With the holidays approaching, there are plenty of books that might be of interest to those in your lives with interests in blues and jazz. A few days ago I posted a review of Ted Gioia’s The Jazz Standards. Here are a couple more books you might consider giving.
The Chitlin’ Circuit
Preston Lauterbach’s The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock’N’Roll (New York: Norton) is a fascinating look at the development of the string of clubs and joints that emerged after the fall of the Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) Circuit. Lauterbach’s inspiration to write this book was a story he did on Bobby Rush for Living Blues. In it he introduces us to Sax Kari, a recording artist whose career went back to the 1920s with Butterbeans and Suzie. Kari then introduces us to an Indianopolis nightclub boss and racketeer neamed Denver Furguson and how in the 1930s he helped started what became known as The Chitlin Circuit.
In the early days, the Chicago big band leader, Walter Barnes, was among teh first to have tours arranged for him. Barnes, who recorded ten titles in the 1920s, was also a correspondent for the Chicago Defender, who contributed dispatches from the road in addition to the various stories he contributed on the black entertainment world. Its fascinating to learn his biography as well as his tragic, and heroic death, in the Natchez Fire in 1940 whose impact was still felt when Howlin Wolf recorded a song over a decade ago. Barnes and Ferguson are only some of the intriguing people we meet. Enabling Louis Jordan to tour was one way the Circuit started to develop. We also find the interrelationship between record companies and booking agents as well.
The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock’N’Roll is a book from which I learned much and it is a very lively read. It has been available over a year and if you may have missed it, I do recommend it highly.
Bettye LaVette
David Ritz has assisted another legend from the rhythm and blues world with an autobiography. A Women Like Me from Bettye LaVette (New York: Blue Rider Press). Its a raw and compelling story that LaVette tells of a career marked by ups and downs and a life where she has been literally pimped out as well as had the fortune of being mentored and coming under the wings of those who truly cared her and helped her develop her talents.
LaVette us from her musical upbringing in Detroit, her various recording efforts in the sixties and seventies with near brushes at stardom and the failure of various motherf******s to keep their word to the past decade or so where her star finally ascended to its rightful place.
Be warned that the language here is raw and unfiltered and profane but the story rings with the truth of her recordings. This book has soul.
I purchased these books.
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.
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