Blues Lounge..♪♫♪

Information

Blues Lounge..♪♫♪

..dedicated to Blues Lovers everywhere.

Website: http://outofthepastrecords.com/Blues.html
Location: The Heart of Your Soul
Members: 13
Latest Activity: Jul 17, 2018

The origins of blues is not unlike the origins of life. For many years it was recorded only by memory, and relayed only live, and in person. The Blues were born in the North Mississippi Delta following the Civil War. Influenced by African roots, field hollers, ballads, church music and rhythmic dance tunes called jump-ups evolved into a music for a singer who would engage in call-and-response with his guitar. He would sing a line, and the guitar would answer.

From the crossroads of Highways 61 and 49, and the platform of the Clarksdale Railway Station, the blues headed north to Beale Street in Memphis. The blues have strongly influenced almost all popular music including jazz, country, and rock and roll and continues to help shape music worldwide.

The Blues... it's 12-bar, bent-note melody is the anthem of a race, bonding itself together with cries of shared self victimization. Bad luck and trouble are always present in the Blues, and always the result of others, pressing upon unfortunate and down trodden poor souls, yearning to be free from life's' troubles. Relentless rhythms repeat the chants of sorrow and pity of lost souls.
This is the Blues.

W.C. Handy

The blues form was first popularized about 1911-14 by the black composer W.C. Handy (1873-1958).
However, the poetic and musical form of the blues first crystallized around 1910 and gained popularity through the publication of Handy's "Memphis Blues" (1912) and "St. Louis Blues" (1914). Instrumental blues had been recorded as early as 1913. During the twenties, the blues became a national craze. Mamie Smith recorded the first vocal blues song, 'Crazy Blues' in 1920. The Blues influence on jazz brought it into the mainstream and made possible the records of blues singers like Bessie Smith and later, in the thirties, Billie Holiday

The Blues are the essence of the African American laborer, whose spirit is wed to these songs, reflecting his inner soul to all who will listen. Rhythm and Blues, is the cornerstone of all forms of African American music. Many of Memphis' best Blues artists left the city at the time, when Mayor "Boss" Crump shut down Beale Street to stop the prostitution, gambling, and cocaine trades, effectively eliminating the musicians, and entertainers' jobs, as these businesses closed their doors. The Blues migrated to Chicago, where it became electrified, and Detroit.

elmore2.jpg (13246 bytes) Elmore James

In northern cities like Chicago and Detroit, during the later forties and early fifties, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, and Elmore James among others, played what was basically Mississippi Delta blues, backed by bass, drums, piano and occasionally harmonica, and began scoring national hits with blues songs. At about the same time, T-Bone Walker in Houston and B.B. King in Memphis were pioneering a style of guitar playing that combined jazz technique with the blues tonality and repertoire.

bluesbb.jpg (114008 bytes) B.B. King

Meanwhile, back in Memphis, B.B. King invented the concept of lead guitar, now standard in today's Rock bands. Bukka White (cousin to B.B. King), Leadbelly, and Son House, left Country Blues to create the sounds most of us think of today as traditional unamplified Blues.

bluescrudup.jpg (76960 bytes) Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Wyonnie Harris, and Big Mama Thorton wrote and preformed the songs that would make a young Elvis Presley world renown. In the early nineteen-sixties, the urban bluesmen were "discovered" by young white American and European musicians. Many of these blues-based bands like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Canned Heat, and Fleetwood Mac, brought the blues to young white audiences, something the black blues artists had been unable to do in America except through the purloined white cross-over covers of black rhythm and blues songs. Since the sixties, rock has undergone several blues revivals. Some rock guitarists, such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and Eddie Van Halen have used the blues as a foundation for offshoot styles. While the originators like John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins and B.B. King--and their heirs Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, and later Eric Clapton and the late Roy Buchanan, among many others, continued to make fantastic music in the blues tradition. The latest generation of blues players like Robert Cray and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others, as well as gracing the blues tradition with their incredible technicality, have drawn a new generation listeners to the blues.

W.C. Handy the Father of the Blues wasn't an ordinary Delta bluesman. Handy studied music as a youth, playing the cornet and traveling the South with dance bands playing minstrel and tent shows. Later in life he became a songwriter, bandleader and publisher.

bluescross.jpg (101142 bytes) The Southern Cross' The Dog The intersection of the Southern Railroad and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad (The Dog) at Moorhead, Mississippi that inspired the singer at Tutwiler.

Legend is that while waiting for an overdue train in Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1903 that he heard an itinerant bluesman playing slide guitar and singing about "going' where the Southern cross the Dog," referring to the junction of the Southern and Yazoo and Mississippi Valley railroads farther south near Moorhead. Handy called it "the weirdest music I had ever heard."

bluescrossroads.jpg (136346 bytes) The Crossroads

In the delta of the Mississippi River, where Robert Johnson was born, they said that if an aspiring bluesman waited by the side of a deserted country crossroads in the dark of a moonless night, then Satan himself might come and tune his guitar, sealing a pact for the bluesman's soul and guaranteeing a lifetime of easy money, women, and fame. They said that Robert Johnson must have waited by the crossroads and gotten his guitar fine-tuned.

bluesjohnson.jpg (110215 bytes) Robert Johnson

Not much is known about Johnson other then after the death of his wife in 1930 he decided to become a bluesman. Wandering around the Delta in 1933, he met Son House and Willie Brown. When they heard him play on the guitar startled them. In an amazingly short time, Johnson had turned into a blues guitar master, hence the myth that he made a deal with the Devil.

blueslemon.jpg (215999 bytes) Blind Lemon Jefferson

Blind Lemon Jefferson was indeed blind, unlike other Delta musicians who merely claimed the limitation. He died penniless in Chicago in December 1929, possibly suffering a heart attack when he became disoriented during a snowstorm.

bluesleadbelly.jpg (293551 bytes) Huddie William Ledbetter aka Lead Belly

Leadbelly was a large man, and given to fits of rage. In 1917, he was convicted in Texas for killing a man and in 1930 was convicted of attempted murder in Louisiana. Both sentences were commuted, however, based solely on his musicianship. His "discovery" came, in fact, at Louisiana's Angola Prison Farm

Willie Dixon was certainly the single most important presence on the postwar Chicago scene. What distinguished Willie Dixon from most other Delta bluesmen of his day was his ability to read, write, compose, and arrange music -- talents that were to destine him for legendary status among the bluesmakers. However, it was boxing, not music, that brought Dixon to Chicago in 1936. He was an upstart professional fighter who for a time sparred with the great Joe Louis.

chesshowlin.jpg (4678 bytes)

Named after a 19th-century American president, young Chester Arthur Burnett earned the nickname that was to become synonymous with the power of his voice "Howlin' Wolf."


Thanks For Your Visit
Momma and Me at Uncle Ely's Impala Lounge..Chicago 1976

Discussion Forum

Bessie Smith

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Edie Antoinette Aug 4, 2013. 4 Replies

Howlin' Wolf

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Daton O Fullard May 21, 2010. 4 Replies

BLUES For the Grown And Sexy

Started by Ronn Nichols. Last reply by Ronn Nichols Oct 15, 2009. 2 Replies

Albert King

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by KnightD12 Jun 22, 2009. 3 Replies

Featured Blues Playlist: Ms Hot DJ

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Boo Jun 19, 2009. 2 Replies

Lavern Baker

Started by Boo Jun 19, 2009. 0 Replies

Z.Z. Hill

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Boo Jun 19, 2009. 11 Replies

Willie Dixon

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Tonya Anderson Jun 18, 2009. 2 Replies

Betty Wright

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Tonya Anderson Jun 18, 2009. 4 Replies

Huddie Williams a.k.a. Leadbelly

Started by Boo. Last reply by Tonya Anderson Jun 18, 2009. 3 Replies

Junior Wells

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Tonya Anderson Jun 18, 2009. 2 Replies

Bobby Blue Bland

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Edie Antoinette Jun 17, 2009. 4 Replies

KoKo Taylor...........Gone Home

Started by Ronn Nichols. Last reply by Ronn Nichols Jun 16, 2009. 4 Replies

Blues Artist List ♪♫♪

Started by Edie Antoinette Jun 11, 2009. 0 Replies

Matt "Guitar" Murphy

Started by Shelley "SoleMann" King. Last reply by Boo Jun 10, 2009. 2 Replies

Sonny Boy Williamson

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Edie Antoinette Jun 10, 2009. 2 Replies

Little Johnny Taylor

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Edie Antoinette Jun 10, 2009. 6 Replies

KoKo Taylor

Started by Edie Antoinette. Last reply by Tonya Anderson Jun 10, 2009. 3 Replies

Comment Wall

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You need to be a member of Blues Lounge..♪♫♪ to add comments!

Comment by Edie Antoinette on July 4, 2016 at 6:35pm

Comment by Edie Antoinette on December 9, 2009 at 8:36am
Checking in to say Hi to everybody. The blues is kicking butt and taking no prisoners this snowy Wednesday morning. *waving*
Comment by Edie Antoinette on August 17, 2009 at 8:42am
LOL!!!! I stand accused Gene. Love your comment! Thanks...
Comment by KnightD12 on August 17, 2009 at 3:47am
Looks at my watch. I`ve been in here for 2 hours diggin on these Blues jams. Every time I say, "One more song, and I`m going" Its all Edie`s fault for puttin up such a GREAT play list. :) I`m leaving after this song..... ..... I think.. lol
Comment by Edie Antoinette on August 16, 2009 at 7:48pm
LOL! Hey Big Papa!
Comment by Edie Antoinette on July 2, 2009 at 7:26pm
..thought I'd come into the club and get my Blues on...♥
Comment by Edie Antoinette on June 14, 2009 at 8:35am
Looking down--that's some tight jewelry that Koko has on.
Comment by Edie Antoinette on June 14, 2009 at 8:34am
Welcome Sherry!! (MzzzDiva)
Comment by Edie Antoinette on June 12, 2009 at 7:47am
Now that is beautiful!!! Thank you Ronn!!!! What a photo of KoKo!!!!
Comment by Ronn Nichols on June 12, 2009 at 7:43am

Funeral Services

Friday, June 12, 2009
6:00 pm (4pm-6pm/Visitation)
Rainbow Push Coalition National Headquarters
930 East 50th (Drexel) Street
Chicago, IL. 60615
 

Members (13)

 
 
 

Introspection

Entr'acte

  1. play Norman Brown — Night Drive
  2. play Norman Brown — Feeling
  3. play Norman Brown — Still
  4. play Miles Davis — miles 1
  5. play miles 2
  6. play miles 3
  7. play miles 4
  8. play miles 5
  9. play Marvin Gaye — I Met A Little Girl
  10. play Santana — 01 Singing Winds, Crying Beasts
  11. play Santana — 02 Black Magic Woman-Gypsy Queen
  12. play Mongo — 02. Afro Blue



The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me"). 


As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even 
harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.

 

The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created. 

The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon). 

If you have a song that is not included below, shoot it over to funkinsoulman (at) yahoo.com and it will go up in the next Frankie Beverly post (later this week--highlighting Maze). Also, if you have any more information please share your knowledge. The Butlers material has been comp-ed sporadically (usually imports) but the entire Maze catalog has been reissued and is available. 

Enjoy.  "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967) 
 
 "I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year) "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" (Phila, 1966) "Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)
   
 "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)
   
 "If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)
 



Frankie Beverly is one of those cats that has lasting power. He started in the music business doing a tour with doo wop group the Silhouettes and then formed his own group called the Blenders. The Blenders never recorded a single, Beverly wouldn't appear on wax until forming the Butlers a few years later. Along with Beverly, the Butlers included Jack "Sonny" Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway.

Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a
well-known penning Double Exposure's
"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay." 
 While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).

The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. If, by chance, you know of a way to get in touch with Frankie Beverly or his management, please drop me an e-mail. It would be absolutely great to do an interview with him about his pre-Maze work. He's still playing out, most recently doing a New Year's Eve show in Atlanta.
:: Funkinsoulman ::

Power...Through Simplicity ♪♫♪

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