Jelly Roll Kings - Off Yonder Wall (1971/1997)

► The album

Princes of the electric Delta blues

Arkansas wins 2 to 1 against Mississippi with this amazing album by an amazing trio ! Frost and Carr were born in Arkansas, Johnson being the sole Mississippian by birth. But all three have the soul of the Delta in their music even if the album was recorded in Louisiana. A nice little geographical trip around the Golden Triangle of the blues ! (see map below)

Carr was born Samuel Lee McCollum in 1926 and actually was the natural son of Robert Lee McCollum better known as bluesman Robert Nighthawk. He was adopted as a baby by the Carr family from Arkansas, in this other Delta-like fertile plain just across the Mississippi river on the west bank.

Frank Frost

Frank Otis Frost was born in 1936 or 1938 probably in Patterson, in north-east Arkansas, but left at age 15 for St Louis where a few years later he met and joined Carr and Nighthawk, touring with them as guitarist, them joining Sonny Boy Williamson II band for several years, learning to play harmonica with the boss. Later he rejoined Carr and they played together until the early 1960s.

Jack N. Johnson known as "Big Jack" Johnson was born in 1939 or 1940 in Lambert, Mississippi, some 20 km east of Clarksdale. He started to play music with his father Ellis Johnson who was a cotton sharecropper, and later with different local musicians, adopting the electric guitar in his late teens. He was also nicknamed "The Oil Man", because of his day job as a truck driver for Shell Oil, and later played with a band baptized The Oilers.

Big Jack Johnson

Johnson met Frost and Carr, who had been playing together for several years, in Clarksdale in 1962. The three musicians formed a trio band. Here things get a bit obscure : some information state that this band was baptized the Jelly Roll Kings from the beginning; others say the band's name was the Night Hawks (nothing to do with Jimmy Thackery's ex-band), and that it was Michael Frank, founder of Earwig Music Records, who invited them to record as the Jelly Roll Kings in 1979. The problem is that "Off Yonder Wall" was recorded at Christmas 1970 and originally released the following year under the name Jelly Roll Kings by the small independent label Ahura Mazda Records !

Nevertheless, Night Hawks or Jelly Roll Kings, this is a great album featuring some jewels that shouldn't be missed : the very personal cover of Crudup's "That's Alright Mama" (where did Johnson get such a guitar sound ?!); the hilarious "Have Mercy Baby" where the outstanding instrument is Johnson's ( ?) mad crying bursts; and the two deadly rolling boogies "Baby Please Don't Go" totally transformed by the incredible hypnotic shuffle rhythm of Frost on his organ and Johnson slide style, and "I'm A Big Boy Now", a killing piece of pure Hill Country style where Johnson lets his guitar get mad, seconded by the obscure Terry Jackson on additional guitar.

The other tracks are not bad either ! Johnson's incredible guitar sound, Frost amazing organ playing and Carr's clockwork drum beat show that these three knew all the tricks of their trade and were able to do anything they wanted with their instruments.

Sam Carr

Steve Leggett described perfectly their musical style on AllMusic , observing that their "music remained the same stripped-down, no-frills version of juke joint blues that reimported the Chicago blues format back to the Delta and gave it a swampy spin".

Maybe were they Jelly Roll Kings, but most of all they were princes of electric Delta country blues, setting a path for many bluesmen to come. I use the past tense because all three have disappeared, but fortunately not before each put out interesting post-JRK albums : Frost died in 1999, Carr in 2009, and Johnson in 2011. ■

Some Jelly Roll (Kings or not) albums (audio)

● Frank Frost  - Jelly Roll Blues (1991) : https://youtu.be/MYqqWOljxZ0
→ 01. My back scratcher. 02. Never live me at home. 03. Harpin' on it. 04. Things you do. 05. Feel good babe. 06. Pocket full of money. 07. Ride with your daddy tonight. 08. Got my mojo working. 09. Harp and soul. 10. Didn't mean no harm. 11. Pretty baby. 12. Five long years. 13. Janie on my mind.

● Jelly Roll Kings - Rockin' the Juke Joint Down (1993) : https://youtu.be/E6BFlqd75Ew
→ Frank Frost : harmonica, organ, piano, vocals on #1, 4, 6, 7, 10 & 14.Big Jack Johnson : guitar vocals on #2, 8, 10 & 12). Sam Carr : drums.
Time code: 0:00 I Didn't Know, 3:56 Road Of Love, 8:26 Soul Love, 11:30 Mighty Long Time, 15:28 Honeydrippin' Boogie, 20:13 Something On Your Mind, 24:44 Jelly Roll King, 27:01 Catfish Blues, 30:52 Cleo's Back, 35:26 Slop Jar Blues, 37:39 Jelly Roll Stroll, 40:03 Have Mercy Baby, 44:10 Sunshine Twist (You Are My Sunshine), 46:30 Just A Dream (Just A Feeling), 51:37 Burnt Biscuits.

● Frank Frost & Sam Carr - The Jelly Roll Kings (1999) : https://youtu.be/b0Q5xZZih9I
→ Frank Frost  : lead vocal, harp, piano. Sam Carr : drums, lead vocal. Fred James : guitar, bass.
01. Lets Go Out Tonight 3:02 - 02. It's Cold Outdoors 4:07 - 03. Jelly Roll Kings 2:35 - 04. Love I Have Is True 3:01 - 05. Helena Hop 3:22 - 06. Sittin' On Daddy's Knee 4:41 - 07. You Took All My Dough 2:51 - 08. Baby Please 4:39 - 09. Mess Around 4:07 - 10. Will It Be You 4:28 - 11. Owl Head Woman 3:45 - 12. Done With Me 2:16

● Frank Frost & Sam Carr - The Last Of The Jelly Roll Kings (2007) : https://youtu.be/lxo1bdTWSNM
01. Better Take It Slow 3:12, 02. Hey Baby 5:13, 03. Keep Things Right 3:16, 04. Done With You 3:20, 05. Owl Head Woman Part 2 3:53, 06. Don't Do That 5:32, 07. Jelly Roll King 2:37, 08. Rock Me Baby 2:57, 09. Come Here Baby 2:34, 10. St. Louis Serenade 3:13, 11. How Many Times 5:14, 12. Black Cat Bone 3:08, 13. Midnight Prowler 3:55, 14. King Biscuit Blues 5:39, 15. Arkansas Shuffle 3:21.
This album is a false new one: it comprises the remaining alternate and out-takes (#1 to 10) from the 1997 sessions, originally released as The Jelly Roll Kings in 1999, and a few live tracks (#11 to 15) from the 1993 King Biscuit Blues Festival.

Live videos

► Terry "Big T" Williams talks about Sam Carr, 2020 : https://youtu.be/Js-voZgvTlw

► Jelly Roll Kings
● Live at Margaret's Blue Diamonds Lounge, Clarksdale (on a Spanish speaking TV), 1991 : https://youtu.be/U0_BmHd7QQA (from 39:30 to 1 :40 :00)
● At the King Biscuit Blues Festival, Helena (Arkansas) :
→ 1 : https://youtu.be/BSu7madedco
→ 2 : https://youtu.be/XBEMJmMOvAU

► Big Jack Johnson
● "Catfish Blues" : https://youtu.be/Hp0el4AjQro or https://youtu.be/FqmduLKdrYw
● "Daddy, When is Mama Comin' Home" : https://youtu.be/23JfvNrAGK0 or https://youtu.be/OjCdaGQJwoU
● At Buddy Guy Legend's, 1997 : https://youtu.be/7wuwEMhMtAI
● In Baltimore, 1997 : https://youtu.be/XkR-7wGV4V4
● At the Torrita Blues Fest., Torrita di Siena (Italy), 1998 : https://youtu.be/0CzMcac3tD4
● Big Jack Johnson and the Oilers at the Suoni dal Mondo Fest. (Italy), 1999 : https://youtu.be/p0EsIdO6c1o
● At the Curry Ranch, Venice (Florida), 1999 : https://youtu.be/m2D0vsqKI3E
● Big Jack Johnson and The Oilers (Christopher Dean : guitar /vocals - Maury "Hooter" Saslaff : bass - Chet Woodward : drums - Dick Lourie : sax) at The Big Easy, Portland (Maine), 1997 : https://youtu.be/TcLPrHenWG8
● Big Jack Johnson and The Oilers (Christopher Dean : guitar/vocals, Hooter Saslaff : bass, Dale Wise : drums), Youngstown (Ohio), 1998 : https://youtu.be/eABoo3hIak0
● Accepting a new Gibson 335 from Morgan Freeman at the Red's Lounge Juke Joint, Clarksdale : https://youtu.be/IsfzbPi3GLE & https://youtu.be/1nqXO4263HQ
● In Lancaster (Pennsylvania), 2008 :
→ Part 1 : https://youtu.be/oN3LuVjUuA0
→ Part 2 : https://youtu.be/zIVqsXH4iJk

► Frank Frost and/or Sam Carr

Sam Carr

● Frank Frost & Sam Carr at the King Biscuit Blues Fest., 1995 :
→ 1995 : https://youtu.be/mIIXJtYSvoc
→ Date unknown : https://youtu.be/n9z7f-KDd-g or https://youtu.be/CXqxPYwByS4

● Frank Frost, Sam Carr & T-Model Ford, Arkansas State University, 1995 : https://youtu.be/gB4T-6Upbd0

Frank Frost

● Frank Frost at the Chicago Blues Festival, 1997 :
→ 1 : https://youtu.be/BlxSqH2Z-Vg
→ 2 : https://youtu.be/XsuQAg9MtSw

The Golden Triangle of the blues

Frank Frost's grave

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