Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

Today’s show spotlights  recordings by Johny Otis  and the many  talented performers that passed through his band or that he was involved with. This is the second show revolving around Johnny Otis and this time we celebrate the release of Midnight at the Barrelhouse, the first biography of this musical legend. Johnny has written his own books, and from a musical standpoint, most memorably, Upside Your Head!: Rhythm and Blues on Central Avenue. In addition I’ve interviewed the author, George Lipsitz, for today’s program. We take our introduction from the book:

“From the moment Johnny Otis first arrived in Los Angeles in 1943, everyday seemed to offer a marvelous new experience. He led the house band at the club Alabam and later opened his own nightclub, the Barrelhouse, in Watts. As a recording artist, he succeeded in placing fifteen songs on the best-seller charts from 1950 to 1952. Otis had one of the biggest pop music hist of all time with “Willie and the Hand Jive” in 1958. He composed top-selling songs that became successes for other artists as well including “Every Beat of My Heart” for Gladys Knight and then Pips, “So Fine” for the Fiestas, “Roll With Me Henry”, which became the “Wallflower” for Etta James, and “Dance With Me Henry” for Georgia Gibbs.” As a promoter, producer, and talent scout for Savoy, King , Duke. and other independent record labels, Otis discovered and launched the careers of Etta James, Hank Ballard, Esther Phillips, Jackie Wilson, Big Mama Thornton, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Linda Hopkins, and Little Willie John, among others. He produced big hits for Little Esther, Etta James, and Johnny Ace, as well as less commercially successful but even more artistically triumphant recordings by Charles Williams, Barbara Morrrison, and Don “Sugarcane” Harris.

As a musician, Otis played the drums on Big Mama Thornton’s recording of “Hound Dog”, on Illinois Jacquet’s “Flying Home”, and Lester Young’s “Jammin’ With Lester.” Otis provided the hauntingly beautiful vibraphone accompaniment to Johnny Ace’s “Pledging My Love”, played vibes on his own recording of “Stardust”, featuring Ben Webster on tenor saxophone, and he played piano and tambourine on Frank Zappa’s Hot Rats album. When the occasion demanded it, Otis could also play harpsichord, celesta, and timpani. As an artist, promoter, disc jockey, and television host, he brought Black music to new audiences, in the process inspiring some of his listeners to become performers themselves.

Billboard Magazine Ad March, 11, 1950

…For all his immersion in African American life and culture, Johnny Otis was not actually Black. He was a white man born as John Alexander Veliotes into an immigrant Greek family. He had grown up among Blacks and had lived much of his life as if he were Black. …At an early age Johnny felt captivated by Black culture, by the spiritual, moral, and intellectual richness he encountered in the sanctified churches that he attended with his Black playmates, by the music of gospel choirs, jazz bands, blues singers, by the way Black people dressed, danced, and talked.”

Considered by many to be the godfather of R&B, Johnny Otis – musician, producer, artist, entrepreneur, pastor, disc jockey, writer, and tireless fighter for racial equality – has had a remarkable life by any measure. Born to Greek immigrant parents in Vallejo, California, in 1921, Otis grew up in an integrated neighborhood and identified deeply with black music and culture from an early age. He moved to Los Angeles as a young man and submerged himself in the city’s vibrant African American cultural life, centered on Central Avenue and its thriving music scene. Otis began his six-decade career in music playing drums in territory swing bands in the 1930′s. He went on to lead his own band in the 1940′s and open the Barrelhouse nightclub in Watts.

Below is some background on some of today’s featured artists:

The Robins were formed when Ty Terrell Leonard and the Richard brothers Billy and Roy met at Alameda High School in San Francisco in 1945, and formed the “A-Sharp Trio” (no recordings). The trio came to Hollywood a year later, and in 1949 they were joined by Bobby Nunn, who worked at Johnny Otis’ club The Barrelhouse in Watts. The group began recording in 1949 and through 1950 cut sides for Aladdin and Savoy backed by Johnny Otis’ band.

In 1949 singer Mel Walker was discovered by Johnny Otis and joined his band, singing with Otis until around 1953. On many recordings he featured in duets with Little Esther (Phillips), and also recorded with The Robins.

In 1948 Little Esther Jones won an amateur contest in Los Angeles, singing Dinah Washington’s “Baby Get Lost” at a nightclub belonging to bluesman Johnny Otis. Otis recalls her debut at his club The Barrelhouse was hosted by popular disc jockey Hunter Hancock, and as Johnny recalls in his memoir, Upside Your Head !,  “As the talent show began, Hunter called me to the microphone. Johnny he said, All week long you’ve been raving to me about a new young girl singer you’ve discovered. Yeah, Hunter, I found her singing down on 103rd. Street at the Largo Theatre. I want you all to hear her tonight, here she is, Little Esther Jones. Esther sang the blues, the crowd went nuts, and that night, thirteen-year-old Little Esther began her historic, bittersweet career. …She instantly became the teenage favorite among Black music lovers. Everywhere we went, from coast to coast, thousands of adoring fans lined up to see and hear Little Esther.” Otis brought the 13-year-old into the studio for a recording session with Modern Records and added her to his live revue. Billed as “Little Esther,” and sounding mature beyond her years, she recorded “Double Crossing Blues” with Johnny Otis, selling 400,000 copies before her 14th birthday. The record hit number one on the charts making Little Esther the youngest female singer to have a #1 hit on the R&B charts. More successful singles followed including “Mistrustin’ Blues” (#1 R&B), “Misery,” “Cupid Boogie” (#1 R&B), and “Deceivin’ Blues” (#4 R&B). A traveling review called the Savoy Records Barrelhouse Caravan of Stars hit the road for a series of one nighters across the South in early 1950 drawing huge crowds. The show included The Johnny Otis band, The Robins, Little Esther, Mel Walker, and Redd Lyte. Proving the sudden star power of Little Esther, she came in number one in a poll of the national juke box operators for best jazz and blues performer for the year of 1950.

It’s a tribute to Johnny that, just as he was there at the beginning of Esther’s career, he was there at the end. In 1984 she was admitted into a hospital for liver and kidney failure. Johnny recalls visiting her in the hospital during this period: “As I leaned towards her, my mind raced back in time. I remembered the bright-eyed, brash, talented little girl I had found in Watts years ago, and a big sob welled up in me. ‘Don’t cry, baby’, she said softly, but I cried all the way home.” She died soon after on August 7, 1984 at the age of 48. “I conducted her funeral service just as she instructed me”, Otis recalled: “No crying and bullshit eulogies”, she said. “Just my friends singing and playing and having a party.”

Pete “Guitar” Lewis joined the Johnny Otis band in 1948 and stayed until 1957. He was discovered by Johnny Otis in 1948 who signed him on the spot after he won a talent contest at his Barrelhouse Club at the Thursday Night Talent Hour. Lewis also cut a batch of fine solo sides for Federal and Peacock which also showcased his considerable singing and harmonica abilities. For Peacock he backed Johnny Ace (most notably “Pledging My Love”), Big Mama Thornton (most notably “Hound Dog”) plus others. Lewis stuck with Otis throughout the 50’s cutting some sides for Otis’ Dig label during this period. He was eventually replaced by Jimmy Nolen in 1957. Lewis went on to play with George “Harmonica” Smith with whom he recorded for Sotoplay. He died of alcohol related problems in the early 60’s.

Billboard Magazine Ad May, 27, 1950

Jimmy Nolen replaced the ailing Pete “Guitar” Lewis in the Johnny Otis Band around 1956 and played on Johnny’s big hit, “Willie And The Hand Jive” and other Capitol successes such as “Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me” and “In The Dark.” Nolen’s guitar work is spotlighted prominently on a series of recordings Johnny and the band cut on Dig in 1956 of which we spin “Number 69/Number 21.” Striking out on his own in 1960, he formed his own band and was sought after by many of the major blues stars that came into L.A. for backing when they were without their own bands. B.B. King and T-Bone Walker would always use Jimmy and his band when they were in town without their sidemen. Jimmy played throughout California and Arizona working steadily until he decided to accept James Brown’s offer to join his band in 1965. His patented funky chicken scratch style can be heard on hits like “Papa’ Got A Brand New Bag” and many more hits between 1965 to 1983, except for the two years he left the band to go with Brown sidemen, Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley as “All the Kings Men”. He was with the band in Atlanta, GA when he suffered a fatal heart attack on December 16, 1983 at the age of 48.

We play some selections from Dig Records (originally called Ultra Records). Ultra Records was formed in 1955 by Frank Gallo, Eddie Mesner, Leo Mesner and Johnny Otis in Los Angeles California. In February 1956, the name of the label was changed to Dig Records. In 1957, Johnny Otis acquired sole ownership of the Dig Records Label. Dig Records officially issued 41 singles and 4 Long Play albums. These recordings have been issued on CD by the Ace label spread across five volumes.

We conclude the show with  sides  from the albums Cold Shot! and The Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey. Though Johnny’s 1969 album Cold Shot! wasn’t much different from the straightforward R&B he’d been doing for years, it did have some updated rock, soul, and funk influences, due in large part to the presence of his teenage guitarist son, Shuggie Otis. Otis cut another album that year credited to Snatch and the Poontangs. Both albums were combined onto one CD on an Ace reissue in 2002, with the addition of two previously tracks. Monterey was an R&B oldies show in 1970 that featured artists Johnny  had worked with back in the early days and they were still in fine form. The disc stars Otis, Esther Phillips, Eddie Vinson, Joe Turner, Ivory Joe Hunter, Roy Milton, Roy Brown, Pee Wee Crayton, and Johnny’s guitar wielding son, Shuggie.

-Listen to the George Lipsitz interview (edited, MP3, 30 min)

Show Notes:

The West Coast had a thriving blues and jazz scene in the 1940’s and 50’s with most of the activity centering around the Los Angeles, Richmond, Oakland and San Francisco Bay areas. The Black population swelled in the 1940s, due to large manpower needs to work in the U.S. defense industry during World War II. These new arrivals needed entertainment, of course, and the local jazz and blues club scene heated up quickly. From approximately 1920 to 1955, Central Avenue was the heart of the African-American community in Los Angeles. Like New York City’s 125th Street or Memphis’s Beale Street or Chicago’s South Side, Central Avenue was one of the world capitols of nightlife, of jazz, rhythm & blues, of black culture and society.

There were several strains of blues that rose to prominence including a moody, after hours brand of piano blues popularized by the inimitable Charles Brown who himself was influenced by Nat King Cole. Brown’s influence was profound, setting the stage for fellow pianists like Amos Milburn, Floyd Dixon, Little Willie Littlefield, Ivory Joe Hunter, Cecil Gant and Roy Hawkins. T-Bone Walker’s influence was to guitar as Brown was to piano. Much of T-Bone’s material had an after hours, jazzy jump blues feel, an influence that would characterize T-Bone disciples like Pee Wee Cratyon, Lafayette Thomas, Gatemouth Brown, Goree Carter, Pete “Guitar” Lewis, Ulysses James and others. There was also a more swinging, jazzy jump blues as performed by artists like Roy Milton, Joe and Jimmy Liggins, Johnny Otis and others.

Los Angeles in the 1940′s became a huge center for rhythm and blues recording. There was a host of labels recording blues and R&B in Los Angeles in the 1940s including Specialty, Imperial, Aladdin, and the umbrella of labels run by the Bihari brothers RPM/Modern/Kent/Flair/Crown were the most notable. Bob Geddins was a key player who operated numerous small labels like Down Town, Big Town, Irma, and others. The first breakout rhythm and blues single, “I Wonder,” was recorded by Private Cecil Gant in a simple basement studio and released in 1944 on Gilt Edge Records, a short-lived L.A. indie. When “I Wonder” went to the top of Billboard’s race charts, a number of labels sprang up to capitalize on the smooth, cool, Leroy Carr-derived L.A. blues style Gant had popularized.

I’ve done several programs devoted to West Coast blues and today’s show is mostly an excuse to spotlight two exceptional West Coast artists,  Cecil Gant and Gene Phillips who I haven’t featured much on prior shows. Today’s program leans towards the jazzy jump blues side of things, giving you a taste of some of the sounds of Central Avenue during the 1940’s and early 50’s.  The buk of those recordings are draw from several excellent Ace Records reissues documenting the Central Avenue scene including: Mellow Cats ‘N’ Kittens (four volumes) and The Central Avenue Scene (three volumes ).

Cecil Gant, who went by the moniker the G.I. Sing-Sation, was an army private who allegedly got his first break while performing for a war bond rally in 1944. He scored a massive hit the same year with “I Wonder” the first release on the new Gilt-Edge label. The record’s huge success prompted others to form record companies devoted to black music. Gant was a first rate ballad singer in the vein of Nat King Cole and Charles Brown but he was also a superb bluesman who could lay down some storming boogie-woogie. Gant recorded prolifically for the L.A. labels Gilt-Edge and 4 Star and in Nashville, which was probably his hometown, for Bullet, Dot and Decca, meanwhile playing in nightclubs throughout the country. Between 1944 and 1951 he waxed over 150 sides before his untimely death in 1951 at the age of 38. The Blue Moon label has provided an invaluable service by issuing all of Gant’s recordings across seven CD’s.

Gene Phillips was one of the early stars of Modern Records. Phillips was a West Coast session musician who appeared on a myriad of jump blues waxings during the late ’40s and early ’50s before fading from view even before the dawn of rock & roll. In the early 40s he sang and played guitar, was a jump blues specialist and led his own band, the Rhythm Aces. The T-Bone Walker-influenced Phillips recorded extensively for the Modern label from 1947 through 1951.  Phillips’s bandmates were among the royalty of the L.A. scene: trumpeter Jake Porter, saxists Marshall Royal, Maxwell Davis, and Jack McVea, and pianist Lloyd Glenn were frequently on hand. Phillips was a much in demand session guitarist backing stars such as Calvin Boze, Lloyd Glenn, Wynonie Harris, Joe Liggins, Percy Mayfield and many others. Jake Porter of Combo Records, also a well-respected session player,  had this to say about these marvelous Phillips sessions for Modern, “I guess music-wise and musician-wise he had the best musicians on his sessions, and Modern Records’ boss Jules Bihari just loved the stuff. He never rushed time. One thing about Jules I got to say his love was to sit up in the control booth and watch a record being made. He was fascinated. It was just like he was in a trance.” Phillips recordings have been collected by the Ace label on two CD’s:  Swingin’ The Blues and Drinkin’ And Stinkin’.

The Los Angles scene boasted a number of the premier blues shouters including Wynonie Harris,  Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Witherspoon. Big Joe Turner ventured out to the West Coast during the war years, building quite a following while ensconced on the L.A. circuit. Few West Coast indie labels of the late ’40s didn’t boast at least one or two Turner titles in their catalogs with Turner cutting sides for RPM, Down Beat, Swing Time and MGM mostly backed by long time pianist Pete Johnson. Jimmy WitherSpoon didn’t pursue music professionally until after his WWII stint in the Merchant Marines. When the war was at an end he had the opportunity to join the small band of Kansas City musician Jay McShann working on the West coast during the mid forties. He replaced Walter Brown with McShann and made his very first records with the band for the new Philo label in Los Angeles in 1945. Further records with McShann on the Mercury, Supreme and Downbeat labels followed in the late forties and he eventually signed to the Modern label.

One strain of blues that rose to prominence in L.A. was a moody, after hours brand of piano blues popularized by the inimitable Charles Brown who himself was influenced by Nat King Cole. Brown’s influence was profound, setting the stage for fellow pianists like Amos Milburn, Floyd Dixon, Little Willie Littlefield, Ivory Joe Hunter and Roy Hawkins.Brown came up in Johnny Moore’s combo. Moore and his younger brother Oscar grew up in Texas and then Phoenix, Arizona, where they both started playing guitar and formed their own string band. In the mid 1930s they relocated to Los Angeles, where Oscar Moore joined the King Cole Trio. Johnny joined and formed several groups, before forming The Three Blazers with two fellow Texans, bassist Eddie Williams and pianist and singer Charles Brown. After the Cole Trio moved from Atlas Records to Capitol in 1943, Oscar suggested to Atlas boss Robert Scherman that he replace them with his brother Johnny’s group. Scherman agreed to record the Blazers if Oscar would play with them, and the recordings were released as by “Oscar Moore with The Three Blazers”. In 1946, they had success with “Driftin’ Blues”, sung by Charles Brown. The group followed up the success of “Driftin’ Blues” with a number of other big R&B. In 1948, frustrated by his lack of recognition and financial reward, Charles Brown left the group for a successful solo career.

Influenced by Albert Ammons, Charles Brown, and Amos Milburn, Little Willie Littlefield made his debut 78 in 1948 for Houston-based Eddie’s Records while still in his teens. After a few sides for Eddie’s and Freedom, he moved over to the Los Angeles based Modern logo in 1949. There he immediately hit paydirt with two major R&B hits, “It’s Midnight” and “Farewell.” Littlefield proved a sensation upon moving to L.A. during his Modern tenure, playing at area clubs and touring with a band that included saxist Maxwell Davis. At Littlefield’s first L.A. session for King’s Federal subsidiary in 1952, he cut “K.C. Loving” (with Davis on sax),which became a big hit for Wilbert Harrison a few years later as “Kansas City.”

The towering figure of West Coast blues was Texas born guitarist T-Bone Walker. Walker was a key figure in the electrification and urbanization of the blues, probably doing more to popularize the use of electric guitar in the form than anyone else. Among his legion of followers was fellow Texan, Pee Wee Crayton. Crayton was from Texas but relocated to Los Angeles in 1935. He signed with the L.A.-based Modern logo in 1948, quickly hitting big with the instrumental “Blues After Hours” which topped the R&B charts in late 1948. “Texas Hop” trailed hit shortly thereafter, followed by “I Love You So.” After recording prolifically at Modern to no further commercial avail, Crayton moved on to Aladdin and, in 1954, Imperial. From there, Crayton cut sides fort Vee-Jay, Jamie, Guyden, and Smash during the early ’60s, Crayton largely faded from view until Vanguard unleashed his LP, Things I Used to Do, in 1971. After that, Pee Wee Crayton’s profile was raised somewhat; he toured and made a few more albums prior to his passing in 1985.

Show Notes:

Today’s mix show shines the light on several fine woman blues singers of the 20’s and 30’s as well as a batch of exceptional piano players. We open and close the program by spotlighting some famous singers and some utterly forgotten. Among the most famous are Victoria Spivey and the incomparable Bessie Smith. Smith made her debut in 1923 scoring a huge hit that year with “Down Hearted Blues.” Her sales were so impressive that record companies immediately sent talent scouts down south for similar blues ladies, opening the door for singers like Clara Smith, Ma Rainey, Ida Cox and Sippie Wallace. These woman singers dominated the market for the first half of the 20’s. Our selection, I’m Down In The Dumps”, comes from Bessie’s final four-song session in 1933. Victoria Spivey made her debut relatively late, in 1926 and recorded prolifically through 1937.

Among the other female singers we spotlight are Margaret Johnson, Lizzie Miles, Elizabeth Johnson, Lil Johnson, Lillie Mae Kirkman and Merline Johnson. Margaret Johnson cut 26 sides between 1923-1927 and worked with some top players including Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong. Little in known of her life outside of the fact she worked the vaudeville circuit throughout the 1920’s. Johnson was a powerful, expressive singer as she proves on 1924’s “Nobody Knows The Way I Feel Dis Mornin’” easily cutting through the limitations of the acoustic recording process to deliver a rousing performance. Lizzie Miles was another distinctive singer who worked in early jazz band, circuses and minstrel shows between 1909 and 1921 before launching her recording career. She recorded extensively between 1922 and 1929 and again in 1939. She came out of retirement in 1950. She’s in superb form on “The Man I Got Ain’t The Man I Want “ featuring some tasteful playing from guitarist Teddy Bunn. After making a few records in 1929, Lil Johnson didn’t surface again on record until 1935, cutting some 60 sides through 1937. Merline Johnson was one of the most prolific female artists of the 30’s, cutting almost 100 songs, yet little is known about her background.  Known as The Yas Yas Girl, she recorded with some of Chicago’s top musicians including Big Bill Broonzy, Black Bob, Casey Bill Weldon, Ransom Knowling, Blind John Davis and others. “Bad Whiskey Blues” comes form a final unissued 1947 session with Big Bill Broonzy and Blind John Davis.

We showcase several fine piano players including a couple apiece by the popular Walter Davis and Curtis Jones. Walter Davis was one of the most recorded artists of the era, cutting some 160 sides between 1930 and 1941. He came to St. Louis in 1925 and became a protégé of Roosevelt Sykes who played on his first six sessions. Davis continued to record steadily through the 1940’s until his final sessions in 1952. ‘Things Ain’t What They Used To Be” is a rare topical blues from Davis illustrating the problems of black soldiers returning from the war only to confront the same old prejudices:

I spent two years in the European country, way out across the deep blues sea (2x)
And since I been round here, don’t seem like home to me

Curtis Jones scored a huge hit in 1937 with “Lonesome Bedroom Blues.” The song remained in Columbia’s catalog until the demise of the 78 rpm record in the late fifties and eventually to become a blues standard. In 1929, Curtis Jones left Dallas working his way through the Mid and Southwest via Kansas City, then traveling to New Orleans where he finally made his way to Chicago. Arriving there in 1936, he formed his own group and began playing at rent parties and in Southside joints or bars and was soon spotted by Vocalion talent scout Lester Melrose. Over the next five years Curtis Jones was in the studio on no fewer than twenty occasions, recording some hundred titles, proving himself a very imaginative songwriter. His career picked up during the 60′s blues revival where he cut several records and eventually moved to Europe where he remained until his death in 1971. It’s easy to underestimate Jones with the seemingly sameness of his songs, yet he was an imaginative, often startling lyricist as he proves on our selections: “Down In The Slums” and particularly “Alley Bound”:

I have been singing sentimental, songs all over town (2x)
And I haven’t made no headway so you know I’m alley bound
I done made every beer tavern, I done stopped at every liquor store (2x)
So I try the alley, and stop by the bootleggers door
The bootlegger tells me, that the g-men have been around (2x)
And broke up all the moonshine, and poured the ice on the ground

In addition to two songs we play under Jones’ name, we also find him backing Lillie Mae Kirkman’s on her provocative “Hop Head Blues”:

I said daddy, daddy, daddy, you the meanest man I’ve ever seen (2x)
You use hop and reefer, and you even use morphine
Believe I smoke my reefer, but they don’t take no effect on me (2x)
I can smoke them every morning, be as happy as any woman can be
Reefer’s all right to smoke, but they treat you so low down (2x)
Doctor said if I didn’t quit I’d be six feet down in the ground

We spin a trio of great piano records from 1929 including Eddie Miller’s seductive “Good Jelly Blues.” The other side contains the marvelous “Freight Train Blues”, his two finest recordings. Nolan Welsh cut six sides between 1926 and 1929 including two featuring Louis Armstrong. Montana Taylor’s “Indiana Avenue Stomp b/w Detroit Rocks” has to rank as some of the finest barrelhouse numbers of the era. He was rediscovered in 1946, cutting some material for the Circle label.

We move up to the 50’s and 60’s to hear fine performances from Lightnin’ Hopkins  and Big Mama Thornton. As I was putting the program together I was watching the news about the wildfires outside of L.A. and immediately though of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ great “Burnin’ In L.A “ from 1961. From 1963 we play “Mercy” by Big Mama Thornton, and with all respects to “Hound Dog” and “Ball And Chain”, this is one of her finest, if unheralded numbers featuring a terrific uncredited guitarist.

Show Notes:

Today’s wide ranging mix show spans the years 1927 through 1977. We have a whole slew of fine pre-war recordings on tap today including a set of fine female singers and a set of excellent piano players. We get things rolling today with “Going To Germany” sung in a wonderful, lazy, dreamy style by Noah Lewis. Gus Cannon was the best known of all the jugband musicians and a seminal figure on the Memphis blues scene. Cannon led his Jug Stompers on banjo and jug in a historic series of dates for the Victor label in 1928-1930. The ensemble usually included a second banjoist or guitarist, one of whom often doubled on kazoo, and the legendary Noah Lewis on harmonica. Lewis was one of the finest early harp blowers, cutting over a dozen titles with Cannon’s Jug Stompers as well eight sides under his own name.

Compared to Lewis, Blind Blake was one of the biggest blues stars of the 1920′s. His “Georgia Bound” was recorded on 17th August 1929 in Richmond in Illinois. It has a very similar melody line to the subsequent “Four Until Late” by Robert Johnson and was clearly an influence on him.

The Mississippi Moaner was another fine, if obscure,  vocalist who’s real name was Isaiah Nettles. He recorded four sides for Vocalion Records in Jackson, MS, on October 20, 1935. Only one 78 from the session was ever officially released, “Mississippi Moan” b/w “It’s Cold in China Blues” with “Chicago Blues” b/w “Good Doin’ Papa” tantalizingly unreleased.

Another mysterious and highly revered figure featured today is Geeshie Wiley, represnted by “Pick Poor Robin Clean.” Don Kent wrote in the notes to Mississippi Masters: Early American Blues Classics 1927-35 that “If Geeshie Wiley did not exist, she could not be invented: her scope and creativity dwarfs most blues artists. She seems to represent the moment when black secular music was coalescing into blues.” Wiley recorded just two 78′s in 1930 and 1931, both highly sought after and worth a fortune to 78 record collectors. There are no known photographs and little is known about her. She recorded “Last Kind Word Blues” and “Skinny Leg Blues” in Grafton, Wisconsin for Paramount Records in March of 1930, with Elvie Thomas backing her on second guitar. Thomas also recorded two songs for Paramount at the session, “Motherless Child Blues” and “Over to My House,” Wiley, providing second guitar and vocal harmonies. In 1931 Wiley and Thomas returned to Grafton to record two more sides for Paramount, “Pick Poor Robin Clean” and “Eagles on a Half.”

There are several fine female performers featured today including Bessie Smith, arguably the greatest woman blues singers of her era, Lottie Kimbrough, Bertha “Chippie” Hill and the obscure Johnnie Strauss. From Bessie’s last session in 1933 we spin her sensational “Gimmie A Pigfoot” featuring a crack band that included Frankie Newton, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman and Chu Berry. Lottie Kimbrough was a Kansas City blues woman whose brief recording career spanned the years 1924 to 1929. Kimbrough was a famously large woman, nicknamed “the Kansas City Butter-ball.” Her “Rollin’ Log Blues” is a tune of haunting beauty propelled by the driving guitar of Mile Pruitt. Backed by Richard Jones Jazz Wizards, “Chippie” Hill turns in a powerful performance on her “Do Dirty Blues.” Compared to the others, Johnnie Strauss is a mere footnote, waxing just four sides for Decca in 1934 backed by Roosevelt Sykes. Her hoarse, yet powerhouse vocals, backed by a fine unknown violinist make for a compelling performance on her “St. Louis Johnnie Blues.”

We spotlight a quartet of excellent piano performances from the 1930′s by Little Brother Montgomery, Judson Brown, Pinetop Burks and Jesse James. Montgomery cut some of the greatest piano blues records if the 1930′s including a remarkable eighteen song session recorded on October 16, 1936 at the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans. Less well known and far less prolific are Judson Brown who cut just one side for Brunswick in 1930 (he also backed singers such as Marry Johnson, Jenny Pope, Mozelle Alderson and others), Jesse James who cut one four soong session in 1936 (two sides were unissued) and Pinetop Burks who cut six fine sides in San Antonio in 1937.

We feature is a trio of tracks from the LP BluesScene USA Vol. 2 – The Louisiana Blues on Storyville. The LP  collect sides cut for the Goldband label in the 1950′s and 60′s including several sides never issued. Goldband was based in Lake Charles, LA and formed by Eddie Shuler in 1945. From that album we hear excellnet sides by lesser known artists such as Big Chenier, Jay Stutes and Ashton Savoy.

In anticipation of our feature on Excello Records next week, we spin a pair of tracks by Lonesome Sundown. Cornelius Green AKA Lonesome Sundown was hired as one of Clifton Chenier’s guitarists in 1955 (Phillip Walker was the other). A demo tape was sent to producer Jay Miller who began producing him in 1956, leasing his “Leave My Money Alone” to Excello. Over the next eight years, Sundown’s Excello output included a host of memorable swamp classics before his 1965 retirement from the blues business to devote his life to the church. It was 1977 before Sundown could be coaxed back into a studio to cut Been Gone Too Long, an excellent comeback. He did some scattered live dates before passing in 1995.

We wrap up our program with two tracks by Rev. Gary Davis off the just released 3-CD set Live At Gerde’s Folk City 1962.  These sides were recorded by Stefan Grossman at Gerde’s Folk City in New York City with a two track Tandberg tape machine. Davis was Grossman’s guitar teacher at the time. These are the first time these sides have seen the light of day and sound quality is excellent.

Show Notes:

Today’s show spotlights many recordings by Johny Otis’ band as well as featuring many of the talented performers that passed through his band. Johnny Otis began his musical career in 1939 as a drummer with Count Otis Matthew’s West Oakland House Rockers. In 1943, at the recommendation of Nat “King” Cole and Jimmy Witherspoon, he moved to Los Angeles to join Harlan Leonard’s Kansas City Rockets at the Club Alabam. By 1945 he was leading his own band, and had his first big hit that year with “Harlem Nocturne”. In 1948 he joined with Bardu and Tila Ali, and Johnny Miller to open The Barrelhouse in Los Angeles, which was the first nightclub to feature Rhythm & Blues exclusively. In 1950 he had ten songs that made the Top 10 on Billboard Magazine’s Best Selling Retail Rhythm & Blues Records list. With this success, he went on the road with his California Rhythm & Blues Caravan, and became the hottest musical attraction in black America. In the early 1950′s, remaining active as a writer, performer, and producer, Johnny began a radio career and became one of the most popular disc jockeys in southern California. His early radio broadcast success led to a weekly variety show on television. “The Johnny Otis Show” was on TV in Los Angeles for eight years. Johnny Otis discovered many legendary Rhythm and Blues singers such as Esther Phillips, Willie Mae “Big Momma” Thornton, Etta James, and the Robins (who later evolved into the Coasters), all of who were at one time featured vocalists in his band. His band also sported geart guitarists in Pete “Guitar” Lewis and later Jimmy Nolen. He also discovered Sugar Pie DeSanto, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Jackie Wilson, and Little Willie John. He produced, and with his band played on the original recording of “Hound Dog” with “Big Momma” Thornton, produced and played on Johnny Ace’s “Pledging My Love”, produced some of Little Richard’s earliest recordings  and  played the drums on Charles Brown’s first major hit “Driftin’ Blues” in 1946. Below is some background on some of today’s featured artists.

The Robins were formed when Ty Terrell Leonard and the Richard brothers Billy and Roy met at Alameda High School in San Francisco in 1945, and formed the “A-Sharp Trio” (no recordings). The trio came to Hollywood a year later, and in 1949 they were joined by Bobby Nunn, who worked at Johnny Otis’ club “The Barrelhouse” in Watts. The group began recording in 1949 and through 1950 cut sides for Aladdin and Savy backed by Johnny Otis’ band.

In 1949 singer Mel Walker was discovered by Johnny Otis and joined his band, singing with Otis until around 1953. On many recordings he featured in duets with Little Esther (Phillips), and also recorded with The Robins. Cathy Cooper was another singer with Otis’ band who cut a few sides in 1947 with Otis’ band before Little Esther came on the scene.

In 1948 Little Esther Jones won an amateur contest in Los Angeles, singing Dinah Washington’s “Baby Get Lost” at a nightclub belonging to bluesman Johnny Otis. Otis recalls her debut at his club The Barrelhouse hosted by popular disc jockey Hunter Hancock: “As the talent show began, Hunter called me to the microphone. Johnny he said, All week long you’ve been raving to me about a new young girl singer you’ve discovered. Yeah, Hunter, I found her singing down on 103rd. Street at the Largo Theatre. I want you all to hear her tonight, here she is, Little Esther Jones. Esther sang the blues, the crowd went nuts, and that night, thirteen-year-old Little Esther began her historic, bittersweet career. …She instantly became the teenage favorite among Black music lovers. Everywhere we went, from coast to coast, thousands of adoring fans lined up to see and hear Little Esther.” Otis brought the 13-year-old into the studio for a recording session with Modern Records and added her to his live revue. Billed as “Little Esther,” and sounding mature beyond her years, she recorded “Double Crossing Blues” with Johnny Otis, selling 400,000 copies before her 14th birthday. The record hit number one on the charts making Little Esther the youngest female singer to have a #1 hit on the R&B charts. More successful singles followed including “Mistrustin’ Blues” (#1 R&B), “Misery,” “Cupid Boogie” (#1 R&B), and “Deceivin’ Blues” (#4 R&B). A traveling review called the Savoy Records Barrelhouse Caravan of Stars hit the road for a series of one nighters across the South in early 1950 drawing huge crowds. The show included The Johnny Otis band, The Robins, Little Esther, Mel Walker, and Redd Lyte. Proving the sudden star power of Little Esther, she came in number one in a poll of the national juke box operators for best jazz and blues performer for the year of 1950.

Pete “Guitar” Lewis joined the Johnny Otis band in 1948 and stayed until 1957. He was discovered by Johnny Otis in 1948 who signed him on the spot after he won a talent contest at his Barrelhouse Club at the Thursday Night Talent Hour. Lewis also cut a batch of fine solo sides for Federal and Peacock which also showcased his considerable singing and harmonica abilities. For Peacock he backed Johnny Ace (most notably “Pledging My Love”), Big Mama Thornton (most notably “Hound Dog”) plus others. Lewis stuck with Otis throughout the 50′s cutting some sides for Otis’ Dig label during this period. He was eventually replaced by Jimmy Nolen in 1957. Lewis went on to play with George “Harmonica” Smith with whom he recorded for Sotoplay. He died of alcohol related problems in the early 60′s.

We play several selection from Dig Records (originally called Ultra Records). Ultra Records was formed in 1955 by Frank Gallo, Eddie Mesner, Leo Mesner and Johnny Otis in Los Angeles California. In February 1956, the name of the label was changed to Dig Records. In 1957, Johnny Otis acquired sole ownership of the Dig Records Label. Dig Records officially issued 41 singles and 4 Long Play albums. These recordings have been issued on CD by the Ace label spread across five volumes.

We conclude the show with a trio of sides from The Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey . Thi swas an R&B oldies show in 1970 that featured artists Otis had worked with back in the early days and they were still in fine form. The disc stars Otis, Esther Phillips, Eddie Vinson, Joe Turner, Ivory Joe Hunter, Roy Milton, Roy Brown, Pee Wee Crayton, and Johnny’s guitar wielding son, Shuggie. This seems to be out of print but is well worth hunting down.

Show Notes:

Vee-Jay was one of Chicago’s most successful labels. Until the advent of Motown during the early 1960s, it was the country’s largest black-owned record company. Four individuals were most responsible for the success of the label: James Bracken and Vivian Carter who founded the company in mid-1953; Vivian’s brother, Calvin Carter, who was the principal producer and A&R man; and Ewart Abner, Jr. A fifth individual, Art Sheridan, was a secret partner in the company. Vee-Jay was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken (later that year, Mr. & Mrs. Bracken), who used their first initials for the label’s name.  In a short time, Vee-Jay was the most successful black- owned record company in the United States. By 1963, they were charting records faster than some of the major labels. They were the first U.S. company to have the Beatles. In one month alone in early 1964, they sold 2.6 million Beatles singles. Two years later, the company was bankrupt. Early on, Vee-Jay became involved in gospel music and recorded many of the top acts in the field, notably the Staple Singers, the Swan Silvertones, the Original Five Blind Boys, and the Highway QC’s. Early jazz performers included Tommy Dean, Turk Kincheloe, and Julian Dash. But Vee-Jay established itself as a hitmaker with doowop groups and blues singers. The biggest groups were the Spaniels, the El Dorados, and the Dells, but the label could boast a host of lesser names, such as the Magnificents, the Kool Gents, and the Rhythm Aces. Vee-Jay in 1955 considerably expanded its stable of blues acts, adding Eddie Taylor (as a reward for his stellar accompaniment to Jimmy Reed), L. C. McKinley, Billy Boy Arnold, Morris Pejoe, Billy “The Kid” Emerson, and the great John Lee Hooker.

The bulk of today’s tracks come from several fine box sets: Vee Jay, The Chicago Black Music (P-Vine), The Definitive Collection (Shout Factory), Jimmy Reed: The Vee-Jay Years (Charley) and John Lee Hooker The Vee-Jay Years (Charley). The 4-CD P-Vine collection is probably the best collection from a blues standpoint while the Shout Factory 4-CD is more of an overall view. Both Charley sets are 6-CD collections that contain everything Hooker and Reed cut for Vee-Jay. Below is some background on today’s artists.

Jimmy Reed was Vee-Jay’s second signing. He was born Mathis James Reed on September 6, 1925, on a plantation near Dunleith, Mississippi. Reed moved to Chicago in 1943, and after service in the Navy during World War II settled in Gary, Indiana. The first session in June 1953 produced no hits, but “Roll And Rhumba” (Vee-Jay 100) sold enough under both Vee-Jay and Chance imprints to keep the fledgling company interested. A second session near or at the end of the year produced Reed’s first national hit, “You Don’t Have to Go,” which upon release in early 1955 lasted 10 weeks and went to #5 on the Billboard R&B chart. The key ingredient in the Jimmy Reed sound was the addition of guitarist Eddie Taylor who provided a firm drive to the songs. Reed soon emerged as one of the biggest blues acts in the country.

Bluesman Eddie Taylor was born in Benoit, Mississippi, on January 29, 1923. As a youngster he took up guitar. In 1943, he moved to Memphis, and worked in the Beale Street clubs. In 1949 Taylor moved to Chicago, initially playing in Maxwell Street but then moving into the clubs. In 1953 he began working with Jimmy Reed, who was a childhood friend in the Delta. His guitar work played a large role in the success of Jimmy Reed’s records. Taylor also appeared on the February 1954 sessions with Floyd Jones and Sunnyland Slim and in January 1955, Vee-Jay rewarded Taylor by giving him another chance to record numbers of his own.

John Lee Hooker signed with Vee-Jay in 1955, experiencing his breakthrough session for in March 1956. There with guitarist Eddie Taylor, bassist George Washington, and drummer Tom Whitehead, he laid down one of the strongest sessions of his career. Even though “Dimples” did not make the Billboard national R&B chart, it was a genuine national hit, getting played on radio stations across the country. Hooker remained with Vee-Jay until 1964, recording a load of LPs, and producing a notable pop hit, “Boom Boom,” in 1962.

Harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold first began performing on 47th Street with Bo Diddley’s street band. He made his first recording in 1953 for the highly obscure Cool label.” After Bo Diddley was signed to Chess in February 1955, Arnold recorded a couple of his own numbers at the end of the first Bo Diddley session, but Leonard Chess did not seem interested in releasing them. So Arnold went to Vee-Jay, where he recorded his great number, “I Wish You Would” (this was really the same tune that Bo Diddley recorded on his second session as “Diddley Daddy”). The session took place on May 5, 1955; his supporting band included Henry Gray (piano), Jody Williams (electric guitar), Milton Rector (on the then-novel electric bass), and Earl Phillips (drums).

Pianist Tommy Dean was born in Franklin, Louisiana, on September 6, 1909, and grew up in Beaumont, Texas. By the time he reached adulthood he was a full-time musician. During much of the 1930s he worked in carnivals and circuses, then near the end of the decade was hired by the Eddie Randle Band in St. Louis. He eventually left Randle and formed his own band, and by 1945 was working the clubs in Chicago. Before he joined Vee-Jay, Tommy Dean recorded for Town & Country in St. Louis, and Miracle, Chance, and States in Chicago. His band for Vee-Jay included Joe Buckner a blues singer who was born in St. Louis in 1924.

Soulful blues singer Billy “the Kid” Emerson was born William Robert Emerson in Tarpon Springs, Florida, on December 21, 1929. His first recordings were made with Sun Records in Memphis in 1954-55, when he cut “Red Hot,” which subsequently became a rockabilly staple. In 1955, Emerson joined Vee-Jay Records.

A T-Bone Walker disciple, guitarist L. C. McKinley, was born on 22 October 1918, in Winona, Mississippi, but had relocated to Chicago by 1941. In the early 1950s he was a regular headliner at the famed 708 Club; in 1951 and 1952, he recorded as a sideman with pianist Eddie Boyd for JOB, appearing on Boyd’s biggest hit, “Five Long Years.” He first recorded as a leader in 1953 for the Parrot label, but label owner Al Benson chose not to release his session. He probably also did some further session work during this period. The guitarist’s next session under his name was with States, in 1954. The following year, he recorded two sessions for Vee-Jay.

Vee-Jay: The Early Years

Vee-Jay Records: The Official Website

The Vee-Jay Story