Some October Blues Births:
- October 1st.,1910 -- Cary Tate
- October 17th.,1929 -- Ernestine Jermany, aka Tina Mayfield (Percy's wife)
- October 26th., of either 1937 or 1938 -- John Henry "Jabo" Starks
Answer To The September 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Johnie Lewis, born to parents Jimmie and Roxane, sharecroppers, on October 8, 1908, on a farm near Eufaula, Alabama. He was raised there up to 14 years old, when he left home to work different jobs in Alabama and Georgia, as the state line is only a short distance from Eufaula. He taught himself guitar in the late '20's, but continued to work outside the music field. In the '30's, still working at whatever job he could find, he was playing at house parties throughout the South. By '33 he was married, and was working as a house painter after, on a whim, he bought a paint brush. Shortly after that he moved to Chicago with some encouragement from relatives who lived there. After the move, he started doing house painting again, and he'd gotten good enough at it that he was getting referrals for it. One of those was for the Cokliss family, who had a son, Harley. When he and Harley met, and Harley heard his guitar playing and singing, he told Johnie that he was making a movie about blues in Chicago. He featured Johnie in his film, "Chicago Blues", which was filmed in 1969 (though some sources show it as 1972). That film role got Johnie the recognition he deserved, and led to Chris Strachwitz, founder/ owner of Arhoolie Records, to record him. Chris did so on August 13,1970, as the supervisor, 12 tracks, and again on January 9,1971, with Charlie Musselwhite as the supervisor, 6 tracks. In 1971, Arhoolie Records released an album, #1055, with 6 tracks from the '71 session (one with Charlie Musselwhite - "My Little Gal", on harmonica), on the "A" side, and 6 tracks on the "B" side from the '70 session. In '97, Arhoolie released a c.d. with all 18 tracks on it - #ACD 9007. On the c.d., Johnie plays harmonica on track #13, and kazoo on track #14, and guitar and vocals on all. Johnie (sometimes shown as Johnnie) passed away on October 6,1992, in Chicago. Some say that his playing and singing were average, which, in some ways, is true, BUT this is how the real blues sounded to most folks in it's early days -- primitive, raw, telling life's stories as they were, even without an amp !!
Blues Question For October 2023: This bluesman is a "sideman" who only recorded/ released 2 songs under his own name, but is on many other artist's recordings, though sometimes uncredited. When you start digging, you'll find him not only on many of the big names of the blues recordings, you'll also find him performing with them at their live gigs. If you haven't heard of him, I won't be surprised. Any faint idea who this bluesman might be ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For October 2023: The song is "20% Alcohol", and the artist is Joseph Benjamin "J.B." Hutto. It's from Delmark Records #DS 617, titled "J.B.Hutto and His Hawks-- Featuring Sunnyland Slim -- Hawk Squat". The Hawks were J.B. on lead guitar and vocals, Lee Jackson on rhythm guitar, Sunnyland Slim on either piano or organ, Junior Pettis on bass, and Frank Kirkland on drums. I thought that since the Bluesman Johnie Lewis was in the basic Alabama slide guitar, rough but good, that I should give you the same raw, imperfect, sometimes off key recording of a live performance in the true Chicago electric blues, so -- ENJOY ! (and learn)
Blues Trivia For October 2023: Everything in this particular Trivia is the kind of trivia you find when you study the histories of the early blues performers. Ever heard of Rosa "Rose" Henderson ? She was also known as (aka) Flora Dale/ Rosa Green/ Mae Harris/ Mamie Harris/ Sara Johnson/ Sally Ritz/ Josephine Thomas/ Gladys White/ and/ or Bessie Williams, but she was born as Rosa Deschamps. She's not related to Edmonia/ Fletcher/ or Katherine Henderson. Sally Ritz was her sister's name that she used on some of her recordings. She shouldn't be confused with Viola McCoy who also used the "Bessie Williams" pseudonym. Katherine Henderson shouldn't be confused with her aunt, Eva Taylor, who also used the "Catherine Henderson" pseudonym. Viola McCoy's birth name was Amanda Brown, which she sometimes used. Eva Taylor was born as Irene Gibbons, one of 12 children. She used the psuedonyms Catherine Henderson/ Irene Williams/ and/ or Irene Gibbons. She used her sister's given name -- Eva, and the Taylor name from the Taylor family she lived with in her youth. I hope you can see from this that, when studying the early blues artists to learn all you can, it sometimes gets a little crazy and/ or confusing. Hope you have enjoyed the tidbits in this section. Just remember -- try to learn about the basics -- you'll enjoy todays artists even more when you can see or hear from them who their influences in the blues were.
Some October Blues Passings:
- October 3rd.,1976 -- Victoria "Vicky" Regina Spivey, aka Jane Lucas
- October 11th.,1977 -- John Arthur Lee
- October 23rd.,1985 -- Joe Banashak
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