This installment of Take 5 is a short playlist of Esther Phillips. Esther Phillips had a remarkable career starting with her first recordings with Johnny Otis on "Double Crossing Blues," and continuing decades later when she had a disco hit with "What A Difference a Day Makes." She was one of the great post-war women of the blues and those who select the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame inductees for the Blues Foundation should be ashamed that she has not already been inducted posthumously.
First up is her hit, "Double Crossing Blues," with the Johnny Otis and The Robins.
Another one from her early years was for Federal with the Dominoes, "The Deacon Moves In"
Esther had hits with songs that were not strictly in the rhythm and blues vein such as "Release Me," and "When a Woman Loves a Man." Her cover of the Beatles' "And I Love Him," so impressed them, that they flew her to England to perform on tv with them.
She never strayed far from the blues however as can be heard in this medley with Johnny Otis titled "Cry Me a River Blues," but so much more.
Finally, we close with her harrowing performance of a Gil Scott Heron song whose lyrics Esther unfortunately lived. This performance was so stunning that Aretha Franklin gave the Grammy to her because she thought Esther deserved a Grammy more than she did.
While I normally stop at 5 tracks, I have a bonus today with a clip of her with Nina Simone, Carmine McRae, Maxine Weldon, and Morgana King paying tribute to Billie Holiday.
One of my friends, who may be on the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame Committee, inquired about my suggestions of folks to be considered for the Hall. I provided him with a number of names. The names I submitted included Roy and Grady Gaines (who are both still with us), the Boogie Woogie Trio of Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis and their mentor Jimmy Yancey, the great Esther Phillips and Duke Robillard. I also suggested as Classics of Blues Recordings the compilations that accompanied Sam Charters "The Country Blues," Paul Oliver's "Blues Fell This Morning and the Origin Jazz Library "Really the Country Blues," and a number of the early Yazoo vinyl albums.
Albert Ammons & Pete Johnson
The artists selected for induction were announced Sunday by the Foundation and include: Mavis Staples, Magic Slim, Johnny Copeland, Henry Gray, Latimore and Willie Johnson. For Classics of Blues Recordings albums they choose John Lee Hooker, The Real Folk Blues (Chess). I do find these artists deserving although I do not believe any of these artists are more deserving than the ones I had suggested.
I am pleased for the Texas Twister, Johnny Copeland, a singular performer that was always adding new elements to his music. Magic Slim was one of the biggest and most reliable acts on the blues circuit of the past forty odd years. I was surprised of the selection of Latimore, although pleased that someone in the soul-blues world was honored. Henry Gray has been a solid pianist and vocalist in the over forty years since he moved back to Louisiana, not to mention his tenure with Howling Wolf. Willie Johnson was a major player on Wolf's early recordings (but how can you pick him and also not pick Roy Gaines, who did session work for Duke (with Bobby Bland I believe); Chuck Willis (he was also Willis' band leader); Jimmy Rushing and many more, as well as numerous outstanding recordings on his own, several of which were award-winning ones).
Johnny Copeland doing "Devil's Hand" in 1984
To my mind, the only questionable selection of a performer is that of Mavis Staples, whose iconic status as a performer is well acknowledged, but one whose performances and recordings are outside the blues.The press-release announcing the selections acknowledges this, stating that she "one of America’s premier singers of gospel and soul music, has expanded her musical mastery with her performances in more blues-based settings in recent years." Performances being in a blues-based setting is not, to me, a strong rationale to induct a non-blues artist, as wonderful as she is, to a Blues Hall of Fame. I understand the rationale, I do not agree with it.
A few other observations about this year's selections. Once again, with the exception of Son House's "Preaching the Blues" as a classic single, pre-war blues artists and recordings were generally ignored. Also the one album selected, John Lee Hooker, The Real Folk Blues, is not, in my estimation, one of the more important albums of Hooker's music. Of course this represents my opinion, but one resulting from following and listening to blues for a half century.
Others have written obituaries about the late Johnny Otis. One of the best ones appeared in the New York Times and Marc Myers at his blog, jazzwax.com, had a very astute appreciation of the gentleman who was sometimes referred to as “The Godfather of Rhythm & Blues.” But Johnny Otis was so much more. Born in Northern California in a primarily African-American neighborhood, he may have been genetically of Greek ancestry, but he choose to live as an African-American. He played the spectrum of Black American Music (to use a phrase favored by Nicholas Payton), not simply Rhythm & Blues.
His musically chops may have started with Count Matthews and his Blues Band in the San Francisco Bay Area. On the recommendation of Nat King Cole and Jimmy Witherspoon, he moved to Los Angeles to play drums with Harlan Leonard and His Rockets, one of the last big bands to emerge from Kansas City. He himself was leading a big band soon after and recorded “Harlem Nocturne,” the first of a number chart topping records over his career.
He was among those who made the transition from big band to the smaller jump bands that would provider the foundation for post-war rhythm and blues. With Bradu Ali, he soon was operating “The Barrelhouse,” which would feature some of the greatest artists. And he would soon be starting his career as a talent scout, disc jockey, television host, record producer, community leader and organizer, entrepreneur, author, songwriter, recording artist, church leader and so much more.
The performers he discovered as well as those he recorded with are legion and legendary: (Little) Esther Phillips, The Robins (later the Coasters), Mel Walker, Linda Hopkins, Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, Ben Webster, Jimmy Rushing, Johnny ’Guitar’ Watson, Big Mama Thornton, Jackie Wilson, Little WIllie John, Devonia Williams, James Van Streeter, Preston Love, Big Jim Wynn, Pete ‘Guitar’ Lewis, Jimmy Nolen (guitarist on “Willie and the Hand Jive” and inventor of scratch guitar as bassist Christian McBride observed), Etta James, Delmar ‘Mighty Mouth’ Evans, Margie Evans, Jackie Payne, Charles Brown, Johnny Ace, Slim Green, Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Connors, Clifford Solomon, Marie Adams, Joe Fritz, Don ‘Sugarcane’ Harris, Amos Milburn, Gatemouth Moore, Pee Wee Crayton, and Louis Jordan to throw a few names around.
My first conscious exposure to Otis’ music was the Kent album Cold Shot in DownBeat. That album introduced me to the singing of Mighty Mouth Evans, Johnny’s son Shuggie on guitar (displaying a facility way beyond his years) and Otis himself on piano, vibes and drums. Featured on the instrumental title track was Sugarcane Harris on violin and his performance with Otis at the time would relaunch his career. Cold Shot brought Johnny back to the fore of the blues world and led to a follow-up studio album on Epic (which I do not believe is currently available), as well as albums by Shuggie and Harris and The Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey. This latter album was from a live Monterey Jazz Festival performance where Otis brought together Big Joe Turner, Esther Phillips, Roy Milton, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson and Ivory Joe Hunter for one of the greatest celebrations of this music ever.
Over the next thirty odd years Johnny continued to record, both with new recordings on his Blues Spectrum label by some of these pioneering legends as well as a variety of albums that covered the whole spectrum of blues and jazz. For Arhoolie, he did a loving homage to those Black Big Bands that inspired and influenced him, Spirit of the Black Territory Bands. For Alligator he produced in the early 1980s, The New Johnny Otis Show which introduced vocalists Vera Hamilton and Charles Williams as well as had plenty of Shuggie’s guitar, while Good Lovin’ Blues from 1990 had a fuller band with saxophonist Clifford Scott and vocalist Jackie Payne.
Of course, Johnny Otis was more than simply a musician. He was a painter, a community leader and social activist who also ran for political office (endorsed at the time by Dodger legend Maury Wills). He also ministered at his non-sectarian Church at which folks of any faith (even nonbelievers) were welcome and which carried out a variety of social welfare programs including a community kitchen. He was a disc jockey as well as a performer and in the late 50’s had a popular television show. In addition to recording for a variety of labels, he produced and played on recordings for Mercury-Emarcy, Duke-Peacock, Federal and Capitol Records, and later operated Dog Records. He continued in radio, even after moving back to the San Francisco area, hosting a regular show of music and interviews until the past few years.
Otis championed the pioneers of blues and Rhythm and Blues for his entire life. He conducted a series of interviews for Blues Unlimited with some of these and when he himself was interviewed, always noted the hype and publicity received by imitators and popularizers while the originals were still around. As a songwriter he contributed such classics as Every Beat Of My Heart for Gladys Knight and The Pips. He authored several books, including Listen To The Lambs which contained his reflections after the Watts Riots, and Upside Your Head!: Rhythm and Blues On Central Avenue, where he discussed the music he played such a major roll in. Otis was also a painter with some of his paintings reproduced in Colors and Chords: The Art of Johnny Otis. Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story, is George Lipsitz's excellent biography on Otis.
Otis’ musical legacy consists not only of Shuggie, but also Nicky, drummer with the Steve Edmondson-Jackie Payne Band, and Shuggie’s son, Eric Otis, who is also a guitarist as well as composer and orchestrator with works with his other grandfather, another musical legend, Gerald Wilson.
Marc Myers had several recommendations of Johnny’s recordings in his blog that I have linked above. I recommend:
The Johnny Otis Rhythm & Blues Caravan; The Complete Savoy Recordings. A 3-CD box set with 77 recordings of which I wrote: “[T]he recommended collection of Otis’ Savoy recordings, not simply because it is so complete, but because it is so good and influential. This is out-of-print but should be available
Midnight at the Barrelhouse - The Johnny Otis Story Volume 1: 1945-57. I have ordered this Ace reissue which was released a few months ago to celebrate Johnny’s 90th Birthday. It is the first of a two disc retrospective of Johnny Otis’ musical career. It includes a variety of his Savoy, Duke, Capital and Dig recordings along with big Mama Thornton’ Hound Dog as well as versions of his songs So Fine and Every Beat Of My Heart. The second volume, On With the Show - The Johnny Otis Story Volume 2: 1957-1974, is scheduled for early February release.
The Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey. As I wrote when this was rereleased on CD in 2000, “There has been hardly anything recorded in this vein since this that has come close to equalling this good rocking time.”
Other releases of note include:
Creepin’ with the Cats. One of several albums from the English Ace label compiled from Otis’ Dig Records and includes vocalists Little Arthur Matthews and Handsome Mel Williams as well as guitarist pete ‘Guitar’ Lewis and Jimmy Nolen on a range of material that was contemporaneous with Otis’ Capitol Recordings. Another Ace reissue in this series from Otis’ Dig group of labels is Dig These Blues with selections from Al Simmons, Slim Green, Sidney maiden The Cats From Fresno and Sugarcane Harris.
Johnny Otis Show: Vintage 1950’s Broadcasts from Los Angeles. Another release from English Ace Records that captures some live location performances with Johnny and his band although with some radio ads of the time (including Maury Wills endorsement of Johnny running for assemblyman).
Cold Shot - A reissue of the album which featured a young Shuggie on guitar, vocalist Delmar Evans and Sugarcane Harris with some fine blues with highlight’s including “Country Girl,” with plenty of swagger in the performance, “Goin’ Back To LA,” a “Sweet Home Chicago” variation and the title track, a strong instrumental showcasing Harris’ violin.
Spirit Of The Black Territory Bands. The Big Band Album Otis recorded for Arhoolie may only be available today as a download. It has strong renditions of songs associated with the big bands of Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, and Jay McShann that influenced and provided inspiration for Otis.
Here is Johnny and company doing "Willie and The Hand Jive" from 1958. It is a different you tube clip than circulating the web.
This is the second part of my consideration of the neglected Atlantic and Kudu Records of Esther Phillips. The first part was yesterday. After her time with Atlantic, Esther Phillips, signed with Kudu, a subsidiary of the CTI, Creed Taylor’s innovative Jazz label and made a series of seven albums that produced more superb music as well as some of here biggest artistic and commercial success. This period of her work is also generally ignored by many writers on the blues, but if the blues is about the facts of life, can their be a more gripping blues recording than Esther’s narrative about “the world can watch you die” with her “white power dreams,” in her unforgettable and chilling rendition of Gil Scott Heron’s “Home Is Where the Hatred Is.” The smoldering funk rhythm and big band horns and strings arrangement is perhaps far cry from the stereotypical guitar dominated blues band, but few recordings of the past four decades hit the listener’s gut as this.
“Home Is Where the Hatred Is: The Kudu Years 1971-1977” is an anthology of 18 selections from Esther Phillips’ seven CTI albums on the Australian RavenRecords label. In light of Sony’s recent initiation of a significant reissue program to mark 40 years since CTI’s birth (with a fine 4 CD reissue “CTI Records: The Cool Revolutions”), one can expect the rerelease of remastered editions of the original albums that are anthologized here. The first five selections are taken from the Grammy nominated album “From a Whisper to a Scream” (the one I believe that Aretha handed her Grammy to Esther for). The title song of the from the pen of Allen Toussaint and a powerful, soulful performance of a love gone sour with Esther begging her man to forgive her for overlooking the needs and wants of her man, with swirling strings, flute and horns adding to the mood. Eddie Floyd’s country soul classic “‘Til My Back Ain’t Got No Bone,” is a particularly strong soul vocal about having to keep walking to find her baby.
Three selections follow from the follow-up Grammy nominated “Alone Again, Naturally,” with her remarkable slow-drag tempo reworking of Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” being another highlight as is Esther revisiting “Cherry Red,” on a rendition that evokes the midnight hours that is at least equal to the Atlantic big band version with spare keyboard accompaniment and spare, evocative guitar allowing her vocal to soar. her compelling rendition of Joe Cocker’s “Black-Eyed Blues,” served as the title track of Esther’s third Kudu album. Also from that album was another Bill Withers composition “Justified,” with a funky groove as she shows and cajoles her man “I’ve forgiven you every time you’ve lied,” but enough is enough and she’s living him and is justified.
From the “Performance” album came a funky-rocking version of Clarence Carter’s “Doin’ Our Thing” with some nice guitar as well as the topical “Disposal Society,” from Eugene McDaniels with its mix of pre-Green ecological sentiments and disposal relationships, disposal plates and disposal love “dispose of me before I dispose of you.” A discofied rendition of “What a Difference a Day Makes,” may be the most familiar selection here with the audible background moans distracting from an assured vocal with an appealing vocal. From that same album comes the moody “I Can Stand a Little Rain,” with effective use of sound effects. Obviously the dance version of “Unforgettable” was an attempt to follow-up “What a Difference,” while Jackie DeShannon’s “Pure Natural Love,” also sports a dance groove. From her last Kudu album, “Capricorn Princess” comes a superb ballad performance, “I Haven’t Got Anything Better To Do,” and the CD closes with a terrific live rendition of “God Bless The Child” with the CTI All Stars that was only issued in Germany and Japan with her distinctive nasal tonality and jazzy phrasing, with the All Stars taking a tempo shift behind a short guitar solo after which they slow things down as Esther evokes Billie Holiday to close this marvelous performance and compilation
Esther Phillips would record for Mercury after leaving Kudu and then die in August, 1984 of liver and heart failure at the age of 48. She left behind a legacy of blues, jazz and soul vocals that frankly still are under appreciated. These Kudu recordings are an important part of Esther Phillips legacy that await your discovery.
I presume that CTI the original CDs will be coming back into print and remastered. It should be noted that the original CTI/Kudu albums were mostly recorded at the Legendary Rudy Van Gelder’s studios and were known for the distinctive packaging as well as superb audio.
With a career spanning five decades, Esther Phillips left an impressive legacy of music. She is of course known as a blues singer from her early recordings as Little Esther as part of the Johnny Otis Show. As a thirteen, she recorded “Double Crossing Blues,” with the Robins and had other hits on Savoy with Otis including “Mistrusting Blues” with Mel Walker and “Cupid Boogie” among a number of hit recordings. Later she signed with Federal where she only had one chart record, “Ring-A-Ding-Doo,” but had some great sides including “Brother Beware,” and “The Deacon Moves In,” the latter with the Dominoes. She also had a fine interpretation of Big Mama Thornton’s hit, “Hound Dog.”
In the mid to late fifties, she was still touring the western states where Kenny Rogers, then a struggling performer, saw her and introduced her and introduced his brother, Lelan who co-owned the Lenox label. Signed to Lenox, she recorded, in 1962, her first hit in a decade, a remake of an old Ray price C&W charter, “Release Me,” leading to her recording her an album of country and western songs. After Lenox went bust, Esther ended up on Atlantic which bought her Lenox masters as well as recorded a number of superb sessions. her first hot for Atlantic was “And I Love Him,” a cover of the Beatles hit that so enamored the British stars that they flew her over to England to perform on a British television show with them.
If one looks at some blues references works such as the Euro-centric Penguin Guide as well as the latest edition of Blues Records, one does not find Esther Phillips recordings represented after her Federal days. This means that her Atlantic albums “Burnin’” and “Confessing the Blues,” are not considered. “Burnin’” and “Confessin’ the Blues,” are paired on a Collectables reissue and also were sampled in Rhino’s compilation of Esther’s Atlantic Recordings.
“Blues Records” does state that it is a selective discography, but one notes that perhaps they should have listened to some of these albums. The Penguin Guide generally ignores even Bobby Bland’s recent recordings, including some selected by The Blues Foundation for its Hall of Fame, while including recordings that would not be out of place in a book on rock recordings.
It might reflect that some African-American recordings often do not like to be described as blues singers. The late Tyrone Davis was one, not that he didn’t like or respect the blues, but they felt that they could sing so much more. Perhaps reflecting the time in the post-war era when black singers were usually given blues material to perform. I recall Ruth Brown in the eighties might have made a similar statement, although a decade later the great rhythm and blues pioneer would show no such qualms with being called a blues singer, and she continued to record more than simply blues. Whites want to be called bluesmen or blues women because it supposedly lends them credibility. When they play rock, it allegedly is taking the blues in new directions. I realize this commentary is oversimplified, but many of these same folks will be among those criticizing hip hop as having no connection to blues, ignoring the facts that both blues and rap (soul, doowop, gospel, jazz) are part of the African-American River of Song).
Both of these recordings have made a strong impression on this listener. “Burnin’” is a live recording that was recorded at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper, in L.A. The live recording was with a trio or maybe a quartet I believe, and later King Curtis overdubbed horns, and other musicians. He did a rather startling good job in the overdub as it sounds seamless. It is a mix of material from standards and pop tunes to the blues. It opens with a marvelous swinging rendition of Aretha’s “If I Lose This Dream,” that displays her growth into a more mature, richer singer with a nasally vinegary sound mixed with a strong does of the Queen, Dinah Washington, with the overdubbed punchy horns extremely effective. Her wonderful rendition of the Beatles’ “And I Love Him,” is dedicated to the lovers in the audience is followed by her “Cry Me A River Blues,” in which she transforms the torch song identified with Julie London into a hot jump blues with her incorporation of Leroy Carr’s “After the Sun Goes Down,” and the Pete Johnson-Joe Turner classic “Roll ‘Em Pete.” For those who have “The Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey,” this is a separate contemporaneous recording of this. “Release Me” follows and shows that 8 years after first waxing this, she displays a similar soulful approach to country material as did Ray Charles. If the marvelous vocalist, Janiva Magness, did a similarly styled rendition of this number, would folks claim this ain’t blues. The fact that she was at home in a sophisticated vein to do “Makin’ Whoopee” or handle the ballad, “If It’s the Last Thing I Do,” does diminish the blues core of the music here, and can their be any complaint with her wonderful rendition of Percy Mayfield’s “Please Send Me Someone To Love.”
And the fact that “Confessin’ the Blues” finds her with her big band does not make this stunning Atlantic studio date any less a blues album than Joe Williams with Count Basie, Sonny Parker with Lionel Hampton, Jimmy Witherspoon or Walter Brown with Jay McShann or Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson with is own groups. What a delicious selection of material including “I'm Gettin' 'Long Alright,” which sounds like a tough number out of the Dinah Washington songbook (and it may well be), the classic Cecil Gant ballad “I Wonder,” the Walter Brown-Jay McShann hit “Confessin’ the Blues.” She gets so seductive on the Lil Green classic “In the Dark,”while she shows how she can boogie her man’s woogie on “Cherry Red.” Then there is a terrific big band arrangement for her interpretation of Leroy Carr’s “In the Evening.” The highlight though is a terrific medley taken primarily from Dinah Washington (“Blow Top Blues” and “Long John Blues” and Billy Eckstine (“Jelly Jelly Blues”) that also incorporates bits of Eckstine’s “Stormy Monday Blues” (not T-Bone’s “(Call It) Stormy Monday”) and other songs. It is also a medley she would perform in Monterey with Otis. The disc also includes a couple of standards but doesn’t change the fact that this is an album substantially of blues performances of the highest order. Maybe that is the problem in that Esther is a vocalist and that the album lacks the focus on rocking blues guitars and is too ‘sophisticated’ to be blues for some blues ‘authorities.’
Both of these recordings show how good the blues could sound when handled by someone who certainly had lived through some real hard times in both her relationships and her addiction, yet was an experienced and mature vocal stylist. Paired together by Collectables, this is a terrific “Blues” CD that may have overlooked by some.
Esther continued to make significant and powerful recordings and I will consider an Australian compilation of her Kudu recordings tomorrow.
Johnny Otis The Johnny Otis Show Live At Monterey (Epic / Legacy)
This compact disc reissue of Johnny Otis rhythm and blues spectacular from 1970’s Monterey Jazz Festival is long overdue (part of which was in Clint Eastwood’s film,Play Misty For Me). Bringing together some of the giants of the music, (none of these still with us twenty three years later) Big Joe Turner, Eddie Vinson, Roy Brown, Pee Wee Crayton, Ivory Joe Hunter, Roy Milton and Little Esther Phillips, this was not merely some exercise in nostalgia, but rather a first rate afternoon of jump blues. They are all in great form with Turner’s I Got a Girl going back to his KC days, while Cleanhead and Roy Milton keep a nice groove going and Ivory Joe Hunter sings a ballad. Highpoint of the proceedings has to be Esther Phillips’ two songs, showing very much her Dinah Washington roots, but tearing into Cry Me a River Blues (with a great Clifford Solomon tenor solo) and Little Esther’s Blues, a medley of Blowtop Blues, T Bone Blues and Jelly Jelly. Johnny (who is still with us) reprises Willie and the Hand Jive. Also present were son Shuggie, and singers Margie Evans and Delmar Evans, part of Otis’ then current review. Shuggie has a country slide guitar feature, and a rocking electric guitar blues instrumental, Delmar Evans does a credible You Better Look Out, modeled on some Howlin’ Wolf songs, and teams with Johnny for Goin’ Back to L.A., a great take-off on Sweet Home Chicago. Otis put together a killer band, who really jump the blues. There has been hardly anything recorded in this vein since this that has come close to equalling this good rocking time.
This review originally appeared in the December 1993 Jazz & Blues Report, contemporaneous with the reissue of this classic album which I purchased when it first came out. Unfortunately the CD apparently is not currently in print although it is likely available from some vendors that sell to collectors. It is available for download on amazon and itunes and likely other sources. It remains a celebration of classic post-war blues and R&B that will never be equaled. And Johnny Otis is still with us 17 years later after this was reissued. In case you missed it, there is a terrific biography of Otis, Midnight at the Barrelhouse: The Johnny Otis Story by George Lipsitz published by University of Minnesota Press and available from amazon and other sources.
King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records Jon Hartley Fox University of Illinois Press (280 pages, 23 photographs)
This writer have long been a fan of many of rhythm’n’blues artists that recorded for the King family of labels. These include Roy Brown, Wyonnie Harris, Ivory Joe Hunter, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, Freddie King, Little Willie John, Esther Phillips, The Five Royales, Billy Ward & the Dominoes and James Brown, to name a small part of the musical legacy of Syd Nathan’s Cincinnati based group of labels that included Queen and Federal. King was a pioneering label in more ways than one as this very welcome history of the label and overview of the extensive recordings that were made for it makes clear.
“King of the Queen City” expands upon a public radio series of the same title that Fox did in 1986 and is a history of the label that Syd Nathan launched in 1943, which became a company that Fox observes was “one of the most, important successful and influential record companies in history. During the almost twenty-five years Nathan was at the helm, King recorded — and introduced to the American public — a stunning array of musical giants, from country stars Merle Travis and Grandpa Jones and bluegrass greats Don Reno and Red Smiley to blues guitarist Freddie King and R&B and soul stars Hank Ballard and James Brown.” Furthermore, while one of hundreds of independent labels to emerge during the forties, none of these matched “King for variety, innovation, depth of catalog and sheer moxie.” It changed not only how music was recorded but also the music itself and whereas almost all other independent labels concentrated on one type of music, King was active in virtually all genres of American vernacular music and did not simply dabble in these styles but had many top stars and some of the biggest records in these styles. It was music and records for “the little man,” as Nathan often put it.
King did more than simply pioneer in the music it recorded and issued. King Records under Syd Nathan pioneered in other ways. It was a record company that had an integrated staff, in what really was a southern city at the time. Nathan started the record company during the middle of World War II when there was a shellac shortage and during the first Petrillo recording ban, may not have been what one might have been instructed in business school. Despite these circumstances Syd Nathan developed King into pioneering record company. He recorded his artists in his studios, manufactured his records (which entailed learning how to master and manufacture records) and using a national promotion force under his control. Other companies may have had their own studio, or perhaps manufacturing plant, but they would not also have their own promotion staff, rather relying on regionally based independent promotion staff. And one cannot emphasize enough his pioneering in hiring individuals on merit, not on the basis of race or other matters.
King also pioneered in having his R&B acts record songs penned by his country stars and vice versa (such as Wyonnie Harris “Bloodshot Eyes”), therefore enabling the exploitation of the songs in the music catalog the label cultivated and owned in addition to the recordings. Overseeing many of the sessions (whether country and R&B) was Henry Glover, Nathan’s first Artist & Repertoire Director. Glover was probably only the second black man to hold an executive position with a United States record label and helped produce some of the label’s early hits like those by Bull Moose Jackson and Harris. Fox, in telling the story of King Records, notes the unheralded and pioneering role that Glover, and also Ralph Bass played in the development of American music of the past 65 years, and notes how few of these have received the recognition they deserve.
Nathan had a strong personality and could get into intense arguments with his staff. The book recounts the legendary story of Nathan’s reaction to James Brown & the Famous Flames’ “Please, Please, Please,” that Ralph Bass recorded, spewing “This is the worse piece of shit I’ve ever heard in my life. …” The earliest acts on King were country acts like Grandpa Jones, the Delmore Brothers and Merle Travis and King would build a distinguished country catalog that included Hawksaw Hawkins, Hank Penny and the great rocking honky tonk piano pioneer, Moon Mullican and then rockabilly sessions with such pioneers as Charlie Feathers. And there would be the countless blues and vocal groups as well as gospel sessions held under the eyes of Glover, Bass and others. Lets not forget such important popular instrumental performers as Earl Bostic and Bill Doggett. Is there anyone reading this who has never heard “Honky Tonk?” The recordings story along with that of Doggett, saxophonist Clifford Scott and guitarist Billy Butler is among those recounted here. This is just to give a small flavor of what the King Catalog represented. King Records passed along with Syd Nathan when he died. The label’s catalog was purchased as was the music publishing. and Fox discusses the various reissues of King recordings and other matters that have happened over the four decades since Syd Nathan passed away.
Fox weaves the label’s history around a discussion of the many performers and musical styles the label touched on and even one familiar with a number of the artists will discover much new. This is not to say there are not omissions in discussing artists, especially after they left King. For example, the discussion of Esther Phillips sort of dismisses her post-King years, ignoring the fact that the Beatles invited her to England because of her recording “And I Love Him,” and one year Aretha handed Esther Phillips a Grammy one year when Aretha won over Esther’s classic album “From a Whisper to a Scream. Its his superficial summary discussion of her and Johnny “Guitar’ Watson, that have me wondering what has he missed on performers who I am less familiar with. This does seem a minor point as his achievement is compiling so much information on the King Records story and artists and recordings of King and associated labels. The label’s story is perhaps not as integrated with the narrative of the performers, but that is a function of what he has attempted here.
If not a perfect book, it is a remarkable achievement and Fox makes the case for the recognition to folks like Henry Glover, Ralph Bass and Syd Nathan himself by popular music historians. Their place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should have been secured years ago, and hopefully this volume will lead to that belated recognition. To the extent these folks are not in The Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame, that oversight should be immediately addressed. Jon Hartley Fox is to be thanked for his impressive addition to the popular music literature. “King of the Queen City” is highly recommended for anyone seriously interested in American vernacular music.
To comply with FTC regulations that may or may not be applicable, I obtained a review copy of this book from either the publisher or someone doing publicity for the publisher.
Ace (UK)’s new anthology of rocking females blues and R&B from the forties and fifties, “Blue Belles With Attitude,” makes available 28 choice recordings (23 never previously on CD and a number previously unissued selections or alternate takes by such artists as Esther Phillips, Effie Smith and Helen Humes. While the album opens with Cordella De Milo’s “Ain’t Gonna Hush,” most of the songs are more standard blues. Some may not of De Milo’s song from Saffire’s interpretation, but her original with a great studio band under Maxwell Davis’ name kicks butt with some explosive, slashing guitar from Johnny 'Guitar' Watson that should put Joe Turner in his place. Watson also plays some great guitar on De Milo’s “Lonely Girl.”
Effie Smith sets the pace on a fast, previously unissued, “Be Bop Boogie,” with some really hot tenor sax to go with her strongly delivered vocal, while there is some really nice guitar on Edna Broughton’s rendition of a Percy Mayfield classic “Two Days of Torture.” “Hey Hey Baby” is a lively exuberant jump blues delivered by Helen Humes, while Edna Broughton’s “Hambone Blues” is a nice slow blues as she tells her man how he has been been mistreating. Mari Jones accompanied by Johnny Moore’s 3 Blazers (augmented by a solid saxophonist) is a nice Dinah Washington styled vocal with deft accompaniment. Some strong trumpet by Howard McGhee embellishes the shouting of Pearl Traylor on “Gee I’m Lonesome,” and “Play Boy Blues.” While the backing may not be as consistently strong (the tenor saxophonist has too much vibrato) on her “Daddy, Somebody’s Got to Go,” she sings quite forcefully. Besides the opening selection there are several other answer songs. Del Graham sings “Mr T 99,” a response to Jimmy Nelson’s “T-99 Blues,” while Helen Humes, with someone playing slide, tells John Lee Hooker, that “I Ain’t in the Mood” for love.
Among others who can be heard on this are Mickey Champion (fortunately still with us as I write this) both with the Nic Nacs and under her own name and a fabulous scorching piano instrumental by Vivianne Green. There is also a nice rendition of “24 Hours A Day,” by a singer whose identity the compilers can only speculate about. There is an interesting range of performances that include some good as well as terrific vocals and generally strong idiomatic R&B accompaniments typical of the period. Ace Records continues to issue some of the finest reissues of blues and related music in the world and this release is another example to demonstrate that.
If anyone from The Blues Foundation is reading this blog entry, I suggest they be considered for Keeping the Blues Alive Award. They certainly would be a worthy selection. Bluebeat Music has this.
Its been several weeks since a giant in the world of photography passed. Memphis photographer Ernest Withers was best known for his documentation of the civil rights movement, but this was simply part of documenting the daily live of his fellow African-Americans in Memphis, at work, play, social events and more. The Memphis Commercial-Appeal's obituary says it simply Photographer with a great heart had 'burning desire to shoot pictures'. In comments to the obituary, Photographer Jef Jaisun quotes Dick Waterman on Withers, "No amount of tribute could possibly reach the appreciation that is due to this modest man."
Fortunately several excellent books of his made his marvelous work available. The Memphis Blues Again: Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs contains many remarkable images of people like Howling Wolf, Esther Phillips, and B.B. King. Negro League Baseball presents images of such greats as Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and numerous others. These are books the continue to give me great pleasure. Negro League Baseball is I believe the only book currently in print.
There was a brief mention of Withers' death October 30 on Mike Johnston's blog The Online Photographer along with some other photo news items. The comments about Mr. Withers center on the photo of him with several cameras. Oddly no one commented on Withers' photography. Given Mike Johnston's interest in music (especially jazz), he could have mentioned this aspect of Mr. Withers body of work, especially the marvelous The Memphis Blues Again.
For a sampling of his work check out the website of his exclusive agent PanOpticon Gallery.
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