The Iconic Blues Historic Blues from 1930s to 1970s
SOME FULL REVIEWS OF SET 8
LONDON JAZZ NEWS SET 8 REVIEW
Having issued seven 6-CD box sets of recordings of early blues, gospel and hokum (originally issued by Saydisc in the 1980s – link to reviews below), the Matchbox Bluesmaster Series has now begun a fresh project: to make available a further five 6-CD sets of classic blues from the Saydisc subsidiary Matchbox.
Entitled Big Road Blues (1966–1972: The Tradition Continues), the first set of the series begins with an informally recorded set from the doyen of Memphis blues, Furry Lewis. In 1968, music historian Karl Gert zur Heide visited the veteran bluesman at his home (an occasion audibly less awkward than the similar event memorialised by Joni Mitchell in her song “Furry Sings the Blues”) and recorded him singing over a dozen self-selected songs. Lewis apparently resisted his audience’s calls for “Beale Street Blues”, but otherwise proves a willing, enthusiastic performer, his set containing everything from blues classics (the hugely affecting Blind Lemon Jefferson song “See that My Grave Is Kept Clean” the album’s highlight) through largely instrumental features (“Spanish Flang Dang”) to popular material (“My Blue Heaven” in an enjoyably informal version). Lewis’s voice is a keening, emotional instrument (Samuel Charters memorably calls him one of “only a handful of singers with the creative ability to use the blues as an expression of personal emotion”), and his playing, basically slide guitar with a ‘drone’ provided by the lowest string, is highly individual (although his claims to have invented the bottleneck technique have been disputed). This is a valuable record of a legendary figure.
Disc 2 features pianist Little Brother (Eurreal) Montgomery, whom liner-note writer Derrick Stewart-Baxter refers to as “the last of the great barrelhouse men”. Versatility is Montgomery’s watchword: he is equally adept at playing, in his words, “songs, ballads, blues, boogie-woogie and rags”, and this selection provides suitably varied fare, ranging from the gently rolling, lyrical opener “Lonesome Mama Blues” through the swinging “No Special Boogie” to “Tremblin’ Blues”, a tribute to his chief inspiration, Cooney Vaughan. He also plays a particularly affecting version of the W. C. Handy classic “St Louis Blues”, and accompanies his wife Jan’s singing on four cuts, their highlight “Dangerous Blues”. Montgomery himself has a strong voice, showcased most interestingly on the Irving Berlin song “Home Again Blues”, a vocal version of an earlier Montgomery recording “Windin’ Ball Blues”. As Stewart-Baxter suggests, however, the album’s standout track is a journey through the pianist’s musical life, “History of Little Brother”, which showcases all the considerable talents that made him one of the most influential pianists in the music.
Tommy Johnson is the featured artist on Disc 3, although not in person: the album’s 16 tracks (all numbers written or regularly played by Johnson) are performed by 12 musicians who count the great Mississippi bluesman as a seminal influence. The field recordings were made between 1966 and 1969 at the behest of blues researcher David Evans for his biography Tommy Johnson(London: Studio Vista, 1971), and they provide a valuable record of the richness and variety of Johnson’s repertoire, honed over his 30-year career as an itinerant musician, roaming the South, marrying four times, taking on casual farm work when the need arose, always drinking heavily. In many ways, Johnson is the archetypal bluesman: restless, extravagantly gifted (his brother put the rumour abroad that Johnson’s skill was a result of a pact with the devil, a legend later more readily associated with his – unrelated – namesake Robert), singing about women (“Maggie Campbell Blues”, included here in two versions by Arzo Youngblood and Boogie Bill Webb, refers to his first wife, other songs to women more generally) and alcohol (“Show Me What You Got for Sale” is a celebration of bootleg whiskey, the famous “Canned Heat Blues” details his addiction to drinking anything containing alcohol, no matter how injurious to his health). The performers featured on this fascinating album range from the aforementioned sure-footed, strident-voiced Boogie Bill Webb and the accomplished, confident Arzo Youngblood, to Houston Stackhouse, featured here on the album’s sole electric guitar track, and Babe Stovall, backed on the justly celebrated “Big Road Blues” by a string-band-type trio. Overall, this is a fitting (and unfussily instructive) tribute to a neglected but uniquely influential figure.
Another set of David Evans’s field recordings provides the (previously unreleased) material for Disc 4. Mott Willis sings and/or plays guitar on eight of the album’s 16 tracks; unassuming versatility and keening sincerity are his hallmarks, and his ‘story’ song, “Bad Night Blues”, is one of the highlights of the disc. Other performers – and none of these bluesmen, based around Drew Mississippi, has ever been commercially recorded – include some featured on the Tommy Johnson disc, Isaac and Arzo Youngblood and (Tommy’s brother) Mager Johnson among them, and others utilise, as Johnson himself did, lyrics and guitar stylings from the common ‘pool’, so the great man’s influence was clearly undiminished in the delta region over ten years after his death. As Evans points out, Drew and environs also produced two famous ‘alumni’: Howlin’ Wolf and Roebuck Staples, so these recordings of utterly authentic ‘community’ blues singers, informally produced as they are, provide a unique picture of a highly influential, rich local tradition.
More evidence of the persistence into the 1960s of the local Mississippi blues tradition is provided by the nine tracks (from four singers) recorded by Bill Ferris in 1968. James “Son” Thomas begins with his signature song, “Cairo Blues”, which is a somewhat chilling account of a woman’s drowning, delivered at a suitably stately pace in an affecting, plaintive voice. Thomas’s other contribution, “Rock Me Mama”, is something of a blues staple, but he effortlessly makes it his own. Lee Kizart plays rolling boogie-woogie-style piano on both his cuts, jaunty but powerful, complementing his entertaining vocal delivery perfectly. Scott Dunbar was 69 at the time of this recording, and his age shows in his slightly reedy voice. What he lacks in power, however, he more than makes up for with sheer brio, and his concluding eight-minute “Jay Bird”, an infectious refrain with spoken interjections, is oddly compelling. Lovey Williams has a gravelly voice well suited to his material: “Rootin’ Ground Hog”, and the more familiar “Train I Ride”. As Ferris points out in his notes, these recordings are all the more valuable for their representing the work of the last exponents of the folk blues style that originated in the area.
Disc 6 is devoted entirely to “Miss Rhapsody”, Viola Wells, who was 70 at the time of this recording, but still strong-voiced, and clearly enthusiastically embracing the chance to make her first major recording since her retirement (to raise a family) in the late 1940s. She was regarded, in her heyday, as “the greatest blues singer in the country” by Benny Carter (whose “Blues in My Heart” forms part of her secular set here), and she performed with various touring acts before fetching up in New York in the mid-1940s, where she collaborated with the likes of Art Tatum and Count Basie. Nearly 30 years on, her voice is sure, her diction perfect, but she is undoubtedly more at home with gospel/religious songs (on which she is accompanied by pianist Grace Gregory) than with secular and blues material (on which she is backed by a jazz quartet led by pianist Reuben Jay Cole). She herself tacitly acknowledges this preference in her reaction to the session: “When you’ve got a certain amount of love in your heart, a power comes from somewhere that we have no control over. Yes, my God has been good to me.” (Chris Parker)
Blues & Rhythm Oct 22
Big Road Blues
MATCHBOX BLUESMASTER SERIES: Set 8
Matchbox MSESET8 (Six CDs: 51:30; 44:15; 42:56; 45:55; 36:36; 41 :59)
Matchbox's Bluesmaster series has moved on from recycling fifty-year old compilations of vintage material to the label's involvement in issuing thencontemporary sessions, though it is interesting to note that only the three compilations are taken from original source material (courtesy of Dust To Digital), the three single-artist sets being digitised from vinyl.
'Furry Lewis In Memphis' was originally Matchbox SDR190 and Roots SL505 and comprises recordings made by Karl Gert zur Heide on 6th September 1968. His insightful original notes are reproduced and explain some of the business that accompanied some of the songs and consequent audience reactions (occasionally intrusive on 'John Henry'). Noises made by neighbours arguably add authenticity, but are very intrusive on 'My Blue Heaven'. The repertoire was self-chosen, which doubtless helped to make this session as absorbing as it is. 'St. Louis Blues' is re-created almost to unrecognisability and sets the tone for fifty minutes of intense personal expression. "Guitar. I want you to sing for me", and it does. 'Furry Lewis Rag' with its gentle lyrics, "Take your time baby, take your time all night long," and passage of percussion by banging on the guitar, is particularly successful and moving. 'Old Dog Blue' is said to be a demonstration of his father's banjo style. It is certainly weird. This is one of the best albums from Furry's second recording career, possibly the best, but be aware it has been on CD before (with 'St. Louis Blues' retitled 'East St. Louis Blues').
Little Brother Montgomery recorded 'Home Again' (Matchbox SDM223) at home in Chicago on 30th January 1972. Derrick Stewart-Baxter's gushing original notes praise Brother's "amazing versatility". 'Tremblin' Blues' is a tribute to its composer, Brother's mentor Cooney Vaughan, "Now it was 'long last winter, just about sweet potato diggin' time, now you know along come a jack frost, jack frost'll kill out all my vines." The piano solos 'Lonesome Mama Blues' and 'St. Louis Blues' are especially inspired. 'History Of Little Brother' conducts the listener wordlessly through his musical career. "One has to be familiar with Brother's work to enjoy this to the full," says Derrick, but he is right that it stands up as a piano solo in its own right. 'Jan’, dedicated to the wife who had just nursed him through a serious illness, is forgivably sentimental. There are four vocals by Jan Montgomery, highly praised by Derrick. She is pleasant enough but in hindsight just another revivalist 'blues queen', albeit assisted by very superior accompaniments.
'The Legacy Of Tommy Johnson' (Matchbox SDM224) was a tie in with the book by David Evans and David has corrected factual errors in his original notes and also provides a bibliography. Though eight singers are involved, all are performing songs which were in the repertoire of Tommy Johnson and were learned from Johnson in person. The Youngbloods father and son and Roosevelt Holts are relatives of Tommy Johnson's wife Rosa Youngblood but as Evans says, "All are worthy inheritors of something they prize greatly." He also suggests that differences between these versions and Johnson's records indicate that" Johnson did not usually sing his songs in person as he did on his records." It could equally well be proof of creativity on the part of these inheritors. Isaac Youngblood is accompanied by Herb Quinn on mandolin producing a most beguiling sound. Rosa's nephew Arzo is impressive both vocally and instrumentally. Boogie Bill Webb, who worked with Johnson in the '40s and had recorded commercially, belongs to a younger generation. His jaunty 'Show Me What You Got For Sale' is a delight. "Me and my gal bought a VS-Ford, we done something on the running board." Babe Stovall was extensively recorded and is represented by a swaggering band performance. Holts is here represented only by a short guitar solo.
'Big Road Blues' is previously unissued material. It was planned to be Matchbox SDM225 and was to be a tie in with a further Studio Vista book which never appeared, and nor did the record. It was later scheduled as Advent 2815 but that also did not appear. Better late than never and now with David's revised notes. All the blues in this set come from the 'folk' end of the spectrum by Mississippi performers who had not recorded commercially and represent the 'Drew tradition'. The track by Robert Johnson (no relation I assume) is a spiritual he learned from Charley Patton. Mott Willis from Crystal Springs was a major discovery. His 'Riverside Blues' is a delicate and thoughtful instrumental. The pop song 'It Ain't Gonna Rain No More' gets a virtuoso outing. Willis said it was mainly played for white audiences back in the day. Evans does not address the question of whether this makes it a less genuine accretion to tradition. Maybe there is no clear answer. 'Bad Night Blues' is an original composition about an incident with a duplicitous woman. Willis also accompanies his nephew Willis Taylor whose titles for his improvised assemblages of traditional elements are unrelated to the lyrics. On 'Trashy Gang Blues' Willis excels himself. On 'Traveling Man Blues', Mager Johnson sings through his kazoo, a disorienting effect. Roosevelt Holts gets more space this time, giving us yet another 'Maggie Campbell', which ends with a demonstration of Tommy Johnson's versions of the song. 'Sundown Blues' is said to be assembled from elements learned from Johnson.
'Blues From The Delta' (Matchbox SDM226) was a companion to the eponymous book by Bill Ferris, who provides the notes. Of the four singers featured, Scott Dunbar from Lake Mary is the best known on record. Notoriously he does not sound like anyone else and it doesn't get much more singular than 'Jay Bird', a folk tale with music and sound effects about putting the old folks to sleep with moonshine so as to have a free hand with the daughter. Ferris reckons James Thomas to be better known through playing colleges and festivals. He was locally and justifiably famous for 'Cairo Blues': "You know I would go to Cairo, but the water too high for me, the girl I love she got washed away, you know she got drownded, swimming along after me." In 'Rock Me Momma' she is drowned in the sea. Ferris says that in the presence of Lovey Williams he "felt as though the blues were being torn from his flesh." His heavy vocal intensity is certainly striking. Lee Kizart is a barrelhouse pianist who taught music in Tutwiler. His vocals are incidental to his virtuoso and distinctly quirky blues piano.
'Miss Rhapsody' (Matchbox SDM227) was recorded on 27th April 1972 in New York City and features a different kind of blues. Viola Wells, known professionally as 'Miss Rhapsody', made justifiably revered commercial recordings for Savoy in 1944/5 with a band led by pianist Reuben 'Jay' Cole. He also leads the swinging quartet accompanying the six secular titles here, three of which, 'Down Hearted Blues', 'Blues In The Heart', and 'I Fell For You', are titles she had recorded for Savoy. Lil Armstrong's 'Brown Gal' had been her signature tune during years of appearances in New York City clubs. She appears to relish re-visiting this repertoire. 'See, See Rider' is especially inspired with a fine solo from guitarist Eddie Wright. Cole himself makes every note count but solos only on 'I Fell For You'. The five religious titles have solo piano accompaniment by Grace Gregory from the New Eden Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. 'How Great Thou Art' is a laboured and overblown presentation of sentiments which remind this listener irresistibly of a scene from Monty Python's film 'The Meaning Of Life'. 'His Eye Is On The Sparrow' and 'Face To Face' are less exaggerated but just as laboured. 'In The Garden' and 'Power In The Blood', though carefully enunciated, are by contrast fine performances by both singer and pianist. The artist presumably insisted on these but she is not a great gospel singer at best and most listeners will regret that the space was not devoted to more of her secular repertoire. The reproduced original notes are by Sheldon Harris, who drivels helplessly about the religious titles. I feel for him. Fortunately, the fiveminute 'Old Fashioned Love' which ends this six CD set, unambiguously jazz, is a worthy effort by all concerned.
It would be an exaggeration to describe this box as musically essential, though arguably the two David Evans compilations are essential to understanding the process of transmitting the blues tradition. However, I would certainly buy it myself if the review editor had not made this unnecessary and in a way that's the best recommendation of all. There is a lot to enjoy here and a lot to study and ponder as well. It is well to be reminded of the debt we owe to those who went out and captured this music.
Howard Rye
Rock ‘n’ Reel Sept/Oct 22
****
Big Road Blues MSESET8
MATCHBOX BLUESMASTER SERIES
Matchbox’s latest six-CD boxed set consists of a previously unreleased, multi-artist compilation Big Road Blues, and five albums originally released between 1969 and 1972: Furry Lewis's In Memphis, Little Brother Montgomery's Home Again, Viola Wells's Miss Rhapsody and the multi-artist Blues From The Delta and The Legacy Of Tommy Johnson.
Absurdly, Furry Lewis is best known through Joni Mitchell's 'Furry Sings The Blues', written after an uncomfortable meeting between the two, but he was a formidable, adventurous guitarist and these home-taped recordings include deep and gripping versions of the likes of 'Highway 61'.
Barrelhouse pianist Little Brother Montgomery's album includes 'Jan', a rather too gushing tribute to his wife who actually sings, pretty well, on four tracks, with Montgomery providing sublime accompaniment. Miss Rhapsody sees Viola Wells sings convincingly on blues songs like 'See, See Rider' and gospel songs like 'Power In The Blood'.
The Legacy Of Tommy Johnson comprises Johnson songs like 'Canned Heat Blues', performed by obscure but talented artists such as his brother Mager Johnson; Blues From The Delta features interesting tracks from James 'Son' Thomas, Lee Kizart, Scott Dunbar and Lovey Williams; and Big Rood Blues features fascinating Deep South field recordings.
Trevor Hodgett
BLUES IN BRITAIN NOVEMBER 2022
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series:
Volume 8: Big Road Blues
MSESETS (6 CD box set)
If there's ever been a better series of archived blues recordings made available than this, I'd be surprised. Each set offers something new to the ears: many recordings you may never have heard before, nearly all previously unavailable on CD. The Bluesmaster Series is proving a real blues treasure trove. Each set consists of six full albums, many so far from the 1920s and 1930s, but for this latest set, they cover the years 1965-1972, and to put it simply, this is pure blues heaven.
These discs cover artists whose music is set in stone: from a stunning set recorded in Memphis in 1968 by Furry Lewis, to Chicago in 1972 and a session with the king of barrelhouse piano blues, Little Brother Montgomery. From 1966-1971, there's a wonderful set of Tommy Johnson songs, a range of artists contributing versions of his songs. Among the sixteen tracks, we have Isaac Youngblood, Mager Johnson (who I've only heard once before on the compilation album Blues Like Showers Of Rain), John Henry 'Bubba' Brown, Boogie Bill Webb, Houston Stackhouse and Babe Stovall with O.D. Jones. Each and every performance here reinforces what a great songwriter Johnson was and, more than a tribute, this is a blues masterclass by some of the finest around at that time. Tommy Johnson was recognised as one of the finest folk blues performers in Mississippi: sadly he died before the great folk blues revival of the 1960s, but his music certainly lives on in this set. The Big Road Blues disc is taken from field recordings made in Mississippi and Louisiana between 1966 and 1971. Originally intended as a companion to Paul Oliver's book of the same name, the book publishing company went out of business before it could be released, but thankfully we can hear the accompanying music here. One of the tracks is extremely special as it's Robert Johnson playing bottleneck guitar on an old Charlie Patten classic, a song he'd learnt as a boy, 'So Soon I'll Be At Home'. From Mott Willis, 'Pick And Shovel Blues' and the wellnamed 'Dresser Drawer Blues', to more of Isaac Youngblood with 'No Place To Go' and a reappearance by Wallis Taylor on 'Mama Do Right', this is superb stuff indeed.
Another set travels south to Tutwiler, Mississippi, a state that produced an unending stream of fine bluesmen, including Big Bill Broonzy and the later urban blues of B.B. King. Entitled Blues From The Delta, it's interesting to note that only one artist (Lee Kizart) had ever left the state when these recordings were made. Scott Dunbar, James Thomas, Lovey Williams and Bill Ferris all contribute tracks, Dunbar's 'Jay Bird' being notable for its spoken word segment. The Furry Lewis set contains some pretty familiar songs, from 'St Louis Blues', When I Lay My Burdens Down', 'Careless Love' and 'John Henry', along with one that The North Mississippi Allstars covered on their recent album World Boogie, 'Going To Brownsville'. Lewis was a fine fingerpicker and a hugely respected slide player, possessed of a fine voice. The fifteen included songs are unmissable: required listening for any aspiring blues player.
Little Brother Montgomery (known in the main as Little Brother), played piano nearly all his life, noted as one of the last great barrelhouse men. He had amazing versatility, which was quite unusual, as most players then stuck to the blues structure, but he pushed the boundaries using two or three melodic strains. On several tracks on this set, he's joined by his wife Jan (she adds vocals on occasion), who remained an inspiration and very much the driving force in his career. Hard to define him, but he produces some great blues and over the dozen chosen performances in this set.
The legendary bandleader Benny Carter called Viola Wells "the best blues singer in the country." Jimmy Lunceford was more specific when he said of her, "She's a cross between Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, though Billie never had as much voice as she has and Ella will never have her personality!" Originally released in 1972, this eleven song set proves beyond measure that Wells was among the very best. Along with her four piece band, she's on peak form, from blues to Gospel, from 'Down Hearted Blues' and 'See See Rider, to 'How Great Thou Art'.
Further releases in this series will include more Little Brother Montgomery, Blind Boy Fuller, Kokomo Arnold and Sonny Boy Williamson, plus a set dedicated to the '60s British Blues boom. These sets are absolutely unmissable. Together, they are undoubtedly one of the finest blues collections you will ever find.
Pete Clack
Big Road Blues – Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol 8
Matchbox MSESET 8 (GB) – 2022 6C
Il Blues magazine (Italy)
This new box set in the series Bluesmaster (Vol 8) titled “Big Road Blues” is made up of field recordings worth buying. In it are recordings made by David Evans, Karl Gert zur Heide and Bill Ferris. It also includes the album “The Legacy of Tommy Johnson,” an album that sold out long time ago and was released by Saydisc Matchbox in 1972 alongside David Evans’s book about Tommy Johnson. Most of what we know about Tommy Johnson today is the result of David Evans’s research at the end of the 1960s , and it is thanks to the field recordings he made that Johnson’s influence is clearer. As David Evans writes: “The versions of Tommy Johnson’s songs come exclusively from personal contacts even if many artists had undoubtedly listened to the Johnson records before.” Professor Evans found and recorded many artists who directly learned from Johnson, such as Roosevelt Holts, Boogie Bill Webb, Arzo Youngblood, Isaac Youngblood, Bubba Brown, Babe Stovall, Houston Stackhouse and Tommy’s brother Mager Johnson. This new compilation includes other unreleased Evans recordings that were originally meant to be released on Matchbox (SDM 225) in 1972 to accompany the publication of the book “Big Road Blues” to be published in the Blues Paperback series (Studio Vista) edited by Paul Oliver and Tony Russell. Evans sent the manuscript but the publisher went bust before publication and the album was not released. Later Evans wrote a very expanded version of his work for his PhD degree thesis at UCLA (1976), further revising the text to publish it as “Big Road Blues: Tradition and Creativity in the Folk Blues” (University of California Press, 1982). The idea of releasing the album was revived; the album had to be released by Advent but the latter went bust too, even if several examples of transcriptions in the book refer to this non-existent album. All the songs were recorded between 1966 and 1971 in Mississippi and Louisiana. Other rare and precious material comes from field recordings made by Bill Ferris for the album “Blues from the Delta,” which was published in 1968. It includes songs performed by Son Thomas, Lovey Williams, Lee Kizart and Scott Dunbar. Little Brother Montgomery’s recordings are also interesting and were drawn from the album “Home Again” recorded at his house in Chicago in 1972. There is also a record by Furry Lewis recorded by Karl Gert zur Heide at Furry’s home in 1968 and originally released as “Furry Lewis in Memphis.” Booklet notes have been updated from the original ones, with David Evans’s photos. Here is a very recommended box set.
Philippe Prétet
Big Road Blues – Matchbox Bluesmaster Series Vol 8
Blues Blast writer Steve Jones recently reviewed volumes 5-7 in this massive series of reissues from the UK-based Nimbus Records and here we have Set 8 in the series. This time around the material was recorded in the late 60’s to early 70’s and some of this material therefore benefits from the relatively modern equipment available. Of the six discs here five are being reissued and one is previously unreleased. The discs are accompanied by detailed and informative notes about the recording sessions, in some cases the actual sleeve notes from the original releases.
CD1 takes us to Furry Lewis’ room in Memphis on 6 September 1968 where German blues enthusiast Karl Gert zur Heide recorded Furry on guitar and vocals, using a simple tape recorder. Furry declined a request to play “Beale Street Blues”, after which he simply played what he wished, probably a mix of what he fancied playing and what he thought his visitors might like to hear. The sleeve notes emphasize that Furry was a highly visual performer and that his ‘show’ contained elements of his medicine show routine as well as straight blues; he was also not one of those blues artists to be “rediscovered” in the 60’s, as he had continued to play regularly since his debut in the 1920’s (although recordings were less frequent).
He opens with “St Louis Blues”, quite appropriate as he got his first decent guitar from WC Handy himself. The longer “Furry Lewis’ Blues” has some pretty complex guitar work which Heide attributes to Charley Patton and Tommy Johnson influences and “When I Lay My Burden Down” contains elements of “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic” as well as some great slide work. “Kassie Jones” develops from the old tale of railway engineer Casey Jones (as in the Grateful Dead song) but incorporates what we would probably call rap today, adding some humorous touches; indeed, “Skinny Woman” has his audience in stitches. Familiar blues like “Going To Brownsville”, “John Henry”, “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” and “Highway 61” follow, the latter being cut short by the tape running out, a fact that Furry did not notice, as he was so engrossed in his performance! There are also popular songs like “Careless Love” and “My Blue Heaven” and a couple of throwaway numbers like “Old Dog Blue” and the oddly named “Spanish Flang Dang”!
CD2 was recorded January 30 1972 in Chicago, with Little Brother Montgomery on piano, sounding fully recovered after a serious illness. He opens the set with an instrumental before paying tribute to one of his mentors, Cooney Vaughan, on “Tremblin’ Blues”. Montgomery demonstrates his mastery of the piano on “No Special Boogie”, a classic understatement of a title as Montgomery plays brilliantly with both hands, changing rhythms and speeds seemingly at will. We get another version of “St Louis Blues” which shows how good a pianist Montgomery was. Montgomery pays tribute to his wife on “Jan” and she returns the favor by singing on four numbers, apparently the first time people had heard her sing: “Aggravatin’ Blues” a popular number at the time, “Dangerous Blues” a rolling blues with outstanding accompaniment, “I Was So In Love With You” a ballad which she sings in a slightly deeper tone and there is also the classic Tin Pan Alley hit “After You’ve Gone”. On that last number Montgomery pulls out a startlingly different solo which galvanizes him and Jan to provide a fine conclusion to the session.
CD3 features twelve different musicians on songs that were all, at one time or another, part of Tommy Johnson’s repertoire. Johnson recorded just twelve songs in his lifetime, but efforts such as this one have added to our knowledge of the sort of music that he played during his career from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. These are field recordings made between 1966 and 1969, originally to support a book being written by David Evans and subsequently released in 1972. It is interesting that each of the performers learned these songs direct from TJ, yet his recorded versions are different to the ones heard here, suggesting that he did not play the songs in the same way each time or that he recorded them in a certain style, perhaps thinking that that was what the record company wanted. The artists involved here are all solo guitarists: Boogie Bill Webb on five numbers, Arzo Youngblood three, Houston Stackhouse two and Roosevelt Holts, Babe Stovall, John Henry ‘Bubba’ Brown, Isaac Youngblood and Mager Johnson appear just once each; mandolin players Herb Quinn and Dink Brister accompany on two numbers, as do guitarists OD Jones and Carey ‘Ditty’ Mason. The sound quality is pretty good and the guitar/mandolin combo on “Big Road Blues” makes a lively opener; a second version (again featuring mandolin, plus a second guitarist) allows comparisons to be made as this second version is played at a far faster pace. Similarly there are two versions of “Maggie Campbell Blues”, Boogie Bill Webb’s being a shorter, more informal take than Arzo Youngblood’s. There is also the song that gave its name to one of the most famous blues bands of the 60’s, “Canned Heat Blues” and one that Canned Heat covered, “Pony Blues”.
CD4 is previously unreleased. Originally intended to accompany another book by David Evans, the publisher folded and the book never appeared, so neither did the album. These are further field recordings made between 1966 and 1971 in Mississippi and Louisiana and some of the same artists as on CD3 reappear – Arzo and Isaac Youngblood, Roosevelt Holts and Mager Johnson; in addition we get Mott Willis, Willis Taylor, Cary Lee Simmons and Robert Johnson (no, not that one!). The recordings were made at the musicians’ homes and are all guitar/vocal performances of their own versions of folk-blues tunes from their regular repertoires. Several of the songs share lyrics and refrains, as has always been common in the blues and there is a stately instrumental “Riverside Blues” that has some fine playing. Mager Johnson gets out his kazoo on “Travelling Man Blues” and there are further versions of “Big Road Blues” (terrific version by Arzo Youngblood) and “Maggie Campbell Blues” to add to those on CD3, further emphasizing the importance of Tommy Johnson to the development of folk blues. A short take on “Catfish Blues” sounds entirely impromptu and “Who Is That Yonder Coming Down The Road” shares lyrics with several others songs of the tradition. “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More” and “So Soon I’ll Be At Home” are both spirituals, rather than blues, reminding us how close the sacred and the secular can be in our part of the music world.
CD5 features four singers recorded in 1968, another companion album to a book. The four artists here are Scott Dunbar who plays three songs, James ‘Son’ Thomas, Lee Kizart and Lovey Williams getting two each. Dunbar’s vocals are higher-pitched than most of the singers on these compilations on his selections, “Big Fat Momma”, “It’s So Cold Up North” and “Jay Bird”, the latter being an extended tune with a spoken word element. The sleeve notes explain that Dunbar had an album released in 1971 but none of these selections were on it. “Cairo Blues” is the first of James Thomas’ songs, but it is not the song credited to Henry Spaulding from 1929, rather a tragic tale of a girl who drowned while following the narrator into the river; his other track is “Rock Me Momma” which will sound very familiar to everyone, being a version of “Rock Me Baby”. Lee Kizart was a piano player who performs a lively “Bottle Up And Go” and a blues from the peak period of the Delta music scene entitled “Don’t Want No Woman Telling Me What To Do”; unfortunately the sound is not quite as clear on these two tracks though it is a change to hear piano. Lovey Williams sings in a rough and ready vocal style on two songs which will sound familiar to blues fans: the lively “Train I Ride” is “Mystery Train” in thin disguise and “Rootin’ Ground Hog” sounds very much like John Lee Hooker to these ears.
CD6 was originally released in 1972 and was the first recording of Viola Wells since her 1944-45 Savoy sides, shortly after which she retired from music until the 1970’s. Back in the 1940’s she was regarded as being a cross between Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, though, according to Benny Carter, “Billie never had as much voice as she has and Ella will never have her personality”. Viola performs with Reuben Jay Cole on piano, Eddie Wright on guitar, Ivan Rollé on bass and Danny Gibson on drums; on the sacred tunes she is backed simply by pianist Mrs. Grace Gregory who accompanied Viola each Sunday at her church in New Jersey. Viola sounds great on a set with plenty of familiar material, like the fine version of “Down Hearted Blues” that opens proceedings. Alternating blues and spirituals throughout, the next tune is “How Great Thou Art”, immediately followed by “See, See Rider”, complete with a nicely poised, jazz-inflected guitar solo. “In The Garden” is followed by Lil Armstrong’s “Brown Gal”, “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” by Benny Carter’s “Blues In My Heart”, a fine slow blues which is beautifully delivered. “Power In The Blood” and “Face To Face” are less familiar hymns, as are the two final secular tunes: “I Fell For You” evokes a smoky jazz club with brushed drums and piano the dominant instruments; “Old Fashioned Love” is the sort of tune that Billie or Ella would have sung and Viola does a good job.
The variety of instrumentation, excellent sound quality and diverse program make CD6 the pick of the set for this reviewer, but there is no doubt that these reissues are essential listening for dedicated blues lovers who want to explore more deeply the roots of our music.
Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the 'soul/blues' category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three 'Kings'. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.
JAZZ JOURNAL 24 Oct 2022
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – Set 8
The eighth set in the epic Bluesmaster series features such as Furry Lewis, Little Brother Montgomery and Viola Wells across six CDs
Set 7 was meant to be the last of the current series, so you can imagine my delight when Set 8 dropped through the door. Titled “Big Road Blues” and subtitled “1966-1972: The Tradition Continues”, the collection is more focused on individual artists than styles or themes.
Matchbox played an important role in the 60s British blues boom and this set is devoted to recordings made in the USA between 1966 and 1972 of singers in the classic blues tradition. One album, Big Road Blues, has had to wait for 50 years to be released.
Disc 1 features songs recorded in 1968 by historian Karl Gert zur Heide at Furry Lewis’s home in Memphis. Fame never found Lewis, who performed mainly at house parties, fish fries and in the streets. There was no spectacular Furry Lewis discovery, despite the name drop from Joni Mitchell in her song Furry Sings The Blues. These are simple, but traditional, vocal and guitar songs. Lewis was an old-fashioned professional entertainer but a genuine bluesman who knew how to perform.
Disc 2 features the piano playing of Little Brother Montgomery. Often tagged as the last of the great barrelhouse men, he was so much more in terms of style and versatility. Montgomery was another natural musician who learned his trade in the hard world of the working musician. According to Derrick Stewart-Baxter, “in his blues can be heard the melodic charm of his ballads; conversely, in his ballads (or most of them) can be heard the call of the blues”. The disc also features vocals from Little Brother’s wife, Jan Montgomery.
Disc 3 features the songs of Tommy Johnson, albeit performed by several different musicians; they were at one time part of his repertoire. Johnson died before he could be rediscovered in the blues revival of the 60s, having recorded only 12 songs between 1928 and 1930. Johnson lived a colourful life which spanned almost the entire history of the development of folk blues. This disc was originally released in 1972 and features artists such as Isaac Youngblood, Mager Johnson and Boogie Bill Webb. The 60s rock band Canned Heat were named after one of Johnson’s songs and Big Road Blues was recorded by several white artists, including Alexis Korner and John Sebastian.
Disc 4 contains field recordings made between 1966 and 1971 and was intended to be released by Saydisc in 1972 as an album to accompany the book Big Road Blues, edited by Paul Oliver. The publishers went out of business before the book could be published and the album was never released. The music features authentic folk blues and was recorded in the homes of the musicians in the American South. It is uninfluenced by commercial considerations and feels less self-conscious and inhibited as a result.
Disc 5 presents a collection of four outstanding singers (Scott Dunbar, James Thomas, Lee Kizart and Lovey Williams) who, in 1968, were still very much part of the Mississippi blues tradition, although their styles differ radically. The recordings were compiled by William Ferris to accompany his book, Blues From The Delta.
Disc 6 is a collection of songs by Viola Wells (a.k.a. Miss Rhapsody). Wells is famed for extracting a needle from a prostrate Billie Holiday and getting her back on stage to perform. Before singing a perfect set, Holiday whispered a husky dedication to “Miss Rhapsody”. Benny Carter said she was the greatest blues singer in America in the 40s and saxophonist Jimmy Lunceford said she was “a cross between Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday but Billie never had as much voice as she has, and Ella will never have her personality”. Although Wells retired in 1946, this set was recorded in New York in 1972 and was her first major recording for over 25 years. This is a fabulous set of classics (including Down Hearted Blues, How Great Thou Art and See See Rider) and is a fitting testimony to the vocal talent of this lesser-known artist.
Once again, Saydisc have surpassed themselves with this latest release from the Bluesmaster Series and I sincerely hope that Set 9 is currently in the planning.
LIVING BLUES (USA) Jan 2023
Big Road Blues, 1966-1972:
The Tradition Continues
Matchbox Bluesmaster Series – MSESET8
Here are six CDs offering 79 tracks and over four hours of recordings made during the blues revival. Spurred on by the spectacular rediscoveries of John Hurt in 1963 and Son House and Skip James in 1964, the blues revival would inspire fresh recordings of artists largely inactive for decades and seek out previously unrecorded ones whose playing echoed the sounds of a vaunted Golden Age. The social context in which this happened was deftly explored in the 2016 documentary Two Trains Runnin'. ...
The 16 tracks on Big Road Blues were programmed to accompany Evans' book of the same name, but its publication was sidelined for a decade, so they appear here for the first time. These are further field recordings Evans made between 1966 and 1971 in Mississippi and Louisiana. Some of the artists heard on The Legacy of Tommy Johnson, Arzo Youngblood and Roosevelt Holts among them, again appear here, as do further versions of songs (Maggie Campbell Blues) associated with Johnson. But the focus is on a local "folk blues" tradition in play around Drew, Mississippi, Charley Patton country. That sounds potentially exciting, and at times it is, during Isaac Youngblood's too-brief No Place to Go and especially Mager Johnson's terrific Traveling Man Blues, in which he plays guitar, kazoo, and even throws in a yodel in the manner of his famous brother. But overall, it's a less consistent and compelling collection than The Legacy of Tommy Johnson. Some tracks appear to be included less for their musical quality than to illustrate an academic point made in Evans' notes.
Blues from the Deltais the 1972 soundtrack album for William Ferris' book
of the same name. Rather than zero in on a specific regional tradition or the legacy of a single artist, Ferris' 1968 Magnolia State recordings present “a survey of four outstanding singers who are still very much a part of Mississippi blues tradition, though their styles differ radically…These four bluesmen – Scott Dunbar, James ‘Cairo’ Thomas, Lee Kizart and Lovey Williams all represent vital blues traditions in their respective Mississippi communities” Ferris wrote in 1972. His generalist approach results in a varied (and very listenable) collection that, while representing sounds of an earlier era, don't come across as especially archaic. Williams' Train I Ride is a fine version of Mystery Train, and Dunbar's Jay Bird is a delightfully bizarre combo of a children's song with a stream-of-consciousness tale of drunken courtship: it's not a blues at all but a great example of an imaginative folk artist in full cry.
Our last stop on this six-CD tour takes us from "the field" to a New York City recording studio for the 1972 album Viola Wells: Miss Rhapsody. Produced and annotated by blues enthusiast Sheldon Harris, this is a pleasant if not particularly focused portrait of the then 70-year-old singer. Any producer hoping to rekindle Ms. Wells' career would have nixed the four religious songs and given her more material akin to the opening Bessie Smith standard Down Hearted Blues. Instead, we get How Great Thou Art along with hoary standards like Old Fashioned Love, essentially whatever Ms. Wells had in her song bag when Harris set up the recording session. That was, after all, the blues revival's way, as Karl Gert zur Heide observed of his Furry Lewis recordings: "None of us ... tried to influence his choice of material and so he gave us a cross-section of his repertoire – things he liked and things he thought we would like."
Mark Humphrey