As promised, here's a look at a few more new releases. There have really been a lot of fine efforts in the past couple of months, and there are actually more new ones than we've discussed. It's an embarrassment of riches for blues fans these days. Let's check out several more great new releases. As always, you can find expanded reviews of most of these releases at Blues Bytes.
Candice Ivory - New Southern Vintage (Nola Blue Records): Ms. Ivory's roots are in Memphis, physical and musical. She had family who sang gospel and blues (her great-uncle Will Roy Sanders was a member of The Fieldstones), and she had a residency in Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead at the age of 18, recorded her first album at 21, and is equally skilled in blues and jazz. Her 2023 tribute to Memphis Minnie's music was one of that year's best efforts, and just blew me away upon hearing it. Well, her newest release also blew me away. She works in a variety of blues styles on this new album, moving from traditional to comtemporary blues, Mississippi hill country, piano blues, and Delta blues.. Contributors include Ivory's Memphis-based band the Blue Bloods, Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, Ben Levin, Damian "Yella P" Pearson, and Chris Stephenson, with several international artists as well. However, it's Ms. Ivory's show and her vocals are a marvel throughout. This is an album that any blues fan will enjoy, and hopefully, Candice Ivory will continue on her blues journey for a long time to come.
Mud Morganfield - Deep Mud (Nola Blue Records): One thing that's always stood out from me about Morganfield is that he's always tried to expand his blues sound beyond that of his legendary father, Muddy Waters. Of course, there are a couple of his father's songs present, but he also takes a more urban approach to the blues on several tracks, and mixes in a bit of funk from time to time. There are some familiar Chicago faces chipping in on this one, including keyboardist Roosevelt Purifoy, Melvin "Pooky Styx" Carlisle, Rick Kreher, Mike Wheeler, and Studebaker John, who also produced. Mud can't help but sound like his father when he sings, but it is nice to hear in a new setting and I've always liked that he has never settled for being an imitator of his father, preferring to carve out his own niche in the Chicago blues world. For some reason, he's sort of bounced around labels in recent years, so hopefully he will settle in with Nola Blue and reward us with more fine Windy City blues soon.
Jimi "Prime Time" Smith - It's My Time (New Folk Records): I've heard singer/guitarist Smith on a couple of Bob Corritore releases, including their 2022 colloboration, The World In A Jug, but I was not aware that this new album is his first solo album in 15 years. Chicago native Smith is the son of Johnnie Mae Dunston, one of the first female drummers who backed Jimmy Reed on stage and as manager. Smith is a first rate guitarist and strong vocalist and he wrote eight of the 11 tracks. Corritore guests on several tracks and other contributors include Allen "The Captain" Kirk on drums, Toby Lee Marshall on keys, and co-producer (with Smith) John Wright on bass and acoustic guitar. This is a rock solid set of original tunes (with a couple of Luther Allison covers to boot) and it sounds like Smith was more than ready to release an album of his own after playing on everyone else's for the past 15 years. This one is his best album to date and maybe we won't have to wait another 15 for more.
D.K. Harrell - Talkin' Heavy (Alligator Records): Harrell's debut from a couple of years ago was an amazing release. Now 27 years old, the Ruston, LA native was really inspired by B.B. King, and his sound will remind you of the King of the Blues at times. His newest release, like his debut, was recorded at Greaseland Studio with Kid Andersen producing and it's a monster. It's just a fantastic set of blues, nearly all written or co-written by Harrell that touch on familiar blues themes with a modern flair, even throwing a gospel tune in for good measure. Harrell is as good a vocalist as he is a guitarist and he has outstanding support from a host of singers and musicians, the core unit being Andersen, Andrew Moss, Jim Pugh, June Core, and Derrick "D'Mar" Martin. To these ears, this release tops his debut, which is really saying something.
Anthony "Big A" Sherrod - Torchbearer of the Clarksdale Sound (Music Maker Foundation): I first saw Big A on the documentary We Juke Up in Here around 2012. He got his start playing with Johnnie Billington, who taught many of the kids in the Clarksdale area about the blues, and played with Billington until his death in 2013. He's stayed in the Clarksdale area, working with the Delta Blues Museum and playing the clubs regularly, so he's definitely a torchbearer for the Clarksdale brand of the blues. His 2016 release is a must-buy if you can find it (Right On Time), but so is this five-song EP, a down and dirty set which was produced by Jimbo Mathus and recorded in just two hours at an old storefront in town called Clarksdale Reels, with Mathus, Lee Williams, and Heather Crosse backing Big A on these tracks. He mixes the blues with the other music styles that he loved growing, mainly soul and R&B and he's a powerful vocalist and guitarist and a talented songwriter. He's proof positive that the blues is alive and thriving in the Mississippi Delta.
Various Artists - The Last Real Texas Blues Album (Antone's/New West Records): Austin's great club Antone's is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. Back in the mid 70's, the club gave the blues a real shot in the arm, providing a place for blues veterans to ply their trade, and not only did they come to play, but the club also gave a start to a host of newcomers - SRV, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Lou Ann Barton, Angela Strehli, Marcia Ball, Denny Freeman and many others. Last year, in advance of the celebration, a host of Antone's veterans gathered and created this tribute album, which consists of 18 songs, all blues classics associated with the many legends who performed over the years. There's not a bad track in the bunch with performances by Ball, Jimmie Vaughan, Bobby Rush, Benny Turner, Anson Funderburgh, Lil' Ed Williams, Derek O'Brien, Lurrie Bell, Ruthie Foster, Doyle Bramhall II, Big Bill Morganfield, John Primer, Johnny Moeller, Mike Keller Eve Monsees, Charlie Sexton, Lynn August, C.J. Chenier, Sue Foley, Kam Franklin, McKinley James, a special appearance from Billy F. Gibbons and a sweet message from 95-year-old Miss Lavelle White.
This is a magnificent set of tunes that is being sold as a single CD, or as part of a huge 5-disc, 41-track box set called Antone's: 50 Years of the Blues, that includes a couple of discs of rare live and studio tracks, a 7" single from Los Lobos, a bound book of liner notes from author Joe Nick Patoski, and a reissue of Susan Antone's book Picture The Blues, loaded with rare photos. I've only got the CD so far, but I'm dropping hints right and left around the house for the whole shebang as a Christmas gift.
Blues fans have been rewarded over the past few months with some outstanding new releases. It's been a lot of fun to listen to them. The state of the blues right now is fantastic with a lot of younger voices stepping up to the mic and producing high quality music. Let's look at a few new recordings for readers to be on the lookout for.
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram - Hard Road (Red Zero Records): It had been several years since blues fans had heard a new studio release from Kingfish. Alligator Records did release the phenomenal live set from London in 2023, so that gave fans something to enjoy (and they did!), but two years is a lifetime in the music world. It turns out that Ingram and his manager decided to create their own record label, Red Zero, with the goal of not only showcasing his music, but also other up-and-coming blues artists (the label recently signed Dylan Triplett and Matthias Lattin). Hard Road is Red Zero's first release, and is a most personal musical statement for Ingram, with some excellent songs (written or co-written by him). There's plenty of his incredible guitar work, but some of it is balanced out with more of an R&B/hip hop musical setting. It's not an overwhelming change, just enough to blend in seamlessly with the blues. There are three sets of songs with different producers, but it works really well. I think this is the music that Ingram wants to play and that certainly helps the process. I've listened to this one quite a bit and, with the live set, this is probably my favorite Kingfish release yet because it goes beyond his previous efforts, branching out with satisfying results.
Garry Burnside - It's My Time Now (Strolling Bones Records), Kent Burnside - Hill Country Blood (Strolling Bones Records): Garry Burnside is R.L. Burnside's youngest son and Kent Burnside is R.L.'s grandson. Both have played extensively, Garry with Junior Kimbrough, the North Mississippi Allstars, nephew Cedric Burnside, Bobby Rush and Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Kent working with Jimbo Mathus and Buddy Guy in addition to leading his own band. Strolling Bones Records released these two albums simultaneously in mid-August, so you can't really help but compare them. Garry's release is more Hill Country-oriented (though both have plenty of that groove) and Kent's album incorporates a bit more of the rocking blues sound associated with Buddy Guy. Both artists pay tribute to their predecessors, Kent modifying a few lyrics here and there. I think the elder Burnside and Kimbrough would be proud of these efforts and I have had a hard time picking a favorite between the two, maybe leaning a bit toward Garry's effort because it’s a little grittier and the Hill Country groove is a little more prevalent in his release to these ears, but don't let that stop you from checking both of these fine releases out.
Yates McKendree - Need To Know (Qualified Records): 24-year-old McKendree is the son of session keyboardist Kevin McKendree and he released the superb Buchanan Lane back in 2023. He's skilled on both guitar and keyboards and has developed into a strong vocalist on this excellent sophomore effort. He has also become a great songwriter with some canny original tunes that sound like long lost blues classics and some cool reimagining of blues standards mixed in. There's a real New Orleans feel on several of the songs, and McKendree really shines both vocally and instrumentally. I'm pretty sure this release, like McKendree's debut, will make an appearance on my end-of-the-year favorites list. It should make yours as well.
North Mississippi Allstars - Still Shakin' (New West Records): NMA's last release, Set Sail, was only okay for me, though I loved the William Bell soul ballad, "Never Want To Be Kissed." It was a little too laid back for me and the songs weren't quiet as memorable, so I wasn't really sure about this latest release, waiting a while to purchase it. This is more of a return to form as the band locks into a groove and carries forth for most of the album. There are imaginative reworkings of many blues favorites from Robert Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Furry Lewis, and others. NMA is slide guitarist Luther Dickinson, drummer Cody Dickinson, Rayfield "Ray Ray" Hollomand on pedal steel and bass, and Joey Williams on guitar, bass, and vocals. Guests include Duwayne Burnside, Panic keyboardist Jo Jo Hermann, Robert Kimbrough, and Grahame Lesh (son of Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh, to whom the album is dedicated. I saw these guys about ten years ago, not long after their World Boogie Is Coming album and have been a fan ever since. This album actually celebrates the 25 anniversary of their debut album and it shows that the band is still a force to be reckoned with.
Piper & The Hard Times - Good Company (Hard Times Records): This Nashville-based band enjoyed a banner year in 2024, winning the I.B.C. and releasing their debut album, Revelation several months later, which won the 2025 I.B.C. Best Independent Produced Album and the 2025 BMA Award for Best Emerging Artist Album. Their new release features a dozen original songs. Singer Al "Piper" Green is a robust vocalist who can handle blues, soul, or rock and The Hard Times is a rock-solid ensemble. The songs cover blues, soul, rock, funk, and roots and the album actually improves from their debut, which was one of my favorites of 2024. In June of this year, Green was diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing treatments, but has continued to tour with the band across the country. A benefit concert was held in July and a GoFundMe page has been set up to offset his medical bills. He gives regular updates on the band's Facebook page, so follow that page and follow this band. You can thank me later.
Finally, a personal note.....in August, my wife discovered her cancer had recurred after a couple of months of health issues. We were sitting in the hospital, pondering our next move, when I got a call from Grady Champion. Grady had been faithfully checking on my wife ever since he found out she had cancer and when he found out about the recurrance, he showed up at the hospital to give her (and me) some words of encouragement and to let us know we were in his prayers. He had continued to check on her weekly and we are so appreciative. While visiting with us in the hospital, he played her his new song, "Plug In The Sunshine," and dedicated its release to her. We were both on Cloud Nine when he left and she even got to go home later that day. She is currently undergoing treatments and is doing well and I think her visit from Grady was the best medicine of all. Meanwhile, check out Grady's new song for yourself.
This is not all of the great new releases, by any means. We'll be checking out a few more in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Mississippi Music Museum in Hazlehurst, MS with my friend and fellow retiree Michael. The museum, located at the town's old railroad depot, had actually been around for a while, but closed sometime in the last year or two and the depot was remodeled. It was reopened around the first of September. I had not been able to visit previously because it was not always open during the week and was closed on the weekends. The new hours for the museum are Wednesday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm.
If you're a blues fan living in the Jackson, MS area, or traveling I-55 toward New Orleans or Baton Rouge, this is a great stop. There are lots of cool displays that track not just the blues genre, but every other genre of music and it's really impressive when you see how many Mississippi natives were involved in the development of blues, rock n' roll, country, jazz, and gospel music. It's also the location for the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame as many award plaques are here and there's also a list of members to view.
A walk-through takes about an hour, and the museum is still a work in progress....we were told that there are other displays in the works. Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, so there are a couple of nice displays about him, as well as another local resident - Crystal Springs native Tommy Johnson. There are also a couple of guitars made by Super Chikan, plus a display of cigar box guitars and sections on Elvis Presley and Jimmie Rodgers. The museum is free admission, but donations are welcome. It's a great place for any music fan, but especially blues fans.
The museum also has a collection of used albums, cassettes, and CDs for sale that have been donated. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for checking out a bin of used CDs, so I had to thumb through them. I found two B.B. King CDs, one that I'd previously owned in cassette form and one that I'd never actually seen before. They were basically a steal, and in great condition, so I picked them up and wanted to share them with fellow blues fans in case you missed them....after all, he just turned 100.
The first one was a set I picked up in the late 80's on cassette. In the pre-internet days, I was wondering what would be a great B.B. King album to pick up. I had picked up a couple of his latter-day releases up to that point and they were not particularly memorable to me in that they didn't really sound like the B.B. King I had heard on TV on numerous shows. I saw Great Moments With B.B. King (MCA Records) at a record store and noticed it had a lot of music (23 tracks) at a very nice price, so I picked it up.
I was familiar with a few of the songs on the set, which was released originally in 1981.....probably about a third of them. There was also a mix of live and studio recordings, which was pretty cool. I found out much later that this was a compilation of some of King's "Great Moments" taken from some of his mid to late 60's recordings with ABC and BluesWay.
I have to agree with the "Great Moments" assessment because it's an excellent summation of B.B. King' musical career up until around 1970. That was actually a portion of his career that I was not as familiar with. The live tracks are particularly good, and you may remember some of them from other great King albums (such as Blues Is King), but it's a great capsule summary of B.B. King's music at a great period in his career.
The other CD I grabbed was a unique album in the B.B. King catalog. Spotlight on Lucille (Flair Records) was released in 1991, and it collects twelve instrumentals recorded between late 1960 and late 1961 with the focus completely on Lucille in a variety of settings. Four of the tracks had never been released prior to this collection and the other eight tracks had only been recently heard on the UK label Ace Records.
Lucille sounds fantastic on these tracks, which drift from downhome gritty blues to classy soul and jazz. I had never even heard of this release, not sure how it slipped through my fingers the first time around, but I'm glad I happened to run across it in this used CD collection. This is a great set to just plug into your stereo and just go about your day. Anytime you get a chance to put the spotlight on B.B. King's guitar is an opportunity you need to seize upon.
As
long as I've been listening to the blues, I've rarely listened to any
Tampa Red recordings. In retrospect, I'm kind of surprised that I
haven't. Granted, I've only recently gone back into the pre-war
recordings, and when I did, I focused on the Mississippi Delta
variety. I don't think I avoided him intentionally....his music just
didn't happen to fall in my particular choices.
Now
that doesn't mean that I wasn't familiar with Tampa Red....I've heard
his songs from numerous other blues artists over the years. It's
safe to say that nearly all blues fans are familiar with Tampa Red's
songs - "New Stranger Blues," "Black Angel Blues,"
"Crying Won't Help You," "It Hurts Me Too," "Love
Her With A Feeling," "Things 'Bout Coming My Way,"
"Anna Lou Blues," "Let Me Play WIth Your Poodle,"
and "Early In the Morning" were among his hits, and were
also recorded by many other blues artists. I just didn't realize
when I first heard them that they were written by Tampa Red.
I've
always been a huge fan of slide guitar, particularly the work of
Robert Nighthawk, Earl Hooker, Elmore James, and Muddy Waters. Well,
Tampa Red was a major influence on all of these guitarists and many
more (B.B. King was a huge fan), and these artists' versions of Red's
songs might be the versions that you are familiar with. Upon
listening to Tampa Red, his influence made complete sense. I can
only imagine the impact his single-string slide guitar technique had
upon both artists and listeners when his first recordings hit the
streets in the late 20's, when it would have been considered a new
concept.
Tampa Red with Leroy Carr
Though
I hadn't listened to a lot of Tampa Red's music, I had read about
him...mainly because I wondered, given his body of work that has been
covered by so many blues stars who followed him, why he is not
mentioned as much as other blues pioneers. One of the things you
read about is that he sort of mixed genres, recording songs that were
considered to more pop songs or R&B songs or even hokum. Hokum
music is suggestive, or “dirty” blues, which were popular at the
time, but are sort of disregarded by some blues scholars as
lightweight these days.
Another
factor was his use of the kazoo, which he began incorporating into
his songs from the mid 30's onward. At the time, with the various
styles of music played in the pre-electric era, it made sense to Red
to use the kazoo, and it was popular to his listeners as well, but it
was often used in lieu of Red's amazing guitar work. Listeners at
the time were probably fine with it because, to them, it was fun and
entertaining, but for modern listeners, it can be somewhat jarring.
That
being said, listening to Tampa Red's sides, recorded from the late
20's through the mid 50's with only a couple of pauses in-between,
can be a rewarding experience and for blues fans, it's definitely
worth your time. The story of his life is interesting as well.
Tampa
Red was born Hudson Woodbridge in Smithville, Georgia....the actual
date is a bit of a question mark because he gave varying dates from
1900 to 1908. The date usually recognized is January 8, 1904 because
that's what's listed on his death certificate. His parents died when
he was very young and he was moved to Tampa, Florida to live with an
aunt and grandmother, whose last name was Whittaker, so he adopted
their name, Hudson Whittaker.
Whittaker's
older brother played the guitar around the Tampa area, so he learned
a bit from him, but his primary inspiration was an old street
musician named Piccolo Pete, who taught him his first blues licks.
He had also heard Hawaiian guitar played and he learned to play it in
standard position instead of lap style, using a thumb pick to strike
the springs and a bottleneck, which helped him develop his unique
slide sound. He also learned from listening to recordings from many
of the female blues singers at the time.
Whittaker
started playing the vaudeville circuit in the 20's, eventually
settling in the Chicago area around 1925, where he adopted the “Tampa
Red” moniker referring to his childhood home and his light skin.
His playing style was a combination of his country blues roots and a
newer, more polished style that would work better in an urban setting
and his guitar work was a mix of Mississippi and Hawaii with his
precise bottleneck work which sounded like no one else at the time.
In
1928, Red found his ideal partner in “Georgia” Tom Dorsey, a
singer/piano man who eventually left the blues and became known as
the “Father of Gospel Music.” That career change for Dorsey was
several years down the road when the pair recorded “It's Tight Like
That” on Vocalion Records in late 1928. The hokum number was a
huge smash and eventually sold over seven million copies, which
launched Red and Dorsey's recording careers in a big way. He also
managed to insert some recordings that highlighted his guitar playing
along the way.
Red
also formed a Hokum Jug Band, a mix of guitars, piano, bass,
washboard, and jug players), but once Dorsey left and the novelty of
the hokum craze subsided, he formed Tampa Red's Hot Five, which
included clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone, and occasionally the
aforementioned kazoo (check out "Anna Lou Blues" below). The audiences apparently like the kazoo, it
was a fun sound, and Red must have liked it too, because it became a
regular part of his repertoire from 1936 onward.
The
mid 30's through early 40's were the period that generated most of
Red's greatest songs, such as “Black Angel Blues,” which became
“Sweet Black Angel” in B.B. King's hands. Another King, Freddy,
covered “Love With A Feeling,” while slide master Robert
Nighthawk transformed Red's “Anna Lou” into “Anna Lee”
(Nighthawk also covered “Sweet Black Angel”), and Elmore James,
another slide master, covered “It Hurts Me Too” and “New
Stranger Blues.”
Red
cut these sides during his tenure with RCA's Bluebird Records,
signing on with the label in 1934. His recordings were so successful
that he eventually was responsible for the overall sound of most of
the label's releases, dubbed “The Bluebird Beat.” He played on
his own sides and appeared on other Bluebird artists recordings as
well, notably Big Maceo Merriweather, Sonny Boy Williamson I, and
Memphis Minnie. He also began incorporating electric guitar into his
music as well. Other notable tracks from this period included “She
Wants To Sell My Monkey,” “Let Me Play With Your Poodle,” and
“Don't You Lie To Me.”
In
1947, Red moved from Bluebird to RCA's main label, Victor, where he
remained until 1953, recording new songs and reworking some of his
previous hits for a new audience, even moonlighting for a small
independent label, Sabre, using the name Jimmy Eager for several
tracks in the fall of 1953.
Red
enjoyed much success and prosperity during the 30's and 40's and his
house became a center for the blues community in Chicago. Many
musicians rehearsed there, set up their gigs, even stayed there when
making their way up north. His wife, Frances Whittaker helped him do
all of this, offering new arrivals a place to stay and a meal.
Sadly, she passed away in late 1953 and her loss devastated Red. He
became an alcoholic and developed mental problems, which curtailed
his music career and eventually left him destitute.
Red
recorded a couple of albums for Bluesville Records in 1960, in hopes
of capitalizing on the blues revival, the new interest in blues from
a white audience, but returned to obscurity soon afterward. His
mental problems worsened. Blues expert Jim O'Neal found him in 1974
on Chicago's South Side, living in poverty with an older lady serving as caregiver (who passed away
near the end of the same year), and he ended up in a nursing home,
where he died from a heart attack on March 19, 1981 in his late
seventies.
Tampa
Red recorded over 300 78's during his career, making him one of the
most prolific blues artists of his era. He only recorded two albums,
the two on Bluesville Records, but there have been numerous albums
released that collect his early sides and they're all worth
listening. My two choices cover most of his career from beginning to
end. It Hurts Me Too – The Essential Recordings, on Indigo
Records, covers the period from 1928 to 1942, and I'll Find My Way
– Hot Chicago Blues 1947 – 1953 takes in most of the rest of
his career.
