Issue 17-41 October 19, 2023

In This Issue

Richard Shurman has our feature interview with Billy Boy Arnold. We have six Blues reviews for you this week including a compendium Of British Country Blues Artists from 1966 to 1976 plus new music from Little G Weevil, Eric Johanson, Skyla Burrell, Tommy Lee Cook and Mick Kolassa. Scroll down and check it out!

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Featured Interview – Billy Boy Arnold

Billy Boy Arnold is one of the great masters of Chicago Blues. A stylist on harp and vocals, Arnold is humble about his considerable talents. Making big waves in the British Invasion of the 60’s, his recordings for Vee-Jay are staples of the classic cannon. Billy Boy’s career has been long and varied working with a veritable who’s who of the Blues community. At 88 years old, Billy Boy is a living link to the early days of Chicago Blues when he tracked down legends such as Sonny Boy Williamson (the first), Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie and Blind John Davis, connecting the tradition to his modern takes on Rock and Roll and R&B.

Billy Boy sat down with the prodigious chronicler of the Blues Dick Shurman at Delmark Studios in the Spring of 2023. With special thanks to Julia Miller and everyone at Delmark, Billy Boy and Dick spent over 2 hours recounting a lifetime in the Blues and sharing some stories. Billy Boy’s excellent memoir The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold served as a starting off point for this engaging and educational session. What follows is an edited version of the interview. Breaking from normal Blues Blast interview style, Dick Shurman’s questions are included to give the reader the conversational feel between these 2 Chicago Blues insiders.

Dick Shurman: One of the things that stands out about you to me is that among all the legendary Chicago Blues artists you’re one of the first that was actually born in Chicago. Do you feel you have kind of a different outlook being Chicago born and raised? Did you feel a little more urban?

Billy Boy Arnold: I never gave it no thought. They were just people, I didn’t know where they was from and didn’t care, you know. But, I knew the Blues started in the South. But, no, I didn’t see any difference.

DS: You’ve said your mother’s side of the family were more the Blues people. Could you talk about your aunt’s record player and how that affected your love for the Blues?

BBA: Oh, they used to play the Blues all the time you know, and I liked that kind of music. I was the only kid that liked it, liked the Blues. Just took a likin’ to it. “Worried Life Blues.” Sonny Boy’s record “Coal and Iceman Blues,” and flipped side with “Mattie Mae.” They played Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup “Mean Ol’ Frisco” and “Gonna Follow My Baby.” They played a lot of everything.

DS: I’ve heard from other people like the Myers brothers, that people thought they were really square and from “big foot country” or something because they liked downhome Blues. Did you get that from people your age?

BBA: None of them liked Blues. You didn’t hear Blues at the house or nothin’ like that. But all of them, most of them came from the South, you know. But for me, it was the instrumentation and the song, the singing, the feeling. And the adults played it a lot. It’s the type of music I could feel, you know. A lot of people say “that’s adult music.” But, music was music. See I wasn’t into the stories so much of what they were singing about. I liked the melodies and the instruments, the guitar part, the piano and all that you know. That’s the part I like.

DS: In the book you talked about going to see Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee Williamson) and one of the first things you asked him was how he’d got that sound on “G.M. & O.” When you found out where Sonny Boy lived and you went to see him when you were I think 12, you were working at the butcher shop right?

BBA: Yeah when I was 11 and 12 I would work at my uncle’s butcher shop on Saturday and Sunday, occasionally. It wasn’t a regular job but he would tell me to come down and work. I didn’t know Sonny Boy lived around there. But, I knew 31st was where, probably, the Blues people were livin’, you know, in that area. See my uncle’s butcher shop was at 31st and Giles. And Sonny Boy lived at 3226 Giles, it’s a block and a half down the street.

DS: Was it somebody around the butcher shop that actually gave you (Sonny Boy’s) address?

BBA: Yeah, I was in the butcher shop on a Saturday evening and it was dark, you know winter time it get dark early, and I saw a guy. Every time I seen a guy with a guitar I’d stop him and ask him questions. So I ran out of the butcher shop and I ask him do you know Sonny Boy? “Yeah I know Sonny Boy.” I ask, do you know where Sonny Boy lives? Now the reason I know who he was, his name was Lazy Bill Lucas, he didn’t tell me that but he had an affliction. His head would go around like this. He was born like that. So I ran back in the shop and wrote it down, “3226 Giles.” It’s only a block and half from the butcher shop. That’s how I found out his address.

DS: Lazy Bill, yeah I remember he said the guitar was a “starvation box.” That’s why he switched to piano. You took a couple of people with you the first time to see Sonny Boy, right?

BBA: Yeah it was 2 kids.

DS: Were they excited by him or were they there mostly because it was your thing and they wanted to see what was going on? Were they interested by Sonny Boy too?

BBA: Oh no no. See we would go to the movie theaters every Saturday. We were gettin’ ready to go to the movie theater and I said well come on by Sonny Boy’s house with me. They said no we go to the movie theater first and we get out at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and then we’ll go to Sonny Boy’s house with yah. We were on 63rd street in Englewood. Within a 2 block area there was about 6 or 7 movie theaters. So after we got out of the movie theater around 2 o’clock we took the elevated train to 33rd and State, and the local ran at that time so you could walk. We walked over 3 blocks east to Giles to where Sonny Boy lived at 3226 Giles.

So I rung the doorbell and this well dressed man answered. You seen these African people that’s Nubians, they call ‘em. Almost black, I mean black unusually like. That’s the way Sonny Boy was. In his books you can’t tell. But he was black as midnight, you heard me describe that in the book. This well dressed man came to the door and he had a lot of hair on his head. He said “Can I help you?” We said we want to see Sonny Boy. He said “this is Sonny Boy.” We said we want to hear you play your harmonica. He said “come on up, I’m proud to have you all.” When we got upstairs Johnny Jones and a young lady was there. He told them “they came to see Sonny Boy.” I said: Sonny Boy, how you make that harmonica say “wah wah wah.” He said, “you have to choke it.” I said let me hear you do that. He choked it. I told him I can play harmonica just like you if you play “Lacey,” his latest record was “Lacey Belle,” (named after Sonny Boy’s wife). He put the record on and I couldn’t choke it but I be singing the words and he got a big kick out of that because I knew all the lyrics.

DS: And so Sunnyland’s joint, where Sonny Boy met his end, was just like about a block and half around the corner from there. It was close?

$image\$ DS: Yeah Jimmy was a big gambler, we all knew (chuckles).

BBA: All of them were jealous of Sonny Boy cause he was on top. He was the biggest artist on the scene there. Memphis Minnie, Big Bill all of those are real artists. Jimmy Rogers and them were trying to get started, didn’t have no signature style. You know small record companies would record them and give ‘em a chance too.

Anyway Jimmy Rogers said “I was there when it happened.” He said they heard a lot of tumblin’ and wrestling’ in the back. He said when they carried Sonny Boy out they had him in both arms and his feet were draggin’. Sunnyland Slim told everybody that “ain’t nobody seen nothin’, ya hear! Ain’t nobody seen nothin’.” They had to take him in Sunnyland’s car cause he couldn’t walk, his feet was dragged. They took him to his house and rang the doorbell and left him leaning against the doorbell. The lady on the first floor said she heard a lot of scufflin’ and a lot of noise.

When Lacey Belle came down, Sonny Boy’s learning against the door and he was saying “they got me, they got me.” And he said “I won more money tonight then I ever won.” But he didn’t have no money when he come home. So she helped him upstairs. She didn’t know he was mortally wounded, she just thought he was you know, been drinkin’ and been in a scuffle. She helped him take his clothes off and everything. And he was saying “lord, I’m down, lord I’m down.” They called the police. When the police got there they took him to Michael Reese Hospital and he was dead on arrival.

DS: Another one of the Blues people it seems like had a lot to do with opening up the scene for you, including taking you to Silvio’s (legendary Chicago nightclub), was Blind John Davis, who of course also recorded with Sonny Boy. How did you connect with him in the first place?

BBA: They had a brochure at a dime store where they sold records. I was lookin’ through there and they had a picture of Blind John Davis. He had a record out called “Magic Carpet,” it was by the Blind Johnny Davis Trio. I had seen this blind guy sitting in the chair. I just saw him, you know. I just throw it out there to say, you know Blind John Davis? He said “Sure I know John. I been knowing him since he 14 years old. His uncle got a coal shed right there on Lake and Leavitt.” That was only 2 blocks from where this guy lived. So when I left there, I’d seen his uncle there several times and I asked him, I said you know Blind John Davis. He said “yeah, that’s my nephew. See that red house right across the street there? That’s where he live at.”

So I went over and knocked on the door and I said, does Blind John Davis live here? He said “yeah.” I said you make a record with Sonny Boy? He said “yeah I made a lot of records with Sonny Boy.” And that’s how I met him.

DS: When John took you to Silvio’s was that the first Blues club you went to or had you gone before that?

BBA: Yeah, he took up there to meet Big Bill (Broonzy). Big Bill and Blind John went to Paris and they stayed over there a few weeks. And when they came back, Silvio had a big sign up there: “Direct from Paris, France. Big Bill Broonzy and Blind John Davis.” And on Saturday they had like a cocktail party. They put 2 or 3 tables together and put 3/5ths of whisky on there. All the musicians who came in to jam could drink for free. This was sort of a musicians’ only. So I went up there with Blind John to meet Big Bill. He said, “this is the boy I was telling you about Big Bill.” And I shook hands with Big Bill, you know, blah blah blah. And I really liked Big Bill’s singin’ and playin’ cause my auntie had his records too. He had an unusual way of singing. If you ever heard one of his records and you heard it again, you’d know it was him.

Memphis Minnie was playing down on the next block, Leavitt and Lake. Blind John lived at Leavitt and Lake.

DS: Yeah I was gonna say that must have been really close. Silvio’s was right there too.

BBA: Silvio’s was at Oakley and Lake and you walk a block east was this club that Memphis Minnie and Son Joe was playing there at a cocktail party. So I walked down the street with Big Bill and Blind John and we went where Minnie was playing. So we got down there, the place was packed. They were having a cocktail party too. So I really wanted to meet Memphis Minnie because my aunt had her record “Me and My Chauffeur.” She was sittin’ at the bar, she was well dressed. Her husband Joe, he had a day job and he bought her pretty clothes and stuff. They had the best instruments, he took good care of her. Cause you know the Blues singers didn’t make a lot of money. She was a nice looking lady, you know. The music was loud. I wanted to meet Memphis Minnie so I walked over and I said “Memphis Minnie, Memphis Minnie, Memphis Minnie.” She looked around and said “man will you get out of my ass!” (chuckles)

DS: Just to plug the book again, it’s got great maps in it where everything was in Chicago, if people are curious where all the clubs and homes were in relation to each other. Billy Boy’s book The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold is a great place to start because it’s all right there. How many times did you go with John to Silvio’s? Did you go back after?

BBA: I just went there that time, until I got older. I was 15 years old when Silvio saw me and Elmore James was playing there. When I started playin’ there Silvio ask me how old I was “well how old were you 4-5 years ago when you used to come in here?” He didn’t realize I was a kid, you know. But he knew I know all the musicians. But he didn’t say anything.

DS: It’s like Jodi Williams told me when he started playing with Morris Pejoe and Henry Gray in the clubs he was 17. Of course he had to tell ‘em he was 21. He said “so I stayed 21 for 4 years.”

BBA: haha yeah right

DS: Where else would you go early on to actually cross paths with these people? When did you start making the rounds and hearing it in person?

BBA: Well after that I met Louis (Myers) in 1951, that same year, on 31st street. I saw 2 guys with guitars, there were 3 guys, 2 of them had guitars. Louis Myers, Dave Myers and Junior Wells. They were in a pawn shop buying some harmonicas, Junior was buying some harmonicas. That’s how I met them. And then Louis told me they were playing at the Zanzibar. They took me over there one day while they were going to work. He told the guys, “he’s just gonna stand against the wall and listen to the music.”

DS: I always laugh, Scott Dirks found something in the union records that they brought the Aces (the Myers brothers and Wells’s band) up to the union because of their unruly behavior (chuckling) at the Zanzibar. I always kinda picture which ones of them would have been the unruly ones.

BBA: Was it Dave?

DS: Or Junior, he’s one of my main suspects.

BBA: Junior he’s pretty quiet and cool. Dave was real business like and pretty conservative. Louis did more talkin’ than Dave, you know.

DS: Your records for Cool Records were the first time you were “Billy Boy”. A lot of people were surprised by these recordings because the band was more uptown than what they might have expected from you. Can you explain how it happened that it was kind of a Swing Band with saxophone instead of your original idea which was Big Bill Broonzy and Blind John on it?

BBA: Well Blind John knew this guy named Peachtree Logan. He wasn’t a recording star but he was Blind John’s buddy. They drank together and partied. Him and his sister-in-law decided to get a recording company going. Cause she had a doll factory over on Maxwell Street where they made gowns and such. So they got this record thing goin’. Blind John’s saying “I know a boy who plays harmonica and sings.” They said well bring him over and blah, blah, blah. And so that’s how that started.

Blind John told me to ask Peachtree for some advance royalty (haha). So I went over there and I said how about some advance royalty? So Peachtree Logan said, “who told you to say that?” I said Blind John. And he fell out with Blind John behind that. And so Blind John and Big Bill didn’t make the record and they got a band called the Bob Carter Trio. They made the record and they weren’t a Blues band you know. They were sort of Blues.

DS: I think it was around 1953 you started actually gigging. You mentioned Johnny Temple and Johnny Shines, Otis Rush. What do you remember about Johnny Shines?

BBA: Johnny Shines was playin’ at 43rd and Greenwood every Monday. Johnny Shines knew I was trying to play harp and he got me down there to play harp cause he knew I couldn’t play shit at that time (hahaha).

DS: Johnny had played with Big Walter Horton around that time. Did you ever encounter Big Walter around that time?

BBA: Yeah I’m fixin’ to tell yah how I did. So I’m sittin’ there playin’ harp and Big Walter standin’ up lookin’ at me. He said “boy, give me that harp.” And he blew me out the joint (laughing). I think Johnny told him “give the boy back the harp, let him play the harp.” And Big Walter looked around and said “what if I kick a mother fucker’s ass.” And Johnny said “you can’t kick my ass.”

DS: I think you had told me a long time ago that the reason you were playing with Johnny was he and Walter had one of their periodic falling outs. Speaking of meeting Walters, wasn’t it around that time that you first ran into Little Walter? I think you said, in the book at the Zanzibar, that was the first time you actually heard him.

BBA: Yeah Walter played the Zanzibar. He made that record and Louis and Dave were playing there.

DS: So this would have been like ‘52 when “Juke” came out?

BBA: Yeah, “Juke” was out, it was a hit. And Walter was playing over there and Junior and Louis would play there when Walter was out of town.

DS: You also mentioned seeing Little Walter at the Hollywood Rendezvous. Do you remember much about that?

BBA: Oh yeah the Hollywood Rendezvous was an established club. Big Bill played there in the 40’s and Sonny Boy played there. You know all the big time guys. So Walter was hot so that was Walter’s home base. If he went out of town and stayed 3 weeks, whatever day he came back to town, if you were playing there that night, when Little Walter came in, you didn’t have no gig.

DS: It’s pretty obvious that nobody carrying a guitar was safe from your questions. In your book you describe how you went up to Bo Diddley and Jodi Williams carrying guitars. I’ll let people read that for themselves. But I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you know why Jodi Williams wasn’t on the “Bo Diddley” session? Was it that guy Buttercup?

BBA: You see Jodi was playing with Howlin’ Wolf and more advanced Blues guys. He didn’t have much respect for what Bo was doing, he wanted to play like B.B. King. That’s how that happened. But, (Leonard) Chess started bringing Jodi in. Cause when you make records you gotta have somebody who can help the records, you know. So Bo Diddley plays the style he play and Jodi he’s more advance, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker style. I think when Bo Diddley got him, he needed somebody who could take the place of horn players and stuff. He started traveling with Bo Diddley.

When I first met him, Jodi wasn’t playing all that B.B. King stuff then. He was just playing rhythm behind Bo. He was bored, he wanted to advance. He told me “I have to get away from Bo Diddley, I want to play some real stuff. I want to play like B.B. King and T-Bone Walker.” Bo was really playin’ down home Blues. He had his own style of doing what he was doing.

DS: Buttercup was Bo’s rhythm guitar player after Jodi right?

BBA: Buttercup was Bo’s neighbor across the street. Bo would show him how to play guitar. Buttercup was backin’ pretty good on rhythm. So when we got this job at Castle Rock, Buttercup was in the band. His father, his whole relatives would be there, everything, Buttercup’s old lady. Some woman was sittin’ at the bar she must have said somethin’ to Buttercup or his old lady thought she was flirting or something. His old lady hit her with a whisky bottle and cut her face open. And when she did that, she started running the long bar. She start runnin’ down the bar throwing’ glasses. She wrecked the joint. The club owner trying to talk to her. So he got his gun and shot in the floor three times: bam, bam, bam and got her attention. And she stopped to look around, Bo Diddley come up behind and put a full nelson on her and carried her out the club. And that was the end of Buttercup’s career.

DS: A day in the life, wow. Bo helped you go to Vee-Jay and of course some of your Vee-Jay recordings ended up having a lot to do with spreading the word about you, particularly overseas. Unfortunately, not so helpful financially. But, of course the Yardbirds and the Animals between “I Ain’t Got You” and “I Wish You Would” that’s where a lot of white people first heard about you. You said you never did get any royalties from any of that.

BBA: I didn’t never get nothing. That wasn’t the white people. That was the crooked-ass Vee-Jay. Vee-Jay wasn’t gonna give nobody nothing. Jimmy Bracken (one of the studio heads) was tellin’ somebody, and I was within earshot: “Somebody say Chess given Chuck Berry 2 cents. I wouldn’t give nobody 2 cents.” That mother fucker, he wouldn’t have been in the business if it wasn’t for them. Leonard Chess wasn’t no damn fool, he knew Chuck Berry was a potential guy to make millions. He wouldn’t have given him shit. If he would have F-ed over Chuck Berry and Chuck Berry would have whooped his ass and left.

DS: Jodi Williams was with you on your first couple of Vee-Jay sessions. Then after that Syl Johnson came into the picture. Was Jodi in the Army or were you just working more with Syl? You told me once Shakey Jake was the guy who told you about Syl.

BBA: Jodi hadn’t went to the Army then. We went to Oklahoma somewhere. Shakey Jake said, “You lookin’ for a band?’ I said yes. He said, “I know two young guys Syl Johnson and Odell Campbell. They used to be my band you can have them.” I had this record “I Ain’t Got You” and I started working at Club Alibi. That’s the way it went down.

DS: Since the early 70’s, on various European and American labels between Electro-Fi, Alligator, Red Lightnin’, and others, you’ve stacked up a lot of credits. Do you have particular favorites? If you wanted people to hear Billy Boy Arnold the way you want to be heard, what records would you steer them to?

BBA: The two albums I did for Alligator are the two best albums I ever made, to me. (Back Where I Belong, 1993; Eldorado Cadillac, 1995)

DS: Let’s talk about the old stuff you let me tape for you back in 1969 that Delmark is working on now to put out on CD. There is the session that you did at Lorenzo Smith’s place with Jerome Arnold (Billy Boy’s bassist younger brother), Bill Warren and Mighty Joe Young, do you remember how that came about?

BBA: We did that in Lorenzo’s back room. I was just trying to get some material to present to a record company and that’s how that came about.

DS: So it’s like a demo. I’ve always liked it, it’s not like trying to be anything real fancy. But I always thought it was a really solid piece of Chicago Blues. You have played a fair amount of bass over the years, including with Charlie Musselwhite. Did Jerome show you stuff, did you show Jerome stuff?

BBA: Oh I was just trying to play bass, trying to learn a different instrument. No, he didn’t show me stuff. Reggie Boyd showed me some stuff. Jerome was always working with Howlin’ Wolf or Paul Butterfield or somebody, he wasn’t never around to show me nothin’. Jerome listened to Mac Thompson, he watched him play, thought it was easy. So he went and got himself a bass. Next thing you know he was playin’ with Otis Rush and different people you know, till the point he got to be a pretty good bass player.

DS: You did some informal recording with Paul Butterfield and James Cotton. There’s that song “Three Harp Boogie” with Elvin Bishop on guitar. Did you have many dealings with Paul back then when he was on his way up?

BBA: Oh yeah we talked and everything. I complimented him because I thought he was a good harp player. He was a fast learner and he could sing.

DS: I was struck by the part in the book where you said when you saw people like that you sort of recognized some of what was in them; they were kind of chasing the same thing you were. The Blues were calling to them. I thought that was a real generous way to look at it. Did you show either Paul or Charlie Musselwhite any harmonica directly?

BBA: Those guys played more harp than I did when I met ‘em, especially Charlie. Paul didn’t really need nobody to show him no harp, he could do it on his own, you know. He was an aggressive kid, he didn’t stand still. And Charlie was a master harp player. One thing Johnny “Big Moose” Walker said, and he was right, Charlie Musselwhite could play some of the greatest intros on the harp. I mean dynamite. Charlie could break out all those songs on the harp, man. Damn, hell of a man on the harp.

DS: How would you describe your own playing, your own harp style?

BBA: Well, I don’t have a whole lot of compliments on my harp playing myself. Cause I was just kind of a lazy guy, you know.

DS: I think you sell yourself short. I think when people hear the instrumentals on the stuff you recorded at Lorenzo’s house they’ll think that too. You’re not just a guy who can play a few notes in between your singing. You can blow a nice solo or a nice instrumental. You know your way around and you do have a sound.

During those days when you were recording for Vee-Jay, when you would do your live shows, how much of what you were singing was Blues and how much was Rock and Roll? I know you’ve always done a lot of Rock and Roll.

BBA: Well, it depends on the area you was playing. Certain parts of the South Side like Blues, low down Blues, you know, the real Blues. Some like more swinging type of Blues, you try and adjust. My singing, I wasn’t a great singer, but my singing was a little better than my other instruments.

DS: Louis Myers told me you were the “singingest cat in Chicago.”

BBA: Oh I didn’t know that. He told me “you got that after-soul.” I didn’t know wat that means “after-soul.” I think what it meant, those guys that went over good on records. They can sing a song and do somethin’ to it, to the lyric, that can get you to a feeling.

DS: Yeah you are one of the ones who has it.

Interview by Richard Shurman, transcribed and edited by Bucky O’Hare.

Featured Blues Review – 1 of 6

Blues Like Showers Of Rain – A compendium Of The Finest British Country Blues Artists – 1966 – 1976

Saydisc Matchbox Blues Series

www.matchboxbluesmaster.co.uk

6 CDs – 106 songs – 316 Minutes

Disc 1: Blues Like Showers Of Rain (Vol.1)

Disc 2: Blues Like Showers Of Rain (Vol.2)

Disc 3: The Inverted Word

Disc 4: Blues Miscellany:Searchin’ The Desert For The Blues

Disc 5: Hokum Miscellany:Selling That Stuff

Disc 6: Ragtime And Miscellaneous:The Nailbreaker

For lovers of British Country Blues this extensive collection will be like Christmas morning squared. It is all presented in pristine sound. The kicker is that it isn’t all just country blues. There are acoustic blues guitar guys, jug bands, piano players, rags, a bit of hokum and a few surprises to boot. I am familiar with some of the names and musical reputations here, but I have heard little of their music until now. I have heard of Jo-Ann and Dave Kelly, Bob Hall and Ian A. Anderson (Not the Jethro Tull guy, the other one). Going in one may think this is a collection of boring guitar folkies, but you would be wrong. These are talented artists all. From skilled guitar finger-pickers to goofy jug bands to energy-charged piano masters. I found myself tapping the occasional toe. This music draws you in. There are covers and variations on classic blues, as well as original songs. A few nice surprises as well. There are some instrumentals to give variety to the proceedings.

The most represented country blues purveyors here are Dave Peabody, Ian A. Anderson, Mike Cooper and Simon and Steve. That is not to downplay the quality of those with fewer tracks. Many of the songs are collaborations of various musicians. Steve Rye of Simon and Steve pops up all over to lend his harmonica expertise to various musicians, as well contributing one vocal-harmonica piece on his own. Covers of the blues innovators include the ubiquitous Robert Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Tampa Red, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Boy Fuller, Skip James and Blind Blake. Some of the titles are altered, such as “Write Me A Few Of Your Lines” becomes “A Few Short Lines”. Occasionally you witness the lyrical inbreeding that was a usual practice among the old-time innovators.

It is needless to say that I won’t be commenting on every one of the over one hundred songs. Here are some of my personal favorites of the more traditional country blues performances. Dave Kelly and Mike Cooper offer great versions of “A Few Short Lines”. Dave’s sister Jo-Ann Kelly, one of the few female country blues singers of this era, does a good turn on Memphis Minnie’s “Nothin’ In Ramblin'”. She also does an unaccompanied and dark “Black Mary”. The only other female included in this collection is Frances McGillivray. She was a vocalist and is accompanied on guitars here by Mick Burke & Mikel Kooper. Her hearty vocal energizes “It Hurts Me Too” and “Rambling Man”.

Mike Cooper and Ian A. Anderson were among the most well-known artists of the era. Ian’s vocals and guitar shine on “Rowdy Blues”, “Big Road Blues”, “Little Queen Of Spades” and “Beedle Um Bum”, among others. He is joined by Elliot Jackson on harmonica on a few tunes. Al Jones shares vocals and guitar on the latter. There is also an uncredited person playing kazoo. Mike Cooper’s approach is similar to that of Ian A. Anderson. His finger-picked guitar skills and vocals are well represented on Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Black Snake Moan”, “One Time Blues”, “The Way I Feel”, among others. His original guitar instrumental puts his guitar skills out there. Another of his instrumental numbers “The Inverted World” also has Ian A. Anderson on guitar and Chris Turner on harmonica.

Singer, guitarist, harmonica player and songwriter Dave Peabody also has quite a presence here. His performances include “Death Letter”, “Love In Vain”, and Big Maceo’s “Worried Life Blues”. Two curious inclusions by him that are not usually associated with the blues are Tommy Tucker’s “Hi-Heeled Sneakers” and Rufus Thomas’s “Walking The Dog”.

The Panama Limited Jug Band and Tight Like That honor the jug band tradition with their collection of feel good tunes featuring kazoos, washboard, jug and all manor of percussion. Songs like “Wildcat Squall” and “Muskrat Ramble”. One song by Tight Like That jumped out at me-“If I Had A Talking Picture Of You”. It was done by many acts in the twenties, but the first time I heard it was by The New Vaudeville Band.

Piano players also make a great impression too with the likes of Bob Hall, Diz Watson and Quentin Williams. They do solo instrumentals and/or accompany others. Damn, these guys can play!

A variety of instruments show up all over the place: violin, saxophone, harmonica, mandolin, banjo and assorted percussion instruments.

I barely scratched the surface of the treats in store here. Everything here is well worthy of a listen. Here are a few: Al Jones, Little Brother Steve, Simon & Steve, Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra…on and on. Pick out your own favorites. Not a lemon in the bunch! Saydisc has done a real “bang up” job with this compilation.

Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.

Featured Blues Review – 2 of 6

Little G Weevil – If I May

Self-release

www.gweevil.com

10 songs – 40 minutes

Two-time Blues Blast Music Award nominee, Little G Weevil continues to produce highly enjoyable traditional blues music. His latest release, If I May, contains ten original compositions, which run the gamut of blues, swing, ragtime and jazz.

The opening one-chord stomp “Yoga Girl (Hold Me Close)” sets out the album’s stall nicely: a tight groove, a sharp band, a well-written song in a classic blues style but with a modern lyrical perspective just one notch off normal. Likewise, the New Orleans style romp of “Spy Balloon Blues” offers a wry view of the satellites that dominate the modern world and features some superb piano from Mr. Jambalaya.

Indeed, the entire band is top class. Weevil handles guitars and lead vocals, ably supported by Jambalaya on piano and backing vocals, K.C. Brown on harmonica and backing vocals, Csaba Pengo on upright bass and backing vocals and Tom Kiss on drums. Gabor Vastag also provides backing vocals on two tracks.

The jazzy “One Last Time” sees Weevil lay down a fine guitar solo while the traditional Chicago blues of “Scam Me, Scam Me Not” is another example of Weevil’s ability to write songs that have a traditional feel but very contemporary lyrics.

If I May was recorded, mixed and mastered by Gabor Vastag at Sounday Studio in Budapest, Hungary and he caught an excellent sound. On a track like the upbeat “Doctor Hay”, Weevil’s guitar fair leaps out of the speakers. On the throbbing “Tribal Affairs”, Kiss’s drum patterns perfectly match one of the more intriguing lyrics on the album, particularly sittting next to the mid-paced rhumba of “Gold Mine”, explicitly bemoaning the plight of African workers working for little reward for the precious gems that we wear as jewellery. Half-way through this track, Mr Jambalaya suddenly leads the band in a wholly unexpected direction.

Both “Tingalingaling (Everybody’s Qualified)” (which also contains a belting solo from K.C. Brown) and the slow blues of “We Don’t Learn Much” amusingly skewer modern educational standards and expectations, while the album closer, “I Know Many Ways To Prove My Love” nods to Willie Dixon’s “29 Ways” as Weevil lists various ways he can prove his love. It’s a great way to finish a very enjoyable album.

Little G Weevil is a serious talent. And If I May, which by the way is beautifully packaged in a gatefold sleeve with an essay by Larry Eaglin and all the lyrics, is another worthy addition to his oeuvre.

Reviewer Rhys “Lightnin'” Williams plays guitar in a blues band based in Cambridge, England. He also has a day gig as a lawyer.

Featured Blues Review – 3 of 6

Eric Johanson – The Deep and the Dirty

Ruf Records RUF 1305

www.ericjohanson.com

12 songs – 48 minutes

Louisiana-based guitarist Eric Johanson is no stranger to mixing stylings on his CDs, and he’s done so with amazing success, hitting the Top 10 on Billboard’s blues chart four times in recent years. And he cuts new ground on his latest album, teaming with Supersuckers/Rob Zombie producer Jesse Dayton to deliver a unified, all-original message across the music spectrum that we should embrace every breath we take regardless of the circumstances.

And Eric definitely knows what he’s singing about, having been at ground zero in New Orleans during Hurricane Katina, losing everything and emigrating to New Zealand for a while to find his center again.

Born into a musical family and a professional since age 17, Johanson worked as a sideman in the bands of Cyrill Neville, Terrance Simien and Corey Henry – three Big Easy legends – before venturing out on his own. His latest effort ranges from fuzz-toned blues-rock to swamp and more, all of which is delivered in three-piece format with backing from Terence Higgins, a Grammy-winning percussionist best known for his work with Ani DiFranco, Warren Haynes and Tab Benoit, and bassist Eric Vogel of Big Sam’s Funky Nation fame.

But thanks to his rich voice and stellar work on the guitar, the true star here is Eric himself.

“Don’t Hold Back,” a deep-in-the-pocket rocker, opens the action. As the title infers, the message is simple: Give it all you’ve got in giving up your love and opening your mind and heart to the effort. Johanson drives the idea home with a stinging guitar hook throughout. The title track, “The Deep and the Dirty,” follows the same pattern, announcing that even though he’s from the Bible Belt, Eric’s no saint and he can raise some hell as he treats his lady right through the night if that’s her desire.

“Beyond the Sky” opens quietly but quickly builds in intensity as finds Johanson searching for the warm embrace of his lady love, and he’s gambling that he’ll find her by hitting the open road while “Undertow” opens with rapid-fire drumbeats and some tasty fretwork before erupting into a rocker that wonders how far a person wants to go in the troubled water. It gives way to “Just Like New,” a sweet acoustic number that expresses the singer finds that he achieves more by letting go when the thoughts streaming through his head make him blind to the right path to go.

Next up, Johanson’s going to take a ride to the “Elysian Fields” and remain on that higher plane on a night with a crescent moon and a storm about to blow. A funky beat propels the hard-driving “Galaxy Girl,” which describes his lady, a woman with a gift for burning up the singer’s mind along with a smile like the morning sun. Then things quiet temporarily and go acoustic again for “Familiar Sound,” a tune based on Eric’s sojourn Down Under and the realization that troubles follow you no matter how far you go.

“Gets Me High” offers up another tribute to a lady who serves up an impossible-to-refuse invitation when the singer finds himself “halfway to nowhere and in a fog.” It flows seamlessly into “Stepping Stone,” a song that yearns for some kind of success despite working fingers to the bone. Two more pleasers — “Borrowed Time,” which finds Eric haunted by troubling dreams despite taking advantage of every chance he’s given in life, and “She Is the Song,” a ballad that worships someone who’s “a vision of a world unseen” – bring the disc to an upbeat close.

If your taste runs to blues with bite, you’ll love this one.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Mason, Ohio, his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.

Featured Blues Review – 4 of 6

Skyla Burrell – Broken 45’s

Independently Released

www.skylaburrell.com

15 tracks/57 minutes

Skyla Burrell formed her band in 2002 with assistance of her partner and co-guitarist Mark Tomlinson. They also share writing credits on their songs. Blending blues and rock, this is their sixth release and features all new music.

Burrell now hails from Central Pennsylvania and was originally born in Southern California. Her voice is infused with the sound of a life well lived. She began playing music and writing songs in grade school. She joined her first band at age 15. He husband Mark began his musical journey as a drummer for John Lee Hooker, Bug Time Sarah, Bo Diddley and others. He switched to being a guitarist and he and Skyla have been at it with this band for over two decades. Also in the band are Ezell Jones on drums and Charlie Hilbert on bass.

The album opens to the title cut. Some hot guitar likes and gritty vocals get things started in thei song about memories and old broken records. Next is “Love Drug,” a shuffle where Burrell passionately tells of her lover’s prowess. More heavy guitar is featured once again. “Voodoo Love” offers a driving pace and jumping sound with slide and electric guitars blazing.

“Same Old Thing” is a tale of a man who keeps telling her things will get better yet things remain the same. Strident guitar and a driving beat are the order of the day here. “Hard Time” is a sweet boogie that jumps and jives with more wicked guitar. Things then slow down for a down and dirty track entitled “Other Side Of Night.” Sultry vocals and ringing guitar lead and solos grab the listener.

“Magic Stuff” is a love song of yearning for Skyla’s man and his magic stuff. She sings with grit and some more huge guitar solos

are offered up here. Then it’s “August,” another hot number with Burrell again delivering vocals with passion and hit. Blistering guitar and another driving beat help sell this one. “Cash Money” is some straight up blues with about life on a blues budget. Another impassioned performance.

‘Hard To Love You” is another blues rocker that tries to grab your heart and drag you down. Stinging guitarwork is featured here. “Rock The House” does just that, full throttle, in your face blues and rock. The pedal gets backed off for “Separated” where Burrell gives us a agutsy blues rock ballad of pain and suffering.

Up next is “Troubled Times.” Burrell gives warning and tells us trouble looms ahead. Driving, fiery guitar and hot vocals are offered up. “Blue Funk” does get the funk going as Burrell sings and the guitars again resonate with fire. The album concludes with “When You Coming Home,” another driving cut asking when her baby’s gonna get back home.

The dual guitars playing off each other and passionate vocal work will give blues rock fans more than enough to feed on and savor. This album has a big and ballsy sound that is not for the faint of heart. Burrell and her band offer up 15 piping hot new tunes for the listener to enjoy.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Featured Blues Review – 5 of 6

Tommy Lee Cook – Tommy Lee’s Jonesin’

Self-Released

www.buckinghambar.com

12 Tracks – 52 minutes

Tommy Lee Cook was born in Danville, Virginia. He and his family moved to North Fort Myers, Florida in 1967. After a stint in the Air Force, he went to the University of Florida in Gainesville. He taught English for a while, but in 2002, he bought the Buckingham Blues Bar in Fort Myers. After some renovations, the bar has become a hotbed for blues performers passing through Florida. Tommy Lee and his band, The Buckingham Blues Band are regular Saturday night performers at the bar and are generally the opening act for the major players that show up.

Tommy Lee says he has been playing music ever since The Beatles first invaded the US. His early bands followed the music trends of the day, but he quickly adjusted to playing Chicago styled electric blues. He admits that he has a particular passion for Albert Collins, but also enjoys Delbert McClinton and the southern rock of The Allman Brothers. Tommy Lee Cook plays and does the lead vocals on all cuts. The Buckingham Blues Band consists of Rex Bongo on guitar and backing vocals, Harry Cassano on keyboards and backing vocals, Scott Kamener on guitar, Arne England on slide guitar, Tbone Fonk on drums and backing vocals, and Andrei Koribanics on drums. The album also features special guests Bobby Capps on piano, Rick Rourke on sax, and Justin Richey on slide guitar. There is no information provided on the album cover as to which musicians are playing on each track. Ten tracks are original songs either written by Tommy Lee or co-written by him with other members of the band. In addition, there are two covers included.

The album opens with “Birds and Bees”, a tale of Etta James’ climb to fame. “Gimme My Money Mista” is a spoken word story with a swampy dobro floating in the background. It immediately shifts into the first cover, “Turpentine” written and originally recorded by Willie Mae Brown but here follows a version performed by JJ Grey.

“Let It Rain” starts a run of three slow blues numbers. Again, this song starts with a spoken line, but moves into a smooth vocal and later some bluesy sax as he notes “she is gone…let your tears testify to the pain”. On “Souleater”, he says the demon will be “gnawing right down to the bone…and run away with your self-control”. “Satisfied” speaks of “a cool sunny morning with you lying close to my side”. “Lord I can’t be denied, I must be satisfied.”

Jonesin’ is defined as a moment of relaxation or even intense laziness. The title track notes “he has a new squeeze, she’s all that sexy cool breeze.” “She has Tommy Lee Jonesin’…she is sweeter than sugar” with a quiet piano run supporting a funky guitar. “Funky Shoes” again includes a bouncy piano as he says, “Bobby has a new friend, sunshine never ends”. He wants to “be with my baby, feel her real close” on “Dancing with My Baby”.

“Consequences” feels like a country song as he “thinks about all the good girls that slipped away”. “Running on the wild times and cheating on the high times and those consequences just get in the way”. He advises he is a “Working Musician”, “a handy man, a southern comfort to a woman with a plan, a couple of steps ahead of the man, a two-legged mule kicking in the stall, working all day and earning mostly nothing at all”. The final cover is adapted from a song by the bluegrass jam band Cross Canadian Ragweed called “Boys from Oklahoma”. Here it is titled “The Boys from Buckingham” as they identify where they find the best weed, noting that “the boys in Oklahoma roll their joints all wrong, way damn skinny and way too long” while Tommy “rolls his joints about the size of his thumb”. He concludes that “Somebody needs to legalize that shit.”

This is a constantly laid-back album. Tommy Lee’s vocals sometimes borders on a monotone, but there are brief glimpses of a tonal quality that reminds of Dr. John in his quieter moments, and I found myself pondering will he ever let loose. The musicians clearly are excellent, but again the subdued nature of the songs just does not allow for much exposition. I would say that Tommy Lee is likely fun to see in person, but this recording is probably more of an acquired taste.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.

Featured Blues Review – 6 of 6

Mick Kolassa – Wooden Music

Endless Blues Records

www.mimsmick.com

11 tracks

Mick Kolassa has released another album whose proceeds are split between the HART Fund and Generation Blues, two very important programs run respectively to help musicians with medical costs and to fund projects to get youths involved with music. While this is an acoustic album, it does not lack energy, vitality and a big sound. Produced by Jeff Jensen, who also principally plays guitar and adds his slide and some percussion, Kolassa has brought in some great musicians as his band and guests.

Kolassa plays the guitar, fronts the band, does percussion and plays kazoo, Carl Casperson is on upright bass and Tom Lonardo is on drums. On piano and accordion is Rick Steff. There are also eight guests who are noted below in the review. One song is a Guy Clark tune and the rest were penned by Kolassa.

In “Educated By The Blues” Kolassa tells us a story of how he traded off college for the blues to get an education. A steady diet of blues replaced college classes to make Mick what he is today. Muddy, Wolf and all the rest of the blues stars gave him the education he needed. Eric Hughes adds harp on this cut to good effect and Doug MacLeod plays some nice slide here and on the next cut. Next is “You Gotta Pay The Price,” a blues about the strife of working men and women compared to the rich. “Sugar In Your Grits” is a story about how tradition matters. You don’t need all the modern tricks of the trade to be a good bluesman, you need to play it like the masters did and not make believe what you are playing is the blues; keep the sugar out of your grits. Bob Corritore delights the listener with his harmonica prowess.

Guy Clark’s “Baby Took A Limo To Memphis” features Libby Rae Watson sharing the vocals with Kolassa as they sing about how his woman travelled to Memphis in style. Hughes again gives us some good harp to enjoy; to note, he is the only musician other than Mick to have appeared on all his albums. “If I Told You” follows, a cut about how Kolassa can’t tell his woman that he loves her because he can’t find the right words. Beale Street’s Vince Johnson adds some tasty harp here. “Hurt People” features Reba Russell and Susan Marshall backing Mick. Emotive piano and the vocals help make this one special.

We get some cool accordion here on ‘Memphis Wood,” a song about lost love and the consolation one can get in the music made with Memphis Wood. Tas Cru adds his guitar to the mix and does a great job in support. “If Life Was Fair” is a bouncy tune with some well-done piano and guitar to drive the cut along smoothly and tastefully. The story here is that while life might not be fair one has to stay on the path and good things will come to those who work hard.

“Over My Shoulder” gives us the recommendation not to look back and live for the future in this upbeat tune. Even the finger picking is happy sounding. Up next is “One Hit Wonder,” a story about how he partied back in the day but can’t handle the stuff he did smoking all day. Now he’s an old, light weight in his quest for a buzz and partying. As the title says, he’s just a “One Hit Wonder.” The sqwueeze box makes another slick appearance here. Kolassa concludes with “Gas Station Sushi” and compares his girl to sushi from a gas station. It sounds like a good idea but isn’t close to being as good as it first appears. The kazoo gets a solo in this short, light and fun cut.

Kolassa is prolific in his song writing and recording. I love the stuff he writes, especially those songs where he adds humor or a little tongue in cheekiness. He’s assembled a great cast of characters, has a nice selection of music he presents and the musicianship abounds throughout. Jensen’s guitar work is solid as a rock and the guests on harp add great depth to the cuts. The piano and accordion are well done and the songs are filled with emotion. If you hanker for some nicely done acoustic blues, then look no further.

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