Neglected Blues Gems From Al King and Arthur Adams Are Together

The late Al King was one of those singular West Coast blues singers who never received the general acclaim his small body of recordings merited. In the later part of the last Century, Forevermore Records had the first reissue of King’s recordings for the Shirley and Sahara labels and followed by new recordings. Unfortunately, despite the excellence of his blues, both old and new, he passed away before he could capitalize on their release. King, real name was Al K. Smith, is best known for a couple of recordings with guitarist Johnny Heartsman. One was a terrific version of Lowell Fulson’s Reconsider Baby, while the other was the memorable Think Twice Before Your Speak, which Fulson is among those who subsequently recorded.

King was a veteran of the California music scene when he made these and other recordings, having recorded for such legendary record men as John Dolphin, Johnny Otis and Bob Geddins. He initially issued Think Twice on his own Flag label, and when a Buffalo Sahara Records wanted to order 2000 copies, he leased it to them and had a brief association with that label after the urban blues charted at a time when few blues entered the record charts. After his Sahara deal ended, he moved to Los Angeles where he signed with Kent-Modern records for sessions that were produced by the legendary Maxwell Davis. These recordings have been reissued by the English Ace label along with contemporaneous recordings by Arthur K Adams, Together: The Complete Kent and Modern Recordings.

The pairing of the two on a reissue makes sense, insofar as Adams was session guitarist for many of the blues productions Davis did in the late sixties for Kent-Modern records including sessions for B.B. King as well as Al King. Saxophonist Big Jay McNeely is mentioned in the liner notes as being on many sessions for Davis and the late Clifford Solomon remembered playing on sessions as well. The music tight with brassy horns and Adams throwing in sizzling guitar breaks. Al King himself was an outstanding singer as well as songwriter. A couple of lyrical fragments illustrate this. The opening My Name Is Misery, has this powerful verse,

“I don't have no money
And I can't even pay my rent
If you put a money dog on my trail
He wouldn't even scratch a scent.”

While his The Thrill Is Gone (set to the melody of “The Things I Used To Do”) has these lyrics,

“The thrill is gone
The thrill I used to have for you
The thrill is gone
The thrill I used to have for you
Now you're beggin' me to take you back
Lord, but ain't a darn thing I can do.”

He is stark about relationships on Aint Givin’ Up Nothin’, a hot shuffle where he sings about when one has friends one has plenty of friends but when one runs out of money, friendship ends, and things are a give or take situation, what do you have to offer to me with a booting tenor sax solo. Then with Adams playing hard chords against an insistent beat he sings that married life is all right, but sometimes it is Better To Be By Yourself, with Adams taking a relentless solo. It’s Getting Late, is a solid blues in a vein similar to contemporaneous Kent recordings by Lowell Fulson. Then there is “Get Lost” a diatribe against an ex-lover which incorporates the titles and lyrical fragments from his prior 45s as hAdams puts everything into his solo. The body of Al King’s Kent recordings is on the same level as his Shirley-Sahara recordings and thankfully these are now currently available from Ace as opposed to a hard-to-fine, expensive Japanese reissue.

While Al King was a veteran, guitarist Adams was a relative newcomer to the LA scene and his rhythm guitar helped beef up B.B. King’s recording of The Jungle. In fact, Arthur’s picture of him with a guitar was used for the cover of Kent’s album “The Jungle,” a fact I was unaware of until I read Tony Rounce’s notes in the accompanying booklet. He is represented by sessions from late 1966 or early 1967. She Drives Me Out Of My Mind, is a slow B.B. King style blues with a high tenor vocal that is not far removed from Ted Taylor with a touch of sixties Buddy Guy along with some real strong guitar playing. On the other hand, I’m Lonely For You, is more in the vein of the recordings of Impressions with a fine vocal and some nice guitar. A couple of duets with female singers are again more in a sixties soul than blues vein, but nicely done with Adams displaying a strong soulful singing style.

As Tony Rounce writes in the accompanying booklet, both King and Adams “deserved far better fame than these records bought them 40-odd years ago … .” While in some case, 45 rpm singles had to be used as opposed to the original tapes, sound is generally quite good and Ace’s packing and production is of its typical high level. The result is an important reissue of two powerful, if neglected blues artists (although thankfully Adams is still with us and continuing to make strong, original music).

This was a purchase. Here is Al King's recording of Ain't Givin' Up Nothin.

Here is a little bit of Arthur Adams in performance.

Arnold McCuller's Soulful New CD

A real surprise is a new release by vocalist Arnold McCuller, "Soon As I Get Paid" (What's Good Records). As a vocalist he has worked as a session singer with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt Phil Collins, Lyle Lovett and James Taylor as well as had his own choice recordings issued over two decades and a half. His early singing was rooted in the church and was with the national Touring Company of "Hair." More recently he has been touring with James Taylor, and involved with upcoming Ry Cooder and Eric Clapton recordings.

From the opening moments with the title track, McCuller shows himself to be a terrific singer, rooted in the blues and soul. His vocals are wonderfully delivered and the backing complements his expressiveness. Even the blues-rock touches are generally understated. It is hard pressed to pick out standout tracks. The title track is a stunning bluesy piece while Gasoline and Matches, is a marvelous duet with Thelma Jones. It is followed by a fine rendition of the Big Jay McNeely-Little Sonny Warner classic There is Something On Your Mind, with a fine guitar solo from Mike Landau.

McCuller does a wonderful re-imaging of the Jackie Wilson classic Lonely Teardrops, slowing down the tempo and singing in a fashion that captures a fair amount of the heartache of the lyrics. McCuller observes that Wilson was performing this when he suffered a heart attack and stroke that left him in a coma for 8 years and obviously is a significant influence on McCuller. Do Right Woman, Do Right Man is a nice rendition of the Dan Penn and Chips Moman tunes that Aretha is most identified with. Obviously having a man sing it gives the words somewhat a different tenor. The catholicity of McCuller's repertoire is also displayed by his solid rendition of JB Lenoir's The Whale Swallowed Me, with his aching vocal complemented by Landau's spare trebly guitar and Larry Goldings restrained organ.

Soon As I Get Paid was a revelation as Arnold McCuller shows himself to be a first-rate singer, backed by a sympathetic band on this impressive release. His website is http://www.arnoldmcculler.com/ and this can be ordered there.

I received my review copy from a publicist for this release.

2008 JazzFest Day 2

Continuing my travelogue (sort of to speak) of my 2008 New Orleans vacation, here is my recollections of the Second Day of JazzFest. As I noted before, it can be found in its entirety in the June 2008 issue of Jazz & Blues Report which can be downloaded as a pdf file at that publication's link.


Saturday, April 26, the weather forecast was for showers midday and while the rains came midway and shortened the performances that day, some of the best performances I saw were before the showers. My day began in Economy Hall where I saw several numbers by a fine traditional cornet player, Connie Jones who has a marvelous new CD on Arbors with pianist Tom McDermott. On the way to the Blues and Jazz tents I stopped for a bit of The Black Seminoles Mardi Gras Indians with there chants, songs and dancing. Rockie Charles, a fine singer with a touch of Al Green in his delivery impres me with his soulful blues style. He had an excellent album on Orleans Records a decade ago that is worth searching out. I had not seen the exuberant contemporary cajun sounds of Wayne Toups and the Zydecajun who rocked the Acura Stage with their strong music. Then a chance to see Carol Fran whose recording career stretches back to the sixties and who made two really memorable recordings for Black Top with her late husband Clarence Holliman. She suffered a stroke a few years ago, but that did not stop her from even sitting at the piano and weaving her spell on the audience. She remains a marvelous singer, although one limitation is that a good portion of her set was standards. Still it was wonderful to see her sound so vibrant. From her set I drifted to the jazz Tent to finally see Germaine Bazzle, one of New Orleans most beloved jazz singers and she did not disappoint me with her song selection and her marvelous singing. The charm and joy of Economy Hall beckoned for Greg Stafford’s Young Tuxedo Brass Band which had the crowd, including a sizable contingent from Lillestrøm, Norway, to second line in the tent.

Legendary honker Big Jay McNeely celebrated his 80th Birthday a bit over a year ago, but his performance in the Blues Tent showed the tenor saxophonist with the vitality of someone much younger as he wailed on sax and sang fairly strongly. After several excellent numbers by him I headed to Congo Square where Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington and the Roadmasters were holding forth with his solid funky blues including a couple numbers from his new Zoho release, “Doin’ the Funky Thing.’ With long-time bassist Jack Cruz and saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter, the Wolfman has one of the tightest bands that can really kick the groove around. After several numbers I headed to the Fais Do Do stage to catch Eddie Bo, New Orleans legendary pianist and songwriter (His ‘I’m Wise’ was a hit for Little Richard as “Slippin’ and Slidin.’” In exuberant form he led his band through some solid performances. As he was performing, the rain started getting heavier and I returned to the Blues Tent to meet my wife. I had been hoping to catch Astral Project in the Jazz tent and Dr. John on the Acura stage, but with the rain I settled in for the entire set by James Cotton and his excellent band marked by the terrific guitarists Tom Holland and Slam Allen, with his longtime bassist Noel Neal anchoring things. Allen warmed the tent audience up with several strong vocals and both guitarists are marvelous players. Cotton finally came up, and while he doesn’t sing anymore, Mr. Superharp was wailing on the Mississippi saxophone. He does not fail to satisfy. With the heavy rain, we caught a bus back to the hotel, Billy Joel cut his two-hour set early at 6:15 I understand, but I would have passed on him. I caught on WWOZ a broadcast of the Ponderosa Stomp Revue and the Count Basie Band was in the jazz Tent, but weather shortened all the closing sets. While the weather limited who I had the opportunity to watch, it was an exhilarating afternoon.

That night, my wife and I went to the Palm Court to have dinner and hopefully see 95-odd year old cornet player Lionel Ferbos and the Palm Court Jazz Band. We trekked in the very rainy streets till we reached there and stayed to hear the band even though Mr. Ferbos was unable to get out of his home because of flooded streets. The Palm Court has marvelous food and offers terrific traditional jazz nightly and the band, most of whom would play with Ferbos at the Festival on Sunday, were excellent. After dinner and the music we headed back to our hotel, although stopping at Margaritaville to catch some lively blues & R&B by veteran New Orleans guitarist Irving Bannister, who have a regular no cover gig at Jimmy Buffett’s New Orleans establishment.

Haywood 'Little Sonny' Warner 1930-2007

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Originally uploaded by NoVARon.

I already have expressed my appreciation for the late Little Sonny Warner, but felt it useful to place a lengthier obituary for this wonderful singer and person.

Haywood, ‘Little Sonny’ Warner, one of the greatest blues artists to emerge from the Washington DC music scene passed away on April 12, 2007 from the effects of prostate cancer. Warner, born October 30, 1930, grew up in Falls Church, Virginia on Shreve Road, behind what was then Peacock Buick. As a teen he was part of a gospel group "The Four Sons" who sang at the Second Baptist Church in Falls Church. This was the beginning of his lengthy musical career. This group went up to New York and as the Rockets, backed legendary Atlantic Records session pianist Van Walls on Walls' single releases, "After Midnight" and "Open the Door."

Sonny became part of the DC music scene, singing at various area clubs while holding down a day job. In the mid 1950s he became valet for the legendary Lloyd Price in Prices’ touring band who had established the Washington DC based KRC label with Harold Logan and Bill Boskent. Being a valet also included some part-time vocal duties, Initially he shared duties with Price’s cousin, Larry Williams but Specialty Records' Art Rupe got Williams to sign with Specialty and start on his own career. Warner wasn’t unhappy, telling blues scholar Larry Benicewicz ““You see, Larry was also a hairdresser, which gave him an advantage, because Lloyd would always want to look good for his public. I could never compete with that.”

Benicewicz noted that Warner tired of Price’s grueling road itinerary and returned to the Washington area where still popular as a local entertainer he began hanging out at various clubs, including the legendary Maryland venue, where he would sit in with the locals. he recalled to Benicewicz, ““I met Jay McNeely at a place called Evan’s Grill in Forrestville, MD, and his singer wasn’t doin’ nothin. The crowd egged me to go on, so I got Jay to agree. I never saw that vocalist again.” Jay asked Sonny to go on the road with him and a few months later he Sonny left his day job and small local gigs behind to join McNeely in Seattle where Big Jay was based. He fronted McNeely’s Band, scoring with his Ray Charles influenced vocals. In Seattle, they were recorded at the Birdland club which McNeely later issued on his Swingin’ label (and this is available today on Collectables) which mixed a number of wild instrumentals showcasing McNeely’s honking tenor sax along with Warner’s soulful singing which included an early version of “There is Something on Your Mind.”

Big Jay’s recording of “There is Something on Your Mind” with Little Sonny’s vocal was the big moment in Sonny’s career, with the record going gold. The record, issued on the Swingin' label of Hunter Hancock, Roger Davenport and McNeely became a major R&B smash in 1959, even reaching #44 on the Pop Top 100. Sonny’s wonderful delivery of the lyrics and his ad-lib scatting towards the vocal’s end is still appealing almost five decades later. It was a classic recording of a terrific song and has been covered by numerous performers including Bobby Marchan, James Cotton, Kenny Neal, Professor Longhair and B.B. King. Over the next couple years, several more singles, some simply instrumentals, were waxed by McNeely and band but none reached the success of the song that took Big Jay, Little Sonny and band across the country playing some of the great venous and sharing the stage with other R&B giants.
Eventually, Sonny left McNeely and returned to the Washington DC area. He was able to hook up with Bill Boskent who Sonny would have gotten to know when he was with Lloyd Price because Boskent was Price’s road manager. Larry Benicewicz notes that Boskent recorded Sonny producing a pop flavored ballad “Wallflower” backed by the bouncy “That’s For Me” (both Boskent compositions) for the first Bee Bee (for Bill Boskent) release in 1961, and two more sides (duets with Marie Allen) in 1962. Benicewicz stated the recordings had an impact in the Mid-Atlantic region, but did not break out as had been hoped. Then Boskent recorded Warner for a band new Lloyd Price enterprise, Concertone records, but again the recording did not meet expectations. Later in 1966, Sonny recorded what was possibly his best know post-Big Jay recording, the single “Bell Bottom Blue Jeans” and Been So Long,” which was produced by Ted Bodner. The former tune remained a staple of his repertoire until the end.

Over the next few decades, Sonny continued to perform, being one of the most highly regarded artists in the region. He evoked Ray Charles as he sang blues and soul songs, and was always backed by a crack band. He continued to play the top venues in the region, and when Lamont's opened in 1990, was its opening act. He performed at The Taste of DC and twice was featured at the DC Blues Festival (1992 and 1998) where he captured his audience with his singing and his stage presence, being a whirling dervish on the stage. And as former DC Blues Society President Bob Gray would say, no one could sing “There is Something on Your Mind” like Sonny Warner could.

One highlight of recent years was being reunited with Big Jay McNeely at the August 1997, Hot August Blues event in Monkton, Maryland. It may have been the only time since he split from McNeely in the early sixties that the two shared the stage together. Brad Selko, who with his late wife Marcia, produced the event, mentioned that people still tell him that Sonny’s performance that day was among the most memorable shows they had ever seen. This writer also remembers Sonny as one of the acts at the 2000 Gator Blues Festival at Lamont’s where he left the stage to wade into the enthusiastic crowd.

Sonny continued performing, but slowed down his pace. He was discovered by Falls Church community activist David Eckert. Eckert, who had worked vigorously to recover the civil rights legacy of the Falls Church area, earlier helped the region appreciate the role of Piedmont Blues pioneer John Jackson. Eckert helped arrange performances for Sonny at the City’s First Friday celebration, the annual Tinner Hill Festival (a celebration of the first rural NAACP chapter in Virginia) and at the City of Falls Church’s"Concerts in the Park" series held Falls Church's Cherry Hill Park.

In more recent years Sonny endured some health ailments. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and received treatment and slowed down his performances. Some of his last performances were as part of a revue, The DC Allstars that included Pookie Hudson & the Spaniels, The Jewels, The Velons, The Orioles, Skip Mahoney & the Casuals, and The Winstons. Still the health problems limited his ability to perform. When Big Jay called Sonny to join him in Italy to help Jay celebrate his 80th Birthday, Sonny was unable to join his fellow legend.

I happened upon Sonny and his wife Catherine on several occasions the past couple years, and it would always bring a smile just to chat with him. Even when last summer at a Safeway parking lot, when he told me his was undergoing chemo for the prostate cancer, he still had the infectious smile and optimism about the future. Sonny was as nice a person as he was one of the finest blues singers ever to come out of Washington. And he was so good that if there is ever a DC Blues Hall of Fame, he will be one of the charter members.

Sonny was survived by his wife, Catherine, seven children and two stepchildren; sister Jessie Mae Simmons and brother, Joseph Hunter; 13 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, eight sisters-in-law, six brothers-in-law, numerous nieces and nephews, other relatives and many friends. To his family we extend our condolences.

Little Sonny Warner Remembered

Haywood 'Little Sonny' Warner passed on Thursday, April 12, 2007. The Falls Church native was one of the finest blues singers in the DC area. As part of a vocal group he first recorded for Atlantic as a teenager and then served as the valet for Lloyd Price for a period. One night at Evans Grille in Forestville MD, he jumped on stage when Big Jay McNeely was performing. McNeely asked Sonny to join him and a few months later he flew out to the West Coast to be part of McNeely's show, scoring with his Ray Charles influenced vocals. The big moment was Sonny's vocal on the classic There is Something on Your Mind. The record went gold. After a couple more years Sonny left Big jay and returned to the Washington DC area recording a handful of singles but one of the top acts on the local R&B circuit. His performances at the DC Blues Festival, Lamont's or the July 2003 Falls Church Parks show, from which these photos were taken, were always memorable. If there is ever a DC Blues Hall of Fame, he will be one of the charter members.

For more images from the July 2003 show check Sonny Warner-July 2003

For some images scanned from prints of the August 1997 show with Big Jay check Big Jay & Little Sonny

I thank Eric LeBlanc for forwarding the Washington Post's death notice which enabled me to correct the date from the 13th. Catherine, Sonny's widow, called me Saturday morning and that's where I found out about him passing.