Big Walter's Blues News

Here's a link to some home recordings of Big Walter Horton that I've never heard. Each of them exemplifies the genius of the man and his extraordinary tone. This site is from the Swedish blue publication Jefferson Magazine. Just scroll down until you get to the eight downloadable music tracks. Click Here.

Bob Corritore turned me on to this through his excellent blues newsletter, which is a chocked full of blues we all can use. Go over to Bob's website and sign up. He always includes some great links to blue videos and audios. Instead of butchering the Big Walter information, I'll just let you read what he wrote:

More Big Walter information. In the last newsletter, we reported that a new Big Walter Horton reissue had come out called King Of The Harmonica Players. Since then, we have been notified by Clas Ahlstrand of the Scandinavian Blues Association, who recorded some of these wonderful sides on a portable recorder while visiting Chicago, that this is not a licenced release. Clas also reports that eight of these sides are available as free downloads on the Jefferson Magazine site. Along with the downloads are the story and photos of the journey to Chicago and the home recording sessions with Big Walter. Thank you Clas for this additional information, and for recording these great sides for the world to enjoy.

I really enjoyed hearing these recordings, so I just had to share.

A Bluesman's Education

R.J. Mischo
Knowledge You
Can't Get In College
Greaseland Records
GR20923

Got a little distracted by applying for a facebook account and figuring out how all that goes, but I've been meaning to follow-up my earlier teaser with more of a review of R.J. Mischos' latest. So here it be.

The proceedings kick off with really deep toned chromatic notes setting up a familiar travelling bluesman's need to just get home on Two Hours From Tulsa. I may use the "deep toned" phrase too often in my attempt to describe what I'm hearing, but by golly that's just what R.J. gets going--sounds like it is reverberating from the bottom of a barrel. The groove hints at Otis Rush's All Your Love I Miss Loving, in large part from Kid Andersen's guitar knowledge that he didn't get from college. I mentioned just how much he impressed me at the Rick Estrin and the Nightcats' show, and he certainly doesn't disappoint throughout this disc (which by the way he co-produced with Misho). He plays inspired guitar licks and it ain't no telling where the inspiration's coming from. One minute he's quoting a smidgen of Otis Rush and then throws out something akin to Albert King's style and then he threatens the fretboard with his own creations. A little tasty wah-wahed rhythm guitar backs him up, along with Sid Morris' organ swirls. I don't know if Rusty Zinn's doing the rhythm work or not. He and the Kid swap off on the lead solos, so I'll assume that they do the same with backing guitar. R.J. takes this one on home by working his chromatic from the low down notes to the high end.


Okay, that song took waayy too many words out of me, but I had to get them out. Now if that first number had the deep toned blues harp working, R.J. sounds like he absolutely swallowed his diatonic on Too Cool For School, because his thick notes come welling up from way down inside of him. This fast paced instrumental showcases what the man does best--worry the hell out of his harmonica reeds with great note choices. He lets everyone jump on this one, though, especially veteran Kedar Roy slapping on his upright bass with a little jazzy sensibility.

R.J. works his vocals up into his high blues falsetto and back down again, which is sort of his trademark singing style, on the title cut. I've always liked his singing. He works a lot of chords, octaves, and double stops into his harp solo,
as he explains just some of the things that a college education may not help. He's mastered being able to create and coax different tonal qualities from his harp playing, which always lends his releases a great deal of variety. His songs follow suit and keeps his program from getting stale with the same ol' blues.

Little Joe is a case in point. Driven by hand drums from June Core (ex-Nightcat drummer) and surprise...Rusty Zinn, R.J.'s melodic acoustic harmonica makes this sound like a country ballad that Marty Robbins could be comfortable singing, but this Little Joe ain't Hoss Cartwright's little brother. This one's always in trouble. Shifting from amped up wallop to acoustic harp, with the aforementioned chromatic work thrown in for good measure, is common to R.J. modus operarandi (or something like that).

Rusty Zinn's guitar swings into action and is featured prominently on Ain't Nothing New. I've posted about just how much I like Zinn's playing before and R.J. allows him to take it on home on this shuffling blues. He does nothing fancy, just plays down the river, solid, blues licks. He's a proven commodity when it comes to backing up what a blues harp player needs. He cut his teeth on Kim Wilson's solo efforts, so he knows the way around the block. R.J. whips out the amplified fatback again, and twists and turns the blues scale notes to suit him.

Not going to wade through each of the fourteen cuts on this release. These five that I just mentioned are sort of representative,you might say. Kid Andersen (who joined up with Rick Estrin after leaving Charlie Musselwhite) and Rusty Zinn bounce back and forth, sharing their lead chops with us, R.J. gets after it, regardless of whether he sucking on his chromatic or diatonic, amplified or acoustic. He's written some great tales to tell us and he sings them very well. As always with R.J. Mischo's stuff, I'd be hard press to pick out a favorite tune, but as always, if someone pressed hard enough, I choose a song with some of his nastiest, dirtiest, fattest, amplified tones. Don't Look Twice fits that bill, plus I love the Kid's unpredictable guitar licks, and his unabandoned playing on this tune warning all of us not to think twice about his woman. Love the whole enchilada, though. Mighty fine blues harmonica from him to us. Oh, there has to be some kind of mojo going on deep inside of Kid Andersen's Greaseland studios. Lots of good stuff sliding out of those doors. I still have a couple of excellent releases by the Kid that I need to share--soon. 'Nuff for now, though.

IBC Wraps It Up

Well, by all reports, Sonny Boy Terry's band played a couple of kickin' sets at the International Blues Challenge, but wasn't quite enough to sway the judges away from appointing Grady Champion as the winner. For those that are not familiar with the IBC process, each band is assigned a venue in which to showcase their talents. They match up against the same bands on both Thursday and Friday nights. The band with the best scores at each venue move on to the finals. Grady Champion's band was chosen from Sonny Boy's venue, and he went on to take the overall title. Check out the official results at the Blues Foundation's website. My blues harmonica breathren can check out what Grady Champion brought to the party at his website.

Sonny Boy Terry has convinced me that he's a way richer man by meeting so many fine, fine blues musicians, fans, music industry representativs, and just flat soaking up the atmosphere (and food). Winning would have just been the cherry topping the whipped cream.

And They're Off To Memphis

The Sonny Boy Terry band's heading off to Memphis tomorrow and here's wishing them well. Them boys gonna do alright! I stole the following message from Sonny Boy's website:
Well, everyone, January is upon us and that means Houston regional IBC winner the Sonny Boy Terry Band and solo/duo act winner, Dupree begin thier journey to compete in the International Blues Challenge sponsored by the Blues Foundation in Memphis.

Your support has meant so much to us through this competition and we want to "represent" Houston the right way. The band is excited, inspired, while getting prepared to perform real blues for a real blues audience in Memphis on January 21st - 23rd.

Now, for all fans, this is a great week for blues lovers, and we encourage everyone to take time off to join us for an incredible weekend. Seeing your faces in the audience cheering us on when we perform can only lead to more success. If this is something you'd like to be a part of, please visit the Blues Foundation website at www.blues.org. It's gonna be a rockin' good time!

For everyone who cannot make the journey, but is still curious interested in how we are doing in Memphis for the IBCs, you are able follow us in real time at www.facebook.com/sonnyboyterryband or via www.twitter,com/sonnyboyterry . We are very serious about hoping all of you follow us and share this wonderful experience. We will do our best to upload pics, videos, and letting you how well we are doing. AGAIN. THANKS EVERYONE.

Blues Harp Alert!

I won't waste your time right now with a review. Just Get This!--



Go over to Charlie Lange's Blue Beat Music and pick it up (or Pacific Blues or CD Baby--they all good for us blues fools). For you guitar slingers, Kid Andersen and Rusty Zinn are doing the do. For those in the know, this is another excellent release from the Kid's Greaseland Studios and picks up where R.J.'s King Of A Might Good Time leaves off. We'll discuss it later.

Gearing Up!

The Houston Blues Society kicked off the promotion for their representives in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis by hosting a fundraiser last Sunday at Dan Electro's Guitar Bar. The Sonny Boy Terry band and solo act DuPree reaped the benefit of the generosity of those blues fans who turned out for a good time.



The party continues Friday night at The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club for a send off celebration for the Sonny Boy Terry band. Should be a fine time to catch the band before they leave the state and show the rest of the world how it's done down in Houston. Here's a toast to 'em and a hearty wish 'em well!

A Bit More Chi-Town Blues

Chicago Blues
A Living History
Raisin Music RM1003

I thought that I'd put my two cents in on the music that I ran the promo material about last month. I'm not in the habit of touting a release before I have a chance to listen to the music, but the fact that the CD was up for a Grammy, that the links to the youtube vids were available as bait, and that the artists involved would lay down quality stuff enticed me into promoting it here on the blog. Now, since receiving the two disc set the day after Christmas, I have a chance to affirm that these guys live up to my expectations and sling some solid gold Chi-Town blues.

Lurrie Bell, Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, and Billy Branch have been the torch bearers for the genre for quite some time now. They all literally grew up eating, breathing, and absorbing the music that exists on this release, which is a tribute to those that defined the genre. The music follows a chronological path (disc one covers 1940-55 and disc two 1955 to present) beginning with Sonny Boy Williamson I's (John Lee Williamson), logically covered by Billy Boy, who idolized the bluesman as a kid and wanted to follow in his footsteps. Arnold captures the essence of the blues harmonica's first real star. He knows this stuff, and he put out his own fine tribute to SBWI this past year. He'd be the first to tell you that he never developed the technical mastery of the instrument that his hero had, but he ain't no slouch. His vocals throughout he proceedings are the best that I've heard from him in recent years as he also covers Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, and Memphis Slim. These cuts exude the '50s Chicago vibe that the originals did. That can also be contributed to producer Larry Skoller and the additional musical backing by Billy Flynn (guitar), Johnny Iquana (keyboards), Felton Crews (bass), and Kenny "Beedy" Eyes Smith (drums); who all know their way around a Chicago block or two. I was especially impressed with Iquana's work on Memphis Slim USA and his solo instrumental cover of Maceo Merriweather's Chicago Breakdown, which allows him to crank on the 88s. Also, his swirling organ really sets up Otis Rush's minor keyed My Love Will Never Die for Lurrie Bell's impassioned vocals.

Of course Billy Boy Arnold's own star was shining in the '60s, as his tunes (written in the '50s) were being cover by the likes of the Yardbirds with a young Eric Clapton on guitar. He covers his hit, I Wish You Would, that has a timeless message and his signature harmonica riffing. Even though he never achieved the same level of acclaim for his blues harping, I guarantee you that his harp licks were some of the first to be copied by rock and rollers. His work on this disc is a testament to his importance as much as it is for Muddy, the Wolf, or Little Walter.

Speaking of Little Walter, no release claiming to be a tribute to the heyday of Chicago Blues can overlook the master blaster's contribution, and Billy Branch blasts his take on Hate To See You Go. Once the self-proclaimed new kids on the block, Branch is now quite the veteran Chicago bluesman. Seems like he's led his Sons Of Blues band forever, and one can still catch his live performance just about any day of the week around the Windy City. He's developed his own blues harp style, but he is somewhat the vocal chameleon here and nails LW's vocal timbre perfectly, and works his harp around Walter's notes admirably. He does more of the same on Junior Wells' classic, Hoodoo Man Blues, on which I'd swear is Wells doing the singing if I didn't know better. Billy Flynn does the Buddy Guy parts on the tune. Flynn stays out of the way throughout most of the proceedings, as a good Chi-Town ensemble man should, but they turn him loose on Earl Hooker's Hookin' It, and he lets his wah-wah out of its cage and smokes the meat. Branch's take on James Cotton's One More Mile is as funky as the original.

I've been a John Primer fan for a long, long time. He's always been true to his blues roots and has never wavered in keeping it real. Much like Branch did with the Wells' number, Primer sounds eerily like Howlin' Wolf on Moanin' At Midnight and Muddy on Feel Like Going Home and Sugar Sweet. He also lopes along perfectly on Jimmy Reed's Can't Stand To See You Go with contributing harp from Matthew Skoller. I have a couple of releases by Skoller and he always places some inventive riffs in the context of playing blues, but he keeps it traditional on this one and mimics Sonny Boy Williamson II's tone without being slavish on Your Imagination, which features Primer's spot-on vocal adaptations also.

I've mentioned Eddie C. Campbell a time or two on this blog, and it was on Campbell's King of the Jungle that Lurrie Bell debut his guitar chops on record (the album also featured his dad Carey). I've followed his well documented up and down career since then. He's really on the upswing right now and plays and sings with intensity on his tributes beginning with Elmore Jame's I Believe, which has the variant Dust My Broom theme going. Lurrie doesn't try to mimic James, he just wails away vocally and lets Flynn slip on the slide. He really cranks up the vocal chords on Otis Rush's My Love Will Never Die, which to me has always been a vocal showcase more than a guitar pull. There's some big singing shoes to fill when tackling that song, and Bell steps up and belts it with the emotion that it takes to do the song justice. He shouts out Buddy Guy's Damn Right I've Got The Blues with the same intensity. Of course, on a release such as this, the selection has to be selective, but if I'd been Lurrie, I would have insisted on the inclusion of a Carey Bell song, who was as instrumental in the advancement of the Chicago sound as anyone on the program.

Even though they include a cover of Three O'Clock Blues to illustrate B.B.King's influence on those Westside cats such as Rush, Buddy Guy, and Magic Sam, I don't think anyone will confuse him as being associated with Chicago. The author of the tune, Lowell Fulson, did record for Chess, but he came by way of the West Coast/T-Bone style of playing. Anyway, Mike Avery can sing this stuff very well. I'll admit that I've heard of Avery, but I'm not too familiar with him. The man can sing, though, as he proves it here and on Magic Sam's Out of Bad Luck. His lack of celebrity keeps him from being marqueed as one of the featured artist, but he's legit in my book--and he's a cousin of Magic Sam's, so it's in his genes.

The other non-featured feature is Carlos Johnson, who I also know very little about. He's represents the contemporary side of things by smokin' the strings on John Lee Hooker's The Healer and the aforementioned Damn Right I've Got The Blues. He sings on the former. He knows his book of blues/rock. I'd quibble with including Hooker on a Chi-Town tribute, because he created his own genre which fits nowhere, really, but he did record for Chess (and EVERYBODY else), so let ride.

If Chicago Blues floats your boat, here it is--played by those that play TODAY in tribute to those that played it YESTERDAY. These guys carried this show on the road and I only wish that it had made it somewhere close to Houston. They play this stuff with conviction. 'Nuff for now.

So Much For A Happy New Year

Hash Brown, great Dallas area blues musician, recently posted to the Harp-L harmonica community that filthy, nasty, scummy thieves ruined end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 for him, so I thought that I'd pass his message along here.

Friends,

I was the victim of theft of musical equipment taken from my
van parked in my driveway at my home in Dallas, TX.
(sometime after 1am in the morning 12/30)
Here is a list of equipment taken, any leads or help finding any or
all equipment will be rewarded.

1 FENDER 1965 BLACKFACE DELUXE REISSUE(SN AC082182)
1 DESIGNED TO FIT COVER FOR REISSUE DELUXE
1 FENDER NOS TWEED LIMITED BLUES JUNIOR(SN D16831)
1 DESIGNED TO FIT COVER FOR BLUES JUNIOR
1 FENDER HOTROD DEVILLE AMP(SN B265801)
1 TUKI COVER FOR HOTROD DEVILLE
1 MACKIE 808M PA HEAD
1 MARS ROLLING PA CASE FOR MACKIE 808M
1 CARVIN MINI PA AMP AG100 D(SN OD14535)W/COVER
1 SKB 1200 12 SPACE MICROPHONE CASE
3 SHURE SM 58 MICROPHONES W/CABLES
4 PA CABLES
1 1982 TOKAI STRATOCASTER(MAPLE NECK SPRINGY SOUND)
1 LEATHER RUNION BLUES DOUBLE GUITAR GIGBAG(BROWN)
1 FENDER 'MISSISSIPPI SAXOPHONE' TWEED
HARMONICA CASE
6 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMINCAS KEY OF A
1 HOHNER MARINE BAND HARMONICA, KEY OF G
CUSTOMIZED BY WORKING MAN HARPS
1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF Ab
1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF Bb
3 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICAS, KEY OF C
1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF Db
2 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICAS, KEY OF D
1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA KEY OF Eb
1 HOHNER MARINE BAND HARMONICA, KEY OF E
1 HOHNER MARINE BAND HARMONICA, KEY OF F
2 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICAS, KEY OF LOW F
1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF LOW D
1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF LOW C
1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF LOW E
2 HOHNER MARINE BAND 465 HARMONICAS, KEY OF C
1 HOHNER MEISTERKLASSE HARMONICA, KEY OF A
1 HOHNER MEISTERKLASSE HARMONICA, KEY OF C
1 HOHNER MEISTERKLASSE HARMONICA, KEY OF D
1 HOHNER MEISTERKLASSE HARMONICA, KEY OF E
1 HOHNER MEISTERKLASSE HARMONICA, KEY OF F
1 HOHNER SUPER 64 CHROMATIC HARMONICA
1 HERING CHROMATIC HARMONICA
1 HOHNER 'SCHOOL BOY' HARMONICA, KEY OF C
1 ASTATIC JT-30 MICROPHONE(151) CUSTOMIZED BY
MR. MICROPHONE(CHROME)
1 ROAD CASE BRIEFCASE(BLACK)
FOLLOWING ITEMS INSIDE:
10 SETS GHS MED GAUGE BOOMER STRINGS
50 VARIOUS GHS BOOMER STRINGS
1 SCREWDRIVER AND VARIOUS OTHER TOOLS
VARIOUS OTHER ITEMS.
REWARD OFFERED
THANKS,
BRIAN 214-673-0309
(Hash Brown)