Some January Blues Births:
- January 3rd.,1904-- Joel "Squatty" Hopkins (yes, Lightning's brother)
- January 15th.,1980-- Christoffer "Kid" Anderson
- January 27.,1930-- Robert Calvin "Bobby"/"Bobby Blue" Bland
Answer to the December 2020 Blues Question: The blueswoman we were looking for was/is Lillie Mae Glover, born September 9, 1907, in Columbia, Tennessee. When she was 13, the family was living in Nashville. Her father was a preacher, but she wanted to sing blues, so she ran away from home. She would later say that she ran away , since her father was a preacher, and she believed that to sing blues, which was considered to be "dirty music", would bring shame to the family. In the early to mid-'20's, she travelled and performed as either/or a blues singer or comedian, with such groups as the Tom Simpson Traveling Medicine Show, Rabbit Foot Minstrels, The Bronze Mannequins, The Vampin' Baby Show, The Georgia Minstrels, Harlem In Havana, and Nina Banson's Medicine Show. Some of these shows were on the road, and some were at venues in Memphis, which is where she settled. She performed all over Beale Street, and downtown Memphis, in the '20's. In April of '27, she recorded 6 sides under the name May Armstrong, for a Chicago record company. Around August of '27, she recorded 6 sides as Side Wheel Sally Duffie, and 2 of those sides have not been found. In Richmond, Indiana, on July 29, 1929, she recorded 4 sides as Mae Glover. On February 24, 1931, she recorded 10 sides, again as Mae Glover, and 2 of those have not been found. I have the titles and numbers for them, and, hopefully, some day, maybe they'll be found. By the way, 1 title from that last session was "Forty Four Blues", when it was released under her name. Another release of that song was titled "Big Gun Blues", when it was released on the Varsity label, under the name of Mae Muff. Under it's original name, it was released on the Supertone and Champion labels. One source lists her birth name as being Lillie Mary Hardison, born September 9, 1906, but that date doesn't work with any of the confirmed info I could find. I went back and tried to research the Hardison family. Turns out, it was a fairly common name in both Carolinas and in Maury County Tennessee, from th 1600's through the early 1850's, but record-keeping after that is sketchy, at best. Back to the person in this, Mae. In '28, she married Willie Glover, shown in some sources as a preacher, and in others, a cook. From the mid-'20's on, she performed at venues up and down Beale Street, and downtown Memphis, such as the Midnight Rambles, The Coca-Cola Club, The Citizen's Club, The Manhattan Club, Hotel Improvement, and a venue that's still popular today, The Peabody Hotel. Early in her career, her then manager had told her that she could make more money as a hoodooist than as a performer. She had taken that to heart, and practiced that craft, along with her singing career, and became a sought-after hoodooist on Beale Street. Her inspiration in her singing was Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett "Ma" Rainey, and after the original Ma Rainey's death in '39, Glover started to go by the name Ma Rainey II. She would not record again until '53, when she recorded under the name "Big Memphis Ma Rainey". Some sources say "she recorded several sides for Sun Records", while some others say "she recorded a few sides for Sun Records". Well, she recorded TWO only, get it right, people. Now, some of the recordings she made earlier were with a Mississippi guitarist, named John Byrd, backing her (with others also). There's a cd, now out of print, on the da Story Blues label, #3517-2, titled John Byrd & Walter Taylor (1920-1931). That label and brand is a spin-off of Document Records, out of Austria at that time. Included on that cd are 2 tracks , basically sermons, by the Reverend George Jones and Congregation, titled "That White Mule of Sin" and "The Heavenly Airplane", featuring guitar accompaniment by Byrd, along with vocals by Byrd and Sister Jones, which is believed to be Mae Glover. I have a new copy of all of Glover's recordings, along with an excellent pre-owned copy of the Byrd/Taylor cd, in the store. A man named Paul Savarin, who owned a blues and barbecue restaurant in downtown Memphis, around 1970, hired her to sing with the Blues Alley All Stars. She performed there, even after requiring help to walk, until her health declined enough that she went to the hospital. When she checked out of the hospital, she went to Iuka, Mississippi, to live with a friend, in December of '84. Most sources show her passing away on March 25, 1985, but, after some serious digging, I believe the correct date to be April 3rd. She had said, in one interview, that "I was the Mother of Beale Street, and I ruled that street between Fourth and Hernando". A UPI press story about her death said that former owner of Blues Alley, Paul Savarin, said she would be buried near her longtime Memphis political boss E.H.Crump, and that her gravestone's inscription will read " I don't care what Mr.Crump don't allow, I'm gonna barrelhouse anyhow". If your'e a true blues fan, you might know that the Mr. Crump being referred to here was a Democratic candidate for the mayor of Memphis, in 1909. There was a campaign song written for him titled "Mr. Crump", by a mister W.C.Handy (ever heard of him ?) Handy re-wrote the song later and changed it's title to "Memphis Blues". Though she was a hard worker all her life, there was never enough money to live on, and the actual epitaph on her pink granite headstone says " I'm Ma Rainey #2, the Mother of Beale Street / I'm 78 years old / I never had enough of nothing and it's too damn late now ! ". Some other names she used at different times were Sister Jones, Big Sister, Flossie Brown, Sally Sad, and Bessie Jones.
Blues Question For January 2021: This blues group only recorded four songs, with a fifth one being a different take on one of those four. The group's name throws off where their actually from. Any ideas on this one ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For January 2021: The song is "Sputterin' Blues", and the artist is Walter Robertson, a west coast harmonica player. Yes, I know -- in today's "culture" (I use that term loosely), that this recording is not "politically correct". Robertson only recorded 2 songs, one's a sad blues, the other--this one-- was, when recorded, was as a laugh-getter in the clubs of the day. So, incorrect as it is, get over it, live with it, and, most of all, enjoy it!
Blues Trivia For January 2021: Due to the length of the answer above, the amount of research that it required, and a concern about the reader being overwhelmed by info, I'm going to forego the hoodooist and related info till February's Blog. I hope I got the above info on Mae Glover clear enough for you. If not, call me and I'll cover more ground.
Some Blues Passings In January:
- January 8th.,2012-- Dave Alexander
- January 17th.,1961-- "Blind" Simmie Dooley
- January 29th.,1993-- "Big" Willie James Dixon
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