Topic: that bluebird beat!

[unezrider]

hello friend,
several months ago i had gotten into the later recordings of sonny boy (john lee) williamson. i was so struck by just how good & consistint his recordings were. & with the mid 30's ? mid 40's being a much neglected time period of my blues collection (probably due to the lack of mention from any sort of blues critics, aside from "cookie cutter" etc?) i finally started focusing on that era. & quite frankly, i have been really enjoying the music i have collected over the last several months. mainly focusing on this time period, & bluebird records. here are some of my new additions people may want to check out, if they haven't already.
? big maceo - vol. 1 '41?'45. a document release that has him paired up with tampa red. the sound quality is really good, & the music is even better. a can't miss great disc.
? tampa red - vol. 12 '41?'45. another document release. this time tampa is in front with maceo backing. another great disc with good sound & great songs. the only thing that took me some time getting used to was tampa's kazoo. for some reason i don't mind the kazoo in a jug band setting, but on these recordings it's initially a little odd to my ears. but in no way diminishing the quality of the music.
? washboard sam vol. 6 '41 ?'42. again, document, & again good sound though out. here sam is backed by big bill broonzy & memphis slim. another really enjoyable collection of performances.
? lonnie johnson vol. 1 '37?'40. this is the second vol. 1 document has for lonnie. the sound is really good, but a little less than half of the disc is actually bluebird recordings. but i'll include it here anyway, as these are some fine lonnie performances. on the earlier sides he's playing his wonderful sounding 12 string. & later, while playing a 6 string, he is wonderfully accompanied by roosevelt sykes.
& here i haven't even mentioned the big joe williams recordings that are on the sonny boy jsp box. i imagine if i collected every single thing i could get my hands on from this period, i would start finding it repetitive, too. but these are some really good discs that never fail to entertain.
chris

[dj]

Chris,

I know what you mean.  I made the same discovery a while back.  There was a lot of really good material coming out of Chicago right before WWII, which gets unjustly ignored because it all got tarred with that "Bluebird Beat" label.

Don't confine yourself to the Bluebird label.  Lester Melrose was also handling race talent for Vocalion at the time, similar music but with artsts such as Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, and Bumble Bee Slim, and  Decca had a great roster of artists at the time, including Bill Gaither, Georgia White, Jimmie Gordon, Johnny Temple, and Ollie Shepard.     

i imagine if i collected every single thing i could get my hands on from this period, i would start finding it repetitive

Interestingly enough, I don't find that to be the case.  There were a lot of great singers and instrumentalists working back then, with a fairly wide range of influences and technique.  I'll often put my iPod on a smart playlist to just randomly play a year from the late 30s or early 40s, hundreds of songs, and listen for a few hours.  This is good stuff.

[Bunker Hill]

http://www.wirz.de/music/mcclenfrm.htm

This man recorded for Bluebird, managed by Melrose and in no sense could his "approach" be classed as repetitive.

Like DJ I'm a "Bluebird Beat" fan and Sam Charters really did not do right by the label, or it is roster of artists, when fifty years ago he stated that Melrose was responsible for "...repetitious use of cliches and a monotonous accompaniment that was as unimaginative as their singing" and that "...there were so few blues on the Bluebird lists that reflected the miseries of unemployment and the depression years but they were haphazard songs trying to laugh off the depression more than anything else".

And that received wisdom has been carried down through the decades in much of what has been written about Melrose and "the beat" he supposedly created.

Ok, I'll now step down from my soap-box.

[unezrider]

hello friend,
thanks for the new names to add to my list to check out! the more i listen to the music from this period, the more i realize it's a shame it has been pushed aside when blues history is discussed.
chris

[dj]

This man recorded for Bluebird, managed by Melrose and in no sense could his "approach" be classed as repetitive.

The Delta Boys (Sleepy John Estes and Son Bonds) also recorded for Bluebird, in 1941.  And there's no way John Estes could ever be described as "monotonous" or "unimaginative"!

[dj]

Also, don't forget the St. Louis pianists Walter Davis (Bluebird) and Peetie Wheatstraw (primarily Decca), who were both firmly in the "Bluebird Beat" style.  I'd recommend Document CD 5283 (Walter Davis Volume 3, 1937-1938) as a place to start for Walter Davis.  All the songs there are accompanied by either Henry Townsend or Yank Rachel, and to my mind the recordings with Rachel were the best Davis ever did.  Peetie Wheatstraw is a bit harder to recommend.  A good compilation would be the best way to go, but I don't know if there are nay still on the market.  Failing that, Document's Volume 4 or 5 would probably be the best cross section of his repertoire of the Document discs.   

[Mr.OMuck]

OK so Sam Charters made a mistake. I'm still eternally grateful for all the good music he steered us to and also for being a member of Dave Van Ronk's Ragtime Jug Stompers whose one album for Mercury is a must have for its Jug Band rendition of Mack the Knife!

[unezrider]

hey dj,
thanks for the insight on the pianists. i have a wheatstraw two disc set called "the essential". themed budget compilations put out by document a few years back. (i also have a bo carter & tampa red of the same) all are pretty decent. sound is middle of the road at best, & liner notes are non existant. but all have been good primers for me. though i think they may be out of print.
another artist who recorded for bluebird i enjoy listening to from time to time is robert petway. though not exactly the 'bluebird beat' sound i have been absorbing lately.

[LD50]

OK so Sam Charters made a mistake. I'm still eternally grateful for all the good music he steered us to and also for being a member of Dave Van Ronk's Ragtime Jug Stompers whose one album for Mercury is a must have for its Jug Band rendition of Mack the Knife!

Charters also said that Frank Stokes' best material was his Victors, and that his Beale Street Sheiks records for Paramount were inferior piffle not to be taken seriously as blues. Frankly, I can't imagine how anyone could come to that conclusion.