Big Road Blues

Show notes:

As blues historian Paul Oliver noted, artists like Jazz Gillum, Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Lonnie Johnson, Washboard Sam and Sonny Boy Williamson, were “playing in the brash, confident manner of Chicago which had been developing through the ‘thirties.” Sam Charters characterized the sound as the “Bluebird Beat” or more unkindly as the “Melrose Mess” by Mike Rowe in his pioneering book Chicago Blues. As Rowe notes “it was a white businessman, Lester Melrose, who was really responsible for shaping the Chicago sound of the late 30’s and 40’s.” Melrose had said “From March 1934 to February 1951 I recorded at least 90 percent of all rhythm-and-blues talent for RCA Victor and Columbia Records…” As Rowe further explains: “But Melrose had more than a large stable of blues artists under his control. Since only a few of them had regular accompanists most of them would play on each others records and thus Melrose has a completely self-contained unit… …The final stage of this musical incest was completed when they started recording each others songs.” The result was a consistent, sometime cookie cutter sound, although the best artists would consistently transcend these limitations. The “Bluebird Sound” anticipated the Chicago blues of the post-war era featuring tight, smooth small band arrangements that were filled out with piano, bass drums and often clarinet or saxophone. Today’s show spotlights three Bluebird artists who were a force on the 1940’s Chicago scene: Washboard Sam, Sonny Boy Williamson I and Jazz Gillum.

Washboard Sam recorded hundreds of records between 1935 and 1949 for the bluebird label, usually with backing by guitarist Big Bill Broonzy. Out of all the washboard players of the era, Sam was the most popular, which was due not only to his washboard talent, but also his skills as a highly imaginative songwriter and powerful, expressive vocalist. As an accompanist, Washboard Sam not only played with Broonzy, but also backed bluesmen like Bukka White, Memphis Slim, and Jazz Gillum. Sam added a phonograph turntable and a couple of cowbells to his washboard for added tone and his washboard playing is consistently driving and swinging. Washboard Sam (born Robert Brown) was the illegitimate son of Frank Broonzy, who also fathered Big Bill Broonzy. Sam was raised in Arkansas, working on a farm. He moved to Memphis in the early ’20s to play the blues. While in Memphis, he met Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon and the trio played street corners, collecting tips from passerby’s. In 1932, Sam moved to Chicago. Initially he played for tips, but soon he began performing regularly with Big Bill Broonzy. Within a few years, Sam was supporting Broonzy on the guitarist’s Bluebird recordings. Soon, he was supporting a number of different musicians on their recording sessions, including pianist Memphis Slim, bassist Ransom Knowling, and a handful of saxophone players, who all recorded for Bluebird. In 1935, Sam began recording for both Bluebird and Vocalion Records. Throughout the rest of the ’30s and the ’40s, Sam was one of the most popular Chicago bluesmen, selling plenty of records and playing to packed audiences in the Chicago clubs. In 1953, Washboard Sam recorded a session for Chess Records and then retired. In the early ’60s, Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim tried to persuade Sam to return to the stage to capitalize on the blues revival. Initially, he refused, but in 1963 began performing concerts in clubs and coffeehouses in Chicago; he even played a handful of dates in Europe in early 1964. He cut his last sides in 1964 before passing in 1966.

Jazz Gillum is usually treated with indifference among blues critics, looked upon as a rather generic performer who typified the mainstream Chicago blues style of the 1930’s and 40’s. While there’s some truth to this, Gillum’s recordings were consistently entertaining throughout his sixteen-year recording career punctuated with a fair number of exceptional sides. Gillum was by no means a harmonica virtuoso but he was a very expressive, easygoing singer who penned a number of evocative songs backed by some of the era’s best blues musicians. Gillum recorded 100 sides between 1934-49 as a leader in addition to session work with Big Bill Broonzy, Curtis Jones and the State Street Boys. Many of his records were characterized by strongly rhythmic support, credit for which must go largely to Big Bill Broonzy and later guitarist Willie Lacey. William McKinley Gillum was born in Indianola, Mississippi (B.B. King’s birthplace as well) on September 11, 1904. He soon learned to play the harmonica. By 1918 he had a job in a drugstore in Greenwood, Mississippi and could often been seen on the streets playing music for tips. Five years later he migrated to Chicago. There he met guitarist Big Bill Broonzy and the two started working club dates around the city as a duo and would soon form an enduring recording partnership. Gillum made his recording debut for the Bluebird label in 1934 with “Early In The Morning” b/w “Harmonica Stomp.” The records evidently didn’t sell and Gillum didn’t record again for two years. Gillum’s recordings were very much in the Bluebird mold yet he often rose above the production line sound to record a fair number of high quality blues. Between 1934-1942 Gillum recorded 70 sides, every session featuring the fret work of Big Bill Broonzy. Gillum’s most celebrated song during this period was “Key To The Highway” which he cut on May 9, 1940. Both Broonzy and Gillum claimed authorship of the song which was an enduring source of bitterness for Gillum. During World War II, there was a shortage of shellac and J.C. Patrillo, President of the American Federation of Musicians ordered a ban on all recordings. Gillum joined the Army in 1942 and served until 1945. Gillum resumed recording that year and in 1946 cut “Look On Yonder Wall” one of his most famous recordings. Starting in 1946 the brilliant William Lacey took over the guitar chores and his terrific electric work really adds a spark to Gillum’s later recordings. Gillum made his last issued recordings as leader on January 25, 1949. Gillum would record once more on a 1961 date with Memphis Slim and Arbee Stidham. On March 29, 1966, during an argument, Gillum was shot in the head and was pronounced dead on arrival at Garfield Park Hospital in Chicago.

Easily the most important harmonica player of the pre-war era, John Lee Williamson almost single-handedly made the harmonica a major instrument, leading the way for the amazing innovations of Little Walter and others who followed. Already a harp virtuoso in his teens, he learned from Hammie Nixon and Noah Lewis and ran with Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell before settling in Chicago in 1934. Sonny Boy signed to Bluebird in 1937. He recorded prolifically for Victor both as a leader and behind others in the vast Melrose stable (including Robert Lee McCoy and Big Joe Williams, who in turn played on some of Williamson’s sides). Sonny Boy cut more than 120 sides in all for RCA from 1937 to 1947. John Lee was popular enough that by the 1940s, another blues harp player, Aleck/Alex “Rice” Miller, who was based in Helena, Arkansas, began also using the name Sonny Boy Williamson. His first recording session was supported by the great Big Joe Williams, at the beginning of his distinguished career playing delta blues guitar. After this session Sonny Boy alternated between guitar and piano backups, occasionally using both at the same session. His most frequent accompanists were Big Bill Broonzy and the record company’s “house” piano player Blind John Davis. Other famous accompanists over the years were Eddie Boyd, Yank Rachel, Big Maceo and Willie Dixon. But some say the best accompanist was Joshua Altheimer, a piano player who played on the seven numbers of a 1940 session and then died the next year. Writer Pete Welding noted that the only significant difference between Big Joe Williams and Sonny Boy and those of say Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf is the matter of electric amplification. Othewise all the ingredients are the same: guitar, harp, bass and drums. He continues, “Big Joe and John Lee stand as vital, connecting links between the older Mississippi style and those of the postwar years.” Sonny Boy Williamson wouldn’t live to reap any appreciable rewards from his inventions. He died at the age of 34, while at the zenith of his popularity (his romping “Shake That Boogie” was a national R&B hit in 1947 on Victor), from a violent bludgeoning about the head that occurred during an apparent mugging on the South side. “Better Cut That Out,” another storming rocker later appropriated by Junior Wells, became a posthumous hit for Williamson in late 1948. Williamson’s style had a profund influence on those who followed including Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells, Little Walter, and Snooky Pryor among many others.

Show Notes:

[The first four paragraphs are taken from my Earl Hooker entry in the Encyclopedia Of The Blues (Routledge, 2006)]

Among his peers, Earl Hooker is widely considered the greatest guitarist of his generation. His wild performances attracted a loyal following wherever he went as he entertained the crowds by playing behind his back, picking the guitar with his feet or teeth or doing flips on stage without missing a note. Hooker always had a predilection for the latest electric guitar technology becoming famous for his double-neck guitars and even making the wah-wah pedal work in a blues context. In addition to blues he had incorporated Country and Western music in his repertoire early on. Hooker was the archetype of the rambling bluesman having spent most of his life on the road. Along the way he cut singles for a host of tiny labels that did little to get the word out. The result was that he remained little known outside the insular blues world until the late 60’s.

Born in Mississippi, Hooker arrived in Chicago as a child. As a youngster he began playing music in the streets with future blues artists Bo Diddley and Louis Myers. He met Robert Nighthawk in Chicago in the early 40’s and it was Nighthawk who became his primary influence, teaching him the rudiments of his remarkable slide technique. Hooker would eventually surpass his mentor, developing an entirely new language for the slide guitar. Hooker frequently ran away from home, often heading down south to play music. During these trips he reunited with Nighthawk, played with Ike Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson and others. He formed the Roadmasters in the early 50’s and with constantly changing personnel played all over the country for the next twenty years.

Hooker’s initial recordings were in 1952 for King with Johnny O’Neal, cutting sides the following year for Rockin’ and Sun. By the early 50’s he was back in Chicago cutting singles for Argo, C.J., and Bea & Baby before joining with producer Mel London (owner of Chief and Age) in 1959. For the next four years, he recorded both as sideman and leader for the producer, backing Junior Wells, Bobby Saxton, Lillian Offitt, Ricky Allen, Big Moose Walker and A.C. Reed plus cutting notable instrumentals like “Blue Guitar” and “Blues in D-Natural.” He also contributed slide work to Muddy Waters’ 1962 Chess waxing “You Shook Me”. After Age folded Hooker recorded sporadically between 1964 and 1968 for tiny outfits like Cuca, Jim-Ko, Duplex and again for C.J.

He finally drew increased attention during the late ’60s starting with “Two Bugs & a Roach,” his first full-length album, for Arhoolie in 1968. In 1969 he hooked up with *ABC-BluesWay churning out several albums for the label in addition to playing on records of Bluesway artists like Andrew Odom, Johnny “Big Moose” Walker, Charles Brown, his cousin John Lee Hooker and others. In late 1969, Hooker traveled to Europe to play in the *American Folk Blues Festival. By this time, he was quite ill with advancing tuberculosis, a condition he battled his entire life, and after his return was admitted to a Chicago sanitarium where he passed away in April 21, 1970.

Today’s show spotlights recordings spanning 1953 through 1969 featuring records Hooker cut under his own name, with a slew of journeyman singers like Little Sam Davis, Johnny O’Neal, Andrew Odom and others backing artists such as Ricky Allen, A.C. Reed, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Charles Brown to name a few. No matter the setting Hooker’s brilliantly inventive guitar always makes its presence known and like the best session men he elevates every recording he appears on. We also play a number of Hooker’s dazzling instrumentals. Hooker was never confident about his vocal abilities but he was a fine singer as several of today’s tracks prove.

From the 1950’s we spin a tracks Hooker cut for King, Rockin’, States, C.J. and Profile (he also cut sides for Argo and Vee-Jay during this period). Hooker’s first sides were cut for King on November 26, 1952 where he backed singer Johnny O’Neal on four numbers (two unissued) plus four instrumentals under his own name. From those sessions we play uptempo “Johnny Feels The Blues” with O’Neal sounding quite a bit like Roy Brown.  Hooker next landed at on the tiny Rockin’ label in 1953, a Miami, FL based label run by Henry Stone who also ran the Glory label which issued country music. There Hooker backed singer/harmonica bluesman Little Sammy Davis on four fine numbers. Six titles were cut under Hooker’s name but only “Sweet Angel” and “On The Hook” were released with the others sitting in the can for decades. Hooker found his way to Sun the same year where he waxed ten sides (one featuring vocals from Boyd Gilmore, one with vocals from Pinetop Perkins). All these sides were unissued at the time and surface on decades later. in 1957 Hooker did some session work for States including the excellent “Look Me Straight In The Eye” featuring vocals by Arbee Stidham. Hooker bounced over to the Chicago based C.J. label in 1959 run by Carl Jones. From those sessions we play “Yeah Yeah”, issued as Earl Hooker & His Road Masters a band that included pianist Johnny “Big Moose” Walker who would become a long time partner of Hooker’s. Hooker takes the vocals and turns in a superb vocal performance in addition to plenty of guitar fireworks. also in 1959 Hooker teamed up with Juniro Wells and producer Mel London. London formed the Chief label in 1957 and Hooker cut prolifically for London on Chief and its subsidiary imprints like Profile, Age and Mel-Lon through 1964. Cut in 1959 and released in 1960 on Profile, the infectious “Little By Little”, with Junior Wells on the vocals, became a hit staying on the R&B charts for three weeks and climbing to 23.

For the next four years Hooker recorded both as sideman and leader for the London, backing Junior Wells, Bobby Saxton, Lillian Offitt, Ricky Allen, Big Moose Walker and A.C. Reed plus cutting several notable instrumentals. Among the more striking instrumentals cut during this period are ”Blues In D Natural”, “Universal Rock “, “Blue Guitar” and “The Leading Brand.” As Sebastian Danchin wrote in his superlative biography Earl hooker – Blues Master: “The period between 1959 and 1963 was a productive one, both in terms of quality and quantity. Through Mel London, Hooker was involved in over a dozen recording sessions, and his playing was featured on some forty titles and twenty-five singles, a dozen of which were released under his own name, the rest being ascribed to Junior Wells, A.C. Reed, Lillian Offitt, and Ricky Allen.” In 1960 Hooker cut a couple of sides for the Bea & Baby label of which we spin the rocking “Trying To Make A Living” featuring vocals by Bobby Saxton. In 1962 Hooker was involved in some recording for Chess and its Checker subsidary. One single was issued for Chess, “Tanya” b/w “Put Your Shoes On Willie”, and we play the former, a slide driven version of the Jimmy Liggins song. Hooker also laid down some instrumental tracks that were dubbed later with Muddy Waters’ vocals resulting in “You Shook Me”, “Little Brown Bird”, “You Need Love” plus three unissued tracks.

Between 1964 and 1967 Hooker cut several sessions for the tiny Cuca label, many of which were unreleased. Jim Kirchstein’s Cuca label was based out of Sauk City, Illinois and issued a variety of ethnic music as well as jazz, gospel and R&B. Kirchstein initially issued 45’s but always had the intention of releasing a whole album on Hooker which finally came to light in 1968 under the title The Genius of Earl Hooker. Hooker’s Cuca output was mostly instrumental guitar showcases although vocalists like Muddy Water Jr., Frank “Crying Shame” Clark and A.C. Reed were employed. From those sessions we play the swinging “Swear To Tell The Truth” featuring a fine vocal from Hooker (the song was first cut for Age in 1960 with Harold Tidwell on vocals), the instrumentals “The Foxtrot” and “Something You Got” plus “You Took All My Love “boasting a terrific vocal from Frank “Crying Shame” Clark.  Although unlisted, the sax player on “Something You Got” is J.J. Jackson who moved to Utica, NY in the 1960’s. In the 1990’s he worked with Rochester bluesman Steve Grills and his band the Roadmasters. In addition to Hooker, Jackson also worked with John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Maybelle, the Buddy Johnson Orchestra and Lee Cooper. Jackson died in 1998. ithe Cuca LP The Genius of Earl Hooker has been reissued in several forms including a vinyl reproduction on Sundazed in 2006, Do You Remember The Great Earl Hooker (Bluesway, 1973), There’s A Fungus Amung Us on both Catfish and Red Lightnin’ in 1999 and the Cuca collection Earl Hooker: Play Your Guitar Mr. Hooker! issued on Black Magic in 1985 and reissued under the same title for Black Top in 1993.

Hooker finally drew increased attention during the late 1960’s starting with Two Bugs & a Roach, his first full-length album for Arhoolie in 1968. Label owner Chris Strachwitz was looking to record some Chicago blues and asked the advice of Buddy Guy on who he should record. According to Strachwitz, Guy said “If you ever ask a Chicago bluesman about who is the best guitar player in town, they will admit it’s Earl Hooker.” Hooker’s crack band for the session included Pinetop Perkins, Andrew Odom, Freddy Roulette, Carey Bell and Louis Myers. Hooker cut another album for Arhoolie in 1969. Hooker And Steve featured organist Steve Miller who had a band called the Prophets who had sometimes shared the bill with Hooker when Hooker worked the clubs in Waterloo, Iowa which was Miller’s hometown.

In 1969 Hooker hooked up with ABC-BluesWay playing on records of Bluesway artists like Andrew Odum, Johnny “Big Moose” Walker, Charles Brown, his cousin John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Witherspoon and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. Hooker also cut the album Sweet Black Angel in 1969 a mostly instrumental outing produced by Ike Turner. From that session we play the lone vocal, sung by Hooker, a wah wah soaked version of “Sweet Home Chicago” finding Hooker in superb voice. Although Ike Turner is credited as the pianist I’ve talked to Ernest Lane (Lane played piano on some of Hooker’s 1950’s recordings for Sun) who tells me he was the pianist on this session and I have no reason to doubt him. Hooker’s lone Bluesway album under his own name, Don’t Have To Worry, has unfortunately not be issued on CD although some tracks appear on the Bluesway collection Simply The Best issued in 1999. From Don’t Have To Worry we play the rocking “You Got To Lose” featuring a good vocal from Hooker and some wild wah wah guitar. We wrap up the show with Hooker playing behind Bluesway artists Charles Brown and longtime buddies Andrew Odom and Johnny “Big Moose” Walker. Odom’s first release under his own name, Farther On Down The Road, was recorded in 1969 but not released until several years later. While sporting mostly blues standards, Odom’s debut is a terrific outing featuring marvelous rapport between Hooker and Odom but unfortunately the album, like much of the Bluesway catalog, has yet to be issued on CD. Big Moose Walker also made his full length debut for the label with Rambling Woman a fine outing marred by Otis Hale’s electric sax but featuring superb playing from Hooker as evidenced on today’s selection, “The Sky Is Crying.” Rambling Woman has also never been issued on CD although some tracks appear on Simply The Best.

In late 1969, Hooker traveled to Europe to play in the American Folk Blues Festival. Four tracks from his October, 3rd appearance at the Royal Albert Hall have been issued. We wrap our show with “Going Up And Down” among the last songs ever recorded by Hooker. By this time, he was quite ill with advancing tuberculosis, a condition he battled his entire life, and after his return was admitted to a Chicago sanitarium where he passed away in April 21, 1970.

There were several tracks that had to be trimmed due to time limitations. I’ve included the omitted songs below.

The Hucklebuck [Sun, 1953] (MP3)

Square Dance Rock w/ Magic Sam [Chief, 1960] (MP3)

Rocking Wild [Chief, 1961] (MP3)

Bright Sounds [Age, 1962] (MP3)

That Man [Age, 1962] (MP3)

Off The Hook [Two Bugs And A Roach, 1968] (MP3)

The Moon Is Rising [Hooker And Steve, 1969] (MP3)

I Feel Good [Sweet Black Angel, 1969] (MP3)

If You Miss ‘Im…I Got ‘Im… [John Lee Hooker: If You Miss 'Im...I Got 'Im..., 1969] (MP3)

Drifting Blues [Charles Brown: Legend!, 1969] (MP3)

Show Notes:

We open our latest mix show with a quartet of songs revolving around the Chatmon brothers including numbers by Bo Carter, Mississippi Blacksnakes, The Mississippi Sheiks and Sam Chatmon. One of the most popular bluesmen of the ’30’s, Bo Carter cut over a hundred sides between 1928 and 1940. Bo and his brothers Lonnie and Sam Chatmon also recorded as members of the Mississippi Sheiks with singer/guitarist Walter Vinson. Bo died in 1964 but Sam hung in long enough to take advantage of the blues revival, recording prolifically in the 1960’s and 70’s. Unfortunately most all of the LP’s he cut seem to be out-of-print. Today’s selection, “Hollandale Blues”, is from the 1979 Rounder album, Sam Chatmon’s Advice. The Mississippi Blacksnakes cut ten songs over three sessions in 1931for Brunswick with the likley personal of Bo and Sam Chatmon, Charlie McCoy with Walter Vinscon only on the first session.

Moving up to the 1960’s and 70’s we spin some great records by some lesser known players including Luke “Long Gone” Miles, Lum Guffin, Frank Hovington and John Lee Ziegler. Luke Miles was born in Louisiana in 1925 and moved to Houston in 1952. In the liner notes to his only full length LP Country Born (World Pacific, 1965) he said: “I went to Houston for one reason. I went to see Lightnin’ Hopkins. That’s what I went for and that’s what I did. Lightnin’ Hopkins taught me just about everything about blues singing. The first time I ever sang in front of an audience was in 1952 with Lightnin’. The first day I met Lightnin’ he named me “Long Gone” …and I’ve been Long Gone Miles ever since.” By 1961 Miles was in Los Angles were he cut some 45’s for Smash. After the World Pacific LP he cut singles for Two Kings in 1965, Kent in 1969 before supposedly leaving L.A. in 1970. Our selection comes from the LP Country Boy (Sundown, 1984) which is a collection of mostly unreleased sides from  1961 and 1962. Just recently a liver CD of of Miles surfaced from 1985 titled Riding Around In My V8 Ford Live in Venice, California. He died in 1987. Unfortunately just about all of Miles’ recordings remain out of print.

The other gentleman were recorded in the 1970’s, an extension you could say of the 1960’s blues revival that swept up many fine bluesman who never got the opportunity to record in their younger days. Lum Guffin was first recorded in the 1970’s by Swedish researcher Bengt Olsson when he was 70 and again in 1980 by Axel Kunster for the Living Country Blues series. The LP Walking Victrola was his sole record, released on the Flyright label in 1973. Some of these recordings appear on the CD On The Road Again. Frank Hovington was an exceptional guitarist in the Piedmont tradition who was reluctant to record but made some superb recordings in 1975 released (issued on the LP Lonesome Road Blues first on Flyright and then on Rounder with additional tracks on the CD Gone With The Wind) and 1980 for the Living Country Blues series. Ziegler passed away May of last year. He cut just a handful of recordings, the best recorded by George Mitchell in the late 1970’s plus some sides made in the 1990’s and issued on the Music Maker label.

We play a twin spin by John Lee Hooker from his Bluesway years. Hooker cut several albums for Bluesway in the 1960’s including: Live At Cafe Au-Go-Go (1966), Urban Blues (1967), Simply The Truth (1968), If You Miss ‘Im… I Got ‘Im (1970)and Kabuki Wuki (1973). Our selections come from Simply The Truth and the excellent Urban Blues featuring Hooker in the company of sidemen like Eddie Taylor, Wayne Bennett, and Louis Myers. Bluesway has been ill served reissue wise, with only a handful of releases issued on CD, usually by labels other than the parent company MCA, and in many cases these CD’s themselves are out of print. I’ll be doing a show on the label in the near future.  Urban Blues was issued on CD in 1994 by BGO with three bonus cuts. One of those bonus cut is the stomping “I Gotta Go To Vietnam” featuring some wild wah wah guitar from Hooker’s cousin Earl Hooker. The “The Motor City Is Burning” is a harrowing account of the 1967 Detroit riots. The flash point began at a drinking joint at Twelfth Street and Clairmount Avenue and quickly spread out. Looting and fires spread through the Northwest side of Detroit, then crossed over to the East Side. Within 48 hours, the National Guard was mobilized, to be followed by the 82nd airborne on the riot’s fourth day. As police and military troops sought to regain control of the city, violence escalated. At the conclusion of 5 days of rioting, 43 people lay dead, 1189 injured and over 7000 people had been arrested. Hooker gives a vivid account of the action:

Ohhh the Motor City is burning, ain’t a thing in the world that I can do
Don’t you know, don’t you know the big D is burning
Ain’t a thing in the world that Johnny can do
My hometown is burning down to the ground, worster than Vietnam
Well it started on Twelfth Street and Clairmount this morning, I just don’t know what it’s all about (2x)
The fire wagon kept coming, the snipers just wouldn’t let them put it out
Firebombs bursting all around me, soldiers standing everywhere (2x)
I could hear the people screaming, sirens filled the air

Doctor Clayton

Also on deck today are some prime 1940’s Chicago blues by Sonny Boy Williamson I, Yank Rachel, Washboard Sam and Doctor Clayton. At the time of his untimely death in 1948 at the age of 34, Sonny Boy was still at his creative peak as she proves on “Sugar Gal” from 1947, a storming update of his classic “Sugar Mama Blues” with a some killer electric guitar from William Lacey. Rachel’s “Up North Blues (There’s A Reason)” from 194 sports some wonderful playing by Sonny Boy and is just one of a batch of sides they cut together between 1938 and 1941. Also on that track is the prolific Washboard Sam who is also heard on his “My Feet Jumped Salty” featuring some stunning amplified guitar from Big Bill Broonzy. Both Sonny Boy I and Washboard Sam will be featured in upcoming programs. Nearly 50 years after his untimely death the exceptional singer and masterful songwriter known as Doctor Clayton is little spoken of today. Clayton worked strictly as a vocalist (by some accounts he could play piano and ukulele), employing an impressive falsetto technique, later refined into a powerful, swooping style that was instantly recognizable. In addition he was an unparalleled songwriter, writing mostly original material with a rare wit, intelligence and social awareness. Clayton’s vocal style was widely emulated and a number of his songs became blues standards. Despite the high esteem he was held in by fellow blues artists and his popularity during his lifetime Clayton’s fine blues recordings remain largely ignored. “Watch Out Mama” is a fine example of his songwriting, filled with a dash of violence and humor:

You clown when you get ready, stay out late as you please
Come home drunk and staggering, and weak in your knees
But watch out momma, Doctor Clayton gonna sneak up on you
Yes, I’m gonna whip your nappy head, just as soon as I find you

As usual we spin some fine piano records including tracks by Big Maceo, Sammy Price and Robert McCoy. Alongside his protege Johnnie Jones and later Otis Spann, Big Maceo is among the greatest Chicago piano men. During the 1940’s he worked with Tampa Red and the duo made some magnifecnt sides including our selection, the romping “Texas Stomp.” Sammy Price fine boogie woogie playing is heard backing Nora Lee King on “Cannon Ball” her uptown rendition of Cow Cow Davenport’s immortal “Cow Cow Blues.” King cut a dozen sides between 1941and 1944 before fading into obscurity. Alabama barrelhouse pianist Robert McCoy had two rare LPs in the early 1960’s on the Vulcan label. A few years back Delmark acquired the masters and reissued the material on CD for the first time with many previously unissued tracks. Unfortunatley no tracks from his second Vulcan album have been included. These were his first recordings as leader although he recorded in the 1930’s accompanying Guitar Slim, Jaybird Coleman and Peanut The Kidnapper. McCoy was part of the fertile Birmingham piano tradition, learning piano from Cow Cow Davenport and Jabbo Williams.

Show Notes:

African-Americans began arriving in drove in Detroit by the 1920’s, most settling in an area called Black Bottom, later named Paradise Valley. Some of the earliest blues took place in the bars, brothels and house parties in Paradise Valley. Among the early bluesman who worked in Detroit included several fine pianists like Speckled Red, Charlie Spand, Big Maceo, Will Ezell plus guitarists like Calvin Frazier and Blind Blake who cut who celebrated the city in songs like “Hastings Street” with Charlie Spand and “Detroit Bound.”

From the turn of the century until its demise by urban renewal in the early 1960’s, Hastings Street remained the center of business for Detroit’s east side community, made up largely of Jewish entrepreneurs and small black business owners.  Lined with two-story family-owned shops and corner taverns, Hastings teemed by day with shoppers; at night it became transformed, into, what John Lee Hooker later described, as a “rough wide-open street.” Though the city had a number of corner taverns during the 1940s and 1950s, which featured down home blues, numerous Detroit bluesmen found their first jobs in the house party scene. Among the early clubs were places like Henry’s Swing club celebrated in a song by John Lee Hooker, the Harlem Inn, The Palms, The Flame, Club Three Sixes and the Paradise Theater. While many artists, like Big Maceo, went to Chicago to record, there were a number of small local labels that documented the scene like Sensation, JVB, DeLuxe, Holiday, Staff and Fortune. With the demolition of Hasting Street in the 1950’s and early 60’s and the rise of Motown, blues in Detroit became overshadowed.

Today’s show focuses on recordings made from the late 1940’s on up spotlighting great Detroit artists like John Lee Hooker, Baby Boy Warren, Eddie Burns, Eddie Kirkland, Big Maceo, Boogie Woogie Red, Bobo Jenkins Calvin Frazier and more.

John Lee Hooker was the biggest star to emerge from the Detroit scene. Hooker headed to Memphis while he was still in his teens, but he couldn’t gain much of a foothold there. He then relocated to Cincinnati for a seven-year stretch before making the move to the Motor City in 1943. Hooker began playing in burgeoning club scene along Hastings Street and at house parties. In 1948 he hooked up with entrepreneur Bernie Besman (who ran Sensation label) , who helped him hammer out his solo debut sides, “Sally Mae” and its seminal flip, “Boogie Chillen.” The Los Angeles-based Modern Records issued the sides and “Boogie Chillen” made it to the peak of the R&B charts. Besman felt that Hooker would sound best if he was recorded as a soloist, and did a lot to give his guitar and voice distinctive sound. He put a mike on Hooker’s guitar, and put a speaker in a toilet bowl for echo. He also put a board under Hooker’s feet to pick up his tapping feet. One of his innovative ideas was to double-track the voice and guitar for “I’m in the Mood,” a technique that was very advanced for 1951; the result was another huge hit. Besman did plenty of sides with Hooker in the late 1940’s and early 1950s, often solo, but sometimes with accompanying musicians. When he moved to California in the early ’50s, Besman ended his association with Hooker and left the record business Along with Modern, Hooker recorded for King (as Texas Slim), Regent (as Delta John), Savoy (as Birmingham Sam & His Magic Guitar), Danceland (as Little Pork Chops), Staff (as Johnny Williams), Sensation, Gotham, Regal, Swing Time, Federal, Gone (as John Lee Booker), Chess, Acorn (as the Boogie Man), Chance, DeLuxe (as Johnny Lee), JVB, Chart, and Specialty; before finally settling down at Vee-Jay in 1955 under his own name.

Two artists closely linked to Hooker are Eddie Burns and Eddie Kirkland. “Papa’s Boogie,” Eddie Burns’ 1948 debut, is a harmonica/guitar duet recorded by Bernie Bessman and leased to the Holiday label, which issued it under the pseudonym Slim Pickens. Burns enjoyed a modestly successful musical career with a dozen records to his credit and a decade of weekend club gigs often with John Lee Hooker who waxed some of his best performances with Burn’s harmonica in support. Kirkland was brought up around Dothan, AL, before heading north to Detroit in 1943. There he hooked up with Hooker five years later, recording with him for several firms as well as under his own name for RPM in 1952, King in 1953, and Fortune in 1959. Exiting the Motor City for Macon, GA, in 1962, Kirkland signed on with Otis Redding as a sideman and show opener not long thereafter. By the dawn of the 1970s’, Kirkland was recording for Pete Lowry’s Trix labe and waxed several CD’s for Deluge in the ’90s.

Many artists got their start through Detroit record man Joe Von Battle. Recording his sessions from within a cluttered record shop on Detroit’s Hastings Street that he opened in 1948, Von Battle was a magnet for most of the Motor City’s blues and R&B talent, including such notables as John Lee Hooker, Eddie Kirkland, Eddie Burns plus a slew of lesser knowns. His efforts were issued on his JVB and Von labels. From its Cincinnati base, King Records would sometimes acquire masters from Detroit-based producers like Battle. Battle’s approach to ‘producing’ may have amounted to little more than turning the tape machine on and off but, in his ramshackle way, he preserved some great Detroit blues performances. “Pet Milk Blues” was the first release on first release by Joe Von Battle. Featuring Walter Mitchell’s own vocal and harp, second harp by Robert Richard, Boogie Woogie Red on piano, and an unknown bass. Mitchell cut six sides for JVB in 1948, with some leased to King, and cut two more sides in for Strate-8 in 1959. Guitarist L.C. Green came to Detroit in the late forties according to his one time partner, Woodrow Adams, who grew up with L.C. in Minter City, Mississippi. Green waxed seven songs in Detroit for Joe Von Battle, but six were leased out and only one appeared on the Von label. Nothing is know of fine bluesman James Walton who cut about a dozen-and-a-half sides for Detroit labels like JVB, Fortune and Big Star between 1954 and 1964.

Fortune Records was another notable Detroit label.Fortune specialized in R&B, blues, soul and doo-wop music, although the label also released pop, big band, hillbilly, gospel, rock ‘n’ roll, and even polka records. In spite of the spartan facilities, the company would produce some of the best preMotown R&B to come out of the city. Among the blues artists who recorded for the label were John Lee Hooker, Eddie Kirkland, Big Maceo, Bobo Jenkins, Doctor Ross, Grace Brim and Joe Weaver among others. It is estimated that Fortune Records and its subsidiaries, Hi-Q Records and Strate-8, released approximately 400 45-RPM vinyl records, as well as long-playing albums, during its existence. In the 1950’s Joe Weaver formed the Blue Notes typically practiced at producer/JVB label owner Joe Von Battle’s Hastings Street record store. Soon after Fortune hired the Blue Notes as its house band, and in addition to backing acts like Andre Williams and Nolan Strong, they also headlined records of their own. The Blue Note Orchestra’s stature as Detroit’s premier session band was firmly in place by the time Berry Gordy, Jr. hired their services for his fledgling Tamla label.

Big Maceo was already a seasoned pianist when he arrived in Detroit in 1924. After working around the Motor City scene, he headed to Chicago in 1941 to make his recording debut for Bluebird. He cut a series of terrific sessions as a leader for Bluebird in 1941-42, 1945 and in the company of Tampa Red before a stroke paralyzed his right side. He tried to overcome it, cutting for Victor in 1947 with Eddie Boyd assuming piano duties and again for Specialty in 1949 with Johnny Jones, this time at the stool. He cut his final sessions for Fortune in 1950 before passing in 1953.

Robert “Baby Boy” Warren cut some great records from 1949 to 1954 for a variety of Detroit labels without ever managing to transcend his local status along Hastings Street. After honing his blues guitar approach in Memphis (where he was raised), Warren came to Detroit in 1942 to work for General Motors and gig on the side. The fruits of his first recording session in 1949 with pianist Charley Mills supporting him came out on several different logos: Prize, Staff, Gotham, even King’s Federal subsidiary. A second date in 1950 that found him backed by pianist Boogie Woogie Red was split between Staff and Sampson while another sessions came out on Swing Time, Blue Lake and Excello. One of his most memorable sessions took place in 1954, when harpist Sonny Boy Williamson came to Detroit and backed Warren. The 1970s brought  Warren a some European touring  before he passed away in 1977.

Calvin Frazier began his career performing alongside his brothers, and in the company of Johnny Shines. He traveled to Helena, Arkansas in 1930 where they met Robert Johnson, and together the three men  journeyed north to Detroit, where they sang hymns on area gospel broadcasts. Upon returning south, Frazier and Johnson also joined with drummer Peck Curtis in a string-band combo. However, in 1935 Frazier was wounded in a Memphis shootout, which left another man dead; he fled back to Detroit, marrying Shines’ cousin. Apart from gigs supporting the likes of Big Maceo, Rice Miller and Baby Boy Warren, he resurfaced in 1938 long enough to cut a session for folklorist Alan Lomax. He did not record again until a 1951 date with T.J. Fowler’s jump band, and entered the studio one last time in 1954 with Baby Boy Warren. Frazier continued performing in the Detroit until his death on September 23, 1972.

It wasn’t until Washboard Willie AKA William Hensley was 31 years old that he decided to buy a washboard and begin to make music on it. He bought a wood and metal washboard, fastened a four-inch frying pan to one corner, put eight metal thimbles on his fingers, tied the board around his neck with a dog leash, and started beating away. In 1948 he moved north to Detroit and wasn’t until 1952, that he and a friend were out one night looking for John Lee Hooker, when they came upon Eddie Burns and his little group, playing at the Harlem Inn. After hearing the drummer playing out of time, Willie got his washboard from the car, and began playing along with the band. By the second song, the bar owner offered Hensley a job playing the washboard for the weekend. The band played there for three years. In 1956, he and Calvin Frazier recorded for Joe Von Battle. He continued to record for Von Battle from 1957 to 1962. In 1973, he toured with the American Blues Legends ‘73 Tour, traveling all over Europe. He died on August 24, 1991, at the age of 82, in Detroit.

Playboy and Rocky Fuller are both early pseudonyms for New Orleans born Iverson Minter, who later had minor success using the name Louisiana Red. The sides included here are his first and typically were recorded in Von Battle’s basement.

Adams was raised in Detroit, Michigan by a relative, and got her break in the 1940s performing in a club on Hastings Street. Soon after she landed a recording contract with Chess Records and recorded alongside Red Saunders for the label. Her solo career did not lift off until the 1990’s, when she landed a contract with the now defunct Cannonball Records and recorded two albums for them. Adams recently returned to the studio at 91 years of age and recorded Detroit Is My Home for the same label,

T.J. Fowler assembled his own band and in 1947 accompanied saxophonist Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams on that artist’s first recordings for the Savoy label. Fowler began making records as a leader in 1948, beginning with small Detroit labels like Paradise and Sensation and landing his own contract with Savoy in 1952, sometimes featuring singer Alberta Adams. Fowler’s ensemble also used guitarist Calvin Frazier. In Detroit, Fowler and his men served as the backing band for T-Bone Walker and spent the next few years gigging around the Motor City and southeastern Michigan. Hired in 1959 by Berry Gordy, Fowler applied his music industry know-how to help Gordy create and establish the Motown record label. Fowler died in 1982.

Dr. Ross decided to fire his sidemen and carry on as a one-man band. A strong vocalist and excellent songwriter, Ross gained early experience playing Delta jukes and eventually landed radio shows in Clarksdale and Memphis, where he also recorded for Sam Phillips’s Sun label. At the peak of Ross’s career, he quit Sun, concerned that his royalties were being used to promote Elvis Presley’s recordings. Relocating in Michigan, he recorded for his own label and for several Detroit labels, while working for General Motors. Returning to music as a recording artist, he worked the festival circuit. Ross died May 28, 1993, and was buried in Flint, MI.

Though a Louisiana native, Vernon Harrison aka Boogie Woogie Red has been associated with the Detroit blues sound as long as anyone. A Motor City resident since 1927, he began performing in the local clubs as a teenager. As a sideman he worked locally with Sonny Boy Williamson, Baby Boy Warren, and John Lee Hooker. Despite Red’s renown for the blues and boogie-woogie style that earned him his nickname, he has recorded only a few times as a featured artist, and aside from a bit of European touring in the ’70s, he remained a local Detroit treasure, rarely appearing outside the area. He died in 1985.

Little Sonny moved to the Motor City in 1953 after growing up on his dad’s farm in Alabama.  Little Sonny worked the local haunts with John Lee Hooker, Eddie Burns, Eddie Kirkland, Baby Boy Warren, and Washboard Willie. In 1958, Sonny made his blues-recording debut, cutting for both Duke and local entrepreneur Joe Von Battle, who leased Little Sonny’s “Love Shock” to Nashville’s Excello label. During the early ’60s, he ran his tiny Speedway label. He leased “The Creeper” and “Latin Soul” to Detroit’s Revilot Records in 1966. That set the stage for his joining Stax’s Enterprise label in 1970; his first album was the largely instrumental New King of the Blues Harmonica. Two more Enterprise sets soon followed: Black & Blue and 1973’s Hard Goin’ Up. Not much was heard of the harpist in recent years until the British Sequel imprint released Sonny Side Up in 1995.

After his discharge from the army in 1944, Bobo Jenkins moved to Detroit. He soon got a job at the Packard Motor Company and on the side, managed a garage, before landing a job at Chrysler, where he worked for 27 years. He also got a job taking pictures at the Harlem Inn where John Lee Hooker was playing. Jenkins soon bought a guitar and began writing songs. In 1954, with the help of John Lee Hooker, “Democrat Blues” was recorded in Chicago for Chess Records. He recorded two more singles for the Boxer label in Chicago and Fortune Records in Detroit. he eventually formed his own label.The first record released on Jenkins’ Big Star label was his own: “You”ll Never Understand” and “Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night.” Soon he was recording and promoting local Detroit musicians. In 1972 he put out his first album on his Big Star label called The Life of Bobo Jenkins. The 1973 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival featured a special Detroit Blues Review and Jenkins was one of the stars. The next album by Jenkins came out in 1974, called Here I Am a Fool in Love Again on Big Star. In 1977 Detroit All Purpose Blues, was issued. In 1982, he went to Europe for his first tour, but due to poor health he returned home after the first concert. A long illness ultimately led to his death on August 14, 1984.