Capital Blues Reissues

The second group of Capitol Blues Reissues from EMI continues the high standard of the first set. Five new releases along with a sampler compilation are in the same distinctive packaging with solid annotation and illustration andfirst-rate music. These reissues serve as a final testament to blues scholar, writer and producer, Pete Welding, who was the executive producer of this series. Welding, a former Down Beat, Blues Unlimited, Rolling Stone and Living Blues contributor, also headed Testament Records, was A&R for Playboy Records (responsible for that label's releases by Phillips Walker and Leadbelly), and was involved in numerous reissue projects over the years. The quality of the Capitol Blues series, including his own liner notes for several volumes, is not surprising to those of us who relied on his Down Beat reviews of twenty five years ago in building blues collections. According to the monthly publication ICE, Billy Vera is taking over the as the series executive producer.

The musical level of these five new releases may be higher than the initial reissues in the series. Texas  Guitar Killers (Capitol CDP 33915) is the only compilation among the present releases, and brings together a diverse group of performers. Included are several superb recordings by T-Bone Walker from the Old Swingmaster label that Walker recorded in December 1945, along with several alternate takes of Walker's Imperial work. These supplement the available reissues of Walker's Black & White and Imperial
recordings. They are exceptional sides with tasty small group backings (with particularly interesting hom voicings on the 1945 recordings). Another electric guitar R&B pioneer, Lowell Fulson is heard on two different sessions. The earlier 1948 session is comprised of Texas country blues duets with brother Martin, while a 1953 big band session provides a completely different, jump-band flavor. Other recordings include Gatemouth Brown's first recordings, a couple of strong tracks from Pee Wee Crayton, country blues sung by LC. Wilams backed by Lightnin' Hopkins, and thirteen (sometimes chaotic) selections from Smokey Hogg (some with Hadda Brooks on piano) that display his down-home Texas roots along with his idiosyncratic sense of time. Mark Humphrey's notes place this diverse and lively music in its musical and historical context.

Some will remember Mississippi Fred McDowell's double album, I Do Not Play No Rock'N'Roll. A two-disc release includes that long out-of-print album, along with the same title (Capitol CDP 33919) with selections issued on an obscure album, Just Sunshine, and unissued takes and tunes, all from the same sessions, produced by Malaco Records Tommy Couch. McDowell, perhaps the last great traditional Mississippi blues musician, is the foremost of the bluesmen discovered by folklorist Alan Lomax in the late fifties, playing an intense slide guitar style marked by his keen cutting tone and his percussive, mantra-like rhythms. Echoes can be heard in R.L Burnside and (to a lesser extent) Junior Kimbrough, but neither reaches the level of McDowell. The recordings here are among the first McDowell made using an electric guitar, and Couch backed him with a couple of rock musicians on bass and drums who provide firm, sympathetic accompaniment on many numbers. Many of these tunes were recorded by McDowell on several occasions, but his renditions of Kokomo Me Baby, Red Cross Store, 61 Highway, and Write Me a Few of Your Lines, as well as his interpretations of Baby Please Don't Go, Good Moming Little School Girl and Drop Down Mama, stand up with his best recordings of these items. With the simple rhythm backing added to his highly charged hesitating guitar riffs on Drop Down Mama, it makes for a high voltage performance that one will have trouble sitting still to. While a few tunes may come off as not as tightly executed, the overall level is quite high, and it is certainly one of the more valuable additions to the Capitol Blues series.

John Lee Hooker may be the most prolific blues recording artist of all time. Particularly around the late forties and early fifties, he made numerous recordings for a variety of labels, most done for either Bernie Besman or Joe Van Battle, operators of small Detroit labels as well as lessors of material to national labels.Such recordings as Boogie Chillum, Crawling King Snake, Hobo Blues, and I'm in the Mood, established Hooker as a National act. Ace Records' has collected Hooker's most commercially important sides from this period on The Legendary Modern Recordings (available on Flair in the US), while Hooker albums on Charly, Specialty and Krazy Kat collect other Hooker recordings from this time. Newly issued is Alternative Boogie (Capitol CDP 33912), a three disc album that brings together two vinyl albums, Coast to Coast Blues Band, and the three record set, John Lee Hooker's Detroit, that United Artists issued in the early seventies after the success of Hooker 'N' Heat (the collaboration with the blues-rock band, Canned Heat). These albums (reissued on this set) made available alternative takes and other songs by Hooker from the stockpile of producer Besman. Hooker's guitar boogies and moody. slow high intensity blues formed a distinctive and powerful body of blues, and the level of these and other performances of the time are remarkably high, such as the takes of John Lee's Original Boogie (an altemative of Boogie Chillum), I Rule My Den (a variant of Crawling King Snake), three versions of I'm in the Mood and other strong cuts. Some of these sides include either Andrew Durham or Eddie Kirkland on second guitar, James Watkins on piano and Eddie Burns on harmonica. And while many of these are alternatives to issued recordings, Hooker's performances from this time have a particularly improvisatory feel to them. Those who are into John Lee Hooker's early recordings know what to expect and will have to consider whether they want this material or not, while those more familiar with his band boogie recordings may want to first check out the Ace-Flair or Specialty discs of Hooker's early music first. However those, like this writer, who are into Hooker's early recordings will find plenty of musical treasures here.

After Freddie King signed with the independent Shelter label, he was able to get his friend Jimmy Rogers onto the label as well. Chicago Blues Masters: Volume Two: Jimmy Rogers (Capitol CDP 33916) makes available Rogers Shelter album along with four unissued tracks. Included are sessions with pianist Bob Riedy, the Aces, and Riedy's own band with Freddie King guesting. Rogers was a member of Muddy Waters greatest band (and later Howlin' Wolf's band), leaving Waters after his success with That's All Right. He made recordings for Chess that are amongst the finest examples of Chicago band blues. His Shelter recordings were among the first he made after resuming music. The earliest sides include remakes of such classic Chess tunes like Act Like You Love Me and Broken Hearted Blues along with the fine new blues, Gold Tailed Bird, still a staple of his performances today. While Rogers is in good voice, the backing provided by the Aces is surprisingly more functional than the spectacular accompaniment they often provided. Better are the selections with Riedy's band (the band Rogers was then regularly associated with). The best of these also sports some tremendous guitar by Freddie King with spirited new renditions of such classic Chess recordings as That's All Right, You're Sweet, Sloppy Drunk and You're the One. The final four songs (without King) include a tasty remake of Blues (Follow Me All Day Long) and a reworking of Sonny Boy Williamson I's Decoration Day Blues titled I Lost a Good Woman, with added horns. These sound better than I remember, although they are overshadowed by the best of Rogers' Chess recordings (look for the Chicago Bound album on cd).

The last new album is devoted to Snooks Eaglin, The Complete Imperial Recordings (Capitol CDP 33918). Eaglin, one of New Orleans' most celebrated contemporary performers was known to many as a street performer before his compelling recent recordings for Black Top. These early 1960 sides were produced by Dave Bartholomew and include the legendary James Booker on piano. There is a mix of classic blues like C.C.Rider and J.B. Lenoir's Mama Talk to Your Daughter, Bartholomew's own songs like That Certain Door and Goin' to The River, along with efforts obviously inspired by the contemporary pop music of the time. Those familiar with Eaglin's singular guitar style with its quirky twists and unusual rhythmic emphases will hear it in these 26 short tunes, though with a less fiery, chicken scratching tone than his recent recordings, while his heart-felt and earnest singing might explain why he never enjoyed great commercial success at the time. There are seven previously unissued tunes and one can hear occasional minor glitches in the performances or the ensemble work, but otherwise these wide-spanning performances have substantial entertainment value in addition to their historical nature.

In addition to these releases,Capitol also has issued a sampler collection Livin' With the Blues (Capitol CDP 31747) with tracks from these and the initial seven releases in the series. The packaging,  annotation and the material on all the Capitol Blues releases is first rate, and one could hardly go wrong from an entertainment point of view with any of these. I look forward to future releases under Billy Vera's direction.

This review originally appeared in the March 1996 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 209). I believe I received review copies from EMI. I am not sure of the availability of these reissues today, but one might to check used CD stores.

Take 5 with I Want a Little Girl

This edition of Take 5 is devoted to several versions of the song "I Want a Little Girl." This song is probably most familiar from the Count Basie recording with Jimmy Rushing handling the vocal. We start this playlist with this classic recording.

There have been so many versions over the years. Here is the great Ray Charles.

Then there is a memorable version by T-Bone Walker. As I write this, Hal 'Cornbread' Singer, who plays tenor sax on this track, is still alive.

I must confess a video of Doc Cheatham performing this inspired this blog post. He did record this for the French Black & Blue label.

Next up, and last, is an instrumental rendition by the Kansas City Six featuring Lester Young on clarinet and other Basie-ites without the Count. Eddie Durham is on trombone and electric guitar, Freddie Greene on guitar, Walter Page on bass, Jo Jones on drums, and Buck Clayton on trumpet.

There are versions by Lou Donaldson, Stanley Turrentine with the Three Sounds, Big Joe Turner and more that folks can explore.

Take 5 With T-Bone Walker

Aaron 'T-Bone' Walker is sometimes referred to as the Father of Modern Blues Guitar. His distinctive style influenced practically electric blues guitarists from B.B. King to Fenton Robinson and Otis Rush. He was also an urbane singer in the vein of Leroy Carr, Nat King Cole, and Billy Eckstine.

For this week's Take 5, we start off with perhaps his most famous recording, "Call It Stormy Monday." This is the original recording and should not be confused with the Earl Hines Big Band recording "Stormy Monday Blues" that Billy Eckstine sang. That is a totally different song.

Next up is "T-Bone Shuffle," which has been covered and/or adapted by a number of blues artists.

One of my favorite T-Bone Walker performances is his rendition of "Evenin'.''

Next up is a jump blues, "The Hustle Is On."

Finally, we have a video of T-Bone performing with B.B. King. 

Take 5 With Jimmy Witherspoon

While I only had the pelasure to see Jimmy Witherspoon perform once live, I was long a fan of his recordings. while often compared to his idol, Big Joe Turner, he was also a terrific Ballad singer. For this short playlist, I start with what was a major hit for him, "Ain't Nobody's Business," with Jay McShann on piano.

Spoon was one of the blue singers who often was backed by some of the greatest jazz players. His recordings with tenor saxophonist Ben Webster were special. He heis live at the Renaissance Club in LA with Jimmy Rowles on piano and Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax doing Leroy Carr's "How Long How Long Blues."

 The first Jimmy Witherspoon album I purchased was "Evenin' Blues," on Prestige. The session included T-Bone Walker on guitar and Clifford Scott on tenor sax. Here is "Money Is Getting Cheaper," a remake of "Times Getting Tougher Then Tough," which I believe was the first track of this album.

I would be remiss if I did not include a selection from his recordings with blues-rock guitarist, Robben Ford. What might have seemed an unlikely partnership, was actually one that worked quite well. Here they do a song spoon had recorded a number of times before that was also a hot for Big Joe Turner, "S.K. Blues."

Finally, here is a set of Spoon with a group led by former Count Basie saxophonist, Earle Warren, live in Europe. Enjoy.

How Long How Long Blues

One of the most celebrated blues recording is " How Long How Long Blues," most famous from Leroy Carr's recording. It was so popular, Carr recorded a number of sequels. Today, we explore a variety of recordings and performances of this number starting with Carr's hit.

It derives somewhat from Ida Cox's "How Long Daddy" by the great Ida Cox with Papa Charlie Jackson on the accompaniment.

Here is T-Bone Walker doing this classic.

Jimmy Yancey may be my favorite blues and boogie-woogie pianist. Here is his poetical version.

Count Basie with Jimmy Rushing singing.

Here is one by Big Joe Turner, who recorded the song several times.

The great slide guitar master, Kokomo Arnold, an influence on Robert Johnson, recorded this.

The late Lou Rawls did a marvelous rendition.

Last up for this playlist is Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Leadbelly.

There are many I could have selected, but this gives an idea of the range of interpretations.

The Eagle Flies on Friday

Some renditions of T-Bone Walker's "Call It Stormy Monday"

Here is the legend himself:

The great Vi Redd with Count Basie, singing and wailing on the tenor sax. This clip inspired me to make this post.

B.B. King

Eva Cassidy

B.B. King (again) and Albert Collins

Diana Reeves and David Peaston

Albert King and John Mayall

Bobby Bland, Johnnie Taylor and Bobby Rush

Last Buddy Guy with Carlos Santana and Barbara Morrison

Roy Gaines Is A Bluesman For Life

Another of my reviews from late 1998 that I wrote for the DC Blues Calendar, the DC Blues Society I then edited. Roy Gaines’ Bluesman For Life certainly played a part in reestablishing the veteran performer’s career and has been followed by a number of impressive recordings that I have previously posted. I do not recall if I received this for review or purchased it.

One of the best recent JSP releases is by guitarist Roy Gaines. Gaines, who as a teenager was battling T-Bone Walker and Gatemouth Brown in Houston clubs has been playing on the R&B circuit with all of the legends, including stints with Bobby Bland, Roy Milton, and the Crusaders. JSP has just issued his latest album, Bluesman For Life, and it is the best album of the blues guitar superman (to quote Real Blues editor and publisher Andy Grigg) this writer has heard.

T-Bone Walker is probably the strongest influence on Gaines, but his attack also owes as much to Gatemouth Brown and Brown’s musical disciples. His guitar playing sizzles and is full of imaginative twists and turns, while on a number of tracks his vocals suggest Long John Hunter. Whether singing about his devotion to blues on the title track (I’m not going to sell out, I’ll be a bluesman for life), or reworking Guitar Slim Something to Remember You By on You Went Back on Your Word, Gaines delivers his vocals with almost as much gusto as his fretwork here. He can go down in the alley on It’s Midnight Baby, while Roy Jumps the Gator is a hot guitar showcase modeled after one of T-Bone’s instrumentals.

This is another stunning release on an ever increasing important British label.

Here is Roy Gaines in performance.

Roy Gaines Takes His Blues In The House

In the House on Crosscut adds to the growing number of recent CDs by Roy Gaines. This is one of a series of discs taken from performances at Switzerland’s Lucerne Blues Festival. Gaines put on a stunning performance to close the 2001 D.C. Blues Festival, and this performance was recorded a couple months after that performance.

There are fervent renditions of Hind Ends and Elbows and W.C. Handy Sang the Blues from Gaines excellent New Frontier Lover Severn album, along with Southern Women (“I just love southern Women” he sings here)” and Lucille Works For Me (where he playfully sings about becoming the master of B.B. King’s guitar.” Other songs are less familiar like the oddly-titled Standing Up For Women’s Rights, where Gaines sings that there ought to be a law about a woman giving away her love to someone new.

The opening of Wolfman suggests the guitar accompaniment to the Bobby Bland’s hit Further On the Road, before Gaines sings about being a wolf sniffing his woman’s trail and howling for the woman to let him in. There are places where Gaines plays in the vein of his mentor, T-BoneWalker, although his dirty guitar tone here is far removed from Walker’s classic sound. Gaines’ driving playing and shouted vocals are complemented by a punchy horns section and strong solos from saxophonist Troy Jennings and Johnny Viau and trumpeter George Pandis. Pandis provided the brassy arrangements.

Petrol For Your Tank employs the same melody as Blueman For Life, the title track of Gaines’ comeback JSP album, with the band really gets a nice groove going. Pandis tears off a blistering solo here in addition to searing guitar from Gaines. For a complete change of pace, the album closes with an engaging rendition of Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans, which few other blues groups would try, much less handle as ably as Gaines. Few sing and play with the authority of Roy Gaines.

This review originally appeared in the May 2003 DC Blues Calendar. I do not recall if I received a review copy or purchased this. It is still available as an import or also as mp3s. I previously posted about Gaines excellent big band Blues album, Tuxedo Blues, and the Severn release, New Frontier Lover. Here is Roy in a T-Bone Walker-ish mood.

Super Black Blues Was True Super Session

As the review in Blues Unlimited noted about the original vinyl release of SuperBlack Blues, the recording of Otis Spann, Big Joe Turner and T-Bone Walker was a true super session that lived up to this label. Recorded in October 1969 and released on (Bob Thiele’s) BluesTime label in 1969-1970, it has finally appeared on compact disc on BMG France.


There are three long tracks on which Turner, Walker and Spann (on two tracks) each take some of the vocal spotlight with a little bit of kidding between Turner and Walker, and one ballad, Here I am Broken Hearted, which is sung by Turner. In between the vocals, Walker, Spann, tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts and George "Harmonica" Smith take solos, all of which are nicely delivered and lack the self-indulgent mediocrity found on many more highly publicized supersessions.


Despite the informal feel of these performances, this album is a gem with a wonderful rhythm section of guitarist Arthur Wright, bassist Ron Brown and drummer Paul Humphrey that push the groove while still swinging. Its hard to believe that Spann was dead half a year after this was recorded as his playing and vocals here sound so vital while everybody else is also at the top of the game. As Joe Turner sings on the aptly titled Blues Jam, it was a lovely party and everybody had a ball and that good time comes across with great vitality nearly three and a half decades later.

This review appeared in the September 2003 DC Blues Calendar, then the DC Blues Society’s newsletter. There was a second volume with Leon Thomas and Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson and Leon Thomas replacing Spann and Smith, which I have not listened to, but it would be a completely different feel than the mix of down home blues and uptown blues on the earlier album. Unfortunately this may be hard to find as a CD or vinyl album, but it is worth the search, and hopefully it will get reissued again. Jams this good are rare.

JP Soars Promising Debut CD

Boca Raton guitarist and singer, JP Soars, was the 2009 winner of the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge where he also won the Albert king Award for Best Guitarist. He took an unusual path to the blues having initially played in heavy metal bands. later as his musical pursuits took him into gypsy jazz he started developing a passion for the blues. He has a self-produced debut album, Back of Mind.


Soars playing on this displays none of his early heavy metal music days. He has become a deft guitarist who has become quite a versatile player incorporating elements of T-Bone Walker, Guitar Slim, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson and others. On this he is backed by his Red Hots, bassist Gary Rimmington and drummer Chris Peet. There is a good mix on this recording, opening with the trio on a hopping jump blues, his autobiographical, Born In California Raise In Arkansas, followed by an augmented band that includes saxophonist Terry Hanck for Guitar Slim’s Letter to My Girl Friend, with Hanck ripping off a hot tenor sax solo before Soars rips off a hot solo in the Guitar Slim-early Johnny Watson vein. Of the songs that Soars covers, this one is probably closest to the original.


Soars’ marbles in mouth vocals with some backing vocals revive Willie Dixon’s 29 Ways, while his original Will I Ever, is a nice soul tinged ballad. His rendition of Muddy Waters’ Gypsy Woman, reworks the Delta blues into how Boz Scaggs may have done it in the seventies with a solid tenor sax solo, atmospheric organ from John Epstein and terrific guitar playing. There is a hot T-Bone Walker shuffle that almost has a rockabilly feel and J.B. Lenoir’s dirge-like Been Down So Long becomes a late-night modern blues. This disc closes with on an acoustic vein with the low-key blues Baby I Used to Follow You, and the marvelous nod to gypsy jazz Blue Drag.


JP Soars is a marvelous musician who brings a fresh approach to some classic older blues. The only negative is that his gruff vocals are not on the same level which is a shame because there is plenty to like about this. It is available from cdbaby.com.


I received my review copy from a publicist for this release and wrote this review in 2009 but I do not believe it was published.

Roy Gaines' Excellent New Frontier Lover

Influenced by T-Bone Walker, Roy Gaines has a six-decade career as a blues guitarist and singer. He has done countless sessions with the likes of Bobby Bland, Junior Parker and Jimmy Rushing and recored a number of albums over the years. Roy just issued on his Black Gold label Tuxedo Blues which I will be addressing in the next few weeks. In 2000, Severn records issued New Frontier Lover. It was his last US issued recording until Tuxedo Blues. Gaines did subsequently have a CD issued on the Japanese P-Vine label, “Guitar Clashers from Gainesville, Tokyo,” with Japanese guitarist, Mitsuyoshi Azuma. The following review of New Frontier Lover appeared in the January-February 2001, Jazz & Blues Report (issue 249).


Roy Gaines’ latest, New Frontier Lover (Severn), is among the best of 2000. David Earl has put together a terrific band behind him including Steve Gomes on bass and Benji Porecki on keyboards and there are some nice horn parts on most tracks. Its a collection of new material, although one can hear echoes of some of the greats Gaines was a contemporary with and played with.

Many of the songs have memorable hooks and some of the catchphrases from the tunes will be lingering in your mind after you listen to this The title track is funky number where Gaines gets to boast about his prowess. It is followed up by my favorite track, The World’s Biggest Fool, a terrific slow blues suggestive of Guitar Slim’s Something to Remember You By, with the band sounding like Slim’s band on his Atlantic sessions. What’s the Reason is a nice shuffle with a latin tinge to it while Roy is in a T-Bone Walker vein on You Can’t Make Nobody Love You, although Gaines plays with a somewhat dirtier tone here than Walker.

Roy’s Theme is an instrumental evoking classic instrumental shuffles like Gatemouth Brown’s Okie Dokie Stomp, and Roy’s driving attack here compares favorably to the best of them. Hinds Ends & Elbows is another hook-laden song, with Gaines’ hot vocal and guitar evoking the memory of the late Johnny Copeland. Gaines also handles a medium tempo Chicago blues shuffle, My Woman, My Blacksnake and Me, with Steve Guyger adding his harp to the blues stew. Guyger is also present on the rollicking closing number, Roll Your Own Biscuits.

This release has been one I have been listening to constantly since I got the advance of it. I am not sure if it will be in the stores when you read this, but it is one that is sure to be on my best of 2000 list. Look for it.

This was on my Best of 2000 Blues list and the music holds up well a decade later. This should still be readily available. I received a review copy from Severn Records for the review.

Roy Hawkins May Be Gone But The Thrill Lingers On

Roy Hawkins’ name is not one that may be familiar to many who call themselves blues enthusiasts, but this Texas born, West Coast blues singer and piano man had some records on the R&B charts and one of his recordings has become a blues standard when redone by B.B. King. Like Charles Brown, Little Willie Littlefield, Pee Wee Crayton, and others he was among those who traveled to California from Texas and the Southwest and played music and made records. Despite waxing the original recording of The Thrill Is Gone, as Tony Rounce observes in the liner notes to the English Ace CD reissue, Bad Luck Is Falling, an obscure figure and even when B.B. King had a major hit with Hawkins’ song, nothing was found out about him. Still as Rounce says, he “was one of the last unsung heroes of the post-world War II West Coast blues.”

We know that in 1948 he was in Richmond, California in the San Francisco Bay area where he led a combo that played in clubs that included a fine guitarist named Ulysses James. They came to the attention of Bob Geddins who recorded them for his Cava-town and Down Town labels. At some point the Bihari Brothers acquired his contract and four of the sides Geddins issued on Down Town. Rounce speculates that they have seen him as a replacement for Charles Brown who had jumped to Aladdin Records.

In any event, Modern issued the four Down Town sides which were pressed from acetates made from 78s and not from the actual the acetate masters. While the sound is not optimal, the music was excellent. Strange Land, was a doomy Bay Area blues that Johnny Fuller also recorded for Geddins. Hawkins displays his ability as a singer on Strange Land, while the instrumentals issued at this session showcase guitarist James. There was a session in 1949 that produced a terrific blues Sleepless Nights, and a tough instrumental Royal Hawk.

But after this session, Hawkins was in a car crash that resulted in a paralysis that affected his ability to play piano. While he was convalescing, Geddins wrote Why Do Things Happen To Me for him, which Hawkins poignantly sang. It was his biggest hit, reaching #3 on the charts and staying there for almost 5 full months. It is not included on this reissue, but is on the earlier Ace Roy Hawkins reissue, The Thrill is Gone. There are takes from this session that was led by tenor saxophonist Buddy Floyd and included guitarist Chuck Norris with Williard McDaniel on piano. Included on Bad Luck Is Falling is a charming (to quote Rounce) rendition of a non-blues, the standard many know from Jimmy Durante and Frank Sinatra, September Song. An alternate take of the previously reissued Wine Drinkin’ Woman, is also included.

In April 1951, the tenor saxophonist Maxwell Davis replaced Floyd as senior A&R for Modern, a position he would hold for many years. I remember Joe Bihari being interviewed at the Ponderosa Stomp conference referring to Davis as a genius and Clifford Solomon recalled working on sessions that Maxwell Davis ran over decade later. At this first session, The Thrill is Gone was recorded. The issued take (take 4) was reissued on the earlier CD. Reissued here is take 2 which initially was the preferred take, and to these ears is as good as the issued version. This is a classic West Coast piano blues with Hawkins’ strong, moody vocal that has a terrific sax solo from Maxwell Davis.

The Thrill is Gone charted and while not on the charts as long as Why Do Things Happen To Me, it continued to sell for a long time which led to a sequel, The Thrill Hunt, that was one of four sides recoded at his next session which included the instantly recognizable guitar of T-Bone Walker. These sides were recorded right after a Walker session and include the jumping Highway 59 and the moody Doin’ All Right, that wonderfully feature superb backing and strong singing. Then there is a strong Maxwell Davis solo with Walker’s single note runs and chords under the searing sax playing. One problem here was that the original tapes were lost, so they mastered from 45s to which some echo was applied. Still the performance is superb and thee cho is a minor issue. Sound issues also mar the coupling of Bad Luck is Falling, and The Condition I’m In, which is unfortunate as they are real good performances.

One other session at the time produced an attempt to crack the emerging rock and roll market. He would do one session for Don Barkdale’s Rhythm label in 1958 and then a swan song for the Biharis again on their Kent label. This 1960-1961 session produced four sides, the most notable was a terrific new version of Strange Land with some blistering playing from an uncredited guitarist.

I definitely agree with the characterization of Hawkins as an unsung master of post-World War II, West Coast blues. Anyone who loves the rocking work of Little Willie Littlefield, Amos Milburn and Floyd Dixon, will enjoy Hawkins. The earlier reissue, The Thrill is Gone, is the essential Roy Hawkins reissue. While some of the music may be (relatively) substandard, most of what is on Bad Luck Is Falling is exceptional. I believe this is still in print, and bluebeatmusic.com shows this is available and it may be available from amazon or from third-party sellers at amazon.


This blog entry is about CDs I purchased.

Floyd McDaniel's Jazzy "West Side Baby"

The late guitarist and vocalist, Floyd McDaniel, was born in the south but grew up in Chicago where he attended high school with Nat Cole and Ray Nance. A performance at Chicago’s 1933 World Fair led to his career in music playing jazz, blues and pop for 15 years as part of the Four Blazers and later played with one of the versions of the Ink Spots. An appearance at the Chicago Blues Festival and some coaxing from Willie Dixon got Floyd to start playing his mix of jazz and blues leading to a well received album on Delmark in 1994 but before he could record a follow up, he passed away on August 22, 1995. Fortunately a recording was made of an 1994 German Festival appearance where he was backed by Dave Spector and the Bluebirds and Delmark issued it in 1997 and Delmark has just re-released it, “West Side Baby.”

The album certainly illustrates what Delmark labels his “whiskey-smooth vocals and Charlie Christian/T-Bone Walker influenced guitar work.” Spector’s own playing is a sympathetic second and complimentary guitar voice to McDaniel’s. This is an amiable collection of a number of well known tunes such as “St. Louis Blues,” where McDaniel provides a fresh take instrumentally during his solo with nice use of chords. Not many people can introduce a song associated with Nat King Cole by noting he went to school with Cole as he does introducing “Route 66.” One does not hear the Parish/White classic “Evenin’” performed that often these days, and this 15-odd year old performance is a fine one, followed by a nice treatment of “Red Top,” where his playing suggests the late Robert Lockwood. The performance segues into a vocal take of “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On.” McDaniel’s rendition of “Backwater Blues,” gives an idea of how it would have sounded if T-Bone Walker had recorded the Bessie Smith classic. More T-Bone Walker styled blues can be heard on Jesse Mae Robinson’s “Every Time.” Even an unrehearsed, impromptu “Sweet Home Chicago” has it charms on this delightful CD that we can thank Delmark for making available again.



For purposes of FTC regulations, the review copy of this was provided by Delmark records.

Mel Brown 1939-2009

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

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

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

A few highpoints.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A bit of blues video to savor

I have been a bit lazy and not posted in a few weeks. To remedy that I have a couple blues videos from you tube for you to enjoy. First is T-Bone Walker. I believe this is from the American Folk Blues Festival tours which have been made available on some fabulous DVD's put together by Reelin' In the Ear Productions.



Follow that from Robert Lockwood, Jr. doing a rendition of his stepfather's "Sweet Home Chicago." Lockwood's J.O.B. recording of "Aw Aw Baby" was one of the earlier post-war Chicago Blues versions of this song. I am not sure if this predates Roosevelt Sykes' "Sweet Old Chicago," which likely inspired Junior Parker's "Sweet Home Chicago" for Duke and which Magic Sam cited when he performed it at the Ann Arbor Blues Festival. It was not until after magic Sam's rendition before we got a plethora of recordings, some good, but way overdone. This rendition is part of the Grammy Award Winning, The Blues Shoe Project.



Finally another rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago," by Robert Johnson's travelling friend, Johnny Shines. Listening to mediocre Robert Johnson tributes by the Eric Clapton and Rory Block, I need to cleanse my ears by playing Shines whose mix of Lonnie Johnson, Howling Wolf and Robert Johnson made him, to my mind, the best interpreter of Johnson's songs.

Big Brown's Blues

There have been so many examples of blues artists who produced a small number of recordings whose recordings were highly prized by those who heard them but never reach the more general acclaim that their music deserves. Its been over twenty years since singer-guitarist Andrew Brown passed away after recording some excellent 45s, several tracks for Alligator’s Living Chicago Blues series and two superb albums for Dutch Labels that I do not believe have been issued on CD. The Dutch Black Magic label has made almost all of Brown’s recordings available (the issued Alligator tracks excluded) on a wonderful limited edition reissue, Big Brown Blues. Packed in a book sized package, the contents of the two discs include his issued 4s for the U.S.A, 4 Brothers and Brave label and a pair of unissued titled from Brave; two unissued songs from the sessions used for the Living Chicago Blues series; the contents of his Black Magic and Double Trouble CDs and three demos recorded at Andrew’s basement. The booklet contains a bio from Bill Dahl and producer Dick Shurman’s recollections of Andrew and his music. As Shurman observes, “Musically, Andrew was accomplished, powerful, soulful and versatile.”
Influences on Brown include B.B. King, Lowell Fulson and T-Bone Walker, but in listening to these, his music struck me as very similar to that of the late Little Milton, which is evident in the wonderful treatment of Milton’s Losing Hand that is the first track on the second disc. It is more a matter of similarities in the voices and common influences. Like Milton, Brown was not only a fleet guitarist, but also a wonderful songwriter. Magic Sam covered Brown’s USA 45, You Better Stop, but there are any number of strong modern urban blues with sophisticated lyrics, sung with heart, while his guitar playing embellished, not overwhelmed, his vocals. He moves from a rocking shuffle like No More Talking to the blues ballad Your Love is Important to Me, then taking up a funk groove on Mary Jane. Dick Shurman had him cover some songs on the two albums with Tin Pan Alley, perhaps the best known song that he makes his own, but other songs covered include his terrific take on James ‘Thunderbird’ Davis’ Blue Monday, Joe Tex’s I Want to Do (Everything For You), and a Bobby Bland classic, Lead Me On. A few numbers are a bit more directed towards the straight soul market, but are also delivered so convincingly.
Having Brown’s two albums and even a 4 Brothers 45, I am delighted to have this wonderful reissue available by a person who should be much better known among a broader range of blues fans. His ‘mellow’ blues styling is akin to such other neglected past blues masters Mighty Joe Young and Fenton Robinson and is better than a lot of what is purported to be blues today. This is a limited edition and I recommend checking the better mail order specialists like BlueBeat Music to get this gem while you can. It is also available directly from Black Magic Records.

Cleanhead's Blues

Among its recent releases, Delmark has just re-reissued Kidney Stew is Fine by Eddie 'Cleanhead Vinson. Originally issued on the French Black and Blue label, the disc has the shouter-alto saxophonist with an all star band that included Jay McShann on piano, T-Bone Walker on guitar and tenor saxophonist Hal ‘Cornbread’ Singer. Its a good mix of classic songs that Cleanhead made famous like the title track, Somebody’s Sure Got to Go, Juice Head Baby, Big Bill’s Just a Dream and Old Maid Boogie, along with Joe Turner’s Wee Wee Baby, Percy Mayfield’s Please Send Me Someone to Love, and Duke Ellington’s Thing's Ain't What They Used To Be. Vinson is in terrific form both vocally and instrumentally and the band swings wonderfully for a most enjoyable session that is welcome to be readily available.

As a postnote to this review, I note that when I first came across the various Black and Blue releases on vinyl in the 70s and early 80s I generally found the jazz releases (and this was one that was originally more oriented towards jazz audiences) was generally more satsisfying than the blues releases. In part it may have been because the bands were tighter and could handle the material, even if not fresh, with an authority that many of the label's blues releases could not quite achieve without sounding generic.

Incidentally, amazon still (3/23/08) shows the 1994 Delmark CD cover of this release on its website. I corrected this posting on 3/23/08