NEW ORLEANS BLUES/ Volume 1

NEW ORLEANS BLUES/ Volume 1

         

This new series is dedicated to some not very well known blues singers from or related to the Crescent City but who have nevertheless recorded some very fine music.

            Chubby Newsome (or Newsom) was born Velma Williams (and not Velma Nelson as some sources wrongly write Velma Nelson is a different artist from Los Angeles) on 27 January 1920 in Wilburton (Ok). She started singing in Detroit with the King Allen and His Royal Sultans' band and after the war under the nickname "Chubby" (probably for her curvy figures) Newsome or even "The Bombshell of Blues" in many Detroit R&B clubs, including the Club Sensation. She then toured a lot around the States, appearing in clubs and concert halls in New York, Buffalo, Dayton, Cincinnati, Memphis and such... She relocated herself in New Orleans in 1948, her acts being celebrated by The Louisiana Weekly (2 October 1948) as "Chubby Newsome Motor City Rage now in Dew Drop Show"! During her stay at the Dew Drop Inn, Chubby was noticed by pianist/bandleader Paul Gayten who brought her at Cossimo Matassa's studio for her very first recording session that gave the hit

Hipshaking mama which climbed to the Top 10 in New Orleans, Washington DC and Atlanta. The following years saw Chubby Newsome touring the country (up to appearing at the Apollo Theatre alongside Wynonie Harris) and recording constantly either in New York or in New Orleans where she was, by far, one of the most sought after act. Around 1953, she teamed with Detroit singer Alberta Adams, launching a comedy act under the name The Bluezettes. She recorded a last session in 1957 in New York, still appearing at the Apollo during this time. During the early 60's, she dropped the exhausting life of a touring artist and stayed in her Detroit home, singing only sporadically in local clubs before relocating herself in Kansas City around 1983. She died there, largely forgotten by the blues world, on 12 September 2003. Her obituary in the Kansas City Star didn't even mention her former big success as a R&B singer.

           

Diamond Joe is generally more considered as a Soul singer but most of his records are largely blues oriented. He was born Joseph Maryland in 1936 at Houma (Terrebone Parrish, Louisiana). His whereabouts and life are largely undocumented although we know that he was a US Air Force veteran and that he recorded a string of very fine 45s in New Orleans during the 1960's, produced by Allen Toussaint who is certainly present on all his sessions. He drifted into utter obscurity after that, being reported living without incomes among his family in Houma where he died September 2, 2010.

            And then the mysterious Sweet Daddy Reed (James Reed Jr) could be, as some has written, Louisiana singer Dalton Reed who recorded a couple of very fine albums for the Rounder label during the early 1990's. This Reed died of a heart attack on 23 September 1994. But at that time, the very identity of Sweet Daddy Reed remains questionable. Here is anyway this quite rare 45s.

                                                           Gérard HERZHAFT

Thanks a lot to Marv Goldberg (from whom I picked most of the Chubby Newsome's bio details) and Fonsoul who posted the rare Sweet Daddy Reed 45 on his first rate YouTube channel.

CHUBBY NEWSOME (Velma Williams), vcl; Wallace Davenport, tpt; Lee Allen, t-sax; Frank Campbell, b-sax; Paul Gayten, pno; Jack Scott, g; George Pryor, bs; Robert Green, dms. New Orleans, La. November 1948

01. Hip shakin' mama

02. Chubby's confession

03. Back bitin' woman

04. Bedroom blues

Chubby Newsome, vcl; Dave Bartholomew, tpt; Joe Harris, a-sax; Herb Hardesty, t-sax; Salvador Doucette, g; Ernest Mc Lean, g; Frank Fields, bs; Earl Palmer, dms. New Orleans, La. January 1949

05. Close to train time

06. New Orleans lover man

Chubby Newsome, vcl; tpt; saxes; Howard Biggs, pno; Gene Ramey, bs; Jo Jones, dms. New York City, 19 December 1949

07. You better find a job

08. Hard loving mama

09. Please throw this poor dog a bone

10. I'm still in love with you

Chubby Newsome, vcl; horns; Howard Biggs, pno; Gene Ramey, bs; Al Taylor, dms. New York City, 23 February 1951

11. Where's the money honey?

12. Little fat woman with the coconut head

Chubby Newsome, vcl; Paul Gayten, pno; John Hunt, tpt; Sam Butera, t-sax; Pee Wee Moore, b-sax; Thomas Legaye, bs; Wesley Landers, dms. New Orleans, La. 15 April 1951

13. Hip shakin' mama blues

14. He may be your man

Chubby Newsome, vcl; Baby Cortez, pno; band. New York City, 1957

15. Toodle luddle baby

16. When are you coming home?

DIAMOND JOE (Joe Maryland), vcl; Allen Toussaint, kbds; band. New Orleans, La. 2 February 1961

17. Moanin' and screamin' I & II

Diamond Joe, vcl; band. New Orleans, La. 10 octobre 1961

You're gonna cry

Diamond Joe, vcl; Allen Toussaint, kbds; band. New Orleans, La. 3 January 1962

18. Help yourself

19. Fair play

Diamond Joe, vcl; Allen Toussaint, kbds; band. New Orleans, La. 1965

20. Too many pots

21. If I say goodbye

Diamond Joe, vcl; Allen Toussaint, kbds; band. New Orleans, La. 1966

22. How to pick a winner

23. Wait a minute baby

24. Hurry back to me

25. Don't set me back

Diamond Joe, vcl; Allen Toussaint, kbds; band. New Orleans, La. 1967

26. Gossip gossip

27. It doesn't matter anymore

Diamond Joe, vcl; Allen Toussaint, kbds; band. New Orleans, La. 1968

28. The ABC song

29. Look way back

SWEET DADDY REED (James Reed Jr), vcl; Rodger Lewis, t-sax; The Desert Tones, band. New Orleans, La. 1969

30. Reconsider blues

31. I believe to my soul