ARTIST | SONG | ALBUM |
---|---|---|
Left Hand Charlie | Honey Bee | Bayou Rhythm & Blues Shuffle |
Left Hand Charlie | Miss My Lagnion | Louisiana Swamp Blues 1954-1961 |
Left Hand Charlie | Whole Lotta Drinkin' on the Block | Louisiana Swamp Blues 1954-1961 |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | Irene | The Excello Story Vol. 2 1955-1957 |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | Life Problem | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 36 |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | Congo Mambo | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 36 |
Wonder Boy Travis | That's Alright | Fort Worth Shuffle |
Wonder Boy Travis | Imitation of Love | Bluesin' By the Bayou: Rough 'N' Tough |
Wonder Boy Travis | She Was Gone | Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou: Nights Of Sin, Dirty Deals & Love Sick Souls |
Jimmy Dotson w/ Sylvester Buckley | I Wanna Know | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 3 |
Jimmy Dotson w/ Sylvester Buckley | Looking for My Baby | Bluesin' By the Bayou: Rough 'N' Tough |
King Charles | Won't Be Me | Louisiana Swamp Blues 1954-1962/63 |
King Charles w/ Left Hand Charlie | But You Thrill Me | Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou: Livin', Lovin' & Lyin' |
King Charles w/ Left Hand Charlie | Bop Cat Stomp | Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou: Bop Cat Stomp |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | This Could Go On Forever | House Rockin' & Hip Shakin', Volume 3: Killer Swamp Blues Guitar |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | Cool, Calm and Collected | Louisiana Swamp Blues 1954-1962/63 |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | Have Mercy On Me | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 36 |
Wonder Boy Travis | She Went Thataway | Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou: Rompin' & Stompin' |
Wonder Boy Travis | You Know Yeah | Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By the Bayou: Mad Dogs, Sweet Daddies & Pretty Babies |
Wonder Boy Travis | She's Got Eyes Like A Cat | Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou: Rompin' & Stompin' |
Silas Hogan w/ Sylvester Buckley | Trouble At Home Blues | Bluesin' By The Bayou: I'm Not Jiving |
Silas Hogan w/ Sylvester Buckley | You're Too Late Baby | Authentic Excello R&B |
Left Hand Charlie | I'm Gonna Kill That Hen | Genuine Excello R&B |
Left Hand Charlie | Watch That Crow | Rhythm 'n' Bluesin' By The Bayou |
Left Hand Charlie | Don't Bring No Friend | Bluesin' By The Bayou: I'm Not Jiving |
Lazy Lester w/ Guitar Gable | They Call Me Lazy | I Hear You Knockin'!: The Excello Singles |
Lazy Lester w/ Guitar Gable | Lester's Stomp | I Hear You Knockin'!: The Excello Singles |
Sylvester Buckley | She Treats Me So Evil | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 2 |
Sylvester Buckley | I Can Be On My Way | Bluesin' By The Bayou |
Sylvester Buckley | Mumblin' Blues | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 2 |
Sylvester Buckley | I'm Getting Tired | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 49 |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | Long Way from Home | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 36 |
Guitar Gable With King Karl | Walkin With The Kings | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 36 |
Lazy Lester w/ Sylvester Buckley | You Better Listen | I Hear You Knockin'!: The Excello Singles |
Lazy Lester w/ Sylvester Buckley | Pondarosa Stomp | I Hear You Knockin'!: The Excello Singles |
Mr. Calhoun (Vince Monroe) w/ Guitar Gable | Hello Friends, Hello Pal | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 3 |
Mr. Calhoun (Vince Monroe) w/ Guitar Gable | I'm Ragged And Dirty | The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions Vol. 3 |
Mr. Calhoun (Vince Monroe) w/ Guitar Gable | Change Your Ways | Bluesin' By the Bayou: Rough 'N' Tough |
Wonder Boy Travis | Do The Everything | 45 |
Wonder Boy Travis | Travis Stomp | Rhythm 'N' Bluesin' By The Bayou: Rompin' & Stompin' |
Show Notes:
Today’s show is part of a semi-regular feature I call Forgotten Blues Heroes that spotlights great, but little remembered and little recorded blues artists that don’t really fit into my weekly themed shows. For today’s program we head to Louisiana for a batch of fine, little remembered artists who were recorded in Louisiana at Jay Miller’s small studio in Crowley, Eddie Schuler’ studio in Lake Charles as well as other small studios. Miller met with Ernie Young and worked out a deal that would lease the material he was recording to Excello Records for release and distribution. Soon Miller’s studio became ground zero for the sound known as “swamp-blues” issuing records by Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Silas Hogan, Lonesome Sundown and many others. Miller recorded way more material than he could issue hence many recordings were never released which includes many of the tracks featured today. In the 70’s the Flyright label, with the assistance of Miller, began a series called the The Legendary Jay Miller Sessions to issue these unissued sides. The series ran to over fifty volumes.
The inspiration for this show comes from a recent article by Gene Tomko on the mysterious Left Hand Charlie who saw just a couple of singles released during his lifetime on Goldband and Excello. Guitar Gable was the second artist Miller leased to Excello who’s half dozen sides came out over two years plus many others that were not issued. King Karl was the vocalist/arranger/composer for the band. Gable also backed Lazy Lester and Vice Monroe sides heard today. Travis Phillips AKA Wonder Boy Travis came to Miller’s studio in 1959 with Clifton Chenier’s band and cut several sides that went unissued. Sylvester Buckley backed Lazy Lester, Silas Hogan and Jimmy Dotson on harmonica and cut some excellent sides under his own name, all of which went unissued. Willie Monroe Vincent recorded as Vincent Monroe, Mr. Calhoun and Polka Dot Slim. He was recorded by Miller in 1959 for Zynn and Excello and on Instant in the 60s.
Left Hand Charlie was born Charles Morrison September 30, 1919, in Geismar, Louisiana. Although Morris’ early days as a musician are unknown, by the time he arrived on Eddie Shuler’s doorstep at Goldband Records around 1954 he was a highly seasoned musician and bandleader in his mid-30s. Backed by a crack band that included blind saxophonist John Hart (who would later work with Clifton Chenier, Little Bob, Rockin’ Dopsie, and others), Morris recorded five titles with some alternate takes that included the slow blues “Miss My Lagnion” (Shuler’s misinterpretation of l’argent, which is Creole French for money), “Honey Bee”, a tough, electrified reworking of Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie’s classic “Bumble Bee”, and “Whole Lotta Drinkin’ on the Block.”
Despite discographies citing 1954, Morris’ trip back to Goldband instead took place in March of 1956 as a band member with King Charles, a bandleader and trumpet player. Shuler released only one single by King Charles on Folk-Star, “Bop Cat Stomp” backed with “But You Thrill Me.” By the end of 1956 and into early 1957 Morris was leading his own band seven nights a week at Whit’s Lounge, a popular white nightclub in the Four Corners section of Lafayette. Morris was back in the studio in April 1957 for what appears to be his final recording session as a leader, this time at J.D. Miller’s studio in Crowley. Backed by Miller’s studio band at the time, which included guitarist Guitar Gable and his brother John Perrodin on bass, Tal Miller on piano, and Jockey Etienne on drums, Morris laid down several originals including “I’m Gonna Kill That Hen” and “Don’t Bring No Friend”, which Miller leased to Excello and was subsequently issued on its Nasco subsidiary. Through the late 1950s Morris continued performing with his own group and as a member of King Charles’ band. He was also lending his guitar talents out to regional bands. The guitarist was also known locally for playing jazz. Throughout the 1960s Left Hand Charlie performed as a member of bandleader and saxophonist Buddy Stewart’s famed Topnotchers of Baton Rouge. Morris continued to perform until the late 1970s when health issues forced him to retire from music. He died on October 8, 1983, at age 64.
Gabriel Perrodin AKA Guitar Gable was born in Bellevue, St. Landry Parish , Louisiana in 1937. Gable was influenced by the music of Guitar Slim, and was self-taught in playing the guitar by his mid-teens. He formed a group called the Swing Masters, and was later introduced to King Karl and formed the band the Musical Kings a with Gable’s brother, Fats Perrodin on bass and Clarence “Jockey” Etienne on the drums. Introduced to Jay Miller, the band eventually became the heart of Miller’s house band. They backed musicians such as Lazy Lester, Classie Ballou, Bobby Charles and Slim Harpo. Guitar Gable and the Musical Kings recorded their own debut single for Excello in 1956. His first track was the instrumental “Congo Mombo”, and he A-side of the single was “Life Problem”, which featured King Karl’s vocals. The follow-up release included the swamp pop classic, “Irene.”
After his debut, subsequent releases followed a similar pattern with Gable’s Caribbean-laced instrumentals such as “Congo Mom bo,” “Guitar Rhumbo” and “Gumbo Mombo,” pitched against rock and roll tracks including “Cool, Calm, Collected” and “Walking in the Park.” It was the blues influenced ballads including “Irene,” “Life Problem” and “This Should Go On Forever” that caused most interest. The latter track was recorded by Gable and his band in 1958, but did not find favor with Miller. A cover version was recorded by Rod Bernard, and it reached the Top 20 of the US Billboard R&B chart. Gable’s original was finally released in February 1959, but failed to match the success of Bernard’s cover. Gable and Karl left Miller and Excello and were reduced to issuing work on the much smaller labels of La Louisianne and Tamm into the early 1960s. Gable served in the armed forces but later continued with his own band, maintaining a following in local clubs until 1968. In the 1970s, Gable performed regularly with Lil’ Bob and the Lollipops, before he initially retired from performing in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Guitar Gable was tempted back to the performing stage by C.C. Adcock. Gable died in hospital at Opelousas, Louisiana, on January 28, 2017, at the age of 79.
Travis Phillips, aka Wonder Boy Travis, came from Texas as part of Clifton Chenier’s band and during a long recording session in J.D. Miller’s Crowley studio took over the singing duties while Chenier gave his voice a rest. Impressed by his singing and guitar playing, Miller kept the tape running. Although none of the tracks made it to vinyl, they have been issued posthumously. It seems Travis saw his name on just one 45, “That’s Alright/ Do The Everything”, released a few years later on the Jox label out of San Antonio as by Travis Phillips & His Wonder Boys.
Sylvester Buckley backed Lazy Lester, Silas Hogan and Jimmy Dotson on harmonica and cut four excellent sides under his own name circa 1963, all of which went unissued.
Jimmy Dotson cut two records, one for Zynn and the other for Rocko (Miller’s own labels) in Crowley, Louisiana in 1959 and 1960 backed by Silas Hogan, Sylvester Buckley and Isaiah Chatman. One other record was issued on HOB in 1962. Five other Dotson sides were not issued at the time. When Hogan made his debut in 1962 the other musicians were present but not Dotson. Dotson said: “The Baton Rouge blues scene in the ’50s was nice, we had a following, we played from club to club. I played drums for Lightnin’ Slim for a while and with Slim it fluctuated, I was a kind of utility musician. If they needed a drummer I’d go play drums, if they needed a bass player, a guitar … I couldn’t play any too good on any of them but I could fit in. But they had a tremendous following, Lightnin’ Slim and Slim Harpo. They would go from club to club, sometimes we would play Sunday afternoon somewhere back over North Baton Rouge in the park area from two o’clock to six and the place would be full of people. OK then we would go across the river (to Port Allen) and they’d just line up in cars and follow us across the river! It was fantastic, it really was.”
Willie Monroe Vincent recorded as Vince Monroe, Mr. Calhoun and Polka Dot Slim. His first recordings were made in 1956 and 1959 in Crowley, Louisiana, for Jay Miller, who released them under two different pseudonyms on Excello and Zynn. Several other sides from these sessions went unreleased. In 1964, he recorded “A Thing You Gotta Face” and “Ain’t Broke Ain’t Hungry”, produced by Sax Kari and released as a single on the Instant label as Polka Dot Slim. His last sides were cut for Apollo in 1966. He was a regular performer for many years in clubs and bars in New Orleans. Researcher John Broven described him in the 1970s as one of “the last of the rural country bluesmen still playing in New Orleans.”