The Universal Music Group, through its MCA/Chess/UME Blues Classics Remastered and Revisited series, has released eight landmark blues albums from the Chess Records catalogue, and I'm glad that these LPs have finally made it to CD. Like Fuel 2000's recent reissue of Mississippi Fred McDowell's I Do Not Play No Rock and Roll, it's about time that new generations of blues fans have the opportunity to discover some of the true giants of the blues. These treasures weren't just copied onto CD; they were remastered from the original Chess Records' studio tapes, acquired by MCA in 1985.
The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues series continues to showcase one of the deepest blues catalogues ever compiled. In 1997, MCA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Chess label by issuing many "Best of" sets from Little Walter, Muddy Waters, The Flamingos, Etta James, Howlin' Wolf, and John Lee Hooker, among many other Chess artists, and the newest reissues of the Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues compliment those golden anniversary discs nicely.
The Real Folk Blues releases, followed by the More Real Folk Blues sets, are the recordings that inspired a generation of young bluesmen and blueswomen in the 1960's and 1970's, from the Rolling Stones and Eric Burdon to Bonnie Raitt and Johnny Winter. Each of these younger blues players helped re-energize the careers of Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Sonny Boy Williamson II just before the onslaught of psychedelics, rock and roll, and protest-oriented folk music.
Chess Records released the Real Folk Blues series in 1966, and their follow-up albums one year later, to reach the audiences that flocked to Muddy Waters' Live at Newport LP released in 1960. The lone exception was John Lee Hooker's More Real Folk Blues, which was billed as "More Real Folk Blues: The Missing Album" when it finally surfaced in 1991. When the Real Folk Blues series premiered in the mid 1960's, the blues in general were eclipsed by the emergence of rock and roll as an international cultural force, as well as by the popularity of protest songs against the war in Viet Nam. For Leonard and Phil Chess, the Real Folk Blues series and their follow-up albums were an opportunity to reintroduce some of the best that the legendary Chess label had to offer. The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues series were more than a marketing ploy by two behind-the-scenes blues impressarios: they were truly an attempt to capture artists singing the blues alone and acoustic, although many of the tracks bring back electric tracks with full bands from Chess Records' considerable archives of studio sessions reaching back to the 1940's. With hindsight being 20-20, Leonard and Phil may have been a little late in trying to introduce acoustic blues to the marketplace in 1966-1967, as even Bob Dylan had already picked up the electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival and released Highway 61 Revisited. Back at the Chess studios at 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, though, session men like Buddy Guy and Jody Williams got their start bending notes in the studio for Chess, while Fred Below or Odie Payne usually sat in on drums for many of the label's best-known hits.
[Phil Chess, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Sonny Boy Williamson]
Each of these four reissues stand alone as audio source documents of some of America's best post-war blues with a Chicago flavor. After I listened to them back to back, I realized that the depth and breadth of the Chess Records blues catalogue in the 1950's and early 1960's was truly mind-boggling. Producers Leonard and Phil Chess, along with the label's primary go-to Chicago bluesman, Willie Dixon, captured artists that could work all over the blues waterfront. Dixon was the house bass player, songwriter and fellow producer for the Chess brothers, and his standup bass provides the foundation for many of the songs on these eight LPs. From Muddy Waters crooning "Just to Be With You," to the roughhewn "I'm in the Mood" from John Lee Hooker, recorded in 1951, to the growl and swagger of "Built for Comfort" from Howlin' Wolf, these Chess reissues are a solid foundation to any blues fan's education. Each disc includes the original liner notes plus updated essays to put these twin discs in larger perspective. A Blues 101 in post-war Chicago blues, if you will.
John Lee Hooker's Chess sessions were recorded in 1966, but More Real Folk blues wasn't released until 1991. While Hooker was best known for his work as a bluesman in Detroit, Chessmen Fred Below played drums, Lafayette Leake played keyboards, and Detroit's Eddie Burns joined John Lee on guitar. Hooker's career was built on exploiting the most out of one or two chords with powerful vocals, and fans of his unique style will enjoy Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues. When John Lee sings "Let's Go Out Tonight," there's no doubt about what he's looking for, and on the innuendo-laden "Mustang Sally & GTO," John Lee Hooker is in his element and in full growl. George Thorogood cut his blues teeth in the 1970's with a supercharged version linking "House Rent Blues" with "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer," and the Delaware Destroyers' inspiration is one of the many highlights of John Lee Hooker's Chess sessions.
Howlin' Wolf, born Chester Burnett, got his start in radio in the late 1940's at West Memphis' KWEM as a performer and announcer and his program caught the ear of former disc jockey and engineer Sam Phillips. Phillips was making a name for himself with a new business called the Memphis Recording Service, just a few years before he founded Sun Records. Sam had already worked with Leonard and Phil Chess to recruit regional talent for the Chess label, including the R & B chart topper from Ike Turner's saxman Jackie Brenston, "Rocket 88." This ode to the Oldsmobile 88 helped cement Sam's relationship with the Chess brothers despite some strong competition over Howlin' Wolf from the Los Angeles-based RPM Records run by Joe, Jules, and Saul Bihari. Howlin' Wolf relocated to Chicago to record for Chess, and many of his best sides are on Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues, such as "Killing Floor," "I've Got A Woman," and "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy." Sam Phillips went on to record Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.
I've read that there was no love lost between the two giant Chessmen Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. They were two very different bluesmen from the Mississippi Delta, and each artist produced a body of work that has stood the test of time and inspired new generations of blues players all over the world. While Muddy, born McKinley Morganfield, crooned a slow ballad or played a sweet and stinging slide, the Wolf attacked his harmonica or growled ferociously. Muddy Waters' Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues includes some of Muddy Waters' best work in the studio from the 1940's to the 1960's, including "Walking Blues," "Mannish Boy," and "Too Young To Know." Johnny Winter re-energized Muddy Waters' career in the mid-1970's and turned up the volume on many of these songs. While I enjoy Winter's production just fine, these are the original versions that caught Winter's attention and they have a hallowed place in my blues collection.
Both bluesmen named Sonny Boy Williamson have played a role in bringing blues harmonica center stage. The original Sonny Boy, John Lee Williamson, recorded many 78s in the 1930's and 1940's until his tragic death by mugging in 1948. Aleck "Rice" Miller was an enterprising harmonica player who played alongside Robert Lockwood, Jr. on the original King Biscuit Time radio broadcasts sponsored by King Biscuit Flour Company on KFFA Radio in Helena, Arkansas. In 1951, the flour company's manager renamed Miller Sonny Boy Williamson, and the Delta audience for this lunchtime blues program continued to grow. Over the years, it attracted Elmore James, Pinetop Perkins, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Muddy Waters, as they toured the South. While the history behind Sonny Boy I and II may be confusing, there's no doubt that the second Sonny Boy recorded by Chess had a style all his own. Listen to the song that inspired the Allman Brothers, "One Way Out," featuring Robert Lockwood, Jr. playing the leads that Duane Allman would later enjoy, or the textbook boogie in Sonny Boy's version of Willie Dixon's "Bring It On Home To Me," or Buddy Guy's picking around Sonny's harp and the twin saxes of Jarrett Gibson and Donald Hankins on "Trying To Get Back on My Feet," and you'll get a good sampling of Sonny Boy's range.
[Chess Studios at 2120 South Michigan Avenue]
This new Blues Classics from MCA/Chess/UME has real potential to introduce some of the best that the legendary Chess blues catalogue has to offer to new generations of blues fans. When I listen to these versions of Muddy, John Lee, Sonny Boy (the second), and Howlin' Wolf, I'm reminded of the depth and breadth of the sessions that originated in the Chess Studios at 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and they occupy an honored place in my blues collection.
Track Lists:
JOHN LEE HOOKER
The Real Folk Blues: Let's Go Out Tonight * Peace Lovin' Man * Stella Mae * I Put My Trust in You * I'm in the Mood * You Know, I Know * I'll Never Trust Your Love Again * One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer * The Waterfront
More Real Folk Blues: This Land is Nobody's Land * Deep Blue Sea * Nobody Knows * Mustang Sally & GTO * Lead Me * Catfish * I Can't Quit You Baby * Want Ad Blues * House Rent Blues
HOWLIN' WOLF
The Real Folk Blues: Killing Floor * Louise * Poor Boy * Sittin' On Top of the World * Nature * My Country Sugar Mama * Tail Dragger * Three Hundred Pounds of Joy * The Natchez Burnin * Built for Comfort * Ooh Baby Hold Me * Tell Me What I've Done
More Real Folk Blues: Just My Kind * I've Got A Woman * Work For Your Money * I'll Be Around * You Can't Be Beat * No Place to Go (You Gonna Wreck My Life) * I Love My Baby * Neighbors * I'm The Wolf * Rockin' Daddy * Who Will Be Next * I Have A Little Girl
MUDDY WATERS
The Real Folk Blues: Mannish Boy * Screamin' And Cryin' * Just To Be With You * Walking In The Park Walking Blues * Canary Bird * Same Thing * Gypsy Woman * Rollin' & Tumblin' * 40 Days And Forty Nights * Little Geneva * You Can't Lose What You Never Had
More Real Folk Blues: Sad Letter Blues * You're Gonna Need My Help I Said *Sittin' Here and Drinkin' (Whiskey Blues) * Down South Blues * Train Fare Home Blues * Kind Hearted Woman * Appealing Blues (Hello Little Girl) * Early Morning Blues * Too Young to Know * She's Alright * Landlady *Honey Bee
SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON
The Real Folk Blues: One Way Out * Too Young to Die * Trust My Baby * Checkin' Up on My Baby * Sad to Be Alone * Got To Move * Bring It On Home * Down Child * Peach Tree * Dissatisfied * That's All I Want * Too Old to Think
More Real Folk Blues: Help Me * Bye Bye Bird * Nine Below Zero * The Hunt * Stop Right Now * She's My Baby * The Goat * Decoration Day * Trying to Get Back on My Feet * My Younger Days * Close to Me * Somebody Help Me
