Some April Blues Births:
- April 3rd.,1906 -- Walter G. "Fats" Pichon
- April 13th.,1926 -- Cosimo Vincent Matassa
- April 26th.,1924 -- Saul "Sol" Rabinowitz
Answer To The March 2024 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/is Oscar W. Wills, born February 10, 1916. I had stated in the March Blog that he was born in Texas or Louisiana: both are true, as he was born in the upper part of Bethany, an unincorporated community in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, while the southern part of Bethany is in Panola County, Texas, so, yes, he could claim either or both. By the way, the original name of Bethany was Vernon, which was named after the minister who founded the 56 member church. That name change was c1852. Oscar is best known as T.V.Slim, a name Stan Lewis of Stan's Music Shop of Shreveport, gave him because he was so thin. When I started to collect info on Oscar,, I quickly realized that there is far more on him than there was on Tony Hollins in the March 2024 Blog, so I decided to just hit some of the highlights on Slim. Oscar's main job was radio and t.v. repair, but he did have the basic recording and record pressing equipment, in the back part of his shop. He put a band together to back him: they were called T.V.Slim and The Heartbreakers. That consisted of Slim on vocals,, Mighty Joe Young on guitar, Eddie Williams on piano, and Jimmy White on drums. Their first recording was on Slim's own label, Speed Records, # 6863, in 1955, the song titled "The Fight". In 1957, Mira Ann Smith, owner of RAM Records (Royal Audio Music, which she started in'55), set up a new label, Clif Records, in partnership with Cliff Hagen. The label recorded an up-beat song, "Flat Foot Sam", # 103, featuring T.V.Slim and The Heatbreakers. It was regionally successful, which sparked interest from Leonard Chess for the Checker label. Some other songs of Slim's that are interesting are "Don't Reach Cross My Plate", "Flat Foot Sam Met Jim Dandy", and "T.V.Man". Slim travelled extensively, performing at gigs where he could book them. He'd have a limited number of records pressed to sell at his shows, by small, local labels, all over the country. There is no list of these, as the runs were so small, they were never tracked. Since they are so rare, they are highly valued by collectors, meaning that they can be VERY EXPENSIVE. If you just want the main recorded songs by him, there's a c.d., on the Official label, # 5660, put together and released in 1999, out of Denmark, featuring 31 tracks. Slim was killed in a car crash, on Route 66, just outside of Kingman, Arizona, while on his way to his Los Angeles home after playig a gig in Chicago, on October 21,1969. If you're interested in learning more about him, just do a little digging-- you'll be amazed. He was an excellent singer and songwriter, of Blues, R & B, and up-tempo playful songs.
Blues Question For April 2024: This bluesman , though relatively unknown, influenced many of the "big names' who followed in his footsteps. He only recorded 13 songs, between 1950 and 1952, but continued to perform live shows until his passing. Any idea as to who this bluesman might be ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For April 2024: The song is "Evil Ways", and the artist is Otis Spann. The personnel on this recording are Otis on piano and vocal, and Robert Lockwood Jr. on guitar. The song was written by St. Louis Jimmy Oden. Originally recorded and released on the Barnaby Records label, # KZ 31290, in 1972. Released later on Candid c.d., # CCD 79025.
Blues Trivia For April 2024: In the late '40's and into the '50's, many of the artists were credited on the label of the record under their own name, or one that they would use to get around other contracts. T.V. Slim's recording for Clif Rcords, for instance, gave writing credit to Clara Wills, most probably Slim's wife. When larger record companies agreed to sell those types of small companies records, for example Chess / Checker, they insisted on having 2 names on the writers credit on the record's label, the original writer and a second name, someone known in the industry, to make sure that it got a larger ciculation. If you look at some of those old record's labels, you'll notice that. And yes, it's all trivia.
Some April Blues Passings:
- April 6th.,2000 -- Richard "Rich" Trice, aka Little Boy Fuller
- April 11th.,2011 -- Lacy Gibson
- April29th.,1935 -- Leroy Carr, aka Blues Johnson
Note from Joe:
Just on a personal note, my wife and I were on "Covid Quarantine" for 15 days, placed in a different apartment, with no access to anything to research this, along with our original room being treated for bedbugs, thanks to a resident on the floor above us. So, all in all, we were locked out of everything for 19 days total, hence the brevity of this month's Blog. Did the best I could in a very shortened time. Hope this finds all in good shape, enjoying the mild winter this year !!
Just on a personal note, my wife and I were on "Covid Quarantine" for 15 days, placed in a different apartment, with no access to anything to research this, along with our original room being treated for bedbugs, thanks to a resident on the floor above us. So, all in all, we were locked out of everything for 19 days total, hence the brevity of this month's Blog. Did the best I could in a very shortened time. Hope this finds all in good shape, enjoying the mild winter this year !!
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