Computer issues resolved! Here is the Blog for March 2023
Some March Blues Births:
- March 3rd.,1924-- Reverand Houston H. Harrington, owner of Atomic H Records
- March 4th.,1930-- Maurice Reedus, sax man extrordinaire in Robert Lockwood Jr.'s band for many years (his son, Maurice Jr., used to be found blowin' sax outside Cleveland Stadium- not sure of it's correct name of the stadium, before he passed away).
- March 16th.,1936-- Frederick "Fred" Neil
I said in the January Blues Blog that I'd explain why I chose the January Song, in the February Blues Blog. Well, that Blog was written and sent before I received some info I wanted/ ordered about that song had arrived, so, here's that explanation. If you read the January Blog, I gave you all the numbers under which it was recorded, and then sold, in 1958. In '59, an album was released on the Checker (Chess) record label. It's a collection of all the songs that Sonny Boy Williamson II wrote and recorded for Checker, after Chess had bought the rights to them from a creditor who had gotten them in a settlement of debts by Trumpet Records. There are 12 tracks on it, with Otis Spann on the 8 tracks that featured piano, Fred Below on drums on all tracks, and Willie Dixon on the 10 tracks that also feature Robert Lockwood Jr. and Luther Tucker on guitars. That vinyl album was issued in '59, with the first c.d. issue of it in '87. It was to tie in with the January Blues question, which was answered in the February Blues Blog. I picked it because of the personnel on it. By the way, the 2 tracks that don't have Lockwood and Tucker on giutar on that album, have , instead, on guitars, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers.
Answer To The February Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Francis Clay, born November 16, 1923, in Rock Island, Illinois. In his youth he played on/ with sticks and drums that he made for himself. By the age of 14 he was playing professionaly. When he was 16 (some sources say 15) he was hired to play in the Jay McShann band, with some of the other members being Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. After that, he went on to form his own group and performed on riverboats, in the circus, and in Chicago area jazz bands. He married Connie Knight Zia in '47. He was in New York when he heard that Muddy Waters needed a drummer. In last month's Blog, I listed a "cooperative band" that was put together, and was known as the James Cotton Blues Band, a name they used to be announced at their first gig. In that band the drummer was Sam Lay. After some time and a lot of travelling/ touring, which he no longer wanted to do, he left the band. That's when Francis Clay took over that spot, and bacause of his extensive carreer and his abilities, took that band in new directions. In the blues side of his career he performed with Jimmy Reed, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, Howlin' Wolf, Jimi Hendrix, and many others. He suffered with asthma and arthritis, so he decided to live in San Francisco, California when he was out there, where the weather was better for his health. He was considered to be the elder statesman of the blues in the Bay area, by all the other musicians. He passed away, in his sleep, in his apartment, on January 21, 2008. He was 84.
Blues Question For March 2023: This bluesman is still alive and kicking. He's one of those who's had a long, hard road to get to where he's at today, and he still has to deal with some of those problems, but that's made him work harder than most other musicians to be really good at his craft. Any idea who this bluesman might be, with the scarce info you're given ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For March 2023:The song is "Midnight, Midnight", and the artist is Mchouston "Mickey" Baker. This track features Baker on lead guitar, Everett Barksdale on rhythm guitar, Abie Baker (Mickey's father) on bass, Herman Foster on piano, and Samuel "Sticks" Evans on drums. There are 12 tracks on the album, and the personnel aren't the same on all the tracks, but they're all good. This is from the original Atlantic Records album, # SD-8035, from 1959, titled "The Wildest Guitar. It's all instrumental, and it's on vinyl. It was issued on c.d., the first time, on the Sepia Tone label, # STONE-13, in 2003, in the U.S. It was re-issued as a "Limited Edition" in 2012 by Warner Japan (shown as an Atlantic release), # WPCR-27587. both of the c.d.'s are "pricey", if you find one or the other.
Blues Trivia For March 2023: How many of you know the supposed last words of Sonny Boy (John Lee) Williamson I ? Do you know that Howlin' Wolf carried a .22 pistol in his hip pocket. He was big enough without that, just by physical size. How about this: Blind Lemon Jefferson took a break from the music work, in 1917, to work as a wrestler. Quite a few of the "old timers" in the blues, always carried some sort of weapon, usually a small caliber pistol, or knife. That's how many of them stayed alive, considering a lot of the places where they performed were a "little rough and rowdy". I knew a Chicago harp player, who, over the years, was shot 5 different times. He ended up passing away from heart failure. I knew another old- timer, a guitar player who had the softest touch on his "axe", a 1957 Fender, that was never in a shop for repairs. He always was a sharp dresser, always in a suit. I noticed that he always leaned a little bit to his right side, and I came to find out that that was because of the weight of the pistol he carried in his coat pocket. Oh, and the trivia I started out with, asking about Sonny Boy's last words. On June 1, 1948, he was walking home from a gig at the Plantation Club, a tavern just a block and a half from his home, when he was killed in a robbery. As I stated, supposedly his last words were "Lord, have mercy".
Some March Blues Passings:
- March 3rd.,2012-- Ronald Douglas "Ronnie" Montrose
- March 11th.,1997-- George W. "Harmonica George" Robinson
- March 29th.,1999-- Joe Williams, born Joseph Goreed.
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