First Off, I'd like to congratulate the winners of the NEOBA Blues Challenge of 2022: in the single/ duo class, Chris Yakopcic, and in the band category, The Nate Lupi Band. They will now move on to the International Competition in Memphis. About that -- I'd like to say good luck there, and remember that you're going up against the best offerings from all over, so practice, make the best effort you can to be the best you can, and it'll work out. But remember also that they're not going to just hand it to you, you gotta' earn it ! Secondly, I'd like to give a shout out to Ritchie Braziel, and his son, David. I've learned a lot about the R & B genre of years past, and I'd like to think that he and David have learned , at least a little bit, about the blues from me ! Now, on to the Blog.
Some June Blues Births:
- June 9th.,1902 -- Nehemiah "Skip" James
- June 18th.,1938 -- Don "Sugarcane" Harris (he was 1/2 of the Don & Dewey duo in the 1950's Rock & Roll)
- June 26th.,1948 -- Steve Nardella
Answer To The May 2022 Blues Question: The artist we were looking for was/is Ronald James Taylor, born October 16,1952, in Galveston, Texas, to parents Marian and Robert "Bruno" Taylor. He had two sisters -- Roberta and Frances. After he finished high school, he attended Wharton County Junior College, where he played football (he's a BIG guy), and participated in the school's choir and theater. His choir teacher had suggested that Ron join the choir, after he'd heard him singing The Temptations. At 19, he moved to New York, where he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, with the intention of becoming a singer. As he was a "barrel-chested bass- baritone", he had an extensive "career" in musical theater productions. Oddly, when he graduated from the Academy, he couldn't read a musical note, and could barely play the piano, but he did find work as a singer. In '77, he played the Cowardly Lion in the touring show of "The Wiz". By '82 he was doing the voicing of Audrey II, the funky, conniving, street- smart, talking killer plant in an off- Broadway production of "The Little Shop of Horrors", which ran till '87, with over 2,000 performances. Also in '87, Ron played Rufus Payne, a blues musician, in a production of "Lost Highway", which was a story about singer Hank Williams. While on this production, he came up with the idea of a musical revue, "It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues". It was intended to chart the development from it's African origins to it's American success. He finally convinced the director of the "Lost Highway" production, Randal Myler. In '94, Myler accepted the idea to do it with Taylor. Taylor co- wrote the revue with Myler, Lita Gaithers, Charles Bevel, and Dan Whetman. Ron was the show's associate producer and lead singer, and was it's narrator. It started out as a 45 minute show and was performed at 25 local high schools.That was so well accepted that it was moved to The Denver Center For The Performing Arts, made 2 hours long , now featuring 50 songs, with 3 people added to the original 4. In '95 the revue ran at The Cleveland Playhouse, tied in, time-wise, with the initial opening of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He won several awards for that revue he'd written, and was nominated and won a few others in his various career paths. As I said in the Blues Question, he was a busy man, and that's putting it mildly. I could probably fill 8 to 10 more pages with the info, and still not have all of it listed. He was in over 20 films from '83 to 2002. He also did a lot of television, sometimes several episodes of a series (he even played a Klingon in Star Trek), sometimes only a single appearance. He sang The Star Spangled Banner at many pro baseball games. He would only do that in a straight-up rendition, as it was meant to be done when it was written, unlike some of the song's butchers. He was part of the blues group The Nervis Bros, and toured with them, performing all over the U.S.A. He also sang with notables, such as Etta James, Sheila E, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and others. A c.d. of the original cast performing the numbers in "It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues", complete with some video attached, is still available. On it are some of his versions of blues standards, and they're well done ! He had a stroke in '99. He passed away on January 16,2002, of a heart attack, at his home, in Los Angeles, at the young age of 49.
Blues Question For June 2022: This bluesman, a guitarist, is best known for being the guitarist on recordings of another artist. He did influence another player though, who came to be far more recognized and famous than himself. He did do some albums under his own name, though. Any idea who this bluesman might be ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For June 2022: The song is (Night Time Is) The Right Time, and the artist is Napolean Brown Goodson Culp, known much better as Nappy Brown, recorded on the Savoy label, #1525/14025, on October 1,1957. The musicians on it were: Nappy on vocals, Buster Cooper on trombone, Hilton Jefferson on alto sax, Bud Johnson on tenor sax, Kelly Owens on piano, Skeeter Best on guitar, Leonard Gaskin on bass, and Bobby Donaldson on drums.
Blues Trivia For June 2022: This is on the above song, and it's variations. It was first recorded by Roosevelt "The Honeydripper" Sykes, on April 29,1937. It was recorded again by Big Bill Broonzy, on March 21,1938, with the same title wording, but with a "#2" on the end of it. Some say it was "borrowed" from a Leroy Carr song, with a changing of some of the words, "When The Sun Goes Down", which Carr recorded on February 25,1935. The next good version recorded was Nappy's, in '57. It didn't do all that well on the charts, so in '58, Ray Charles "borrowed" it, recorded it with the Raelettes as the "response" artists. That's the only version that charted well. It has been recorded since that time by many players, but none that good. You just can't beat the earlier versions, so don't even try. Here's a little bit of the trivia: Nappy's career was born in gospel singing, and progressed into the blues and R & B. When he was 16, he started a gospel group -- "The Golden Crowns". After that he had "The Golden Bell Quintet", then on to the "Selah Jubilee Singers". The group that went with him to record for Savoy were "The Heavenly Lights". It was his gospel group that did the response end of the "call and response" type of song that is (Night Time Is) The Right Time. It was not a "studio group" who backed Nappy. Listen to his version, and you'll hear the gospel overtones in it.
Some June Blues Passings:
- June 2nd.,2008 -- Ellas Otha Bates, who went by Ellas McDaniel, aka "Bo Diddley"
- June 18th.,2007 -- Richard "Rich" Griffith
- June 23rd.,2004 -- Raymond L. Dobard, who owned the Music City Record Shops and recording studio in Berkeley, California
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