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| "Philadelphia" Jerry Ricks |
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| "Mississippi" John Hurt |
Nearly as much as those he approached during the 1960s blues revival while working as booking manager at the renowned Second Fret Coffee House in Philadelphia. There, in addition to Hurt, he met and got soaked in the musical style of most of the greatest country bluesmen of the time : Son House, Rev. Gary Davis, Skip James, Jesse Fuller, Sleepy John Estes, Lightnin' Hopkins, Brownie McGhee, Mance Lipscomb, Furry Lewis, Libba Cotten, Bukka White…
He played and recorded with Hurt as second guitarist, first in July 1964 on “If You Don't Want Me Baby” featured on the album “Mississippi John Hurt Today!” taped in July 1964 in New York; then a month later when he was called up on stage (as well as John Sebastian) by Hurt at the 1964 Philadelphia Folk Festival, a concert that was audio-recorded (see the Videos section below). His admiration for Hurt is evident : on the mere two albums presented here, he covers three songs Hurt used to play.
Later he also performed with Son House on the CBS “Camera Three” TV show featuring House and Buddy Guy in 1968 (unfortunately he is off camera on stage). Ricks is also featured on many country blues US compilations.
“Deep In The Well” is his first “American” opus, but he had already recorded a good dozen albums earlier in Europe (ex-Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy) where he had relocated around 1971, wandering through different countries. Among this dozen, eight were collaborations with his elder accomplice, Austrian multi-instrumentalist jazz musician Oscar Klein, who was born in 1930, ten years before Ricks, and was a passionate of old swing and Dixie jazz. Ricks was also featured on several European blues compilations.
Ricks is on acoustic guitar and does the singing while Klein plays electric guitar in an appealing jazz style, trumpet and flute. To be honest, I couldn't figure out on which title he is supposed to have played flute, but instead he most likely blew a harmonica on one track though he isn't credited nowhere for that (read below).
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| Oscar Klein & Jerry Ricks |
After a cover of Willie Dixon's “I Am Your Hoochie Coochie Man” in a definite Delta style, the pair engages in a long list of their own four-hand compositions, except “Frankie” and the closing track “Ain't She Sweet”.
“J & K Rag” is what the title announces : an instrumental retro rag played in clean Piedmont finger style by Ricks, Klein soloing on guitar in a jazzy mood. Next comes one of the most exciting tracks of the album, the lively country blues “Pistol Slappin' Mama”. The album notes mention Ricks on the fine jazzy blues solo, meaning Klein would be on acoustic guitar this time.
Delta sound again for “Johnny Mae” by Ricks alone, strumming hard his Martin and singing. On “One For Pee Wee”, Klein makes his trumpet sound as mellow as a saxophone. The association guitar-trumpet is taking the listener by surprise but the result is as nice as it is original. With the deeply moving cover of “Frankie”, Ricks is alone on guitar and vocals to pay a soulful tribute to his mentor Mississippi John Hurt, who used to play the song regularly.
“Boogie In The Rough” is unique : Klein's trumpet suddenly bursts in and transforms a boogie into an early New Orleans jazz with a jug band flavor. Excellent ! And on “Trouble In Mind”, Klein's wah-wah trumpet sounds like Armstrong is in the studio ! The ragtime “Mezz And Tommy” that mixes Ricks neat Piedmont finger style with Klein's jazz guitar, is another highlight of the album.
On the short but thrilling “Stuttgart Rag”, Klein is absent and Ricks Piedmont finger style mastery explodes in a powerful way. Skilled slide guitar playing too on the version of “Sittin' On Top Of The World” : Ricks sounds like he's wrestling with his Martin, almost mistreating the poor instrument. Ricks is credited for the jazzy guitar solo on the outstanding final “Ain't She Sweet”, a deliciously throw-back ragtime where Klein has switched to the acoustic guitar. When the album ends you just long for more music of that kind, much more
“Deep In The Well”, recorded in 1996 in Clarksdale and released the following year, is a collection of 14 acoustic country blues, nine of them written (or for a few, adapted) by Ricks. The cover picture was shot at the famous Dockery Farm, a high historical place of the Delta blues where legends passed through or lived and worked, such as Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Son House, Howlin’ Wolf, “Honeyboy” Edwards, “Pops” Staples…
The tracklist features covers of Hurt's “Avalon Blues” (re-baptized “New Avalon” by Ricks), Rev. Gary Davis (“Gary Davis Medley”), Brownie McGhee (“Born With The Blues”), “James Alley Blues” (from one Richard Brown) and adaptations of old traditionals like “New Pallet On The Floor” (a song so closely linked to Hurt that many think he wrote it) and the gospel “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” as well as a self cover of “Empty Bottle Blues”, already featured on Ricks earlier album of the same name recorded ten years before in Hungary.
His adaptation of “New Pallet On The Floor” and of the outstanding “New Avalon” on slide shows the deep admiration he had for John Hurt. So much so that his version of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” sounds like a song from the man from Avalon. There is a true melancholic atmosphere in this outstanding touching and hypnotizing album that was recorded straight to tape without any post-prod tricks.In 2007 Ricks returned to Europe with his wife and settled in Rijeka (Croatia), a town close to the Adriatic coast where he quickly became a popular figure. Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke that same year, most likely due to a cerebral tumor, and despite medical treatment, died in December 2007. He was “just” 67… From 2008, his memory is kept alive by the Jerry Ricks Blues Festival, the biggest blues festival in Croatia. ■
► 1980 - With Oscar Klein : Low Light Blues
► 1983 - With Giulio Camarca : Been There Before
► 1990 - With Oscar Klein : Blues Panorama, Vol. 2Videos
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| Ricks on stage with Hurt during the 1964 Philadelphia Folk Festival |
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| In France with Michel Lelong |
→ “June Apple” (bluegrass) : https://youtu.be/VyAvy3FqBfk
■ The annual Jerry Ricks Blues Festival in Kastav, Croatia, not far from Rijeka where Ricks spent his last year
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