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Blues at the Crossroads 2: Muddy & The Wolf, Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN, 2/4/13

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“Got their mojos workin’!”; Seated: James Cotton (L), Jody Williams (R); Standing: Tinsley Ellis (2nd L), Bob Margolin (3rd L); Kim Wilson (Center) with the rest of The Fabulous Thunderbirds arrayed behind him

BLUES AT THE CROSSROADS 2: MUDDY & THE WOLF, GUTHRIE THEATER, MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 2/4/13

Blues at the Crossroads 2 followed the same successful formula as the original tour from 2011: choose a theme based on the music of an iconic blues legend (2011: The Robert Johnson Centennial; 2013: The Music of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf); showcase two senior citizens of the blues (2011: David “Honeyboy” Edwards and Hubert Sumlin; 2013: James Cotton and Jody Williams); add some special guests (2011: Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm; 2013: Tinsley Ellis and Bob Margolin); and pick a band to back everyone up (2011: Big Head Todd & The Monsters; 2013: The Fabulous Thunderbirds). The result is like trying to make supper out of party hors d’oeuvres: lots of tasty bites, for sure, but ultimately one is left hungry for more.

Concerts held at the Guthrie during its busy performance season invariably take place on a Monday evening (the traditional theater off night), and the musicians set up right smack dab on the set of whatever play happens to be staged at the time. On this night, the play was Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” with the stage set up as a cutaway view of the interior and exterior of an English country home. Before the show started, it was amusing, yet somehow appropriate, to observe some of the musicians chatting casually as they sat on the rocking chairs or leaned on the railings of the faux front porch located stage left. If you let your mind wander, you could almost imagine the scene as an old Delta farmhouse with local pickers and players wandering in and out, milling about, getting ready for their regular weekly jam session.

Kim Wilson and the Fab T’birds kicked things off with a short set of Muddy and Wolf tunes, including “Baby, How Long” and “I’m Ready,” with Kim Wilson getting some big orchestral sounds out of his chromatic harp on the latter. The first guest up was Tinsley Ellis, the Georgia-born blues rocker, who made a grand entrance at the top of the center staircase of the “Long Day’s” set. His too-brief set featured dueling guitar solos with T’bird Johnny Moeller on “I’m Gonna Quit You” and a duo with Kim Wilson on Willie Dixon’s “Red Rooster,” with Tinsley on the National steel guitar. Alas, we would not see or hear from Mr. Ellis again until the grand finale at the close of the show. More hors d’oeuvres, please!

“Steady Rollin'” Bob Margolin was up next. Margolin and the venerable James Cotton were bandmates of Muddy Waters from the mid-70’s until Muddy’s death in 1983, a period of time that saw Muddy’s career gain a boost from his association with Johnny Winter’s Blue Sky records. Margolin recalled those days as a member of Muddy’s band, sparking the T’birds with some furious bottle-neck work on his Telecaster. Then, like Tinsley Ellis before him, he was gone; off to the rocking chairs and porch railing at stage left. These cocktail weenies and meatballs just ain’t gonna cut it!

Kim Wilson takes a stroll

Kim Wilson takes a stroll

Wilson and the T’birds closed out the first half of the program with another short set, bringing unannounced newcomer Jeremy Johnson onstage to join them on guitar. Wilson took the spotlight on Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Early In The Morning,” with his unmiked stroll halfway up the center aisle of the Guthrie, tweeting the high notes on his blues harp all the way. As if that piece of showmanship wasn’t enough, Wilson engaged in an insufferably long, self-indulgent harp workout on the final song of the first half, sending the band offstage for what seemed like an eternity before bringing them back to wrap things up. A famous man – it was either Karl Marx or Mr. Rogers – once said, “Sharing is caring.” While we’re all in awe of your prowess on the mouth harp, Mr. Wilson, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Following the break, Wilson & the T’birds were back to open the second half of the show, starting with Howlin’ Wolf’s “You’ll Be Mine,” and including Eddie Boyd’s chestnut, “Five Long Years,” with Wilson once again taking center stage on the chromatic harp. T’bird guitarist Mike Keller got in a nice solo on the Wolf’s “Riding With Daddy,” to finish off the set, before bringing out the special guests.

First up was 78-year old Jody Williams, an obscure but important figure in blues history, who, as a teenage guitarist, was part of the 1954 recording sessions that produced such Howlin’ Wolf classics as “Evil (Is Goin’ On)” and “Forty-Four.” Mr. Williams took the stage carefully, as befits a man his age, and seated himself stage right, where he played an unnamed double-shuffle instrumental, before switching to familiar songs associated with The Wolf: “How Many More Years” and the Willie Dixon-authored “Spoonful.” As befits a musician more accustomed to the studio than the stage, Mr. Williams seemed uncomfortable in performance, and his guitar playing was tentative, causing the T’birds to adjust the tempo of the song on the fly to stay in sync. Still, he received a rousing ovation when he finished his short set.

By contrast, blues harp pioneer James Cotton was full of personality when it came his turn to take the stage. Mr. Cotton was the third of Muddy Waters’ harp players, after Little Walter and Big Walter Horton, and he has recorded and led his own band ever since Muddy’s death. Touring regularly, despite his advanced age and arthritic knees, Mr. Cotton is outgoing and engaging onstage, with a harp style that’s long on power, at the expense of finesse. He was smiling and playful and clearly seemed to be enjoying himself. In deference to Mr. Cotton’s status, Kim Wilson actually left the stage briefly, allowing the old master to have the harp spotlight all to himself. Wilson rejoined the festivities for a nifty trio workout, with Messrs. Cotton and Margolin, on Son House’s “I Got A Letter This Morning.” The evening ended with everybody back onstage for an extended version of Muddy’s signature tune, “Got My Mojo Workin’,” with Cotton and Wilson – mentor and mentoree – engaging in a playful harp dialogue.

With the show clocking in at roughly two hours, excluding the break between sets, it was certainly a solid evening’s worth of entertainment. Still, it left one questioning the balance of time between the artists. Was it really necessary for Wilson and the T’birds to have opened the second half of the evening by themselves? Why couldn’t Messrs. Ellis and/or Margolin have joined them right away? It seems a shame to have had these two formidable bluesmen out on stage for only their brief 15-20 minute sets, plus the final group number. And, while it is understandable to not want to overtax the senior citizens, the world would benefit from more exposure to Messrs. Cotton and Williams, who are some of the last links to the founding fathers of the blues. Perhaps when it’s time to put together Blues at the Crossroads 3, the producers will consider dividing up the stage time more equally among the performers. Until then, we can at least thank them for putting together these tours, which celebrate the historical antecedents of this most fundamentally American music form.

As The Year Goes Passing By: A Look Back at 2012

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The Ghost Writer heads North!

Our guys Harry G and Nanky P hook up by satellite to trade tales of 2012– Ed.

Harry: For me, the year was bookended by memorable shows from two of my favorite mid/late-70’s artists. In early January, Garland Jeffreys made a rare appearance up here in the Great White North. Backed by just a single guitarist and playing to an adoring, sold-out house in a small theater in NE Minneapolis, Garland was animated, engaged and gracious to a fault, staying after the show for hours signing anything people shoved in front of him and posing for photographs. The Parker and Rumour review has already been posted, so ’nuff said about that. Both men proved that rockers of a certain age can still be vital, passionate and relevant, without turning into anachronistic Indian-casino-touring oldies shows.

Nanker: For me, it’s the unexpected, off-the-cuff moments that are the live concertgoers’ reward for tolerating outrageous fees by brokers, no parking near venues, and pre-drink requests for I.D. from twenty-year-olds who can’t grow a beard. ” I.D.? I saw Blind Faith back when your Mom was a preschooler! Give me a damn beer! ”

Malcom, Luther, and John rock the soundcheck

Malcom, Luther, and John rock the soundcheck

How about these: Watching the North Mississippi Allstars’ soundcheck, as Luther Dickinson helped integrate new bassist Lightnin’ Malcom and tour keyboardist Missing Cat John Hermann by jamming on the Stones’ Latin-flavored rave-up finale to ” Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’? ” Listening to Mavis Staples telling the story of her father, Roebuck ” Pops ” Staples, writing ” Keep On Marchin’ ” in 1963 for the blood-stained Freedom Marches in Alabama. Hearing Joe Walsh, his little-kid voice choking with emotion, saying of his friend Levon Helm, ” I’m not okay with his passing, but it helps me to sing this “, as he lead his band into ” I Shall Be Released “. Meeting Marcia Ball at the merch tent at Blues Under the Bridge and asking how she liked the Soiled Dove Underground ( she did!). Seeing Bonnie Raitt raise her fists in triumph like Rocky Balboa to proclaim, ” I just had a visit from Dr. Feelgood “, and knowing that every guy at Red Rocks wished it was him.

Blues Under the Bridge 2012

Blues Under the Bridge 2012

Where else but at the Rock Show?

Harry: Ah, Levon! His passing figured prominently in a number of venues this year. In Nashville, at the Americana Music Festival Honors & Awards show in September, not only did a cast of Americana heavyweights gather onstage for a stirring rendition of “The Weight,” dedicated to Levon, but later that evening the song was reprised by a different group of musicians at The Mercy Lounge. Nick Lowe gave a “Good on ya, mate” shout out to the late drummer for The Band at his First Avenue show, shortly after Levon’s death. I feel a certain affinity for Levon, as we share the same birthday (albeit 13 years apart). Like the old Pete Seeger song says, there was a time to mourn and a time to celebrate this year. NRBQ regrouped and put out a strong new album this year, following band leader Terry Adam’s recovery from cancer. A number of local Twin CIties bands put on a Kill Kancer Benefit show, in memory of the late Soul Asylum bass player, Karl Mueller. Another cancer survivor, Danny Amis, played most of a set with his fellow Los Straitjackets band members in September. So, for every loss, there is a survivor, and promising newcomers are always waiting, ready to pick up the torch.

NRBQ at Famous Dave’s in Minny!

Nanker: We should also remember Donald ” Duck ” Dunn, the Memphis kid who teamed with guitarist Steve Cropper and organist Booker T. Jones to make some of the greatest music ever in the late 60s/early 70s at the tiny Stax Records studio in his hometown, backing up Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Wilson Pickett, in addition to his own MGs with Steve, Booker, and the drummer Al Jackson, Jr.

Stax Recording Studios, Memphis, TN

Stax Recording Studios, Memphis, TN

Gebippe at Stax front door, in Otis' footsteps

Gebippe at Stax front door, in Otis’ footsteps!

And here’s hoping for a blowout New Year’s Eve at the 9:30 Club in D.C. with the North Mississippi Allstars Duo and the Drive-By Truckers. ” She ain’t revved ’til the rods are thrown! ” See ya there!

North Mississippi Allstars and Missing Cats

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Cody on washboard, Luther on drums, Malcom on bass, JoJo on keys. Not pictured: gang of female fans wearing ” More Washboard!” t-shirts.

Concert Review- NMA at Ogden Theater, Denver, CO 9/15/2012

WORLD BOOGIE FLATTENS MILE HIGH CITY!!!

( Phledge gets loose on Colfax – a street in Denver, not his latest scrip –  to commune with his heroes! – Editors)

      The opening hook of Keith Richards’ page-turning ” Life ” is the hilarious tale of Keith and Ronnie’s 400-mile drive from Memphis through west Arkansas on their way to a sold-out show in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The boys stop in a redneck bar, decide to get high for 40 minutes in the Men’s room, and proceed to occupy legions of the local gendarmes, the Highway Patrol, and authorities up to the Governor’s manse for the next 12 hours over the suspected contents ( not Tupelo Honey, Keith admits) of their rented ride parked outside the roadhouse.
And who sent them on this happy jaunt through country straight out of Charlie Daniels’ ” Uneasy Rider” ? As Keef says,  ” Jim Dickinson, the southern boy who played piano on “Wild Horses” , had told us that the Texarkana landscape was worth the car ride”.

Luther freestylin’ on… bass drum?.. as Malcom thumps along

Yes, that Muscle Shoals session that the Stones casually threw into their tour gave us        ” Wild Horses” and ” Brown Sugar”,  and later nearly caused a riot in Dallas had Keef and Ronnie missed the gig just for a  maintenance dose of that pharmaceutical Merck blow in the boys’ room. Jim Dickinson, a Memphis session pianist, had fortuitously been invited to the top-secret session at Jimmy Johnson’s studio, and struck up a kinship with Keef over the latter’s newfound affinity for southern country music, spurred by Keef’s time with Gram Parsons, who was not in Muscle Shoals, despite stories over the years. As Jim says,        ” Well, hell, if Gram Parsons had been there, I certainly would never have played the piano; it would have been him” .   And leave it to Jim to straighten out that perpetual controversy over the second verse of ” Brown Sugar, and the name ” Skydog Slaver”: ” Skydog is what they called Duane Allman in Muscle Shoals, because he was high all the time. And Jagger heard somebody say it, and he thought it was a cool word so he used it”.

Musicians in Southern towns like Memphis, Nawlins, and Muscle Shoals in the 60s and early 70s  were living out what Patterson Hood would later call the ” duality of the Southern Thing” ( “proud of the glory; stare down the shame…”), making great music with people of all races and cultures, while the struggles of the civil rights era were taking place within small-arms range. Small independent studios like Stax in Memphis and Fame in Muscle Shoals produced a stunning array of great songs by black and white artists, and might arguably have been the genesis, along with Nashville, of what is known as Americana today. Jim Dickinson emerged from this musical melting pot with a simple, direct sense of what ” good music” sounds like, and he became a well-known session player and producer. “I may not be the world’s best piano player, but I’ll put my taste up against anybody’s”. Jim located his family in Hernando, Mississippi, in the Hill Country populated by blues greats like Fred McDowell, R.L. Burnside, Kenny Brown, and Junior Kimbrough. To Jim’s amazement, his two sons grew up to not only embrace this music, but to play with and befriend the legends who were eager to see their historic sound not only honored, but updated by the young instrumental wizards. Jim nurtured the boys, produced their records, and mentored them as respectful students of a worthy genre of American music.

Jim was a tireless advocate for artists, and would often close cover letters  sent with the latest tapes or CDs to promoters and media outlets by saying, ” World Boogie is coming!”  Most figured this meant music as an irresistible unifying force. But as several have pointed out, surely Jim thought that World Boogie was already here. He passed in August, 2009, and the boys produced and recorded a great CD send-off to him, ” Keys to the Kingdom”.

I first saw the NMA about eight years ago in Minny with Gebippe at the famous Cabooze. Yes, that’s a train caboose, now a club. He’d turned me on to the “Electric Blue Watermelon” CD and I was anxious to see the boys live in a small venue. Luther turned out to be a revelation: a truly great slide player and compelling singer despite limited range. Cody was like a backwoods Charlie Watts on drums: always driving the sound, but never in the way. The younger Dickinson also played a nasty guitar himself, and blew out the crowd with his amplified washboard soloing. The bassist Chris Chew thumped along like a pulsating coffeepot, and stepped out for a soulful uptempo version of Al Green’s ” Love and Happiness”.  Gebippe and I later saw them opening for and backing John Hiatt at the Ogden in Denver, followed by shows over the years at the Freebird in Jax, the Boulder Theater, the Greeley Blues Festival, the Bluebird in Denver, and a memorable night at the Orange Peel in Asheville where we stood so close that Big Chew was hitting on my date, the Notorious Pamalama. I came to love and respect not only their artistry, but their integrity. They were playing exactly what they wanted to play, with no apparent concern for current trends or commercial appeal.

So when I heard they were coming to town, I called in several.. um, favors, and scored VIP for me and Il Padrone, my driver and consigliere. As we stood on Colfax outside the Ogden for our early entry, up walked Cody and JoJo, the keyboard player for the opener Missing Cats. The skinny Cody could not have been more gracious, stopping to chat with fans, and inviting us all in. We got to attend the soundcheck and see the boys working out endings to songs, and some cool improvising of the finale to the Stones’ ” Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’?”. I recognized Lightnin’ Malcom, whom I’d seen at Springing the Blues with Cedric Burnside doing Hill Country tunes, standing in for Chew on bass. Chew has had health issues of late, but is expected back soon ( See our Calendar page for update – Ed.). Then the Missing Cats did their soundcheck, as we realized that the NMA would be backing the Cats’ opening set. Hey, the mo’ Dickinsons, the mo’ betta!

Malcom, Luther and JoJo at soundcheck

After the soundcheck, the boys came offstage to meet the alleged VIPs and sign posters, and you would have thought they were the neighborhood garage band stopping by to make sure they weren’t playing too loud. Just a pair of nice Southern boys genuinely happy to see people show up to hear them play. Rendered dumbstruck in their presence, I was luckily able to mutter some thanks for coming to Colorado before they strolled backstage.

The Cats’ set was quite inspired, with JoJo Herman on keys and Sherman Ewing on guitar backed by Luther and Cody. The Cats harmonized nicely on a number of clever originals, and left space for Luther to solo on several tunes. I would love to have heard their CD,       ” Larry Brown Amen” before the show to catch the tunes quicker; it’s got some catchy stuff.

After a short intermission, the Dickinsons returned with Lightnin’ Malcom and kicked into a rolling set of classic Hill Country tunes like ” Drop Down Mama”, ” Skinny Woman”, and       ” Po’ Black Maddie”, and threw in originals like “This A Way”, ” Shake”, and the rearranged cover of Dylan’s ” Memphis Blues Again”. Cody wailed on the washboard, and traded licks on guitar with Luther. Malcom and Luther each took a spin on the drum kit, and JoJo came on to add depth near the end of the set. The crowd had swelled rapidly once the NMA walked on, and was now wildly rocking along to the rolling, irresistible beat, as Luther tailored the R.L. Burnside ” Georgia Women”  lyrics to the venue:

” I don’t know, but I been told: them Denver women… got a sweet jelly roll..”

Cody, Luther, Malcom, and JoJo

Much to the delight of the crowd, many of whom were hardcore fans who had followed the band on previous swings through the state, and had memorized the Boulder Fox Theater recording that the band self-released, ” Boulderado”. The fans roared the band back for an encore of more thumping bass, driving skins, and wailing slide until… the lights came on, and a magical night of music was a pounding memory in the brain. How had it passed so quickly?
The crowd shuffled out, heads shaking in amazement. World Boogie had arrived.

Phledge has been returned from VIP to Mere Poobah, and we’re all the better for it! – Ed.