T-Bone Walker

A repost by request: 
 To anyone with a more than a passing knowledge of the music being discussed here the magnitude of dealing with T-Bone can't be lost on you. If we are to accept his personal mythology that extends back to himself and Charlie Christian playing on the street as early Teens with himself as the primary innovator. His certainty that no-one records on electric guitar before himself. (Les Paul, Tiny Grimes and George Barnes were never on his map)....then clearly I have been a complete idiot for not starting this blog with the words "In The Beginning There Was T-Bone Walker"....Obviously I didn't go there!

All that taken into account it would still be impossible to deny that Walker influenced damn near everybody in one way or another.


Once again I had the giant Mosaic collection to distill here. I can promise you that approaching him via that avenue would leave most ears numb. This time my benefactor Cliff provided both the dilemma and the solution with two earlier compilations from Charley and Blue Note that provide solid foundation and enjoyable listening both.

As I did with Amos Milburn and Charles Brown, I have followed the format of the Charly and Blue Note compilations but I used the superior Mosaic remasters as source.

"T-Bone Walker, nė Aaron Thibeaux Walker was born in Linden, Texas, of African American and Cherokee descent. Walker's parents, Movelia Jimerson and Rance Walker, were both musicians. His stepfather, Marco Washington, taught him to play the guitar, ukulele, banjo, violin, mandolin, and piano.

Early in the 1900s, the teenage Walker learned his craft among the street-strolling string bands of Dallas. His mother and stepfather (a member of the Dallas String Band) were musicians, and family friend Blind Lemon Jefferson sometimes joined the family for dinner. Walker left school at age 10, and by 15, he was a professional performer on the blues circuit. Initially, he was Jefferson's protégé and would guide him around town for his gigs. In 1929, Walker made his recording debut with a single for Columbia Records, "Wichita Falls Blues"/"Trinity River Blues," billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone. Oak Cliff was the community he lived in at the time and T-Bone a corruption of his middle name. Pianist Douglas Fernell was his musical partner for the record.

Walker married Vida Lee in 1935; the couple had three children. By age 25 Walker was working and the clubs in Los Angeles' Central Avenue, sometimes as the featured singer and guitarist with Les Hite's orchestra.

By 1942, with his second album release, Walker's new-found musical maturity and ability had advanced to the point that Rolling Stone claimed that he "shocked everyone" with his newly developed distinctive sound upon the release of his first single "Mean Old World", on the Capitol Records label. Much of his output was recorded from 1946–1948 on Black & White Records, including his most famous song, 1947's "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)". Other notable songs he recorded during this period were "Bobby Sox Blues" (a #3 R&B hit in 1946), and "West Side Baby" (#8 on the R&B singles charts in 1948).

Throughout his career Walker worked with top notch musicians, including trumpeter Teddy Buckner, pianist Lloyd Glenn, Billy Hadnott (bass), and tenor saxophonist Jack McVea.

Following his work with Black & White, he recorded from 1950-54 for Imperial Records (backed by Dave Bartholomew). Walker's only record in the next five years was T-Bone Blues, recorded over three widely separated sessions in 1955, 1956 and 1959, and finally released by Atlantic Records in 1960.

By the early 1960s, Walker's career had slowed down, in spite of a hyped appearance at the American Folk Blues Festival in 1962 with Memphis Slim and prolific writer and musician Willie Dixon, among others. However, several critically acclaimed albums followed, such as I Want a Little Girl (recorded for Delmark Records in 1968). Walker recorded in his last years, from 1968–1975, for Robin Hemingway's Jitney Jane Songs music publishing company, and he won a Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1971 for Good Feelin', while signed by Polydor Records, produced by Hemingway, followed by another album produced by Hemingway; Walker's Fly Walker Airlines which was released in 1973. T-Bone Walker at the American Folk Blues Festival in Hamburg, March 1972

Persistent stomach woes and a 1974 stroke slowed Walker's career down to a crawl. He died of bronchial pneumonia following another stroke in March 1975, at the age of 64. Walker was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Pete 'Guitar' Lewis / Jimmy Nolen / Cal Green - Scratchin'

I've been trying to figure out what to feature next, just to keep it fresh. There are still plenty of loose ends and half done artists, I acknowledge, I will pick them up soon. I think a little time with some of the remarkable instrumentalists is in order, not to mention a daunting pile of compilations I'm looking at. So far the response to compilations broken into digestible pieces seems far better that tossing it all out at once. Neither the 3 disc Gospel Alive set nor The Bob Geddins Collection, garnered much reaction when presented as a whole so I am leaning to staggering the larger collections in smaller pieces so that the down loads are listenable.Comments?


this is a tasty little one here: While Cal Green is included for a pair of tracks, this one is all about two Johnny Otis guitar players, Pete "Guitar" Lewis and his successor Jimmy Nolen (later of James Brown fame).

"A sumptuous feast o' hot 'n greasy Texas jump blues guitars, these 22 Federal recordings (waxed between 1952 and 1958) showcase three of the best '50s T-Bone Walker devotees tearing off punchy li'l swirls o' swing on their fat axes. Johnny Otis's band backs stellar Otis-sideman Pete "Guitar" Lewis on eight performances, three of which showcase Lewis's harp chops (he was also a fine singer, a talent never displayed on his Otis sideman sides). Jimmy Nolen would invent the "chicken scratch" funk guitar style behind James Brown in the '60s, but the dozen mid-'50s performances here (supported by Chuck Higgins's combo) are solidly in the Walker tradition. Midnighter guitarist Cal Green is represented by a pair of instrumentals ("The Big Push" is a vamp around "Annie Had a Baby"). Ten tracks are strictly instrumental, ranging from moody "after hours" blues to high-octane rompers, all delivered with that full-bodied blend of grit and sheen that made the best Texas-gone-California blues such an unparalleled gas. Great sound, 'n if you love fat, horn-like guitars (anchored by fat horns 'n solid rhythm sections); here's an earful." AMG

Good News - 22 Gospel Greats (From the Vaults of Vee-Jay)

 This old Charly collection of Vee-Jay Gospel highlights is a classic. A particularly good set for someone who doesn't have a lot of Gospel or someone looking for an entry compilation. The disc is set up like a multi-act Gospel show with a pair of songs from each of the first four acts and then seven each from the "headliners".  Your very own Sunday morning Gospel hour.

Elmore James - Got To Move

                                                                                                                                                                       

A superb look at James during the 50's and into the early 60's.  Great way to get to know him for the inexperienced listener - and some great tracks for any fan.  Ripped at 24/44.1 wav and dithered to 16/44.1 FLAC...  Enjoy!!

Charly R&B CRB-1017

1981

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Elmore James; taken from Wikipedia:

James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in Holmes County, Mississippi (not to be confused with two other locations of the same name in Mississippi). He was the illegitimate son of 15-year-old Leola Brooks, a field hand. His father was probably Joe Willie "Frost" James, who moved in with Leola, and so Elmore took this as his name. His parents adopted an orphaned boy at some point named Robert Holston.

Elmore began making music at the age of 12 using a simple one-string instrument ("diddley bow" or "jitterbug") strung up on a shack wall. As a teen he was playing at local dances under the names Cleanhead and Joe Willie James. His first marriage, circa 1942, was to Minnie Mae (whom he apparently never divorced). He subsequently married twice, to Georgianna Crump in 1947 and to a woman called Janice circa 1954. (Another reported marriage of Elmore to a Josephine Harris has been found to be a mistaken record of a different Elmore James.)
Becoming a well-known musician in those days, with the rewards of prestige, good free food, illicit free liquor, women's favours, the promise of escape from the hard agricultural work, etc., must have been as attractive to Elmore as it was to the other musicians of that time and earlier, such as the 'second' Sonny Boy Williamson, with whom he played and Robert Johnson with whom he also possibly played.^[1] Although Robert Johnson died in 1938, James (like many other musicians) was strongly influenced by him, and by Kokomo Arnold and Tampa Red. Elmore recorded several of Tampa's songs, and even inherited from his band two of his famous "Broomdusters", "Little" Johnny Jones (piano) and Odie Payne (drums). There is a dispute as to whether Robert Johnson or Elmore wrote James' trademark song, "Dust My Broom".^[2]
James's demise may have been hastened by his lifelong taste for, and manufacture of, moonshine whiskey, to which he was introduced at an early age. Alcohol definitely killed his band-mates/friends Willie Love and Johnny Jones at an early age. His regular rhythm guitarist Homesick James maintained his longevity was due to his not partaking of the heavy drinking sessions after — and often during — gigs, a refusal that was unpopular with the rest of the band. James was also reportedly an extremely fast driver who also loved hunting with guns and dogs in Mississippi.

During World War II James joined the United States Navy, was promoted to coxswain and took part in the invasion of Guam against the Japanese. Upon his discharge, Elmore returned to central Mississippi and eventually settled in Canton with his adopted brother Robert Holston; it was at this time he learned that he had a serious heart condition. Working in Robert's electrical shop, he devised his unique electric sound, using parts from the shop and an unusual placement of two D'Armond pickups.^[2] He began recording with Trumpet Records in nearby Jackson in January 1951, first as sideman to the second Sonny Boy Williamson and also to their mutual friend Wille Love and possibly others, then debuting as a session leader in August with "Dust My Broom".^[1] It was a surprise R&B hit in 1952 and turned James into a star. He then broke his recording contract with Trumpet Records to sign up with the Bihari Brothers through Ike Turner (who played guitar and piano on a couple of his early Bihari recordings). His "I Believe" was another hit a year later.^[1] During the 1950s he recorded for the Bihari brothers' Flair Records, Meteor Records^[3] and Modern Records labels, as well as for Chess Records and Mel London's Chief Records (his "It Hurts Me Too" was later a hit when he re-recorded it for Enjoy Records).^[4] His backing musicians were known as the Broomdusters.^[1] In 1959 he began recording for Bobby Robinson's Fire Records label. These include "The Sky Is Crying" (credited to Elmo James and His Broomdusters), "My Bleeding Heart", "Stranger Blues", "Look on Yonder Wall", "Done Somebody Wrong", and "Shake Your Moneymaker", all of which are among the most famous of blues recordings.^[1]
James died of his third heart attack in Chicago in 1963,^[1] just prior to a tour of Europe with that year's American Folk Blues Festival. He was buried in the Newport Baptist Church Cemetery in Ebenezer, Mississippi.