---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Henry's Blueshouse <admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, Apr 6, 2021 at 3:50 AM
Subject: More Mickey, New Website, Homesick Takes an Early Bath, Banana
Peel Blues and more
To: <jakecat39@xxxxxxxxx>
Henry's Virtual Blueshouse #53
Not displaying correctly? View online version
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*Henry's Virtual Blueshouse #**53*
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More Mickey
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There's been a really good response to the feature on Mickey Baker in the
second of our Paris Blues pieces in *Henry's Virtual Blueshouse #50*
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It’s amazing just how many guitarists still regard Mickey with affection,
having learned to play from his guitar tutor books. So I thought it would
be interesting to take a look from a different point of view.
Tony Cummings, the respected longtime feature writer for Black Music
magazine, wrote the sleeve notes for the 1973 Mickey Baker album on Big
Bear - "*Take A Look Inside*
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".
For the record, as it were, Mickey was backed on the recording by
Memphis-born pianist *Willie Mabon*
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Don Armstrong on bass guitar [Pete Morgan on two of the eleven tracks] and
Big Bear's go-to drummer, Peter York. The backing vocals came courtesy of
charting vocal group Arrival - Dyan Birch, Frank Collins and Paddy McHugh,
hitmaker Ken Elliott played clavinet on the standout "*I'll Always Be In
Love With You*
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along with percussionist Kieran O' Connor.
Recorded at Chalk Farm Studios in London over three sessions, it was
engineered by Vic Keary and produced by Jim Simpson.
*Fame isn't what you've done, it's how many people shout about it. Mickey
Baker is famous ("legendary" is how magazine articles refer to him) but, in
these strange times of wah wah, fuzz and heavy metal, Mickey's fame has
become somewhat muted - a sad irony when one considers how immense is
Mickey's contribution to popular music guitar styles. *
*In the fifties his was the archetypal electric guitar, heard on thousands
of New York R&B records which were to help turn an insular ghetto culture
into the root of a new, youth-based popular music. Mickey was a product of
the streets, a sophisticated entertainer hardened by decades of hustling,
wise with the worldliness of experience.*
*Born McHouston Baker on the 15 October 1926 in Louisville, Kentucky,
Mickey grew up eating more dirt than food. He was a wild kid, stealing,
hustling and trying to fight over the taunts his "yellow" complexion
brought him.*
*Mickey remembered, "I stayed in a detention centre for three months when I
was eleven for stealing. Then they sent me to an orphan home. I kept on
running away, they kept on sending me back. When I was 15 1/2 I got to New
York, the War started and the authorities let me alone for a bit.”*
*Mickey developed a vague interest in the trumpet at reform school, but it
wasn’t through music that he supported himself. He hustled: pool playing,
pimping, dope salesman. But a misunderstanding over payments resulted in a
"New York Stomp" by his employers and made Mickey look to music as a
living. *
*For two years Mickey laboriously practised into the early hours. He got
better and better and by the late 40's he played "real sweet", commented
Mickey. *
*"I wasn't really into blues, I went for Charlie Christian and Django
Reinhardt. But in Oakland I saw Pee Wee Crayton. He seemed to be cleaning
up - playing blues. *
*So I decided to get into that kinda thing. When I hit New York again I got
a band together with Earl Warren. *
*Soon I began cutting records. I had an ear for the old sounds and the new
sounds. I could play on everything.”*
*Everything indeed. Mickey's fluid electric guitar stylings were heard on a
massive number of records. After a smash session (Ruth Brown's "Mama He
Treats Your Daughter Mean") he was established (along with saxman King
Curtis and drummer Panama Francis) as New York's top R&B session man. *
*Nappy Brown, Little Willie John, Ray Charles, Joe Turner, the Platters,
Lavern Baker - Mickey's skilful runs perked up many a maudlin ballad or
added bite to many a house-rocker. Then by accident he stumbled on stardom
of his own.*
*A voluptuous teenager called Sylvia Vanderpool fancied herself as a
singer/guitarist and somehow Mickey, her guitar teacher, got in on the act.
Mickey and Sylvia became a major R&B/rock and roll draw throughout the
50's. And "Love Is Strange" became a multi-million seller for RCA/Groove in
'57.*
*Also, with the never-ending session work, Mickey Baker seemed to personify
the American rags-to-riches dream. Said Mickey, “It could have gone on and
on. But in ’62 I just split. I was getting tired of New York, tired of
America. I needed a fresh thing. I came to Paris.”*
*In France he entered a whole new music world of intimate jazz clubs and
Francoise Hardy sessions. The French record biz offered Mickey plenty of
session work, if only the occasional chance to cut a solo EP.*
*There the story might have ended: a brilliant musician (whose best-selling
guitar manuals had inspired tens of thousands of younger musicians)
enshrouded in the anonymity and stifling banality of the French pop world.
But in the late 60s the European audience for the blues found the
super-talent living on their doorstep. *
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Mike Vernon brought Mickey to Britain where he amazed audiences with his
ability though new recordings were somewhat confused as to direction. Then
the '72 Big Bear concerts showed a new Baker.
Then he enthused to an interviewer, "I've used the last few years to really
discover the blues. Not just the B.B. King kinda things - but Robert
Johnson, Son House, the heavy things, which are the deep roots.”
And that is where Mickey Baker has arrived. In this quite extraordinary
album Baker plays on some tracks acoustic bottleneck in the same expert
manner as his elegant electric.
The record shows that here is a man who has absorbed the country blues
without lurching into derivative caricature. Listen to the stunning intro
to "Make Up Your Bed Mama". Hasn't Mickey captured the sounds of the Delta?
And doesn't "New York, New York" personify perfectly the hard street life
of its performer? And isn't "Take A Look Inside" with its charging
gospelesque choir the very embodiment of joyous fervour?
Eclecticism has only recently come to black music, but now with an age that
has seen Hendrix and Taj Mahal (plus countless white musicians) steep
themselves in the heritage of black musical culture - the blues - isn't it
fitting that Mickey Baker, the legendary father of the modern R&B guitar,
should lead the journey back to an earlier kind of musical truth?
*Click here to Stream Take A Look Inside in full*
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New Henry's Website
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As well as the Bluesletter you're reading right now, and our *soon-to-resume
weekly gigs*
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we're delighted to say that Henry's Blueshouse now has *its very own
website*
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!
Over at *Henry's Blues Blog*
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you'll be able to find an archive of blues stories, playlists, videos and
other fun stuff featured in previous edition of our Bluesletter, with new
content added weekly, alongside *details of upcoming gigs*
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and links to the back catalogue of *blues from the Big Bear's lair*
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.
So follow Mickey B's advice, and* take a look inside...*
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*Click Here To Visit The Henry's Website*
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Homesick Takes An Early Bath
Here’s a funiosity.
On the surface this Press Release from some 46 years ago appears to be
about a routine like-for-like replacement for a musician suddenly taken
sick mid-tour.
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*(**click here to view the image full size*
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*)*
However, when it landed on the desk of seasoned music journalist Max Jones
at Melody Maker it didn’t take long for him to guess that there was more to
this seemingly bland press release than met the eye.
“Hello Bear” (which is how Max always addressed me “don’t tell me that Home
has gone off the rails again”. Naturally I denied it strenuously if not
convincingly, before Max downed the receiver with his trademark chortle and
a “lying sod”.
Truth to tell, it didn’t require genius to reach the same conclusion as did
Max, especially for anyone who had more than a passing acquaintance
with *Homesick
James*
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probably born James Williamson or maybe William Henderson in Somerville,
Tennessee in 1905. He was, on his day, a totally mesmerising and
captivating performer, playing wild, seemingly almost out-of-control slide
guitar and delivering pure Mississippi field holler vocals.
When it wasn’t his day, he could be a nightmare. On a Blues Legends tour,
playing concert halls, he would sometimes vanish just minutes before he was
scheduled to go on stage, only to be found lurking in a nearby bar.
When I would remonstrate he would smile sweetly and offer me a drink. Other
times, when he was really feeling the spirit, he would refuse to leave the
stage at the end of his set.
And yes, this was the only time I had to do this in the many tours I did
with him, I had to send him back early to Chicago.
At heart, he was a good man and I was really very fond of him. This
experience in no way damaged our relationship and we continued to work and
record together.
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Banana Peel Blues
Delighted to hear from my old chum Erik Carrette in Ruiselede, Belgium. His
friend and fellow Ruiselede resident Katrien, who now works in Brum,
visited this week bearing gifts from Erik including a vintage blues
calendar and a letter handwritten across several beermats – just a reminder
that Belgium is The Beer Capital of the World.
Erik and Big Bear go back to the early 1970s when his splendidly rural
Banana Peel club in the tiny West Flanders village of Ruiselede, only 30
minutes from Roeselare (home of the red Rodenbach beer – Erik’s favourite
tipple back in the 1970s) was always the first European gig on the
datesheet of our touring American Blues musicians.
If my memory serves, which is not guaranteed, the first American blueser we
booked into Banana Peel, on November 24 1973, was
singer/guitarist/harmonica player *Eddie Guitar Burns*
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from Belzoni, Mississippi.
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Amazingly, in a village of only 5000 people, The Banana Peel under Erik
Carrette’s guidance, presented in just one year, 1974, a programme of Big
Bear touring artists that your average UK city theatre would be proud of:
February 24: American Blues Legends ’74 with Eddie Playboy Taylor, Big John
Wrencher, Cousin Joe From New Orleans, Doctor Ross and George GP Jackson –
The Kansas City Bo Diddley
March 17: Doctor Ross The Harmonica Boss
May 26: Cousin Joe from New Orleans
August 3: Mickey Baker, Brewers Droop, Jo Ann Kelly and Bob Hall
December 4: Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Connors
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Henry and The Rude Boys
Nothing to do with the Blues, I readily admit, and only remotely connected
to Henry’s and that’s because some of the musicians involved here played at
Henry’s in different bands. But it’s nice to see three early Big Bear
Records ska recordings featured on the new Cherry Red Records release “*Staring
At The Rude Boys*
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”.
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Subtitled “The British Ska Revival 1979 to 1989, the impressive three CD/
70 track compilation features “We Are The Gangsters” by The Gangsters,
“Shooting” by The Thrillers and “Stop That Boy” by Wide Boy.
This is probably the most comprehensive release to date covering the 1979
to 1989 British Ska Revival.
The ‘Big Five” – The Specials, Madness, The Beat, The Selector and Bad
Manners are all there, as well as what Cherry Red refer to as “highly
collectable rarities" which includes the Big Bear tracks.
Original Ska pioneers Laurel Aitken, Rico and Desmond Dekker are here and
there, there’s a comprehensive, illustrated 44 page booklet - and it’s time
to put your braces together and your boots on your feet for some of that
old moonstomping.
*Order Your Copy Here*
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The High Sheriff From Hell
*This week, The Nitecrawlers tell the story of a bluesman who deserves to
be remembered with the best...*
Everybody knows that these days to make it big, you gotta get yourself an
image. But in the good old days it seemed it was only the swing band
leaders understood the need for an image - most bluesmen were far too busy
surviving to worry themselves too much about that sort of thing.
At least until Peetie Wheatstraw came along. Billed as the High Sheriff
From Hell, and the Devil’s Son in Law, as far as us Nitecrawlers can tell
he was neither of these things, but then he wasn’t Peetie Wheatstraw
either, not that it mattered to William Bunch cause he’d figured out the
story and he was sticking to it.
After spending his early years farming at Cotton Plant in Arkansas on the
edges of the Delta, William Bunch chose not to bust his back anymore and
instead began playing the local saw-mill towns. So by the time he arrived
in wide open, violent East St Louis he’d become a reasonable guitarist and
an adequate pianist.
Bunch had arrived alongside a mysterious character called Neckbone, who he
soon dumped, along with that William Bunch moniker. In an orchestrated
attempt at re-invention, Bunch crafted himself a whole new persona that was
intended to establish his notoriety amongst gullible and superstitious
audiences as he became Peetie Wheatstraw, “the Devil’s Son-In-Law” and “The
“High Sheriff of Hell”.
He was playing the low life blues joints and sporting houses of “The
Valley” East St Louis’ red light district, mainly at a club called Lovejoy
and a juke on West Biddle Street. But the humour the menace and the
swaggering confidence that were the calling card of Peetie Wheatstraw,
coupled with the deceptively simple two fisted piano and unique slurred
vocal style quickly built his reputation.
The big break came when blues singer, talent scout, and bootlegger, Charlie
Jordan introduced him to both Vocalion and Decca records. Peetie’s discs
caught the public imagination and sold well, even through the tough years
of the depression, making him one of the most popular and widely imitated
bluesmen of his time, the young Robert Johnson being one who drew from
Wheatstraw’s repertoire and image.
And Peetie was certainly prolific, over a ten year period he recorded one
hundred and sixty one sides in Chicago and New York which was pretty much
the only time he left St Louis. “Peetie had become famous” recalled Henry
Townsend “but I never did know him take a tour.” No need, record sales were
still good, and on the day of his 39th birthday Wheatstraw was still up
there and riding high.
Early on his birthday morning Wheatstraw, his performing partner Big Joe
Williams and a couple of gamblers climbed into a brand new Buick. They’d
been out all night, playing music, drinking and hustling dice.
They burned rubber for a while until Joe stopped the car and got out. “I
was drunk and got evil” he said. So the other three sped on without him
until the Buick mounted an embankment and smashed into the rear end of a
stationary Louisville and Nashville freight train, killing all three men.
Peetie Wheatstraw had been a star bluesman, even though his instrumental
talents were average and his records were slowly growing more predictable.
That self-assured Wheatstraw flamboyance coupled with the supernatural
myths guaranteed him a place up top even though by all accounts the
‘Devil’s Son-In-Law act was just an act.
‘He liked his liquor” remembered Yank Rachel “but he was easy to get along
with”, and Henry Townsend agreed; “He liked whiskey, but I never heard
anything bad about him.”
Peetie Wheatstraw may not have been a bad man but his love of whiskey and
gambling got him running with a bad crowd, “I heard of Peetie Wheatstraw”
said one woman, “but we had nothing to do with people like that”.
Well us Nitecrawlers reckon he was a trailblazer, and a real original who
deserves to be considered as one of the best bluesmen of his time, so when
you’ve got a little time why not give a listen to Peetie Wheatstraw, the
High Sheriff From Hell.
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PO Box 944 Birmingham B16 8UT GB
