Obscure Blues: '13 Highway'

Since my recent purchase of my own bluesmobile, a Lincoln Town Car, I decided to discuss a particular and relatively unknown blues song from 1938 called '13 Highway', where it discusses driving a V8 Ford (which is basically what I have) along a lonesome highway. US Route 13 is a real highway in America, that spans five states (North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, & Pennsylvania). 

It was originally recorded in 1938 by Walter Davis, which I unfortunately could not find on Youtube (it is available on iTunes though; click on the song for a preview).

It's not a blues standard by any means, since only a handful of bluesmen covered it, the most high profile being Muddy Waters (he recorded it in 1963 but wasn't released until a compilation of unreleased tracks in 1994) and played it live at The Fillmore. 

The song's lyrics go like this:

I went down 13 Highway, drivin' a brand new V8 Ford
I went down 13 Highway, drivin' a brand new V8 Ford
Oh you know I was drivin' so fast, baby I couldn't hardly see the road

Oh I was drivin' 60 miles an hour, all up and down the hill
Oh you know I was drivin' 60 miles an hour, all up and down the hill
Oh you know I was speedin' so fast, I couldn't hardly control my wheel

Don't the highway look lonesome, after the sun done gone down
Oh don't the highway look lonesome, after the sun done gone down
Oh you know you're all alone by yourself, there ain't nobody else around

Here are the only versions available online; an Eddie Boyd version exists too but again, it's not available on Youtube:

MUDDY WATERS - LIVE 1966

LEROY SIMPSON - Late 1940's

JOHN LEE HOOKER - 1991

Muddy Waters' Debut Album to be Reissued on Vinyl

[SOURCE]

Back in 2012, I discussed Muddy Waters' first actual album, which was a compilation of all his successful singles. The album was released in 1958 under the legendary label, Chess Records. This album contains his major hits from 1948 to 1954.

Now, 30 years after it's last reissue, the album is set to be re-released on vinyl and digital platforms. If you want to add a great album to your blues collection, this is it! It will be released on November 10, 2017.

Track listing:

Side A
1. I Just Want To Make Love To You
2. Long Distance Call
3. Louisiana Blues
4. Honey Bee
5. Rollin’ Stone
6. I’m Ready

Side B
1. Hoochie Coochie
2. She Moves Me
3. I Want You To Love Me
4. Standing Around Crying
5. Still A Fool
6. I Can’t Be Satisfied

Obscure Blues: Homer Harris

no image found for Homer Harris

In my usual quest for digging up some old school blues I recently discovered a bluesman who at first I thought was actually Muddy Waters, but turned out to be really Homer Harris.

There's not much information on Homer Harris, except he was born in Drew, Mississippi in 1916, and eventually moved to Chicago.

In 1946 he recorded three tracks for Columbia, and featured Muddy Waters on guitar. My initial confusion was from "I'm Gonna Cut Your Head" as the vocals are too similar to Muddy.

It came back to me that in September 27, 1946 Muddy Waters recorded several tracks for Columbia before moving to Aristocrat (later renamed Chess) and releasing his major hit "I Can't Be Satisfied" in 1947.

Muddy was the guitarist for the 3 tracks Homer Harris would record. Separately Muddy released 'Mean Red Spider' for Columbia under the pseudonym James "Sweet Lucy" Carter. 

Homer Harris would not record anything else afterwards, working odd jobs and opening small businesses in Chicago until his death in 2000. 

These songs embody the early Chicago blues sound at I enjoy the most, and I hope you enjoy them too.

Rocksmith Adds Four Tracks by Muddy Waters

Rocksmith is a music video game played with a guitar peripheral, and this week it will add four tracks by Muddy Waters, to be purchased as additional content.

The four songs will be:

• Honey Bee 
• I Can’t Be Satisfied 
• Mannish Boy 
• Still A Fool

This isn't the first time they added blues to the game; in 2014 they released a blues pack as well. Nice to see games try and spread the music of the blues, given it's influence on rock!

If you want to watch a video of someone playing it, check it here:

Watch live video from ElisaRockDoc on www.twitch.tv

Muddy Waters Mural to be Unveiled in Chicago

As part of the Chicago Blues Festival, the city of Chicago and blues fans are set for a site of wonder, as Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra will unveil his mural of blues legend Muddy Waters, on Thursday June 8th.

The Chicago Blues Fest runs from June 9-11 and is free for everyone. (no one planning to be kind enough to fund my trip?)

Ali Sleeq ft. Steve Harper - LIVE at The Juke

A couple of weeks ago I passed by Jukebox Productions, who have set up a new and well equipped studio. They also have video production alongside the music side of things.

Zeus and his team took three videos of me playing some old blues tunes, featuring my trusty harmonica player Steve Harper.

These songs are as raw as possible, all taken in one take. So if you see any mistakes, it was intentional; such is the nature of the blues.

Hope you enjoy these videos as much as I did performing them! Thanks again to Jukebox Productions, which can be found @jukebox965 on Instagram and Youtube!

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1) You Gonna Need My Help - Muddy Waters cover (1950)

2) Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnson cover (1936)

3) Key to the Highway - Big Bill Broonzy cover (1944) PENDING UPLOAD

Rare Version of Muddy Waters' 'Mean Red Spider'

One of Muddy's well known songs from his first pressings at Chess Records (called Aristocrat at the time) was 'Mean Red Spider' in 1948. But the one we know was him playing distorted guitar with Big Ernest Crawford on upright bass.

However there is a very rare version for 1946 on the Ballen label of the same name, and listed Muddy under the alias James "Sweet Lucy" Carter and his Orchestra.

It features a more jazzy blues full with horns, something we aren't used from Muddy.

Apparently only a limited number of this record were released, making this a highly sought after tune.

New Release: 'Muddy Waters 100' - A Centennial Tribute Album

Just released, 'Muddy Waters 100' is an officially authorized tribute album featuring many artists, including former bandmate Joe Primer,Billy Branch, Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia Copeland, James Cotton, Bob Margolin, Keb’ Mo’, Derek Trucks, Johnny Winter, with Vincent Bucher, Leanne Faine, Tim Gant, Khari Parker, James Teague, Steve Gibons, Keith Henderson and the Living History Band: Matthew Skoller, Billy Flynn, Johnny Iguana, Felton Crews, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith.

This album is a tribute to 100 years of the great bluesman Muddy  Waters, whose musical legacy lives on today. 

To buy this album digitally or physically (including a deluxe 48 page booklet) go [here].

'I'm Gonna Murder My Baby' - Pat Hare

Pat (right) playing with Muddy Waters. Andrew Stepens (back) on bass. Late 50's - Early 60's.

A song like this won't pass with the media these days; however it's the blues and the blues get away with everythin'. 

Pat Hare was a blues guitarist who played in Memphis with Sun Records as well as serving as the guitarist for Muddy Waters and later James Cotton in the 50's and early 60's.

True to the blues lifestyle, in 1963 he shot his girlfriend and killed her, and also shot a policeman who came to investigate. Hare spent the last 16 years of his life in prison, dying a year later in 1980.

He was known for playing with a lot of distorted sounds (uncommon in the 50's at that point). 

Here's his 1954 song called 'I'm Gonna Murder My Baby" (cryptic isn't it!)

Rare Find: Muddy Waters' Dr. Pepper Radio Ad

It's not unusual for jazz or blues musicians to be part of product advertisement; Miles Davis did an ad for Honda scooters many years ago, and John Lee Hooker was in an ad for Lee Jeans, but this is a new rare find... Muddy Waters doing an ad for soft drink maker Dr. Pepper!

It's strange to hear a 12 bar blues talking about drinking Dr. Pepper... but the discovery is still great!

Closer Look: 'I Can't Be Satisfied' - Muddy Waters

In two separate sessions back in 1941 and 1942, an aspiring young Muddy Waters recorded a few songs with famed folk historian Alan Lomax in a plantation in Stovall, Mississippi. These recordings were eventually released in 1993. 

He didn't hear back from him, as he hoped, and a year later traveled up north to Chicago in pursuit of his dream of being a successful musician. 

It  wasn't until 1948 however, when Muddy released 'I Can't Be Satisfied' on the Aristocrat label (later changed to Chess Records) and finally with it, came his eternal fame.

You see, while it's a simple 12-bar blues, with only an upright bass accompaniment by Ernest "Big" Crawford who banged the fingerboard to create a shuffling rhythm, Muddy played stripped down, raw Mississippi Delta blues. The twist was it was on an electric guitar.

It squealed and had an overdriven sound that was still in it's infancy back in that time, and soon enough the label couldn't release enough records to meet the demand.

The song was played in the typical Delta blues style, using open G tuning (D-B-G-D-G-D high to low), which facilitates easier slide playing and open chording. What he did was basically electrify the sound of the Delta blues, which was heard by those who left their homes in the South and it clicked immediately.

The words also reflect the travelling blues lifestyle such as:

"Well I'm goin' away to leave 

Won't be back no more 
Goin' back down south, child Don't you want to go? 

As well as the violent nature of the blues:

"Well I feel like snappin'
a Pistol in your face
I'mma let some graveyard
Lord be her resting place"

with the repeating chorus being:

"Woman I'm troubled, I be all worried in mind 

Well baby I just can't be satisfied

 And I just can't keep from cryin'"

On his Grammy winning 1977 comeback album Hard Again, released with help of the late Johnny Winter, a newly recorded version was included, 29 years later:

Since then, Muddy Waters was known as the 'King of the Electric Chicago Blues', for sparking the new sound that led to the new decade of dominance in the 1950's.

Blues & Jazz Unite: Muddy Waters and Dizzy Gillespie

Blues and Jazz are blood brothers; you can't talk about one without discussing the other. The saying goes "The Blues is the Preacher and Jazz is the Teacher".

So it's pretty obvious that one day they should share the stage... indeed, Miles Davis and John Lee Hooker recorded the soundtrack for the Hotspot film. 

Another giant meeting was with Muddy Waters and Dizzy Gillespie, where the latter shared the stage with Muddy and his blues band for a few numbers, and was later released as an album. To hear the signature trumpet sound of Dizzy over a Chicago style 12-bar blues is dazzling!

Unfortunately there are no Youtube links to share... and for copyright reasons I can't post MP3 links. 

Suffice it to say that these cross genre collaborations are always fun to hear and watch. 

Hugh Laurie (AKA House) Covers Muddy Waters' 'Louisiana Blues'

Hugh Laurie (best known as House from the TV show of the same name) is a lover of the blues; previously I reviewed his debut album 'Let Them Talk'. His newest album 'Didn't It Rain' was released last year. Both albums heavily feature blues music among other genres.

One of the album surprises on that album is a cover of the Muddy Waters 1950 classic 'Louisiana Blues', with his own twist.

Here's the video, and the original below it for reference:

Review: 'One More Mile' - Muddy Waters

Bluesmen of old are usually very prolific; their music mantra was to get in a studio and record  much as they can in one day. Indeed, many old bluesmen recorded entire albums in one, two or three days. John Lee Hooker once said "It don't take me no three days to record no album." Bluesmen such as Lightnin' Hopkins have over 500 or 600 songs on record. 

Moving on to Muddy Waters, the father of the electric Chicago blues. In his recording tenure with Chess Records since 1946, he recorded extensively. His early 50's records hit the top of the charts, but he has a huge backlog of unreleased material.

In 1994, part of the Chess Collection albums, the album 'One More Mile' was released, featuring 41 tracks on 2 CD's. Disc 1 contains tracks from 1948 to 1963, and disc 2 from 1964 to 1972. 

Of these 41 tracks, only 3 were released previously (available on the expanded edition of 'Live in Newport 1960'). The rest have never been released at all, so as a fan of Muddy this naturally is very exciting.

A huge catalog of alternate takes from the early records like 'Rollin & Tumblin Part 2', 'Rollin Stone', and 'You Will Need My Help', which feature no drummers or other backup performers (just Muddy and an upright bass played by Ernest 'Big' Crawford), sound so raw and gritty.

The other tracks are more modern sounding with a full backup band, with tracks like 'Roll Me Over Baby', 'One More Mile' and 'Trouble Trouble'. The last 11 songs are an electric drummer-less performance from 1972 in Switzerland.

If you are tired of the same old 'best-of' compilation, go out and buy this album! This is some of Muddy's best work and  covers different stages of his career, and is of top quality throughout. Essential for a blues fan!


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The Legacy of Muddy Waters

The 4th of April marked the 101st birthday of McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters.

Muddy Waters is my hands down favorite bluesman of all time. His music is where I draw my musical inspiration from, like the hundreds of others.

Like many bluesmen before him, Muddy traveled to Chicago from his native Mississippi. But it was his new 'electric' sound that brought him to the public and national light. Before this, music was all acoustic, and in live situations the guitar (and by extension the bass) was near inaudible over the drums and a horn section. Once he tried plugging in his guitar through an amplifier, the sound of the blues was changed forever. But it was also his Mississippi Delta upbringing that also gave his blues a raw feel. His use of amplification is cited as, the  missing link between Delta Blues and Rock 'N' Roll.

I Can't Be Satisfied, released in 1948, arguably 'the song' that changed music.  

Soon enough, it was hit after hit during the 50's, and his music defined the Chicago blues, such as Hoochie Cootchie Man, Rolling Stone, Mannish Boy, You Shook Me, and many more. His music and the evolution of rock n' roll dominated the scenes in the 1960's and 1970's. You owe him for many of the British bands of the day, like The Rolling Stones, Clapton, and Led Zeppelin. He has 3 albums in the Top 500 Albums of all Time. 

He has won Grammys, has a Lifetime Achievement Award and is a Rock n' Roll Hall of Famer. I could go on forever.

Here's the first track off of Muddy's comeback Grammy winning album 'Hard Again', featuring a new and dazzling version of Mannish Boy. Happy birthday Muddy!

The Fender Custom Shop Muddy Waters Tribute Telecaster

Muddy Waters is mostly associated with his candy apple red Fender Telecaster (which he called "The Hoss"). It wasn't always red though; it started out as a 50's color white blonde, maple neck Telecaster. Later he got new neck from Fender, this time in rosewood, and got the color changed to a 60's candy apple red, and changed the standard knobs to amp knobs.

Ever since the late 50's until his death in 1983, Muddy only used this guitar (with one major exception being when he played a Guild briefly for advertising purposes).

The Fender Custom Shop released a tribute to that guitar, in 2000:

MUDDY WATERS TRIBUTE TELE 2000 As a salute to the brilliant artistry of the godfather of the blues, Muddy Waters, and the lasting impact his music has had on guitar players around the world, the Fender Custom Shop is proud to unveil the Muddy Waters Tribute Telecaster 2000. If you've thrilled to the classic sounds of Chicago blues, the Fender Muddy Waters Tribute Tele is for you. The Muddy Waters Tribute Tele is an exact replica of the late '50s Telecaster that was Muddy's signature guitar for more than 30 years. Now hanging in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, Muddy's Tele is as distinctive as the man himself, but also as simple and direct. The emphasis here is squarely on tone and vibe. The authentic specs give you the tone; the exact replication of 40 years of wear and tear give you the vibe. To recreate this classic artist's classic axe, Custom Shop R&D man George Blanda flew out to Cleveland and, with the permission of the Hall of Fame, took rulers, calipers and gauges to Muddy's Tele. Every ding, scratch and eccentricity, even the amp knobs, has been faithfully recreated by the people who craft our popular Relic guitars. But don't just hang it on the wall. With its girthy neck and its classic pickups and electronics, this Tele's tone and feel give you all the legendary mojo the name Muddy Waters implies. MOJO MAN ACCESSORY KIT As a premium bonus, each Muddy Waters Tribute Tele comes with an accessory kit that will remind you what the Mojo man was all about. The Mojo Accessory Kit includes slide, capo, fingerpicks, thumb-pick, Muddy Waters: The Lost Tapes CD and a signed and framed poster of Muddy by famed Chicago blues photographer Raeburn Flerlage.

After that, Fender released a standard version (Made in Mexico) for about over 10 years, and it was sadly discontinued sometime in 2008/2009.

Here's a video of Muddy playing his unique slide guitar on his Telecaster, (solo starts at 2:25)

Exclusive Art: 'Fishing in Muddy Waters' by Tarek Chemaly

Click for Hi-Res

This blues graphic art, complete with a vintage Lebanese twist,  was designed for Speakin' The Blues by renowned artist Tarek Chemaly. A talented creative artist, writer, and university lecturer, Tarek also runs the blog Beirut/NTSC (Never Twice Same City).

Old Lebanese ads from the 60's and 70's had a certain feel and design to them. Tarek and I were talking about infusing this retro/vintage style with a blues theme. I recommended Muddy Waters, the king of Chicago Blues. From his side, this is what Tarek had to say about his concept:

"Fishing in muddy waters or "الاصطياد في مياه عكرة" is an Arabic expression which means that whatever you cannot fish in regular water due to the low speed of the muddy water, you can end up fishing while it is in it's worst conditions. So the expression eventually means "abusing someone's situation" or "taking advantage of someone's bad situation".

Thanks to Tarek for creating this great piece of art, and look out for more upcoming collaborations with other Lebanese artists soon!

My Cover of Muddy Waters 'I Feel Like Going Home'

Played in open G early this morning. Don't mind the slips ;)

Spanish Rap Meets Muddy Waters

Rapsusklei, a Spanish rapper, used a sample of Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man" , to a not-so-bad effect.

Obviously I have no idea what he's saying, and I don't like the kids talking at the intro, but otherwise not a bad attempt. 

If I get some positive responses I could start a regular segment of blues / jazz samples with modern music styles.

Old Russian Vinyls of Muddy Waters & Howlin' Wolf