Big Road Blues

Show Notes:

I recently finished Michael Gray’s excellent “Hand Me My Travelin’ Shoes – In Search of Blind Willie McTell” which is the inspiration for today’s show. In addition to focusing on Blind Willie we play the music of his fellow Atlanta bluesmen, just about all who were inspired by McTell and several who played with him. Like Memphis, Atlanta was a staging post for musicians on their way to all points. It’s not surprising then that the first country blues musician, Ed Andrews, was recorded there in 1924. The company that recorded him, Okeh, was one of many to send their engineers to Southern cities to record local talent. Companies like Victor, Columbia, Vocalion and Brunswick made at least yearly visits until the depression.

McTell was born in Thomson, Georgia, near Augusta, and raised near Statesboro. He played a standard six-string acoustic until the mid-’20s, and never entirely abandoned the instrument, but from the beginning of his recording career, he used a 12-string acoustic in the studio almost exclusively. He was A major figure with a local following in Atlanta from the 1920s onward, he recorded dozens of sides throughout the 1930s under a multitude of names — all the better to juggle “exclusive” relationships with many different record labels at once — including Blind Willie, Blind Sammie, Hot Shot Willie, and Georgia Bill, as a backup musician to Ruth Mary Willis. Willie’s recording career began in late 1927 with two sessions for Victor records, eight sides including “Statesboro Blues.”

He recorded prolifically through the 1930’s a did a session for the Library of Congress in 1940 under the supervision of John Lomax. The newly founded Atlantic Records — which was more noted for its recordings of jazz and R&B — took an interest in Willie and cut 15 songs with him in Atlanta during 1949. The one single released from these sessions, however, didn’t sell, and most of those recordings remained unheard for more than 20 years after they were made. McTell cut his final sides for record store owner Ed Rhodes in 1956, who had begun taping local bluesmen at his shop in Atlanta in the hope of releasing some of it. These turned out to be the only tapes he saved, out of all he’d recorded.

A younger contemporary of Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver, Eugene “Buddy” Moss was part of a near-legendary coterie of Atlanta bluesmen, and one of the few of his era lucky enough to work into the blues revival of the 1960s and ’70s. By the time he arrived in Atlanta, he was good enough to be noticed by Curley Weaver and Robert “Barbecue Bob” Hicks, who began working with the younger Moss. It was Weaver and Bob that got him his first recording date, at the age of 16, as a member of their group the Georgia Cotton Pickers, on December 7, 1930. In January of 1933, however, he made his debut as a recording artist in his own right for the American Record Company. He frequently played with Barbecue Bob, and after Bob died of pneumonia on October 21, 1931, he found a new partner and associate in Blind Willie McTell, performing with the Atlanta blues legend as local parties in the Atlanta area. A jail term curtailed his career from 1935-1941. Moss made some further recordings before WW II interfered. Moss continued performing in the area around Richmond, Virginia and Durham, North Carolina during the mid-’40s, and with Curley Weaver in Atlanta during the early 1950s, but music was no longer his profession or his living.

One of the first recorded products of the Atlanta blues community of the pre-war era, Peg Leg Howell bridged the gap between the early country-blues sound and the 12-bar stylings to follow. He signed to Columbia in 1926. Howell recorded prolifically up until 1929; he recorded solo and with his street group, the Gang (guitarist Henry Williams and fiddler Eddie Anthony). Williams was imprisoned not long after, and following Anthony’s 1934 death, Howell gradually disappeared from the area blues circuit. He spent the next several decades clouded in obscurity, with diabetes claiming his other leg in 1952. Howell was 75 when the Testament label sought him out in 1963 to record his first new material in over 40 years; he died in Atlanta on August 11, 1966.

Eddie Anthony and Henry Williams cut one 78 in 1930. In addition Anthony recorded as Macon Ed with the mysterious Tampa Joe. They cut eight sides in 1930.

Little is known about Fred McMullen. He cut 8 issued sides in 1933 for ARC label. Was part of the group called the Georgia Browns with Buddy Moss and Curley Weaver who cut 10 sides in 1933.

Barbecue Bob was the name given by Columbia Records talent scout Don Hornsby to Atlanta blues singer Robert Hicks. Hicks is widely credited as being the singer who more than any helped to popularize Atlanta blues in its formative period. Born to a family of sharecroppers in Walnut Grove, GA, Robert Hicks and his brother, Charley “Lincoln” Hicks relocated with them to Newton County. There the Hicks brothers came in contact with Savannah “Dip” Weaver and her son, Curley Weaver. With the Weavers, the Hicks boys learned to play guitar and sing. Robert Hicks was the first of this group to “break out”; Hicks’ first Columbia record, “Barbecue Blues,” recorded in Atlanta on March 25, 1927 and was a big hit. Over the next three years he made 62 sides for Columbia. Hicks died in 1931 of pneumonia. He was only 29.

Hawkins’ 1950 and 1951 find the excellent guitarist Chuck Norris in the band and on the latter session pianist Willard McDainiel (Hawkins lost the use of an arm in a car wreck). Among the highlights from this period was the shuffling “Wine Drinkin’ Woman” with it’s lengthy rollicking piano intro, the rocking “Mean Little Girl”, the driving “Trouble Makin’ Woman” boasting wailing sax from Maxwell Davis and supple guitar from Johnny Moore. There were of course mellower fare including “You’re The Sweetest Thing” and gorgeous low down ballads like “Blues All Around Me” (“My home is like a graveyard/And my bed’s like a tomb/And I hope my baby will come home soon”) and the sublime “Gloom And Misery All Around” covered by Ray Charles in 1951 as “The Snow Is Falling.” Also cut during this period was “The Thrill Is Gone” which peaked at #6 on the R&B charts and many years later revived by B.B. King who took the song to #3 R&B, #15 Pop in January 1970.

Hawkins never achieved a hit of the same magnitude but Modern stuck with and he continued to record some first rate material. The 1952 session featured T-Bone Walker on guitar, prominently featured on terrific numbers like “Highway 59”, “Doin’ All Right”where T-Bone really cuts loose and the “Thrill Hunt” clearly intended to cash in on the success of “The Thrill Is Gone.” The two numbers from 1953, “Bad Luck Is Falling” and “The Condition I’m In”, are fine numbers unfortunately marred by way too much echo. Better were a 1954/55 session that produced the tough rolling blues of “It’ Hard” and the moody “If I Had Listened.” These would be Hawkins’ last songs for Modern until one final hook up in 1961 for Kent, which Modern had become by then. Hawkins was still in fine form, albeit with a more contemporary sound, on a stomping, impassioned cover of “Trouble In Mind” and a terrific update of his haunting 1948 number “Strange Land” which remained in the can until 1970. The band on these numbers is unlisted by it’s a good bet that the stinging guitar, heard to fine effect on the latter number, is by Lafayette Thomas.

In his absence from Modern Hawkins recorded little outside of a 1958 session for the San Francisco Rhythm label. The session lacked the intensity of his Modern sides although Hawkins was backed by the marvelous guitarist Lafayette Thomas who really shines on “I Hate To Be Alone” the session’s best number although “Baby, Please Don’t Go” retains some of the passion of his earlier sides. He also cut a one off side under the moniker Mr. Undertaker for the Los Angles Music City label in 1955 that I haven’t had the opportunity to hear.

Thankfully the Ace label has issued the bulk of Hawkins’ recordings on CD continuing from their first vinyl release in the early 1980’s. In 2000 Ace issued “The Thrill Is Gone” collecting some of his best numbers and followed it in 2006 with “Bad Luck Is Falling” which included uncollected singles, alternate takes and unissued sides. Hawkins’ four song session for the Rhythm label has been issued by the Westside label on the collection “Rhythm & Blues: 50’s Blues & R&B.”

West Coast blues doesn’t have the same cachet as say Delta Blues or Chicago Blues but during the 1940’s the blues scene was really heating up on the West Coast (there was no pre-war blues activity in California). With the shipyards and aircraft factories desperate for labor during the war years, blacks flocked to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and small towns like Richmond, Fresno, Stockton and Modesto. One strain of blues that rose to prominence was a moody, after hours brand of piano blues popularized by the inimitable Charles Brown who himself was influenced by Nat King Cole. Brown’s influence was profound, setting the stage for fellow pianists like Amos Milburn, Floyd Dixon, Little Willie Littlefield, Ivory Joe Hunter, Cecil Gant and Roy Hawkins.

In the list of distinguished West Coast piano men Roy Hawkins is unjustly the most obscure and relatively little is know about him. In his heyday he worked extensively in Northern and Southern California, scoring big hits for Modern Records with all time classics “The Thrill Is Gone” and “Why Do things Happen to Me. ” Those who were influenced by Hawkins and covered his songs include B.B. King, James Brown and Ray Charles. Hawkins was out of music by the time of the 1960’s blues boom when artists were being rediscovered left and right and researchers were digging up everything they could about blues performers of all stripes. Despite all this activity Hawkins remained elusive and nobody seems to have talked to him at any length before he passed in 1974.

Like his contemporaries, Hawkins performed a mix of uptempo blues and mellow ballads usually backed by jazzy horns and prominent guitar. Hawkins excelled on doomy, after hours numbers where his smooth, honey soaked voice set the mood for late night drinking and moonlit strolls, the perfect soundtrack for a film noir movie. It wasn’t all doom and gloom as Hawkins and his well tuned band could rock with the best of them. Hawkins was blessed with superb backing on his records including outstanding guitarists like Ulysses James, Chuck Norris, Johnny Moore, T-Bone Walker and Lafayette Thomas. In addition there were great sax men like Lorenzo “Buddy” Floyd, Maxwell Davis and when he lost the use of his arm, high caliber piano from Lloyd Glenn and Willard McDaniel. Add to the mix a batch of first rate songs penned by Hawkins himself and you have all the ingredients for some classic music.

Producer Bob Geddins discovered Hawkins playing in an Oakland, CA nightspot and supervised his first 78s for his Cavatone and Downtown labels in 1948. Modern Records picked up the rights to several Downtown masters before signing Hawkins to a contract in 1949. Unfortunately not all of this material has been reissued but what is available show Hawkins to be a fully seasoned performer by this stage. “It’s Too Late To Change” sets the pattern; it’s a superb moody, fatalistic blues ballad sporting some lazy tenor from William Staples and guitar fills from the outstanding Ulysses James. In the same mold, and even better, is the existential “Strange Land” (“I’m drifting and drifting, trying to find a friend/I go from door to door but they just won’t let me in”) featuring superb musicianship, particularly the interplay between Hawkins’ piano and James’ T-Bone Walker inspired guitar lines. Also notable are the blistering instrumental rockers “Quarter To One” and “West Express.”

By his October 1949 session the records were being officially issued on Modern. It’s sounds as if the session was better rehearsed and certainly better produced. It was a fruitful session yielding more after hours gems like “Sleepless Nights” (I can’t sleep at night/I just roll and tumble all night long/I’ve got had this awful feeling, ever since you’ve been gone”), “Got My Dreams Under My Pillow” opening with some lovely piano and the classic “Why Do Everything Happen To Me.” There was more wailing material including the jazzy instrumentals “Hawk’s Shuffle”, “Royal Hawk”and the shuffling “On My Way” anchored by some catchy riffing horns and some all around incredible ensemble playing. The band on this session is listed as unknown but it’s likely the same one as the earlier sides, and certainly the remarkable fret work bears the hallmarks of James.

Show Notes:

For this week’s mix show a typically wide ranging mix of eclectic sides spanning from 1927 to 1976. This week’s shows has a fair dose of vintage country blues and acoustic numbers. Bill Williams was 73 when he made a wonderful debut for Blue Goose. He was a spectacular guitar player and a one time partner of Blind Blake. He died a few years after his debut but thankfully left behind enough material for one more album, “The Late Bill Williams – Blues, Rags and Ballads” which is the source of “Make Me A Pallet On The Floor.” Speaking of Blind Blake we play one of his most famous numbers, the dazzling “Sea Board Stomp.” I never tire of listening to Blake and I highly recommend JSP’s budget priced “All The Published Sides.” Another remarkable acoustic cut is by Roosevelt Charles a prisoner at the infamous Angola Penitentiary who made some field recordings in 1959-60 (many of which have never been issued). His magnificent vocal is heard on “Bye Bye Baby Blues” backed by guitarist Otis Webster. Also recorded in prison, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, is the aptly name Confiners on the wailing “Harmonica Boogie” featuring some Ike Turner styled guitar from Sammy Walker.

On the vintage country blues front we play a couple of terrific sides by Texas artists Little Hat Jones and the Black Ace. Jones cut ten fine sides at sessions in 1929 and 1931 including the gorgeous “Bye Bye Baby Blues” one of my all time favorite country blues tracks. He lived until 1981 but unfortunately never recorded again. B.K. Turner AKA Black Ace played National steel guitar on his lap with a slide like his mentor Oscar “Buddy” Woods.” He cut six sides in 1937 and an excellent album for Arhoolie in 1960 (the CD reissue includes the Arhoolie album with unissued sides plus the six early cuts). And then there’s Frenchy’s String Band on the terrific “Texas And Pacific”, good time music featuring trumpet and banjo. This one was the only 78 they cut with the flip being “Sunshine Special.”

We spotlight a few fine blues ladies including the bawdy Barrelhouse Annie. She cut five sides in 1937 including our selection, the salacious “If It Don’t Fit Don’t Force It.” If you’re wondering how this got past the censors the answer is it didn’t, it was never issued and neither was “Think You Need A Shot” or “Love Operation.” Speaking of forthright women there’s Little Esther on the sultry “I’m A Bad, Bad Girl” from her second session in 1951. She went on to record as Esther Phillips and was marvelous singer who recorded soul, country, pop and blues during her short, tragic life. When she sang the blues, however, there’s were few better and she remains vastly underrated. We’ll be spotlighting her in a future show. Memphis Minnie needs no introduction. Her recording career began in 1929 and here we catch up with her in 1953 still sounding fine on “In Love Again” with strong support from her husband, guitarist Ernest Lawlars (Little Son Joe) and pianist Little Brother Montgomery.

Also worth noting are some more recent cuts, relativity speaking, including Son Seals’ swinging “Four Full Seasons of Love” from 1976’s “Midnight Son”, my favorite album by him. Then there’s Luther Johnson heard on the 1966 cut “Creepin’ Snake.” This come from an interesting album on Victoria Spivey’s Spivey label titled “The Bluesmen of the Muddy Waters Chicago Blues Band” featuring Otis Spann, Sammy Lawhorn, George Smith, Victoria Spivey and Muddy Waters (listed as Main Stream no doubt because of contract issues).

We also dip into a little soul with Eddie Bo’s “A Heap See (But A Few Know)” from 1964. Talk about underrated! Bo’s recording career, stretches from the mid-50’s on, starting out in New Orleans R&B and moving on, in the mid-60’s to soul and funk. He made more 45’s than any artist has in New Orleans other than Fats Domino. While he made plenty of his own records he was also a major producer, arranger and collaborator on scores of other records. He produced records for Irma Thomas, Robert Parker, Art Neville, Chris Kenner, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson and Johnny Adams. And yes Eddie Bo is still active! Speaking of New Orleans we also slip in a track by Willie Tee who passed away on Sept. 11.