Answer to the January 2017 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for is/was Benjamin Joe "Bennie" Houston, born November 6, 1943, in Panola, Alabama-- an area known as the "Black Belt", because of its topsoil's richness. That is the "uplands area", which runs from East Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, and was the dominant cotton-producing area of the day. Bennie was the 9th. of eleven children. At the age of 4, he was given a guitar by his brother Earle, who was leaving for military service. He learned to play it by age 6. In 1962, after his graduation from high school, he moved to Chicago to join his brothers "Sweetman"(Elijah), Milton and Nathaniel, who were performing under the name "Sweetman and The Sugar Boys". He was immediately brought into the group. Sometime after his joining, his brother Nathaniel, on his way home after a gig on the South Side, was killed in an automobile accident. The remaining brothers, being superstitious, broke up the band, vowing never to play together again, so they would not all perish together. Bennie performed after that under the name "Dog Man", for a period. On finding out that that name was already being used by another performer, he switched his performing name to one that was a fictional character, a jewel thief and bank robber in the periodicals of an earlier time-- "Boston Blackie". Those stories, first published in 1914, were written by a man named Jack Boyle, whose pen-name was "No.6066", as he was in prison at the time, once for bad checks and later for robbery. Anyhow, Blackie, influenced by his brother Milton, improved his playing by sitting in with notables, such as Johnny B Moore, Lee "Shot" Williams, Little Milton (Campbell), Magic Sam (Maghett), Otis Rush, Freddy King (sometimes spelled Freddie), Kansas City Red (Arthur Lee Stevenson), Homesick James (Williamson), Little Walter (Jacobs), Hubert Sumlin (long time guitarist in Howlin' Wolf's band), and Jimmy "Fast Fingers" Dawkins. Blackie played at most of the West Side venues at one time or another. On the weekends, together with Necktie Nate (who later owned one of those clubs), he would play at the corners of Pulaski and Roosevelt Streets. Blackie was extremely dark-skinned, and Nate, joking with the fans/crowd, would offer $5.00 to anyone who was "blacker than Blackie"--- they never had to pay!! On July 11th.,1993, at around 1:00 AM, at a stage set up in a vacant lot on West 5th. Street, Boston Blackie, during an argument with one of his band members and friend of about 30 years, was shot in the eye with a .38 revolver. That friend, James Yancey "Taildragger" Jones, and Blackie had been, for sometime, arguing about money that Jones felt he was shorted for their performance at the Chicago Blues Festival in May. Jones claimed it was self-defense and that Blackie "had pulled a knife on him". Jones was charged with 1st. degree murder. I've found different records of the actual charges in his conviction. One indicates he was convicted of 2nd. degree murder. Another shows him being convicted of manslaughter. As he served 17 months in jail, the latter is probably correct. Taildragger is still performing and recording. By the way, he got that nickname from/by Howlin' Wolf because he often showed up late for gigs with "Wolf".

Blues Question For February 2017: This bluesman got his start, as did quite a few others, with a Christmas present. In his case, a harmonica, at the age of six. He would, later in life, meet a harmonicist who would give him lessons. He lived next door to a blues guitarist of some note, with whom he would perform and, later, record, while living in Chicago. He recorded only one album under his own name. Any idea who this bluesman is/was ??

Blues Trivia for February 2017: A man named Art Sheridan owned a record- pressing plant, Armour Plastics, in Chicago. He also owned American Record Distributors, located at 2011 South Michigan Avenue. He started the Chance Record Co. label in August of 1950, and opened for business in September. It started out as a 78 rpm only label. He got into trouble with the musician's union and in August of 1951 through May of 1952, he lost his license to be able to record any union musicians. For every problem, there's a solution, so to keep the business going, he started to record gospel groups and musicians, as, at that time, they were not in the union. Late in 1952, he added 45 rpm records to his offerings. Once his "ban" was lifted, he moved the record company and distribution operations to 1151 East 47th. Street. Being a businessman, Art made some deals to press/release records made by some of the smaller companies, though he did do some for Chess. One of the recordings of one of the small labels, ORA-NELL, was by a man named Little Walter J. That recording was originally done in 1947. It featured Little Walter J(acobs) on harmonica, Othum Brown on guitar, and a second guitarist named Jimmy Rogers. The "A" side was "Ora-Nell Blues", which featured Brown on vocals. The "B" side was "Just Keep Loving Her", with Little Walter on vocals. That was the first recording of both Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers. Most people think Chance did the first recording of Little Walter. Wrong again. There was, however, one bluesman of note who DID do his first recordings (six sides) at Chance Records--- J.B. Hutto and the Hawks. Chance Records was closed down in December of 1954. Sheridan went on to become a silent partner in Vee-Jay Records, who were the first to  record Jimmy Reed. During Chance's short life, they recorded 360 sides and purchased/leased 44 more. Its subsidiary label, Meteor (not to be mistaken for the Bihari Brothers Meteor label), released 1. Another "spin-off" label, Sabre, released 9.

Some February Blues Passings:

• February 7th.,1961-- Noah Lewis
• February 12th.,2000- Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay"/"Jay" Hawkins
• February 26th.,1953-- Major "Maceo" Merriweather, aka "Big Maceo"   
  

Here we are-- a brand new year! Hope everyone had a good Christmas season and a safe beginning to the New Year, with, hopefully, more to follow!

Some January Blues Births:

• January 3rd.,1933-- Otillie Patterson
• January 19th.,1936-- Willie " Big Eyes " Smith
  
• January 31st.,1952-- Paul Joseph deLay

Answer to The December 2016 Blues Question: the bluesman we were looking for was/is Maynard Silva, born February 20th., 1951, in Oak Bluffs, a town, which has several communities, on the island known as Martha's Vineyard,  that is south of Cape Cod and is part of Massachusetts. At his birth, the family lived in the community of Vineyard Haven, where his father, Frank, worked at a gas station and managed the local cemetery. His mother, Mabel, worked at Vineyard Dry Goods. Maynard attended Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, from which he graduated in 1969. While still in that school, he met and then apprenticed with Peter Ortiz, a local sign painter. He had his musical interest peaked by his English teacher, Leroy Hazelton, who played a "Howlin' Wolf" record for him. Maynard would say in a later interview that that record and music scared him because it was so intense. He had only heard rock and roll before. Then he was further encouraged musically by his art teacher, Gene Baer, who was a boogie - woogie piano player, and explained music theory to Maynard. After graduation he entered Lindenwood College, near St. Louis. Not finding the blues scene he wanted, he travelled down-river to Memphis on weekends, where he would spend time in the clubs on Beale Street. He quit college to play blues in Memphis, which was the start of his career, around 1972, which is when he met and performed with Bukka White. From then on he was playing professionally, and touring extensively, performing with bluesmen such as Buddy Guy, J.B.Hutto, and Rick Danko. Sadly, as has happened to many musicians, he became an addict during this period. By the late 1980's he quit touring and returned to the Vineyard, started a family, and worked as a sign painter. That marriage ended in divorce, and he raised his son, Milo, on his own. In 1998 he met his second wife, a local artist, Basia Jaworski. They were married in 2007. During those years he still played local gigs and helped others to learn the music craft, as he was a great slide guitar player, as well as harmonica. He was known across the country by his usual performing outfit-- a top hat and red, high-top sneakers and the ever-present National steel guitar. He played and sang from the gut, as did the early bluesmen, not like some of today's players, who play from the head and the bank. Maynard passed away on July 16th., 2008, after a three year battle with cancer. He was 57.

January 2017 Blues Question: this bluesman had mastered the guitar by the age of 6. Born in Alabama, he migrated to Chicago to be with three of his brothers. He took his best-known stage name from a fictional character. He learned from and performed with at least twelve different big names in the Chicago blues clubs. He was only 49 years old when he passed. Any idea who this bluesman is/was??

Blues Trivia for January 2017: over the years, the music recording business in Chicago has been steady, good for some, not so good for others. Some labels have been around for a long time, while others have been/ were short-lived. One of those short-lived ones was Chief Records and its subsidiaries Profile and Age Records. They operated from 1957 to 1964. It was founded by a 25 year old R & B entrepreneur named Mel London ( 4-9-1932 / 5-16-1975). One of his main assets was a session man he had by the name of Earl Hooker, who worked closely with him. Hooker, who was recognized as one of the best blues guitarists in the Chicago area, was involved in over a dozen recording sessions. His playing was featured in at least 40 titles and over 25 singles. Twelve of those were released under his own name, with the rest showing him as a sideman for others, including Amos "Junior" Wells, A.C.Reed, Lillian Offitt, and Ricky Allen. Some of the other artists who recorded on the three different labels were Elmore James, Magic Sam (Maghett), Otis Rush, John Lee Hooker (as a sideman), and Johnny "Big Moose" Walker. Following some financial problems, the Chief and Profile labels were discontinued in late 1961. The Age label lasted until 1964. The trivia part is that on May 3rd.,1961, Earl Hooker recorded an instrumental blues (now a blues staple), called "Blue Guitar", with A.C.Reed on tenor sax, "Big Moose" Walker on organ, Lafayette Leake on piano, Earnest Johnson on bass, and Bobby Little on drums. Lo and behold, on June 27th., 1962, Muddy Waters "overdubbed" his vocal onto that track and re-named it "You Shook Me", and then released it. And, like most, you thought it was an original!! By the way, I also found a spot where someone credited it to Willie Dixon.

Some January Blues Passings:

• January 3rd., 1970-- James Moore, aka "Harmonica Slim" and "Slim Harpo"
• January 22nd., 1982-- "Tee" Tommy Tucker (remember the song Hi Heel Sneakers on the Checker label ?)
• January 30th., 2013-- Ann Rabson, one member of the group "Saffire-- The Uppity Blueswomen"