Some November Blues Births:
- November 6th.,1949 -- Aurora "Rory" Block
- November 14th.,1954 -- James Anson Funderburgh
- November 26th.,1965 -- Bernard Allison
Answer To The October 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/is John Lee Henley, born February 13,1919, on a farm near Canton, Mississippi. His grandfather was a preacher and his father was a cotton farmer, and that's most likely where he was born. As a youngster he taught himself harmonica and he would eventually play with local musicians at suppers, parties, dances, and other country functions around Canton through the 1930's on into the early '40's, sometimes with Buddy Cobbs. He moved to Chicago in '43, to work outside the music field. In '45 he sat in with the Muddy Waters group at the Purple Cat. John Lee was influenced by two harpists he'd met -- both Sonny Boys (I & II). Sonny boy II encouraged him to do some recording, which he did with different people. One of those was Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, on the Chance label in '53, which turned out to be between July of '52 to October of '53. A little more digging shows that he also recorded for the J.O.B. Records label, where the dates are a little more confusing. The J.O.B. label was started in '49 by a businessman (and former boxer) Joe Brown and James "Saint Louis Jimmy" Burke Oden. Supposedly the J.O.B. was a transposed version of Jimmy's initials. The numbering of theirs started with 101 through 117, from '49 to early '51. Then the numbering changed to 1001 through 1016, then went from 1101 through 1127. The "fly in the ointment" here is that # 1004 is shown prefixed to read JB1004. More on that later, in the Trivia section. Back to John Lee -- his recording was # 114, showing the writer and musician as John Lee, leaving the Henley name off. It shows in some listings as being done "c1952". On that recording, the A- side song is "Rhythm Rockin' Boogie", the B-side song is "Knockin' On Lula Mae's Door, with John Lee on harp and vocals, with, to my surprise, Robert Lockwood Jr. on guitar, Johnny Holloway on guitar (probably rhythm), Moody Jones on bass, Sona Sago (shown on the A side) and Allan Williams (shown on the B side, both being the same man) on drums. John Lee worked as a sit- in with many locals in different clubs in Chicago through the '50's. In '64 he worked the Fickle Pickle with Big Joe Williams. He also recorded for the Testament label in '64 - a single, and again for them in '66, that session being released as a complete album. However, he mostly worked outside the music field through the '60's. He passed away in Chicago on March 12,1995. Most all of his recordings can be found on compilations or Youtube.
Blues Question For November 2023: This bluesman was born in Mississippi, or possibly Alabama: he gave both places as being correct, at different times. Depending on what source you're looking at, he was born in either 1932 or 1936. He lived and/ or performed in most of the states east of and including Illinois, south to the Gulf Coast. Spent some time in a reformatory and in the U.S.Army Air Force. Settled in Germany. Any idea who this bluesman might be ??
Blues Song(s) And Artist(s) For November 2023: The song is "Going Back Home", and the artist is Travis Leonard Blaylock, aka "Harmonica Slim". This was recorded in 1954 on the Spry label, #103, and was the B side. The A side song was "Thought I Didn't Love You", both with Slim on harp and vocals, with Lloyd Glenn on piano. He was the pianist in Lowell Fulson's band.
Blues Trivia For November 2023: This all pertains to the J.O.B., JOB, and JB labels. First, the JB- prefixed recording shows being done by an independent in Chicago, which is false. It was out of Louisiana, shown in the discography of J.O.B. records as JB1004. Turns out that was a recording featuring twelve year old Roy Sneed with the Sneed Family Band, and was a country- western recording. Now, the plain JOB story, which gets a little convoluted in the "how it came to be" category. The discography for the JOB label also showed the #1004, without prefix letters. Here we go: in 1923 WGAQ radio of Shreveport, Louisiana, contacted William Kennon Henderson Jr. (8-6-1880/5-28-1945), a well-to-do businessman from Bastrop, for help in replacing their low wattage transmitter with one more powerful. In '25 Henderson bought the station, re-named it's call letters to KWKH, using his initials, and added a 50,000 watt transmitter. He was outspoken about the government trying to control the airwaves (sound familiar?), and about the big chain stores and radio conglomerates. After some years fighting with the government, they cancelled his broadcasting license. That, along with the results of the Great Depression, forced him to declare personal bankruptcy, and he sold the station in '32. From that time forward the station changed ownership several times (it's still in existence and transmitting, although on a different frequency than was originally used).In '47, they brought in Ray Bartlett, for several different jobs, such as morning announcer, disc jockey, and as m.c. for the newley started "Louisiana Hayride" (it's first broadcast was April 3,1948). One of the shows that Bartlett did was "Groovie's Boogie", voicing it like a jive-talking d.j., "Groovy Boy", who played blues and R & B records. They had a Groovie's Record Department in the Hull Furniture Store. He had Elvis first perform on the show in'54, with the last time being in '56. That one hour show spot was sponsored by Stan's Record Store, located at 728 Texas Street, at the corner of Common Street. According to records, all the JOB recordings were done at the J & M Record Shop, shown at 728 Texas Street.Both the JOB Records and the J & M Record Shop were shown at that address. The original Stan's start-up location there was an 8' by 12' store that Stan Lewis, 21 years old at the time, and his wife Pauline bought for $2,500 in 1948. Eventually, they bought the next storefront (same building) and expanded. Later on they would own the entire block. That eventually grew to six retail stores. What records I could find indicate that only four sides were recorded on the JOB label. They were JOB #'s 100 and 105, supossedly in "50 and '51, the length of time JOB existed. By the way, 728 Texas Street is now a parking lot, as is the whole block. As they say "progress and s--t happens".
Some November Blues Passings:
- November 8th.,1968 -- James "Ko Ko Mo" Arnold, aka "Gitfiddle Jim"
- November 18th.,1940 -- Joshua Altheimer
- November 27th.,1993 -- Lum Guffin
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