Featured Artist - Ma Rainey

Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886? – December 22, 1939)

Ma Rainey wasn't the first blues singer to make records, but by all rights she probably should have been. In an era when women were the marquee names in blues, Rainey was once the most celebrated of all; the "Mother of the Blues" had been singing the music for more than 20 years before she made her recording debut (Paramount, 1923). With the advent of blues records, she became even more influential, immortalizing such songs as "See See Rider," "Bo-Weavil Blues," and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." Like the other classic blues divas, she had a repertoire of pop and minstrel songs as well as blues, but she maintained a heavier, tougher vocal delivery than the cabaret blues singers who followed. Rainey's records featured her with jug bands, guitar duos, and bluesmen such as Tampa Red and Blind Blake, in addition to the more customary horns-and-piano jazz-band accompaniment (occasionally including such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory and Fletcher Henderson).

Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, Ma Rainey (born Gertrude Pridgett) began singing professionally when she was a teenager, performing with a number of minstrel and medicine shows. In 1904, she married William "Pa" Rainey and she changed her name to “Ma” Rainey. The couple performed as "Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues" and toured throughout the south, performing with several minstrel shows, circuses, and tent shows. According to legend, she gave a young Bessie Smith vocal lessons during this time. By the early '20s, Rainey had become a featured performer on the Theater Owners' Booking Association circuit.

In 1923, Rainey signed a contract with Paramount Records. Although her recording career lasted only a mere six years -- her final sessions were in 1928 -- she recorded over 100 songs and many of them, including "C.C. Rider" and "Bo Weavil Blues," became genuine blues classics. During these sessions, she was supported by some of the most talented blues and jazz musicians of her era, including Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins, Buster Bailey and Lovie Austin.

Rainey's recordings and performances were extremely popular among black audiences, particularly in the south. After reaching the height of her popularity in the late '20s, Rainey's career faded away by the early '30s as female blues singing became less popular with the blues audience. She retired from performing in 1933, settling down in her hometown of Columbus. In 1939, Rainey died of a heart attack. She left behind an immense recorded legacy, which continued to move and influence successive generations of blues, country, and rock & roll musicians. In 1983, Rainey was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame; seven years later, she was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Featured Artist: Lonnie Johnson

Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson
(February 8, 1899 – June 16, 1970)

Blues guitar simply would not have developed in the manner that it did if not for the prolific brilliance of Lonnie Johnson. He was there to help define the instrument's future within the genre and the genre's future itself at the very beginning, his melodic conception so far advanced from most of his pre-war peers as to inhabit a plane all his own. For more than 40 years, Johnson played blues, jazz, and ballads his way; he was a true blues originator whose influence hung heavy on a host of subsequent blues immortals. 
Johnson's extreme versatility doubtless stemmed in great part from growing up in the musically diverse Crescent City. Violin caught his ear initially, but he eventually made the guitar his passion, developing a style so fluid that instrumental backing seemed superfluous. He signed up with OKeh Records in 1925 and commenced to recording at an astonishing pace -- between 1925 and 1932, he cut an estimated 130 waxings.
The red-hot duets he recorded with white jazz guitarist Eddie Lang (masquerading as “Blind Willie Dunn”) in 1928-1929 were utterly groundbreaking in their ceaseless invention. Johnson also recorded pioneering jazz efforts in 1927 with no less than Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Duke Ellington's orchestra.
After enduring the Depression and moving to Chicago, Johnson came back to recording life with Bluebird for a five-year stint beginning in 1939. Under the ubiquitous Lester Melrose's supervision, Johnson picked up right where he left off, selling quite a few copies of "He's a Jelly Roll Baker" for old Nipper. Johnson went with Cincinnati-based King Records in 1947 and promptly enjoyed one of the biggest hits of his uncommonly long career with the mellow ballad "Tomorrow Night," which topped the R&B charts for seven weeks in 1948. More hits followed posthaste: "Pleasing You (As Long as I Live)," "So Tired," and "Confused."
Time seemed to have passed Johnson by during the late '50s. He was toiling as a hotel janitor in Philadelphia when banjo player Elmer Snowden alerted Chris Albertson to his whereabouts. That rekindled a major comeback, Johnson cutting a series of albums for Prestige's Bluesville subsidiary during the early '60s and venturing to Europe under the auspices of Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau's American Folk Blues Festival banner in 1963. Finally, in 1969, Johnson was hit by a car in Toronto and died a year later from the effects of the accident.
Johnson's influence was massive, touching everyone from Robert Johnson, whose seminal approach bore strong resemblance to that of his older namesake, to Elvis Pressley and Jerry Lee Lewis, who each paid heartfelt tribute with versions of "Tomorrow Night" while at Sun.

Featured Artist Of The Week

The Original Fleetwood Mac 1967 - 1970

The roots of Fleetwood Mac lie in John Mayall's legendary British blues outfit, The Bluesbreakers. Bassist John McVie was one of the charter members of The Bluesbreakers, joining the group in 1963. In 1966 Peter Green replaced Eric Clapton, and a year later drummer Mick Fleetwood joined. Inspired by the success of Cream, The Yardbirds and Jimi Hendrix, the trio decided to break away from Mayall in 1967. At their debut at the British Jazz and Blues Festival in August, Bob Brunning was playing bass in the group, since McVie was still under contract to Mayall. He joined the band a few weeks after their debut; by that time, slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer had joined the band. Fleetwood Mac soon signed with Blue Horizon, releasing their eponymous debut the following year. “Fleetwood Mac” was an enormous hit in the U.K., spending over a year in the Top Ten. Despite its British success, the album was virtually ignored in America. During 1968, the band added guitarist Danny Kirwan. The following year, they recorded “Fleetwood Mac In Chicago” with a variety of bluesmen, including Willie Dixon and Otis Spann. The set was released later that year, after the band had left Blue Horizon for a one-album deal with Immediate Records; in the U.S., they signed with Reprise/Warner Bros., and by 1970, Warner began releasing the band's British records as well.

Fleetwood Mac released “English Rose” and “Then Play On” during 1969, which both indicated that the band was expanding its music, moving away from its blues purist roots. That year, Green's "Man of the World" and "Oh Well" were number two hits. Though his music was providing the backbone of the group, Peter Green was growing increasingly disturbed due to his large ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. After announcing that he was planning to give all of his earnings away, Green suddenly left the band in the spring of 1970; he released two solo albums over the course of the '70s, but he rarely performed after leaving Fleetwood Mac. The band replaced him with Christine Perfect, a vocalist/pianist who had earned a small but loyal following in the U.K. by singing with Spencer Davis and Chicken Shack. She had already performed uncredited on “Then Play On”. Contractual difficulties prevented her from becoming a full-fledged member of Fleetwood Mac until 1971; by that time she had married John McVie.

Featured Artist Of The Week

Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer.
Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on subsequent jazz vocalists.
Back in 1912, Bessie Smith sang in the same show as Ma Rainey, who took her under her wing and coached her. Although Rainey would achieve a measure of fame throughout her career, she was soon surpassed by her protégée.
She scored a big hit with her first release, a coupling of "Gulf Coast Blues" and “Downhearted Blues”. Even on her first records in 1923, her passionate voice overcame the primitive recording quality of the day and still communicates easily to today's listeners.
At a time when the blues were in and most singers were being dubbed “blues singers”, Bessie Smith simply had no competition.
Smith became a headliner on the black T.O.B.A. circuit and rose to become its top attraction in the 1920s. Working a heavy theater schedule during the winter months and doing tent tours the rest of the year (eventually traveling in her own railroad car), Smith became the highest-paid black entertainer of her day. Columbia nicknamed her "Queen of the Blues," but a PR-minded press soon upgraded her title to "Empress".
She made 160 recordings for Columbia.
Although she was dropped by Columbia in 1931 and made her final recordings on a four-song session in 1933, Bessie Smith kept on working. She played the Apollo in 1935 and substituted for Billie Holiday in the show Stars Over Broadway. The chances are very good that she would have made a comeback, starting with a Carnegie Hall appearance at John Hammond's upcoming From Spirituals to Swing concert, but she was killed in a car crash in Mississippi.

Featured Artist Of The Week

Gus Cannon
Born Sept. 12, 1883 in Red Banks, M.S. Died Oct. 15 1979 in Memphis, TN.
A remarkable musician (he could play five-string banjo and jug simultaneously!), Gus Cannon bridged the gap between early blues and the minstrel and folk styles which preceded it.
Self-taught on an instrument made from a frying pan and a raccoon skin, he learned early repertoire in the 1890s from older musicians, notably Mississipian Alec Lee. The early 1900s found him playing around Memphis with songster Jim Jackson and forming a partnership with Noah Lewis, whose harmonica wizardry would be basic to the Jug Stompers' sound. In 1914, Cannon began work with a succession of medicine shows which would continue into the 1940s, and where he further developed his style and repertoire.
Cannon's Jug Stompers first recorded at the Memphis Auditorium for the Victor label in January 1928. Hosea Woods joined the Jug Stompers in the late 1920s, playing guitar, banjo and kazoo, and also providing some vocals.
Although their last recordings were made in 1930, Cannon's Jug Stompers were one of Beale Street's most popular jug bands through the 1930s.
By the end of the 1930s, Cannon had effectively retired, although he occasionally performed as a solo musician.
He returned in 1956 to make a few recordings for Folkways Records. In the "blues revival" of the 1960s, he made some college and coffee house appearances with Furry Lewis and Bukka White He also recorded an album for Stax Records in 1963, following the chart success of "Walk Right In", with fellow Memphis musician Will Shade, the former leader of the Memphis Jug Band.

Featured Artist of the Week

Grainne (pronounced Gron-ya) Duffy is a guitar player, singer and songwriter from Ireland who has an intense understanding of the blues and brings a great deal of soul to her music.
She was raised in a family of seven in Castlebayney, Co. Monaghan. Grainne sang with her sisters in the choir before they broadened their interests into the likes of Aretha Franklin, the Pretenders and the Rolling Stones. Around this time she discovered Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green and the voices of Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie.
She played an old acoustic guitar for a while, but the strings were too hard to hold down. After borrowing an electric guitar from her brother-in-law she knew she had found her calling.
Like nearly every Irish guitarist she is influenced by Rory Gallagher, and talks of the passion of his music, and the tender aspects of his voice and playing.
She has written music for the BBC and, following the success of her first album "Out Of The Dark" , recorded and released her second album "Test Of Time" in 2011". Check her out at her website.

The First Monday Morning Blues!!

We have been counting down the days, and today it's here...the first Monday Morning Blues on The Cat. Midweek Blues is no more. At 11am today tune in for two whole hours of great blues music on our LIVE radio show. Among other things, we will be playing tribute to Etta James who passed away on Friday, and also playing a song by local artist Jonathan Tarplee.

Etta James Dies Aged 73

Sadly Etta James lost her battle with Lukaemia on Friday January 20th, Her manager Lupe De Leon said: "She was a true original who could sing it all - her music defied category. This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world." She is survived by her husband and her two sons, Donto and Sametto, who were with her when she died. She was our Featured Artist just a few weeks ago.

A New Look

Welcome to the newly restyled Monday Morning Blues Blog! The changes reflect our exciting move from the one hour Midweek Blues show to a new 2 hour LIVE slot on a Monday between 11am and 1pm. Tune in on Monday for the first Monday Morning Blues show on thisisthecat.com and get in touch during the show.

Today's Playlist

This week we have....
Blind Blake - Diddie Wa Diddie, Pink Anderson and Simmie Dooley - Every Day In The Week Blues, Blind Boy Fuller - Truckin' My Blues Away, Robert Johnson - I Beleive I'll Dust My Broom, Tampa Red - It Hurt's Me Too, Cannon's Jug Stompers - Walk Right In, Mississippi John Hurt - Walk Right In, Sonny Terry - Harmonica Stomp, Josh White - Blood Red River, Tommy Johnson - Big Road Blues, Barbecue Bob - Atlanta Moan.

This will be the last Midweek Blues! But all is not lost, blues fans...... we are becoming bigger and better with a new show Monday Morning Blues. Two hours of blues brought to you LIVE between 11am and 1pm on a Monday on The Cat.

Today's Playlist

Today at 11am on Midweek Blues on The Cat, we will be playing....
Lonnie Brooks - A Man's Gotta Do What A Man's Gotta Do, Professor Longhair - Mess Around, Jimmy Witherspoon - Killing Time, Carey Bell's Blues Harp - Carey Bell, Saffire - Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time, Dixieland Jug Blowers - Boodle Am Shake, Pete 'Snakey Jake' Johnson - Deportee and Professor Longhair - Everyday I have The Blues.

This week's featured atrtist is Professor Longhair, see our blog post for more about him.

Unfortunately our listen again facility is not available this week, so grab this chance to get your weekly dose of blues!

This Weeks Featured Artist.....

Professor Longhair was born on December 19, 1918 in Louisiana. He made a living as a street hustler until he started to play piano seriously in his thirties. He taught himself how to play on a piano with missing keys that someone had thrown away, so his style became distinctive. Longhair first recorded in 1949 on the Star Talent label, creating four songs, including the first version of his signature song, "Mardi Gras in New Orleans."

After recuperating from a minor stroke, Professor Longhair came back in 1957 with "No Buts - No Maybes." 

In the 1960s Professor Longhair's career faltered. He became a janitor to support himself, and fell into a gambling habit.

To restore his standing, he appeared at the 1971 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival , and in 1973 played at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival. His single visit to the UK, in 1978, was commemorated by The London Concert.

He influenced countless musicians, such as Fats Domino, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Henry Butler, Huey "Piano" Smith, Marcia Ball, Champion Jack Dupree, Jon Cleary, the Meters, and the Neville Brothers.

Longhair died in his sleep on January 30, 1980, from a heart attack.

This Week's Featured Artist....

Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25 1938 in Los Angeles. As a child, Etta was a gospel prodigy, singing in her church choir and on the radio at the age of five. When she turned twelve, she moved north to San Francisco where she formed a trio called The Creolettes (which later became The Peaches), and was soon working for bandleader Johnny Otis. When the trio split after 2 chart hits, Etta James began a solo career under the signing of Chess Records in 1960, and had a number of hits for the label, including "All I Could Do Was Cry," "My Dearest Darling," and "Trust in Me." However privately she was becoming a heroin addict, and her career suffered until 1967 when she had a come-back with "Tell Mama" and "I'd Rather Go Blind."

Her career lapsed again in the early 70's until she went into rehab.Though she continued to record but with limited success. In 1988 James signed with Island Records and released comeback album, Seven Year Itch. The album sold respectably and James was determined to keep her career on track, playing frequent live shows and recording regularly, issuing Stickin' to My Guns in 1990 and The Right Time in 1992. 

In all she recorded 29 studio albums, 4 live albums and 8 compilation albums.
In 2010, James was hospitalized with MRSA-related infections, and it was revealed that she had received treatment for dependence on painkillers and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. At 73, she is currently in a serious condition in hospital suffering from Leukaemia.

Edited to add that sadly Etta James lost her battle with Lukaemia on Friday January 20th, Her manager Lupe De Leon said: "She was a true original who could sing it all - her music defied category. This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world."

This Week's Featured Artist....

Muddy Waters was born McKinley Morganfield on April 4th 1913 in Jug's Corner in Issaquena County, Mississippi. His grandmother Della Grant raised him after his mother died shortly after his birth. His fondness for playing in mud earned him the nickname "Muddy" at an early age. He then changed it to "Muddy Water" and finally "Muddy Waters. He started out on harmonica but by age seventeen he was playing the guitar at parties emulating two blues artists who were extremely popular in the south, Son House and Robert Johnson.

In 1940, Muddy moved to Chicago for the first time.He switched from acoustic to electric guitar in order to be heard over the din of patrons at the clubs he played on Chicago’s South Side. He recorded songs written for him by Willie Dixon ("I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” “I’m Ready") and by Waters himself ("Got My Mojo Working,” “Mannish Boy,” “Rollin’ and Tumblin’").

Waters served to launch many prominent blues musicians, many of whom went on to careers in their own right. The list of notable musicians who passed through Waters’ band includes harmonica players “Little Walter” Jacobs, “Big Walter” Horton, Junior Wells and James Cotton; guitarists Jimmy Rogers, Pat Hare, Luther Tucker and Earl Hooker; pianists Memphis Slim, Otis Spann and Pinetop Perkins; and drummers Elgin Evans, Fred Below and Francis Clay.

Waters’ greatest studio recordings were released as singles during the Fifties, and his first album - a collection of singles entitled The Best of Muddy Waters - didn’t appear until 1958. The Sixties found Waters performing to an ever-widening and appreciative audience as the younger generation acquired an insight into the blues. Muddy headed to England in 1958 and shocked audiences (whose only previous exposure to blues had come via the acoustic folk/blues sounds of acts such as Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Big Bill Broonzy with his loud, amplified electric guitar and thunderous beat. In 1960, Waters performed a set at the Newport Folk Festival, released in the same year as Muddy Waters at Newport.

By 1972 Waters accompanied by rock musicians such as Mike Bloomfield and Eric Clapton in The London Muddy Waters Sessions.

Muddy Waters died of a heart attack in 1983. He was 68 years old. His influence is tremendous, over a variety of music genres: blues, rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, hard rock, folk, jazz, and country. He influenced such greats as The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Canned Heat, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Paul Rodgers.

Featured Artist Of The Week...

Bertha "Chippie" Hill was one of the better classic blues singers of the 1920s, and was one of the few singers of her generation to make a full-fledged comeback in the 1940s. One of 16 children, she started working in 1916 as a dancer before she became better known as a singer. She was given the nickname "Chippie" because of her young age and her small size early in her career. She toured with Ma Rainey's Rabbit Foot Minstrels and went on to become a solo performer on vaudeville for a long period. She first recorded in November 1925 for Okeh Records, backed by the cornet player Louis Armstrong . After working steadily in the Chicago area until 1930 (including touring with Lovie Austin), she eventually left music to raise seven children.Hill occasionally sang during the next 15 years (including with Jimmie Noone) but mostly worked outside of music. She was rediscovered by writer Rudi Blesh in 1946, working in a bakery. She was back again in 1950, but was run over by a car and killed in New York at the age of 45.

This Weeks Playlist...

This week we are mostly playing...Lowell Fulson - Lonesome Christmas, Joe Kubeck & Benois King - Poor Man's Christmas, Charles Brown & Johnny Otis - Christmas Comes But Once A Year, Butterbeans & Susie - Papa Ain't No Santa Claus (Mama Ain't No Christmas Tree), Christmas Jug Band - Christmas Iz Coming, The Preston Shannon Band - X-Mas Blues, Bertha "Chippie" Hill - Christmas Man Blues, Felix Gross & His Orchestra - Love For Christmas, Sons Of Heaven - When Was Jesus Born?, Southside Johnny - Please Come Home For Christmas, and J.B. Summers with Doc Bagby's Orchestra - I Want A Present For Christmas.

Tune it at 11am this Wednesday HERE
Or as always, if you miss it, the show will be on Listen Again from when it ends until the next week.

This Week....

This week we played.....
Little Jimmy King and The Memphis Horns - Happy Christmas Tears, Ray Charles - I've Got A Woman, Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog, Pete 'Snakey Jake' Johnson - Satisfied, Billy 'Curley' Barrix - Cool Off Baby, Bo Carter - Santa Claus, Willie Mabon - I'm Mad, Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin', Black Ace - Christmas Time (Beggin' Santa Claus), Howlin' Wolf - Smoke Stack Lightning, Lowell Fulson - Lonesome Christmas, Led Zeppelin - You Shook Me.

As always if you missed it, you'll be able to catch it on The Cat's Listen Again facility for one week, by clicking on Listen Again and selecting Wednesday 11am.

This Week's Featured Artist...

Howlin' Wolf - Born Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), Howlin’ Wolf ranks among the most electrifying performers in blues history, as well as one of its greatest characters. He was a ferocious, full-bodied singer whose vocals embodied the blues at its most unbridled. A large man who stood more than six feet tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds, Howlin’ Wolf cut an imposing figure, which he utilized to maximum effect when performing. He wrote classics as “Killing Floor,” “Smokestack Lightning” and “Moanin’ at Midnight.”Wolf derived his trademark howl from the “blue yodel” of country singer Jimmie Rodgers, whom he admired. He moved to West Memphis in 1948 where he put together a full-time band. Howlin’ Wolf influenced such blues-based rock musicians as the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton, and he recorded the albums - The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions and London Revisited - with his British followers in the early Seventies. Howlin’ Wolf gave his last performance in Chicago in November 1975 with B.B. King. He died of kidney failure two months later, aged 65. A life-size statue of him was erected shortly after in a Chicago park.

Providence Jug Band Special!!

Genre: Jug Band Music

Members: Winston Baldwin - Harp/Vocals, Phil Brightman - Guitar and piano, Stephen green - Mandolin, Keith Haines - Tea Chest Bass and Guitar.

Description: A gigging band playing blues, ragtime, jazz, and jug band music.

Bio: Surfaced during the 1970's when the folk music revival was at its height. Played for a number of years regionally, but split to have families. Reformed 30 years later, and currently play clubs and festivals. They have two CD's - "Back In Town" and "Red Street Rendezvous"

Today's Show is a two hour special featuring the amazing Providence Jug Band. The Midweek Blues team went down to The Bank Corner in Alsager to interview them and record them playing live. We also got some great photos. Tune in today between 11am and 1pm www.thisisthecat.com.

VIDEO 1

VIDEO 2

PHOTOS

As always if you miss it, you'll be able to catch it on The Cat's Listen Again facility for one week, by clicking on Listen Again and selecting Wednesday 11am (and for this week, noon too).

Providence Jug Band will be playing at The Narrowboat in Middlewich, this Friday, the 9th at around 8.30pm.

Excited!

The Midweek Blues team have been busily editing, researching and planning this week's TWO HOUR Midweek Blues Special, all about Providence Jug Band. Tune in on Wednesday 7th December at 11am.