Some September Blues Births:
- September 4th.,1945 -- Daniel "Danny" Wood Gatton
- September 12th.,1885 -- Gus "Banjo Joe" Cannon
- September 20th.,1910 -- Houston Stackhouse, born Houston Goff
Answer To The August 2024 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Cornelius Green III, born December 12, 1928, on the Dugas Plantation (a sugar plantation supplying the Dugas - Le Blanc Sugar and Molasses business, which was located near Donaldsonville, Louisiana, which some sources show as being the town where he was born, incorrectly). He was one of 12 children. He taught himself to play the piano while still in school, but I couldn't find an exact age for that. In 1946, at the age of 18, he moved to New Orleans, where he worked as a porter at the New Southport Club (a casino), then at a hotel, on to a rice mill, then for a construction company. In '48, he returned to Donaldsonville, and having heard recordings of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, decided to learn to play the guitar. He took lessons from a cousin, and learned to play his first song, a John Lee Hooker tune called "Boogie Chillun' ". In '53, after working for a period as a truck driver in Jeanerette, Louisiana, he moved to Port Arthur, Texas, to work at the Gulf Oil Refinery. By this time he had gotten more serious about his music and was playing gigs where he could find them, and sometimes, when asked, sitting in with bands at their gigs. In early '55 he was invited to sit in with the band of Clifton Chenier (the King of Zydeco), the Zydeco Ramblers. Chenier then offered him the second guitarist position, playing next to first guitarist Phillip Walker. Don't know if they, Chenier and Green, knew each other before this, because Chenier also worked at the Gulf Oil Refinery. The band travelled from Louisiana to California, Chicago, and points between. They recorded on the Specialty label in Los Angeles, California on September 8 & 9, 1955 (unissued, except for a single two-sided/song recording, released seperately). In late '55 he married Lillie Mae, quit the Zydeco Ramblers, and moved to Opalousas and began performing with Lloyd Renauld, and writing his own songs. About his marriage: some sources show he and Lillie Mae had 4 children, while other sources show his wife's name as Helen, and them having 7 children. The Lillie Mae part is most likely correct. He recorded a demo tape, and took it to producer J.D. "Jay" Miller. Miller was impressed enough that he recorded Green's debut single, "Leave My Money Alone", with the "B" side being "Lost Without Love", and promptly leased it to Excello Records for release. Miller didn't have a recording studio, so the recordings shown to be done in Crowley were actually done in New Orleans, at J & M Recording Services, a business started in 1945 by 18 year old Cosimo Matassa, in the back of his parents shop, just outside the French Quarter, at 838-840 N. Rampart Street. Before working with Miller, Green had recorded sometime in '56, one track with Clarence Garlow on accordian with others backing, on the Goldband label, in Lake Charles, which is unissued, and one track for Excello, in Crowley, also unissued. Miller had Green staying in Crowley, which was a "sundown town" at that time. Green was obviously lonesome, and that's possibly why Miller gave him the performing name of "Lonesome Sundown". In sundown towns no non- whites were allowed outside after dark, and the whites were serious about it, enough so that it could get you beat up, shot, jailed, or even hung, and yes, those things happened. There was also no mixed race performing in public after dark allowed either. Miller did use mixed races in his studio bands. That first recording didn't sell all that well, but subsequent ones sold in much better quantities, though none ever charted. Lonesome recorded for/ with Miller for 8 years, up into '64. One of his last recordings was "Hoodoo Woman Blues", described as "the last ethnic downhome blues 45 directly aimed at the Negro market". In '65, three things happened to Lonesome: first, he was fed up with the lack of success he was looking for and quit the business; second, he went through a rough divorce; third, Miller got into a heated argument with the new owners of Excello Records, and they cut off all business with him, pretty much ending Miller's involvment in any more "swamp blues". Lonesome Sundown was gone and Green was back, as a common laborer. He then joined the "Lord Jesus Christ of The Apostolic Faith Fellowship Throughout The World Church", where he eventually became a minister. He did go back into the studio to record an album in '77, "Been Gone Too Long", and a single in '78. He did some appearances and also toured Sweden and Japan with Phillip Walker, then quit the music business for good. In '94, he suffered a stroke, and then couldn't speak. He passed away on April 23, 1995, at the age of 66.
Blues Question For September 2024: This bluesman, another "obscure" artist was a harmonica player and singer. He made his first recordings in 1949, which were never released. Over time, he recorded for 8 different labels in his career. Any idea who this bluesman might be ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For September 2024: The song is "Washington Blues", and the artist is Elizabeth"Libba" Cotten. The album was recorded in February of 1965, on Folkways Records, titled " Elizabeth Cotten - Volume 2: Shake Sugaree". Though she was left- handed, she played a right- handed strung guitar UPSIDE DOWN. Those 1965 recordings were released in/ on Folkways Records, in 1967, numbers FTS- 31003 (stereo), and FT-1003 (mono). Just thought the title was "catchy", as is the current atmosphere in Washington, D.C..
Blues Trivia For September 2024: This is a small part of the notes found and used in researching for the Answer section regarding Lonesome Sundown. Lonesome's birthplace is shown as being "near Donaldsonville", in Rice Parish, in one source, while another, more accurate group of sources show it to be in Ascension Parish. There is no Rice Parish in Louisiana, but there is a rice parish: it's a cajun and/ or creole food featuring rice. There is a Parish Rice, founded by Michael Fruge, a second- generation rice farmer, in 2019. He, working with the L S U Ag Center for the study of rice, in Crowley, jointly grew a type of rice called Fronteir, which has 53% more protein than other currently available white rices, plus a lower glycemic index. Most have an index of 70, while that for Fronteir is 41. The lower the number, the quicker your body processes the nutrients in foods. Donaldsonville, which is in the Baton Rouge statistical metro area, was where, in 1868, the first African- American mayor was elected, in the U.S.A. -- Pierre Caliste Landry, a former slave. Suffice it to say that if I listed this man's accomplishments, it would be far longer than the above section on Lonesome Sundown. Also in Donaldsonville you'll find one of the oldest synagogues, a wooden building constructed in 1872, by the Congregation Bikur Cholim, which disbanded in the 1940's. It now houses an ACE Hardware store. The local Jewish cemetery, from the 1800's is located at the intersection of St. Patrick Street and Marchand Drive. Remember Cosimo Matassa from earlier?, who started J & M Recordings at 18 years old in 1945. Well, at 28 years old, in '55 it wasmoved to 521-23-25 Gov.Nicholls St, and it was now known as Cosimo Recording Studio. Prior to that it was a wholesale grocery warehouse. After Hurricane Katrina, the property was bought by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They parted with it and each other in 2016. I've got more on this, but that's enough to give you an idea of just how much really goes into researching this info and the tidbits you run across, which all have to be cross- checked for accuracy. If you can't be sure of something in the records, you have to apply the WAG method (Wild A** Guess).
Some September Blues Passings:
- September 7th.,1980 -- Blind Arvella Gray, born James Dixon
- September 17th.,1996 -- Jessie Hill
- September 23rd.,1972 -- Calvin H. Frazier
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