Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

A varied show on tap for today including some twin spins and featured anthologies. We open the show with two tracks featuring Johnny “Guitar” Watson,  plus double spins by Leroy Carr and Little Brother Montgomery plus sets featuring a great down home blues anthology, a fine collection of post-war St. Louis R&B and blues and a set revolving around a couple of related songs.

Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell

I’ve been listening to a great recent reissue on the Ace label called Blues Belles With Attitude!!. All the tracks were cut for the Modern label with 18 of these sides previously unissued and a further eight that have not seen prior CD release. As the notes state: “The inspiration for this compilation was Cordella Di Milo sides, whose recordings we have released previously on a Johnny Guitar Watson CD as result of his stunning guitar backing. It dawned on us that this virtually unknown singer deserved to be featured on a collection of similarly aggressive female performances. This led to a trawl of the tracks held in the Modern files, which had not been previously issued or had not seen the light of day for over half a century.” Cordella De Milo’s “Ain’t Gonna Hush is a sassy answer song to the Big Joe Turner hit with some killer guitar from Watson and smoking sax from Maxwell Davis. In addition to that number, we spin Watson’s sizzling “Don’t Touch Me (I’m Gonna Hit the Highway)” from the Ace collection of his early sides, Hot Just Like TNT.

Leroy Carr was one of the most popular bluesmen of the 20′s 30′s and today we spin two of his great numbers, the evocatively titled “Shinin’ Pistol” and “Big Four Blues.” We also spin one by Carr’s partner, guitarist Scrapper Blackwell who’s “Penal Farm Blues” which comes from his first session under his own name. Blackwell began working with  Carr, whom he met in Indianapolis in the mid-1920’s. Carr convinced Blackwell to record with him for the Vocalion label in 1928; the result was “How Long, How Long Blues”, the biggest blues hit of that year. Blackwell and Carr toured throughout the American Midwest and South between 1928 and 1935 as stars of the blues scene, recording over 100 sides. Blackwell’s last recording session with Carr was in February 1935 for the Bluebird label. The recording session ended bitterly, as both musicians left the studio mid-session and on bad terms, stemming from payment disputes. Two months later Blackwell received a phone call informing him of Carr’s death due to heavy. Blackwell soon retired from the music industry. Blackwell returned to music in the late 1950’s where he was recorded first in 958 and was next recorded by Duncan P. Schiedt  in 1959 and 1960.  Art Rosenbaum recorded him in 1962 for the Prestige/Bluesville label resulting in his finest latter day recording, the album Mr. Scrapper’s Blues. In 1963 Rosenbaum recorded him again for Bluesville, this time with singer Brooks Berry resulting in the album My Heart Struck Sorrow which has yet to be issued on CD. Sadly Blackwell was shot and killed during a mugging in an Indianapolis alley in 1962. He was 59 years old.

I’ve played Little Brother Montgomery often on the show and today we spin two from his 1961 Folkways album Blues. He cut two others for the label including the fine Farro Street Jive and Church Songs: Sung and Played on the Piano by Little Brother Montgomery. We play his “Pleading Blues” which was originally cut at his third session back in 1935 and the wonderful instrumental “L&N Boogie.” I’ve always been a fan of Montgomery’s raspy, burred voice but he really had a knack for knocking out memorable instrumentals like early gems such as “Crescent City Blues”, “Farish Street Jive” and “Shreveport Farewell.”

We spotlight two great anthologies today: the 4-CD set Down Home Blues Classics Vol.1 1943-1953 and Mo Betta: St Louis R&B 56-66. The former set comes from the label Boulevard Vintage who for the past few years have been putting out intelligent, well conceived multi CD sets of post-war down home blues. The label has zeroed in on a very specific, rich vein of blues history, roughly 1945-1955 when a whole slew of enterprising small labels were catering to an audience that still craved down home blues. As Paul Vernon writes: “The migratory patterns from south to north to west added an essential ingredient to the new market for blues recording. Urbanization created tastes for a music that fit the new times and locations , contributing to the birth of what we now recognize as Rhythm & Blues. In Chicago, the southern rural styles, as we now all surely know, were connected directly to 110-volt wall sockets and booted through fuzzy amplifiers to create the sound that would eventually go around the world. Yet there was still an audience for the rough, exciting music of southern juke joints and street corners, of local radio broadcasts and house parties. Who was going to service that market?” The answer can be found on the 100 tracks found on this collection and the label’s subsequent sets: Down Home Blues Classics: Texas 1946-1954 (4-CD), Down Home Blues Classics: California & The West Coast 1948-1954 (2-CD), Down Home Blues Classics: Memphis & The South 1949-1954 (2-CD). The first box, which features music from all regions with no overlap with the other sets, has been  impossible to find but it seems to be back in print so I finally got a copy.  Two years ago I devoted a whole show to these sets.

Mo Betta St Louis R&B 56-66 is a terrific set of obscure St. Louis blues and R&B featuring electrifying recordings by Little Aaron, Johnny “The Twist” Williams, Little Miss Jesse, Screamin’ Joe Neal and Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm. I had these tracks originally on the long treasured Red Lightnin’ LP’s Down On Broadway And Main and Condition Your Heart.

In the early 1940′s Ivory Joe Hunter had his own radio show in Beaumont, Texas, on KFDM, where he eventually became program manager, and in 1942 he moved to Los Angeles, joining Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in the mid 1940′s. He wrote and recorded his first song, “Blues at Sunrise”, with the Three Blazers for his own label, Ivory Records, it became a regional hit. Fast forward seven years to 1952′s ”The Moon is Rising” which was recorded  by Nighthawk for the States label and was a staple of his King Biscuit shows. The song was an almost identical remake of Ivory Joe Hunter’s 1945 hit “Blues At Sunrise” (covered prior to Nighthawk’s version by Charley Booker who cut it as “Moonrise Blues” for Modern’s Blues & Rhythm subsidiary in 1952). Nighthawk’s drummer Kansas City Red often sang the song. Several other artists cut the song under Nighthawk’s title including John Lee Hooker and Earl Hooker.

Also worth mentioning are several featured guitarists including Lafayette Thomas, T-Bone Walker, Buddy Guy and Mickey Baker. We hear Thomas’ dynamic guitar playing behind Roy Hawkins on the tough “Baby Please Don’t”, one of four songs he backs Hawkins’ on from a 1958 session for the Rhythm imprint. He was nicknamed “The Thing” due to his acrobatic style of playing. The bulk of his recordings were with Jimmy McCracklin’s combo in the 50’s and 60’s. During his lifetime only a scant fifteen sides were issued under his own name (a number were left unissued). His own records were made for small labels such as Jumping, Hollywood and Trilyte, but more often he cut odd titles at McCracklin’s 50’s sessions for Modern, Peacock (unissued) and Chess and three songs for King which were never issued. In his 1977 obituary Tom Mazzolini wrote: “Unquestionably the finest guitarist to emerge from the San Francisco-Oakland blues scene, there is hardly a guitarist around here today who doesn’t owe a little something to Lafayette Thomas…”

Speaking of Jimmy McCracklin, we feature a great 1965 number, “Steppin’ Up In Class”, one of a number of superb sides he cut for the Imperial label and the associated Minit label throughout the 60′s. The track comes from the the anthology I Had To Get With It: Imperial & Minit Years. I don’t think Thomas is playing on this track but McCracklin’s backing from this period is a bit murky so who knows? Lonesome Sundown did a cover of this number and local blues legend Joe Beard has been known to play this at his live shows. I’ve long been a fan of McCracklin and got the opportunity to interview him several years ago and meet him at the 2008 Pocono Blues Festival.

Thomas, like most guitarists of his generation, was influenced by T-Bone Walker. From Walker we spin “Mean Old World” from his classic 1959 album, T-Bone Blues. These recordings were cut in Chicago 1955 with Jimmy Rogers and Junior Wells plus another session cut in L.A. in 1956-1957, which included great jazz guitarist Barney Kessel.

Last week we spotlighted several cuts by Mickey Baker. Today we spin his T-Bone Walker inspired “Spinnin’ Rock Boogie.” 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.

Show Notes:

A varied mix show today stretching from the 1920′s up through the 1970′s with the emphasis more on the post-war blues then usual. On deck today are a pair of extended sets focusing on some terrific blues ladies, a batch of prime Chicago blues from the 1950′s and 60′s, a pair of cuts by Tampa Red plus a pair featuring Johnny Heartsman. Amid the obscure players we feature quite a number of well known artists although, perhaps, performing lesser known tracks.

Alberta Hunter

Among the better known blues ladies featured today are Lavern Baker, Memphis Minnie and Alberta Hunter. From 1953, her second session and first for Atlantic, we spin Lavern Baker’s torrid “How Can You Leave A Man Like This” backed by a rocking combo featuring Jimmy Lewis on guitar and Freddie Mitchell on tenor sax. During her time at Atlantic Records (1953-62), Baker cut half a dozen singles that rose to high positions on both the pop and R&B charts, including “Tweedle Dee” and “Jim Dandy.” The niece of blues singer Memphis Minnie, Baker was blessed with a powerful voice, which she put to use as a teenager singing in nightclubs under the stage name Little Miss Sharecropper. She recorded under that and other pseudonyms (including Bea Baker), finally adopting the name LaVern Baker while singing for Todd Rhodes and His Orchestra.

A couple of decades before Baker made her debut, Memphis Minnie made hers. Starting in 1929, her remarkable career ran through 1953,  following three basic phases : the duet years with Kansas Joe, the “Melrose” band sound of the late thirties and early forties, and her later electric playing with Ernest “Little Son Joe” Lawlars. From 1936 we hear the powerfully sung “Out In The Cold.”

Then there’s Alberta Hunter, one of the original woman who ushered in the blues craze, making her debut for the legendary Black Swan label way back in 1921. Hunter recorded in six decades of the twentieth century, outlasting just about all her peers. Hunter first cut “Chirpin’ The Blues” for Paramount in 1923 and again in 1939 which is the version featured today. Backed by a stellar band featuring Charlie Shaver on trumpet, Buster Bailey on clarinet and Lil Armstrong on piano, Hunter delivers a magnificent performance.

No less talented are the lesser known blues ladies including Madonna Martin, who only cut four sides in 1949, and delivers the storming “Madonna’s Boogie”, Hattie Green, who cut six sides for Atlas in the 50′s, lays down the tough “Pawn Shop Blues” and Annisteen Allen shouts the blues on the raucous “Hard to Get Along.” From the pre-war there’s the superb, but utterly obscure, Madelyn James who cut a lone 78 for Brunswick in 1930, “Long Time Blues b/w Stinging Snake Blues”,  featuring the excellent session pianist Judson Brown.

Today’s program is also sprinkled with some top notch Chicago blues from the 50′s and 60′s including cuts by Eddie Taylor, Robert Nighthawk, Big John Wrencher, Johnny Littlejohn and J.B. Lenoir. Eddie Taylor hit Chicago in 1949, falling in with harpist Snooky Pryor, guitarist Floyd Jones, and Jimmy Reed who was a childhood friend. From Jimmy Reed’s second Vee-Jay date in 1953, Taylor was on the great majority of Reed’s Vee-Jay sides during the 1950s and early ’60s, and he even found time to wax a few classic sides of his own for Vee-Jay during the mid-’50s. He also recorded behind John Lee Hooker, John Brim, Elmore James, Snooky Pryor, and many more during the ’50s. He cut his debut album, I Feel So Bad, in 1972 for Advent. From that album we spin his fine cover of Robert Nighthawk’s “Jackson Town Gal”, here title “Jackson Town.”

Delta born John Funchess left home in 1946, pausing in Jackson, MS; Arkansas, and Rochester, NY, before winding up in Gary, IN. Littlejohn waited a long time to wax his debut singles for Margaret, T-D-S, and Weis in 1968. But before the year was out, Littlejohn had also cut his debut album, Chicago Blues Stars, for the Arhoolie logo. Unfortunately, a four-song 1969 Chess date remained in the can. After that, another long dry spell preceded Littlejohn’s 1985 album So-Called Friends for Rooster Blues. Littlejohn had been in poor health for some time prior to his 1994 passing. Today’s cut, “I Got My Nose Open” was recorded for the Mississippi Ace label but inexplicably was unissued.

One-Armed harmonica player Big John Wrencher was a fixture of Maxwell Street. Wrencher was a traveling musician, playing throughout Tennessee and neighboring Arkansas from the late 1940’s to the early 1950’s. By the early 1960’s he had moved North to Chicago and quickly became a regular fixture on Maxwell Street. His first recordings surfaced on a pair of Testament albums from the 1960’s, featuring Big John in a sideman role behind Robert Nighthawk. We hear him today backing Nighthawk on a fine rendition of “Blues Before Sunrise.” Wrencher cut the excellent Maxwell Street Alley Blues for the Barrelhouse label and cut Big John’s Boogie for the British Big Bear label in 1975. Wrencher passed in 1977.

We have a couple of twin spins, of sorts on today’s program. Two from the incomparable  Tampa Red, including 1940′s solo “Noonday Hour Blues” and 1941′s gorgeous “Georgia, Georgia Blues” backed by pianist Big Maceo and Ransom Knowling. We also spin two versions of the blues standard ‘Eyesight To The Blind” by The Larks and B.B. King. The song was originally cut by Sonny Boy Williamson and has has been covered many times. The most successful early version was that by The Larks. The group’s recording of “Eyesight to the Blind”, with vocals and guitar by Allen Bunn, who later worked solo as Tarheel Slim, reached #5 on the Billboard R&B charts in July 1951. King first cut the song in 1965 and played the song often live.

Through one of his main influences, guitarist Lafayette “Thing” Thomas, a teenage Johnny Heartsman hooked up with Bay Area producer Bob Geddins. Heartsman played bass on Jimmy Wilson’s 1953 rendition of “Tin Pan Alley,” handling guitar or piano at other Geddins recordings.  Other artists he backed included Ray Agee, Little Willie Littlefield and Jimmy McCracklin . He cut his own two-part instrumental, the “Honky Tonk”-inspired “Johnny’s House Party,” for Music City, which become a national R&B hit in 1957. The early ’60s brought a lot more session work — Heartsman played on Tiny Powell’s “My Time After Awhile” (soon covered by Buddy Guy) which we also spin, and Al King’s remake of Lowell Fulson’s “Reconsider Baby.” Stints in show bands, jazzy cocktail lounge gigs, and a stand as soul singer Joe Simon’s organist came prior to his return to the blues in the 90′s. In 1991 he cut his best album, The Touch for Alligator. He passed in 1996.

Also worth mentioning are some fine down-home blues by Guitar Slim Green and Jim Bunkley. West Coast guitarist Slim Green cut a handful of sides in the late 40’s and late 50’s for a bunch of small California labels and in 1970 cut the album Stone Down Blues for Kent backed by Johnny and Shuggie Otis. From that album we spin “Fifth Street Alley” a reworking of his 1948 gem, “Alla Blues.”

George Mitchell recorded a handful of sides by Bunkley in Geneva, Georgia in 1968. From Mitchell’s notes:  ”Jim Bunkley lived in a small tar-papered house he bragged was his own, in Geneva, Georgia, his birthplace. He was ‘eight years old when they took the census in 1920. It was about that time he made friends with the guitar.” ‘When I was about eight, my brother had one, and me and my nine year-old sister used to play it. Us couldn’t hold it. Had it hanging up ‘side of the wall and we’d get up on a chair and play it. Everyone in my family could play – we had five boys and four girls.’ ”When he ‘got up in age, Bunkley was about the best known musician around Talbot County. He recalled the many times he walked away with prizes offered at a theater in nearby Junction City. ‘I was rough then,’ he said. ‘I had on a great big ole cowboy hat and I got up there on the stage and cracked a whole lot of jokes and then played. I win all that money, too.’” Our track, the topical “Segregation Blues”, comes from the recent collection, President Johnson’s Blues and was originally released in 1971 on the Revival label as George Henry Bussey and Jim Bunkley. The CD is a companion to Guido van Rijn’s book of the same name, the fourth in a series of superbly researched books dealing with topical blues and gospel. I’ve read Rijn’s previous books and look forward to reading this one as well. There’s an additional CD companion to his latest book, Martin Luther King’s Blues which is another fascinating collection of topical rarities.

Show Notes:

Mission statement released after United had been in existence for one year

The United Record Company was launched in July 1951, by Leonard Allen and Lew Simpkins, a veteran record man who had worked for the Miracle and Premium Records and brought many of their former artists to the new label. A news item in the trade press dated July 21, 1951, announces the formation of the United Recording Company. “The guiding force behind this new company is a Chicago area entertainment entrepreneur by the name of Lewis Simpkins. He had previous experience with the local Miracle and Premium labels in the Chicago areas. Simpkins is unique because he is one of the very few Black record company owners producing this music that is largely by and for the Black community. He joins the Rene Brothers in California (Excelsior and Exclusive) and soon to be executives Vivian Carter and James Bracken in nearby Gary Indiana with the Vee-Jay label.”

United enjoyed early success, scoring hits by Tab Smith, Jimmy Forrest, and the Four Blazes; during its first year it was outdoing its local rival Chess on the charts. The United label took off impressively, scoring two number one R&B hits among its first ten releases: Tab Smith’s “Because of You,” and Jimmy Forrest’s “Night Train.” United formally opened for business with a long recording session on July 12, 1951. The company was able to expand and open a new imprint called States in May 1952. United and States recorded a substantial roster of jazz artists. The company also recorded a substantial amount of blues including artists like Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim, J. T. Brown, “Big” Walter Horton, J. T. Brown, Robert Nighthawk, Junior Wells and others. The label also recorded a fair bit of gospel and vocal harmony groups.During its first 2 1/2 years of operation, the company recorded 463 masters. The death of Lew Simpkins, who died suddenly on April 27, 1953, was a serious blow; Leonard Allen was left to run the enterprise with limited help until the label’s demise in 1957. While the company remained fairly healthy during 1954, activity dropped off sharply after that. Of the 281 sides that the company cut during this period, 130 were done in 1954. By the end of 1956 Leonard Allen was reduced to selling off half of the house music publishing company to pay his tax bill. Too many years without hits finally brought United and States down after the company’s Christmas releases in 1957. Bob Koester of Delmark Records acquired most of the label’s masters in 1975 and has reissued the bulk of this material on LP and CD. I want to thank the folks at Delmark for sending me several titles that made this show possible. Below is some background on some of today’s featured artists, most of which comes from the The Red Saunders Research Foundation website.

Roosevelt Sykes, like Nighthawk, was recorded on United’s first day of sessions on July 12, 1951. He cut two additional sessions in August 1951 and March 1953. There is speculation that Nighthawk plays guitar on the first Sykes session. Robert Nighthawk was recorded by United on their very first day of sessions and two of United’s first five releases were by Robert Nighthawk and his Nighthawks Band. Sales never took off and Nighthawk headed back south and wouldn’t record again until 1964. Leonard Allen scoffed: “Robert Nighthawk? I didn’t think nothin’ of him. I didn’t go into those joints where they were playing. Lew knew him- he had Robert Nighthawk in mind for the first session. So after he cut the session it did nothin’.” Nighthawk recorded two sessions for United, one on July 12, 1951 and one on October 25, 1952 for its subsidiary States. His complete recordings for the label are collected on the CD Bricks in My Pillow.

Memphis Slim cut around 30 sides for United at sessions in 1952, 1953 and two in 1954. This was a particularly inspired period for Slim who added his first permanent guitarist, Matt Murphy to his band. These recordings have been reissued on the Delmark CD’s Memphis Slim U.S.A. and The Come Back. Memphis Slim had been recording since 1940. Based in Chicago during this phase of his career, he had been a mainstay at three postwar independents: first Hy-Tone, then Miracle, and finally Miracle’s successor entity Premium. After Premium collapsed in the summer of 1951, Slim cut three sessions for Mercury in Chicago. Lew Simpkins, who knew Slim from the days when he was moving 78′s for Miracle and Premium, brought him to United as soon as he could.

J.T. Brown also recorded during United’s first day – and his “Windy City Boogie” was credited by United proprietor Leonard Allen with “saving our first money.” J.T. is best remembered for the accompaniments he provided for Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Roosevelt Sykes, Johnny Shines, and J.B. Lenoir. In his liner notes for the United reissues on Delmark, Jim O’Neal remarked that he “was a bluesman. By jazz standards, he was not a great instrumentalist. His lack of sophistication, subtlety, and tonal variations prevented him from moving into more ‘progressive’ circles.” Brown first performed as a member of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels in the South before moving to Chicago in the early 1940′s.

One of the top R&B records of 1952, “Mary Jo” provided a moment in the national spotlight for one of Chicago’s hottest vocal combos, The Four Blazes. The single moved rapidly to the top, displacing Lloyd Price’s “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” as the #1 R&B song in the nation at the end of August. Bassist Tommy Braden was the main lead singer while all members provided backup harmony vocals. “Jelly” Holt was the founder and drummer in the group, while Floyd McDaniel and “Shorty” Hill played guitars. The Four Blazes formed in 1940 and made their recording debut with a few sides for Aristocrat in 1947 before landing at United in 1952.

In what was likely a response to Chess’ success with Little Walter, United signed harp ace Junior Wells. After a youthful apprenticeship in the Aces and then the Muddy Waters band (when Little Walter went out on his own he took over the Aces, while Junior moved into his chair in Muddy’s band, and appeared on one of Muddy’s sessions for Chess), he was ready to make his first sides as a leader for the States subsidiary.  Down Beat’s Pete Welding wrote “In their power, directness, unerring taste and utter consistency of mood, these may well be the most perfectly distilled examples of Wells’ music ever recorded, taking their place alongside of those of Waters, Walter, Wolf and other masters of the period.” These historic sessions also feature Louis and Dave Myers, Willie Dixon, Johnnie Jones, Fred Below and Odie Payne Jr. Recorded by United Records in 1953 and 1954 at Universal Studio in Chicago, eight sides were issued on the subsidiary States label.

Walter Horton moved to Chicago in the late 1940′s, but during 1951-54 made frequent trips to Memphis to record for Modern, behind other artists and under the name Mumbles. He also made sideman appearances for Chicago-based labels, with Muddy Waters for Chess (January 1953) and Johnny Shines for JOB (the same month). He recorded under the name Big Walter Horton for the first time when he signed with United in 1954. Horton also backed singer Tommy Brown the same year. Brown’s United session on August 26 featured an all-star lineup of Walter Horton (harmonica), Harold Ashby (tenor sax), Memphis Slim (piano), Lee Cooper (guitar), and Willie Dixon (bass); the drums are unknown. Brown remains an active performer.

Leonard Allen  recorded blues artists Morris Pejoe and Big Boy Spires in Al Smith’s basement (5313 South Drexel). Although the Pejoe session was interesting enough to justify putting matrix numbers on it, Allen eventually backpedaled, most likely because of the less-than-professional sound quality. Neither saw release until Delmarkr put them out on an album in 1989. Pejoe was born Morris Pejas in Louisiana, and began his music career on the violin. After moving to Beaumont, Texas, in 1949, he switched to guitar. In 1951 he was in Chicago, performing with pianist Henry Gray. During 1952-53 he recorded three sessions for Checker, accompanied by Gray among others. The United session was held in December 1954.

Arthur “Big Boy” Spires was born in Natchez, Mississippi; he started playing guitar only in the late 1930s. Spires came to Chicago in 1943, and played house-rent parties during the decade. It was not until 1950 or 1951 that he graduated to nightclubs. He first recorded for Checker in 1952 (which produced his best known record, “Murmur Low”), and did a strong session for Chance in January 1953. In December 1953, Big Boy Spires and His Rhythm Rocking Three was advertised as the feature act in the grand opening celebration of the Palace Inn (the ad failed to list an address). The date of the Spires session for Leonard Allen seems to be December 1954 or shortly thereafter.

The most down-home blues session ever recorded by Leonard Allen featured harmonica player Alfred “Blues King” Harris and drummer James Bannister. Bannister got the vocals on “Blues and Trouble” and “Gold Digger,” which were the only titles to be released from the session at the time; States 141 is a very rare record. Harris sang on the rest, which did not see issue until they appeared on a Delmark LP many years later. Bannister had made unissued recordings for Sun in Memphis and for Chess before cutting this session for States. Harris, who could sing in the B. B. King manner and often billed himself as Blues King, made one track for Modern in Memphis. He was booked into the Be-Bop Club for 6 months in 1954 when Allen recorded him. He waxed five sides for United that same year. In the late 1950′s, Harris put out a single on J. Mayo Williams’ low-circulation Ebony label. He dropped off the Chicago scene after 1959 and his later movements are untraced.

Other performers featured today include Jimmy Coe, Eddie Chamblee, Arbee Stidham, L.C. McKinley and Ernie K-Doe among others. United recorded several fine sax players who’s music straddled the line between R&B and jazz. Many are featured on Delmark’s three volume Honkers & Bar Walkers series including Jimmy Coe and Eddie Chamblee. From 1941 to 1946 Chamblee worked as a musician in Army bands; after his discharge he put together his own combo. His first notable work was on the Miracle label, particularly on the huge hit “Long Gone” by Sonny Thompson, which recorded for 1947. After Chamblee went out on his own in 1948, his records for Miracle and Premium sold well, and Lew Simpkins no doubt remembered him. In addition to putting out sides under his own name he also played on many sides backing the Four Blazes. On our selection, “La! La! La! Lady”, Chamblee also takes the vocal. Arbee Stidham was the last blues artist to record for Leonard Allen, and was responsible for the very last release on States. He came to Chicago in the 1940s and his first recording for RCA Victor in 1947 produced a number one R&B hit on the Billboard race chart, “My Heart Belongs To You.” Subsequently he cut sides for Victor, Checker, Sittin’ With and Abco before signing with States in 1957. Only rone record was issued featuring the guitar of Earl Hooker. L. C. McKinley was T-Bone Walker disciple who made from Mississippi to Chicago in 1951. In the early 1950′s 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 Al Benson chose not to release his session. McKinley signed with States around the beginning of 1954 and cut four sides for the label. In 1955 United became the first to record Ernie K-Doe, who was living and performing in Chicago at the time under his real name, Ernest Kador. K-Doe spent nearly his entire life in New Orleans, but in 1953, after winning several singing and dancing competitions back home, he came to Chicago for a brief time to live with his mother. He met the Four Blazes at the Crown Propeller Lounge; the Blazes introduced him to A&R man Dave Clark, who was doing some work for United at the time and supervised the session. In early November he was singing at the Apex Country Club in Robbins, Illinois (13624 Claire Blvd) as “Ernest Kado.” The Chicago Defender ad (12 November) was already billing him as “United Recording Artist.”

Show Notes:

I’ve been doing a Christmas blues show for something like the past dozen years and was always frustrated with the lack of a really good collection of early blues Christmas songs. Luckily in 2005 I hooked up with the Document label to put together a 2-CD, 52 track collection of blues and gospel songs from the 1920′s to the 1950′s. The result was Blues, Blues Christmas and. Last  year Document contacted me about writing the notes to a sequel, Blues, Blues Christmas Vol. 2, another 2-CD set although I did not compile the tracks for this one (I did make a couple of suggestions which were included). I’m happy to say that this has been released a few weeks back and it also appears that Blues, Blues Christmas is now back in stock and has been remastered.

The idea of Christmas themed blues and gospel numbers stretches back to the very dawn of the recorded genres. “Hooray for Christmas” exclaims Bessie Smith to kick off her soon to be classic “At The Christmas Ball”, which inaugurated the Christmas blues tradition when it was recorded in November 1925 for Columbia. A year later, circa December 1926, the gospel Christmas tradition was launched when the Elkins-Payne Jubilee Singers recorded “Silent Night, Holy Night” for Paramount Records. After these recordings it was off to the races with numerous Christmas blues numbers recorded by singers of all stripes, a pace that continued as blues evolved into R&B and then rock and roll. For some reason there’s far fewer gospel Christmas songs although there were plenty of Christmas sermons in the 1920′s and 1930′s when recorded sermons rivalled blues in popularity among black audiences. Going hand in hand with Christmas is quite a number of New Year’s songs, a good vehicle for juxtaposing the problems of the past year with the glimmer of hope that that the upcoming year will bring better fortune. Whether these artists sung these numbers as part of their regular repertoire is unclear but it’s almost certainly the case that many of these songs were recorded at the prompting of the record companies. Like any business they were always looking for a new angle or gimmick to sell records and advertised these boldly, often with full-page ads, in black newspapers like the Chicago Defender.

Santa Claus Blues: The 1920′s & 30′s

The earliest Christmas blues songs that I tracked down date from 1925. On Oct. 8 of that year Eva Taylor featured with Clarence Williams’ Trio cut “Santa Claus Blues” for the Okeh label and recut the tune again on Oct. 16 with a slightly larger band, the Clarence Williams’ Blue Five. Both versions feature Louis Armstrong on cornet. The song is more pop than blues however. On November 18th Bessie Smith cut At The Christmas Ball [Lyrics] for Columbia. She recut the song again Dec. 9 but this version remained unissued. Many blues artists from the 20′s cut Christmas songs including: Elzadie Robinson “The Santa Claus Crave” (1927), Victoria Spivey “Christmas Mornin’ Blues” (1927), Blind Lemon Jefferson “Christmas Eve Blues” (1928), Bertha Chippie Hill “Christmas Man Blues” (1928), Blind Blake “Lonesome Christmas Blues” (1929), Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers w/ Frankie ‘Half Pint’ Jaxon “Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn” (1929)

Among Paramount’s biggest blues stars of the 1920′s were Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake who made their debuts for the label several months apart – Jefferson in December 1925 or January 1926 and Blake around August of 1926. Paramount ramped up their blues and gospel recordings considerably in 1927 and a new Jefferson and Blake record appeared every month. Paramount resorted to several novel promotions for their big artists; In 1924 Ma Rainey’s sixth release was labeled “Ma Rainey’s Mystery Record” with prizes given to the best title while Charlie Patton’s “Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues” was listed as by The Masked Marvel with a corresponding advert that bore a drawing of a blindfolded singer – looking nothing like Patton – and the clue that he was an exclusive Paramount artist. Similarly, so successful was Jefferson, that a special yellow and white label was produced for Paramount 12650, “Piney Woods Money Mama” b/w ‘Low Down Mojo Blues” which bore his picture and the wording “Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Birthday Record.” In a similar vein Christmas records can be seen as just another promotional tool with ads for these records appearing annually in black newspapers every holiday season. Befitting his stardom, Lemon’s lone holiday record “Christmas Eve Blues” b/w “Happy New Year Blues”, was given a full-page advertisement in the December 12th, 1928 edition of the Chicago Defender. In Paramount’s 1928 late fall Dealers’ Supplement the label advertised scores of “CHRISTMAS, SPIRITUAL AND SERMON RECORDS THAT ARE DEPENDABLE SALES PRODUCERS” and warned that they “SHOULD BE IN YOUR STOCKS NOW.” Blind Blake received the large sized treatment in the 1929 edition of the paper for his “Lonesome Christmas Blues,” (also sharing the page was Leroy Carr’s “Christmas In Jail – Ain’t That A Pain?”) his only Christmas record. The flip was “Third Degree Blues” – apparently Blake only had enough holiday spirit for one side!

The trend continued with more frequency in the 30′s. Here are a few notable songs: Butterbeans & Susie “Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus” (1930), Charlie Jordan “Santa Claus Blues” ["Christmas Christmas, how glad I am you are here/ Well I ain’t had a chicken dinner for this whole round year/Shiny bones and naked bones gleaming from around my plate/ …So pass me that chicken, the turkey, duck and the goose/Well all you birds gonna be one legged when I turn you-a-loose"] (1931) and “Christmas “Christmas Blues” (1935), Kansas City Kitty & Georgia Tom “Christmas Morning Blues” (1934) [Lyrics], Verdi Lee “Christmas “Tree Blues” (1935), Tampa Red “Christmas And New Years Blues” (1934), Peetie Wheatstraw “Santa Claus Blues” (1935), Bumble Bee Slim’s “Christmas And No Santa Claus and “Santa Claus Bring Me A New Woman” (1936), Black Ace “Christmas Time Blues (Beggin’ Santa Claus)” (1937), Casey Bill Weldon “Christmas Time Blues” (1937), Bo Carter “Santa Claus” (1938), Walter Davis “Santa Claus” (1935), Sonny Boy Williamson I “Christmas Morning Blues” (1938).

Mary Harris, who cut two sides for Decca at an October 31, 1935 session is most certainly Verdi Lee who cut sides on the exact same date, also in the company of fellow St. Louis musicians Peetie Wheatstraw and Charlie Jordan. It was a holiday themed session with the group cutting “Christmas Tree Blues”, “No Christmas Blues”, “Happy New Year Blues”, “Christmas Christmas Blues” and “Santa Claus Blues” (the latter two with vocals by Jordan and Wheatstraw respectively). Paul Oliver noted that “it would be pleasant to think that each singer was inspired by the others to create a blues on the same subject but at this date, with Christmas two months away, it is more likely that it was a deliberate promotional device by [producer] Mayo Williams.”

Merry Christmas Baby: The 40′s & 50′s

In the 40′s there of course was more blues Christmas songs but there was a new music brewing called R&B. Evolving out of jump blues in the late ’40s, R&B laid the groundwork for rock & roll. The era’s biggest Christmas song was undoubtedly the immortal “Merry Christmas, Baby” cut by Charles Brown & The Blazers in 1947. This perennial classic has been covered numerous times including versions by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Lena Horne , Lou Rawls, Booker T. & the MG’s, Otis Redding, James Brown and countless others. Charles Brown’s smooth ballad style has become synonymous with Christmas ever since remaking “Merry Christmas, Baby” many times, cutting many other Christmas songs and full length albums including 1961′s Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs and Cool Christmas Blues in 1994.

Notable blues and R&B songs from this period include: Champion Jack Dupree’s “Santa Claus Blues” (1945), Gatemouth Moore “Christmas Blues” (1946) [recut in 1977 as "Gate's Christmas Blues"], Little Willie Littlefield “Merry Xmas” (1949), Mabel Scott “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” (1947), Harman Ray Xmas Blues ["Hold it, hold it man/Don’t play me no jingle bells the way I feel this Christmas/Only kind of bells I want to have anything to do with is some of them mission bells/Man, play me the blues long, loud and lowdown"] (1947), Boll Weavil “Christmas Time Blues” (1947), Big Joe Turner “Christmas Date Boogie “(1948), Thelma Cooper “I Need A Man (For Xmas)” (1948), Smokey Hogg “I Want My Baby For Christmas” (1949), Amos Milburn “Let’s Make Christmas Merry Baby” (1949), Harry Crafton “

Bring That Cadillac Back” ["I let you eat my turkey on Christmas morn/When I looked around you and my Cadillac was gone"] (1949), Felix Gross “Love For Christmas” ["You can have your turkey and your dressing/Sweet cakes and apple pie/Blue Champagne and Rock & Rye/Everything that money can buy"] (1949), J.B. Summers “I Want a Present For Christmas” ["Santa Claus, Santa Claus/Hear my plea/Open up your bag and give a fine brown baby to me/ …You can stop by my chimney/Drop her in the chute/ Leave your reindeer outside/Come in and get my loot"] (1949).

One other song from this era is the downright odd “Junior’s a Jap Girl’s Christmas for His Santa Claus” (1942) a Library of Congress recording by Willie Blackwell that defies categorization. Oher non-R&B Christmas songs from the 40′s include a few by Leadbelly such as “Christmas Is A-Coming” [Lyrics], “The Christmas Song”, “On A Christmas Day”, Sylvestor Cotton “Christmas Blues” (1948), Washboard Pete [aka Ralph Willis] “Christmas Blues” (1948), Alex Seward & Louis Hayes “Christmas Time Blues” (1948), Walter Davis “Santa Claus” (1949).

There was a time you could hit the charts with an instrumental as pianist Lloyd Glenn well knew, scoring big with “Old Time Shuffle Blues” which hit #3 on the R&B charts in 1950 and “Chica Boo” which hit #1 in 1951. He seemed to have a knack for being on hit records, accompanying T-Bone Walker on his 1947 hit “Call It Stormy Monday”, and in 1949 he joined Swing Time Records as A&R man, recording a number of hits with Lowell Fulson, including “Everyday I Have The Blues” and the #1 R&B hit “Blue Shadows”. In sunny Los Angeles on April 1951 he waxed the shuffling “(Christmas) Sleigh Ride.” Glenn’s distinctive piano work can also be found on a five-song session Jesse Thomas waxed for Swingtime also in April 1951 which included “Xmas Celebration.” Glenn was also present when Lowell Fulson cut his classic two-parter, “Lonesome Christmas Pt. 1 & 2 “in 1951.

The 50′s produced many more Christmas gems including: Lowell Fulson’s oft covered “”Lonesome Christmas” (1950), Cecil Gant It’s Christmas Time Again (1950), Roy Milton “Christmas Time Blues” (1950), Johnny Otis & Little Esther Phillips “Far Away Blues” [also known as "Faraway Christmas Blues"] (1950), Jimmy Liggins “I Want My Baby For Christmas” (1950), The Nic Nacs with Mickey Champion “Gonna Have A Merry Xmas” (1950), Larry Darnell “Christmas Blues” (1950), Sonny Parker with Lionel Hampton “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” (1950), Lloyd Glenn “Sleigh Ride” (1951), Sugar Chile Robinson “Christmas Boogie” b/w “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1950), Titus Turner “Christmas Morning” (1952), Lightning Hopkins “Merry Christmas” (1953), Chuck Berry “Run, Rudolph, Run” (1958) and “Merry Christmas Baby” (1958), John Lee Hooker “Blues for Christmas” (1959).

Please Come Home For Christmas Baby: The 60′s To The Present

The 60′s, less so in the 70′s, produced a number of strong Christmas blues songs including at least one blues classic, Little Johnny Taylor’s “Please Come Home For Christmas” (1969) which has become an oft covered holiday classic. Other notable 60′s songs include: Sonny Boy Williamson II “Santa Claus” (1960), Lightnin’ Hopkins “Santa” (1960) and “Heavy Snow” (1962), Black Ace “Santa Claus Blues” (1960), B.B. King “Christmas Celebration” (1960), Hop Wilson “Merry Christmas, Darling” (1961), Robert Nighthawk “Merry Christmas Baby” (1964), Lowell Fulson “I Wanna Spend Christmas With You” (1967), Louis Jordan “Santa Claus, Santa Claus” (1968), Charles Brown “New Merry Christmas Baby” (1969) featuring Earl Hooker, Bukka White “Christmas Eve Blues” (1969). In the 70′s: Jimmy Reed “Christmas Present Blues” (1970), Lee Jackson “The Christmas Song” (1971), Clyde Lasley “Santa Came Home Drunk (1971), Albert King “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” (1974) and “Christmas Comes But Once A Year” (1974), Eddie C. Campbell “Santa’s Messin’ with the Kid” (1977).

There seems to be a dearth of quality Christmas songs in the 70′s and 80′s. By the late 80′s the rise of the CD caused the demise of the 45 record which was one of the main vehicles for putting out holiday songs. However in lieu of the 45 labels began releasing Christmas themed compilations and there have been a number of very good collections. Some of the best include: Austin Rhythm and Blues Christmas (1989) from the Antone’s label [reissued on Epic in 1986 and Sony in 2001], Alligator Records Christmas Collection (1992), Ichiban Blues At Christmas Vol. 1-4 (1991-97) [Best of Ichiban Blues at Christmas was issued 2002], Bullseye Blues Christmas (1995), Stony Plain’s Christmas Blues (2000), Blue Christmas (2000) from the Dialtone label, Blue Xmas (2001) on Evidence. A number of artists issued Christmas themed records including Charles Brown, Huey “Piano’ Smith, Johnny Adams, B.B. King and Etta James. Also with the dominance of the CD age labels went back into their vaults to put together compilations of classic Christmas blues. Many of the songs listed earlier in this article can be found on these collections and the best of these will be listed below.

Let Me Hang My Stocking On Your Christmas Tree

Christmas blues as sexual metaphor? Of course! The blues has always been loaded with double entendres and Christmas blues offers plenty of examples: Roosevelt Sykes “Let Me Hang My Stocking In Your Christmas Tree” (1937), Jimmy Butler Trim Your Tree ["I’m gonna bring along my hatchet/My beautiful Christmas balls/I’ll sprinkle my snow up on your tree and hang my mistletoe on your wall"] (1955), Clarence Carter “Back Door Santa” (1968), “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” by Albert King (1974) and Sir Mack Rice (1982), Rufus Thomas “I’ll Be Your Santa, Baby” (1982) and Sonny Rhodes the same year, Chick Willis “(All I Want for Christmas Is To) Lay Around and Love On You” (1991).

Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus

Those who listen to the blues know it’s not all doom and gloom. The blues are laced with humor and that comes across in many blues Christmas songs: Butterbeans & Susie “Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus” (1930) [Lyrics], Big Jack Johnson “Rudolph Got Drunk Last Night” (1990), Clyde Lasley “Santa Claus Home Drunk”, Billy Ray Charles “I Been Double Crossed By Santa Claus”, Louis Armstrong “Zat You Santa Claus.”

Empty Stocking Blues

Not everyone enjoys the holidays and many people suffer from the Christmas blues. If you want to wallow in your depression here’s an appropriate blues soundtrack: Leroy Carr “Christmas In Jail – Ain’t That A Pain?” (1929), Jimmy Witherspoon “Christmas Blues” [alternately titled "How I Hate To See Christmas Come Around"] (1947), Jimmy Grissom “Christmas Brings Me Down” (1948), Floyd Dixon “Empty Stocking Blues” (1950), “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues” ["Unless you come home to me/I'll be drunk all day Christmas Day"]” (1951), Lowell Fulson’s two-part “Lonesome Christmas” (1951), Freddie King’s classic two sided 45 “Christmas Tears” b/w “I Hear Jingle Bells” (1961), Jerry McCain & B.B. Coleman “Sad, Sad Christmas” (1992).

Will The Coffin Be Your Santa Claus?

Recorded sermons were among the most popular and best selling of the “race records”in the 1920’s and 1930’s. These records provided a fascinating look into the views and concerns of black America at a time when very few outlets existed for black expression. Rev. J.M. Gates was the most popular and prolific of them all, waxing some two hundred titles between 1926 and 1941, which accounted for a staggering quarter of all sermons recorded during this period. It’s not surprising that Gates cut more Christmas sermons than anyone including: “You May Be Alive Or You May Be Dead, Christmas Day” (1927), “Will The Coffin Be Your Santa Claus?” (1927), “Where Will you Be Christmas Day” (1927), “Did You Spend Christmas Day In Jail?” (1929), “Will Hell Be Your Santa Claus” (1939) and “Gettin’ Ready For Christmas Day” (1941) which was his last recorded sermon. Rev. A.W. Nix also had a special affinity for the holidays as evidenced in recordings like “Death Might Be Your Christmas Gift” (1927), “Begin A New Life On Christmas Day – Part 1 & 2″ (1928), “That Little Thing May Kill You Yet (Christmas Sermon)” (1929) and “How Will You Spend Christmas?” (1930). Also notable is Rev. Edward Clayborn’s “The Wrong Way To Celebrate Christmas” (1928) and Rev. Emmett Dickinson’s “Christmas – What Does It Mean To You” (1930).

Happy New Year Darling

While there’s far more Christmas songs, New Year has inspired a number of noteworthy songs: Blind Lemon Jefferson “Happy New Year Blues” (1928), Mary Harris with Peetie Wheatstraw “Happy New Year Blues” (1935), Smokey Hogg “New Years Eve Blues” (1947), Lonnie Johnson “Happy New Year, Darling” ["It seems a long time since I been fightin' the Japs 'cross the deep blue sea/Yes, that's why I'm so glad darlin', to have a li'l wife still waitin' for me/It's so great to have you darlin', to have a li'l wife like you/My three brothers couldn't make it but they say happy new year to you"] (1947), Johnny Otis “Happy New Year, Baby” (1947), Lil’ Son Jackson “New Year’s Resolution” (1950), Roy Milton New Year’s Resolution Blues ["I’m gonna deal them from the bottom/Ain’t going to play it fair at all/Please believe me pretty baby/I’m going to have myself a ball/Going to give up my apartment, and you know they’re hard to find/ I don’t want no last year’s memories running through my weary mind"] (1950), Lightnin’ Hopkins “Happy New Year” (1953), Charles Brown “Bringing In A Brand New Year” (1993), Lil Ed and Dave Weld “New Year’s Resolution” (1996).

Notable Christmas Blues Compilations

Blues, Blues Christmas (Document): Comprehensive 2-CD collection of jazz, blues, boogie-woogie and gospel recordings dedicated to the season. Collects 52 numbers spanning from 1925 to 1955 including tracks by Bessie Smith, Leroy Carr, Rev. J.M. Gates, Butterbeans & Susie, Lonnie Johnson, Roy Milton, Larry Darnell, Cecil Gant, Lightnin’ Hopkins and many, many others.

Blues, Blues Christmas Vol. 2 (Document): Comprehensive 2-CD collection of jazz, blues, boogie-woogie and gospel recordings dedicated to the season. Collects 44 numbers spanning from 1925 to 1955 including tracks byBlind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Jesse Thomas, Cecil Gant, Fats Waller, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Lil Son Jackson, Lightnin’ Hopkins and many, many others.

Where Will You Be Christmas Day? (Dust To Digital): Fine collection rare early Christmas gems by Leroy Carr, Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, Butterbeans and Susie, Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Kansas City Kitty, Bessie Smith and many others.

Soul Christmas (Atlantic): This 1991 reissue includes eight of the original 11 tracks included on the Atco 1968 release with 11 more tracks added from the Atlantic vaults. An essential set that includes Otis Redding’s “White Christmas” and “Merry Christmas, Baby”, Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa”, Joe Tex’s “I’ll Make Every Day Christmas (For My Woman)” and others.

Blue Yule: Christmas Blues and R&B Classics (Rhino): A killer 18-song compilation. Includes hard to find tracks by John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Hop Wilson, Big Jack Johnson and other gems.

It’s Christmas Time Again (Stax): A great collection of funky blues and soul from the Stax catalog. Standout tracks include “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” with versions by Mack Rice and Albert King plus Rufus Thomas’ “I’ll Be Your Santa Baby’” and Little Johnny Taylor’s “Please Come Home for Christmas”

Merry Christmas, Baby (Paula): Some real gems on here although some can be found on other compilations. Includes fine songs like Johnny And Jon’s “Christmas in Vietnam”, Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas”, Lowell Fulson’s “Lonesome Christmas” parts 1 & 2 plus songs by Big Joe Williams, Sugar Boy Crawford, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Reed and others.

Jingle Blues (Platinum): Entertaining collection from the House of Blues. Includes a wide variety of styles by artists such as Bessie Smith, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Witherspoon, B.B. King, Amos Milburn and others.

James Brown’s Funky Christmas (Polygram): What would Christmas be without this funky collection? This 17-track compilation includes selections cut between 1966-1970. Highlights include “Go Power at Christmas Time”, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” and “Hey America” (It’s Christmas Time).

Christmas Blues (Savoy): Fine Christmas blues from the vaults of Savoy like Gatemouth Moore’s “Christmas Blues”, Jimmy Butler’s rocking “Trim Your Tree”, the country blues of Ralph Willis’ “Christmas Blues” and several other vintage tunes.

Rhythm & Blues Christmas (Hollywood): Budget priced collection that includes Charles Brown’s “Merry Christmas Baby,” Freddie King’s “Christmas Tears/I Hear Jingle Bells”, Mabel Scott’s “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” and others.

Show Notes:

As protégé David “Honeyboy” Edwards described him, Big Joe Williams in his early Delta days was a walking musician who played work camps, jukes, store porches, streets, and alleys from New Orleans to Chicago. He recorded through five decades for Vocalion, Okeh, Paramount, Bluebird, Prestige, Delmark, and many others. Big Joe was born in Crawford, MS and settled in St. Louis by 1925 where he married blues singer Bessie Mae Smith and worked with Walter Davis, Robert Lee McCoy and Henry Townsend. Little is known of his early years although by he apparently began traveling young, supposedly running away from home to join the Rabbit Foot Minstrels.  Along the way he worked the lumber mills, levee camps, plantations, gambling dens and brothels. By the late 20’s he earned a considerable reputation in Mississippi. Honeyboy recalls his first sight of Big Joe: “…Big Joe Williams was playing at Black Rosie’s dance. Joe wasn’t wasn’t nothing but a hobo then, running down the streets. I went over to Rosie’s and there he was playing. He was in his thirties, had a red handkerchief around his neck, and he was playing a little pearl-necked Stella guitar; he was playing the blues. He played “Highway 49″, and I just stood and looked at him. I hadn’t heard a man play the blues like that! …Nine strings, he always had those nine strings on his guitar. That’s something he invented himself. He bored holes at the top of the neck of the guitar and made himself a nine-string guitar. That’s what he played all the time.” …He was playing “Brother James”, all of them old numbers like that. “Brother James”, “Highway 49″, Stack O’ Dollars.”  …’Baby Please Don’t Go”, Milkcow Blues.”

In St. Louis it was Walter Davis who got Big Joe signed to Bluebird as well as Robert Lee McCoy. Bg Joe’s first session for Bluebird, on February 25, 1935, yielded 6 tunes. This initial session finds Joe playing solo except for  “Somebody’s Been Borrowing That Stuff” with Henry Townsend on second guitar. Joe wouldn’t be heard solo on record again for some time. As John Miller noted: “Big Joe’s playing on these two sessions is quite amazing.  Everything is in Open G tuning, so a certain sameness of tonality and very pared back harmonic content results, but Joe’s rhythmic imagination and ability to execute his ideas in the moment has never been equaled in this genre.  His right hand approach combines powerful thumb popping of bass notes and lines with vigorous runs in the treble and an array of strumming and brushing techniques that has to be heard to be believed.” The second session, on October 31, 1935, resulted in four more tunes, and was done with a line-up of Joe joined by Dad Tracy on one-string fiddle and Chasey Collins on washboard. That second session included the first recorded version of “Baby Please Don’t Go.” Big Joe backed Chasey Collins on two numbers at the same date; “Atlanta Town” and “Walking Blues” are superbly sung blues with excellent playing by Joe and makes one wish Collins had recorded more.

Sonny Boy I and Big Joe first recorded together May 5, 1937. This was a marathon recording session. Robert Lee McCoy cut six sides at this session with backing by Sonny Boy Williamson and Big Joe Williams. The May 5th sessions were also Sonny Boy Williamson’s first and Nighthawk and Joe Williams backed him on this legendary session that produced such enduring classics as “Good Morning Little School Girl”, “Blue Bird Blues” and “Sugar Mama”. In addition Big Joe Williams recorded eight sides under his own name with Nighthawk and Sonny Boy backing him and Nighthawk also backed Walter Davis on an eight-song session. Big Joe backed Sonny Boy again for two sessions in March and June 1939 which yielded 18 sides.

In the 1940’s Sonny Boy backed Big Joe on sessions on March and June 1941. Big Joe and Sonny Boy reunited for a four-song session together on July 12, 1945 with Jump Jackson on drums and a twelve-song session on July 22 1947 with Ransom Knowling on bass and Judge Riley on drums. As Tony Russell noted about these sessions: “The half-dozen tracks they cut at a session in 12/41, including definitive interpretations of ‘[Baby] Please Don’t Go’, ”Highway 49′ and ‘Someday Baby’,  confirm them as one of the great blues partnerships. They continued recording together until 1947, the delicate architecture of their duets solidly buttressed by bass and drums. It isn’t off said, but it seems likely that driving trio and quartet sides like ‘Drop Down Blues’ (1945) or ‘King Biscuit Stomp’ (1947) were listened to attentively by some of the younger musicians then finding their voice in Chicago’s clubs or on Maxwell Street.”

As Big Joe sailed into the 50′s, recording opportunities weren’t as plentiful probably due to the fact he did nothing to update his sound to the changing musical times. Among the most notable recordings was an eight-song session in 1951 cut for the Jackson, MS based Trumpet label. Joe is in terrific form on numbers like “Delta Blues”, the evocative “Whistling Pines” and “Over Hauling Blues.” In the 50’s he also recorded for Specialty and Vee-Jay. Just prior to the folk-blues boom, Big Joe recorded extensively for Delmark at sessions in 1958 and 1961. Piney Woods Blues and Stavin’ Chain are among his best from this period, both recorded at the beginning of 1958 and feature the excellent J.D. Short who was a cousin of Big Joe.

By the 1960′s Joe was became much in demand as the blues revival picked up steam. He performed at festivals, clubs and coffeehouses through the country as well as playing overseas as part of the American Folk Blues Festival. He recorded prolifically during this period for labels such as Bluesville, Spivey, Storyville, Folkways, Testament, Takoma, Arhoolie, Adelphi among others.  Among his best albums from the 1960′s  are Tough Times on Arhoolie which has been reissued on CD as Shake Your Boogie which adds some tracks from a 1969 session. He recorded songs like “Mean Stepfather” and “Brother James” before but rarely as powerful as these versions. We play several interesting sides from the 1960′s including a pair from Blues Roots: The Mississippi Blues Vol. 1 on Storyville recorded circa 1964/65. These sides were recorded in St. Louis and Chicago by Pete Welding. Most of these men like Coot Venson and Arthur Weston were musical associates of Big Joe while Bert and Russ Logan were uncles of his.

Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Big Joe Williams were involved in a jam session for World Pacific cut in Los Angles in 1960. This material has been reissued under many titles including Down South Summit Meetin’, First Meetin’, Southern Meetin’ among others. They also recorded together live at the Ash Grove in Hollywood in 1961 which was issued as Blues Hoot. From these sessions we spin “Ain’t Nothin’ Like Whiskey” and “Blues For Gamblers.”

Also from this period we spotlight Big Joe’s pal Shortstuff Macon. The liner notes to his Folkways album had this to say: “Short Stuff has now begun traveling the sparse and fickle concert circuit with Big Joe Wiilliams, who, in a trip back to Mississippi, ‘discovered’ him, liked his ‘deep down’ music, remembered his father and mother, and decided to take him with him. Since then, the two bluesmen have been making do with whatever work they could get—living from day to day, hour to hour, on the whims and generosity (sometimes curiosity) of friends interested in blues, college student aficionados, and the small, folk record companies.” That comes from  the notes to Hell Bound And Heaven Sent in 1964 with backing from Big Joe. From that album we spin the excellent “Short Stuff’s Corrina.” The same year they cut sides for the Spivey label which were issued on a album called Mr. Shortstuff. He appears again on the album Goin’ Back to Crawford from 1971. Goin’ Back to Crawford was produced by Big Joe in his hometown of Crawford, MS in 1971 by gathering talented relatives, neighbors, and acquaintances to hopefully present their songs to the wider world. Big Joe performs on seven of his own tracks and backs several of the artists including Shortstuff Macon who died two years after these recordings.

In the 1970′s Big Joe continued to record for labels like Storyville, Sonet, Bluesway, L+R and others. By 1982 he was back in Mississippi where he passed in December of that year. Joe was buried in a private cemetery outside Crawford near the Lowndes County line. His headstone was primarily paid for by friends and partially funded by a collection taken up among musicians at Clifford Antone’s nightclub in Austin, Texas, organized by California music writer Dan Forte, and erected through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 9, 1994. Joe’s old pal Charlie Musselwhite, delivered the eulogy at the unveiling. Williams’ headstone epitaph proclaims him “King of the 9 String Guitar.”

Show Notes:

Bo Carter

Well I was planning to do a themed show today but I’ve fallen hopelessly behind so I’ve slapped together a mix show instead. Anyway, a wide ranging mix for today’s program spanning the 1920′s through the 1950′s.

We kick things off with a trio of tracks revolving around the Mississippi Sheiks. The Mississippi Sheiks were one of the most popular string bands of the late ’20s and early ’30s with a repertoire that drew upon all facets of black and white rural music: blues, pop music, hokum, white country and traditional songs. Their rendition of “Sitting on Top of the World” has become an enduring standard. The group consisted of guitarist Walter Vinson and fiddler Lonnie Chatmon, with frequent appearances by guitarists Bo Carter and Sam Chatmon, who were also busy with their own solo careers. Bo Carter was one of the most popular bluesmen of the ’30′s, cutting over a hundred sides between 1928 and 1940. Vinson rarely worked as a solo act, seemingly much more at home in duets and trios; towards that end, during the 1920s he worked with Charlie McCoy, Rubin Lacy and Son Spand before forming the Mississippi Sheiks. While an active club performer during the early 1940s, by the middle of the decade he had begun a lengthy hiatus from music, which continued through 1960, at which point he returned to both recording and festival appearances. Hardening of the arteries forced Vinson into retirement during the early ’70s; he died in Chicago in 1975.

Our opening track by Walter Vinson features harmonica by Robert Lee McCoy better known as Robert Nighthawk. Nighthawk’s first instrument was harmonica and he played a good deal of it backing other artists on record during the 30s and 40s. As he noted: “When I left home I got right into it and I started blowing harmonica. I learnt that back in 24′. …boy named Johnny Jones, he’s from Louisiana, …say he learn me so I did.” Moving up to 1952 we hear Nighthawk on”You Missed A Good Man” a song Nighthawk likely picked up from Tampa Red who recorded the song in 1935. The basis of the song actually goes back much further being copyrighted by Clarence Williams in 1915 as “You Missed A Good Woman When You Picked All Over Me.” The song was first recorded by Trixie Smith in 1922 and again in 1923 by Eva Taylor the wife of Clarence Williams. Tampa reworked the lyrics but the the tune and chorus are identical.

There’s plenty of blues from the same era today including John Henry Barbee’s “You’ll Work Down to me Someday” from 1938 which is a reworking of a 1934 Mississippi Sheiks song of the same title. Barbee worked for a short time with John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson I)  then began playing with Sunnyland Slim. They made appearances across the Mississippi Delta. Barbee later moved to Chicago, where he recorded for Vocalion in 1938. He played with Moody Jones’ group on Maxwell Street in the ’40s, but then left the music business for several years. Barbee recorded for Spivey and Storyville in the mid-’60s, and toured Europe as part of the American Folk Blues Festival. Back in the US Barbee was involved in an auto accident in 1964, and suffered a heart attack while in jail waiting for the case to come to court. It was a sad end to a fine artist who who still a superb performer as evidenced on the excellent Blues Masters Vol. 3 recorded in 1964 for Storyville.

Lucille Bogan

Form the same period we spotlight four fine blues ladies: Laura Smith, Lottie Kimbrough, Kansas City Kitty and Lucille Bogan. A fine forgotten blues singer of the 20′s, Laura Smith made her debut in 1924 and recorded through 1927. She died in 1932. Our selection “The Mississippi Blues” was the flip of  “Lonesome Refugee”, both songs written about the tragic 1927 flood, one of the greatest natural disasters in US history. Numerous blues and gospel songs were written about the flood. Lottie Kimbrough also made her debut in 1924 but as Tony Russell notes “If her half-dozen 1924 sides on Paramount had been all Lottie Kimbrough recorded, she would probably be considered a singer of the second or third rank…” Lucky for her she met promoter Winston Holmes who got her a contract with Gennett Records. In the past of I’ve played “Rolling Log Blues” and “Goin’ Away Blues”, performances of “haunting beauty” Russell writes. Our track, “Blue World Blues” is from that session, a powerful number featuring an excellent but unknown cornet player. Kansas City Kitty was a pseudonym for Mozelle Alderson who confused researchers for years by recording under other names such as Hannah Mae and Jane Lucas. “How Can You Have The Blues?” is a fine, playful duet with Georgia Tom. Lucille Bogan made her debut in 1923 with some less than memorable sides before coming into her own with her next sessions in 1927. Bogan was simply one of the toughest, roughest woman to record in the 20′s and 30′s and her “Whiskey Sellin’ Woman” is a good example as she opens the song  with the now familar “Ah, I’m gettin’ sloppy drunk today.”

From the 1946 we spotlight thee veteran artists of the 1930′s who were still at it, cutting some up-to-date material: Jimmie Gordon, Lee Brown and Johnnie Temple. These sides are from a rare 1946 session for King that were never released at the time and only issued decades later. Pianist Lee Brown cut 29 sides for Decca between 1937-40.  Jimmie Gordon made his first record in 1934 for Bluebird before moving to Decca where he cut 60 sides through 1941. Originally from Mississippi, Johnnie Temple moved to Jackson, MS where he worked parties and juke joints with Skip James and Charlie McCoy. He moved to Chicago in 1932, making his debut in 1935 for Vocalion and cut 70 sides through 1941. Although he never achieved stardom, Temple’s records, sold consistently throughout the late ’30s and ’40s and his records exerted an influence on numerous other artists. All these sides appear on the Proper Records collection Broke, Black & Blues.

We also spin a batch of great records from the 1950′s including a cut by blues shouter Tommy Brown. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to see the 78 year old Brown in action and sounding great at the Pocono Blues Festival. “Remember Me” comes from a four song 1954 session where he was backed by Walter Horton. From 1952 we hear “Hoodoo Man” from Albert Williams on the Sun label (his only record) going under the name Memphis Al: “My name is Memphis Al and they call me the hoodoo man.” The song is particularly notable for some terrific guitar by the great Joe Willie Wilkins. From the same year we hear the guitarist Calvin Frazier rip it up on T.J. Fowler’s rocking “Back Biter.” Speaking of guitar it’s hard to beat T-Bone Walker who lays down some vicious licks on Roy Hawkins’ “Doin’ All Right” also from 1952.

Show Notes:

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

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

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

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

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

Doctor Clayton

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

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

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

Show Notes:

With the release of the movie Cadillac Records, based on Chess Records, I though I would do a show about Chess’ early years when they were operating as Aristocrat Records. The bulk of the information in today’s show notes comes from The Red Saunders Research Foundation’s exhaustive look into the operations of the label.

The company was founded by Charles and Evelyn Aron. From June through December 1947, talent scout Sammy Goldberg helped to point the label toward rhythm and blues; he brought Jump Jackson, Tom Archia, Clarence Samuels, Andrew Tibbs, and Sunnyland Slim to the label.  Initially, their partners were Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel, none of whom took a leadership role in the business. By September 1947, Leonard Chess, the proprietor of a neighborhood bar and after-hours joint called the Macomba Lounge, had invested in the company and become involved in the sales end of Aristocrat’s operations. Leonard Chess’s name was first associated with the company in an item that appeared in Billboard on October 11, 1947; he was identified as a new addition to “the sales staff.” By then he was already wholesaling Aristocrat product out of the trunk of his Buick.

Over time, Leonard Chess increased his share in the firm by buying the Brounts out. As he became more involved in the record business, he increasingly left the day-to-day operation of the Macomba to his brother Phil. After the Arons separated in 1948, Leonard Chess and Evelyn Aron ran the firm. In December 1949, Evelyn Aron married Art Sheridan and left to form American Distributing. The Chess brothers bought out her remaining share and became the sole owners; only at this point did Phil Chess become involved in the record company’s operations. On June 3, 1950, the brothers changed the name of the company to Chess. Aristocrat thus survived in its original form a little over three years. For a small, undercapitalized company it was quite prolific. It appears that 264 titles were recorded by Aristocrat for release, and another 28 tracks recorded by others were purchased and released during the lifetime of the label, for a total of 292.

Today’s show is obviously geared to Aristocrat’s blues output although the label issued a broad scope of musical styles. As the Red Saunders website notes: “The most-recorded musician during 1947 was Lee Monti, who led a polka band with two accordions; the second and third-most recorded artists were jazz tenor saxophonist Tom Archia and uptown blues singer Andrew Tibbs. In the early going, the company also recorded the piano trios of Prince Cooper, Duke Groner, and Jimmie Bell, ballad singer Danny Knight and crooner Jerry Abbott, a gospel group called the Seven Melody Men; it even tried out Country and Western guitarist Dick Hiorns. When Muddy Waters scored a hit with “I Can’t Be Satisfied” in June 1948, the label’s orientation began to shift… The dual emphasis on jazz (Gene Ammons) and down-home blues (Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, The Blues Rockers) wasn’t fully established until the first half of 1950, after the Chess brothers had bought out Evelyn Aron’s remaining share of the company.”

Aristocrat has been well served over the years by blues reissues. Everything Muddy Waters cut for the label, along with most of Robert Nighthawk, can be found on the 1997 2-CD set, The Aristocrat of the Blues which is where most of today’s tracks come from. The label’s other holdings, particularly jazz and R&B, have never gotten comparable treatment.Below is some background on today’s artists.

Sax man Tom Archia performed mostly in jazz and swing bands. He cut some R&B sides for Aristocrat in 1947-48 as well as backing blues singers Andrew Tibbs and Jo Jo Adams. Jo Jo Adams was among the most flamboyant singers of Chicago’s South Side who sang an urbane style of blues that prevailed in the 1940′s. He also danced, told dirty jokes, and showed off his wardrobe of loudly colored formal wear with extra-long coattails. More often than not he doubled as MC at the clubs he played. Archia’s sides are collected on Tom Archia 1947-1948 on the Classics label.

In the late ’40s, drummer Armand “Jump” Jackson worked as a bandleader on sessions for labels such as Columbia, Specialty, and Aristocrat; his band backed up vocalists such as St. Louis Jimmy, Roosevelt Sykes, Sunnyland Slim, and Baby Doo Caston. He also drummed on at least a dozen classic blues albums, backing artists like John Lee Hooker and Robert Nighthawk. In 1959 he founded La Salle Records and began putting out his own sessions as well as sides by Eddie Boyd, Eddy Clearwater, Little Mack Simmons, and his old playing partner pianist Slim In 1962, Jackson was chosen as the drummer for the first American Folk Blues Festival tour of Europe.

The Dozier Boys were a long-lived vocal/instrumental group. They originated on the near North Side of Chicago around 1946 and disbanded in 1970. They made a number of appearances on television, and they recorded for several different labels between 1948 and 1964. Willie Dixon introduced them to Leonard Chess and made their first sides for Aristocrat in 1948.

The Four Blazes were founded in 1940 and became the Five when they added Ernie Harper, a piano player from Pittsburgh, in 1945. The group made their recording debut in 1947 for Aristocrat.

Andrew Tibbs got his start singing in church choirs. When he surreptitiously began singing blues in clubs, he used his middle name and his mother’s maiden name, becoming “Andrew Tibbs.” He was singing at Jimmy’s Palm Garden when Sammy Goldberg saw him at the club and signed him to Aristocrat; Leonard Chess saw commercial potential in recording Tibbs, and decided to invest in the company. Tibbs’ debut session has always been said to be the first one that Leonard Chess attended. Tibbs continued to be the company’s top seller until well into 1949. Tibbs’ output is available on Andrew Tibbs 1947-1951 on the Classics label.

Sunnyland Slim moved to Chicago in 1939 and set up shop as an in-demand piano man, playing for a spell with John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson before waxing eight sides for RCA Victor.  If it hadn’t been for Sunnyland, Muddy Waters may not have found his way onto Chess; it was at the Sunnyland’s 1947 session for Aristocrat that the Chess brothers made Water’s acquaintance. Aristocrat was but one of a myriad of labels that Sunnyland recorded for between 1948 and 1956, cutting sides for Hytone, Opera, Chance, Tempo-Tone, Mercury,  Apollo JOB, Regal, Vee-Jay, Blue Lake, Club 51, and Cobra. An excellent selection of Sunnyland’s early sides can be found on the JSP box set Sunnyland Slim And His Pals: The Classic Sides 1947-1953.

Clarence Samuels was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana andbegan his career singing in his father’s band. In 1943, he moved to New Orleans, and began singing in local bands. By 1947, he was the manager and house singer at the Down Beat club. At this time, Sammy Goldberg, was working as a talent scout for Aristocrat. He discovered Samuels at the Down Beat, and lured him to Chicago, where Samuels began performing at the Macomba Lounge and made his first recordings for Aristocrat.

Forrest Sykes worked steadily in Chicago from 1947 through 1952. Before that, he seems to have enjoyed a brief tenure as an added attraction in Lionel Hampton’s band. He cut five sides for Aristocrat in Oct. 1947, two were unissued including the track we played.

Muddy Waters was renowned for his blues-playing prowess across the Delta, but that was about it until 1943, when he left for the bright lights of Chicago. Sunnyland Slim played a large role in launching the career of Muddy Waters. The pianist invited him to provide accompaniment for his 1947 Aristocrat session that would produce “Johnson Machine Gun.” One obstacle remained beforehand: Waters had a day gig delivering Venetian blinds. But he wasn’t about to let such a golden opportunity slip through his talented fingers. He informed his boss that a fictitious cousin had been murdered in an alley, so he needed a little time off to take care of business. When Sunnyland had finished that auspicious day, Waters sang a pair of numbers, “Little Anna Mae” and “Gypsy Woman,” that would become his own Aristocrat debut 78. “I Feel Like Going Home” became his first national R&B hit in 1948.

When Robert Nighthawk stepped into the Aristocrat studios on November 10, 1948 it had been about eight years since he recorded under his own name.  Once in Chicago he resumed his acquaintance with Muddy Waters who he had know down south. Muddy arranged for his recording session with Aristocrat. “I put him on the label” Waters stated.30 Waters further explained: “Well. I taken him to my company, you know and…I helped him get on a record. Yeah, I taken him around to Chess, and then Chess heard him play, and he liked it.” He cut three sessions for Aristocrat through early 1950. “Annie Lee Blues” cracked the R&B charts on December 31, 1949 reaching the number 13 spot and staying on the charts for one week.

Blues harpist Forest City Joe was heavily influenced by John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson.Joe was remembered as a “great harp player” by Muddy Waters. Joe was raised in the area around Hughes and West Memphis, AR, and even as a boy played the local juke joints in the area. He hoboed his way through the state working roadhouses and juke joints during the 1940s. Beginning in 1947, he also began working the Chicago area, and a year later had his one and only session for the Chess brothers’ Aristocrat label. He made a final session for Atlantic Records in 1959, passing away in 1960.

Leroy Foster was a charter member of the Headhunters, a band that included Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers. He switched to rhythm guitar to accompany Waters on several of his 1948-49 Aristocrat 78s, notably “You’re Gonna Miss Me (When I’m Dead and Gone),” “Mean Red Spider,” and “Screamin’ and Cryin’,” as well as Johnny Jones’s rolling “Big Town Playboy.” Foster also recorded for Aristocrat as a front man: “Locked Out Boogie” and “Shady Grove Blues” were done at a 1948 date that produced six Muddy masters. All of Foster’s recordings can be found on Leroy Foster 1948-1952 on the Classic label.

Johnny Jones established himself as one of the greatest piano players on the Chicago blues scene. Jones was influenced greatly by pianist Big Maceo and followed him into Tampa Red’s band in 1947 after Maceo suffered a stroke. Johnny Jones’s talents were soon in demand as a sideman — in addition to playing behind Tampa Red for RCA Victor from 1949 to 1953, he backed Muddy Waters on his 1949 classic “Screamin’ and Cryin’” and later appeared on sides by Howlin’ Wolf. He’s best know for baking Elmore James on sessions between 1952-56. Jimmy Rogers, and Leroy Foster backed Jones on his 1949 Aristocrat label classic “Big Town Playboy.” In all he cut only eight sides before passing at the age of 40 in 1964.

Show Notes:

I’ve been doing a Christmas blues show for something like the past dozen years and was always frustrated with the lack of a really good collection of early blues Christmas songs. Luckily in 2005 I hooked up with the Document label to put together a 2-CD, 52 track collection of blues and gospel songs from the 1920′s to the 1950′s. The result was Blues, Blues Christmas and the majority of today’s show comes from that collection. For some reason the CD is currently out of stock so good luck finding a copy – and no I don’t have any extras! A few months back Document contacted me about writing the notes to a sequel to Blues, Blues Christmas, another 2-CD set although I did not compile the tracks for this one. This was slated to come out this year by Document ran into some financial problems so I don’t know the status of the project.

We take the name of today’s program from Fats Waller’s “Swingin’ Them Jingle Bells”, one of the most viciously swinging, jivey and just plain fun Christmas ditties ever laid down. The number is just part of a remarkably productive period for Waller from 1934 through 1942 in which he recorded about 400 sides, well over half of Waller’s lifetime recorded output.

The idea of Christmas themed blues and gospel numbers stretches back to the very dawn of the recorded genres. “Hooray for Christmas” exclaims Bessie Smith to kick off her soon to be classic “At The Christmas Ball”, which inaugurated the Christmas blues tradition when it was recorded in November 1925 for Columbia. A year later, circa December 1926, the gospel Christmas tradition was launched when the Elkins-Payne Jubilee Singers recorded “Silent Night, Holy Night” for Paramount Records. After these recordings it was off to the races with numerous Christmas blues numbers recorded by singers of all stripes, a pace that continued as blues evolved into R&B and then rock and roll. For some reason there’s far fewer gospel Christmas songs although there were plenty of Christmas sermons in the 1920′s and 1930′s when recorded sermons rivalled blues in popularity among black audiences. Going hand in hand with Christmas is quite a number of New Year’s songs, a good vehicle for juxtaposing the problems of the past year with the glimmer of hope that that the upcoming year will bring better fortune. Whether these artists sung these numbers as part of their regular repertoire is unclear but it’s almost certainly the case that many of these songs were recorded at the prompting of the record companies. Like any business they were always looking for a new angle or gimmick to sell records and advertised these boldly, often with full-page ads, in black newspapers like the Chicago Defender.

Santa Claus Blues: The 1920′s & 30′s

The earliest Christmas blues songs that I tracked down date from 1925. On Oct. 8 of that year Eva Taylor featured with Clarence Williams’ Trio cut “Santa Claus Blues” for the Okeh label and recut the tune again on Oct. 16 with a slightly larger band, the Clarence Williams’ Blue Five. Both versions feature Louis Armstrong on cornet. The song is more pop than blues however. On November 18th Bessie Smith cut At The Christmas Ball [Lyrics] for Columbia. She recut the song again Dec. 9 but this version remained unissued. Many blues artists from the 20′s cut Christmas songs including: Elzadie Robinson “The Santa Claus Crave” (1927), Victoria Spivey “Christmas Mornin’ Blues” (1927), Blind Lemon Jefferson “Christmas Eve Blues” (1928), Bertha Chippie Hill “Christmas Man Blues” (1928), Blind Blake “Lonesome Christmas Blues” (1929), Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers w/ Frankie ‘Half Pint’ Jaxon “Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn” (1929)

Among Paramount’s biggest blues stars of the 1920′s were Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake who made their debuts for the label several months apart – Jefferson in December 1925 or January 1926 and Blake around August of 1926. Paramount ramped up their blues and gospel recordings considerably in 1927 and a new Jefferson and Blake record appeared every month. Paramount resorted to several novel promotions for their big artists; In 1924 Ma Rainey’s sixth release was labeled “Ma Rainey’s Mystery Record” with prizes

given to the best title while Charlie Patton’s “Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues” was listed as by The Masked Marvel with a corresponding advert that bore a drawing of a blindfolded singer – looking nothing like Patton – and the clue that he was an exclusive Paramount artist. Similarly, so successful was Jefferson, that a special yellow and white label was produced for Paramount 12650, “Piney Woods Money Mama” b/w ‘Low Down Mojo Blues” which bore his picture and the wording “Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Birthday Record.” In a similar vein Christmas records can be seen as just another promotional tool with ads for these records appearing annually in

black newspapers every holiday season. Befitting his stardom, Lemon’s lone holiday record “Christmas Eve Blues” b/w “Happy New Year Blues”, was given a full-page advertisement in the December 12th, 1928 edition of the Chicago Defender. In Paramount’s 1928 late fall Dealers’ Supplement the label advertised scores of “CHRISTMAS, SPIRITUAL AND SERMON RECORDS THAT ARE DEPENDABLE SALES PRODUCERS” and warned that they “SHOULD BE IN YOUR STOCKS NOW.” Blind Blake received the large sized treatment in the 1929 edition of the paper for his “Lonesome Christmas Blues,” (also sharing the page was Leroy Carr’s “Christmas In Jail – Ain’t That A Pain?”) his only Christmas record. The flip was “Third Degree Blues” – apparently Blake only had enough holiday spirit for one side!

The trend continued with more frequency in the 30′s. Here are a few notable songs: Butterbeans & Susie “Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus” (1930), Charlie Jordan “Santa Claus Blues” ["Christmas Christmas, how glad I am you are here/ Well I ain’t had a chicken dinner for this whole round year/Shiny bones and naked bones gleaming from around my plate/ …So pass me that chicken, the turkey, duck and the goose/Well all you birds gonna be one legged when I turn you-a-loose"] (1931) and “Christmas “Christmas Blues” (1935), Kansas City Kitty & Georgia Tom “Christmas Morning Blues” (1934) [Lyrics], Verdi Lee “Christmas “Tree Blues” (1935), Tampa Red “Christmas And New Years Blues” (1934), Peetie Wheatstraw “Santa Claus Blues” (1935), Bumble Bee Slim’s “Christmas And No Santa Claus and “Santa Claus Bring Me A New Woman” (1936), Black Ace “Christmas Time Blues (Beggin’ Santa Claus)” (1937), Casey Bill Weldon “Christmas Time Blues” (1937), Bo Carter “Santa Claus” (1938), Walter Davis “Santa Claus” (1935), Sonny Boy Williamson I “Christmas Morning Blues” (1938).

Mary Harris, who cut two sides for Decca at an October 31, 1935 session is most certainly Verdi Lee who cut sides on the exact same date, also in the company of fellow St. Louis musicians Peetie Wheatstraw and Charlie Jordan. It was a holiday themed session with the group cutting “Christmas Tree Blues”, “No Christmas Blues”, “Happy New Year Blues”, “Christmas Christmas Blues” and “Santa Claus Blues” (the latter two with vocals by Jordan and Wheatstraw respectively). Paul Oliver noted that “it would be pleasant to think that each singer was inspired by the others to create a blues on the same subject but at this date, with Christmas two months away, it is more likely that it was a deliberate promotional device by [producer] Mayo Williams.”

Merry Christmas Baby: The 40′s & 50′s

In the 40′s there of course was more blues Christmas songs but there was a new music brewing called R&B. Evolving out of jump blues in the late ’40s, R&B laid the groundwork for rock & roll. The era’s biggest Christmas song was undoubtedly the immortal “Merry Christmas, Baby” cut by Charles Brown & The Blazers in 1947. This perennial classic has been covered numerous times including versions by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Lena Horne , Lou Rawls, Booker T. & the MG’s, Otis Redding, James Brown and countless others. Charles Brown’s smooth ballad style has become synonymous with Christmas ever since remaking “Merry Christmas, Baby” many times, cutting many other Christmas songs and full length albums including 1961′s Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs and Cool Christmas Blues in 1994.

Notable blues and R&B songs from this period include: Gatemouth Moore “Christmas Blues” (1946) [recut in 1977 as "Gate's Christmas Blues"], Little Willie Littlefield “Merry Xmas” (1949), Mabel Scott “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” (1947), Harman Ray Xmas Blues ["Hold it, hold it man/Don’t play me no jingle bells the way I feel this Christmas/Only kind of bells I want to have anything to do with is some of them mission bells/Man, play me the blues long, loud and lowdown"] (1947), Boll Weavil “Christmas Time Blues” (1947), Big Joe Turner “Christmas Date Boogie “(1948), Thelma Cooper “I Need A Man (For Xmas)” (1948), Smokey Hogg “I Want My Baby For Christmas” (1949), Amos Milburn “Let’s Make Christmas Merry Baby” (1949), Harry Crafton “

Bring That Cadillac Back” ["I let you eat my turkey on Christmas morn/When I looked around you and my Cadillac was gone"] (1949), Felix Gross “Love For Christmas” ["You can have your turkey and your dressing/Sweet cakes and apple pie/Blue Champagne and Rock & Rye/Everything that money can buy"] (1949), J.B. Summers “I Want a Present For Christmas” ["Santa Claus, Santa Claus/Hear my plea/Open up your

bag and give a fine brown baby to me/ …You can stop by my chimney/Drop her in the chute/ Leave your reindeer outside/Come in and get my loot"] (1949).

One other song from this era is the downright odd “Junior’s a Jap Girl’s Christmas for His Santa Claus” (1942)

a Library of Congress recording by Willie Blackwell that defies categorization. Oher non-R&B Christmas songs from the 40′s include a few by Leadbelly such as “Christmas Is A-Coming” [Lyrics], “The Christmas Song”, “On A Christmas Day”, Sylvestor Cotton “Christmas Blues” (1948), Washboard Pete [aka Ralph Willis] “Christmas Blues” (1948), Alex Seward & Louis Hayes “Christmas Time Blues” (1948), Walter Davis “Santa Claus” (1949).

There was a time you could hit the charts with an instrumental as pianist Lloyd Glenn well knew, scoring big with “Old Time Shuffle Blues” which hit #3 on the R&B charts in 1950 and “Chica Boo” which hit #1 in 1951. He seemed to have a knack for being on hit records, accompanying T-Bone Walker on his 1947 hit “Call It Stormy Monday”, and in 1949 he joined Swing Time Records as A&R man, recording a number of hits with Lowell Fulson, including “Everyday I Have The Blues” and the #1 R&B hit “Blue Shadows”. In sunny Los Angeles on April 1951 he waxed the shuffling “(Christmas) Sleigh Ride.” Glenn’s distinctive piano work can also be found on a five-song session Jesse Thomas waxed for Swingtime also in April 1951 which included “Xmas Celebration.” Glenn was also present when Lowell Fulson cut his classic two-parter, “Lonesome Christmas Pt. 1 & 2 “in 1951.

The 50′s produced many more Christmas gems including: Lowell Fulson’s oft covered “”Lonesome Christmas” (1950), Cecil Gant It’s Christmas Time Again (1950), Roy Milton “Christmas Time Blues” (1950), Johnny Otis & Little Esther Phillips “Far Away Blues” [also known as "Faraway Christmas Blues"] (1950), Jimmy Liggins “I Want My Baby For Christmas” (1950), The Nic Nacs with Mickey Champion “Gonna Have A Merry Xmas” (1950), Larry Darnell “Christmas Blues” (1950), Sonny Parker with Lionel Hampton “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” (1950), Lloyd Glenn “Sleigh Ride” (1951), Sugar Chile Robinson “Christmas Boogie” b/w “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1950), Titus Turner “Christmas Morning” (1952), Lightning Hopkins “Merry Christmas” (1953), Chuck Berry “Run, Rudolph, Run” (1958) and “Merry Christmas Baby” (1958), John Lee Hooker “Blues for Christmas” (1959).

Please Come Home For Christmas Baby: The 60′s To The Present

The 60′s, less so in the 70′s, produced a number of strong Christmas blues songs including at least one blues classic, Little Johnny Taylor’s “Please Come Home For Christmas” (1969) which has become an oft covered holiday classic. Other notable 60′s songs include: Sonny Boy Williamson II “Santa Claus” (1960), Lightnin’ Hopkins “Santa” (1960) and “Heavy Snow” (1962), Black Ace “Santa Claus Blues” (1960), B.B. King “Christmas Celebration” (1960), Hop Wilson “Merry Christmas, Darling” (1961), Robert Nighthawk “Merry Christmas Baby” (1964), Lowell Fulson “I Wanna Spend Christmas With You” (1967), Louis Jordan “Santa Claus, Santa Claus” (1968), Charles Brown “New Merry Christmas Baby” (1969) featuring Earl Hooker, Bukka White “Christmas Eve Blues” (1969). In the 70′s: Jimmy Reed “Christmas Present Blues” (1970), Lee Jackson “The Christmas Song” (1971), Clyde Lasley “Santa Came Home Drunk (1971), Albert King “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” (1974) and “Christmas Comes But Once A Year” (1974), Eddie C. Campbell “Santa’s Messin’ with the Kid” (1977).

There seems to be a dearth of quality Christmas songs in the 70′s and 80′s. By the late 80′s the rise of the CD caused the demise of the 45 record which was one of the main vehicles for putting out holiday songs. However in lieu of the 45 labels began releasing Christmas themed compilations and there have been a number of very good collections. Some of the best include: Austin Rhythm and Blues Christmas (1989) from the Antone’s label [reissued on Epic in 1986 and Sony in 2001], Alligator Records Christmas Collection (1992), Ichiban Blues At Christmas Vol. 1-4 (1991-97) [Best of Ichiban Blues at Christmas was issued 2002], Bullseye Blues Christmas (1995), Stony Plain’s Christmas Blues (2000), Blue Christmas (2000) from the Dialtone label, Blue Xmas (2001) on Evidence. A number of artists issued Christmas themed records including Charles Brown, Huey “Piano’ Smith, Johnny Adams, B.B. King and Etta James. Also with the dominance of the CD age labels went back into their vaults to put together compilations of classic Christmas blues. Many of the songs listed earlier in this article can be found on these collections and the best of these will be listed below.

Let Me Hang My Stocking On Your Christmas Tree

Christmas blues as sexual metaphor? Of course! The blues has always been loaded with double entendres and Christmas blues offers plenty of examples: Roosevelt Sykes “Let Me Hang My Stocking In Your Christmas Tree” (1937), Jimmy Butler Trim Your Tree ["I’m gonna bring along my hatchet/My beautiful Christmas balls/I’ll sprinkle my snow up on your tree and hang my mistletoe on your wall"] (1955), Clarence Carter “Back Door Santa” (1968), “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” by Albert King (1974) and Sir Mack Rice (1982), Rufus Thomas “I’ll Be Your Santa, Baby” (1982) and Sonny Rhodes the same year, Chick Willis “(All I Want for Christmas Is To) Lay Around and Love On You” (1991).

Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus

Those who listen to the blues know it’s not all doom and gloom. The blues are laced with humor and that comes across in many blues Christmas songs: Butterbeans & Susie “Papa Ain’t No Santa Claus” (1930) [Lyrics], Big Jack Johnson “Rudolph Got Drunk Last Night” (1990), Clyde Lasley “Santa Claus Home Drunk”, Billy Ray Charles “I Been Double Crossed By Santa Claus”, Louis Armstrong “Zat You Santa Claus.”

Empty Stocking Blues

Not everyone enjoys the holidays and many people suffer from the Christmas blues. If you want to wallow in your depression here’s an appropriate blues soundtrack: Leroy Carr “Christmas In Jail – Ain’t That A Pain?” (1929), Jimmy Witherspoon “Christmas Blues” [alternately titled "How I Hate To See Christmas Come Around"] (1947), Jimmy Grissom “Christmas Brings Me Down” (1948), Floyd Dixon “Empty Stocking Blues” (1950), “Sonny Boy’s Christmas Blues” ["Unless you come home to me/I'll be drunk all day Christmas Day"]” (1951), Lowell Fulson’s two-part “Lonesome Christmas” (1951), Freddie King’s classic two sided 45 “Christmas Tears” b/w “I Hear Jingle Bells” (1961), Jerry McCain & B.B. Coleman “Sad, Sad Christmas” (1992).

Will The Coffin Be Your Santa Claus?

Recorded sermons were among the most popular and best selling of the “race records”in the 1920’s and 1930’s. These records provided a fascinating look into the views and concerns of black America at a time when very few outlets existed for black expression. Rev. J.M. Gates was the most popular and prolific of them all, waxing some two hundred titles between 1926 and 1941, which accounted for a staggering quarter of all sermons recorded during this period. It’s not surprising that Gates cut more Christmas sermons than anyone including: “You May Be Alive Or You May Be Dead, Christmas Day” (1927), “Will The Coffin Be Your Santa Claus?” (1927), “Where Will you Be Christmas Day” (1927), “Did You Spend Christmas Day In Jail?” (1929), “Will Hell Be Your Santa Claus” (1939) and “Gettin’ Ready For Christmas Day” (1941) which was his last recorded sermon. Rev. A.W. Nix also had a special affinity for the holidays as evidenced in recordings like “Death Might Be Your Christmas Gift” (1927), “Begin A New Life On Christmas Day – Part 1 & 2″ (1928), “That Little Thing May Kill You Yet (Christmas Sermon)” (1929)  and “How Will You Spend Christmas?” (1930). Also notable is Rev. Edward Clayborn’s “The Wrong Way To Celebrate Christmas” (1928) and Rev. Emmett Dickinson’s “Christmas – What Does It Mean To You” (1930).

Happy New Year Darling

While there’s far more Christmas songs, New Year has inspired a number of noteworthy songs: Blind Lemon Jefferson “Happy New Year Blues” (1928), Mary Harris with Peetie Wheatstraw “Happy New Year Blues” (1935), Smokey Hogg “New Years Eve Blues” (1947), Lonnie Johnson “Happy New Year, Darling” ["It seems a long time since I been fightin' the Japs 'cross the deep blue sea/Yes, that's why I'm so glad darlin', to have a li'l wife still waitin' for me/It's so great to have you darlin', to have a li'l wife like you/My three brothers couldn't make it but they say happy new year to you"] (1947), Johnny Otis “Happy New Year, Baby” (1947), Lil’ Son Jackson “New Year’s Resolution” (1950), Roy Milton New Year’s Resolution Blues ["I’m gonna deal them from the bottom/Ain’t going to play it fair at all/Please believe me pretty baby/I’m going to have myself a ball/Going to give up my apartment, and you know they’re hard to find/ I don’t want no last year’s memories running through my weary mind"] (1950), Lightnin’ Hopkins “Happy New Year” (1953), Charles Brown “Bringing In A Brand New Year” (1993), Lil Ed and Dave Weld “New Year’s Resolution” (1996).

Notable Christmas Blues Compilations

Blues, Blues Christmas (Document): Comprehensive 2-CD collection of jazz, blues, boogie-woogie and gospel recordings dedicated to the season. Collects 52 numbers spanning from 1925 to 1955 including tracks by Bessie Smith, Leroy Carr, Rev. J.M. Gates, Butterbeans & Susie, Lonnie Johnson, Roy Milton, Larry Darnell, Cecil Gant, Lightnin’ Hopkins and many, many others.

Where Will You Be Christmas Day? (Dust To Digital): Fine collection rare early Christmas gems by Leroy Carr, Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, Butterbeans and Susie, Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Kansas City Kitty, Bessie Smith and many others.

Soul Christmas (Atlantic): This 1991 reissue includes eight of the original 11 tracks included on the Atco 1968 release with 11 more tracks added from the Atlantic vaults. An essential set that includes Otis Redding’s “White Christmas” and “Merry Christmas, Baby”, Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa”, Joe Tex’s “I’ll Make Every Day Christmas (For My Woman)” and others.

Blue Yule: Christmas Blues and R&B Classics (Rhino): A killer 18-song compilation. Includes hard to find tracks by John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Hop Wilson, Big Jack Johnson and other gems.

It’s Christmas Time Again (Stax): A great collection of funky blues and soul from the Stax catalog. Standout tracks include “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’” with versions by Mack Rice and Albert King plus Rufus Thomas’ “I’ll Be Your Santa Baby’” and Little Johnny Taylor’s “Please Come Home for Christmas”

Merry Christmas, Baby (Paula): Some real gems on here although some can be found on other compilations. Includes fine songs like Johnny And Jon’s “Christmas in Vietnam”, Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas”, Lowell Fulson’s “Lonesome Christmas” parts 1 & 2 plus songs by Big Joe Williams, Sugar Boy Crawford, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Reed and others.

Jingle Blues (Platinum): Entertaining collection from the House of Blues. Includes a wide variety of styles by artists such as Bessie Smith, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jimmy Witherspoon, B.B. King, Amos Milburn and others.

James Brown’s Funky Christmas (Polygram): What would Christmas be without this funky collection? This 17-track compilation includes selections cut between 1966-1970. Highlights include “Go Power at Christmas Time”, “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” and “Hey America” (It’s Christmas Time).

Christmas Blues (Savoy): Fine Christmas blues from the vaults of Savoy like Gatemouth Moore’s “Christmas Blues”, Jimmy Butler’s rocking “Trim Your Tree”, the country blues of Ralph Willis’ “Christmas Blues” and several other vintage tunes.

Rhythm & Blues Christmas (Hollywood): Budget priced collection that includes Charles Brown’s “Merry Christmas Baby,” Freddie King’s “Christmas Tears/I Hear Jingle Bells”, Mabel Scott’s “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” and others.

Show Notes:

Today’s show is called Maxwell Street Blues in tribute to Mike Shea’s legendary film on Chicago’s Maxwell Street Market, And This Is Free, which at long last has been re-released by Shanachie Records. And This Is Free was filmed over the course of sixteen Sundays on Chicago’s Maxwell Street in 1964. The Maxwell Street open air market was a seven- to ten-block area in Chicago that from the 1920s to the middle 1960′s played host to various blues musicians — both professional and amateur — who performed right on the street for tips from passerbys. Maxwell Street is an east-west street that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. Although there were many fine stationary department stores located in it, the area’s most notable feature was its open air market, precursor to the flea market scene in Chicago. One could almost buy anything there, legal and illegal. In need of jobs and quick cash, fledgling entrepreneurs came to Maxwell Street – many say it was the largest open-air market in the country – to earn their livelihood. In 1994, the Maxwell Street Market was moved by the City of Chicago to accommodate expansion of the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was relocated a few blocks east to Canal Street and renamed the New Maxwell Street Market.

Among those who got their start on Maxwell Street were Little Walter, Earl Hooker and Hound Dog Taylor among many others. Those that appear in the film include Robert Nighthawk, Johnny Young, Jim Brewer and Arvella Gray, all of whom were recorded performing live on the street. All the music recorded during the filming was issued domestically in 2000 on the Rooster label on the 3-CD set And This Is Maxwell Street and we will be hearing several of these cuts on today’s program. We will also be playing a number of cuts from the Ora Nelle label which was run by Bernard Abrams from his Maxwell Street Radio and Record shop located at 831 Maxwell Street, tracks by Big John Wrencher, Maxwell Street Jimmy, John Lee Granderson and James Brewer (all long time fixtures on the Street) plus some pre-war sides that reference Maxwell Street. In addition we will be playing excerpts from an interview with Gordon Quinn who was the sound engineer on And This Is Free.

Blind James Brewer and Gospel Group, Maxwell Street, 1964, Photo by Paul Oliver

Ira Berkow, who wrote the book Maxwell Street: Survival In A Bazaar, and contributes to the booklet, described Maxwell Street this way: “It was a carnival, it was a bazaar, it was, as some believed and perhaps with some credibility, a thieves’ den; it was also home to snake charmers, a horse that could count with a clop of his hoof, an ‘Indian chief’ in war bonnet and penny loafers, honest businessmen, the ladies of the night (and morning and afternoon), Gypsies, Jews, Italians, Irish, Bohemians, Poles, Russians, Greeks, Latinos, blacks. As well as the birthplace of a number of prominent Americans. And this, more or less, just for starters.” Hound Dog Taylor, a veteran of Maxwell Street, had this to say: “You used to get out on Maxwell Street on a Sunday Morning and pick you out a good spot, babe. Dammit, we’d make more money than I ever looked at. Put you out a tub, you know, and put a pasteboard in there, like a newspaper. I’m telling you, Jewtown was Jumpin’ like a champ, jumpin’ like mad on Sunday morning.” Jewtown as the area was also known, was so named because, as Lori Grove writes in her excellent essay Historic Maxwell Street, the “Jewish immigrants were the largest and longest-standing ethnic group in the Maxwell Street neighborhood” who “established the old world marketplace and its reputation as a place where bargains could be found.”

Back in 1960 Bjorn Englund and Donad R. Hill documented the blues on Maxwell street by recording some of the street’s stalwarts including Arvella Gray, Daddy Stovepipe, king Davis and James Brewer. The recordings were issued in 1962 on the Heritage album Blues From Maxwell Street. The album is long out of print (i don’t own this record so if anyone knows where I can get a copy let me know!) but the notes by Paul Oliver are worth quoting as they paint an evocative portrait of an era that has long passed. “At 1330 on South Halsted there is a minor intersection. The corners are crowded with people and temporary halls at anytime, but especially on Sunday, for the narrow road that cuts across Halsted is Maxwell and on Sunday morning the Maxwell Street Market is at its busiest. Maxwell Street is at once a sad an exciting place. The walls are blackened and the paint has peeled off the ill-fitting doors; garbage lies thick in the gutters and the narrow side alleys are littered with the refuse of years. To the West, the street loses its identity in the depressing anonymity of the bleak, poverty-struck roads that cross it; to the East it is an almost impassable market of stalls that suddenly give way to a vast, horizonless plain of mud and rubble and debris where an Expressway will sweep Southwards in the undated future. Amongst the rough-clad women who grope through the piles of discarded clothes and the tough, unsmiling men who pick their way through the wires, cables and electrical parts laid out haphazardly on the trestles – amongst the loiterers, the occasional sightseers and the pickpockets – are the beggars, as many as there are to be found in the shadows of the churches in a Southern Italian town, or along the shrouded streets of an “Arab Quarter.” Beggars – but with one striking, exhilarating difference. These are not wheedling seekers after alms with cries of “baksheesh” or “Gawd Bless yer, guv” but proud men, creative artists, singers of the blues who accept the dimes and quarters as tokens of esteem for their paying and singing. If the blues in general has tended to become more sophisticated in recent years Maxwell Street exists as a living storehouse of the folk blues, the blues of the rambling man. And in its few hundred yards is pictured the life story of the blues singer of the streets, from the children who stand wide-eyed to the singers of  their to choice to the young men who are trying their luck and their talent on the critical audience of the market; from the tough music and manner of the street singer of many years to the fading abilities to the old men who have played in the street in all weathers for more years then they can count.”

Today’s program opens with a pair pf pre-war cuts. Papa Charlie Jackson is known to have busked around Chicago in the early 1920′s, playing for tips on Maxwell Street, as well as the city’s Westside clubs beginning in 1924. He cut some 70 sides between 1924-1934, most for the Paramount label. His “Mawell Street Blues” shows he was well aquintated with the seedier side of the street:

Because Maxwell Street’s so crowded on a Sunday, you can hardly passed through
There’s Maxwell Street Market, got Water Street Market too
If you ain’t got no money, the women got nothing for you to do
I got the Maxwell Street blues, mama and it just won’t pay
Because the Maxwell Street women, going to carry me to my grave
I live six twenty-four Maxwell, mama and I’m taking about you

Little is known about his background. Blind Percy was likely Joe Taggart who recorded mainly gospel but sound more worldly as he too sings about those Maxwell Street women on “Fourteenth Street Blues:”

Fourteenth Street women, don’t mean a man no good
Go out and get full of liquor, wake up the whole neighborhood

Today’s show features several tracks from the Ora Nelle label which was founded in 1947 by Bernard Abrams who operated Maxwell Street Radio and Record shop located at 831 Maxwell Street. Two 78′s were released; “I Just Keep Loving Her” (Ora Nelle 711) and “Money Taking Woman” (Ora Nelle 712). The label’s name supposedly came from Walter’s girlfriend. These were Walter’s first recordings. Additional recordings were made by Jimmy Rogers (also his first), Boll Weavil, Sleepy John Estes, Johnnie Temple which were not released at the time. All of the Ora Nelle recordings can be found on the CD Chicago Boogie 1947 on the P-Vine label, a reissue of an album originally issued on George Paulus’ Barrelhouse label in the 1970′s. Boll Weevil (Willie McNeal) cut a pair of acetates for the label circa 1947-48, including “Christmas Time Blues” b/w “Thinkin’ Blues”, and recorded once more in 1956 for another mom and pop label called Club 51.

One-Armed harmonica player Big John Wrencher was a recognizable fixture of Maxwell Street. Wrencher was a traveling musician, playing throughout Tennessee and neighboring Arkansas from the late 1940′s to the early 1950′s. In 1958 Wrencher lost his left arm in a car crash in Memphis. By the early 1960′s he had moved North to Chicago and quickly became a regular fixture on Maxwell Street, always working on Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to nearly 3:00 in the afternoon. His first recordings surfaced on a pair of Testament albums from the 1960′s, featuring Big John in a sideman role behind Robert Nighthawk. He cut the excellent Maxwell Street Alley Blues (recorded in 1969 and issued in 1978) for the Barrelhouse label (reissued on CD on the P-Vine label) and cut Big John’s Boogie for the British Big Bear label in 1975. He also cut a 45 and we play “Memphis To Maxwell Street” from that record. Big John Wrencher passed in 1977.

Nighthawk’s performances form the centerpiece of the recordings made on An This Is Maxwell Street. Nighthawk is present on 22 of the 30 selections. Nighthawk really stretches out on some of his old classics including the stunning medley of his two biggest hits “Anna Lee/Sweet Black Angel” as well as a storming reprise of his “Take it Easy Baby” which he first cut in 1937 for Bluebird. Nighthawk shows off his wide repertoire playing Big Joe Turner’s “Honey Hush”, Dr. Clayton’s “Cheating and Lying Blues” and Percy Mayfield’s “I Need Love So Bad.” In an interview done by Mike Bloomfield, Nighthawk, reflected on what brought him back to Maxwell Street: “Lately I went back to Maxwell St.- I been playing off and on for 24 years now. Most all music more or less starts right off from Maxwell St. and so you wind up going back there. …See it’s more hard to play out in the street than it is in a place of business, but you have more fun in the street, looks like. Well, so many things you can see, so many different things going on, I get a kick out of it, I guess.”

We also play tracks by Maxwell Street stalwarts Arvella Gray, James Brewer, John Lee Granderson and Maxwell Street Jimmy. Arvella Gray made his first recordings in 1960 (released on the Decca and Heritage labels) and in early 1964 he made sides for his own Gray label, selling the 45′s on the street. He was also recorded by a team from Swedish Radio the same year. He was regular performer on Maxwell Street on Sundays. Gray’s only album, 1972′s The Singing Drifter was reissued on the Conjuroo label in 2005. James Brewer aka Blind James Brewer (“My mother didn’t name me ‘Blind’, she named me ‘Jim’”) was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, moved to Chicago in the 1940s spending the latter part of his life busking and performing both blues and religious songs at blues and folk festivals, on Chicago’s Maxwell Street and other venues. He too was recorded by Swedish Radio, cut sides for the Heritage label, Testament plus cut the full-length albums Jim Brewer for Philo and Tough Luck for Earwig. In addition to the full length Hard Luck John (issued posthumously in 1998), Tennessee bluesman John Lee Granderson cut sides on other Testament compilations with further sides appearing on various anthologies. Among those Granderson played with were Robert Nighthawk, Big Joe Williams and Daddy Stovepipe. Charles Thomas aka Maxwell Street Jimmy, wrote Pete Welding was “one of the finest and most expressive of blues performers who regularly work the street…In his dark, urgent, powerful singing and rhythmically incisive guitar playing are strong, pungent echoes of his youth in the Mississippi delta, that spawning ground of so many great bluesmen.” Jimmy recorded little, his best being his lone album, his long out of print self-titled release for Elektra in 1965. Welding’s liner notes to the album paint a vivid portrait of Maxwell Street in the 1960′s:”Every Sunday morning from late spring to early autumn–whenever, in fact, the weather is warm and clement–the pungent, earthy sound of the traditional blues rings loudly through the streets of Chicago. In the city’s bustling open-air Maxwell Street flea market area, where one can haggle for anything form high-button shoes to a winnowing machine, the cries of the hawkers and vendors mingle sharply with the acrid, pain-filled shouts of the blues singer and the fervent moans of the sidewalk evangelist. Through most of contemporary America, street singing is a fast disappearing folk art. Municipal legislation and the compulsory licensing of peddlers have seen to that in most large US cities, and the days of the itinerant sidewalk minstel seem sadly though inevitably numbered. Except, that is, in Chicago. If anything, the art appears to be thriving here. It’s tied directly, or course, to the continued flourishing of the Maxwell Street market as a vigorous facet of Chicago culture that has refused to give up the ghost in the face of urban renewal, increasing cultural homogeneity and other aspects of modern ‘progress’.”