Friday Blues Picks (10/10/25)

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.

In Case You Missed It (Museum and King of the Blues Edition)

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.

 

Tampa Red - The Guitar Wizard

Tampa Red

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.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue #23

Dear readers, it's time once again for Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue.  This makes our 23nd 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.  It serves as a great way to introduce new and old tunes to new and old blues fans.  

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).  Here we go......

For Something Old, let's go way back to 1929, with one of T-Bone Walker's first recordings.  Recorded for Columbia Records, "Trinity River Blues" was the B-side of his recording debut ("Wichita Falls Blues" was the A-side).  The 19-year old Walker was billed as "Oak Cliff T-Bone" on this record, Oak Cliff being the community in Dallas where he lived and T-Bone was a variation of his middle name (Aaron Thibeaux Walker).  Walker, playing acoustic guitar, is backed by Douglas Fernell on piano.  The youngster had already been a working performer on the blues circuit since the age of 15.  Of course, he went on to become one of the most influential blues guitarists and performers with incredible recordings in the 40's and 50's with Black  & Blue Records, Imperial Records, and Atlantic Records.

For Something New, meet Kirk Fletcher, guitarist extraordinaire.  Fletcher has been recording since the late 90's as a solo artist, but he also spent four years with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and also appeared on T-Bird front man Kim Wilson's album Smokin' Joint.  he also collaborated with Charlie Musselwhite, the Mannish Boys, Joe Bonamassa, and many others (including an appearance on William Shatner's blues album in 2020).  He returned to his own recordings around 2010.  He also developed into a very good singer and his recordings show he's a fine guitarist who's not afraid to branch out from the blues, mixing in funk, soul, rock, and jazz.  Fletcher recovered from a stroke he suffered a couple of years ago, but his latest release, the dynamic Keep On Pushing (on the VizzTone Label Group), shows that he's still a wonderful guitarist.  FBF recommends that blues fans track down this excellent release as soon as you can.

For Something Borrowed, we go to K.C. Douglas, born in 1913 in Sharon, MS.  He played around the Jackson, MS area in the early 40's with Tommy Johnson and others, but migrated to Vellejo, California in his late 20's to work in the navy shipyards and was soon playing the blues around the San Francisco/Oakland area.  He was strongly influenced by Johnson, recording several of his songs when he had the opportunity.  His first recording, in 1948 as the K.C. Douglas Trio, was "Mercury Boogie," which was later renamed "Mercury Blues."  Most music fans have heard this song played in one genre or another....David Lindley recorded a great version in the early 80's on his El-Rayo-X album.  Others recording it were Steve Miller, Ry Cooder, and Alan Jackson, whose version hit #2 on the country charts in 1992.  Even today, the Ford Motor Company bought the rights to the song and used it in their TV spots.  Douglas, sadly, didn't get to see much success of royalties in his lifetime...he passed away in October of 1975 at the age of 61.

Finally, for Something Blue, we salute the King of the Blues, who was born 100 years ago on September 16.  There's not much that we can say about B.B. King that hasn't already been said.  He was the first blues artist I ever heard and over the years, I've come to appreciate him more and more.  His incredible, distinctive guitar work and his powerful, gospel-influence vocals have inspired countless musicians since his earliest days.  Every blues fan should visit his museum at Indianola, MS (where he's also buried) if you make a trip to the Mississippi delta.  It's well worth your time.  Happy Heavenly Birthday to B.B. King and thank you for all the great music!