Topic: Tampa Red and Georgia Tom article

[uncle bud]

A personal essay that deals with the sad later days of Tampa Red, by Atomic Mama.

http://www.teemings.net/series_2/issue_02/georgia_tom.html

A snippet: "When I met Tampa, he was frail, frail, frail. His delicate fingernails were tinged yellow with nicotine. He spoke very quietly, and never seemed quite ?all there.? When we would leave after a visit, we'd always ask, ?Can we bring you something?? Tampa's request was always and only for some cigarettes and beer. We never brought him the beer."

[Bunker Hill]

A snippet: "When I met Tampa, he was frail, frail, frail. His delicate fingernails were tinged yellow with nicotine. He spoke very quietly, and never seemed quite ?all there.? When we would leave after a visit, we'd always ask, ?Can we bring you something?? Tampa's request was always and only for some cigarettes and beer. We never brought him the beer."

The lengthy, sensitive and evocative interviews that Jim & Amy O?Neal conducted with Tampa were put to excellent use in Jim's sleeve notes to the 1975 double RCA LP which he ends thus, "Their dog Betty yelps and growls, the phone rings, and Tampa Red slowly answers "Oh I'm a little dry, a little crippled. You think you could bring me some beer and Bulger?"

I've long wanted to whom this plea were made!

Postscript to the above. Twenty years ago I OCR'd into Word the entire RCA LP notes. !t is far too long to post here but anybody wishing to read this PM me with an email address and I'll send as attachment.

[uncle bud]

I understand the reasoning, but I would have brought him a beer or two!

[Great Bear]

Alan, thank you for sharing the RCA notes. Kudos to Jim O'Neal for a wonderfully sensitive and informative treatment of Tampa's life (at that point) and his career. A truly moving story.

For those who haven't read the RCA notes: if you're a Tampa Red fan in any way, shape or form...you need to reading this.

Inspired by Jim's writing, I revisited Tampa's OBC recordings with fresh ears and a greater appreciation of where Tampa was at that stage of his life. Of all his works these are the recordings I play the least. This time I enjoyed these albums for what they were, not what they weren't.

[Stuart]

I just re-read the liner notes to the "Guitar Wizard" LP set. They are a sad reminder that for many of our heroes, their "golden years" were far from golden.

As Great Bear says, they are a must read, both for Tampa Red fans and for those with only an acquaintance with his name and music.

[Bunker Hill]

Inspired by Jim's writing, I revisited Tampa's OBC recordings with fresh ears and a greater appreciation of where Tampa was at that stage of his life. Of all his works these are the recordings I play the least. This time I enjoyed these albums for what they were, not what they weren't.

Elswhere I recall posting the Jacques Demetre and Marcel Chauvard report of their visit to him in autumn 1959. It was a year before those recordings were made when he told them, "My days have passed but I'm sure that there'll come a time when I shall start singing again".

[LeftyStrat]

For those who haven't read the RCA notes: if you're a Tampa Red fan in any way, shape or form...you need to reading this.

Agreed!  A great read it was. Many Thanks to BH for sharing. Seriously considering going back to expanding my Tampa Red collection once money's right again.

[Bunker Hill]

Blues Unlimited 115 (Sep/Oct 1975) ran a lengthy review of the set which concluded "this double album set retails for just under ?5 in this country...[Jim O'Neal's] comprehensive resume of Tampa Red's twenty years with RCA is a fine piece of investigative journalism, exploding myths and giving fresh insight into a previously shadowy figure".