DETROIT BLUES MASTERS/ Volume 14

DETROIT BLUES MASTERS/ Volume 14

           

For this 14th opus of our Detroit Blues Masters Series, we are featuring some more obscure Detroit and Toledo dwellers who nevertheless waxed some good to great blues.

            Alberta Adams (Roberta Louise Osborne born 2 July 1917 in Indianapolis and died on 25 December 2014 in Detroit) is certainly well known thanks to her "rediscovery" during the late XXth Century, a time when she recorded several very good albums and appeared on stages a little bit everywhere. But her recording debuts didn't bring her neither fame nor money. We feature here four from the five fine tracks she recorded in 1953 and 1962. Very much a great talent who has been too much neglected during her prime years.

            Fred Harris is a very obscure piano and organ player from Toledo, a city

100 kilometers South of Detroit situated in Ohio. He has recorded seven titles between 1950 and 1957 as Fred Harris and his Orchestra or The Red Tops Organ Trio who featured the hard blowing tenor saxophonist and sometimes singer Big Joe Burrell.

            Singer Alex Thomas has started as a vocalist and guitar player with no other than famed bands of Paul Williams and King Porter in 1947 and 1948 but his records were issued only years later and under the nickname...Muddy Waters or Muddy Walters! He recorded under his (almost) own name as Playboy Thomas in 1953. But whoever he was, his records are fine examples of Detroit blues.

            I must confess my total ignorance of who was the fine soul blues singer Irene Scott who recorded a handful of tracks in Detroit during the late 1960's backed by the Chicago band of the Scott Brothers. She is of course probably a relative of this musical family.

            And last but not least two much more downhome blues tracks by singer-guitarist Earl Chatman (sometimes spelled Chapman) from 1958. Chatman had also recorded a test for Fortune Records some years earlier in the company of pianist Henry Smith.

            Much of the meager facts I have been able to grab for this article come from the excellent website Detroit Blues Society. And of course every additional details about those very obscure bluesmen/women would be great!

                                                          Gérard HERZHAFT

ALBERTA ADAMS (Roberta Louise Osborne), vcl; Sonny Cohn, tpt; Leon Washington, t-sax; Mc Kinley Easton, b-sax; Earl Washington, pno; Jimmy Richardson, bs; Red Saunders, dms. Detroit, Mi. 16 July 1953

01. Messin' around with the blues

02. Remember

This morning

Alberta Adams, vcl; band. Detroit, Mi. March 1962

03. I got a feeling

04. Without your love

FRED HARRIS, vcl/pno; Frank Mc Kinley, tpt; William Newsum Jr, a-sax; Clarence Sherrill, bs; Erman Terry, dms. Toledo, Oh. 1950

05. Sad man blues

06. Cincinnati breakdown

07. Uptown

Fred Harris, og; Big Joe Burrell, t-sax; Louis Lee, dms. Toldeo, Oh. 1957

08. Organ rocker

09. In love with a woman (vcl: Big Joe Burrell)

10. Flang dang do

11. The bull

ALEX THOMAS (as Muddy Walters), vcl; Paul Williams, a-sax; John Lawton, tpt; Walter Cox, t-sax; T.J. Fowler, pno; Hank Ivory, bs; Clarence Stamps, dms. Detroit, Mi. 5 septembre 1947

12. Way late

Alex Thomas (as Muddy Walters), vcl; King Porter, tpt; Wild Bill Moore, t-sax; Detroit Count, pno; bs; dms. Detroit, Mi. 1948

13. Dissatisfied

14. Good morning pretty baby

Baby look at you

Alex Thomas (as Playboy Thomas), vcl/g; Floyd Taylor, pno; band. Detroit, Mi. 1953

15. Too much pride

16. No doubt about it

17. End of the world

Time will tell

IRENE SCOTT, vcl; The Scotts Brothers, band. Detroit, Mi. 1967

18. I'm stuck with my baby

19. Why do you treat me like you do?

Irene Scott, vcl; The Scott Brothers, band. Detroit, Mi. 1969

20. Everyday worries

21. You're no good

EARL CHATMAN, vcl; band. Detroit, Mi. 1958

22. Love you baby

23. Take two steps back

NEW LINKS/ Nouveaux liens

NEW LINKS/ Nouveaux Liens

 

Pour répondre à des demandes, voici de nouveaux liens pour:

To answer some requests, here are new links for:

TABBY THOMAS/ Louisiana Swamp pop

BLUES GUITAR MASTERS Vol. 1 WILD JIMMY SPRUILL

BLUES GUITAR MASTERS Vol. 2: RENE HALL

Il est très compliqué de conserver ces liens plus ou moins longtemps. Aussi, utilisez les tant qu'ils durent si vous le souhaitez

It's very difficult to keep those links more or less available for a long time. So, if you want em, grab'em while it lasts!

CAROL FRAN/ Louisiana Swamp blues

CAROL FRAN/ Louisiana Swamp blues

           

Carol Fran, certainly one of the Queen of the Louisiana Swamp blues, was born Carol Anthony Martin in the city of Lafayette, at the very heart of the Cajun country, on October 23, 1933. Her mother wanted her to be a classical pianist and Carol followed piano (and dance) lessons at a very early age. But as she told in an in-depth interview to Living Blues Magazine (n°116), she hated those piano lessons and instead lent an ear to R&B local and national acts, particularly Ella Mae Morse, Dinah Washington or Camille Howard.

            Anyway, she was already a proficient piano player when, at just 15!, she started to play in the Louisiana clubs with the Don Coway Orchestra. Don encouraged her to sing and soon she was fronting the band and garnering good followings. Another step and Carol was hired by Bubba Lutcher's (brother of Nellie and Joe) agency from Lake Charles and she started to tour across the South West from Texas to California before settling awhile in New Orleans. There she sang in many cabarets of the French Quarter with many bands, those of Edgar Blanchard, Sugar Boy Crawford and even Guitar Slim, becoming a very favorite female singer of Bourbon Street and, of course, she married in New Orleans to saxophonist Bob François. She then dropped her maiden name and began a new career under the name of Carol Fran, thinking François was too difficult to pronounce in Texas or California!

            A two years and fruitful contract with the main venue of Ciudad Juarez at the Mexican border and Carol was at last recorded in 1957 by the ever smart Jay Miller from Crowley who recognized in Carol a major talent. The nice swamp pop ballad Emmitt Lee, penned by Carol and issued by Excello was a modest local hit but the driving and witty Knock Knock enjoyed a wider success and the song is still a Swamp blues/rock classic.

            Carol signed then a contract with the Lyric label from Lake Charles: The great pretender was a smash hit from Houston to New Orleans and Carol became a major New Orleans artist, singing at the Dew Drop Inn and the Sugar Bowl clubs and appearing with Earl King, Lee Dorsey, Joe Tex... This is on a tour with the Joe Tex Revue that she appeared in New York at the famous

At the Apollo. Courtesy Living Blues

Apollo Theatre and signing with the Port Records label for which she recorded her smoldering Crying in the Chapel, an instant hit that would be very soon recorded by Elvis Presley. She toured the USA from coast to coast with the Joe Tex Revue until, tired of the hectic life on the road, she settled in Miami and around 1977 in Houston, to be closer to her kinfolks. At that time, the opportunities were scarce but Carol formed a duo with her second husband, ace Texas guitarist Clarence Holliman. Her early records having a great reputation in Europe, she was "re-discovered" by local producers and Carol and Clarence started to appear in festivals all around the USA and Europe, recording a string of mostly excellent albums for Black Top and JSP.

            After the death of Clarence Hollimon in 2000, she was devastated but managed to pursue her career, touring Europe and recording a very emotional album Fran-Tastic backed by Louisiana guitarist Selwyn Cooper. She relocated in Lafayette, appearing in festivals all over the world and on records by Grady Gaines, Bob Corritore or Anson Funderburgh. She gained a National Endowment for the Arts Awards in 2013.

                                                                       Gérard HERZHAFT

A lot of thanks to Benoit Blue Boy, Apesville and Mike K. from Australia for their help and loan of rare records.

Carol Fran, vcl; band. Crowley, La. 12 June 1957

01. Tomorrow

Carol Fran, vcl; John Johnson, g; Guitar Gable, g; Fats Perrodin, bs; Clarence Etienne, dms. Crowley, La. 22 February 1958

02. Emmitt Lee

03. One look at you daddy

Carol Fran, vcl; band. Crowley, La. 18 June 1958

04. I quit my knockin'

If we should meet again (Thanks to Apesville for sharing this rare track)

Carol Fran, vcl; band. Crowley, La. 24 February1959

05. Knock knock I & II

06. Emmitt Lee's come back

Carol Fran, vcl; band. Crowley, La. March 1960

07. One more chance

08. Run a while (Running and hiding)

09. Hold me

Carol Fran, vcl; band. Lake Charles, La. 1961

So tired of crying

10. Just because you're mine

Carol Fran, vcl; Cookie Thierry, t-sax; Sheldon Dunaway, t-sax; Ernest Jacobs, pno; Marshall Ladee, g; Joe Landry, bs; Soko Richardson, dms. Lake Charles, La. 1962

11. The great pretender

12. Please stand by me

Carol Fran, vcl; band. Lake Charles, La. late 1962

13. After a night out

It's you (Thanks to Apesville for sharing this rare track)

Carol Fran, vcl; band. New York City, 1964

14. Crying in the chapel

15. I'm gonna try

Carol Fran, vcl; Sammy Lowe Orchestra. New York City, early 1965

16. It's my turn now

17. You can't stop me

18. A world without you

19. I know

Carol Fran, vcl; band. New York City, late 1965

20. Any day love walks in

21. Just a letter

Carol Fran, vcl; band. New York City, 1966

22. So close

23. Out of sight, out of mind

Carol Fran, vcl; band. New York City, March 1967

24. My runaway heart

25. C'mon let's make up

26. You're my pleasure

27. A woman in love

28. I was such a fool

29. Roll with the Punches

MEMPHIS SLIM/ The Complete 1967 Clyde Otis Sessions

MEMPHIS SLIM/ The complete Clyde Otis 1967 Sessions

           

In 1967 ace pianist John Len "Peter" Chatman aka Memphis Slim was already living in France for 5 years and also remarried with a French lady. He was a very favourite of French and European scenes, either jazz or blues ones, was a regular at the Trois Mailletz, a Quartier Latin noted jazz club where Sorbonne's students (including yours truly) were gathering almost every evening. Memphis, a classy and smart Ambassador of the blues, was appearing in numerous French TV shows and even played some small parts in movies (for which he would also write the soundtracks) and of course was recording an enormous amount of albums, featuring him mostly as a solo act or just backed by his French drummer, Michel Denis or his fellow American expatriate Mickey Baker.

            He seemed to be quite happy to live in France with his new family but of course he liked also very much coming back to the States ("I miss a lot of things from the States " he once said "even the US TV commercials"), particularly in New York City where he was still in-demand in folk and jazz clubs.

           

It's during one of those trips in June 1967 that jazz and R&B producer Clyde Otis proposed him to record with an all US jazz band composed of stellar New York City sessions men like guitarist Billy Butler, tenor saxophonist Eddie Chamblee, bassist Lloyd Trotman and drummer Herb Lovelle. For a couple of days, Memphis Slim and his band waxed more than 20 tracks, Slim seeming very happy to be backed again by such a great array of musicians. He was in fine voice and as usual a wonderful piano player, bluesin' and boogieing as hell, and he left also plenty space for his accompanists to shine.

            We don't know for sure what happened really to those sessions. Clyde Otis was probably involved with more lucrative jobs or whatever... One 45 (Gone again/ Little lonely girl) was issued in 1967, selling very poorly and going nowhere, and the subsequent years several albums popped up here and there with some tracks from those sessions, sometimes re-titled, sometimes shortened (on the Beacon, Jubilee, Musidisc...). Even a couple of unissued tracks appeared decades later on CD!

            But those very good Memphis Slim 1967 sessions were never completely gathered on one disc. This is what we have tried to do here, so enjoy and relax while listening to the one and only Memphis Slim in top form.

                                                                       Gérard HERZHAFT

Memphis Slim, vcl/pno; Billy Butler, g; Eddie  Chamblee, t-sax; Lloyd Trotman, bs; Herb Lovelle, dms. New York City, June 1967

01. A long time baby

02. All by myself

03. Ballin' the jack

04. Broadway boogie

05. Dear Abby and Anne

06. Everyday I have the blues

07. Forty years or more

08. Freedom

09. Gamblers' blues

10. Gone again

11. I am the blues

12. I'm too poor to die

13. Key to the highway

14. Lend me your love

15. Let's get with it

16. Little lonely girl

17. Long time gone

18. Only fools have fun

19. Rock me baby

20. Sassy Mae

21. Strollin' thru the park

22. There's a fool in town

23. This little woman

24. Too late

photo courtesy Natalie Chatman

According to Peter Diedrichs, this compilation I have posted does not gather all the 27 tracks recorded by Memphis Slim during those sessions.

THE CLYDE OTIS SESSIONS/ 27 tracks
Thanks to Peter.

R.C. SMITH/ Complete Recordings (re-post)

R.C. SMITH/ Complete Recordings (Re-Post)

           

Robert Curtis Smith, né en 1930 à Cruger (Ms) près de Clarksdale, est une des meilleures découvertes faites par Chris Strachwitz et Paul Oliver durant leur voyage conjoint dans le Sud des Etats Unis en juillet 1960. Un chanteur et guitariste de blues, dans le pur style du Delta, qui compose des morceaux relatant sa vie quotidienne et qui est âgé d'à peine 30 ans! Même pour l'époque, il s'agissait vraiment d'une trouvaille majeure.

            C'est par hasard que Chris et Paul croisent le chemin de R.C. Smith alors qu'il discutait avec son ami Wade Walton dans le petit salon de coiffure que ce barbier/ bluesman tenait dans le quartier noir de Clarksdale. Après que Wade eut impressionné ses visiteurs exotiques de quelques morceaux à la guitare, à l'harmonica et surtout en battant le rythme avec une lame et la sangle de rasoir de sa boutique (un "truc" qu'il rééditera devant chacun de ses visiteurs de plus en plus nombreux au fur et à mesure des années), R.C. a à son tour interprété quelques morceaux avec la guitare de Wade (il avait mis la sienne au clou pour payer les cadeaux de Noel à sa femme et à ses huit enfants)

            D'emblée, Oliver et Strachwitz décident d'enregistrer les deux compères. Smith ne grave que quelques titres et c'est l'année suivante en juillet 1961 qu'il peut s'exprimer sur un album entier qui sortira pour Bluesville, un des meilleurs LP de ce label, avec notamment quelques très grands moments personnels comme le désespérant Council Spur blues. Malheureusement le label Bluesville n'a jamais brillé par sa distribution et l'album sorti presque en catimini à une époque où le blues revival n'était que balbutiant ne se vend qu'à quelques dizaines d'exemplaires!

            A part quelques dollars bienvenus, le disque ne rapporte rien du tout à R.C. Smith qui retourne à sa métairie, conduisant un tracteur pour un salaire misérable. Il confiera être très fier qu'un seul de ses enfants soit décédé! Vers 1969, il abandonne le blues pour la religion, quitte ensuite le Mississippi dans les années 1970 pour une meilleure vie à Chicago.

            Son superbe disque – malheureusement devenu très rare et jamais réédité ni en LP ni en CD – intrigue cependant le cercle des amateurs de Delta blues un peu partout dans le monde, en particulier le fondateur de Living Blues Jim O'Neal qui, grâce à Wade Walton, réussit à le retrouver en 1997 et à le faire monter sur scène (sans doute sa seule apparition en concert) durant le Sunflower blues festival. Mais Smith doit regagner Chicago et élude donc l'idée d'enregistrer l'album que veut O'Neal.

           

L'année suivante, Matthew Bock tombe sur lui un peu par hasard tandis qu'il dirige une congrégation dans le South Side de Chicago, continuant à jouer de la guitare et à chanter, mais cette fois uniquement des gospels. La voix est devenue un peu plus rauque mais sa musique religieuse semble aussi pleine de vigueur et d'inspiration que les blues qu'il avait enregistrés près de 40 ans avant! Il enregistrera cinq nouveaux titres.

            R.C. Smith décède en novembre 2010 à Chicago.

            On ne peut que regretter que ce talent qu'on devine d'importance au vu de ses quelques disques n'ait pu davantage figurer dans les festivals de blues et fréquenter davantage les studios. But anyway this is the real story of the blues!

                                                           Gérard HERZHAFT

            Robert Curtis Smith, born in Cruger, Ms near Clarksdale in 1930, is certainly one of the best discovery made by Chris Strachwitz and Paul Oliver during their July 1960 blues trip in the Deep South. Here was a blues singer in his early 30's playing the guitar in the true Delta style who also wrote personal lyrics about his everyday life! Even for the 1960's he was a major find and he should certainly have enjoyed concerts, records and international recognition.

            Chris and Paul crossed the path of R.C. Smith while he was chatting with his old friend Wade Walton in Wade's barbershop situated in Clarksdale's "colored" quarter. Wade was mentioned as an old-styled bluesman by several people, leading Oliver and Strachwitz to his shop. After Wade had impressed his exotic visitors in singing and playing the guitar and harmonica and moreover playing his razor strap (a gimmick he would do again umpteenth times for visiting bluesfans from all around the world during the next decades, including yours truly!), R.C. also mentioned he was able to play and sing the blues even he had no guitar of his own at that time (he had to put his guitar at the pawnshop the previous year to be able to buy Christmas gifts to his children and he hadn't been able to buy it back).

            Paul and Chris decided at once to record the two hitherto unknown bluesmen. R.C. Smith recorded only four titles and he had to wait the following year to make a whole album which would be issued on the Bluesville label, certainly one of the best (and much sought after) of these series with some striking numbers like the hopeless Council Spur blues. Unfortunately the Bluesville label was very poorly distributed and Smith's LP sold only a handful of dozens (I was once told less than a hundred!)

            Smith grabbed only a handful of dollars from this record and nothing else happened: no gigs, no more records, nobody coming to see him! R.C. was still living precariously and when asked decades after he said his main pride was to have raised his large family with only one lost child! Around 1969, he gave up entirely the blues for the church and at the end of the 1970's he left Mississippi for Chicago, becoming a fulltime preacher.

            His great LP - unfortunately very hard to find after the mid-60's and never reissued on CD - had nevertheless gained the worldwide blues buffs' attention and it had the indefatigable energy of Jim O'Neal (founder of Living Blues and then relocated in Clarksdale) to at last (and thanks to Wade's tip) find Reverend R.C. Smith in Chicago during 1997. Thanks to O'Neal, R.C. made his first and only stage appearance at the Sunflower blues festival. Jim hoped to record R.C. but it never materialized.

            The following year Matthew Bock crossed R.C.'s path by chance and made him record five new titles, only Gospel numbers, delivered with the same feeling and energy R.C. had 40 years before!

            R.C. Smith died in Chicago in November 2010.

            We can only have regrets this excellent bluesman had not been more on the focus. He probably was able to make strong appearances in big festivals like Newport, the AFBF and others also record more great LPs and become an important name of the blues revival.

            But sadly it's anyway and so usually the story of the blues!

                                                           Gérard HERZHAFT

R.C. SMITH

The Complete Recordings

R.C. Smith, vcl/g. Clarksdale, Ms. 24 July 1960

01. Stella Ruth

02. Going back to Texas

03. Lonely widower

04. Lost love blues

R.C. Smith, vcl/g; Sam Moore, dms. Clarksdale, Ms. 28 July 1961

05. Please don't drive me away

R.C. Smith, vcl/g. Clarksdale, Ms. 28 July 1961

06. Rock me mama

07. I believe we love each other

08. Put your arms around me

09. Catfish blues

10. I hate to leave you

11. Council Spur blues

12. I feel so good

13. I'm going away

14. Ain't that lovin' you baby

15. Get a real woman

16. See my chauffeur

17. Sunflower River blues

18. Katy Mae blues

19. Goody goody

20. Can you remember me?

R.C. Smith, vcl/g. Chicago, Ill. 1998

21. The Lord will make a way somehow

22. Lye Water conversion

23. Thank you

24. Calvary

25. Milky white way

TEXAS BLUES Vol. 8/ Willie Johnson Plus

TEXAS BLUES Vol. 8/ Willie Johnson +

Houston, Tx. Eldorado Ball Room c. 1960

Thanks to our generous friends Mike G. & Mike K. from Australia, we now may post 5 very very rare Willie Johnson's tracks that fill most of the gaps in his discography:

Willie Johnson, vcl/pno; The Groovy Five, band. San Antonio, Tx. October 1949

Lost baby

Willie Johnson, vcl/pno; Third Ward Sir-Cats, band. Houston, Tx. janvier 1951

Sad and blue

Rocket 88

So happy

Tears come falling down

Thanks again, guys!

WILLIE JOHNSON +