BRING IT ON HOME!

Brothers and Sisters. Members of the congregation...I feeeel alright...

Welcome to the final edition in this series of Blues Alley: Crème de la crème.

Seventh heaven comes to be in Blues progression when it sets up the turn-a-round for the chorus to build. Then everyone takes a turn. Soon the peoples get loose and see a glimpse of the light 'fore the catch the foist train home. My whole life has been one big fight; tryin ta do what might be right, cornered in a back alley with kittens...now, listen, who, if you just haaad ta...laying claim to a name...could and would u place at the HEAD of BLUES RUSHMORE?

Now we aint talkin 'bout hoisting stone and mortar or any other such materials or even shelling out $989,992.32 clams time's Eternity's rate of inflation, not to mention the time and effort it took to make the original Mount Rushmore...so let's press rewind.

No, here we're talkin' a bit more simply, as George Harrison was fond of uttering in complete animation,

"It's all in the mind!"

Well...lawd have mercy on me! It could go so many ways. We could spend days. It seems some bills can't never be paid... I'm afraid. So lend me your ears and I'll bring you a song and I'll try not to fry my own feet.

Wait a minute....strike that! I'd furnish socks.

Back to business! O lugnuts, who could represent an imaginary isle given American Musical History and your Blues education? The Washington to your Lincoln, Jefferson to a Roosevelt respectively...if you please! Shine your lovelight...let it shine on me! Widespread interest has come to be as far back as the pages of history....

"Everybody unnerstain the old fashioned country blue."
-Albert King

The bells have tolled my baby done caught that train and gone. Broadcast far and wide where the soul of a man, scrapping to claw, never dies, but lies at the precise point intersecting two roads where Lucifer reportedly fine tunes the six string to make her sing like a slothful king. Life by the drop. Drumroll please. What was the original creator of Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum thinking, limiting the sculptures to just four heads?

Don't he know the range from Mississippi to Chicago on your way to Texas? Juss how we 'posed to pull this caper off...considering the moral compass and personal financial expenses?

Yet, there is one thing you do not know...I am left handed.

From somewhere deeper than the mouth of the Mississippi our 4 Heads could easily be...that street hustler playing for tips-trying to steal your wife, if only for an hour, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, and the crawlin' king snake, John Lee. It could be and I wish I could stop. But, hell-bounds on my trail.

Come on in my kitchen! Quit your _________! Sounds like the good vibe tribe would do just fine celebrating trials and the tribulations with a soul smile more than a few miles wide; paying homage to those with little paint, fluff or powder; down-home, a substance fandango spread thru ought shady juke joints all across the Mississippi Delta.

Aint a river that runs deeper. No-one comes by it any cheaper...bloodsoil!

Do it one more-time all around with that sound for the body and mind! But what about Albert King and T-bone Walker? Little Walter? Bo Diddley and the poet laurette, Willie Dixon...doesn't everyone even slightly familiar with the Blues know a Willie Dixon tune, indirectly through Foghat, or the Violent Femmes, or Gnarls Barkley? And what about, for the intent of practical purpose, our founder, WC Handy? How far should we go back?

It never hurts to search...upon breakthrough.

BB and Freddy King could play and sing (just BB can't do them at the same time). There's Mr. Moanin' At Midnight, Howling Wolf standing tall at 6"6.

Yikes! Ken you imagine a 60 foot sculpture depicting the oversized dome of Howlin' sitting on top of the Dakota skyline looking down?

Some say the Wolf sang with his whole soul and owned two of the biggest feets you ever did see comin' 'cross the globe; built for comfort...he wasn't built for speed. Allowing for the natural course of erosion...that could turn out to be some 1,278.45 acres of mojo rising...5,725 feet above sea level!

...and to tell you the truth, Ruth, I been down so long...it would look like up to me.

Is it any wonder Black Elk sought solace on his spiritual journey in the Black Hills region of South Dakota? The only thing more to the point of our purposes here in Blues Alley would be to "see" T-Bone Walker leading "Blind" Lemon Jefferson 'round Deep Ellum in 1923!

"Get on baw, drunken hearted mans fine!"

...'long as you unnerstan a sabbatical to a holy land featuring smooth fine granite, terrestrial mammals and songbirds singing into the infinite sunshine streching another endless day. COMPLETE SILENCE. Envision the Gran Pooh-bahs, but watch out for kie-oats and that moonlight rising through the pines at it shines atop the basin brooks for what seems like Eternity. Rest assured, George W. will not be invited to the dedication ceremonies any time soon.

Aint that nice?

The notes of Blues music, rooted firmly in the face of any honest soul, is an American art form which, some agree, gave birth to rock and roll and influenced such major artists as Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones.

I've been born under a bad sign long as my right arm, so as a word of advice: never accept an open bottle of whiskey! Straight from the magic mouth of Sonny Boy Williamson. Bring it on home.

People out there trying to get some sleep. I'm out making my...midnight creep. Every old place I go...far as I ken see...possession over judgment day may be construed as lunacy; my Momma done did the best she could.

Without further ado...I bring to you: The Grand Poo-bahs!



1. ROBERT JOHNSON reportedly sold his soul to the devil and the 1986 film, Crossroads, has done nothing but enhance this myth. He is considered the grandfather of rock and roll.

His style of raw delta blues with an ingenious blend of country blues featuring boogie woogie piano bass-lines, tasty finger-picking and energetic slide guitar bits certainly put's him above most without question.

His vocal rangings soaring in falsetto and creative guitar stylings have influenced a broad range of musicians including the great, Muddy Waters and a gangly albino, who happens to be a road weary sidekick, named Johnny Winter, not to mention countless others!

The live fast die young motif has certainly not hurt his ever growing legend either. Eric Clapton has called Robert Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived!" and ranks #5 in Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time.

On September 17th, 1994 the U.S. Post Office issued a Robert Johnson 29-cent commemorative postage stamp.

Blues falling down like hail!

1990-The Complete Recordings: Get 'em!

Key Tracks-Sweet Home Chicago, Cross Road Blues, Hellbound On My Trail. Love In Vain.

See also: Peter Green Splinter Group, Eric Clapton, John Hammond, the train when it leaves the station...


Without 2. WILLIE DIXON there would be a lot less popular music worth remembering. Not only an accomplished bassist, arranger, and talent scout, Dixon, with an uncanny ability to craft a popular song, played a huge role in creating the Chicago Blues scene along with Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf.

Dixon was also a Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion (and Joe Louis' former sparring partner) standing in at a formidable 6"5 250lbs. You shook me.

Dixon was also imprisoned for ten months as a conscientious objector for resisting the draft during WWII never mind one tireless ambassador for blues music and musicians in general.

He appears on many of Chuck Berry's early recordings, proving further linkage between the blues and the birth of rock and roll. Willie Dixon! Testify!

Some of thems...cries about it. Some of thems...dies about it.

That spoon, that spoon, that spooooonful.

Willie Dixon tunes: Marc Cohn, Howling Wolf, Areosmith, the Righteous Brothers, Willie Nelson, Tom Jones, Etta James, Albert King, Tom Petty, Jools Holland, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, The Ford Blues Band, John Hammond, George Thorogood, Jeff Beck, Sam Cooke, ZZ Top, Johnny Winter, Paul Butterfield, Elvis, Dizzy Gillespie, Los Lobos, the Kinks, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, New York Dolls, Megadeth, Shadows of Knight, Widespread Panic, Van Morrison, the Animals, Eric Clapton, the Yardbirds, Bill Haley, Sting, Jonny Rivers, Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After, the Who, John Mayall, Little Milton, Meatpuppets, Otis Rush, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Burdon, Led Zeppelin, the Faces, Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, SRV, Bo Diddley, the J Geils Band, Ry Cooder, Captain Beefheart, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Canned Heat, Steve Miller, the Violent Femmes, the Monkees, Foghat, Gnarls Barkley and Derek and the Dominos to name but a few notables.

and with what's left of our right mind...weighing in, thankfully, at 33% EACH...

#3a BB King opened for the Stones in 1969 and was formerly known as Beale street Blues boy, which was later shortened to BB.

This is the cat with the fluid string bend. The thrill is gone! To Know You Is To Love You. I Like To Live the Love.

Sent down from heaven above who was once a DJ in Memphis favoring Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours" on the playlist. Was finally allowed to perform in Vegas, shimmering in vibrato, due to the pull of old blue eyes. Will he rest in peace?

Got love if you want it.

Standing in at 6'4" 250 lbs., #3b Albert King born and bred in the same place as BB King (Indianola, Mississippi) was one philosophy of...less is more with Memphis style soul and sweeping string bends, not to mention those unorthodox tunings and relaxed vocals.

King, who started in the music scene playing the drums, was left handed and fancied the Gibson Flying V he affectionately termed "Lucy". He was also influenced heavily by Hawaiian music and taught himself by borrowing a right handed guitar and playing it upside down. He sounds in his right mind though Born under a bad sign as a Cross cut saw.

#3c Freddie King was called the Texas Cannonball and one of the first musicians to employ a multi-racial backing ground. I have a dream and his guitar parts seem to resemble a second vocal line whether in open string Texas blues or rippin raw, screamin tones West side a Chicaga.

Have you ever loved a woman? Then you know juss what I'm talkin about. Hide away.

King possessed an aggressive finger attack could be seen as an understatement.

Mentioned in Grand Funk Railroad's tune, "We're An American Band" as they were touring heavily together at that point.

Sadly, the world lost Freddie King at the age of 42 to heart failure.

Up coming dates to watch: September 3rd,1993 was declared Freddie King day.


...AND thee grand pooh-bah...#4 MUDDY WATERS defined the small Blues combo sound in the 1950's and Delta Blues gone electric...period! Incidentaly he started out on Harmonica and his heroes include Son House and Robert Johnson. Big Bill Broozy helped Muddy break into the Chicago Music scene who in turn returned the favor to Chuck Berry.

BB King considers Muddy the godfather of the blues if not the father of American music. Along with Willie Dixon, Muddy inspired the British Blues explosion led by a man named Eric Clapton, who was followed closely by Peter Green and one John Mayhall Bluesbreaker. Then they told a few friends...

It is as simple as ken be...if you don't like the peaches....please don't shake my tree. Minutes seem like hours. Hours seem like days.

These words, sung in a thick, heavy voice with supreme tone, could cause an otherwise balanced man to silently wonder in moments alone.

Ringing out through a Marshall amp in a crowded club ever reverberating and searching for just the right sound, ever mind when he pulled out that slide.

Deep and simple. Profound.

A Professional Band Leader.

Bring the sound down and we ken work with it. Plus, Muddy played with better bands: Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, the king of blues piano, Otis Spann, and Pinetop Perkins not to mention, he was a Rooollin Stone.

FYI: In 1994 the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp of Muddy Waters.

Key Tracks-Hoochie Coochie Man. Mannish Boy. I'm ready. Country Blues. Screamin and Cryin'. Got my Mojo Working. Howlin' Wolf. Long Distance Call. I Just Want To Make Love To You.

Suggested Reading-Live At Mr. Kelly's. Eletric Mudd. Live at Newport. Poland 1976. 1973 with BB King in Ebbetts Field.


Thats it. There aint no more. Whether you in a crowded room or all alone. Take it to the limit and bring it on home!