Just To Let You Know: The blues calendars are in. The songs on the included cd have been re-mastered for excellent sound quality, as it's to be used on a P.B.S show. The artwork is great, as always. Also, if you're looking for "stocking-stuffers" for youngsters or your grandkids, we have kazoos (ages 3 & up) and slide whistles.
Some December Blues Births:
- December 7th.,1913-- "Blind" John Henry Davis
- December 18th.,1911-- Arthur "Sam" Jackson, aka "Peg Leg Sam", "Peg Pete"
- December 25th.,1935-- Richard Wayne Penniman, aka "Little Richard"
Answer to the November 2017 Blues Question: the bluesman we were looking for is/was Robert Pete Williams, born March 14, 1914, in Zachary, Louisiana. The "Pete" was added as a teenage nickname. Zachary is/was located north of Baton Rouge, on U.S. highway 61, a route number all blues lovers should recognize. Unschooled, one of 9 children, he worked as a farm hand, as his parents were sharecroppers. In 1928 he moved south to Scotlandville, which was still north of Baton Rouge, and by today's standards, would be considered a suburb of that city. There, he worked in lumberyards. At age 20, somewhere around 1934, he made his first instrument, one of the traditional "starters", a "cigar-box guitar", with 5 copper strings. Shortly thereafter, he bought one of the cheap, mass-produced ones available in those times. Slightly after that he started to perform at Church gatherings, dances, fish fries, dinners, and other small events. He did that from the 1930's up into the '50's, all the while, his reputation as a performer, growing. In 1956 he was arrested, tried, and convicted, and sentenced to life in prison for the fatal shooting of a man in a nightclub, in 1956. While serving time in/at Angola, he was "discovered" by ethnomusicologists Dr. Harry Oster and Richard Allen, and recorded by them. After they recorded several of William’s songs, most about prison life, pleaded, on his behalf, to the parole board, for them to issue a pardon to Williams, which they did, and commuted his sentence to 12 years. In 1958, Williams was issued a "servitude parole", which required him to work 80 hours a week at a farm in Denham Springs, which is several miles east of Zachary. As you can imagine, that didn't leave much time for performing. In 1964 he was permitted to perform at the Newport Folk Festival, which was/is in Rhode Island, because his music was becoming more popular and recognized. By 1965 he was permitted to travel freely in the U.S.A. to perform. By 1966 he was performing in France, England, Germany, Italy, and other areas of Europe, and in the U.S.A.. He did this up into the late 1970's. He recorded on at least 15 different labels and appeared in several films, both in the U.S. and France. During those years, when not performing, he worked outside the music field. He passed away December 31, 1980, in Rosedale, Louisiana, of heart disease, and is buried in Scotlandville. Incidentally, as of the 2000 census, Rosedale, which is a western suburb of Baton Rouge, had 753 residents and was less than 8 square miles. All his songs are good, but the two most notable are "Pardon Denied Again" and "Prisoner's Talking Blues". About that second one, it has been said that while he was a "resident" at Angola and he performed that song for his fellow prisoners, that they would often break out in tears.
Blues Song and Artist(s) for December 2017: Since Christmas is this month, I have to go with a well-known and often-covered song-- "Merry Christmas Baby", recorded in 1947 on the Exclusive Records label, #254, by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, made up of Johnny Moore on guitar, Eddie Williams on bass, and Charles Brown on piano and vocal. It made it to #3 on the charts, in the Christmas season, in 1947, even though it was the "B" side of the record. It was a hit again in 1949 and 1950. Exclusive Records never paid copyrights and was taken over by Hollywood Records, which was owned by Don Pierce. When Exclusive was sold by Pierce, none of the artists or creditors got a nickel, even though it had been promised.
Blues Trivia for December 2017: This time the trivia won't be strictly about blues, but instead, on Christmas songs, some of them blues, but also pop, rock & roll, and touches of other genres. I'll give you just a few examples. How about the original 1953 recording by Earthe Kitt of "Santa Baby" (did you know that she passed away Christmas day,2008?); pop version of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry, covered in doo-wop style by the Cadillacs, the Coasters, and the Temptations, then modified or countered by "Run, Rudolph, Run" by Chuck Berry, Sheryl Crow, with a rockabilly version by the Outlaws. Let me give you one blues standard: "Christmas Morning Blues", recorded by Kansas City Kitty, Victoria Spivey, Titus Turner, and Sonny Boy Williamson I. This last song, if you do some digging, has words in the title changed, removed, added, as have some of the lyrics, so it may not look the same, but as soon as you hear it, you'll realize that, like so many other blues songs, it's based on another recording. Seems as though things haven't changed much since performers started doing those "tricks" as soon as the recording industry started up.
Some December Blues Passings:
- December 3rd.,1955-- Charles "Charley"/"Chas"/"Cow Cow" Davenport, aka Bat Lee, Bat the Hummingbird, Georgia Grinder, George Hamilton, and Memphis Slim (not to be confused with Peter Chatman, aka Memphis Slim, who was/is the better-known of the two using that name)
- December 14th.,1963-- Dinah Washington, born as Ruth Lee Jones
- December 31st.,2009-- Earl Gaines Jr.
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