Tag: Big Mama Thornton

ARTIST	SONG	ALBUM
Mance Lipscomb	Freddie	Texas Sharecropper and Songster
Mary Williams & Big Joe Williams	I Want My Crown	Tough Times
Black Ace	Your Legs' Too Little	Black Ace
Black Ace	Golden Slipper	Black Ace
Sam Chatmon	I Have To Paint My Face	I Have To Paint My Face
Butch Cage & Willie B. Thomas	Forty Four Blues	I Have To Paint My Face
Mercy Dee	Have You Ever Been Out In The Country	Mercy Dee
Mercy Dee	Eighth Wonder of the World	Mercy Dee
Lightnin' Sam Hopkins	Meet You At The Chicken Shack	Lightnin' Sam Hopkins
Lightnin' Sam Hopkins	Once Was A Gambler	Lightnin' Sam Hopkins
Bukka White	Alabama Blues	Sky Songs
Bukka White	Jesus Died on the Cross to Save the	Sky Songs
John Jackson	Poor Boy	Blues And Country Dance Tunes From Virginia
John Jackson	Boats Up the River	Blues And Country Dance Tunes From Virginia
Big Mama Thornton	My Heavy Load	In Europe
Big Mama Thornton	Sweet Little Angel	In Europe
Johnny Young	Wild, Wild Woman	Johnny Young And His Chicago Blues Band
Johnny Young	Stealin'	Johnny Young And His Chicago Blues Band
Juke Boy Bonner	Going Back to the Country	The Centennial Collection
Juke Boy Bonner	Struggle Here in Houston	I'm Going Back To The Country
Robert Nighthawk & The Blues Rhythm Boys	You Call Yourself a Cadillac	Mississippi Delta Blues Vol. 2
Joe Callicott	Country Blues	Mississippi Delta Blues Vol. 2
R.L. Burnside	Going Down South	Mississippi Delta Blues Vol. 2
Houston Stackhouse and The Blues Rhythm Boys	Cool Water Blues	Mississippi Delta Blues Vol. 2
Earl Hooker	Strung Out Woman Blues	Hooker and Steve
Earl Hooker	I'm Going Down The Line	Two Bugs And A Roach
Clifton Chenier	I May Be Wrong	Bogalusa Boogie
Fred McDowell & Johnny Woods	Fred's Blues	Memphis Swamp Jam
Moses "Whispering" Smith	On The Dark Road Crying	Louisiana Blues
Henry Gray	Lucky, Lucky Man	Louisiana Blues

Show Notes:

Chris Strachwitz, a giant of roots music, passed on May 5th this year at the age of 91. He formed Arhoolie back in 1960. As Tony Russell wrote in the Guardian that he was many things: “promoter and publisher of what we now call roots music; record collector, retailer and distributor; amateur folklorist and film-maker. Above all, he was a fan. His enthusiasms were absolute, and he pursued them indefatigably…” The first records, starting with, Texas Sharecropper and Songster by Mance Lipscomb, were blues; great records by Big Joe Williams, Black Ace, Mercy Dee, Whistling Alex Moore, Lightnin’ Hopkins among many others. The label’s focus expanded to gospel, dance-hall jazz, Tex Mex, Zydeco as well as well as creating subsidiary reissue labels like Blues Classics which was a big influence in shaping my early blues tastes. He acquired the Folklyric label from Harry Oster releasing some wonderful field recordings that were also of great interest to me. I only had the opportunity to talk with Chris once when I was putting together a tribute to Big Joe Williams with my friend Axel Küstner who first met Chris back in 1972. Chris was friendly, outgoing and his passion for the music remained undiminished. In tribute to Chris’ legacy, and a trip down memory lane for me, I’m devoting some shows to favorite blues recordings from his vast catalog.

Arhoolie Records was founded in 1960 and has issued some 400 albums and recorded more than 6,500 songs,the vast majority of which were captured by founder Chris Strachwitz himself. His field recordings have helped popularize numerous branches of Americana roots music, from Tex-Mex and Cajun to blues and folk. Strachwitz did many of his most important recordings with down home artists such as Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins and zydeco king Clifton Chenier on field trips through the South beginning 50 years ago. It was during his summer vacation of 1959 that Strachwitz used this trip as a pretense for his pilgrimage to see personal hero, Lightnin’ Hopkins, in Houston. Seeing the legendary Texas bluesman on his home turf at watering holes such as Pop’s Place and the Sputnik Club inspired him to begin his own label in earnest, although, ironically, he would not be able to record Lightnin’ himself for a couple of years because he was “unaffordable.” Arriving in Houston in the summer of 1960 for his second visit, he was disappointed that Hopkins, was back in California at a folk festival. Fortunately during the trip, with the aid of Mack McCormick,  he stumbled upon songster Mance Lipscomb. Lipscomb was recorded virtually on the spot, in his house. Texas Songster and Sharecropper became Arhoolie’s first release as #1001 (the first of five volumes devoted to Lipscomb). Over the years the label has recorded a wide range of bluesmen such as Big Joe Williams, Black Ace, Fred McDowell, Bukka White, Johnny Young, L.C. Robinson, Earl Hooker, Big Mama Thornton and many others. Strachwitz’s interest in recording blues waned by the late 60’s and early 70’s as he reflected: “I just found it didn’t kick me in the ass like the old stuff did. I just found it formulaic.” There were some later blues records including late 70’s records by Charlie Musselwhite and The Charles Ford Band, a 1985 record by Katie Webster and a 1991 recording by pianist Dave Alexander.

When I talked to Chris Strachwitz he told me the whole story of how he met Joe and sounded like he was still in awe of him. As Chris said in this interview, and has written in liner notes: “I met Big Joe Williams through Bob Geddins, one of the Bay Area’s legendary ‘record men,’ whom I would visit periodically in the late 50s and early 1960s at one of his constantly moving studio locations in Oakland, Calif. One day I’d just stopped by to find out what was happening on the local R & B scene, when Bob pulled out a tape and put it on the old Ampex and said, ‘Chris, I’ve got something I want you to hear.’ I knew who it was with the opening guitar sounds and asked “where did you record Big Joe Williams” figuring he was in Chicago or someplace down in Mississippi. Bob Geddins replied that Big Joe had made that tape for him right here in Oakland and that he’d gotten into some trouble with the law and was sent to Greystone Prison. Bob Geddins had kindly paid Big Joe’s bail and I soon was face to face with one of the great blues singers of all times in a run down hotel on Oakland’s San Pablo A venue.

Mance Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 to an ex-slave father from Alabama and a half Native American mother. Lipscomb spent most of his life working as a tenant farmer in Texas and was “discovered” and recorded by Mack McCormick and Chris Strachwitz in 1960. Lipscomb’s name quickly became well known among blues and folk music fans. He appeared at the Texas Heritage Festival in Houston in 1960 and 1961, then capitalized on his California connection and made appearances for three years running (1961-63) at the large Berkeley Folk Festival held at the University of California. In between festival appearances he appeared at folk coffeehouses in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas, and he made several more recordings for Arhoolie. In the late 1960s, as interest in the blues mounted, Lipscomb experienced still greater success. He appeared at the Festival of American Folklife, held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 1968 and 1970, and he performed at other large festivals, including the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1970 and the Monterey Jazz Festival in California in 1973. Among the many musicians who became Lipscomb fans was vocalist Frank Sinatra, who issued a Lipscomb recording, Trouble in Mind, on his Reprise label in 1970. Lipscomb passed in 1976.

Strachwitz finally managed to record Hopkins for his Arhoolie label in 1961 and recorded him sporadically through 1969. By the 60’s Hopkins music was increasingly geared towards the new white audience that was embracing blues and this is reflected in the nearly dozen LP’s he cut for the Bluesville label. His Arhoolie recordings from this period, however, hark back to the raw sound of his early records that first captured Strachwitz’s attention. Hopkins cut several fine albums for Arhoolie including the self-titled Lightnin’ Sam Hopkins, an album featuring one with Hopkins’ brothers and the other with Barbara Dane, The Texas Bluesman, Lightning Hopkins in Berkeley and Po’ Lightning.

In addition to Lipscomb and Hopkins, another major down home blues artist Strachwitz recorded was Fred McDowell.  In September, 1959, Alan Lomax encountered Fred McDowell, the greatest discovery of his famous “Southern journey.” McDowell, for his part, was happy to have some sounds on records, but continued on with his farming and playing for tips outside of Stuckey’s candy store in Como for spare change. It wasn’t until Strachwitz came searching for McDowell to record him that the bluesman’s fortunes began to change dramatically. He recorded McDowell between 1964 and 1969 resulting in the albums Mississippi Delta Blues, Fred McDowell Vol. 2, Fred McDowell And His Blues Boys and  Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning.

It was through Lightnin’ Hopkins that Strachwitz met Clifton Chenier, who would become the label’s most recorded artist. “Ay Yi Yi”/”Why Did You Go Last Night?” was the initial single and in 1965 Arhoolie issued Chenier’s full-length debut, Louisiana Blues and Zydeco. Although they continued to work together until the early ’70s, Chenier and Strachwitz differed artistically. While Chenier wanted to record commercial-minded R&B, Strachwitz encouraged him to focus on traditional zydeco. The label issued over a dozen albums by Chenier including 1976’s Bogalusa Boogie, with his new group, the Red Hot Louisiana Band which eventually garnered the album an induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Chenier reached the peak of his popularity in the ’80s. In 1983, he received a Grammy award for his album, I’m Here!, recorded in eight hours in Bogalusa, LA. The following year, he performed at the White House. Chenier passed in 1987.

Many of today’s initial sides come from a fruitful meeting with blues historian Paul Oliver. As Strachwitz writes: “In the summer of 1960 I met up with British blues aficionado, author, and vernacular architecture scholar, Paul Oliver and his wife Valerie at the legendary Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. Paul was making this trip, his first to the USA, to produce a series of radio programs to be broadcast by the BBC and interviewing historic blues musicians at the source was a major goal of his trip. Paul had sent me in advance a list of names of blues singers who had recorded in Dallas and Fort Worth in the 1920s and ’30s, hoping I would perhaps do a little research on my way to Texas from the West Coast. Driving with Bob Pinson (now of the Country Music Foundation Library) into Texas, we both made many inquiries which led to meeting Lil’ Son Jackson and Black Ace, a singer who accompanied himself on a National steel guitar. With Mack McCormick I was fortunate to meet and record the remarkable Mance Lipscomb and later on the return trip to the West Coast with Paul, we also met Alex Moore in Dallas, an extraordinary character and pianist from the early era in blues history, as well as many other artists in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

In addition to the above mentioned Alex Moore, Strachwitz recorded several fine pianists over the years like Mercy Dee Walton, Piano Red, Dave Alexander (who later changed his name to Omar Sharriff) and Big Joe Duskin. Walton was from Texas who had played piano around Waco from the age of 13 before hitting the coast in 1938. Once there, the pianist gigged up and down the length of the Golden State before debuting on record in 1949 with “Lonesome Cabin Blues” for the tiny Spire logo, which became a national R&B hit. He cut sessions for Imperial in 1950 and Specialty in 1952-53. After a lengthy layoff, Walton returned to the studio in 1961, recording prolifically for Arhoolie (some of this material ended up on the Bluesville album A Pity And A Shame). Walton passed in 1962.

In his younger days Joe Duskin performed in clubs in Cincinnati and across the river in Newport, Kentucky. While serving in the US Army in World War II, he continued to play and, in entertaining the US forces, met his idols Johnson, Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis. In the early 1970’s Duskin began playing the piano at festivals in the US and across Europe. By the late 70’s,  with the reputation for his concert playing now growing, his first recording, Cincinnati Stomp, was released on Arhoolie Records featuring recording sessions done in 1977 and 1978. He recorded several more albums before passing in 2007.

Strachwitz made some superb urban blues records in the late 60’s and early 70’s. As he  wrote: “As Back in 1968, I told Buddy Guy, who was playing in a Berkeley club, that I was interested in recording his favorite neglected giants of Chicago Blues. I had met Buddy in Europe while touring with the American Folk Blues Festival and found him to be a tasteful and exciting player (and one of the nicest people I ever met). Buddy’s prompt response was: Earl Hooker and John Littlejohn! ” Hooker was recorded in 1968 and 1069 resulting the excellent Two Bugs And A Roach featuring Freddie Roulette, Louis Myers, Pinetop Perkins, Carey Bell and Andrew Odom. The posthumous Hooker and Steve (recorded in 1969)  came out in 1975 featuring keyboardist Steve Miller. In 1998 Arhoolie issued the CD The Moon Is Rising which contained the entirety of Hooker and Steve plus some unreleased live recordings. Johnny Littlejohn’s discography is frustratingly inconsistent but hands down his Arhoolie album, 1968’s John Littlejohn’s Chicago Blues Stars (issued on CD as Slidin’ Home), is his best outing.

Strachwitz also recorded Chicago bluesman Johnny Young. He was recorded at two sessions in ’65. Producer Pete Welding surrounded him with the best that Chicago had to offer, including two thirds of the then Muddy Waters Band of 1965: Otis Spann, SP Leary, Jimmy Cotton with Jimmy Lee Morris on bass, and for a ’67 session, Walter Horton, Jimmy Dawkins, Lafayette Leake, Ernie Gatewood on bass and Lester Dorsie on drums. The sessions resulted in the albums Johnny Young And His Chicago Blues Band and Johnny Young And Big Walter: Chicago Blues. The CD Johnny Young – Chicago Blues contains the entirety of the former and most of the latter album.

Also recorded were a some tough West Coast artists: L.C. Robinson,  Bee Houston and Big Mama Thornton. Robinson was born and raised in east Texas, and later relocated to California. Robinson played guitar and fiddle, but he was really known for his incredible steel guitar style. On one of his Arhoolie sessions he is backed by the Muddy Waters band, on another by his own trio issued on the alum Ups And Downs (issued on CD as Mojo In My Hand which includes an unissued radio performance). His only other full length session was House Cleanin’ Blues for the Bluesway label in the early 70’s.

Texas born, Los Angeles blues guitarist Bee Houston became known as Big Mama Thornton’s guitarist during the waning years of her career. He cut his lone album, The Hustler,  for Arhoolie in the 70’s. The CD version contains not only the entire LP but also most of a second, earlier but unissued session.

Big Mama Thornton was recorded on October 20, 1965, at Wessex Studio in London, England resulting in the album In Europe (the CD version contains six extra sides) featuring Eddie Boyd, Buddy Guy, Big Walter Horton, Fred Below and Jimmy Lee Robinson. Big Mama Thornton Vol. 2: The Queen At Monterey (reissued on CD as Big Mama Thornton – With the Muddy Waters Blues Band, 1966 with seven extra cuts)was recorded in 1966 backed by the Muddy Waters band: James Cotton,  Otis Spann,  Muddy Waters, Sammy Lawhorn, Luther Johnson and Francis Clay.

Some of the other Arhoolie artists featured today include John Jackson, James Campbell, Bukka White, Juke Boy Bonner and Louis Overstreet . For much of his life, John Jackson played for country house parties in Virginia, or around the house for his own amusement. Then in the ’60s he encountered the folk revival, becoming the Washington, D.C. area’s best-loved blues artist. He made his debut in 1965 for Arhoolie with Blues and Country Dance Tunes From Virginia followed by Country Blues & Ditties and John Jackson In Europe.

A bluesy group of street musicians from Nashville, Tennessee, James Campbell and his group played a hybrid of hillbilly, jazz, blues, old time popular, skiffle, and jug band elements. This assemblage of street musicians was originally recorded in 1963 and issued on the album as Blind James Campbell And His Nashville Street Band. The band worked road houses, on the streets of Nashville, at parties, a well as other social functions.

Chris recorded Bukka in 1963, shortly after John Fahey’s “discovery” of Bukka. Strachwitz allowed Bukka’s spontaneous performances to continue outside the bounds of the standard 3 or 4 minutes, often extending over multiple 7-inch reels of tape. “I just reach up and pull them out of the sky – call them sky songs- they just come to me.” That’s how Bukka White described his music making.

Weldon Bonner was born in Bellville, Texas on March 22nd 1932. He moved in with a farming family and began chopping cotton. His musical career began as a child, singing in a gospel group and by the age of twelve he had taught himself the guitar. In 1947 he moved to Houston, winning first prize in a talent show at the Lincoln Theatre in the city. This success lead to regular gigs at lounges, bars and juke joints throughout the Houston area, however the chances to record were strictly limited and by the mid-fifties he headed for the West Coast. n 1957, Bonner made his recording debut for the Irma label. He cut three sessions for Goldband Records in Lake Charles in 1960, billed as Juke Boy Bonner — The One Man Trio. Blues Unlimited magazine raised enough money for Juke Boy to cut a 45 for the Blues Unlimited label in Houston in 1967. Chris Strachwitz, on a field trip to Texas, heard the record and cut an album with him in December 1967. Further sessions followed for Arhoolie in Houston during 1967, 1968 and 1969.

Born in 1947 near Lakeland, LA, Louis Overstreet began singing in gospel quartets at an early age. He was working in a turpentine plant in Dequincy, LA, in 1958, however, when he felt the call to become a full-time minister. Blessed with a ferocious, deep singing voice and accompanying himself on electric guitar and bass drum (playing both at once), the Rev. Louis Overstreet, along with a gospel quartet made up of his four sons, took his own brand of street evangelism around Louisiana and to Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arizona, Nevada, and California before settling in as the pastor of St. Luke’s Powerhouse Church of God in Christ in Phoenix, AZ, in 1961. It was there that Chris Strachwitz recorded Overstreet and his congregation and sons for the 1962 LP Rev. Louis Overstreet. The album was reissued on this CD in 1995 with additional tracks recorded at Overstreet’s home and a track from a 1963 appearance at the Cabale Coffee House in Berkeley.