Exile In Blues Celebrates Little Walter's Birthday!

Born Marion Walter Jacobs May 1, 1930 in Marksville, LA

he headed out the door at the age of 12, to towns

like New Orleans, and Memphis. It was in Helena,
Arkansas that he learned to play from Sonny Boy Williamson,

aka Rice Miller. Alot of the big blues artists actually had

radio shows there on KFFA, like Robert Lockwood.
Robert Nightwalk was hosting a show for BRIGHT STAR

FLOWER, while Sonny Boy was hosting a show for

KING BISCUIT FLOUR SHOW. It's amazing to think that

these blues artists were given the liberty of having not only

radio shows, but frequently having baking products

named after them!

What an incredible schooling for the young Little Walter this

must have been. His other big influence was Louis Jordan,

a jump blues singer/sax player. Walter would eventually

join Honeyboy Edwards in moving to Chicago. It was

there that he would go on to work with the great

Muddy Waters, along with his friend Jimmy Rogers, and

help create the classic Chicago blues sound.

What made his sound unique was his use of the

microphone amplification that gave him

that distinctive full echo sound. I think his

playing was actually copying what the piano

player was doing. I can't imagine those

early classic Muddy Waters recordings

without Walter.

Much has been made of his argumentative nature
and drinking, but what a life he led! Leaving home
at a very young age. Playing for money on sidewalks
and anywhere he could set up shop. To learn more,
read DEEP BLUES by Robert Palmer.


The complete Chess Masters box set was just
released in March-

Here's a clip from Little Walter's induction into

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rolling Stones Reissues Coming May 4th!

This blog is just CLIMBING THE WALLS!

These are the four that are coming out in the first batch.

And what I'm really bummed about is having to wait till the fall

for Exile on Mainstreet to be resissued with something special,

and it better not be just a "Special Box" to carry all the new

reissues!

Here is the Creative Arc:

Beggars Banquet

Let It Bleed

Sticky Fingers

EXILE ON MAINSTREET

Goat's Head Soup

It's Only Rock'n'Roll

Black And Blue

What I'm sad about is that Beggars and Let it Bleed

are Abkco. I did manage to find a DSD remastered

Japanese version of Let It Bleed that is TOTALLY worth it.

Very warm and it sounds almost like vinyl!

Obviously Exile is the top of the arc, and then it goes a bit

downhill, but not much! Don't read the crap that some

sites write (Allmusic), about how alot of the tracks on Goat's

Head and Sticky Fingers and It's Only Rock'n'Roll are filler

or B-tracks.

You have to remember that these were ALBUMS.

In the days before I-tunes, people listened to these as

a cohesive unit. So with that in mind, when they come

out, pretend they're 2-sided. When you get to what would

be considered side 2, turn it off, leave the room, maybe refill

your beverage, scratch yer ass, and listen to the rest of it.

In anticipation, here's a link to a great audiofile

website that delves more deeply into the actual studio

sounds of the best Rolling Stones albums.

MusicAngle.com

April 16th, 1964 The Rolling Stones Debut Album Released in the U.K.

The Rolling Stones release
England's Newest Hitmakers in the UK
on April 16th, 1964, and later in May for the U.S. They

had released some of these songs as singles, but the full

impact of this scruffy looking bunch of lads singing-

what sounded like nothing else out there, must have been

jolting. How many white teenagers had heard

something like "I Just Want To Make Love To You?"

Of course most of these teens had Elvis, and many

other cuddly teen-idols, but what a shock it must have

been to hear Mick's nasaly vocals.

You can hear how much Jimmy Reed's sound had

affected the band. I think it provided an easy entree

creatively for Mick with his vocals- they were a similar

range to Jimmy's as well as his harmonica playing.

His songs were very polished and urban. The Muddy

Waters and Howlin' Wolf sound was harder to

replicate at such an early age. That would be a

few years down the road, after alot of living, smoking

and drinking was done.

The rest of the tracks were all pretty snappy

and straddling the line between r&b and blues

which was tougher but ultimately more

successfull.

In those days, it was about speed (literally

and figuratively). Albums would be released

every few months, with singles released

constantly. The Stones were trying out

everything to see how it fit, ultimately

making it their own. The biggest impact

creatively, would be the ouster of Brian

Jones and Andrew Loog Oldham, and

the addition of more musically

knowledgable players like Mick

Taylor, Nicky Hopkins, Ry Cooder, Al

Kooper, and many many more.

Happy Birthday Muddy Waters! Part 3

It's part 3 of our journey to the roots of Muddy
Waters, so let go back to the days before Chicago.
Muddy had grown up with his grandmother after
his own mother had died. He remained pretty
loyal to her, staying in Mississippi longer than
he should have. Alan Lomax had discovered
Waters in 1941 at the Stovall Plantation, and
recorded a couple of tracks for the Library
Of Congress. Although it was a big money
making opportunity, nothing could stoke the
fire that was lit.
When Muddy moved to Chicago in 1943, it
wasn't an instant success. The audience there
was looking for sophistication, not the rough
Delta sound. It would take years before those
historic sessions with the Chess brothers. In
that time, Muddy worked several jobs- driving
delivery trucks, etc. He made alot of connections
and honed his playing at bars and parties.
As the war ended, the city folk were starting to
get interested in the familiar rural sounds
of their home towns. Sunnyland Slim,
like Muddy had grown up in the Delta, so
they had a good connection. Slim had the
opportunity to record, so he called Muddy in
to join him on "Johnson Machine Gun" and
Fly Right Little Girl". Muddy would then
go on to record "Little Anna Mae" and
Gypsy Woman". His playing was more polished,
with no bottleneck, but he had that thick Delta
accent. It was more sax and piano with
a fairly restrained Waters. Chess wasn't thrilled
and held back releasing them for a while.

It wouldn't be till 1948 when he was asked
back to record for Chess. He came back with
"I Can't Be Satisfied" and "I Feel Like Going Home".

Happy Birthday Muddy Waters! Part 2

Understanding Muddy can be difficult at times.
Like most of the great blues artists, he often
felt he didn't get his due, financially or
professionally. There are 2 books that
have some first-hand interviews with the
great man, among others. "Deep Blues"
by Robert Palmer, and "Feel Like Going
Home" by Peter Guralnick, which was

written some time ago. Guralnick had
gone on a road trip, interviewing Howlin'
Wolf and Jerry Lee Lewis as well. The
portrait that emerges is of a man
that is cautious of the current music
business and at the same token
restless, feeling unfulfilled. The same
could be said of Wolf and Lewis.
They are like wild animals, that were
caught and caged, unsure of what to make
of enforced domesticity. The parts
with Jerry Lee were striking. He

was still married to the infamously

young Myra Gale, and she had

obviously placed restrictions on his

drinking.

Back to Muddy- I think it was Peter Guralnick
that had the opinion that Muddy's music
remained simpler as compared to Robert
Johnson, because unlike Waters, Johnson
had traveled more widely and was for the
most part a one-man band, often playing more
than just the blues. Show tunes, hillbilly music,
anything that would get the money
flowing. Muddy followed a simpler
trail, when he got to Chicago, when he wasn't
working as a delivery man, he was played
parties and bars. Waters also had built a
connection with alot of the artists that
were already there, like Sunnyland Slim
who would be pivotal in getting the Chess
Brothers to hear him.

The Chess Box set is a great collection
if you're not familiar with Muddy.

Happy Birthday Muddy Waters! Part 1 Rollin' Stone

In the run up to celebrating this true legend of
Rock'n'Roll, whose birthday is on April 4th,
I wanted to start off with a tidbit about how
the Rolling Stones got their name.

According to the book "Keith Richards Satisfaction"
by Christopher Sanford, Brian Jones, while registering
the band in a musican's union, decided to take
the name from the Water's song "Rollin' Stone".

You have to hand it to Brian's genius...
to come up
with such an incredible
name. Keith "had later
thought it made them sound
like a bunch of
irish acrobats".
Gotta love Keith's thinking.

Here's Muddy Waters performing at the
Newport Jazz Festival in 1960. The whole
band plays such few notes, but
what they do play is so powerful. Muddy's
own playing is amazing! You can just
feel the Delta in each of those notes.
One can only wonder what the
beatniks made of the "Hootchie-
Cootchie" man singing about his
Mojo!

"Rollin' Stone" was one of McKinley Morganfield,
aka Muddy Water's own compositions, a derivative
of "Catfish Blues" by Robert Petway.

Happy Birthday Pete Johnson! Part 2

The Robert Johnson Pete Johnson connection
is a brief but sad one. John Hammond
had wanted Robert Johnson to perform
at Carnegie Hall for his Spirituals to Swing
Concert in 1938. Unfortunately, Robert
Johnson had passed away a few months
earlier, so Big Bill Broonzy performed in
his place.

Pete Johnson and his trio had also
performed that night, helping to
create a Boogie-Woogie craze. I
just caught this funny short created
in the early 40's on TCM.
It's a little parody of
instructional dance movies
with people dancing the jitterbug
to boogie-woogie music.
As one might expect, it's
pretty square!

Happy Birthday Pete Johnson

More exhaustive research yields these

conclusive results-

drummers make excellent boogie-woogie

piano players!

Pete Johnson was one of those rare guys

that could swing with a piano trio-

"The Boogie Woogie Trio" with Albert Ammons

and Meade Lux Lewis. Johnson would

go on to work often with Big Joe Turner.

Born March 25th 1904 in Kansas City,

Johnson switched to piano and found his

calling. One can only imagine how great

his drumming must have been.

I hate that AllMusic.com lists him as a

"Jazz" artist, but here's his song page

and Amazon has plenty of downloads

available.

Here's a link to a performance on

Youtube

Supposedly, his "Rocket 88 Boogie"

influenced Ike Turner on his

"Rocket 88". When these cats play

boogie-woogie, they make a commitment

to the rhythm. It's fierce.

Happy Birthday Otis Spann!

One of the reasons Muddy Waters is just so amazing,
is his insistance on having a great backing band, and among
those that went thru Muddy's school was Otis Spann, his
pianist during the early years.

Otis was born March 21, 1930 in Jackson, Mississippi. Coming
from a music family made it easy for Otis to start playing
the piano at the age of 8. Spann moved to Chicago in the late 40's
where he had the help of Big Maceo Merriweather.

Otis provided the steady engine for Muddy's playing on tracks
like "Hoochie Coochie Man," "I'm Ready," and "Just Make Love
To Me."

Although he was to go on to a solo career, his parting with Muddy
was friendly enough that Muddy would produce and perform on
several of his albums.

One of my favorites is "The Blues Never Die!" Maybe not as
dynamic a performer as his bandleader, Otis had that relaxed
playing style where he could provide a smooth melody, and
just as quickly bite back. It was an effortless style that provided
just the right backbone for the blues. Muddy and most of his
band played on this great cd.

Otis passed away at the very young age of forty April 24, 1970.

J.B. Lenoir

J.B. Lenoir- A Unique Voice in Blues

Born in 1929 in Monticello, Mississippi,

March 5th would have been J.B.'s birthday.

Spurred on by a love of Blind Lemon Jefferson,

he moved to Chicago, and hooked up with Big

Bill Broonzy where he met alot of other

blues artists. Lenoir would go on

to record for Chess and other local labels.

Willie Dixon rediscovered Lenoir, and

produced two of his albums,

where Lenoir became quite political.

Although Lenoir might not have made it as

big as Muddy Waters, he could count many

musicians such as John Mayall as a fan.

Unlike most of the gruff, deep-voiced blues

singers, he had a unique high-pitched voice.

Very rock'n'roll. Somehow I could hear

somebody like Johnny Thunders

enjoying his singing style, not to mention

his zebra jackets. J.B. Lenoir had a great

guitar style as well, with occasional support

by one of my favorite keyboard players,

Sunnyland Slim, 2 saxes and really basic

percussion, that backed up his boogie-woogie

guitar. There's definitely a modern sound to Lenoir's

vocals that doesn't date him. With less emphasis

on guitar solos than usual for

a blues song, it makes his singing

sound urbane and the sax along with piano give

the recordings a cosmopolitan city feel.

He passed away at the age of 47, April 29th 19767

after not fully recuperating after a car accident.

Goodnight To Memphis Slim-

Memphis Slim Passes February 24th 1988



Born John Len Chatman Sept 3rd 1915 in Memphis,
Mr. Chatman started at the age of 7, playing
the keyboards. Once you listen to Slim's
carefully calibrated piano solos, it makes sense
that Jerry Lee Lewis over in nearby Ferriday
would have heard Slim, as well as Ian Stewart
over in the UK.


Back to Memphis Slim- His mentor was that
old Honeydripper, Roosevelt Sykes. It was
upon moving to Chicago that Slim hooked up
with Big Bill Broonzy. In later years, he
would team up with Willie Dixon for the Newport
Folk Festival, and perform on the same stage
as Muddy Waters at Carnegie Hall.


In the late 60's he made a permanent move to
Paris, where he was, like most blues musicians,
rock'n'roll musicians, (and actors like Jerry Lewis,
and Mickey Rourke), treated as an in-demand artist.



As a pianist, his trademark sound was what
would be the hallmark of rock'n'roll-
a steady rhythm pumped out by the left
hand, and the rolls and flourishes on the
right, in between the vocals. The riffs
were melodic, and masculine, but short,
and he certainly had a long inventory, as
very few of these would be repeated.

"Born With The Blues" is a great album to start off with!

HISTORY OF THE BLUES- THE DELTA BLUES

Sometimes the history of the blues

is a bit overwhelming,

and where do you start?

How about in the Delta. A great book

is Ted Gioia's "Delta Blues- The Life

and Times of the Mississippi Masters

Who Revolutionized American Music"

I'll admit, I get a little nervous

reading about the blues by someone

who is a jazz-cat,has lots

of college degrees, and at one point

in his book, he asks...

why a Juilliard-trained musician

couldn't be considered for the

Blues Hall Of Fame...(cough, cough)

that's kind of like Robert Johnson's

proverbial fork in the road. Hmmm....

alright college boy- do you wanna

be book smart, or street-smart?

Anyway, Mr. Gioia's book is a great

starting point for a very

rich and tangled history

of America's roots music.

In this post, I thought I'd

start off with the first

part of his book.

He begins with a brief history of

the many slaves brought over

from Africa, and how they

in turn, brought their own

various religious practices,

ways of life, communication, and

social activities.

The Griots of West Africa,

Yoruban priests, and even

islamic calls to prayer.

Praising, begging, pleading, pining,

...this is all a reminder

that music originally started

out as a channel to communicate with

the almighty- whatever his/her name.

It's all a wonderful picture of the

cross-section of African religious

practices and Christianity.

There's plenty of other books

on this whole subject available

out there.

Mr Gioia says, "Although the blues

has been called

"the devil's music, it has

always remained on speaking

terms with the ministers of the

lord". Maybe that's

why alot of our great blues

and even country performers have

either been, or wanted to be some

kind of ministers

- Little Richard, Johnny Cash,

that hellion- Jerry Lee Lewis.

Even Jerry Lee's cousin

Jimmy Swaggart who was a real

minister exuded a little too

much rock'n'roll sweat, as opposed

to his other evangelical brethern who

only had a slight "moist" fervor.

Tomorrow, I'll continue my review

of the "Delta Blues"

TAJ MAHAL AND THE THIRD ERA OF BLUES

I like to seperate the history of the blues into 3

different eras-

-the rural Delta blues of Robert Johnson

-the urban Chicago Blues of Muddy Waters

-the hippies blues revival of the 60's and 70's

I know it may be oversimplified, but the biggest

artists arrived during those eras. Alot of the

artists, who never received enough recognition

during the second era, actually were "rediscovered"

during the last era. If anyone wonders why I

haven't mentioned anything after the 70's,

there just wasn't enough kids out there picking

up guitars, or any instruments for that matter.

The late 70's was the birth of hiphop and rap music,

and most kids in the urban community

weren't learning how to play instruments. As for

the rock community, they went towards synthesizers

for most of the 80's.

In my quest to slowly work my way backward,

I wanted to look at someone who was part of

this last wave. Taj Mahal, born Henry

Saint Clair Fredericks May 17, 1942, in

Harlem, NY. He's actually one of the few

contemporaries of the Beatles and the Stones,

age-wise. Unlike most of his elders from the

second wave, he grew up with parents who

were educators as well as musicans. Perhaps

that's why he approached his music with an

adventurous spirit, combining different genres

into his blues- Hawaiian, Latin, Carribbean.

Taj would not let himself be defined.

His first album, "TAJ MAHAL"

(which had Ry Cooder on it) had a

more down-home feel. Slide, harmonica,

but a distinctly rock vibe. After all, this was

1968, and young people were all hip to this

blues revival, being explored by bands like

the Stones, and Clapton. This wasn't the buttoned

up old blues by men like Muddy, and John Lee

Hooker.

The place I discovered Taj was the Rolling Stones

movie, Rolling Stones present the Rock and Roll

Circus. I remember thinking, HOLY SHIT! This guy
almost blew Mick off the stage. Who is he?

Taj had complete control as a performer.

I was amazed after seeing Rock and Roll Circus, that

Taj didn't pursue a more show-y position in rock'n'roll

He certainly had the charisma, looks, voice.

He definately chose to stay somewhat

behind the songs, and let them do the talking.

This first album, is a bit restrained, I guess he was

still starting from a place that felt safe, and familiar.

Taj showed everybody he could cover the

classics- "Dust My Broom", "Statesboro Blues"

I think what Taj would later understand, on his

journey was, for him to survive

creatively, he would have to look outside of blues

to build up whatever musical vocabulary he could.

That may be the biggest thing for most blues artists

today. How do you keep something alive, that is

close to being a dead language like latin.

Of course, artists like Taj, Buddy Guy

Lucky Peterson manage to make it breathe.

If you make anything too precious, you risk

turning it into a museum piece.

I can personally testify, after having seen him

perform numerous times, how amazing he is live....

far from being a museum piece.

Check out his new grammy-nominated album

Maestro

THE WILLIE NIX ENIGMA

Ever since I heard "Just Can't Stay"

by Willie Nix, on my copy of
BIG TOWN PLAYBOYS Chicago Blues 1949-1954

(which I highly recommend purchasing),

I was struck by his rock'n'roll vocals.

He basically raps over a fairly repetitive

track, and the lyrics are pretty familiar. He

sings about "standing on the corner...

having a conversation with a little girl".

His singing is nasal, more high pitched than

most of his contemporaries. Not the deep

voice of other singers like Muddy or Wolf.

Willie's voice is more urban, ready

for business. "...sho 'nuff"

Willie's history is fairly minimal, as he

never recorded enough

for a whole album, but at some point he

recorded a few tracks for Sun

Records, which makes me wonder if some

rock'n'roll dudes might

have heard him back in the day, and thought,

"hmmm....this is interesting".

From what I've put together, Willie Nix

was born August 6, 1922 in Memphis.

He started out as a tap dancer

at a fairly young age, moved up to some

kind of a dancing comedian in a

traveling group. As a musician, he was

a drummer, and singer. His recordings

appeared on Checker Records, and he was

the "Memphis Blues Boy" for Sun.

The artists on "Just Can't Stay" which

was recorded on Oct 14th,

1953 were Eddy Taylor on guitar,

Sunnyland Slim on piano, Snooky Pryor on

harmonica, and Willie playing drums.

I think the background in tap,

obviously gave him

a great sense of rhythm vocally,

as well as the comedic timing.

This track is definately worth checking out,

as I think you'll hear alot of current

singers in Willie.

The site for Clemson had the great shots of the Chance and

Sabre labels, as well as tons of

artist info. The shot of Willie Nix came from Last FM.

AL KOOPER

I missed mentioning the birthday of one of the great
keyboard (and french horn) players in rock music.
The reason I mention Al Kooper was his unique
blues sound on many of his recordings, and just the
fact that he's worked with every major artist out there.

Al was born February 5th, 1944 in Brooklyn, NY.
Most people might know him as the organ player
for Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and playing
keyboard and french horn on the Rolling Stones'
"You Can't Always Get What You Want"

What you might not know is, he was the
music director for my favorite 1980's TV show "Crime
Story" produced by Michael Mann. It took place
during the 1960's in Chicago and Las Vegas, and
had some actual scenes in jazz clubs with guest
appearances by Miles Davis. (Yes- crazy 1980's-era
Miles Davis, with his "new wave" look)
The show managed to get the essence of
60's Chicago and Vegas viewed
thru the greasy eye-lens of quiffed-mobsters.

Back to Al...
I think my first memory of Al Kooper is picking
up his autobiography when I was a kid, and
being grossed out after
reading about how he and his friends dropped
a load on their manager's desk (or was it the guy
at the music label).
Al called it a "Texas Twister" Anyone know if
this is still in the new edition? I should have
known he was a Brooklyn Boy! Maybe you
can ask him, if you're in NYC February 7th-
he'll be at B.B King's celebratin' his B-day

http://alkooper.com/
http://www.bbkingblues.com/

BO DIDDLEY

I didn't think this would end up being
my first post, but I just heard a
Bo Diddley song "YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK
BY IT'S COVER" on a commercial. I forgot
how great it is.

"Oh can't you see, oh you misjudge me
I look like a farmer, but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover

Oh come on in closer baby,
hear what else I gotta say!
You got your radio turned down too low
Turn it up!" -composed by Willie Dixon

Some great lyrics.
I think the reason it caught my
attention was the anniversary of
Buddy Holly's passing yesterday
and certainly most people would
know what a huge influence Bo was
on Buddy. Also, check out Bo's
wiki page to see all the other
songs (some very recent) that
you can hear his signature guitar sound on.
It was simple, yet hypnotic. A
recurrent theme in blues music.
Most artists didn't always have full
bands, so they were left to make
up the rhythm on whatever instrument
they were able to get ahold of.
I think my favorite things about
Bo was his great sense of humor-
when asked about his financial
situation he replied "I am owed. A
dude with a pencil is worse than a
cat with machine gun" I was
going to look for a picture of a
cat with a machine gun, but I was
too tired. Also, nothing beats his
ad with Nike that he did years ago.
How many artists have the balls
to name a song after themselves?

The other thing I love about him
was his self-reliance. He made
box shaped guitars, with their
own reverb and tremolo effects.
Another thing you'll notice with
many blues artists- they often
made their own stringed instruments
sometimes using a knife for slide
effects. Cool!

Bo left us just last year- June 2, 2008