VARIOUS ARTISTS | | MOTOWN’S BLUES EVOLUTION MOTOWN 31453-0613-2
LUTHER ALLISON THE MOTOWN YEARS 1972-1976 MOTOWN 31453-0612-2
AMOS MILBURN : THE MOTOWN SESSIONS 1962-1964 MOTOWN 31453-0611-2
While Motown is not remembered for its blues sessions, three releases in the label's Motown Masters Series should be warmly welcomed by blues fans. It should be noted that Motown's blues were not far removed from the rhythm and blues of the period. In fact on the compilation, "Motown’s Blue Evolution," perhaps only Luther Allison’s high energy tracks will strike some listeners as straight blues, the rest being viewed as R&B or soul-blues. However one pigeonholes this music, it certainly has a harder edge than the chart-making Motown recordings of the Temptations, the Supremes, and the Miracles that many of us loved then and still love today. While closing with three rousing Allison tracks with his high energy guitar and fever pitched singing, the highlights may be the six tracks by Sammy Ward whose gospel based soul-blues would have been at home on Stax. A couple of his early 5 sixties tracks, 'Part Time Love' and 'Someday Pretty Baby,' would be revived by Allison (and are on the Allison album). Also of great interest are three wonderful previously unissued selections of New Orleans R&B by Earl King, three rocking Amos Milburn selections, and two tracks each by another soulful singer, Arthur Adams and Little Willie John's sister, Mable John. While those having the rare Motown album, 'Switched on Blues' with have some of the tracks by Ward, Milburn and Mable John, much of the music here is previously unissued.
After his triumphs at various Ann Arbor Blues Festivals and a striking Delmark debut album, Luther Allison landed on Motown where he produced three albums, 'Bad News is Coming,' 'Luther’s Blues,' and 'Night Life.' 'The Motown Years 1972-1976' contains sixteen selections from those three albums, plus a previously unissued live 1972 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival performance of Little Walter's 'Last Night' (although erroneously credited to Sam “Lightnin” Hopkins). Four tracks are taken from 'Bad News Is Coming' including an outstanding 'The Red Rooster,' 'Cut You A-Loose,' and 'Dust My Broom,' each delivered with the vocal passion of Elmore James and high energy Freddie King styled guitar mixed with some hot slide. 'Luther’s Blues' is represented by nine selections including the slow, burning title track, and a rocking revival of Sammy Ward's 'Someday Pretty Baby. 'These two albums sported smaller bands, whereas the three songs from 'Night Life,' have a bigger studio aggregation that perhaps heighten a focus a bit more towards Luther's vocals. Luther may have aged in the two decades since these came out, but as those witnessing his three hour performances can attest, has lost no energy, enthusiasm, or passion in his music.
The release of Amos Milburn, 'The Motown Sessions 1962-1964' is another valuable reissue. Consisting of remakes of his Aladdin recordings along with some strong new material like 'My Daily Prayer' and 'Don’t Be No Fool,' co-authored by Milburn and legendary Motown producer Clarence Paul, included are seven previously unissued performances including a new alcohol blues, 'I'm Into Wine,' along with a new rendition of 'Chicken Shack Boogie' which is distinguished by the brassy horns, a harp solo by twelve-year old Stevie Wonder and Milburn’s smooth singing over a funky groove. Milburn’s piano here and elsewhere is of the highest order. While Cub Koda notes how more sophisticated Milburn sounds here, those familiar with the Mosaic box of Milburn’s Aladdin recordings will not be surprised by his comfort with ballads as witnessed by the remake of 'Bewildered.' Among the previously unissued titles is a version of 'I Wanna Go Home,' which Milburn co-wrote and recorded originally as a duet with Charles Brown for Ace, although in this case the vocal backing detracts. As Koda correctly notes, these were Milburn’s last significant recordings. Based in Cincinnati he would suffer a series of strokes at the end of the decade, and this writer visited the wheelchair-bound Milburn in the Cleveland Veterans Administration Hospital in May, 1971. He returned to his native Houston sometime after that and recovered enough to record with Johnny Otis for the Blue Spectrum label but those recordings clearly reflected the effects of the stroke. Those who have never heard the rare original Motown album are in for some real pleasures, while the unissued selections break no new ground but certainly will add to the value of this important reissue.
I wrote this review in 1996 although I am not sure what publication (it may have been Cadence or Jazz & Blues Report).
Charlie Sayles has come away from playing blues on the Streets of New York and Washington, D.C. Today, he might be found headlining at various Washington DC area clubs like City Blues, or Afterwords, or open at Tornado Alley for Kim Wilson. One might find him at festivals including the Smithsonian Festival of American Folk Life, the D.C. Blues Festival or the Pocono Blues Festival, or he might be at Carnegie Hall for a folk music concert that was part of Carnegie Hall's centennial celebration, In addition to tours of England and Europe, Charlie also has been traveling more in the Northeast United States and recently completed a very successful Canadian tour. While still not a “blues superstar,” Charlie's increasing visibility in great part is due to his first JSP album, the highly acclaimed "Night Ain't Right" that made made many aware of Charlie's highly personal and distinctive blues. Charlie's new album, "I Got Something to Say" will certainly increase the number of Charlie's fans.
Charlie was born January 4, 1948, in Woburn, Massachusetts with his parents moving to West Medford, Massachusetts a couple of weeks later. His parents separated at the age of 2 and Charlie grew up in a succession of surrogate families with music being a main comfort for him. He served in the Army, seeing duty in Vietnam and then Germany. He first picked up the harmonica while in Army. After his discharge from the military in 1971, he found employment opportunities fairly limited, and started traveling around America, visiting cities like Nashville, Atlanta and St. Louis before landing in New York.
While playing on New York's streets, Charlie was filmed for a BBC television show and discovered by Dave Sax who was riding a Broadway bus when he saw Charlie playing on the streets. Sax produced “The Raw Harmonica Blues of Charlie Sayles" for Sax’s Dusty Road label and the 1000 copy pressing is now a rare collector's item. In 1975, the late Ralph Rinzler, organizer of the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folk Life, discovered Charlie and placed him on a New York bill with Pete Seeger and then on a variety of Festival appearances. Rinzler was one of those responsible for Charlie Sayles eventually ending up in Washington, D.C., and making the transformation from a free-wheeling street musician to leader of his own band. In the years since he has been breaking into D.C.’s club scene. It hasn't been easy as he worked small rooms, often for the door, and still played on the street, supplementing his income by teaching harmonica, first to inmates at D.C.’s Lorton Reformatory, and then to a number of blues enthusiasts.
One of the first times this writer met Charlie was at a harmonica workshop the D.C. Blues Society had organized. He has had the pleasure of seeing Charlie at Washington area clubs like Fins (now Cowboy Cafe South), Afterwords, T.T. Reynolds or 15 Minutes and at a variety of events that the D.C. Blues Society produced, including the D.C. Blues Festival. Charlie launched the Blues Society's 'East of the River' concerts held among community groups in Anacostia part of Washington, and this writer remembers a resident of the housing complex near the park Charlie was playing at came on out and Charlie had him sit in on the melodica with the band. Charlie has never disappointed with his live performances, which includes a sprinkling in of harmonica blues classics from the second Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter in addition to his originals. He has garnered not only fans, but friends among the Washington blues community.
Which leads to the present album. Recorded at Solo Studios in Annandale, Virginia, near Washington, it was produced by D.C.’s most celebrated blues artist, Bobby Parker. Parker is another of Charlie's fans and friends and has played with Charlie now and then (for some of us not enough). With Bobby at the helm there is a bit more more body in the mix, and the backing is tighter. Bobby told me that this album takes Charlie Sayles up to another level. The recording may be tighter and cleaner, but Charlie's music maintains its raw edge.
Parker's hand is evident on the opening “I Got Something to Say.” Drummer, Daryl “Slam” Stewart from Deborah Coleman’s band, and bassist Anthony Gonzales, from the band of local R&B legend Phil Flowers, kick off a funky groove reminiscent of Parker's “Bobby-A-Go-Go,” before Sayles enters with some choice harp. Charlie sounds like he is trying to sing with his harp. It's a device frequently he uses beginning a song and contrasts with his solo playing. Another example of this is the intro to “Mississippi Saxophone,” where Charlie plays a riff that presages how he enunciates the phrase “Mississippi saxophone, saxophone.” Dig Deborah Coleman’s guitar on this track.
Charlie’s strongest songs often center around fractured relationships, usually involving someone betraying Charlie's trust like “Two-Timing Woman.” Even when Charlie sings how “I Love My Baby” he includes a plea for his girl to just treat him right. A different type of betrayal is dealt with in “Hey Joe,” which is not the song associated with Jimi Hendrix. Charlie has waiting for this Joe show up and repay the money Charlie lent him. Charlie’s patience is wearing thin and he’s packing some bill collecting gear.
In contrast, a good portion of this album is devoted to getting a funky groove down and getting people on the dance floor. “Mississippi Saxophone,” “Funky Sound,” and Well Now” are examples as the rhythm section get a groove cooking. “Mississippi Saxophone,” has been a favorite of Charlie's recent live performances as he sings about blowing his lonely little horn to make him feel good.
“Zydeco”, Charlie's celebration of the goods times associated with the Louisiana musical genre that has great popularity in Washington, is another high point here. It should be noted that the lyrics are Charlie's impression of zydeco as he does not actually play zydeco music. 22-year old Shawn Kellerman from Kitchener, Ontario, who counts Mel Brown among his influences, provides the hard-edged guitar here.
Also Charlie's harp is featured on two instrumentals, the moody “Little Walter Blues,” and the aptly-titled romp, "Screecher.” They provide additional samples of Sayle’s instantly recognizable harp playing. With only three albums over two decades, Charlie Sayles may not have recorded prolifically. However, he has not wasted his time in the studio. "I Got Something to Say will hopefully allow Charlie to make the next leap as a performer. He always puts out when he performs, just like he does here. He certainly has paid his dues and with his talent and originality, it is time he reaped some rewards.
This is from my draft for the liner notes for this album from 1995 or so. Here is Charlie performing "Zydeco."
Robert Lockwood Jr. | Got To Find Me A Woman Verve
It has been quite awhile since Robert Lockwood, Jr. had a new album, and for it to be on a major label makes it more welcome. There are guest appearances by Joe Louis Walker and B.B. King who each appear on two tracks. One surprise is that Gene Schwarz, Robert's long-time bassist was not on this session, replaced by Richard Smith, along with saxophonist, Maurice Reedus; harmonica player, Wallace Coleman; guitarist Charles ‘D.C.’ Carnes; pianist, Robert ‘Red Top’ Young; and drummer, Jimmy ‘Gator’ Hoare.
While Robert has previously recorded almost all of the songs here, the renditions here sound fresh, whether a solo version of Robert Johnson's 'Walking Blues,' or the band renditions of 'Take a Little Walk With Me' with Joe Louis Walker taking an incisive solo, or 'Little Boy Blue,' which, like 'Walkin’ Blues,' has some nice slide from Lockwood. Lockwood's rendition of Roosevelt Sykes’ 'Feel Like Blowing My Horn' is a duet with Walker, who also plays with Lockwood on the rendition of Leroy Carr’s 'How Long,' one of several tracks to sport some fine harp from Coleman.
Robert once kidded this writer during an interview for not remembering that Johnny Temple's big record was 'Big Legged Woman,' so it is surprising to find the song credited here to Charles Brown, and Johnny & Shuggie Otis. | don’t blame Robert, but rather blame whoever at Verve was responsible for the songwriting credits. Coleman’s harp is particularly outstanding on this selection. The longest track is 'My Daily Wish,' that Lockwood originally recorded with just Otis Spann on piano for the classic Candid album "Otis Spann is the Blues." Reedus, D.C. Carnes and Coleman all stretch out as Lockwood comps behind their solos as well as adding some tasty fills. Reedus stretches out on sax, and D.C. Carnes on six-string guitar with Lockwood comping behind both on twelve-string, as well as adding his characteristic fills.
King plays on the title track. It sounds like King’s guitar was overdubbed over the vocal and band track. This perhaps explains why the backing sounds a touch tentative. King takes the first two and closing solos, while D.C. Carnes takes a crisp, biting solo for the third break. Lockwood always has been a straight-forward singer, who eschewed any gimmicks or histrionics in his delivery. The vigor of his singing belies his years, and he is particularly effective with his casual approach on 'My Daily Wash.'
His off-the-cuff approach also works well on Paul Gayten’s, 'For You My Love' and Memphis Slim's 'Everyday | Have the Blues.' Both performances feature jazzy arrangements with bop voicings and sound very different from Lockwood’s earlier recordings of the songs. The freshness of the arrangements in part explains why Lockwood is so effective in performing songs that generally have become stale in far lesser hands. Lockwood takes fine solos on both tracks, which also showcase excellent piano from Young and saxophone from Coleman, and are perhaps the highpoints in a varied and consistently entertaining disc by one of the true legends of the blues.
This review appeared in 1998 in issue 230 of Jazz & Blues Report. I have made some minor spacing changes. I likely received a review copy from the record company.
I have been slow on writing new material, so here is a review from 1997,
Bobby Patterson Second Coming Ultrax / Ichiban
Bobby Patterson, who made some recordings for Ronn some years ago, has a new album out on the Ichiban distributed Proud/Ultrax. A singer and guitarist, Patterson’s vocals bear some resemblance to those of Bobby Parker. Patterson has produced a first rate album of modern soul-blues.
He shows himself to be a terrific vocalist as he digs into these songs, most of which are originals dealing with typical lyrical themes of back door men and relationships falling apart. More than one song finds Bobby working and slaving for his woman while it is the other man who gets the thrills. As Bobby sings on the opening "If He's Gettin’ the Thrills", let him pay the bills. Patterson sounds like the relationship just broke-up on "Even a Dog" and "All We Have in Common," standing out.
He also ably handles the philosophical, soulful ballad, "You Can't Steal Something." "Right Place, Wrong Time," is not the familiar song associated with Otis Rush but a Patterson original where he tells the story about going to a party where he finds another man making love with his wife. While Patterson plays guitar, it is not heavily featured here - although there is some nice guitar on "Keep Your Hand to Yourself," which has a nice funky groove as Patterson tells his friend that he doesn’t mind him keeping his eyes on Patterson’s babe, but he better keep his hands to himself. It may be Butch Bonner that is prominent on guitar here. Patterson also is heard on a fine interpretation of the Bobby Bland classic "I'll Take Care of You".
The studio bands heard provide strong backing, and while there is some synthesized strings and vocal choruses employed, they are not employed in a heavy-handed manner, but enhance Patterson’s fervent, soulful singing. This is one of the best soul-blues releases I've heard recently.
This review originally appeared in the October 1997 (Issue 225) of Jazz & Blues Report although I have reformatted it into paragraphs. I likely received a review copy from Ichiban.
The present collection from English Charly puts into one double record package, the two ABC-Bluesway albums Rushing recorded in the sixties and these are among his last studio recordings. (He did record a later album for RCA) but show no diminution in his vocals. Ten titles come from a session that the late Oliver Nelson produced and include such notable sidemen as Clark Terry on trumpet, and fellow Basie alumni Dickie Wells on trombone.
Nelson provided some interesting arrangements with a somewhat modernistic touch trying to provide a more up-to-date sound. Rushing is in heard on some standard fare including a swaggering ‘Everyday I Have the Blues’, "Berkeley Campus Blues" (an updating of “Harvard Blues” from Rushing days with Basie that also was an attempt at topicality with comments on then current student demonstrations and having the Berkeley Blues with Ronnie Reagan around the bend), and “You Can’t Run Around” which features a nice trombone solo from Wells and some nice playing on the organ.
The remaining sides come from a session that Bob Thiele produced and included Dickie Wells, tenor saxophonist Buddy Tate (another Basie alumni,) pianist Dave Frishberg, and guitarists Wally Richardson and Hugh McCracken. Rushing is in good form on his classic "Sent For You Yesterday", and their is some fine band work and ancxcellent Buddy Tate solo on "Tell Me I'm Not Too Late”. On "Crying Blues”, the playing by one of the guitarists and Frishberg behind Rushing is splendid. The last selection "We Remember Pres" is an instrumental tribute to the great saxophonist Lester Young.
In summary, some very rewarding listening that I do not regret buying, and a release that those with a taste for swinging sounds would do well to check out. It is interesting that this was released on Charly as opposed to the sister label Affinity which specializes in jazz releases.
This review dates from 1986 or so when this vinyl reissue came out. I may have written this for Cadence but am not positive. You may find this on ebay or similar sources of used recordings. Here is "Everyday I Have the Blues.
I have 'retired' from writing reviews for publication, but I will try to rescue some of my older reviews as well as briefly comment on things that interest me in the blog in the future.
Here is a composite review of several Delmark Blues reissues that appeared in Issue 218 of the Jazz & Blues Report (1997). I likely received review copies from Delmark.Some of these may still be in print and others may be available used. Check out delmark.com for availability on disc, vinyl and digital downloads.
These releases are among the latest recordings from Delmark Records’ back catalog to be issued on compact disc with additional tracks (including alternate takes and unissued songs) expanding each of these from their original vinyl format.
Luther Allison’s first album, Love Me Mama (DE-625) will certainly be of great interest given Allison’s phenomenal resurgence in the past couple years. These 1969 recordings with bassist Mojo Elem, drummer Bob Richey, guitarist Jimmy Dawkins on rhythm, and saxophonist Jim Conley still sound fresh with the rawness and passion Allison brings to his performance. B.B. King's influence is highly evident from the opening Why | Love the Blues, a transformation of Why | Sing the Blues, and renditions of 4:00 O'Clock in the Morning, the title track (a version of Rock Me Baby) and You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now. But King’s stamp was more evident on Allison’s guitar and choice of material than his vocals, which this writer has always compared to the vocals of latter Elmore James, with strong renditions turned in of Dust My Broom, and The Sky is Crying. Allison’s experimentation with the wah wah pedal are intriguing in his exploration not only of their tonal palette, but use for a rhythmic springboard. Allison’s fans will definitely want these, but they hold up for more than historical value).
Jimmy Dawkins is represented by his third album, Blisterstring(DE-641), which adds pianist Sonny Thompson to Dawkins’ band that included Jimmy Johnson on rhythm guitar. Dawkins sings with as much passion here as on any recording he ever made, and the band is as good as he ever had with plenty of space for Dawkins gritty, trebly guitar with effective remakes of such blues classics as Feel So Bad, Blue Monday (the Smiley Lewis song), and Blues With a Feeling, along with an instrumental take of Ode to Billie Joe. Along with these is a fine original topical blues, Welfare Line. Several unissued titles fill out this session which is far better than Dawkins subsequent recordings over the past two decades.
Barrelhouse pianist Speckled Red is celebrated for his twenties recording of the bawdy The Dirty Dozens, along with some other celebrated recordings. He was Delmark’s first blues artist, and The Dirty Dozens (DE-601) makes available the label's first blues release. This is rough hewn barrelhouse and boogie woogie as Rufus Perryman (Red's real name) rocks the eighty-eights on new recordings of Right String, Wrong Yo Yo and Wilkins Street Stomp in addition to his signature song. Also included is his take on the classic Cow Cow Blues and the previously unissued numbers include a terrific take of Early in the Morning along with two alternate renditions of the Dozens that are raunchier than the issued version and are not suitable for airplay or young, impressionable children. While his timing occasionally was eccentric, he played with an irresistible drive and his exuberant vocals are reminiscent of the greatest of all blues pianists, Roosevelt Sykes.
Also for blues piano fans is the anthology Blues Piano Orgy (DE-626) which brings together selections by Red, Roosevelt Sykes, Sunnyland Slim, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Slim, Curtis Jones and Otis Spann. The Spann track, Three-In-One Blues dates from the session that produced Junior Wells’ Southside Blues Jam and is a duet with drummer Fred Below on one of his last recordings. Sykes is heard on four numbers featuring his strong two-fisted playing a rendition of the dozens, Kickin’ Motor Scooter, while Sunnyland Slim bellows his vocals with his distinctive piano accompaniment, including a tasty rendition of one of his signature songs, Everytime | Get to Drinking. Little Brother Montgomery's selections mix stride and ragtime to his barrelhouse attack, and his classic No Special Rider is among the tunes reprised here. Two selections by Memphis Slim (not on the original album) were originally recorded for the United label with a band that included Matt Murphy's incisive guitar. The under-appreciated lyricist and singer-pianist Curtis Jones is heard on three numbers, including two of his signature pieces, Lonesome Bedroom Blues and Tin Pan Alley Blues. This album never has less than a genial quality to it and is a tasty sampler of some very significant blues pianists.
| recall some statement by one of the new hot-shot teenage ‘blues’ guitarists out there responding to the question of how can he play the blues given his lack of experience by responding that it was hard being a teenager. Whether one takes this as another sign of the dumbing of America, one notes that while this act might get written up in People Magazine or whatever and be hyped by one of the Blues Brothers, that modern day minstrel act, Larry Garner, perhaps one of the most gifted singer-songwriters in the blues world today, can’t get his new Verve-Gitanes album, Baton Rouge, released in the United States. Available only overseas, | was lucky to find a copy.
Like his previous recordings have evidenced, Garner is able to draw on his experiences working in a chemical plant and raising his family and the experiences of others in his community to spin his stories and songs, whether singing about the Juke Joint Woman, or an addiction to video poker in New Bad Habit, with nice horns added. Musically, there is a similarity to the blues of Kenny Neal, although one might call Garner a bit leaner and more laconic in his attack. Garner is joined here by Larry McCray who adds his very insistent guitar and joins Garner with vocals on a couple of songs, including the amusing Blues Pay My Way, where Garner notes how he can’t fail as a musician or when he returns to the chemical plant, everyone will joke “We told you so,” and Airline Blues, where the two trade memories of missing their planes. The conversational quality of Garner's lyrics and musical approach unquestionably helped make it sound like the two had played together for years.
Garner's back porch philosophizing hits strongest on The Road of Life, while he matches his anti-drug lyric about no one overdosing on the blues to a reggae groove on High on Music. The title song, Go To Baton Rouge, closes this album and is a travelogue about where to find the blues in Louisiana, and as he says, “Come to Baton Rouge if you are looking for the blues.”
This is an album that deserves to be heard and made available in the US. Whether Polygram (corporate parent of Verve-Gitanes) will change its mind is unlikely, but at least they can make this an easier to find import.
This review originally appeared in the July-August 1997 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 223). I likely purchased it. As I type this blog entry, it is available although one might need to check out vendors of used records. Here is Go To Baton Rouge.
On the heels of their second batch of Original Blues Classics, Fantasy (under the guidance of Lee Hildebrand) has delved into the vaults of Stax Records to issue five albums of blues, soul and gospel. Of these Jammed Together (Stax MPS-8544) by Steve Cropper, Pops Staples and Albert King, is the only one that falls within Cadence’s coverage. Originally released (I believe) around 1970, this represented Stax’s attempt to hype their artists with a "Super Session’ type album combining three of the more noteworthy guitarists on their label on a bluesy program. (What’d I Say/ Tupelo/ Opus de Soul/ Baby What You Want Me To Do/ Big Bird/ Homer’s Theme/ Trashy Dog/ Don’t Turn Your Heater Down/ Water/ Knock on Wood) (40:16).
Three of the ten tracks are vocals with Aibert King taking a pleasant yocal on the opening Ray Charles classic, Pops Staples aptly handles the honors on John Lee Hooker ’s brooding “Tupelo” about floods in the Tupelo, Mississippi area, and Steve Cropper (best remembered for his associations with Otis Redding and Booker T.) sings (surprisingly well) on the soulful “Water." On these three selections as well as the other numbers, much space is given for the three guitarists to solo and trade licks. Like Super-Session and most albums of that ilk, this was directed at the “hard rock” audience that liked lots of flashy playing. Like most of those records, nothing here that is particularly memorable. A lot of flash, but little substance.
Even those Cadence readers with only a modest interest in blues will surely have heard of “Going Down Slow”, one of the most recorded blues songs of the past forty years. It was authored by James Oden who as St. Louis Jimmy recorded and performed extensively in the forties and early fifties with the likes of Roosevelt Sykes, Big Bill Broonzy, Sunnyland Slim and Muddy Waters. A car crash in 1957 left him with a stiff leg and his performing career slackened in the last years of his life. He did make an odd recording here and there, the most notable being a part of Otis Spann’s Candid sessions (originally issued on the Barnaby album Walking the Blues and more recently made available on Crosscut records), but otherwise was not as prominent as he had been.
Dog House Blues on Dutch AGB records (AGB 1701) collects 16 of his recordings (Going Down Slow/ Monkey Face Blues/ Poor Boy Blues/ Back on My Feet Again/ Nothing But Blues/ Soon Forgot You/ Strange Woman Blues/ One More Break/ Bad Condition/ Dog House Blues/ Biscuit Roller / I'm Sorry Now/ Shame On You Baby/ 1°11 Never Be Satisfied/ Drinkin’ Woman/ Why Work) and range from his first 1941 coupling of “Going Down Slow” to the wry Monkey Faced Blues” to "Why work” from 1953. With the exception of “Shame on You Baby" and “I’ll Never Be Satisfied”, which feature Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes is the pianist. Big Bill Broonzy contributes some nice electric guitar to “Poor Boy Blues, “Back on My Feet Again”,
“Nothing But Blues” and Soon Forgot You”, while J.T. Brown is on alto saxophone and Willie Dixon is on bass on the title track, and Eddie Chamblee’s tenor is present on “Biscuit Roller” and “I’m Sorry Now".
Oden was a pleasing, somewhat nasal blues vocalist He was an exceptional writer of blues lyrics and he phrased his singing to give proper emphasis to his well crafted lyrics. The songs here include some real classics and provide numerous illustrations of Oden’s skill in turning out songs whose lyrics stick in one’s mind.
In addition to Oden, this album provides a generous helping of Roosevelt Sykes’ piano. Sykes was one of the greatest blues pianists and is heard here on many marvelous accompaniments. His relaxed two fisted down in the alley playing is the perfect backdrop for Oden’s singing. Given the quality of the playing and the material, there is much for the blues fan to discover here.
This album, like many recent European reissues of pre-war blues, presents songs chronologically. Often, this doesn’t make for a completely listenable blues reissue. Even though much of the album is in either a slow or a medium tempo, Sykes splendid, piano and the varying instrumentation on the tracks provides enough contrast so that listening isn’t tedious. Packaging is functional, with the liner notes taken from the comments of Oden and Sykes in Paul Oliver's book, Conversation With the Blues In summary, there is some very fine blues to be heard here.
Kurt Crandall - Starts on the Stops - YesterYear Records
Kurt Crandall mailed his new CD (I believe his fourth album to me), and after giving it a couple of spins, I checked out his website and discovered he is well-traveled as well as a seasoned performer. Currently living in the Richmond, Virginia area, Crandall has had stops in Kansas City, Washington D.C., Macon Georgia, Chicago, and Seattle. While living in Washington, he played with Jesse James & the Raiders, a band led by the late Jesse James Johnson, who played with Bo Diddley when the music legend lived in Washington.
Crandall has penned five original songs, and three instrumental. He also performs two covers. Two different bands back Crandall's harp and vocals. Guitarist Karl Angerer is on nine of the ten selections. There is a rhythm section of Bill Heid on piano, Aaron Binder on drums, and Rusty Farmer on upright bass on the first five tracks. On the other selections, Reid Doughten plays guitar on four songs with a rhythm section of Johnny Hott on drums, John Sheppard on electric bass, Clark Stern on piano, and Carl Bender on saxophones.
Crandall is a very appealing, unforced vocalist and a gifted harp player who at different times evokes William Clarke, Toots Thielemans, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Junior Wells. Crandall also crafts some very appealing songs filled with honesty and humor as he leads his musicians in a set that might be described as West Coast Swing, a fusion of classic Chicago blues, West Coast Jump Blues with a dash of Memphis blues blasters. Things kick off with the lively "Skedaddle," with some Williams Clarke-styled chromatic harp, swing band drumming from Binder, and a dazzling, jazz-inflected solo from Heid, who mixes the sophistication of a Teddy Wilson with Junior Mance's funky blues. Heid's piano also shines on "Early Bird Special," a humorous tune centered on food specials some restaurants direct at the elderly. Crandall's Toots Thielemans styled chromatic playing is exemplary. There is some splendid diatonic harp on "Razz My Berries," an easy swinging shuffle. Another instrumental, "Beignets and Coffee," sounds like a variation on "La Cucaracha." After Crandall's harp solo, Angerer quotes Ray Charle's "Mary Ann" in his sterling solo.
With his opening harp solo evoking the second Sonny Boy, Crandall does a solid cover of the Little Willie John hit, "Home at Last," on an arrangement based on Junior Wells version (titled "Country Girl"). This track is one of Doughten's guitar features, and he scintillates here. Musically "Go Without Saying" evokes classic Johnny Guitar Watson recordings with some slashing Angerer guitar and some relaxed singing in the manner of a Roy Milton. After evoking "Sloppy Drunk" while singing about his "Bull Headed Woman," Crandall musically reworks John Lee Williamson's "Blue Bird Blues" as well as modifies some of the lyrics changing references to Jackson, Tennessee to Macon, Georgia.
Another well-paced and played instrumental, "Sidecramp," caps an album that will appeal to anyone who has enjoyed the music of William Clarke, Rod Piazza, Mark Hummel, Little Charly Baty, James Harman, and others in the vein. Kurt Crandall certainly has hit a musical grand slam with this outstanding recording.
I received my review copy from Kurt. This review has appeared in the March-April 2022 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 401). I made a correction of Jesse James Johnson's name that was wrongly listed in that review. Here is a very recent video of Kurt Crandall performing.
Originally from Costa Rica, singer-guitarist-songwriter Jose Ramirez has been making a name for himself in the Blues World. While residing in the Washington, DC area, he won the 2019 DC Blues Society's Battle of the Bands. He then competed in the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge, where he finished second overall. Ramirez was poised to start touring in support of his debut album "Here I Come" when the Covid-19 pandemic put a wrench in his plans. He now lives in Florida and makes his Delmark debut with "Major League Blues," which he will be touring in support of.
Of "Here I Come," I wrote that it was "not merely an impressive debut of a promising artist. Anson Funderburgh's top-flight production and a fabulous studio band provide the foundation for Jose Ramirez to showcase his gifted songwriting along with his terrific vocals and guitar playing. It is a superb recording." Much can be said about the present recording, full of solid idiomatic originals and a couple of choice covers. Six songs were recorded in September 2020 with Antonio Reyes on drums, Kenny Watson Jr. on bass, and Andre Reyes Jr on keyboards. Evan Hoffman is on Latin percussion on one track, and Shelly Bonet provides backing vocals on one track. The other four selections were recorded in Chicago in August 2021 with The Delmark All-Star Band of Bob Stroger on bass, Willie 'The Touch' Hayes on drums, Roosevelt Purifoy on Hammond B3, and Billy Flynn on guitar. Jimmy Johnson appears on one track for what was his final studio recording.
The present album is of a similar quality to "Here I Come," opening with the title track on which Ramirez trades licks with Jimmy Johnson. The title song alludes to him reaching the major league of blues by signing with Delmark. The lyric also notes some of his influences, including Johnson and Lurrie Bell. It is followed by the blue lament "I Saw It Coming" with Purifoy taking a chicken fried steak organ solo along with Ramirez's heartfelt singing. The other two tracks with the Delmark All-Star Band are fresh renditions of Eddie Taylor's "Bad Boy" and Magic Sam's "My Love Is Your Love." There is plenty of solid fretwork to go with the tight, complementary backing.
The others songs are similarly entertaining. Ramirez is a skilled songwriter who handles traditional themes of relationships quite well. There is a neat melodic hook to "Whatever She Wants," where his heart, soul, and pride belong to her. In addition to a pleading vocal, Ramirez's solo is striking with his phrasing and development. Also outstanding is the Latin-flavored "Are We Really Different" that might evoke early Santana with a bilingual vocal from his Ramirez. The other selections similarly display why Jose Ramirez has become a Major League Blues artist.
I received a review copy from Delmark Records. It has been a while since I posted new reviews, so happy to get this one up. Jose is currently touring in support of this album which you can check out on his Facebook page. Here is Jose Ramirez in performance.
This one is a totally unexpected release that is likely to be one of my favorite records of 1994. A singer who this reviewer had never heard of prior to this recording, Juanita Williams has been the lead vocalist for the Airmen of Note (U.S. Air Force) for the past 20 years and traveled around the world, as well as regularly singing with her church choir. She grew up listening to Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ruth Brown and sees herself as partly carrying their torch.
The wide-ranging repertoire on her initial release gives an idea of her breadth and power as a singer. She handles tough Stax soul, like Mabel John’s Another Man’s Place with as much authority as T-Bone Walker’s blues-ballad I‘m Still in Love With You. Producers Pete Ragusa, Ed Eastridge, and Mitch Collins took their time recording this over a year and a half, mixing in some of the best Washington, D.C. talents, including Nighthawks’ Mark Wenner and Danny Morris, Jimmy Thackery, and Chuck Underwood in addition to the three producers. Jazz guitar legend Joe Pass is present on the superb reading given to I’m Still in Love With You, which along with the Bobby Bland classic, Two Steps From the Blues, receive warm readings.
There are solid renditions of Little Walter’s Crazy ‘Bout You Baby, which is patterned after the Ike and Tina Turner reworking of this classic, and One More Heartache, which touches up on the Paul Butterfield arrangement (from The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw album). The arrangements on Ms. Williams' renditions of Little Milton’s That Will Never Do, and Chuck Willis’ It’s Too Late (S)he’s Gone, have touches of the King Curtis arrangements for Freddie King.
There’s great playing, and generally great singing. She is a powerful singer, and while there are a few moments when she sounds a bit strident, that is a minor point. And on Two Steps From the Blues and I’m Still in Love With You, she is compelling. Having been introduced to Juanita Williams, this reviewer is awaiting her next recording.
This was a terrific recording, and unfortunately, Juanita Williams has not enjoyed a more prominent musical career although still a riveting performer. I have been a bit slack in posting to the blog, and hope to remedy this. The review I posted today originally appeared in the June 1994 Jazz & Blues Report. I likely ran this review in the DC Blues Society newsletter. I have made minor stylistic and grammatical changes and corrections. I likely received a review copy from Big Mo. Here is a relatively recent performance from Juanita Williams.
James Reese Europe was born on February 22, 1981 in Mobile Alabama. "The Porduct of Our Souls" is one of several books about him that gives an indication of how important he is in American Music History and highly recommended.
Then a recording by Reese and his Orchestra shortly after World War1.
Finally, here is a performance in Reese's honor led by Jason Moran at the Kennedy Center.
Here are four more releases from the reactivated Trix label. The albums by Big Chief Ellis, Honeyboy Edwards and Willie Trice are reissues of the original albums with producer Pete Lowry adding an update to the original liner notes. While these are straight reissues of the vinyl albums, the Trix albums were generous with their playing times. The Big Chief Ellis is close to an hour while Willie Trice’s album is about 53 minutes. Trix has also issued a splendid new Homesick James recording. ( I had reviewed several other Trix reissues in prior issues of Jazz & Blues Report. One might need to check eBay or sellers of out-of-print recordings for availability).
It was releases like the Big Chief Ellis (Trix 3316) album that made Trix such a singular label back in the seventies. Ellis, a strong pianist, played and sang introspectively, so his blues often are reminiscent of Walter Davis. His performances here are all at slow or moderate tempos and marked by a firm, rumbling left-hand bass that creates a somber cast to the performances. Often playing simple accompaniments he sometimes throws in hesitating sounding right-hand runs and fills while delivering the lyrics with a smoky, gritty voice. He eschews playing any showcase boogies here. Playing it as a minor-key slow blues, Chief transforms the well-known Sweet Home Chicago into what sounds like a totally different song. While all the songs are credited to Ellis, several are piano blues classics that suit his pensive approach, including Leroy Carr’s Prison Bound and How Long Blues, and Walter Davis’ Come Back, Baby, (here titled Let’s Talk It Over). Brownie McGhee, who shares the vocal on Come Back, Baby, makes his presence felt on the terrific gambling blues, Dices # 2, a remake of one of Ellis’ few fifties’ recordings. In addition to McGhee, the late Tarheel Slim is heard on guitar on a couple tracks, as is John Cephas (on what may be his first issued recordings) who is present on four selections. Some may be put off by the lack of fast-tempoed piano romps and might find difficulty listening to this in one sitting. However, all of these performances are tasty gems of blues piano, and for discerning listeners make a refreshing change from some of the hyper-kinetic recordings that pass for blues today. (I discovered this blog post from Peter Lowry on this recording, https://peterblowry.com/2015/06/11/trix-3316-big-chief-ellis/).
Blue and Rag’d (Trix 3305) features Willie Trice, a Carolina bluesman who lived all his life near Durham and was associated with such legendary figures as Gary Davis, Floyd Council and Blind Boy Fuller. Like his brother Richard, Willie Trice recorded for Decca in 1937, but whereas Richard moved north and recorded in 1949 as Little Fuller, Willie Trice remained in Durham holding a variety of day jobs and only playing outside the tobacco warehouses occasionally - unlike Fuller and the rest. While he stopped playing by the mid- sixties, after losing his legs to diabetes, he started playing again and Pete Lowry recorded him several times between 1971 and 1973 for the recordings issued here. He also recorded later for Lowry and others. Trice’s music is in the classic mode of Fuller and others. His National steel guitar provides a slightly clipped sound to his playing, but (despite his serious illness) his playing only occasionally sounds rusty. His vocals are also generally robust, although his range is obviously not what it once must have been. Included are original adaptations of songs associated with Blind Blake (New Diddey Wah Diddey) and Blind Boy Fuller (New Careless Love), along with his adaptations of traditional themes. For example, Shine On is a bouncy performance using the Crow Jane/ Red River Blues melody. Fuller’s music is also suggested by a number of other tracks, including the slow Fuller styled blues, You Have Treated Me and I’ve Had Troubled, with moving vocals. I Love You, Sweet Baby sports a bouncy accompaniment, while he adds a recitation behind his good-time fingerpicking on Good Time Boogie. It is too bad that we don’t have more recordings of Willie Trice in his prime. However, even though it was recorded while he was recuperating from a serious hospital illness, Blue and Rag’d provides a generous set of classic Piedmont blues performances and there are few recordings in this vein as good as these being made any more.
David “Honeyboy” Edwards’ disc, I’ve Been Around (Trix 3319), was the first American album by the Mississippi born blues artist who will have turned 80 by the time this review appears. One of the last links to such Mississippi blues greats as Charlie Patton, Big Joe Williams, Tommy Johnson and Robert Johnson, Edwards has been of interest to blues fans as much for his recollections of these artists as his music. In the company of Walter Horton (on four tracks) and guitarist Eddie El (on three), Honeyboy sings songs associated with Patton - Pony Blues, and Banty Rooster, Howlin’ Wolf - Ride With Me Tonight, and Tommy Johnson - Big Fat Mama, and Big Road Blues. Also, he renders his own songs Sad & Lonesome and I Feel Good So Today. Playing a rhythmic guitar style reminiscent of his main mentor, Big Joe Williams, Honeyboy displays a unique sense of time. While he sings in a sometimes hesitant, brittle voice, Edwards provides a distinct tint on these musical indigos, although his performances may lack the charisma of those by his mentors. I’ve Been Around stands well up compared his other recent recordings. When featured, Walter Horton adds some strong harp that sympathetically supports Edwards without overpowering him. It is valuable to have this available again, and stacks up against most of Honeyboy’s other albums, although | would recommend the Earwig album containing Honeyboy’s Library of Congress recordings first.
Like Honeyboy Edwards, Homesick James Williamson is noted for an unusual sense of time, but on his fourth new recording in the past few years, he shows that his music possesses plenty of vitality. On Got to Move (Trix 3320) he is given steadfast support by a band that includes guitarist Ron Thompson (formerly with John Lee Hooker and part of Mick Fleetwood’s Blue Whale). Homesick James renders solid versions of songs by his famous cousin, Elmore James (Baby Please Set a Date, Hawaiian Boogie and Got to Move), and by Arthur Crudup (That's All Right), and Bob Geddins’ Tin Pan Alley, along with several originals. His broomdusting and his gravelly vocals are crisply delivered, if not as upfront as the recordings by his famous cousin. There are three solo tracks, including a fresh sounding Dust My Broom, in addition to the solid band performances. While several songs are ones Homesick James has recorded before, he does not give any of them a run of the mill performance making for a collection of particularly vital performances.
This review originally appeared in 1995 in Issue 201 of Jazz & Blues Report. I received review copies from the record label or a distributor. I note that this review appeared in a slightly different form in the May 1995 DC Blues Calendar. In that review I note about the four selections in the Big Chief Ellis album with John Cephas, that they were produced by Joe Wilson and Dick Spottswood and were the best recorded sides on the album. "The interplay between Ellis and Cephas on the closing Blues For Moot is worth noting.
There are certain sounds that characterize the blues, and slide guitar is one of them. particularly in the vein of the legendary Elmore James who made a number of pioneering recordings in the fifties and early sixties including Dust My Broom, The Sky Is Crying, and Shake Your Moneymaker. James’ houserocking style has been emulated by countless blues players including Hound Dog Taylor, J.B. Hutto, and Homesick James. One of the modern masters of this tradition is Lil' Ed Williams, nephew of the late J.B. Hutto, who tears into his blues with the ferocious joy that marked his uncle's music. Williams will bring his houserocking music to this year’s D.C. Blues Festival.
A Chicago native, Ed is 42 years old, and he takes great pride in playing in the vein of his uncle. “My uncle was J.B. Hutto. He taught me basically everything |know. He'd come around and play for the family.”Growing up, Ed remembers listening to a lot of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and a lot of the older guys on records. “My uncle introduced me to his first album, which the one I know of, “Hawk Squat. That really fascinated me. We sat down and we played it over and over and over. He laughed about it.“
He remembered parties in the yard where J.B. and his band would come by and play. "My family, my aunts, my uncles. We had a really big backyard, and they would get out there and Uncle J.B. came over with his band. ° They would barbecue and just have cases of beer, and whiskey, and they'd be out there. It was all dirt yard. And they'd be out there — kicking that dirt up.
... He'd be playing so loud everybody in the neighborhood came aon by. Everybody coming in and we stayed. like our house was this side of big yard. And right by us was a big, they call it a honeymoon building then, but it was a big project, and there was an alley between us. And people would line up in this alley coming up to the fence shaky their bodies. It was so wonderful and you know I was real young then. I think I was about 8 or 9 years old. And I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world. | wish I could do this."
Too young to get into the clubs his uncle played (Wise Fool or Biddy Milligan’s), the he name often would sneak him in. "Paing a mustache on me, put a big wide hat on me , sneak me in." At the time was playing with Lee Jackson on second guitar, J.D, Buckner on drums and Bombay Carter on bass. It was fascinating to see him play, step on a stage with 100 foot chords. ... A lot easier without a child, but the chord is much more because people get involved, make sure you don’t trip."
When 17, Ed played in a soul group, displaying an unusual chording technique he learned from from Hutto. “This one guy used to play a lot of Temptations, Aretha Franklin, stuff like that. | wind up trying to do chords for him, but by me (being) an unorthodox player, my chords for him was not the same as his and he got upset with me. But it was the same chord, but I wouldn't do it the way (he wanted). He told me I was playing right, he couldn’t understand that when I do the chord, it sounded like his but I was doing like him, but doing a different motion.”
Ed started playing blues around 19. “I started forming my own band. I was going with a girl and her brother. I teached him to play drums ‘cause I knew how to play drums. That was my first instrument, was drums." As a drummer he was self-taught. “I did not look to anybody, I just used to listen to J.B.’s drummer when they came over to play. That’s where I got me feel from.”
Ed writes a lot of material but leaves a lot of room for his band members to develop their parts. He may add a bass part “and my brother, he'll take it (and from it). I like them to improvise themselves. I like them to take control of what they want to do and that way it all blends together. When you have to real deal with a person all you have to a special run, then it gets to be more work, but when they can improvise it and play it the way they feel it, then it’s fun.”
He also doesn't spend too much time rehearsing tunes. “The way I do me it, I kinda surprise my guys. I'll come up with something and I'll let them hear it one time and before they know it, I'll lay it on them.”
Ed’s first recording was for an Alligator anthology Roughousin' that came out in the 1980's, but the session led to a release of a full album. He recalled how it happened. "| used to see Bruce (Iglauer) come in. We used to play at BLUES on Halstead. And he used to come in.He just come in and walk out. But I didn't know who this guy was. My old rhythm player, Dave Weld, know who he was. Dave would grab me by the arm, 'There’s Bruce, There’s Bruce from Alligator records.' I said 'So what man. You know just a man.’
One day Bruce came in real late that night. We were finishing off the last song. He came up, walked up to me. "How ya doing?' 'Yeah, how ya doing?' He introduced himself. I shook his hand.He said, 'How do you guys feel about coming down to the studio and do a collection song.' 'Sure.' Dave was having a fit. Dave knew what was going on. We knew we wanted to make a record. We were going to save our money and go into one of those studios and own the collection. That was me Dave was talking about. I had no construction, no idea what this was all about.
So the next morning we had to get up real early that morning. | never forget it. I had to go to work. I was working at the car wash and I had to leave the car wash I think at about 10 or 11 o'clock. Pookie was working the car wash, he had to leave and Dave and our drummer met us at the studio. We walked in with our car wash suits on and Bruce laughed and we said we looked funny and we all laughed.
I was kinda shaky. I was kinda scared. so we got in and we started warming up. Bruce said, 'Well, do something.' I had already been writing songs at that point and I started playing some of the old-time stuff that I learned from B.B., Muddy, all then guys. He said, 'That's good. What about some of your stuff.' And I started playing my stuff and everybody that was in the studio started clapping, having a good time and I got excited ‘cause it was like I was in a club. And I started to doing my club antics walking around, walking on my toes, crawling on my knees ‘cause we were all having fun.
“I had never heard studio sound. That’s what really got to me, ‘cause I never heard it coming from. the headphones sounding so good. Sounded really good. Bruce came out after we did 5 or 6 songs. 'You know it sounds real good. Let’s do an album. OK.' Right then, I freaked out. That was the happiest day of my life. ... We cut 30 songs in 3 hours.”
When I mentioned some acts do 4 songs in 3 hours Ed told me about someone once asked him about artists who do a lot of overdubbing and whatever. “I said well that’s their thing, if that's what they want to do. But to me, for me, Number one, time is money. Number two by me working in the car wash I've got that fecling of getting my job done. “Cause I was buffer. So I had to finish, I had to buff cars in 15 minutes. I had to buff it, and detail it In 30 minutes, So that’s the way I work even in the studio, get it done.” If a take is not right they'll try it again not overdub it. However, if they do it three times and still can't get it right, they drop that song. “Cause you're going to lose it. Not gonna sound no better, it's only gonna get worse. The more you play it, the more you get tired of it.”
Ed has recorded four albums, three for Alligator, and when we spoke in June, was getting ready to do another album for Alligator. Musically he continues to grow. "I'm improvising more, more different lyrics cause I'm listening to everybody. Then I was just listening to Muddy Waters. John Lee Hooker, Elmore James. But I'm a music type of guy and I listen to all types. … I've got some stuff I'm working on in [a reggae] groove. When I do songs like that, put those types of tunes. I want to make my own so I have to really improvise, feel it out, You know I got into Chuck Berry about two months ago and I already came up with a couple songs in his style. I've got into Ruth Brown. I see her on the boat when I was on the boat going to the Bahamas. It amazed to see this woman,'cause I never hear her before. However, my wife know who this was. All I knew was about Etta James, Koko Taylor, Billie Holiday. How did I miss Ruth Brown. She is fantastic. I do one of her songs, 'If you want to live happy, don't listen to your so-called friends.' | do that."
While J.B. Hutto is Ed's biggest influence, he only has recorded Hutto's 20% Alcohol. "What I really want to do is make a tribute album to him, because I know all his songs." J.B. influenced Ed not simply as a guitarist but also as a singer. He mentioned others, "I like Muddy Waters. That's why I hit those deep tones. And stuff like thal.”
Ed got the opportunity to play with J.B. once before his uncle passed at a club Vegetable Biddies in Indiana, "It was so wonderful. he was walking on tables and he gave me a long chord too and he made me jump off the stage. It was just great. I said then. I told him I wanted to play. One thing he told me, ‘You promise me your gonna keep the blues alive then I'll teach you.’ He did. I promised him that and he said 'You keep my tradition going, cause you’re the next one In line' He knew that."
Here is Lil Ed Williams and the Blues Imperials in performance from a Blues Festival in 2008.
Ledisi remembers waking up in New Orleans hearing her mother sing, "…and everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam!" Later she learned it was Nina Simone. While in Oakland in her 20s, she was depressed and hearing Simone sing "Trouble in Mind" over the radio. It woke me up. I was feeling discouraged for being different, for being the oddball that liked every style—blues and jazz and Broadway and hip-hop. I had sung every club in the Bay Area, done every gig. Nina's voice said to me I was not alone. Her voice saved my life and woke me up and taught me to be fearless. I had two pieces of luggage and moved to New York City after that."
In the past eight years, Ledisi has produced and toured popular tribute shows to Simone and performed concerts on television, in major concert halls, and at music festivals, featuring her interpreting Simone's songs and explaining her importance and history. This EP album is the culmination of these projects that reveal the depth of Ledisi's continuing sense of gratitude and debt to Simone. The world-renowned Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley with arrangements by Jochen Neufer and others provides the backing for the majority of the seven songs she brings her voice to. "I'm Going Back Home" features the all-star New Orleans Jazz Orchestra directed by Adonis Rose. "Four Women" is powered by Ledisi in the company of other vocalists of similar stature: Lisa Fisher, Lizz Wright, and Alice Smith. "Wild Is The Wind"—with Spanish guitar, piano, and drums—is the album's sole live recording taken from the 2020 PBS special broadcast Ledisi "Live: A Tribute to Nina Simone."
The other tracks are equally striking, including the closing "I'm Going Back Home," with punchy gospel-infused backing and a second-live groove by the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Like Simone, Ledisi is a singer who defies categories, as is demonstrated throughout this release. The only complaint is that one wishes there was more music here.
I received a download to review from a publicist. Here is Ledisi singing a tribute to Nina Simone at the Apollo Theater in New York City.
Just heard this sad news about Warner Williams. The first time I saw him was when the DC Blues Society and The House of Musical Traditions presented a show featuring Paul Geremia. Warner Wiliams, who I was not familiar with, opened the show and blew us all away. Pretty soon with harmonica player Jay Summerour, they were regulars at jams and shows as Little Bit of Blues.
Prince George Community College regularly presented a show in February called Juke Joint Saturday Night that opened with Warner and Jay and then The Hardway Connection. I remember Nick Spitzer booking Warner and Jay to open for Joe Louis Walker at the Barns of Wolf Trap. Introducing Warner and Jay, Nick mentioned calling Warner to get some info for his introduction and the grandson answered and said that Warner did not want to talk, he did not want to be famous. Well in the DC area among blues lovers Warner was famous. He was brilliant and yet so full of joy as he turned a country honky-tonk tune into a Piedmont blues romp, "Hey Bartender, there's a big bug in my bear."
Warner had a repertoire that spanned old Tin Pan Alley songs, children's songs, honky-tonk country, and Blind Boy Fuller. In the DMV in the 90s, we had Archie Edwards, John Cephas, John Jackson, and Warner Williams. We were so fortunate and with Warner's passing, an era has ended but there are young voices to keep the tradition alive and growing.
Lightnin' Hopkins -Shootin’ Fire - April 11, 1969 - Cicadelic Records
A release of the legendary, and iconic Lightnin’ Hopkins that includes previously unissued studio recordings should be of interest to anyone that calls themselves a blues lover. Cicadelic Records has is- sued “Shootin’ Fire - April 11, 1969” which contains 18 tracks from that date and two recorded in August 1961.
The original recordings were produced by Roy Ames and some selections have been issued with bass and drums mixed too high and the guitar lead too low with excessive reverb to make Lightnin’ sound con- temporary. This release has re-mixed the four track originals without the previous studio misjudgments. Accompanying Hopkins on these recordings are Cedric Hayward on piano, Lawrence Evans on bass and Ben Turner on drums.
The blues is on Lightnin’s mind, as he says before launching into the opening track, “Born In The Bottom,” a semi-autobiographical number as he was born in Warren’s Bottom, Texas, although there are times he wished he was born dead. It is a pretty powerful performance with his spoken interludes and familiar biting guitar. It sets the pace for 77 minutes of deep Texas blues. “Rainy Day in Houston” is a similarly paced performance as Lightning sings that if it keeps on raining, papa can’t make no time. And when he tells this woman who is not paying him no mind, but “A Man Like Me Is Hard To Find.” Lightning can be hard to back with his tempo shifts and occasionally stretching verses beyond 12 bars, but the trio is solid on this moving performance.
One issue for more casual listeners may be the predominance of similarly tempo-ed slow blues, but he does pick up the pace on “Movin’ On Out,” as he will move early, so people won’t see him make his way. The changes of this suggest “What’d I Say,” although the performance is a bit more measured. “Shinin’ Moon” is a theme Hopkins recorded before as he sings about the shining look pretty, shine down through the trees as he can see his baby when she don’t see him with some impressive guitar. “Feel Like Ballin’ The Jack” was originally recorded for Aladdin as “Feel So Bad,” and it is Lightnin’s thinly disguised rendition of BigBill’s classic “I Feel So Good.”
Lightnin’s sense of humor is manifest on ”Stinkin’ Foot,“ as he tells his lady to put her shoes on, while on ”December 7, 1941“ Lightning sings about the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor over a quarter century after the fact. ”My Baby Ain’t Got No Shoes,” set to the ”This Train/My Babe“ melody, deals with the theme of poverty and deprivation as his baby also has no place to go, and is followed by a slow blues with a similar theme ”My Baby Was Crying For Bread,“ as he sings she has taken all his money and threw it all away so, it ain’t right the baby crying. ”My Little Darling“ is Lightnin’s reworking of the Cecil Gant ballad ”I Wonder,“ while a lively instrumental ”Go Ahead“ segues into ”Battle Hymn of the Republic.“ Similarly an alternate (Lightnin’ rehearsing with the bassist) of “Movin’ On Out” segues into “When the Saints Going Marchin’ In.”
The two last musical performances here, “Baby Please Don’t Do Me Wrong” and “Good As Old Time Religion,” are from April, 1961 and are strong performances with good piano and rhythm. The album closes with a brief “I’m Shooting Fire.” where he plays a few riffs but explains why musicians have a tough time playing with him. The liner booklet gives some overview of the music and the circumstances of the recording along with photograph of the recording contract and cancelled checks. Some of the comments on the songs are a bit superficial, and a couple of performance sound not quite finished, but this is certainly a welcome addition to Hopkins’ very extensive discography. Musically, he rarely disappoints and that is the case in this reissue of down-home Texas blues.
I purchased this CD. This review appeared in the July-August 2016 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 367). Here is Lightnin' performing "Stinkin' Foot."
This is Gaye Adegbalola’s most recent “embrace” of the classic blues and the classic blues women, Accompanied by pianist Roddy Barnes, Gaye interprets some well- known, and rescues some more obscure songs from the earliest days of blues recording. In addition, she sings several originals that are presented in the same vein as the early blues foremothers.
From the opening moments of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom to the last notes of Roddy Barnes’ Summer Sky, we are treated to some exquisite performances. There is a fair number of selections associated with Ma Rainey in addition to the opening track that include Yonder Come the Blues, Prove It to Me, and the immortal See See Rider, all of which Gaye delivers wonderfully with Barnes’ complimentary backing. The bawdy The Dirty Dozens receives spirited treatment as does does Lucille Bogan’s BD Woman Blues. Another Bogan song, Sloppy Drunk, is taken at a distinctively slower tempo than Ann Rabson performs the number with Saffire. Gaye’s original, Twisted Woman Blues fits in seamlessly with Sippie Wallace’s Up the Country Blues, while her ballad How Can I Say I Miss You, compliments her rendition of the Duke Ellington-Paul Webster classic, I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.
A couple of songs from blues history are also refreshed by Gaye here, Perry Bradford’s Crazy Blues, the bluesy Perry Bradford song that Mamie Smith recorded to launch the blues craze, and Alberta Hunter’s Down Hearted Blues that was Bessie Smith’s first recording. In addition to the wonderful performances, Gaye provides short but insightful comments on all the songs. This is simply a marvelous disc of blues performed with so much heart and panache that is unreservedly recommended.
This review appeared originally in the July-August 2004 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 269). I likely received a review copy from a publicist. This still should be available at finer sellers. Here is a video of Gaye and Roddy Barnes performing I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.
This is a review that I wrote in Fall 2006 and published in the November-December 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 288). This is the last review from that group of Sonet Blues reissues reviews.
Robert Pete Williams was discovered by folklorist Harry Oster while recording prisoners at Louisiana’s infamous Angola State Penitentiary. These recordings that originally were issued on the Folk-Lyric label (later acquired by Arhoolie on whom they have been reissued) certainly made some aware of Williams' stark, somber style of performances. These performances drew on Williams' harsh life experiences and were played in a manner reflecting Blind Lemon Jefferson's influence as channeled into the one-chord droning approach similar to that found in the early recordings of John lee Hooker and the recordings of Junior Kimbrough.
His recordings led to his eventual freedom, although not until a probationary period where was almost an indentured servant farmer. Subsequently Williams recorded for Prestige-Bluesville, Ahura Mazda (perhaps reissued on Fat Possum) and this album, originally part of The Legacy of the Blues series. The ten performances here are representative of Williams unique art with his deeply personal lyrics, created out of the hard life he and others shared but distilled through his own experiences as in his re-recording of Angola Penitentiary Blues where he recalls “Locked me down, they tried me for my life; April the 6th, 1956, they sent me to Angola; Not to lie, not to lie, they tried me for my life; Cried, let’s keep the poor boy.” Come Here, Sit on My Knee features his bottleneck style that he learned from his friend, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and the performance sounds derived from Shake ‘Em On Down and other McDowell numbers, while Late Night Boogie, has him in his understated vocal singing about late at night blowing his horn with his unique guitar accompaniment.
Williams music requires the listener’s attention although this disc sounds like it is among his most accessible recordings. Give Robert Pete Williams music some time and its virtues will hopefully become evident to you.
I likely received my review copy from Jazz & Blues Report. Here is Robert Pete Williams performing.
Posts
