April 06, 2022

Mark "Muleman" Massey - One Step Ahead Of The Blues (2014)

Soul blues of the Muleman
Born in 1969 in Clarksdale (Mississippi), at 22 he spent two and a half years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary of sinister reputation better known as Parchman Farm (May 1991-November 1993), condemned for drug dealing and shooting at his elder brother.
Fortunately his brother was only wounded, if not he probably would still be inside, or even worse ! Fortunately also, in Parchman Farm, where famous bluesmen Bukka White and Sonny Boy Williamson among others preceded him, he bought a guitar ("for 28 dollars, that's all I had" he recalls), and learned how to play it from inmate David Kimbrough, son of Jr. Kimbrough, before joining the Parchman Prison Band.
Once out, he raised mules (hence his "Muleman" nickname) in his little farm while working week days in a tire shop in Senatobia, in the Hills country, and met Big Jack Johnson who took the succession of David Kimbrough as his mentor and friend, and opened to him the doors of the blues juke joints and clubs circuit.
Don Nix

"One Step Ahead of the Blues", Massey's second album, was co-produced by Memphis Stax Records legend Don Nix, who signed or co-signed seven of the thirteen tracks. It's as much a Nix album as a Massey's one, featuring an impressive list of veteran blues musicians : Eric Gales on guitar, Garry Burnside on bass, and the excellent Grammy/Emmy awarded Billy Earheart on Hammond organ and piano, plus Willie Clayton ("In The Hole") and Bobby Rush ("She's Hongry").
"Muleman" and Billy Earheart
Though often presented as a Hills country bluesman, Massey's album featuring a horn section, definitely sounds like Memphis soul. Massey's powerful and soulful vocal and guitar dominates this rhythm'n'soul production, many times leaning towards funk'n'soul : "Plastic Flowers", "In The Hole", "Blind, Crippled And Crazy", "Double Trouble", "She's Hongry" (sic). No matter what style, the whole album has a real groove, even on the gospel "Waiting On The Help To Arrive", or on Massey's final moving ballad "Sun Going Down In Memphis".
If you watch the videos of "the Muleman" below, you'll discover a man totally bewitched by the music in which he found his redemption : the blues.

Documentary

A video portrait of the "Muleman" : https://vimeo.com/232376569

Live stream perfs & interviews
Virtual confined jams and interviews via Zoom :
in May 2021 : https://youtu.be/xWoghLUcLVQ
in December 2020 : https://youtu.be/RAQafMANNBA
in November 2020 : https://youtu.be/8HFuOJl-Uto
in July 2020 : https://youtu.be/gJoc34Sk3c4
On the Local Yokels radio show  :
in 2019 (skip first 3 mn) : https://youtu.be/gXivtcd4al4
in 2018 (skip first 3 mn) : https://youtu.be/sISUtY1PL5I
A Maryland's Sandy Spring Museum live stream solo and acoustic perf. during the Covid confinement (go straight to 1h13mn) : https://youtu.be/sUMN85YriyQ
On the National Blues Museum's  Howlin' Fridays in 2020 (skip first 17 mn) : https://youtu.be/30HgL8h8AKs
At the Crossroads Confined Countdown Festival : https://youtu.be/rQecNxQ8VoQ

Pre-confinement live performances videos
With the Robbert Fossen Blues Band in Haarlem (Netherlands) in  2020 :
https://youtu.be/WO8pbgIHw24
https://youtu.be/MbTrote8YYg
https://youtu.be/ITehCo-e0cQ

At the GrassRoots Blues Festival
in 2020 (skip first 3 mn) : https://youtu.be/osdjoSCVFl0
in 2016 : https://youtu.be/QszPxmzLdgM & https://youtu.be/H2qrDlzww8s
"All Night Long" at Blues Rules 2017 : https://youtu.be/TA9BBqYIVzA
At Bluesday Tuesday, Overton Square, Memphis, with Billy Earheart (keyboards), Tory Todora (bass) and Joel Williams (drums) in 2015 :
https://youtu.be/pTN2abGuro0
https://youtu.be/HBh2cgGDTX8
https://youtu.be/VK73jYfrQ9Q
https://youtu.be/53n5rWeyYDw
At the Rum Boogie cafe in Memphis in 2015 : https://youtu.be/Gkvhw1_316Q
At the Howlin' Wolf festival 2011 : https://youtu.be/uvdx_g003uk
At Clarksdale's Ground Zero Blues Club
in 2011 :
- https://youtu.be/o9SUwXEvvdo
- https://youtu.be/qZg6IeGme2g
- https://youtu.be/3ZAj0s4pTgs
- https://youtu.be/FW4L0V26cmg
- https://youtu.be/cTHudrzieNI
in 2010 :
- https://youtu.be/xEAc1E8XvCI
- https://youtu.be/BRWVC9blTV4
- https://youtu.be/no5zVdPb4-g
At BB King's on Beale St., Memphis, in 2009 : https://youtu.be/58Wf8nwZvRc


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