Lowell Fulson – Hung Down Head – Chess MCA  CHD-9325 

Released in 1970, this was Fulson’s first Chess album, one on the label’s Vintage Series, recorded during the period 1954-1961 in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas.  Of the 11 selections here, eight come in under three minutes in length, with one’s duration clocking-in just over that benchmark at 3:03.  Excepting for Fulson’s excursion to find the ideal take of “Tollin’ Bells” that measures 9:45, it is simply stunning how much great blues and class he could manifest within such short song intervals.

This is not the primal, loud urban blues of the period dominated by thunderous guitar outings and soloing harmonicas; no, this was quite a departure.  Fulson’s blues visions were suave, polished, and refined; cultured even.  The air of sophistication found permeating this collection is heady stuff. 

What is found on this assemblage of blues are consistent structures akin to a small big band, with the elegant piano of west coast keyboard master, Lloyd Glenn, the six swinging, smooth, and complementary saxophones of Eddie Chamblee Earl Brown, Jim Wynn, Julian Beasley, Choker Campbell, and Louis Williams, trombonist Phatz Morris, trumpeter Phillip Gilbeaux, bassists Billy Hadnott and Bobby Nicholson, and drummers Chick Booth and Robert “Snake” Sim.  There are additional contributors here who are not easily identified.

Without going into Fulson’s background (that is best left to a future artist profile), what is clear is that the blues found here are strongly in the manner of that post-war west coast design formulated by the likes of the phenomenal Johnny Otis, Roy Brown, Wynonie Harris, and Roy Milton; those interpreters whose music swung and jumped in a sophisticated fashion that raised them to an exciting form that was widely embraced by black listeners.  To be sure, there is nothing rural in tone or arrangement here.  This is music for a new breed of black urban blues lovers.

This not to say that Fulson wasn’t conveying the emotion of life that is at the core of the blues; no, he was splendidly offering tales of the heart and hardship.  His voice was confident and robust, but with the band format he was employing, even his most downhome of blues topics were delivered in a voice best described as assured and cool. 

Fulson’ guitar work has that confident and urban air of T-Bone Walker, cutting, riding, and gliding the emotion dictated by an individual blues’ subject matter.  There is a refreshing aura over the course of this compilation driven by Fulson’ dedication to the swaying guitar methodology that he deploys that not only pays deference to T-Bone Walker, but to other west coast guitar influencers such as Pee Wee Crayton and Saunders King.

The horns, and arrayed horn sections, add layers of driving, insistent supporting framework.  They are crisp and bright, arranged so as to enhance and not detour.  The listener will be especially drawn to certain blues passages where saxophone solos amplify a blues’ mood to an amazing height.

Llyod Glenn’s piano efforts are simply class with a capital “C”, and are indicative of how Fulson knew just what he was doing by bringing this blues powerhouse pianist and first-call recording partner into the mix.  He is the antithesis of, say, a blues piano master such as Otis Spann, a blues giant who relied upon thunderous keyboard ventures.  Glenn lurks in the background, and comes to the forefront when a lyrical piano run is demanded.

The rhythm sections on all these blues similarly complement Fulson’s blues concepts, but never over-step.

My good friend and highly-talented blues vocalist, harmonica player, and band leader, Tom Moore, who was honing his blues chops in Southern California in the early-to-mid 1980s, reported to me the following: “I saw Lowell perform in 1983 with San Diego’s 5 Careless Lovers (Band).  While he left most of the guitar work to Jimmy Woodard, his vocals had the same smooth fire of his classic Chess recordings!”

When I had my first run as the late-night host of WSND FM 99.9’s blues program, Fulson’s “Low Society” was my lead-in song.  I believe that the song best encapsulates just how great this blues collection is (and by the way, Eddie Chamblee’s saxophone solo, and Lloyd Glenn’s piano work on this song, should be required teachings to any aspiring blues horn and keyboard players).  Its mood was perfect for my radio show, one that began at 10pm; it is the ideal late-night blues.

I cannot recommend this Lowell Fulson set to you with any higher regards than to infer that without it, your blues collection is incomplete.  Seek it out!