At His Home - Lafayette Leake

Lafayette Leake (June 1, 1919 - August 14, 1990) was a blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.
Leake was born in Winona, Missouri, in 1919. Information about his early years is sparse, but in the early 1950s he joined the Big Three Trio (replacing Leonard Caston) and began his association with Chess Records, where he worked closely with bassist, producer, and songwriter Willie Dixon.

Leake played piano on One Dozen Berrys, Chuck Berry's second album, released in 1958 by Chess. He was then on Chuck Berry Is on Top; Leake (not Berry's longtime bandmate Johnnie Johnson) played the prominent piano on the classic original rendition of "Johnny B. Goode". Leake played on numerous other Chess sessions from the '50s through the '70s, backing many of the Chess greats, including Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, and Little Walter.

During the 1960s Willie Dixon formed the Chicago Blues All-Stars, with Leake as resident pianist. Leake toured and recorded with this group until the mid-1970s. After that he did little recording or touring, although he appeared with Chuck Berry at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1986 and recorded "Hidden Charms" with Willie Dixon in 1988.

Besides being a respected performer, Leake was a composer. He recorded a number of his own songs as a member of various ensembles, and others have been covered by notable musicians. Fleetwood Mac, for example, recorded his song "Love That Woman" on their album The Original Fleetwood Mac. Leake's song "Wrinkles", performed by the Big Three Trio, was featured on the soundtrack of David Lynch's 1990 film, Wild at Heart. Blues band Slo Leak was named after one of Leake's instrumental pieces.

Leake fell into a diabetic coma in his home in Chicago, where he remained undiscovered for several days, dying in hospital on August 14, 1990
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I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles

Ann Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an African American singer-songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s on the Hi Records label. Two of her most popular songs are "I Can't Stand the Rain" and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down", which she wrote with her husband, Don Bryant, and radio broadcaster Bernard "Bernie" Miller and were subsequently popularized in cover versions by, among others, Eruption (1978) and Paul Young (1984), respectively.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Ann Peebles was given her first opportunity as a professional performer by Hi Records' Gene "Bowlegs" Miller during a 1968 trip to sit in singing with him at a Memphis nightclub. A popular local bandleader, Miller was known for helping other musicians, such as members of the Hi Rhythm Section, get their start in the Memphis music industry. Peebles soon began penning and singing hits for the label, co-writing with label staff songwriter Don Bryant, whom she married in 1974. She released a number of commercially successful and critically well received albums produced by Willie Mitchell on Hi Records throughout the 1970s, until the rise of disco music in the late 1970s took her music out of the limelight. Although Hi Records was sold in 1977, she reunited with Mitchell in 1989 to produce her comeback album, Call Me.

In 2006 she released the album Brand New Classics, which consisted of re-recordings of some of her songs in an acoustic style.

Peebles has been sampled by many hip hop artists, in particular RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan. Furthermore her track "I Can't Stand The Rain" was first covered by Patrice Banks of Graham Central Station on the 1975 release of Ain't No 'Bout A Doubt It album and has also been utilized as a sample by the hip hop duo Reflection Eternal (a collaborative group comprising conscious hip hop artist Talib Kweli, and producer Hi-Tek) for their song "Memories Live" on their debut album Train Of Thought. "I Can't Stand the Rain" was also recorded by Grammy Award-winning singer Tina Turner for her 1984 Private Dancer album and released as the sixth single from the album in early 1985. In 1997, Missy Elliott recorded "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", an interpolation of "I Can't Stand the Rain", as the first single from her debut album, Supa Dupa Fly. In addition, "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" was sampled in the track "The Plan" by Wu-Tang Affiliated group Sunz of Man.

Peebles joined Cyndi Lauper on a recording of Rollin' and Tumblin' on Lauper's 11th studio album, Memphis Blues.
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Mayday - Jefferson Fox

Life writes songs, I sing em. -jf
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Lookin' For A Home - Olive Brown

If the blues seems to be the only musical genre named after a color, the performer named Olive Brown represents a small part of the music's unique color wheel. Brown changed her name from Olive Jefferson and apparently not for matrimonial reasons, so an assumption can be made that she was seeking an association with a pigment in demand with interior decorators and designers. From a career perspective, Brown makes for quite a unique shade, in that she played drums as well as sang, led her own bands such as Olive Brown & Her Blues Chasers, was associated with the music scenes in three major cities in the Midwest, and was comfortable not only with blues but with jazz and even early rock & roll.

Jefferson had yet to turn Brown when, at age five, she sang at a sanctified temple in St. Louis. By then her family, including a mother who played ragtime piano, had relocated to Detroit. Her professional debut was in Motor City clubs in the early '40s, and within several years she had relocated west to the Windy City. Brown maintained an axis of gigging most of her career between Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis. Because of both being born and dying in the latter city, it is there that her name is often listed as a native talent, following Helen Brown alphabetically. Her connection with Chicago is just as strong, however, and includes the required connections with talent such as the Todd Rhodes Orchestra, Earl Bostic, Cecil Gant, Tiny Bradshaw, Gene Ammons, and even the young soul singer Jackie Wilson.

In the mid-'60s she recorded for the Spivey label, a typical mishmash organized by label maestro Victoria Spivey, which allows listeners to sample the color contrast between guest star Muddy Waters and Olive Brown, a brown-in that might be followed nicely with the album Raw Sienna by Savoy Brown. In this same period, Brown began nearly a decade living in Canada, but this was hardly an exile from music. The roster at a Colonial Tavern date recorded by the CBC in Toronto promises great things, featuring Brown as vocalist with a band including the marvelous trumpeter Buck Clayton, stalwart pianist Sir Charles Thompson, and basso profundo Tommy Potter. Like many of the radio network's live recordings, this '60s session has never been issued on disc.

A similar fate seems to have been in store for some of Brown's other great moments on tape. Her track entitled "Roll Like a Wheel" received much attention when included on a compilation entitled Don't Freeze on Me: Independent Women's Blues, but was actually never released at the time it was recorded. In the early '70s she returned to St. Louis and began performing on the major riverboat lines. In 1973 she received rave reviews for a boisterous performance at the St. Louis Ragtime Festival.
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I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles

Ann Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an African American singer-songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s on the Hi Records label. Two of her most popular songs are "I Can't Stand the Rain" and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down", which she wrote with her husband, Don Bryant, and radio broadcaster Bernard "Bernie" Miller and were subsequently popularized in cover versions by, among others, Eruption (1978) and Paul Young (1984), respectively.
A native of St Louis, Ann Peebles was given her first opportunity as a professional performer by Hi Records' Gene "Bowlegs" Miller during a 1968 trip to sit in singing with him at a Memphis nightclub. A popular local bandleader, Miller was known for helping other musicians, such as members of the Hi Rhythm Section, get their start in the Memphis music industry. Peebles soon began penning and singing hits for the label, co-writing with label staff songwriter Don Bryant, whom she married in 1974. She released a number of commercially successful and critically well received albums produced by Willie Mitchell on Hi Records throughout the 1970s, until the rise of disco music in the late 1970s took her music out of the limelight. Although Hi Records was sold in 1977, she reunited with Mitchell in 1989 to produce her comeback album, Call Me.

In 2006 she released the album Brand New Classics, which consisted of re-recordings of some of her songs in an acoustic style.

Peebles has been sampled by many hip hop artists, in particular RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan. Furthermore her track "I Can't Stand The Rain" was first covered by Patrice Banks of Graham Central Station on the 1975 release of Ain't No 'Bout A Doubt It album and has also been utilized as a sample by the hip hop duo Reflection Eternal (a collaborative group comprising conscious hip hop artist Talib Kweli, and producer Hi-Tek) for their song "Memories Live" on their debut album Train Of Thought. "I Can't Stand the Rain" was also recorded by Grammy Award-winning singer Tina Turner for her 1984 Private Dancer album and released as the sixth single from the album in early 1985. In 1997, Missy Elliott recorded "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)", an interpolation of "I Can't Stand the Rain", as the first single from her debut album, Supa Dupa Fly. In addition, "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" was sampled in the track "The Plan" by Wu-Tang Affiliated group Sunz of Man.

Peebles joined Cyndi Lauper on a recording of Rollin' and Tumblin' on Lauper's 11th studio album, Memphis Blues.
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Hey Joe - Tony Campanella Band

Heavy Electric Blues from the Lou! Since the age of eleven, Tony has been infatuated with the sound and feel of the guitar and the positive vibe that resonates from its strings. He was fed the music of the blues greats like Buddy Guy, Freddie and Albert King, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters. Soon that expanded to guitar legends like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan. With his group, The Tony Campanella Band, all of his influences come together to produce heavy hitting but soulful music that can't be described as just Blues. The band has shared the stage with the likes of Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Walter Trout, Indegenous, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Etta James, Bernard Allison, Micheal Burks and Robin Trower to name a few. With Bike on Bass Guitar and Terry Melton on drums, they form a group that truly lives up to the moniker "Power Trio".
Take your time to check them out!
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Bye Bye Baby - Soulard Blues Band

Born in 1946 and raised in St. Louis, Art Dwyer grew up on the city's north side. "Rufus, the Dells, T-Bone Walker, Otis Redding, and of course, Albert and B.B. King were my music. It fit in with everything my friends and me did. "Art drifted around for quite some time, working as a union organizer, a Maritime employee and a ditch digger, but he never lost the music. "There was always a dance party or jam session going on somewhere.

That's how the Soulard Blues Band came together."Art has performed with the great Henry Townsend, J.B. Hutto, Little Johnny Taylor, Fernest Arceneaux and the Thunders, the Zydeco Farmers, Larry Davis, the legendary Billy Gayles, Chuck Berry, Doc Terry, Tommy Bankhead, Albert Collins and many others. In 1978, Art organized the Soulard Blues Band. Since 1987 Art has been a disc jockey on St. Louis' number one community radio station, KDHX 88.1 FM, hosting the weekly blues program, "Blues in the Night".
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Lala Blues - Pokey Lafarge & The South City Tree

Of the many roots musicians traveling the world and spreading the early American music tradition, Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three are the next in line to make a significant impact on music enthusiasts everywhere. From St. Louis, Missouri, their creative mix of early jazz, string ragtime, country blues and western swing rings true and fine, making them among the most innovative of all the purists performing American roots music today. It’s wonderfully infectious, and all laid down in front of a big, big swingin’ beat. A lot of performers are content to play old material, reworking the tunes to give them new life or to stamp them with personal style. But this group, led by guitar-plucking troubadour Pokey LaFarge, achieves timelessness with original songs while honoring the legendary artists of yesterday through covered tunes. Accompanied by The South City Three, Pokey uses his booming voice as an instrument with an incredible range; one moment he shouts a line and the next he croons above his parlor guitar. Pokey’s extraordinary blend of raw talent and refined, idiosyncratic charm turns reviewers into poets as they attempt to label his one-of-a-kind sound.
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Just One More Time - Billy Gayles

Billy (d April 8, 1993)was one of St. Louis' finest. A drummer and vocalist that played with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm before Tina, Billy played until the time of his death!
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Texas Flood - Larry Davis

Larry Davis (December 4, 1936 – April 19, 1994) was an American electric Texas blues and soul blues musician. He is best known for co-composing the song "Texas Flood", later recorded to greater commercial success by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Davis swapped playing the drums to learn to play the bass guitar. In the mid 1950s, Davis had a working partnership with Fenton Robinson, and following the recommendation of Bobby Bland was given a recording contract by the Duke label. Davis had three singles released, which included "Texas Flood" and "Angels in Houston". Thereafter, Davis had limited opportunity in the recording studio. He resided in St. Louis, Missouri for a while, and played bass in Albert King's group. He also learned conventional guitar at this time, as the original guitar playing on Davis's recording of "Texas Flood" was by Robinson.

Several single releases on the Virgo and Kent labels followed, but in 1972 a motorcycle accident temporarily paralyzed Davis' left side.[2] He returned a decade later with an album released by Rooster Blues, Funny Stuff, which was produced by Oliver Sain. He won four W.C. Handy Awards in 1982, yet a decade on he was known only to blues specialists. His 1987 Pulsar LP, I Ain't Beggin' Nobody, proved difficult even for blues enthusiasts to locate.

In 1992, Bullseye Blues issued another Davis offering, Sooner or Later, that highlighted his booming vocals and Albert King influenced guitar work. Fate then came calling again and Davis died of cancer in April 1994, at the age of 57
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Boogie Woogie Dream - Albert Ammons & Pete Johnson

Pete Johnson (March 25, 1904 – March 23, 1967) was an American boogie-woogie and jazz pianist.

Journalist Tony Russell stated in his book The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, that "Johnson shared with the other members of the 'Boogie Woogie Trio' the technical virtuosity and melodic fertility that can make this the most exciting of all piano music styles, but he was more comfortable than Meade Lux Lewis in a band setting; and as an accompanist, unlike Lewis or Albert Ammons, he could sparkle but not outshine his singing partner". Fellow journalist, Scott Yanow (Allmusic) added "Johnson was one of the three great boogie-woogie pianists (along with Lewis and Ammons) whose sudden prominence in the late 1930s helped make the style very popular".
Johnson was born in Kansas City, Missouri.

He began his musical career in 1922 as a drummer in Kansas City. From 1926 to 1938 he worked as a pianist, often accompanying Big Joe Turner. Record producer John Hammond discovered him in 1936 and got him to play at the Famous Door in New York. In 1938 Johnson and Turner appeared in the "From Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall. This concert started a boogie-woogie craze, and Turner and two other performers at the concert, Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, worked together afterwards at Café Society for a long time; they also toured and recorded together. In 1941 Lewis, Ammons and Johnson were featured in the movie short Boogie-Woogie Dream.
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Hide and Seek - Stickman - New Release Review

I just received a new recording, Hide and Seek by Neil Haverstick who goes by the name Stickman. This recording is a guitar players daydream. It explores every type of sound that can be made with a fretless guitar, Oud, 12,19 and 36 tone guitars, slide, fretless banjo and 12 and 19 tone bass when complimented by vocal, Djembe and drums. I mean I myself have thought of creating things like this when you start a theme and add textures to it with different instruments. Goin' To Memphis opens the recording with an Oud and is supplemented with what to me sounds like a flute. Very primitive and tribal sounding to me. I like it. Blue Delta is a slide lead track with an eerie swamp sound from Oud and Fretless Guitar. Very cool. Blues Ain't Nothing is a more conventional blues rock style song with a 12 tone Tele, vocals, bass and drums. There are some more conventional blues guitar riffs for those of you who are less open to experimentation. Big Ol' Train has a bluegrassy sound with fretless banjo and vocals although this turns into a full out rocker on 19 tone electric guitar and full band compliment. Cool concept. Wolf at the Door has a drone note that plays under the melody of an 36 tone tele and 12 tone bass. It has a primitive blues sound and is quite interesting. Then a straightforward contemporary but still primitive continuation with vocals. Stickman gets some really great grinding tones on this song. Lenny Bro is a solitary blues guitar instrumental type song with deliberate melancholy melody using 12 tone Tele and Pimentel classic. Charlene is a grimy blues rocker with 19 tone guitar that has a very conventional structure. I think just about anyone could relate to it. Hide and Seek is a quirky nursery type song developed into a textural acoustic number with experimental string instrumental sounds on fretless guitar and Oud. Blues For North Africa starts off with the African drum and is joined by textural fretless guitar instrumental sounds. Animal Boogie begins with a trap drum solo which sets the scene for a Freeway Jam type song. In this case instead of going the entirely primitive Stickman takes it in the experimental or improvisational jazz direction on 12 tone tele and bass. Last Night is an ethereal vocal chant. Although this may not appeal to the mainstream blues fan, I really think this recording merits the attention of anyone who is interested in guitar, textural music and soundscape. I really found it a pleasure to listen to although it's difficult to explain. Possibly that's good!
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St. Louis Blues - Mound City Blue Blowers

The Mound City Blue Blowers were an American novelty jazz ensemble, formed in St. Louis, Missouri and given its nickname. It was co-founded by Red McKenzie and Jack Bland and performed during in the 1920s and 1930s.

First assembled in 1923, the group's original members were Red McKenzie playing comb and tissue paper, Dick Slevin on kazoo, and Jack Bland on banjo. The band also included, in lieu of a drum kit, a traveler's suitcase played with foot and whisk brooms. Their debut recording, the 1924 release "Arkansas Blues" b/w "Blue Blues", was a hit in the Midwest. They recorded twelve tunes in 1924 and 1925; Frankie Trumbauer and Eddie Lang played on some of the tracks.

In 1929-1931 the group also made at least two short performance films: The Opry House (1929) and Nine O'Clock Folks (1931), which included "I Ain't Got Nobody","Let Me Call You Sweeheart," "My Gal Sal" and "St. Louis Blues."

After 1925, McKenzie recorded under his own name as a vocalist, but returned to the Mound City name in 1929 for several sessions with jazz stars including Jack Teagarden, Coleman Hawkins, Glenn Miller, and Pee Wee Russell. In 1931, the group recorded with McKenzie, Hawkins, Muggsy Spanier, and Jimmy Dorsey. The last recordings to bear the Mound City name, 25 songs from 1935-1936, included appearances from Nappy Lamare, Spooky Dickenson, Billy Wilson, Bunny Berigan, Yank Lawson, and Eddie Miller.
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Goin' Up The Country - "Papa Egg Shell" Casey

The unfortunately named Papa Egg Shell Casey was a relatively obscure St Louis bluesman in the 1930's who recorded very little but these show him to have been a very good singer and excellent guitar player. Sometimes also known as Papa Slick Head, Casey gained his nickname as a result of his premature baldness. The few recordings he made demonstrate his dexterity on guitar using picked strings, backed by a strong, slightly nasal voice. His song "Goin' Up the Country", which he wrote, survives as a very accessible track and one of the best examples of takes on the 'Kansas City Blues' theme. There is virtually no reliable biographical detail on him and no references to him after the second world war.
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New Release by Mary Bridget Davies - Wanna Feel Somethin' - Review

I just received this debut release Wanna Feel Somethin' by Mary Bridget Davies. Excuse my French but this cd kicks ass. Seven of the 10 tracks on this release are self penned and the band just cooks. Davies has a great blues voice and a lot of Aretha's flair. That's a killer combination. Your Kinda Love has roots in Muddy with rhythm along the lines of Hoochie Coochie Man but this song is strait up and Davis sings with conviction. Won't pay You Mind is a jump blues and has great guitar lead track which gets you going. Again Davies has terrific vocal style. There are some cool horn and guitar solos throughout that give the already great track some real some weight. Same Ol' Blues slows things down and gives Davies the chance to show her vocal styling which by the way doesn't resemble American Idol (whew!). Again Davies vocals are punctuated with very nice guitar accompaniment by Dave Hayes. Here is where you can really see some of the Aretha influence come through where she passes on the Star Search pyrotechnics. Real Thing gets a funky groove going and is handled a lot like "the real thing" as opposed to later pretenders mimicking the funky soul groove of the 60's and 70's. Great track. Gettin' Stronger.... starts off with a great little slide interlude and leads into again a soul based blues tune from earlier times. Excellent. The title track, Wanna Feel Somethin' is a soul, blues, funk fusion track that works well with the set and I can't say a negative thing about Davies' voice..I really like it. Trick The Devil begins with a country blues like slide guitar hook and gives Davies a solid basis to stretch her wing vocally again telling stories and picking up steam toward the end developing into a full swing. The recording ends with a couple of cover tunes, Wonderwall and Thunder and Lightnin' which are not as strongly written as Davies' own compositions. Here voice is still strong and these tracks give her to show different sides of her voice but don't add significantly to the overall release. And I do want to mention the band: Dave Hayes on guitar and vocals, Gary Roberts on bass and vocals, Chris Hazelton on Organ, Keys and vocals, Joe Voye on Drums and vocals, Pete Carroll on Trumpet and vocals, Mick Rowland on sax and vocals and Aaron Thomas on tambourine do a terrific job,

I really like this recording. Mary Bridgett Davies is a great up coming singer/songwriter and I'm looking forward to see what she comes up with next.

Bman

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Can't Make Another Day - Edith North Johnson

Edith North Johnson (January 2, 1903 – February 28, 1988) was an American classic female blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Her most noted tracks were "Honey Dripper Blues", "Can't Make Another Day" and "Eight Hour Woman". She wrote another of her songs, "Nickel's Worth of Liver Blues".
Born Edith North, in 1928 she married a local record producer, Jesse Johnson. She originally worked at her husband's Deluxe Music Store as a sales person. Although not a professional singer, between 1928 and 1929 Johnson recorded eighteen sides. She started on QRS Records in 1928, later switching to Paramount. Her output tally included those from a recording session in Grafton, Wisconsin, for the Paramount label with Charley Patton. Oddly, it is now reckoned that Patton did not play on any of her recordings.

During World War II, Johnson managed a taxicab operation in St. Louis, as well as later running Johnson's Deluxe Cafė after her husband's death in 1946. By 1961, she had returned to recording when Samuel Charters tracked her down. She was accompanied by Henry Brown on Charters' set entitled, The Blues in St. Louis. It was released by Folkways.

Using pseudonyms such as Hattie North (on Vocalion) and Maybelle Allen, Johnson also earlier waxed additional tracks for other small labels. Under the Hattie North name, she recorded "Lovin' That Man Blues" with Count Basie.

Her recording of "Honey Dripper Blues" was the inspiration for the nickname used by Roosevelt Sykes. In her later life, Johnson spent time undertaking social work in her hometown.

Johnson died in St. Louis in February 1988, at the age of 85
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LIGHTNIN' SLIM & WHISPERING SMITH

Lightnin' Slim (March 13, 1913 - July 27, 1974) was an African-American Louisiana blues musician, who recorded for Excello Records and played in a style similar to its other Louisiana artists.
Lightnin' Slim was born Otis V. Hicks in St. Louis, Missouri. moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the age of thirteen. Taught guitar by his older brother Layfield, Slim was playing in bars in Baton Rouge by the late 1940s.

He debuted on J. D. "Jay" Miller's Feature Records label in 1954 with "Bad Luck Blues" ("If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all"). Slim then recorded for Excello Records for twelve years, starting in the mid 1950s, often collaborating with his brother-in-law, Slim Harpo and with harmonica player Lazy Lester.

Slim took time off from the blues for a period of time and ended up working in a foundry in Pontiac, Michigan,[citation needed] which resulted in him suffering from constantly having his hands exposed to high temperatures. He was re-discovered by Fred Reif in 1970, in Pontiac, where he was living in a rented room at Slim Harpo's sister's house. Reif soon got him back performing again and a new recording contract with Excello, this time through Bud Howell, the present President of the company. His first gig was a reunion concert at the 1971 University of Chicago Folk Festival with Lazy Lester, whom Reif had brought from Baton Rouge in January 1971.

In the 1970s, Slim performed on tours in Europe, both in the United Kingdom and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland where he was often accompanied by Moses "Whispering" Smith on harmonica. He last toured the UK in 1973, with the American Blues Legends package.

In July 1974, Slim died of stomach cancer in Detroit, Michigan, aged 61.

Moses "Whispering" Smith (January 25, 1932 – April 28, 1984) was an American blues harmonicist and singer. He recorded tracks including "A Thousand Miles from Nowhere" and "Texas Flood", and worked with both Lightnin' Slim and Silas Hogan. He was inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame.
Smith was born in Union Church, Mississippi.

In the 1960s, Smith's harmonica playing accompanied recordings by swamp blues notables Lightnin' Slim and Silas Hogan, before he was able to record some tracks of his own making. At this time he worked alongside the Crowley, Louisiana based record producer, J. D. "Jay" Miller, and his output was released by Excello Records. His singles included "Mean Woman Blues", "I Tried So Hard", and "Don't Leave Me", plus the instrumental tracks "Live Jive" and "Hound Dog Twist".

Although he was a powerful singer, and a straight but unsophisticated harmonica player, his potential was diminished by appearing at the back end of the swamp blues period. He recorded his final album for Excello in 1970.

Whispering Smith died in April 1984 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the age of 52
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Twine Time - Alvin Cash & The Crawlers

Alvin Cash (February 15, 1939 – November 21, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor.
Born Alvin Welch in St. Louis, Missouri, and a graduate of St. Louis's Sumner High School (also attended by Luther Ingram, Billy Davis, Jr., and Tina Turner), he and three brothers moved to Chicago, where they sang and danced while in search of a recording contract. Andre Williams saw them perform as The Crawlers and had them record a tune, "Twine Time", which was a rewrite of Williams' 1957 hit song, "Bacon Fat". The tune became a pop hit in 1965, and whereas 'The Crawlers' proper (Cash's brothers) did not play on the track, The Nightliters did contribute as the backing band. "Twine Time" became popular in the UK in the Northern soul scene in the 1970s.

Soon after the success of the single, The Nightliters changed their name to The Crawlers and began touring with Cash; they would later change their name again to The Registers.

Cash went solo after a few further singles, and recorded an album in tribute to Muhammad Ali; he also acted in several blaxploitation films, such as Petey Wheatstraw and Black Jack. He continued performing in the Chicago area into the 1990s, and died from ulcer complications in 1999.
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You're So Fine - The Mojo Roots

If you think there's nothing new and exciting coming out of the blues genre, you haven't heard The Mojo Roots. Their brand of harp-driven, soul-soaked blues is nothing short of electrifying, shifting effortlessly from a driving, hard-hitting shuffle to an aching, tear-dripping slow blues. Having shared the stage with artists such as Jimmie Vaughan, Roomful of Blues, and John Lee Hooker Jr., The Mojo Roots are captivating audiences all across the Midwest.

Fronting the band on harp and vocals, Jordan Thomas loses himself in every song---with incredible results. Thomas's passionate vocals and fiery harp-playing truly set The Mojo Roots apart, and when off the harp, his rhythm guitar work fills just the right niche. On the lead guitar, Trevor ''T.J.'' Judkins is quickly winning accolades as an incredibly virtuosic young guitarist, with a rich tone and economy of playing in the style of Peter Green. Bassist Jim Rush, a stalwart Midwest blues performer for over three decades, holds the band together with thick, punchy bass lines. An accomplished front man in his own right, Rush also shares the microphone on some tunes. Paired with drummer Andy Naugle's clean and controlled backbeat, steeped in the tradition of great Chicago blues bands, Rush and Naugle form an unshakeable rhythm foundation for this blues tour-de-force.

With the release of their first full-length album Thirteen Shades of Blue in 2010, The Mojo Roots are poised to take their place as one of the Midwest's finest blues bands. Comprised of thirteen diverse, all-original tracks, Thirteen Shades of Blue serves as a testament to the band's devotion to both preserving and further developing the blues.
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Funky Situation - Cash McCall

Cash McCall (born Maurice Dollison Jr., January 28, 1941, New Madrid, Missouri) is an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his 1966 R&B hit, "When You Wake Up". McCall's long career has seen him evolve in musical styles from gospel to soul to the blues. He is not to be confused with the 1960 film of the same name.
Cash joined the United States Army, and then settled in Chicago where he had lived for a period as a child. In 1964, he played guitar and sang, alongside Otis Clay, with the Gospel Songbirds, who recorded for Excello Records. Cash later joined another gospel singing ensemble, the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers.

Billed under his birth name, his debut solo single release was "Earth Worm" (1963). Three years later he co-wrote "When You Wake Up" with the record producer, Monk Higgins. His initial soul styled demo was issued by Thomas Records, who chose to call him Cash McCall. The song reached #19 on the US Billboard R&B chart. This led to McCall touring with Lou Christie and Mitch Ryder in Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. However, subsequent releases for both the Thomas and Checker labels failed to chart. These included the song, "It's Wonderful To Be In Love". In 1967, McCall co-wrote "That's How It Is (When You're in Love)", a Top 30 R&B hit for Otis Clay.

Under the tutelage of Willie Dixon, McCall went on to become a session musician and songwriter for Chess Records. In the late 1960s, McCall, along with Jimmy Dawkins and Johnny Twist, played guitar on some of George "Wild Child" Butler's early recordings.

McCall gravitated towards the blues in the 1970s. He issued Omega Man (1973) before relocating to Los Angeles in 1976 and, by 1983, McCall had released No More Doggin'. In 1985, McCall and his band, appeared at the Long Beach Blues Festival. In 1987, Stony Plain Records released the album, Cash Up Front. The collection included notables such as Nathan East and Welton Gite (bass); Chuck Findley (flugelhorn, trumpet); Hank Cicalo (sound engineer) and Bernie Grundman (mastering); Les McCann and Richard Tee (piano); plus Phil Upchurch (rhythm guitar).

McCall co-produced Willie Dixon's Grammy Award clinching Hidden Charms (1988), and played in Dixon's All-Stars band. Since then he has toured as a solo artist, and appeared with the Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings for whom he has written several tracks. He has also provided backing to the singer known as Big Twist, and performed in the Chicago Blues Review. McCall's songs have been recorded by The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Mighty Reapers, Margie Evans, Tyrone Davis and Mitty Collier
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