November 2015

Magic city blues news October Issue #267 Birmgnham Al Iss

Issue #268 Birmingham Alabama

From the prez Happy early Thanksgiving, Magic City Blues Society members! As 2015 nears the end, I’m happy to report plenty of opportunities to “get your blues on” before 2016 rolls in. November starts off with the MCBS Annual (I’m not sure which annual # it is, but it’s a meaningful number) Canned Jam on the 6th at the usual spot, Ranelli’s Deli on the Southside. Bring your six string, cigar box, diddley bow, harmonica, bass, drum sticks, or whatever your instrument of choice is, along with some canned food stuffs that we donate to local charities. I’m confident that over the years the MCBS has donated At Least 1,000 tons of canned goods – let’s keep up the good work! Two days later local favorite and Memphis’onian Jeff Jensen is at the Daniel Day Gallery for their running Sunday afternoon show. Jeff is a high-energy entertainer, and Daniel is a good friend of the MCBS, so let’s show some support there, too. The Red Wolf is adding national act Debbie Davies to their usual Wednesday night throw-down on November 18th – it promises to be a night to remember, and if you don’t know, “ain’t no party like a Red Wolf party….” Tab Benoit is back in Birmingham at Workplay on November 22 – one of the finest contemporary

blues musicians around, and a heckofa entertainer, too. Briefly looking ahead to December, the highlight as usual is the Blues Ball featuring 2015 International Blues Challenge winner Eddie Cotton on December 19, with the Elijah Butler Band opening. Other December events include the Open Jam at Ranelli’s on the 4th, Jonny Lang’s rescheduled Iron City show on the 9th, and Lightnin’ Malcolm at Ranelli’s on the 11th. As you can see, 2015 is closing out with a pretty strong and diverse menu of events for local blues lovers. Come January, we’ll have our annual meeting and election of officers. I’d encourage anyone who has interest, or has even had the passing thought of getting involved, to contact myself or any of the other board members to let us know or ask questions about being a board member or volunteering your time in some form or fashion. As we all know, the MCBS is mostly a grass roots volunteer organization, and if we could get even just a few more of our 300+ members to devote just a few hours a year it would make a big difference. It’s certainly a lot of work, but it’s even more certainly a labor of love that has a significantly positive impact on our home city. See you at some shows! Jamey McMahon

MAGIC CITY BLUES SOCIETY P.O. Box 59506 Birmingham, AL 35259 Executive BOARD MEMBERS President: Jamey McMahon [email protected] Vice President: Roger Stephenson [email protected] Treasurer: Cabbie Bowes [email protected] Secretary: Mona Lee [email protected] Board at Large: Eva Mitchell [email protected] Richard Kirby [email protected] John Braswell [email protected] Todd Eckstrom [email protected] Membership: Susan LeFoy [email protected] Librarian: Mark Giorgi [email protected] www.MAGICCITYBLUES.org

Next open meeting Ranelli’s Soul Pit Nov 6, 2015

CD review Eddie Cotton One at a Time In a bit of Perfect Timing for the Magic City Blues Society’s upcoming December 19 Blues Ball at Workplay, headline performer Eddie Cotton’s newest cd has been released. One at a Time is another modern masterpiece, showcasing Cotton’s all original fourteen tracks, award winning vocals and scorching guitar playing. The 2015 International Blues Challenge winner in the band category, Cotton is guaranteed to shock, awe, and entertain us all next month in one of the most eagerly anticipated Blues Ball shows in years. Like most all of the Mississippi blues masters, Cotton’s first exposure to music occurred in the church, serving as minister of music for his father’s congregation. And it’s easy to hear how that background collided with the

what he wanted, but he “will not throw it back.” “Dead End Street” has a bit of a slow Prince song vibe to it – very pretty stuff. “Filling Me With Pleasure” is a funky blues, another one that will be great to dance to – almost a modern day bluesier Commodores type track. blues of BB and Albert King and Bobby Rush and dozens of others, the result being a rollicking good time of soulful vocals, funky bass lines, and dominant but classical blues guitar. Most of the tunes on One at a Time are fun and upbeat – the type of songs that will result in the Paul & Wendy Walters shedding their shoes and cutting a rug! “Catch I Wanted” is going to be a great one to get moving to, Cotton commenting that his “catch” may not be

Listening to this cd, along with Cotton’s earlier Here I Come and Live at the Alamo Theatre have me convinced we’ve got a superstar headliner for Blues Ball. Passionate vocals, classic blues guitar, and a good heaping of Mississippi funk and soul are on the menu. The Elijah Butler Band will be opening, and they better bring their A-game, ‘cause Eddie Cotton is going to be great. I’ll see you there! John Braswell

cd review Derrick “D’Mar” Martin and Chris Gill’s Take It Like That Derrick “D’Mar” Martin and Chris Gill’s sophomore recording effort Take It Like That is, quite simply, a lovely and mature modern blues recording that will resonate with any blues fan. For transparencies’ sake, I’ll confess that this reviewer has known and considers Gill a friend for going on 25 years now. So I was real excited to see this cd in the MCBS post office box. Twelve of the thirteen tracks are written or co-written by Gill, the exception being the lead off track being credited solely to one of Gill’s writing partners and friends. Martin, like Gill a well-known fixture in the Jackson, Mississippi blues scene for a couple of decades now, has also served as the touring drummer for Little Richard and appeared in the movie “Chess.”

“I Fell in Love With the Blues” starts things off vocally with a recital of blues influences from days of yore. “Back to Paradise” is a bit of a slow funky blues that would sound right at home on an Anders Osborne album. “Song for Honeyboy” introduces one of the real treats of the recording, aside from Gill’s tasteful slide guitar playing – Jerry “Groovemaster” Jemmot on the bass guitar. The legendary bassist, who has performed with BB King, Aretha Franklin, King Curtis and Duane & Gregg Allman among many, many more, sits in on five tracks.

“Souvenir of the Blues” is a slow plaintive blues, highlighted by Gills understated string bending. “Dancing Girl” features Gill on the cigar box doing a little bit of a North Mississippi trance type thing. Good stuff! Other tracks on the cd recall the influences of Taj Mahal and Keb Mo – a modern take on Americana Roots and Blues. “You Never Know” is a beautiful ballad, “Must Be Love” has a touch of New Orleans boogie, Jemmot’s funky bass is easy to pick out on the title track “Take It Like That” and Gill’s slide if featured prominently on “Lonesome for Leaving.” D’Mar and Gill are on the short list for a 2016 Phelan Park show – I’d recommend picking this one up so you’ll be ready to sing along when they finally make it to Birmingham. Jamey McMahon

Cd review Clarence “the Blues Man” Turner - “The Caster Blaster” / Private Label Clarence Turner expresses his blues through vocals, guitar, bass, drums and his songwriting. This is the follow up to his debut album, “Pay Day”(2012)Clarence This band consists of Sean Graves on drums, Charles Pearson on keyboards, David Satterwhite on bass, Gene Meros on saxophone, and Gary Hendrickson on trumpet. This album has the feel of “classic 60’s blues”, performed with the mix of simple, straight ahead electric guitar leads, involved with the multi-layered horn textures. The jacket has 11 songs, including 3 covers that you’ve probably heard multiple artist’s versions of. Those covers include the classic “C.C. Rider”, as well as “I’m Ready”, and Ray Charles’ “Black Jack”.

with Clarence’s solid guitar leads, the song also contains a player piano solo, which you rarely hear in any blues ensemble. “Hey Lady” is a transition song expressing being happy, when the lady he’s singing to, made him fall in love. The rhythm begins with a medium pace through the first half and then gets a bit more energetic on the second half, but always has enough motivating beat to have you tapping toes and then dancing. Their cover of “Nadine” features broad inter-song rhythm changes, along with specifically placed keys and saxophone solos. The album has two original instrumentals; “Sabrena” and “Fender Bender”. “Fender Bender” is a fun, up-beat rhythm and boogie tune with a diverse instrument mix. A different type of surprise awaits you, on “Happily Married Man”, along

Clarence is a veteran of years of live blues performances and has a strong stage reputation as a polished practitioner. That body of work has earned he the title “The Blues Man”, with-in his Washington DC based home crowd. Grab this album from the MCBS library, and see if this reminds you of those great live blues lounge acts, with all their instrumental diversity!

John Braswell

Live Music event Birmingham Legends on Stage When: November 8 @ 6pm Where: Iron City How Much: $10 Steve DeMedecis owner of Iron City loves to support our local artists. We talked some months back and he asked if we could put together a special evening featuring some of our local Legends. So we lined up an exceptional cast of performers for an early evening show Sunday November 8. Songstress Aretta Woodruff will be the master of ceremonies and the musicians will be backed by her band, the Revue Band. Here are the Legends and a little information on each. I’m sure I’m short changing them as it is impossible to list all their accomplishments without writing a book! Sam Frazier Jr. Sam started out singing and playing the blues after meeting Slim Harpo and then Sonny Boy Williamson as a young man at his mother’s shot house in Edgewater Alabama. He soon hit the road with his sister who he taught to play bass. They played successfully regionally. Sam also had a one man band singing, playing harp, guitar and drums all at the same time. In the mid 70’s he recorded several tracks at Neil Hemphill’s Midfield sound studio: some soul and some

country. He recorded a country song “Cabbage Man” that became a regional hit. Sam came to the attention of Country Boy Eddie who had a syndicated TV show and after a couple of guest performances Sam became a fixture on the show for 13 years. Later Sam spent 20 years playing the clubs in Los Angeles before returning to Birmingham. He is currently recording on the Music Maker label. Art Grayson hustled a living as a writer, producer, label owner, singer, guitarist and club owner. For example he produced the first singles by southern soul hero Don Varner and his wife Brenda for his own Downbeat label. And both Don’s “Here Come My Tears Again” and Brenda’s “The Army’s Got Me Crying” were both first class southern deep soul - they were even cut at Fame. Later Grayson was managed by Hoss Allen, the famous WLAC disc jockey. Allen installed Grayson as second guitarist in Gatemouth Brown’s Band who were the initial studio group on the TV show “The Beat”, as well as giving him a TV airing or two as a solo artist. Allen’s Rogana Productions were also responsible for Grayson’s solo 45s, all three of which are well worth seeking out. “Oh My Heartache” recorded in Muscle

Shoals sold half a million copies. He was also for a time a member of the Commodores. Art still plays a mean guitar. Elnora Spencer has been part of the Birmingham Music scene for a long time. In 2002 she was voted Birmingham’s Best Female Vocalist by the Birmingham News City Scene readers’ poll. She has had a number one Blues Vocal on the MP3 charts. She is a regular performer at Alabama Jazz & Blues Foundation events in Montgomery. Check out her Jazz CD “Mystic Knight of the C, featuring Elnora Spencer” at amazon.com, as described by reviewer Francis Hare "A pungent conflation of Voodoo Boogie that reeks of pre-dawn hours on Bourbon Street. Too slinky and musically complex to classify as strictly blues - but too much fun to saddle with the jazz label." Elnora is a Blues Hall of Fame inductee. Collins “Bo” Berry is a jazz trumpeter and session musician. Berry headlined the house band for Birmingham's 401 Club in the 1960s and was an original member of the Commodores back-up band in the 1970s. In 1975 he joined the jazz group Alpaca Phase III, which had recorded the hit "I Like to Party" for Atlantic Records the year before. He toured around the country with

that group before returning to Birmingham. Back home, Berry recorded and produced Cleveland Eaton's 1980 Garden of Eaton album as well as albums for Foxxy Fatts and Company and others. He was a featured player with the UAB SuperJazz Big Band, Cleveland Eaton and the Alabama AllStars and now with the Magic City Jazz Orchestra and continues to be active in the local music scene. In 1985 Berry was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Aretta Woodruff our Master of Ceremonies has been performing blues and old school R&B since the age of 7 beginning in her family church. She has opened and performed with several names such as Denise LaSalle, The Love Doctor, Jeffery Osborne, Floyd Taylor, the late Bobby Blue Bland, Bobby Rush and a host of others. Aretta has performed at several major festivals including Birmingham’s City Stages as well as concerts and charitable events. Some of her influences are Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Patti Labelle and Yolanda Adams. The silky and smooth sounds of Ms. Aretta have dazzled audiences all over the southeast U.S. for about 20 years. Aretta is currently working on various solo projects. The song “Give Me Your Love” was the title of her 2007 CD. Her original “Pushing me” has been a regional hit. She is a regular member of southern soul artist Mose Stovall’s Pharcyde band and

performs regularly with her own band, the Revue Band. Hope I have wetted your appetite enough that you come out to the show and support these legends living within our midst. Roger Stephenson

Venue review Magic City Music Venues: Champy’s Chicken – great music & food, south of town! If you travel down I-65 to the Alabaster area, you’re right by an awesome music & food venue. Champy’s Chicken is a unique food venue that also supports lots of live music. While they include some Americana and roots artists, they consistently book some of the area’s best blues and then lure you with authentic southern food for the show. Seth & Crissy Champion opened the first Champy’s in June of 2009. There are 3 AL locations, plus two out of state. Just like certain styles of great blues, the concept has a very southern flavor. Each building is a unique local structure with plenty of original authenticity. The food concept draws recipes from “Down in the Delta”, of southern MS, and they specialize in southern fried chicken and an old MS Delta recipe for Tamales. Local husband and wife owners, Sterling Gros and Whitney Henson, love the B’ham music scene and book live music on multiple days of the week. Mondays are open

mic, with Glen Butts currently directing the fledgling musicians. If you want to play, bring your gear and the live performances begin at 6:30. Champy’s also offers live music on Thursdays, 6 till 9, and Friday nights from 7 till 10. Once football season is over, they will resume live music Saturdays. As we mentioned before, they do occasionally have singer/songwriters that are more folk and Americana oriented, but much of the music is various styles of blues. The venue reminds you of a super relaxed little country café (which it is), with comfortable size, and locally relevant, but unique décor. The bands are close by your table, giving you a thoroughly intimate view and listening experience. Nothing like a great blues performance, along with an ice cold beer, and great southern food to munch on while you’re listening. Many great blues and Americana artists from Birmingham, and the surrounding area, as well as some international artists, have performed at Champy’s. To name just a few, they’ve had 2Blu & the Lucky Stiffs, the 2Blu trio, the Sassy Brown trio,

George Griffin with 2 or 3 different line-ups, Little G. Weevil, Ian Seigal, Rick Carter, Matt Willis and Taylor Hunnicutt and many other highly skilled musicians. There are dozens of others who have traveled here to play, so check out their website to see who’s playing this week. Plan to come out and check out the great tunes, and enjoy the super laid-back atmosphere. While you’re there, enjoy some killer authentic southern recipe chicken, tamales, southern style vegetables, and great desserts too, with everything being made to their special recipes! Sterling also has a large collection of hot sauces to try with the chicken and tamales, and occasionally, he might have some homemade “extra hot” recipe sauces – I had one made from a local gentleman’s ghost peppers one night – really awesome, but I needed a couple of extra beers to handle it. They’re open at 11 a.m. , seven days; closing @ 10 Mon. – Thur., Fri. & Sat. “until” & Sun. @ 9 ! 10695, AL hwy. 119, Alabaster, AL 35007 / (205)621-3991 / www.champyschicken.com

John Braswell

Local cultural event “Fall into Folklife Symposium and Expo Comes to Birmingham, Alabama” Where: Carver Theater When: November 12, 13 & 14 How much: $20 & free see below Tickets, registration and more information www.alabamafolklife.org Birmingham, Ala. November 12-14, 2015, the Alabama Folklife Association (AFA) will hold a special annual meeting in Birmingham to honor the individuals and organizations that have contributed to the field of folklore in Alabama and supported the documentation and promotion of our state’s folk and traditional artists. A variety of events at multiple venues will showcase some of the musical genres, visual arts, and traditions that have made Alabama a profound resource and major contributor to our nation’s cultural heritage. Join in the excitement and come learn about the folkways of Alabama. According to AFA Executive Director, Mary Allison Haynie, “Nothing captures the remarkable heritageof Alabama like our folkways; the stories, the sounds, and the masters of basketry, quilting, pottery, and other traditions are recognized worldwide and make our state a national leader in the field of folklore.” Thursday, November 12, activities begin with a special program at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and Carver Theatre. A reception with food and cash bar at 5:30 p.m. will allow time to enjoy the exhibits, meet folklorists, and say hello to colleagues and friends. At 6:30 p.m., guest author and keynote speaker, Tom Piazza, will provide “Travelin’ Blues I: American Music and the Dream of Escape.” The blues concert at 7:30 p.m., called The Birmingham Tradition, will feature Elnora Spencer and guests Clarence “Bluesman” Davis, Danny Williams, plus local harmonica expert Jock Webb. Tickets are $20.00 per person. November 13, Sponsored by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the FREE Symposium on Friday, at the Birmingham Museum of Art Auditorium begins at 9:00 a.m. Tracing the history of folklore research in Alabama, the program will demonstrate contributions by collectors and stewards of these cultural assets. From Ruby Pickens Tartt, to Kathryn Tucker Windham, to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, all have enhanced the field with knowledge, hard work, and commitment. After lunch on your own, Tom Piazza will return to present “Travelin’ Blues II: Alan Lomax’s Restless Journey” as an opening to a series of presentations about the southern journey of Alan Lomax in Alabama. The audience will learn about the places Lomax visited, the sounds he recorded, and the people he met. A dedication to our African American musical heritage will complete the day. That evening, guests can Jazz it Up for a reception with food and cash bar at the Tutwiler Hotel. Tickets are $15.00 per person. November 14, Funded by the Alabama Tourism Department, the Expo will be held 9:00 a.m12:00 p.m. in the Garden Parking Lot of The Market at Pepper Place. Some master artists will be on hand and representatives of the next generation will be there. Come enjoy live music, purchase some art, and pick up your weekly supply of food, fresh and homegrown in Alabama.

Sam frazier jr interview Interview, by Mike Stephenson, of this Birmingham, Alabama based singer and harmonica player took place in his home city in June 2015. My name is Sam Frazier Jr and I was born in Birmingham, Alabama in Jefferson County and I started out in the music business back in the sixties and that’s where I first started playing music. I picked up the harmonica years and years ago from a friend and a guy that I met named Slim Harpo, and also Sonny Boy Williamson. They all gave me my start by giving me a harmonica to play and I picked it up from there. My parents knew these guys because we had a little house that sold shots of liquor, something like a shot house, and we used to have these guys play when they came to town and I didn’t realise that they were drinking that white lightning. They would come to the house and they would get out on our back yard; my mother had it fenced in back then with a clothes line with lights on it and we had people coming out there all of the time and the yard would be full. Slim Harpo and them would come there and blow their harmonicas on the back porch, nothing but the harp and they would be stomping their feet and that’s where I

met them back in the sixties. They left me a harmonica and I took a likening to it and I started blowing and blowing and I blew all the reeds out of it and nothing came out of it but air. Then my dad went and bought me another one, as I didn’t have any money at the time, and I picked that up and I then started blowing it around houses and places that would let you play in, and I became real popular doing that. I got a little change doing that, which was a lot of money to me at that time. Then later on during the years, say a couple of years on, I picked up a guitar and started playing that and I learnt that from a neighbour, he was showing me stuff on it. So I then formed me a one man band. I had drums at my feet and I put the harp around my neck and I had the guitar in my hand, and I had a mic taped to the harmonica rack sitting up there, and I was singing along and that made me real popular, as I had real

good co ordination moving my whole body, so it went over big. I would go to house parties and houses and sit in the corner and play. Then my sister, Caroline, decided she wanted to learn and play with me and she would come and watch me all the time, and she was an attractive girl at the time and my father went and bought a bass guitar for her and big amp, and she was a tall skinny girl and that big old bass hanging off her, she looked good, and we got real popular because back then you hardly saw a girl playing the bass like that. So that’s how we got a chance to go around all these clubs in Birmingham. I knew a disc jockey at WENN Radio station and at that time they played a lot of blues and rock and gospel. We would work with him and he started booking me at different clubs and honkytonks and he would send us out to clubs, me and my sister, every weekend. We were real popular back then, like big name stars locally and people turned out to hear us, and we called ourselves Sam and Carol’s Combo. We played a lot of venues around Birmingham, Alabama and we went to Georgia a few times. We did that for a couple of years and there were a couple of clubs here that we played regularly, as they liked us so much that we were there every weekend. I sang at the Blue Gardenia back then but my sister wasn’t with me at that

time that was back when I was on television at the time. Me and my sister sang at a lot of small clubs, there was one club called Old Souls, and then we played at the 41 Club. We were scouted by this disc jockey at WENN here in Birmingham and he got fifteen per cent of our shows and he hooked us up with a lady that came through here from New York and she had an artist in the sixties and his name was Clarence Ashe, but I haven’t heard from him for years and years. He was making the circuit around here in Mississippi and Alabama, and this disc jockey knew this lady real well so he told her about me and my sister. They called the disc jockey The Thin Man and he told us she wanted to listen to us and he asked us to bring our equipment to the AG Gaston Hotel and we set up on a Sunday evening. This lady from New York was there and Clarence Ashe was there and we hit it and I was doing a lot of songs at the time by Rufus Thomas such as his ‘Dog’ songs and I blew the harmonica. She went wild about it and asked us to go to New York and sign us to a contract. She asked us to go with her to New York the next morning in her van, which we did with all of our equipment. Our father was real supportive and he wanted us to make it. So we took off and went to New York and we recorded there on Broadway at a university studio there where Jackie Wilson was recording. We went in there and did two songs. One was ‘You Got Me Uptight’ and the

flip side was ‘You Gonna Want Me Baby’ which we wrote, and we also backed Clarence Ashe up on his new record he had coming out. This lady told us a lot of things but it didn’t turn out too well at the end, because she wasn’t doing anything and we found out she was having financial problems. I found this later on the internet. She was trying to get with ABC/ Paramount and she was with Chess Records and her name was Zell Sanders and she had her own record label J&S Records. She was distributed by another company. She took us to the Apollo Theatre but I didn’t get up and play as she didn’t have the connection for me to do that. She took us to a club in New Jersey and they had a seventeen piece band playing there and she got me and my sister up on stage to play after them, so I got nervous at that. She took us to a club in Harlem and we played there, but we weren’t really doing nothing. My sister was cleaning a house and I was just sitting around and I got frustrated because I wanted to do something. I went to the studio and Zell got upset with me because of that; all I was trying to do was meet up with people so we fell out a bit. I stayed with the caretaker for almost a year and he would take me out to different places and some of the places were full of Puerto Ricans and I couldn’t speak Spanish so I quit hanging out with him. I then had to make a decision and I got my equipment and I put them in a pawn shop in New York as I didn’t have no money. I got

enough money to catch a bus back to Birmingham. At the Blue Gardenia I sang there when I was on television when I was on Country Boy Eddie’s TV show. That was a country show that came on every morning five days a week and I was there at four o’clock and then on TV at five and I was on TV for two hours working with a band. This was right after I stopped working with my sister. Everybody knew me because of that, and I worked for a gospel quartet and this guy who was the lead singer knew me and he wanted me to play with them as I played bass also. A guy who had a warehouse gave me some money to go back to New York so I went back up there and packed up all my equipment and mailed it back. So after that I played with this gospel group The Golden Hummingbirds for about five years every Sunday. I am an original member of that quartet and we played different churches every Sunday. On Fridays and Saturdays I was out there beating it out on the blues. After that I had my own bands around here in Birmingham, my sister wasn’t playing with me then. I called them the Sam Frazier Blues Makers. We worked in small clubs around town and that’s where I got the chance to meet my good friend Roscoe Robinson when he came to town and he was big in the sixties and he had some pretty big songs out there at that time, and he didn’t have a band so I would

back him. I was playing lead guitar at the time and I had a bass player and a drummer. We played Georgia and Birmingham and I would open the show for him doing five or six numbers before he took over. Another story is how I got into country music. Way back when, in the fifties when I be laying at the house and I would listen to a radio station WFM out of Nashville. At that time they had this guy come on that had a country show at night, and he would play all those big stars like Hank Williams and Merle Haggard and all those guys and I would listen to that and I got to like country music because of that. All of a sudden I wanted to play country. I was already playing blues, so I went to singing some country, and my style was close to Charley Pride although I wasn’t trying to imitate him, but people thought I was him when I was singing. I got a job at a car dealership here in Birmingham and I was just working around there in the shop and I was writing at that time and I would sing around the place and then write the lyrics down in the bathroom, and the guys at the dealership gave me some money to go into the studio to record ‘Cabbage Man’ that I wrote. The next thing was the guy in the studio knew Country Boy Eddie and at the time there was no blacks on the TV show there, and I was the first black to go on that show. I was real nervous when I went there and I hung about, but he never did put

me on that show that day and told me to come back another day and he would see if he could get me on. I waited and I came back, and he called me Big Sam, and the third time I went there he put me on and I did an old Charley Pride song and it went over so big and then I got the harmonica out and did ‘Orange Blossom Special’. I was slim and trim back then and I was sliding across the stage and I put on a strong show and they all took a liking to me and I stayed on that country show for nearly thirteen years, every morning from 5 to 7. I had a day job at a mall in Birmingham at that time as well for six years before I went to California. I did some recordings in the seventies for Neal Hemphill’s Goodie Train label. I remember the songs like ‘Take Me Back’, ‘Set Me Free’, ‘I Don’t Want Another Love Like The One I Had’, ‘Don’t Spread Your Love Around’, ‘Momma Said She Ain’t Here’, which is a real good one, ‘Drippin’ Honey’ and on that I was singing like Wilson Pickett and other stuff, and it was real strong blues stuff although some is in the r&b vein. I sing and play harp on all of those songs and they were put out as 45s. A lot of those songs were written by other people, and they wanted somebody to sing them, and after they heard me sing them they put up the money for the recording session. I also did a country album for Blue Rock Records.

As I said, I moved to California and that’s another story. Someone that came through Birmingham heard my music and this guy was a promoter, he used to promote for Hank Williams back in the day. He heard my blues and country stuff and he just went wild and he went back to California and told his people about me and they sent him back to Birmingham to see if they could get me to California. We talked about it, and at that time me and my wife were going through a divorce, and after the divorce I said to myself I had to make a move and so I moved to California and I drove out there in my Buick. I was in California for about twenty years. They took care of me for about six years; they paid for everything, the house and everything, but after that I had to get a job. I was showcasing back then, but I found out they were into stuff I didn’t like and they were writing bad cheques to the lady whose house I was living in. I then had to move because of that. I got a job in a motor home park. I performed with Johnny Otis on Friday nights at a big jazz club on Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles on a regular basis. I could have stayed with the band, which was a seven piece band with three singers, including me, and Shuggie Otis was with us back then. Johnny had a radio show and I just had my new record come out ‘Don’t Start Me To Talking’ a heavy blues song and he put that song on the show for me and it went over so big. It was his son Shuggie that told his

father to hire me, and Johnny invited me to his house and we talked and we started working songs at his house. The only reason I didn’t sing with Johnny for longer is that he wanted me to sing a lot of James Brown, Wilson Picket stuff. Johnny had a revue and he liked the blues and the way I played the harp, I used to crawl on my knees and I would get on the table and play. Johnny wanted me to just sing though. I came back to Birmingham as my sister and brother kept calling me, as I hadn’t been home for some while, so I thought about it. One of the reasons I came back was I got sick in California, the paramedics had to knock the door down to get to me as I had a blood clot in my arm and I could hardly move. I had a good job then as assistant manager at a motor home park and I had been there for almost thirteen years. So that’s when I moved back to Birmingham in 2007 and I’ve been here ever since and 2006 was when I was in the hospital. Since I’ve been back in Birmingham I have not really been out there performing a whole lot. I had the chance to get with Music Maker over the past year. A lady out of New York, who is a friend of a friend, knew me and she was a big fan of mine and she was trying to help me, and she was watching TV one night and Music Maker had something on there that they were looking for struggling musicians and

entertainers and things and she called me that night. So what she did, she sent Music Maker a package about me and they called her right back and wanted to know how they could get in contact with me. Music Maker then called me and they were excited about me and they made arrangements for me to go to them in North Carolina. I had been working with Don Mosley at The Sound Of Birmingham, he was the one that produced a lot of my songs and he was my adviser, and he had been helping me to make sure nobody messed me around as he knew more about the legal side of things. So Music Maker called Don and that was all ok. I’ve had the chance to meet all the people in the office at Music Maker and we sat down and had a jam session with other musicians. I’ve since been doing some shows with Albert White, another Music Maker artist and they are going to do a CD on me. If I could get a CD out there, I can work and stay busy a lot. They are going to help me with my house and they have given me money for that, as I was about to lose it because I had got behind in taxes and insurance. There is only me, as my sister and brother, the Lord called them within a month of each other, just after I came back home to Birmingham so that left the house with me and I’m there by myself. With the little money I make I couldn’t keep up with things. Music Maker are trying to get me into a low rent government

housing Section 8 or something. They said they would help with hospitals and things. I appreciate that very much. Reprinted courtesy of blues & Rhythms Magazine www.bluesandrhythm.co.u k

Please support Your local blues bands Altamont

Lipstik & Lead

Automatic Slim

Little Memphis and Friends

Big Daddy's New Band

Leonard Watkins

Big Papa

Mickey Jr & the Stone Cold Blues Band

Cahaba Dogs

Microwave Dave & the Nukes

Christian Herring & True Blues

Sam Pointer

Debbie Bond & TruDats

Sassy Brown

Diedra & the Ruff Pro Band

Soul Collision

Earl "Guitar" Williams and the Juke Band

Charlie Soul Band

Fat Mouth Blues Band

Lefty Collins Band

John Bull Band

Thick as Thieves

John D'Amato

Thomas Henry Band

Jubal John

Local Venues that support live blues music Gip’s Place Red Wolf Lounge Henderson’s Moonlight On the Mountain

The Nick Wellingtons Bistro Crescendo Bar & Lounge Iron City

Champy’s

Workplay

Columbiana Center for the Arts

Ranelli’s Soul Pit

Daniel Day Gallery

Zydeco

Mcbs November calendar Birmingham area venues in bold. Verify dates and times with the venue. November, 2015

Sun. 01 Dogwood Reunion Show Daniel Day Gallery A Jazzy Blues Reunion Cleve Eaton, Diane Monaron, Elora Spencer Moonlight on the Mountain Mon. 02 Microwave Dave Mama Annie’s – Huntsville Tues. 03 Elijah Butler Band Dave’s Pub Wed. 04 Open Jam The Red Wolf Glen Butts Satterfield’s Automatic Slim Blues Band Syndicate Microwave Dave Bandito Southside, Huntsville Thurs. 05 Janelle Frost Champy’s Debbie Bond and Rick Asherson Kentuck Art Night, Northport Fri. 06 MCBS Canned Jam Ranelli’s Deli Travis Posey Champy’s

Gigi Scott and Trouble Town CD Party Daniel Day Gallery Blue Devils Cahaba Brewing Elijah Butler Band Oak Hill Debbie Bond and Band with Alabama Blues Project Band Shelby County Arts Council, Columbiana* Lefty Collins High Tide Oyster Bar, Gulf Shores Sat. 07 Delta Moon Gip’s Place Sun. 08 Jeff Jensen Band Daniel Day Gallery Birmingham Legends: Sam Frazier, Elnora Spencer and all-star cast Iron City Eli Cook Moonlight on the Mountain Lucky Losers Capitol Oyster Bar, Montgomery Tues. 10 Elijah Butler Band Dave’s Pub Microwave Dave Humphrey’s Bar, Huntsville Wed. 11 Robert Cray/Shemekia Copeland Iron City

Glen Butts Satterfield’s Open Jam The Red Wolf Automatic Slim Blues Band Syndicate Debbie Bond and “Radiator” Rick The Alcove International Tavern, Tuscaloosa Thurs. 12 The Birmingham Tradition Blues Concert with Elnora Spencer Carver Theater Key of Blues Champy’s The Wood Brothers WorkPlay Automatic Slim Champy’s Lefty Collins Blues Tavern, Mobile Fri. 13 Mark Mizzell & Ben Guthrie Champy’s Sassy Brown Band Rio’s 2BLU and Jerry Robbins Benefit for Refuge and Hope Shelby County Arts Council, Columbiana For tickets call Bruce Andrews, 205-4670334 Debbie Bond fea. Rachel and Carla Band of Brothers, Tuscaloosa

Sat. 14 Sassy Brown Band Gip’s Place Sun. 15 Tim Boykin Blues Band Daniel Day Gallery The Kinsey Report Capitol Oyster Bar, Montgomery Microwave Dave Humphrey’s Bar, Huntsville Mon. 16 Microwave Dave Mama Annie’s, Huntsville 2BLU Acoustic with Three on a String Local Color, Springville Tues. 17 Elijah Butler Band Dave’s Pub Wed. 18 Debbie Davies Red Wolf Glen Butts Satterfield’s Automatic Slim Blues Band Syndicate Microwave Dave Bandito Southside, Huntsville Fri. 20 Holiday Art Show Daniel Day Gallery Sassy Brown Trio Champy’s, Alabaster Mark Mizzell & Ben Guthrie Primeaux Cheese & Vino

Lefty Collins High Tide, Gulf Shores Sat. 21 Debbie Bond and Rick Asherson Pepper Place Market Elijah Butler Band Oteys Just Us Three Gip’s Place The Elnora Spencer Band An Evening of Blues and American Classics Shelby County Arts Council, Columbiana*

Sun. 22 Tab Benoit WorkPlay Debbie Bond and the TruDats Daniel Day Gallery Len Eldridge Moonlight on the Mountain Gracie Curran & The High Faluting’ Band Capitol Oyster Bar, Montgomery Microwave Dave Humphrey’s Bar, Huntsville Mon. 23 Microwave Dave Mama Annie’s, Huntsville

Tues. 24 Elijah Butler Band Dave’s Pub Wed. 25 Glen Butts Satterfield’s Open Jam The Red Wolf Automatic Slim Blues Band Syndicate Microwave Dave Bandito Southside, Huntsville

Fri. 27 Open Mic Daniel Day Gallery Debbie Bond and Band with Rachel and Carla Band of Brothers, Tuscaloosa Sun. 29 Robert Moore and the Wildcats Daniel Day Gallery Mon. 30 Microwave Dave Mama Annie’s, Huntsville Ben Guthrie Band Local Color, Springville

*Shelby County Arts Council Events MCBS Members call 205-669-0044 for discount tickets; ask for Bruce

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