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Joe's Blues Blog April 2015

3/28/2015

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 Some April Blues Births:

  • April 1,1895—Alberta Hunter, aka May Alix, Josephine Beatty, or Helen Robert
  • April 15,1936—Johnny Fuller
  • April 28, 1940—Phillip “Phil” Guy, Buddy’s brother
 Answer to the March 2015 Blues Question: The blueswoman we were looking for is/was “Little” Laura Ella Dukes, also sometimes known as “Little Bit”. The nickname came from the fact that she was 4 feet, 7 inches tall. She worked as a child singer, at around age 6, with Laura Smith in local theaters in Memphis, Tennessee, where she was born. She worked in tent shows and amusement parks as a singer/dancer in Arkansas, Texas and Illinois from about age 21. She met then learned guitar from Robert Nighthawk (born Robert Lee McCollum) and then performed with him in local juke joints in East St. Louis, Illinois. She then went on to tour and perform with the Will Batts South Memphis Jug Band throughout Mississippi, Arkansas, and Indiana. She recorded with the Will Batts Novelty Band in Cleveland, Ohio around 1954. Along the way, she taught herself to also play the banjo, ukulele, and mandolin. She also performed on riverboats out of Memphis and festivals in Tennessee and Kentucky. She passed away on October 14th. 1992, in Memphis. Her gravestone, in the Melton Cemetery, shows the date as being the 10th. Which is incorrect according to all other records.

 Blues Trivia for April: last month’s trivia section focused on the Thomas family, which included George W.—senior and junior, Hersal, Hociel, and Sippie (Thomas) Wallace. I made note there that Sippie was a large influence to Bonnie Raitt. This month’s trivia is also in reference to Bonnie. This one is about the bluesman who taught her how to play slide guitar. That man is none other than Mississippi Fred McDowell. He taught himself guitar at around 14 years of age. He would go on to record on at least 17 different record labels throughout his career. He also appeared in several films, all of which, of course, were related to or featuring blues performances. He toured/ performed at blues festivals all over the U.S.A., from the south to the north and from the east to the west The one U.S.A. festival that I have to mention is the Notre Dame Blues Festival(s) of 1970 and 1971, only because, and this is on a personal note, one of my 3 sons (Brian) attended and graduated, with a master’s degree, from there. Anyhow, I digress. Fred also toured/ played all over Europe. The trivia part is that at many festivals, both here and abroad, after he was on stage, seated, and ready to perform, he would do a self- introduction. It was simple and well-said: “My name is Mississippi Fred McDowell and I do not play no rock and roll!” The next time you go out on a Friday or Saturday night or a blues festival to hear some live blues, think about that statement. If it’s a typical “bar band” cranking out 120 or 130 decibels of sound off the stage, it isn’t blues. It’s about one click away from somewhere between heavy metal and hard rock. If you have followed the blues for awhile you know that the Chicago “amplified” blues was so that the people could hear the music over the normal sounds of a busy club or juke, not make it difficult to have a conversation or drown out all sound for a 3-block area.

 Some April Blues Passings:

·  April 3, 1960—Joe Bennie Pugh aka Forrest City Joe
·  April 15, 2008—Sean Costello
·  April 28, 1984—Moses “Whispering” Smith

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March blues blog page 2

3/6/2015

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March 2015 Blues Trivia: If anyone is a fan of Bonnie Raitt, you should know that one of her main influences of her career was a lady by the name of Sippie Wallace. She was born Beulah Thomas, one of the thirteen children of George Washington Thomas Sr. and Fanny Bradley. Beulah got the nickname of Sippie because of sipping her food and would be best- known by that name for the rest of her life. She got the Wallace part of her name when, in 1917, she married Matt Wallace, a gambler. Born November 1st, 1898, in Plum Bayou, Arkansas. Shortly after that, the family moved to Houston, Texas, where her father was to become the deacon of the Shiloh Baptist Church. Sippie sang and played the organ in that church up to about age 12 At that age she moved to New Orleans to stay with her older brother, Goerge w. Thomas Jr., for a short time. She then moved back to Houston, where she stayed until 1923, when she then moved to Chicago. She stayed there until late in 1929, when she moved to Detroit, Michigan, which would be home for the rest of her life. Though living in Detroit, she did a considerable amount of recording in Chicago. Some of the people with whom she recorded with were Eddie Haywood, Clarence Williams, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Albert Ammons. While home in Detroit she also did some recording, but worked mostly outside the music field. She worked as a singer/ organist at the Leland Baptist Church from 1929 up into the 1970’s. Also while living in Detroit she served as director of National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, Inc., Chicago, forward from the mid-1930s. She met then toured and performed with Bonnie Raitt from the mid-1970’s into the 1980’s. Sadly, she passed away on November 1st.,1986, her 88th. birthday, in Detroit after suffering a massive stroke while performing at a concert/ festival in Germany. There are several parts of the trivia related to her. Two of her brothers, George Jr. and Hersal were composers and performers. Her niece, Hociel Thomas, daughter of George w. Jr. was also a singer/ pianist. The main part of the trivia is that her younger brother, Hersal, wrote, then, for his first recording a song called “Suitcase Blues” at the age of 15. That song, by the way, has been recorded by many other since including Sippie. He was performing in Detroit, Michigan at the age of 19, in a place called “Penny’s Pleasure Inn”, where he died of food poisoning. The circumstances of that poisoning were never resolved
Some March Blues passings

  • March 1, 1970 – Lucille Hegamin, aka Fanny Baker
  • March 16, 1975 – Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker
  • March 30, 1981 – Edith Wilson, aka “Aunt Jemima” of Quaker Oats fame

As a blues fan, you have to love the fact that today’s performers are still doing, in their own versions, the songs of the masters!! Check out “Suitcase Blues” for example.

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March 2015 Blues Blog

3/3/2015

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The Answer to The February 2015 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for is/was “Boogie” Bill Webb. He performed with Tommy Johnson, Ishmon Bracey, Bubba Brown and Chuck Berry while he lived in the Jackson, Mississippi area While first living in New Orleans, he worked with the Fats Domino Band. After moving to Chicago he worked local house parties and, at various clubs, sat in with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed and others. When he moved back to New Orleans, he recorded with Roosevelt Holts, in Bogalusa, on the Arhooli label. It’s unclear, but rumor has it that he was arrested for selling his records on the streets of New Orleans. Supposedly he was only jailed for a short period. He passed away August 23rd.,1990, in New Orleans.

March Blues Births:

· March 1,1928-- Laurence Willie Mitchell (best-known for his association/ managing of HI Records in Memphis)
· March 14, 1914-- Robert Pete Williams
· March 27, 1915-- Robert Lockwood Jr ( that’s the way he preferred to have his name written, rather than the way some do--Robert Jr. Lockwood). He was/is and will continue to be one of the main reasons for starting our store and we will always remember him as a good man and a good friend.

March 2015 Blues Question: This blueswoman’s father was a drummer in the W.C. Handy Band. Early in her career she worked as a singer, dancer or both. A little later on she learned guitar from one of the greats of the time. From that time she taught herself to also play banjo, ukulele and mandolin. She, at this time, is known to have only recorded on two labels, though that may not be correct, judging by the people and/or bands with whom she performed. Any idea who this woman is/was??

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    Joe Vassel

    Proprietor of The Sound of Blue record shop in Kent, Ohio. 

    You are probably familiar with the current crop of blues performers, so the next time you’re at a performance or listening to some sort of broadcast of them, you should wonder and find out what “old-timer” they were/ are influenced by!         


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