EDDIE CUSIC - LITTLE MILTON WILL TELL YOU 'BOUT HIM

EDDIE CUSIC
LITTLE MILTON WILL TELL YOU 'BOUT HIM

The Blues in its approximately 100 years has been a music found in the back woods as well as the big city. While it's true that it is a music about the facts of life, as the late Willie Dixon might say, it is also a music that is primarily anchored in the communities of its performances and audiences. While many performers would leave their home communities and become celebrities in a region of the country, others played for family and friends, or abandoned musical careers for the purpose of raising a family and earning a solid living. One of those who chose the latter route was Eddie Cusic, a Mississippi bluesmen whose career leading a band was interrupted by the military draft. After time in the armed services, he settled down until after retirement when he resumed playing the blues. I met Eddie Cusic at the Festival of American Folk Life in 1991 when he was one of the artists who participated in The Roots of Rhythm and Blues,The Robert Johnson Era.  Eddie Cusic is a traditionally based delta blues artist whose vigorous interpretations of Catfish Blues and Women in My Life were first-rate. I had the opportunity to speak with him and he told me his story.

Eddie Cusic is from Leland, Mississippi. He was born January 4, 1926 "just down the road from Leland on a plantation called Willman, Willman, Willman, Mississippi." Leland is near Greensville. "I would say about 7 miles from Greensville." The nearest big city is Jackson, the state capital, which is "About a hundred or a hundred twenty-five miles from Leland." Leland is in the "central part in the delta, lowlands, no hills." When l asked, "Hot muggy summers?," he agreed.

Eddie recalled that his parents had come from "Yulah, Alabama, so they told me and that's where they lived down there. Willman Plantation. That's where they raise cotton and corn you know, in other words farm country, you know; and so I was born and raised down there ... and then we moved to Hollyknow Plantation which is a big farm." Eddie was about 7, 8, or 9 when they moved. "So we lived there and I got big enough and all I know was farm. I got big enough to help out with the farm. We raised cotton on a half. They furnished you six months. If you got anything (Left over? Yeah!) If you had anything left over, most times you didn't. And when they settle with  you they'd say, 'Well, you came out of debt. What you gonna need?' That's always 'what you gonna need.' Never give you anything if you a profit. Say you come out of go out to those places, slip out. You call them country work, you wouldn't have nothing. Yeah so we stayed debt. If you didn't pick cotton by the hundred or do day there awhile and then we moved out..." Eddie remembers moving to a "black fellow's place called George Hood. Moved out there and that's where I got up a young sound out there."

"Going on around about 15 or 16 years old, I used to go out to this hose places, slip out. You call this hem country jukes, You know what I mean, out in the country, way out in the country. And the people used to leave town to go to the country to have fun, I reckon. The regular law enforcement was so rough on those people; and if they catch you uptown, they'd say 'Hey boy. Where you. where you live.' [In falsetto] 'On Mr. So and So's Place. "You better get your ass outta town, go on back there' So they would make to those country joints." The country joints would be open on weekends.

"I used to go around those places and the guys would be playing them guitars. You know what I mean." Eddie remembered Jed Sawyer and his sister Fanny Sawyer playing . "She played the mandolin, he played the guitar. Oh they used to have a fine sound. I couldn't play anything then." There were no musicians in Eddie's family. So he learned on his own. "I had to start putting a string upside the wall. You understand what I mean, one string up the wall." He described where he got the wire. "Used to bale hay, used to get the bale, hay wire and get me a piece and put it upside the wall and put a bottle on it, pile a brick or something on top of it at the bottom, and then I take any kind of bottle, used a slide, you know what I mean, that's the way ! make music.A little wire, a little piece of wire sticker or so to keep from hurting my hand or finger.

 Eddie Cusic playing "Cut You Loose" from 1979-1980 field recordings.

"Then I played that awhile and after then I said I seemed to think that wire didn't have enough ring in it. So they had them old switch brooms years ago. They had them old switch brooms. They had a knot with wire tying straws together. I got me a piece of my mothers broom, and I put that up there - - put the wire still upside the wall, between two nails. That sounded a little better. And every place I played, you could tell where I played at. Any house in the country I played, there was one of the wires there. Me and my little friends had a ball. So after then, I must have got pretty good because some of them old guys said, 'Boy, why don't you get you a little guitar.' Went and got a little old ukelele. Got a little ukelele with cat gut strings on. That didn't sound too good to me. So I got old enough and ordered me a Gene Autry guitar out of the Walter Field catalog. Got me a Gene Autry quitar. Mailman brought it out the country on the route, I forget which route, it has been so long, and my mother, she said, 'Boy I don't want you to play no guitar. If you gonna play, play spirituals.' Always though it was best to be on one side of the fence; not straddle the fence. I'd rather the blues. So l got that guitar, and I put it up and I gọt it and used to try to play it, and my fingers got sore. I'd pick it up and l'd put it down." Asked about the first music he tried to play, he said it was so long ago. He did remember going to church and singing in the choir. However he says, 'I still prefer the blues.'

Asked the first time he saw blues, Eddie replied, "Well I couldn't 'call the name of some of them. But some of them were way back with 'Little School Girl," 'Rolling Stone', that's by Muddy Waters, 'Catfish', and all that and, oh, a lot of way back songs, lot of them I done forgot." He started playing the weekend parties. Asked about the first songs he played, Eddie responded, "Well.Really, I going to tell you the truth. It been so long I can't remember. But I know 'Little School Girl,' 'Catfish', and all that."

Eddle's family had a record player, "one of kind where you wind up. ...Yeah, you wind up when it run down I could copy it. They had  hose kind. I didn't know anything about learning no songs from nobody back then, way back Eddie's family had a record player, "one of the old kind where you wind up. ...Yeah, you wind up, when it run down I could copy it. They had one of those kind. I didn't know anything about learning no songs from nobody back then, way back then because we were not able to buy the record, see what I mean and when you get a record, mostly would be church records, you know, and all that and I just went on."

"...I went on and put that down and the guy says, 'Man you sound pretty good. Say why don't you get a big guitar." I got a big guitar, never will forget. Got it from Tatum Music Company in Greensville and it was a Gibson, I think. I played it round and they said, You sound better if you get an amplifier and a guitar and get a guitar." This was back in the 40s and early 50s.

"In the 50s, that's when I got me a little band. I met this Little Milton Campbell who's putting out records they tell me now. I taught him how to play. Years ago. And anywhere you see him, ask him if he knows Eddie Cusic. He would tell you he would, he do." He remembers how he met Little Milton. "I used to be out in the country practicing on my guitar and he strayed across the creek over there. He could always sing; you could hear him always sing, and he'd come and start hanging around with me. He had a guitar, but he couldn't play it. So I used to take his fingers on the chords and what not, showed him and he could tell you himself and that's what I did. So I taught him and learned himself. Usually that's the best, and then when you learn something, they beat you doIng it (laughs) that's pretty good. I went into the service.When I came out, he had made some records, so that's how it was.

And so I had one a little band, got my group together there and in 52, the army drafted me so the group broke up, you know." Eddie's band included "Roosevelt Myers. he's the drummer, he's in California now. ...James McGary, he's out in the country now, he do farm work, he quit playing. And I, just myself, 3 of us. There's another guy I used to have. He followed me around, he named Jim O'Neil. He used to play drums, play guitar, now he's a preacher in my home town." He recalled listening to records and the radio at the time, and "get different sounds and try to imitate them. ...l really liked Muddy Waters, yeah, Little Walter, course he passed. Whole some like that." He remembered King Biscuit Time. " He also wrote some of his own songs. "I don't know music. I play by ear and sound. I play by ear. And I know when its not right and I know a few chords. ...l can tune a guitar before I read music lessons. I never did learn that. I play by ear. They tell me the best kind to play by ear. That's what they tell me."

Drafted in 1952, he served in the army until 1954. "Did my training, went to Fort Jackson, South Carolina and I got my training in Fort Eustice, Virginia, right here. Then I got in the army. I was a handy man ... They have a motor pool, transportation company. 53rd Trucking Company, transportation core, and I did so well at different things, they put me in special services. Stayed there awhile, and then they asked me if I wanted to go overseas. I told them I didn't think I did so well." He was then told he wouldn't be sent overseas. "When we ship you out, you going to California. That's where you get your discharge."

After getting discharged in California, Eddie returned home. "Coming back home, I decided I want to play a little bit again. So I bought me some little instruments, got some guys back together, played awhile went down to Florida,went down there way down, pretty good." For a while, things went fine. At some point the group "wasn't doing right, so we got unorganized. So I left them and I come back. So I went to Stoneville, Mississippi, USDA, Delta Branch Experiment Station. There I worked for 23 years. Have my army time added to that for retirement and so I retired in '88." He explained why he stopped playing music, “So I wasn't get paid for what I was doing, so I thought, really wasn't cause there wasn't enough for each. When you're in town and got a job and not meeting your obligation you have to cut it loose. So I could have got with a record company or something like that, but I didn't now, so I worked on this job and I retired in '88, so I finally stopped playing." After retirement, he started fooling around again and started playing at some of the festivals around home and "found I could make a little money. I decided to go back, so that's it."

Eddie recalls playing a lot of tunes, although he doesn't remember many songs he once played. "When I leave here, I don't be study playing, I be doing something else. Naturally, if you are not as really into something, nothing but that, you understand that, that don't make you as well or do as well as you are interested."Really, I'm not too interested to it. I enjoy myself and get around and reason I like blues somebody else plays, that  will make me want to play. If I was around this all the time, I would be really good."

I asked him if played around house parties around home. "I don't do too much around my home. Others playing. Son Thomas 'bout the only one in the area now and he's sick you know." He has four children. One son, Dale, plays drums and was playing behind rhythm and blues singer Mamie Davis at the Festival of Folk Life. (Lonnie Pitchford played lead guitar in that band for the festival.) While Dale can play a little guitar, he really is a drummer, and playing as much southern funk as blues. Another son, Tracy plays guitar, "[h]e likes that bebop. Must learn him what I know." He indicated an interest in recording as long as "I'd get a little something, you know I wouldn't mind. Get something out of it." 

 While I only heard him perform about five or six different songs over the course of two weeks, that reflected the format of the Festival of Folklife. There was nothing fancy about his renditions of Catfish Blues or Women in My Life.He delivered them in a strong delta manner, with strong vocals and taut instrumental backing. Having given up music for a long period of time, he may not have a large repertoire, but his showcase songs are wonderfully delivered and certainly it would be nice to have some available recordings by him.

This article appeared originally in the Spring 1994 issue of the National Capital Blues Quarterly, a short-lived publication of the DC Blues Society. As indicated, I interviewed Eddie in June-July 1991 at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC. Eddie was recorded as part of the invaluable Living Country Blues series for the German L&R label. He also had two albums released, I Wanna Boogie on Hightone, and Leland Mississippi Blues on Wolf Records. He died August 11, 2015 at the age of 89. Here is a video of him from a documentary on the Delta Blues.

Vintage John Lee Hooker

There are two recent John Lee Hooker greatest hits compilations worth noting. Rhino Records has issued a collection of recordings that span his career, The Ultimate Collection 1948-1990, while MCA has a more modest compilation, The Best of John Lee Hooker, 1965-1974.

The Ultimate Collection would be more accurately titled A Beginner's Collection. The two compact discs contain a skimpy 31 selections and approximately 95 minutes of music (they could have included about 150 minutes). The discs start with some of Hooker's early solo recordings for Bernie Besman and include some of his best known and biggest selling recordings: Boogie Chillum,
Sally Mae, Crawkin' King Snake, and l'm in the Mood. There is a selection of his Vee-Jay recordings such as Dimples and Boom Boom, several 'folk' recordings from Riverside, a couple from Chess, several from ABC-Bluesway, a couple from Hooker 'N'Heat (Burnin' Hell with Alan Wilson's harp being outstanding), and a live l'm in the Mood with Bonnie Raitt from The Tribute to Roy Orbison concert from 1990. 

While this gives an idea of the range of Hooker's recordings, it lacks some of his best recordings, particularly from the first few prolific years of his career, that are more memorable than the Riverside recordings sampled here. Hooker's King recordings (that some consider his best) are available on Do You Remember Me on the English Charly label, and other early, intense recordings are on Boogie Awhile on the English Krazy Kat label. This is certainly an adequate, but not the "ultimate", John Lee Hooker collection.

MCA's The Best of John Lee Hooker, 1965 to 1974 is a budget priced compilation of Hooker's post-Vee-Jay recordings that is a useful supplement to the Rhino. There is some duplication among the 16 selections (and 72 minutes of music) with the Rhino collection. Of special interest is the original Mr. Lucky, and Hooker's strong topical blues on the Detroit disturbances of twenty-five years ago, The Motor City is Burnin', both from the Urban Blues album, several cuts from his ABC Impulse album It Serves You Right to Suffer, and a couple of cuts from Endless Boogie (including a duet with Van Morrison) and other recordings. 

More modestly conceived than Rhino's compilation, this is an entertaining survey of this part of Hooker's career that admittedly is not the period of his greatest music.

This review originally appeared in Jazz & Blues Report Issue 172 from 1992. I do not remember whether I got review copies of these or not. They are listed as available as is the CD of Boogie Awhile that is mentioned in the text. Here is John Lee Hooker performing Boom Boom in 1966.

 

Big Joe Williams The Original Ramblin' Bluesman, 1945-1961

Big Joe Williams
The Original Ramblin' Bluesman, 1945-1961
Jasmine

Bon Fisher observes, in the liner notes to this two-CD collection of recordings, that Big Joe Williams was the epitome of rambling, wandering, itinerant bluesman that has been overly-romanticized. Jasmine has brought together 53 performances that the Mississippi raised bluesman waxed for a variety of labels between 1945 and 1961. Some of these blues were recorded as 78s and 45s for such labels as Columbia, Trumpet, Specialty, Vee-jay, and Cobra. Other selections came from sessions that recorded for Delmark Records.

Compiled by Neil Slaven, this is a generous selection of the Mississippi Bluesman's music. It opens with "His Spirit Lives On," one of a number of blues recorded in remembrance to President Roosevelt. It is followed by a session for Columbia Records with a small group that included John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson en harmonica that hinted at the post-war blues recordings of Muddy Waters and others. Among the dozen songs from these sessions were versions of his own "Baby Please Don't Go," as well as "King Biscuit Stomp," and "Banty Rooster Blues." "King Biscuit Stomp" was the first recording of the theme from the West Helena radio show that featured Aleck 'Rice' Miller who performed as Sonny Boy Williamson

Other performances include a stunning solo "Jivin' Woman," with stinging guitar and a declamatory vocal. For Trumpet, he recorded "Mama Don't Allow Me," a driving, percussive reworking of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillum." From the same session, Williams' "Delta Blues" is Williams' treatment of Hooker's "Hobo Blues." These are not copies but reflect that they share common musical influences. A later Trumpet session produced the driving "She Left Me a Mule,' with more exciting guitar. "Rather Be Sloppy Drunk" is a vigorous treatment of a song John Lee Williamson recorded. after these solo performances, he leads a small group on "My Baby Left Town." This song that he previously recorded as "She Left Me a Mule" benefits from Sam Fowler's harmonica.

Sixteen songs come from 1957 and 1958 with pianist Erwin Helfer that make their first appearance on CD in this collection. Among these performances are "Don't Leave Me Here," a version of "Baby Please Don't Go," with his percussive guitar break and string snapping. After singing "Cow Cow Blues" over Helfer's boogie-woogie piano, Williams delivers a forceful interpretation of "Crawlin' King Snake." There are a rollicking "Shake Your Boogie" and robust down-home interpretations of "Mean Mistreater" and "Prison Bound," two blues associated with Leroy Carr. The final recordings on this release are from 1961 and include powerful renditions of John Lee Williamson's "Bluebird Blues" and "Elevate Me Mama."

Big Joe Williams would record many stunning albums for Folkways, Milestone, Delmark, Arhoolie, and other labels. Among Bob Dylan's first recordings was playing harmonica behind Big Joe for Spivey Records. He passed away in 1982, which might account for his music and reputation becoming less well known. His relative obscurity today is unfortunate. The quality of the music reissued here clearly displays he is among the best of the Delta blues artists. For those unfamiliar with his music, this is as good a place to start. Others familiar with his music will find much to enjoy here in a collection that brings together some first-rate blues from a variety of sources.

I purchased this. Here he is seen performin g "Baby Please Don't Go."
 

Son House John the Revelator: Chicago to London Town

Son House
John the Revelator: Chicago to London Town
The Devil's Tunes

Eddie 'Son' House was one of the pillars of the Delta Blues in the thirties, rediscovered in Rochester, New York in 1963 and performed for a little over a decade before retiring. House was of the most compelling blues performers with his raspy, intense vocals and highly percussive, slide guitar. A British label has now compiled a double CD release of House performing and being interviewed. A good portion of this was previously unissued.

The first CD, "Chicago … The Sixties," is from a radio broadcast hosted by Studs Terkel mixed with performances of such House numbers as "Death Letter Blues," "Levee Camp Moan," "I Shall Not Moved," "Preachin' the Blues," Louise McGhee," "Empire Express" and "Grinnin' in Your Face," interspersed with lengthy interview segments with some themes that might be familiar to some from House's monologues in concerts.

The other CD, "London … The Seventies," is taken from performances at London's Club 100 that was issued on English Liberty and reissued an out-of-print EMI country blues reissue. I believe some of the performances may be previously unissued and on the first rendition of "Between Midnight and Day," Alan Wilson is heard on harmonica while Delta Dave backs House on "How To Treat a Man." Besides his monologues, other songs heard here include "Levee Camp Blues," "Death Letter Blues," "John the Revelator," and "Grinnin' in Your Face."

House may not have been as accomplished a musician as he was when he recorded for Paramount in the early 1930s and the Library of Congress in the early 1940s, but the sheer forcefulness of his performances in which nothing is held back is simply riveting. When House performed, it was like you were looking into his soul. That is how powerful and mesmerizing he was and why those who have other reissues of House from this time will still want this document of one of the true blues icons.
           
I purchased this recording. Here is Son House with Buddy Guy on second guitar.

Hayes McMullan Everyday Seem Like Murder Here

Hayes McMullan
Everyday Seem Like Murder Here
Light in the Attic Records

Gayle Dean Wardlow was traveling in Black communities in his native Mississippi in the mid-sixties looking for old blues 78s when his comment regarding Charlie Patton 78s to Hayes McMullan was answered by Hayes who told Wardlow he knew and played with Patton. Wardlow recorded interviews with McMullan where he discussed experiences with Patton, Willie Brown, Ishman Bracey and others. Also Wardlow recorded performances by him on several occasions, even though McMullan had stopped playing music in the early 1930s, so he had to practice and had some song lyrics written down as he had forgotten them over the years. The interview materials have been incorporated in Wardlow's work on Patton (including the biography of Patton co-authored with the late Stephen Calt and currently being rewritten by Wardlow). Now, a half century after this encounter, Light in the Attic Records has issued a CD of the music from around a half century with some brief interview excerpts, such as what it was like to play a party-dance with Patton, or what songs Patton regularly played.

McMullan was recorded over several occasions and had different instruments to play. Given the fact he had stopped playing decades earlier after his brother had been poisoned, one might hear some rust or tentativeness in some of these performances, but he still had a certain robustness in his music on many of these starting with on an 8-bar blues "Fast Old Train," heard after a short interview segment when he talks about himself. It is followed by a terrific "Look-a Here Woman Blues," a solid blues that musically evokes Tommy Johnson along with the incorporation in the second verse of "No Special Rider Blues."

There are short false starts (like for "Back Water Blues") followed by a fine "Goin' Away Mama Blues," followed by his take on a girl every day theme, "Every Day in the Week," which John Miller, in his astute musical analysis in the accompanying booklet, observes is a rare instance of a Mississippi bluesman recording in A, although his simple self-accompaniment has a strong rhythmic emphasis. Listening to "Hurry Sundown," one is reminded of some of the field recordings from this period in terms of the gristle in the voice and the rhythmic aspect of the playing, although it ends abruptly (issue with tape recorded on perhaps). "Smoke Like Lightning" is influenced by Charlie Patton opening with the "chips flying everywhere" verse, with a Tommy Johnson falsetto although his vocal sounds a bit tentative.

There are so many intriguing things that strike a listen like his variation in his accompaniment of "Goin' Where The Chilly Winds Don't Blow," or his comments of Patton's music and what he was playing with Patton's "High Water" is playing in the background. There is a driving rendition of the parlor guitar piece, Spanish Fandango," a tantalizing fragment of another Patton number "Hitch Up My Pony," and the title selection with the underlying triplet feel in the accompaniment showing kinship to Skip James' "Special Rider Blues," as he sings about packing up and going. Another variation on getting a girl everyday of the week is "Gonna Get Me A Woman (Aka Sunday Woman)," with a simple accompaniment.

The repertoire is fascinating and includes "Kansas City Blues," a rendition of the Jim Jackson "hit" that Jackson recorded several times and Patton covered changing the location to Alabama. Also he has a unique take in "Bo Weevil Blues," a common theme and then two short takes of "'Bout a Spoonful," with some very nimble picking. "No Triflin' Kid," is a short performance with some Patton like beating on the guitar and a Tommy Johnson falsetto, followed by an instrumental, "Delta Walk," and his robust self-accompaniment of "Roll and Tumble."

The closing "I'm Goin', Don't You Wanna Go?," might suggest Furry Lewis at places and the lyric has him incorporating "hurry sundown, let tomorrow come," and hearing "Billy and Stagolee arguin' in the dark." McMullan turned down the opportunity to go North to record with Patton (and Son House and Willie Brown) and one can only imagine what he might have sounded if he recorded then. The performances, with some imperfections and tentativeness, stand up well a half century later and show what a strong Delta blues musician he was. Rather than be part of the blues scene, McMullan was a church deacon, involved in civil rights work and trying to get blacks registered to vote as well as worked on a plantation. He did perform for a 1979 Mississippi Public Television documentary narrated by B.B. King. In this writer's humble opinion, "Everyday Seem Like Murder Here," is the major country blues release of the past couple years.

I purchased this. Here is "Fast Old Train."

John Lee Hooker Everybody’s Blues

John Lee Hooker
Everybody’s Blues
Specialty

Fantasy has issued the second of its Specialty John Lee Hooker reissues, Everybody’s Blues. It contains twenty more choice early examples of the King of The Boogie. The first eight recordings were made by Bernie Besman and involve Hooker’s own reworking of traditional blues themes. 

Hooker’s driving boogie accompaniment, with his calculated extension beyond the 12-bar form, makes Do My Baby Think of Me sound completely different from Little Brother Montgomery’s Special Rider Blues. In contrast, the following Three Long Years Today is a brooding Hooker slow blues. Another similarly styled blues, Walkin’ This Highway, is marked by Hooker’s somewhat violent sounding guitar playing. Four Women in My Life (also issued on Modern) is a stunning, relatively straight rendition of a delta blues theme which sounds like someone is playing rhythm with Hooker, although not credited. 

Eight of the performances were recorded with a small jump combo who bring a certain amount of chaos to the talking blues I‘m Mad, where Hooker complains menacingly about working hard to take care of his woman while his woman plays around, Boogie Rambler, derived from Gatemouth Brown’s recordings, the jaunty version of Rosco Gordon’s No More Doggin’, and the title cut which is a recast version of Eddie Boyd’s Five Long Years. 

The final four tracks find Hooker solo again and the version of Percy Mayfield’s I Need Love So Bad illustrates how Hooker can take straight blues lyrics and through his guitar embellishments, his extending a verse past 12 bars, and through deliberately not rhyming lines, makes a familiar song into what clearly becomes his own slow blues. One would never have guessed its source.The liner notes on this set of vintage Hooker are the same as on Graveyard Blues, the earlier Specialty reissue of Hooker. The two Specialty albums are the two best collections of John Lee Hooker’s early recordings currently available in the United States. 

The English Ace Records has issued The Legendary Modern Recordings 1948-1954 which may be found at better stores carrying imports. This contains most of Hooker’s most commercially successful recordings including Boogie Chillen and the original I’m in the Mood, and one can only hope that Virgin Records’ Flair subsidiary will make this available in the US soon. Other recommended early Hooker includes the Krazy Kat collection of Joe Van battle recordings of Hooker along with some real obscurities, Boogie Awhile, and Do You Remember Me, Hooker’s explosive Federal recordings which are some of the most intense post war country blues recordings made. 

This is available as a download and used. I likely received a review copy from the record company. This review originally appeared in the May 1994  Jazz & Blues Report (issue 191). Here is an early John Lee Hooker rendition of Worried Life Blues.

The Best Of Cedell Davis

Cedell Davis 
The Best Of 
Fat Possom / Capricorn 

Arkansas blues artist CeDell Davis is one of the more unique practitioners of slide guitar blues. Originally right-handed, childhood polio left him partially paralyzed. He now plays left-handed, fretting with a left-handed butter knife and developing his unique tunings and the highly individual bottleneck style he employed while working with Robert Nighthawk and others in the delta area.

Robert Palmer, then pop music critic for the New York Times, wrote an enthusiastic article of surviving juke joint blues in the delta area which focused on Davis. Later, Palmer helped arrange for him to appear at the old Tramps in New York. I had the pleasure of seeing him there and was enthralled by his highly unique, bittersweet blues. Field recordings of solo work appeared on anthologies by L&R and Rooster Blues, but only gave a sense of his music. Recently Fat Possum issued a full album, Feel Like Doin’ Something Wrong, which was mostly solo with three band tracks. I understand that in the decade between when I first saw him and the Fat Possum album, he had suffered some health setbacks. This was particularly apparent on the solo recordings which sounded tired, while the band recordings were more vigorous. 

CeDell is back with his second Fat Possum album, one of the first to be issued under the label’s licensing arrangement with Capricorn Records. It is oddly titled The Best of CeDell Davis, almost suggesting it is a compilation, but it is not. He is backed by Capt. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit (whom I am totally unfamiliar with), who do a workmanlike job and elevate the music while giving it more focus. Davis is a unique blues artist with a very somber singing style and an acidic bottleneck approach, to which Hampton occasionally adds a busier, blues-rock tone nicely complementing CeDell’s playing. The songs are traditionally based, but treated to Davis’ own particular spin. His own Fattenin’ Frogs For Snakes is a different tune from the Sonny Boy Williamson classic, and CeDell’s Boogie is a chance for he and Hampton to play some slide. 

Davis’ music is never flashy, and his vocals and slide possess a barely restrained, burning edge. While playing time may be short at about 40 minutes, this is a much more satisfactory introduction to Davis’ music than his earlier Fat Possum release. 

This review originally appeared in the May 1995 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 201). I likely received a review copy from the publication or the record company.While I didn't focus on the specific personnel, it is apparently Derek Trucks adding the slide on CeDell's Boogie. Here is CeDell playing a house party.

Calvin Frazier This Old World’s In A Tangle

Calvin Frazier
This Old World’s In A Tangle
Laurie

This disc is is Laurie Records’ second reissue of Library of Congress field recordings that Alan Lomax recorded in Detroit in the late thirties. Containing all of the blues Calvin Frazier recorded that are still extant on fragile acetate discs, it does not include his religious songs, upon the producer’s belief that they would not appeal to blues fans. This may be a miscalculation, given this disc’s unavoidable rough sound and the short playing time.

Frazier was a cousin of the late Johnny Shines, and was associated with Robert Johnson. Johnson’s influence pervades a good portion of the music here. The title track (heard in a fragment and a full version); I’m in the Highway, Man; She’s a Double Crossing Woman, and Highway 51 Blues, echo Johnson’s Kind Hearted Women, Terraplane Blues, and Dust My Broom. Frazier also sings with a Johnson-like falsetto. Other tracks include Frazier’s Lily Mae, that he later recorded commercially, and versions of The Dirty Dozens and Pinetop Smith’s Boogie Woogie. There are two short interview fragments included as well. Calvin Frazier would be a part of the post-war Detroit blues scene, although his recordings in a combo setting are far different from these country blues recordings.

Like the previous Laurie reissue of Sampson Pittman’s Library of Congress recordings, this is accompanied by a wonderful 40 page booklet with extensive information on Frazier, and full lyric transcriptions. The sound may deter casual listeners, and the playing time is somewhat scanty. Despite these shortcomings, this will be an essential purchase for country blues devotees.

This review originally appeared in the March 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 189) and I likely received my review copy from the record company. This is out-of-print but well worth checking for used copies of it. Here is Frazier's rendition of "Double Crossing Woman."

SAM CARR’S DELTA JUKES Let The Good Times Roll

SAM CARR’S DELTA JUKES 
Let The Good Times Roll
SPV BLUE

Son of the legendary Robert Nighthawk, Sam Carr is in his seventh decade as a musician. Drummer for the Jelly Roll Kings, Sam Carr’s Delta Jukes is a continuation of the delta juke sound that he has always played. Fred James has just put together this disc comprised of outtakes from two prior albums and tracks from a sound check at the Lucerne Blues Festival.

Carr is joined here by James, Dave Riley (guitar and vocals), John Weston (harmonica and vocals) and Andrew ‘Shine’ Turner on some enjoyable performances. Riley (who has an excellent album with Bob Corritore) sounds fine with originals, a nice Jimmy Reed medley and an energetic take of Little Red Rooster. Weston sings and plays strongly on two originals and Turner gives a fresh take on Crawling King Snake. The weakest tracks are Carr’s two vocals with Big Boss Man being quite forgettable. Not a bad disc overall although the sound could have been be a bit brighter. 

This review appeared in the June 2008 issue of Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 305) and I believe I received my review copy from that publication. Here is Dave Riley and Sam Carr in performance.

 

Jackson Stomp: The Charlie McCoy Story

Nehi is a new English label devoted to reissues of pre-World War II country blues and takes it name from an American manufacturer of soda drinks that also served as part of the name for a pianist and clarinetist, The New Orleans Nehi Boys, that backed Ishmon Bracey and Tommy Johnson on some Paramount Recordings. Amongst the first releases on this label is a compilation, Jackson Stomp: The Charlie McCoy Story. Charlie McCoy was an important member of the Jackson, Mississippi blues scene who later moved to Chicago who was a versatile multi-instrumentalist playing mandolin as well as guitar, and is famous today as much as an accompanist as he is as a leader.

Jackson Stomp contains 26 recordings on which McCoy made a significant contribution. Opening with his beautiful slide playing and vocal on the opening Last Time Blues, selections include his marvelous mandolin behind Tommy Johnson on the beautiful Cool Drink of Water Blues (with its line “I asked her for water and she gave me gasoline”); Ishmon Bracey’s Leaving Town Blues; a duet with Bo Chatman (Bo Carter) on which McCoy takes the vocal for the definitive Corrine Corrina; and East Jackson Blues with Chatman on vocal and adding Walter Vinson. Vinson and McCoy as the Mississippi Mud Steppers did Jackson Stomp, a remarkable instrumental take on Cow Cow Blues while McCoy, accompanied by Bo Chatman did a vocal rendition as That Lonesome Train That Took My Baby Away. Both renditions featured McCoy’s mandolin.

McCoy made a number of recordings as The Mississippi Mudder with a variety of accompanists including pianist Chuck Segar as well as accompanied his brother Kansas Joe McCoy. Another important session he played on was Johnny Temple’s Lead Pencil Blues (It Just Won’t Write). McCoy introduced the guitar riff that Robert Johnson would employ on Sweet Home Chicago. After his brother Kansas Joe split from Memphis Minnie, Charlie and his brother joined with some jazz musicians in the Harlem Hamfats whose mix of blues and jazz was a very popular recording group and can be heard (Joe taking the vocal) on its most famous recording, Oh Red, which was covered by a number of other artists. A few other recordings by McCoy (Papa Charlie’s Boys) are mixed in with him backing slide guitar wizard Casey Bill Weldon; pianist Curtis Jones; Memphis Minnie’ pianist Monkey Coleman; and harmonica legend Sonny boy Williamson (on the superb Black Panther Blues).

Sound on the various selections on Jackson Stomp varies based on the source materials which may be prior reissues. Some selections are from clean copies while others may have a minor amount of frying bacon sounds in the background but this hopefully will be a minor distraction to the vocals and music which is reasonable well produced. In the handsome liner booklet, Robert Beecher provides a lengthy essay on McCoy and the recordings in chronological manner although the recordings are not presented in such fashion. There is also full discographical information on the recordings. One notable typo in the booklet involves the misspelling of Cook County Hospital, where that both brothers Charlie and Joe hospitalized at the end of the end of their lives.

Jackson Stomp is quite an enjoyable reissue that contains some superb early blues recordings and should lead to Charlie McCoy’s multi-faceted contributions to the blues being given wider recognition. Charlie McCoy (and brother Kansas Joe) belongs in the Blues Hall of Fame.

I purchased this. Here is Charlie McCoy's That Lonesome Train That Took My Baby Away.

 

Dave Riley and Bob Corritore - Hush Your Fuss!

Mississippi born guitarist Dave Riley and harmonica wizard Bob Corritore have just issued their third CD, the traditionally rooted Hush Your Fuss! (SWMAF Records/ VizzTone). Some duo sides, such as the opening title track based on some old traditional gospel themes, are mixed with some Delta to Chicago styled juke joint blues with Dave ‘Yahni’ Riley, Jr., on bass and Brian Fahey.

There is nothing fancy here such as the easy rocking shuffle Baby Please Come Home, with Riley pleading for her to return where she belongs with some nice harmonica. No Cussin’ has an usual lyric where out Dave singing about finding he was cussing folks too much and he made up that no more cussing for him set against a low-key chugging rhythm with some fine harmonica. 

John Weston’s Snuff Dippin’ Woman, with Corritore on chromatic harmonica, is a moody slow blues about a woman with snuff juice running down her chin. In addition to the strong harp, Riley’s guitar is spot on here. It is the CD’s longest performance and only one of two songs not composed by Riley or Corritore. Gloria Bailey adds organ on Harvey Watkins’ Mississippi Po Boy, where Riley sings about not having much money but he is still so glad the Lord has been good to him. 

Home in Chicago is a shuffle with a theme that one can take Dave out of the Country but can’t take the country out of Dave. It is followed by Dave’s tale of a Hard Headed Woman who acts like she don’t care about him. This gentle rocker is set against a backing that sounds like it was derived from Junior Parker’s Mystery Train It is perhaps not the most striking lyric, but an amiable performance that is typical of most of this recording.

“Hush Your Fuss!” is a solid, amiable recording of blues without any frills with no blues-rock trappings. The songs may be standard blues fare, but they are sung and played with heart and humor. 

I received my review copy from VizzTone. I previously reviewed back in September, 2009 Riley & Corritore's Lucky to Be Living.  Here is a clip of the two performing together

A Drive Down The Blues Highway

Catfish & Cotton: Driving Down The Blues Highway by brothers Luc & Marc Borms is a self-published, wonderfully illustrated account of their journey to the heart of the delta blues culture through their experiences visiting Delta landmarks and their interviewing artists, merchants, scholars and others involved in the Delta Blues scene today.

The Borms brothers, both blues musicians from Belgium, made this Trans-Atlantic trek to the area that is the heart of the music that has so engrossed them as they (among other things) spent two days in Clarksdale; went to Hopson’s Plantation where Jon Gindick conducts a harmonica camp; visited the grave of Sonny Boy Williamson II; stayed at the Riverside Hotel; spent night’s at the juke joint, “Red’s Lounge”;visited the Delta Blues Museum and Cat Head and had a beer at the Ground Zero Club; Helena, Arkansas; Memphis and Beale Street: Oxford, Mississippi; Leland Mississippi; and Avalon Mississippi.

The brothers interviewed Jon Gindick, who has become well known for his harmonica instructional material to describe the camp he holds; Frank ‘Rat’ Ratliff, owner of the Riverside Hotel which was a hospital prior to becoming a hotel; Roger Stolle, who operates Cat Head , a store of folk art as well as a record label, Broke & Hungry; Heidi Hockenhauer, MC of the Delta Family Gospel Festival held in Helena; Blind Mississippi Morris, blues harmonica player and singer; Laurie Montalnaro, staff member of the Memphis Rock’n’Soul Museum; ‘Sunshine’ Sonny Payne, longtime host of the King Biscuit Time Radio Show; Cristen Craven Barnard, painter and mural artist; Adam Gussow, harmonica player and educator; Bill Abel, guitar builder and player; Randy Magee of the Highway 61 Museum; Eddie Cusic, Delta blues musician; Super Chikan, blues musician and others. I was particularly pleased to see the interview of Cusic, who I myself interviewed in 1991 when I saw him life Festival at the Smithsonian FolkLife Festival who is such a strong performer of classic Delta blues.

This book is wonderfully illustrated by the brothers’ photography of various blues landmarks, persons and some performance shops. Illustrations and inserts give information on towns and cities, landmarks including Hopson’s Plantation; the Riverside Hotel Cherry Street in Helena; Sonny Boy Williamson II’s grave; the Homemade Jamz Band and more. I was particularly moved by pictures of Pat Thomas, including one of him holding a guitar and singing while sitting in front of the grave of his father, James ‘Son’ Thomas. And they weave their narrative in which the interviews, and other materials are placed. 

The layout of all this material is quite attractive and reading is enhanced by the layout and use of 4 column text where text is printed. It will be valuable as a guide book for places one might wish to visit when one travels in the Delta as well as a document of the music today and the community in which it persists and thrives in. It is a marvelous book that will appeal to anybody with an interest in the blues and the land from which it sprung.

I became aware of this book from participation in The Real Blues Forum, a Facebook Group that Marc participates. The link for this book is www.catfish-and-cotton.com, which will take you the brothers store on lulu.com, the website that allows books to be self-published. The brother’s store link is http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/infoatcatfishandcottondotcom and can choose from a standard Black and White Edition, or the more expensive Deluxe Edition which is published in color. It is a 184 page, perfect bound book, 9 inches wide by 7 inches tall. I purchased the more expensive paperback edition. I have included for this blog a couple of the sample pages that you can view at lulu.com website for this book.

Here is a little clip of Eddie Cusic & Luc Borms filmed during the Catfish & Cotton tour.

Modern Records Classic Delta Downhome Sessions

The Modern Record labels are perhaps best known for classic blues and R&B recordings by the likes of Hadda Brooks, The Cadets, Etta James and B.B. King, but the Bihari Brothers (the principals behind the group of labels) also recorded some tuff downhome jukejoint blues in the deep south area around Memphis and Jackson, Mississippi. The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions, Arkansas & Mississippi 1951-1952 Volume 1 (UK Ace) collects a number of recordings at sessions organized by Joe Bihari and Ike Turner. 

These are mostly tough small group blues groups which opens up with Elmon Mickles aka Drifting Slim reworking a couple of John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson songs. He was part of a group that also included harmonica player Sunny Blair and Junior Brooks whose rendition of Muddy Waters’ Appealing Blues, She’s the Little Girl For Me has Brooks doing a remarkable job of evoking Waters’ distinctive slide style. 

Other sides represent Charlie Booker and Houston Boines, the latter who was a member of Eddie Cusic’s group that the young Little Milton was a member of. Boines’ Relation Blues makes effective use of the Dust My Broom riff, likely played by Ike Turner on piano. Turner’s piano also is present on Charlie Booker’s fine Rabbit Blues. Boyd Gilmore, supposedly a cousin of Elmore James is heard on nine tracks, which does include some alternate takes, including three of his rendition of Ramblin’ on My Mind with fine piano from Turner.

There are two Elmore James tracks included Hand in Hand and Please Find My Baby that illustrate why he was among the favorite singers of Jules Bihari and the latter includes some slashing, distorted slide guitar to compliment the intense singing. There are also two sides from pianist Ernest Lane who is still active and playing, before the closing instrumental from Red Boyd’s Big Band, which is a bit out of character from the rest of the music here. 

There are extensive liner notes from Living Blues founding editor Jim O’Neal that go into depth on the artist and the recordings. I first got exposed to a number of these recordings on vinyl reissues on the Blues Classics label 35 years ago, and these recordings still hold up. With advances in technology, they sound better than ever. This is a must for fans of down-home, juke-joint blues. 

This review originally appeared in the July-August 2003 DC Blues Calendar, then the newsletter for the DC Blues Society. I purchased this CD.

Fish Ain't Bitin' For Corey Harris

Corey Harris’ recent performances at the Pennsylvania Blues Festival reinforced this writer’s view that he is amongst the foremost acoustic blues performers presently playing. While recent musical explorations blend blues with Jamaican and African musical traditions, he remains is a singular compelling performer of classic country blues. The following review of Fish Ain’t Bitin’ originally appeared in the May 1997 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 221) and likely also appeared in the DC Blues Calendar, the DC Blues Society newsletters which I edited at the time. I have previously posted reviews of Between Midnight and Day and Mississippi To Mali on this blog, and in a few more days I will be posting at least one more older Corey Harris review. Like most Alligator releases this should be readily available (www.alligator.com) and certainly a release any fan of acoustic blues should have. Corey Harris at 2012 Pennsylvania Blues Festival. Photo © Ron Weinstock Corey Harris’ new Alligator album, Fish Ain’t Bitin’, should prove to doubters that his debut, Between Midnight and Day, was no fluke. Of the other African-American acoustic blues performers to emerge over the past couple of years, perhaps only Alvin Hart has been able to assimilate the styles of the early downhome blues greats to create a personal style. What’s refreshing is that both show a familiarity with other blues pioneers besides Robert Johnson, and both have contributed new songs that are faithful to the earlier traditions. Harris in particular has absorbed plenty from the delta blues generation that preceded Robert Johnson, and one can hear echoes of Charlie Patton, Tommy Johnson, Son House and some of the early Memphis based blues performers like Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie and Robert Wilkins. His hoarse shouting vocal style does an uncanny job of suggesting Patton, as does the guitar slapping and string snapping effects he employs along with spoken asides, moaning, humming, his emphatic use of his guitar as another voice, and strongly played bass lines. Corey Harris at 2012 Pennsylvania Blues Festival. Photo © Ron Weinstock He’s joined by several New Orleans brass band musicians on several songs, including the opening High Fever Blues, an original based on suffering chicken pox that is musically suggestive of Charlie Patton’s favorite melodic theme. He also performs this solo, with his boots keeping the rhythm. In addition to strong originals like this and the title track, Harris covers a number of classic blues recordings, leaving his own imprint on Frankie and Johnnie, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Take Me, Blind Willie Johnson’s God Don’t Ever Change and Memphis Minnie’s Bumble Bee Blues. Preaching Blues is derived from Son House’s Paramount recording, and while there are some traces of Robert Johnson, Harris’ Pattonesque approach and powerful vocals mark his version as perhaps the most compelling rendition in the sixty years since Robert Johnson adapted the theme. Larry Hoffman worked with Harris in producing this album and contributed three of the four brass arrangements, while Harris and the band arranged them for the closing Clean Rag. While if an impressive performer in what some might view as an archaic style, Harris’ own lyrics are right up to date and effectively deal with a rage of subject matter. His topical lyrics, such as the title song, are even more effective because he does not come across as preaching a message, but simply letting the import of his words make his message. Corey Harris most definitely impresses here on one of the best new recordings of downhome blues in years. I most likely received a review copy of this recording from Alligator Records. Corey performed Skip James Devil Got My Woman at the Pennsylvania Blues Festival, so I have included a video of him performing this although from another event.

Elmore James Shook His Money Maker

One of the greatest bluesmen of all time, Elmore James is the subject of a new collection of his later recordings on the reactivated Buddah label, Shake Your Money Maker - The Best Of The Fire Recordings. The Mississippi blues legend of course is known for his electric juke joint recording of Robert Johnson’s Dust My Broom for Trumpet Records, but over the course of the next twelve years, his music developed into a somewhat more urbane style that also clearly showed a debt not simply to Johnson, but also to Robert Nighthawk. What is also lost is the fact he was a great blues singer who sang with great urgency and power. John Broven’s liner notes describe the background of James’ career, and based on his interview of legendary record producer Bobby Robinson, details how Robinson, in Chicago for business, came across James playing in a club, leading to James recording The Sky is Crying, which helped rejuvenate his career. This album contains many of the choicest selections of James’ recordings for Robinson with the possible exception of One Way Out. In addition to the title track there are such other gems as Look on Yonder’s Wall, Stranger’s Blues (set to the Rolling and Tumbling melody), Done Somebody Wrong, Nighthawk’s Anna Lee, Something Inside Me (perhaps his finest slow, brooding blues), and first rate reworkings of earlier recordings Dust My Broom, and Standing at the Crossroads. The package is wonderfully mastered and is a must for anyone who lacks prior releases of this material. The James is the first significant blues reissue on Buddah, which apparently is becoming the major reissue imprint for BMG. This review originally appeared in the July/August 2001 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 252) and the April 2001 DC Blues Calendar, then the DC Blues Society’s newsletter. This review was written before Steven Franz’s excellent biography of Elmore James The Amazing Secret History of Elmore James that states that Elmore deserves as much credit as Johnson for Dust My Broom, and that he did more than simply update Johnson’s recording.

Big George Brock Is Ready For Round Two

Bluesman Big George Brock won acclaim for his debut disc, Club Caravan. Round Two (Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Inc.) is his follow-up and brings the gruff voiced bluesman with his band augmented by special guest guitarist Hubert Sumlin on two tracks. Brock was born in Grenada ,Mississippi (Magic Sam’s birthplace I believe) and spent many years in St. Louis before returning South. Nothing fancy about Brock’s singing or harp here as he delivers straight ahead performances that echo legends like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters.

After a short spoken intro, Brock opens with the lengthy So Long, where he tells his woman she is going to miss him when he’s gone, as he blows some simple but hard-edged harp as Sumlin throws in his unpredictable twisting licks in support , while No, No Baby, is a simple medium tempo rocker followed by another song associated with Wolf, Poor Boy, although with hints of Fred McDowell and RL Burnside in the backing. Rockin’ Chair sports a spare backing along with Brock’s tough down home harp, while Mattson, MS is a short instrumental with a groove not far removed from a fife and drum band, whereas the feel of Mr. Wal Mart is pretty lowdown with its bump and grind groove as he pleads for Mr. Wal Mart to send his baby home.

Sumlin returns for Brock’s reprise of Wolf’s Shake For Me, an amiable it not riveting performance. Arkansas to Memphis has Brock backed by acoustic guitar, which is followed by the title track, then a rendition of Sugar Mama, followed by Burden Down, the traditional gospel number in a rendition likely owing a bit to the legendary Fred McDowell. Brock ends the proceedings with a short solo track, Call Me Lover, with a spoken intro before he launches into a buoyant performance.

This is an enjoyable collection of downhome Chicago-inspired blues with a heavy Howlin’ Wolf accent that may not be the second coming of the Wolf but makes for some nice listening. It has national distribution but is readily available on cdbaby.com or the Cat Head website, http://www.cathead.biz/index.html.


This review appeared in the October 2006 Jazz & Blues Report. I do not remember if I received a review copy from publicist or purchased this. Here is a video of Big George performing.

Muddy Waters in Mississippi and Paris

Muddy Waters was a towering perfumer who I had the opportunity to see a number of times ranging from him opening for Moby Grape at Central Park (where one could not hear Otis Spann’s piano) to touring with the band that had Pinetop Perkins, Luther ‘Guitar Jr.’ Johnson, and Bob Margolin outside of Buffalo. Here are a couple of older reviews I have done of his recordings over the years. The first review appeared in the April 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 190) while the second one appeared in July/August 1997 (Issue 223) issue.

The Complete Plantation Recordings 

If Muddy Waters had never made it to Chicago, and was simply some person who had only recorded for Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress, he would still be regarded as one of the great delta blues musicians. MCA/Chess’ The Complete Plantation Recordings makes available all the extant Library of Congress recordings, including 4 interview segments.

Whether magnificent solo blues like the two versions of Country Blues adapted from Walking Blues, I Be’s Troubled, the spiritual You Got to Take Sick and Die Some of These Days, Ramblin’ Kid Blues with the Son Sims Four or You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone, these performances are significant not simply as a harbinger of his Chess recordings, but as among the greatest country blues recordings.

The mastering of rough source material is as good as one can get, and while some may fine this noisy, it is unreservedly recommended.

Paris 1972

A part of Norman Granz’ Jazz at the Philharmonic Series of recordings (that includes albums by Ray Charles and Cannonball Adderley) Paris 1972 (Pablo) is a valuable new live recording of Muddy Waters from a quarter-century past. He’s with his then working band of Pinetop Perkins/piano, Mojo Buford/harp, Calvin Jones/bass, Willie Smith/drums and Louis Myers on guitar, filling in for then ailing Sammy Lawhorn, and relegating himself to a mostly supporting role. This is a “what you see is what you get” sort of recording. Muddy sounds in good form, singing robustly and plays a fair amount of slide guitar , Pinetop Perkins shows what a fine backing pianist he is, and even Mojo Buford, not my favorite of Waters’ harp players, acquits himself well on his steady, if unspectacular accompaniments. The material should be fairly familiar, with Clouds in My Heart, Hootchie Cootchie Man, Blow Wind Blow, Honey Bee, Walkin’ Blues and Got My Mojo Workin’. Produced in cooperation with the Waters’ estate, this is a lively, highly entertaining addition to Waters’ discography. Now here is  Muddy a few years later after Bob Margolin and Luther 'Guitar Jr. Johnson joined the band and the great Clark Terry sitting in.

Corey Harris Takes The Blues From Mississippi to Mali

Corey Harris certainly has distinguished himself over the years with his blues and world music recordings. Back in February, I looked back at one of his early recordings. Today I look back at one of his recordings that was contemporaneous with his participation in the Martin Scorsese series of films on The Blues that appeared on public television. The review originally appeared in the April 2004 DC Blues Calendar, and I likely received my review copy from the record label.

The PBS television series on the Blues that was presented by Martin Scorsese was generally a disappointment with the inconsistency of the series. Only two of the seven episodes were excellent. it is unfortunate that the producers of Blues Story did not receive the funding that Scorsese received. That hour sketch of the blues as told by the performers themselves illustrated the potential of a week long series that The PBS series teased us with but failed to deliver the goods.

Despite the prominence it gave the idiom, the only performers associated with the series that may have received a boost from the series were those featured on it and any boost in record sales was generally limited to the tie-in cds and dvds connected with the series. So ‘blues albums’ by Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers and Jimi Hendrix were top sellers while the major blues artists of the past decade such as Joe Louis Walker and Lucky Peterson (both who had exceptional discs last year) probably could have had all their recordings available in Tanzania for the boost in gave their music.

One of the few artists who may have received a boost for his career is Corey Harris who appeared in the opening episode that Scorsese produced. That episode showed Corey traveling Mississippi and performing with Bobby Rush and Otha Turner and then to Africa where he performed with Ali Farka Toure and other Africans, illustrating the links between the music of West African and the blues in the US. Rounder issued late in 2004 Harris’ new disc Mississippi to Mali, which similarly explores the musical links. Harris performs with drummer Sam Carr and soul-blues legend Bobby Rush, the granddaughter of the late Otha Turner, Shardé & the Rising Star Fife and Drum band, Ali Farka Toure, another West African guitarist Ali Magassa and percussionist Souleyman Kane on a program of blues and African music that is fascinating and compelling.

After a fine instrumental, Coahoma, that evokes the slide playing of Furry Lewis, Harris delivers a fine rendition of the classic Tommy Johnson song Big Road Blues, backed by Rush and Carr before a rendition of Skip James’ recording, Special Rider Blues, where the guitar of Ali Farka Toure and the percussion of Souleyman Kane lend an insistent, almost hypnotic quality to the performance. This is followed by one of Toure’s originals, Tamalah, with its insistent accompaniment suggests the kinship of the Delta blues music and one of the musical traditions of Africa. The linkage is also suggested by the following Station Blues, a reworking of the blues waltz, Sitting on Top of the World, where Harris is joined by Shardé Turner and her fife and drum band.

Harris performs other downhome blues like Cypress Groove, 44 Blues, and Catfish Blues along with other performances with the Mali musicians up front. Mr. Turner, \a juke joint performance with Rush and Carr is a tribute to Otha Turner who died a week before he was supposed to record with Corey, while Charlene, a Harris original, displays how well he has integrated the influences of the Mali musicians in his guitar playing, vocal and the percussion of Darrell Rose. When this musical journey ends with Harris’ riveting rendition of Blind Willie Johnson’s Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground, one recognizes one has been through an enlightening, but even more important, entertaining voyage of musical performances.

Corey writes in the liner notes, “As they say, ‘the roots of a tree cast no shadow.’ Our different histories, ages, cultures are all part of the same tree. Listen closely and you will hear the root. Give thanks.”