This installment of Take 5 looks at five songs by the popular Blues Hall of Famer, Junior Wells. Wells was a significant part of the post-World War II Chicago blues scene. He played with Muddy Waters, recorded with Muddy and Elmore James as sidemen. Other recordings had the likes of Earl Hooker playing guitar. Later his album "Hoodoo Man Blues," on Delmark, was one of the first album of a working Chicago blues band that was recorded as an album, not a collection of singles. For a number of years, he toured with Buddy Guy with a band that included A.C. Reed on saxophone and Phil Guy on second guitar. This was one of the best blues bands that ever was. Then after the partnership with Buddy ended, he led his own, very popular band throughout the world. Here are five choice recordings or performances by him.
We open with his original recording of "Hoodoo Man Blues," with Elmore James on guitar, Little Johnny Jones on piano, Louis Myers on guitar, Dave Myers on bass guitar and Fred Below on drums.
Next up is his original "Messin' With the Kid," which Muddy Waters would record an answer to.
The collaboration with Buddy Guy first included a session for the legendary "Chicago, The Blues Today" recordings, "Hoodoo Man Blues," and the Vanguard album "It's My Life Baby." Here is Junior with Buddy on guitar doing a Little Willie John song as "Country Girl."
A popular Junior Wells recording on Delmark, "Southside Blues Jam," tried to capture the feel of an informal jam at Pepper's Lounge. This was one of pianist Otis Spann's last recordings. Here is his reworking of "Stop Breaking Down" that goes back to Robert Johnson, but Junior likely got it from John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's recording.
Junior also did a terrific job on Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason." It is a song representing his later solo career of this brief retrospective of a Blues Hall of Famer.
A couple years ago, three saxophonists were inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. Few could question the selection of the late Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson, who was notable as a fluid saxophonist and a notable blues shouter. Also inducted was Big Jay McNeely, who was noted as one of the great honkers of rhythm and blues and is still alive, and Eddie Shaw, a Chicago saxophone player and vocalist first noticed for being Howlin' Wolf's last band leader and his playing on recordings of Magic Sam, Jimmy dawkings and others who has led his own bands over the past four decades.
Here are three individuals whose contributions similarly merit such recognition
Grady Gaines (heard playing "There is Something on Your Mind") was leading one of the top local bands in Houston (where he was on recording sessions for Peacock and Duke Records) when he received the call from Little Richard to join Richard's band in the early 1960s. Gaines remained with Richard, leading the Upsetters, and after Richard's leaving music for the ministry took over the Upsetters and they would become the backing band for Little Willie John, Sam Cooke and then some of the legendary rhythm and blues tours of the late sixties and early seventies. In more recent years, Gaines has led the Texas Upsetters performing a wide range of music for many occasions but always rooted in blues and rock and roll. He had two outstanding albums on Black Top in the 1990s and I recently reviewed his biography, I've Been Out There. He probably has backed more acts in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame then anybody else and more than a few of these are also in the Blues Hall of Fame.
If one was going to name perhaps the greatest saxophonist of the post-war Chicago blues, chances J.T. Brown would be the person most familiar with the history would select. Brown's nanny-goat vibrato and swinging attack is best known from his numerous recordings with Elmore James and the Broomdusters, but he also recorded behind countless other blues legends including Roosevelt Sykes, Jimmy Oden, Eddie Boyd, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Rogers, Little Johnnie Jones and the blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac. He also recorded a number of vocals including his own "Blackjack Blues," that is a different number than the Ray Charles blues. Brown as Sax Man Brown is heard on "Sax-Ony Boogie," backed by Elmore James, Little Johnnie Jones on piano, Ransom Knowling on bass and Odie Payne on drums.
J.T. Brown mentored A.C. Reed, the big-toned player who was not simply a member of several of the greatest blues bands of the seventies and early eighties, but also was a significant leader and ocalist on his own right. In addition to his prized 45s ("My Buddy Buddy Friends"), he was a member of Earl Hooker's Roadmasters before being a significant part of the great Buddy Guy-Junior Wells Band of the 1970s, followed by a stint with what likely was Son Seals' greatest bands, and then was with Albert Collins and the Icebreakers, when Collins toured in support of Collins (and he appeared on Collins' first five Alligator CDs). His own recordings and performances featured in addition to his big saxophone sound(Gene Ammons was an admitted influence), his tongue and cheek lyrics as represented on his Alligator album title, Take These Blues and Shove 'Em! or on the rocking "These Blues Is Killing Me."
Certainly J.T. Brown and A.C. Reed's credentials are certainly equal to those of Eddie Shaw and Grady Gaines' career certainly is as meritorious as Little Richard, who after all was a rocker.
I live near Washington DC and like many on the East Coast from the DC area to New York City we got hit with a Snowzilla of a Blizzard.Still having Cabin Fever, I thought I might warm folks up with some Albert Collins, after all he did get the nickname "The Iceman," and known for his cool sound.
Here is Albert Collins with Duke Robillard and Debbie Davies doing Frosty
Here is Albert Collins Ice Pickin' live when A.C. Reed was in his band
Buddy Guy has cited Earl Hooker as the greatest blues guitarist he ever saw, and many of his contemporaries remember his mastery of the guitar, both straight and his use of a slide. Possessing an awesome technique, timing and musical imagination, he was a favorite of many of his contemporaries, although he died of tuberculosis within a couple weeks of Otis Spann in April, 1970. What a loss, Chicago’s best blues players cut down within weeks of each other.
He was known as a guitarist, being an inadequate vocalist who usually let others handle the vocals. He recorded for King and Rockin’ Records and later recorded for Sam Phillips, although these sides remained unissued for years. The early sixties found him on Age and Chief, before he connected with Jim Kirchstein’s Cuca label out of Sauk City, Wisconsin. After Cuca, Hooker recorded albums for Arhoolie, Bluesway, Blue Thumb (with Ike Turner on piano) and Blues on Blues, and played on Bluesway albums by cousin John Lee (Hooker), Charles Brown, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Big Moose Walker, leaving a substantial legacy for those years.
Cuca actually issued an album titled The Genius of Earl Hooker, which suffered from the programming of all instrumentals. In the mid-eighties the Dutch Black Magic label issued Play Your Guitar, Mr. Hooker, which made available unissued Cuca recordings and alternate takes, along with two instrumentals, Earl Hooker Blues, and Dust My Broom, that pioneering European blues researcher George Adins recorded in 1968 at the Alex Club on Chicago’s West Side.
This is probably my favorite Earl Hooker album, with his vocal and guitar on the opening Swear to Tear the Truth being particularly urgent sounding. Most of this is comprised of instrumentals or accompaniments to assorted singers. A.C. Reed emulates the vocal style of namesake Jimmy Reed on She’s Fine, while Frank ‘Crying Shame’ Clark ably handles You Took My Love, and The Misfit (Got to Keep Movin’), and the gruff Muddy Waters Jr. sings Everything Gonna Be Alright.
There’s plenty of hot guitar as Earl shows his mastery of a variety of styles while A.C. Reed or Bobby Fields adds some hot tenor sax. Particularly impressive are his renditions of Albert Collins’ classic Frosty, and Otis Rush’s All Your Love. The two live recordings give Earl a chance to stretch out, and also contain a bit of Fred Roulette’s pedal steel guitar which increases their interest despite the sound quality of the location recording.
While this is a musical feast, an instrumental rendition of James Brown’s I Got You (I Feel Good) is omitted in this 13 track, 37-odd minute compact disc. Also the original vinyl album came with a detailed booklet with plenty of information on Earl Hooker, Cuca and its head, Mr. Kirstein. While it would have taken an extensive booklet to reprint all of the original notes, certainly some liner notes should have been included. While this is recommended, Black Top could have done better with this reissue.
I likely received a review copy from the record label. This review originally appeared in the September 1993 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 184). This may be available on the used market but as a collector's item. Here is Earl Hooker, likely in Europe.
Chicago native Vance Kelly has been playing a whole stew of music before A.C. Reed took him on the road. Later he had a stint with Little Johnny Christian and since 1990 has worked throughout Chicago. Even today though a show from Vance Kelly will traverse jazz, rock, R&B and blues. His seventh album for the Austrian Wolf label Bluebird is subtitled “The First Blues-Only CD by Vance Kelly.” Accompanying Vance his vocals and guitar is The Backstreet Blues Band of John Walls on keyboards; Ed Williams on saxophone; Mark Miller on bass; and Charles Handcox on drums. Five of the selections are studio sides recorded in Chicago and the other 8 are live European performances with Vance’s daughter Vivian singing on one.
The time spent with A.C. Reed are reflected in strong renditions of Reed’s songs; the driving I Stay Mad, with a fine organ break from Walls; and the celebratory,My Baby Is Fine, with Williams raspy saxophone very prominent in this slow number where Vance celebrates his woman. Little Johnny Christian’s Ain’t Gonna Worry About Tomorrow, showcases some nice B.B. King styled guitar with Walls’ keyboards again standing out. These tracks also showcase Kelly’s very soulful, sometimes raspy vocals.
A good deal of the program here come from the soul side of bluestown including I Wish He Didn’t Trust Me So Much, where he sings about his feelings about his best friend’s woman and he’s scared she’ll feel about him while he husband’s away. Bump and Grind and Denise LaSalle’s Someone Is Steppin’ In, are strong Malaco blues with solid band work and guitar in addition the urgent singing which suggests the late Z.Z. Hill (and Vance’s daughter takes the vocal on LaSalle’s Soft-Hearted Woman).
Frank Kold, in his notes, observes that the rendition of Issac Hayes’ Bluebird owes a bit to Littler Milton’s rendition while the medley of another Johnny Taylor hit Doing My Own Thing with Al Green’s rendition of I Can’t Get Next To You, which segues into the Z.Z. Hill anthem I’m a Bluesman, with its lyrics about being raised on Jimmy Reed, washed in Muddy Waters and mothers watch out for your daughters, which just may be a highlight of this release. Then there is a driving rendition of the Bobby Bland classic Ain’t Doin’ Too Bad (with a booting sax solo that conjures up the memory of A.C. Reed) and a terrific medley of Stormy Monday with Take Off Your Shoes with some searing fretwork.
Delmark issued an anthology of recordings Kelly made for Jimmy Dawkins’ Leric label sometime ago, and he is heard on the Little Johnny Christian recordings anthologized there. I said at the time “Use What You Got, is a mix of soulful singing and a down home blues groove.” Much the same can be said of the present, very appealing recording and I will undoubtedly be checking out some of Kelly’s prior Wolf recordings, even if they are not 100% blues.
Here is a review that I wrote earlier this calendar year by a wonderful singer and guitarist, Mary Flower, one of the most accomplished fingerstyle guitarists alive today. It was originally written for Jazz & Blues Report and appeared in the April 2009 issue which can be downloaded at www.jazz-blues.com, and go to download issues. Dr. John is on the issue's cover
Mary Flower is one of the unsung heroines of traditionally oriented blues and roots music. She is one of the finest fingerstyle guitarists alive and Yellow Dog records has followed up her acclaimed CD “Bywater Dance” with a new release, “Bridges,” sure to please her fans and introduce her to many others. She has recently relocated to Portland, Oregon after spending decades around Denver, and on this new disc collaborates with a variety of Portland artists including transplanted New Orleans saxophonist Reggie Houston,guitarist and banjoist, Tony Furtado, keyboard players Janice Scroggins and Matt Potts, her sons Jesse Withers on bass and bluegrass legend Tim O’Brien on mandolin and fiddle. The program for this CD includes obscure gems from the songbooks of 1920s and ’30s America to complement her own rootsy compositions, enabling Flower to explore and illuminate the complex relationships between Piedmont blues, ragtime, jazz, and old-time gospel music. With varying instrumentation, the tenor of the songs range from traditional Piedmont style blues to more contemporary folk-blues oriented roots.
The opening “Rhythm of the Road,” has a folky air as she delivers a world weary vocal about her travels down the road as Furtado complementing her fingerstyle lead with his banjo and slide guitar fills. It is followed by ”There Ain’t No Sweet Man Worth the Salt of My Tears,” a delightful number new to these ears with a jaunty backing and nice piano solo from Janice Scroggins. A reflective treatment of Bessie Smith’s “Backwater Blues,” follows with Scroggins spare piano supporting Flower’s melancholy vocal. “When I Get Home I’m Gonna Be Satisfied,” is a gospel number handled at an easy tempo and featuring some adept lap slide guitar from Ms. Flower. The original instrumental, “Columbia River Rag,” is one example of her marvelous fingerstyle work in the Piedmont tradition. A highpoint during her rendition of Emmett Miller’s “The Ghost of the St. Louis Blues” is the interplay of the laughing clarinet from Doug Bundy and Reggie Houston’s soprano sax. “A medley of “On Revival Day” with “There’s Gonna To be the Devil to Pay,” is a delightful performance with Scroggins buoyant piano complementing Flower’s spirited playing and vocal. “Portland Town” evokes some classic Piedmont blues, but this fresh original Flower co-wrote has a nice lilting rhythm with an interesting accordion accompaniment. Another stunning fingerstyle instrumental, “Daughter of Contortion,” is followed by a strong rendition of“Big Bill Blues,” a Big Bill Broonzy recording. Next is a fine small group rendition of Thomas Henry Lodge’s 1909 composition,“Temptation Rag,” that has lovely interplay by Flower with Robin Kessinger on flatpicked guitar before Spud Siegel kicks in on mandolin and takes the tempo up a notch. Tim O’Brien adds his fiddle to “Up a Lazy River,” which comes off as a nod to Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti before Flower adds a nice vocal. With O’Brien on mandolin and Courtney Von Drehle on accordion, she concludes this delightful recording with a lovely original “Blue Waltz.” “bridges” is yet another enchanting recording by a marvelous acoustic blues artist. This should be available at cdbaby.com, itunes or better stores. You can also order this from Mary’s website, www.maryflower.com.
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