The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions, Vol. 5; Back in the Alley

Cleaning out the cue this morning, here is the final volume before the links get too old.

 The Downhome Blues Sessions Vol. 5: Back in the Alley 1949-1954 focuses on sides cut between 1949 and 1954 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of the sides found their way to releases on the Modern family of labels, though some of them appear here for the first time. The common denominator is record label owner/manager/songwriter Bob Geddins, who was involved in the careers of all of the artists who recorded these 26 tracks. The featured artists include Jimmy McCracklin, James Reed, Johnny Fuller, Roy Hawkins, Lowell Fulson and Walter Robertson.

" While the first four volumes of this series focused on just-post-World War II blues recorded at various locations in the south, this fifth installment turns its focus to somewhat more citified blues cut between 1949 and 1954 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of the sides found their way to releases on the Modern family of labels, though some of them appear here for the first time. But the main common denominator is record label owner/manager/songwriter Bob Geddins, who was involved in the careers of all of the artists who recorded these 26 tracks. Two of the performers, Lowell Fulson and Jimmy McCracklin, had pretty successful careers; one, Roy Hawkins, had some success and notoriety (primarily for doing the original version of "The Thrill Is Gone"); and the others (Johnny Fuller, Walter Robertson, and James Reed) aren't even known to most blues collectors. A collection of such rare cuts -- even the ones by Fulson, McCracklin, and Hawkins will be unfamiliar to most of their fans -- has pretty specialized appeal, as the songs are average to the verge of being clichéd. But it's an acceptable reflection of earthier California blues styles of the era, if hardly the best introduction to the subgenre. A few of the McCracklin tracks (most of which are previously unissued) count among the liveliest items, especially "Josephine" and "I'll Get a Break Someday," which are rawer than the subsequent recordings with which he'd attract most notice. The 1949 Fulson single on the CD is barely urbanized rural blues, and while much of the rest of the disc is more in line with the more refined, more jazzy ballad-tinged form of West Coast blues, it often has a gloomier aura than most such music." AMG

The Bob Geddins Blues Legacy, vols 1-4

"Bob Geddins was a man with a big heart; a true music lover who persevered with his recording and distribution business even though he was repeatedly ripped off by partners and let down by artists who broke their contracts.

He is responsible for developing the Bay Area blues sound of the late 1940s and 1950s in his Oakland studios and some of the best loved vintage recordings from the West Coast were made for his Big Town, Cava-Tone and Rhythm labels.

For all the usual reasons, musicians were leaving their home states and moving to California and Geddins attracted some of the most popular into his recording studio. Lowell Fulson, Roy Hawkins, Johnny Fuller and Jimmy McCracklin are all included in this box set as well as some pretty obscure names like pianist Fats Gaines and Johnny Ingram whose Rhythm Czars featured Jimmy Nelson on vocals and John Patterson on some pretty swingin' sax. Johnny Fuller, whose down-home Mississippi blues with a beat, laid back vocals and versatile guitar wrangling reminds me of early Muddy Waters, has sixteen stellar tracks; his ringing guitar clanging away on ‘How Long?', ‘Too Late To Change' and ‘The Roughest Place In Town' which is a virile version of ‘Tin Pan Alley'.

Fuller appears again later with some superb down-home blues guitar on Willie B Huff's four sides. This girl has one deep bluesy voice and it's perfectly suited to her big song ‘Operator 209' (her version of Lightnin's ‘Hello Central') but then she's just as good when she hits a higher register on ‘I've Been Thinkin'And Thinkin' which has Lafayette Thomas on guitar.

KC Douglas, another Mississippian transplanted to California, is here roaring out his greatest song ‘Mercury Boogie'. This version leaves all others, bar none, doodlin' in the dirt! Juke Boy Bonner's rural style comes direct from Texas and although usually a one-man-band, he adds guitarist Lafayette Thomas on ‘Well Baby' and ‘Rock With Me Baby' with pretty good results. Big Mama Thornton really rocks with the thumping ‘Don't Talk Back', a fabulous gospel singed screamer she made with The Hi-Tones (better known as James Brown's second set of Famous Flames). Roy Hawkins and Jimmy McCracklin supply the early R&B jump while Little Caesar forsakes his usual rockin' R&B groove on ‘Big Eyes' a Coasters-type spoofy tune before sailing into a big blues ballad that Big Joe Turner would be proud of.

There are 107 tracks on this wonderful set and not a dud among ‘em, compiler Neil Slaven supplies his usual informative sleeve notes and the presentation is snazzy with all those vintage colour photos of the Bay area.

Excellent, highly recommended, top class, five stars."

Robert L. "Bob" Geddins (February 6, 1913 – February 16, 1991) was an American San Francisco Bay Area blues and rhythm and blues musician and record producer.

Geddins was born in Highbank, Texas, United States, a town ten miles south of Marlin, who came to Oakland, California during World War II, and worked there until his death in 1991.

From 1948 onwards he founded and owned numerous small independent record labels, such as Art-Tone, Big Town, Cavatone, Down Town, Irma, Plaid, Rhythm, and Veltone. He also leased his recordings to Los Angeles labels such as Swing Time, Aladdin, Modern, Imperial, Fantasy, and also to the Chicago operated Checker label.


"...
Bob Geddins was largely responsible for developing blues in the San Fransisco-Oakland area in the late 1940's into the late 1950's. Largely unknown today except by deep blues record collectors, Geddins struggled to record a number of good local talent. Artists like Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin, Roy Hawkins, K.C. Douglas, Mercy Dee Walton (a personal favorite), Johnny Fuller, Juke Boy Bonner, Big Mama Thornton, and other singers who were virtually unknown-all recorded for Geddins on his various labels. Geddins himself (along with his brother on vocals) is even heard on the track "Irma Jean Blues", something he would do when the mood struck.


A TV/radio repairman by trade, Geddins would start up a record label when he had the necessary cash, only to see his labels go out of business, usually because he had no real distribution-he was the sole distributor of his artists. Another reason his labels didn't last was someone would cheat him in a shady business deal, but Geddins would persevere and start up another label when he could. Geddins realized that there were few labels catering to the population which had moved there looking for work. He was basically a one man record label-even owning his own pressing plant.

Geddins' artists were a combination of locally or regionally known musicians, and "walk-ins"-people who literally walked in wanting to record a track or two. When Geddins recorded someone, he wanted it to sound as sad as possible. As Geddins said, "I want black folks to feel the troubles of the old times". And all the tracks have a certain sad aura about them, especially the slower tunes. Even the up-tempo jump tunes have a certain amount of sadness- a reminder of hard times. But as with all good blues, there's a small amount of optimism heard in these songs which gives added depth to the music.


The groups range from small two or three man bands, to larger ensembles including a proper rhythm section and a horn or two. But no matter the size of the band, these tracks are a great example of what people in the Bay Area were listening to after WWII, and on into the 50's. In many ways these artists are closer to what large numbers of people in the region preferred to listen to. None of the major record labels would touch this music-especially artists not nationally known. And while a few of the artists heard here went on to larger fame, many remained locally popular/and or faded back into obscurity.

This set is a window into another time and place long since past. But listen to this music and be transported back to a time of local watering holes, with ten cent beer and a jukebox in the corner-probably playing some of this very music. It's exciting, and it's real,and while the people and the era have vanished, this collection takes you right back there again, every time you hear it.