Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

We span a good chunk of blues history today, spinning tracks from 1924 through 1976.  On tap on today’s program are a number of fine country blues recordings from the 1960′s and 70′s, a couple of album spotlights and twin spins by pianist Henry Brown and singer Ray Agee. From the blues revival era we open with tracks by Joe Callicott and Sam Chatmon who’s careers bridged the pre-war and post-war blues eras. A product of the Chatmon family that included not only Lonnie of the famous Mississippi Sheiks but also the prolific Bo Carter and several other blues-playing brothers, Sam Chatmon survived to began performing and recording again in the ’60s. Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, he recorded for a variety of labels, as well as playing clubs and blues and folk festivals across America. Chatmon was an active performer and recording artist until his death in 1983. Today’s track, “Stoop Down Baby”,  comes from  the collection, Field Recordings From Hollandale 1976-1982 which has recently been issued on the Mbirafon label. Some of these recordings were issued on the Albatros label in the 80’s. It’s interesting to hear Chatmon cover Chick Willis’ “Stoop Down Baby”, a relatively recent hit, it shows that he was still keeping his ears open to new material and the the song itself perfectly fits his repertoire which is built on many such ribald songs.

Joe Callicott waxed a lone 78 in Memphis in 1929, Fare Thee Well Blues b/w Traveling Mama Blues, and a year later played second guitar on Garfield Akers’ “Cottonfield Blues Parts 1 & 2.” It was the indefatigable field recorder George Mitchell who found him in Nesbit, Mississippi off Highway 51 not far from Hernando and short distance from Brights were Akers was supposedly born. Callicott’s “comeback” was about as short as his first recording career, lasting from the summer of 1967 through the summer of 1968; he recorded nineteen sides for Mitchell either late August or early September, four sides at the 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival and seventeen sides for Blue Horizon in 1968. As Paul Oliver wrote: “A wider recognition came almost too late but Joe appeared at the 1968 Memphis Blues Festival and was looking forward to a European trip. Back at his home, with the birds whistling and witnessed by his wife and their bellcow, he recorded his last testament; he died early in 1969 and with him went the last echoes of Mississippi country music of the earliest phase of the blues.”

From 1969 we spin a trio of cuts from the album Memphis Swap Jam. Released to commemorate the 1969 Memphis Blues Festival, the album features 20 songs by the event’s most notable performers. Although the tracks date from the same period as the festival, they were recorded at Ardent Recording Studio and Royal Recording Studio in Memphis. Chris Strachwitz produced this two-LP set, and it marks one of the few occasions (if not only) when he worked in this capacity for a company other than his own Arhoolie Records. Artists like Bukka White, Furry Lewis, Fred McDowell and Sleepy John Estes had been recorded extensively during the blues revival but still sound quite inspired on these performances. A nice companion CD to this is The 1968 Memphis Country Blues Festival With Bukka White a terrific double CD of live and studio recording by Bukka White, Furry Lewis, Joe Callicott and Robert Wilkins.

We also spotlight another great 2-LP set, Swamp Blues, which has since been reissued on CD by Ace Records. Swamp Blues is a collection of Baton Rogue artists, most of whom had recorded for the legendary Excello label. At this point the label was owned by Nashboro who had a licensing agreement with the British Blue Horizon label owned by Mike Vernon. Blue Horizon already had albums out by Lightnin’ Slim and Lonesome Sundown and was eager to get involved with this project which was issued under the Excello imprint. It was Baton Rogue blues fan Terry Pattison who got the project off the ground. Pattison was in touch with the folks at the great, now defunct, Blues Unlimited magazine and they in turn got in touch with Vernon. An attempt was made to get Lazy Lester and Lightnin’ Slim on board but to no avail. Still it was an impressive roster featuring ex-Howlin’ Wolf pianist Henry Gray, Whispering Smith, Silas Hogan, Clarence Edwards and Arthur “Guitar” Kelly.

As for our twin spins today we play two cuts by pianist Henry Brown, one in a supporting role and one solo number. Henry Brown learned to play the piano from the “professors” of the notorious Deep Morgan section of St. Louis. Brown worked clubs such as the Blue Flame Club, the 9-0-5 Club, Jim’s Place and Katy Red’s, from the twenties into the 30’s. He recorded for Brunswick with Ike Rogers and Mary Johnson in 1929, for Paramount in ‘29 and ‘30. He served in the army in the early 40’s, then formed his own quartet to work occasional local gigs in St. Louis area from the 50’s, and worked the Becky Thatcher riverboat in 1965. In addition to his pre-war recordings, he was recorded by Paul Oliver in 1960, by Sam Charters with Edith Johnson in 1961 and by Adelphi in 1969. Our cuts feature the rollicking (mostly) instrumental “Henry Brown Blues” which was recorded by Paul Oliver and comes from the companion CD to Oliver’s book Conversation With The Blues. “Nickel’s Worth of Liver” features the vocal of Edith North Johnson, a song she first cut in 1929, that time backed by Roosevelt Sykes. Johnson cut 18  sides in 1928 and 1929, including a session with Charley Patton in Grafton, WI, for Paramount Records, although it is doubtful Patton actually appeared on any of her songs. She made her home in St. Louis, where she ran a fleet of taxis during World War II and owned a popular diner. Sam Charters recorded her with Henry Brown in 1961 for his anthology called The Blues in St. Louis Vol. 2 for Folkways Records. Born January 2, 1903, in St. Louis, she died there on February 28, 1988.

We also feature two cuts by the neglected singer Ray Agee. Agee is known primarily for his tough 1963 remake of the blues standard “Tin Pan Alley” for the tiny Sahara logo. Agee recorded for a slew of labels both large and small during the 1950′s and 60′s without much in the way of national recognition outside his Los Angeles home base. After moving to L.A. with his family, he apprenticed with his brothers in a gospel quartet before striking out in the R&B field with a 1952 single for Aladdin Records. Agee slowly slipped away from the music business in the early ’70s. Reportedly, he died around 1990. Thankfully the Famous Groove label has issued all of Agee’s 50′s and 60′s recordings across three CD’s.

Also worth mentioning are tracks by Lonnie Johnson, Little Janice, and Tony Hollis. I never get tired of Lonnie Johnson who’s guitar skills are rightly praised, yet he was also a moving singer and a superb composer. A case in point is his gorgeous “Lines On My Face”, a bit of blues poetry from his 1960 album Losing Game:

Heartaches have caused, these deep lines in my face (2x)
When you’ve been disappointed in love, your heart has no restin’ place

Each line in my face tells a story, the tears tells you the reason why
Deep lines in my face tells a story, teardrops tell you the reason why
When you been hurt in love, it shows on you face until the day you die

If I could take my poor heart and wash it, wash all these aches and pains away (2x)
But I guess I’m so in love, I hope she’ll come back to me some day

My poor heart could talk, there’s so much it could tell (2x)
When the one you love disappoints you in life, life is a livin’ hell

Tony Hollis’ small output belies his influence. Hollis  played around Clarksdale, MS in the 20’s and 30’s which is where he met John Lee Hooker, providing him with his first guitar and was a major influence on Hooker’s style. In 1941 Hollis waxed seven sides for Okeh including the influential “Crawlin’ King Snake” and the first recorded version of “Cross Cut Saw Blues.”Another song from that session, “Traveling Man Blues”, waslater made famous by Hooker as “When My First Wife Quit Me.” He cut one more session in 1951 with Sunnyland Slim. Our selection, “I’ll Get A Break”, which was based on Tampa Red’s 1934 version and comes from that latter session. The song was cut by Hollis at his first session using the title “Big Time Woman.”

Little Miss Janice is a mystery. What little is known about her is that she came from Texas, she played guitar and she had a knack for songwriting as she proves on her tough “Scarred Knees.” After this recording for Proverb, she went on to cut for Paul Gayten’s Pzazz label. Johnny Adams covered “Scarred Knees” on his first LP for Rounder and Esther Phillips cut a stunning version on her 1972 album From A Whsiper To A Scream.

Show Notes:

On today’s show we spin multiple tracks by several performers including opening with a trio by Cripple Clarence Lofton plus twin spins of Georgia Tom and Jack Kelly. I’ve long been a fan of Lofton, a hugely entertaining boogie-woogie pianist. In fact when I was asked to contribute to the Encyclopedia of the Blues I chose Lofton as one of the entries to write. As William Russell famously wrote, Lofton was “ a three-ring circus” who would enliven a performance with dancing, whistling, finger snaps and drumming on the body of the piano. As Peter Silvester wrote in A Left Hand Like God: “What he lacked in discipline, however, he more than made up for with vivacity and exuberance.” Of his recordings we play his rowdy “Brown Skin Girls” complete with whistling, scat singing and Big Bill Broonzy’s bouncy fretwork and the rollicking instrumental “House Rent Struggle.”  “Sweetest Thing Born” sports a fine vocal from Red Nelson who cut three other superb numbers with Lofton including the masterpiece “Crying Mother Blues” which we played a few weeks back. Lofton’s politically incorrect nickname stemmed from a congenital lameness in his leg that made him walk with a pronounced limp. Born in Tennessee he lived most of his life in Chicago becoming a fixture on the Chicago nightlife scene. He owned his own nightclub called the Big Apple where he ran his own boogie school teaching youngsters the art form. Between 1935 and 1943 he cut close to forty sides for Vocalion, Swaggie, Solo Art and Session. Lofton remained on the scene cutting sides for the Gennett, Vocalion, Solo Art, Riverside, Session and Pax labels. He stayed around Chicago until his death in 1957 from a blood clot in the brain.

Jack Kelly was born in Mississippi but spent his life playing in the streets of Memphis with musicians such as Frank Stokes, Will Batts and Walter Horton among others. In 1933 he cut 14 sides with his South Memphis Jug Band. Kelly cut another session in 1939 and a final one in 1952 for the Sun label with Walter Horton credited as by Jackie Boy & Little Walter. “Country Woman” has a wonderful world-weary vocal from Will Batts and a gentle drive propelled by the guitars of Kelly and Dane Sane while “World Wandering Blues” is sung powerfully in Kelly’s gruff voice backed by Batts’ ragged, wailing violin as he boasts:

I am in this world, wandering from town to town (2x)
Well if I find my baby, I’m gonna run her just like she was a hound
Well if you play the violin, I will do the howlin’ (2x)
Well, be late at night, these women will start to prowlin’

Georgia Tom Dorsey arrived in Chicago in 1916 where he went to music college and worked as a band pianist for Ma Rainey among others. In 1928 he began recording under his own name and as a session pianist. His duet with Tampa Red that year on “It’s Tight Like That” was a massive hit and provided the men with several years of lucrative recording work. In 1930 he founded his own gospel publishing company and left blues altogether in 1932 devoting himself to gospel which he did for almost a half century. During his blues playing days most of his work was confined to hokum and novelty items with Tampa Red and groups like the Hokum Boys and the Famous Hokum Boys. On slower blues he was often quite exceptional as on a fine eight-song session with guitarist Scrapper Blackwell recorded in early 1930. From that session we showcase the wistful “Mississippi Bottom Blues” and the touching “Gee, But It’s Hard” with outstanding contributions from Blackwell, particularly on the latter number.

As usual we play several fine pianists including Montana Taylor, Frank “Springback” James and Speckled Red. Montana Taylor is best remembered for his instrumentals although he proved himself a fine singer on his rediscovery in 1946. From that date we hear his poignant “I Can’t Sleep” cut for the Circle label. There’s also a live recording of this song from a This Is Jazz broadcast from the same year. All of Taylor’s sides can be found on Document’s Montana Taylor & ‘Freddy’ Shayne 1929-1946.

Pianist Frank James cut 18 sides at five sessions between 1934 through and 1937. Nothing definite is known about him other than he was clearly influenced by the popular Leroy Carr. He delivers a moving performance on “Will My Bad Luck Ever Change?.”  Speckled Red got his start playing in rent parties, brothels and clubs in Detroit in the early 20’s. In 1928 he joined the Red Rose Minstrel Show, which included Jim Jackson. He played with Jackson and Tampa Red in Memphis in 1929-30 and it was there in 1929 that he made his recording debut for Brunswick.  He scored a hit with “The Dirty Dozen”, the first recorded version of the song. He recorded next for Bluebird in 1938. He began recording again at the beginning of the blues revival with sessions in 1956-57 for Tone and Delmark. He made further recordings for Folkways and Storyville among others. He passed in 1973. “Speckled Red’s Blues” comes from a 1930 session and showcases his powerhouse vocals, and rollicking, exciting piano technique.

A few weeks back we paid tribute on our program to the influential singer Doctor Clatyon. Clayton’s influence can be heard on covers of his songs by B.B. King and Smoky Hogg. King’s “Hold That Train” comes from the album My Kind Of Blues, which King called his favorite at one point. King greatly admired Clayton and covered several of his songs. Andrew Hogg was born in Texas and in the 30’s and ran with guitarist the Black Ace playing for dances in small East Texas towns. In 1937 he waxed a solitary 78 and wouldn’t record again until 1947. Hogg only scored two R&B hits but was a consistent seller who cut hundreds of records for numerous labels through the late 50’s. He passed in 1960. Our selection, “I Declare”, is a remake of Clayton’s “I Need My Baby” which B.B. King also covered under the title “Walking Doctor Bill.” In 1951 Hogg also recorded a version of “Walking Doctor Bill.”. He also covered Clayton’s “Angels In Harlem” as “Angels In Houston.”

There’s several great guitarists featured today including T-Bone Walker and Lonnie Johnson. In a 1947 Record Exchanger article, T-Bone noted his favorite blues singers and had this to say about Johnson: “Wonderful blues singer. Don’t ever leave him out. Sharpest cat in the world, wore a silk shirt blowing in the wind in the winter nice head of hair, and a twenty-dollar gold piece made into a stickpin.” From 1952 we hear T-Bone in prime form on “I Miss You Baby.” We jump up to 1956 and hear T-Bone backing guitarist/vocalist R.S. Rankin on “You Don’t Know What You’re Doin “ for Atlantic. As for Lonnie we turn to 1937 to hear his gorgeous instrumental “Got the Blues for the West End.”

Also worth noting are a pair of superb tracks by early woman blues singers Clara Smith and Trixie Smith. Although overshadowed by Bessie Smith, Clara Smith was a magnificent and popular singer who cut over 120 sides between 1923 and 1929. She died of heart disease in 1935 at the age of 41.”It’s Tight Like That” is knockout, rousing version of this oft-covered number sung with gusto and some great trombone form Charlie Green. Trixie Smith moved to New York when she was 1920 and won a blues-singing contest in 1922. She cut close to 50 sides between 1922 and 1939 including the popular hit “Freight Train Blues.” After a 1926 she didn’t record again until 1938, returning in fine fashion as we hear on her remake of “Trixie’s Blues” featuring a marvelous guitar solo by Teddy Bunn. She passed a few years later in 1943.

Show Notes:

Today’s show is the first installment of an ongoing series of programs built around a particular year. The bulk of the information for today’s show notes comes from the books Recording The Blues (reprinted along with two other titles in Yonder Come The Blues) by Robert M.W. Dixon and John Godrich and Blues & Gospel Records, 1890-1943 by Robert M.W. Dixon, John Godrich and Howard Rye.

The year 1927 was the beginning of a blues boom that would last until 1930; there were just 500 blues and gospel records issued in 1927 and increase of fifty percent from 1926 a trend that would continue until the depression. Paramount, the market leader at the time, brought talent up to their northern studios. To feed the demand other record companies conducted exhaustive searches for new talent, which included making trips down south with field recording units. Between 1927-1930 Atlanta was visited seventeen times, Memphis eleven times, Dallas eight times, New Orleans seven times and so on. The record companies advertised their record in black newspapers, mainly in the Chicago Defender, which was the nation’s most influential black weekly newspaper.

After neglecting the race market, Victor decided to jump in the field in 1926 with negligible results. Victor’s fortunes turned around when they hired Ralph Peer who had been responsible for building up the race and hilliby catalogs for OKeh. In February 1927 Peer ventured out with the Victor filed unit to Atlanta, Memphis and finally New Orleans. Among the artists recorded in Memphis were the Memphis Jug Band, Furry Lewis and Frank Stokes. In Atlanta recordings were made by Julius Daniels, Blind Willie McTell and others. In New Orleans the major find was songster Richard “Rabbit” Brown who recorded six sides.

Early in 1927 Mayo Williams, who had built up the Paramount catalog, formed his Black Patti label. The recordings were made by Gennett, with half the material issued on Gennett’s own labels. Black Patti Records debuted with advertisements in May of 1927, with some two dozen discs said to already be available. The repertory included jazz, blues, sermons, spirituals, and vaudeville skits, most (but not quite all) by African American entertainers. A total of 55 different discs were manufactured. Williams found running his own label not as lucrative and easy as he had hoped, and closed up operations before the end of 1927. Among the notable blues artists recorded were Papa Harvey Hull, Sam Collins, Clara Smith, Jaybird Collins among others.

When Black Patti folded in August 1927, Vocalion quickly hired him as a talent scout. Williams hit pay dirt with Jim Jackson’s “Jim Jackson’s Kansas City Blues” which was released in December 1927 and was an immediate hit.

Gennett began recording blues in 1923 but was the only major label not to have a separate race series. Gennett recorded most of their recordings at their Richmond, Indiana and New York studios. They made one group of recordings in the South in Birmingham Alabama in 1927. Among those recorded during this trip were Jay Bird Coleman, Daddy Stovepipe,, William Harris and Joe Evans.Other artists to appear on the label included Sam Collins and Cow Cow Davenport.

Columbia’s race records  were primarily issued on the 1400-D series which ran from December 1923 through April 1933. The first country blues singer to appear on the series was Peg Leg Howell who was recorded in Atalanta in November 1926 and the following year in April.  Also recorded in April 1927 were Robert Hicks aka Barbecue Bob. According to Robert M.W. Dixon John Godrich in their book Recording The Blues, 10, 850 copies of “Barbecue Blues” b/w “Cloudy Sky Blues” were pressed. Initial sales were so good that Hicks was called to New York in the middle of June to record 8 more numbers, and when Columbia returned to Atlanta in November they not only recorded a further 8 selections by Barbecue Bob, but also 6 by his brother Charley Lincoln, who sang the same sort of songs in very much the same style. In December 1927 the Columbia field unti went to Dallas and Memphis.  Notable artists recorded in Dallas inluded Blind Willie Johnson, the Dallas String Band, Lillian Glinn while Memphis yielded important recordings by Reubin Lacy and Pearl Dickson.

In 1926 Columbia and OKeh merged but the labels were run by separate management for three years after the merger and did not compete for the same artists. Since 1927 OKeh had been issuing a new record every six weeks by Lonnie Johnson and issued some two-dozen sides by him in 1927. Johnson also backed other OKeh artists that year including Texas Alexander and Victoria Spivey. OKeh also recorded two sessions by Blind Lemon Jefferson, exclusively a Paramount artist, but these were never issued. Today’s show features tracks by all these artists as well as the duo of Butterbeans & Susie who cut close to 70 sides for the label between 1924 and 1930.

The only race company that made no field trips was Paramount. Despite this Paramount remained the market leader in records released and singers recorded. Paramount issued records by the many of the blues biggest stars. In 1927 the label issued records by Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake both of whom were extensivley advertised in the Chicago Defender. Other big names were Ma Rainey, Lucille Bogan Ida Cox, and Papa Charlie Jackson.