Curt's Blues - Blues. Only. Spoken. Here.
Keepin’ The Blues Alive And Thriving!
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THERE WILL BE NO BLOG THE WEEK OF CHRISTMAS. HAPPY HOLIDAY!
Artist Profile
Allen Shaw – An Unheralded Bluesman Deserving Of Much Greater Appreciation
“Well, I woke up this mornin’, mama, ‘as feelin’ bad
Got to thinkin’ about the times I once have had
Now, if you don’t want me why don’t you tell me so?
I could get a woman anywhere I go
Lord, I asked the judge, “What should be my fine?”
Said, “Eleven, twenty-nine and fifty dollar fine.”
Yes, I asked the judge to be “easy as you can
That’s all I want, you to slip me from the pen.”
Ummm, ummm
Cryin’ ummm, ummm
Cryin’ ummm, ummm
Ever since my mother has been dead
Been troubles and trials jumpin’ ‘cross my head
Cryin’ ummm, don’t nobody know
Cryin’ ummm, don’t nobody know
Ummm”
How in the world is it that a blues song with such simple lyrics can so profoundly move me? This week I was listening to the great Document Records CD entitled Memphis Blues – Volume 1 (1928-1935) – Robert Wilkins, Tom Dickson, Allen Shaw – Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order (DOCD-5014). Over the landscape of this tremendous 23-cut CD, 17 of the selections are from Wilkins, with four from Dickson, and two from Shaw.
Without a doubt, Memphis has always been a hotbed of blues activity, and it is certainly not a stretch to suggest that due to W.C. Handy’s September, 1912 release of “The Memphis Blues,” a tune he self-produced, a concealed blues world in the city located in the far southwestern portion of Tennessee was brought to the fore. Handy’s song was not constructed in what many at all would consider to be in the typical blues format. In fact, no less than Handy himself though his arrangement to be a “southern rag.” Also, many perceived Handy had lifted the song from a 1909 political tune that Handy is said to have authored for a Memphis mayoral candidate’s political objective. However, a bandmate of Handy’s suggests that Handy actually first heard the song in 1903 when it was performed by a three-piece string band outfit. Regardless of the composition’s intended use and originality, the instrumental set in motion the rise of Memphis blues as it was being played in the big city’s rough-and-tumble Beale Street blues joints with names such as The Hole In The Wall and Pee Wee’s, to name only a couple of the dangerous venues.
As a result of Handy’s 1912 work, Memphis’ blues artists enjoyed a newfound prominence beginning in the 1920s when they began to record their music. The reality was, though, that despite the importance Memphis itself played in the recording of these blues musicians, the majority of the performers arrived into the city from rural locations attempting to find steady employment in the urban area. Along with themselves and their families, however, they also brought their unique brands of blues with them.
Wilkins was a prolific recording artist of both blues and gospel material, including recording for the Victor and Brunswick labels. He was an artist whose musical range, though, transcended just blues and gospel, but ragtime and minstrel categories, too.
Tom Dickson recorded a total of six songs for the OKeh label, with his blues being unique in that each of his compositions are presented in a different key, while each also had a quite interesting and novel melody.
Which leads me to Allen Shaw. His only known released blues were from 1934 on the Vocalion label, both being recorded in New York City in mid-September, 1934 (the 17th and 18th). “I Couldn’t Help It” / “Moanin’ The Blues” (Vocalion #02844) were those blues songs.
“Moanin’ The Blues,” with its dynamic and rhythmic slide guitar, and clear, stout and slightly-coarse vocals is blues of the highest art, and yet here again, it is provided by a highly accomplished blues craftsperson who was as capable as any of the more prominently known acoustic blues names. So often is the case that some obscure blues artist produces the finest of blues.
“Moanin’ The Blues,” as simple as its lyrics are, is a master class of true blues expression, fraught with deep feeling and shadings, presented in a fashion that completely suggests that it could indeed belong in the well of blues classics. Instead, it is relegated to be found by the true blues enthusiasts who regularly dig deeply to unearth hidden genre treasures.
Likewise, “I Couldn’t Help It” is a blues of the uppermost quality, clearly and confidently sung, with percussive guitar strumming accompaniment that, in the end, yields great blues virtuosity. Once more, this long-time blues supporter acutely ponders why Shaw’s blues didn’t resonate with the record buying public of his time, and why today his abbreviated body of work is not praised in the same breath as others of his era who are more celebrated.
Here’s the real rub with the absolute top-shelf talent, other on guitar and vocally, that plagues Shaw. Research indicates that he may have appeared on an additional 15 unissued Hattie Hart blues tunes, and two by Memphis Willie Borum, plus there may be three unissued selections of his own.
Given Shaw’s huge blues skill set, what a shame it is that his known two solo sides only can provide a glimpse into his extraordinary blues intellect. While this has not been the usual blues artist profile that graces this blog’s pages, where the entirety of an artist’s life is examined, taking a look at the brilliance of Allen Shaw’s vast blues capabilities hopefully turns others toward his dazzling work.
Allen Shaw’s music is offered to blues fans via the magnificent compilations indicated below.
- Memphis Blues – Volume 1 (1928-1935) – Robert Wilkins, Tom Dickson, Allen Shaw – Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order (Document Records DOCD-5014
- Memphis Girls (1929-1935) – The Complete Recordings Of Leola Manning And Medelyn James – The Remaining Titles Of Hattie Hart And Minnie Wallace (RST Records BD-2029 with Allen Shaw on guitar on the four Hattie Hart cuts)
Essential Blues Recording
Various Artists – 1950 Was Indeed A Great Blues And R&B Year
Various Artists – Blowin’ The Fuse – 28 R&B Classics That Rocked The Jukebox in 1950 – Bear Family Records BCD 167105 AS
The 16 CDs comprising Bear Family Records’ phenomenal Blowin” The Fuse series were a mainstay of my late-night blues radio show days, and for good reason. The string of years covered ran from 1945-1960, and each anthology was extraordinary in its scope and quality. This collection is no exception, and the 79 plus minutes of music found here is sure to thoroughly excite any fan of blues and R&B.
Quite simply, the blues and R&B found on this CD is the finest overview for 1950 seen yet. And when coupled with the exhaustive liner notes, the whole package provides the fan and listener a total experience unlike any other.
Highpoints of this collection? Frankly, there’s no pedestrian cut to be found! All are superb. And as with any Bear Family Records outing, overall production energies are top-shelf, as witnessed by the exemplary sound quality and song sequencing enjoyed. 1950 never sounded so great!
To this reviewer, Bear Family Records’ Blowin” The Fuse” series will always be the gold standard for what a reissue effort should be.
Below are the superlative tracks of this essential CD in running order.
Song Titles
- Roy Milton – “Information Blues”
- Wynonie Harris – “Sittin’ On It All The Time”
- Ivory Joe Hunter – “I Almost Lost My Mind”
- Doc Sausage “Rag Mop”
- Fats Domino – “The Fat Man”
- Johnny Otis – “Double Crossing Blues”
- Eddie Mack – “Hoot And Holler Saturday Night”
- Professor Longhair – “Mardi Gras In New Orleans”
- Jewel King – “3 x 7 = 21”
- Roy Hawkins – “Why Do Things Happen To Me”
- Joe Liggins – “Pink Champagne”
- T-Bone Walker – “Strollin’ With Bones”
- Tiny Bradshaw – “Well Oh Well”
- Joe Turner – “Still In The Dark”
- Archibald – “Stack-A’Lee (parts 1&2)
- Goree Carter – “Come On Let’s Boogie”
- Calvin Bose – “Safronia B.”
- Ravens – “Count Every Star”
- Lowell Fulson – “Blue Shadows”
- Louis Jordan – “Blues Light Boogie (parts 1 & 2)
- Roy Brown – “Love Don’t Love Nobody”
- Joe Morris – “Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere”
- Lightnin’ Hopkins – “Shotgun Blues”
- Ruth Brown – “Teardrops From My Eyes”
- Clarence Brown – “Boogie Rambler”
- Percy Mayfield – “Please Send Me Someone To Love”
- Lloyd Glenn – “Old Time Shuffle Blues
- Jimmy Preston – “Oh, Babe”
Recommended Blues Recording
J.B. Hutto – Gashing Chicago Blues At Its Unsurpassed Wildest
J.B. Hutto – Slidewinder – Delmark Records DD-636
How about this! It’s two weeks in a row that the work of J.B. Hutto’s work gets reviewed! Respectfully, his work is so infectious and blues-to-the-core that it again demands to be praised for its high merits.
This eight-cut 1990 CD is a reissue of the original 1973 Delmark Records LP release. The original LP was released under the names of J.B. Hutto & The Hawks. The individual titles of the CD reissue mirror those found on the 1973 album.
Accompanying Hutto on these cuts are Lee Jackson on guitar, Bombay Carter on bass, and Elbert Buckner on drums. Of course, Hutto’s slide guitar and vocal proficiencies are the focus here.
The superb selections found on this collection were recorded on December, 19th and 20th, 1972 in Chicago.
No less than Bill Dahl, the admired writer and music commentator found Slidewinder to be substandard and bearing insipid song choices. While I admire and respect Dahl greatly for his myriad contributions to music, I find the totality of his feelings for Slidewinder entirely ill-judged.
Hutto amply continues to supply sharp-edged, unsmoothed brilliance from his instrument, in a manner that led he and his musical associates to put forth a ravaged form of urban blues that can only be compared to an electric force of nature.
This outing is fueled by its very stripped-down character. It isn’t polished, it isn’t shy, it isn’t for the wallflower among us. This is brash inner-city 1970s Chicago blues at it best. Closing one’s eyes yields a vision of Hutto and his crew on some cramped blues joint’s stage, perhaps at Turner’s, smoke heavy in the air, the smells of stale beer and perfume abounding, with the threat of violence around every corner.
This is Hutto leading a blues disturbance. It’s a blues clamor breaking out. It’s a Hutto musical brawl.
Slidewinder is seen as recommended for any blues collection. A better treatise of Chicago’s hard early 1970s blues is challenging to uncover. Modern blues did not begin with Hutto, but he abetted in the formation and development of the modern Chicago blues style. This is outstanding Chicago blues; blues slide guitar of the topmost level.
Short Take CD Reviews & Other Information
Short Take CD Reviews
Benny Turner – BT – Nola Blue Records #NBR|034 – The Blues Majesty Of An Ageless Turner
Benny Turner, Freddie King’s brother and long-time touring bass man, has at last finished an 11-cut seven-year-in-the-making collection that, front-to-back, is a joyous testament to the power of superb music made by an 85-year-old bluesman with more in the tank than many one-half his age! A glorious mix of delicious covers and originals, Turner lets all his shades of blues burst forth with a set that will delight those who know great music when a song’s first note resonates. Turner is in excellent voice, his bass frameworks are staunch as ever, he plies his banjo proficiencies to great effect, and yes, he dusts off his guitar and provides scrumptious licks aplenty. By the way, is that Nola Blue Records’ Sallie Bengtson I hear singing in support? Supported by a top-tier collective of fellow skilled musicians who ideally border Turner’s blues visions, and the customary top-tier production and sound expectations that come with every Nola Blue Records release, Turner’s release has made 2024’s holiday season even more exultant with this brilliant anthology. Mr. Turner, you’re a true American musical treasure. Nola Blue Records, thank you for seeing fit in making this collected work a reality for all to enjoy. Bravo!
Upcoming Short Take CD Reviews
Labels, artists, and publicists, now’s the time to get CDs mailed for reviews as you bring new collections to the market! Remember, please, only blues CDs! End-of-year submissions are always thin as artists gear up for the upcoming calendar year. I am looking forward to a great 2025 filled with exciting new releases!
Annual Curt’s Blues Blog Technology Fundraiser
Looking forward to year four of my weekly Curt’s Blues Blog, I am more excited than ever to continue my strong dedication to doing all I can to keep the blues alive and thriving! After all, the motto of Curt’s Blues Blog is “Blues. Only. Spoken. Here.” My respect for the blues as a uniquely American art form is immeasurable, and that feeling drives my efforts each week to both educate and entertain my blog’s readers. When I first fell down the blues rabbit hole, so to speak, I consumed everything I could trying to learn about the music. By each week providing a blues artist profile, essential and recommended blues recording reviews, along with additional vital blues information, my goal is to offer my blog’s blues enthusiasts a site where their passion for the blues can be satisfied. Accompanying my blog is its related Facebook page, one that is updated daily with all types of blues information.
Each year, the technology-related costs of keeping Curt’s Blues Blog going increase, so this fundraiser serves as a way for me to offset the expenses of keeping the same web domain address and enjoying great blog development software.
Thank you for considering donating any amount that you can to assist in keeping my weekly Curt’s Blues Blog going strong in year 4!
Blues Song Of The Week
“T-Bone Shuffle” – T-Bone Walker And His Guitar – Comet label #T-53 – Released in November, 1948
New Jasmine Records Releases
Scheduled for a January 10, 2025 release date are a new round of Jasmine Records collections, the following of which should be of interest to any reader of this blues blog:
- Henry “Rag Time Texas” Thomas – Bull Doze Blues – JASMCD3302
Jasmine Records is to be highly appreciated for all they do to assist in keeping the blues alive and thriving!
New Delmark Records And Alligator Records News And Offerings
Delmark News And Releases
Congratulations to Delmark’s Julia Miller and Elbio Barilari for being inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall Of Fame.
Tad Robinson is slated to release a new full-length Delmark collection with an as yet undetermined release date.
Delmark blues artists Sheryl Youngblood (drums, vocals) and Johnny Iguana (keyboards) are on a 27-date tour of France that finds them also sharing the stage with Dave Herrero (gtr., vocals) and Stephen Hull (gtr., vocals). The tour is entitled Chicago Blues Festival 2024.
Plus, check out all the new singles by various artists on the label’s web page.
Alligator News And Releases
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers will see a new release entitled Closer To The Bone on February 7, 2025. In addition to a CD release, the collection will also be available on a blues vinyl LP.
Alligator Records has signed Memphis roots, blues, and soul band Southern Avenue, with a release slated for 2025.
November 29th saw a clear vinyl deluxe gatefold jacket release of Showdown!, the Grammy winning outing by Robert Cray, Johnny Copeland, and Albert Collins.
Look for these collections!
Shemekia Copeland has received three Grammy Award nominations for Best Contemporary Blues Album for Blame It On Eve, Best American Roots Performance For Song for “Blame It On Eve,” and Best American Roots Song for “Blame It On Eve.” Copeland is also to receive the 2024 Trailblazer Award Honor from the National Blues Museum in St. Louis, Missouri.
Also, watch for the announcement of a new artist coming to Alligator.
It’s too bad that both Delmark Records and Alligator Records won’t provide this blues blogger with hard copy CDs of their upcoming releases for reviews. As I’ve explained to both these labels, I do not perform reviews via electronic sound files. I guess that 10,800+ blog readers aren’t enough for the labels to send hard copy CDs!
Please visit Delmark’s and Alligator’s web sites for information on all the goings on at the labels.
DELMARK RECORDS – Blues & Jazz since 1953
M.C. Records Holiday Blues
With the Holidays right around the corner, M.C. Records has Christmas/Holiday music ready to download from Big Jack Johnson, The Lee Boys, and Odetta. Please go to Spotify’s web site to search for these selections. Also, below is the link to M.C. Records’ Facebook page. Bravo to all the work M.C. Records has done for American roots music!
Raphael Wressnig Holiday CD
Please be sure to seek of Raphael Wressnig’s Soulful Christmas (With A Funky Twist), a CD that features Gisele Jackson and Alex Schultz. The collection was originally released in December, 2023 to high acclaim, and both the CD and vinyl versions of the release are ready to ship to interested music lovers. Wressnig never disappoints; never! You’ll want this in your holiday playing rotation!
New Misty Blues Holiday Tune
The holiday tune entitled “Jingle No More” has been released by Misty Blues, their second holiday song. The great selection about “being the jolly ole elf’s partner” came about while the long-tenured band was assembling their 17th album. It’s two minutes and 41 seconds of holiday fun! The band, to-date, has been together for 25 years. The link found below will lead you to this excellent holiday selection.
Electro-Fi Records New Maximum Mojo Reissue Series Rollout
Electro-Fi Records is reissuing Sam Myers’ Coming From The Old School as the inaugural release in its new Maximum Mojo Reissue Series. The release will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the collection’s original release. Future releases from Snooky Pryor, Mel Brown, and Lil’ Dave Thompson are also planned. Watch for these collections in the near future!
Living Blues Magazine – Latest Edition
The latest edition of Living Blues Magazine is out with features on Sharde Thomas-Mallory and Steve Washington, an article on debunking various myths surrounding Delta blues legend Robert Johnson, along with their Let It Roll series that focuses on Blind Lemon Jefferson at OKeh Records, and of course, the publication’s broad recording review section and additional extensive features. This writer has been a Living Blues subscriber for 36+ years, and though I may not always agree with their record reviews or their journalistic direction, I can’t stress enough how vital this magazine is to the blues. Please consider a subscription if you don’t already have one and support the magazine’s fine work, and the blues in general.
A Reminder To Support “Live” Blues And Purchase A Blues Recording
Touring blues musicians endure an arduous life of traveling city-to-city, sometimes with the distance between shows being many miles. This equates to large outlays for gasoline, food, and lodging (if not often sleeping in vehicle while traveling), so when they get to the next town, the interactions with their fans and the time spent on-stage playing to welcoming fans being their greatest joys. When these talented blues artists roll through your town, please consider parting with some of your hard-earned dollars and attending their shows. A decent-sized crowd with enthusiastic fans is cathartic to the blues artists and you, as the interactions are mutually-pleasing. Should your town enjoy places where the blues is being presented, please get out and back the music by taking in a show.
Also, with so many online platforms offering blues recordings for sale (check out the Curt’s Blues Blog “Resources” page for many of them), please think about purchasing a new blues CD or MP3 recording for your collection. It is yet another way we can all ensure that our favorite blues artists can continue to thrill us with their brilliant musicmaking and touring efforts.
CD Reviews
Once again, a reminder: If you want a CD reviewed, please contact me via the email address found on the Curt’s Blues Blog “Contact” page, and I will promptly answer with the mailing address to get the CD to me. I do not perform reviews via electronic sound files. Don’t put your promotions company sticker over the record company information on the back of the CD jacket. Please be mindful that this is a blues blog, and that providing rock, pop, hip hop, or Americana CDs for review will not find them being considered. And please, don’t mail me CDs with postage due!
Also, please let me remind record companies, their publicity folks, and the artists themselves that both my “Essential” and “Recommended” blues CD reviews remain forever archived on the Blog on the “Recording Reviews” page, whereas the Short Take CD reviews remain on the Blog for one week only so as to move through as many reviews as possible. It is a goal of mine to have as many CD reviews as possible pass through the Blog.
Thank you.
