Bman's Blues Report

There's not much chance of making jug band music without a jug, although a few have tried. A washtub bass doesn't hurt, either. In fact, one of the main concepts of this tricky, goofy, and spirited style of music is to create a bass line out of something that basically sounds like a pile of junk. Perhaps it was supposed to be called "junk band music." There would be no more expert opinion than that of Dewey Corley, who was not only the leader of the Beale Street Jug Band from the '30s onward, but also one of the great players on all manner of jug band ordnance: including, of course, jug, and ranging from the depth-charge of the washtub bass to the insect-like whine of the kazoo, upon which he is considered one of the great soloists. In his later years, he also turned out to be one of the great A&R men, helping record companies such as Adelphi scout out missing Memphis blues legends such as the elusive Hacksaw Harney and the superb guitarist Willie Morris. Corl...

Walter Miller was born in Whiteville, TN. on February 7, 1907. The details of his life are scarce and it's not really known when he moved to Memphis to become a musician. By the time that George Mitchell recorded him for Arhoolie in Memphis, Miller was 60 years old. Mitchell recorded three solo sides by him, (one was unissued at the time), and also recorded him as a duet with the Memphis blues legend Dewey Corley. Mitchell described Miller as "An untidy man who takes to the bottle whenever he can, living in a room of one of the many dilapidated apartment complexes on the sideroads off Beale Street". Mitchell recorded him again in Memphis in 1969, the two cuts appeared on a Flyright Records LP compilation in England. Bengt Olsson recorded one more song from Miller in 1969 or 1970, that appeared on a U.S.A. Adephi Records comp, where he was backed by guitarist Willie Morris and Mose Vinson on piano. The details about Miller seem to drop off after this. Another Walter Miller...