Sun 20 Jul 2008
Big Road Blues Show 7/20/08: Mix Show
Posted by Jeff under Playlists
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| ARTIST | SONG | ALBUM |
|---|---|---|
| Lula Reed | I'll Drown in My Tears | I'll Drown in My Tears |
| Lula Reed | (Let Your Love) Watch Over Me | Boy-Girl-Boy |
| Lula Reed | I’ll Upset You Baby | I'll Drown in My Tears |
| Bukka White | Fixin' To Die Blues | Vintage Recordings (1930-1940) |
| Bukka White | Sad Day Blues | Miss. Blues Jam In Memphis Vol. 2 |
| Papa Lightfoot | My Woman Is Tired... | Goin' Back To The Natchez Trace |
| Joe Hill Louis | Hydramatic Woman | Jook Joint Blues |
| Rhythm Willie | Wailin' Willie | Blowing The Blues |
| Percy Mayfield | River’s Invitation | His Tangerine and Atlantic Sides |
| Percy Mayfield | Minden Is A Dry Town | Weakness Is A Thing Called Man |
| Art Hodes' Hot Fives | St. James Infirmary | Blue Note Recordings Sidney Bechet |
| Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson | Kidney Stew | Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey |
| Dan Stewart | New Orleans Blues | Down In Black Bottom |
| Freddie ''Redd'' Nicholson | I Ain’t Sleepy | Boogie Woogie & Barrelhouse Vol. 1 |
| Little Brother Montgomery | Louisiana Blues, Pt. 2 | Complete Recorded Works 1930-1936 |
| Pete Mayes | Crazy Woman | Houston Shuffle 1955-66 |
| Tommy & The Derby's | Standin’ In My Way | Houston Shuffle 1955-66 |
| Earl Hooker | Rockin' With The Kid | Jook Joint Blues |
| Bertha Lee | Yellow Bee | Friends of Charlie Patton |
| Irene Scruggs | Voice Of The Blues | I Can't Be Satisfied Vol. 1 |
| Lonnie Johnson | New Orleans Blues | Blues, Ballads & Jumpin' Jazz Vol 2 |
| Fenton Robinson | Texas Flood | Somebody Loan Me A Dime |
| William Moore | Midnight Blues | Ragtime Blues Guitar |
| Joe McCoy | it Ain't No Lie | The McCoy Brothers Vol. 2 |
| Elmore James | Long Tall Woman | Modern Downhome Sessions Vol. 2 |
| Johnny Young | Drinking Straight Whiskey | Chicago Blues |
| Bobo Jenkins | When I First Left Home | The Life Of |
| Robert Petway | Ride 'em on Down | Big Joe Williams & Stars of Miss. Blues |
| Tommy McClennan | Whiskey Headed Woman | Tommy McClennan Vol. 1 |
| Lula Reed | Rock Love | I'll Drown in My Tears |
| Lula Reed | Just Whisper | I'll Drown in My Tears |
Show Notes:
Today’s show starts and ends on a somber note with of sides by fine R&B singer Lula Reed who passed away a month ago. Reed is little remembered these days and in fact I’ve yet to see any mention of her passing outside of a very brief note in a newsgroup I belong to. For just over a decade, 1951-1963, Reed cut in the neighborhood of 70 sides including recordings with Sonny Thompson and Freddy King. Most of her material was firmly R&B although she was versatile, cutting straight blues, Latin tinged numbers, proto-soul and gospel. We play her most famous number, “I’ll Drown in My Tears”, as well as a couple of my favorites, “I’ll Upset You Baby”, “Rock Love” and “(Let Your Love) Watch Over Me”, a wonderful duet with Freddy King. We don’t normally play gospel but I couldn’t help closing with her lovley “Just whsiper.”
We play a couple of twin spins today by Bukka White and Percy Mayfield. In 1930 Bukka White met furniture salesman Ralph Limbo, who was also a talent scout for Victor. White traveled to Memphis where he made his first recordings, singing a mixture of blues and gospel material under the name of Washington White. Victor only saw fit to release four of the 14 songs Bukka White recorded that day. As the Depression set in, opportunity to record didn’t knock again for Bukka White until 1937, when Big Bill Broonzy asked him to come to Chicago and record for Lester Melrose. White’s record “Shake ‘Em on Down” became a hit. The same year White was convicted of murder and sent to Parchman Farm prison. White cut two sides for John Lomax for the Library of Congress while in prison and when released resumed his recording career, cutting 12 sides for Okeh in 1940. We play “Fixin’ To Die Blues” from that session. White continued to play locally in Memphis but didn’t record again until the 1960’s. Two California-based blues enthusiasts, John Fahey and Ed addressed a letter in 1963 to “Bukka White (Old Blues Singer), c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, Mississippi.” By chance, one of White’s relatives was working in the Post Office in Aberdeen, and forwarded the letter to White in Memphis. Thus began White’s successful comeback. He went on to cut fine records for Takoma, Arhoolie, Biograph, Blue Horizon and others. He died in 1977. “Sad Day Blues”is from 1968 and can be found on Mississippi Delta Blues Jam in Memphis, Vol. II on Arhoolie. This album is a marvelous set of studio performances from artists appearing at the 1969 Memphis Blues Festival.
“River’s Invitation” is one of Mayfield’s most haunting numbers but it also has an irresistible, lilting hook. Mayfield had a keen insight into the dark side of human nature and was a penetrating student of the human condition as this song exemplifies. We pair this with one of his RCA numbers from the 1970’s. Mayfield was remarkably consistent and sailed into the 70’s in fine fashion cutting three very good LP’s for RCA: Percy Mayfield Sings, Blues And Then Some and Weakness Is A Thing Called Man. All these albums are out of print although a 25 track compilation was issued a few years back called Blues Laureate: The RCA Years on the Raven label.
A couple of weeks back we did a spotlight on Down Home harmonica players and we revisit a couple of those artists including Papa Lightfoot andJoe Hill Louis . Last time we played several of Lightfoot’s early singles and this time out we play the stomping “My Woman Is Tired Of Me Lyin’” from his lone album, Goin’ Back To The Natchez Trace. Joe Hill Louis was a good harmonica blower in his own right but also paired up with Walter Horton on several numbers for the Sun label in the early 1950’s. Horton really cuts loose on the rocking “Hydramatic Woman.” For whatever reason Horton was never comfortable as leader and his best work can be found on the records of others. In a couple of weeks I’ll be doing a spotlight on Horton and Little Walter. Less known is the amazing Rhythm Willie who demonstrates his impressive chops on “Wailin’ Willie.” Rhythm Willie was a shadowy Chicago player who made some little remembered sides between 1939 and 1950. He also played on records backing Lee Brown and Peetie Wheatstraw. He died in 1954. Scott Dirks wrote the definitive Rhythm Willie story in Blues & Rhythm 127.
As usual we spin a batch of fine pre-war blues selections. On the piano side there’s Dan Stewart wonderful vocal on “New Orleans Blues” with an excellent unknown piano player. This 1928 track is Stewart’s only record. “Louisiana Blues Pt. 2″ is a typically fine side by Little Brother Montgomery who cut one of the best bodies of piano blues records of the 1930’s. His Complete Recorded Works 1930-1936 on Document is an indispensable collection for piano fans. Another fine singer is Freddie ”Redd” Nicholson who’s backed by the superb Charles Avery on “I Ain’t Sleepy.” Avery was primarily a session pianist who was active in Chicago in the 20’s and 30’s. His lone record, “Dearborn Street Breakdown”, is a tremendous boogie-woogie number and makes one wish he had recorded more frequently as a soloist. We also play a couple of fine blues ladies in Irene Scruggs and Berta Lee. Bertha Lee was Charlie Patton’s common-law wife and on January 31, 1934 she recorded “Yellow Bee” and “Mind Reader Blues” backed by Patton. This was Patton’s final
recording session. Irene Scruggs cut some two-dozen sides between 1924-1930 backed by artists such as Lonnie Johnson, Blind Blake, King Oliver and others. Her “Voice Of The Blues” is a terrific number backed by a good unknown guitarist. We play several great guitarists including Blind Willie McTell and partner Curley Weaver, Oscar “Buddy” Woods and William Moore. Born in Georgia, William “Bill” Moore was a barber and farmer in Tappahannock, VA. He cut 8 sides for Paramount in 1928.
In addition to the lesser known artists we play tracks by blues legends like Earl Hooker, Elmore James, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Lonnie Johnson. Johnson’s “New Orleans Blues” is a gorgeous ballad about his hometown and is particularly resonant in the aftermath of Katrina as he sings: “Dear old New Orleans/They call it the land of dreams.” Johnson was just starting a successful comeback, and on this track he’s teamed with acoustic rhythm guitarist Elmer Snowden who had not recorded since 1934. Elmer Snowden was the original leader of the Washingtonians, a group that would become the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The duo recorded Blues & Ballads in 1960 with enough material left over for it’s sequel, Blues, Ballads, and Jumpin’ Jazz, Vol. 2.



Much less well known are the trio of superb records he cut for RCA in the 1970’s, all unfortunately out of print: Percy Mayfield Sings Percy Mayfield (1970), Weakness Is A Thing Called Man (1970) and Blues…And Then Some (1971). While I won’t go so far as to say these are better than his earlier records, they’re not, they are quite good and deserve to be better remembered. Mayfield’s writing and voice were in great shape, and he was surrounded by sympathetic studio bands including Eric Gale, Billy Butler, Chuck Rainey, Pretty Purdie, Seldon Powell, Snooky Young, and Richard Tee to name a few as well as full horn sections and female backing vocalists. The music is filled with blues ballads, funky shuffles and a touch of soul. Like similar era recordings from Bobby Bland and Junior Parker, the music has a bit of a period feel but finds a veteran artist still at his peak, making a few changes to still sound fresh and relevant.
first-ever recordings; four tracks for Columbia that the label declined to release. In 1950, he resurfaced on Chess, cutting sides that were rarely released (and, when they were, often appeared under the name “Shoe Shine Johnny”). Meanwhile, Shines was finding work supporting other artists at live shows and recording sessions. From 1952-1953, he laid down some storming sides for the JOB label, which constitute some of his finest work ever.
Snooky Pryor hit Chicago for the first time in 1940. Armed with a primitive amp, he dazzled the folks on Maxwell Street in late 1945 with his massively amplified harp. Pryor made some groundbreaking 78’s during the immediate postwar Chicago blues era. Teaming with guitarist Moody Jones, he waxed “Telephone Blues” and “Boogie” for Planet Records in 1948, encoring the next year with “Boogy Fool”/”Raisin’ Sand” for JOB with Jones on bass and guitarist Baby Face Leroy Foster in support. Pryor made more classic sides for JOB (1950-1953 and 1962 or 1963), Parrot (1953), and Vee-Jay (”Someone to Love Me”/”Judgment Day”) in 1956, but commercial success never materialized. He wound down his playing in the early ’60s, finally chucking it all and moving to downstate Illinois, in 1967. h e recorded an LP for Bluesway in 1973 (Do It If You Want), but did not become a hit on the blues revival circuit until a Blind Pig release in 1987 (Snooky). He continued to record into the 1990s for such labels as Antone’s and Discovery. Snooky Pryor died on October 18, 2006. He was 85 years old.
Eddie Boyd’s first formal session for J.O.B. took place on June 30, 1951, when four tracks were laid down. Boyd’s first release, on JOB 1005, didn’t sell much. A second session was booked on May 30, 1952, at which two tracks were laid. Promptly released on JOB 1007, “Five Long Years” was a huge hit. In consequence, Joe Brown quickly called Ernest Cotton into the studio to overdub his tenor sax on three of the tracks recorded in 1951, and a few months later reissued overdubbed versions of both sides of JOB 1005 on JOB 1009.
Mississippi born John T. Brown was a member of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels down south before arriving in the Windy City. By 1945, Brown was recording behind pianist Roosevelt Sykes and singer St. Louis Jimmy Oden, later backing Eddie Boyd and Washboard Sam for RCA Victor. He debuted on wax as a bandleader in 1950 on the Harlem label, subsequently cutting sessions in 1951 and 1952 for Chicago’s United logo as well as JOB. Brown backed Elmore James on records for Meteor and Flair in 1952 and 1953 and Meteor issued a couple of singles under Brown’s own name. After a final 1956 date for United that laid unissued at the time, Brown’s studio activities were limited to sideman roles. In January of 1969, he was part of Fleetwood Mac’s Blues Jam at Chess album, even singing a tune for the project, but he died before the close of that year.

Thanks to a handful of terrific 1950’s sides, the name of Papa Lightfoot was revered by 1960’s blues enthusiasts. Producer Steve LaVere tracked him down in Natchez, MS cutting an album for Vault in 1969. His comeback was short-lived and he died in 1971. He cut sessions for Peacock in 1949 (unissued), Sultan in 1950, and Aladdin in 1952 preceded an amazing 1954 date for Imperial in New Orleans that produced Lightfoot’s “Mean Old Train,” “Wine Women Whiskey” and a wild “When the Saints Go Marching In.” His final pre-rediscovery sides were cut for Savoy in 1955. We also play a cut by Ole Sonny Boy who was once though to be a pseudonym for Papa Lightfoot but is now thought to be J.D. Horton who cut two sides under that name in 1952 for Bullet and two sides as Ole Sonny Boy for Excello in 1956.
legend, and died in a car accident in Interstate 55.

Reed had a style that, like many of that period, bore the influence of Dinah Washington. At the time of her debut Reed was fully formed; she had a nasal, but not shrill voice, at once girlish and worldly that was instantly recognizable whether she was singing mellow blues ballads, gospel or tough edged R&B. Whatever she sang she made it sound so effortless and easy. Although her career ended just prior to the rise of soul music, she was one of a coterie of singers who’s style anticipated that music and it’s no stretch to imagine she would have made a fine soul singer had she stuck it out.
(during which time King released her only solo LP Blue and Moody) but returned to the fold in 1961 on King’s Federal imprint. It was at Federal, were she waxed the above mentioned sides with Freddy King in 1962. Her final move was to Ray Charles’s Tangerine logo in 1962-1963, soon after leaving the R&B world for the church. All subsequent efforts to talk about her show business career were rebuffed.

We feature a whole batch of great barrelhouse piano players on today’s program. We kick off with a batch of St. Louis piano men including Henry Brown, Aaron Sparks, Stump Johnson and Peetie Wheatstraw. St. Louis had an abundance of talented piano players and I’llll be doing a whole show devoted to them in a few weeks. Peetie Wheatstraw began recording with sessions in 1930 and 1931. He returned in 1934 recording steadily through 1941, becoming one of the most popular blues artists of the 30’s. Wheatstraw recorded in every year of the 1930’s save 1933, waxing 175 sides in all. He also sat in on records made by artists such as Kokomo Arnold, Bumble Bee Slim, Alice Moore, JD Short among others. His “A Man Ain’t Nothin’ But A Fool” features Lonnie Johnson on guitar, one of about two dozen sides they cut together. Henry Brown learned to play the piano from the “professors” of the notorious Deep Morgan section of St. Louis. One of them went by the name of “Blackmouth,” another was named Joe (or Tom) Cross. As Brown remembered him, “he was a real old time blues player and he’d stomp ‘em down to the bricks.” “Deep Morgan Blues” was one of his signature pieces. Brown worked clubs such as the Blue Flame Club, the 9-0-5 Club, Jim’s Place and Katy Red’s, from the twenties into the 30’s. He recorded for Brunswick with Ike Rogers and Mary Johnson in 1929, for Paramount in ‘29 and ‘30. He served in the army in the early 40’s, then formed his own quartet to work occasional local gigs in St. Louis area from the ’50s, and worked the Becky Thatcher riverboat in 1965. In addition to his pre-war recordings, he was recorded by Paul Oliver in 1960, by Sam Charters with Edith Johnson in 1961 and by Adelphi in 1969. Stump Johnson told Paul Oliver in 1960: “I had learned to play the blues by just hangin’ roun’ the pool room where they have an ole piano, just pickin’ it up for myself.” Arthur Satherly, a talent scout for QRS, discovered Stump playing at his brother Jesse’s music store on Market St. In 1929. “The Duck’s Yas Yas” on QRS became a hit, James recorded three more versions of it, and it was covered in ‘29 by Tampa Red, and several others. His last pre-war recordings were made in Chicago in 1933 for Bluebird, in the company of Dorathea Trowbridge, J.D. Short and Aaron Sparks. From that session we hear “Steady Grindin’”, a dirty blues if there ever was one:
Other fine piano numbers on deck today include James “Boodle It” Wiggins with the marvelous piano of Charlie Spand on “Gotta Shave ‘Em Dry.” According to Paul Oliver in Screening The Blues the term has “layers of meaning; at one level it refers to mean and aggressive action but as a sexual theme it refers to intercourse without preliminary lovemaking. Big Bill Broonzy put it succinctly: ’shave ‘em dry is what you call makin’ it with a woman; you ain’t doin’ nothin’, just makin’ it.’” Among those who sang versions of the song were Ma Rainey, Lucille Bogan, Lil Johnson, Papa Charlie Jackson among others. We also hear some terrific piano playing from Turner Parrish on the “Trenches”, Romeo Nelson’s “1129 Blues (The Midnight Special)” and Freddie ”Redd” Nicholson’s “Dirty No Gooder” featuring this interesting couplet that somehow slipped past the censor:
Throughout today’s show we play a number of latter day country blues artists include Fred McDowell, Roosevelt Holts, Butch Cage and Willie Thomas, Henry Johnson and John Dudley. Both the McDowell and John Dudley tracks were recorded by Alan Lomax in 1959. This is McDowell’s first recordings, taped as he played on his front porch while Dudley was an inmate of Parchman Farm, cutting a legacy of only three exceptional songs. Also in 1959, folklorist Harry Oster “discovered”