Take 5 With St. James Infirmary

One of the best-known jazz & blues songs associated with the City of New Orleans, St. James Infirmary has been subject to many recordings and interpretations for decades. Artists such as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Chris Thomas King, and many others have recorded it. Also, it has been subject to scholarly study by Robert W. Harwood (and I recommend this volume) going through its origins and its history. Here is a link with more information about this book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4758997-i-went-down-to-st-james-infirmary

Today's Take 5 is a short playlist of renditions of this classic tune. And I could easily have included another dozen renditions.

We start today's playlist with the great Louis Armstrong. This was not the first recording. That was by Fess Williams under the title of "Gambler's Blues."  This recording is from 1928 and includes the great Earl Hines on piano.

Next, we turn to the great Cab Calloway who recorded it originally in 1930 but also did a 'soundie' of the tune.

Bobby Bland made one of my favorite recordings of this song. It was the flip side of his No. 2 R&B hit "Don't Cry No More." I have included the original recording and not a live performance as he performed an abbreviated version on the videos available. I note that soul-blues singer Geater Davis also did a recording that was modeled on Bland's version.

Chris Thomas King, son of Baton Rouge blues legend Tabby Thomas, is a highly underrated blues performer and so much more. His moving rendition was included as part of 'Rise," his post-Katrina recording. Here he performs it at The Beeches Jazz Festival in Toronto.

We conclude this with a performance by Shamarr Allen who recorded this for his 'Meet Me on Frenchman Street" album.

Blues Takes on St. James Infirmary

Discussing Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man in his book, The Jazz Standards, Ted Gioia includes recordings by it by Buddy Guy and Albert King and bemoans what he found the scarcity of blues artists performing the songs he viewed as jazz standards. One problem is that his list of standards omits juke box jazz hits like Herbie Mann's"Comin' Home Baby, and Jimmy Smith's Back at the Chicken Shack, that served as band and/or set openers for various bands such as Muddy Waters and the like. But even with famous blues songs that he included such as W.C. Handy's St. Louis Blues and St. James Infirmary he seemed unaware of notable blues recordings of those songs, some of which I included with respect to St. Louis Blues, a couple of days ago.

Today I do the same with St. James Infirmary, the story and origins of which are discussed in a wonderful book by Robert W. Harwood, I Went Down to St. James Infirmary: Investigations in the shadowy world of early jazz-blues in the company of Blind Willie McTell, Louis Armstrong, Don ... where did this dang song come from anyway? It explores some of the myths of the songs origins as well as its complicated copyright history and the like. In his book, Gioia inexplicably omits the great Bobby Bland Duke recording that can be heard on the link of the top of the page (Soul singer Geater Davis did a tough recording that mirrored Bland's. Below are some more renditions from the Blues World.

Snooks Eaglin

Gary B.B. Coleman

Chris Thomas King recorded this on his 2006 post-Katrina recording Rise. 

Here he is seen performing this in 2015 at Toronto's Beaches Jazz Festival.

Chicago blues diva Angela Brown

The highly underrated Dave Alexander aka Omar Sharriff

Heritage Blues Orchestra

Lastly, Rhiannon Giddens with the Silk Road Ensemble

Bobby Blue Bland Live & Righteous 1992

Among recent blues and rhythm recordings issued on the Rock Beat label is a nineties live recording of Bobby Blue Bland, Live & Righteous 1992. The CD contains 13 selections from the Hotel Meridien in Paris from 1992 and four selections from a performance in Indianapolis in 1992. Mark Humphrey provides a concise overview of Bland's life and career but no specific dates are provided or personnel listed. These are likely air checks as indicated from some French narration over the performance from Paris. During the track entitled "I Don't Know," (actually the song known as Grits Ain't Groceries or 24 Hours a Day), the personnel are introduced although guitarist Mark Lee's named is mentioned several times.

The 1992 selections are particularly nice representatives of the "World's Greatest Blues Singer" as one might have heard in the early 1990s. The repertoire is fairly representative including Today I Started Loving You Again, Share Your Love With Me, Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine. You've Got To Hurt Before You Heal, and Members Only. A high point is the medley entitled Sunday Morning Love/Stormy Monday that also segues into Drifting Blues at the end. Bland's voice is typical. If he no longer possessed the range of his younger days and his squeals became squawks, his phrasing and intonation still invested his performances with real depth.

The Indianapolis selections include briefs renditions of That's The Way Love Is, Further On Up the Road, and I Pity The Fool, along with a workout on Soon As the Weather Breaks. Audio throughout is acceptable and certainly this  will appeal to Bobby's fans, even if it is not essential.

I purchased this. Here is Bobby and B.B. King on Soul Train from the seventies.

Blue Bird Blues Festival Celebrates 20 With Bobby Bland

Bobby Bland at the 2004 Pocono Blues Festival. Photo © Ron Weinstock

The 20th Annual Blue Bird Blues Festival takes place Saturday, September 22 at Prince George's Community College with the legendary Bobby 'Blue' Bland headlining. The Free Festival takes place from 12:30–6 p.m. at Prince George’s Community College's Largo campus. There will be the live entertainment, along with children’s activities, music workshops, food and crafts to engage the senses and offer entertainment for the whole family. Admission is free. 

Headlining will be the great Bobby Bland. Bland has been one of the most prominent blues singers for over fifty years with countless classic recordings. He has been honored by The Blues Foundation by being inducted to The Blues Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and The Rhythm and Blues Foundation who awarded him a Pioneer Award. Bland had 23 top ten hits on the Billboard R&B charts including Farther Up the Road, I'll Take Care of You, I Pity the Fool and Turn On Your Love Light. The English Ace label labelled a compilation of some of his classic Duke Recordings simply as The Voice. 

In more recent years, Bland has been recording for Malaco and continues to produce timeless and soulful blues recordings including Members Only, You've Got to Hurt Before You Heal and a terrific cover of Ain't No Sunshine. Bland has long been a favorite in the Washington DC area, and it is a coup for the Blue Bird Festival to be featuring him this year.

The Orioles at Wilson Plaza, Washington DC in 2010. Photo © Ron Weinstock

Also on the line-up on the outdoor stage will be Clarence Carter. Carter, like Bland, has been a mainstay on the southern soul-blues circuit for decades with such classic recordings as "Patches" and "Strokin'." Local favorites Bobby parker and The Orioles will be among those performing on the main outdoor stage. There will also be a full program of blues also at the the Nap Turner Stage located in Queen Anne Fine Arts. Performers on this stage include Daryl Davis, Phil Wiggins, Little Bit A Blues featuring Warner Williams & Jay Summerour, and The Jewels. 

It promises to be a terrific day of blues and congratulations to Prince George's Community College for continuing this terrific annual event.

McClain and Reierstud Colloborate on Soulful Blues

Mighty Sam McClain has come someway from the chitlin circuit and 45s on small independent labels. Often thought of as a blues and soul vocalist in the Bobby Bland, listening to him singing from the opening moments of “Life,” the first track of his collaboration with Norwegian guitarist Knut Reiersrud, One Drop Is Plenty (Valley Vue) one hears echoes of the late Solomon Burke mixed with some of Bobby Bland’s choked leaps.

McClain’s sounds deeper here perhaps than I remember him, but he sounds so comfortable while Reiersrud is a fine guitar whether laying down single note modern blues guitar runs, or playing slide guitar in a manner suggestive of the of Derek Trucks and the sacred steel players. His slide playing here is supportive of the vocals and not in the jam band mode of Trucks. And the way McClain delivers his vocal accentuates the message of the lyric as he asks the lady does she believe in love on Can You Stand The Test Of Love.

There is a nice Memphis feel to You Don't Know Nothing About Love, with McClain as he sings about the nighttime, tears fall like rain, starting again in the morning and pray that she will never go away, and if you don’t know what he is talking about, one knows nothing about love with nice guitar riffs and fills. Learn How To Love You Again is a country waltz with Reiersrud evoking a dobro at times. On Long Time Running, McClain sings about asking for forgiveness as he has turned things around and “would you still love me if I failed once more, would you deny me the chance to touch your soul … .” The similarity to King Solomon is evident on I Don't Feel Noways Tired, with its religious message, “Nobody told him the road would be easy, I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me,” with some churchy organ from David Wallumrød on this striking performance.

Much can be said about the production and the splendid Norwegian musicians on this. The musicianship is impeccable and the restraint in the spare accompaniments on these performances keep the listener’s focus on McClain who is singing as well as he ever has. It perhaps was fortuitous chance that McClain and Reiersrud met collaborating on the recording Scent of Reunion, by Iranian artist Mahsa Vahdat. One consequence of this meeting is this exceptional recording that one would hope might help Mighty Sam reach a level of recognition and acclaim his talents deserve, and hopefully a chance to hear him and guitarist Reiersrud here in North America.

My review was from downloads provided by a publicist for Valley Vue and it can be obtained from Valley Vue along with some of Mighty Sam's earlier recordings.

Adolphus Bell's Entertaining One Man Band Blues

The Music Maker Relief Foundation has been a boon to practitioners of southern musical traditions which has enabled a number of individuals to gain recognition as performers and also meet their day to day needs including emergency medical and housing assistance, purchasing and repairing musical instruments, recording the performers and issuing the recordings, and presenting artists in concerts around the world.


Adolphus Bell, One Man Bell, is among recent releases by the Foundation and features the one-man band from Birmingham, Alabama. While born in Birmingham, he grew up in Pittsburgh where he learned guitar from George Benson. Frustrations from dealing with band members led him start playing as a one-man band, playing drums, harp and guitar while singing. Over the years of playing the streets he has developed a lively performance style as indicated on the opening The One Man Band, where he introduces the various members of the band.


Bell displays a fondness for a couple of songs associated with Bobby Bland including You Got to Hurt Before You Heal and the Bill Withers classic that is such a part of Bland’s live show, Ain’t No Sunshine, along with the vocal group classic, Cherry Pie, the Motown classic, (I Need Some) Money, and Sam Cooke’s Let the Good Times Roll. Other songs are originals like Ever Had the Blues and some topical numbers, Child Support Blues, Passport Blues and Black Man’s Dream. The latter number has a message that America better get things together or it is gonna be in for dark times.


Musically, Bell brings a soulful singing style mixed with some witty banter. His accompaniments often are simple and nicely delivered with a Jimmy Reed-flavored grooves. He adds some spare single note fills and takes some solos as well, mixing in some comments and replies as he performs. Despite the valuable documentation of a number of performers, I have found some Music Maker Foundation releases to be uneven. This however, is one of the better recent releases and its nice to have another one-man band to join such long-gone legends as Jesse Fuller, Dr. Ross and Juke Boy Bonner.


This may be in some stores, and cdbaby.com does offer many releases of artists of the Music Maker Relief Foundation. You can also obtain this from the Foundation’s website, www.musicmaker.org, which has full information on their mission and all of the marvelous recordings and books they offer. You will be getting some fine music and helping deserving artists.


This review appeared originally in the April 2006 DC Blues Calendar and April 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 282). I have made some minor editorial changes. I have been a long time supporter of the Music Maker Relief Foundation and likely received this in my capacity of a donor to the organization.

Luther Kent's Bobby Bland Songbook

Veteran New Orleans singer Luther Kent gets to pay his homage to one of his idols on his new Vetter Communications disc, The Bobby Bland Songbook. Kent has been a devotee of Bland since as a 13 year old he caught Bland backed by the Joe Scott at a Baton Rouge club. The influence Bland had on him was reflected by him when talking about Bland and one of Kent’s greatest memories being on a Riverboat Cruise with B.B. King and Bland during a 1980s JazzFest.

Kent has always included a few songs from Bland and his contemporaries such as Little Milton in his set list for decades, but this disc is devoted solely to Bland’s music. Kent and Don Chesson have assembled a big band with the Creole Beethoven, Wardell Querzergue doing the arrangements and conducting the band.

Kent has selected a dozen of Bland’s more famous recordings from the period that is arguably his greatest period, the late fifties and early sixties recordings he made for Duke which includes such classics as Who Will the Next Fool Be, I Pity the Fool, Stormy Monday, Cry, Cry, Cry, St. James Infirmary, Don’t Cry No More, That’s the Way Love Is, and I Wouldn’t Treat a Dog. The performances are styled after Bland’s originals, in this sense he doesn’t reinvent them as much as Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall did on his own recent tribute, Salute to Bobby.

Querzergue adds his own characteristic touches to provide a fresh shine on the horn arrangements and Kent while reflecting Bland’s originals does put his own imprint on these recordings for a pretty solid recording, which understandably is somewhat overshadowed by the originals. I would have also liked to hear a few of Bland’s more recent recordings interpreted like Members Only, and You Got to Hurt Before You Heal, but that is a minor complaint.

Kent is a very good singer, although not on the level that Bland was back in this period (an out-of-print English Ace CD that had many of these original selections was aptly titled, The Voice).  This is a nice celebration by a fan of one of the great blues singers of the past fifty years. Its available at the Louisiana Music Factory in New Orleans (they do mail order and their website, www.louisianamusicfactory.com), cdbaby.com and Amazon among various retailers.


I purchased this CD and this review appeared in the August 2009, Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 319).

Lucky Peterson Roots ComeBack Should Have Been Funkier!

This writer was living in Buffalo and doing a blues show on the University of Buffalo’s station WBFO, at the time I first saw and heard Lucky Peterson. He was playing keyboards behind his father, James Peterson, at a club on Main Street near downtown Buffalo. He was a teenager then, not the pre-teen that had appeared on the Tonight Show and recorded singles and an album. His talent was evident every time I heard him as part of his father’s band, including a couple of performances that were fundraisers for the station. One could not help but be impressed by his musicianship. I remember his dad telling me Lucky had perfect pitch. In the years since I left Buffalo I would hear about James and Lucky. Lucky had a break as he played in the bands of Bobby Bland and Little Milton, touring with them overseas and playing on their recordings, before recording for KingSnake I believe, and then he had an album on Alligator that was produced by KingSnake I believe. He continued to perform and over the years he was one of the artists that signed to Verve-Gitanes where he produced three of the finest blues recordings of recent years mixing in funk and classic soul with straight blues. Also on Verve, he accompanied the great Mavis Staples on a great album devoted to the music of Mahalia Jackson. Then he had a disc on Dreyfus that continued in the same vein as his Verve albums. Since then, he has also recorded for small independent labels like JSP, and also had publicized personal issues including substance abuse. Reportedly (and thankfully), he has placed these demons behind him.

Dreyfus Records has just issued Lucky’s latest album, “You Can Always Turn Around,” and the title and some of the songs have a reflective side as they deal with struggle and change. This recording was produced in the Catskills with some of the Woodstock musicians including Larry Campbell, Scott Petito and Gary Burke and the flavor is quite different from Lucky’s prior recordings. “Dust My Broom,” opens and if Lucky, who is playing a dobro here, sings forcefully (although a little over the top at times) it is hardly an original performance and the version of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues,” which seems like an unplugged adaptation of the Allman Brothers recording which itself was derived from Taj Mahal’s recording on his eponymously titled disc over forty years ago. Its hard to get excited with these covers. The cover of Reverend Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” strikes this listener as a much stronger performance.

Bill Callahan’s “I’m New Here” has a lyric about being new around town but musically its far from the blues and a bit more gentle vocal, spoken at times on a folky-sounding tune. “Trouble,” penned by Ray LaMontagne, has some really nice piano by Peterson as he sings about trouble been bothering his soul since the day he was born, worry not leave his mind alone until he was saved by a woman. The sparse backing helps his vocal stand out here. “Trampled Rose,” was co-written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, opens with Lucky sounding like someone calling believers to prayers and while the lyrics touch on themes of hurt and hurting others, it comes off off-kilter to these ears. Lucky picks up the electric guitar and with heavy fuzztone and a bit over-the-top singing for Lucinda Williams’ “Atonement,” that strikes this listener as pretentious. While he switches to steel guitar (dobro), the rendition of the late Bobby Charles’ “Why Are People Like That,” also sounds too forced. “Four Little Boys,” is a bit more low-key and this song he wrote his his father James, with the “Forty Four Blues” riff incorporated in its melody is a more appealing performance. The outstanding track here is the wonderful rendition of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” where there is a wonderful duet with Lucky’s wife, Tamara. His piano shines on this track as well and they do justice to this number that is identified with the great Nina Simone. Curtis Mayfield’s “Think” closes this album with steel guitar and acoustic slide giving this instrumental a country flavor.

“You Can Always Turn Around” certainly represents a change from Lucky Peterson from prior recordings, and not necessarily for the better here. Not that the performances are terrible, but few of the performances are distinctive and stand out in the fashion of Peterson’s earlier recordings that were more grounded in soul and funk. And while some have suggested this album showcases Lucky’s singing, one might suggest these really haven’t listened to Lucky’s earlier recordings because he always has shown himself to be an excellent vocalist. Still, it is nice to have a new Lucky Peterson recording available, even if it is not among his best work.


The advance review copy was sent by the firm handling publicity for this release.

Happy 80th Birthday Bobby Bland

I believe it was this past Wednesday and it was celebrated with some of his friends joining him as detailed more fully in the accompanying article: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2010/jan/28/bobby-blue-blands-birthday-bash-brings-out-blues-r/?print=1/

I would quote Mark Jordan’s article, but that would be too easy. please give it a read. B.B. king, Latimore, Bobby Rush, Floyd Taylor and others came by to see Bobby and wish him well.

Bland though has cancelled a scheduled show at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia and one certainly hopes that any health issues are minor ones, but only time will tell. I have been fortunate enough to see him a number of times including with B.B. three decades ago in Buffalo. He is one of the most extraordinary singers to have blessed the Blues & Rhythm area. Ace once issued an anthology of some of his best recordings that was simply, and properly entitled “The Voice.” Hopefully we will have the opportunity to see Mr. Bland performing regularly in the future. he is an American Treasure.

Mel Brown 1939-2009

Bob Corritore sent the word of this latest sad news to blues folks everywhere in his email newsletter:

• RIP Mel Brown 10/7/1939-3/20/2009: This note just in from Eric Thom: "Mel Brown has just passed - around 5pm tonight, but details are still pending. He was to open for Mavis Staples tonight, but has been in St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener fighting to get his breathing back without the use of a machine. This is a huge loss for the blues, and for the blues world in Canada, specifically". Mel Brown was one of the real treasures of blues guitar and piano. He had a long history of spectacular recordings for labels such as Impulse, Bluesway, Antone's, and in recent years, for his home base label of the Electro-Fi records. He also recorded as a sideman for some of the greatest of blues artists, including T-Bone Walker, B.B. king, Bobby "Blue Bland," Albert Collins, Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Snooky Pryor, Jimmy McGriff, James Cotton, Doug Sahm, Earl Hooker and Charles Brown (could a discography be any more fulfilled than that?) Yet another irreplaceable blues great has left us.
  

Mel Brown's biography can be found at Electro-Fi's website.

A few highpoints.

He was the son of John "Bubba" Brown, a Delta Blues Artist of note who ha traveled with Tommy Johnson and the Chatmon Brothers, but in order to raise his family, did not pursue music full time. Growing up in Jackson he met numerous blues legends and saw others growing up like Elmore James, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and Sonny Boy Williamson. Mel ended up working several gigs with Sonny Boy in nearby Vaughn, Mississippi "He needed a guitar player, so he came by my house and got me".

In 1958 he moves to LA where he hooks up with Jimmy Beasley and then Johnny Otis. Later he tours with the Olympics and Etta James. At this juncture of his career Mel begins to work steadily in the highly competitive L.A. studio scene appearing on sessions with everyone from Bobby Darin to Doris Day, Bill Cosby to Jerry Lewis. Meanwhile back in the blues world, after impressing T-Bone Walker with his playing one night at the Sands Club, Walker invited Mel to appear on an album , "Funky Town", that he was preparing to record for the ABC/Impulse label . Also impressed with Mel’s guitar work on the T-Bone sessions, producer Bob Thiele summoned Mel back to the studio a week later to record his debut "Chicken Fat". The LP is a flavorsome mix of blues, jazz and funk instrumentals with special guest Herb Ellis along for the ride.

He waxed several more albums for ABC-Impulse as well as records with many blues legends like Bobby Bland (The California Album), Charles Brown (the album "Legend" opposite Earl Hooker), Jimmy Witherspoon (again opposite Earl Hooker) and way too many more. He also worked off and on with Bobby Bland from 1971 to 1981. In 1983, he moved to Austin and becomes part of house band at Antone's including recording as part of the Silent partners. He is heard on a number of Antone's label albums as well as some by Albert Collins.

He moved to Ontario, Canada in 1990 where he remained for the rest of his life. He recorded a number of albums as a leader for Electro-Fi, as well as played on albums by Snooky Pryor and other legends. His 1999 Electro-Fi debut album " "Neck Bones & Caviar," which in 2001 won Mel the W.C. Handy (now Blues Music Award) "Blues Comeback Album of the Year" award."

He was highly respected in the music world throughout his career. I never had the pleasure of seeing him perform, but his legacy as a leader and a sideman is substantial.

The image of Mel is by taLkiN' bLuEs and taken from his website, www.melbrownblues.com

Since writing this I became aware of a Mel Brown obituary on the cbc's website.

Mighty Sam's Mighty Soul & Blues

This is a review I wrote in late 2001 that appeared in the DC Blues Calendar. Mighty Sam remains such a great voclaist it is well worth calling your attention to today.

Since his “rediscovery,” the former deep soul legend Mighty Sam McClain has slowly developed a following with a number of very fine releases, the latest of which, Sweet Dreams, has been recently released on Telarc. McClain certainly stands as one of the finest singers working in the soul-blues vein, with a delivery and voice that should appeal to fans of Bobby Bland. McClain also wrote many of these tunes, exceptions being the soulful transformation of the title track which is one of the tunes country legend Patsy Cline is best identified with and the Staple Singers’ hit Respect Yourself. With a solid band anchored by Bruce Katz on piano and Barry Seelen on the B-3 and a solid horn section, McClain belts out a variety of tunes with standouts including the country-flavored ballad Learn How to Love You Again, and Nothing But a Feeling, a nice slow blues with nice solo breaks for tenor saxophonist Chuck Langford and pianist Katz. While capable of belting out a lyric with the best of them, what makes McClain so special is that he delivers the songs so soulfully without shouting the lyrics except for emphasis. Perhaps some of the tunes are somewhat generic shuffles and slow blows and the horns play somewhat generic riffs, but McClain is one of those vocalists that one would not mind listening to sing about anything.