Some December Blues Births:
- December 5th.,1938 -- John Weldon "J.J."Cale
- December 15th.,1969 -- Nick Moss
Answer To The November 2024 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking fo was/ is Rev. Rubin Lacy, and the problems and questions start right there. According to his gravestone his name is shown as Rev. Ruben L. Lacy. According to his "draft card" filing form, filled out by Lacy himself, shows his name as Reuben (no middle name or initial) Lacey, 41 years old, with an address as "6 miles west of Madison, Mississippi", and a mailing address of R3, Box 83A, Jackson, Mississippi. Also shown on that form, under "Employers Name " (at the same address as Lacy) is Walter Payton, so it's probably when Lacy was was employed as a plantation "overseer". It also shows the January 2,1901 birthdate, where his grave marker shows January 2,1902. Also on that form, under the listing "Name and address of person who will always know your address", is Ruben's wife and mother of their six children - Bunia Mae Lacey, shown at the same address. At any rate, he was born in 1901, in Palahatchie, Mississippi, the fourth of thirteen children. Music was always around in the family, mostly church music, vocally, along with guitar and harmonica. His father was a fireman who died when Rubin was ten. He was called a "peculiar child" because he was always motivated to learn all he could. He learned to be fluent in German from an uncle from New York, learning about world events of the time, and history. He went to school for five years, and worked in the afternoons. That studious attitude would, in later years, lead him to be a preacher (his grandfather was a minister), after he quit playing the blues. It's believed that George "Crow Jane" Hendrix, a local multi-instrumentalist who had a string band in Palahatchie, is the one who taught/ influenced him to play the blues. There's no recorded work of Hendrix's, but his influence can be heard in the two recordings made in March of 1928 for Paramount in Chicago, his only blues songs that are available now. He had also recorded four songs for Columbia Records in Memphis, on December 9,1927. Those were never issued and the masters are lost, and they were interesting titles. By this time, due to his ability, he became the main influence among those with whom he performed. Some of those were Son Spand (no info on him and could have been the name used by anyone, as it was used commonly), Charlie McCoy, Walter Vinson (Vinscon/ Vincent), Tommy Johnson, Ishmon (Ishman) Bracey, Son House, and Tommy McClennan. Rube was staying with a friend in Greenwood, about 100 miles south of Jackson, and was playing that area with the aforementioned players, and he was known as or referred to as "the Blues King", because of his following. In the '20's he had started his career as an itinerant musician, travelling through Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, and, of course, Mississippi, but that didn't always pay the bills, so, along the way he also worked as a plantation overseer and a railroad brakeman, which is when he met jimmy Rodgers. In 1932, after facing death from a serious injury, caused by a loose, flying brake shoe off a passing train striking him in the leg, he decided to become a preacher full time, quit the blues, and gave away his guitar. He did his preaching in the Missionary Baptist Churches in the area and some in Arkansas. He then moved to California, landing in Los Angeles, then on to Palmdale, then to Ridgecrest, in the Indian Wells Valley, where he was pastor of a small Missionary Baptist Church of African- Americans. In 1966 David Evans tracked him down, and, along with John Fahey and Alan Wilson, convinced Rev. Rubin to let them record himself and his congregation singing religious hymns and songs at their services. One of the lead singers was Chester Davis, Rubin's deacon. This was recorded February 15,1966, and Rubin and his wife had graciously been hosting Evans, Fahey, and Wilson for this time. In late '66, Rubin's wife, Bunia Mae, passed away. In '67 he moved to Bakersfield, remarried, and was working with Bruce Rosenberg in an investigation of American folk preacher's art. On November 14,1969, he was taken to Corcoran District Hospital and was D.O.A. He is buried in Union Cemetery, Bakersfield, California, the tribute on his grave-marker saying "SINGER OF THE GOSPEL BLUES".
Blues Question For December 2024: This bluesman is from the same time period as the last few I've listed, but was better known than some. He was a multi- instrumentalist and a cousin of one of the bigger names in the blues. The reason I picked him actually came from another bluesman's bio that showed how tough things could sometimes be when dealing with competitors for work (or play). He did a fair amount of recording, and wrote quite a few songs too. Any idea who this bluesman could be ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For December 2024: The song is "Santa's Messin' With The Kid", and the artist is Eddie C. Campbell. The talent roster for this includes Eddie on guitar and vocals, Carey Bell (Harrington) on harmonica, Lafayette Leake on piano, Robert "Bob" Stroger on bass, and Clifton James on drums. It was recorded on June 13,1977, at Sound Studios in Chicago, and issued on the Mr. Blues label of Steve Wisner. It was Eddie's first album, titled "King Of The Jungle", # MB 7602, and this was the first song on the "A" side. Lurrie Bell sat in Stroger's spot on bass on one track on each side. The cover photo of the album shows Eddie with a full- on 'Fro and a "fur shirt top that looked like a vest or small jacket. Eddie named the song shortly after the release of "Messin' With The Kid", a hit by Junior Wells.
Blues Trivia For December 2024: Part of this comes out of the research on Rube Lacy. David "Honeyboy " Edwards had said during an interview, that Rube was staying at a friends house in Greenwood, and Edwards and other fans of Lacy that were his age, would work a full day's work, then go to that house and pitch in money they had just earned to give to Lacy to hear him play and sing. It's been said that Son House got his style of play from Lacy's "bottleneck" playing, except that Lacy didn't use a "bottleneck", but they both had one more thing in common: both were preachers/ ministers, House starting earlier of the two, at age 15. Here's some from December's Blues Song: the address of the Mr. Blue Recording co. was 4852 SO Lotus Ave., Chicago. You can look it up by address and you'll see that it's a house on a corner lot. It was built in 1960, so the time frame is correct. It's 4 bedroom, 1 & 1/2 baths, with a full, unfinished basement, as of today. I found an old picture of Steve Wisner and a guitarist, with steps behind them in the picture, a ladder leaning against the wall, which appears to be covered with some sort of black material, which would remind you of garbage bags of today. Sound deadener ? This picture is most likely of the unfinished basement of that very house. The Sound Studios that did the recording was at 230 N Michigan ave., Chicago, in the area called "the loop", which had many smaller type business'. Today, that address is occupied by a closed- up auto body repair shop.
Some December Blues Passings:
- December 6th.,1949 -- Huddie William Ledbetter, aka Leadbelly, Lead Belly
- December 12th.,1987 -- Clifton Chenier
- December; 27th.,2008 -- Delaney Bramlett
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