The Bayou Maharajah

James Booker (Photo by Henry Horenstein)

A couple of weeks ago, I made a trip to the Little Big Store in Raymond, MS to check out their used vinyl and CDs.  I've always been able to find some really cool blues and jazz recordings and this visit was no exception.  Someone had unloaded a stack of New Orleans piano CDs since my last visit.  A lot of them I already had, but there were a couple that caught my eye.  One of them was Champion Jack Dupree's Blues From The Gutter, which I had always wanted, and the other was an album that I bought in cassette form many years ago, but never picked up a CD version.....Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah:  Live at the Maple Leaf Bar from James Booker.

I first heard about Booker in Wavelength magazine, the late, great New Orleans music magazine, in the late 80's.  I can't remember the article, maybe it was about New Orleans piano players in general, but I do know Booker was referenced in the article as one of the great, unsung Crescent City piano masters.  At the time, there weren't a lot of Booker recordings (like now, only less so), so I tracked down two of his releases on Rounder at the time, New Orleans Piano Wizard:  Live! and Classified, a studio album Rounder released about a year before Booker's death in 1983. 

After I got a taste of Booker's music, live and studio, I understood what the article was saying.  I had been on a New Orleans kick for a while, after my first visit to Jazz Fest, grabbing copies of releases from Professor Longhair, the Nevilles, Fats Domino, Tuts Washington, Dr. John, Johnny Adams, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, plus several collections of New Orleans R&B (Rhino had a great three volume set, and Rounder had a few collections).  Those two recordings from Booker were jaw-dropping....I had never heard such masterful piano playing, combining blues, jazz, soul, classical, boogie woogie.  He could play at a breakneck pace, or he could slow it down and nearly bring you to tears.  Combined with his vocals, which were distinctive, to say the least, it was a pretty heady mix.

Booker was born James Carroll Booker III on December 17, 1939 in New Orleans.  He was a child prodigy, trained from six years old as a classical pianist and he played the organ in his father's churches.  Due to his father's health problems, Booker's mother took him and his sister to Bay Saint Louis, MS to live on several occasions, near his aunt.  He returned to New Orleans to stay at the age of eight, befriending several school classmates and future musical collaborators ......Art and Charles Neville, and Allen Toussaint.

When Booker was nine, he was hit by an ambulance in New Orleans.  Booker said that it was traveling at a high speed, and he was dragged about thirty feet, breaking his leg in eight places.  He spent months in the hospital, his leg was nearly amputated and he was given morphine for the pain.  Booker later said that this was the beginning of his lifetime battle with drug addiction.  

He also learned to play the saxophone, having been gifted one for his tenth birthday, but continued to focus on the piano and organ, performing blues and gospel every Sunday on New Orleans' WMRY radio station.  He continued his classical training mastering Bach's "Inventions and Sinfonias" at the age of 12.  

He worked as a musician during his teens and managed to do well in his studies as well, and even recorded several songs during high school, including his first release, "Doing The Hambone" on Imperial Records in 1954 at 14 years old.  In 1960, his groovy organ instrumental, "Gonzo," made the charts on Duke Records (where Don Robey got composer credits as "Deadric Malone").  On many of his 45's, he was backed by some of New Orleans' finest musicians - sax masters Lee Allen, Red Tyler, and Robert Parker, drummer Earl Palmer among them.

He also toured and recorded with numerous stars of the time, "ghosting" on piano for Fats Domino occasionally, and performing with Huey "Piano" Smith (sometimes impersonating Smith on the road), Shirley & Lee, Joe Tex, Larry Davis, Junior Parker, Earl King, Smiley Lewis, Lloyd Price, and many others.  He also played regularly in New Orleans nightclubs.

In the mid 60's, Booker was hit by two tragedies.  His sister died in 1966 and his mother passed away less than a year later in 1967.  Not long after his mother's death, he was arrested outside the Dew Drop Inn for possession of heroin.  He had begun using the drug in the early 60's and this arrest resulted in a conviction and one-year sentence to Angola Prison (often called "the Ponderosa" in some of Booker's later songs and performances).  While in prison, he lost his left eye in an assault (he gave different reasons for this over his lifetime).

James Booker at 1978 Jazz Fest (photo by Michael P. Smith)

He continued to play sessions with Fats Domino upon his release, and also recorded with Freddy King.  He also became friends with New Orleans D.A. Harry Connick, Sr., who served as his legal counselor occasionally.  Booker and Connick had an agreement where a prison sentence for Booker would be nullified in exchange for piano lessons for Connick, Sr.'s son, Harry Jr.  The pair formed a musical and personal friendship.

Booker cut a session in 1973 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood with Dr. John's band, but the master tapes mysteriously disappeared.  Booker also played during this time with Dr. John on tour and performed on albums by Ringo Starr, John Mayall, The Doobie Brothers, LaBelle, and Geoff Muldaur, and his performance at JazzFest in 1975 earned him a recording deal with Island Records, which resulted in one release, Junco Partner.

Booker enjoyed some success in Europe in the late 70's, with several concert performances being professionally recorded and/or filmed for TV.  One of these album releases was New Orleans Piano Wizard:  Live! on Rounder Records.  This time in Germany was essential to Booker's musical and personal life, since there was less racism, and more tolerance toward his drug use and his flamboyant personal life and the European audiences really appreciated his jazz and classical leanings with his piano playing.

Returning to New Orleans in 1978, Booker became the house pianist at the Maple Leaf Bar, but the shift from concert halls to cafes and bars was a bit of a let down to the piano master and he wasn't as widely recognized or appreciated in his home country and even in his hometown.  His mental health suffered as a result and his drug use increased.  

He made his last recording, Classified, in 1982, considered to be the definitive James Booker release.  Producer Scott Billington describes the frustration of working with Booker during this period in his autobiography, Making Tracks:  A Record Producer's Southern Roots Music Journey.  Booker wasted several days noodling around on the piano, starting and stopping songs, or just wandering out of the studio, then came in and recorded the album (plus many alternate tracks that appeared on an extended release a few years later) in four hours on the last day of studio time and disappeared into the street soon after.

Booker died on November 8, 1983 at age 43, sitting in a wheelchair in the E.R. at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.  No one knew how he got there.  The cause of death was renal failure related to chronic heroin and alcohol abuse.  He was mourned by all of the New Orleans music scene, especially the piano players.  Dr. John called him "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced," but that description, while accurate, really doesn't do him justice.  James Booker was a one-of-a-kind piano prodigy whose performances and recordings regularly blew people's minds.  Listen to this track and understand that this was an ALTERNATE take that wasn't used on the original Classified release (please check out the expanded release, you can thank me later).....just Booker noodling around on the piano on that last day of recording.

Since Booker's death, numerous albums have surfaced that capture him in amazing form.  Those lost Paramount recordings were rediscoverd, or at least a tape of the mixes were found in 1992 and released as The Lost Paramount Tapes by DJM Records in 1993.  These recordings capture Booker in great form backed by a funky New Orleans band (Dr. John's).  

Multiple live recordings have also appeared as well.  The standouts include the twin set from Rounder, the previously mentioned Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah and it's companion, Spiders on the Keys, a collection of Booker's instrumental tunes.  

JSP Records released a pair of live shows, King Of New Orleans Keyboard Volumes 1 and 2 in the mid 80's, which they have compiled into a single CD.  All of these sets and the others have pretty good sound and each offer some noteworthy performances by Booker as a piano player and a vocalist....Booker's voice was almost as awesome as his fingers.

There is also a compilation of Booker's early recordings on Night Train International Records, More Than All The 45s that was released in the 90's.  Jasmine Records in the UK has recently repackaged some of those songs as The Ivory Emporer:  1954 - 1962 Sides.

About ten years ago, Lily Keber produced and directed a documentary about Booker, Bayou Maharajah:  The Tragic Genius of James Booker that pays tribute to his talents and his background with lots of performance footage and fond remembrances from many of his peers and admirers.  It also shows some of Booker's personality quirks along the way, so it's a pretty even-handed portrait of a troubled musician and soul.

Like many other musicians, particularly blues musicians, James Booker didn't really get recognized for his talents until after he passed away.  The documentary, and these recently discovered live performance, will make you wish that you'd been on board while Booker was still here to appreciate it.

Billy Boy Arnold's Classic Vee-Jay Sides Reissued!!

Back in the early 90's when Billy Boy Arnold signed with Alligator Records, I grabbed his Alligator debut, Back Where I Belong, as soon as I could and I was really impressed with him as a harmonica player and a singer.  Being the blues novice I was, I wished that I could find more music from him.  

I was rewarded a few months later when I found a cassette tape from Charly Records called I Wish You Would that collected his Vee-Jay sides recorded between 1955 and 1957, plus a couple of sides he recorded with Chess Records while backing Bo Diddley.  Those sides weren't released at the time.  Arnold was in his early 20's at the time of these recordings, but he sounded like a seasoned veteran and several of those tracks ended up being Chicago blues standards...."I Wish You Would," "I Ain't Got You," "Don't Stay Out All Night Long," and "Prisoner's Plea," for starters.

Several years later, when I finally made the conversion from cassettes to CDs, I tried to update some of my previous collection and the Billy Boy Arnold albums were part of the set.  I was able to get both of his Alligator sets....1993's Back Where I Belong and 1995's Eldorado Cadillac, but was never able to track down the Charly set at a price that wouldn't require me refinancing my house.  

In the meantime, I was able to track down a copy of his 1963 classic More Blues On The South Side, and received a couple of his Stony Plain releases for review from the label in the early 2000's and, amazingly, though there was a considerable time gap between More Blues On The South Side and the two Stony Plain releases, it was apparent that Arnold hadn't lost an inch off his fast ball.  I promise if you're not familiar with Billy Boy Arnold, if you listen to any release from any time period of his nearly 70 year career, you will become a fan.

In the meantime, the UK label Jasmine made my day when they reissued those great Arnold 50's sides on a wonderful collection called Come Back Baby, I Wish You Would, which not only included those Chess tracks and the Vee-Jay sides, but also his first recordings for the Cool label as a teenager ("I Ain't Got No Money" and "Hello Stranger") and several tracks from the Chess label where he backed Bo Diddley.....wonderful stuff.

If you're a fan of early Chicago blues and don't have these sides in your collection, I highly recommend this set.  The liner notes are great and informative, which is the case for all of Jasmine's releases.  It's also a good place to start your Billy Boy Arnold listening experience, but by all means, don't stop there.  Everything he recorded is worth a listen and he sounds as good now as he did in 1955.  

Also, check out his autobiography, which we discussed here way back in January.  His recollection of details throughout his life, dating back to meeting Sonny Boy Williamson I as a youth is remarkable.  He recently signed a recording deal with Delmark Records, so hopefully we will get to hear new music from the soon-to-be 89 year old.

(By the way, if you run through the FBF archives, you'll find a more-detailed post devoted to Billy Boy Arnold from nearly ten years ago if you'd like more information.)

(Another BTW, check out Jasmine Records' website.  If you're a blues fan, you will more than likely find an album to your liking that you'll want to purchase.)

Five Discs You Might Have Missed (V. 16)

Here's another theme that FBF hasn't visited in a long time - over eight years.  With this theme, we look at five recordings released over the years that listeners might have missed for one reason or another when they were first on the shelves.  Some of them may not have ever made the streaming venue and may be out of print, but they are well worth seeking out for blues fans.  

Like we posted last week, a lot of people don't listen to physical product anymore, but those that don't are missing out on a lot of treats, such as liner notes - which enabled me to learn so much more about my favorite blues artists, band and recording info - who played what instruments and where the albums were recorded, discovering songs on albums that I never heard on the radio that I really liked, and even the great album art and pictures that accompanied many of these albums.

Music is more convenient and accessible these days for sure, but I sure miss the days of thumbing through the music sections in record stores and finding a treasure that I wasn't expecting.  That's actually how I got into the blues in the first place nearly forty years ago - seeing the cover of Showdown!, in the JAZZ section of a record store of all places.  If I had not stumbled onto that album, I might never have stumbled onto the blues.  

Okay, enough of that....here are five excellent albums that you might have missed over the years.

John Watkins - Here I Am (Blues Reference):  I first heard Watkins on Alligator's The New Bluebloods collection and his featured track, "Chained To Your Love" was my favorite song on the album.  Loved the passionate vocals and crisp guitar work and keyboards (Jimmy Johnson played rhythm guitar - I think Watkins was in his band at the time, and St. James Bryant played keyboards).  Seems like the liner notes mentioned that Watkins had an album released in France, which he did on Blue Phoenix in 1985.  I was not able to track that album down for many years, but finally tracked down a used copy of the reissued release on Blues Reference.  

It was a long search, but well worth it.  I really liked his mix of blues, soul, and R&B.  He offered fine covers of several blues classics, adding his own personal touches to his versions, his original songs and his band support was first rate.  That was the only release that Watkins had during his heyday.  I heard that he left Chicago and ended up in Detroit.  I was able to find him on Facebook and have chatted with him a couple of times on Messenger, telling him I tracked down his album.  He seems to be doing fine, said he had fond memories of making the record.  He is still performing as evidenced by several videos on YouTube.

Hip Linkchain - Airbusters (Evidence Records):  I had no idea about Hip Linkchain (born Willie Richard in Jackson, MS in 1936 and died from cancer in Chicago in 1989).  In my correspondence via email with Twist Turner during the late 90's, I heard about him - Twist played drums for him frequently.  I was able to hear a couple of tracks on a UK anthology around that time and I liked what I heard, rock-solid Chicago blues, for sure, but had not ever seen any other releases except for this album, which was originally released on the Dutch label Black Magic in the mid-80's and reissued by Evidence in the early 90's.  

Dick Shurman produced the album and features some top notch musical support (Barrelhouse Chuck, Jon McDonald, Ted Harvey, Robert "Huckleberry Hound" Wright, Big John Trice, etc...).  Ten of the fourteen songs are originals and while there's nothing fancy on these tracks, if you're a big fan of good ol' down and dirty Chicago blues, you will love this set.  I'm going to revisit Twist Turner's book, Blues With A Twist, to read some of the stories he wrote about Hip Linkchain - hey, grab that book if you haven't already.  It's a keeper, too.  This was actually Hip's last recording before he passed, and it's not very difficult to find a copy online - I found my copy at the Little Big Store - a surprise purchase while thumbing through the stacks of CDs.

Big Mojo Elam and his Chicago Blues Band - Mojo Boogie! (St. George):  Another album I found thumbing through the Blues section of the Little Big Store.  Elam was a bass player in Chicago, playing with Luther Allison and appearing on Delmark's Sweet Home Chicago anthology, and also appearing on the wonderful And This Is Maxwell Street collection on one track with Robert Nighthawk.  

Elam only recorded one studio album (he also cut a live set in the late 70's for the Storyville label, which was also titled Mojo Boogie).  This is a really hot set of traditional Chicago blues with Studebaker John on guitar (his slide work is superb), Twist Turner on drums, and Little Mac Simmons on harmonica.  Elem sounds great on vocals and the song list is pretty good, too.  I kind of bought this as an afterthought the day I was shopping, but it ended up being my favorite of the bunch.

Smokey Wilson - Round Like An Apple:  The Big Town Recordings 1977 - 1978 (Ace Records UK):  Yet another surprise find at the Little Big Store, I first heard Wilson when he recorded for Bullseye Blues in the 90's and he was quite electrifying to me.  His gravelly Wolf-like vocals and his gritty guitar work really grabbed you by the collar.  I loved all three of his Bullseye releases.....I really miss that label and the others listed here as well.

Wilson released two albums on the Big Town label, which was owned by the Bihari Brothers, who recorded numerous blues and R&B artists in the 50's and 60's, such as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Elmore James, Lightnin' Hopkins, and many others.  By the late 70's, their recordings had dwindled down, but they managed to release two albums on Smokey Wilson (Blowin' Smoke and Sings The Blues).  This set captures songs on those albums, plus five unreleased tracks.  Wilson sounds fine on these tunes, not quite as menacing as his later releases, but still pretty powerful.  It was a nice predecessor for what was to come.

Ben Wiley Payton - Diggin' Up Old Country Blues (no label):  Payton was born and raised in Greenwood, moving to Chicago as a teen, later worked in several industries and eventually he became a pastor in a church in Chicago, also serving as a minister of music during his earlier years, accompanying the choir often on guitar.  He performed as a youth in local soul bands, playing guitar and singing backup, He was able to play the blues in several bands in Chicago including the Wolf Band, subbing for an ailing Hubert Sumlin, and played with Bobby Rush's road band for a time before stepping back to help his wife raise their five daughters.

In his later years, he returned to Mississippi, where he began to get into the blues of his home state.  He relocated to Clarksdale and managed to release a pair of albums of his own unique approach to the Delta blues he grea up listening to and playing.  This 2006 release was his first one and he wrote all new songs that were a snug fit with the traditional sounds of the region.  His relaxed vocals and guitar playing make this a great album to listen to when you're just chilling out at the end of the day.  This one might be a little harder to find than the others, but if you do find it, you'll be glad you did.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue #22

Well, it's been a long time (SIX years) but once again, dear readers, it's time for Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue.  This makes our 22nd edition.  For a long time, this was one of our favorite themes and it dates back to FBF's early days as a weekly email sent to co-workers.  I'm not sure why we stopped doing it in the first place, but this is a good time to start it back up.  

For those unfamiliar with the format, we offer a song from the early days of the blues (Something Old), a song from a recent blues artist (Something New), a blues artist covering a rock song or vice versa (Something Borrowed), and finally, someone who epitomizes the blues.....usually a legendary artist (Something Blue).  It's a pretty simple format that can be worked in a lot of different ways.  Here we go......

The only known photo of Casey Bill Weldon

For Something Old, let's check out Casey Bill Weldon, one of the finest slide guitarist of the pre-war blues period, or really any period, to be honest.  There's not much known about Weldon and there's only one known photograph of him.  It's believed he was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and went to Chicago, via Kansas City.  He was one of the first to be recorded playing slide guitar, playing a National steel guitar flat on his lap, Hawaiian style, which earned him the nickname "The Hawaiian Guitar Wizard."

Weldon cut over 60 sides for the Bluebird and Vocalion labels and played on many other recordings by other musicians, notably Peetie Wheatstraw and Memphis Minnie.  His biggest two songs were "Somebody Changed The Lock On That Door" and "We Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town," which was recorded in 1936 and has been covered by a number of artists, including Louis Jordan, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Mel Torme, Lou Rawls, Rod Stewart, B.B. King, The Allman Brothers Band, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and Willie Nelson (with Keb' Mo').  Weldon married the blues singer Geeshie Wiley and they both disappeared from sight around 1938.  He's believed to have passed away in Kansas City in 1972.

Kevin Burt

For Something New, meet Kevin Burt.  Well, he's not really new, but he's new to a lot of blues fans.  I first heard him when I reviewed his Heartland and Soul album about five years ago.  He just blew me away with his guitar, harmonica, and his powerful vocals, which really reminded me of Bill Withers at times.  He won just about every award that could be won at the 2018 I.B.C., including first place in the Solo/Duo category, the Cigar Box Award for best guitarist in the Solo/Duo category, and the Lee Oskar Award for best harmonica player.  Believe it or not, Heartland and Soul, released later in 2018, was his first recording.

Burt has released two more albums that are just as good as his debut, Stone Crazy in 2020, and a wonderful tribute to Withers (who Burt cites as an influence) that came out earlier this year, Thank You Brother Bill:  A Tribute to Bill Withers.  An Iowa native, Burt also has had several role in off Broadway plays, notably playing Papa Gee in the play Klub Ka, the Blues Legend, which sold out for two weeks in New York City.  Burt also arranged all the music for that play.  If he happens to be performing near your area, you need to check him out.

For Something Borrowed, check out the late, great soul-blues singer Johnnie Taylor.  I recently read a biography of Taylor by Greg Hasty and T.J. Hooker Taylor (Johnnie's son) called I Believe In You - The Incredible Journey of R&B Legend Johnnie Taylor, which I reviewed in Blues Bytes last month.  Taylor was always one of my favorites and he enjoyed success from the late 60's through the late 90's before passing away in 2000.  The book is well worth a read if you were a fan of his.  I'm really amazed at how much he seems to be forgotten today despite his long run of hit songs.  One of my favorite songs by Taylor was his wonderful cover of The Falcons' (with guitarist Robert Ward and lead singer Wilson Pickett) 1962 soul classic, "I Found A Love," which was on Taylor's 1988 Malaco release In Control.  The Jackson, MS gospel group, The Jackson Southernaires provided background vocals.

John Mayall

For Something Blue, we pay tribute to the late John Mayall, dubbed The Godfather of British Blues, who passed away in late July at the age of 90.  Mayall was influenced by American blues players at an early age and taught himself to play guitar, piano, and harmonica.  After studying art, he moved to London and began playing the blues, beginning with the Powerhouse Four, the Blues Syndicate, which later became the Bluesbreakers.  The Bluesbreakers became a training ground for some of the UK's finest guitarists, inclluding Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Rocky Athas, and Carolyn Wonderland to just name a few.  He remained active until the year before he passed away, releasing The Sun Is Shining Down in 2022.

One of my favorite eras of Mayall and the Bluesbreakers was recently captured in three volumes, featuring Mayall with Green, and his future Fleetwood Mac musical partners John McVie (bass) and Mick Fleetwood (drums).  This set of Bluesbreakers never made it to the studio, but these live recordings from early 1967 were found and remastered over the past few years and are well worth a listen.  Actually, all of Mayall's recordings are worth a listen.  R.I.P. to this great British bluesman.