Mr BO / DETROIT BLUES MASTERS Volume 15

 

Mr BO/ Complete Recordings

DETROIT BLUES MASTERS/ Volume 15

 

           

Mr Bo was a true blues master from Detroit, much more than the B.B. King impersonator as he was too often described. And his too short recording works are generally excellent and should have been gathered way before this post. Unfortunately, Mr Bo – as so many Detroit artists – recorded often for tiny ill-distributed companies and, although he was a smash hit when appearing at Ann Arbor's blues & jazz festival, he never got enough attention except for the hardcore blues buffs around the world. And he had to wait his very last year to be finally able to record a whole album!

           

Mr Bo (Louis Collins) was born 7^th April 1932 in Indianola, Ms from a poor sharecroppers family. They – like so many – moved to Chicago just after WWII, then Detroit where the young Collins get his first guitar and was hooked to the blues through listening blues records and watching T-Bone Walker and moreover B.B. King, of course the main influence, caught live during local appearances. After a stay with Washboard Willie's band, soon, Mr Bo formed a band (Mr Bo and His Blues Boys) and played at venues and clubs around Detroit, recording for local labels with few airplays and distribution. In 1966, the great 45 I ain't gonna suffer/ If trouble was money enjoyed some local success and was reissued (bootlegged) in UK, drawing at last attention on this first rate singer and guitarist. His appearance at Ann Arbor's Festival in 1973 as well as several other festivals in Detroit and Chicago gave him more exposure. But the 1970's and 80's were very hard times for bluesmen like Mr Bo and he mainly made a living outside music, playing only sporadically.

            At last, he managed to make an European tour in 1993, playing in Utrecht, being interviewed for the Juke Blues Magazine. In 1995, he made a whole album, his only one! And he probably might have toured again overseas and recording more when he died suddenly from a pneumonia on 19^th September 1995 at Detroit's Hospital.

            I feel this post is a longtime well deserved tribute to a great underrated artist. It was very hard to gather some of his least known tracks and it couldn't have been done without the great help from Blessup, a true bluesfan and an excellent first rate blues guitarist on his own.

            Most of the details of this article come from the interview of Mr Bo by Jonhatan Varjabadian (published on Juke Blues 30) and article by Jim O'Neal on Living Blues n°15.

            I will add that several tracks doesn't even appear in the standard Blues Discography. So it is a tentative discography with possibly several mistakes. Anyway, enjoy this post and the music.

                                                           Gérard HERZHAFT

 

 

Mr Bo (Louis Collins), vcl/g; Mac Collins, bs; Duke Dawson, dms; band. Detroit, Mi. 1959

01. Times hard

02. Hard times once more

03. Live my life all over

04. Until the day I die

05. I'm leaving this town

Mr Bo, vcl/g; band. Detroit, Mi. 1961

06. Heartache and troubles

07. Calypso blues

Mr Bo, vcl/g; Mac Collins, bs; Duke Dawson, dms; band. Detroit, Mi. 1966

08. I ain't gonna suffer

09. If trouble was money

Mr Bo, vcl/g; band. Detroit, Mi. c. 1967

10. A lost love affair I (II)

Thanks to Ballas: A lost love affair Parts I & II are HERE

Mr Bo, vcl/g; band. Detroit, Mi. 1967

11. Santa's on his way

12. Let's go to the party

13. Cha Bo Cha

14. Thinking about my baby

Mr Bo, vcl/g; band. Detroit, Mi. 1968

15. Baby your hair looks bad

16. Night walkers

17. Early in the morning

18. Never love again

Mr Bo, vcl/g; band. Detroit, Mi. 1972

19. Plenty fire below I & II

Mr Bo, vcl/g; Dave Leonard, hca; Sonny Allen, og; Little Mack Collins, g; Bob Kimball, g; Earl Jones, dms. Ann Arbor, Mi. 8 septembre 1973

20. The train

In fact, "The train" is an alternate take to "I'm leaving this town" and was recorded in 1959. Thanks to Ballas for pointing this mistake.

21. Don't want no woman

Mr Bo, vcl/g; Claude Black, pno; Sabrina La Mar, t-sax; Champ Dogg, bs; Ricky Bones, dms. Napoleon, Oh. février 1995

22. If trouble was money 1995

23. Fire down below

24. I've got the blues

25. The train

26. Detroit, Michigan

27. Lost love affair

28. Born in the country

29. B.B. King Medley

30. Buzz me

31. I'm gonna get even

32. Bo's groove

 

Juke Blues Magazine n°34