Louisiana RED

......................... I GOT A RIGHT TO SING THE BLUES
............................................................PART II: GOIN' TO NEW YORK
.............................................................Text and photos by Larry Benicewicz

As it turned out, his conscription into the U.S. Army at the height of the Korean War couldn't have been less timely, because it would cause him to miss the golden age of the blues not only in Chicago and Detroit, but also New York, which would be his next destination. And make no mistake about it, the Big Apple in the mid-50s had a vibrant blues scene that could rival Los Angeles, the Windy City, Motown, and New Orleans.

Firstly, there were engagements aplenty for the R&B big bands that would camp out there, like the Apollo on 125th St in Harlem, an obligatory stop on the so-called "Chitlin' Circuit," which would also include the Royal Theatre on Pennsylvania Ave in Baltimore, the Howard at 7th and T in downtown Washington, D.C., and the Regal at 4719 S. Parkway (now Martin Luther King Drive) in Chicago.

For many of these huge ensembles, it would be their last hurrah before the reality of economics set in the early 60s and dictated their demise. Some like Lucius "Lucky" Millinder with featured vocalist Annisteen Allen had been recording here for decades. As did baritone horn player, Paul Williams, who hit the big time in 1949 for Herman Lubinsky's Newark-based Savoy label with his "Huckle-buck (683)." By the mid-50s his outfit included at least two members who would go on to forge careers of their own, including tenor, Noble "Thin Man" Watts, who recorded for Deluxe, Baton, Enjoy, and Cub, and guitarist Bobby Parker, who recorded for Vee-Jay, V-TONE, and eventually Black Top, and who still plies his trade at Washington, D.C., clubs like Madams Organ. Another such aggregate was led by trumpeter Joe Morris whose Blues Cavalcade spawned Faye Adams (born Faye Scruggs) and her monster R&B ballad "Shake A Hand (Herald 416)" in 1953. And there was no shortage of blues crooners and shouters of both genders during this magical decade. Among those who recorded prolifically were H-Bomb Ferguson and Nappy Brown for Savoy, the latter enjoying the smashes of "Don't Be Angry (1155)" and "Little By Little (1506)" in 1955-6. Equally successful for such a span of time were Oscar "Big Blues" Black, who recorded for R&B indie Atlantic (founded by Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler and the New York equivalent of Chess) and then Groove (RCA's race label), Al Savage who also recorded (with Joe Morris) for Al Silver's indie Herald records, and the recently late Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, whose novelty "I Put A Spell On You (OKeh 7072)" in 1956 has become an R&B classic. And what about Atlantic records' cast of characters who could cover the whole spectrum of blues vocals--Ray Charles, Ivory Joe Hunter, Big Joe Turner, Clyde McPhatter, and Chuck Willis, who died prematurely in an auto wreck in 1958.

On the distaff side of vocalists were Savoy's big two of Varetta Dillard and Mabel "Big Maybelle" Smith, who recorded the original version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (7060)" for her former label Okeh (Columbia's race logo) in 1955. Not to be outdone, Atlantic countered with Lavern "Little Miss Sharecropper" Baker and Ruth Brown, who created R&B standards like, respectively, "Tweedle Dee (1047)" and "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean (986)." Other formidable blues chanteuses of this era with long recording histories included Ann Cole (Baton records), Margie Day of Deluxe, who formerly fronted the D.C.-based Griffin Brothers band, Rose Marie McCoy of Cat (an Atlantic subsidiary), and Baltimore-born Bea Booze (Murielle Nicholls), who recorded for Apollo, yet another New York-based indie established out of a Harlem record shop in the early 40s by Hy Seigal, Sam Schneider, and Ike Berman.

In the 50s, the tenor sax was still the undisputed king of instruments and Los Angeles could certainly boast of their Joe Houstons, Big Jay McNeelys, Lynn Hopes, and Chuck Higginses, but New York City could exhibit even a greater array of distinguished hornmen, many of whom led their own groups or who were much sought after studio musicians, including King Curtis (Curtis Ousley), who backed many Atlantic acts and recorded for Enjoy and Capitol, Sam "The Man" Taylor, who recorded for MGM, Buddy Lucas for Jubilee (another NY-based indie), Hal "Cornbread" Singer for Savoy, Big John Greer for Groove, Budd Johnson for Craft, Willis "Gatortail" Jackson for Atco (an Atlantic auxiliary), and last, but not least, the inimitable Big Al Sears (Jubilee, Coral, Groove, and King) who authored "Castle Rock" as member of the fabled Duke Ellington orchestra in the 40s.

After such hits as organist Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk (King 4950 in 1956) featuring the long boogie solo passage by Billy Butler, the blues guitar began to gradually assert itself and replace the heretofore ubiquitous tenor sax during the "break" in the vocals. Taking advantage of this new trend were some of the old school bluesmen like Sticks McGhee, the brother of Brownie and whose calling card was the since oft-recorded "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (Atlantic 873)," or the legendary Lonnie Johnson, who still managed in his late 60s to cut four singles for George Goldner's Rama records. But there were a whole host of young turks as well in hot pursuit of N.Y. club dates like Roy Gaines, who then recorded for Groove and is still going strong today, Jimmy Spruill, who taped sides for Bobby Robinson's Fire, Everlast, and Enjoy records and became a trusted session guitarist around town, and Charles Walker, who scored nationally with a blues instrumental, "Driving Home Pt 1 (Holiday 2604)," in 1956. But by far the most respected blues guitarist in town was the redoubtable McHouston "Mickey Guitar" Baker, everyone's first choice in a supporting role in the studio. Ironically, though he recorded mostly instrumentals for Savoy and Rainbow, it wasn't until he teamed up with another guitarist/vocalist Sylvia Vanderpool (as Mickey and Sylvia) did he achieve commercial success with the pop crossover, "Love Is Strange (Groove 0175)," in 1956. This formula in turn produced copycats and spinoffs galore, including the New York-based trumpeter Billy Ford, who with Lillie Bryant (as Billie and Lillie) struck it rich with "Lucky Ladybug (Swan 4020 of Philadelphia)" in 1958 and also Bobby Robinson's pairing of Tarheel Slim (Alden Bunn) and Little Ann in the late 50s and early 60s on his Fire and Fury labels.

Had Louisiana Red with his rough-hewn approach entertained any thoughts about perhaps competing with the folk blues guitarists of the day in the Big Apple, he would have soon discovered that he had his work cut out for him, as Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Blind Gary Davis, and Josh White held sway in not only the coffee houses but probably on the street corners as well.

Other famed musicians of that fertile blues point of time in New York City were pianists Sammy Price who recorded for Savoy, Van "Piano Man" Walls, who recorded for Atlantic, Robert "Bubber" Johnson, who recorded extensively and exclusively for Syd Nathan's Cincinnati-based indie, King, Bob Gaddy for Old Town (Hy Weiss's small label at 165 East 125th St.), Hal Paige for both Atlantic and Fury, and the aforementioned Champion Jack Dupree, who began recording in New York in 1944 and was associated with a slew of mostly local indie labels, including Continental, Alert, Apollo, Derby, King, Red Robin, Harlem, Groove, and Atlantic. New York blues, unlike Chicago for example, which emphasized the harmonica, contributed at least two harpmen of note in the 50s, B. Brown who recorded for Vest and Everlast and the aforementioned Buster Brown of Bobby Robinson's Fire Label. And the percussionist nonpareil of that period was Panama Francis.

"Yeah, things could have been different if Bobby Robinson would have followed up on that demo 'A Letter To Elmore James,' with me as Elmore James Jr. It was a while before I finally got to New York," said Louisiana Red. And in anticipation of his being summoned by the Black record producer, he confessed that he dodged the draft three times before the "G-men" finally tracked him down. "I had to go, even though I had a job with U.S. Steel in Hom

ewood, PA. It was either Ft. Bragg [paratroop training facility in North Carolina] or Ft. Leavenworth [the Federal penitentiary in Kansas]," he added. His tour of duty lasted four years and included 20 jumps in enemy territory, and a sore hip today is a constant reminder of his Korean War experience. But it wasn't a total career setback. During that stretch he honed both his harmonica and guitar technique by playing in a trio at the PX (post exchange), although to his chagrin, his comrades-in-arms preferred "mountain music" to his down home blues. Upon his discharge in 1957, he found a job as switch tender for the Pennsylvania Railroad at the Conway Yard in Freedom, PA, a position he held until he was furloughed in the late 50s. Then he decided to make a fresh start by taking up with his aunt Corinne who lived in Kenilworth, NJ, just southwest of Newark.

From this vantage point Red was only a hop, skip, and a jump from New York and it wasn't long before he began making forays to the Big Apple to seek his fame and fortune. But the New York blues landscape that he had envisioned before his induction into the Armed Forces was then hardly recognizable. People now were listening to the more cosmopolitan and sophisticated sounds of soul music and upstart indie labels like Henry "Juggy" Murray's Sue (725 Riverside Dr) were catering to their new tastes with artists like Ike and Tina Turner and Barbara George, not necessarily New York natives. And indies that survived, like Atlantic, now were focusing their attention on smooth soul stylists like Solomon Burke and Ben E. King.

At the beginning of the 60s, the big bands were long gone and former bandleaders like Lucky Millinder were reduced to spinning platters of the old days. By then, even Ray Charles (too big now for Atlantic to keep) had left for the West Coast, signing a big contract with a major, ABC-Paramount, which would give him freedom to do pop t

unes like "Ruby (10164)," "Hit The Road Jack (10244)," "Unchain My Heart (10266)," and "I Can't Stop Loving You (10330)," all with huge string and horn sections and syrupy choruses arranged by Sid Feller or Marty Paich. Some bluesmen had passed on like Chuck Willis, while others, as far as blues was concerned, simply saw the handwriting on the wall. By 1959, Champion Jack Dupree had moved to Paris, joining another expatriate pianist, Memphis Slim (Peter Chatman), and then on to Zürich, Switzerland, hoping to find more steady work. In 1961 the great Mickey Baker, having split from wife Sylvia, also pulled up stakes and moved to the City of Lights, where he prospered for many years as a session man and sideman. Now, there were less and less gigs for the taking for traditional blues players and other newcomers like Guitar Crusher (Sidney Selby) found that he had to scuffle just as much as the seasoned veterans for the venues that remained. Such was the state of affairs for blues in New York City as the decade of the 60s dawned.

But undaunted in the face of such odds, Louisiana Red began knocking on doors and making a few phone calls, one in particular to the spouse of the head of Atlas/Angletone records, Tommy Robinson (no relation to Bobby). Now this Atlas records was not related to Robert Scherman's Atlas of Los Angeles which before going under in 1948 recorded some of the first efforts of Frankie Laine, Charles Brown (as member of Johnny Moore's Three Blazes), and Nat King Cole and which partner Art Rupe left to eventually form Specialty. Having been in existence for about ten years, the New York-based Atlas/Angletone was a small concern which specialized in doo-whop groups. In fact, vocal quartets like the Fi-Tones, the Lincolns, the Fabulous Fabuliers, the Four Haven Knights, and Vic Donna and the Parakeets were its bread and butter. When it did resolve to take a chance on a blues artist, it chose, probably for financial considerations, relatively obscure ones or those up-and-coming in the business like Hattie Green and H-Bomb Ferguson (both 1951), Piney "Kokomo" Brown in 1954, and Emmett Davis in 1955, all hardly household names.

"Anyway, Tommy's wife convinced him to check me out over in Elizabeth, New Jersey, at Billy's Night Club, where I was playing with James Wayne[bandleader and guitarist] and pianist Willie McPhatter, Clyde's brother. He must of liked what he heard because he invited me over to record," said Red. Originally located at 271 W. 125th St in Harlem, Atlas/Angeltone had moved to 1697 Broadway and its studio B was at West 57th and Broadway. "I really didn't have any new material when I showed up so I composed one on the spot, right in the office, about marrying a beautiful black woman with a white woman's ways," said Red with a laugh. During that afternoon, there was only one session which yielded two sides, "I Done Woke Up" bw "I Had A Feeling." It was a crude recording, actually a sort of throwback to a former era wherein Red plays a mean country harp a la Sonny Terry and the guitar work is not very prominent. Released as Atlas 1246, it sold moderately well but evidently not enough to warrant a follow-up. This single also marked the first time that his monicker appeared as Louisiana Red (actually La. Red). "I decided to go with a name--a nickname--my grandfather started calling me years back after I preferred to eat my oyster balls with Louisiana Red hot sauce," he said.

Never the bashful type, Red's next stop was at Roulette records (W. 57th St), undoubtedly named for its owner's [Morris Levy] penchant for high stakes gambling. In fact, it had long been rumored that former pal George Goldner, head of New York indies Rama, Gee, End, and Gone, lost all these labels at one fell swoop to Levy during a horse racing bet, along with artists like Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers ("Why Do Fools Fall In Love?," Gee 1002) and the Heartbeats ("A Thousand Miles Away," Rama 216).
Not a boss to cross, Levy reportedly sent gangsters to New Orleans to set singer Joe Jones straight when the latter reneged on a contract to offer Roulette his national smash, "You Talk Too Much (Roulette 4304)" in 1960. Ruling over Roulette with an iron fist(there are also many allegations with regard to Levy's relationships with mob figures), he carried considerable clout in the record industry, which included brothers Oscar, who operated the famous jazz club Birdland in Manhattan, Len who ran major Columbia/Epic, and George, who manned the New York office of the aforementioned King records and Pandora publishing (BMI). "Yeah, Levy could be an intimidating figure. Here I was a baritone and he wanted me to sing in this high-pitched voice to duplicate Frankie Lymon. Let's say that he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer," said Baltimorean Tiny Tim Harris, who recorded a doo-whop number, "Wedding Bells(4123)," for this label in 1958 as Tiny Tim and the Hits.

Founded in the mid-50s, Roulette records was somewhere between a major, like Columbia, and an independent and had had its share of early success with a variety of acts including folkie Jimmie Rodgers ("Honeycomb," 4015), pop vocal groups like the Playmates ("Beep Beep," 4115), and rockabilly exponents like Jimmy Bowen ("I'm Sticking With You," 4001) and Buddy Knox ("Party Doll," 4002), all million sellers. Eschewing music with a hard edge, Levy was a keen judge of pop talent and Roulette continued to prosper well into the 60s with additions to the roster like Joey Dee and the Starlighters("Peppermint Twist," 4401), Lou Christie ("The Gypsy Cried," 4457), the vocal group the Essex ("Easier Said Than Done," 4494), and finally Tommy James & the Shondells.

Although Roulette always had had a fine roster of jazz greats -- Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Billy Eckstine and Buddy Johnson--some perhaps through the Birdland connection, R&B had been largely neglected. And for this reason, Morris Levy hired Henry Glover in 1958. And he was to play a vital role in the resurrection of Louisiana Red.

For over a decade, this black trumpeter, Henry Glover, was the right-hand man of the portly, bespectacled, cigar chomping, Jewish entrepreneur of King records of Cincinnati, Syd Nathan. In fact as arranger, song writer, and record producer, he put King on the map. In short, he did it all and was particularly instrumental in the popularity of King artists like Bull Moose Jackson, pianist Todd Rhodes whose vocalist was Lavern Baker, bandleader Lucky Millinder, jump blues specialist Wynonie Harris (another former vocalist of Millinder), singers Tiny Bradshaw and Earl Connelly King (yet another New York-based song stylist), pianist Sonny Thompson, whose leading lady, Lula Reed, sang one of Glover's best selling compositions, "I'll Drown In My Tears (4527)," and the vocal groups the Swallows and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. For the latter group, Glover penned "Teardrops On Your Letter (5171)," the mournful flip of the original "The Twist" which Chubby Checker (Ernest Evans) appropriated and converted into a world-wide wonder as Parkway 811 in 1960.

Undoubtedly, Levy, out of his element in the realm of R&B, gave Glover a free hand and most probably in the mix was a distribution deal for Glover's own label which included singers Larry Dale (Ennis Lowery) and Titus Turner.

According to Red, he just barged into the Roulette building and asked the receptionist whom to see about recording and she ushered him into Glover's office. Perhaps amused at his brashness, the producer granted him an audition the following Tuesday. "I had to play with a guitar I borrowed, but after a few notes, Glover went in and told Morris Levy that he had found a player like Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, and Lightnin' Hopkins rolled into one. Yeah, they signed me up for five years for fifty dollars. Hell, I didn't know any better," he said with a hearty laugh.

Glover set up a session in his own office in October, 1962, and hired two of New York's best to accompany Red (who played harmonica and rhythm guitar), Karl Lynch on bass and the aforementioned Panama Francis on drums. It must have been a marathon because fifteen separate tracks (including alternate takes) were taped. Glover decided to release one single which would become Roulette 4469 --"Red's Dream" bw "Ride On Red, Ride On," two tunes with a definite country blues feel. The former side has an "I'm A Man" type groove and a political message wherein Red goes to the U.N. and confronts bad guys like Castro and Kruschev, attempting to solve the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the latter has a rollicking train tempo and is quasi-autobiographical--Red is glad to be in New York and up North after riding the Freedom Bus to escape the Jim Crow laws of the South. Over the years, such remarkably original and personal, sometimes bizarre, lyrics would set Louisiana Red apart from his fellow bluesman. In fact, they would become his signature, although often (as in this case) he wasn't accorded writer's credit.

The whole of this session was also released as an album, Roulette LP 25200, Low Down Back Porch Blues, and later reissued on Forum Circle LP 9100. But there is an interesting anecdote to these recordings. Evidently, rockabilly exemplar and Roulette artist (he recorded nine 45's from 1959-63), Ronnie Hawkins, with his supporting cast of mostly Canadian players (which later became the Band)--guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko, organist Garth Hudson, pianist Richard Manuel, and drummer Levon Helm (from Arkansas as was Hawkins) --witnessed a portion of the proceedings and the latter percussionist always recalled Red's performance in the studio. Little did they both know then that their paths would again cross forty years down the line.

Although the single and the album failed to make much of a commercial splash, Glover was not quite ready to throw in the towel as far as his young protege was concerned and in 1964 initiated another session for his own label. This time Red only cut two sides, but one could readily measure his maturity as bluesman -- "I'm Too Poor To Die" bw "Sugar Hips (Glover 3002)." In the former number, Red plays and sings with the confidence of Muddy Water's "Hoochie Coochie Man," while in the latter, he delivers a searing harp instrumental underscored by a stinging, staccato, Texas-type blues guitar reminiscent of Lightnin' Hopkins. Other than the fact that it was obvious that he had yet to develop his own style, Red did nothing here of which to be ashamed, as both the fidelity and musicianship were excellent. It was just that at that juncture of the 60s, people simply weren't buying much blues.

During this period of the early to middle 60s, hardly anyone in the blues sector was earning a living being a musician and Red was no exception, working as a laborer at Bayonne Barrel & Drum.
Nevertheless, with every free moment he sought to cultivate friendships with kindred spirits in the blues community and remembered that former empress of blues Victoria Spivey's house on King's Highway in Brooklyn became a meeting place of sorts for all the local and touring bluesmen. And she often used these connections to sign artists for her own label Spivey, which she founded with photographer and writer Len Kunstadt in 1962 (at one point recording Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, Lonnie Johnson, Roosevelt Sykes, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Slim, Big Joe Williams, and even Bob Dylan as an accompanist). "Anybody could have been there. It was one big party after another," said Red wistfully recalling the camaraderie that existed among bluesmen then.

Another significant relationship of Red's at this time was that of the late Tommy Tucker. Born Robert Higginbotham in Springfield, Ohio, in 1933, he as a youth received a thorough indoctrination in jazz piano. In 1962, he came to New York as a backup keyboard player and was immediately discovered by vocalist Titus Turner, who recommended him to Atco and Herb Abramson, one of the principals at this Atlantic subsidiary and who later became his agent. After recording unsuccessfully for Atco, he wrote "Hi-Heel Sneakers" which Abramson produced and then leased to the Chess brothers in Chicago who in turn issued it on their Checker auxiliary label (1067). This recording and its follow-up, "Long Tall Shorty (1075)," became such R&B smashes that they prompted Chess to release an album (Ckr LP 2990) and four subsequent singles. Then came the obligatory national tour and all the attention.

"I knew about 'Sneakers' and was glad for him. But further back I had given a gig to him at Club 37 [East Orange, NJ] and in gratitude he told me that if he could ever help me out later on, he would. And he kept his word," said Red.

It was Tommy Tucker who introduced Louisiana Red to Herb Abramson, who immediately made plans to record him. "He told me that he was going to put me on Checker, too, just like Tommy, but nothing ever came of it," said Red.

But Abramson did keep his promise about recording Red with Tommy Tucker and also added some of the finest session men New York had to offer, including Bill Dicey on harmonica (overdubbed later), Leonard Gaskin on bass, and Dave "Baby" Cortez (Clowney) on organ, the latter who enjoyed two national instrumental chartmakers himself --"The Happy Organ (Clock 1009 in 1959)" and "Rinky Dink (Julia/Chess 1829 in 1962)."

And record he did at A-1 Sound Studio. All in all, Red attended eight separate Abramson taping sessions from the mid to late 60s. "I had to find work in Georgia [cutting wood] and then went down to Florida where I was picking oranges. And I was always receiving telegrams and bus fare to go back to New York for more songs to record," said Red.

For a long time, these 29 recordings for Atco rather mysteriously never saw the light of day and just as puzzling was why no single was ever issued on Atco. Unlike today, the single then was almighty. It went out to all the jocks to play and then on the jukeboxes. In other words, the conventional wisdom of the day would dictate that, as a marketing strategy, the single would act as a promotional vehicle to sell the album. It always came first.

Adding to this enigma was that no one was quite sure when these songs were recorded (maybe even after 1970). The matrixes for all were allocated by Atlantic on December 2, 1971.

We do know that for some reason two sides were leased in 1967 to NY-based Laurie records (a pop label made famous by Dion & the Belmonts) --"Who Dat" bw "Take Your Time Little Girl (3406)--and were probably the only two blues recordings the label ever accepted. And oddly enough they came just when the Laurie was on its last legs, on the brink of extinction.

As for the other 27 items in the inventory, the earlier tracks became in 1972 (or thereabouts) Atco LP 389, Louisiana Red Sings The Blues, which contains the humorous cut, "Red's New Dream." Typically topical as was his wont, he sings about being blasted into outer space. But as interesting as the songs were, the whole project was destined for failure because the LP was issued as an afterthought. No one would have been able to hear it unless they listened to a late-night DJ on some low wattage college station. Perplexingly, an obvious for-profit company like Atlantic, after investing so much time and money, let an undertaking of this magnitude simply wither on the vine.

As for the remaining material, Abramson leased it to Red Lightnin' records (RL 0071), a British blues label; as did he do the same for Tommy Tucker (RL 0022), whom he recorded during this same time frame. Entitled Louisiana Red Hot Sauce, this Red Lightnin' LP (according to Red) has been reissued on the CD format.

After the 60s began so promising for Louisiana Red, he found that for the most part he was working, a better word might be struggling, outside of music by the end of the decade. It was the old adage in show business--"If you're not appearing, you're disappearing" --and he was. After the Atco album fell short of expectations (and why not?), he was dropped from Atlantic's roster. Yes, Louisiana Red was down, but he was far from out. Larry Benicewicz

Next: Part III: Making Up For Lost Time