Skip James - A Delta Blues Legend

During the 1930s the best music to ever grace the airwaves was recorded and captured on very primitive recording equipment and luckily a great deal of these highly important recordings were released on 78rpm records and recently have been graced release on many LP's and Cd's. The foundation of all great music began during these times in the America south, the 1930s black musicians of the day all came from hardship lives and poor backgrounds, the majority of these musicians came from the Mississippi delta regions and lived very vagrant based life styles through their early to adult lives.

The biggest hardship facing these musicians at the time was that their skin colour was Black, it was hard being a Black person in America during these poverty stricken times particularly in the Deep South, America was politically leaning to the right and many horrific things were happening to Black people during this period of history.

The implications of society had an extreme influence on the wandering 'Blues' musicians who drifted from town to town playing their music like the troubadours of truth and reality, expressing their souls and having people who also led similar lives listening and taking inspiration and comfort from their music.

Fortunately a great deal of these musicians were recorded and their music is still available for us to enjoy today, this music IS the most important music which mankind has, it is the most truthful account of the human soul in music form and should be highly praised and respected as being of such great importance.

My personal favourite of all the Blues Musicians from this period is Skip James.

Nehemiah 'Skip' James was born in 1902 in Yazoo City based the heart of The Mississippi delta, leading a somewhat fragmented child and teen hood, Skip found a love for music and adopted the guitar whilst working a number of different jobs playing only for the odd tip here and there. During these times Skip likely was in contact with other older musicians such as Charley Patton and Tommy Johnson who influenced Skip's music tremendously. In 1921 Skip left Mississippi for Arkansas and then further onto Memphis, TN, until such a time whereby he returned back down to the Delta.

In 1930 Skip auditioned for H.C Spier who was thankfully responsible for recording so many of the great black artists of the day and in February 1931 Skip travelled all the way up to Wisconsin by train where he recorded 18 classic and genius recordings, these were his only recordings and each recording is a piece of art.

From these recording sessions Skip managed to have Paramount release a few of the cuts on 78rpm records, however with the depression about to hit America, the records never sold and only very few sold meaning that originals of these records sell for astronomically high prices. As the depression made Skip's music disappear it so too meant he himself faded into obscurity.

Shortly after his 1931 recording session, Skip re-established a relationship with his bootlegger father whom neglected him when he was young, his father had found God and began a life as a Baptist preacher, he suggested to his son to do the same and join him spreading the word of God... Skip decided to do so and turned his back on music and the Blues and began a life preaching the gospel, this kind of thing is typical in relation to the psyche of The Blues musician and of the tormented internal demons many of The Blues guys suffered, the Devil/Angel complex, which all great creative folks have, I too have this in the most disastrous of fashions hence why I relate heavily to this type of music.

Thirty years after his original 1931 recording session in Grafton, Wisconsin, Skip James was re-found leading a quiet life, his music had been unearthed and a new generation of Young Americans who were searching for America's folk music delved deep into his recordings and finally the man had an audience to play too again.

What audiences found in Skip James, a good thirty years after he had been involved in music was not an everyday musician, but an artist of the highest order. His original music was classed as genius and during the reformation of his popularity he didn't stray too far from the original basis of his music, he stayed true to himself and didn't compromise his belief in himself or his artistry.

Skip sadly passed away in 1969, having during the last five years of his life, re-established himself as an artist to a much more younger and much more appreciative audience, he also financially gained more than he did back in the 30s too which proves that genius no matter how long it may be  ignored during it's time eventually gets found out about and given it's due.... this precedence is what gives me hope in regards to my own music for future generations to come.

For me as a fan of the Blues, I really relate to Skip James' work and art, he communicated his feelings well in his music and I have a lot of influence from that, he sang about his troubles and laid it bare on the table for the world to see and hear and you can only have great respect for someone who is that emotionally brave to lay themselves that bare to a listening audience and for me is a mark of a true artist and genius.

The themes in Skip's songs also hold a great influence over me, although they are mainly dark, macabre and have an raw honesty in dealing with the mindset of a 'troubled' outlook in life, they portray a realness which you cannot beat or ever come close too, and that's what I really DIG!

Here are clips from Skip's original 1931 recording session and are also my personal favourites from his catalogue.

Devil Got My Woman

Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues

Yola My Blues Away

Cypress Grove Blues 

If You Haven't Any Hay Get On Down The Road

Enjoy

Paul

Them Two - Am I Good Man? b/w Love Has Taken Wings (Deep City Records - 1967)

In West Sussex where I live not much ever happens these days, however during the 1980s the area was home (and still is) to a vast number of scooter clubs and related groups, this was the breeding ground for many different type of youth culture in the area, at one time in Sussex mainly during the 80s, there was a rich youth cultural variety due mainly to the locale being "beside the sea-side" and the fact  many big events of the day were promoted and made use of staging "weekenders" by the sea and this was, for the youth of the time an easily accessible way to become apart of something, during the 80s in Sussex there was a pretty wide range of youth scenes; there was a thriving skinhead scene, rockabilly and psychobilly scene plus a huge soul scene.

Of the above scenes left in Sussex the 'soul' scene is still surviving pretty well, with regular all-nighters, club nights and the odd meet up here and there, I myself have been to a few of these events myself and have seen just how passionately people at these events get for 'soul music' - this happens all up and down the country in many towns, big and small.

I am grateful I am merely an outsider of such fanfare, because I find it to resemble a black hole - people go in fairly normal and with-it and then before they know it they are putting talcum powder on dance floors, spinning around as fast as merry-go-rounds and even in rare instances looking like Noddy Holder - YES!!! there are at least three people I have seen on this scene who look like the great Side-Burned One from Birmingham.

Although I have no real care for The Sussex Soul Scene, nor do I wish to really engage heavily with it, I do admire the pure love these people have for this type of music, also although I am not a 'full-on' soul 45 collector myself by any means, I still have a few really hip Soul and Funk 45s that I really dig and love to bits.

One such record is the following... Them Two - Am I Good Man? b/w Love Has Taken Wings.

The 45 was released on a small Miami, FL based soul-label known as ' Deep City', the label is somewhat legendary amongst fans of this music, as each release is considered to be top-dollar as it were.

Them Two are considered somewhat of a mysterious vocal duo, not a great deal is known about them, although the enigmatic 'two' were vocalists Clarence Reid and Willie Clarke, Reid later went onto a succesful song-writing and recording career, however I feel this 45 was his piece de resistance, particularly the A-side cut.

I only wish to talk and share the A-side as it has been a special track to me for a number of years now. I relate heavily to it and love the lyrical subject-matter and the way both singers commit all their soul and fury onto the vinyl slab of plastic.

I think anyone who considers themselves a soulful person asks themselves the very same questions that the opening statements of this song ask.... I certainly do, and this song completely hits home for me in the most dramatic and intense kind of ways.... "Am I Good Man? Am I A Fool, Am I Weak? or Am I Just Playing It Cool?".... that to me is pure lyrical genius, the guy's seem to tap into the straight up unfounded confusion that lies internally for many of us so-called sensitive souls.

Dig this masterpiece of soul music...

Enjoy

Paul

The Juju's - You Treated Me Bad 1964 - 66

Michigan was home to one of my favourite record labels 'Fenton Record' and is also home to one of the greatest rock n roll sounds of America. Mid-60s' Michigan produced a wealth of great teen-beat bands who were inspired by the British Invasion and created a very unique garage sound which is still pretty unnoticed amongst 60s garage fans. Many of the groups who came from Michigan and had records released on 'Fenton' particularly are now deemed lost classics to fans of the genre the world over, I myself am highly inspired by such groups and the Michigan "sound".

One such band who rank high up there in my opinion, is the JuJu's.

I recently purchased the newly compiled 1964-67 JuJu's collection and I have to say it is an absolute delight that the music on this record has survived and been made available to the public, the LP is a great insight into a teenage group of the mid 60s.

The Juju's are responsible for creating the teenage genius which was their 45rpm single 'You Treated Me Bad', the said song is a huge influence to my own music, if you listen closely to my own songs, you may hear that I am highly influenced by the guitar playing style, especially from JuJu's songs such as 'You Treated Me Bad' and 'Do You Understand Me' (the latter unfortunately not featuring on this LP collection.

The JuJu's were - 

Ray Hummel III - Vocals, guitars and harmonica (also main songwriter)

 Max Colley Jr. - Tenor Sax, backing vocals.

Rod Shepard - Bass, Lead Guitar, backing vocals

Bill Gorski - Drums

Rick Stevens - Lead Guitar

The JuJu's formed in 1964 in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan, Grand Rapids was a rather hip place to be during the 60s, many great teen bands played and came from there.

The album is a great insight into a teenage group of that era, the LP is compiled by Ray Hummel III himself and much of the songs on the LP are rare unheard tapes from Hummel's own private collection, the album features a fantastic booklet with interesting reading into the band's history not to mention commentary by Ray Hummel.

The music on the album is a really really great listening experience, when you listen to this record especially with tracks like 'Hey Little Girl' demo  and the band's rather crass version of 'Summertime', you instantly get transported back to a school dance held inside a school gymnasium in mid 1965.

What I like about this collection is hearing the influenced transition between that of 50s rock n roll a'la Buddy Holly, Doo-Wop etc and the British Invasion of The Beatles et al, this album beautifully makes available the sounds of a band who were stuck in between the past sounds of American Rock n Roll and the then current influences coming from across the pond.

Ray Hummel III was a great vocalist and songwriter whowrote class songs, which thankfully have been graced here on LP for the many to hear.

The album is a good addition to anyone who like's 60s garage or rock n roll's record collection.

You can purchase the album here -  THE JUJU's (Please Click)   (whilst you're there you can also pick up my records - they are JuJu's inspired) - I am warning you it is limited to only 450 copies, so get them while they are still here.

Please take a listen to The JuJu's monsterous and killer track 'You Treated Me Bad' of which I got outbidded on ebay last year by $20, had that last buyer not outbid, I'd have owned this 45.... DAMN!!

Enjoy

Paul Messis

Reuben Bell & The Casanovas - It's Not That Easy b/w Hummin' A Sad Song (Murco Records - 1967)

Reuben Bell with The Casanovas quite possibly produced one of in my opinion best 'Soul' 45s in existence, 'It's Not That Easy' b/w Hummin' A Sad Song was released on cult Soul label Murco records and I feel it is a real double-sided killer of a record.

What I love about this gem, is that it is a Jekyll and Hyde of a record each of the two sides is equally great for the same reasons yet they are totally different, quite often I find the best 45's to be the ones in which both sides work well against each other and are both equally good in their own right (I have tried doing this with my own).

The A-side of this 45 (personally one of my all-time favourite Soul and R&B songs) 'It's Not That Easy' is a slow-paced heart wrenching tear-jerker with an extremely cool organ line snaking in the background behind the vocal. Complete with totally lonesome and desperate lyricsm, the song for me instantly gets put up there high in the musical genius territory. 

The song is very special to me for a number of reasons, once again (like the Five Bucks 45rpm below) it came to me at a point in my life where it seemed the emotions on the grooves were mirroring my own life and therefore acted as a comfort to me. I particularly love the warm guitar sound on this side, Reuben Bell sings his heart out and means every word he is singing and forces every emotion out of his very soul and being by singing such lines as "I know I'll always think about you, I've grown so used to you, I just can't make it without you, It's not that easy.... Forgetting You"

Check it...

If the A-side was Dr Jekyll then the B-side of this wonderful 45 is  definitely Mr Hyde, a fast paced floor-filler. The B-side perfectly mirrors the sadness of the A-side by in itself being totally fed-up, frustrated and somewhat pissed off... Dig these lyrics "These Memories I just can't forget, I wake up in the morning, my pillow's soaked in sweat, She up'ed and left me, she didn't say good bye" ... then to top it off there is an amazing saxophone break in the middle which is meaner than a howling dog in the dead of night, it's a really cool song and you'd be foolish not to want to dance to it.

Check it...

There are a couple of cool Murco compilations out and about, the most recent being on the Kent Records label which is easily to find, the comp is a really good investments if you're into 60s soul or more importantly regional sounds Murco being particular to the South, if Cd's are not your bag, why not try and find the 45rpm vinyl.... the above record has varied in price over the years and has sold around the $100 mark but  over the last year or two has be found around the $40-$50 price range on Ebay.

Enjoy

Paul Messis

Suicide - Self- Titled (1977)

Suicide in my opinion are one of the most important bands to emerge from the 70s New York Punk scene, in fact I'd even say Suicide are the most important group of that decade and also one of the most important during the 20th century.

Suicide formed in 1971 out of the New York bohemian art scene, the band  consisting of Alan Vega - vocals and Martin Rev - Keyboards/Synths, originally formed more as an art project rather than a band, they were in the traditional sense more of a performing arts duo than a live musical band, however their stage show presence and powerful live performance, confirmed their place as an important New York City Rock 'n' Roll band and they are now considered to be one of the pioneers of the blossoming 70s New York Punk Scene - in fact Suicide were one of the first bands, if not the first to describe their music as Punk.

During 1971 through to 1973 Vega and Rev each lived in virtual poverty, they were the freaks of their social landscape, they were true outcasts who came  together to create the most raucous, most frightening, yet most genius noise. They also created a very pure art not seen or felt since the Dadaist in the early 1900's. As a performing duo during this time they played shows at New York's infamous Mercer Arts Centre alongside glam-rockers like The New York Dolls. From 1973 onwards the group played the famous New York Clubs including CBGB's and Max's Kansas City again alongside early incarnations of New York punk bands which would later be more well known, these included Television, Richard Hell, Patti Smith, The Ramones etc.

Suicide continued as a live performance group and still perform together to this day however the year 1977 saw their self -titled debut album  released and subsequently from that point on the history of popular music was changed slightly.

I purchased the Suicide album when I was about 14 years old, I remember the day well, it was sunny and I rode on my bicycle from my home at the time in Uxbridge (West London) all the way up to a small suburban town in North-West London called Eastcote, there used to be a rather cool record shop called Sellanby's (an axiom of  the term Sell and Buy) which I went to and procured much of my early record collection (on cassette ironically). The Suicide album was one of these albums I purchased purely because of the front cover, with its mad insignia of the words 'Suicide' splashed across the front, seeing something like that as a young child is paramount to seeing the swastika, the intrigue of such a symbol draws you in instantly.

When I got home, what can only be described as an attack to my senses took place, I knew instantly what I had picked up by chance was an important musical creation and Suicide's album was not only important in that it influenced future music genres such as Electronica, Techno, Drone Rock, Neo-Pysch etc but it was also important as it literally tore to shreds what music was all about at the time, In Suicide's world, music was minimal, bare absolute nothingness, primitive, scary and industrial, it was the sounds, energy and feelings of New York during the 70s and for me on a personal level to me it was the sounds of my suburbia and my own living-hell; the council estates, the bus depots, the train station, the factories, the schools, the narrow-minded people, the drunks, the boredom and the isolation. I still occasionally visit the place I grew up from time-to-time and every time I do re-visit, the soundtrack always in my head is Suicide.

For me the album also spoke to an inner version of me, it was the version which couldn't express itself and struggled to express itself and upon listening to Suicide's debut LP, I felt that within Alan Vega's crazy Elvis-like spasms of reverbed echo that there was a guy who was equally like me angry about the world around him and in Martin Rev's droning two-note keyboard there was a guy who was happy to escape in sounds and textures which is something I enjoy doing too... making Suicide therefore a huge influence for me and my life.

Below I am going to play three of my favourite songs on the album, even though as an artistic piece the whole album is genius and should be listened to throughout, I would recommend that it should be listened to as a whole piece of art and not as a rock 'n' roll album.

ROCKET USA is the track which kinda got me hypnotised, I love how the lyrical context is portrayed in such a minimal yet forceful manner.... I love the lyrics in Rocket USA ..."tv star riding round, riding round in the killer's car", "It's 19 hundred 77, the whole country is doing a fix".... these are pop-art slogans, they are art manifesto's in themselves and a great condemnation of the then unforeseen horridness which would later become our own modern society, comparing a tv star to a killer is genius in my opinion. Suicide were totally on the ball and ahead of their peers by at least 20 years.

GIRL - This track in its primitive and minimalist genius pretty much expresses the thought form in every red-blooded teenage boys' head. This song has the raw sexuality that Rock 'n' Roll had, but because it's been stripped back to its most primitive and raw, it makes it that one bit more real and honest. In 'Girl' Alan Vega  just tells it as it is "Ohhh Girl touch me soft.... you know how I feel" . As a counterpart to the extreme desperation of the track, the repetition of drum machine and vox organ create mesmeric waves of joy underneath... the song is pure trashy sex and that it what is so genius about it.

FRANKIE TEARDROP - if one song could express the ill feeling, the dystopia of society, the horribleness in modern living, the absurdity in the world today, then it has to be this. During my first few listens of this track in my early teens, I genuinely was scared, it scared me deeply, it frightened me to my core and if music can do that, then it is pretty damn powerful... The only other music which has scared me in such a manner since, has been Stockhausen. I actually can't listen to Stockhausen purely cos I'd end up doing a Frankie Teardrop myself. I feel that every human being on the earth needs to hear this track at least once in their life, because it does speak to that part of our natural human nature that wants to kill, that wants to hurt, that wants to escape, that wants to scream, that wants to rape, that wants to set fire to shit and wants to put the gun to the head and make the blood hit the walls and ceiling. 

Alan Vega again proves his genius right at the end of the song where he proclaims "We're all Frankies - we're all lying in Hell".... which we are, just take a look around you, it ain't all smiles and rose tinted glasses.

Anyway; I can't speak about how great this album is, you'll just have to trust me so please do yourselves a favour and purchase this amazing album.

Thanks

Paul Messis

The Five Bucks - No Use In Trying b/w Now You're Mine (Afton Records - 1966)

Every so often in a record collectors life (and dreams) does the time come when they pick up a 45rpm single which they have been searching high and low for what seems a very long period of time, when that day comes however and the music fan places that lone-piece of vinyl onto their record player deck, all of lifes worries, concerns and stresses cease and for around three perfect minutes you're in bliss (unless you're a collector of rare German Krautrock LP's in which case you're looking to at the very least experience thirty-three minutes of bliss)

In my case one such record did come my way and it was The Five Bucks - No Use in Trying b/w Now You're Gone (misspelled as 'Now You're Mine' on the label) released on the Afton label in 1966.

The Five Bucks formed out of the meeting of a group of young guys who had each met one another around the Michigan & Ann Arbour University campus' in 1965. The line-up which recorded this classic Garage 45 included the members Bruce Kerr, Chris Rose, Jerry Daller, Bauchman Tom & Steve Hearn.

I personally would like to thank the band for creating one of the long lost gems of the 60s garage music boom and for making one of my all-time favourite records.... The B-side actually brought tears to my eyes.

I record music myself and will be attempting to record  (fingers crossed; faithfully) a cover version of 'No Use In Trying' next month in July, I have thus far practised my parts and feel that I can do this song justice and look very much forward to recording it and finally hearing the end result.

My Own Copy of The Five Bucks 45rpm single.

What is magic for me in regards to this record is it came to me at just the right time and moment in my life, both sides speak to me and I relate with both sides of the grooves as they relate to my, at the time, current life circumstances and I guess that is why the 45 means so much to me and means a great deal to me emotionally.

'No Use in Trying', is full on angst-ridden despair and a reflection on the sad realisation that a relationship has ended and there is no coming back.The b-side is even more apt and heartbreaking, 'Now You're Gone' is a sullen moody ballad about the realisation that the girl has gone and he the protagonist can't do anything about it and has to just accept it, but is still sorry - its total teen trauma, which makes this record alongside other records of the time, pure genius.

I guess the same scenarios/head-space of the records was happening to me in my own life and I guess in the best traditions of things, music is the best healer, especially for crazy half-mad, slightly switched-on people like myself, music, I guess has always been a healer and I suppose has always been the best of friends to me, this blog will include a great deal of music over time and I suppose each thing I will write about will be apt.

So I will leave you with the A-side of the 45 (Although I would have loved for you to all hear the B-side, however I haven't the technology to transfer 45rpm to computer nor is it on Youtube unfortunately)

So anyway here we go... a real piece of extra-ordinary 60s garage punk from a group of teenagers from Michigan.

Enjoy,

Paul

Picture and initial band info taken from www.garagehangover.com