Some July Blues Births:
- July 1st.,1946-- Paul "Wine" Jones
- July 15th.,1950-- Steve James
- July 28th.,1950-- David "Junior" Kimbrough Jr..
Answer To The June 2018 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/is Matthew "Boogie Jake" Jacobs, born August 2,1922, in Marksville, Louisiana. In the Question I mentioned that he was related to a well-known bluesman. His last name should tell you who that is, but if you don't recognize it, you might know that man as Marion Walter "Little Walter" Jacobs, who was also from Marksville, and was Jake's second cousin. In their early years Boogie Jake played piano and guitar and Little Walter played guitar and harmonica. Jake learned guitar from one of his neighbors, Ernest Barron. From the 1940's into the early '50's, Jake and Walter performed together at local parties, and, on occasion, at the local club, the Golden Lantern. Walter moved to Chicago in the early '50's and Jake moved to Baton Rouge in the late '50's, where he teamed up with Joe Hudson, and they worked at the local clubs and other venues. Jake did some session work for the Excello label, in Crowley, as a sideman on some recordings by Slim Harpo, one of which is said to be his guitar riffs on "King Bee", by Slim Harpo. He also recorded on some tracks with Lazy Lester (Leslie Johnson) and Katie Webster. In 1959 Minit Records, a new start-up label, asked Jake to do their first recordings for release. That was titled "Bad Luck and Trouble", backed with "Early In The Morning". He recorded two more tracks for the label in 1960. Also in 1959, he formed his own five piece band and they toured/performed throughout the South. In 1961, fed up with the music business, he moved his family to Berkeley, California, where he worked mostly outside the music industry, though he sometimes played at house parties and suppers. By 1974 he had teamed up with another "displaced" Louisiana musician, "Schoolboy" Cleve White, who played harmonica, to work some club dates and regional blues festivals. Later in life he had moved back to New Orleans, where he passed away on December 6, 2013. On that first song he recorded for Minit, "Bad Luck And Trouble", Matthew Jacobs is shown as being the writer, and Boogie Jake as being the artist. That song has been released on other labels, sometimes titled as "I Don't Know Why", which further complicates finding it's true origin. It was recorded around the same time period by others, such as Clifton Chenier, John "Bobo" Jenkins, Lightnin' Slim, Lightnin' Hopkins, Robert "Smoky Babe" Brown, and later by Johnny Winter, R.L. Burnside, Fats Domino, and Jimmy McCracklin, just to name a few. The important thing here is to ENJOY THE SONG!!, by all of them, if you so choose.
Blues Question For July 2018: This bluesman, born in Mississippi, traveled quite a bit during his various careers. It is shown that he recorded on three labels, but I've found him on others, listed under any one of the four different names he used when performing. Any ideas on who this bluesman is ??
Blues Song(s) and Artist(s) For July 2018: The song is "Travellin' To California". The artist is Albert King. This song was on Albert's first album, recorded by Stax Records, in 1962. It also featured Johnnie Johnson on piano, who was on many of Chuck Berry's Chess records. By the way, I picked this song for all you Jimi Hendrix fans, as it is the basis for Jimi's song "Red House".
Blues Trivia For July 2018: The song I mentioned in the Blues Question, Bad Luck And Trouble, was the first song recorded for release by/on Minit Records, which was distributed by Imperial Records. That particular recording was also distributed by Chess Records, all being in 1959. Minit was founded by Joe Banashak, partnered with local radio d.j. Larry McKinley, with Allen Toussaint serving as producer and songwriter. If you're familiar with the New Orleans music scene, the Toussaint name should be known to you. In 1961, Banashak partnered with Irvin Smith to found Instant Records, as a subsidiary to Minit. The original name for Instant was Valiant Records, but following the threat of a lawsuit by another Valiant Records, who owned the name, it was changed to Instant. The Minit label, from 1959 through 1963 (it's end), and the Instant label, from 1966 through 1970 (it's end), recorded and released, as near as I can calculate, 240 45rpm records. Their biggest hit was Ernie K-Doe's "Mother In Law", which is kind of surprising when you look at the roster of people who recorded on those labels. Among them were Jessie Hill, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, Jimmy McCracklin, Bobby Womack, Ike and Tina Turner, Magic Sam, Little Junior Parker, Chris Kenner, and many others, most favoring New Orleans music and musicians.
Some July Blues Passings:
- July 2nd.,1988-- Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
- July 17th.,2006-- Sammy Myers
- July 23rd.,2012-- Robert Cage
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