Robert Johnson lit the flame for me back in the 60s, when the cover of BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME showed me that Dylan was a Johnson fan. I wondered why Johnson seemed to think Chicago was in California. He was a poet born in the wrong skin and place. A few years ago in Dallas, my husband and I were given a private tour of the former recording studio where Johnson recorded some of his most famous songs. Our host played them for us on the spot, an unforgettable, spine-tingling moment. I look forward to leaning more about the blues from Hangnail Slim.
Sounds like an amazing experience! It doesn’t get better than Robert Johnson. Ever hear of Rory Block? She does RJ’s stuff brilliantly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqTUoV67M60
Really looking forward to seeing where you take this. I've loved the blues for most of my 78 years. My dad was a huge jazz fan, so I grew up listening to Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday along with Elvis and Jerry Lee and the R&B and gospel on Harlem stations whose signals just barely reached our distant suburb. I think the first live performance that really piqued my interest in the "roots" was Rev. Gary Davis playing in a high school gym on Long Island around 1962. Seen and heard a lot of the greats since then: Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, T-Bone Walker, BB King, Muddy Waters, Gatemouth Brown, Taj Mahal, Sherman Holmes, and many others., in concerts, coffee shops, blues bars, and folk festivals across North America. I used to listen over and over to Leadbelly's Library of Congress recordings.
Glad you started with a train song. This April, I'm planning to take the Amtrak "City of New Orleans" from Chicago to New Orleans, with a stopover in Memphis to attend the Juke Joint Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It'll be by second excursion to those three musical Meccas of the South (previous one was 2006). Any chance our paths will cross?
Nice to meet you! It sounds like you’ve had an incredible journey as a blues fan. I envy your first-hand experience of so many greats. Are there any standout performances you recall? Who are your favorite contemporary players currently touring?
Glad you like the train theme! As it happens, I’m in the process of writing an essay that develops it a bit further, exploring the link between blues and restlessness, travel. I hope to send the piece to subscribers this week.
I’d love to take the “City of New Orleans” one of these days. The trip you’re planning sounds like a blast. It reminds me of ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” where He takes the same route south from the Windy City, “bound for New Orleans.”
I was in Clarksdale in December - my first visit. Met a lot of cool people and heard some amazing music. I particularly enjoyed talking with Roger Stolle, proprietor of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art. He’s full of blues knowledge and stories. It was also a thrill to see Deak Harp play the Ground Zero Blues Club, then to buy a harmonica from him the day after the show at his store. He’s a force of nature onstage and a true character in conversation. And the harp he sold me plays great.
I so wish I could make this year’s Juke Joint Festival! Unfortunately, I can’t get there. But the 2025 event is in my sights!
The most memorable performance was probably Muddy Waters at the Esquire Show Bar in Montreal around 1970. The Esquire had a horseshoe-shaped bar with an elevated stage in the bottom of the U, and Muddy was in fine form as he wailed out songs like "Long Distance Call" with sweat pouring down. When you were in Clarksdale, you might have visited the Delta Blues Museum and seen the replica of the sharecropper cabin where he grew up.
A recent standout performance was the Tedeschi-Trucks Band at the University of Calgary about 10 years ago; they played in a big ballroom with only a few seats at the back, so most of the audiences was up dancing or swaying the whole night to the many standout numbers like "Made Up Mind." Performers I'd really like to see live these days include Keb Mo, Kingfish Ingram, and Samantha Fish. I also really liked early acoustic stuff from Larkin Poe, but saw them live a couple years ago, and their electric sound was too loud and shouty for my ears. Thanks for mentioning "Jesus Just Left Chicago" -- somehow never made it onto my radar (sonar?).
One venue I loved in my travels, though it was Zydeco rather than blues, was the Blue Moon Saloon and Guest House in Lafayette, Louisiana. Don't miss it if you're ever down that way.
The blues is a gift that keeps on giving. Like a lot of people I got into it backwards, through hard rock repurposing of blues classics and techniques. But the authenticity of the real deal captured me. My first blues purchase was a Howling Wolf compilation cassette for a dollar in the late eighties. Spoonful, Red Rooster, Built For Comfort and probably my favorite from the tape, Highway 49. Been a fan ever since and continue to unearth new favorites. We went to Mississippi a couple years ago and hit some of the spots on the blues trail, can't wait to get back. Wrangled a spot as a DJ at a gospel station once, but they had a sizable blues collection also. They didn't keep me around too long after I found it 😆
Hey Hangnail, I appreciate the read. My dad had on the old sound country singers like Tammy Wynett, Lynn Anderson and that whole genre. They'd be on our little radio during supper, each night. In a bit he'd bring in a 45 from the store and we'd hear it on that turn table over and again.
That's a chord you're hitting with blues sneaking back into the culture. A great many things be upsetting folks, but that music in it's wistfullness seems to be unpackaging some things unable to be said with words alone.
Thanks Ron! Nice to meet you too. I love that story - I got a lot of my tastes from the records my dad brought home, too. Glad the chord is resonating with you! I think the answers to many of our modern woes are things we already have but have maybe neglected a bit, very much including those good old songs our parents played.
Great stuff! Tedeschi-Trucks is the top of the mountain as far as live bands go – I’m planning to catch them later this year and can’t wait. I agree with you re Larkin Poe. As for Muddy, it’s hard to imagine a better live blues experience. He was a king.
Morning Train is terrific! Thanks for the recommendation. There’s something uniquely bluesy about rail travel. This may sound silly, but the first blues thing I can remember being moved by was from the cartoon Hey Arnold, in an episode where the characters investigate the mystery of a supposedly haunted train in their neighborhood. It all started for me right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT63MnVrxJg
Another performer on my contemporary bucket list is Carolyn Wonderland, an instrumental virtuoso who can also belt out a song. She does a great version of "Nobody's Fault But Mine." First, here's the 1927 original by Blind Willie Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Y_o4omd8T5c&ab_channel=Dude
I listened to these Wonderland songs yesterday while assembling furniture - a tedious task enlivened by great music. Thanks for the recommendation! Alvin Youngblood Hart is sure 'nuff one of the best in blues today. "My mind gets to ramblin' like the wild horses in the west" is an all-time favorite line. I think I first heard a version of it in the Judy Roderick interpretation of "I Know You Rider," though it's geese there, not horses. Either way, haunting, evocative stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwIl-7KykuQ
I’d rather drink muddy water and sleep in a hollow log than to hang around here being treated like a dirty dog.
I was born in Alabama, raised in Tennessee,
Just don’t bury me in Georgia,
that’s the last place I’d ever want to be.
That last one is mine.
The Blues will go on forever.
Robert Johnson lit the flame for me back in the 60s, when the cover of BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME showed me that Dylan was a Johnson fan. I wondered why Johnson seemed to think Chicago was in California. He was a poet born in the wrong skin and place. A few years ago in Dallas, my husband and I were given a private tour of the former recording studio where Johnson recorded some of his most famous songs. Our host played them for us on the spot, an unforgettable, spine-tingling moment. I look forward to leaning more about the blues from Hangnail Slim.
Sounds like an amazing experience! It doesn’t get better than Robert Johnson. Ever hear of Rory Block? She does RJ’s stuff brilliantly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqTUoV67M60
She plays a mean slide guitar. Thanks for the introduction. I'll listen to more.
Hi Hangnail,
Really looking forward to seeing where you take this. I've loved the blues for most of my 78 years. My dad was a huge jazz fan, so I grew up listening to Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday along with Elvis and Jerry Lee and the R&B and gospel on Harlem stations whose signals just barely reached our distant suburb. I think the first live performance that really piqued my interest in the "roots" was Rev. Gary Davis playing in a high school gym on Long Island around 1962. Seen and heard a lot of the greats since then: Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, T-Bone Walker, BB King, Muddy Waters, Gatemouth Brown, Taj Mahal, Sherman Holmes, and many others., in concerts, coffee shops, blues bars, and folk festivals across North America. I used to listen over and over to Leadbelly's Library of Congress recordings.
Glad you started with a train song. This April, I'm planning to take the Amtrak "City of New Orleans" from Chicago to New Orleans, with a stopover in Memphis to attend the Juke Joint Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It'll be by second excursion to those three musical Meccas of the South (previous one was 2006). Any chance our paths will cross?
Hi Robert,
Nice to meet you! It sounds like you’ve had an incredible journey as a blues fan. I envy your first-hand experience of so many greats. Are there any standout performances you recall? Who are your favorite contemporary players currently touring?
Glad you like the train theme! As it happens, I’m in the process of writing an essay that develops it a bit further, exploring the link between blues and restlessness, travel. I hope to send the piece to subscribers this week.
I’d love to take the “City of New Orleans” one of these days. The trip you’re planning sounds like a blast. It reminds me of ZZ Top’s “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” where He takes the same route south from the Windy City, “bound for New Orleans.”
I was in Clarksdale in December - my first visit. Met a lot of cool people and heard some amazing music. I particularly enjoyed talking with Roger Stolle, proprietor of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art. He’s full of blues knowledge and stories. It was also a thrill to see Deak Harp play the Ground Zero Blues Club, then to buy a harmonica from him the day after the show at his store. He’s a force of nature onstage and a true character in conversation. And the harp he sold me plays great.
I so wish I could make this year’s Juke Joint Festival! Unfortunately, I can’t get there. But the 2025 event is in my sights!
The most memorable performance was probably Muddy Waters at the Esquire Show Bar in Montreal around 1970. The Esquire had a horseshoe-shaped bar with an elevated stage in the bottom of the U, and Muddy was in fine form as he wailed out songs like "Long Distance Call" with sweat pouring down. When you were in Clarksdale, you might have visited the Delta Blues Museum and seen the replica of the sharecropper cabin where he grew up.
A recent standout performance was the Tedeschi-Trucks Band at the University of Calgary about 10 years ago; they played in a big ballroom with only a few seats at the back, so most of the audiences was up dancing or swaying the whole night to the many standout numbers like "Made Up Mind." Performers I'd really like to see live these days include Keb Mo, Kingfish Ingram, and Samantha Fish. I also really liked early acoustic stuff from Larkin Poe, but saw them live a couple years ago, and their electric sound was too loud and shouty for my ears. Thanks for mentioning "Jesus Just Left Chicago" -- somehow never made it onto my radar (sonar?).
One venue I loved in my travels, though it was Zydeco rather than blues, was the Blue Moon Saloon and Guest House in Lafayette, Louisiana. Don't miss it if you're ever down that way.
Keep on truckin'....
The blues is a gift that keeps on giving. Like a lot of people I got into it backwards, through hard rock repurposing of blues classics and techniques. But the authenticity of the real deal captured me. My first blues purchase was a Howling Wolf compilation cassette for a dollar in the late eighties. Spoonful, Red Rooster, Built For Comfort and probably my favorite from the tape, Highway 49. Been a fan ever since and continue to unearth new favorites. We went to Mississippi a couple years ago and hit some of the spots on the blues trail, can't wait to get back. Wrangled a spot as a DJ at a gospel station once, but they had a sizable blues collection also. They didn't keep me around too long after I found it 😆
Hey Hangnail, I appreciate the read. My dad had on the old sound country singers like Tammy Wynett, Lynn Anderson and that whole genre. They'd be on our little radio during supper, each night. In a bit he'd bring in a 45 from the store and we'd hear it on that turn table over and again.
That's a chord you're hitting with blues sneaking back into the culture. A great many things be upsetting folks, but that music in it's wistfullness seems to be unpackaging some things unable to be said with words alone.
I like where you're going. Nice to meet ya!
Thanks Ron! Nice to meet you too. I love that story - I got a lot of my tastes from the records my dad brought home, too. Glad the chord is resonating with you! I think the answers to many of our modern woes are things we already have but have maybe neglected a bit, very much including those good old songs our parents played.
I hear you brother.
Speaking of train songs: Another good one is "Morning Train" as performed by Curtis Salgado, Alan Hager, and Lahonda Steele:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU3YWu9WpCk&ab_channel=AlligatorRecords
Great stuff! Tedeschi-Trucks is the top of the mountain as far as live bands go – I’m planning to catch them later this year and can’t wait. I agree with you re Larkin Poe. As for Muddy, it’s hard to imagine a better live blues experience. He was a king.
Morning Train is terrific! Thanks for the recommendation. There’s something uniquely bluesy about rail travel. This may sound silly, but the first blues thing I can remember being moved by was from the cartoon Hey Arnold, in an episode where the characters investigate the mystery of a supposedly haunted train in their neighborhood. It all started for me right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT63MnVrxJg
Another performer on my contemporary bucket list is Carolyn Wonderland, an instrumental virtuoso who can also belt out a song. She does a great version of "Nobody's Fault But Mine." First, here's the 1927 original by Blind Willie Johnson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Y_o4omd8T5c&ab_channel=Dude
Wonderland doing it with John Mayall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pfD8sBWSSg&ab_channel=Bimbomable
And with Bonnie Raitt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rngXIW7P6MI&ab_channel=lecknertal
Also, check out her "Misunderstood": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsVMfARmqaI&ab_channel=carolynwonderland
My friend in Chicago, himself a fine blues guitarist, recently turned me onto another contemporary player I'd like to see: Alvin Youngblood Hart. Give a listen to Hart's "If Blues Was Money": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAP9CKuyWcE&list=OLAK5uy_lQNVKSga8rwIjDFTWc717R9t_Zj3CzVIs&index=11&ab_channel=AlvinYoungbloodHart-Topic
I listened to these Wonderland songs yesterday while assembling furniture - a tedious task enlivened by great music. Thanks for the recommendation! Alvin Youngblood Hart is sure 'nuff one of the best in blues today. "My mind gets to ramblin' like the wild horses in the west" is an all-time favorite line. I think I first heard a version of it in the Judy Roderick interpretation of "I Know You Rider," though it's geese there, not horses. Either way, haunting, evocative stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwIl-7KykuQ