NEW YORK CITY/ The Blues Yesterday
Volume 2
Volume 2
Ce deuxième volet
consacré au blues de New York dans les années d'après-guerre nous permet
d'apprécier la courte (mais excellent) œuvre de trois artistes de la "Cité
de la pomme".
Cousin
Leroy a longtemps été une figure mystérieuse et son identité a fait l'objet
de nombreuses supputations. Grâce à Gene Tomko qui l'a retrouvé par hasard
grâce à un concert donné par le bluesman au Lion's Club (!) de sa ville natale en
Georgie, on sait qu'il s'agit de Leroy Rozier (né à Chester en Georgie le 30
septembre 1925), un guitariste et chanteur qui a vécu à Atlanta, New York,
Eastman et Miami puis à nouveau New York où il est décédé le 26 février 2008.
Leroy a enregistré une série de superbes 45t en 1955-57 en compagnie de Larry
Dale, Champion Jack Dupree et probablement Sonny Terry.
Malgré de nombreuses recherches, Square Walton demeure un artiste
énigmatique. Un chanteur, peut-être guitariste, originaire de Georgie et né en
1920, qui a enregistré une belle séance en 1953 et une autre (demeurée inédite)
l'année suivante. Interrogé sur Walton, Sonny Terry qui est à coup sûr présent
dans les studios derrière Square (était-ce son vrai nom?), ne se rappelait
absolument pas de ce bluesman ("You
know" a-t-il ajouté "I've played
on so many sessions with so many people..".). Walton serait décédé en
1995 dans la petite bourgade d'Auburn (Cayuga County) dans l'Etat de New York.
Gérard
HERZHAFT
This second opus of our "New York City/ The Blues
Yesterday" series gathers the "complete" recordings of three
very obscure but quite good or excellent artists.
Cousin Leroy has for a very long time
been the subject of questionings, many thinking he was a bluesman from
Mississippi (some even suggesting he was
a kinfolk to Robert Johnson!). Thanks to Gene Tomko who found him
through a concert Leroy gave to a Lion's Club evening (!) in Georgia, we now
know he was born Leroy Rozier in Chester (Ga) on September, 30th 1925. He
played the guitar and sang, lived in Atlanta, New York City, Eastman, Miami and
again New York City where he died on February, 26th, 2008. He recorded a
handful of superb 45s in 1955 and 1957, backed by such luminaries as Larry
Dale, Jack Dupree and most probably Sonny Terry.
LeGrand Mellon has also been an enigma for years. Even the photo of a
young white girl that illustrated one of her three 45's was said to be
suspicious by critics who thought she was in fact a black singer or even only a
nickname for a renowned band who took it for contractual reasons. In fact,
LeGrand Mellon is the real name of a New Yorker from the famous Mellon family.
Born in 1939, she wanted very much to make a career as a singer and paid a
session at Columbia's in 1966, backed by a R&B band with probably Sam
"The Man" Taylor and keyboardist Ernie Hayes. LeGrand starred also in
several TV movies, playing "Miranda" in the famous Wild Wild West series. After that, she
devoted herself to a medical career, even becoming a respected figure of
Humanitarian programmes, particularly helping to re-establish Haïti's health
system. She is still living on Park Avenue and an interview (if she agreed)
about her musical short career could prove to be interesting.
Gérard
HERZHAFT
NEW YORK CITY/ The
Blues Yesterday Volume 2
Cousin Leroy
(Leroy Rozier), vcl/g; Sonny Terry, hca; Champion Jack Dupree, pno; Larry Dale,
g; Sid Wallace, bs; Gene Brooks, dms. New York City, 1 July 1955
01. Catfish
02. Going back home
Cousin Leroy (Leroy Rozier), vcl/g; Sonny Terry, hca;
Champion Jack Dupree, pno; Larry Dale, g; Sid Wallace, bs; Gene Brooks, dms.
New York City, August 1957
03. Stringbeans n°1
04. Stringbeans n°2
05. Matchbox
06. Woke up with the blues
07. I'm lonesome
08. Highway 41
09. Voodoo
10. Waitin' at the station n°1
11. Waitin' at the station n°2
12. Sail on
13. Crossroads n°1
14. Crossroads n°2
15. Up the river
Square Walton,
vcl; Sonny Terry, hca; Mickey Baker, g; Fletcher Smith, pno; Johnny Williams,
bs; Marty Wilson, dms. New York City, 27 August 1953
16. Bad hangover
17. Fishtail blues
18. Gimme your bank roll
19. Pepper headed woman
LeGrand Mellon,
vcl; Sam The Man Taylor, t-sax; Ernie hayes, pno; band. New York City, 1966
20. Baby please don't go
21. Move it on over
22. Summertime
23. The sound of blues
24. Growing my own
Everybody but me
New York City/ The Blues Yesterday Volume 2
RépondreSupprimerhttp://www25.zippyshare.com/v/65475857/file.html
O.K.?
New link for NYC Blues Yesterday Vol. 2
Supprimerhttp://www60.zippyshare.com/v/fgaTnezq/file.html
Thanks Gerard. I've always wondered about LeGrand Mellon!
RépondreSupprimerDr Hepcat
OK...downloading it right now, will have a good listen over the next couple of days and get back to you with some feedback.
RépondreSupprimerCousin Leroy I have heard many times before but the other two artists are new to me. As always, many thanks Gerard.
Thanks Gerard, I always look forward to your new music posts.
RépondreSupprimerThanks Gyro. I myself follow faithfully your excellent blog
SupprimerThanks for this - I loved the first volume!
RépondreSupprimerThanks for yet another excellent post. Cheers, Zdtch
RépondreSupprimerAnother great present from your wonderful blog!
RépondreSupprimerMany thanks!
Hello,
RépondreSupprimerCette compile pourrait presque concerner Sonny Terry et vient en complément du "Complete Larry Dale" auquel finalement manquait ces titres.
J'ai hâte d'écouter LeGrand Mellon que je ne connais pas et qu'elle puisse être prise pour une chanteuse noire m'interpelle un tantinet.
OD
This is a most interesting collection Gerard. Some fine raw earthy blues from both Cousin Leroy and Square Walton. Then we have LeGrand Mellon, possibly the strangest artist to ever appear on your blog. I know nothing at all about LeGrand Mellon except what I have read here. So she's a rich white woman from NYC who paid for her own session to cut 6 tracks for Columbia in 1966. And that was the start and finish of her career as a blues singer. Do I have it right?
RépondreSupprimerThat's it, Bob Mac. LeGrand Mellon - who was thought by some to be a black torch singer from New York - is in fact a rich white new yorker who sang some blues, played Miranda in Wild Wild West and then devoted her life to health care, working a lot in Haïti. She still lives at Park Avenue.
Supprimermore jimmy spruill and larry dale r always appreciated..thanx!
RépondreSupprimerOnce again a great collection and the LeGrand Mellon tracks could be the seed of a comp. One with artists first thought to be black blues artists but are white .... Harmonica Frank, Lightnin' Leon (Billy Lee Riley) come to mind.
RépondreSupprimerThere must be more???
Thanks Xyros. And you're so right about "white artists being thought to be black". Meanwhile, see my post Blowing in Tennessee
Supprimerhttp://www27.zippyshare.com/v/65421979/file.html
I just discovered your amazing blog.I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about the blues but have discovered I am only scraping the surface.I love and appreciate the work that goes into putting together the recorded output of some of the lesser known artists.Many of these guys I know from a song or two on a compilation.How incredible to find all their singles collected together.Thanks for all you do.
RépondreSupprimerVery nice blog. Keep up the good work!
RépondreSupprimerHello Gerard !
RépondreSupprimerMerci pour cette superbe compilation.
Il me semble que Cousin Leroy sur « Highway 41 » (1957) a fait un peu plus que s'inspirer du morceau « Diddy Wah Diddy » (1955) de Bo Diddley.
La musique me semble similaire, surtout la partie guitare, et il a une façon similaire de chanter sur un autre texte.
Bo Diddley - Diddy Wah Diddy (1955)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AkIYM1iFQ8&index=251&list=PL4xeE7FL_qarKo8XTugqWpkmPwMLJMAjG&t=0s
Barbar Drunker.