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.
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram
Kingfish
Alligator Records
This CD is Christone "Kingfish" Ingram's long-awaited debut. Called a rising prodigy by NPR music and endorsed by Buddy Guy, Kingfish has been playing to blues audiences for most of his young life. Videos and youtube and performances have led to hype about him. Tom Hambridge produced this debut and plays drums on most selections, with Bob McNelly adding guitar and Tommy McDonald on bass. Others playing on this include Marty Sammon on keyboards, Buddy Guy on guitar and vocals, Keb 'Mo on guitar and vocals and Billy Branch on harmonica. Tom Hambridge was involved in writing most of the 12 songs, many in collaboration with Ingram and others with Richard Fleming. One song is a collaboration between Ingram and Jontavious Willis.
At the outset, Ingram is a terrific guitarist with a heavy blues-rock pull out all the stops on most of the electric tracks on this. I really don't enjoy his guitar fireworks as much as I do his singing. He is an outstanding vocalist with plenty of warmth and expressiveness with an unforced delivery. So even if the opening "Outside of This Town," is a bit heavy musically, his singing knocks out. It is followed by a terrific duet with Buddy Guy with another excellent vocal and some of his best electric blues guitar here who is not overshadowed by Guy who is in fine form here.
Billy Branch adds harmonica while Ken 'Mo also is on guitar on the driving "If You Love Me," with an energetic guitar break followed by Branch's solo. "Listen" is a duet with Keb 'Mo and a pop-blues in the vein of Keb 'Mo's music with the backing more restrained. "Believe These Blues" has some of his more interesting guitar solos with exciting twists and turns urns along with his effective use of tonal dynamics. "Trouble" is a rocking number set against a New Orleans second-line groove.
"Been Here Before" is one of the acoustic blues here, with remembrances of his grandma singing and Ingram not sure how he became the way he is. Again he sings the lyrics with clarity and feeling. "Hard Times" is a traditional sounding acoustic blues with Ingram's vocal backed by Keb 'Mo's adept Resonator slide guitar. The closing "That's Fine By Me" is a heartfelt blues ballad that is evocative of some classic Chuck Willis with an excellent piano solo in addition to effective blistering guitar.
I do not deny he is an excellent guitarist, just not to my taste. Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram is a superb blue singer and with strong songs (and one reason I may view the songs so highly is because of how good a singer he is) and the firm support and production, "Kingfish" is a terrific recording, not merely an excellent debut.
I received my review copy from Alligator Records. This review appeared in the July-August 2019 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 385). Here is a video for "Outside of This Town."
Buddy Guy The Blues Is Alive and Well Silvertone/ RCA Records
According to the press materials, this is Buddy Guy's 18th solo album. It is produced by Tom Hambridge who has been a recent producer and collaborator with Guy, who also had a hand of nearly every song here and plays drums. The rest of the core backing band here is Kevin McKendree on keyboards, Willie Weeks on bass and Rob McNelly on rhythm or slide guitar m(although he sits out some tracks). Also heard here are guest appearances from Jeff Beck (who called Guy his favorite guitarist decades ago), Keith Richards, James Bay and Mick Jagger.
It is a solid, straight-forward recording pretty much in the vein of Guy's recent recordings. There is plenty of punch in the backing and the tone of Guy's guitar and his vocals belie his age of 81 years. There is an in-your-face quality to his fretwork on the opening "A Few Good Years," supporting his strong vocal on one of a number of strong originals here. It is followed by a rollicking shuffle "Guilty as Charged," with McKendree outstanding in his accompaniment while Guy plays more blistering guitar. Jeff Beck and Keith Richards add their guitar to "Cognac," with Beck especially pulling out all the stops as Guy sings about the merits of "Cognac," which has "liquid gold in every sip." The Muscle Shoals Horns add punch to the backing on the title track, with Guy singing soulfully about her woman having another man. I do not who James Bay but he adds his guitar and vocals to "Blue No More," with its low-key manner and is it may be Bay who contributes the B.B. King styled playing here.
Hambridge contributes a sledge hammer groove with a drum loop along with Guy's hammering out his guitar as he shouts about "Whiskey For Sale," with the McCrary Sisters adding vocal harmony on this minor entry here. Mick Jagger adds some nice harmonica adding to the late night feel of a slow blues, "You Did the Crime." The Muscle Shoals Horns return for "Old Fashioned" which is perhaps a bit over-the-top for these ears as Hambridge anchors the driving backing here. Rice Miler's "Nine Below Zero" is transformed into a hard hitting Muddy Waters' styled number followed by a Memphis styled rocker, "Ooh Daddy."
"End of the Line" is a Jimmy Reed-styled shuffle with Guy's easy going vocal, shattering guitar along with punchy horns before the album closes with a brief "Milking Muther For Ya," where Guy sings a verse of the Dirty Red song accompanied only by his guitar. 15 very different performances on this album which certainly will satisfy those wanting Guy's sizzling guitar playing, but also displays his fine singing as well.
I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the July-August 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 379). Here is the audio of Buddy Guy's performance of "Cognac" with guests Jeff Beck and Keith Richards from this CD.
I purchased the vinyl version of Junior Wells' Delmark album “Southside Blues Jam” upon its original release in 1970. The release was an effort to capture what a listener might hear at the baled Chicago blues club, Theresa’s, on a Monday night when Junior Wells and others including Buddy Guy would be featured. Wells and Guy were joined by Louis Myers on guitar, Ernest Johnson on bass, Fred Below on drums and Otis Spann on piano for what was his last studio appearance on record. Delmark has reissued an expanded “Southside Blues Jam” with the original eight selections supplemented by 7 bonus tracks, one of which is an alternate take, another is a warm-up fragment and another is some studio patter.
It was a recording that was quite easy to enjoy. There was a loose spontaneous feel to the performances that Junior and company put their stamp on starting with a easy driving rendition of “Stop Breaking Down” that Junior learned from the first Sonny Boy Williamson’s recording (adapted from Robert Johnson) to a cover of Guitar Slim’s “Trouble Don’t Last” where Buddy takes the lead vocal with Junior adding a rap to the performance. Topicality was heard in the issued take of “I Could Have Had Religion” where Junior dwells on Muddy Waters being out of action at the time and “Blues For Mayor Daley.” There are covers of songs from Muddy as well as a nice rendition of the second Sonny Boy Williamson’s “In My Younger Days.” Wells mixes his blues harp (very much in the spirit of the second Sonny Boy) with his mix of vocals and James Brown funk while Guy and Spann are in strong form.
The unissued performances have their appeal, although listening to them one can understand why the selections on the original CD were chosen. There is a decent cover of Little Walter’s “It’s Too Late Brother,” with Well’s exhorting Spann to rumble on the bass keys as he talks about the blues being funky. “Love My Baby,” a reworking of Arthur Crud-up’s “So Glad Your Mine,” and set to the “Hootchie Kootchie Man” groove with blistering string bending from Guy and Spann’s rumbling piano behind Wells’ vocal. The alternate of “I Could Have Had Religion” is a more traditional performance about a mistreating woman without the reference to Muddy Waters’ health. It has solid Louis Myers’ guitar, while “Rock Me” is done as a dedication to Muddy Waters. The closing “Got to Play the Blues” is an amusing original set to the groove of B.B. King’s (then contemporary recording), “Why I Sing the Blues” with Wells singing about singing the blues and throwing in impersonations of other singers.
This expanded “Southside Blues Jam” is handsomely packaged (credit Kate Moss) with a booklet that contains Bob Koester’s recollections of the session and Michael Cuscuna’s Rolling Stone review of the original LP release and the sound is quite good. This reissue, with its additional tracks, will be welcome to a wide range of blues lovers including those having the original LP.
I received my review copy from Delmark. This review originally appeared in the January-February 2015 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 358). Here is Junior with Buddy Guy doing "Little By Little" on a PBS show in 1971.
With B.B. King's recent passing, Buddy Guy probably has assumed the role of elder statesman of the Blues. Regardless of this, Guy has a new recording to entertain folk with "Born To Play Guitar" (Silvertone/RCA Records), that has something for everybody in terms of material and performance style. In addition to Guy and his band, he also has guest appearances from Kim Wilson, Billy Gibbons, Van Morrison and Joss Stone and like his recent recordings is produced by Tom Hambridge.
The opening title track is a semi-autobiographical number as he sings he was born to play guitar and that he has a reputation that everybody knows his name, and has blues running through his veins, that opens with spare backing and which is generally played with restraint (compared to some of Guy's efforts). "Wear You Out," with Billy Gibbons adding his raspy singing, is more in a blues-rock vein and less satisfying to these ears. A rendition of the Little Walter recording "Too Late" has a nice vocal, rollicking shuffle piano and tough harmonica from Wilson, although I find the next track, " Whiskey Bear & Wine" less enjoyable because of the hard rock flavor of the rhythm (especially the bass).
Joss Stone joins for a duet on the Dinah Washington-Brook Benton hit, "(Baby) You Got What It Takes," and with Buddy adding chords and single note runs, Stone an him trade verses in an energetic manner. The interesting topical blues "Crazy World" makes use of vocal and instrumental effects as he sings about the selling water and someday they will sell the air we breathe while "Back Up Mama" is a variation on the back door man theme as he has a backup mama if mama number one is not around.
Van Morrison joins guy for "Flesh & Bone," a song occasioned by the passing of B.B. King as Morrison sings it ain't over when one dies, and when one goes, one's spirit lives on while Buddy remembers his parents and still with him even though long gone and this life is more than flesh and bones. "Come Back Muddy" finds Buddy unplugged and singing that he wishes Muddy would come back, that Buddy would love to hear his voice and let us make us some of that old nasty noise on a marvelous heartfelt performance to close this recording.
There is something for a whole spectrum of blues and rock fans here. Even those with more traditional blues tastes should enjoy a good portion of "Born To Play Guitar." In any event, Buddy Guy continues to follow his own muse with plenty of heat.
I downloaded a review copy thanks to a publicist. Here is the title track.
This is my blues column from the June 1977 Buffalo Jazz Report which
had Dizzy Gillespie on the cover. I have noted the first 58 issues of Buffalo Jazz Report (now Jazz & Blues Report)
have been digitized and can be downloaded from the University of
Buffalo Library system. The website for these archived issues is: http://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/BuffJazz. This column is devoted to live performances as well as reviews of reissues by John Lee Hooker and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. These albums were reissued by Fantasy I believe and may be available today.
The Belle Starr out in Colden, NY continued to bring blues acts to the Buffalo area. Early May saw Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. I caught their opening act and wasn’tt oo impressed with their new back-up band. When both Philip Guy and Buddy started to take the spotlight things got better and things were going well till Buddy broke a string during Junior Wells stint. Buddy wasn't able to get back in tune and it was a little disappointing. Others told me that other nights went much better.
Son Seals' debut at the Belle Starr, and first Buffalo area appearance in a couple years, was one of the finest blues acts I've seen in awhile. Son is an acidic singer and fiery guitarist and accompanied by a tough and tight band, including the aptly named Harry 'Snapper' Mitchum on bass, Pete Allen on guitar and Tony Gooden on drums, that provided quite a full sound. Son played quite a varied set doing hot versions of I Wonder Why, Sweet Angel Child, Why I Sing the Blues as well as tunes from his two Alligator albums such as Ray Charles' I Believe, Junior Parker's Telephone Angel and his own No, No Baby and Down on My Knees. Your Love is Like a Cancer is my own favorite taken at a rocking tempo with its stinging lyrics and guitar work. Son, on the basis of his records and his live performances deserves to be better known. If you are near where he is playing, do check him out.
As far as records go Fantasy has a twofer series of blues reissues. John Lee Hooker's Black Snake (F-24722) is reissued from two sets on Riverside. Hooker is solo on one record and on the other side bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes accompany on most of the material. There is better John Lee Hooker available, but their is also a lot worse stuff to listen to by him.
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee are one of the blues most celebrated duos delighting audiences for many years. Midnight Special (Fantasy F-24721) captures Sonny's exuberant harp playing and Brownie's fluid guitar. While this isn't down home country music but rather music for a white folk audience these 960 sides show that their professional approach doesn't mean the music lacks warmth or spirit. There mastery of the rural blues tradition shines and this set provides ample testimony to their contribution to American music.
Finally the Belle Starr continues to bring blues acts to the area. June 23-26 blues singer and guitarist Mighty Joe Young will be out at Holland-Glenwood Road. Mighty Joe Young is one of Chicago's finest musicians, a fact readily seen by his being in demand as a session man. He has recorded behind the late Magic Sam, Jimmy Dawkins, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Fenton Robinson, Tyrone Davis among others. He has four albums out including the fine Blues With a Touch of Soul on Delmark, an album on GNP-Crescendo and two sets on Ovation. Joe is a mellow singer with a clean fluid guitar attack. This will be my first chance to see him in about six years. Hope to see you there.
My 3rd installment of my blues column from the Buffalo Jazz Report, October, 1976. I mentioned the B.B. King and Muddy waters gigs the previous month, but here I have a quick review along with mentioning Buddy and Junior with Jeff Beck in the audience. I believe he opened for Fleetwood Mac at the Old War Memorial Auditorium the next night. I believe Buddy and Junior's Band was pretty much the same as on the album they did backing Memphis Slim including brother Phil Guy on guitar, A.C. Reed on sax and Buffalo native Roosevelt 'Snake' Shaw on drums. The images of the two album covers are from reissues of the Peg Leg Sam and Louisiana Red albums.
The last month has been quite good for live 'blues' in the Buffalo area. B.B. King appeared at Melody Fair, Muddy Waters at the Outside Inn in Angola, Buddy Guy and Junior
Wells returned to the Belle Starr and as I write this Bobby
'Blue' Bland will appear at Kleinhans. I had a chance to see
B.B. and he is the 'King of the Blues' without question. A true
pro who is totally into his music and who worked·through songs
associated with him like "How Blue Can You Get" and his
current hit (with Bobby Bland) of "Let the Good Times Roll"
as well as Leon Russell's "Hummingbird" and a fine version
of "Please Send Me Someone To Love". Buddy Guy and Junior
Wells were dynamite as usual. The night I saw them Jeff Beck
was in the audience to see his favorite guitarist, Buddy Guy,
and later sat in with the band.
Peg Leg Sam is a veteran of the medicine show scene. A
fine country blues harmonica player and singer his new album
Going Train Blues (Blue Labor BL 105). accompanied by Louisiana Red, 1s a fine album demonstrating Sam's skills as a
singer and entertainer. He has an earlier album on Trix which
I have unfortunately, not heard. Other fine blues Ips on Blue Labor Include Louisiana Red's Sweet BloodCall (BL 104) which
features marvelous country blues and original lyrics such as
the fine "Death of Ealase, written about his wife who died of
cancer. Sonny Terry's Robbin' the Grave (BL 101) finds Sonny without Brownie McGhee, but with friends in a fine set of
spirited blues, far removed from the folkie circuit that some
have associated Sonny with. Sonny plays and sings with great
enthusiasm. Sonny and Brownie back Alec Seward on Late One
Saturday .Evening (BL 103) which was recorded at a house party
along wilh other fnends with everyone in good spirits.
Bobo Jenkins is one of many artists playing blues in Detroit.
For various reasons Bobo has recorded himself and created
Big Star Records out of his own work. A worker for Chrysler
for over 20 years (he recently quit). he built his own basement
studio and Here I am a Fool in Love Again (BS 11-33) reflects
this as it won't win audio awards. The music is great gutty city
blues- not very different from Chicago blues of the 50s, played
without any BS. The outstanding track of the album is "Sharecropper Blues" where working for Chrysler is compared to
being a sharecropper. You will want to get this from Bobo at
Big Star Recording Studio, 4228 Joy Road, Detroit, Michigan,
Chris Polk appearing with Daryl Davis at the 2013 Tinner Hill Blues Festival
Every community has its local musical figures who are quite loved, but for a variety of reasons remain local musical figures. I am among many who were shocked by the sudden passing of blues singer and guitarist, Chris Polk on Sunday evening, December 8. I remember seeing Chris perform on numerous occasions including a period of several years in the 1990s when he appeared monthly at the Vienna Tap Room in that Virginia community. He was someone who loved the music, playing for people and obviously touched a lot of people. One of the last times I saw him perform on is own was at a Virginia club where a number of persons who he had coached in Track at South Lakes High School had come out. He obviously touched many lives and his passing affects many.
Chris Polk at Nick's Corner Bar in May, 2010
Back in 2002 Chris finally had a recording out and I reviewed it at the time in the DC Blues Society's newsletter DC Blues Calendar (June 2002 issue), although I made a few clarifying changes. In part, as a memoriam to Chris, I reprint that review even though it is likely no longer available. It was a very entertaining and well-performed live recording.
One of the area's better singer-guitarists, Chris Polk, finally has a recording available, Live at Zigs, recorded at the Alexandria club and available from Polk at his performances. Polk has several urban blues influences with perhaps none so obvious as Buddy Guy. Guy's influence is, in part, suggested by Polk's use of a polka dot guitar.
Guy's influence is also evident in the songs included here which does not indicate the breadth of Polk's repertoire. However renditions of Got My Eyes On You, I Got a Problem, I Feel So Bad, Midnight Train, Nobody Understands Me But My Guitar and the cover of Stormy Monday suggest how much and influence Guy is. Listening to Polk's vocals on this disc, as well as guitar playing, I am struck by this influence more than I have been watching Chris live.
Chris' playing is characterized by serpentine playing that evokes Guy as does his expressive vocals. Polk does avoid some of the excesses that can mar some of Guy's performances. Polk sings and plays with a controlled intensity that serves the material well. The band includes some of his regular musical compatriots including guitarist John Sterling, bassist Willie Hicks and drummer Morgan Norris with special guest, Steve Johnsen, contributing the keyboards.
In considering Buddy Guy’s new release, Live at Legends (Silvertone), one is struck by a couple of things. These are not the first live recordings Buddy has made at Legends as several years ago he offered a series of live recordings from his annual run (I purchased two of them). Secondly, on an album titled Live at Legends, it is odd to have some of the recordings included being studio recordings, as if they did not have more live material they could have included.
Musically this is the hard-edged Stone Crazy Buddy Guy with a mix of frenzied styled performances with searing guitar backed by a rock-tinged rhythm section. Unlike the 2004 performances, there are no saxophones to provide another solo voice (although when Guy explodes his solos, is any other voice needed). There is a nice piano break on the opening Best Damn Fool. His enduring love of Muddy Waters is reflected in renditions of Mannish Boy and a medley of I Just Want To Make Love To You with Bobby Rush’s Chicken Heads, with Guy engaging in a bit of call and response with the Legends’ audience on I Just Want To Make Love To You. The appealing Skin Deep benefits from opening in a more relaxed vein before Buddy cranks it up a notch with his solo before taking it down to sing its message about treat others like you want them to treat you.
After a searing Damn Right I Got the Blues, Guy follows with relatively short medleys of Boom Boom/ Strange Brew, and Voodoo Chile/ Sunshine of Your Love, expressing his admiration for John Lee Hooker and then Clapton and Hendrix. On a live recording, I would rather have heard Buddy revisit at Legends some of his early recordings such as First Time I Met The Blues or My Time After Awhile, than three previously unissued studio recordings although they are pretty similar in the vein of Buddy’s most recent recordings.
Certainly Guy’s many fans will savor the explosive performances on Live at Legends. While blues traditionalists will find this a bit over the top, the fact is Buddy has remained true to his own muse and plays in a manner than belies his age.
I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is Buddy Guy doing a song associated with Otis Rush.
In the mid-1970s I was pleased to have Buddy Guy for an interview for my blues show on WBFO in Buffalo. Buddy was then, and of course remains, one of the greatest blues performers around with his dazzling guitar pyrotechnics and his fervent vocals. In 1999 Damn Right I've Got The Blues co-authored with Donald Wilcox appeared but it is now superseded in part by a new autobiography When I Left Home: My Story, that Buddy did with David Ritz (Da Capo Press). Ritz has emerged as one of the finest collaborators with blues, soul and rock musicians having worked with Ray Charles, Etta James, Jerry Wexler, Leiber and Stoller, B.B. King , Scott Wieland, and Bettye Lavette as well as writing a biography of Marvin Gaye Divided Soul. He helps Buddy Guy bring his story to life in this wonderful book.
When Buddy recorded Mercy Dee’s One Room Country Shack, for Vanguard 45 years ago, this reader had no idea it was something Buddy could so readily identify growing up in rural Louisiana. And from such humble origins he tells how he first started playing music and how he had to overcome his shyness. He tells us about seeing Lightning Slim perform and later listening to records after his family finally got electricity.
Seeing Eddie ‘Guitar Slim’ Jones was a watershed for the young Guy and the flamboyancy of Slim’s performances (such as coming out from the audience with a 200 foot guitar cord) stayed with guy as was the wild, electrifying guitar sound Jones had. It was a sound that Guy emulated, especially when he came to Chicago where he was befriended by the likes of Magic Sam, Otis Rush and the man who became like a second father to him, Muddy Waters. Willie Dixon was the one who brought him to record and later he recounted how he became a session player for Chess Records who also started recording him, but resisted Buddy’s efforts to have him record Buddy as he sounded in the clubs with a bit of wildness that reflected the influence of Guitar Slim. Still Buddy produced quite a body of recordings for Chess and other labels after leaving Chess, and eventually was able to get recorded in the manner in which he recorded.
There are so many anecdotes that are provided including being one of three guitarists (Matt Murphy and Wayne Bennett being the others) trying out for Bobby Bland’s road band. Buddy actually advised he wasn’t the one since he didn’t read music and Bennett was selected. One of his favorite guitarists was Earl Hooker and there are a couple of stories about him as well. And there is Buddy’s recollections of Stevie Ray Vaughan who was a close friend as well as meeting another musical hero John Lee Hooker for the first time and his musical collaboration with Junior Wells.
This was simply a terrific read and anyone interested in contemporary blues, not simply Buddy Guy will enjoy it. This would make a terrific holiday gift by the way. I purchased this book.
It was a couple years ago that Raisin’ Music issued the first double CD, Chicago Blues: A Living History, a superb CD that revived some classic and lesser known Chicago blues by the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Memphis Slim, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Earl Hooker and Magic Sam. Well, now comes a sequel, Chicago Blues A Living History: The (R)evolution Continues. The Two CDs contain 23 selections and a bit over 80 minutes.
Like the prior release, the solid backing band, The Living History Band, returns with guitarist Billy Flynn, Pianist Johnny Iguana, bassist Felton Crews and drummer Kenny Smith. With the support by this band, the spotlight is focused on Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, Lurrie Bell, Billy Branch and Carlos Johnson with featured guest appearances by Buddy Guy, Magic Slim, James Cotton, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Zora Young and Mike Avery. The CD opens with three performances by Billy Boy Arnold of artists associated with the forties Chicago scene, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red and Sonny Boy Williamson before we move on to the post-war era with more emphasis on the post mid-fifties scene and extending to the nineties.
Arnold is really good, with the rendition of Tampa Red’s I’ll Be Up Again Someday, being especially fine. With just bass and drums, John Primer does a solid Muddy Waters copy on Canary Bird before taking a lighter tack on the Jimmy Rogers shuffle, Chicago Bound. Floyd Jones was one of the artists whose recordings were skipped on the earlier disc, but Lurrie Bell does a strong rendition of Stockyard Blues, with Matthew Skoller adding harmonica (the late Snooky Pryor played on the original). Billy Branch and James Cotton both play harmonica on a rendition of the Jackie Brenston hit, Rocket 88, that Cotton recorded for Vanguard. Branch takes the vocal here as he does on a medley of Little Walter and Bo Diddley songs, while Primer handles the vocal on Chuck Berry’s Reelin’ and Rockin’, on which Billy Flynn emulates Berry’s guitar style.
The second disc opens with Buddy Guy doing a straight remake of his classic Chess recording The First Time I Met the Blues, which is followed by John Primer being reunited with Magic Slim for a chugging rendition of Chuck Willis’ Keep a Drivin’. Magic Sam’s cousin Michael Avery was a revelation on the initial release and continues to impress as he reprises Easy Baby. Primer handles Howlin’ Wolf’s Howlin’ For My Baby, while Billy Boy Arnold handles the vocal on Robert Lockwood, Jr.’s My Daily Wish, that Lockwood waxed originally with Otis Spann in 1960. Pianist Iguana is excellent here as is Flynn who evokes Lockwood’s jazzy style on this.
Yonder’s Wall is based on the recording of it by Junior Wells, with Billy Branch honoring one of his mentors and evoking Wells’ harp style, while Zora Young takes the vocal on the late Sunnyland Slim’s Be Careful How You Vote. Its nice that Fenton robinson is remembered by Carlos Johnson who provides a fresh arrangement of Somebody Loan Me a Dime. Johnson also does his take on the title track of Otis Rush’s Grammy Award winning album Ain’t Enough Comin’ In. A couple of sons pay respects to their dads with Lurrie doing his own Got To Leave Chi-Town, as a tribute to Carey Bell (with Billy Branch playing some tough harp here) while Ronnie Baker Brooks salutes his father Lonnie Brooks on the mix of Chicago blues, funk and bayou boogie, Don’t Take Advantage of Me. Ronnie also does his plea “Make These Blues Survive, as he worries about the music’s future. The recording concludes with a rendition of Brownie McGhee’s lively shuffle, The Blues Had a Baby, with vocals by Bell, Arnold, Branch and Primer.
This is another satisfying salute to the Chicago Blues tradition that covers a wide spectrum of performers, that is package in a double CD digipack and contains a booklet with producer Larry Skoller’s notes, commentary on the selections and an illustrated Chicago Blues History timeline which is provides an overview of the artists whose recordings are mined and the performers heard on this. Fans of the prior release will have similar feelings about this sequel. And there is so much of the Chicago Blues History that they have yet to explore that hopefully might merit a third release in this series. Recommended. This review originally appeared in the May 1-June 15 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 335) which can be downloaded at jazz-blues.com. My review copy was supplied by a publicist for this release.
There is a myth that there was very little new blues of note recorded in the 1970s. The fact is labels like Alligator, Delmark and Blind Pig produced fine albums, and labels like Stax and Jewel produced strong modern urban blues. Also, there were a number of recordings released in Europe, usually by touring American musicians, on labels like Isabel and Black & Blue. Three reissues from Barclay’s Maison de Blues series caught my attention when issued three decades ago, and these new CD releases allow me to replace my worn vinyl LPs.
Memphis Slim & Buddy Guy, Southside Reunion, was recorded when Buddy Guy and Junior Wells were touring Europe in September 1970. This 35 year old session brought together the expatriate Slim with the Buddy Guy-Junior Wells Band for what was a terrific session mixing Slim’s rolling barrelhouse piano, urbane singing and the tough sound Guy and Wells put together with one of the great blues bands of all time. Guy and Wells had Phil Guy on rhythm guitar, Ernest Johnson on bass, A.C. reed and Jim Conley on sax and Roosevelt ‘Snake’ Shaw on drums. When Slim kicks off a duet with Buddy on the opening When Buddy Comes to Town, the music takes off on a cooking shuffle that I doubt Buddy could come close to matching today with his more hard rock approach, and how many modern rhythm sections could handle the shuffle groove or settle in so able behind Slim on Leroy Carr’s classic, How Long Blues? Guy also handles the vocal on You’re the One while Wells ably supports on harp throughout. An alternate take of You’re the One, and Jamming at the Castle are bonus tracks and come across as worthy companions for a really magnificent reissue.
Professor Longhair was at the beginning of his re-emergence as a performer when he recorded the 1974 release Rock’n’Roll Gumbo, which was reissued on George Winston’s Dancing Cat label in 1985 with horns added to the reworking of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The Maison de Blues reissue is musically the same as the Dancing Cat and had Fess pared with Gatemouth Brown on guitar (and fiddle for Jambalaya,) with a rhythm section of Julius Farmer on bass, drummer Sheba Kimbrough, who recently (October 2005) passed away, and Alfred ‘Uganda Roberts on congas. The music is marvelous as the empathy between Brown and Fess is obvious throughout whether on remaking Hey Now Baby and Tipitina or bringing a fresh take to Junco Partner, Ray Charles’ Mess Around, Stag-O-Lee, and Mean Ol’ World. After the mix of funk and blues grooves, the album closes with just Fess at the piano taking care of business on (They Call Me) Dr. Professor Longhair. This is perhaps my favorite Longhair album, and interestingly Rhino took seven songs from this when they did their two-CD Professor Longhair anthology.
The third reissue is Clifton Chenier’s Frenchin’ the Boogie, recorded at a time when Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Duval was part of the band on keyboards. The Frenchin’ in the title refers to the fact that Chenier sings a number of blues and rhythm and blues classics in Creole French. There are several nods to Louis Jordan, Caledonia, Choo-Choo Ch’Boogie, and Laissez Les Bon Tons Roulet (a retitled Let the Good Times Roll) along with versions of Shake Rattle and Roll and Going Down Slow mixed with a waltz. Chenier was in peak form for this 1976 session, singing ebulliently and soulfully, putting as much soul in his piano accordion as Jimmy Smith on the organ and the Red Hot Louisiana Band rocking as hard as any band ever did. Like the other two releases, this is spectacular stuff.
The above was a relatively recent (March-April 2006) review from Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 280) of some reissues of blues recordings from Europe. They are still available (although perhaps easier to get as downloads than hard physical copies). I likely received review copies from Jazz & Blues Report.
Here is a vintage review of albums by Bid Daddy Kinsey and Buddy Scott, who may not be household names, but produced some solid work. I note my comments in the review about Verve issuing this material which was not stuff that would have been the most commercial type of recording to market as ‘blues.’ Scott died not long after his CD was released, while Kinsey (who died in 2001) had a subsequent album on Verve. Thankfully they viewed things in other than strictly commercial terms. My review originally appeared in the August 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 190) when it was still a print publication in Cleveland. Amazon shows the releases below available from other sellers.
Two releases, Buddy Scott’s Bad Avenue and Big Daddy Kinsey’s I Am the Blues, are companions on Verve to Joe Louis Walker’s Blues Survivor. They are both more traditionally oriented than Walker’s album, and Verve’s release of these albums indicates that Verve is not intending to market rock records as contemporary blues. Neither Buddy Scott or Big Daddy Kinsey are household names, nor are they guitar heroes. These are both solid Chicago blues artists who were reared on the music of Sonny Boy Williamson and Muddy Waters, and deliver renditions of the classic blues in a classic Chicago blues fashion.
Verve’s release of Buddy Scott’s Bad Avenue is particularly interesting since Scott is a Chicago club singer who has made few recordings, the most notable ones being as Scotty and the Rib Tips as part of Alligator’s Living Chicago Blues series. The music here is a bit less soul-influenced here than the Alligator recordings. Renditions of Merle Haggard’s Today I Started Loving You Again and Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home To Me (using the same melody as Charles Brown’s I Want to Go Home), involve a fair amount of testifying. The songs associated with Little Walter, My Babe and Blues With a Feeling, both feature some very fine harp from Billy Branch, and while neither Rock Me or Big Boss Man are particularly novel numbers, the choice of Wake Up Old Lady from the second Sonny Boy Williamson ( going back to an old English ballad), is a refreshing change of pace with the song rearranged as if Howlin’ Wolf was going to sing it, while the traditional Big Fat Woman incorporates B.B. King’s Please Love Me arrangement. In addition to a couple of originals from Scott, the album closes with the fine title track that was penned by the recently deceased Lefty Dizz. Scott is a strong, straightforward singer and effective guitarist although his rhythm guitarist Joe Moss takes the lead on Big Boss Man. In all, a very solid date.
Lester ‘Big Daddy’ Kinsey may be familiar from albums on Rooster Blues and Blind Pig, and as the father of most of the members of the Kinsey Report. I Am the Blues is dedicated to Muddy Waters who is an obvious influence on Kinsey as a singer and as a guitarist. He is backed here by Buddy Guy on the title track and an all star cast including son Donald, Jimmy Rogers, James Cotton, Billy Branch, Pinetop Perkins, Lucky Peterson, Rico McFarland, Ray ‘Killer’ Allison, Calvin Jones and Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith. Included are several titles Waters had axed years ago including Walking Thru the Park (with an explosive Sugar Blue harmonica solo) , Mannish Boy and Got My Mojo Workin’, while renditions of Little Red Rooster, Don’t You Lie To Me and Nine Below Zero are done in similar form. Big Daddy Kinsey contributed three songs, the anti-drug song, Somebody’s Gonna Get Hooked Tonight, Good Mornin’ Mississippi, where he plays slide in a manner that recalls Muddy, and his tribute to the late Albert King, The Queen Without a King, with guitarists Donald Kinsey and Rico McFarland playing in an Albert King style. There is no great surprises here, just a strong session of Chicago blues. Incidentally, Kinsey has toured Europe with Pinetop, Jimmy Rogers, Calvin Jones, Willie Smith, Jerry Portnoy and Luther Johnson, Jr., as part of a Tribute to Muddy Waters, and there is a possibility that this group of artists will tour the US in the spring, 1994.
I do not recall my source of the review copies back in 1993-1994, as to whether it was from Jazz & Blues Report or from Verve directly.
I had the pleasure to see Junior Wells a number of times over the years. The first several times it was when he had his partnership with Buddy Guy while I was living in Buffalo. First time was with a fellow University of Buffalo grad student in Toronto at El Macombo. Somehow we got seats on the side of the stage (apparently my friend had a close resemblance to one of the members of Downchild) and it was a treat to see and hear the two with the band when it included A.C. Reed on saxophone. Later, there would be shows at the Belle Star in Colden, NY, in the hills west of Buffalo including one where Jeff Beck was in the audience. Junior sang his ass off for about two hours, and Buddy played his butt off too (Buddy was one of Jeff’s favorite guitarists). At the time, both were prominent figures in the blues world, but there were times when they would clown a bit. The night with Beck in the audience (and he jammed with them the late second set), there there was just magic and no clowning. At the time when they were back home in Chicago, they each had their own gigs. Junior held forth at Theresa’s, a neighborhood bar.
Back in 2006, Delmark issued some previously unissued live Junior Wells recordings from Theresa’s that was a wonderful surprise to the many fans of Wells as well as blues fans in general. Live At Theresa’s 1975, was taken from recordings made for broadcast on Chicago station WXRT-FM. Wells on this recording was supported by a band that included Phil Guy on guitar and Earnest Johnson bass. Both were regular members of Wells’ touring band when he joined with Buddy Guy around this time.
On the two dates from January 1975, Byther Smith or Sammy Lawhorn are also on guitar and Vince Chapelle or Levi Warren are on drums. There are some fine performances of songs that were staples of Wells’ repertoire until his death, such as Little By Little, Come On in This House, It Hurts Me Too, What My Mama Told Me and Messing With the Kid. Smith takes a vocal on Help the Poor from B.B. King’s repertoire. The music is solid, and there is plenty of banter from Junior including singing Happy Birthday to photographer Mark Pokemper and acting as Pokemper’s pitchman. Junior and the band were in terrific form here.
With all the welcome publicity of the recent Junior Wells Live in Boston 1966 on Delmark, this disc should not be overlooked. It is as good and provides a sense of what Wells’ sounded like playing for a different audience then the college kids who saw him in 1966. It should also be relatively easy to find. When this came out, I selected this as among the outstanding blues CDs of 2006 and reviewed it in the December 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 289) which I have modified for the current post.
For purposes of FTC regulations, I likely received the review copy from Delmark Records.
I was gonna write the underlying review in any event, but when I got home tonight I learned that Bryan Lee was hospitalized, apparently suffering from complications from a staph infection. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Folks who know him say what a wonderful person he is. I am just a fan of his strong blues singing and playing. No BS, and as I write this, hope he makes a full recovery.
Whether you call Bryan Lee The Blind Giant of the Blues or Braille Blues Daddy, it does not matter. Lee, a New Orleans institution since 1982 had a long-time residency at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street with his Jump Street Five. This writer saw Lee there in the eighties and was impressed by his Albert King influenced style and husky straight-forward singing to get the vinyl album they had for sale. When the Old Absinthe House stopped being a bar with entertainment, he moved on to other Crescent City venues as well as toured throughout the US and Europe. Since 1991 he has recorded for the Canadian Justin Time label which previously issued 11 albums (one being a compilation) by Lee has just issued “My Lady Don’t Love My Lady,” the third Lee recording that Duke Robillard has produced and it is a typically strong recording. Robillard put together the studio band of some of his long-time associates including bassist Marty Ballou, pianist Dave Maxwell, and saxophonists Gordon Beadle and Doug James with guest appearances by Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Sheppard.
A Bryan Lee album and performance has one constant, his straight-forward blues vocals and guitars. Even when covering familiar material such as Willie Mabon’s “I Don’t Know,” he adds his own accent to the vocal and arrangement (although Dave Maxwell certainly contributes a fresh solo here and Beadle rips off a blistering tenor solo on this). There is some terrific material including a terrific Doc Pomus-Mac Rebennack composition “Imitation of Love,” that opens this disc and a lesser known Earl King blues about a cheating woman “Three Can Play This Game,” with more fine piano from Maxwell and tenor from Beadle. For some reason Junior Wells is given authorship for “Early in the Morning,” which was first recorded by the great pianist Charlie Spand in the twenties and which Junior likely picked up from John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. Lee is in fine form here as is Maxwell while Buddy Guy adds his guitar to spice this track. Kenny Wayne Sheppard helped write the shuffle “Let Me Up I’ve Had Enough,” and adds the hard rocking guitar solo pyrotechnics. Ballou’s walking bass opens the nice cover of Ray Charles’ “Heartbreaker,” with Maxwell’s piano evoking The Genius and solid solos from Beadle on tenor sax and James on baritone sax. Lee contributes three originals including “Too Many Wolves,” a slow blues with a terrific lyric about too many wolves hanging around his door with some blistering fretwork from Lee, and the title track, with a nice funk groove as Lee laments his lady makes him feel so good but does not dig his guitar. Big Bill Broonzy’s “When I’ve Been Drinking,” benefits from the late night, jazzy setting Robillard provides for Lee’s low-key vocal with Duke taking a fine solo here. It takes a brave man to cover a song connected with the late Johnny Adams, and Bryan does a more than a credible job on the country-tinged R&B gem, “Reconsider Me,” if not up to the Tan Canary's original.
Bryan Lee’s lady may not love Bryan’s other lady, but Bryan continues to deliver some of the toughest blues to be heard. This may be one of Duke Robillard’s finest efforts as a producer with the studio band being terrific. Add a blend of material with even the best-known covers injected with Lee’s personal approach and one has another terrific album of blues by Bryan Lee. This is available at cdbaby, amazon, itunes, and other vendors.
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