Some February Blues Births:
- February 8th.,1929-- Floyd "Skeet" Dixon, aka "Mr. Magnificent" (some sources say birth name was Jay Riggins Jr.)
- February, 16th.,1946-- Marvin Sease
- February 24th.,1950-- George Thorogood
Answer To The January 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Luther Tucker, born January 20th.,1936, in Memphis, Tennessee. His father, who was a carpenter, made him his first guitar. His first store- bought guitar, a Sears Silvertone, was given to him by his mother, as a way to keep him out of trouble. His mother, a boogie- woogie style piano player, would later introduce him to Big Bill Broonzy and Robert Lockwood Jr.. From those intro's, Tucker became Lockwood's student, much like our own Cleveland Fats (Mark Hahn) and Jerome Freeman did. When you listen to Luther's playing, though his style is his own, you can hear Lockwood's influences. When Luther's family moved from Memphis to Chicago in 1945, some of his friends in his teenage years were Freddie King, Otis Rush, and Magic Sam (Maghett). In '52 he started performing with his uncle, John Thomas "J.T.", "Boogie" Brown. Since he was now in Chicago, he got back together with Lockwood (Luther was 16 at the time). Robert, being in the Musician's Union and strong supporter of it, asked if they would allow Tucker to play in the blues clubs, if he, Robert, would take responsibility as the guardian of the 16 year old. Robert would play lead guitar, and Luther played bass on a down- tuned 6 string, since the Fender bass wasn't yet invented, and he'd sometimes play rhythm guitar. The pair worked, off and on, for seven years, with Little Walter. Tucker went on to record as lead guitarist on many of the classic blues recordings of Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Rogers, Snooky Pryor, and Otis Rush. When he later moved to California, he also worked with John Lee Hooker, Robben Ford, and Elvin Bishop. In the mid to late '60's, he worked in Muddy Waters' band, along with James Cotton. In '68 a "cooperative" band was put together, with Luther on guitar, Sam Lay on drums, Bobby Anderson on bass, Alberto Gianquinto on piano, and James Cotton on harmonica and vocals. At their first gig, the announcer asked them what the band's name was, and one of them replied "the James Cotton Blues Band". Between that start and 1973, the band travelled and performed from the West Coast to the East Coast, and then on to Great Britain, Europe, and several other countries. In '73, Luther left the band and moved to San Anselmo (Spanish for "Saint Anselm"), California, where he started his own band. Once there, he also worked with John Lee Hooker's band, L.C. (Louis Charles) "Good Rockin' " Robinson, Elvin Bishop, and the Grayson Street Houserockers. He was a house musician at Antone's in Austin, Texas. He would also perform backup with visiting friends, such as Fenton Robinson, Freddie King, and Jimmy Reed. Sadly, he passed away on June 18, 1993, in Greenbrae, California, of a heart attack.
Blues Question For February 2023: This bluesman is not real well- known, as he's seldom out in front of the big name players. He is well thought of by other bluesmen, and respected for his abilities. Been around a long time, and recorded with many leaders. I know, not much info for you with which to work, but that's all part of the fun in this. Any idea on who or what this player might do or be ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For February 2023: The song is "Rough Dried Woman", and the artist is "Big Mac", believed to be Willie McNeal, b 1901, d 7/18/1972, a truck driver by profession, out of Arkansas. The base for this was one of four instrumentals by Howlin' Wolf's band members in '63, featuring Hubert Sumlin on lead guitar, Eddie "Playboy" Taylor on guitar, Little Johnny Jones on piano, and Willie Williams on drums. The Big Mac vocal was over- dubbed later by Don Clay, a Chicago record man, who owned the Dawn label. If you see a copy of it on vinyl, you'll notice that the writing credit is by (B.)Earle,(Don) Clay, (Willie) Williams. Yes, it's the drummer on the record. If you listen to it, you might want to lower your volume a bit -- this is not a "blues shouter", it's a "blues screamer". The recording was leased to Stan Lewis, owner of the Jewel, Paula, and Ronn labels, out of Shreveport, Louisiana, who released it there, and it was a hit in the area, before it went national. The flip side of both releases following is the original instrumental version by Wolf's band members. The Ronn records version is # R-8. It was also released on the Dawn label, # 102, both in '66 (other sources say '67). Yes, it's been covered by others, including Magic Slim and Charlie Musselwhite. Whatever, just hang on & listen ! Enjoy !
Blues Trivia For February 2023: Stan Lewis set up Stan's Music Shop in Shreveport, Louisiana, the town in which he was born. Over the years, it grew into 6 locations, over 200 employees, and a huge mail order business. In '72, the business sold over 2.5 million singles, and 470,000 albums. In '64, he had started Jewel Records, to record and sell some local talent, along with some national artists. Here's some trivia: he, shortly after starting the Jewel label, he started two subsidiaries of it: Paula, named for his wife Pauline, and Ronn, named after his brother, Ronnie. Another little bit of trivia: some of his earliest customers at his original record shop were Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and Buddy Holly. He had an employee at the record store, Dale Hawkins. You might remember his hit song from '57, "Susie Q", which was to honor Lewis' daughter Susan. That original store was about 10' x 12', and before too many years, Lewis owned and used the whole block it was on, to expand.
Some February Blues Passings:
- February 5th.,1997-- Robert "Big Mojo" Elam
- February 16th.,1991-- Robert L. Geddins
- February 10th.,2015-- Calvin Jackson, the drummer, not the piano player.
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