"Let Me Tell You About The Blues Detroit" 1947-1956

Culling from tiny labels like JVB,, Sensation and Fortune, this 3-CD, 75-track import follows the evolution of postwar blues in Detroit, with big names like John Lee Hooker alongside names only known to hardcore blues collectors!

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.
INFO: http://www.bluesandrhythm.co.uk/documents/Let-Me-Tell-You-About-The-Blues-Detroit.pdf

trax disc 1:
01. Calvin Frazier / She's A Double Crossing Woman 02. Sampson Pittman / Highway 61 Blues 03. Robert Richard / Cadillac Woman 04. Detroit Count / Hastings Street Opera (Part 1) 05. Walter Mitchell / Stop Messin' Around 06. Slim Pickens / Notoriety Woman 07. Robert Richard / Root Hog 08. Walter Mitchell / Pet Milk Blues 09. Sylvester Cotton / Sak-Relation Blues 10. Joe Von Battle / Lookin' For My Woman 11. Detroit Count / Hastings Street Opera (Part 2) 12. Sylvester Cotton / Ugly Woman Blues 13. John Lee Hooker / Henry's Swing Club 14. James Taylor / Little Bitty Woman 15. Andrew Dunham / Sweet Lucy 16. Baby Boy Warren / My Special Friend Blues 17. Sylvester Cotton / Stormy Weather Blues 18. John Brim Combo / Strange Man 19. Big Maceo / Worried Life Blues No 2 20. Andrew Dunham / Hattie May 21. Big Maceo / Without You My Life Don't Mean A Thing 22. John Lee Hooker / Never Satisfied 23. Eddie Kirkland / That's All Right 24. John Brim Combo / Mean Man Blues 25. Eddie Burns / Where Did You Stay Last Night
trax disc 2:
01. John Lee Hooker / I'm In The Mood 02. Eddie Kirkland / It's Time For Lovin' To Be Done 03. Robert Henry / Old Battle Ax 04. L.C. Green / 38 Pistol Blues 05. John Lee Hooker / I'm A Boogie Man 06. Playboy Fuller / Sugar Cane Highway 07. Eddie Burns / Hello Miss Jessie Lee 08. L.C. Green / Hastings Street Boogie 09. Playboy Fuller / Gonna Play My Guitar 10. Eddie Burns / Dealing With The Devil 11. Eddie Kirkland / No Shoes 12. Sam Kelly / Ramblin' Around Blues 13. L.C. Green / Goin' Down To The River Blues 14. Baby Boy Warren / Sanafee (Not Welcome Anymore) 15. Johnny Howard / Natrual Man Blues 16. John Brim / Bus Driver 17. Baby Boy Warren / Hello Stranger 18. Henry Smith / Good Rockin' Mama 19. Johnny Howard / Dark Night Blues 20. Henry Smith / Lonesome Blues 21. Baby Boy Warren / Chicken 22. One String Sam / I Need A $100.00 23. Washboard Willie / Washboard Blues (Part 1) 24. Calvin Frazier / Rock House 25. One String Sam / My Baby Ooo
trax disc 3:
01. Paul Williams / Thirty-Five-Thirty 02. Wild Bill Moore / We're Gonna Rock 03. T.J. Fowler / T.J. Boogie 04. Paul Williams / The Hucklebuck 05. T.J. Fowler / Red Hot Blues 06. Detroit Count / Little Tillie Willie 07. Emmit Slay / Looky Ploot 08. Wild Bill Moore / Burnt Toast 09. Kitty Stevenson / It Ain't Right 10. Emmit Slay / Beulah 11. Little Miss Sharecropper / I Want To Rock 12. Sonny Wilson / The Rainy Day Blues 13. Maurice King and his Wolverines / I Feel So Good 14. The Kool Cats / That's The Best I Can Do For You Blues 15. Maurice King and his Wolverines / I Want A Lavender Cadillac 16. Calvin Frazier / Got Nobody To Tell My Troubles To 17. T.J. Fowler and Alberta Adams / Say Baby Say 18. Harvey Hill Jr / She Fool Me 19. Calvin Frazier / Little Baby Child 20. Alberta Adams / Remember 21. Joe Weaver and his Blue Notes / J.B. Boogie 22. John Lee Hooker / I Do Like I Please 23. Gip (Sandman) Roberts / No One Monkey Goin' To Run My Show 24. Lena Hall / Five Long Years 25. John Lee Hooker / No More Doggin'
…served by Gyro1966...