A Blues Fix Mix CD - Volume One, Track Eleven

When I started listening to the blues back in the mid 80's, one of the artists that really got me fired up was Luther Allison.  He played the blues, sure enough, but he also had the soulful vocal style and the rock-edged guitar that was sort of the connecting factor for me at the time.  I had really gotten into rock and soul a few years before, but the blues sort of combined those two styles ideally to me.  When I first heard Luther Allison, that was the Great Connector......the act that really sealed the blues deal for me.

Of course, at the time, there wasn't a lot of product available of Allison's that I was aware of.  In the early 70's, he's actually been signed to Motown Records, where he recorded three albums, but they had been unavailable for years.  Having moved to Europe in the mid 70's, he recorded regularly for the German label Ruf, but at the time not many of those sets were making it to my neck of the woods.  There was a release on Blind Pig Records (Serious), and later I found his release on Delmark (Love Me Mama), but that was about it until he signed with Alligator Records, which really allowed his career to blossom.  Always popular in Europe (a big reason why he'd relocated years earlier), the Alligator releases (Soul Fixin' Man, Blue Streak, and Reckless) really opened a lot of American eyes and ears to what they'd been missing.

Just as all that happened for Allison, it abruptly ended.  Diagnosed with lung and brain cancer in July of 1997, he passed away less than a month later.  At the time, I had just gotten access to the internet, and had discovered a few blues-related bulletin boards.  It was at one of those boards where I first read about his diagnosis and the fact that he had little time left.  It was like getting hit in the gut with a 2x4, and the year got even worse with the deaths of several other blues artists (Johnny Copeland, Fenton Robinson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Rogers in 1997, Junior Wells and Junior Kimbrough in early 1998).  It was a tough several months for the blues.

In 1998, Alligator released a tribute album honoring their very first recording artist, Hound Dog Taylor.  A number of the label's artists and other popular blues artists at the time recorded several songs from Taylor's catalog.  Taylor's wild shows and showmanship were what inspired Alligator founder Bruce Iglauer to start his label, with Taylor serving as his introductory release.  Most of the artists who recorded the tribute acquitted themselves very well, but few captured Taylor's manic charm in a way that came close to the original.  Allison's version of the Dog's "Give Me Back My Wig," was the one that came the closest.  At the time I was putting together this set, I was really into Allison's slide guitar playing, which I've always thought was the most underrated part of his style.  There are lots of great Luther Allison songs that could be part of a mix CD, and "Give Me Back My Wig" was one of the best choices.

Your Blues Fix Mix CD (Volume One) to date......

Track 1:  "Cold Women With Warm Hearts," Magic Slim & the Teardrops
Track 2:  "Son of Juke," Billy Branch
Track 3:  "Feel Like Blowing My Horn," Robert Lockwood, Jr.
Track 4:  "Big Boy Now," Big Jack Johnson
Track 5:  "Blues Man," B.B. King
Track 6"  "Four Cars Running," Larry Garner
Track 7:  "Cadillac Blues," Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents
Track 8:  "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues," Skip James
Track 9:  "Double Trouble" (Live), Otis Rush

Track 10:  "She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride," Taj Mahal

Track 11:  "Give Me Back My Wig," Luther Allison

More from the Allison family next week.......

A Blues Fix Mix CD - Volume One, Track Ten

We're past the halfway point with our first Blues Fix Mix CD.  The most important thing to remember about a mix CD is that you have to put as much music as technologically possible on it, meaning you have to get as close to 80 minutes worth of content as you can, especially if you're a bit on the dorky side, like I am.  Therefore, when we're done, we will have a CD full of great blues tunes.

Our tenth track comes from one of the most prominent blues figures of the late 60's/early 70's.....actually the latter part of the 20th Century would fit there.  Taj Mahal (born Harry St. Clair Fredericks) started out playing acoustic blues, later expanding to electric blues, soul and R&B, reggae, Caribbean, folk, gospel, Latin, West African, and even Hawaiian music.  While doing that, he never strayed far from his acoustic blues roots, and has continued to make some excellent music over the past fifty years.

Back in the 70's, when they had this thing called record stores, one could always find a few Taj Mahal recordings on the shelves......he recorded for many years on the Columbia label, which was a major recording label (and still is, though now part of Sony Music) during that time, which guaranteed his recordings would have pretty wide distribution.  If Mahal had only recorded his first three albums, his self-titled debut, The Natch'l Blues, and the double LP Giant Steps would have cemented his place in the blues pantheon.

Mahal was able to help update, therefore revive, the country blues sounds of the 30's and 40's.  While he may not sound like anything special nowadays, just remember that when he first started doing this around 1967/68, there was nobody else in the blues world, or the rock world for that matter, who sounded like him.  It was a refreshing new take on the blues and his influence can be heard in a number of more recent artists, such as Alvin Youngblood Hart, Keb' Mo', Guy Davis, and Corey Harris.

I had to include my favorite Taj Mahal song, "She Caught The Katy and Left Me a Mule To Ride," from The Natch'l Blues.  Mahal wrote this song with Yank Rachell, the master of blues mandolin who began his career in the 30's and was active until his death in 1987, and it has become one of his most famous compositions.  It's been covered many times and many people will recognize it from the Blues Brothers' rendition over the opening credits of their 1980 movie, which made sense because it was one of John Belushi's favorite blues songs.  As you can hear below, Belushi had excellent taste in blues songs.

All of Taj Mahal's music is great, regardless of the genre he was exploring at the time.  Blues fans will enjoy his self-titled debut, The Natch'l Blues, both released in 1968, or more modern fare like Senor Blues (1997) or TajMo, his recent collaboration with Keb' Mo'. 

A Blues Fix Mix CD - Volume One, Track Nine

One of my favorite albums from my early days as a blues fan was the first volume of the Antone's Tenth Anniversary celebration, a live show which took place at the Austin club back in 1985.  I wrote about this album in great detail here about three and a half years ago.  I have an iPod Shuffle that I use to work out......one of the tiny ones that you can clip to a shirt sleeve or belt loop....that will hold about 400 - 450 songs.  I have five songs from this album on that iPod, and could possibly include a few more.  It was actually one of the first live blues albums that I owned and it was a very energetic set of tunes by some of the genre's legends.

I've mentioned this track several times before, so it shouldn't be a surprise to longtime readers that I would include it.......Otis Rush's inspired reading of "Double Trouble," one of the classic tunes he recorded for Cobra Records during the late 1950's.  Though relatively brief at around 3:45, it's an action-packed 3:45.  Rush's vocal is one of his most intense and his piercing guitar work is awesome.  I've heard a lot of Rush's live recordings (and posted about them here) and to me, this is near the top of the heap for me.

Rush is one of my favorite blues artists, and has been for a long time.  I've always thought that his style would appeal to new blues fans because of his strong, soul-influenced vocals and his versatile guitar style, which mixes his own distinct qualities with influences from others such as B.B. King, Albert King, T-Bone Walker, and jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell.  When you listen to a collection of Otis Rush songs, you will hear hints of those other influences, but for this version of "Double Trouble," Otis is playing nothing but Otis.  Check it out!!!

Your Blues Fix Mix CD (Volume One) to date......

Track 1:  "Cold Women With Warm Hearts," Magic Slim & the Teardrops
Track 2:  "Son of Juke," Billy Branch
Track 3:  "Feel Like Blowing My Horn," Robert Lockwood, Jr.
Track 4:  "Big Boy Now," Big Jack Johnson
Track 5:  "Blues Man," B.B. King
Track 6"  "Four Cars Running," Larry Garner
Track 7:  "Cadillac Blues," Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents
Track 8:  "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues," Skip James
Track 9:  "Double Trouble" (Live), Otis Rush

More to come.........

A Blues Fix Mix CD - Volume One, Track Eight

For track 8 of our Blues Fix Mix CD, I decided that a change of pace was in order, so we're looking a a pre-war blues artist this week, but with a twist. One of my favorite pre-war blues artists (for those new to the blues, "pre-war" actually indicates the time prior to World War II) is Nehemiah "Skip" James, the enigmatic artist from Bentonia, MS who introduced the Bentonia style of blues to the world.  James recorded for Paramount Records in 1931 and the recordings that survived over the years are considered masterpieces of recorded blues not just for the era, but for all time.

James' style was something that you couldn't immediately get over.  His voice was an haunting falsetto and his guitar worked coupled finger-picking with a hypnotic bass line, which gave it a totally unique sound.  Even in those horribly scratchy recordings for Paramount, which have been cleaned up about as much as they possibly could, you get that James was a unique blues artists.  There were only a few artists who played in the Bentonia style......there are still only a few that do.

I didn't really want to put one of his Paramount sides on a mix CD......remember these were set up for new listeners, who I didn't figure would have the patience to endure the scratchy quality of the recordings (That being said, once you get a taste of Skip James' music, I strongly suggest that you check these recordings out.  They're are on a par with the recordings of Son House, Bukka White, and yes, Robert Johnson).  Fortunately, even though James basically vanished from sight after his Paramount recordings.....they didn't sell very well and he only received $40 and a train ticket for his efforts, so he opted to become an ordained minister, also driving a tractor and working as a supervisor on various plantations......he was rediscovered by blues fans in the early 60's and was able to perform and record again.

James' best post-war recordings were for Vanguard Records.  His Today! release was the first time I heard him and it was amazing.  The recording was crystal clear, one of the best recordings of the rediscovered Mississippi country blues artists, and he really seemed to be at the height of his powers, almost like it was just 1932 instead of 1964.  He sounded incredible as he re-created many of his old songs, plus a few new ones. He was in the hospital when he was found, and sadly, he battled illness for most of his "Comeback" years, passing away in 1969.  The song I selected for our Blues Fix Mix CD was the opening track on Today!  "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues" really showcases James' haunting vocals and his delicate guitar picking and, trust me, that's only the tip of the iceberg.

If you'd like to read more about Skip James, check out this FBF post from 2013.

Your Blues Fix Mix CD (Volume One) to date......

Track 1:  "Cold Women With Warm Hearts," Magic Slim & the Teardrops
Track 2:  "Son of Juke," Billy Branch
Track 3:  "Feel Like Blowing My Horn," Robert Lockwood, Jr.
Track 4:  "Big Boy Now," Big Jack Johnson
Track 5:  "Blues Man," B.B. King
Track 6"  "Four Cars Running," Larry Garner
Track 7:  "Cadillac Blues," Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents
Track 8"  "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues," Skip James

More to come.........