Chicago - The Blues Yesterday Volume 20
Chicago - The Blues Yesterday Volume 20
01. Rock'n'roll boogie 02. Rock and roll can save your soul 03. All pretty women 04. Women's world 05. Davy Crockett's jingle bells 06. You can't live in this big world by yourself Jo Jo Williams (Joseph Williams) – vocals, guitar Mojo Buford – harmonica Lazy Bill Lucas – piano Dave Myers – guitar Sam Burton – drums Cicero, Ill. 1959 07. Afro shake dance 08. You got to be loved Jo Jo Williams – vocals, guitar Little Smokey Smothers – guitar Tommy Reader – alto saxophone P.T. Hayes – harmonica Elijah Jordan – bass Robert Whitehead – drums Chicago, Ill. 1959 09. Green light (vcl: Johnny Morton) 10. Hey hey big mama (vcl: Johnny Morton) 11. I love you mama (vcl: Sugarman Penigar) 12. No no baby (vcl: Sugarman Penigar) Chicago All Stars, band. Same or Similar. Chicago, Ill. 26 December 1947 13. Are you getting married brother? (vcl: Cozy Eggleston) 14. Strange strange lover (vcl: Pro Mc Clam) Chicago All Stars: Johnny Morton – trumpet Sax Mallard – alto saxophone, clarinet Sugarman Penigar – tenor saxophone Bill Owens – piano Elmer Ewing – guitar Bali Beach – bass Jump Jackson – drums Chicago, 27 July 1947 15. Cry on daddy 16. I stagger in my sleep 17. I'm blue daddy 18. Poker playing daddy Clara Morris – vocals Lonnie Johnson – guitar Blind John Davis – piano Willie Mitchell – bass Chicago, Ill. 27 March 1941 19. I can't believe it Frank Butler – vocals Cool Breeze (Joseph Bell) – bs + band. Chicago, Ill. 1957 20. Build a little house for you 21. How I feel about you 22. Someone outside Frank Butler – vocals + band Chicago, Ill. 1965-66 23. So many years Frank Butler – vocals + band Chicago, Ill. 1968 24. The love I need 25. If love don't change Frank Butler – vocals + band Chicago, Ill. 1970
Let's open this 20th opus of our "Chicago/ The Blues Yesterday" series with Jo Jo Williams, certainly the most well known artist of this comp. Born in Coahoma on 7th October 1923, Joseph Eginger Williams is the son of a railroad employee. At an early age, he has met Son House and Willie Brown, lived as a teenager in Memphis where, under the influence of the local Beale Street acts, he learned to play the guitar around 1942 and left to Chicago, well determined to make a living out of his music. He formed his own band, The Blues Rockers with which he recorded a handful of singles under his own name, was a staunch member of the Muddy Waters Junior Band, toured the West Coast with Little Walter... During the 1960's Jo Jo went to live to Minneapolis where alongside Lazy Bill Lucas and Mojo Buford he would be a revered figure of the local blues scene. Jo Jo died in Minneapolis 16 June 2010.
Several groups named themselves Chicago All Stars. This one here is the temporary aggregation at the end of the 1940's of Chicago blues and Jazz veterans, namely trumpet player Johnny Morton, saxophonists Oett "Sax" Mallard and Sugarman Penigar as well as the ubiquitous drummer and bandleader Armand "Jump" Jackson.
Clara Morris (c. 1920-2007) is a first rate singer with a strong rural feel who, unfortunately, leaves only one striking 1941 session backed by Lonnie Johnson and Blind John Davis. She will record another session a couple of months later, this time with Big Bill Broonzy, that never was issued. Like many, her career has been cut short by the war and to our knowledge she never recorded again. She married to a Mr Proctor and died at Lake Forest, Illinois.
At last, powerful singer Frank Butler (not to be confused with the jazz drummer of the same name) has been present on the Chicago blues scene during the years 1955-70, recording a handful of 45s for small local labels like Chief, Space Age or Great Scott, the last tracks in a more Soul vein. I unfortunately don't know anything more about his whereabouts and every piece of information would be most welcome. ---Gérard Herzhaft, jukegh.blogspot.com
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