NOTE: With this month I'm adding a new, small section: Blues Song of the Month, listing a song and the performer(s). If there's pertinent information I'll include that in a short note.
Some September Blues Births:
- September 2nd.,1896-- Edith Wilson, aka Aunt Jemima (pancakes), born Edith Goodall
- September 18th.,1943-- "Backwards" Sam Firk, born Michael Addison Stewart
- September 30th.,1940-- James Yancey Jones, better known as "Tail Dragger"
Answer to the August 2017 Blues Question: the bluesman we were looking for is/was John Thomas Brown, best known as J.T. Brown, but also known/recorded as "Saxman" Brown, J.T."Big Boy" Brown, "Nature Boy" Brown, and/or "Bep" Brown, born April 2nd.,1918, in Mississippi. He first performed in a minstrel group, before he moved to Chicago. While living in Chicago most of his work was as a session player, though he did some of his own recordings. Some of the big names he recorded with, as a session player, were Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, Roosevelt Sykes, Muddy Waters, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Washboard Sam, J.B. Lenoir, Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter, and on and on-- you get the idea - he was an "in demand" sax player. He recorded on the Harlem, Meteor, JOB, United, and Chess labels, along with some recordings on several smaller "indie" labels. When Delmark Records acquired the masters from the States and United labels, some of J.T.'s recordings were re-issued on Delmark's "Honkers and Barwalkers" titled c.d.'s. He passed away on November24.,1969, in Chicago, at the age of 51.
Blues Question for September 2017: this bluesman, born in Memphis, put together a band that recorded around 100 sides for RCA, in a seven year period. It was the first (arguably, of course, by some) of its kind to be performed in Memphis, and was quite popular at local shows at all types of venues. The Grateful Dead's first recording was a cover of one of their songs. This bluesman was an influence to many of the harmonica players of the period and is also regarded by some of today’s harpists as their influence. Sound familiar? Any idea who this bluesman might be?
Blues Song & Artist (s) for Sepember 2017: the song is "Snowed In", by Albert Collins. All of the sound effects you'll hear were done by Albert on his guitar and/or on his mic.
Blues Trivia for September 2017: if you're familiar with R.L. Burnside or Junior Kimbrough, you should also know the Fat Possum Records label. There seems to be some question as to it's exact founding date, as it is shown to be 1991 and/or 1992. It was founded by Peter Redvers-Lee, then the editor of Living Blues magazine, and Matthew Johnson. Around 1994 Redvers-Lee left and Bruce Watson took over his duties as manager. Fat Possum's original goal, which they achieved, was to record the raw, rural sounds of North Mississippi Hill Country blues, hence Burnside and Kimbrough. But they found others, too, including T-Model Ford (James Lewis Carter Ford), CeDell Davis (Ellis Davis), Robert "Wolfman" Bellfour, Charles w. Caldwell, and Little Freddie King (Fread Eugene Martin), among others. By the mid- 1990's, the label, which had been having some long-running money problems, got temporarily out of the "red", with the releases of "Not The Same Old Blues Crap, Vol.III" (following I & II), and "Chapter VII; All Men Are Liars". Then came a legal battle with Capricorn Records, who were supposed to be distributing Fat Possum's releases, which pretty well drained off the money that was there. After some of their main artists started passing away, they started to release archived recordings, acquired the rights to Al Green's recordings, and became the distributer of/for HI records, which included some of John Lee Hooker's earlier sides, Ann Peebles recordings, and some Willie Mitchell offerings, among others. The trivia part is that, also, during this period of changes, they came to the conclusion that there was no more "raw, rural blues" talent to be found, that that was a hopeless cause, and, out of that deduction, have started to record "indie" rock bands, punk rock, even, to me, anyhow, it seems to be rap. Thankfully, at least, most all of their earlier blues recordings are available, along with the folk and country they also recorded, like Hasil Adkins.
Some September Blues Passings:
- September 6th.,1988-- "Big Ike" Darby
- September 15th.,2015-- Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones, born John Junia Jones Jr
- September, 25th.,2009--Alex "Easy Baby" Randle
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