Some October Blues Births:
- October 3rd.,1954-- Stephen "Stevie" Ray Vaughan, aka "Skeeter"
- October 16th.,1948-- Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones
- October 30th.,1932-- Robert Gregg "Bob" Koester, owner/founder of Delmark Records
Answer to the September 2017 Blues Question: the bluesman we were looking for is/was William "Will" Shade Jr., aka Son/ Sun Brimmer, born February 5, 1898, in Memphis, Tennessee, to William and Mary (nee Brimmer) Shade, when Mary was 14 years old. In 1903, Mary became a widow when Will Sr. died of a gunshot wound. She then married a member of the Banks family, but was a widow again by 1920. Will credited her with teaching him harmonica, the instrument with which he was most proficient, but he also played guitar and the "bullfiddle" (washtub bass). His grandmother, Annie Brimmer, helped in raising him, and gave him the "Son" (Brimmer) nickname, which was short for grandson. The Sun Brimmer name came later on, when his band mates noticed that he had difficulty with the bright sunlight and used his hat brim to shield himself from it. He first heard jug band music around 1925, performed by the Dixieland Jug Blowers, who were out of Louisville, Kentucky. He thought it might be a good sound to be "introduced" into Memphis. He recruited some local musicians and formed the Memphis Jug Band. The original members were Lionhorse (sometimes called/named Roundhouse), a whiskey bottle blower who Will "converted" to be a jug blower (meant to create a sound somewhere between a trombone and a tuba), Tee Wee Blackman on guitar, and Ben Ramey on kazoo (meant to sound like a trumpet). Will played guitar, harmonica, and the bullfiddle. Vocal duties were shared. Will's country style harmonica playing was a big influence to both Sonny Boy Williamsons (I & II), Big Walter Horton, and Charlie Musselwhite, to name a few. Will wrote most of the bands songs, did all of their bookings, handled their promotion, and made sure everyone was paid their due. Over the years the bands personnel changed constantly, as many of them went on to their own careers, and others replaced them. The song I mentioned in the original Blues Question, the first recording by the Grateful Dead, was "Steain',Stealin' ", one which has been recorded by many others since, and is sometimes listed as "Stealin' ". That original song was recorded on September 15, 1928, in Memphis, on the Victor label. It featured Will on harmonica only, Ben Ramey on kazoo, Vol Stevens on banjo and mandolin, Jab (J.B.) Jones on jug, and Charlie Burse (pronounced Bursey) on guitar and vocals. By this time, Will had become a session player for Victor, and, with his wife, Jennie Mae Clayton, who sometimes performed with the band, together were able to purchase a house and $3,000.00 worth of stock in Victor Records. After the depression started in 1929, they lost both the house and the stock, leaving them basically destitute. The bands popularity declined in the mid-30's, due to changes in music tastes and the after effects of the depression, though they did perform up into the early '60's. Will passed away September 18, 1966, in Memphis, of pneumonia. He was buried in the Shelby County Cemetery, which is a public- owned cemetery with many unmarked graves, as most of its "residents" were broke when they died. Since Will was the "backbone" of the band, it ceased to exist after his passing. In 2008 a group of musicians sponsored a fundraiser and purchased a headstone for his grave. That same group sponsored a "Brass Note" on Beale Street, which was dedicated on August 1, 2009, the first such honor for a jug band.
Blues Question for October 2017: this bluesman made his first recording when he was 63 years old. In a six year period he recorded close to 70 songs. Little else is known about him. Any idea on who this bluesman is ??
Blues Song and Artist(s) for October 2017: the song is "Baby, Baby", recorded by Katherine Jewel Thorn(e), better known as Katie Webster, aka the "Swamp Boogie Queen", also featuring Ashton Savoy (Conroy) on vocals and guitar, and Little Brother Griffin on drums. It was recorded by J.D. Miller, in Crowley, Louisiana, in 1958, on the KRY label, Jemil Music #100. There are those who believe that rap and hip-hop is something new, but if you listen to some recordings of the 1920's, you'll hear the basis of those "sounds of today". I picked this song because it reminded me of some of Queen Latifah's early recordings, but more so because of a quote: "I can't understand how someone like me can be famous when Katie Webster isn't" --Robert Cray.
Blues Trivia for October 2017: you've probably heard of and are familiar with the name Sun Records, some of its artists, and Sam Phillips, its founder. The first recording made there was of Joe Hill Louis-- "Boogie in the Park", when the place was known as the Memphis Recording and Sound Service. The trivia part is that at the time, the beginning of the studio, Sam Phillips had a partnership/agreement with a local, well-known radio DJ named Dewey Phillips, no relation, who had agreed to help Sam get it up and running. Because of that "partnership", that first recording was released on the Phillips Records label -- the one and only one ever released under that name. That track was later released on the Modern label, for which Sam made many recordings. Oh, yeah, by the way, "Daddy-O" Dewey Phillips was a couple of years ahead of Alan Freed, as far as playing rock-and-roll on the radio. Daddy-O played what he liked, be it gospel, blues, R&R, R&B, pop, country, etc. If he had a song he really liked, he'd play it 15 times in a row, if he felt like it. Also, by the way, he was the first radio DJ to play Elvis Presley's first recording, "That's Allright (Mama)", an Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup song, on the air!, so he contributed to getting Elvis started in the music business.
Some October Blues Passings:
- October 3rd.,1967-- Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie
- October 16th.,1969-- Leonard Chess, born Lejzor Czyz
- October 28th.,1991-- William "Billy" Wright, aka "Prince of the Blues"
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