Let the obscure come to light
We already knew "rarities" compilations, then appeared a new concept : the "obscurities" collection ! Except for a few of them, the bluesmen featured on this album are indeed most likely unknown to you as they were to me, unless you're a highly specialized blues connoisseur and historian.
They're apparently also quite obscure to the RootsAndRhythm.com guys who signed the presentation above and most likely didn't listen to the album with much attention… if they listened to it at all ! Not only are they unable to write some of the songs titles properly, but they mix up some artists . For example they wrote : "Eddie Burns echoes Sonny Boy #1 on his Hello Jessie Lee." The problem is that the song precise title is "Hello Miss Jessie Lee". This could pass for a simple careless omission but they mix up Sonny Boy Williams with Sonny Boy Williamson I although they are two different musicians, which is more disturbing !
But enough, let's talk about the album. The "obscurity" is the exciting thing about this rare compilation which unveil some "obscure" but worth listening blues musicians from the 1950s and early 1960s. From Little Joe, John Lee or Henry Smith to Buddy Lewis, Bud Harper or Clifford King, from Texas and Mississippi to Alabama and Georgia, from Chicago and Memphis to New York and Detroit, specially well represented in this collection, we travel from track to track across the country of the blues, visiting obscure low-down juke-joints, clubs and street corners in rural areas or industrial cities, through the releases of small labels (some not existing anymore), discovering a few surprises along the way.
The outstanding ones are the humorous "Drunk Driver's Coming" by the Richard Brothers, two Georgians who relocated in Detroit, "She Fool Me" by Harvey Hill Jr., and "Bring Another Half A Pint" by Sonny Boy Williamson I. Let's not forget Leroy Dallas' "Jump Little Children, Jump", L.C. Green's "The Sun Was Shining", Harmonica "Blues King" Harris' Caribbean sound on "Blues King Mango", the vibrating slide guitars of the mysterious duo Albert & Charles on "Weird", or the "Guitar Boogie" style of John Lee's "Alabama Boogie"…
Rather than going any further in writing a usual review, I thought it would be more useful to try to know a little bit better these "obscure" bluesmen. Sorry ladies, there's no blueswoman on this compilation ! After hours of difficult research on the Web, precisely due to the "obscure" character of most of these artists, and to the fact that many bluesmen used different names depending on the label they recorded for, I still managed to gather some information which I believe are accurate. Here they are, in the same order of appearance as on the album.→ Little Joe would be Joe T. Horton, Jr. Some information also indicates that it might be one of the recording names used by Lester Hill aka Joe Hill Louis...
→ Leroy Dallas, a blues singer and guitarist born in 1920 in Mobile (Alabama), traveled the south in the 1930s-40s, teaming up for some time with Frank Edwards and Brownie McGhee, sang in the Chicago streets for a while before moving to Brooklyn (New York) in 1943, making his first recordings for the "Sittin' In With…" label in New York in 1948-1949. He did some recordings again for Pete Welding in 1962, two of these being released on Storyville and Milestone anthologies. One doesn't know what happened to him afterwards.
→ Little Sam Davis, a singer and harmonica player, was born in 1928 in Winona (Mississippi). He's known to have played in The Levon Helm Band (LH being an ex-member of The Band). He died in 2018 in Middletown, New York. "Going Back Down to New Orleans" was originally recorded in 1953 with Earl Hooker.
→ L.C. Green, born Greene in Minter City (Mississippi) in 1921, was a guitarist and singer. His amplified guitar playing is clearly derived from the Delta blues style, influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson I and later by Detroit famous bluesman John Lee Hooker. He moved and lived most of his life in Detroit where he recorded in the 1950's for both Dot and Von Battle Records. "The Sun Was Shining" was recorded with his cousin, harmonicist Walter Mitchell, with whom he was often teaming, in 1952, in Gallatin (Tennessee). His guitar playing was renowned to equal that of John Lee Hooker. He died in August 1985 at age 63 and is buried in Pontiac (Michigan).
→ Freddy King, better known as Freddie King, is a famous Texas bluesman. Born Freddie Christian in 1934 in Gilmer (Texas), he moved to Chicago in 1949, cutting his first record as a leader in 1956. The rest is history. He died in 1976 in Dallas.
→ Harmonica "Blues King" Harris whose real name was Alfred Harris was, as his stage name indicates, a harmonica player probably from Chicago. A few photos show him on stage with John Lee Hooker.
→ Henry Smith, blues singer and guitarist, first recorded for Fortune Records in Detroit (Michigan) in 1954, as Henry Smith and His Blue Flames. "Good Rocking Mama" features Henry Smith on vocal & guitar, Eddie Burns on harmonica, Calvin Frazer on guitar and Washboard Willie on… washboard. This song also appears on the "Detroit, The Post War Blues Volume 5" compilation issued in Great Britain in 1968. Sessions followed during the 1950s for JVB, Dot and Chess (though the latter was never released). Not to be mistaken for the British country & western singer-songwriter of the same name. ;-)
→ J&J Deuces : these two Js are strictly unknown...
→ Eddie Burns is well know to many blues aficionados. Born in 1928 in Belzoni (Mississippi), he was one of the few Detroit bluesmen to step to the forefront. In 1948, he teamed up and played for a long time with John Lee Hooker. In 1951, John Lee Hooker and John T. Smith supported Burn’s on a series of originals recorded for the Von Battle label. Their success brought Burns a steady, better-paying gig at the Tavern Lounge, which he celebrated in 1953’s “Tavern Lounge Boogie.” He used to work as a mechanic during the day and as a musician at night playing harmonica and guitar. His younger brother is electric soul blues musician Jimmy Burns. Eddie died in 2012.
→ Buddy Lewis real name was Ernest Lewis. A country blues artist, he made a handful of records between 1949 and 1953. Was he Californian ? No certainty but two of his songs (among which this album's "You've Got Good Business") are featured on the compilation "Down Home Blues - California & The West Coast 1948-1954 CD1".
→ Albert & Charles : no info is available about this mysterious duo except that they would be two brothers or cousins , Charles & Albert Bedeaux, and recorded the song featured on this album with Gus Jenkins and his Orchestra for Pioneer Records. Their French sounding name might indicate they were from Louisiana, but it's just conjecture...
→ Joe Williams, born Joseph Lee Williams in 1903 in Crawford (Mississippi) and better known as "Big" Joe Williams, was a famous Delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. A contemporary of Charley Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson, he performed over four decades, recording such famous songs as "Baby Please Don't Go", "Crawlin' King Snake" and "Peach Orchard Mama" for a variety of record labels including Bluebird, Delmark, Okeh, Prestige and Vocalion. He died in 1982 in Macon (Mississippi).
→ Sonny Boy Williams : all we know for certain is that he is not Sonny Boy Willamson I or II !
→ Harvey Hill Jr. and His String Band were probably active in Detroit. His song "She Fool Me" is also featured in two collections : "Down Home Blues Classics, Chicago & Detroit 1948-1953 - High & Lonesome" and Vol. 2 of "Down Home Blues - Detroit Special".
→ Joe Hill Louis, born Lester (or Leslie) Hill in 1921 in Raines (Tennessee), recorded numerous songs as one-man band in Memphis, and developed a primitive yet powerful style on the harmonica. In the late 1940s, his one-man performance was a popular attraction in Handy Park and on the Memphis radio station WDIA, where he hosted a 15-minute program billed as "The Pepticon Boy". Also known as "the Be-Bop Boy", he made his recording debut in 1949 for Columbia, but the remainder of his recordings were issued on R&B independent labels. He died in 1957 in Memphis at only 35.
→ Bud Harper was a soul singer-songwriter from Texas. But contrary to what's indicated, he is not Jesse (or Jessie) Belvin, though both were linked to San Antonio (Texas) and both recorded the song "Going Away Baby". A simple listen to the Belvin version (available on YT) is enough to realized that it's very different from Bud Harper's own on this album.
Bud Harper, sometimes nicknamed "Big" Bud Harper, was a San Antonio mainstay in the late 1950s and 1960s, appearing locally with groups like Mike and the Bel-Airs, band leader saxophonist Vernon "Spot" Barnett and even Doug Sahm. He recorded a handful of 45s in the Bobby Bland's style for local labels backed by some excellent musicians and guitarists. (thanks to Gérard Herzhaft for these infos)
As for Jesse Lorenzo Belvin, born in 1932 in San Antonio, and relocated at age 5 in Los Angeles, he was a singer, pianist and songwriter popular in the 1950s until his success was cut short by his death in a car crash in 1960 in Arkansas at the age of 27 (another victim of the 27-year-old malediction).
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→ The Sonny Boy Williamson featured here is John Lee Curtis Williamson, a blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, known as Sonny Boy Williamson I. His popular songs, original or adapted, include "Good Morning, School Girl", "Sugar Mama", "Early in the Morning", "Stop Breaking Down"... Born in 1914 in Jackson (Tennessee), he died in 1948 in Chicago after a street mugging in the notorious South Side.
He must not be confused with Aleck "Rice" Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II, born in Mississippi between 1894 and 1904 and dead in 1965, who always affirmed being the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson though it was most likely a "commercial" trick.
→ Juke Boy Barner is of course another recording identity of the more renowned Texas bluesman Juke Boy Bonner. Born Weldon H. Philip Bonner in 1932 in Bellville (Texas), he played guitar in the juke-joints and bars of Houston as a one-man band using a harmonica rack. Much of his output was recorded in the Texas blues style and has a distinct down home flavor similar to that of Lightnin' Hopkins. In 1956 he went to Oakland (California) and recorded his first single for the Irma label with Lafayette "Thing" Thomas on lead guitar. It is the A-side of this single, "Rock with Me Baby", which is on this album. In 1960, Bonner recorded for Goldband Records in Lake Charles (Louisiana) with Katie Webster on piano. By the end of the 1960s, he recorded in a one-man guitar-harmonica configuration for Arhoolie Records, singing personal tales of his rough life in Houston. After a few European tours that didn't make him any richer, he spent the end of his life working in a chicken processing plant to make ends meet. He died of liver cirrhosis in 1978 in Houston. (thanks to Bill Dahl from allmusic.com for some of the infos)
→ Clifford King was a rhythm & blues performer, which we would have easily guessed, but no further information seems to be available.
→ Jesse (or Jessie) Pipkin And Band : all we know is that this rhythm & blues band recorded two titles for Noble Records in Los Angeles in 1958, one of them being this album's "Work With It".
→ Emright would be Emright Holman, from the duo Emright & Mattie, but we didn't manage to learn more about him/them, except that the B-side of "One Of These Days" is a song titled "That Minute There With You " and credited to Emright & Mattie. The same "One Of These Days" is also featured on the 4-CD Collection "Down Home Blues: New York, Cincinnati & The North Eastern States : Tough Enough".
→ The Richard Brothers, Robert and Howard, were both blues guitarists from Georgia. Robert, born in Cartersville in 1924, learned the guitar and the harmonica with his uncle, a quite famous bootlegger who had troubles with the Chicago Mafia ! Like a lot of other southerners, the two brothers moved up north to Detroit to work in the automobile industry in 1942. Robert and Howard, himself a good singer and guitarist, quickly became a steady performing duo in the Detroit's Hastings Street clubs. Robert acquired a strong reputation with his powerful harmonica style largely derived from Sonny Boy Williamson I. He worked with Walter Mitchell (L. C. Green's cousin), pianist Boogie Woogie Red and as a permanent member of the Bobo Jenkins band. After blues started to lose interest from the Afro-American public in the 1960's and the Hastings Street clubs were deserted, Robert gave up music. He was rediscovered by George Paulus who recorded him in 1975 and 1977 for an excellent all acoustic LP. But this album sold badly and the Richard brothers drifted into definite in obscurity. Their 1959 version of "Drunk Driver's Coming" was originally released by the Detroit label Strate 8, a Fortune Records subsidiary, and also appears on the second volume of the Koko Mojo Records 4-CD Collection "Motorvatin'".
→ John Lee, born John Arthur Lee in 1915 in Mt. Willing (Alabama), learned his distinctive knife slide guitar style from his uncle, Ellie Lee, and spent the 1930s playing juke-joints and house parties before settling in Montgomery (Alabama) in 1945. There he recorded five songs for Federal Records in July 1951, of which two are on this album ("Baby Please Don't Go" and "Down at the Depot") as well as on "Eastern and Gulf Coast States–Post War Blues Vol.3" released in 1966. In 1973-1974, he cut an album for Rounder Records (unissued on CD). He died in Montgomery in October 1977. ■
Acknowledgments
● Gérard Herzhaft : https://jukegh.blogspot.com & https://grardherzhaft.wordpress.com
● Bill Dahl from AllMusic : https://www.allmusic.com
● Steve Leggett, from Rovi.
They're apparently also quite obscure to the RootsAndRhythm.com guys who signed the presentation above and most likely didn't listen to the album with much attention… if they listened to it at all ! Not only are they unable to write some of the songs titles properly, but they mix up some artists . For example they wrote : "Eddie Burns echoes Sonny Boy #1 on his Hello Jessie Lee." The problem is that the song precise title is "Hello Miss Jessie Lee". This could pass for a simple careless omission but they mix up Sonny Boy Williams with Sonny Boy Williamson I although they are two different musicians, which is more disturbing !
→ Little Sam Davis, a singer and harmonica player, was born in 1928 in Winona (Mississippi). He's known to have played in The Levon Helm Band (LH being an ex-member of The Band). He died in 2018 in Middletown, New York. "Going Back Down to New Orleans" was originally recorded in 1953 with Earl Hooker.
→ Freddy King, better known as Freddie King, is a famous Texas bluesman. Born Freddie Christian in 1934 in Gilmer (Texas), he moved to Chicago in 1949, cutting his first record as a leader in 1956. The rest is history. He died in 1976 in Dallas.
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| Hooker & Harris |
→ Henry Smith, blues singer and guitarist, first recorded for Fortune Records in Detroit (Michigan) in 1954, as Henry Smith and His Blue Flames. "Good Rocking Mama" features Henry Smith on vocal & guitar, Eddie Burns on harmonica, Calvin Frazer on guitar and Washboard Willie on… washboard. This song also appears on the "Detroit, The Post War Blues Volume 5" compilation issued in Great Britain in 1968. Sessions followed during the 1950s for JVB, Dot and Chess (though the latter was never released). Not to be mistaken for the British country & western singer-songwriter of the same name. ;-)
→ J&J Deuces : these two Js are strictly unknown...
→ Albert & Charles : no info is available about this mysterious duo except that they would be two brothers or cousins , Charles & Albert Bedeaux, and recorded the song featured on this album with Gus Jenkins and his Orchestra for Pioneer Records. Their French sounding name might indicate they were from Louisiana, but it's just conjecture...
→ Harvey Hill Jr. and His String Band were probably active in Detroit. His song "She Fool Me" is also featured in two collections : "Down Home Blues Classics, Chicago & Detroit 1948-1953 - High & Lonesome" and Vol. 2 of "Down Home Blues - Detroit Special".
Bud Harper, sometimes nicknamed "Big" Bud Harper, was a San Antonio mainstay in the late 1950s and 1960s, appearing locally with groups like Mike and the Bel-Airs, band leader saxophonist Vernon "Spot" Barnett and even Doug Sahm. He recorded a handful of 45s in the Bobby Bland's style for local labels backed by some excellent musicians and guitarists. (thanks to Gérard Herzhaft for these infos)
As for Jesse Lorenzo Belvin, born in 1932 in San Antonio, and relocated at age 5 in Los Angeles, he was a singer, pianist and songwriter popular in the 1950s until his success was cut short by his death in a car crash in 1960 in Arkansas at the age of 27 (another victim of the 27-year-old malediction).
.jpg)
He must not be confused with Aleck "Rice" Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II, born in Mississippi between 1894 and 1904 and dead in 1965, who always affirmed being the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson though it was most likely a "commercial" trick.
→ Jesse (or Jessie) Pipkin And Band : all we know is that this rhythm & blues band recorded two titles for Noble Records in Los Angeles in 1958, one of them being this album's "Work With It".
→ Emright would be Emright Holman, from the duo Emright & Mattie, but we didn't manage to learn more about him/them, except that the B-side of "One Of These Days" is a song titled "That Minute There With You " and credited to Emright & Mattie. The same "One Of These Days" is also featured on the 4-CD Collection "Down Home Blues: New York, Cincinnati & The North Eastern States : Tough Enough".
Acknowledgments
● Gérard Herzhaft : https://jukegh.blogspot.com & https://grardherzhaft.wordpress.com
● Bill Dahl from AllMusic : https://www.allmusic.com
● Steve Leggett, from Rovi.
● For comparison, "Come Back Baby" by Jesse Belvin : https://youtu.be/ZkM6hchdYvk
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| Freddie King |
Videos
● Freddie King in 1966 : https://youtu.be/buS-IdZzmwg
● Big Joe Williams, "She Left Me A Mule To Ride", 1966 : https://youtu.be/WM-ebiCuVpo
● Big Joe Williams at Puistoblues, Finland, 1980 : https://youtu.be/NJycar0jigc
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