Category: 1950’s Blues

Show Notes:

Today’s show is the twenty-fourth installment of an ongoing series of programs built around a particular year. The first year we spotlighted was 1927, which was the beginning of a blues boom that would last until 1930. The Depression had a shattering effect on the pockets of black record buyers and sales of blues records plummeted in the years 1931 through 1933. After a strike by the American Federation of Musicians in 1942, recording had resumed in 1945 and was up considerably from the previous years and continued it’s upswing through the end of the 40s. Some of the veteran artists were still hanging in there in 1951 with fine recordings by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, Tampa Red, Roosevelt Sykes, Jimmy Yancey, Big Joe Williams and Lonnie Johnson. The new face of electrified Chicago is evident in recordings by Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, J.B. Lenoir, Robert Lockwood, Jimmy Rogers, Floyd Jones, Robert Nighthawk and Baby Face Leroy. Boogie Woogie was still popular, mixed with R&B and honking sax, it was the precursor to rock and roll heard on dozens of platters in 1951. Despite the changing tides, there were some fine down-home blues records by Lightnin’ Hopkins, Lil’ Son Jackson, John Lee Hooker, James Tisdom, John Hogg, John Lee and others. West Coast blues was strong with Floyd Dixon, Roy Milton and ace guitarists T-Bone Walker and Pee Wee Crayton. There were plenty of fine big-voiced singers such as Roy Brown, Jimmy Witherspoon, Percy Mayfield, Billy Wright, Tiny Bradshaw and Sonny Parker. 1951 was the second year of the Korean war, reflected in several songs that year by Jimmy Rogers, Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup among others. There were also major artist debuts by Sonny Boy Williamson II, Lafayette Thomas, Elmore James, Bobby Bland, Guitar Slim, Little Richard and Howlin’ Wolf.

We open the show with a set of prime New Orleans blues from Dave Bartholomew, Professor Longhair, Roy Brown and Pee Wee Crayton. When Dave Bartholomew, came back home after the war, he formed his first band and quickly installed himself as the most popular band-leader in New Orleans. One of the first musicians that Bartholomew hired was saxophonist Red Tyler. Tyler recalls, “As far as jazz and rhythm and blues was concerned, Dave Bartholomew’s Band was ‘the’ band in the city.” Bartholomew’s group made the rounds of the local clubs: The Greystone, Club Rocket, The Starlight, The Robin Hood, Al’s Starlight and, of course, the Dew Drop. A local reporter wrote of Bartholomew’s band in 1947: “Putting it mildly, they made the house ‘rock.’” In 1947, Bartholomew made his debut record for DeLuxe Records. It sold well locally and he scored his first national hit in 1949 with “Country Boy.” The same year Bartholomew was approached by Lew Chudd of Imperial Records and asked Bartholomew if he would be interested in working with him. Soon Bartholomew would serve as Imperial’s New Orleans A&R man – scouting and signing talent, then producing, arranging, often songwriting for and playing on the sessions. In 1949, Imperial’s first two R&B chart hits both featured Bartholomew’s many talents: Jewel King’s “3 x 7 = 21” and Fats Domino’s “The Fat Man” which sold over a million copies.

Roy Brown was a fan of blues singer Wynonie Harris. When Harris appeared in town, Brown tried but failed to interest him in listening to “Good Rockin’ Tonight”.  Brown then approached another blues singer, Cecil Gant, who was performing at another club in town. Brown introduced his song and Gant had him sing it over the telephone to the president of De Luxe Records, Jules Braun, reportedly at 4:00 in the morning. Brown signed a recording contract immediately. It was released in 1948 and reached number 13 on the Billboard R&B chart. Ironically, Harris recorded a cover version of the song, and his version rose to the top of the Billboard R&B chart later in 1948. Brown continued to make his mark on the R&B charts, having 14 hits for De Luxe from mid-1948 to late 1951, including the million-selling, “Hard Luck Blues” (1950, his biggest seller), “Love Don’t Love Nobody”, “Rockin’ at Midnight”, “Boogie at Midnight”, “Miss Fanny Brown”, and “Cadillac Baby”, making him, along with Harris, one of the top R&B performers in those three years.

Like just about every guitarist from his era, Pee Wee Crayton was influenced by T-Bone Walker but fashioned his own unique style. Pee Wee made some records in 1945 and 1947 but came into his own when he signed with Modern in 1948. One of his first recordings was the instrumental “Blues After Hours”, which reached number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart late that year. He cut a pile of great records for Modern like “Texas Hop”, “Louella Brown”, “Central Avenue Blues”, “Change Your Way of Lovin’” through 1951 when his contract ended.

In 1951 Sonny Boy Williamson II began to record for the Trumpet label in Jackson Mississippi and scoring regionally with “Eyesight To The Blind” and helping his guitarist Elmore James hit with his first (of many versions) interpretation of Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom.” That hit got Elmore James a contract with the Bihari brothers (RPM, Modern, Meteor, Flair Records) and a round of gigs with Sonny Boy at Sylvio’s and the 708 Club in Chicago. The duo was billed as Elmore “The Broomduster” James and “Sonny Boy” Williams (although the records said “Williamson”). The Larks’  recording of “Eyesight to the Blind”, with vocals and guitar by Allen Bunn, who later worked solo as Tarheel Slim, reached #5 on the Billboard R&B charts in July 1951.

WWII, Korea and Vietnam were the subject of many blues songs. The Korean War began as a civil war fought between 1950–1953 on the Korean Peninsula. The civil war began on June 25, 1950, when North Korea attacked South Korea. The civil war was greatly expanded when the United Nations, led by the United States, and later China entered the conflict. African Americans served in all combat and combat service elements during the War. One response to the war was the idea of burrowing underground either to escape a nuclear attack or avoid the draft as Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup sings in “I’m Gonna Dig Myself A Hole.” Other songs in this vein include: Jimmy Rogers “This World Is In A Tangle”, Honeyboy Edwards’ “Build A Cave”, John Lee Hooker “Build Myself A Cave” and Robert Lockwood & Sunnyland Slim “I’m Gonna Dig Myself A Hole.” We also hear from Rose Brown & Jimmie Harris on “Back From Korea.”

Now you know the world’s all in a tangle, man
Everybody begin to sing this song
The Reds are just over yonder boys
And we ain’t gonna be here long
That’s why I’m gonna build myself a cave
Move down in the ground
When I go into the army, babe
Won’t be no more Reds around

John Lee Hooker had a busy 1951, cutting over fifty sides. Hooker’s “I’m in the Mood” which was recorded in August 1951, with second guitarist Eddie Kirkland. Hooker claimed that the song was inspired by Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.” The record was leased to Modern Records and entered the Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart in October 1951, spending four weeks in the number one position from November, and reputedly selling a million copies. Donna Hightower cut her answer in October 9, 1951 featuring some great guitar from Floyd Smith. In December Helen Humes followed Hightower with her version of “I Ain’t In The Mood.”

Electrified Chicago Blues was in its golden era in 1951 with fine recordings by Jimmy Rogers, Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters, Robert Lockwood, Robert Nighthawk and Tampa Red who had updated his style to match the moment. Between 1948 and 1952 Baby Face Leroy Foster waxed a handful absolutely terrific sides under his own name for a number of fledgling Chicago labels aided by some of the windy city’s best blues musicians. In addition, his vocals, drumming, and guitar playing can be found backing some of the greatest Chicago blues records of the era. His death in 1958, at the age of 38, robbed the blues world of a singular, memorable talent. The two-part “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” cut for Parkway, ranks as one of the most exhilarating products of postwar Chicago blues featuring Muddy Waters and Little Walter.

Like Tampa Red, there were still pre-war blues artists cutting records including Roosevelt Sykes, Jimmy Yancey, Bumble Bee Slim, Joe Pullum and Lonnie Johnson, the latter who started his career way back in 1925. Lonnie Johnson signed with King in 1947 and stayed through 1952, resulting in close to seventy issued sides. By 1947 he had switched to electric guitar, was incorporating more ballads into his repertoire while the music was in transition from blues to R&B.

Calvin Frazier was another who recorded in the pre-war era but his recordings were not commercial records. Frazier and several members of the family were recorded by Akan Lomax for the Library Of Congress in October, 1938. The Lomax recordings took place on October 15th & 16th with another session on November 1st; on the 15th Calvin recorded “This Old World’s In A Tangle” backed by Sampson Pittman and Calvin backed Pittman on two numbers. Regarding his commercial recording career, Frazier made his debut 78 for the Detroit based Alben label in 1949 and next recorded a 78 for the Toledo label New Song Records in 1951, cutting “I Need Love” with Barbara Brown on vocals and a song by Barry Harris on the flip. He cut records with T.J. Fowler’s band through 1953 and cut several sides under his own name for small labels through the 60s.

Among the important debuts of 1951 were records by Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Elmore James who we mentioned above, as well as Lafayette Thomas, Guitar Slim and Howlin’ Wolf. Thomas was encouraged musically by his uncle, Jesse “Babyface” Thomas who was the brother of Texas bluesman Willard “Ramblin’” Thomas. He started working club dates with Jimmy McCracklin’s band in 1948, eventually replacing guitarist Robert Kelton. Thomas was nicknamed “The Thing” due to his acrobatic style of playing. The bulk of his recordings were with Jimmy McCracklin’s combo, roughly from 1948 through 1958 with a few scattered later dates. In all he cut twenty sides under his own name with several unissued at the time. His own records were made for small labels such as Jumping, Hollywood and Trilyte, but more often he cut odd titles at McCracklin’s 50’s sessions for Modern, Peacock and Chess. Thomas worked with producer Bob Geddins during this period playing on many Jimmy Wilson sessions including numbers like “Blues At Sundown”, “Frisco Bay” and the popular “Tin Pan Alley.” Thomas also played behind artists such as Juke Boy Bonner, Roy Hawkins, James Reed, Willie B. Huff, Big Mama Thornton and others during this period.

1951 was a good year for down-home blues and today we hear from Big Joe Williams, Smokey Hogg, Doctor Ross, John Lee, James Tisdom, Lil’ Son Jackson, L.C. Williams and Lightnin’ Hopkins. There were important new labels that captured this music in 1951 including Sun Records operated by Sam Phillips who opened his Memphis Recording Service studio on January 3, 1950, at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis. In 1951 he recorded artists such as Howlin’ Wolf, L.J. Thomas (Lafayette Thomas) and Doctor Ross. Trumpet was founded by Lillian McMurry in Jackson, Mississippi in 1951 and recorded Sonny Boy Williamson II, Elmore James, Big Joe Williams and Luther Huff, the latter who cut the topical “1951 Blues.” Also during this period fine down-home records were captured during trips by Modern Records co-owner Joe Bihari made with talent scout Ike Turner in the Deep South. 1951 saw records by Driftin’ Slim and Sunny Blair among others.

James Tisdom was born in Texas in 1912. He seemed to live most of his life moving around from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande valley. Tisdom never saw the inside of a Dallas or Houston recording studio, but he did travel to California to record three 78’s. In 1950 he cut another single in San Benito, TX. for Original. The recordings were believed to be forever lost until a copy turned up four decades later. Tisdom also made recordings for Ideal in South Texas in 1951, but they were shelved since the label specialized in Hispanic music. The acetates were found in the 1990’s by Arhoolie Records. Tisdom was known to have been residing and farming in Goliad, TX. in 1967. He passed in 1995- and three-years prior was the subject of an article in the Victoria Advocate.

L.C. Williams was a singer/tap dancer who also occasionally drummed behind Hopkins. He arrived in Houston in 1945 and was one of the many characters who hung around in Lightning’s orbit sitting on stoops drinking beer and wine, shooting the breeze with passers-by. He made his first record in 1947 for with Hopkins on piano and guitar. Hopkins plays guitar on a four-song session for Gold Star in 1948 with Williams making some final sides for Eddie’s and Freedom between 1948-1950. He died in Houston of TB in 1960

Alabama bluesman, John Lee was born May 24, 1915, in Lowdnes County, AL. He learned his distinctive knife slide guitar style from his uncle, Ellie Lee, and spent the 1930s playing jukes and house parties before settling in Montgomery in 1945. Federal’s Ralph Bass auditioned him there, and impressed with what he heard, recorded five sides in 1951: “Down At The Depot”, “Baby Please Don’t Go”, “Alabama Boogie”, “Baby Blues” and “Blind’s Blues.” Two unreleased sides, “In My Father’s House” and “Slappin’ The Boogie” were issued a few years back on the JSP compilation Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1946-1957. By 1960 John Lee had retired from active performing. It was blues researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow who tracked him down in 1973 after a three year search. Wardlow wrote his story in Blues Unlimited in 1975 (Down at the Depot: The Story of John Lee). He recorded the album Down At The Depot for Rounder Records in the early 70’s. During his comeback John Lee performed at Boston’s Down East Festival and the National Folk Festival in Washington.