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]
From 1962 until 1971, the American Folk Blues Festival was responsible for bringing dozens of the most celebrated American blues artists to audiences from England to Poland. For many of the musicians, these were the largest audiences they'd ever played to, and the first (and often only) decent money they ever made. This five-CD set captures the vital early years of the festival more fully than any prior issues, with previously unreleased bonus tracks (some of which overlaps). The 1962 volume was recorded live in Hamburg, and has no extra tracks, but the material is so vital and robust that this volume, featuring Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, never needed it. The 1963 disc, recorded live in Bremen, opens with three previously unreleased live Memphis Slim cuts, and follows these with a previously unissued Muddy Waters solo acoustic guitar piece and three more never-issued numbers featuring Muddy backed by Dixon, Otis Spann, and Matt "Guitar" Murphy. The three Sonny Boy Williamson bonus tracks were very late in the day and constitute some of the very last songs left behind by the increasingly ailing harp legend. The 1964 volume is a little less enhanced, with two songs by Willie Dixon and one song each by Sonny Boy Williamson, Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon, and Sugar Pie DeSanto. The 1965 volume was always the odd one in this series; as a studio recording rather than a concert document, it lacks the vibrancy of the earlier volumes, but its eight bonus tracks do include some interesting moments by Buddy Guy, Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, and Big Walter Horton. The sound quality is good, but given the time that's passed, a full set of notes might have been nice.