Some July Blues Births:
- July 1st.,1938-- Delaine Alvin "Delaney" Bramlett
- July 18th.,1941-- Lonnie McIntosh aka Lonnie Mack
- July 20th.,1949-- Simon Frederick St. George Kirke
Answer to the June 2017 Blues Question: the bluesman we were looking for is/was Louis Washington, possibly born Louis Jackson, born October 1895, exact date unknown, in Wadesboro, Florida. He used his given name for his gospel recordings. For his blues recordings he used the name "Tallahassee Tight". He is shown to have recorded in 1933 and '34 in New York City on the American Records Corporation (A.R.C. label?) label. There is only one disc that features all his recordings and those of one of his contemporaries -- Spark Plug Smith. On that disc there are 4 songs under Louis' own name and 10 as Tallahassee Tight. The first bluesman to have his name get full credit on the label of a record was Sylvester Weaver, that recording being made on November 2, 1923, in New York City, on the OKeh label. They were guitar instrumentals -- "Guitar Blues" and "Guitar Rag". Here's the tie-in with Washington, for which Washington should be recognized. Again, taken from the information I could find, he was probably the first Florida resident bluesman who was recorded during this time period of commercial blues recordings. I could find no record of him after 1934.
Blues Question for July 2017: In the early days, in the South, there was a considerable number of "street-corner evangelists", who usually played guitar or harmonica to accompany their singing of religious songs or prayers. Most often this took place in the poorest section of the town. "Blind" Rev. Gary Davis was one of these but he's not the one we're looking for. Any idea who this one is ??
Blues Trivia for July 2017: this whole section is a collection of facts related to one man and how he touched so many. Any true blues fan is familiar with the current disc/record labels, such as Alligator, Blind Pig, Delta Groove, Ruf and many others, but have you heard of Black Patti Records ? Most likely, you haven't, as it's from 1927 and was only in operation for seven months, shutting down in September of that year, after having produced 55 different records. That label and its' parent company, Chicago Record Company, were owned by Jay Mayo "Ink" Williams. That nickname came from his ability to get musicians to sign contracts with him. He was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. When he was 7 years old, his father, Daniel, was murdered. After that, his mother, Millie, moved the family back to her hometown of Monmouth, Illinois, where he grew up. He then went on to attend Brown University, an Ivy League school in Rhode Island, where he was an outstanding track and football star. He served in World War I, and graduated in 1921. Starting in 1921 and up until 1926, he played professional football for the Canton (Ohio)Bulldogs, the Hammond (Indiana)Pros, the Dayton (Ohio)Triangles and the Cleveland (Ohio)Bulldogs, who were originally known as the Cleveland Indians. The Cleveland Indians got that name when they "recruited" players from the Akron (Ohio)Indians (earlier named the Akron Pros), who, by the way, had won the very first NFL championship. A Cleveland jeweler, Sam Deutsch, who owned the Indians, bought the Canton Bulldogs, moved the team (seven players only) to Cleveland, combined it with the Indians, and re-named it the Cleveland Bulldogs. Check that one out--lots of controversy there! Anyhow, Williams was one of the first black athletes in the NFL, and in its' first year. During those years Williams also worked in a Chicago office for Paramount Records as a producer. Some of the first artists he signed and recorded were Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, "Papa" Charlie Jackson, and "Blind" Lemon Jefferson. It was when he left Paramount that he started Black Patti. He named it that because he admired a black opera singer, Matilda Sissieretta Joyner, who was called "The Black Patti", in reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti, who sang in the same style. After shutting down Black Patti Records, Williams went on to run, manage, or work for many other labels and co-write many of the blues standards you would recognize, but are too numerous to list here. Some of the labels with which he was involved were Decca, Brunswick, Vocalion, Harlem, Ebony, and Chess. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2004. The reason I picked this person and subject was to illustrate that the blues that you listen to, whether it be the early type indicated here or the current style, is tied into everything-- music, sports, manufacturing, automobile industry, foodstuffs, or any others you think of, which are common to all of us!! Oh, by the way, if you look Williams up somewhere, you'll see that he was one of the first to record a lot of musicians who are considered to be the Who's Who in the genre of the blues. Also, the "logo" on the Black Patti records was of an "art deco" peacock. Later, that same style peacock was used by Nick Perls' "Belzona Records" on those labels. After 5 releases, the Belzona name was changed to "Yazoo Records" and again retained the peacock artwork.
Some July Blues Passings:
- July 2nd.,1992-- Vernon "Boogie Woogie Red" Harrison
- July 11th.,2002-- Rosco N. Gordon III
- July 27th.,2002-- Roscoe Shelton
RSS Feed