VA - Let Me Tell You About The Blues : Detroit [3 CD, 2010]

 

Detroit in the 1940s and ‘50s didn’t have a thriving record industry like Chicago. Detroit artists went there because that’s where the companies were. Even musicologist Alan Lomax made just one visit for the Library of Congress in 1938, when he recorded Calvin Frazier and Sampson Pittman. Nevertheless, enterprising individuals like Jack and Devora Brown, Bernard Besman and Joe Von Battle did their best to reflect the city’s musical talent. The Browns’ Fortune label moved into blues recording after years of pop and rockabilly releases, Besman’s Sensation encompassed blues, jazz and R&B, while from his first 1948 recordings on JVB, Von Battle covered a broad blues spectrum. Musicians walked in to record in the small studio at the back of his record shop at 3530 Hastings Street. Men such as Robert Richard, Walter Mitchell, the garrulous Detroit Count (‘Hastings Street Opera Pts. 1 & 2’) and even Von Battle himself . Besman took the prize when John Lee Hooker was brought to him. Others he recorded included Sylvester Cotton, Andrew Dunham and James Taylor. He also sold Hooker masters (‘Never Satisfied’, ‘I’m In The Mood’, ‘I’m A Boogie Man’) to other companies, as well as Eddie Burns (‘Hello Miss Jessie Lee’). The Browns recorded the John Brim Combo and Big Maceo.

The JVB procession went on, with records by L.C. Green, Playboy Fuller, Johnny Howard, Washboard Willie and One String Sam. Most prized of all are songs by Baby Boy Warren (‘Hello Stranger’, ‘Sanafee’ and ‘Chicken’) with Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) at his very best. There were R&B hits, too, by saxophonists Paul Williams (‘Thirty-Five-Thirty’) and Wild Bill Moore (‘We’re Gonna Rock’), pianist T.J. Fowler (‘T.J. Boogie’) and guitarist Emmit Slay (‘Looky Ploot’). Band vocalists included Kitty Stevenson , Alberta Adams and LaVern Baker, as Bea Baker (‘I Want A Lavender Coffin’) and Little Miss Sharecropper (‘I Want To Rock’). Jackie Wilson began as Sonny Wilson with ‘The Rainy Day Blues’ and Calvin Frazier sang with T.J. Fowler’s band. John Lee Hooker had a band backing on ‘No More Doggin’’, while JVB tried their luck with The Kool Kats, Gip Roberts and Lena Hall. It’s no surprise to learn that Berry Gordy, Mary Wells and Stevie Wonder were regular visitors to Joe Von Battle’s shop.


Disc 1


01. Calvin Frazier / She's A Double Crossing Woman [00:02:53]
02. Sampson Pittman / Highway 61 Blues [00:03:35]
03. Robert Richard / Cadillac Woman [00:03:38]
04. Detroit Count / Hastings Street Opera Part 1 [00:03:03]
05. Walter Mitchell / Stop Messing Around [00:03:15]
06. Slim Pickens / Notoriety Woman [00:02:59]
07. Robert Richard / Root Hog [00:03:14]
08. Walter Mitchell / Pet Milk Blues [00:03:49]
09. Sylvester Cotton / Sak-Relation Blues [00:02:59]
10. Joe Von Battle / Lookin' For My Woman [00:03:07]
11. Detroit Count / Hastings Street Opera Part 2 [00:03:23]
12. Sylvester Cotton / Ugly Woman Blues [00:02:42]
13. John Lee Hooker / Henry's Swing Club [00:03:13]
14. James Taylor / Little Bitty Woman [00:02:46]
15. Andrew Dunham / Sweet Lucy [00:03:04]
16. Baby Boy Warren / My Special Friend Blues [00:02:43]
17. Sylvester Cotton / Stormy Weather Blues [00:02:46]
18. John Brim Combo / Strange Man [00:03:07]
19. Big Maceo / Worried Life Blues No.2 [00:02:49]
20. Andrew Dunham / Hattie May [00:03:04]
21. Big Maceo / Without You My Lide Don't Mean A Thing [00:02:55]
22. John Lee Hooker / Never Satisfied [00:03:04]
23. Eddie Kirkland / That's All Right [00:02:18]
24. John Brim Combo / Mean Man Blues [00:02:58]
25. Eddie Burns / Where Did You Stay Last Night [00:03:11]

Disc 2

01. John Lee Hooker / I'm In The Mood [00:03:10]
02. Eddie Kirkland / It's Time For Lovin' To Be Done [00:03:00]
03. Robert Henry / Old Battle Ax [00:02:27]
04. L.C. Green / 38 Pistol Blues [00:02:56]
05. John Lee Hooker / I'm A Boogie Man [00:02:20]
06. Playboy Fuller / Sugar Cane Highway [00:03:14]
07. Eddie Burns / Hello Miss Jessie Lee [00:03:10]
08. L.C. Green / Hastings Street Boogie [00:03:25]
09. Playboy Fuller / Gonna Play My Guitar [00:03:12]
10. Eddie Burns / Dealing With The Devil [00:02:58]
11. Eddie Kirkland / No Shoes [00:02:49]
12. Sam Kelly / Ramblin' Around Blues [00:02:37]
13. L.C. Green / Goin' Down To The River Blues [00:02:56]
14. Baby Boy Warren / Sanafee (Not Welcome Anymore) [00:02:51]
15. Johnny Howard / Natrual Man Blues [00:02:43]
16. John Brim / Bus Driver [00:02:55]
17. Baby Boy Warren / Hello Stranger [00:02:45]
18. Henry Smith / Good Rockin' Mama [00:02:24]
19. Johnny Howard / Dark Night Blues [00:02:31]
20. Henry Smith / Lonesome Blues [00:03:24]
21. Baby Boy Warren / Chicken [00:03:13]
22. One String Sam / I Need A $100.00 [00:03:07]
23. Washboard Willie / Washboard Blues Part 2 [00:02:53]
24. Calvin Frazier / Rock House [00:03:01]
25. One String Sam / My Baby OOO [00:03:07]

Disc 3

01. Paul Williams / Thirty-Five, Thirty [00:03:16]
02. Wild Bill Moore / We're Gonna Rock [00:02:42]
03. T. J. Fowler / T. J. Boogie [00:02:55]
04. Paul Williams / The Hucklebuck [00:03:09]
05. T.J. Fowler / Red Hot Blues [00:02:33]
06. Detroit Count / Little Tillie Willie [00:03:01]
07. Emmit Slay / Looky Ploot [00:02:24]
08. Wild Bill Moore / Burnt Toast [00:02:29]
09. Kitty Steveson / It Ain't Right [00:02:46]
10. Emmit Slay / Beulah [00:02:44]
11. Little Miss Sharecropper / I Want To Rock [00:02:44]
12. Sonny Wilson / The Rainy Day Blues [00:02:29]
13. Maurice King & His Wolverines / I Feel So Good [00:02:57]
14. The Kool Cats / That's The Best I Can Do For You Blues [00:03:07]
15. Maurice King & His Wolverines / I Want A Lavender Cadillac [00:02:57]
16. Calvin Frazier / Got Nobody To Tell My Troubles To [00:02:47]
17. T.J. Fowler & Alberta Adams / Say Baby Say [00:02:16]
18. Harvey Hill Jr / She Fool Me [00:02:53]
19. Calvin Frazier / Little Baby Child [00:02:35]
20. Alberta Adams / Remember [00:02:55]
21. Joe Weaver & His Blue Notes / J.B. Boogie [00:02:43]
22. John Lee Hooker / I Do Like I Please [00:03:27]
23. Gip (Sandman) Roberts / No One Monkey Goin' To Run My Show [00:02:37]
24. Lena Hall / Five Long Years [00:02:19]
25. John Lee Hooker / No More Doggin' [00:02:28]