Bill Coday - Right On Baby: The Crajon Recordings

When Bill Coday left us suddenly in the summer of 2008, most of America took no notice.  But the Chitlin' Circuit mourned one of its favorite singers.  While Bill Coday released a number of excellent records during his career, his first recordings, collected here and produced by Willie Mitchell, are the cornerstone of his legacy.

Bill Coday was born in 1942 in Coldwater, Mississippi.   He began his career in music as a teenager, working mostly in Arkansas.  For a while, he was in the same local band as a young Son Seals.  In the 1960s, he moved to Chicago and changed his name to Chicago Willie.  After Denise LaSalle heard him there in 1969, she signed Coday to her Crajon label and sent him to Memphis to record with Willie Mitchell.   One of his first recordings with Mitchell, "Get Your Lies Straight" hit #14 on the national R&B charts.   Coday's powerful performance of the strangely titled composition contributed by Denise LaSalle, "If You Find a Fool, Bump His Head," also charted. But none of the other Crajon singles did as well, despite their high quality.    

 Bill Coday recorded a few other songs for Epic in the mid-70s before essentially retiring from music for ten years.   None other than Denise LaSalle again brought him back to the Southern Soul scene in 1985, where he built a strong following and released a number of LPs on Echo Records until his death.   One of his last Southern hits was a tribute to the Chitlin' Circuit, "On The Chitlin' Circuit."

The Bill Coday heard on these early recordings sounds something like a cross between Wilson Pickett, O.V. Wright, and Johnnie Taylor - not a bad thing!  Whether you happen to be in the mood for a rougher-voiced O.V. or a bluesier Pickett, Bill Coday might just hit the spot.  Add quality material and classic Willie Mitchell arrangements/accompaniments and you have yourself some timeless music that can provide repeated enjoyment.  

Denise LaSalle - On The Loose

Denise LaSalle (born July 16, 1939, Belzoni, Mississippi, United States) is an American blues and R&B/soul singer, songwriter, and record producer.

Most sources give her name at birth as Denise Craig, although it has also been stated that she was born Denise Allen, and that the name Craig derives from an early marriage. Raised in Belzoni, Mississippi, she sang in local churches before moving to Chicago in the early 1960s. She sat in with R&B musicians and wrote songs, influenced by country music as well as the blues, before winning a recording contract with Chess Records in 1967. Her first single, "A Love Reputation" was a modest regional hit.

After establishing an independent production company, Crajon, with her then husband Bill Jones, her first major success came in 1971 when her self-penned song, "Trapped By A Thing Called Love" was released on Detroit-based Westbound Records. This reached #1 on the national R&B chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song ranked at #85 on the 1971 year-end chart. The RIAA gold disc award was made on 30 November 1971 for a million sales.

She also wrote successful follow-ups, "Now Run And Tell That" and "Man Sized Job" which made #3 and #4 in the R&B Top Ten and also charted in the Hot 100. Her early hits were recorded at the Hi recording studios in Memphis, operated by Willie Mitchell, using the cream of southern session players. She continued to have hits on Westbound and then on ABC Records through the mid 1970s, including "Love Me Right" (#10 R&B, #80 pop) She continued to produce and perform live. Her co-penned song, "Married, But Not to Each Other" (#16 R&B) was included in the 1979 The Best of Barbara Mandrell, compilation album.

In the early 1980s, she signed as a singer and songwriter with Malaco Records, for whom she released a string of critically acclaimed albums over more than 20 years, starting with Lady in the Street (1983) and Right Place, Right Time (1984). Both albums became major successes among soul blues, R&B and soul fans and on urban radio stations. In 1985, she enjoyed her only recognition in the UK Singles Chart, when her cover version of Rockin' Sidney's, "My Toot Toot", reached #6.

LaSalle appeared at the 1984 and 1993 versions of the Long Beach Blues Festival, and also in 1993, she performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival. Her 1997 album Smokin' In Bed was an unexpected commercial success. After more than a decade away, when she recorded three albums with small Memphis-based soul-blues label, Ecko, she returned to Malaco for her 2010 outing called "24 Hour Woman".

She continues to work as a live performer, particularly at festivals, and more recently has issued more gospel-tinged material. In 2011, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. LaSalle now lives in Jackson, Tennessee, with her husband, James E. Wolfe.