The Bottleneck Cafe

This morning as I was writing a post to pay tribute to the life of the great Johnny Otis, who passed away yesterday, I learned of the passing of one of the greatest artists Johnny ever discovered, Ms. Etta James. While Etta James is a house-hold name (and rightfully so) the name Johnny Otis is sadly becoming less and less known by today’s music fans. Besides giving Etta James her first big break, Mr. Otis also helped start the careers of many top R&B performers. When not performing with his own band he was in the studio recording and producing sides for many of the best R&B performers. It was Johnny Otis who produced and performed on the original 1952 recording of Hound Dog featuring Big Mama Thornton. Two years later in 1954 Otis found himself in the studio again with another young blues singer, a woman by the name of Jamesetta Hawkins. Like Big Mama Thornton, Jamesetta started out performing with The Johnny Otis Band. She then moved to Los Angeles and entered the studio with the band to record what would be her break out song “The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)”. Written by Johnny Otis “The Wallflower” was an answer song to the Hank Ballard tune “Work With Me Annie”. Shortly after the release of the song Jamesetta (now going by the stage name Etta James) started off on a solo career that would last over 50 years. She recorded many smash hits for a number of different labels and released albums up until 2011. In addition to being successful in the recording studio James was also successful on the stage and would continue to be an in-demand performer until 2009 when she was unable to perform due to health issues.
As for Johnny Otis, discovering Etta James was just one of the many highlights in a career that lasted well into his eighties. A true renaissance man, Otis was a songwriter, performer, producer, author, store and bar owner, and painter. He even got involved in politics in his home state of California during the 1960′s. However, with all these accomplishments Johnny Otis is probably best know for writing the hit song “Willie and The Hand Jive” which would sell over 1.5 million copies and be covered by Eric Clapton for his 1974 album 461 Ocean Boulevard.
During the their lifetimes both Etta James and Johnny Otis brought to joy to millions of fans all over the world, they are both members of multiple halls of fame, and their influence can be heard in the music of artists in every genre of music. They will both be dearly missed.

Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz has been recording (or “documenting” as he puts it) different forms of roots music for the better part of the last 50 years.  During that time Mr. Strachwitz has traveled to numerous juke joints, plantations, prisons and coffee shops, in order to document an artist in a setting that is natural and familiar to them.  This process delivered very positive results.  You would be hard pressed to find recordings that better capture the intensity and passion of artists like Mance Lipscome, Big Joe Williams, and Fred McDowell.  In my opinion Arhoolie Records is the leading authority on American roots music and in recent years the label has a number of box sets that showcase the best of it’s catalog.  But just when you think you’ve heard everything Arhoolie and Mr. Strachwitz have to offer they release a new Book/Four CD set that is ESSENTIAL for any fan of American roots music.

Hear Me Howling! Blues, Ballads, and Beyond, is a dream come true for fanatics of American roots music.  This beautifully packaged box set is stuffed with information on, and recordings from more then 20 artists!  The book is full of wonderful pictures (some never before released publicly) that give you a little glimpse of what these artist were like on and off the stage. My personal favorite picture in this book is a picture of the great Mance Lipscome performing at Greek Theater in Berkeley, California.  You get a sense from this picture that even though Mance’s home in Texas was only a few hundred miles away on a map, it must have felt like it was a world away to Mance who had never ever performed in front of a crowd that large.  But wonderful photos are only part of this great set.  All of the music, which was recorded in the San Francisco Bay Area, is amazing.  Like Mance Lipscome, many of these artists were not used to the hustle and bustle of big city life.  One of the most moving performances is Mary & Big Joe Williams’ performance of “Oakland Blues”.  You can hear confusion and pain in the voice of Mary Williams when she sings about wanting to go back home to Louisiana.  In a recent interview I did with Chris Strachwitz on the Bottleneck Cafe Radio Show, he talked about this session and how it was a rough time for Big Joe, who later got arrested for carrying a knife in his boot and then left town without warning.  On a lighter note, you get to hear Big Mama Thornton intimidate a band of jazz musicians on live recordings of “Ball and Chain” and “Hound Dog” and Lightnin’ Hopkins gives you a colorful view of what life was like on Telegraph Ave in the 1960′s.  But Blues isn’t the only music showcased here.  Folk singer Barbara Dane does a wonderful and heartfelt version of “Deportees” and Bob Neuwirth’s “Come See” is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone.  Cliften Chenier’s “Mr. Charlie” is a good introduction for anyone getting interested in Zydeco (I found myself picking up some of his albums after hearing this track) and Bob Mielke’s Bearcats version of “Moose March” will get your feet moving.   But this is just the tip of the ice berg as they say, there is so much in this box set that it took me a month to get through it!  You can get your copy of Hear Me Howling! Blues, Ballads, and Beyond at www.arhoolie.com.

When you think of cities that are rich with blues history the first cities that come to mind might be cities like Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Clarksdale, or even Kansas City.  However, one city that is commonly forgotten as a blues producing power house is Oakland, CA.    In fact, many people who remember the heyday of Oakland’s 7th street blues scene say that it was the West Coast version of the famous Beale Street blues scene in Memphis, TN.  Musicians would come from all over the world to play clubs on 7th street and at one time or another artists like Etta James, Big Mama Thorton, and Roy Hawkins called Oakland home.  But if one person can be called “The Godfather of West Coast Blues” that person is musician/label owner Bob Geddins.  Mr. Geddins was the first African-American to own a record plant and record labels in Oakland.   The music from these multiple labels has been collected, remastered and issued as a four CD box set titled “The Bob Geddins Blues Stroy”.  The amazing four disc set features artists such as Jimmy McCracklin, Lowell Fullson, Jimmy Wilson, and even a track sung by Bob Geddins himself!  While four discs might be a little much for someone just getting into this genre of blues, it’s perfect for listeners who want get totally stuffed on the music of Oakland in the 1940′s and 1950′s.