Some December Blues Births:
- December 5th.,1910 -- Luther Henry Huff
- December 14th.,1902 -- Viola Gertrude Wells, aka Miss Rhapsody and/ or Viola Underhill
- December 25th.,1946 -- L.V. Johnson (nephew of Elmore James)
Answer To The November 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Iverson Minter. First, I'm going to give you some of his aka's: Iverson Bey, Cryin' Red, Playboy Fuller, Richard Lee Fuller, Alabama Sam, Sugarman George, Robert Lee Fuller, Guitar Red, Elmore James Jr., Rockin' Red, Walkin' Slim, among many others, and the one he's mostly known by -- Louisiana Red. That was the easy part, so now I need to fix that: some sources show him being born on March 23,1936, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, but I believe that that location is where he was put in an orphanage by an aunt when he was 5. His mother died when he was a week old, and his father was lynched by the Ku Klux Clan, supposedly in Tupelo, in 1937, but another source shows that happening in 1941. Most other sources show him being born on March 23,1932, in Bessemer, Alabama. The 1936 date seems more likely to be the correct one, which fits into other info about his life, but the 1932 Bessemer location might be correct, but showing the wrong year. One source showed him living with a grandmother in New Orleans, before being sent to the orphanage, which looks to be totally incorrect. Multiple other sources show him leaving the orphanage and going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to live with his grandmother and an uncle. At 16, he lied about his age and joined the Army, which sent him to Korea for the Korean War. One source shows him in a labor battalion, but others show him being in the U.S. Army's Air Force, as an Airborne member. Since he was in a reformatory around 1950, the 1936 birth date would correspond to his being 16 and in the Korean war, which took place from 1950 to 1953. While he lived at his grandmothers, he taught himself how to play the harmonica. In the mid - '40's he learned guitar, and was good enough at it that he played in the streets for pennies. He had gotten better at it and had some luck sitting in at local bars/ clubs in Pittsburgh, where, one night Muddy Waters invited him up on stage to sit in. From out of that he would also work with other big names, such as John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Reed. After he'd come back from Korea, he kept working small gigs end did some recordings with the big names of that time. This is when a lot of those "aka's" were used in an effort to hit on a good moniker to get him the recognition he wanted. He recorded his first album, "Lowdown Back Porch Blues", in 1963, with Tommy Tucker (remember his hit with " High Heel Sneakers"?). His second album, "Seventh Son", was also released that year. In '64 he released the single "I'm Too Poor to Die" on the A-side (#GP1014, with the B-side being "Sugar Hips", #GP-1015) on/ for the Glover label. He would go on to record more than 50 albums. Also in '63 he married Ealase. They had 3 children before Ealase died from cancer in '73. In '77 he married Odetta (Holmes), a singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and civil rights activist. Odetta said that they were "companions", not saying they were actually married. In '83 they split, so Red could move to Germany to further pursue the betterment his career. He moved to Hanover (German spelling is Hannover). In '84 he married Dora, a German - Ghanaian woman. She took over managing his career. She had 2 sons, and Red adopted them. The new family then lived togther in Hanover. Over there he got the recognition he should have had here. Sadly, he passed away February 25, 2012, in Hanover. NOTE: If you look up "Louisiana Red" on/ in Wikipedia, drop down to the footnotes list and look at # 16 -- "Louisiana Red Documentary" -- YouTube. Click on the words in parentheses in that entry; it's a 67 minute video of Red and others, shot in Germany and the U.S.A.. It'll give you a better idea of the man himself, and of how talented he was with a slide guitar, and his ability to instantly write a song about whatever was going on around him at that time, or in answer to someone's question.
Blues Question For December 2023: This almost unheard of bluesman developed an interest in music as a result of his father taking him to a minstrel show when he was twelve. His father and mother were both musicians. He learned to play flute, guitar, kazoo, and ukulele. Any idea who this "reclusive" bluesman might be ??
Blues Song(s) and Artist(s) For December 2023: The song is "Christmas Morning Blues", and the artist is John Lee "Sonny Boy I" Williamson. It was recorded on December 17 ,1938, in the Leland Hotel in Aorora, Illinois. It features Sonny Boy on vocals and harmonica, and most likely Speckled Red (Rufus Perryman) on piano, Willie Hatcher on mandolin, and Robert Lee McCoy on guitar. It was recorded on the Bluebird label, # B-8094. I was going to do 2 songs here, this one and 1 for New Years, but decided to let you pick your own for the latter.
Blues Trivia For December 2023: When I watched the video I listed in Louisiana Red's story, there's a short session with Sam Carr (a drummer) on Sam's porch, in rural Mississippi. Looked up a little more on Sam, and found he was born as Samuel Lee McCollum. Looking at the above song, you'll notice that the guitarist shown is Robert Lee McCoy, who was born as Robert Lee McCollum. Turns out he was Sam Carr's father. You are most likely, though, to know him as Robert Nighthawk. I haven't yet found any "family history" on Nighthawk, but I did find that Sam, born April 17,1926 (which would have made Nighthawk 17 years old at the time) was adopted as a toddler by the Carr family, and lived on their farm, near Dundee,Mississippi. Sam took their surname. Sam was known for his minimum drum kit, which was made up of a snare drum, bass drum, and a high - hat cymbal. He was a member of the Jelly Roll Kings, which consisted of himself, Frank Frost on keyboard and harmonica, and Big Jack Johnson on guitar. Sam also performed and/ or recorded with many others. It's all trivia !
Some December Blues Passings:
- December 8th.,1986 -- Michael Leonard Mann, aka Hollywood Fats
- December 18th.,1933 -- Jim Jackson
- December 28th.,2011 -- Larry James Hamilton
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