Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

Blues & Rhythm Magazine Cover Number 34

I received the sad news of the passing of Larry Dale who died on May 19th. Outside of die hard collectors, who hold Dale’s recordings in high esteem, he never broke out to a large audience despite cutting some potent blues and R&B sides under his own name and some knockout session guitar backing artists like Mickey Baker, Champion Jack Dupree, Bob Gaddy, Paul Williams and Cootie Williams. I became an immediate fan of Dale’s after grabbing a copy Still Groove Jumping! from my favorite record store, Finyl Vinyl on New York’s Second Ave., an anthology of sides cut for the Groove label including a trio of gritty blues by Dale. It was also about this time that I was a regular reader of  the British Juke Blues magazine when they published an article entitled Larry Dale: The New York Houserocker (Juke Blues # 9, 1987 – read below). To my surprise I found out that Dale and I both lived in the Bronx but unfortunately I never got a chance to see him perform. Over the years I’ve picked up just about all of Dale’s recordings and today we pay tribute to Dale and his New York friends who’s records he played on.

New York City has never had a big reputation as a blues town, compared to Chicago and L.A. It did however have a very lively postwar R&B scene. The R&B scene had its peak between 1945 and 1960 and has always been closely associated with the local jazz scene. There were nationally important clubs like the Apollo and Savoy and numerous other spots for live entertainment.  The recording scene was dominated by a group of small but enterprising independent companies like: Apollo, DeLuxe, Fire/Fury, Herald, Baton, Joe Davis, Old Town and in particular, Atlantic and Savoy. There was also out of town companies that recorded local talent like Federal and RCA’s Groove and Vik subsidiaries. Literally hundreds and hundreds of R&B recordings were made, aimed at the black market with occasional cross over success

Born in Texas, Dale had moved to New York City in 1949 and quickly fell into the local blues scene as he explained: ”It’s kinda funny how I learned to play the guitar. Brownie McGhee would let me come up on his bandstand and sit in the back and playing all kind of bad notes until I learned where the changes were. And then I got so where I could play pretty good. And I could always sing good, If I could sing and leave the guitar alone I was good, but if I tried to play the guitar …Bobby Schiffman told me ‘You just sing, leave the guitar alone. you’11 make it’. But he didn’t know I was determined to learn the guitar. So I bought B.B King records, people that played guitars; and I learned how to play. Then Mickey Baker he taught me a lot. …Well before then Mickey taught me a lot about guitar. And then it’s a funny thing, after Mickey taught me then I had to teach him how to play the blues!”

Larry Dale’s House Rockers: Matt Gray, sax; Larry Dale, guitar; Bob Gaddy, piano; poss Gene Brooks, drums.

Dale made his start with Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams’ band in the early 50’s and plays on one four song session cut in 1952 for Jax, taking the vocals on  ”Shame, Shame, Shame” and “The Woman I Love Is Dying.” These records can be found on Blue Moon’s Paul Williams Vol. 3 1952-1956.  Saxophonist and bandleader Paul Williams scored one of the first big hits of the R&B era in 1949 with “The Hucklebuck which topped the R&B charts for 14 weeks and was one of three Top 10 and five other Top 20 R&B instrumental hits that Williams scored for Savoy in 1948 and 1949. He was later part of Atlantic Records’ house band in the ’60s and directed the Lloyd Price and James Brown orchestras until 1964.

Both as a session man and featured recording artist, pianist Bob Gaddy made his presence known on the New York blues scene during the 1950′s. Dale had high praise for Gaddy: “Bob Gaddy as a musician? Well, he kept me in the business I would say, he was that good …Bob was one of the best nightclub entertainers I ever worked with.” Gaddy was drafted in 1943, and that’s when he began to take the piano seriously. He picked up a little performing experience in California clubs while stationed on the West Coast before arriving in New York in 1946. Gaddy gigged with Brownie McGhee and guitarist Larry Dale around town, McGhee often playing on Gaddy’s waxings for Jackson (his 1952 debut, “Bicycle Boogie”), Jax, Dot, Harlem, and from 1955 on, Hy Weiss’ Old Town label. There Gaddy stayed the longest, waxing the fine “I Love My Baby,” “Paper Lady,” “Rip and Run,” and quite a few more into 1960. Both Gaddy and Dale remained active on the New York scene for decades after. Dale is featured on many Gaddy recordings including four sides for Jax and Harlem in 1952, for Dot in 1954, for Harlem in 1955 and for Old Town between 1956 and 1958. Dale’s Old Town sides can be found on several Ace collections including Bob Gaddy: Harlem Blues Operator, Old Town Blues Vol. 2 – The Uptown Sides and Harlem Hit Parade: Old Town Blues Vol. 2.

Dale is also the vocalist on the rousing “I’m Tired” b/w ”Where Is My Honey” by Big Red McHouston (alias Mickey Baker) on Groove. In 1954 he had the first release under his own name. A session for RCA’s Groove subsidiary on June 21, 1954, produced four tracks, including the menacing  ”You Better Heed My Warning”, which came out on Groove b/w “Please Tell Me”. The two other songs from this fruitful session, “Down To the Bottom” and “Midnight Hours”, were originally unissued. Also from this session is “I’m Tired” and “Stranger Blues” also featuring Baker. These tracks can be found on the Bear Family CD Mickey Baker: Rock With A Sock. In the early and mid-’50s, Baker did countless sessions for Atlantic, King, RCA, Decca, and OKeh, playing on such classics as the Drifters’ “Money Honey” and “Such a Night,” Joe Turner’s “Shake Rattle & Roll,” Ruth Brown’s “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” and Big Maybelle’s “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On.” He also released a few singles under his own name. Baker was also recorded as half of the duo Mickey & Sylvia.

His next vocal session was for Herald in 1955, yielding one single release, again backed by Baker. The next year rock ‘n’ roll exploded on the music scene and inevitably, Dale tried his hand at the genre, with “Rock ‘n’ Roll Baby” b/w “Hoppin’ and Skippin’for Ember. For the next four years, Dale worked the New York club circuit with his lifelong friend, pianist Bob Gaddy and was much in demand as a session player. Particularly impressive is his playing on Champion Jack Dupree’s recordings from this period, especially the Atlantic LP Blues From the Gutter. Blues From The Gutter, cut for Atlantic in 1958 (in stereo), is Dupree’s finest album of his  prolific career and Dale’s playing is brilliant. His playing on that album supposedly inspired Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. Dale also backed Dupree on over a dozen excellent sides in 1956 and 1957 for the Vik and Groove labels. These sides have been collected on the excellent album Shake Baby Shake.

Also in 1957 Dale also did several sessions with Cootie Williams for RCA, where he was given an occasional chance to sing. As Dale recalled: “One night we were playing at the Sportsman’s Lounge and Cootie Williams came in and he was in the audience, I didn’t know he was there. So Cootie dug what we was doing. The next day he called me, ‘I was up to listen to you last night’. I said, ‘Oh yeah, who is this’. He said, ‘Cootie Williams. I wonder if you want to  come with my band?’. l said, ‘No I don’t think so, l got my own band, my name’s up top’ (laughs) but started to think about it,  Cootie’s big. Maybe we can get some recordings. Maybe I can get a name out there. …So. I stayed with Cootie about three years. 1956, ’57 and early ’58.” As a member of the Cootie Williams Orchestra he traveled all over the U.S. and Europe. Cootie Williams was one of the finest trumpeters of the 1930′s. He played for a short time with the orchestras of Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson before joining Duke Ellington in February 1929, staying until 1940. He would rejoin Ellington from 1962 through 1974, but led his own bands prior to that.

In 1960, Dale did another vocal session, for the Old Town subsidiary Glover in New York City, resulting in two fine singles, “Big Muddy” and “Let the Door Bell Ring” which hit the R&B charts. The next year he was signed by Atlantic, but of the five tracks recorded in November 1961, only “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee” b/w “Keep Getting Up” was issued. Singles on Ram (1968) and Fire (1969) rounded out Dale’s recording career as a vocalist. None of his recordings charted nationally, but Dale continued to perform for several decades and garnered a strong fan base in Europe, performing at Blues Estafette in 1987 .Dale’s final recordings included a 45 issued by the Juke Blues magazine in 1987 and a few live sides backed by the European blues combo,the Mojo Blues Band, recorded in 1993.

“Larry Dale: The New York Houserocker“ (Juke Blues # 9, 1987 by John Broven) (zip)

Show Notes:

Sam Goody launched the Gotham label in 1946. Focusing on blues, spirituals, and jazz, Goody’s most successful artist was Eal Bostic. In 1948, Goody sold Gotham along with Bostic’s contract to Irvin Ballen of Philadelphia. Ballen’s two labels, Apex and 20th Century had been moderately successful, but he hoped Bostic could deliver a national hit. Instead, the breakthrough came from Gotham’s gospel series, a 1949 release “Touch Me Lord Jesus” by the Angelic Gospel Singers. With that success, Ballen continued releasing Gotham and 20th Century sides from both local artists and catalogs acquired by other labels. Ballen’s roster included doo-wop, R&B, blues and gospel. Among the label’s blues artists were Dan Pickett, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Terry, Champion Jack Dupree and Cousin Joe among others. By the late 50’s Gotham and 20^th Century were phased out as Ballen turned his attention to the record-pressing end of the business. The Gotham label has been well served on the reissue front, first as a series of reissue albums in the 1980′s on the Krazy Kat label, with these issued on CD with the same track listing and notes on the Collectables label.

The Gotham label issued some very fine down-home blues in the late 1940′s and early 1950′s. One of the label’s most intriguing artists was the brilliant and mysterious Dan Pickett. Back in the 1960′s some of the most highly prized 78′s among blues collectors were the rare Gotham records of Dan Pickett. These were valued, not only for their rarity but for the fact that they were among the finest commercial recordings of country blues in the post war era. His real, James Founty, was confirmed on a signature from an August 1949 contract with Gotham. Pickett was born and died in Alabama and field trips in the early 90’s have solved most mysteries although most of the research remains unpublished. He recorded five singles for Gotham plus four unreleased tracks in 1949. Pickett’s repertoire was derived almost exclusively from 1930’s race recordings, synthesizing the styles of Tampa Red, Blind boy Fuller, Buddy Moss and others  into a unique sound of his own.

Other down-home artists featured today include Wright Holmes, Stick Horse Hammond, Sonny Boy Johnson, David “Pete” Mckinley, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Terry and Dave Quattlebaum. Wright Holmes, who cut six sides in Houston in 1947, had an serpentine, unorthodox boogie style showcased most arrestingly on his “Good Road Blues”, one of two songs we play by him today. He was rediscovered and interviewed by Blues Unlimited magazine but had turned to religion and was no longer playing blues. John Lee Hooker was never one to pass up a recording deal even if he was under contract to another label. He cut a handful of superb sides for Gotham in 1950-51 under the name Johnny Williams. Sonny Boy Johnson, heard here in on our selection,”Quinsella,” was very obviously a devotee of John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, and not a bad singer in his own right. He waxed eight sides between 1947 and 1948. Harmonica player and vocalist Sonny Terry cut some stunning material for Gotham in 1952. Some of it was issued, and much of it wasn’t. This material is collected on the CD Sonny Terry – Gotham Records Sessions. Doug Quattlebaum cut three sides for Gotham in 1953, cut some sides for Testament in 1961 and the same year cut the excellent LP Softee Man Blues for Bluesville.

For the most part Gotham specialized in R&B and jump blues. The label employed a number of fine vocalists propelled by swinging bands including Charlie Gonzalez, Harry “Fats” Crafton, T.N.T. Tribble, Great Gates, Len McCall,  Cousin Joe and female singers like Daisey Mae and Thelma Cooper. Not much is known about Charlie Gonzalez except that he was a fine Blues shouter who could also handle Blues ballads with equal aplomb. He also recorded as Charles Prince and Bobby Prince.

Harry “Fats” Crafton was a fine guitarists and singer who’s s career was varied; he joined Gotham as an artist, became a songwriter, and then led bands of his own – The Jivetones (later known as The Craft Tones) and The Sonotones. He cut a dozen sides for Gotham in 1949 and 1950.

Drummer and singer T.N.T. Tribble first came to fame in 1951 and soon after began recording for Gotham. He often recorded with the exciting trumpet great Frank Motley and even led his own eclectic band, T.N.T. Tribble and His Crew. Tribble also was a much in-demand session man. He recorded as the drummer with Ike and Tina Turner in the early ’60s on “A Fool In Love” and “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine.”

Edward Gates White aka “The Great Gates” enjoyed a recording career as an R&B vocalist from 1949 to 1955, before changing to recording jazz organ instrumentals. He continually shifted between various small West Coast labels such as Selective, Kappa and Miltone (issued on Gotham as well).

Growing up in New Orleans, Cousin Joe began singing in church before crossing over to the blues. He picked up the piano instead, playing Crescent City clubs and riverboats. He moved to New York in 1942, gaining entry into the city’s thriving jazz scene. He recorded for King, Gotham, Philo, Savoy, and Decca along the way and after returning to New Orleans in 1948, he recorded for DeLuxe and Imperial in 1954.

Len McCall was a smooth, big voiced singer who’s legacy consists of a lone 78 cut for the label in 1947, the B-side “Philadelphia Boogie” gives today’s show its title.

Thelma Cooper was a Gotham recording artist in the late ’40s; her ‘girlie’ voice and undeniably suggestive and sexy lyrics were considered ahead of their time. Daisey Mae cut a handful of sides for Gotham in 1955 and 1956.

Gotham’s roster featured a couple of notable sax men including Jimmy Preston and Earl Bostic. Alto sax player Jimmy Preston was one of the fathers of the Rock and Roll sound. He recorded his best work in the late 1940′s for Gotham Records in Philadelphia. He cut over two-dozen sides for Gotham between 1948 and 1950. After the war, alto sax man Bostic formed his own band. He switched to the Gotham label, where he had a Top 10 R&B hit with a cover of  ”Temptation.” Two years latter, Syd Nathan lured him away to his Cincinnati-based label, King, and Bostic remained one of King’s featured artists until his death. He died after suffering a second heart attack while playing a hotel opening  in Rochester, New York.

Gotham’s roster contained two outstanding guitarists, Bill Jennings and Tiny Grimes. Jennings started playing the ukulele at an early age and switched to guitar since he wanted to be taken seriously. A long-time member of Louis Jordan’s Tympany Five, Jenning’s versatility made him an in-demand recording artist. He recorded a handful of sides under his own name for Gotham in the 1950’s. Tiny Grimes was one of the earliest jazz electric guitarists to be influenced by Charlie Christian, and he developed his own swinging style. In 1938, he started playing electric guitar, and two years later he was playing in the Cats and the Fiddle. During 1943-1944, Grimes was part of a classic Art Tatum Trio, which also included Slam Stewart. In September 1944, he led his first record date, using Charlie Parker. Grimes played in the jive group The Cats And The Fiddle and was part of the classic Art Tatum Trio before he put together his own group in the late 1940′s. Called The Rockin’ Highlanders, the group featured Grimes’ electric guitar playing as well as the tenor of Red Prysock. Grimes cut over a dozen sides for Gotham between 1949 and 1950.

Show Notes:

Today’s program is our fifth devoted to topical blues. Previous show have focused on hard times, presidents, war and prison. Today’s show is more of a grab bag, spotlighting songs about natural disasters, the depression, historical figures, social issues, civil rights and more. “The blues, contrary to popular conception, are not always concerned with love, razors, dice, and death,” Richard Wright wrote in 1941.  Wright, argued that the blues was by its nature a protest music, and many other writers concur. Mostly it was veiled in verses like “You don’t know my mind/ When you see me laughing, I’m laughing just to keep from crying.” A smaller percentage of blues deals directly with more overt protest and many more were commentaries about community events. There were numerous songs about natural disasters such as floods, drought, storms and fire; songs about cultural figures like Joe Louis, Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and John Kennedy; songs about politics, war, urban renewal, prostitution and even racism; and of course countless songs about the depression, hard times and welfare. Taken together these songs form an oral history of black America at a time when black Americans had few outlets for self-expression. Although it’s outside of our scope, it should be noted that many of the same themes can be found in gospel records and sermons of the same period.

The 1927 Mississippi River flood was one of the greatest natural disasters in US history. Numerous blues and gospel songs were written about the event. The first record on he market, and the biggest seller, was Bessie Smith’s “Back Water Blues” issued on Columbia. Columbia also enlisted its most popular country blues artist, Barbecue Bob, to record the flood blues “Mississippi Heavy Water Blues” in June. The record was advertised in the Chicago Defender on August 13th and like Bessie’s record was a hit. Other flood songs performed by Columbia artists include Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie’s “When The Levee Breaks” cut at their first session in 1929. Also in 1929, Charley Patton recorded a two-part flood blues, “High Water Everywhere” Part 1 &d 2. Paramount devoted one of its last advertisements to this record, which became a surprise hit at the dawn of the Great Depression. This was the last original blues to be recorded about the 1927 flood:

Well, backwater done rose all around Sumner now,
drove me down the line
Backwater done rose at Sumner,
drove poor Charley down the line
Lord, I’ll tell the world the water,
done crept through this town

Five months after the Mississippi flood, on Sept. 29^th, a cyclone struck St. Louis killing dozens of people and causing millions of dollars in damage. Three blues and one sermon were recorded about this event.  “St. Louis Cyclone Blues” was first recorded by Lonnie Johnson and then covered by Elzadie Robinson.  In addition to being a gifted singer and guitarist he was also an imaginative songwriter as “St. Louis Cyclone Blues” amply demonstrates:

I was sitting in my kitchen, lookin’ ‘way out cross the sky (2x)
I thought the world was ending, I started in to cry.

The wind was howlin’, the buildings beginnin’ to fall (2x)
I seen that mean old twister comin’, just like a cannonball

The world was black as midnight, I never heard such a noise before (2x)
Sound like a million lions, when they turn loose their roar

Oh, people was screamin’, and runnin’ every which away (2x)
[spoken ] Lord have mercy on our poor people!

I fell down on my knees, I started in to pray

The shack where we were living, she reeled and rocked but never fell (2x)
[spoken ] Lord, Have mercy!
How the cyclone spared us, nobody but the Lord can tell

In a similar vein was St. Louis Jimmy’s “Florida Hurricane.” John Lee Hooker recorded the song “Tupelo” several times. While Hooker refers to the disaster as a flood,  the town of Tupelo was actually  struck by a tornado on April 5^th, 1936. This was an outbreak of seventeen tornadoes that struck the Southeastern United States from April 5 to 6th, 1936. Approximately 436 people were killed by these tornadoes. Although the outbreak was centered around Tupelo, Mississippi and Gainesville, Georgia, other destructive tornadoes associated with the outbreak struck Columbia, Tennessee, Anderson, South Carolina and Acworth, Georgia. Severe flash floods from the associated storms also produced millions of dollars in damage across the region.

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 generated many songs among white and blacks. Soon after the event, songs began to circulate and some were put in print on broadside papers. For many singers, the disaster was a kind of modern “tower of Babel”, God punishing man’s arrogance, especially among black singers who saw in the disaster God’s punishment for the segregationist policies of the boat’s company (Black were not allowed on board) or for man’s hubris for calling the boat unsinkable. Among the most influential was “God Moves On The Water” by Blind Willie Johnson:

Year of nineteen hundred and twelve, April the fourteenth day
Great Titanic struck an iceberg, people had to run and pray
God moves, moves, God moves, ah, and the people had to run and pray

The guards who had been a-watching, asleep ’cause they were tired
When they heard the great excitement, then a gunshot was fired
God moves, moves, God moves, ah, and the people had to run and pray

The Titanic continued to be a popular theme well into the post-war era. Blues artists who sang about the Titanic include Ma Rainey, Hi Henry Brown, Richard “Rabbit” Brown, Leadbelly, Virginia Liston and in the post-war era Mance Lipscomb, Pink Anderson, Bill Jackson among others.

There have been several songs written about historical figures like presidents, particularly Roosevelt and Kennedy,  black leaders, sports figures and even blues singers. There were several blues written about the passing of well known blues artists including a few dealing with the death of the hugely popular Leroy Carr in 1935.  Among those were the poignant “My Old Pal Blues (Dedicated To The Memory Of Leroy Carr)” sung by Carr’s long time partner Scrapper Blackwell:

I woke up this morning, couldn’t hardly get out of my bed (2x)
When I got the news, that Leroy Carr was dead

I run to the window, and I throwed up the blinds (2x)
I stood there wondering, and just couldn’t keep from crying

The day of his funeral, I hated to see Leroy’s face (2x)
Because I know there’s no one, could ever take his place

Then off to the funeral, then to the burying ground (2x)
My heart was breaking, as they lowered him down

He’s done singing, he’s done playing, you’ll never hear his voice no more (2x)
He was a real good pal, and I’ll miss him everywhere I go.

Bumble Bee Slim and Bill Gaither also recorded tributes to Carr. There were other tributes on the passing of Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Other songs have dealt with the passing of Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Doctor Clayton and Sonny Boy Williamson II. There have been dozens of blues, jazz, ballads and gospel songs written about heavyweight champion Joe Louis. During the era of segregation, Joe Louis was a hero among black Americans. Those who paid tribute to Louis include Memphis Minnie, Joe Pullum, Jack Kelly, Lil Johnson, Bill Gaither, Carl Martin among others. Pullum’s “Joe Louis Is the Man” seems to be the first Louis song, dated Aug. 13, 1935:

Joe Louis, is a battlin’ man
The people think his fame will always last
He’s the Brown Bomber of this land
He’s supposed to whup ‘most any man
He’s got a real left, and a real good right
But when he jabs with either one, that stops the fight
He’s not a bad dresser, and his hair is curled
He’s the champion now of the world
He’s bound to be the next champion of the world

Named after a popular 19th-century minstrel song that stereotyped African Americans, “Jim Crow” came to personify the system of government-sanctioned racial oppression and segregation in the United States. There were several artists who made reference to”Jim Crow” including Leadbelly, Josh White and Rosa Henderson (PDF). In 1924′s “Back Woods Blues” Rosa Henderson sings:

Got the blues so bad for the place that I came from
Wanna see my folks but its way to far, to ride in a dusty old Jim Crow Car
Got the back woods blues for a place way down in Bam
Got the blues but I’m gonna stay right where I am
Gonna lay ‘round here right where I’m at
Where there ain’t no grinnin’ and snatchin’ off my hat

Three years later Cow Cow Davenport cut the explicitly titled “Jim Crow Blues”:

I’m tired of being Jim Crowed, gonna leave this Jim Crow town
Doggone my black soul, I’m sweet Chicago bound
Yes, sir, I’m leaving here, from this old Jim Crow town

Fire was another theme that crops up in several blues songs. Leola Manning sings about a fire that burned down the Arcade building in Knoxville, TN in her “Arcade Building Moan” cut just 15 days after the event. One of the most tragic fires happened in Natchez, Mississippi. On April 23, 1940 the Rhythm Night Club fire killed 209 African-American partygoers, while severely injuring many others. It remains the second deadliest fire at a nightclub in the United States. The disaster has been acknowledged in songs by The Lewis Bronzeville Five, Gene Gilmore, “Baby Doo” Caston, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and others. Other songs about fires include “Jailhouse Fire Blues” by Buddy Boy Hawkins, “Fire Department Blues” by Sleepy John Estes, “Call The Fire Wagon” by Memphis Minnie and “Stockyard Fire” by Tampa Red and “Fire Detective Blues” by Roosevelt Sykes are a few examples.

Urban renewal is the theme in “Third Street’s Going Down”, one of Peetie Wheatstraw’s finest compositions:

We used to have luck in the valley
But the little girl had to move way out of town
We used to have luck in the valley
But the girl had to move way out of town
Some moved in the alley
Ooo-well-well, because Third Street is going down

Third Street ran through the heart of the East St. Louis district known as the “valley”, a tough area full of brothels, gambling houses and saloons. Wheatstraw also lived in the district and not coincidentally was an area where the blues flourished. Some forty years later Gatemouth Moore returned to his old Memphis stomping grounds which was transformed by urban renewal and recorded the moving “Beale Street Ain’t Beale Street No More.”

When the Wall Street crash occurred at the end of October 1929 there were many stories of lost fortunes, of bankrupt financiers throwing themselves from skyscraper buildings. Those who bore the brunt were the poor, and of those the black population was the worst off. As steel mills ceased to operate and factories were closed down, thousands of workers, many of whom were seasonal employees, were laid off. Few were members of unions, and there was no protection against unemployment. Countless blues and gospel songs were written about the depression. “The Panic Was On” as Hezekiah Jenkins sang in 1931:

What this country is coming to
I sure would like to know
If they don’t do something bye and bye, the rich will live and the poor will die
Doggone, I mean the panic is on

Can’t get no work, can’t draw no pay
Unemployment getting worser every day
Nothing to eat no place to sleep
All night long folks walking the street
Doggone, I mean the panic is on

During the depression casual prostitution was a reality to many poor women. Whether it was a bartering to pay the “rent man”, helping their unemployed men or actually walking the streets, prostitution was a prevalent theme in the blues. Statistics show that a quarter of all prostitutes were black when blacks represented a tenth of the population.  “Tricks Ain’t Walking No More”was a popular song recorded by Lucille Bogan, Memphis Minnie, Bumble Bee Slim, Curley Weaver, Buddy Moss and others. During the depression even prostitution suffered from the economy as Lucille Bogan lamented in “They Ain’t Walkin’ No More”:

Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down, I can’t make my livin’ around this town
‘Cause tricks ain’t walkin’, tricks ain’t walkin’ no more
I said, tricks ain’t walkin’ no more, tricks ain’t walkin’ no more
And I got to make my livin’, don’t care where I go

I need shoes on my feet, clothes on my back,
get tired of walkin’ these streets, all dressed in black
But tricks ain’t walkin’, tricks ain’t walkin’ no more
I said, tricks ain’t walkin’ no more, tricks ain’t walkin’ no more
And I get four or five good tricks standin’ in front of my door

Homelessness was another reality as detailed in songs like Josh White’s “Homeless And Hungry”,  Bessie Smith’s “Homeless Blues”and Sleepy John Estes’ ” Hobo Jungle Blues.” Even after the depression the possibility still loomed as Willie “Long Time” Smith sang about eloquently in his 1947 composition “Homeless Blues”:

On one cold frosty morning, the ground was covered with snow (2x)
Well, I met a million people had no place to go
Well some have children, some just have their suitcase and clothes (2x)
You know those people was steady walkin’,  but they couldn’t find no place to go

Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated in March 1933 and took many measures in his first hundred days to combat the depression. In June he established the Public Works Administration (PWA) for which over $3 billion was appropriated. PWA projects were largely engaged in construction projects like sewage plants, flood control and bridge building. Under the PWA was an alphabet soup of agencies with acronyms like PWA, CCC, CWA, CCC and others. Later came the WPA which replaced direct relief and built over a half million miles of roads, a hundred thousand bridges and even more pubic buildings. Many blues songs deal with “working on the project”  such as Peetie Wheatstraw’s “Working On The Project” and his sequel “The Wrong Woman (Lost My Job On the Project)”, Black Ivory King’s “Working For The PWA”, Jimmy Gordon’s “Don’t Take Away My PWA”  and “Casey Bill Weldon’s “W.P.A. Blues” are a few examples. While the entry in WW II eased the pressure on many who were drafted or employed in the plants, it was largely the white population who benefited. Many were still “On The Killin’ Floor” as Doctor Clayton described in 1942:

Please give me a match to light this short that I found
I know it looks bad for me, picking tobacco off the ground
I was in my prime not so very long ago
But high priced whiskey and woman done put me on the killin’ floor

Truman became President in 1945. Inflation was a major reason Truman’s popularity dropped from 87% after his election to 32% by the time he was up for re-election. In addition, after the war prices began to rise and opportunities lessen. Prices rose 38% between 1946 and 1948. Many blues tackled the subject including Jack McVea’s “Inflation Blues”, Louis Jordan’s song of he same name, Smokey Hogg’s “High Priced Meat”, Ivory Joe Hunter’s “Ivory Joe Hunter “High Cost Low Pay Blue” and Roosevelt Sykes’ “Roosevelt Sykes “High Price Blues”  among others.

After the twin bombings in August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki a slew of songs in all genres took up the atomic theme. In blues songs the word “atomic” came to mean anything of great energy, often used as a sexual metaphor as in songs like “Atomic Love” by Little Caesar or in “Atomic Baby” by Amos Milburn. In “Atomic Bomb Blues” Homer Harris gives an almost eyewitness account of the bombing of Hiroshima. In the gospel world it was used as a metaphor for God’s power as expressed in songs like the Pilgrim Travelers much covered “Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb” and the Swan Silvertone’s “Jesus Is God’s Atom Bomb.”

Overt political commentary was rare in recorded blues and gospel prior to the 1960’s but became increasingly more common afterwords. Several blues and gospel numbers were recorded about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement in Alabama. In “Birmingham Blues” John Lee Hooker forcefully sings about the Birmingham campaign which was a strategic effort by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to promote civil rights for black Americans.

I ain’t goin’ down, Birmingham by myself (2x)
If I go, gonna take someone with me
Take an airplane, fly over Birmingham (2x)
Drop me a bomb, keep on flyin’ on
Feel so bad, when I read about Birmingham (2x)
Oh do I know one thing, a man is just a man

Based in Birmingham, Alabama, and aimed at ending the city’s segregated civil and discriminatory economic policies, the campaign lasted for more than two months in the spring of 1963. To provoke the police into filling the city’s jails to overflowing, Martin Luther King, Jr. and black citizens of Birmingham employed nonviolent tactics to flout laws they considered unfair. In 1962′s “Ride On Red, Ride On” Louisiana Red is a civil rights themed blues that is mainly about leaving the racist south and in its subject not far removed from Rosa Henderson’s concerns in her 1924 song quoted above. Red does make a brief mention of the events in Little Rock several years prior:

We rolled into old Little Rock, had made another state
Where it took the whole US army to make one school integrate

In “Alabama Bus” Pts. 1 &2 Brother Will Hairston sings bout the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Dr. King and ignited by Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat to a white man. Several blues singers paid tribute to the death of Martin Luther King including Champion Jack Dupree, Big Joe Williams and Otis Spann.

Show Notes:

Georgia White & Bumble Bee Slim

Another mix show for today. I’ve finally caught up a bit so the next few weeks I’ll be doing some themed shows.  Today’s program sports two short tributes to Les Paul and Robert Johnson.  We open and close the show with tracks by Georgia White featuring a young Les Paul. White was a popular singer of the 30′s and 40′s who cut around a hundred sides for Decca between 1930 and 1941.  In 1936 she cut five sides backed by guitarist Les Paul who just passed away on August 13^th. These are among Paul’s first recordings and it’s clear he’s already an accomplished guitarist. Little is known of White’s post-recording years outside of the fact that she led an all girl band in the late 40′s and was lasted glimpsed appearing in a Chicago club in 1959.

We also pay tribute to Robert Johnson who died on this date seventy-one years ago, Aug 16, 1938 in Greenwood, MS. I have to admit that I haven’t played Johnson much on my show. At this point more ink has been spilled on Robert Johnson than any other blues artist and while there has been plenty of quality research on the elusive bluesman it’s been largely buried in layers of hyperbole, mythology, speculation, romanticism and sheer nonsense. My main problem is that this obsession on every minutiae of Johnson’s life has taken away the focus on his very real talents and perhaps more importantly this lopsided focus on Johnson has obscured the fact that he was very much part of a tradition; his music firmly built on the artists who came before like Lonnie Johnson and Tampa Red who don’t get a shred of the acclaim that Johnson does. Johnson remains one of the blues great artists, his brilliance was in how he borrowed, reshaped, synthesized and added his own voice to the music of those who came before to create a powerfully individual style. It would be nice if this intense spotlight on Johnson spilled over to raise the awareness of other equally worthy early blues artists who I play on a regular basis.

Charley Patton

One of the guys Johnson was inspired by was Charley Patton who was dead two years when Johnson made his debut in 1936.  From Patton’s last session in 1934 we spin his “High Sheriff Blues.” Collectors and serious listeners have long held Patton as he pinnacle of the Delta blues artists. Patton hasn’t accrued the mythological baggage of Johnson and isn’t as accessible as Johnson, with his often garbled singing paired with particularly noisy records.  Patton has always cast a spell over me although I’ve had a hard time articulating exactly why. I recently ran across the following by Tony Russell in the indispensable The Penguin Guide To The Blues that pretty much nails what makes Patton’s music so compelling and is worth quoting in full:

“In the best-known photograph of Charley Patton a youngish man faces posterity with a straight but somewhat apprehensive gaze. Some of what lay ahead he might have predicted: a hard life, early death, obscurity. What was not on the cards was that some 30 years later he would begin to be described as one of the most singular musicians of the 20th century, a voice of the blues like no other, a teller of stories from a time and place that for his new listeners were as unimaginable  as the dark side of the moon. His sometimes strangled utterances, already half choked by the surface noise of old discs, gradually revealed themselves to be passages from an oral history of black Mississippi in the 1910s and ’20s: its dirt roads and rivers, drinking places and jails, the pest ravaged cottonfields of “Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues”, the drought of “Dry Well Blues”, the flooded bottomlands of “High Water Everywhere” and, turning from natural disasters to man-made ones, the layoff of railroad workers in “Mean Black Moan.” These reports, and the many other types of songs he recorded, from blue-ballads like “Frankie And Albert” and rags like “Shake It And Break It” to hymns and transformed popular songs, are delivered in a voice as tough as steel, to guitar melodies as densely springy as ryegrass. It is extraordinary music, not always easy to understand, but so full of incident that it quickly becomes totally absorbing.”

Turning from the guitar we spotlight a number of fine pianists including Charlie Seger, Kid Stormy Weather Frank Tannehill and Champion Jack Dupree.  Pianist Segar cut ten sides at sessions in 1934, 35 and 40 and cut recorded the first version of “Key To The Highway” in February 1940. Big Bill Broonzy claims to have written the song, a song also claimed by Jazz Gillum. Gillum cut his version a few months later in May 1940 and Broonzy cut his version in May 1941. Kid Stormy Weather recorded two songs in 1935, and was a local legend around New Orleans. He was an influence on Professor Longhair. Frank Tannehill was a fine singer/pianist who cut ten sides in the late 30s and early 40s. “Warehouse Blues” is a poignant working man’s blues:

You know why my baby she looks so fine (2x)
I’m working at the warehouse giving her all my time
I don’t care, that the streets is covered with snow (2x)
I got to work at the warehouse, and bring my baby the roll
The old house burned down, got to wait till’ they build again (2x)
I’m cutting grass now but I’m still bringing money in

“Bad Whiskey And Wild Woman” feature superb guitar from Brownie McGhee and comes form the brand new 4-CD set Champion Jack Dupree Early Cuts on the JSP label which collects everything he cut from 1940 through 1953.

Jumping ahead to the 60s and 70s we spin some great records by Barrelhouse artists Blind Joe Hill and Easy Baby and music from Excello artists Jimmy Anderson and Whispering Smith. The Barrelhouse label was a fine Chicago label run by George Paulus during the 70s featuring a roster that included albums by Washboard Willie, Big John Wrencher, Charlie Feathers, Harmonica Frank Floyd, Blind Joe Hill, Joe Carter, Robert Richard, Easy Baby and others.  Easy Baby is an exceptional singer and harmonica blower who cut two superb records 25 years apart. Our selection comes from Sweet Home Chicago Blues a 1977 album featuring a great band that included guitarist Eddie Taylor and drummer Kansas City Red. In 2000 he cut the album If It Ain’t One Thing It’s Another for the Wolf label, which is nearly as good. Blind Joe Hill was a one-man-band who recorded two albums under his own name on the Barrelhouse and L+R labels and was part of the 1985 American Folk Blues Festival touring Europe. We spin a few songs form the excellent 2-CD set Blues Hangover a collection of Excello rarities including excellent tracks by Jimmy Anderson who sounds uncannily like Jimmy Reed, the fine Whispering Smith who found his way to the label as Excello was circling the drain and the mysterious Early Dranes. The cuts by Dranes come form an Excello audition tape that surfaced decades after the label folded.

Show Notes:

Today’s shown revolves around blues songs relating to presidents and politics. Overt political commentary was rare in recorded blues and gospel prior to the 1960′s. Some of the most moving political songs were tributes for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, who had great appeal to African Americans. One theme running through today’s show is several songs dealing with the death of president Kennedy who was assassinated 45 years ago yesterday. There were also quite a number of gospel songs written on the topic, and although we normally don’t play gospel we make an exception today. Roosevelt was considered the “poor man’s friend” and the lyrical evidence suggests he was viewed “as a benevolent and powerful patron or ‘bossman’” while Truman was seen as much more fallible and “unresponsive to the economic plight of black people as well as their growing demands for equal rights.” Kennedy’s reputation, particularly in the early years, was rather ambivalent but his death, as the lyrical evidence makes clear, “virtually eradicated any criticism of his international or political policies and left him an unadulterated hero.” These last quotes come from scholar Gudio Van Rijn who has written the books Roosevelt Blues, The Truman & Eisenhower Blues and Kennedy’s Blues which analyze lyrics of blues and gospel songs that deal with topical issues. In addition each book has an accompanying CD, which is where many of today’s songs come from. Several of the Kennedy songs come from the album Can’t Keep From Crying: Topical Blues on the Death of President Kennedy on the Testament label.

I guess you can say I wear my sympathies my sleeve with the opening numbers; Champion Jack Dupree’s “God Bless Our New President” and Bobo Jenkins’ “Democrat Blues.” “God Bless Our New President” was cut only a few days after Truman was sworn in following the death of FDR. The flip side was “F.D.R. Blues.” The record was advertised in Billboard as a “new sensational timely blues record.” In “Democrat Blues” cut in 1952 Jenkins is clearly not happy about Dwight Eisenhower who was the first Republican in the White House since 1933. If Jenkins was still with us he would clearly be a happy man.

A running thread throughout today’s show is some remarkable songs on the death of President Kennedy. In the wake of John Kennedy’s assassination, Pete Welding recorded over a dozen acoustic blues tributes to the late president for the compilation Can’t Keep from Crying: Topical Blues on the Death of President Kennedy in late 1963 and early 1964. Several other songs come form Kennedy’s Blues. Not surprisingly Kennedy’s assassination provoked an outpouring of memorial songs where “the deceased president emerges as a near-saint.” As Rijn notes, “the blues and gospel singers’ president was in heaven now. Like Christ he had died for our sins.” Indeed Kennedy’s death is often compared to the crucifixion of Christ a theme hammered home in several gospel songs. Among the moving performances are Otis Spann’s impassioned “Sad Day In Texas”, his voice choked with emotion, Jim and Fannie Brewer’s simply but deeply moving “I Want To Know Why” and Perry Tillis’ “Kennedy Moan.” There are several strong gospel performances including Ronda Mitchell & Mrs. Lovell magnificent “J.F. Kennedy’s Reservation”, The Southern Bell Singers’ soaring “The Tragedy Of Kennedy” and the Dixie Nightinglaes’ haunting “Assassination.”

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president of the United States, thousands of black Americans, traditionally Republican, deserted the party of Lincoln and became Democrats. Roosevelt was immensely popular among blacks as evidenced in songs like Otis Jackson’s two-part “Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt” and Big Joe Wiilliams’ moving “His Spirit Lives On.” While were practically no blues lyrics critical of Roosevelt, Truman was criticized explicitly early on. Expectations were high for post-war prosperity and Truman’s inability to stem inflation made him ripe for criticism. It wasn’t long for the sentiment expressed in Champion Jack Dupree’s “God Bless Our New President” cut in April 1945 (Truman became President in January that year) became more pointed in songs like J.B. Lenoir’s “Eisenhower Blues” and the “positively revolutionary” variation “Everybody Wants To Know:”

You rich people, listen, you better listen real deep
If we poor peoples get hungry, we gonna take some food to eat

While Rijn has yet to write his book on Nixon (I have no doubt he will) there were a number of songs about Nixon and as you would imagine they were not very flattering. Watergate is a topic taken up by Howlin’ Wolf on “Watergate Blues” on his final album The Back Door Wolf while Big Joe is back with his “Watergate Blues.” Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown addresses Nixon directly in “Please Mr. Nixon” to “Don’t cut off your welfare line.” Other songs that directly addressed the president were several songs that came along at the same time including Roy C’s “Open Letter To The President” and his more explicit “Impeach The President, King Solomon’s “Please Mr President” the Angels Of Joy’s gorgeous plea “Mr President.”

Today’s show also features a trio of fantasy songs inspired by Big Bill Broonzy’s “Just A Dream.” The idea of a black man as a president was the stuff of fantasy as Big Bill relates:

Dreamed I was in the White House, sittin’ in the president’s chair.
I dreamed he’s shaking my hand, said “Bill, I’m glad you’re here”
But that was just a dream. What a dream I had on my mind
And when I woke up, not a chair could I find

Some fifteen years later Johnny Shines recorded his “Livin’ In The White House:”

Now I’m livin’ in the White House, just trying to help old Ike along (2x)
And tryin’ to make an admendment, for things Harry left undone

I want to live in paradise, make servants out of kins and queens (2x)
Now, don’t shake me, please, darling, this is one time I wanna finish my dream

Then there’s Louisiana’s Red surreal, hilarious “Red’s Dream” where he goes “to the U.N. and set the whole nation right”, threatens Castro with a “Georgia shave” (slit his throat) and is finally summoned to the White House by the President where he plans to install some “soul brothers” in the senate like Ray Charles, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley and Big Maybelle! Then of course there’s Louis Jordan’s “Jordan For President.” After announcing that he is ready to move “… from the phonograph record to the ‘Congressional Record’”, Jordan promises to help listeners “… get straight on all the candidates” and “… make the proper selection in the coming election.” Jordan’s hoping you’ll vote for the swing ticket: “For an administration that’ll move you, groove you, and keep you fit” and “… to walk on the sunny side of the street with the candidate with the beat … vote for Jordan for President!” Jordan’s electoral promises: “Every American will get his portion – after I get mine” and “… we’ll all serve – time!.” I Don’t Want To Be President” by the ever philosophical Percy Mayfield takes a Nixon era slant:

Now just suppose I had a girlfriend and called her, and she lived way across the lake
Why Congress would know the whole conversation because, you see, they’d have it on tape
Then they put me on the television to tell the whole world my private life
Hell I wouldn’t mind if people knowing but what about my wife