"CHICAGO / THE BLUES / YESTERDAY!" Vol 1

This (I hope?) ongoing series Chicago/ The blues Yesterday is dedicated to obscure bluesmen who waxed a handful of singles, sometimes an LP, that were mostly self produced, on very small labels. Those were rarely sold outside some stores in Chicago or more often from the bandstand by the artists themselves. Nevertheless, those bluesmen were part and even instrumental in making alive the true Chicago blues scene when there still were neighbourhood bars presenting blues for African Americans patrons. Coming quite often in the USA during the 70's and 80's, I had the opportunity to see some of those bluesmen, chatting with them and buying their records. They had sometimes hope of greater fame, wanted very much to tour overseas, asked me to do something for them. But unfortunately, in most cases, they stayed in obscurity. Little Oscar Stricklin' is famous for his wonderful Suicide blues, a great modern blues a la Buddy Guy. But he made much more than this only title, three blues singles you'll find here and, after that, during the 70s and 80s, he changed his style for a more Funk and Disco approach under the moniker of Little O (not to be confused with the other much younger Little O, a hip hop artist). He has just resurfaced from nowhere and seems to be in great blues form. Let's hope he will be able to record the whole blues album he is certainly able to do. On Delmark for instance? The harp player Dusty Brown (born in 1929) is much better known, having recorded a handful of 45's. He even toured France in 1972 (with Johnny Shines and Luther Johnson) but this didn't do much for him. He managed a Lounge for awhile, went back to Mississippi for years and resurfaced in the 1990's, recording several excellent tracks, particularly on the anthology Chicago Blues Harmonica Project. Bassist, singer and sometimes guitarist Hayes Ware (from Ruleville, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta) was in the studios as an accompanist on numerous sessions during the 60's and 70's, played regularly with Hip Linkchain and waxed two 45's and an odd album that features Billy Branch in great form. - Gérard HERZHAFT, http://jukegh.blogspot.com

trax:
1. suicide blues '67 - Little Oscar 2. empty bottles '67 - Little Oscar 3. gotta make a change '69 - Little Oscar 4. two foot drag '69 - Little Oscar 5. the message '73 - Dusty Brown 6. i tried '73 - Little Oscar 7. yes she's gone '55 - Dusty Brown 8. he don't love you '55 - Little Oscar 9. rusty dusty '55 - Dusty Brown 10. hurry home '55 - Dusty Brown 11. please don't go '58 - Dusty Brown 12. well you know i love you '58 - Dusty Brown 13. do you love me? '58 - Dusty Brown 14. will you forgive me baby? '58 - Dusty Brown 15. you got me mamma '75 - Hayes Ware 16. fishin' '79 - Hayes Ware 17. i can't hide my love ' 79 - Hayes Ware 18. little sally walker '79 - Hayes Ware 19. ride high '79 - Hayes Ware
...served by Gyro1966...