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This week’s playlist is based on the songs in volume 8 of Ed Parker’s Yer Blues playlist.
One of the YouTube channels I went to for good country blues recordings is gone; because of that, there were 5 videos missing from the main playlist (I’ve replaced them). The Tampa Red songs in volume 6 for “It Hurts Me Too” are going to be missing too, as will many others.
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“Guitar Rag,” song number 184 on the playlist, by Sylvester Weaver, and its flip “Guitar Blues” (below), were the first blues guitar instrumental records. Just two weeks before he recorded these songs, he made history for the first time when he recorded with Sara Martin on “Longing for Daddy Blues” and “I’ve Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind” on October 23, 1923, becoming the first blues guitar recording.
“Guitar Rag” was recorded on a guijito (a 6-string banjo tuned like a guitar).
Number 185 is Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys’ “Steel Guitar Rag” from 1936.
Among the many people to cover it, here’s Earl Hooker’s version from 1953.
And here’s Earl Hooker’s version from 1969, from Hooker and Steve.
“Barrel House Blues” by Ed Andrews from 1924 was the first recording of a blues singer accompanying himself on the guitar. I mention this because it’s sometimes called the first blues guitar recording. Not quite.
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Junior Wells’ “Little by Little” from 1960 (number 195) also features Earl Hooker on guitar. There’s a section below with a few more of Junior Wells’ versions as well as a couple choice covers.
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Number 191, “Dis Train,” is an early Negro Spiritual by the Florida Normal & Industrial Institute Quartet (1922) and number 192 and 193 are both Marion “Little Walter” Jacobs’ “My Babe” (these are an exception to the regular practice of one song per artist; there are two versions of this one); 192 is the original from 1955, 193 is from the 1967 American Folk Blues Festival, less than a year before Walter left the planet. Hound Dog Taylor is on guitar.
Here’s “This Train” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the same 1967 American Folk Blues Festival (probably not the same location or date; while it was happening, the AFBF toured Europe over the course of several weeks each year); Otis Spann is pianizing.
Sister Rosetta recorded this song for the first time in 1939 and that version was a bridge between 191 and 192, and it is most likely the one that inspired Willie Dixon to write “My Babe,” a song he wrote specifically for Little Walter.
Little Walter didn’t want to record the song, he didn’t like it, but he finally did record it, after many discussions (information mostly from Willie Dixon’s autobiography, I Am The Blues, see section below on blues books; there’s also a song [performed by Muddy Waters on After the Rain], a Willie Dixon album and a short film about him with the same title), and the song was an immediate hit, the biggest of Little Walter’s career.
This is his version from 1960.
This past Monday was the 87th anniversary of Little Walter’s birth—more and more people are recognizing that Little Walter’s contributions were on the level of other musical geniuses.
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After all 15 volumes of the playlist are posted, I’ll be back to shine a Blues Roots spotlight on some of the songs I didn’t get to cover the first time. T-Bone Walker’s “Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad),” represented by numbers 197-199 on the playlist, is primary among them. For now here’s a reprise of G&L Guy’s brilliant post of Kenny Burrell’s cover from the 1978 album, Stormy Monday (recorded June 18–20, 1974).
Number 197 is from a 78 of the very first November 1947 release. Number 198 is the smokin’ Bobby Blue Bland version from 1962 with Wayne Bennett on guitar (that’s what it’s all about).
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songs numbered 177 through 203
“COCAINE BLUES” LUKE JORDAN
“COCAINE” DICK JUSTICE
“COCAINE BLUES” DAVID BROMBERG“FALSE HEARTED LOVER’S BLUES” DOCK BOGGS
“FALSE HEARTED LOVER BLUES” LEVON HELM“PAYING THE COST TO BE THE BOSS” B.B. KING
“PAYIN’ THE COST TO BE THE BOSS” PAT BENETAR“GUITAR RAG” SYLVESTER WEAVER
“STEEL GUITAR RAG” BOB WILLS & THE TEXAS PLAYBOYS“CROSS CUT SAW BLUES” TONY HOLLINS
“CROSSCUT SAW” ALBERT KING
“CROSSCUT SAW” THE HINDU LOVE GODS“FIXIN’ TO DIE BLUES” BOOKER WHITE
“FIXIN’ TO DIE” BOB DYLAN“DIS TRAIN” THE FLORIDA NORMAL & INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE QUARTET
“MY BABE” LITTLE WALTER
“MY BABE” THE JESTERS“LITTLE BY LITTLE” JUNIOR WELLS
“LITTLE BY LITTLE” SUSAN TEDESCHI“CALL IT STORMY MONDAY” T-BONE WALKER
“STORMY MONDAY BLUES” BOBBY “BLUE” BLAND
“STORMY MONDAY” EVA CASSIDY“ON A MONDAY” LEADBELLY
“ON A MONDAY” RY COODER“SOUTHERN CAN IS MINE” BLIND WILLIE McTELL
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Number 186 on the playlist is Tony Hollis’s 1941 version of “Cross Cut Saw Blues.” It was recorded 3 months, 12 days before Tommy McClennan’s version but not released until 1992. Here’s Tommy McClennan’s version, recorded September 15, 1941 and released within a few weeks.
Johnny Young and his Chicago Blues Band with Johnny Young (vocals, guitar, mandolin), James Cotton (harp), Otis Spann (piano), Jimmy Lee Morris (bass), S.P. Leary (drums), 1966
Albert King’s version on the playlist (number 187) is from his 1967 classic Born Under a Bad Sign.
Albert King (vocals, guitar), Willie James Exon (guitar), James Washington (organ), Roosevelt Pointer (bass), Theotis Morgan (drums), the Fillmore, San Francisco, Thursday June 27, 1968.
John Hammond from Sooner or Later, 1968
Earl Hooker (guitar), Mack Thompson (bass), Robert St. Julien (drums) at the American Folk Blues Festival, 1969
Earl Hooker from his Ike Turner-produced album Sweet Black Angel, 1970. Harmonica is probably Little Mac Simmons and piano (what little can be heard in the right channel) is probably Ernest Lane.
Sam Chatmon from Mississippi Sheik, 1970
Albert King, 1970s
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This one is from Otis Rush’s So Many Roads, live in Japan, 1975. And this is a real 5-star recording so I’m glad it makes sense to put it right at the top.
Otis Rush, in the Netherlands, 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8nrt8cPOugOtis Rush in London 1983. At about 19:30, an extended version of “Crosscut Saw” kicks in. The occasional voiceover and onscreen narration throughout is by Alexis Korner.
This one is from Tops, San Francisco Blues Festival, September 15, 1985.
From Otis Rush & Friends: Live at Montreux 1986, with Luther Allison and Eric Clapton.
These don’t contain a “Crosscut Saw,” but they’re indispensable just the same.
1956-1958: His Cobra Recordings; Cold Day in Hell; Right Place, Wrong Time; Tops; Door to Door, with Albert King (they don’t play together on any of the songs, these are the songs they recorded for Chess, neither one of them recorded enough for a solo album).……………………………………………………………
Jimmy Johnson and Luther Johnson from Ma Bea’s Rock, while 2001 was the release date, this was recorded sometime in the 1970s (this album contains an amazing tribute to Magic Sam, with an almost-perfect reproduction of his “All Your Love”). Note that Jimmy Johnson also plays on the Otis Rush version above (from So Many Roads, 1975).
Eddie Taylor from Ready for Eddie, 1975.
If you find this album at a price you can afford, you should be ready to buy it. There really aren’t any bad Eddie Taylor albums and anyone who wants to play blues guitar should listen carefully. Some are better than others, but there aren’t any bad ones.
Lonnie Brooks from Sweet Home Chicago, 1975
Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter (vocals, guitar), James Cotton (vocal, harmonica), Bob Margolin (guitar), Pinetop Perkins (piano), Charles Capice (bass), Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (drums) Tower Theater, Philadelphia, March 6, 1977.
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1981
Stevie Ray Vaughan sitting in with Albert King’s band, Antone’s, Austin, TX, February 26, 1983 (10 months before the TV show they did together, and as a commenter at the video notes, 4 months before Texas Flood).
Albert King with a live ’80s version, not the 1967 single version pictured in the video.
Albert King, live at The Stanhope House, Stanhope, New Jersey, May 26, 1988 (video from the sound man).
Homesick James from Shake Your Money Maker (recorded 1999, released 2007)
Lurrie Bell, 2014
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The version at number 195 on the playlist, with Earl Hooker on guitar, is the original from 1960. Here’s the album it appeared on. The flipside of the 45, “Come On In This House,” is also on the album. Yes, this is the 4th or 5th time I’ve posted this album. I hope it won’t be the last.
Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, from Coming at You, 1968 (complete personnel listing at video)
Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, 1971
Junior Wells (vocal, harp) Buddy Guy, Phillip Guy (guitars), A.C. Reed (tenor), Earnest Johnson (bass) Roosevelt Shaw (drums), Tokyo, Japan, March 1975
Here’s the whole 1975 concert this was from.
Junior Wells with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, 1980
Junior Wells with Doug McDonald (guitar), Kentucky Educational Television’s Lonesome Pine Special, 1987
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Fred Below (accent on the first syllable BEE-low) was one of the top blues drummers of all time. From an earlier era, there’s Peck Curtis, a little bit more from allmusic.com.
Here are 5 telephone interviews that Fred Below did with Scott Fish in 1982. I’m in the process of listening, just find reports from that era—particularly from someone so central to it who was such a good observer—almost as interesting as the music itself.
Masters of Modern Blues, Johnny Shines (vocals, guitar), Walter Horton (harp), Otis Spann (piano), Lee Jackson (bass), Fred Below (drums), 1966
Sloppy Drunk, Jimmy Rogers (vocals, guitar), Louis Myers (harp), Willie Mabon (piano), Dave Myers (bass guitar), Fred Below (drums), France, 1974
Little Walter “Off the Wall,” Chicago, January 1953
The Aces, “Off the Wall,” 1970
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An incredible album with an interesting story. There are errors in the documentation but the sounds are beautiful. Check the article and the notes on the video below (same music, included for the notes in the comments).
The sound is better on the one above (sounds better to me), but there’s a track listing with personnel in the comments here.
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With Meruga Booker
With the Aces
Do you like John Lee Hooker? Ever looking for information? Watch out, this is deep.
Don D.
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Thanks, Rick!
There’s an error the the Otis Rush “Crosscut Saw” section. It IS on Tops, so that hard-to-find album shouldn’t be on the list of records that’s “great without ‘Crosscut Saw’.” (That’s one of the few Otis Rush albums I don’t have. I’ve never seen a physical copy, they go for over $100 online, so if you find one reasonably priced, snag it.)
Other than that, I’ll agree with you. This was a pretty great one. I hope more people enjoy it.
Don D.
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Hey Roberto, looks like I can’t just say “Yes, but…” and move on (I just hope someone stumbles on these posts one day and listens to them—some of my calluses are from typing them).
There’s no denying that’s true, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and others have acknowledged the boost their careers got from the English blues bands like John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, the Yardbirds, the Animals, the Ground Hogs, Savoy Brown, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones. The Stones’ demand in 1964 that Howlin’ Wolf had to be on Shindig if they were going to play was brave—they weren’t anything at the time they did that; it was a risk, and one that reflects very favorably on them as time goes by.
Many of these people and groups recorded with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Otis Spann, Eddie Boyd (I’ve covered some of these, but not all).
Not to neglect their U.S. counterparts like Canned Heat (and those who actually preceded them, like Paul Butterfield, Michael Bloomfield [who interviewed Robert Nighthawk and documented some of his experiences with Big Joe Williams in a pamphlet-sized essay, Me and Big Joe], Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop).
From there, we should look back to John Avery Lomax and Ruby Terrill Lomax, their son, Alan Lomax, and Fisk University professor John Wesley Work, who encouraged John Lomax’s first trip top the South and accompanied him on it. Check out their collections at the Library of Congress. It was John Lomax who went to Stovall Plantation and made Muddy Waters’ first recordings.
There’s more at the Smithsonian Collection, including the music of Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter).
Here’s documentation from Alan’s project, the Global Jukebox. Thank you for reminding me about this. I need another lifetime, though.
Here’s one selection, “Blues in the Mississippi Night,” with Sonny Boy Williamson (as Sib), Memphis Slim (as Leroy) and Big Bill Broonzy (as Natchez), made in 1947. They disguised their identities to avoid reprisals
And the recordings and photographs made by George Mitchell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhhR1Rls5S4And Sam Charters’ beautiful 1959 recording of Lightnin’ Hopkins. This is only one thing he did, there’s so much more.
These are also his. The first one is Volume 1, the second is a fan’s compilation.
These were some of the recordings that fed the English blues scene; there are other musicologists too. But my main point would be no bluesmen, no blues. And why were we only getting to hear the blues after they were played by young white men? Why didn’t we get to hear the best music ever as it was being created? Well, the answer is as long as it is obvious, and I can’t attempt to cover it today.
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Five more hours of John Lee Hooker—good thing it’s Friday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkoC3XT1XWY&t=186sDon D.
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Hi John, thanks for your comment, and I’m sorry for my delayed reply (a week and two days, wow).
I hear you, “Crosscut Saw” is one of those emblematic songs. I always figure it’s “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Mustang Sally,” “Mannish Boy” and “the Viagra commercial song” (“Smokestack Lightning”) that people who don’t really listen to music associate with the blues, but that’s just a guess and “Crosscut Saw” is another likely one.
By the way, I think this week’s Blues Roots is going to appear on Friday or Saturday as I’ve been away and not putting anything together.
Don D.
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