Some March Blues Births:
- March 2nd.,1890-- Bessie Brown, aka Sadie Green, Caroline Lee
- March 15th.,1928-- Johnny Charles "J.C." Burris
- March 31st.,1921-- Lowell Fulson, aka Lowell Fulsom, Tulsa Red
Answer To The February 2021 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/is Willie Nix, aka Memphis Blues Boy, born August 6,1918, in Memphis, Tennessee. As a youth he learned to tap dance. In his teen years he toured and performed with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, as a dancing comedian, in the late '30's. In the early '40's he did the same with the Royal American Show. Somewhere around this time he learned how to play guitar, drums, and do vocals. In the mid '40's he worked in the parks and streets around Memphis and close-by towns. According to some sources he performed on a radio show with Robert Lockwood Jr., in Little Rock, Arkansas, but a different source says that that took place in Memphis. This was around '47. Then Willie joined up with Sonny Boy Williamson II, Willie Love, and Joe Willie Wilkins. This group performed in jukes and clubs in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, as "The Four Aces". After that, he performed around Memphis (Tn.) and West Memphis, Arkansas. He made his first recordings on June 18,1951, at Memphis Recording Service (later that year to become Sun Records), on the RPM record label, which was a subsidiary of Modern Records of Los Angeles. His second session, made at the now renamed Sun Records, were released on the Checker label, a subsidiary of Chess Records. Shortly after that, he made some on and for Sun. This was when he started to record as a drummer for the recordings of other artists, such as Joe Hill Louis, Big Walter Horton, Muddy Waters, and others. He moved to Chicago in '53, and made some recordings there, as the vocalist, shown as "Willie Nix and His Band" on the Chance label, and as "Willie Nix and His Combo" on the Sabre label (a subsidiary of Chance Records). The backing band consisted of Snooky Pryor on harp, Sunnyland Slim on piano, Eddie "Playboy" Taylor on guitar, and Alfred Wallace on drums. In '58 he returned to Memphis to serve a term in jail ('58 & '59). When he returned to Chicago, he performed with such notables as Elmore James, Sonny Boy II, Sunnyland Slim, Johnny Shines, and others. In the mid-'50's he toured and performed with Elmore James all over the South and Midwest. After that, he kept on as a hobo, working mostly outside the music field, as a migrant laborer, though he did play the local jukes and clubs in the West Memphis area. In '59, he teamed up with Willie Cobb and his band, to tour, up into '67. In '68, he recorded with Willie Cobb, on the Riceland label, in Memphis. While in Memphis, he also worked with Big Amos Patton. During and after that time, he continued to work outside the music business, but he did perform to entertain the other workers around him, up into the '70's. He moved to Leland, Mississippi, where he performed on occasion, in the local jukes and clubs, when his worsening health would allow him to do so. He suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away on July 8,1991, in Leland. You can't find a good collection of his own works, but most of his recordings are 2 or 3 here and there on compilations. You can also find him on the drums on other artist's recordings, if you look.
Blues Question For March 2021: This bluesman's name you've probably seen if you've done any reading or research on the blues. He recorded only 2 sides under his own name, but he and his band backed many other artists. He was a big influence on the West Coast blues scene. Any ideas on who this bluesman might be ??
Blues Song And Artist For March 2021: The song is "The Thrill Is Gone", and the artist is Roy Hawkins. He was backed on this by Maxwell Davis on tenor sax, Willard McDaniel on piano, Johnny Moore on guitar, bass, and drums. This is the original first recording of this song. It was done on April 25,1951, at Modern Records in Los Angeles. Take 5 of the song is on Youtube and Spotify. Take 4 is on Spotify only, and on Ace Records U.K. c.d # CDCHD-754, out of print, in stock here, but not cheap, as it came from France. The title is Roy Hawkins: The Thrill Is Gone. There is a second c.d. frm Ace, # CDCHD-1096, titled Roy Hawkins: Bad Luck Is Falling. It's on order, but not here yet. It lists another previously un-released version of the song, which I believe, is track 5. The difference between the 2 is on the sax lead-in: #5 starts with a higher note. It's been covered by Luther Allison, Joe Bonamassa, B.B.King (as his signature song), Aretha Franklin, Patricia Barber, and Willie Pooch, just to name a few. If you look it up, you'll find it's been covered by well over a hundred performers.
Blues Trivia For March 2021: This ties in, kinda, with the Song Of The Month. If you've listened to the song on Youtube and seen the picture of the record's label, notice that the song writing credit on it. It's Modern Records # 826 and it shows Hawkins-Taub to be the ones who got the credit. This is a little deceptive, and if you dig a little further, you'll find the writing of it incorrectly credited to Dale Petite and Art Benson. WRONG again. The original writer was Rick Darnell, working with Roy Hawkins. Darnell wrote over a hundred blues tunes, some that became standards, but usually not credited to him. Modern Records was founded in 1945, by the 4 Bahari brothers,; Lester Louis Bahari, Julius Jeramiah Bahari, Saul Samuel Bahari, and Joseph Bahari. Besides the money being made by Modern, they soon learned that they could make more by getting writing credits. That was a pretty common practice for the record producers, from the small labels right on up to the larger ones. It wouldn't look good to use their own names, so most used pseudonyms, and the Bahari's were no exception. Julius was Jules Taub, or just Taub, Joe was Joe Josea, and Saul used Sam Long. Taub, by the way, was their mother's maiden name. And some of the musicians were just as good at doing the same thing, usually so they could record for another record company without being caught not honoring their contracts. Just think about these things when you see song writing credits !
Some March Blues Passings:
And a Happy St. Paddy's Day !! to ya'.
- March 1st.,2005-- George "Wild Child" Butler
- March 16th.,2015-- Andrew McLan "Andy" Fraser
- March 23rd.,2010--Marva Wright
And a Happy St. Paddy's Day !! to ya'.
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