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| He's cool. He's suave. He's hip. He's debonair. And he sings with a swagger. A wry wink lets you know exactly where he's coming from or rather where he's been. Blues vocals are his bag, his territory and he's firmly in control in this domain. Do you want a growler? How about a shouter? Maybe, some of the fine ole down-home, gut-bucket variety? He'll deliver the goods in his signature whisky baritone. And even take requests. But you might wonder how such a vocalist not yet officially middle-aged could have become so well-versed in the blues, so steeped in its tradition, when others of his generation are doing Stevie Ray Vaughan covers--not to take anything away from this stellar guitarist--or Robert Cray or, or God forbid, Jeff Healey. Make no mistake about it, Flatfoot Sam is his own man with his own big sense of style, from his straw Stetson down to his two-toned, patent leather shoes. But he never strays far from the classics and remains the keeper of the blues flame. And there are all too few of them nowadays. But, as the reader will soon learn, he's no educated fool. In order to acquire such expertise, he had to know precisely whose brain to pick. And over the years, he's rarely missed an opportunity to further his blues scholarship, accumulating valuable pointers from old school legends of this genre. "I'd have to say that in this regard, I always did my homework," said Sam. And he'll also be the first one to tell you that his education is far from complete. But all this would be a moot point if he had no talent--a feel for timing, turning a phase, or interjecting a pregnant pause. Yes, Sam has a lot of weapons in his vocal arsenal. And he also has a knack for the entertainment business in general, always engaging in playful banter with the public, which often entails a little stand-up comedy. And his enthusiasm for the music is so infectious that his audience invariably responds in like manner. In short, he enjoys being front and center in the spotlight and has developed into quite the consummate showman.  But to reach this point in his professional career, he still had to earn a degree, which, in his case, was to graduate from the school of hard knocks. Of German and Irish extraction, Sam Peightal was born near Pittsburgh in the small town of Indiana, PA, on June 6, 1962. Though his parents were not particularly musically inclined, his mother's brother, Fred, who still stayed behind in Arkansas, first served to inspire him musically. "He was a cool dude and kind of eclectic in his tastes. But during summer he introduced me to the rudiments of the harmonica which I still play to this day," said Sam. He also recalled that the Rolling Stones were "really hot back then" and he soon became intensely curious about tracing the origins of some of their songs. This in turn led him to discoveries about Chuck Berry and Howlin' Wolf. Since his instrument of choice was the harp, he also began listening to Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson #2 (Aleck or Rice Miller). Evidently, Sam must have encountered the Chess Vintage Series of LPs, since all his heroes from that era of the early and middle 70s had once been under contract to that storied Chicago label. Later, during his formative years, the local college radio station which had blues programing became influential. "One unforgettable moment was getting to meet Jimmy Thackery of the Nighthawks[who ironically hailed from Pittsburgh and later fronted the Assassins and the Drivers] who, I think, was doing an on air interview, and Roy Buchanan[touring in tandem with Mark Wenner & Co] to whom I also introduced myself. Being a security guard there certainly had its little perks," he said with a laugh. During the time frame of the early 80s he was journeying to Penn State in State College, PA, and other nearby venues to catch a glimpse of these blues giants. But in the end, Sam decided that Indiana was too small and too far away from where the action was to satisfy his blues cravings. So, he packed up his belongings and headed to Ocean City, MD, in 1984. "I just had to get out of there and needed to make a clean break. In fact, I wanted a whole new environment," he confessed. Not long after, he moved to the Washington, DC, area and began frequenting popular blues joints, especially those run by Mark Gretschel and their successive incarnations--the Twist and Shout in Bethesda, Broad St Seafood in N. Virginia, and Tornado Alley in Wheaton. Mark, by the way, still presents top-notch blues acts, as well as the best pulled pork sandwiches on the East Coast, at his Half Moon Barbecue on Georgia Ave in Silver Spring. "It was the right career choice for me, not only because of the many blues venues but also because of all the blues shows on the radio to which I'd listen religiously, like Damian [Einstein, now music director at WRNR at 103.1 FM] then at WHFS, Steve Hoffman on Sunday nights at WDCU, 90.1 FM, and Bill Wax, host of WPFW's Blues Plate Special," said Sam. Wax, who later became a great friend, also generously contributed the liner notes to Sam's CD. Almost immediately upon his relocation, he commenced founding a band--The Blue Plate Specials, which included the Schramek brothers--Eddie on guitar and Eric on bass--Fred Hilliard or Russell Ottaviano on drums, and Pete Delvito, later Roger Edsal on harmonica. "Actually, I think the original name was intended to be the Blue Light Specials, after the Kmart retailer promo, since we weren't all that good. But at one show, a reveler called us by that name and it sort of stuck," said Sam. About 1990ish, they made a modest demo which Sam later proferred to Mark, then at the year-old Tornado Alley. "He must have liked what he heard because, not long after, he asked if we would open for none other than Texas blues icon Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown. Talk about baptism by fire. But we pulled it off," said Sam. It proved to be a most significant gig in that Sam and his aggregate eventually were invited to become the quasi-house band at the restaurant/nightclub. "In fact, I started working there, even bar tending[also later at the reconstituted Twist and Shout, which allowed me unlimited access to all the blues stars coming in to either eat or do sound checks before the evening's festivities. To say the least, I took full advantage of these marvelous occasions to meet all the great blues figures," he said. At this juncture, Sam reeled off a veritable litany of of renowned artists who would talk trade and even share a few "insider" secrets with the awe-struck employee, including the affable Texas guitarist, Johnny Copeland, and the personable home-grown Danny Gatton, both now gone before their time. "But, being a harp player, I have to say that I was particularly fascinated by all the great ones that came through that door, including Charlie Musselwhite, Rick Estrin [of San Francisco-based Little Charlie & the Nightcats], Kim Wilson[former frontman for the Fabulous Thunderbirds], Sam Myers[who accompanies Anson Funderburgh], and of course, Junior Wells, whose drummer, Willie Hayes, is still a good friend of mine," added Sam. However, Blue Plate Special proved a short lived experiment, as soon they were reconfigured as Roger Edsal's Roller Coasters featuring vocalist, Flat Foot Sam. Hilliard and Eric Schramek were holdovers and now Keith Stafford on guitar replaced Eddie. "The name of this group came from one of Little Walter's instrumental hits [Checker 817 in 1955) while my own [monicker] originated from a crowd pleaser we did 'Flatfoot Sam' by T.V. Slim [real name Oscar Wills, Checker 870 or redone as Argo 5277 in 1957]. Actually, I did not discourage the use of this nickname at all and found that the name rather suited me--'Flatfoot Sam always in a jam'," he said. About this period, Sam was leading an open-mike format at Tornado Alley on Tuesday evenings, which became quite a popular draw. In addition, his band was warming up the audience for further onslaughts of blues demigods, including Baton Rouge's Kenny Neal, Joe Louis Walker, Clarence "Strokin'" Carter, and the undisputed empress of the blues, KoKo Taylor. "I'd have to say that those were happening times, experiences I really miss today. Then, I thought that they would never end," said Sam. At this point, it was difficult to sort things out, especially precisely when the Roller Coasters dissolved and the Educated Fools were born. "It was one of my personal favorites, the late, great William Clarke [1951-1996, master of the cross and chromatic harmonicas], who inspired the changeover. In fact, his song 'Educated Fool [whose title was appropriated from a Charles Brown/Amos Milburn collaboration, Ace 561, 1959]' commences my CD. He was incredible, larger than life, and a huge loss for the blues community. But I count myself lucky for having worked with him. I talked with him a whole hour merely a month before he died," said Sam with a long sigh. Having thus extracted pearls of wisdom from an assortment of highly skilled sources, Sam, by the end of the decade of the 90s, became, himself, a fairly proficient harmonica player. And upon this subject of a blues indoctrination via osmosis, he had his own philosopy. "You take what you can use and leave the rest. From Slim Harpo [Excello's James Moore], I learned that less is more. Junior Wells told me to 'play like Sam' and not necessarily like himself. First and foremost, though, I consider myself a singer who happens to play the harp and not the other way around," he said. Although Sam would be last to conceive of himself as a blues heavyweight in the region, others were standing up and taking notice, including record man Chris Kirsch of Blue Elephant Music who suggested that a CD for this crooner was long overdue. If the average local blues fan of the area didn't think he had earned a reputation by then, he need only to look and see who lent a hand in this project. It was produced by none other than Pete Ragusa of the Nighthawks [who shared the drum duties] and included both Arthur Gerstein on piano [who had acquitted himself quite ably over the years in the same capacity for the famed Uptown Rhythm Kings] and guitarist Rusty Bogart [formerly of Black Top's Big Joe & the Dynaflows and now with the J Street Jumpers]. In fact, it was Hammond Scott of this latter blues label who almost persuaded Rusty to join the staff at Ultrasonic studio in New Orleans, so taken was he with his musicianship. Added to the mix was the highly respected horn section composed of Charlie Hubel on baritone, Jerry Queen on tenor, Steven Shaw on Trombone, and Vince McCool on trumpet. All in all for a first effort from this "novice at recording (to use his expression)," it was a great achievement and amply displayed for all to hear Sam's penchant for jump blues--from Wynonie Harris to Roy Brown to Louis Jordan. In the selection of material it, like his show routine, followed Flatfoot Sam's formula for success--something old, something new, something borrowed, and something definitively blue. An oldie which was given new treatment included Buddy Johnson's "I'm Just Your Fool" (Mercury 70251, 1953). And Sam also reprised and reinterpreted Kim Wilson's "Baby Please Don't Lie To Me" and the aforementioned Clarke classic, "Educated Fool." Herein Sam also showcased his talents as a writer with no less than five tracks attributed to him. As initial or inaugural calling cards go, this was more than a notch above the rest. It was in a higher league. As one might suspect, the undertaking opened more than just a few doors and Sam was able to attract a seasoned cast of characters to round out his latest edition of the Educated Fools, including guitarist Mike Dutton and bassist Tommy Hannigan (who both often back local legend Catfish Hodge), Kansas City's noted harp player, Curt Crandall, and drummer Kevin Whisman, who appeared on the CD and has spent time with ex-Powerhouse guitar great, Tom Principato. But just as quickly blues fortunes can change overnight. "We had gotten a regular Friday evening gig at the Cafe Toulouse [on the busy 18th St promenade] in Adams Morgan. It must have lasted several months. I thought we were doing well, in that the place was packed. But the owner last week pulled the plug on us and replaced us with a cheaper band," said Sam. Being witness to one of his last performances at this venue, I could only console him by concurring with his estimate of the size of the crowd he kept drinking until the wee hours of the morning (D.C. bars close at 3 am on weekends). So, at least for the moment, Sam, a part-time landscaper, has to return to his scuffling lifestyle and has only now the Zoo Bar on Connecticut Ave to fall back upon. The Educated Fools have a regular engagement here the last Saturday night of each month. But being a true blues aficionado, he'll recommend that you instead show up on a Thursday night, when he hosts an open mike/ blues jam and is all too likely to make even less money. "Hey, what's great about this gig is that you never know who's going to walk through that door," said Sam. Often, blues stars will play in big rooms like the Barns of Wolftrap and make a surprise visit, like old chum Willie Hayes (drummer for Big Twist, Junior Wells, and Luther Allison) now with the Chicago R&B Kings. Or when he comes off the road with Carey Bell, guitarist Steve Jacobs [former bassist for Boston-based Powerhouse who also leads his own oufit, Baby Jake and the Rattles, which Sam sometimes fronts] will drop by. Other notables who have put in an appearance at the Zoo on Thursdays include Little Ronnie of the Grand Dukes, Baltimore's songstress Ursula Ricks, famed harp player(Rounder and JSP--the UK's John Stedman's label), D.C.'s Charlie Sayles, another area harmonica ace, Bruce Ewan (the brother of Bobby Radcliff) who leads the Solid Senders, the aforementioned Rusty Bogart, and any of the Nighthawks who happen to have the evening off, especially guitarist Pete Kanaras. "I guess times will the be rough for a while. Blues seems to be heading for another decline," I said. But Sam, the eternal optimist is always finding the silver lining, the glass half-full, even in the most dire of situations. "Hey, I'm looking forward to performing at the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival, which will be my first. And there's always the occasional swing dance at Glen Echo, when I can really strut my stuff with a full horn section. Maybe I'll pick up a few tips sitting in with [harp player] Glenn Moomau and the Blue Flames at Bertha's next weekend or[pianist/guitarist] Steve Kraemer and his Bluesicians at the Cat's Eye Pub on Sundays. I'm gonna stay active, come what may," he said. "Yes, but will it pay the rent?" I asked. "I ain't gonna worry about that because I learned one thing from a master that wasn't exactly about music. It was about life. Junior Wells had been down that road before. He told me to 'just keep on playing and things will be fine.' And, so far, he's been right on the money. Things will be fine. Yes, they will," he said emphatically. Larry Benicewicz |
    Bruce Ewan,1990  Pete Ragusa, 2000  Curt Crandall  Rusty Bogart  Joe Putton     |
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