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jeudi 30 janvier 2020

JOHN LEE GRANDERSON/ Complete Recordings


JOHN LEE GRANDERSON/ Complete Recordings

           
John Lee Granderson is certainly not a well known figure among blues fans today. But he nevertheless was a great country blues performer who recorded a strong series of sessions during the 1960's, thanks to the few blues researchers of that decade, namely Pete Welding who discovered him in Chicago and put him on the blues circuit for some years.
            Granderson was born in Ellendale, Tennessee, April 11th 1913 and learned guitar and the blues with his father when he was nine years old, meeting in Memphis luminaries of the day and the place like Sleepy John Estes, Memphis Minnie and particularly Willie Borum who was a friend of the family. John Lee came in Chicago as early as 1928, learning car mechanic and making a living in several plants and garages. He didn't think himself talented enough to play professionally in the Chicago clubs but he regularly went to see and sometimes came to stage with Big Bill Broonzy, Jazz Gillum, Big Joe Williams or John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. During the late 1940's, Granderson became a familiar figure at the Maxwell Street Market, making some extra dollars playing on the streets by himself or with every other bluesman he could meet like Robert Nighthawk or Johnny Young. This is where Pete Welding found him in 1962 and was impressed with his skills as a bluesman, guitarist and composer of some original blues like A man for the nation that Granderson had written after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Welding then recorded John Lee quite prolifically during the following years, issuing those sessions on various anthologies. Granderson who had to quit the hard work of car mechanic due to an accident then tried to make an improbable living with his music, forming a little Chicago band with harmonica player Prezs Thomas. But the records didn't sell very well and he was rarely billed on concerts and festivals. In 1966, John Lee had to work as a janitor to make a decent living.
           
After a session for the fledgling Adelphi label alongside Big Joe Williams, Granderson quit definitively playing in public. He suffered a stroke in 1975 and died of pancreatic cancer in Chicago on 22 August 1979, largely forgotten from the blues world.
                                                           Gérard HERZHAFT


John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Prez Thomas, hca; Jimmy Walker, pno; William Mack, g. Chicago, Ill. 30 september 1962
01. Death Valley blues
02. I don't feel good
03. Bumble bee
04. That's all right
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g. Chicago, Ill. 21 october 1962
05. Texas blues
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Prez Thomas, hca; Jimmy Walker, pno. Chicago, Ill. 24 july 1963
06. Decoration day
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g. Chicago, Ill. 8 july 1963
07. Bumble bee n°2
08. Minglewood train
09. Good morning little schoolgirl
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Mike Bloomfield, g. Chicago, Ill. 9 july 1963
10. J.L.'s blues
11. Everything's gonna be alright
12. That's all right
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g. Chicago, Ill. february 1964
13. A man for the nation
14. Rock me all night long
15. This is your last chance
16. One kind favor
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Jimmy Walker, pno; Johnny Young, mdln. Chicago, Ill. 4 april 1964
17. Please come back to me
18. Cold dark evening
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g. Chicago, Ill. 15 may 1964
19. Death Valley blues
20. Easy street
21. Minglewood blues
22. Bumble bee blues
23. That's all right

CD2
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Bill Foster, g. Chicago, Ill. april 1966
24. My home ain't here
25. That's doggin' me
26. Got to bend you over baby
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Bill Foster, g. Chicago, Ill. 2 may 1966
27. Hard luck John
28. Flora blues
29. County farm blues
30. Aching pain blues
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Johnny Young, mdln; Carl Martin, fdl. Chicago, Ill. 18 june 1966
31. The sun is sinking low
32. I got to find the woman
33. Watch out girl
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g; Big Joe Williams, g; Mike Stewart, g. Chicago, Ill. september 1968
34. Girl at the bottom
35. Going round the world
36. Stop breaking down
37. Yellow box blues
John Lee Granderson, vcl/g. Chicago, Ill. 1969
38. Lonesome blues
39. Rollin' and tumblin'



12 commentaires:

  1. John Lee Granderson/ Complete Recordings
    CD1:
    https://mega.nz/#!GNASkQbb!L_1lu1Rz8uSdI1FAQ8dtAyHxlwlATAybeQ_Z59fDC-E
    CD2:
    https://mega.nz/#!KJZiQCLY!FFqum2YodX98Z43eLeM5cxgfT13fy0y-sJzsqbW5IY8
    OK?

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  2. TYVM Gerard for this great post from an excellent bluesman.

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  3. Thanks Gerard, nice to have these tracks by this lesser-known artist.

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  4. Great Job again Gérard. Thank You!

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  5. Very interesting material. Thank you so much!

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  6. Thanks for this collection!

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  7. Know him from this Testament unreleased tracks compilation,- great to hear all of his recordings. Thanks, Gerard!

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  8. As with all of your posts, the biographical information is *almost* as important to me as the music, and both are fantastic. Thank you.

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  9. OK! Thanks so much!!

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