Clifton Chenier Was Zydeco Dynamite

Rhino has issued Zydeco Dynamite, The Clifton Chenier Anthology, which is a two compact disc, 40 track retrospective of Clifton Chenier’s recording career (thirty two tracks on two cassettes). Compiler Greg Durst observes, “If these scorchers don’t make you move like an alligator in a pond of hot sauce, you’d better consult a physician,...…Clifton Chenier will always be the one who makes the Bon Ton Roulet.” And the good times sure roll on here from Louisiana Stomp, Clifton’s first record for the Elko label, through some of his Specialty recordings that rocked almost as hard as the hottest Little Richard numbers (although Clifton was more down in the alley, and less flamboyant), his lengthy association with Arhoolie Records (from which about half of the recordings are derived), to rarities made for a variety of labels including I’m a Zydeco Man, the title track of his Grammy Award winning album. One cannot underestimate the importance of Clifton Chenier. He is to zydeco what Bill Monroe is to bluegrass. His french recasting of blues, and rock and roll songs, mixed with adaptations of cajun and creole themes, made the language barrier less imposing. Like Fats Domino, his creole accent, and the total sincerity manifest in his vocals, gave his songs a certain irresistible appeal for those exposed to them. He was a first rate blues singer as well as a person that could get the house rocking for a marathon zydeco live dance. The compilation opens with a good helping of his rare recordings for Specialty, Chess (the Argo and Checker subsidiaries) and Zynn (one of Jay Miller’s labels), and with the exception of Eh Petite Fille, many of these early recordings are hot rock and roll songs not far removed from the recordings of Fats Domino and Little Richard. Ay Ai Ai is the first of the many Arhoolie recordings represented. Others include Bon Ton Roulet (his French reworking of Louis Jordan’s Let the Good Times Roll), I Am Coming Home, an adaptation of a Charles Brown recording that was Clifton’s favorite recording, the hot live Zydeco Cha Cha where brother Cleveland and drummer Robert St. Judy take a somewhat irresistible percussion break, and I’m on the Wonder, from a session with Elvin Bishop. Bogalusa Boogie, which many consider Clifton’s finest album, is represented by four selections. One thing that set these recordings apart is the saxophone of John Hart, probably the greatest blues saxophonist since J.T. Brown. Hart is also present from on a number of other selections including Easy, Easy, Baby from an album that also included Stanley Dural (Buckwheat Zydeco) on keyboards and several selections albums on Floyd Soileau’s Maison de Soul label including Hot Tamale Baby. There is a wealth of material here although there are some gems that were omitted like You Used to Call Me, a bluesy waltz, Ma Negresse, with uncle Morris Chenier contributing alley fiddle, and the country blues flavor of Black Snake Blues. With compiler Durst’s cogent discussion of the man and his music, this is a fine reissue. For those wanting more Clifton Chenier, Arhoolie has issued Clifton Sings the Blues. It includes 12 recordings that Roy Ames produced in 1969 that have appeared on several labels including Prophesy, Home Cooking and Arhoolie, along with seven cuts from the album Clifton Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band, an album with John Hart and Stanley ‘Buckwheat ‘ Dural. Easy Easy Baby appears to be the only duplication with the Rhino collection. Other songs include Ain’t No Need of Crying, a song Clifton sang in French on Arhoolie as Louisiana Blues; a rocking version of Fats Domino’s Rosemary; Be My Chauffeur which is derived from Memphis Minnie; the standard Trouble in Mind; Worried Life Blues, and a rocking version of Boozoo Chavis’ Paper in My Shoe. Outstanding cuts from The Red Hot Louisiana Band include Hungry Man Blues, which uses the Hootchie Kootchie Man melody, and Grand Prix, a wonderful bilingual tune with Clifton’s lament about the price he paid for loving his woman. By all means get the Rhino, but don’t stop there. Clifton was one of the true greats of the blues, not simply zydeco, and even with 40 cuts, Rhino merely skims the surface of his musical legacy. With his music, the good times continue to roll. This review originally appeared in the July/August 1993 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 183) and I have made some stylistic edits. I likely received review copies from the record label or a publicist. Both are available as used (with the Rhino apparently being easier to find). The Arhoolie is also available as digital downloads. Here is the King of Zydeco singing I'm A Hog for You.

Juke Boy Bonner Lived The Life Of A Ghetto Poet

Weldon ‘Juke Boy’ Bonner was a Houston, Texas down home bluesman who passed away in 1978 at the age of 46. Often performing as a one-man band, he lived a hard life that served as a basis for much of his blues. Listening to the Arhoolie disc Ghetto Poet, one is treated by a performer influenced by Lightnin’ Hopkins as well as such blues artists as Jimmy Reed. While not nearly as gifted a guitarist or charismatic a singer as the legendary Hopkins, Bonner was able to invest his performances with a strong rhythm and simply played, but effective guitar and harmonica lines. His strength was his songs, especially his lyrics dealing with the realities of ghetto life.

Originally Bonner covered the latest juke box hits at clubs leading to his nickname. In the early 1950s, he went to California where he made his first recordings. Later he recorded for small labels in Texas and Louisiana. For a time, his poems appeared in the Houston African-American weekly, Forward Times. In 1967, Bonner was discovered by the late Mike Leadbitter who recorded his first album for the British Flyright label. Soon thereafter, Chris Strachwitz recorded the first of two albums that would be issued on vinyl on Arhoolie. The best tracks from these appeared on an earlier Arhoolie CD, Life Gave Me A Dirty Deal. These recordings led Juke Boy to tour Europe as part of the 1969 American Folk Blues Festival Tour along with John jackson, Clifton Chenier, Magic Sam, Alex Moore, and Earl Hooker. Other tours followed, but Bonner’s authentic blues was less in demand inHouston and he was only able to get a few concert performances and occasional tours. In the liner notes to Ghetto Poet, Chris Strachwitz recalls that the last time he saw Juke Boy, he was working at a dreadful minimum age job unloading chickens at a processing plant.

Bonner’s lyrics were realistic and down-to-earth. He sang about growing up and being the head of his choir and buying his first guitar in Childhood Dreams, as well as knocking so the roaches would let him in his apartment where the rain was coming in as it was leaking outside in the shelter that he worried about being kicked out of because he was having trouble meeting the rent in Rainin’ In my Room. Playing a steady walking bass line, he rocks out a couple of nice instrumentals, Zodico Jump, and Houston Beat. Let Me Be Run It Down To You has him explaining the facts of his relationship to his women. In contrast, he philosophizes about ending all the hate between people on Settin’ the Record Straight. One would be hard-pressed to find a poor performance here. If the blues ain’t nothing but the truth Juke Boy Bonner was one of its ablest poets and his music is well worth exploring.

This was a value priced CD and you may wish to order directly from Arhoolie where this costs only $10.00. the direct link on Arhoolie’s website is http://www.arhoolie.com/blues/juke-boy-bonner-ghetto-poet.html?sl=EN.

This review is slightly revised from my review that appeared in the November 2004 DC Blues Calendar. I likely received this from Arhoolie Records. Here is a clip of him performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1975.

Lightnin' Hopkins Did His Blues His Way

Alan Govenar’s 2010 biography, Lightnin’ Hopkins: His Life and Blues (Chicago Review Press) detailed the career of one of the true blues legends. Issued in England on Ace Records around the time the biography was published was a double CD release of Hopkins’ recordings, “His Blues” that describes itself as a soundtrack to Govenar’s biography. It contains 44 selections from his earliest session for Aladdin Records with Wilson “Thunder” Smith on piano to 1969 sessions for Vault and Arhoolie.

The first disc covers 26 recordings from 1947-1959 and opens with the highly charged Lightnin’s Boogie, with spirited guitar boogie playing behind his forceful vocal and followed by another guitar boogie Jake Head Boogie, which is a slightly bit more restrained but again exhibits some of his trademark guitar runs he would employ over the next several decades of recordings. Katie Mae Blues is from his initial session with Thunder Smith’s piano joining Hopkins acoustic guitar and dry vocal, while Shotgun Blues, was a prototypical slow blues from Hopkins with his whisky coated vocals matched by his responsive single note guitar runs and echoes of this can be heard on his reworking of Sonny Boy Williamson’s Sugar Mama Blues. Other highlights on this first disc include his reworking of Funny Paper Smith’s Howlin’ Wolf Blues, the lively boogie reworking of Tampa Red’s salacious Play With Your Poodle, with terrific guitar; Zolo Go on which he plays organ to imitate an accordion as he sings about going to a zydeco dance; “Tim Moore’s Farm,” his first recording on the infamous Texas farm owner who mistreated his black workers; Short-Haired Woman a theme he would return to about not wanting any woman whose hair was shorter than his; Give Me Central 209, which was a hit for him; and the wild electric guitar instrumental “Hopkins’ Sky Hop.” The material derives from a variety of labels including Aladdin, Gold Star, RPM, Sittin’ In With, Decca, Herald, TNT and Tradition. “Ain’t No Monkey Man” is a previously unissued Specialty recording by Hopkins. This gives a pretty solid overview of Hopkins’ recordings for the commercial rhythm and blues market.

The second disc covers the period when Hopkins was discovered by the folk and blues revivals. Not that it ignores recordings made for the commercial market (Mojo Hand recorded for Bobby Robinson’s Fire label). The majority of the selections derive from recordings made by Mack McCormick for Prestige Bluesville or Chris Strachwitz for Arhoolie. Many were recorded in Hopkins’ hometown of Houston, while others in New York or California. Hopkins ability to spin a topical blues is illustrated by Happy Blues For John Glenn, with pianist Buster Pickens and bass and drums while for Arhoolie he recorded a lively Back at the Chicken Shack, with just drummer Spider Kilpatrick. A trio of topical blues included a new rendition of Tom Moore Blues and Slavery Time, and three live recordings are also heard including a Newport Folk Festival performance of Trouble in Mind. One disappointing aspect of this second disc is that it does not include several songs that would become staples of Hopkins’ performances such as Mr. Charlie, with his lengthy spoken introduction and stuttering effects in his vocals as well as Back Door Friend, his personalized rendition of a Tony Hollins recording. Given the limitations of two CDs, I might have substituted one or both for some of the Bluesville and Arhoolie recordings. This is not to fault the music, but rather indicate that it does not fully represent Hopkins’ repertoire or recordings.

Sound is generally quite good and full discographical information is provided. Alan Govenar’s liner notes use a timeline derived from his biography in which he discusses Hopkins’ life as well as the included recordings. It is perhaps unfortunate that their were a few significant omissions (at least to these ears) of the more recent recordings, but still this is a real good distillation of some of the best Lightnin’ Hopkins and a worthy soundtrack to the excellent Govenar biography.

This was a purchase. Here is Lightnin' performing Mojo Hand.

RIP The Magnificent David Alexander-Omar Sharriff

Word came down in early january of the death of pianist-vocalist David Alexander who was also known as Omar Sharriff and Omar the Magnificent. A blues and boogie woogie pianist was born in Shreveport Louisiana on March 10, 1938, although raised in Marshall, Texas.. While his father was also a pianist, he was self-taught for most part. After serving a stint in the Navy he moved to Oakland, California and played with a variety of San Francisco area musicians as well as touring musicians including Big Mama Thornton, Jimmy Witherspoon, Muddy waters, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins.

As Dave Alexander he made his first recordings on a compilation for World Pacific, Oakland Blues that also included L.C. “Good Rockin’” and Lafayette Thomas. He displayed mastery of the boogie woogie and blues tradition, a gift for sophisticated lyrics and an urbane vocal style. A couple of albums followed for Arhoolie followed (and the Arhoolie CDs which may be the easiest of his recordings to find today although have Mercy Records website, http://sacheritagefest.com/HaveMercy/info.htm, shows them as available) again displaying his gift with words as well as his earthy, yet sophisticated approach. In 1976 he changed his name to Omar Khayam and started performing as Omar The Magnificent, and later as Omar Sharriff.

Moving to Sacramento, California, he spent much the remainder of his life performing there. He recorded three albums for the Have Mercy label which apparently are out-of-print although copies may be located at used stores and the likes. He returned to Marshall, Texas to perform in late 2010 and relocated there in February 2011. He died on January 8, 2012, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot. My sources for the biographical information is his wikipedia page and a TV station’s news story, http://www.ksla.com/story/16473447/legendary-arklatex-musician-found-shot-to-death. I previously posted the following review of one of his Have Mercy Recordings. In light of his recent passing, thought it appropriate to repost it.

The career of pianist Omar Sharriff demonstrates that talent and originality does not necessarily result in success. One of the most distinctive blues pianists, an evocative vocalist, and a songwriter whose lyrics capture the bittersweet reality of modern urban life, it may be Sharriff’s refusal to compromise his beliefs, or the rawness of his blues, that led to his relative lack of recordings, or commercial success in music.

Black Widow Spider, his 1994 release on the Have Mercy label mixed striking versions of classic blues with powerful originals. Fingers of Fate is a splendid piano boogie, while Seven Years of Torture depicts his years living in Clovis, a town full of rednecks and fruit growers, and a very bad romance. In contrast, Fire of Fury features his rap with a forceful commentary on the Rodney King beating and the Los Angeles riots. He personalizes Ray Charles’ Greenbacks, and the Joe Williams-Count Basie classic recording Smack Dab in the Middle, reworked almost like Don’t Start Me To Talkin’ with harp. His choice of covers shows him not bound by categories but his version of All Across the Watchtower is spoiled by messy blues-rock guitar. Sharriff is a fascinating pianist who mixes jazz, gospel and other idioms with the blues. Saxophonist Steve Ghundi is a first rate player whose accompaniments and solos are thoughtful, and responsive to Sharriff’s lead.

This was an important album by an major, under recorded artist.

I checked and the Have Mercy website lists this as available. It would be worth checking the website for order info. This is revised version of the review from October 1994 Jazz & Blues Report.

Raucous Country Negro Jam Session

The following review of an album of real down home blues appeared in the August 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 285).

A new release from Arhoolie is one of those rare recordings that features an African-American blues fiddler. Fiddler James ‘Butch’ Cage & guitarist Willie B. Thomas are heard on a disc of Old Time Black Southern String Band Music, a title that is slightly misleading insofar as the two are heard on a program of mostly down-in-the-alley blues with Cage’s vigorous, rough-hewn fiddle complemented by Thomas’ rhythmic guitar.


The duo was recorded by folklorist Dr. Harry Oster in Zachery, Louisiana in the 1950s and selections by them were issued on the Folk-Lyric album, Country Negro Jam Session (later available on Arhoolie who had acquired the Folk-Lyric label) and an Arhoolie issued several other selections on the CD I Have to Paint My Face. With the exception of one track, the music here is previously unissued. Much of it is comprised of traditional blues themes or their renditions of blues standards such as Some Day Baby (the Sleepy John Estes song sometimes known as Worried Life Blues), Mean Old Frisco, The Dirty Dozen, Rock Me Mama, Easy Rider Blues, Careless Love Blues, Since I Layed My Burden Down and You’ve Gotta Move. On the latter two, Rosalie Wilkerson takes the lead on the vocals (with Cage and Thomas enthusiastically joining her) while Robert Jenkins sings on I Had a Dream Last Night (All I Had Was Gone).


This is far from polished and one can imagine the house parties with the corn liquor flowing as the two kept the music running all night long as the blues would get shouted, Thomas would keep a good beat with his rhythm and Cage’s fiddle would be like a buzzsaw. A good time can be has listening to this.


I do not recall if I purchased or received a review copy.

Mance Lipscomb Marvelous Blues and More

The late Mance Lipscomb certainly was an invaluable discovery by Mack McCormick and Chris Strachwitz.. The full title of the Arhoolie reissue, You Got To Reap What You Sow: Texas Songster Volume 2, says it all. Mance Lipscomb wasn’t a blues performer, but rather was a songster who played all sorts of songs for his family and friends. Once he was discovered and started playing concerts, he perhaps skewed his repertoire to the blues, but it was the depth of his repertoire that made him so invaluable.


The 24 songs give a sense of the depth of his repertoire, and include versions of Texas blues themes like Hattie Green; blues recordings like Walter Davis’ Come Back Baby and Memphis Minnie’s Bumble Bee; ballads like Joe Turner Killed a Man, and The Titanic; and popular songs like Long Way to Tipperary and You Rascal You.


Mance was a wonderful guitarist and a warm singer. Reflecting the milieu of the country house parties that he would play for most of his life, his performing style is devoid of gimmicks, simply played with skill and honesty. This is an expanded version of the original album, which was his second release for Arhoolie and includes 13 previously unissued songs, including a new rendition of Tom Moore Blues, a protest blues about a Washington County,Texas landowner.


I had the pleasure seeing Mance Lipscomb perform live once, opening for Big Mama Thornton at the University of Buffalo and his performance was every bit as wonderful as his recordings. His music was not showy, just warmly performed and full of sincerity and heart. This review originally appeared in the April 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 190) although I have made minor stylistic changes. This release is available both a CD and as downloads.

Whistlin' Alex Moore's Texas Blues and Barrelhouse Piano

One of the many blues discoveries of the sixties, pianist Whistlin’ Alex Moore had recorded for Columbia and Decca in 1929 and 1937 respectively. Modern/RPM recorded him in 1951 (some 1948 recordings were unissued at the time) before Chris Strachwitz recorded him in 1960 for Arhoolie Records. leading him to play clubs and festivals including the Amercian Folk Blues Festival in 1969 which also included Magic Sam, Earl Hooker, John Jackson, and Clifton Chenier. While in Europe he recorded in Stuggart, germany which was issued as “Live in Europe.” In 1987, Moore was granted a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, becoming the first African American Texan to receive such an honor. (Wikipedia is the source for this statement). Later he recorded an album for Rounder before passing in 1989 at the age of 90. Arhoolie Records still has in print the fine From North Dallas To The East Side, which is available from Arhoolie’s website. It is available as a download from itunes or amazon. I reviewed it back in the September 1995 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 204) which I now share with you.

The late Alex Moore was born in 1899 and died in 1989, not too long after Rounder issued his final album. The Texas blues and barrelhouse pianist recorded back in the twenties and thirties, including several accompaniments. Growing up at a time when ragtime and stride influences were reflected in many piano blues recordings, his earliest waxings (available on Document) reflect a thoughtful artist, but rarely have him busting loose with fast boogie woogie runs. He was located by Paul Oliver and Chris Strachwitz in the summer of 1960, and the album of the recordings made back then was one of the earlier Arhoolie albums. It is reproduced here along with eight recordings from a 1947 session and two others made during the famous 1969 American Folk Blues Festival Tour. The full range of his repertoire is explored here, including several adrenalin pumping uptempo numbers, such as the opening Whistling Alex Moore Blues, which display his penchant for boogie woogie. His salty, husky vocals are matched by his firm and imaginative playing. The pinnacle of this release is the 1947 tracks that include the spectacular Alex’s Rag with its stride and ragtime touches. These were not titled on the original acetate discs so Chris Strachwitz has given them titles, and a slightly younger Moore (he wasn’t quite 50 then) is reflected by the vigor in his singing and playing. Even in the two 1969 European recordings there is no tentativeness in the piano, and there is plenty of grit in the singing. Moore’s songs also reveal him as a blues poet of note and this is the best distillation of his contributions as one of the great early Texas blues pianists.

Arhoolie's 1963 Down Home Musical Journey

Arhoolie Records is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. It was a time when a California school teacher Chris Strachwitz went and met a British jazz and blues writer, Paul Oliver and toured part of the US and recorded and interviewed a number of primarily blues performers. A release in 1960 by Mance Lipscomb would launch the label which has produced albums of an incredible range of music. A book and 4 CD set “Hear Me Howling!” has been issued to celebrate this but their are other items to note as well.

In 1963, Strachwitz accompanied a German filmmaker, Dietrich Wawzyn, on a journey across the United States that resulted in three films for German television on blues, gospel and country music. The original negatives for those films have been lost, but with the surviving film and the assistance of the editing of Ingrid Tank, the Arhoolie Foundation presents “Down Home Music: A Journey Through the Heartland 1963.” As Strachwitz observes in his commentary track which one can listen to, the present DVD-film is more akin to his own memories of the 1963 journey than the three genre films produced. Also noted is that Wawzyn had a great interest in jazz and with the exception of the New Orleans jazz presented, apparently did not see get to film much jazz. This DVD has approximately 75 minutes of music from a variety of traditions that includes many amazing moments.

There is certainly some magic here to be seen. The film opens with the music of Jesse Fuller who then is seen entering a door (which Strachwitz advises us was Fuller’s home) and then getting behind the fotdella (a foot pedal bass), picking up a 12-string guitar and adding a rack with a harmonica and kazoo launching into a rousing “San Francisco Bay Blues,” with the camera work displaying his feet moving the pedals to play the bass as he adds harmonica and kazoo to the accompaniment of what has become a classic folk song. Its followed by a skittle band and the great folk singer Barbara Dane backed by a jug band and then a performance of Lowell Fulson in a Fillmore area club (with the night club audience scenes from another filming edited adroitly by Ms. Tank). Some powerful gospel music is presented with the fervent congregation of King Louis H. Narcisse, and the Arizona Pentecostal fervor of Louis Overstreet (on the streets and in church) as well as Brother Davis and a tent revival. There is an Indian conjunto trio presented as well as the traditional Navaho sounds of El Lee Natay.

Some of the most remarkable footage for blues fans follows next. Mance Lipscomb, Lightnin’ Sam Hopkins, and Black Ace are filmed on the porch, in their yard or living room. Their is a frustrating short live club clip of legendary steel guitarist Hop Wilson who Strachwitz in his commentary admits he did not think much of at the time but is regarded as a blues legend today. This little bit of video of Wilson may cause some jaws to drop (I remember the first time I saw a clip of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie on Joe Franklin’s New York City tv show. Then its followed by a terrific clip of pianist Whistlin’ Alex Moore pounding out some barrelhouse piano and whistling fiercely.

From then we travel to Louisiana for a terrific cajun two-step by Shorty LeBlanc, Jay Stutes and the Sugar Bees and gospel by Willie Thomas and family. The then recently opened Preservation Hall is the scene of the George Lewis Quartet with Sweet Emma playing and singing about not giving any of her jelly roll away while Lewis’ two selections include his marvelous “Burgundy Blues.” The filming is marvelous in capturing the personality of The Bell Girl as well as the warmth and soulful bluesy feel of the New Orleans clarinetist. Also filmed was the Eureka Brass Band coming to and from a video. This is priceless because this was the classic brass band. The American Music albums of the Eureka Brass Band are invaluable for those interested in this aspect of New Orleans music.

The remainder of the DVD is primarily devoted to traditional country music by the likes of The Hodges Brothers and J.E. Mainier’s Mountainers, but also includes some film from a Red Sovine Nashville recording session and the Western sound of The Willis Brothers with an amusing fiddle playing routine. Interspersed with this is some lively, archaic African-American string band blues and hokum from Blind James Campbell.

Those interested in American vernacular music will find “Down Home Music: A Journey Through the Heartland 1963,” a fascinating video glimpse at traditions that still move us today. I would suggest watching it and then way=tching it a second time with the optional audio track featuring off-the-cuff commentary by Chris Strachwitz. This is available at a variety of sources including www.bluebeatmusic.com, but you may want to check it out at Arhoolie Records own website, www.arhoolie.com.

I will be reviewing ”Hear Me Howling!” in a few days. That like this was a purchase.

K.C. Douglas Mercury Blues and more

One thing about blues is that often a performer with modest talent is still capable of making moving music. One such gentleman was K.C. Douglas. Douglas, a Mississippi native born in 1913 near Jackson, moved to California to work in the Naval shipyards. Growing up he started playing music, first learning from an uncle, and then catch local musicians at Saturday Night getaways. At the same time he started listening to the records of Tommy Johnson whom K.C. met and played with him around 1940 in Jackson. Johnson’s music left its imprint that remained when K.C. moved to California.

After settling in California, he somehow ended up in Bob Geddins’ studios and recorded a song “Mercury Boogie” that was issued on Geddins’ Down Town label and became somewhat of a hit in the Bay area and parts of Texas and Louisiana. This song of course is better known by versions by the Steve Miller Band and Alan Jackson. Geddins though moved on from the downhome blues so it would be a few years before he would record again. At the very beginning of the folk revival he recorded for Cook and then two albums for Bluesville that were produced by Chris Strachwitz. In 1973 and 1974 Strachwitz assembled Douglas with a small group that included Richard Riggins on harmonica, Jim Marshall on drums and Ron Thompson on guitar. The result was an album on Arhoolie, “The Country Boy,” that subsequently has been issued on CD as “Mercury Blues,” with added unissued selections, including some from the early sixties that are solo or with an unidentified band.

The band here plays efficiently and supportively to Douglas’ heartfelt vocals and simple, rhythmic guitar playing. I know little about drummer Marshall. Riggins, who recorded as Harmonica Slim for Trix and Fedora, passed away few years ago while Thompson is still active in the blues world as a first-rate traditionally based multi-instrumentalist. His work on this recording as well with Little Willie Littlefield, Riggins and Schoolboy Cleve for the Blues Connoisseur label were amongst his earliest recordings who also spent several years with John Lee Hooker and Mick Fleetwood’s Blue Whale.

In any event, “Mercury Blues” is a solid unassuming but easily recommended recording of Mississippi blues performed by Douglas and his ensemble. There is a reworking of his “Mercury Boogie,” along with a nice rendition of “Catfish Blues,” and his original “Woke Up This Morning.” One of several recordings from the 1960s is the fervent “I’m Gonna Build a Web” is a solid, more modern, blues with an emphatic vocal and some nice piano and sax. Then there are three solo tracks including “Make Your Coffee, with some very adroit guitar. another 1960 solo performance, ”Night Shirt Blues,“ is an excellent original built around the ”Catfish Blues,“ and then followed by a fine rendition of Tommy Johnson’s ”Canned Heat Blues.“ Listening to these solo tracks are certainly going to encourage me to try to locate his Bluesville recordings which I believe were reissued as part of the Original Blues Classics series. These solo tracks are a bonus to the fine down home blues group heard here.

I won’t say that the music on ”Mercury Blues“ is essential to a blues collection, but it is strongly performed and delivered from the heart. The music here is certainly equal to anything produced by some of Douglas’ better known contemporaries from Mississippi such as Honeyboy Edwards and Son Thomas. I purchased this on sale from Arhoolie (http://chulasfronteras.com/) and I believe it is on sale (as I write this) at a bargain price but even at regular price is well worth it for folks who love real deal downhome blues.

Sacred Steel's First Exposure

Its just been over ten years since Arhoolie Records issued its first anthology of the sacred steel music tradition. In the intervening decade some performers in the tradition such as Aubrey Ghent, the Lee Brothers and the Campbell Brothers have become well known outside this music's religious origins and Robert Randolph has become a star on the pop circuit. Here is my 1997 review from the Jazz & Blues Report of the CD that initiated the interest in this music. Kudos to Chris Strachwitz for generating interest in this genre like he did in cajun and zydeco, norteno and so much more roots music.

Arhoolie Records has issued a most intriguing collection titled Sacred Steel. Comprised of various field recordings, some from concerts and some from religious services, its subtitle of Traditional Sacred African-American Steel Guitar Music in Florida should give a sense of its contents. Producer Robert Stone provides a lengthy discussion of the music and the performers here. As his accompanying booklet notes, steel guitar (both lap steel and pedal steel) is an integral part of the worship in the House of God, and the five performers featured here are among its greatest proponents. Certainly there are moments where the music will be very much like blues, but with a different message. Steel guitar lends itself to vocalized playing that has always been a part of African-American music and this is illustrated in Sonny Treadway’s instrumentals of classic hymns as well as by Willie Eason, a pioneer of this music who recorded in the forties and fifties, and reprises his Franklin D. Roosevelt, A Poor Man’s Friend that he originally recorded after FDR’s death. The music from the religious services, where the steel playing gets entangled in the frenzied celebrations, is mesmerizing, as the music hits a fever pitch that would make a hot John Lee Hooker boogie sound like a bedtime lullaby in comparison. This collection serves didactic and entertainment functions equally well with many inspired performances.

Mercy Dee's Troublesome Blues

It was back in the early 1990s that Arhoolie made available its 1961 recordings by Texas pianist-singer Mercy Dee Walton Troublesome Mind. Mercy Dee, who died in 1962, was one of the more distinctive performers and lyricists of the postwar blues. You may not have heard his Specialty recording, One Room Country Shack, but are likely familiar with other recordings of the song (Including Buddy Guy) and will have a sense of the powerful lyrical imagery conveyed (“People, I sitting here a thousand miles from nowhere. Here in my one room country little shack,”). The album includes a remake of it along with several songs employing the same melody as well as also possess distinctive and equally compelling lyrics like Have You Ever Been Out In The Country. While not as extroverted a showman as other Texas born pianists who moved to the West Coast such as Amos Milburn and Little Willie Littlefield, Mercy Dee played crisply and thoughtfully. On the slow pieces he plays a spare bass while playing authoritatively with his right hand. He certainly could barrelhouse with the best of them as on Mercy’s Shuffle or the rocking Red Light, with his clever use of rhymes in the tradition of What’d I Say. Mercy Dee's straightforward vocals mixed with his lyrical imagery and solid piano (backed by among others K.C. Douglas and Sidney Maiden) packed a real punch. This is a first rate reissue.

(This is rewritten from my original review which appeared in the February 1992 Jazz & Blues Report.

The Good Doctor Cures the Boogie Disease

This is a review I did in 1992 of Dr. Ross for Jazz & Blues Report. Dr. Ross passed away in 1993 and I am fortunate to have seen the one-man band perform at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival several times in the late 1980s.

Isaiah “Dr.” Ross
Boogie Disease
Arhoolie

Now a resident of the Detroit area, Isaiah “Dr.” Ross developed from a fine delta blues artist in the tradition of Big Joe Williams and Robert Petway into a one-man band. One of the artists who recorded for Sam Phillips, his early Memphis recordings have been reissued on Boogie Disease. Listening to the exuberance of the alternates to Boogie Disease and Chicago Breakdown, one can detect not only the strong delta rhythmic style of a Big Joe Williams (as well as northern transplant John lee Hooker), but also more than a bit of the influence of John Lee Williamson, reflected in a variety of songs including Going Back South and Polly Put a Kettle On. Of considerable note are his strong interpretations of such delta themes as Going to the River (Derived perhaps from Blind Lemon Jefferson, but played in the delta style), Shake ‘Em Down and Mississippi Blues. The latter is a Catfish Blues variant better known as Cat’s Squirrel and the source of the recording by the rock group, Cream. In addition to his youthful influences of John Lee Williamson and Tommy McClennan, one can also appreciate the impact of Muddy waters, and John lee Hooker, particularly on the hypnotic rhythms of Industrial Avenue Boogie, a reworking of Hooker’s Boogie Chillum.This is an updated version of a vinyl reissue, and Steve La Vere has updated his and Bob Eagle’s original liner notes. Some of you have heard some of Dr. Ross’ Sun recordings and will have an idea of the exuberant boogie and barrelhouse blues to be found here. Others are in for a treat with respect to these superbly rendered performances.