BLUES SESSIONS
(5CD)
REVIEW
If the Coen brothers are looking for a follow-up to their phenomenally
successful film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? then they need look no
further than the story behind Modern Downhome blues field sessions of
the early 1950s. The location would still be the Deep South, and so
would the allusion to Homer's epic, 'The Odyssey'.
A vivid opening snapshot to our new series is given by notewriter Jim
O'Neal, the founding editor of Living Blues magazine: The tale of their
[the Bihari brothers] exploits in the land of cotton has all the elements
of a Dixie docu-drama, complete with an indignant Southern heroine
[Lillian McMurry of Trumpet Records], a double-dealing native talent scout
[Ike Turner], small town sheriffs and police, subterfuge, disguise,
raiders, traitors, spies, and clandestine operations. But no shots were
fired in these skirmishes, and the only casualties were in lost record
sales revenue, broken contracts, violated trusts, and one unfortunate
blues artist's shattered career. The Biharis' battle wagon was a flashy
new Cadillac, their artillery a four-channel Magnecord tape recorder, and
their ammunition reels of magnetic tape and rolls of cash."
Ace Records is packaging these historic - and musically great -
recordings into The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions. For this first volume
"Arkansas and Mississippi, 1951-1952" we are concentrating on the
recordings that Joe Bihari and his young talent scout accomplice Ike
Turner made between November 1951 and January 1952 in North Little Rock,
Arkansas-.-and in Greenville and Canton, Mississippi. The featured artists
are enough to make any self-respecting blues collector salivate with
anticipation: Elmore James, Boyd Gilmore, Drifting Slim, Junior Brooks,
Sunny Blair, Houston Boines, Charley Booker and Ernest Lane. Otis "Red"
Boyd is the odd man out, with a rare example of Mississippi big band music
- it's almost downhome jazz.
Modern Records' partner Joe Bihari had made his first field trip to the
South around September 1951 following the terminal breakdown in relations
with Sam Phillips. This was after Rocket "88" by Jackie Brenston and Ike
Turner ended up on Chess instead of Modern, and became a #1 R&B smash
hit. Until then Phillips had been recording Modern's Memphis-area artists
including B.B. King, Joe Hill Louis and Rosco Gordon. Following the split
with Phillips, the first recording location was the "colored" YMCA in
Memphis. It was here that Joe Bihari hit paydirt with B.B. King's 3
O'Clock Blues, thus encouraging Modern patriarch Jules Bihari to authorise
further excursions into the South. The excitement level was high enough
for the Biharis to launch a new - albeit short-lived - label for these
field recordings, Blues & Rhythm, in February 1952.
VOL.1
Arkansas & Mississippi
(1951-52)
REVIEW
For this first volume "Arkansas and Mississippi, 1951-1952" we are
concentrating on the recordings that Joe Bihari and his young talent
scout accomplice Ike Turner made between November 1951 and January
1952 in North Little Rock, Arkansas-.-and in Greenville and Canton,
Mississippi. The featured artists are enough to make any
self-respecting blues collector salivate with anticipation: Elmore
James, Boyd Gilmore, Drifting Slim, Junior Brooks, Sunny Blair,
Houston Boines, Charley Booker and Ernest Lane. Otis "Red" Boyd is
the odd man out, with a rare example of Mississippi big band music -
it's almost downhome jazz.
Modern Records' partner Joe Bihari had made his first field trip to
the South around September 1951 following the terminal breakdown in
relations with Sam Phillips. This was after Rocket "88" by Jackie
Brenston and Ike Turner ended up on Chess instead of Modern, and
became a #1 R&B smash hit. Until then Phillips had been
recording Modern's Memphis-area artists including B.B. King, Joe
Hill Louis and Rosco Gordon. Following the split with Phillips, the
first recording location was the "colored" YMCA in Memphis. It was
here that Joe Bihari hit paydirt with B.B. King's 3 O'Clock Blues,
thus encouraging Modern patriarch Jules Bihari to authorise further
excursions into the South. The excitement level was high enough for
the Biharis to launch a new - albeit short-lived - label for these
field recordings, Blues & Rhythm, in February 1952.
The first major reissue of this material was in 1969 and 1970, when
Frank Scott and Bruce Bromberg conceived the "Anthology Of The
Blues" 12-volume LP series on Kent. Since then P-Vine of Japan has
delved into the Modern archives with CD revamps of these LPs with
bonus tracks. An Ace CD taster came with The Travelling Record Man
in August 2001 (CDCHD 813).
With the opening volumes of this new series, Dave Sax and myself
have tried to follow the actual field trip journeys, rather than
compile on a strictly regional basis (ie not just Mississippi Blues,
not just Arkansas Blues etc) as with previous reissues. The real
beauty of these sessions is that the musicians are caught in a
genuine time warp. The only nod to musical homogenisation was crude
instrument amplification, otherwise this was literally the Delta
Blues from the pre-World War II era.
The series is dedicated to the late Mike Leadbitter, the co-founder
of Blues Unlimited, for his extraordinary and visionary research
work on the Delta Blues an incredible 30 years ago. It is intended
to roll out further volumes at regular intervals, also encompassing
Modern's downhome blues output beyond the South.
In addition to Jim O'Neal's brilliantly researched notes here,
Modern's Joe Bihari kindly agreed to pen an introduction. Joe was an
incredibly brave man to be wandering the Deep South in the early
1950s with his tape recorder, looking for juke joint bluesmen. But
as he says, "I was a gutsy kid who wasn't afraid of anything,
travelling during a period where there was immense segregation and
discrimination against African Americans. Indeed, I am proud of
myself for doing what I could to resist this horrific prejudice.
Looking back, I think I made major contributions to this rich music
that we have all over America-.-and all my hard work paid off as
this blues music is now recognised worldwide."
Suddenly, the scenario comes alive. The soundtrack could do for
downhome blues what the O Brother, Where Art Thou? million-selling
CD did for bluesgrass music. And, yes, George Clooney could play the
part of Joe Bihari, the hip record man from Hollywood. Dreams,
maybe, but at last the Modern Downhome Blues series is a reality."
VOL.2
Mississippi & Arkansas
(1952)
TMDHBS-Vol.2-Mississippi & Arkansas (1952) @FLAC
REVIEW
REVIEW
In Volume 2, Ace has included a whopping seven sides emerging from
the penumbra of the vaults for the first time ever after 50-plus
years gathering dust. More too from the same artists featured in the
first volume, although there is one debutant in drummer Jesse
"Cleanhead" Love, who has a hitherto unattributed Why Don't My Baby
Write To Me credited to his name. Much of this new release revolves
around three different musical aggregations, all previously
represented on Volume 1 but here unbottled from the fine wine
section of the cellar in order to define the breadth of their
repertoires. One of Houston Boines' only two issued (and extremely
rare) 78s appeared on the first volume. Not only does Volume 2
feature his other 78 (RPM 364), but it also sweeps up another four
cuts from the same March 1952 session in Clarksdale, Mississippi -
from which also emanates the one remaining Charley Booker title not
included on Volume 1.
Also given more stretching space, is material from the session of 21
March 1952 (read the sleeve notes to discover how the date has been
narrowed down in true Sherlock Holmes' fashion!) held at Martin
Scroggin's Music Center of North Little Rock, Arkansas. Featured are
young harmonica virtuoso Sunny Blair and the sublime Edgar "Baby
Face" Turner, a guitarist whose versatility encompassed a range from
the slide of Muddy Waters to the Piedmont style of Brownie McGhee.
Baby Face's Blue Serenade (issued as Modern 882) is just one of the
top-notch performances on this stellar collection. Last but not
least on this downhome premier cru list is Drifting Slim, whose
given name was Elmon Mickle. Slim's second 78 (RPM 370) for Modern's
Bihari brothers is included here, along with his 1951 audition demos
with which the aforementioned Martin Scroggin persuaded Joe Bihari
to contract Mickle. This session is a wonderful example of Southern
juke-joint blues from the early post-World War II years.
As an expensive digestivo in conclusion, let's note two sides each
from the King of the Slide Guitar, Elmore James, and from his
reputedly close friend, the Elmore soundalike, Boyd Gilmore.
Actually, you could count Elmo's contribution on this CD to closer
to two-and-a-half sides, as it is his bottleneck guitar that is
spliced in to the intro and break of Gilmore's All In My Dreams. The
two tracks by Boyd presented here are drawn from his second and
final single, issued by the Biharis as Modern 872.
This Volume 2 is enlivened not just by the vibrant music but also by
the splendid stories (many never before recounted) in the booklet
notes from artists such as Little Milton Campbell and Bobby Rush. So
why not take a little walk with Ace and savour the many downhome
blues delights herein? And, if you missed them, those of Volume 1 as
well."
VOL.3
Memphis On Down
TMDHBS-Vol.3-Memphis On Down @FLAC
REVIEW
Ace's third volume of The Modern Downhome Blues Sessions lives up to
the standards set by its predecessors. This volume starts off in
Memphis, with recordings that Sam Phillips shopped to Modern/RPM in
1950/51. Phillips and the Biharis fell out when Chess was sent and had
a hit with Jackie Brenston's 'Rocket 88', but before that Modern
acquired some classics from Phillips. MEMPHIS ON DOWN begins with
Willie Nix (was there ever a greater singing drummer?) accompanied by
Willie Johnson's slash-and-burn guitar. There's more Johnson on
Howling Wolf's Riding In the Moonlight and Crying At Daybreak aka
Smokestack Lightning, in the versions issued on 78rpm. And if you
think Segrest and Hoffman's new biography sewed up everything about
the Wolf, read Lester Bihari's report of him commuting between West
Memphis and a steel plant in Gary. This is just one of many new pieces
of information in Jim O'Neal's lengthy and detailed notes in the
beautifully presented booklet.
VOL.4
Southern Country Blues Guitarists
(1958-52)
REVIEW
Reaching Volume Four of The MODERN DOWNHOME BLUES SESSIONS
represents the realisation of a long-held dream for this writer.
There have been many happy experiences in putting this series
together, not the least being the excellent working relationship
that series supervisor and co-compiler John Broven, annotator Jim
O'Neal and myself have achieved during its preparation. More or less
creating our own little web chat room, discussion and thoughts have
flowed back and forth and many surprising discoveries have been made
in the process. But by far the happiest aspect has been the
enthusiastic reception with which the series has been greeted. The
aim has been to present the unique downhome blues music that Modern
Records recorded in programmes that entertain as well as preserve
vitally important music.
VOL.5
Back In The Alley
(1959-54)
REVIEW
It was way back in 1969/1970, when the Bihari Brothers, the owners of
Modern Records commenced a reissue series that opened the door to a whole
new world of blues recordings.
The series of blues albums on the Bihari’s Kent Records label included
compilations of blues recordings from Memphis, Arkansas, Detroit,
Mississippi, Texas, West Coast and California blues. These sets were
compiled by US collectors Frank Scott and Bruce Bromberg who were allowed
to mine the Bihari’s vaults and issued as part of the "Anthology Of The
Blues" 12 volume album series. What made these albums stand out was that
they included unissued tracks and obscure blues artists - hitherto unknown
to many, with the exception of a small band of dedicated record collectors
on both sides of the Atlantic.
4 comments:
Thank you very much for these. Unfortunately, the archive
for Vol. 5 seems to be the same as for Vol. 4. Any chance
that you could revisit this post and put up a replacement?
@Crab Devil
Thanks for the wrong link !
Corrected !
Greets
Chris-France
Thank you very much for the fix!
is it possible to re-upload volume 2 of the modern downhome sessions? I can not lower it, the other volumes yes, no problem. Thank you so much. Excellent blog
Post a Comment