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Big Road Blues Show 4/20/25: Long Ways From Home – Paramount 1200/1300 Greatest Hits Pt. 3

April 20, 2025April 1, 2025 Jeff Leave a comment

ARTIST	SONG	ALBUM
Louise Johnson	Long Ways From Home	Juke Joint Saturday Night
Blind Blake	Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2	The Best of Blind Blake
Robert Peeples	Fat Greasy Baby	Twenty First St. Stomp
Tommy Johnson	Lonesome Home Blues	Blues Images Vol. 8
Little Brother Montgomery	Vicksburg Blues	Little Brother Montgomery 1930-1936
Little Brother Montgomery	No Special Rider Blues	Juke Joint Saturday Night
Louise Johnson	On The Wall	Juke Joint Saturday Night
Son House	Preachin' the Blues Pt. 1 & 2	Masters of the Delta Blues: Friends of Charlie Patton
Charlie Patton	Moon Going Down	The Best Of
Edward Thompson	Showers Of Rain	Essential Alabama Blues 1926-195
Charlie Spand	Soon This Morning #2	Dreaming The Blues
Irene Scruggs	Must Get Mine in Front	Complete Irene Scruggs
Charlie Patton	Some Happy Day	Primeval Blues, Rags, and Gospel Songs
Son House	My Black Mama, Pt. 1 & 2	American Epic: The Best Of Blues
Jaydee Short	Lonesome Swamp Rattlesnake	Blues Images Vol. 2
Skip James	Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues	Times Ain't Like They Used To Be Vol. 5
Skip James	22-20 Blues	Juke Joint Saturday Night
Skip James	If You Haven't Any Hay, Get On Down The Road	Juke Joint Saturday Night
Charlie Patton	Bird Nest Bound	The Best Of
Charlie Patton	Jim Lee - Part 1	The Best Of
Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas	Pick Poor Robin Clean	I Can't Be Satisfied Vol. 1
Skip James	Devil Got My Woman	1931 Sessions
Blind Joel Taggart	Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down	Guitar Evangelists Vol.2
Big Bill Broonzy	How You Want It Done	Blues From The Vocalion Vaults
Willie Brown	Future Blues	American Epic: The Best Of Blues
Willie Brown	M & O Blues	Blues Images Vol. 3
Son House	Mississippi County Farm Blues	Blues Images Vol. 4
Skip James	I’m So Glad	1931 Sessions
Skip James	Drunken Spree	Blues Images Vol. 3
King Solomon Hill	Down On My Bended Knee	The Paramount Masters
King Solomon Hill	Times Has Done Got Hard	Blues Images Vol. 1
King Solomon Hill	Gone Dead Train	Blues Images Vol. 3
Jabo Williams	Fat Mama Blues	Piano Blues Vol. 20: The Barrelhouse Years
Jabo Williams	Pratt City Blues	The Piano Blues Vol. 17: Paramount Vol. 2
Mississippi Sheiks	He Calls That Religion	Blues Images Vol. 3
Mississippi Sheiks	She's Crazy About Her Lovin'	Stop and Listen

Show Notes:

Paramount Records recorded some of the greatest blues artists of the 20’s and early 30’s. Today’s show is the third program inspired by the new discography book The Paramount 12000/13000 Series Second, revised edition by Max Vreede and Guido van Rijn. As Guido wrote in the preface : “In 1971, Storyville Publications published a groundbreaking discography of the Paramount label’s famous 12000-13000 “’Race’ series by pioneering researcher and collector Max E. Vreede (1927-1991). It featured contemporary advertisements on the left-hand pages, while the right-hand pages listed issues (about ten to a page) in numerical order. Long sold-out, the book has become a cherished collector’s item and an indispensable tool for the serious blues and gospel music enthusiast. In the more than fifty years since publication, a great many records that Max had never seen have been discovered, and the time is ripe for a second edition. Like the original, it features relevant advertisements on the left-hand pages, along with other ephemera; advances in editing and printing techniques have enabled their presentation in greatly improved quality.”

Paramount’s “”race record” series was launched in 1922 with its 1200 “race” series exclusively devoted to black music. The 1300 series operated between 1931 and 1932. A large mail-order operation and weekly advertisements in black owned newspapers like the Chicago Defender were keys to the label’s early success. The label’s successful recordings by Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake shifted the focus from women singers to male. The label went on to record some of the era’s most celebrated male blues artists such as delta legends Charlie Patton, skip James, Tommy Johnson, Son House, Willie Brown plus diverse artists such as Buddy Boy Hawkins, the Mississippi Sheiks, Charlie Spand, Papa Charlie Jackson among many others. The onset of the depression crippled the recording industry and Paramount was eventually discontinued in 1932. The show’s title, “Greatest Hits”, is of course a bit of a joke but the records selected are personal favorites with some hard choices being made on what to omit. We start with the Paramount 12500 series which covers 1927 to 1930 and today work our way through the 1300 series. Below you will find some background on some of today’s artists.

J. Mayo “Ink” Williams 1924 he joined Paramount Records, which had recently begun to produce and market “race” records. Williams became a talent scout and supervisor of recording sessions in the Chicago area, becoming the most successful blues producer of his time. Upon joining Paramount, Williams became the first African American to hold an executive position in a white-owned recording company. One of his duties was to arrange to have songs scored for publication in order to register them with the copyright division of the Library of Congress. Williams drew no salary but received a royalty from sessions he produced.[3] Two of his biggest discoveries as recording artists were the singer Ma Rainey – already a popular live performer – and Papa Charlie Jackson. A new biography on Williams titled Ink: The Indelible J. Mayo Williams lays out his remarkable career in music and as a football star.

Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake were the two major male stars of the label. In 1925 Jefferson was discovered by a Paramount recording scout and taken to Chicago to make his first records either in December 1925 or January 1926. Though he was not the first country blues singer/guitarist, or the first to make commercial recordings, Jefferson was the first to attain a national audience. His extremely successful recording career continued until 1929 when he died under mysterious circumstances. He recorded 110 sides. He was the most heavily advertised blues artist, just behind Lonnie Johnson and Bessie Smith, with forty-four ads appearing in the Chicago Defender between 1926 and 19

Long Ways From Home

Besides his music and session details, not much is known of Blind Blake. Despite his popularity and much investigation, he remains a shadowy figure. On his death certificate, which turned up in 2011, Blake’s place of birth was listed as Newport News, Virginia, and 1896 was entered as his date of birth. Blake made his first records for Paramount during the summer of 1926, playing solo guitar behind Leola B. Wilson. He made his debut under his own name a few months late with “Early Morning Blues b/w West Coast Blues.” Like Blind Lemon, Blake too was advertised heavily with twenty-four ads in the Chicago Defender. And as Tony Russell sums up: “Blind Blake’s most remarkable achievement as a recording artist was that in a career lasting almost six years, in which he made about 80 sides, he was never reduced, whether by slipping skill, waning inspiration or the single-mindedness of record company executives, from a multifaceted musician to a formulaic blues player.” After Paramount folded in 1932, Blake never recorded again. His death certificate lists his profession as “unemployed musician,” and his date of death was entered as December 1, 1934. The cause was Pulmonary tuberculosis.

Charley Patton was another popular male artists for the label who’s popularity seems to have been more regional. Born in 1891, Patton was older than the other Delta musicians who recorded during the golden age of the 1920s and 1930s, and he seems to have developed many of the themes that are now considered basic to the Delta blues repertoire. Paramount asked Gennett to record 14 tunes by Patton at their Richmond, Indiana studio in June 1929. “Pony Blues” b/w “Banty Rooster Blues” was the first issued. The coupling was a hit and Paramount labeled his second release, “Screamin’ And Hollerin’ The Blues”, as by The Masked Marvel. The advert bore a drawing of a blindfolded singer and the clue that this was an exclusive paramount artists. Anyone guessing his identity would get a free Paramount record of their choice. In all, Patton recorded 38 numbers for Paramount in 1929, some issued the following year, with two gospel songs issued under the pseudonym Elder J.J. Hadley.

In 1930, Arthur Laibley who had produced Charley Patton’s last session for Paramount, stopped in Lula to arrange another session with Patton. Patton told Laibley about Son House and about two other musicians Willie Brown and Louise Johnson, setting the stage for one of the blues most legendary recording sessions. The group headed to the Paramount studios in Grafton, WI, where House recorded six songs at the session: three of which were long enough to fill both sides of a 78: “Dry Spell Blues,” “Preachin’ The Blues,” and “My Black Mama.”

Mississippi County Farm Blues

Tommy Johnson’s records may not have been widely popular but he was certainly influential. His influence was unusually vast and long lasting; after all his recorded output only consists of six issued sides for Victor in 1928 and six issued sides for Paramount in 1929. A welcome surprise in recent years has been the discovery of several recordings of unissued material. It was Johnson’s Victor sides that were the most influential and oft covered: “Cool Drink of Water Blues”, “Big Road Blues”, “Bye-Bye Blues”, “Maggie Campbell Blues”, “Canned Heat Blues” and “Big Fat Mama.” Unlike the Paramount records these sold fairly well and were apparently the songs Johnson sang most often in person. As David Evans wrote: “For about thirty years Tommy Johnson was perhaps the most important and influential blues singer in the state of Mississippi.”

Paramount had some strong female sellers such as Ida Cox and Ma Rainey. Rainey waxed a remarkable body of songs between 1923 and 1938, more than 100 during that period. Many of the early woman blues singers had a strong vaudevillian streak but Rainey’s output is dominated by the blues, something by her own account she added to her act in 1902. Her records were advertised often in the Chicago Defender between 1925 and 1929.

Many iconic blues artists recorded for the label who’s records weren’t necessarily big sellers but are highly prized among collectors. Those in that category featured on these shows include artists such as Buddy Boy Hawkins, Ramblin’ Thomas, Rube Lacey, Ed Bell, Gus Cannon, Clifford Gibson, Frank Stokes, Jaybird Coleman, Blind Joe Reynolds, Geeshie Wiley and Ishman Bracey. Buddy Boy Hawkins recorded a dozen tracks for Paramount Records between 1927 and 1929.

Fat Mama Blues

In 1914, Gus Cannon began work with a succession of medicine shows that would continue into the 1940’s. His recording career began with Paramount sessions in 1927 cut under the name Banjo Joe and also made sides with Blind Blake. In 1928 he began recording as Cannon’s Jug Stompers, cutting over two-dozen sides with the group through 1930 for Victor. He returned in 1956 to make a few recordings for Folkways Records and made some college and coffee house appearances with Furry Lewis and Bukka White. In 1963 the Rooftop Singers had a hit with “Walk Right In” and in the wake of that recorded an album for Stax Records in 1963. He cut a few other scattered sides before his death in 1979.

Perhaps at the behest of Blind Lemon Jefferson, who had a session around the same time, Dallas music seller R.T. Ashford arranged for Ramblin’ Thomas venture to Chicago, Illinois, in February of 1928 for a session with Paramount Records, netting a total of eight titles of which all were released. He returned to Chicago that November for another session. Finally, he made four recordings for Victor in their field trip to Dallas in February of 1932.

In 1926, Jaybird Coleman began his recording career by making four sides for the Starr Piano Company (Gennett) which were not issued at the time. In 1927 Gennett issue several sides by Coleman with some sides withheld. Some of the Gennett recordings were later reissued on subsidiary labels like Challenge, Champion, Conqueror, Silvertone, Superior, Supertone, Bell and Buddy – often using a pseudonym like Rabbits Foot Williams or George Alexander, for the artist or group to avoid paying the musicians royalties. A 1929 record under the name Frank Palmes is likely Coleman. On June 15, 1930 Jaybird made his last solo record for Columbia: “Man Trouble Blues, and “Coffee Grinder Blues.” The latter record was advertised in the Chicago Defender.

M&O Blues

In November 1929 at the Paramount Recording Studios in Grafton, Wisconsin, four songs were recorded by a Louisiana street musician named Joe Sheppard who, on the run from the law, used the name Blind Joe Reynolds. Within a year, the four songs were released on two records. Neither record sold well, but almost 40 years later, one of the two attracted the attention of Eric Clapton who heard the song “Outside Woman Blues” on a reissue album. In 1967, Clapton and his Cream band mates Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce recorded a more modern day version of “Outside Woman Blues” on their classic Disraeli Gears. “Ninety Nine Blues b/w Cold Woman Blues” was thought to be lost until 2000 when a copy surfaced.

Ishman Bracey learned guitar from locals Louis Cooper and Lee Jones and moved to Jackson in the late 1920s after encountering Tommy Johnson. Bracey’s music came to broader attention after he auditioned for recording agent H. C. Speir, who operated a furniture store on North Farish Street. Speir arranged for Bracey and Tommy Johnson to make their debut recordings at a session for Victor in Memphis in February of 1928. At that session and another for Victor later that year, Bracey was accompanied on guitar and mandolin by Charlie McCoy. Bracey recorded again in 1929 and early 1930 for the Paramount label.

Paramount also recorded some terrific piano records by artists like Moanin’ Bernice Edwards, Charlie Spand, Cow Cow Davenport, Cow Cow Davenport, Will Ezell, Blind Leroy Garnett, Charles Avery, Charley Taylor and several others. Spand was the most prolific but remains a shadowy figure despite numerous attempts to uncover his story. Spand’s recording career started for Paramount on 6th June, 1929; during the next two years he recorded 24 songs. By 1929 Spand had moved to Chicago, and recorded “45th Street Blues” at Grafton in 1930, the title being an indication of his recent Chicago address. In September 1930 Spand traveled to Grafton to record some more titles for Paramount, six in total. Spand’s last session for the Paramount label was recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin in July 1931, by which time the company was on its last legs.

Big Road Blues Show 2/23/25: Sea Board Stomp – Paramount 1200/1300 Greatest Hits Pt. 1

February 23, 2025February 24, 2025 Jeff Leave a comment

ARTIST	SONG	ALBUM
Lucille Bogan & Papa Charlie Jackson	Jim Tampa Blues	Papa Charlie Done Sung That Song
Beale Street Sheiks	It's a Good Thing	Masters of the Memphis Blues
Ed Bell	Mamlish Blues	Blues Images Vol. 2
Blind Lemon Jefferson	Rambler Blues	The Best Of
Frank Stokes	Mr. Crump Don't Like It	The Best Of
Blind Blake	Southern Rag	The Best of
Gus Cannon	Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home	American Epic: The Collection
Blind Lemon Jefferson	One Dime Blues	The Best Of
Blind Blake	Sea Board Stomp	The Best of
Blind Percy	Fourteenth Street Blues	Blues Images Vol. 11
Blind Lemon Jefferson	See That My Grave's Kept Clean	The Best of
Ma Rainey	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	The Essential Ma Rainey
Bobby Grant	Nappy Head Blues	Before The Blues Vol. 3
Blind Blake	Wabash Rag	The Best of
Papa Charlie Jackson	Long Gone Lost John	Broadcasting the Blues
Gus Cannon	My Money Never Runs Out	Masters of the Memphis Blues
Johnnie Head	Fare Thee Blues Part 1	Broke, Black & Blue
Rube Lacey	Ham Hound Crave	Mississippi Moaners
Moanin' Bernice Edwards	Long Tall Mama	The Piano Blues Vol. Four: The Thomas Family
William Moore	Ragtime Millionaire	Broadcasting the Blues
Ramblin' Thomas	So Lonesome	Country Blues Bottleneck Guitar Classics
James "Boodle It" Wiggins	Keep A Knockin' An You Can't Get In	Piano Blues: The Essential
Madlyn Davis	Too Black Bad	Bottleneck Guitar 1928-1937
Bob Coleman & the Cincinnati Jug Band	Tear It Down	Cincinnati Blues
Barrel House Welch	Larceny Woman Blues	The Piano Blues Vol. 17: Paramount Vol. 2
George Carter	Ghost Woman Blues	Blues Images Vol. 11
Charlie Spand	Soon This Morning	Dreaming The Blues
Charley Patton	Pony Blues	Blues Images Vol. 2
Charley Patton	Prayer Of Death - Part 1	Primeval Blues, Rags, and Gospel Songs
Cow Cow Davenport	Chimes Blues	The Essential
Buddy Boy Hawkins	Voice Throwin' Blues	Times Ain't Like They Used To Be Vol. 1
Freezone	Indian Squaw Blues	Blues Images Vol. 16
Raymond Barrow	Walking Blues	Blues Images Vol. 16
Charley Patton	Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues	The Best Of
Charley Patton	Mississippi Boll Weavil Blues	The Best Of
Buddy Boy Hawkins	Snatch It And Grab It	Buddy Boy Hawkins And His Buddies
Charlie Spand	Back To The Woods Blues	Dreaming The Blues
Henry Brown	Henry Brown Blues	Twenty First St. Stomp: The Piano Blues Of St. Louis
Lottie Kimbrough	Rolling Log Blues	I Can't Be Satisfied Vol. 1

Show Notes:

Paramount Records recorded some of the greatest blues artists of the 20’s and early 30’s. Today’s show is the first of several programs inspired by the new discography book The Paramount 12000/13000 Series Second, revised edition by Max Vreede and Guido van Rijn. As Guido wrote in the preface : “In 1971, Storyville Publications published a groundbreaking discography of the Paramount label’s famous 12000-13000 “’Race’ series by pioneering researcher and collector Max E. Vreede (1927-1991). It featured contemporary advertisements on the left-hand pages, while the right-hand pages listed issues (about ten to a page) in numerical order. Long sold-out, the book has become a cherished collector’s item and an indispensable tool for the serious blues and gospel music enthusiast. In the more than fifty years since publication, a great many records that Max had never seen have been discovered, and the time is ripe for a second edition. Like the original, it features relevant advertisements on the left-hand pages, along with other ephemera; advances in editing and printing techniques have enabled their presentation in greatly improved quality.”

Paramount’s “”race record” series was launched in 1922 with its 1200 “race” series exclusively devoted to black music. The 1300 series operated between 1931 and 1932. A large mail-order operation and weekly advertisements in black owned newspapers like the Chicago Defender were keys to the label’s early success. The label’s successful recordings by Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake shifted the focus from women singers to male. The label went on to record some of the era’s most celebrated male blues artists such as delta legends Charlie Patton, skip James, Tommy Johnson, Son House, Willie Brown plus diverse artists such as Buddy Boy Hawkins, the Mississippi Sheiks, Charlie Spand, Papa Charlie Jackson among many others. The onset of the depression crippled the recording industry and Paramount was eventually discontinued in 1932. The show’s title, “Greatest Hits”, is of course a bit of a joke but the records selected are personal favorites with some hard choices being made on what to omit. We start with the Paramount 12500 series which covers 1927 to 1930. Below you will find some background on some of today’s artists.

The Paramount 12000/13000 Series first edition Besides his music and session details, not much is known of Blind Blake. Despite his popularity and much investigation, he remains a shadowy figure. On his death certificate, which turned up in 2011, Blake’s place of birth was listed as Newport News, Virginia, and 1896 was entered as his date of birth. Blake made his first records for Paramount during the summer of 1926, playing solo guitar behind Leola B. Wilson. He made his debut under his own name a few months late with “Early Morning Blues b/w West Coast Blues.” Like Blind Lemon, Blake too was advertised heavily with twenty-four ads in the Chicago Defender. And as Tony Russell sums up: “Blind Blake’s most remarkable achievement as a recording artist was that in a career lasting almost six years, in which he made about 80 sides, he was never reduced, whether by slipping skill, waning inspiration or the single-mindedness of record company executives, from a multifaceted musician to a formulaic blues player.” After Paramount folded in 1932, Blake never recorded again. His death certificate lists his profession as “unemployed musician,” and his date of death was entered as December 1, 1934. The cause was Pulmonary tuberculosis.

<center> Chicago Defender, Feb. 18, 1928 </center> — Chicago Defender, Feb. 18, 19278

Big Road Blues Show 11/26/23: Midnight Rambler’s Blues – Mix Show

November 26, 2023November 26, 2023 Jeff Leave a comment

	SONG	ALBUM
Little Johnny Jones	Chicago Blues	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Ann Sorter	Bad Stuff	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Matu Roy	Pete's Shuffle Boogie (Part 1)	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Bill 'Jazz' Gillum	Me and My Buddy	Me And My Buddy
Louis Jordan	Do You Call That A Buddy (Dirty Cat)	Let The Good Times Roll
Lead Belly & Josh White	Don't Lie Buddy	Classic Blues From Smithsonian Folkways
Nyles Jones	Expressin' The Blues	The Welfare Blues
Son House	Lake Cormorant Blues	The Real Delta Blues
Lattie Murrell	Wolf's At Your Door	Wolf's At Your Door
Square Walton	Fish Tail Blues	Rub a Little Boogie
Earl King	A Weary Silent Night	Earl's Pearls: The Very Best Of Earl King
James 'Wide Mouth' Brown	Boogie Woogie Nighthawk	Sittin In With Harlem Jade & Jax Vol. 3
Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown	Boogie Rambler	Boogie Uproar
Forest City Joe	Sawdust Bottom	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Magic Sam & Shakey Jake	Leaving This Morning	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Little Walter	My Kind of Baby	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Ishman Bracey	Left Alone Blues	Canned Heat Blues: Masters Of The Delta Blues
Sam Collins	Jail House Blues	Jail House Blues
Sleepy John Estes	Clean up at Home	I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More
Johnnie Head	Fare Thee Blues Part 2	Country Blues Collector's Items 1924-1928
Hardy Gray	Runaway	Playing for the Man at the Door
Baby Tate	You Can Always Tell	Another Man Done Gone
Jack Harp	After A While	Another Man Done Gone
Bessie Smith	St. Louis Gal	Frog Blues & Jazz Annual No. 4
Bessie Mae Smith & Wesley Wallace	St. Louis Daddy	St. Louis Barrelhouse Piano 1929-1934
Lonnie Johnson	The St. Louis Train Kept Passin’ by	Lonnie Johnson Vol. 3 1927-1928
Washboard Sam	I'm Going To St. Louis	Washboard Sam Vol. 5 1940-1941
Red Mike Bailey	Red Mike Blues	Piano Blues Vol. 6 1933-1938
Bert Mays	Midnight Rambler's Blues	Piano Blues Vol. 1 1927-1936
Big Maceo	Do You Remember	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Muddy Waters	Iodine In My Coffee	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Robert Lockwood Jr	Pearly B	Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 - The Special Stuff
Jack Ranger	Thieving Blues	Texas Piano Vol. 2 1927-1938
Walter Roland	Bad Dream Blues	The Melotone Blues Story
Charlie Spand	Got To Have My Sweetbread	Dreaming the Blues: The Best of Charlie Spand

Show Notes:

Midnight Rambler's Blues A mixed show for today spanning a wide range of blues from the 20s through the 70s. We spin two by sax man/bandleader Preston Love, spotlight some great tracks from a couple of long-out-of-print and album, explore some lyrical themes from a song popularized by Louis Jordan, spin a batch of songs about St. Louis and a trio of intertwined song revolving around Gatemouth and his less famous musical brother. Also, on deck some terrific sets of pre-war blues, including some outstanding pianists, three sets devoted to the box set, Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 – The Special Stuff, the final installment of a remarkable series and some blues recording in the field or in informal settings.

We spin two numbers by Preston Love today from a twenty-two track survey of his career from the Jasmine label titled Reflections In Rhythm & Blues 1951-1953. Love was an alto and tenor saxophonist, bandleader and songwriter, from Omaha, Nebraska, perhaps best known as a sideman with artist like Count Basie, Ray Charles, Lucky Millinder, Nat Towles, Lloyd Hunter and others. He began his career in the Big Band era and recorded prolifically with Count Basie in the 40s before getting his own recording career away in 1951. He worked extensively with bandleader/producer Johnny Otis during 1951, recording sides like “Twilight Blues” and “Strictly Cash” for Federal Records, before launching the short-lived Spin label in 1952, in partnership with Otis.

I have a huge fondness for the UK based Flyright label founded in 1970 by Bruce Bastin, Mike Leadbitter and Simon A. Napier. The label was responsible for so many great reissues as well as fine latter day field recordings. Flyright fell under Interstate Music Inc. which housed some of my favorite labels such as Krazy Kat and Magpie. We hear two numbers from the excellent 1978 release, Another Man Done Gone, a collection of field recordings from the 60s and 70s. The album includes three numbers by Jack Harp who we feature. Harp was born in Crestview, Florida about 1915. He claimed to Jeff Tarrer, who discovered him, that he had recorded with Barbecue Bob un June, 1927, with Blind Blake in 1929 and with Tampa Red in 1932. Back then he was a blues guitarist: “I was young and kinda wild and foolish.” About 1955 he turned to the church and when he was located by Tarrer, was playing from a wheelchair. On some of the numbers recorded, Harp’s wife, Zepherine, plays washboard; no ordinary one but an ice-tray from an old-fashioned refrigerator which stood up to the punishment better! Originally, she played this with two knife-blades, but Tarrer had that day bought her some thimbles to reduce the sound and make it easier to record. The bass drum is played by her daughter, Caroline James.

Jeff Tarrer described his meeting with the Reverend Jack Harp in an article for Blues Unlimited in 1965: “I first heard Willis Nathaniel Harp, better known to most people as the Reverend Jack Harp, and his wife Zepherine about three years ago on a street corner of Crestview on my way to my wife’s home in Andalusia, Alabama. When I heard it, I immediately knew this was the ‘old sound’ and I screeched the brakes to a halt and went back. The Reverend has been crippled from the waist down since he was nine months old. He is unable to use crutches, but gets around in a wheel-chair and goes from town to town with his singing family. Sometimes he appears at Negro churches and other times he plays at a café or some other regular gathering place in the Negro section of the town.”

From that album we also hear from guitarist Baby Tate recorded only a handful of sessions, spending the bulk of his life as a sideman, playing with musicians like Blind Boy Fuller, Pink Anderson, and Peg Leg Sam. When he was 14 years old, Tate taught himself how to play guitar. Shortly afterward, he began playing with Blind Boy Fuller, who taught Tate the fundamentals of blues guitar. For most of the ’30s, Baby played music as a hobby, performing at local parties, celebrations, and medicine shows. Tate picked up music again in 1946, setting out on the local blues club circuit. In the early ’50s, Baby moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he performed both as a solo act and as a duo with Pink Anderson. In 1962, Charters recorded Tate for the album, See What You Done Done for Bluesville. The following year, he was featured in Charters’ documentary film, The Blues. For the rest of the decade, Baby Tate played various gigs, concerts, and festivals across America. With the assistance of harmonica player Peg Leg Sam, Baby Tate recorded another set of sessions in 1972. Pete Lowry recorded him extensively in 1970 but theses sides remain unreleased. He died on August 17, 1972.

Another out-of-print record today features Guitar Gabriel AKA Nyles Jones, who recorded under the latter name the superb LP, My South, My Blues, for the Gemini label in 1970 (reissued in 1988 as Welfare Blues). Mike Leadbitter, writing in Blues Unlimited in 1970, called the single, “Welfare Blues”, the most important 45 released that year. Gabriel dropped out of sight for about 20 years and his belated return to performing was due largely to folklorist and musician Timothy Duffy, who located Gabriel in 1991. With Duffy accompanying him as second guitarist on acoustic sets and as a member of his band, Brothers in the Kitchen, Gabriel performed frequently at clubs and festivals, and appeared overseas. He recorded several albums for Duffy’s Music Maker label before passing in 1996.

We spotlight some songs that refer to a “buddy”, a term that appears in numerous blues songs although not all related. One of those is Louis Jordan’s humorous “Do You Call That A Buddy (Dirty Cat).” According to John Chilton’s biography of Louis Jordan, Let The Good Times Roll, Coot Grant (Leola Wilson) and Wesley Wilson played a significant role in getting Jordan his first recording date with Decca in 1938. When Jordan’s Tympany Four was the house band at the Elks Rendezvous Club at 133rd St. and Lenox Avenue, Harlem journalist Dan Burley recommended Jordan to Decca’s Mayo Williams, and Grant and Wilson evidently talked Williams into taking a chance on Jordan. Chilton further mentions that Louis Jordan’s “That’ll Just ’bout Knock Me Out” was written for Jordan by Mayo Williams and WesIey Wilson. A handful of Wilson’s earlier compositions, including “Do You Call That A Buddy,” were later recorded by Louis Jordan. That song was one of Wilson’s most popular songs, having been recorded by Grant and Wilson in 1932 (but not issued),Louis Armstrong, the Andrews Sisters, and Larry Clinton. Other “buddy” songs heard today are Jazz Gillum’s “Me and My Buddy” and a team-up by Lead Belly and Josh White on “Don’t Lie Buddy.” The latter songs is closely related to “Don’t You Lie to Me” which has been recorded by numerous artists such as Tampa Red , B.B. King, Snooks Eaglin, Johnny Young and others.

We a spin a set of interconnected songs: “A Weary Silent Night”, “Boogie Rambler” and “Boogie Woogie Nighthawk.” James ‘Wide Mouth’ Brown was Gatemouth Brown’s older brother. He cut his only record, “A Weary Silent Night” b/w “Boogie Woogie Nighthawk”, in 1952 issued on the Jax label. “Boogie Woogie Nighthawk” was based on Gatemouth Brown’s “Boogie Rambler” from 1949. James ‘Wide Mouth’ Brown’s “A Weary Silent Night” was covered by Earl King in 1959.

As usual we spin some terrific pre-war blues the well known and utterly obscure. We hear from Red Mike Bailey and Bert Mays today who are subjects in the new book Hot Time Blues: On the Trail of Long-Gone Blues and Gospel Singers by Alex van der Tuuk. Red Mike Bailey cut one 78 for Paramount in 1931 and six sides for Bluebird in 1938. He was living in St. Louis when he recorded as was remembered by Henry Townsend. May recorded for Paramount in 1927 and 1928 and recorded for Vocalion in 1928 and 1929.

We play Johnnie Head’s “Fare Thee Blues Part 2” today. Head “tentatively” was born in Georgia in 1887. His two-part “Fare Thee Blues” is a variant of the “I’ll See You In The Spring, When The Birds Begin To Sing” that the Memphis Jug Band recorded in 1927. Head’s sides were recorded for Paramount in 1928 and he cut two other sides for Vocalion that were never issued (“Johnny Head’s Blues b/w Gonna Lay Down and Die Blues”).

We also hear from the famous Lonnie Johnson on a great lesser known number with the evocative title, “The St. Louis Train Kept Passin’ By” featuring Jimmy Blythe on piano. The record was issued by Champion in 1927 under the name George Jefferson and on Supertone as by Cloudy Williams.

David Evans wrote the following: “Jack Ranger may or may not be the pianist on his three pieces, nor is it known for certain who plays the guitar with its typically Texas string bending. Ranger is a fine singer and songwriter, and it’s a shame he didn’t record more. His “Thieving Blues” was a source for King Solomon Hill’s “Down On My Bended Knee’.” His three sides were recorded in Dallas in 1929. On August 13, 1935 the Gallup Independent reported the following: “In jail today in lieu of a $50 fine were Cora and Jack Ranger, negroes, charged with vagrancy and arrested following a complaint of fighting at 123 north 1st St. Cora Ranger charged that blind Jack Ranger, a musician, had beaten her with an unloaded revolver.”

I’ve been hugely impressed with a series subtitled Down Home Blues from the British label Wienerworld. Since 2016 they have issued six collections: Down Home Blues Detroit – Detroit Special, Down Home Blues Chicago Fine Boogie, Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 2: Sweet Home Chicago, Down Home Blues: New York, Cincinnati & The North Eastern States: Tough Enough and the most recent, Down Home Blues: Miami, Atlanta & The South Eastern States – Blues In The Alley and the final, and most recent, Down Home Blues: Chicago Volume 3 – The Special Stuff. These sets are filled with rare and iconic tracks from well-known artists to the utterly obscure, but all with high quality musicianship and include material not previously available. These handsome sets come with thick, informative booklets filled with amazing photos and label shots, some not seen before. As a long-time collector and blues fan, these sets have made a big impression on me and I’ve featured tracks from these sets on many of my shows. These sets were produced by Peter Moody who passed away November 21st, 2021 and the booklet opens with a nice tribute to him. I talked briefly with Peter about an interview but was unaware of how sick he was at the time and sadly the interview never happened.

We spin three sets from the collection, including some rarities and lesser known artists. We hear alternate takes and unissued sides by Little Johnny Jones, Little Walter, Muddy Waters (the excellent “Iodine In My Coffee”, a favorite since first hearing on the compilation Rare and Unissued), Robert Lockwood Jr, Forest City Joe and several recordings by Magic Sam and Shakey Jake from a 1966 private home recording. Among the intriguing little knowns are Ann Sorter and Matu Roy. Sorter was a girlfriend of Robert Nighthawk’s and appears on on two of his 1940 Decca sides. She cut a couple of her own sides and appeared on records by Washboard Sam and Kansas Joe McCoy. Pianist/singer Mata Ray was born in Georgia and moved to Chicago and an unknown date. By 1944 she was living in Los Angeles where she recorded that year as a member of the Sepia Tones for Juke Box. She was back in Chicago in 1948 and around 1952 recorded the lone 78 under we hear today under her own name for the Ebony label listed as Mata Roy The Personality Girl And Her Boogie Beats.

Matu Roy "Pete's Shuffle Boogie (Part 1)" A couple months back we spotlighted the long anticipated box set, Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack Mccormick, 1958–1971. Today we hear a fine number by Hardy Gray that we omitted on that show. In 1968 McCormick recorded Hardy Gray, who introduces himself and says he was born in 1924 in Troy, Alabama. The recordings make clear that Gray was a songster. He’s sang mainly church music, but McCormick got a range of songs from him from religious numbers to “Careless Love”, “She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain” and more.

Finally we should mention some field recordings and those recorded informally. In Alex van der Tuuk’s book there is a lengthy chapter on Son House and Willie Brown. It inspired me to play on of House’s earliest “rediscovery” recordings from the album The Real Delta Blues. These sides were privately taped in the early 1960s in Rochester by Nick Perls.

Big Road Blues Show 11/27/22: Mix Show

November 27, 2022November 30, 2022 Jeff Leave a comment

ARTIST	SONG	ALBUM
Clifford Gibson	Don't Put That Thing on Me (Test)	Frog Blues & Jazz No. 6
Lonnie Johnson	Fussin' & Frettin'	Frog Blues & Jazz No. 6
Sam Morgan's Jazz Band	Short Dress Gal	Frog Blues & Jazz No. 6
Houston Stackhouse	Pony Blues	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Boogie Bill Webb	Take Your Time	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Isaac Youngblood	Big Road Blues	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Dossie Terry	Sad Sad Affair	Harlem Heavies
Dossie Terry	When I Hit the Number	RCA-Victor Jump 'n' Jive Vol. 4
Tommy McClennan	Cotton Patch Blues	Bluebird Recordings 1939-1942
Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup	Standing at My Window	A Music Man Like Nobody Ever Saw
Peetie Wheatstraw	What More Can a Man Do	The Essential
Leadbelly	Good Morning Blues	Leadbelly Vol. 5 1944-1946
Arzo Youngblood	Big Road Blues	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Mager Johnson	Travelling Man Blues	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Robert Johnson	So Soon I’ll Be at Home	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Mott Willis	Pick and Shovel Blues	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Scrapper Blackwell	Down South Blues	The virtuoso Guitar Of Scrapper Blackwell
Jesse Thomas	Zetter Blues	Jesse Thomas 1948- 1958
Lester Williams	My Home Ain't Here	I Can't Lose With The Stuff I Use
Lonnie Clark	Down In Tennessees	Down In Black Bottom
Rudy Foster	Black Gal Makes Thunder	Juke Joint Saturday Night
Charlie Spand	Moanin' The Blues	The Piano Blues Vol. 1: Paramount 1929-30
Raymond Barrow	Walking Blues	Mama Don't Allow No Easy Riders Here
Charley Patton	Pony Blues	The Best Of
Big Joe Williams	My Grey Pony	Blues Images Vol. 16
Howlin' Wolf	Saddle My Pony	Smokestack Lightning: The Complete Chess Masters
Little Brother Montgomery	Up the Country	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Furry Lewis	See That My Grave Is Kept Clean	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Lovey Williams	Train I Ride	Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8: Big Road Blues
Unknown Artist	Angola Bound	Angola Prisoners' Blues
Hogman Maxey	Fast Life Woman	Angola Prisoners' Blues
Joe Callicott	France Chance	Ain't A Gonna Lie To You
Jessie Mae Hemphill	Loving in the Moonlight	She-Wolf
Joe Linthecome	Humming Blues	Hokum, Blues & Rags 1929-1930s
Pigmeat Terry	Moaning the Blues	American Primitive Vol. II
Memphis Jug Band	K.C. Moan	American Epic: The Best Of Memphis Jug Band
Alfred Lewis	Friday Moan Blues	American Primitive Vol. II
Richard Lewis & Wilbert Gilliam	Long Freight Train Blues	Two White Horses Standin' In Line: Library Of Congress 1939 Field Recordings From Texas
Willy Flowers	Po' Laz'us	Boot That Thing: 1935 Field Recordings from Florida

Show Notes:

Frog Blues & Jazz Annual We span the 30s through the 70s with several sets devoted to two notable new reissue collections. In addition we spin two from underrated blues singer Dossie Terry, spin some superb rare piano blues, hear from several fine guitarists of the 30s & 40s, hear set revolving around the “Pony Blues”, some down-home blues, a set devoted to some unique singers and much more.

We open the show we several tracks from the CD included with the latest and last issue of the Frog Blues & Jazz Annual. This issue is 224 pages with more than 340 rare photographs and vintage advertising. We hear a test pressing of Clifford Gibson’s classic “Don’t Put That Thing on Me”, an unissued test by Lonnie Johnson and a great mix of blues and jazz on Sam Morgan’s Jazz Band’s “Short Dress Gal.” Included on the CD are two unissued field recordings by Pete Lowry that I was planning to play but changed my mind. From what I hear, Frog’s right to issue these is a bit murky so I will leave these off until I get more information. The annual has new research, features and articles by such notable authors and aficionados as David Butters, David Evans, Brian Goggin, Chris Smith, Paul Swinton, Alex van der Tuuk, Gayle Dean Wardlow, Jerry Zolten and many others.

The 42 albums that make up the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series released by Saydisc Records between Nov 1982 and June 1988 have now been reissued. Most of the recordings were of 20s & 30s blues and some include some latter-day field recordings by David Evans, Karl Gert zur Heide and Bill Ferris. Now for the first time these have been issued on CD as 7 sets each of 6CDs and which include Paul Oliver’s original notes. Before we dive into the important part of these reissues I’ll add something that I wrote on the Real Blues Forum: Outside of some material, I don’t understand the point of this reissue series as the bulk of the recordings have already been reissued countless times. The Document catalog has the complete works of all these artists and in the case of artists like Skip James, Leroy Carr, Frank Stokes, Blind Blake, Memphis Jug Band, these sides have been reissued in far better sound. From what I can tell the Matchbox reissues have not been remastered and the original records weren’t the best sound quality.

Matchbox Bluesmaster Series, Vol. 8 Big Road Blues

That being said, the field recordings are worth acquiring. Recordings by David Evans, Karl Gert zur Heide and Bill Ferris appear on Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol. 8 Big Road Blues. Here you will find the long-out-of-print album The Legacy of Tommy Johnson issued in 1972 on Saydisc Matchbox as a companion LP to Evans’ book Tommy Johnson. It was David Evans investigation into Johnson in the late 1960’s that we owe a good deal of what we know about Johnson, and it was through Evans’ field recordings that Johnson’s influence comes into sharper focus. As Evans wrote: “…Versions of Johnson’s songs derive exclusively from personal contact, though many of the artists undoubtedly heard Johnson’s records at one time or other.” Evans recorded many men who learned directly from Johnson including Roosevelt Holts, Boogie Bill Webb, Arzo Youngblood, Isaac Youngblood, Bubba Brown, Babe Stovall, Houston Stackhouse and Tommy’s brother Mager Johnson. Also included in this collection are Evans’ recordings that were was originally supposed to be issued in 1972 as Matchbox SDM225 to accompany a book titled Big Road Blues in the Blues Paperback (Studio Vista) series edited by Paul Oliver and Tony Russell. Evans submitted the manuscript, but the book publisher went out of business before publication, and the album was scrapped. Evans then wrote a greatly expanded version of the book as his UCLA doctoral dissertation (1976). A revised version of this was published as Big Road Blues: Tradition and Creativity in the Folk Blues (University of California Press, 1982). The album idea was revived and was supposed to be issued on Advent, but Advent went out of business. Many transcribed examples in the book refer to this non-existent Advent album. All tracks were recorded between 1966 and 1971. I’ve had David on the show a few times and he will return in the upcoming months to discuss his new book, Going Up the Country: Adventures in Blues Fieldwork in the 1960s.

The other valuable material is field recordings by Bill Ferris from the Blues from The Delta album, recorded during Summer of 1968. Included are tracks by Son Thomas, Lovey Williams Lee Kizart and Scott Dunbar. The Little Brother Montgomery recordings are also nice to have and come from the album Home Again recorded in 1972 at Little Brother’s home in Chicago. There’s also a nice Furry Lewis set taped by Karl Gert zur Heide in 1968 at Furry’s home, originally released as Furry Lewis in Memphis.

We hear some other fine field recordings today by Hogman Maxey, Richard Lewis & Wilbert Gilliam and Willy Flowers. Maxey was recorded as a prisoner in Angola State Penitentiary by Harry Oster in 1959. Lewis & Gilliam are heard on “Long Freight Train Blues” recorded at State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, nicknamed “The Walls” on May 11, 1939. Booker T. Sapps was recorded and photographed in Belle Glade, Florida in 1935 accompanying harmonica player Roger Matthews with Willy Flowers [real name Jesse Flowers] on guitar. Flowers cut a couple of numbers under his own name at this session. These field recordings were conducted by Alan Lomax, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle for the Library of Congress.

Not related to the above set is a recording featured today by Jessie Mae Hemphill whom Evans recorded. Hemphill began playing the guitar at the age of seven. She also played drums in local fife-and-drum bands, beginning with the band led by her paternal grandfather, Sid Hemphill, in which she played snare drum and bass drum. Aside from sitting in at Memphis bars a few times in the 1950s, most of her playing was done in family and informal settings, such as picnics with fife-and-drum music, until she was recorded in 1979. Her first recordings were field recordings made by the blues researcher George Mitchell in 1967 and David Evans in 1973, but they were not released. In 1978, Evans began teaching at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). The school founded the High Water Recording Company in 1979 to promote interest in the regional music of the South. Evans made the first high-quality field recordings of Hemphill in that year and soon after produced her first sessions for High Water.

We spin two from blues belter Dossie Terry who continuously recorded between 1945 and 1959 but is mostly an unknown. He recorded under the nickname Georgia Boy, indicating he was from this Southern State. His music is generally first rate R&B with great backing musicians like Rene Hall, Budd Johnson or Kenny Burrell. He cut some two-dozen sides between 1945 and 1959 for labels like Chicago, RCA Victor, King, X-tra and others.

Black Gal Makes Thunder

There is a second edition just published of King of the Delta Blues: The Life and Music of Charlie Patton. The original was published in a very small quantity in 1988 by authors Gayle Dean Wardlow and Stephen Calt (he passed in 2010). The book has substantially been revised and rewritten for the better with the assistance of blues researcher Edward Komara. I’ll be interviewing Ed and Gayle and featuring that discussion shortly on a two-part show devoted to Patton and those he worked with and in his orbit. Today we spin songs revolving around “Pony Blues.” Patton recorded the song in June 1929 during his first session. The song was also the first song to be released by Patton on Paramount label. This was Patton’s biggest hit and signature song. In 1934 he updated the song as “Stone Pony.”

We play some incredibly rare piano records today. Lonnie Clark only left behind two recordings that were made in 1929 for Paramount backed by an unknown mandolin player. Rudy Foster cut one 78 for Paramount in 1930. Raymond Barrow left behind just one song for Paramount in 1929; the other side of his 78 was by another artist. Spand recorded twenty-five songs for Paramount Records between June 1929 and September 1931. After a gap in his recording career, in June 1940 Spand recorded what were to be his final eight tracks, for Okeh Records.

We hear from some unique singers today on some very rare records by Joe Linthecome, Pigmeat Terry and Alfred Lewis. Linthecome plays ukulele and the “mouth trumpet.” He cut one record for Gennett in 1929: “Humming Blues b/w Pretty Mamma Blues.” Lewis was a harmonica player who recorded three titles (“Easy Rider’s blues” was unissued) for Vocalion in Chicago in 1930: “Friday Moan Blues b/w Mississippi Swamp Moan.” I first heard this on the album Harmonica Blues on Yazoo which has my favorite cover done by Robert Crumb.