First of all, let me wish all a Happy St.Paddy's Day (Yeah, I know I'm late), a Happy April Fool's Day, and most of all, a Happy, Safe, And Blessed Easter (even for the marshmallow Peeps and the Cadbury Bunny).
Since I couldn't get the March Blog out on time, even though I had it almost finished, I've decided to re-do it and combine it with the April Blues Blog, as I've used the info combined to do so. I've added a little and scrapped a little to do this.Some March Blues Births:
- March 7th.1962-- Vernon Chico Banks
- March 12th.,1896-- Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller
- March 21st.,1902-- James "Son" House
- April 9th.,1917-- Woodrow Wilson Adams
- April 13th.,1922-- Roy Sidney Dunn
- April 26th.,1908-- Shirley Griffith. (Yes, it's a man named Shirley !!)
Answer To The February 2022 Blues Question: The blues artist we were looking for was/is Marva Wright, born Marva Maria Williams, on March 20,1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her mother was Mattie P. Gilbert, and her father was Rev. Arthur Williams. Marva graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, then attended Southern University in Baton Rouge. Her musical "career" started with her singing gospel, in church, with her mother, who was a pianist and gospel singer there too. Her mother was a big influence in her singing, as was a family friend by the name of Mahalia Jackson. Marva's very first singing on a recording was "I Walk With The King", a gospel song, accompanied by her mother, at the age of 9. Marva didn't turn professional until 1987, at almost 40 years of age. She was working a second job to support her then family. The song that got her noticed was her performance of "Dr. Feelgood', an Aretha Franklin tune. In 1989, she was at Tipatina's, along with several other local artists, doing a show, when she recorded "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean", a song originally recorded in 1952 and released in '53, by none other than Ruth Brown. That night's performances were recorded, and later in 1989, released on the Ooh-La-La label, #1401, as "Tipatina's Proudly Presents Live And In Person". It's 10 great tracks, recorded in Dec. 1988 & Jan. 1989, all by different artists. The first tune on it is Marva, doing the song I just listed earlier. Later in '89, she recorded/released her first album, "Heatbreakin' Woman", on the Tipatina Records label, #T-007. She wrote that title song, and if you get a chance to hear this c.d., you'll see why and how she got the title "The Blues Queen of New Orleans". There are 2 other c.d.'s worth mentioning here. One, under her own name, is "After The Levees Broke", done in 2007, her extremely heartfelt album, done after she lost everything she and her family had, when hurricane Katrina broke the levees, and destroyed so many lives. It took her bandleader quite awhile to convince her to record this heartbreak, and yet, have a positive outlook for the future album. The man who recorded it was also from New Orleans, and he too, lost everything to the flooding, including his recording studio and all it's equipment. He recorded this c.d., with Marva, her band leader--Benny Turner, and the rest of the musicians, in his new studio location and place of residence-- Australia. The other one worth noting, is a compilation c.d., put together and distributed in Germany, in 1993, of New Orleans musicians. It was sponsored by Tabasco Sauce, released on the ARIS / Ariola BMG label, and has 14 tracks, all by different artists. If you want that c.d., you're going to have to get it from Germany (yes, I have that one too). She has 12 albums under her own name, and quite a few compilation albums. Marva has 4 children from her previous marriages: Gerry and Elizabeth Martin, and Jeanne and James Kelly Jr. The daughters all have different last names now, as they're all married. She also has quite a few grand-babies. After a series of strokes, from which she never fully recovered, she had the last one, which was fatal, on March 23, 2010, a few days after her 62nd. birthday, at her daughter's house, in New Orleans.
Blues Question For March And April 2022: This bluesman was quite a versatile player/singer/writer in the blues genre. He has a younger brother, also a gifted bluesman. Both of them are well-known in their own areas of the music. Both have shared the stage with the big names in the blues, and have also been the lead act(s). Any idea who this bluesman might be ???
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For March And April 2022: Referring to the Blues Question & Answer sections on Marva, it's her song-- "Heartbreakin' Woman", on Tipatina's Records album, # T-007. Also on this album is her doing "St.James Infirmary", and it's the only album of hers that that particular song is on. Also on it is "Born Under A Bad Sign". If you get on youtube, you can get either just the individual songs, or the full album. I'd personally opt for the full album (but I have the c.d.). The other musicians on that album are: Ronald Jones-- backing vocals,, drums, piano; Juanita Brooks-- backing vocals; Marva Wright-- backing vocals,,lead vocals; Sammy Perfect-- organ,,piano; and Daryl Johnson-- bass.
Blues Trivia For March And April 2022: If you have Amazon Prime (I don't, but I borrowed it), they made a movie/series (8 episodes so far), titled "Jack Reacher", after the main character in the Lee Child series of books (there are 26 published, with the 27th. due out in October 2022), and I've read all but #25- The Sentinal (I'm part way through it), and #26-BetterOff Dead, which I have on order. Anyhow, this first movie series is based on the first book- "Killing Floor", with the tv series titled simply "Jack Reacher". The story is set in Margrave, Georgia (a fictional town, as there is no Margrave town, township,city or county anywhere that I could find). Reacher's older brother, Joe, had told him that it was in that town that bluesman Blind Blake had possibly died. That actually was a clue from Joe that there were some problems in Margrave that needed looking into by a qualified investigator, since Jack was just that, in the Army, up until he retired. The whole story revolves around the fact that, once there, Jack's arrested for murder, with an unidentified victim. It's discovered by Reacher when he's at the Morgue, that this "victim" is his brother, Joe. From that point, his entire being and purpose is to eradicate all/ anyone connected to Joe's murder. Reacher originally went there to check the story about Blake. (Arthur "Blind" Blake actually died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) As you go through all the episodes in the series, you'll hear a lot of bluesmen on the soundtrack, such as Blake, Howlin' Wolf, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Corey Harris, and others. You'll hear Blind Blake doing "Police Dog Blues", at least in part, Howlin' Wolf doing "Spoonfull", again, in part, as are all the tunes. Child mentions Blake in 2 or 3 of the other books in the Reacher series. That Police Dog Blues tune was recorded on the Paramount label, in Richmond, Indiana, on August 17,1929. Blake recorded exclusively on and for the Paramount label. If you've read any Dean Koontz or Stephen King books, you will also find that they both, at times, mention some early and also current bluesmen, and/or their songs. There's some trivia items here: the actor who plays Reacher in this series is Alan Ritchson, who is listed, in different places, as being either 6'3" or 6'2" in height, and in the books he's shown to be 6'5". The actor Tom Cruise, who played Reacher in 2 movies, is 5'7", a long way from Reacher's description. Want to guess who comes off better in the role ? Another item is what I mentioned earlier-- that there's a lot of great cuts on the soundtrack. A third item is that Ritchson read all the books in this series, in their order, to prepare himself for the role. Yes, I know, it's not straight-up blues, but it should tell you that you can find the blues almost everywhere you choose to look, or you may just stumble into them. Don't ever complain--just enjoy !!
Some March Blues Passings:
Also, by the way, Alligator Records has 3 artists on the Blues Chart: Tinsley Ellis, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, and Shemekia Copeland, and mentions of several other of their artists, including Chris Cain, Tommy Castro, Curtis Salgado, and others.
- March 2nd.,1988-- Roy Sidney Dunn
- March 19th.,2011-- Archie "Aashid" Himmons
- March 23rd.,1988-- Moody Jones.
- April 12th.,1979-- Pernell Charity
- April 14th.,1954-- Lillian "Lil" Green
- April 26th.,1976-- Mable Hillery
Also, by the way, Alligator Records has 3 artists on the Blues Chart: Tinsley Ellis, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, and Shemekia Copeland, and mentions of several other of their artists, including Chris Cain, Tommy Castro, Curtis Salgado, and others.
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