This track from Jesse Thomas is a little bit outside of the range of years normally covered hear, but its so fantastic I couldn’t keep it to myself. Thomas was a session player (most famously with Bessie Tucker) and played mostly around Texas during the pre-war years. This track is from 1948 and he has plugged in, but still retains the purity of the pre-war blues guitar. I love love love the guitar song on this recording.
The next song on this Kent release is another pre-war star’s initial post war recording - Whistling Alex Moore, under his birth name Alexander Moore - does a rowdy Texas Blues number called Neglected Woman - and it’s a rave. The full band here is fantastic and Moore does a great job on piano keeping setting the blazing pace of this number. I wish the drums were a little more in the mix - but it still has the great sound that is also present on Jesse Thomas’ song. I’ve also added an mostly instrumental version of Lillie Mae Blues from that same Alexander Moore session.
I don’t really make apologies for posting mostly piano based music, but the sheer number of emails asking more guitar based blues tracks this week has given me pause.
Ed Andrew recorded a couple of sides in the early 20s for Okeh - the first of which is usually referred to as “the first country blues” record made. While I haven’t really done the research to state that claim without warning, It does appear that this is one of the earliest, but more importantly it’s one of the most solid examples of the genre that would sweet out of Georgia and and cover most of the non-delta South. Andrews is tired but plaintive on this side as he gives a overview of his life long blues. Andrews has a weird wobble on the end of his stanzas - I’m not sure if it’s from the recording of possible medicine show past - but it lends an element of weariness that the track benefits from I think.
I hadn’t heard of Mosaic Select until the other I heard a story on Fresh Air about a new Boogie-Woogie Box set released released by them. Mosaic appears to be somewhat like an American grown Bear Family records specializing in box sets of jazz artists - especially of well known jazz artists little known recording periods. I’m not really an expert in jazz by any means - but these sets look fantastic - The Complete Charlie Parker on Benedetti? Yes Please.
Mosaic’s three disc set of boogie-woogie might be the first serious look at boogie woogie and blues piano in the pre-war era. The set is limited to 5,000 copies and priced at $49 which is high considering the set it self looks like a JSP Box, but without the shadiness and with excellent and extremely well documented notes.
I’m going to pick three tracks, one from each disc just to sample the set, the first track is a showy piece (even for a boogie woogie number) by Meade Lux Lewis - that is a perfect example of the style and just a great composition. The next is an star-studded number with Pete Johnson on piano and Hot Lips Page on trumpet and the great Joe Turner on vocals who complains about the tempo being too fast at the end of this unissued take. I think the tempo is is just right - and the last third of the side has some of the best call and response from a vocalist and his band that I’ve heard. The last track is from the great Cripple Clarence Lofton with a track that sounds like proto-southern soul, wonderful play between the drummer and Lofton, though it features more Lofton’s warbly voice than his fantastic piano skills (though he gets his lines in), I’m just in love with this track.
This was a busy week, lots of new songs - some really great verisons - I’m hoping to start actually posting the songs in another week, pending on if I can twist Ms. Honey into making some a funeral march of bees. Also for all the wordpress users out there that haven’t updated to 2.5 it’s amazing - the dashboard is actually useful (can someone make a mint plug in for this?) and the overall layout and look is much nicer.
Also special thanks goes out to John from Dem Bluez for a lot of these tracks - check out his site for some wonderful Snook Eaglin tracks.
1. Cab Calloway (1930, 1941×2)
2. Dr. John (2004)
3. Kent DuChaine (Live ?? , 1993)
4. Little Mack Simmons (1996)
5. Roosevelt Sykes (1971)
6. Julia Lee (1944)
7. Cephas & Wiggins (1984)
8. Marva Wright (1998)
9. Bobby Bland (1987, 1961)
10. Buddy Blue (2003)
11. Mojo Buford (1979)
12. Alex Harvey (1964)
13. Angela Brown (1989)
14. Bill Coleman (1951/2)
15. Butch Thompson (1995)
16. Wingy Monroe (194X)
17. James Solberg Band (1995)
18. Dick Curless (1957/8)
19. Stan Kenton (1942)
20. Robert Crumb (???)
21. Pérez Prado (1955)
22. Brownie McGee (?)
total 77 artists, a couple more takes than that.
as a bonus check out this awesome video of the Isley Brothers singing Stagolee and pulling a gun out on stage in front of a bunch of Londoners.
These are the tracks that have come in since the last list was posted, I’ve made a few corrections to the first list as well. I still need help tracking dates, especially on the primary list - any help would be wonderful. I haven’t decided if I’m going to separate The Gambler’s Blues away from St. James, but this list includes them together.
Want List:
Cisco Houston
John Lomax Jr.
Pete Seeger
Brownie McGee
1. Arlo Guthrie (2007)
2. David Van Ronk (1959?)
3. Harlem Hot Chocolates (1930)
4. Snooks Eaglin (1958)
5. David Van Ronk & Ramblin’ Jack Elliot (1999)
6. Alex Hill and his Orchestra (1929)
7. George E. Lee and his Novelty Singing Orchestra (1929)
8. Mattie Hite (1930)
9. Rube Bloom & His Bayou Boys (1930)
10. Roy King (1952?)
11. Jimmie Rodgers (1930)
12. Hokum Boys (x2 1929)
Okay here is the list as of 3/29. the years are marked where noted - i need help with dates (It’s hard on some discs to determine when the actual recording took place, those i’ve marked with the release date of the disc and a ?) and of course more songs. Big thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. No order should be implied by this list. Thanks!
So far I think Stuff Smith’s is my favorite. The Doors’ take on the song might be as bad and luckily as short as Elvis’ aborted Stagolee take.
1. Doc Watson and Richard Watson (live, 2006, 2000)
2. Gene Krupa (Live, ???, DBK in concert disk)
3. Rosa King (Live, 1991?)
4. Louis Armstrong (Live, 1947)
5. Louis Armstrong (1928)
6. Louis Armstrong (?, From Gold comp, different from above two)
7. The Animals (1968)
8. The Dirty Dozen Jazz Band (1984)
9. Humphrey Lyttelton (Live, 1951)
10. Garland Wilson (1931?)
11. Roy Eldridge (1975)
12. Henry Red Allen (x 2 1951?)
13. Eddie Condon (1957)
14. Kid Ory and Henry Red Allen (1957)
15. Hot Lips Page (1950?)
16. Henry Red Allen (live 1951)
17. Turk Murphy Jazz Band (live 1957)
18. Henry Red Allen (1957)
19. Jack Teagarden (1942, 1963, 1950?, 1954, 1940)
20. King Oliver (1929)
21. Jonah Jones (1957)
22. George Lewis (??? Oxford Series 10)
23. Billie and De De Pierce (1959)
24. Kid Ory (1953)
25. Doc Evans (???)
26. Bob Crosby (???)
27. Buck Clayton (1961)
28. Artie Shaw (part one and 2 1941)
29. Pete Fountain (1959)
30. Sidney Bechet (1939?)
31. Stuff Smith (1944)
32. Art Hodes (1944)
33. Josh White (1944)
34. Johnny Kendall and the Heralds (1964)
35. Jackie Wilson (live 1962)
36. Joe Cocker (1973)
37. Kathy Kersh (???)
38. Suspense Radio Show (1953)
39. Van Morrison (live ???)
40. The Ventures (???)
41. White Stripes (1999)
42. Dixieland Rhythm Kings (1922)
43. Kansas City Frank and His Footwarmers (1929)
A few years ago we did a weeks worth of Stagolee tracks to much success, this year I hope to collect a number of versions of St. James Infirmary Blues as well as Dying Crapshooter Blues. I’m working on compiling a list of what i have (around 70-80 tracks so far), but unlike Stagolee which for as much as it was sung - it had a much more limited audience than St. James. I’m going to contact Rob Walker who wrote an amazing essay on the subject and who also maintains No Notes dedicated to the song and music in New Orleans.
Please send mp3s to pkpatnaik @ prewarblues.org
below is a the St. James Infirmary section of Betty Boop’s Snow White
Truth be told I’m currently obsessed with Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak and the Ohio Player’s Fire - but I’ll refrain from posting selections from those albums today. There’s been a couple of requests for the Lonnie Johnson songs I’ve mentioned recently - so here is a trio of sides from easily the most versatile bluesman around. Death Valley Is Only Half Way To My Home is one my favorite blues songs of all time - and one of the most moving pieces of music I’ve ever heard.
I don’t really know anything about today’s singer - Genevieve Davis - outside of this track she recorded with Louis Dumaine’s Jazzola Eight is flat out fantastic. The song is a familiar theme of northern disillusionment that followed both great migrations northward best represented in the blues world in Lonnie Johnson’s Southland Is Alright By Me. Davis doesn’t go into the theme as deeply as Johnson - but her lyrics are particularly effective lines like “did you ever dream lucky/wake up gold [referring to her honey] in hand/and you didn’t have a dollar to pay your house rent man.” Davis’ work on the song is done pretty quickly at around the minute and the half mark - leaving the rest of the song up to the Jazzola Eight who really knock it out of park - incredible work and some of the best examples of pre-war New Orleans jazz that I’ve heard. It is also the first by the Eight that I’ve heard. If anyone has their solo or backing work - I’d love to hear it.
My recent request for help with my spam problem was a success, so I’m asking for some more tech help - Is anyone using WP- Mint - Popular Posts? I would like to track my downloads per file, something dreamhost doesn’t offer, and all the Mint plugins for download track use a php script that also prevents the songs from being saved - only streamed. If I could this mint popular post plugin working, at least I would know which posts people are reading the most, and hopefully also download the song the most, not ideal but at least I’d get some idea of what ya’ll are downloading. I have the plugin pointed at my Mint database - but I don’t know what to do from there. My Wordpress theme isn’t widget aware is that the problem?
I recently discovered this Sara Martin track - Shipwrecked Blues and it’s unlike any Sara Martin song I’ve heard before. She sings in vaudeville pitch and the song has lots of strange pauses and breaks - and is only minimally backed up by a solo piano. The pace of the song is also really strange - it’s very rocky - side to side much like a ship making it hard to follow, not to mention Martin who is normally very clear mumbles and slurs her way through some of the stanzas and she also reaches for the higher notes (and does some awful rolling of them), something not typical of her style at all. It makes me wonder if this is her at all. Thoughts?