The Traveling Record Man; Historic Down South Recording Trips

A RERUN REQUEST FOR POPPACUBBY!

A taste of the material gathered during these legendary road trips thru the South that lead to the discovery of many artists and the preservation of many others who would be otherwise lost. There are actually 5 volumes which follow this one if there appears to be any interest.

"The bulky title of this disc was sparked by its documentation of recordings assembled by Joe Bihari of Modern Records on scouting trips through the South for talent between 1948 and 1953. (Starting in 1952, the young Ike Turner also worked for Modern in this capacity.) Just two of the names on this 24-track anthology are famous: Howlin' Wolf, represented by an audition acetate of "Riding in the Moonlight" (first issued in 1991), and Elmore James, whose two cuts appeared on an Ace box set in 1993. Some other names -- like Smokey Hogg, Lil' Son Jackson, and Joe Hill Louis -- will catch the eyes of in-the-know blues experts, but for the most part even those with extensive blues collections will be mostly or totally unfamiliar with most of the artists. This is raw, Southern, just-post-World War II blues, caught in its transition from its rural roots to something more electric and citified. Certainly it's rawer than much commercially released blues of the time, and in fact about half of it was either previously unissued, or not first issued until many years later on other specialist collections. It's not that unhoned, though, and there's decent variety within the genre, from rollicking piano blues and juke-joint harmonica-driven numbers to mournful slow tunes that sound barely off the farm. Actually Arkansas Johnny Todd's "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You" sounds like it's still on the farm. But at the other extreme, Sunny Blair's "Please Send My Baby Back Home" (aka "Step Back Baby") is as well-produced and full-sounding as many a 1953 full-band electric Chicago blues single. This is not for everyone, certainly, but as a reflection of the sounds being unearthed as labels brought musicians from out-of-the-way Southern locales into the commercial world, it has considerable value. And the music is solid, if not as gripping as the best records in these styles. The fidelity is imperfect, as many of the tracks were taken from acetates or 78s, but has been cleaned up considerably by modern technology." AMG

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 Modern Downhome Blues Sessions, Vol. 4; Southern Country Blues Guitarists

 I think that this is the volume where the names and song titles are, in some cases,  made up, either earlier by Bihari or later when Kent compiled the first issuance of this material on LP. I did copy all the booklet notes for each of these volumes so you can read the whole story when you have downloaded.

Modern Downhome Blues Sessions Vol. 4: The Southern Country blues Guitarists 1948-1952 features recordings mostly recorded in Atlanta and Dallas between 1948 and 1952. This is essentially an expanded version of the original Kent LP Blues From The Deep South. In around 1950 a group of artists sent in a batch of unlabeled acetates that were discovered at Modern in 1970. These recordings have remained a focal point for intense discussion ever since. When these sides were first issued on the Blues From The Deep South LP, so Arkansas Johnny Todd and Leroy Simpson were invented for two sides released. It turns out that Todd is actually Lane Hardin who cut the classic "Hard Time Blues b/w California Desert Blues" in 1935. He also backs Leroy Simpson who still remains a mystery. Other featured artists include Alex Moore, Charlie Bradix, Pine Top Slim, Jesse Thomas, Big Bill Dotson, Little Son Jackson and Smokey Hogg.

The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions, Vol. 3; Memphis On Down

 

 The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions Vol. 3: Memphis On Down focuses on recordings done in the early 1950's in Memphis that Sam Phillips shopped to Modern/RPM in 1950/51, Helena, Arkansas and five cuts by the Dixie Blues Boys which were done in Los Angeles in 1955. The featured artists include Willie Nix, Howlin' Wolf, Walter Horton, Joe Hill Louis, Bobby Bland, Alfred "Blues King" Harris, James "Peck" Curtis, Robert "Dudlow" Taylor and Jim Lockhart.

 "This third volume of raw, Southern (or Southern-style) blues, largely of the early electric sort, concentrates on recordings done in the early '50s in Memphis and Arkansas, though the five Dixie Blues Boys tracks were done in Los Angeles in 1955. Make no mistake about it: despite the presence of a few big names, this is one for the collector. If you want a better listening experience of material from Modern's recordings in the area, you'd be better off with single-artist anthologies of sides cut at the time for the label by Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Walter Horton, Joe Hill Louis, and others. If you've gone through that layer and want a whole lot more, however, this is what you want, digging into some rare and previously unissued tracks, often by artists unknown even to many blues experts. Generally, it documents a time when Southern blues was just making its transition from the rural acoustic form to the citi-fied electric one, albeit in a raw, at times even tentatively clumsy manner. The most satisfying numbers are, unsurprisingly, by the most famous performers, capturing some major performers in their early formative days, including Howlin' Wolf (represented by two 1951 sides); Bobby "Blue" Bland (whose "Drifting From Town to Town," recorded with Little Junior Parker, didn't first see light until 1969); and Walter Horton (heard on his 1951 single "You Tell Me Baby"). Even the tracks by obscure names often include major players as sidemen, such as Howlin' Wolf guitarist Blind Willie Johnson, Matt Murphy (who plays on the Bland cut), and Sonny Boy Williamson. The remaining material isn't up to lost classic status, and in fact it's sometimes forgettable. But there are still some good outings to be heard by Willie Nix (whose "Try Me One More Time," from 1951, comes close to a rockabilly beat) and the more rudimentary Joe Hill Louis (particularly a previously unissued fast version of "Joe Hill Boogie"). Seven of the 26 tracks were previously unreleased..." AMG

The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions, Vol. 2: Mississippi and Arkansas

The story of the Bhari family and RPM - Modern Records is an American tale. The Bihari's were Hungarian Jewish refugees. The six or seven children (it has been a while since I read this) where sent here without their parents with the idea that the eldest would take care of the rest, but the family was split up and scattered across multiple orphanages.

Undeterred the two eldest boys, Jules and Lester, made it out to Los Angeles with the eldest girl as well, if memory serves, and set themselves up in the jukebox industry. Everything was in the family and as each sibling grew old enough to leave their respective orphanages, they were brought to L.A. and into the business. Eventually the entire clan was reunited as their parents had intended.

Over time, Jules and Saul grew frustrated with the inability of their distributors to keep them supplied with the quality 'country blues' that they found was selling on their boxes and realized that they could make money on both ends of the game if they started making their own records. They managed to build their own studio, pressing and distribution facility all in one. Now they needed artists and while they mined some of the local talent in L.A., they had a fair amount of competition there. They found some people to record through Bob Geddins up in Oakland, but they needed more to grow the label.

This is where youngest brother Joe Bihari comes in. Joe and the youngest sister had been sent to orphanages in New Orleans and so grew up amongst the sounds of the Crescent City. Where as his older siblings viewed this solely as a business to be milked for as much cash with as little outlay as possible (Jules would brag about making thousands off of sessions that cost him nothing but a bottle of whiskey and a cheap whore), Joe actually knew the music and what he was hearing and could tell if it was good or not. That is how Joe became the choice to go on these talent seeking road trips through the South.

I don't recall the details of how Joe found the teenage Ike Turner, but the ambitious and talented youngster was a godsend for sure. There is no way that Bihari could have found the people he did without Ike and the music world of today would be a very different landscape without the contributions of Ike Turner. It is also true that no other member of the Bihari family would have been able to tolerate driving around and staying with a black man other than the New Orleans raised Joe.

Other than perhaps Cleanhead Love, most of the fellows on this particular volume are documented real people, but on some of the later sets the names and song titles are completely made up due to the haphazard record keeping, both on the road and back at the Modern headquarters.

The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions, Vol. 1; Arkansas & Mississippi

 You got your first taste of these sessions with Traveling Record Man but that was just the tip of the iceberg, there are 5 subsequent volumes! Many of these artists are only known through these field recordings made by Joe Bihari and Ike Turner as they drove through the deep South scouting for talent. Not every guy is some unknown genius or anything like that, but in most cases you can certainly hear why they recorded them.

" The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions Vol.1: Arkansas and Mississippi 1951-1952 features recordings that Joe Bihari and his young talent scout Ike Turner made between November 1951 and January 1952 in North Little Rock, Arkansas and in Greenville and Canton, Mississippi. The featured artists include Elmore James, Boyd Gilmore, Drifting Slim, Junior Brooks, Sunny Blair, Houston Boines, Charley Booker and Ernest Lane."