*The Godfather Of The Chicago Blues- Willie Dixon Lights Up The Room

Click On Title To Link To Willie Dixon Webpage.

CD REVIEW

I Am The Blues, Willie Dixon, Sony Music Entertainment, 1993

Muddy Waters. Check. Howlin' Wolf. Check. Koko Taylor. Check. Etta James. Check. And on and on. What do they all have in common? Well, they have all covered the music created by the subject of this review, Willie Dixon. Now Mr. Dixon does not spring to mind when one is discussing the classic blues artists that I have filled this space with over the past year or so. In some senses that is right. But there is always the question, and it is posed most sharply here, about the roots of any musical genre, how it was put together and who did that leg work. Now we are in Mr. Dixon's territory. In reviewing a series of DVDs on the "American Folk Blues Concerts" that were performed in Europe in the early 1960's I mentioned his name in passing. I have also mentioned his name as the writer in connection with Howlin' Wolf's classic rendition of "The Little Red Rooster" (later covered by The Rolling Stones) that was my first conscious exposure to electric blues. Here, old Willie is front and center.

Okay, so lets' sum up. Willie wrote great songs, he played a mean bass, and he produced for Chicago's Chess Records some of the most memorable blues recordings of all times. And never got his full recognition or full compensation for that fact. However the treatment of musical artists, and especially blues artists is a subject for another time. Yet, there is no denying his claim as the 'godfather of the blues'. But how does he stand up as a performer in his own right? Well, frankly so-so. On this CD he has a very good back up house band but his vocals fail to carry the effect of his great songs that others have been able to cover so memorably. This is one of those cases where the cover artist is better than the song writer. Still it is nice to see his interpretation of the songs that have been hits for so many others. "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", I'm Your Hoochie Goochie Man" and the above-mentioned "The Little Red Rooster". I can hear Muddy and Wolf now. Ya, but Willie, stand tall; you ARE 'the godfather of the electric blues'. Kudos.


"The Red Rooster" by Willie Dixon

I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow for day
Keep everything in the barnyard, upset in every way

Oh the dogs begin to bark, and the hound begin to howl
Oh the dogs begin to bark, hound begin to howl
Ooh watch out strange kind people, cause little red rooster is on the prowl

If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
If you see my little red rooster, please drag him home
There ain't no peace in the barnyard, since the little red rooster been gone

Wang Dang Doodle
Howlin' Wolf, Koko Taylor

Tell Automatic Slim , tell Razor Totin' Jim
Tell Butcher Knife Totin' Annie, tell Fast Talking Fanny
A we gonna pitch a ball, a down to that union hall
We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Kudu-Crawlin' Red, tell Abyssinian Ned
Tell ol' Pistol Pete, everybody gonna meet
Tonight we need no rest, we really gonna throw a mess
We gonna to break out all of the windows,
we gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody gonna to jam
Tell Shaky and Boxcar Joe, we got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dye, we gonna have a time
When the fish scent fill the air, there'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long etc.

by Willie Dixon


SPOONFUL

Could fill spoons full of diamonds,
Could fill spoons full of gold.
Just a little spoon of your precious love
Will satisfy my soul.

Men lies about it.
Some of them cries about it.
Some of them dies about it.
Everything's a-fightin' about the spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.

Could fill spoons full of coffee,
Could fill spoons full of tea.
Just a little spoon of your precious love;
Is that enough for me?

Chorus

Could fill spoons full of water,
Save them from the desert sands.
But a little spoon of your forty-five
Saved you from another man.

by Willie Dixon

*The "Earthshaker" Is In The House- The Blues Of Koko Taylor

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Koko Taylor Doing "Wang Dang Doodle". Wow!

CD REVIEW

Koko Taylor: The Earthshaker, Koko Taylor, Alligator Records, 1978.

In the modern era of blues, mainly electric blues, say from the post-World War II period women blues singers, especially black women blues singers, are probably underrepresented. One thinks of “Big Mama” Thornton, Ruth Brown, Etta James, and the artist under review, Koko Taylor. There are other lesser lights but not nearly the numbers that I can, and have, recounted in this space from the 1920’s and 1930’s. Nevertheless for sheer energy, volume and flat out “good time” dancing blues Ms. Taylor will do quite well, against male or female. The title of this CD, “The Earthshaker” is not mistaken or out of place.

That said, I remember in one of the segments of Martin Scorsese six-part PBS tribute to the blues a few years back that when Ms. Taylor was interviewed concerning the influence that Chicago’s Chess Records and its management, the Chess brothers (the guys that discovered her), had on the blues scene she was less that complimentary with the “shake” that that pair had given her. The whole question of the exploitation of black blues talent (and not only of that musical genre) deserves separate coverage and is beyond what I want to look at in this CD. However, I would point out, there is probably more truth that meets the eye concerning the Koko’s gripes about proper promotion, accreditation and payment (in short, the correct distribution of the dough, okay) and that Koko was not just being abstruse in the matter. That may also explain, a little at least, the dearth of women blues singers that come readily to mind.

But enough of that, for now. Here Koko belts out her standards, accompanied by a fine back up band made up of well-known, and in the case of “Pinetop” Perkins on keyboards legendary, musicians including Johnny Moore and Sammy Lawhorn on the guitars. Nice right, for those who know those names? Hits here include the Willie Dixon classic “Spoonful” that Howlin’ Wolf ripped up. Well, Koko does the same here. My favorite on this CD is the slow mournful blues “Walking the Back Streets” (needless to say crying in those back streets about a two-timing man). But so much for my favorite because the reason you get this CD is Koko’s signature Willie Dixon classic “Wang Dang Doodle”. Howlin’ Wolf covered that tune as well. Koko wins that duel though. Listen up.

Wang Dang Doodle
Howlin' Wolf, Koko Taylor

Tell Automatic Slim , tell Razor Totin' Jim
Tell Butcher Knife Totin' Annie, tell Fast Talking Fanny
A we gonna pitch a ball, a down to that union hall
We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Kudu-Crawlin' Red, tell Abyssinian Ned
Tell ol' Pistol Pete, everybody gonna meet
Tonight we need no rest, we really gonna throw a mess
We gonna to break out all of the windows,
we gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long, All night long

Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody gonna to jam
Tell Shaky and Boxcar Joe, we got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dye, we gonna have a time
When the fish scent fill the air, there'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
All night long, All night long etc.

by Willie Dixon


SPOONFUL

Could fill spoons full of diamonds,
Could fill spoons full of gold.
Just a little spoon of your precious love
Will satisfy my soul.

Men lies about it.
Some of them cries about it.
Some of them dies about it.
Everything's a-fightin' about the spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.
That spoon, that spoon, that spoonful.

Could fill spoons full of coffee,
Could fill spoons full of tea.
Just a little spoon of your precious love;
Is that enough for me?

Chorus

Could fill spoons full of water,
Save them from the desert sands.
But a little spoon of your forty-five
Saved you from another man.

by Willie Dixon

Let The Good Times Roll

Hey everybody, let's have some fun
You only live for once
And when you're dead you're done
So let the good times roll, let the good times roll
And live a long long
I don't care if you are young or old no no,
\get together and let the good times roll

Don't stand there moaning, talking trash
If you wanna have some fun,
You'd better go out and spend some cash
And let the good time roll
Let the good time roll
I don't care if you young or old,
Get together and let the good times roll

Don't stand there moaning, talking trash
If you wanna have some fun,
You'd better go out and spend some cash
And let the good time roll
Let the good time roll
I don't care if you young or old,
Get together and let the good times roll

Hey mister landlord, lock up all the doors
When the police comes around,
Tell them Johnny's coming down
Let the good times roll
Let the good times roll
And Lord I don't care if you young or old,
That's good enough to let the good times roll

Hey everybody!
Tell everybody !
That B.B. and Bobby's in town
I got a dollar and a quarter
And I'm just raring to clown
Don't let nobody play me cheap
I got fifty cents to know that I'm gonna keep
Let the good times roll
I don't care if you young or old
Let's get together and let the good times roll

In Honor Of Newport 1965-Muddy Waters Get Righteous At Newport 1960-Parental Guidance Suggested

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Muddy Waters at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960. With Jimmy Rushing and Otis Spann, among others. Read some of the comments for more information. A seminal blues moment for the old staid Newport crowd (Remember the practical civil war in the 1950s when Duke Ellington went all out in his return to the limelight there). I heard about the performance on the Boston jazz/blue-oriented radio at the time but I was then too young to go. I wish to high heaven I had been there.Wow!

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- Devil’s Music 101- A CD Review

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Skip James performing his classic Devil Got My Woman.

CD Review

The Blues, various artists, 4 CD set, Smithsonian Recording, 1993

Recently, in reviewing a 2CD compilations of blues honoring the 40th Anniversary of Alligator Records, I noted that the raucous, rock the house of blues house down, blue artists listed there, like Johnny Winters, Albert Collins, Koko Taylor, and Lonnie Brooks, learned their trade from listening to an earlier generation of blues artists. The earlier artists grace this four CD set from the Smithsonian Recording Collection, from old time Charley Patton and Son House to Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Basically this one covers virtually every voice and rhythm you would ever need to work your way into blues aficionado-hood.

Of course in that review I also noted that while I “learned “ the artists collected in that Alligator compilation on my own I owed a debt of gratitude to my old friend Be-Bop Benny (real name, Peter Paul Markin)
for “teaching” me the devil’s music. See, when we met in the summer of love, 1967 version, out in the California hills and hollows, I had just graduated from Olde Saco High School up in Maine and while I had the wanderlust to learn more of the world I was clueless about blues, country or electrified. I think the closest that I came to the blues was thinking that some Buddy Holly slow one, or Brenda Lee was what it was all about. Silly me.

So Be-Bop Benny took me in tow and during that summer, and for a few years after too, tuned me into the old time blues from his scratchy collection of off-beat singles (some called “race” records in their day) and LPs on his cranky road-weary record player (look that last term up if you are not familiar with the implement) that he had grabbed from some cheapo record shops in Harvard Square or at Sandy’s down closer to Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So that is how I came to know of the legends like Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, Skip James, Memphis Minnie, Sippy Wallace, Big Joe Williams, Big Bill Bronzy, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and all the rest in this collection. But think about it, wouldn’t it have been less work, much less work, indeed, if he could have “taught” me devil’s music 101 with this compilation? What I learned about what hell to raise with the devil’s music is a separate (and private) question that he can take no credit, or blame, for. But here is your primer on the music.

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- “Who Will The Next Fool Be”- A CD Review

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of the late Koko Taylor holding forth righteously on I ‘m A Woman.

CD Review

Alligator Records : 40th Anniversary Collection, 2 CD set, various artists, Alligator Records, 2011

My old friend from the 1960s great American hitchhike highway, Peter Paul Markin (then consciously carrying the moniker of Be-Bop Benny), really was the first person who tuned me into the world of blues, old time country blues (driven by the Saturday juke joints), and the later post-World War II electrification of the blues as blacks headed north to the cities- and electricity. He got me, a small city Maine boy, hip to the likes of Son House, Skip James, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. All unabashedly raw talent, and all out front down deep blues, country or city.

Of course that was over forty years ago and almost all of those who he hipped me too have now passed on, although not their musical influence and that is what brings me to this review, Alligator Records: 40th Anniversary Collection 2 CD set. Since the blues are still very much with us, although that genre, like rock and roll, has it up and down periods of popularity it is necessary to take a peek at who has carried on the traditions that Be-Bop Benny started me out on when we travelled those West Coast highways seeking the great American West night.

And that is where the Alligator Record label comes in. In earlier times certain record companies were known, and well-known, for certain kinds of music. Chess Record sin Chicago comes readily to for electric blues. As does Sun Records for early rock (and rockabilly). And Vanguard Records for folk stuff. Well Alligator has filled a certain niche for those who wished to carry on the electric blues tradition and this 38 performance collection set is testimony to those efforts for the last forty –something years.

While they may have recoded for other recoding companies or had other label arrangements (not uncommon in the helter-skelter world of record production) the artists list here constitute something of “who’s who” of post-1960s electric blues. A small roll call of names like Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, Guitar Shorty, Marcia Ball, Son Seal, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Johnny Winter, Lonnie Brooks, Hound Dog Taylor, James Cotton and the rest make my case. The only question that I have is who will produce the next generation of blues material? Alligator Records efforts here are the new benchmark.

The Blues Ain’t Nothing But A Good Woman On Your Mind- “The Best Of The Chicago Blues”

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Muddy Water's performing his classic Chicago blues tune, Mannish Child.
CD Review

The Best Of The Chicago Blues, various artists, Vanguard Records, 1987

Johnny Prescott daydreamed his way through the music that he was listening to just then on the little transistor that Ma Prescott, Martha to adults, had given him for Christmas after he has taken a fit when she quite reasonable suggested that a new set of ties to go with his white long-sleeved shirts might be a better gift, a better Christmas gift and more practical too, for a sixteen year old boy. No, he screamed he wanted a radio, a transistor radio, batteries included, of his own so that he could listen to whatever he liked up in his room, or wherever he was, and didn’t have, understand, didn’t have to listen to some Vaughn Monroe or Harry James 1940s war drum thing on the huge immobile radio downstairs in the Prescott living room. Strictly squaresville, cubed.

But as he listened to this the Shangra-la by The Four Coins that just finished up a few seconds ago and as this Banana Boat song by The Tarriers was starting its dreary trip he was not sure that those ties wouldn’t have been a better deal, and more practical too. Ya, this so-called rock station, WAPX, had sold out to, well, sold out to somebody, because except for late at night, midnight late at night, one could not hear the likes of Jerry Lee, Carl, Little Richard, Fats, and the new, now that Elvis was gone, killer rocker, Chuck Berry who proclaimed loud and clear that Mr. Beethoven had better move alone, and said Mr. Beethoven best tell one and all of his confederates, including Mr. Tchaikovsky that rock ‘n’ roll was the new sheriff in town. As he turned the volume down a little lower (that tells the tale right there, friends) as Rainbow (where the hell do they get these creepy songs from) by Russ Hamilton he was ready to throw in the towel though .

Desperate he fingered the dial looking for some other station when he heard this crazy piano riff starting to breeze through the night air, the heated night air, and all of a sudden Ike Turner’s Rocket 88 blasted the airwaves. But funny it didn’t sound like the whinny Ike’s voice so he listened for a little longer, and as he later found out from the DJ it was actually a James Cotton Blues Band cover. After that performance was finished fish-tailing right after that one was a huge harmonica intro and what could only be mad-hatter Junior Wells doing When My Baby Left Me splashed through. No need to turn the dial further now because what Johnny Prescott had found in the crazy night air, radio beams bouncing every which way, was direct from Chicago, and maybe right off those hard-hearted Maxwell streets was Be-Bop Benny’s Chicago Blues Radio Hour. Be-Bop Benny who started Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Fats Domino on their careers, or helped.

Now Johnny, like every young high-schooler, every "with it" high schooler in the USA, had heard of this show, because even though everybody was crazy for rock and roll, just now the airwaves sounded like, well, sounded like music your parents would dance to, no, sit to at a dance, some kids still craved high rock. So this show was known mainly through the teenage grapevine but Johnny had never heard it because, no way, no way in hell was his punk little Radio Shack transistor radio with two dinky batteries going to have even strength to pick Be-Bop Benny’s live show out in Chicago. So Johnny, and maybe rightly so, took this turn of events for a sign. And so when he heard that distinctive tinkle of the Otis Spann piano warming up to Spann’s Stomp and up with his Someday added in he was hooked. And you know he started to see what Billie, Billie Bradley from over in Adamsville, meant when at a school dance where he had been performing with his band, Billie and the Jets, he mentioned that if you want to get rock and roll back you had better listen to blues, and if you want to listen to blues, blues that rock then you had very definitely had better get in touch with the Chicago blues as they came north from Mississippi and places like that.

And Johnny thought, Johnny who have never been too much south of Gloversville, or west of Albany, and didn’t know too many people who had, couldn’t understand why that beat, that da,da, da, Chicago beat sounded like something out of the womb in his head. But when he heard Big Walter Horton wailing on that harmonica on Rockin’ My Boogie he knew it had to be in his genes.

From Out Of The Blues In The Night- The Centenary Of Blue Master Robert Johnson's Birthday- Ya, Hellhound On His Trail

From Out Of The Blues In The Night- The Centenary Of Blue Master Robert Johnson's Birthday- Ya, Hellhound On His Trail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UVgH9JqSnQ

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of blues master and birthday boy  Robert Johnson performing his classic Hellhound On My Trail.

Markin comment:
I have noted in previous entries that I, unlike many others, am not a particular devotee of Robert Johnson. I prefer the likes of Skip James, Son House and Bukka White nevertheless I understand and support the notion of Robert Johnson as a key blues master. No question. Just personal preferences. Happy Birthday Brother Robert.
*****
Reposts On Robert Johnson

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
*The "Mac Daddy" Of Modern Blues- Robert Johnson

DVD REVIEW

Hell Hounds On His Heels- The Legendary Robert Johnson’s Story

Can’t You Hear The Wind Howl?: The Life And Music of Robert Johnson, Robert Johnson and various artists, narrated by Danny Glover, 1997

I have recently spent some little effort making comparisons between old time country blues singers. My winners have been Skip James and Son House. Apparently, if the story behind the Robert Johnson story presented here is right I am in a minority compared to the like of guitarists Eric Clapton and Keith Richards. So be it. After viewing this very informative bio, complete with the inevitable “talking heads" that populate these kinds of film efforts I still have that same opinion, except I would hold Johnson’s version of his “Sweet Home, Chicago” in higher regard after listening to it here. Previously many other covers of the song, including the trendy Blues Brothers version seemed better, a lot better.

The producers of this film have spend some time and thought on presentation. The choice of Danny Glover as expressive and thoughtful narrator was a welcome sign. Having Johnson road companion and fellow blues artist, Johnny Shines, give insights into Johnson’s work habits, traveling ways, womanizing, whiskey drinking and off-center personality make this a very strong film. Add in footage of Son House (an early Johnson influence) and various other Delta artists who met or were met by Johnson along the way and one gets the feeling that this is more a labor of love than anything else. For a man who lived fast, died young and left a relatively small body of work (some 20 odd songs)this is a very good take on Robert Johnson. I might add that if Johnson is your number one blues man this film gives you plenty of ammunition for your position.

Note: As is almost universally true with such film endeavors we only get snippets of the music. I would have liked to hear a full “Preacher’s Blues”, “Sweet Home, Chicago”, "Terraplane Blues” and “Hell Hounds On My Heels” but for that one will have to look elsewhere.

"Terraplane Blues" lyrics-Robert Johnson

And I feel so lonesome
you hear me when I moan
When I feel so lonesome
you hear me when I moan
Who been drivin my terraplane
for you since I've been gone
I'd said I flashed your lights mama
your horn won't even blow
I even flash my lights mama
this horn won't even blow
Got a short in this connection
hoo-well, babe, its way down below
I'm on hist your hood momma
I'm bound to check your oil
I'm on hist your hood momma mmmm
I'm bound to check your oil
I got a woman that I'm lovin
way down in Arkansas
Now you know the coils ain't even buzzin
little generator won't get the spark
Motors in a bad condition
you gotta have these batteries charged
But I'm cryin please
please don't do me wrong
Who been drivin my terraplane now for
you-hoo since I've been gone
Mr Highwayman
please don't block the road
Puh hee hee
ple-hease don't block the road
Casue she's restrin (?) a cold one hindred
and I'm booked I gotta go
Mmm mmm
mmmm mmmm mmm
You ooo oooo oooo
you hear me weep and moan
Who been drivin my terraplane
for you since I've been gone
I'm on get deep down in this connection
keep on tanglin with your wires
I'm on get deep down in this connection
hoo-well keep on tanglin with your wires
And when I mash down your little starter
then your spark plug will give me a fire.
******
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
*The "Mac Daddy" Of Modern Blues- Robert Johnson

CD REVIEW

Martin Scorsese Presents; The Blues, Robert Johnson, Sony Records, 2003

I have heard the name Robert Johnson associated with country blues as long as I have been listening to the blues, and believe me that is a long time. I would venture to guess that if an average blues (or just music) fan was asked to name one blues artist the name that would, more probably than not, come up is Robert Johnson. Partially that is because his influence on later artists has been nothing short of fantastic, particularly the English blues aficionados like Eric Clapton. That said, Brother Johnson’s work leaves me cold. While I can appreciate some of his lyrics his guitar playing is ordinary, his singing can be tedious and his sense of momentum over the course of an album is very mundane.

His contemporaries, or near contemporaries like Charlie Patton, Howlin’ Wolf or Son House, to name just a few, are better in one or all these categories . Needless to say there is an element of subjectivity here but when the occasion arises I am more than willing to gush over a talent that makes me jump. Brother Johnson just does not do so. The source of his fame as an innovator is centered on his role of breaking the pattern of country blues established by Son House and other and giving the first hints of a city blues idiom, particularly as a forerunner to the Chicago blues. Okay, we will give the ‘devil’ his do on that score. Still, on any given day wouldn’t you give your right arm to see and hear Howlin’ Wolf croon "The Red Rooster" (and practically eat the microphone) or any of his other midnight creeps rather than Johnson on "Sweet Home, Chicago"? Here I will rest my case.

So what do you have to hear here? Obviously, “Sweet Home, Chicago". Beyond that “32-20 Blues” is a must listen as is his version of “Dust My Broom” (but isn’t Elmore James’ slide guitar souped-up version much better?) and “Hellhound On My Trail”. Keb’ Mo' (who I will review separately at a later time) does a nice cover here of “Last Fair Deal Gone Down”.


Lyrics to "Dust My Broom"

I'm gonna get up in the mornin',
I believe I'll dust my broom (2x)
Girlfriend, the black man you been lovin',
girlfriend, can get my room

I'm gon' write a letter,
Telephone every town I know (2x)
If I can't find her in West Helena,
She must be in East Monroe, I know

I don't want no woman,
Wants every downtown man she meet (2x)
She's a no good doney,
They shouldn't 'low her on the street

I believe, I believe I'll go back home (2x)
You can mistreat me here, babe,
But you can't when I go home

And I'm gettin' up in the morning,
I believe I'll dust my broom (2x)
Girlfriend, the black man that you been lovin',
Girlfriend, can get my room

I'm gon' call up Chiney,
She is my good girl over there (2x)
If I can't find her on Philippine's Island,
She must be in Ethiopia somewhere

Robert Johnson

*Walking With The King- The Blues Of B.B. King With Eric Clapton

Click on the headline to link to a "YouTube" film clip of B.B. King and Eric Clapton performing "Riding With The King".

CD Review

Riding With The King, B.B. King and Eric Clapton, Reprise Records, 2000

Over the past couple of years I have spent a fair amount of time reviewing various blues artists who “spoke” to me when I first got interested in the folksy county blues of the likes of Son House and Skip James back in the folk revival days of the early 1960s. And then the steamy city blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Now those last named two came out of the country, the Mississippi Delta cotton country, but when they went north to Chicago and got some electricity they transformed themselves and the genre. No question.

The blues, especially the country blues, got a great impetus from the folk revival of the early 1960s, as the country blues of Son and Skip along with Mississippi John Hurt got more play from young, mainly Northern urban folkies who “discovered” them. The real impetus behind the “discovery” of the likes of Muddy and Wolf, as well as one of the two artists under review here, B.B. King, was the “British invasion”. While we teenagers on this side of the Atlantic were hung up with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, and rightly so, the “lads” in England like The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the other artist featured here, Eric Clapton, were trying to get every blues record, city or country, they could lay their hands on.

Thus it seems fitting, in a way, that B.B. King and Eric Clapton, clearly two ambassadors for the blues should team up and let it rip through some of the classics of the genre. Now I have a confession to make. Although I have spilled much ink in this space on many old time blues artists, some well known, others strictly for aficionados, I have not mentioned B.B. King, except in passing. This is solely a matter of personal preference. B.B. and his ever present “Lucille”, with the exception of a few early numbers, never really “spoke” to me like Howlin’ Wolf, for one, did.

There is no question, however, that B.B. is a master on the guitar. Nor any question that he is a great bluesman in the old fashion sense and no question that when he teams up with Clapton here they “smoke” on some of the songs. So that only leaves what is good here. Well, certainly the title track, “Riding With The King”, the country blues classic, “Keys To The Highway”, “Worried Life Blues”, and “I Wanna Be”. Those will keep you jumpin’.



"Riding With The King" Lyrics


I dreamed I had a good job and I got well paid,
I blew it all at the penny arcade,
A hundred dollars on a cupid doll,
No pretty chick is gonna make me crawl,

And I teetered the way to the promised land,
Every woman, child and man,
Get your caddilac and a great big diamond ring,
Don't you know you're riding with the king?

He's on a mission of mercy, to the new fronteir,
He's gonna take us all outta' here,
Up to that mansion, on a hill,
Where you can get your prescription pill

And I teetered the way to the promised land,
Everybody clap your hands,
And don't you dirts love the way that he sings?
Don't you know you're riding with the king?
You're riding with the king!
Don't you know you're riding with the king?

A tuxedo and a shining green burning five,
You can see it in his face, the blues is alive,
Tonight everybody's getting their angel wings,
Don't you know you're riding with the king?

I stepped out of Mississippi when I was ten years old,
With a suit cut sharp as a razor and a heart made of gold.
I had a guitar hanging just about waist high,
And I'm gonna play this thing until the day I die.
Don't you know you're riding with the king?
Don't you know you're riding with the king?
(You're riding with me baby)
(You got good hands)
(Yes, you're riding with the king)
(I wanted to say B.B. King, but you know who the king is)

*More, Much More Than All Right-Post- World War II Blues Up Close And Personal

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Sunnyland Slim (and Sonny Boy Williamson) Performing "Come Home Baby".

CD Review

When The Sun Goes Down: That’s All Right, various artists, BMG Music, 2002

In the course of the past year or so I have highlighted any number of blues CD compilations as I have tried to search for the roots of the American musical experience, and in the process retraced some of the nodal points of my own musical interests. I never tire of saying that I have been formed, and reformed by the blues so that when I came upon this “When The Sun Goes Down” series (a very apt expression of the right time for the blues to be played) I grabbed each copy with both hands. In one series, the producers, as an act of love without question, have gathered up the obscure, the forgotten, the almost forgotten and the never to be forgotten voices that “spoke” to me in my youth and started me on that long ago love affair with the blues. I have hardly been alone on that journey but it is nice to see that some people with the resources, the time, money and energy have seen fit to honor our common past. Each CD reviewed here, and any future ones that I can get my hands on, for there are more than the three I am reviewing today, is chock full of memorable performances by artists who now will, through the marvels of modern high technology, gain a measure of justified immortality.

Here is the cream. The name Big Maceo has not come up previously in this space. Here is his introduction, “Worried Life Blues”, Needless to say, as a blues man much covered by other better known musicians like John Lee Hooker, he will be receiving more attention in the future. Sunnyland Slim, here performing “Illinois Central” is another figure worthy of more ink. As is “Big Boy” Crudup doing an amazing version of “That’s All Right”. Yes, that is the one that Elvis made famous, but that is a separate story. The first time I heard “Look On Yonder Wall” it was done by Elmore James. Here the well-regarded Junior Gillum does a nice job, although I still prefer Elmore’s version. By the way, at one this song was in contention as the root source of rock and roll. We know now that “Shake, Rattle and Roll” is more worthy of that title but this one is not far behind. Tampa Red on “When Things Go Wrong With You”, Crudup on another classic “Dust My Broom” (showing some of both Robert Johnson’s and Elmore James’ versions), Roosevelt Sykes on “Anytime Is The Right Time” and an early Little Richard tune round out this compilation that is centered more on works representative of the post-World War II electrification of the blues than the previously reviewed CDs in this series. Arguably this compilation as a whole can serve both as prime examples of the R&B branch of the blues and the foundation for rock and roll, See what you think?

"Illinois Blues - Sunnyland Slim"

Boys, I'm walkin' an thinkin'
Woo-ooo!
But I ain't doin' myself no good
Woo-ooo!
I'm walkin' an thinkin'
Woo!
But I ain't doin' myself no good
Yoo-hoo-hoo!
The one I love
Woo-ooo!
Done left the neighborhood

Well, I hate to hear
Woo!
That Illinois Central, blow
Woo!
I hate to hear
Woo!
That Illinois Central, blow
Woo-hoo!
It fly on just like
Woo!
It won't be back no mo-oh-ore'

'Well, alright let me hear ya, Mr. Davis'
'Play it for me one time'
'You know what I'm talkin' about'

'Lord, have mercy, man have it'
'Lord, have mercy!'

'That low part, Mr. Ransom
You know what I'm talkin' about'
'Play it, man'
'Ah, mercy, mercy, mercy!'

'That makes me get homesick
sho' enough, now'

I wanna tell you people
Woo-ooo!
What the Illinois Central will do
Woo-hoo!
I wanna tell you people
Woo!
What the Illinois Central will do
Woo-hoo!
It'll steal your woman
Woo-hoo!
And blow back after you

I have tried to give up
Woo!
But it's a hard old thing to do
(I'll show you!)
Woo-hoo!
I have tried to give the girl up
Woo!
But it's a hard old thing to do

Woo!
So, I just keep on drinkin', John Davis
Woo!
Because I just can't believe it's through.
~

*A Buddy Guy Encore- From The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection Series

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Buddy Guy performing Robert Johnson's classic "Sweet Home Chicago"

CD Review

Buddy’s Blues: Buddy Guy: The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection, Buddy Guy and various musicians, MCA Records, 1997

I have spent a fair amount of time in this space running through the legends of the Chicago blues explosion that hit its high point in the period just after World War II and continued to the advent of serious rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-1950s, a period that saw the mass migration off the southern farms and plantations of blacks (and poor whites) to the north in search of better paying, and mainly, unionized industrial jobs. Thus, such names as Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and so on have gotten plenty of ink here. Strangely although the name Buddy Guy has been mentioned here many times this is the first CD by him that is being reviewed in this space. Strange, indeed.

That said, the name Buddy Guy also is usually uttered, reverently, around the same time that one speaks the name of master harmonica player, Junior Wells (Buddy's long time Chicago playing companion). And, of course when you say Junior Wells you, of necessity, have to speak about Muddy Waters, the 'Father' of all the post World War II Chicago blues. Here, however, Buddy stands alone in this 50th Anniversary of Chess Records series. I have reviewed other parts of this series elsewhere and find the material that is presented in each tends, very much so, to be "greatest hits"-type material. That is the case here as well, and I would add that the quality of the sound tends to a a bit better here than on some of the other efforts in this series. Still anyway you can hear that old 1950s blues sound when it was fresh and down grab the opportunity, with both hands.

Buddy Guy almost never has had a bad track so one has to go the other way and try to cull out the best. Here the classic "Pretty Baby is smokin', “My Love Is Real”, and “Stone Crazy” round out my picks as the top numbers.

Buddy Guy
Mustang Sally lyrics

Mustang Sally, guess you better slow your mustang down
Mustang Sally , baby, I guess you better slow your mustang down
You been a runnin' all over town, I guess I'll better put your big feet on the ground, oh yes, I will

All you wanna do is ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride
All you wanna do is ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride
All you wanna do is ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride
All you wanna do is ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride

One of these early mornings,
You gonna be wipin' your weepin' eyes, yes you will
I bought you a vintage mustang,
Of nineteen sixty-five
Now you comin' right signifyin' woman, no,
You don't wanna let me ride

Mustang Sally, baby, yeah,
I guess you better slow your mustang down, yes you will darling, I hope you will
Going around running' all over town,
I'm gonna put your big fat feet on the ground, oh yes Sally, well, look at here

All you wanna do is ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride
All you wanna do is just ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride
All you wanna do is just ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride
All you wanna do is ride around, Sally
Ride Sally ride
One of these early mornings
You gonna put your bad bad feet on the ground, oh yes I will, Sally

Sally ride Sally ride
Sally ride Sally ride
Ride Sally ride
Ride Sally ride
Ride Sally ride
Ride Sally ride

My Love Is Real lyrics :

My love for you is like, is like a sweet refrain
Real, real true love, is like a burning, burning flame
My love for you will live through storm and rain
My love, my love for you is real.
My love for you, words can never express

My love, my love for you is real.
God, God only knows, that I'll love you, love you best

With only you my love could ever rest
My love for you will live forever
If you love me, love me my darling
My love for you makes me want you near
Forever and a day
Won't you show me in your own sweet way?
Within, within my heart, I really need, need you dear

Sometimes true love can make a, make a man she'd tears
My love for you is real.

Oh, my love, oh my love for you is real.

*A Mixed Bag Musical Potpourri-Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Rock And Rockabilly-Barrelhouse Mamas

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of "Tricks Aint Walking No More". Sorry, I Could Not Find A Barrelhouse Mama Version.

Barrelhouse Mamas, Indeed

Barrelhouse Mamas, various artists, Yazoo Records, 1999

I recently noted in reviewing a CD containing the work of legendary early acoustic blues guitarists that sometimes a review, especially a review of old time blues artists, is a very easy chore. That is certainly the case here with this CD highlighting most of the known names from the early hey days of the women blues singers, circa the 1920’s and 1930’s. I have spilled some ink here previously discussing the impact of the early women blues artists when they were the main game in town. I have also noted their use of double entendre to breech that forbidden explicit sexual lyrics barrier. I should mention here a good point from the always informative Yazoo liner notes that some of this may have been, and I say may have been because this area is pretty murky, references to prostitution. Certainly there is plenty of room for speculation on that front. Check out Lucille Bogan’s “Tricks Aint Walking No More” though.

A role call of honor here tells the tale. The above-mentioned Lucille Bogan on “Alley Boogie”, and who, by the way, is worthy of a separate review of her own. Mary Johnson on “Dawn Of Day Blues” and “Morning Sun Blues”. Lil Johnson on “Evil Man Blues”. Two- timing men, thwarted love, longing for love, busted, drunk and down and out. It is all there and it is not all pretty. And these women belted it out. I think I have made my point. Right?


"Memphis Minnie Tricks Ain't Walking No More lyrics"

Times has done got hard, work done got scarce
Stealing and robbing is taking place
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I'm going to grab somebody if I don't make me some dough

I'm going to do just like a blind man, stand and beg for change
Tell these tricking policemen change my second name
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I've got to make no money, I don't care where I go

I'm going to learn these walking tricks what it's all about
I'm going to get them in my house and ain't going to let them out
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make no money, I don't care where I go

I got up this morning with the rising sun
Been walking all day and I haven't caught a one
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I can't make a dime, I don't care where I go

I got up this morning, feeling tough
I got to calling my tricks and it's rough, rough, rough
Because tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
Tricks ain't walking, tricks ain't walking no more
And I have to change my luck if I have to move next door

*A Mixed Bag Musical Potpourri-Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Rock And Rockabilly-Legends Of The Blues

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Roosevelt Sykes Doing "Gulfport Boogie".

Legends Of The Blues, Indeed

Legends Of The Blues: Volume Two, various artists, Sony Music, 1991

I recently noted in reviewing a CD containing the work of legendary early acoustic blues guitarists in this same series that sometimes a review, especially a review of old time blues artists, is a very easy chore. That is certainly the case here with this CD, another Columbia Legacy series production, highlighting most of the known names from the early days of the genre. I have spilled some ink here previously discussing the impact of the early acoustic blues artists on the post-World War II explosion of electric blues, most notably the Chicago blues sound. Well, here they are all together in one place guitarists, vocalists, harmonica players and pianists for the beginner and for the aficionado.

A role call of honor here tells the tale. The “Honeydripper” Roosevelt Sykes on the salacious “Henry Ford Blues” (if you can believe that). Guitarist extraordinaire Tampa Red on “Turpentine Blues”. Brownie McGhee on “Goodbye Now”. Harmonica man “Jazz” Gillum on “Is That A Monkey You Got?”. Lucille Bogan on “Bo-Easy Blues”. I think I have made my point. Right?

Tampa Red - Turpentine Blues lyrics

Turpentine's all right, provided that wages are good
Turpentine's all right, provided that wages are good
But I can make more money now, by somewhere choppin' hardwood

Turpentine business ain't like it used to be
Turpentine business ain't like it used to be
I can't make enough money now, to even get on a spree

I ain't gonna work no more, I tell you the reason why
I ain't gonna work no more, tell you the reason why
Because everybody wants to sell, and nobody wants to buy

You can work in the field, you can work at the sawmill too
You can work in the field, you can work at the sawmill too
But you can't make no money, at nothin' you try to do

So Lordy please tell me what we turpentine people are gonna do
Lordy please tell me what we turpentine people gonna do
We may work one week, but we got to lay off a month or two

Turpentine is like dice, to shoot you up on the loose
Turpentine is just like dice, to shoot you up on the loose
That's the reason why, I've got those turpentine blues

*A Mixed Bag Musical Potpourri-Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Rock And Rockabilly-Guitar Shorty

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Guitar Shorty At Work.

The Guys Who Got Left Behind

The Best Of Guitar Shorty: The Long And Short Of It, Guitar Shorty, Shout Factory

I admit to being a little torn in this review. I have spent some time over the past year or so discussing various trends and performers in the blues genre. I have highlighted those like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker who have made the blues pantheon. I have also, more recently, tried to look at the secondary players and seek to find out why they didn’t made the A list. The case of Guitar Shorty fits that mold. This guy can play guitar, he can belt out a song and he has a passion for the blues. But, and this is a big but, his work seems derivative. I hear a lot of Muddy and B.B. here. Moreover, the lyrics to the songs that he has authored like “No Educated Woman”, “I’m The Clean Up Man” and “Hard Life” do not “speak” to me. That said, the song he smokes on “Hey, Joe”, the one that his "protege" Jimi Hendrix made famous, is the way he should probably have gone with his style. Hats off to a guy who got left behind on that one.


"Hey Joe" Lyrics

Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand

I'm going down to shoot my old lady
You know, I've caught her messin' around with another man
I'm going down to shoot my old lady
You know, I've caught her messin' around with another man
And that ain't too cool

Hey Joe, I've heard you shot your woman down,
shot her down, now
I said I've heard you shot your old lady down,
You shot her down to the ground

Yes I did, I shot her
You know, I caught her messin' round, messin' round town
Yes I did, I shot her
You know, I caught my old lady messin' around town
And I gave her the gun
I SHOT HER!

Hey Joe, alright
Shoot her one more time, baby

Hey Joe, said now
Where you gonna run to now?
Where you gonna run to?
Hey Joe, I said where you gonna run to now?
Where you, where you gonna go?
Well, dig it

I'm goin' way down south,
Way down to Mexico way
Alright!
I'm goin' way down south,
Way down where I can be free
Ain't no one gonna find me

Ain't no hangman gonna,
He ain't gonna put a rope around me
You better believe it right now
I gotta go now
Hey Joe, you better run on down
Good by everybody
Hey Joe, uhh
Run on down

*A Mixed Bag Musical Potpourri-Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Rock And Rockabilly-Great Blues Guitarists

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Lonnie Johnson Doing "Another Night To Cry".

Acoustic Blues Extravaganza

Great Blues Guitarists: String Dazzlers, various artists, Sony Music, 1991

Sometimes a review, especially a review of old time blues guitar artists, is a very easy chore. That is certainly the case here with this Columbia Legacy series production highlighting most of the known names from the early days of the genre. I have spilled some ink here previously discussing the impact of the early acoustic blues artists on the post-World War II explosion of electric blues, most notably the Chicago blues sound. Well, here they are all together in one place for the beginner and for the aficionado. The CD is weighted heavily toward the instrumental side to show virtuosity, although most of the performers here were well known for their vocals as well. A role call of honor here tells the tale. A young Lonnie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Willie Johnson and his religiously oriented blues, the well-traveled Big Bill Broonzy, the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson, Tampa Red, Joshua White at home in the “juke joint” as well as the New York café, and so on. I think I have made my point. Right?

Jelly Roll Baker Lyrics

She said, 'Mr. Jellyroll Baker
Let me be your slave
When Gabriel blows his trumpet
Then I'll rise from my grave

For some-a your jellyro-oll
Yes, I love a good jellyroll'
It is good for the sick
Yes, and it's good for the old'

I was sentenced for murder
In the 1st degree
*The judge's wife called up and says
'Let that man go free'

He's a jellyroll baker
He's got the best jellyroll in town
He's the only man can bake jellyroll
With his damper down

Once in a hospital
Shot all full-a holes
The nurse left the man dyin'
An says he's got to get her jellyroll

His good old jell-e-e-y
She says, 'I love my good jellyroll'
She says, 'I ruther let him lose his life
Than to miss my good jellyroll'

Lady asked me who learnt me
How to bake good jellyroll?
I says, 'It's nobody, Miss
'It's just a gift from my soul'
To bake good jellyro-oll
Mmm-mmm, that good ol' jellyroll

She says, 'I love your jellyroll
It do's me good deep down in my soul
She says, 'Can I put in a order
For two weeks ahead?
I'd ruther have your jelly-roll
Than my home-cooked bread'

I love your jell-e-e-y
I love your good jellyroll
It's just like Maxwell House Coffee
It's good, deep down in my soul.


*(he was a brown eyed handsome man)

*Stinging Electric Blues Guitar-Otis Rush Is In The Room

Click On Title To Link To The Otis Rush Website.

CD Review

All Your Love I Miss Loving: Live At The Wise Fool Club, Otis Rush, Delmark, 2005

Okay, okay I have been talking about doing a review of the legendary electric blues guitarist Otis Rush ever since I saw him on some DVDs in the “American Folk Blues “series from the 1960’s that I have reviewed earlier in this space. Arguably, the 1950’s and 1960’s were the heroic age of electric blues guitar with the likes of Muddy Waters, Hubert Sumlin (from Howlin’ Wolf’s band), Elmore James, the incredible T-Bone Walker and Brother Rush. What makes the case for his inclusion here is some very rippling solos where he runs the board.

Sometimes the quality of live performances especially in the days before better sound production technology was developed, as here at the famous blues club the “Wise Fool Club”, diminishes the quality of the sound. However, for a performer like Rush, having that live audience in front is the spark that takes them to flights of ....musical fancy. Put that together with Rush’s deep, powerful voice to match the intensity of the riffs and a self-selected back up band and you have the blues when they are dos.

You don’t believe me? Well, listen to a smoking “Sweet Little Angel” or the pathos of “Feel So Bad”. Or the pain of “You’re Breaking My Heart” or the frenetic longing of the title song “All Your Love I Miss Loving”. Case closed.


Sweet Little Angel - B.B. King

(B.B. King & Jules Taub)

I got a sweet little angel
I love the way she spread her wings
Yes, I got a sweet little angel
I love the way she spread her wings
Yes, when she spread her wings around me
I get joy in everything

You know I asked my baby for a nickel
And she gave me a twenty dollar bill
Oh, yes, I asked my baby for a nickel
And she gave me a twenty dollar bill
Whoa, you know I asked her for a little drink of liquor
And she gave me a whiskey still

Ah yes, asked my baby to quit me
Well, I do believe I will die
Yes, I asked my baby to quit me
Well, I do believe I will die
'Cause, if you don't love me little angel
Please, tell me the reason why

***Once Again, A Blues Potpourri-John Lee Hooker And Furry Lewis

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of Furry Lewis Doing "Kassie Jones" Wow!

DVD REVIEW

John Lee Hooker and Furry Lewis, John Lee Hooker, Furry Lewis, Yazoo Productions, 2002

I have recently reviewed a few of John Lee Hooker’s vast number of blues albums that lend credence to the title “Boogie Chillen” man. I also noted that unlike other old time electric blues artists such as Howlin’ Wolf and Lighting Hopkins that Hooker’s work, in general, leaves me cold. Although the small segment of his work presented here is good as he articulates his sense of what the blues mean, especially as it features one of his signature songs that I like, “Boom Boom”, I still am left with that same feeling. I finish by noting that this is a question of personal taste. Hooker is a blues legend, justifiably so. Case closed.

The other figure in this short Yazoo production is a different story. I have also reviewed Furry Lewis’s work elsewhere in this space and have praised his clean guitar picking style and vocals from his early career in the 1920’s when he was along with Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson one of the kings of the guitar pick. Furry does not fail here late in his career after reemerging during the folk revival of the 1960’s. His version of the famous “Kassie Jones” is worth the price of admission.

*If You Like Your T-Bone Rare This Is Your Stop- The Electric Blues Guitar Of T-Bone Walker

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Film Clip Of T-Bone Walker Doing "Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong"

CD REVIEW

Back On The Scene Texas 1966: T-Bone Walker, T-Bone Walker, Castle Music, 2003

Okay, ask around. Here is the question. Who was (and maybe still is) the most influential electric blues guitarist of the post- World War II period. From casual listeners you may get a variety of answers, all of them somewhat worthy of consideration like Muddy Waters and B.B. King or from a later period , perhaps Eric Clapton. But down at the soul of the electric blues you will find one name that all the other choices will gladly agree (if they are honest) is the max daddy of the electric blues guitar, T-Bone Walker. He owns the thing. It is part of his physical person and combined with that plaintive sweet but catlike menacing voice presents a strong case for his place in the blues pantheon. In short, if you hear someone today playing electric blues guitar that sound like they are gently running the piano keyboard and with a sense that the player has been through some kind of hell that person was influenced by Walker. No doubt.

That said, this is not his strongest work but is a better than average primer considering that it represents the latter part of T-Bone’s career. Still just listening to the way he introduces a sing and then goes through his paces will set the mood for you. Try the ironic “Good Boy” for starters. And the title track “Back On The Scene”. Close out with “ Afraid To Close My Eyes” and you will start looking for earlier T-Bone CDs right away.

alimony blues lyrics

It's a cold-blooded world when a man has to pawn his shoes
It's a cold-blooded world when a man has to pawn his shoes
That's the fix I'm in today, I swear I've been abused

Yes, the woman is a devil, she will trick you if she can
Yes, the woman is a devil, she will trick you if she can
She will tell you that she love you, an work out some other plan


"Call It Stormy Monday"

They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad
They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad
Wednesday's worse, and Thursday's also sad

Yes the eagle flies on Friday, and Saturday I go out to play
Eagle flies on Friday, and Saturday I go out to play
Sunday I go to church, then I kneel down and pray

Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me
Lord have mercy, my heart's in misery
Crazy about my baby, yes, send her back to me


Got those alimony blues an I sure got to pay some dues
Got those alimony blues an I sure got to pay some dues
And if I run short of cash, it's the road camp, I've got to choose


"Midnight Blues"

Well, the clock is strikin' twelve, somebody's got to go
Well, the clock is strikin' twelve, somebody's got to go
Gee, but I'm going to miss ya baby, this is one thing I'm sure you know

When it's twelve o'clock in Memphis, it's one o'clock in San Antone
When it's twelve o'clock in Memphis, it's one o'clock in San Antone
When it's midnight in California, I'll be so all alone

Midnight is an awful hour, why does it come so soon?
Midnight is a awful hour, why does it come so soon?
It never bring me happ'ness, it always leave me filled with gloom

Don't ever gamble buddy, unless you're sure that you can't lose
Don't ever gamble buddy, unless you're sure that you can't lose
You better take my advise, unless you want this midnight blues

"Put it away!"


"T-Bone Shuffle"

Let your hair down baby,
Let's have a natural ball.
Let your hair down baby,
Let's have a natural ball.
Cause when you're not happy,
It ain't no fun at all.

You can't take it with you,
That's one thing for sure.
You can't take it with you baby,
That's one thing for sure.
There's nothing wrong with ya baby,
That a good T-Bone shuffle can't cure.

Have fun while ya can,
Fate's an aweful thing.
Have fun while ya can,
Fate's an aweful thing.
You can't tell what might happen,
That's why I love to sing.

*Roosevelt Sykes Is In The House- The "Honey Dripper" Plays His Boogie-Woogie Piano

Click On Title To Link To YouTube's Clip Of Roosevelt Sykes doing "Gulfport Boogie"

DVD REVIEW

Roosevelt Sykes and Big Bill Broonzy, Roosevelt Sykes and Big Bill Broonzy, Yazoo Productions, 200

The last time that the name Roosevelt Sykes was mentioned in this space was to highlight his boogie-woogie piano performances in a country blues compilation entitled “Rural Blues’, Volume 3. There I mentioned the following- “However, the ‘king of the hill’ on this one is Roosevelt Sykes’s piano work and vocals on “Hush Oh Hush” and “I’m Tired”. Roosevelt Sykes is one of those guys you keep hearing about if you listen to enough blues. Now I know why. Needless to say you will be seeing a separate individual review of his work in this space later.” And here it is.

In this documentary film you get to see Roosevelt in person with old soft hat on his head (I think that’s what they call that kind of hat. Being a child of the hatless Kennedy era I am not up on the sartorial distinctions on this question.), cigar in his mouth, keeping time with his foot and stretching his fingers all across the keyboard just like the way that you would think that the old time boogie-woogie guys would do it if you had to describe what they were up to in words. The smoked-filled 1950’s jazz club atmosphere of the film gives just the right feel to Sykes’ work. Outstanding here is his version of “The Nighttime Is The Right Time”.

I should note that the reason I got this film was to get a look at Roosevelt. As an added treat there is footage of Big Bill Broonzy doing a separate nightclub act in the same kind of atmosphere as that of the Sykes segment. And maybe just a little bit more provocative with a white hipster ‘dame’ in the picture. Dangerous stuff. Moreover, there are added segments of Big Bill wailing his acoustic guitar in practice that, I believe, came from one of Stefan Grossman’s “Legends of The Country Blues” volumes. Nice.

“Night Time Is The Right Time”

You know the night time, darling
(night and day)
Is the right time
(night and day)
To be
(night and day)
With the one you love, now
(night and day)
Say now oh baby
(night and day)
When I come home baby, now
(night and day)
I wanna be with the one I love, now
(night and day)
You know what I'm thinking of
(night and day)
I know the night time
(night and day, oh)
Whoa, is the right time
(night and day, oh)
To be with the one you love, now
(night and day)
I said to be with the one you love
(night and day)
You know my mother, now
(night and day)
Had to die, now
(night and day)
Umm, and my father
(night and day)
Well he broke down and cry
(night and day)
Whoah! whoa baby
(night and day)
When I come home baby now
(night and day)
I want you to hold my hand
(night and day)
Yeah, tight as you can
(night and day)
I know the night time
(night and day, oh)
Whoah is the right time
(night and day, oh)
To be with the one you love
(night and day)
You know what I'm thinking of
(night and day)
Whoah! sing your song, Margie
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Oh, Baby
(night and day)
Do I love you?
(night and day)
No one above you
(night and day)
Hold me tight
(night and day)
And make everything all right
(night and day)
Because the night time
(night and day)
Oh, is the right time
(night and day)
To be with the one you love now
(night and day)
Oh yeah
(night and day)
Tease me
(night and day)
Squeeze me
(night and day)
Leave me
(night and day)
Ah, don't leave me
(night and day)
Lawdy baby
(night and day)
Take my hand, now
(night and day)
I don't need
(night and day)
No other man
(night and day)
Because the night time
(night and day)
Ow, is the right time
(night and day)
To be with the one you love
(night and day)
Oh yeah
(night and day)
I said baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Baby
(night and day)
Whoah! baby now
(night and day)
Oh come on baby
(night and day)
You know I want you by my side
(night and day)
I want you to keep
(night and day)
Oh keep me satisfied
(night and day)
I know the night time
(night and day)
Everyday is the right time
(night and day)
Yeah to be with the one you love now
(night and day)
Well you know it's all right

Roosevelt Sykes
Ice Cream Freezer lyrics

My baby owns a ice cream freezer
She let's me put my milk in her can
Mercy!
My baby owns a ice cream freezer
She let's me put my milk in her can
Her freezer ain't to be churned
By no other man

Some people crave vanilla or strawberry
But-a black walnut is all I love
Mercy!
Some people crave vanilla or strawberry
But-a black walnut is all I love
When I put my spoon in her freezer
Man, it fits just like a rubber glove
Mercy!

Now, she turns her freezer
So slow an easy
She said, 'Daddy can you hold back
And stick around? ' (I'll try, ha-ha)
As she turn her freezer
So slow an easy
She say, 'Now, daddy can you jus hold back
And stick around? '
I'll say, I b'lieve you spoke jus a little too late
Pretty mama
I gotta let that flavor come runnin' down

'Mercy, mercy, man, yeah'
Ho, yeah!

'Let it roll on a while in the night'

'Ho, til the break of day'

'Ho, til the break of day'
'My, my, my, my'

'Ho while'

She said, 'Now, you done used my freezer
You said, 'Daddy, you look like
You gettin' ready to leave' (quite natural)
My, my
She said, 'Now, you done uses my freezer
'Look like you gettin' ready to leave'
She said, 'But you're still welcome to my can
When you have more cream to freeze'

More cream to freeze.

Roosevelt Sykes
She's Got It lyrics

Worked the gulf port from Memphis, Tennessee
Help me find Mrs. Mercy Dee
I just found a girl, she's got
Just found a girl and she's got
She's got the kind of lovin' I've been lookin' for

Well, she looks so fine
All dressed up in plaid
She start in to makin' love
She goes ravin' mad

I just found a girl an she's got
Just found a girl, she's got
Just found a girl got
The lovin' I've been lookin' for
My, my, my

Whoa (alittle right here)

Let it ride a while (roll another one right here)

Oh yeah
My, my (another one left)

She's no virgin but she's outta sight
She say I can suit her appetite
I just found a girl, she's got a
I just found a girl, and she's got
She's got the kind of lovin' I've been lookin' for
My, my (add a little)

'Let it rock now' (another, another all the way)

'Oh yeah' (another there)

Hurry up, baby
I'm gon' be in here quiet as a mouse
Come on baby, in this house
Cause I just found a girl and
She's got a, I just found that girl
And she's got, she's got
The kind of lovin' I've been lookin' for
My, my, my, my

'Ride now' (right here)
'Roll' (roll it)
'Let it ride a while'
My, my (right here)
'Gonna shake a little while now' (right here a little)
'Ho, yeah' (alright boys, right there)
'Oh, yeah'
My, my (outta here)

Well, I just found a girl and she's got
Just found a girl and she's got
Just found a girl and she's got
Just found a girl and she's got it
Just found a girl and she's got it
Just found a girl
She's got the love I've been lookin' for
Oh, my.

*Jump Blues Jumping- The Blues Masters Series

Click On Title To Link To YouTube Clip Of Big Joe Williams Doing "Shake, Rattle and Roll". The Birth Of Rock At Your Fingertips. Nice.

CD REVIEW

Blues Masters: More Jump Blues,Volume 14, various artists, Rhino Records, 1993

I have tried in this space over the past period to get a hook into the roots of certain kinds of American popular music centered on the key role of the blues in creating the modern rock sound. Once the blues moved north from the Mississippi Delta and other southern ports of call and got electrified in the post-World War II period reflecting a more urban, urbane style the possibilities became almost endless. The confluence of jazz, scat, rhythm and blues and swing developed the first notable type of urban blues that deserved a name-jump blues. To pay homage to that early trend that, arguably, ultimately went on to form the core beat to the rock & roll revolution the producers here have put out a second CD (Volume 5 was the first) in this "Blues Masters Series" dedicated to the makers and shakers of that music.

I have, seemingly endlessly, touted the virtues of Big Joe Turner and especially his seminal "Shake, Rattle and Roll" elsewhere so I need spend little time on "Boogie Woogie Country Girl" that is a just lesser tune in that same genre. I do need to note an early Little Richard classic, "Little Richard's Boogie", which goes a long way to showcasing his wild talent and incidentally providing another strand in that complex of beats that created rock & roll. Laverne Baker, of later "Jim Daddy" fame, not given nearly enough credit as a key voice in the golden age of rock does a lively "Voodoo Voodoo". Finally, take a listen to an earlier pre-Bill Haley version of "Later Alligator". Jump blues, rock and rock? Ya, they fit together.

Jim Dandy

LaVern Baker & the Gliders

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

I was sitting on a mountain top.
30,000 feet to drop.
Tied me on a runaway horse
Uh huh, that's right, of course.
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

One day, I met a girl named Sue.
She was feeling kind of blue.
I'm Dandy, the kind of guy
Who can't stand to see a little girl cry.
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

I was riding on a submarine
Got a message from my mermaid queen.
She was hanging on a fishing line.
Mr. Dandy didn't waste no time!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Once upon a time, I went to Maine.
Got a ticket on a DC plane.
Mr. Dandy didn't need no chute!
I was high and ready to boot!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Jim Dandy to the rescue!
Go, Jim Dandy! Go, Jim Dandy!

Annotated & Submitted by Leon Sanchez
chezzy2@yahoo.com

Tweedlee Dee

LaVern Baker and The Gliders
(Scott)

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dee
I'm as happy as can be
Jimminy cricket jimminy jack
You make my heart go clickety-clack
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dee

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dot
How you gonna keep that honey you got
Hunkies hunkies fishes bite
I'm gonna see my honey tonight
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dot

Tweedlee dee tweedlee dee
Give it up give it up
Give your love to me
Tweedlee dot tweedlee dot
Gimme gimme gimme gimme
Gimme all the love you got
Hump-be-ump-bump-bump

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedle doe
I'm a lucky so-and-so
Hubba hubba honey dew
I'm gonna keep my eyes on you
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee doe

Tweedlee doe tweedlee doe
Give that kiss to me before you go
Tweedlee dum tweedlee dum
Lookie lookie lookie lookie
Look at that sugar plum
Hump-be-ump-bump-bump

Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dum
You're as sweet as bubble gum
Mercy mercy pudding pie
You've got something that money can't buy
Tweedlee tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
FADE:
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww, tweedlee tweedlee dum
Owww

Transcribed by Little John.
These lyrics were transcribed from the specific recording referenced
above, and are for personal use and research interest only.

I Cried A Tear

LaVern Baker

I cried a tear because of you
I cried a tear because we're through
I cried a tear what else could I do
But cry and sigh for love of you

I felt a tear fall in my heart
You fooled me so I wasn't smart
I can't believe that we must part
Come back to stay let's make a new start

Music interlude

I cried a tear because of you
I cried a tear because we're through
Please make my dream of you come true
Don't make me cry a tear for you

*Austin City Inner Limits- The Blues Addiction (Thankfully) Of Clifford Antone And The “Antone’s” Experience

Click on title to link to YouTube film clip of Eddie Taylor and Sunnyland Slim, two of the blues artists featured on this DVD review. This, my friends, is blues history down at the base.

DVD Review

Antone’s: Home Of The Blues, Clifford Antone and a huge cast of legendary male and female blues players, old and new, Etc. Film Productions, 2006

Get this DVD. Hold on a minute. Doesn’t this reviewer usually wait until he gives 101reasons why the reader should (or should not) spend time, money and energy on a reviewed item? Get this DVD. Why? This writer has strewn this space with more examples of historically important moments, events or personalities in music and other arts, general human culture and politics than one can shake a stick at. What drives this work is an attempt to give notice to the sometimes unknown (or not well-known) sources and support system for the kind of things that interest him. The blues interests him. And if one views this little gem of a DVD about the efforts of the late Clifford Antone, who for over thirty years was the pivotal figure in the Austin, Texas blues (and other genre) scene, then one will understand what I am trying to get at in these reviews.

Look, these days the popularity of the blues is at one of its lower points. Others forms of entertainment, including the rise and continued dominance of the variants of the hip-hop tradition among the young, the passing or retirement of the post-World War II legendary electric blues players that formed the transmission belt from the early rural blues tradition and dwindling number of us who still value this quintessential form of American music has taken it toll. As this DVD rather graphically, lovingly and with a bit of humor points out the role of “keeper of the flame” is, as they say, a hard dollar.

Yet beginning in 1975 (another low blues point) Clifford Antone and his friends did exactly that. This documentary is filled with the exploits, great and small, that went into that task, including the usual “talking head” commentary that one expects (and here wants) in this kind of documentary). Now “Antone’s” in Austin, Texas does for the blues tradition what the promoters of mountain music in Ashville, North Carolina or the owners of Club Passim (now non-profit) and Caffe Lena’s did for folk music in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Saratoga, New York have done to ‘keep the flame alive’ in these important musical traditions. But even more than that Clifford Antone and friends, seemingly, connected with every important living blues tradition of the last half of the 20th century. There are probably few places in America where the Muddy Waters/Howlin’ Wolf tradition (in the person of legendary guitarist Hubert Sumelin) could meet Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughn, Doug Sahm, the Thunderbirds and a host of other Texas talent- and it worked. Get this DVD. Oops, I said that already, didn’t I.

Illinois Blues - Sunnyland Slim lyrics

Boys, I'm walkin' an thinkin'
Woo-ooo!
But I ain't doin' myself no good
Woo-ooo!
I'm walkin' an thinkin'
Woo!
But I ain't doin' myself no good
Yoo-hoo-hoo!
The one I love
Woo-ooo!
Done left the neighborhood

Well, I hate to hear
Woo!
That Illinois Central, blow
Woo!
I hate to hear
Woo!
That Illinois Central, blow
Woo-hoo!
It fly on just like
Woo!
It won't be back no mo-oh-ore'

'Well, alright let me hear ya, Mr. Davis'
'Play it for me one time'
'You know what I'm talkin' about'

'Lord, have mercy, man have it'
'Lord, have mercy!'

'That low part, Mr. Ransom
You know what I'm talkin' about'
'Play it, man'
'Ah, mercy, mercy, mercy!'

'That makes me get homesick
sho' enough, now'

I wanna tell you people
Woo-ooo!
What the Illinois Central will do
Woo-hoo!
I wanna tell you people
Woo!
What the Illinois Central will do
Woo-hoo!
It'll steal your woman
Woo-hoo!
And blow back after you

I have tried to give up
Woo!
But it's a hard old thing to do
(I'll show you!)
Woo-hoo!
I have tried to give the girl up
Woo!
But it's a hard old thing to do

Woo!
So, I just keep on drinkin', John Davis
Woo!
Because I just can't believe it's through.