ROY GAINES/ Early Recordings

 

 

ROY GAINES / Early Recordings

 

        

Roy Gaines was born 12 August 1937 in Waskom (Texas) from a large family of three sisters and five brothers, including his elder Grady Gaines who will become the saxophonist and showman that everybody knows. The family moved to Houston when Roy was six years old and Roy followed the musical path of Grady, learning at an early age piano and guitar thanks to Clarence Hollomon, a neighbour who will also become a top notched Texas bluesman. Roy was also under the influence of Guitar Slim, Gatemouth Brown and T-Bone Walker whom he met and get encouragements from. Roy began to perform on clubs and venues with Grady's band when still a young teenager. His guitar skills gave him quickly a strong reputation and he was soon billed as "Roy Gaines, the 14-year old sensation".

         Two years later, Roy moved to Los Angeles to live with his elder sister and try his luck on the fledgling Southern California blues scene. He soon managed to play and tour with Roy Milton's band. While touring extensively with Milton, Roy got musical lessons from saxophonist Jackie Kelso who taught Roy how to read and write music and arrangements. Roy got back to Houston to record as a session guitarist for Don Robey behind Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton and others. While playing in Dallas, Roy Gaines was contacted by a New York City agent who was in need for an accomplished jazz/blues guitarist to back Joe Morris' band for a tour including Big Joe Turner. He then became associated during almost three years with Chuck Willis when the singer was climbing up to stardom. Roy is on many Wills' records and hits and was the open act for Wills during their subsequent tours that saw Wills making a crossover from R&B to pop with more and more white audiences.

         When Wills died suddenly in 1958, Roy who had settled in New York City became easily an in-demand session guitarist for the main labels whether blues, R&B, pop, jazz or whatever: Mel Waldron, Coleman Hawkins, Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing, Little Willie John, Mickey Baker & Sylvia Vanderpool, Brownie Mc Ghee and even Billie Holiday! Roy managed to cut many records on his own for several labels like Chart, Groove, DeLuxe, RCA, Del Fi, CuBeAr, Uni waxing blues, R&B, Rock'n'Roll (the frantic Skippy is a sissie) and even Country Music (Roy said he was always an Hank Williams' fan playing most of his repertoire, and he was managed for a while by Hank's widow Audrey!).

         At the end of the 1950's, Roy went back to Los Angeles recording with his former boss and friend Roy Milton, the Jazz Crusaders and under his name before being drafted by Uncle Sam in 1962. Based in Monterey, Roy took more music lessons from several musicians including Woody Herman. When he was discharged from the Army, Roy became a most sought after session man, recording with Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Ted Taylor etc... He was also constantly on tour with Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte, Diana Ross... And Roy also was hired by famous bandleader Quincy Jones to record the soundtrack of several movies (Bob & Carroll & Ted & Alice). In 1985, Roy will also act and play in Spielberg's Color Purple!

        

In 1975, Roy toured France with organist Milt Buckner recording behind Milt (a fantastic version of Green Onions) and his first whole album for the Black & Blue French label (Superman).. He then toured several times in Europe, recording more albums while operating a complex in Los Angeles' Crenshaw district that housed a nightclub, restaurant and a recording studio! During the 1990's and early 2000's Roy recorded more great albums before passing away on 11 August 2021.

         This post gathers almost all Roy Gaines' early recordings under his name. Thanks a lot to Alan H. and mostly Rusty for their great help in gathering those tracks.

    Most of this article comes from Lee Hildebrand's work published in Living Blues 227.

                                   Gérard HERZHAFT

FLOYD JONES

 

FLOYD JONES Complete Recordings

 

        

Lors d'un voyage à Chicago, j'avais réussi à retrouver Floyd Jones en téléphonant aux dizaines de Floyd Jones recensés dans l'annuaire. Alors qu'on affirmait qu'il ne jouait plus et qu'il était malade, Floyd se produisait alors régulièrement dans un bar miteux en compagnie de son orchestre qui comprenait Big Walter Horton, Homesick James et un batteur fantasque, Playboy! Floyd qui était le seul à ne pas boire, préparait la scène, accordait les instruments, établissait la liste des morceaux à interpréter... A la fin de la soirée, il ramenait ses compagnons, tous saouls, chez eux. La soirée que nous avons passée chez Big Walter Horton restera comme un des souvenirs les plus mémorables de mes ballades en blues. Malheureusement, malgré tous nos efforts, Floyd n'a jamais pu réaliser son souhait de venir jouer en Europe et il demeure comme le moins reconnu des grands créateurs du Chicago blues électrique de l'après-guerre.

         Floyd est entré en blues après une rencontre avec Tommy Johnson dans le Delta. Mais c'est surtout son association avec Howlin' Wolf qui le marquera le plus. A cette époque, le Wolf est une grosse vedette du Delta blues, l'héritier le plus évident de Charlie Patton. Floyd le raconte ainsi:

         " J'ai suivi Howlin' Wolf pendant plusieurs années. On écumait les juke joints, les bars et les salles de jeu du Mississippi au Texas et de l'Oklahoma au Tennessee. On a même joué plusieurs semaines sur un bateau qui remontait et descendait le Mississippi... Wolf était alors immensément populaire et gagnait beaucoup d'argent "

         Floyd gagne ensuite Memphis où il anime un petit orchestre électrique en compagnie des guitaristes Woodrow Adams (lui aussi un émule de Howlin' Wolf) et de Lee Rodgers, le père de Sonny Rodgers qui enregistrera aussi sous son nom.

         Floyd s'associe ensuite à Big Walter Horton et Johnny Shines à Memphis mais gagne Chicago durant la guerre. Il est un des tout premiers à électrifier le blues du Delta dans les rues de Maxwell Street. Il enregistre dès 1947 avec son cousin Moody Jones et l'harmoniciste Snooky Pryor, une des premières séances du nouveau Chicago blues. Mais sa personnalité timide et réservée et des blues aux textes somptueux mais à l'atmosphère sombre et grave ne lui assurent jamais qu'un très modeste succès dans le seul ghetto des bords du lac Michigan. Il enregistre une poignée de titres entre 1947 et 1966 pour JOB, Chess et Vee-Jay, presque tous des chefs d'œuvre comme Schooldays, Stockyard blues (un des rares blues de l'après-guerre sur le chômage), Dark Road, On the road again qui deviendra un énorme succès pour les Canned Heat puis la musique d'une publicité pour une marque d'automobile!

         Malgré un excellent demi album en 1966 pour Testament, il rate largement les possibilités qu'offre le blues international. Il n'enregistre plus que très sporadiquement quelques faces ici et là. Un album enregistré par Al Smith pour Bluesway en janvier 1974 dont il attendait énormément ne verra jamais le jour. J'ai eu la chance d'en entendre quelques extraits grâce à Al Smith, Floyd était en grande forme et accompagné de Louis Myers et Homesick James aux guitares, Snooky Pryor à l'harmonica, Dave Myers à la basse et Fred Below à la batterie!

On n'a malheureusement jamais repéré où se trouvent les bandes.

         Floyd Jones est ne dans le Lee County (Arkansas) le 21 juillet 1917 et est décédé à Chicago le 18 décembre 1989.

         L'article le plus complet sur ce grand artiste a été écrit par Justin O'Brien et publié dans Living Blues 58 et 59.

                                               Gérard HERZHAFT

 

         During one of my trips to Chicago (fall 1979), I had the chance to meet Floyd Jones, one of my all-time favorite bluesmen. While I was told Floyd was sick and didn't play anymore, the man I met was in good shape and played regularly in a tiny blues bar situated on the West Side (If my memory is good) and he invited me to go with him to see his evening act. To my surprise, Floyd was backed by Big Walter Horton, Homesick James (they shared vocals) and an erratic drummer just named "Playboy". Floyd who was the only one not drinking alcohol dressed the stage, fixed the instruments and wrote a list of blues that would be played this evening... At the end of the sets, quite late in the night, he brought back Big Walter, drunk to death, to his home and the chatting hours we spend at Walter's home, would stay as one the most striking of all my blues memories! Unfortunately, despite all of our efforts, Floyd has never been able to play in Europe.

         Floyd Jones came to the blues through a meeting with Tommy Johnson in the Delta where he was living. But he cited as his main influences Charlie Patton and most of all Howlin' Wolf:

         " I followed Howlin' Wolf for several years. We were roaming the juke joints, bars and such through Mississippi, Tennessee and down to Texas and Oklahoma. We even played together on a steamer which went up and down the Mississippi River! ... Wolf was then very popular and we made a lot of money "

         After that, Floyd formed his own electric blues band in Memphis with guitarists Woodrow Adams and Lee Rodgers (father of Sonny Rodgers who will record a very good album). Then he will play alongside Big Walter and Johnny Shines before going to Chicago during the WWII's years. He is one of the very first to record the "new raw Chicago blues sounds" in 1947 and he is certainly a true pioneer of the post-war Chicago blues. His recordings are almost all masterpieces with very well crafted blues songs describing the social reality of the times: Schooldays, Stockyard blues, Dark Road, On the road again that will become a major hit for the Canned Heat, blues-rock group  and even the backing music for a major car company's commercials! That still provided important royalties to Floyd when I met him.

         But the shy and modest personality of Floyd prevented him to draw the limelight and he stayed mostly in the shadows of the others Chicago blues' big names. He didn't record much during the blues revival years: one excellent "half" album for Testament and a few tracks here and there on anthologies. In January 1974, Floyd also recorded his sole complete album for Bluesway (I heard some very good tracks from it thanks to producer Al Smith. Floyd was backed by Louis Myers, g; Homesick James, g; Snooky Pryor, hca; Dave Myers, bs and Fred Below, dms!) but it was never issued and nobody knows where the tapes are!

         Floyd Jones was born in Lee County, Arkansas on July 21^st 1917 and died in Chicago, 18^th December 1989.

         The most comprehensive portrait and study of Floyd Jones has been written by Justin O'Brien and published in Living Blues n°s 58 & 59.

                                               Gérard HERZHAFT

(photos by Jim & Amy On'Neal)

 

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Snooky Pryor, hca; Moody Jones, g. Chicago, Ill. December 1947

01. Stockyard blues

02. Keep what you got

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Sunnyland Slim, pno; Baby Face Leroy Foster, dms. Chicago, Ill. 14 May 1948

03. Hard times

04. School days

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Sunnyland Slim, pno; Billy Howell, tpt; Moody Jones, bs; Alfred Wallace, dms. Chicago, Ill. 22 March 1951

05. Big world

06. Dark road

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Jimmy Rogers, g; Little Walter, hca; Willie Coven, dms. Chicago, Ill. 29 December 1951

07. Dark road

08. Big world

09. Overseas

10. Playhouse

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Jimmy Rogers, g; Junior Wells, hca; Albert King, dms. Chicago, Ill. 17 September 1952

11. You can't live long

12. Early morning blues

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Sunnyland Slim, pno; Moody Jones, bs; Alfred Wallace, dms. Chicago, Ill. 31 January 1953

13. On the road again

14. Skinny mama

15. Rising wind

16. I lost a good woman

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Snooky Pryor, hca; Eddie Taylor, g; Alfred Wallace, dms. Chicago, Ill. 3 February 1954

17. Schooldays on my mind

18. Ain't times hard

19. Any old lonesome day

20. Floyd's blue

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Eddie Taylor, g; Big Walter Horton, hca; Otis Spann, pno; Fred Below, dms. Chicago, Ill. June 1966

21. New Dark road I & II

22. Rising wind

23. Playhouse blues

24. M&O blues

25. Hard times

26. Sweet talkin' woman

27. Stockyard blues

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Big Walter Horton, hca. Chicago, Ill. 24 January 1970

28. Crawling kingsnake

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Big Walter Horton, hca. Chicago, Ill. November 1975

29. Hey little girl

30. Mr Freddie's blues

31. Overseas blues

32. Stockyard blues

33. Take a little walk with me

Floyd Jones, vcl/g; Honeyboy Edwards, g; Sunnyland Slim, pno; Kansas City Red, dms. Chicago, Ill. 8 June 1979

34. Over the seas blues

35. Banty rooster

36. Mr Freddy blues

Floyd Jones, vcl/g. Chicago, Ill. June 1984

37. Take a walk with me

38. Stockyard blues