson was born in 1896 in Hinds County, MS, on the George Miller plantation. Once the family moved to Crystal Springs in 1910, Tommy picked up the guitar, learning from his older brother, LeDell. By age 16, Johnson had run away from home to become a “professional” musician, largely supporting himself by playing on the street for tips. By the late teens-early ’20s, Tommy was frequently playing the company of rising local stars Charley Patton, Dick Bankston and Willie Brown. Johnson spent most of the ’20s playing in the company of Rubin Lacy, Charley McCoy, Son Spand, Walter Vincent, and Ishmon Bracey. He cut his first records for the Victor label at sessions held in Memphis, TN, in 1928.

He cut one session for the Paramount label in 1930, largely through the maneuvering of fellow buddy Charley Patton. Then the slow descent into alcoholism started taking its toll. He worked on a medicine show with Ishmon Bracey in the ’30s, but mostly seemed to be a mainstay of the juke and small party dance circuit the rest of his days. He was playing just such a local house party in November of 1956 when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Babe Stovall

I was aware of Johnson’s influence but hadn’t really thought about it until recently. I was listening to some records in preparation for one of my shows, records by K.C. Douglas and Shirley Griffith, both of who were influenced by Johnson first hand. I began to dig out some other records, mainly LP’s of field recordings David Evans made in the 1960’s and 70’s. It was David Evans investigation into Johnson in the late 1960’s that we owe a good deal of what we know about Johnson and it was through Evans’ field recordings that Johnson’s influence comes into sharper focus. Evans had this to say regarding Johnson’s influence: “Johnson exerted almost no musical influence, either in person or through his records, on blues singers outside the state of Mississippi. …Furthermore, none of his songs, was a big enough hit to enter the folk tradition significantly in its recorded from. Instead, his records tended to act as a reinforcement of the playing of men who had already learned the songs from him in person, and as a stabilizing force within the tradition. …Versions of Johnson’s songs derive exclusively from personal contact, though many of the artists undoubtedly heard Johnson’s records at one time or other.” Evans recorded many men who learned directly from Johnson including Roosevelt Holts, Boogie Bill Webb, Arzo Youngblood, Isaac Youngblood, Bubba Brown, Babe Stovall, Houston Stackhouse and Tommy’s brother Mager Johnson.

Among the records played on today’s show are the following, all recorded by Evans: The Legacy of Tommy Johnson (the companion LP to Evans’ book Tommy Johnson – I want to thank Evans for making me a copy of this hard to find record), two albums by Roosevelt Holts (Presenting The Country Blues, Roosevelt Holts and Friends) , South Mississippi Blues, Goin’ Up The Country and Catfish Blues: Mississippi Blues From Jackson & Crystal Springs. Outside of Catfish Blues all the other records have never been issued on CD. Evans has done quite a bit of field recording much of it unavailable. Here’s a link to a list of some of the recordings he’s made.

In addition Johnson’s influence can be heard on many earlier recordings. Those played on todays show include: Willie Lofton’s “Dark Road Blues” (1935), Mississippi Sheiks “Stop and Listen Blues” (1930) were covers of “Big Road Blues”, The McCoy Brothers recorded “Going Back Home” (1934) which was a version of “Cool Drink of Water Blues”, Robert Nighthawk recorded versions of “Maggie Campbell Blues” in 1953 (he also cut a version in 1964) and K.C. Douglas who recorded “Canned Heat Blues” 1961 (he cut another version in 1956).

As for Johnson’s own recording they are available in their entirety (outside a a newly found title) on Document’s Tommy Johnson 1928 – 1929 and JSP’s Legends of Country Blues. Sound quality is good on both but even better on Yazoo’s Masters Of The Delta Blues ~ Friends Of Charlie Patton and Revenant’s Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues: The Worlds Of Charlie Patton, although these feature only a few tracks.

I again want to thank David Evans for taking the time to talk with me about Tommy Johnson. If you can track down a copy, I highly recommend his book Tommy Johnson.

A tough, forthright woman blessed with a powerful, earthy voice and a deep soulfulness, Ma Rainey waxed a remarkable body of songs between 1923 and 1938. All 111 of those songs, including alternate takes, can be found on JSP’s exhaustive 5-CD Ma Rainey – Mother Of The Blues box set. Rainey was extremely consistent throughout her five-year recording career making this set particularly worthwhile and listenable. It didn’t hurt that the quality of her songs is consistently high and lyrically interesting plus she was backed by outstanding musicians like Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Coleman Hawkins, Tommy Ladnier, Kid Ory and on later sides by Georgia Tom and Tampa Red.

For an artist of her stature Rainey hasn’t been well served in the reissue market no doubt because of the poor quality of the original Paramount 78’s. It’s one of the great blues ironies or tragedy’s if you will, that while Paramount recorded some of the greatest blues of the era the quality of their pressings was notoriously bad. Compounding the problem were the popularity of the discs which means existing copies are often quite worn. Prior to the JSP box all of Rainey’s recordings could be found on five volumes on Document with adequate sound. JSP hasn’t performed any miracles with their transfers but have managed some worthwhile noise reduction, sometimes subtle, occasionally fairly significant, all in the service of bringing out Rainey’s vocals with better clarity. Formerly muffled numbers sound clearer and the consistent hiss, while still present, has been submerged. Songs that show improvement are “Slave To The Blues”, “Titanic Man Blues”, “Seeking The Blues”, “Dead Drunk Blues”, “Damper Down Blues”, “Booze And Blues”, “Honey Where You Been So Long”, “Bo-Weavil Blues”, “Cell Bound Blues”, “Stormy Sea Blues”, “Misery Blues” among several others.

Many of the early woman blues singers had a strong vaudevillian streak but Rainey’s output is dominated by the blues, something by her own account she added to her act in 1902. Like Charlie Patton did, Rainey’s was a decidedly downhome southern viewpoint, no doubt really connecting with southern audience on songs about the Bo-Weavil (“Bo-Weavil Blues”), Hoo-Doo (“Southern Blues”, “Louisiana Hoo-Doo Blues”, “Black Cat, Hoot Owl Blues”), jail (“Chain Gang Blues”, “Cell Bound Blues”), plus self explanatory numbers like “Levee Camp Moan”, “Log Camp Blues” and “Moonshine Blues.” Rainey tackled a wide range of topics in a poetic, direct, and sometime arresting fashion; sexuality in “Sissy Man Blues”, “Don’t Fish In My Sea”, the lesbian proclamation of “Prove It to Me Blues”, prostitution in “Hustlin’ Blues”, spousal violence in “Black Eye Blues” and “Sweet, Rough Man.” While there’s a somber tone to much of the music she had innate sense of swing, showcased on numbers like “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, “Hellish Rag” and “Hear Me Talking to You.” As mentioned Rainey was blessed with better bands than most female singers; there were the great horn players mentioned above, jug groups and guitarists like Miles Pruitt, Blind Blake and Tampa Red on a terrific batch of sides from 1928 at the tail end of Rainey’s recording career. Spending time with this box set also makes clear Rainey’s influence, not only recording songs that became standards like “See See Rider” and “Bo-Weavil Blues” but also her influence on male country blues singers; “Booze And Blues” was transformed by Charlie Patton into “Tom Rushen Blues, “Last Minute Blues” echoed in Willie Brown’s “Future Blues” as well as lyrically influencing artists as diverse as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Hicks, Robert Johnson and others.

Ma Rainey – Mother Of The Blues ranks as one of JSP’s more impressive and important reissues. This is a set to savor with timeless music that retains a high artistic quality from start to finish, improved sound that brings Rainey’s magnificent voice closer to the surface and an unbeatable budget price. The only knock is that a set like this deserves a first class set of notes and Max Haymes’ booklet fails to deliver. It’s a odd mix of dry academic writing and fannish praise that fails to do justice to the material.

Booze And Blues (MP3)

Yonder Comes The Blues (MP3)

Black Eye Blues (MP3)

Show notes:

I’ve been doing a Christmas blues show for something like the past dozen years and was always frustrated with the lack of a really good collection of early blues Christmas songs. Luckily in 20o5 I hooked up with the Document label to put together a 2-CD, 52 track collection of blues and gospel songs from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. The result was Blues, Blues Christmas and the majority of today’s show comes from that collection. For some reason the CD is currently out of stock so good luck finding a copy – and no I don’t have any extras!

[This is an updated version of an article I wrote in 2006]

“Hurray for Christmas” exclaims Bessie Smith on her classic “At The Christmas Ball”, which lays claim to being the first recorded Christmas blues song cut way back in 1925. Little did Bessie know that a tradition was born and through the years there have been hundreds of blues Christmas songs recorded by both well-established artists and a host of up-and-coming hopefuls. Record companies were quick to see the possibilities, often advertising these boldly in the trade papers of the day. The familiar blues themes of loneliness and hard times are always more acute during the holidays. Christmas themes are usually split between the “I want my baby for Christmas” variety and the “Its Christmas and I don’t have a lousy dime” lament. Surprisingly there’s a relative scarcity of gospel Christmas songs although there were plenty of Christmas sermons in the early years when recorded sermons were in vogue. In addition there’s a rich vein of New Year’s songs usually revolving around the hope that upcoming year will be better than the last.

Santa Claus Blues: The 1920’s & 30’s

The earliest Christmas blues songs that I tracked down date from 1925. On Oct. 8 of that year Eva Taylor featured with Clarence Williams’ Trio cut “Santa Claus Blues” for the Okeh label and recut the tune again on Oct. 16 with a slightly larger band, the Clarence Williams’ Blue Five. Both versions feature Louis Armstrong on cornet. The song is more pop than blues however. On Nov. 18 Bessie Smith cut At The Christmas Ball [Lyrics] for Columbia. She recut the song again Dec. 9 but this version remained unissued. Many blues artists from the 20’s cut Christmas songs including: Elzadie Robinson “The Santa Claus Crave” (1927), Victoria Spivey “Christmas Mornin’ Blues” (1927), Blind Lemon Jefferson “Christmas Eve Blues” (1928), Bertha Chippie Hill “Christmas Man Blues” (1928), Blind Blake “Lonesome Christmas Blues” (1929), Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers w/ Frankie ‘Half Pint’ Jaxon Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn (1929) [Lyrics].

The trend continued with more frequency in the 30’s. Here are a few notable songs: Butterbeans & Susie Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus (1930), Charlie Jordan “Santa Claus Blues” ["Christmas Christmas, how glad I am you are here/ Well I ain’t had a chicken dinner for this whole round year/Shiny bones and naked bones gleaming from around my plate/ …So pass me that chicken, the turkey, duck and the goose/Well all you birds gonna be one legged when I turn you-a-loose"] (1931) and “Christmas “Christmas Blues” (1935), Kansas City Kitty & Georgia Tom “Christmas Morning Blues” (1934) [Lyrics], Verdi Lee “Christmas “Tree Blues” (1935), Tampa Red “Christmas And New Years Blues” (1934), Peetie Wheatstraw “Santa Claus Blues” (1935), Bumble Bee Slim’s “Christmas And No Santa Claus and “Santa Claus Bring Me A New Woman” (1936), Black Ace “Christmas Time Blues (Beggin’ Santa Claus)” (1937), Casey Bill Weldon “Christmas Time Blues” (1937), Bo Carter “Santa Claus” (1938), Walter Davis “Santa Claus” (1935) [Lyrics], Sonny Boy Williamson I “Christmas Morning Blues” (1938).

Merry Christmas Baby: The 40’s & 50’s

In the 40’s there of course was more blues Christmas songs but there was a new music brewing called R&B. Evolving out of jump blues in the late ’40s, R&B laid the groundwork for rock & roll. Notable blues and R&B songs from this period include: Gatemouth Moore “Christmas Blues” (1946), Little Willie Littlefield “Merry Xmas” (1949), Mabel Scott “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” (1947), Harman Ray Xmas Blues ["Hold it, hold it man/Don’t play me no jingle bells the way I feel this Christmas/Only kind of bells I want to have anything to do with is some of them mission bells/Man, play me the blues long, loud and lowdown"] (1947), Boll Weavil “Christmas Time Blues” (1947), Big Joe Turner Christmas Date Boogie (1948), Thelma Cooper “I Need A Man (For Xmas)” (1948), Smokey Hogg “I Want My Baby For Christmas” (1949), Amos Milburn “Let’s Make Christmas Merry Baby” (1949), Harry Crafton “Bring That Cadillac Back” ["I let you eat my turkey on Christmas morn/When I looked around you and my Cadillac was gone"] (1949), Felix Gross “Love For Christmas” ["You can have your turkey and your dressing/Sweet cakes and apple pie/Blue Champagne and Rock & Rye/Everything that money can buy"] (1949), J.B. Summers “I Want a Present For Christmas” ["Santa Claus, Santa Claus/Hear my plea/Open up your bag and give a fine brown baby to me/ …You can stop by my chimney/Drop her in the chute/ Leave your reindeer outside/Come in and get my loot"] (1949).

The era’s biggest Christmas song was undoubtedly the immortal “Merry Christmas, Baby” cut by Charles Brown & The Blazers in 1947. This perennial classic has been covered numerous times including versions by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Lena Horne , Lou Rawls, Booker T. & the MG’s, Otis Redding, James Brown and countless others. Charles Brown’s smooth ballad style has become synonymous with Christmas ever since remaking “Merry Christmas, Baby” many times, cutting many other Christmas songs and full length albums including 1961’s “Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs” and “Cool Christmas Blues” in 1994. One other song from this era is the downright odd “Junior’s a Jap Girl’s Christmas for His Santa Claus” (1942) a Library of Congress recording by Willie Blackwell that defies categorization. Oher non-R&B Christmas songs from the 40’s include a few by Leadbelly such as “Christmas Is A-Coming” [Lyrics], “The Christmas Song”, “On A Christmas Day”, Sylvestor Cotton “Christmas Blues” (1948), Washboard Pete [aka Ralph Willis] “Christmas Blues” (1948), Alex Seward & Louis Hayes “Christmas Time Blues” (1948), Walter Davis “Santa Claus” (1949).

The 50’s produced many more Christmas gems including: Lowell Fulson’s oft covered “”Lonesome Christmas” (1950), Cecil Gant It’s Christmas Time Again (1950), Roy Milton “Christmas Time Blues” (1950), Johnny Otis & Little Esther Phillips “Far Away Blues” [also known as "Faraway Christmas Blues"] (1950), Jimmy Liggins “I Want My Baby For Christmas” (1950), Larry Darnell Christmas Blues (1950), Sonny Parker w/ Lionel Hampton “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” (1950), Lloyd Glenn “Sleigh Ride” (1951), Sugar Chile Robinson “Christmas Boogie b/w Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1950), Titus Turner Christmas Morning (1952), Lightning Hopkins “Merry Christmas” (1953), Chuck Berry “Run, Rudolph, Run” (1958) and “Merry Christmas Baby” (1958), John Lee Hooker “Blues for Christmas” (1959).

Please Come Home For Christmas Baby: The 60’s To The Present

The 60’s, less so in the 70’s, produced a number of strong Christmas blues songs including at least one blues classic, Little Johnny Taylor’s “Please Come Home For Christmas” (1969) which has become an oft covered holiday classic. Other notable 60’s songs include: Sonny Boy Williamson II “Santa Claus” (1960), Lightnin’ Hopkins “Santa” (1960), Black Ace “Santa Claus Blues” (1960), B.B. King “Christmas Celebration” (1960), Hop Wilson “Merry Christmas, Darling” (1961), Robert Nighthawk “Merry Christmas Baby” (1964), Lowell Fulson “I Wanna Spend Christmas With You” (1967), Louis Jordan “Santa Claus, Santa Claus” (1968), Charles Brown “New Merry Christmas Baby” (1969) featuring Earl Hooker, Bukka White “Christmas Eve Blues” (1969). In the 70’s: Jimmy Reed “Christmas Present Blues” (1970), Lee Jackson “The Christmas Song” (1971), Albert King “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” (1974) and “Christmas Comes But Once A Year” (1974), Eddie C. Campbell “Santa’s Messin’ with the Kid” (1977).

There seems to be a dearth of quality Christmas songs in the 70’s and 80’s. By the late 80’s the rise of the CD caused the demise of the 45 record which was one of the main vehicles for putting out holiday songs. However in lieu of the 45 labels began releasing Christmas themed compilations and there have been a number of very good collections. Some of the best include: “Austin Rhythm and Blues Christmas” (1989) from the Antone’s label [reissued on Epic in 1986 and Sony in 2001], “Alligator Records Christmas Collection” (1992), “Ichiban Blues At Christmas Vol. 1-4″ (1991-97) ["Best of Ichiban Blues at Christmas" was issued 2002], “Bullseye Blues Christmas” (1995), “Stony Plain’s Christmas Blues” (2000), “Blue Christmas” (2000) from the Dialtone label, “Blue Xmas” (2001) on Evidence. A number of artists issued Christmas themed records including Charles Brown, Huey “Piano’ Smith, Johnny Adams, B.B. King and Etta James. Also with the dominance of the CD age labels went back into their vaults to put together compilations of classic Christmas blues. Many of the songs listed earlier in this article can be found on these collections and the best of these will be listed below.

Let Me Hang My Stocking On Your Christmas Tree

Christmas blues as sexual metaphor? Of course! The blues has always been loaded with double entendres and Christmas blues offers plenty of examples: Roosevelt Sykes “Let Me Hang My Stocking In Your Christmas Tree” (1937), Jimmy Butler Trim Your Tree ["I’m gonna bring along my hatchet/My beautiful Christmas balls/I’ll sprinkle my snow up on your tree and hang my mistletoe on your wall"] (1955), Clarence Carter “Back Door Santa” (1968), “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” by Albert King (1974) and Sir Mack Rice (1982), Rufus Thomas “I’ll Be Your Santa, Baby” (1982) and Sonny Rhodes the same year, Chick Willis “(All I Want for Christmas Is To) Lay Around and Love On You” (1991).

Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus

Those who listen to the blues know it’s not all doom and gloom. The blues are laced with humor and that comes across in many blues Christmas songs: Butterbeans & Susie “Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus” (1930) [Lyrics], Big Jack Johnson “Rudolph Got Drunk Last Night” (1990), Clyde Lasley “Santa Claus Home Drunk”, Billy Ray Charles “I Been Double Crossed By Santa Claus”, Louis Armstrong “Zat You Santa Claus.”

Empty Stocking Blues

Not everyone enjoys the holidays and many people suffer from the Christmas blues. If you want to wallow in your depression here’s an appropriate blues soundtrack: Leroy Carr Christmas In Jail – Ain’t That A Pain? (1929) [Lyrics], Jimmy Witherspoon “Christmas Blues” [alternately titled "How I Hate To See Christmas Come Around"] (1947), Jimmy Grissom “Christmas Brings Me Down” (1948), Floyd Dixon “Empty Stocking Blues” (1950), “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues” ["Unless you come home to me/I'll be drunk all day Christmas Day"]” (1951), Lowell Fulson’s two-part “Lonesome Christmas” (1951), Freddie King’s classic two sided 45 “Christmas Tears b/w I Hear Jingle Bells” (1961), Jerry McCain & B.B. Coleman “Sad, Sad Christmas” (1992).

Will The Coffin Be Your Santa Claus?

Recorded sermons were among the most popular and best selling of the “race records”in the 1920’s and 1930’s. These records provided a fascinating look into the views and concerns of black America at a time when very few outlets existed for black expression. Rev. J.M. Gates was the most popular and prolific of them all, waxing some two hundred titles between 1926 and 1941, which accounted for a staggering quarter of all sermons recorded during this period. Notable sermons from this period include: Rev. Edward Clayborn “The Wrong Way To Celebrate Christmas” (1928) [Lyrics], Rev. A.W. Nix “Death Might Be Your Christmas Gift” (1927), or these three by Rev. J.M. Gates: “You May Be Alive Or You May Be Dead, Christmas Day” (1927), “Will The Coffin Be Your Santa Claus?” (1927), “Did You Spend Christmas Day In Jail?” (1929).

Happy New Year Darling

While there’s far more Christmas songs, New Year has inspired a number of noteworthy songs: Blind Lemon Jefferson “Happy New Year Blues” (1928), Mary Harris with Peetie Wheatstraw “Happy New Year Blues” (1935) [Lyrics], Smokey Hogg “New Years Eve Blues” (1947), Lonnie Johnson Happy New Year, Darling["It seems a long time since I been fightin' the Japs 'cross the deep blue sea/Yes, that's why I'm so glad darlin', to have a li'l wife still waitin' for me/It's so great to have you darlin', to have a li'l wife like you/My three brothers couldn't make it but they say happy new year to you"] (1947), Johnny Otis “Happy New Year, Baby” (1947), Lil’ Son Jackson “New Year’s Resolution” (1950), Roy Milton New Year’s Resolution Blues ["I’m gonna deal them from the bottom/Ain’t going to play it fair at all/Please believe me pretty baby/I’m going to have myself a ball/Going to give up my apartment, and you know they’re hard to find/ I don’t want no last year’s memories running through my weary mind"] (1950), Lightnin’ Hopkins “Happy New Year” (1953) [Lyrics], Charles Brown “Bringing In A Brand New Year” (1993), Lil Ed and Dave Weld “New Year’s Resolution” (1996).

Notable Christmas Blues Compilations

Blues, Blues Christmas (Document): Comprehensive 2-CD collection of jazz, blues, boogie-woogie and gospel recordings dedicated to the season. Collects 52 numbers spanning from 1925 to 1955 including tracks by Bessie Smith, Leroy Carr, Rev. J.M. Gates, Butterbeans & Susie, Lonnie Johnson, Roy Milton, Larry Darnell, Cecil Gant, Lightnin’ Hopkins and many, many others.

Where Will You Be Christmas Day? (Dust To Digital): Fine collectiof rare early Christmas gems by Leroy Carr, Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, Butterbeans and Susie, Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Kansas City Kitty, Bessie Smith and many others.

Soul Christmas (Atlantic): This 1991 reissue includes eight of the original 11 tracks included on the Atco 1968 release with 11 more tracks added from the Atlantic vaults. An essential set that includes Otis Redding’s “White Christmas” and “Merry Christmas, Baby”, Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa”, Joe Tex’s “I’ll Make Every Day Christmas (For My Woman)” and others.

Blue Yule: Christmas Blues and R&B Classics (Rhino): A killer 18-song compilation. Includes hard to find tracks by John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Hop Wilson, Big Jack Johnson and other gems.

It’s Christmas Time Again (Stax): A great collection of funky blues and soul from the Stax catalog. Standout tracks include “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” with versions by Mack Rice and Albert King plus Rufus Thomas’ “I’ll Be Your Santa Baby’” and Little Johnny Taylor’s “Please Come Home for Christmas”

Merry Christmas, Baby (Paula): Some real gems on here although some can be found on other compilations. Includes fine songs like Johnny And Jon’s “Christmas in Vietnam”, Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas”, Lowell Fulson’s “Lonesome Christmas” parts 1 & 2 plus songs by Big Joe Williams, Sugar Boy Crawford, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Reed and others.

Jingle Blues (Platinum): Entertaining collection from the House of Blues. Includes a wide variety of styles by artists such as Bessie Smith, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Witherspoon, B.B. King, Amos Milburn and others.

James Brown’s Funky Christmas (Polygram): What would Christmas be without this funky collection? This 17-track compilation includes selections cut between 1966-1970. Highlights include “Go Power at Christmas Time”, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” and “Hey America” (It’s Christmas Time).

Christmas Blues (Savoy): Fine Christmas blues from the vaults of Savoy like Gatemouth Moore’s “Christmas Blues”, Jimmy Butler’s rocking “Trim Your Tree”, the country blues of Ralph Willis’ “Christmas Blues” and several other vintage tunes.

Rhythm & Blues Christmas (Hollywood): Budget priced collection that includes Charles Brown’s “Merry Christmas Baby,” Freddie King’s “Christmas Tears/I Hear Jingle Bells”, Mabel Scott’s “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” and others.

Taking a cue from a Peetie Wheatstraw song I’ve got those “Ice And Snow Blues” today. As I look out the window today the snow is falling fast and heavy with no let up in sight. Unfortunately I’ll have to play it safe and stay home which means no show today. Today’s show was going to be a feature on singers Junior Parker and Bobby Bland which will be pushed back to January 6th. Make sure to tune in next week for our Christmas blues show.

Peetie Wheatstraw – Ice And Snow Blues (MP3)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Moaning And Groaning [Blue Horizon](MP3)

Stealin’ [Blue Horizon](MP3)

Deal The Cards [Bluesway] (MP3)

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

Show Notes:

Today’s show is not nearly as narrowly focused as our usual shows but there’s certainly plenty of great music. In fact, after putting this one together I already have enough left over material for a couple of sequels. On tap today is a wide variety of live recordings from radio broadcasts, club dates and concerts spanning from 1939 to 1978.

I’ve culled recordings from a variety of sources including quit a number from radio broadcasts. The oldest track is by a youthful sounding Big Joe Turner with pal Pete Johnson on piano from a Café Society aircheck from 1939. This come from a fascinating collection on Document called Live Rare Live Cuts featuring airchecks from Café Society by Meade Lux Lewis, Billie Holiday, Albert Ammons and others. Café Society was a New York City nightclub opened in 1938 in Greenwich Village by Barney Josephson to showcase African American talent. Also from a radio broadcast is Blue Lu Barker’s “Georgia Grind” with a superb band featuring husband Danny Barker and Pops Foster among the accompanists, come from a radio broadcast. Barker didn’t have the greatest range but is a charming singer and does a fine job on this number which she recorded commercially for Decca in 1939. We open the show with recordings by Louis Jordan who was at the height of his popularity during World War II and recorded prolifically for the Armed Forces Radio Service and the V-Disc program. By 1942, the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) sent 16-inch, 33 rpm vinyl transcription discs to the troops, mostly radio shows with the commercials edited out. Moving up to the 1950’s we play a pair of recordings from the collection Johnny Otis Show: Vintage 1950’s Broadcasts from Los Angeles. This is a fascinating document based around air checks and live broadcasts from 1950s radio and television shows in which Otis was the radio DJ, host, and/or one of the performers.

Speaking of Johnny Otis we move up nearly twenty years to 1971 and spotlight a pair of cuts from the outstanding Johnny Otis Show Live At Monterey. The record features terrific performances by Roy Milton, Big Joe Turner, Ivory Joe Hunter, Esther Phillips, Roy Brown, Pee Wee Crayon and Cleanhead Vinson. As good as Esther Phillips was at this show she was simply stunning on Burnin’ recorded live at Freddie Jett’s Pied Piper in Los Angeles recorded in 1969 and issued on Atlantic the following year. I’ve written about Esther before, have been playing her music for years and always felt she was a vastly underrated blues singer. Esther may have been versatile for her own good, tackling country, soul, – all supremely well- but she sang the blues with astonishing depth and if you know anything about her life you know she lived the blues. The chapter on Esther in Johnny Otis’ Upside Your Head! Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue is one of the saddest musical chronicles I’ve ever read. We also spotlight a few other tough woman blues singers like Sugar Pie DeSanto from the 1978 San Francisco Blues Festival, Bertha “Chippie” Hill from a 1946 radio broadcast and Etta James. The Etta cut comes from Etta Rocks The House, recorded live at Nashville’s New Era Club in 1963, and has to rank as one of the toughest, roughest club dates ever committed to record.

Going back some twenty years prior to the above mentioned Johnny Otis concert we feature some recordings from concerts organized by Gene Norman. Norman put together concerts called “Blues Jubilees” in Los Angeles in 1949, 1950 and 1955. Fortunately recordings exist of some of these concerts including performances by Dinah Washington, Helen Humes, Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Witherspoon. I can’t help but hope other recordings exist and will one day see the light of day. Norman was certainly ahead of his time and it wasn’t until the blues revival of the 1960’s and into the 1970’s that the blues festival came into it’s own. The Newport Folk Festival was the prime showcase for rediscovered artists like Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Bukka White, Skip James and just about everyone else. Another festival spotlighted today is The Ann Arbor Blues Festival which began in 1969 and was expanded in 1972 to include jazz thus becaming the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival.

As mentioned the Newport Folk Festival played a huge role in bringing rediscovered to a wide audience but these artists also played a smaller circuit of coffeehouses, colleges and clubs. Another figure who emerged after a long absence was Scrapper Blackwell who was rediscovered living in Indianapolis, and was prevailed upon to resume playing and recording. Our two selections stem from a live concert at Indianapolis’ 1444 Gallery from September 20, 1959 available on Document’s Scrapper Blackwell 1959 – 1960. Sadly Blackwell was murdered during a robbery attempt in 1962 shortly after cutting the magnificent Mr. Scrapper’s Blues for Bluesville.

A few other recordings worth mention are a bit rough on the recording side but are invaluable documents including atmospheric performances by Little Johnnie Jones, Muddy Waters and Slim Harpo. Outside of Otis Span, Johnny Jones was one of the best post-war Chicago piano man and it’s a shame he recorded only a handful of sides under his own name. Thankfully Norman Dayron had the presence of mind to record Jones when he played at the Fickle Pickle in 1963 along with Billy Arnold. Live in Chicago with Billy Boy Arnold on Alligator is a msut have for piano fans and fans of Chicago Blues. The same can be said of Folk Festival of The Blues (also issued as Blues From Big Bill’s Copacabana) recorded on July 26, 1963 at a WPOA live radio broadcast emceed by local Chicago disc jockey Big Bill Hill emanating from the Copacabana Club. This features Buddy Guy’s band as the backup band for everybody, augmented by pianist Otis Spann on some amazingly raw and powerhouse blues. The Muddy Waters tracks in particular are simply stunning. Moving from the club to the street we feature tracks by Robert Nighthawk and Johnny Young recorded live on Chicago’s Maxwell Street. The recordings come from the amazing And This Is Maxwell Street a this three disc set features the street recordings from the 1964 Mike Shea film documentary, And This Is Free, plus a bevy of previously unreleased performances of equal landmark merit. The bulk of the performances feature Robert Nighthawk but also Johnny Young, Carey Bell, James Brewer, Big John Wrencher and others.

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

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

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

In the past week there’s been several interesting blues items that have popped up on the web. I was reading the Sunday New York Times when I came across an interesting piece on folklorist John Work III. Work is nowhere near as famous as fellow folklorist Alan Lomax who won a National Book Critics Circle Award in 1993 for The Land Where the Blues Began. In blues circles, however, the book and Lomax in general has seen a fair bit of criticism regarding his methods and his rather selective memory. Two years ago Lost Delta Found was published which criticized Lomax for giving short shrift to the work of three black researchers, chiefly the contributions of Work, with whom he made some of his landmark field recordings in the 1940s. The big news in the article was the recent unearthing of some previously unknown acetates Work made in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Spring Fed Records has released these as John Work, III: Recording Black Culture.

I stumbled upon the Digital Library of Appalachia through a posting on a blues newsgroup I’m a member of. To quote the website the thousands of recordings in this online library “are derived from non-commercial sound recordings that document much of Appalachian music’s geographic, ethnic, vocal, and instrumental diversity.” This amazing repository of music including lots of blues (scroll down and click the “blues” link in the second paragraph). There’s many performers I’ve never heard of, which of course is part of the fun, plus many by artists who’ve made commercial recordings like Marvin and Turner Foddrell, Buddy Moss, Rabbit Muse, Archie Edwards, Drink Small, John Jackson, Etta Baker and several others. As the original poster noted, this is the kind of thing the web was made for.

From another newsgroup I occasionally peruse I came upon the following by Andrew Rose: “I am an award-winning music restoration and remastering engineer who normally specialises in historic classical music recordings. Earlier this year I developed a remarkable new process (“XR”) for improving the sound of older recordings and have employed this to great critical success on a number of classical recordings. For the first time I’ve used the process on a non-classical release, bringing out incredible sound quality from a number of recordings by Robert Johnson. You can hear for yourself what I mean by listening to “Ramblin’ On My Mind” which is streamed on our website. The initial release includes 19 of Johnson’s songs, with plans afoot to rework the rest and produce a second release very soon.” Naturally there’s been quite a bit of commenting on this and the entire thread is well worth reading. You can hear the results yourself on Mr. Rose’s website. I’m a natural skeptic but I have to say what I’ve heard sounds pretty remarkable. I plan on buying the CD and I’ll be better able to judge on my home stereo. I’ve never been particularly impressed with so called revolutionary remastering technologies like CEDAR No-Noise which to my ears sounds sterile and artificial. Personally I have no problem with a bit of noise which is why I’ve been partial to the releases on the Yazoo label.

Show Notes:

Woman blues singers seem to get shortchanged when it comes to interest among blues fans or reissue companies. I’m not talking about heavy hitters like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey but the dozens and dozens of fine singers who recorded in their shadows during the 1920’s and 30’s. This show is dedicated to singers like Mary Johnson, Hattie Hart, Leola Manning, Alice Moore and others; in some cases they recorded dozens of sides or just a handful, some were quite popular in their day while other achieved little or no success yet they cut some exceptional blues records that, outside of collectors, remain all but forgotten today.

The “Classic Female Blues” era as it’s generally called spanned from 1920 to 1929 with its peak from 1923 to 1925. The most popular of these singers were Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, Ethel Waters, Ida Cox, Victoria Spivey, Sippie Wallace, Alberta Hunter, Clara Smith, Edith Wilson, Trixie Smith and Lucille Hegamin. It was singer Mamie Smith in 1920 who paved the way as Paul Oliver notes: “One of the records that helped launch the issue of so-called “Race Records”…was Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues.” It was to the benefit of many other black woman singers that a black woman had at last broke into what had previously been an exclusively white market. During the decade after the release of this record, more than 200 women singers were recorded and their songs issued on Race Records. Several of them made more than a hundred titles each, and a great many made a few dozen. In addition, there were those who made just a handful of titles that were often of great interest, nonetheless.” In 1921 blues singers such as Lillyn Brown, Lavinia Turner, Lucille Hegamin, Daisey Martin all made records. In January 1922 Metronome declared that “every phonograph company has a colored girl recording blues.” Of course woman like Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Ida Cox had been singing the blues for years, mainly in the South, in circuses like Miller’s 101 Ranch, The Mighty Haag Circus, Vaudeville stages and minstrel shows like Sugar Foot Greene’s Minstrel Show, Silas Green from New Orleans and the Rabbit Foot Minstrels.

On today’s show we skip over these very early recordings which can be a bit tough slogging even for the most committed blues fan. While the recordings are interesting historically they pose a few problems as Tony Russell notes: “…Many of them belonged to a tradition of stage singing that has not appealed much to recent generations of blues enthusiasts. …Most of them are separated from us by the thick curtain of the acoustic recording process, which reduces all but the strongest voices to squeaks, and muffles their accompanists.” You can be the judge as the Document label as seen fit to reissue all of these early singers and in fact a good chunk of today’s songs come from the vast Document catalog. While the Document collections are invaluable sound quality is not always the best hence I’ve played several tracks from Yazoo’s I Can’t Be Satisfied vol. 1 & 2 and Barrelhouse Mamas. These are terrific collections with superior remastering.

Today’s show features a number of early woman blues singers in the classic style who were quite popular in their day such as Martha Copeland, Clara Smith, Lizzie Miles and Rosa Henderson. Copeland’s sassy “I Ain’t Your Hen Mister Fly Rooster” gives today’s show it’s title. Copeland was saddled by Columbia with the nickname“everybody’s mammy” and was popular in her day but little is known about her life. She recorded close to two dozen sides between 1923 and 1928. Copeland often had interesting lyrics but, with a few exceptions, her singing is rather unexciting. “I Ain’t Your Hen Mister Fly Rooster” finds her singing in top form backed by lively cornet from Bubber Miley and piano from J.C. Johnson plus some forthright lyrics:

I ain’t your hen mister fly rooster, so don’t crow in my back yard
Here’s one chicken you ain’t picking
The day you try you’ll find it hard
You and I ain’t never going to come to terms
Find some other chicken I don’t need your worms
I ain’t your hen mister fly rooster, so don’t crow in my back yard

Rosa Henderson started out in carnival and tent shows around 1913 and moved to New York in 1923 where she made her recording debut. She recorded a hundred odd sides throughout the 1920’s and made her final record in 1931. She was a fine singer who suffered from some rather lackluster accompanists. There’s no such problems on 1926’s supremely confident and boisterous “Rough House Blues (A Reckless Woman’s Lament)” as Henderson belts out the following challenge:

Everybody stand aside and let mad mama through
Because my feelings I can’t hide
I’m hinkey, mean and blue
I’m gonna raise the roof up round this house tonight
I feel rough and ready, I wanna pick a fight
I want to shoot my pistol, I don’t care who I hit
I feel like the devil ’cause my man done quit
I’m gonna drink my whiskey and get my habits on

Lizzie Miles was a fine classic blues singer from the 1920s who survived to have a full comeback in the 1950s. She started out singing in New Orleans during 1909-1911 with such musicians as King Oliver, Kid Ory, and Bunk Johnson. She recorded extensively between 1922-1930. She recorded in 1939 but spent 1943-1949 outside of music and in 1950 began a comeback recording for labels such as Circle, Cook, Capitol, Verve and others before retiring in 1959. From the very beginning Miles was a forceful singer with plenty of personality although early recordings suffer from poor sound and often bland material. Her late 20’s and 30’s recordings are superior and “Too Slow Blues” from 1930 is a prime example featuring some terrific guitar from Teddy Bunn. She was still a force to be reckoned with when in 1952 she cut “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” backed by Sharkey & His Kings of Dixieland.

A good chunk of today’s selections are by women performing in a more down home vein. In the 1920’s and 30’s St. Louis was a vibrant blues town boasting some superb woman singers like Bessie Mae Smith, Alice Moore, Mary Johnson and Edith North Johnson. Bessie Mae Smith recorded variously as St. Louis Bessie, Blue Belle and Streamline Mae. Her 18 sides recorded between 1927-1930 showcase a strong singer who used some striking imagery in her songs. Mary 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. Alice Moore was a superb and popular singer who’s biggest hit was “Blue, Black and Evil,” which she recorded several times.

It seems just about all the major cities boasted top flight woman singers and in addition to St. Louis. Today’s show features singers hailing from Dallas, Kansas City, Memphis and Chicago. Hattie Hart was a marvelous, tough voiced singer who hailed from Memphis where she worked with the Memphis Jug Band before heading to Chicago and cut sides as Hattie Bolten. From Dallas we have big voiced Hattie Burleson who’s backed by an outstanding band on these 1928 sides. She waxed only seven sides and it’s a shame she recorded so little. Burleson discovered fellow Dallas singer Lillian Glinn while she was singing spirituals in church. Glinn briefly became a star before returning to the church. It’s not hard to see why; she possessed a warm, strong, clear voice in the classic style as she shows on “I’m A Front Door Woman With A Back Door Man.” Lottie Kimbrough was based in Kansas City and cut a half dozen rather unexceptional sides in 1924. Her 1928 sides for Gennett were a different story; backed by the driving, unorthodox guitar of Miles Pruitt she cut “Rolling Log Blues” and “Goin’ Away Blues”, two blues of haunting power featuring Kimbrough’s penetrating, world weary vocals. From Chicago we play tracks by Mozelle Alderson (she also recorded as Kansas City Kitty, Hannah May and Jane Lucas) Georgia White and Ruth Ladson. Alderson’s “Tight In Chicago” is her best record, a fine hard times blues number cut in the heart of the depression and in 1941 Ruth Ladsen found things just as tough as she recounts on “Windy City Blues” a tale of the temptations that lie in wait for a”green” young girl:

I met a Chicago woman, she said come and go with me
She asked me if I had any money but I was broke as I could be
She said look here young woman, you young and I am so old
And you’re in dear old Chicago, where there’s plenty of gold
You don’t have to use your head to get it, there’s easy ways I been told
When we got up to her house, up on the second floor
I saw the head of a man peeping from every door
I said you better get me out of here
Before it is too late, too late, too late
Just the sight of all these men gives me the bellyache

Bertha “Chippie” Hill was based in Chicago when she began her recording career in 1925. Backed by the the shimmering slide of Tampa Red she delivers the gorgeous “Some Cold, Rainy Day” from 1928 and while her voice is a bit rough around the edges she still sounded vivacious on the bawdy “Charleston Blues” from 1946:

I’m going back to the fish house baby, and get me some shrimp
I’ve got to feed baby, two or three hungry old pimps

Outside of Memphis Minnie and Sister Rosetta Tharpe there were very few guitar playing woman which makes the recordings of Geeshie Wiley and Mattie Delaney notable. Virtually nothing is known about Wiley who recorded four stunning blues for Paramount in 1930 and 1931 and then vanished like a cipher in the night. “Last Kind Word Blues” ranks as one of the most enigmatic, haunting country blues ever committed to wax. She cut some sides with Elvie Thomas including the bouncy, rag flavored duet “Pick Poor Robin Clean.” Nothing is know about Mattie Delaney who cut one 78 in 1930. A fine guitarist and singer she cut “Down The Big Road Blues” a variation on Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road Blues” and the topical “Tallahatchie River Blues.”

Lucille Bogan

As evidenced so far these woman had plenty to say and weren’t afraid to say it; they gave the business to those no good men, sang frankly about sex, hard times and the seedier side of life. Take Bertha Idaho’s “Down on Pennsylvania Avenue” a vivid description of a particularly seedy street in Baltimore “where you can’t tell the he’s from the she’s.” Better known is Lucille Bogan who sang in a tough, boisterous manner, singing frankly about lesbianism, prostitution, drinking and drug use. “Pig Iron Sally” is a good example of her tough talking persona:

They call me Pig Iron Sally
‘Cause I live in Slag Iron Alley
And I’m evil and mean as I can be

Among the many tough ladies we feature today include Lillian Miller on her “Dead Drunk Blues” as she opens up by proclaiming “I’m dead drunk today daddy” before singing: “You knowed I was drunk when I layed down across your bed/All the whiskey I drank it’s gone right to my head.” Then there’s Mae Glover’s provocative “Shake It Daddy” where she sings “You used to be sweet milk, but you done turned sour on me/If you want me to love you, hum like a honey bee.“

A couple of other obscure ladies worth mentioning are Leola Manning, Carrie Edwards and Elizabeth Johnson. Manning, from Knoxville, Tennessee, is a performer who deserves more attention. Not only was she an excellent singer but she had some remarkable songs including the two very fascinating topical songs: “The Arcade Building Moan” is about the burning down of an important commercial building in Knoxville and the chilling “Satan Is Busy In Knoxville,” which appears to be about a serial killer loose in Knoxville! On our selection, “The Blues is All Wrong”, is sung with an almost religious zeal that leaps out of the scratchy grooves. Johnson cut four terrific sides in 1928 including “Be My Kind Blues” with a band listed as Her Turpentine Tree-O featuring the unusual, but effective, instrumentation of cornet, guitar and woodblocks. She has a high, keening voice that’s very moving and one wishes she recorded more. Edwards cut four songs in 1932 including “Fattening Frogs for Snakes” that begins in resigned fashion before building steam to a sassy, testifying finish. Most folks probably know the song through Sonny Boy Williamson II who waxed a version in 1957. A version was first cut by Virginia Liston in 1925 and Edwards’ version is the second to be recorded.

This is just a small sampling of the many great forgotten woman blues singers and I certainly plan on doing sequels in the future.

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

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

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

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

Everybody Oughta Make A Change (MP3)

May West (MP3)