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Blues Off the Record

Mar 17, 2021 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

With Sonny Boy Williamson III

Women's History Month 2021

Highlighting female artists' contributions to all areas of the history of the blues.

12:00 PM		Mississippi Jook Band Hittin' the Bottle Stomp Back to the Crossroads: The Roots of Robert Johnson
12:03 PM		Albinia Jones Evil Gal Blues Stompin' At the Savoy: The Original Indie Label, 1944-1961 Savoy 2002
12:06 PM		Annie Laurie It's Been a Long Time The Okeh Rhythm & Blues Story 1949-1957 1993
12:08 PM		Myrtle Jones and Paul Gayten Right To Love You (feat. Myrtle Jones) Chess Blues Geffen 1992
12:11 PM		Ruth Brown Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean Ruth Brown 1953
12:14 PM		Linda Gail Lewis C.C. Rider The Sun Records Sound of Barbara Pittman & Other Rockin' Girls (30 Sun Originals) Sun Records / Countdown Media 2020
12:16 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
12:19 PM		Linda Gail Lewis Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves on the Trees) The Sun Records Sound of Barbara Pittman & Other Rockin' Girls (30 Sun Originals) Sun Records / Countdown Media 2020
12:22 PM		Mary Ann Fisher Put Your Shoes On The Fire/Fury Records Story - Rarities Collection 2014
12:24 PM		Dinah Washington & Ben Webster Trouble In Mind The Best In Blues Verve Reissues 1957
12:26 PM		Dinah Washington This Bitter Earth Unforgettable (Expanded Edition) 1960
12:29 PM		Big Mama Thornton Rock-A-Bye Baby Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings Geffen* 1992
12:32 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
12:34 PM		Etta James Stormy Weather At Last! Geffen* 2016
12:37 PM		Koko Taylor Insane Asylum (feat. Willie Dixon) What It Takes: The Chess Years Geffen 1991
12:41 PM		Irma Thomas Set Me Free New Orleans Ladies: Rhythm And Blues From The Vaults Of Ric And Ron Rounder 1988
12:44 PM		Big Maybelle Ain't to Be Played With The Complete Okeh Sessions 1952-1955 Okeh/Legacy/Epic 1994
12:47 PM		Sister Rosetta Tharpe My Lord and I The Decca Singles, Vol. 3 Verve Reissues 2019
12:47 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
12:50 PM		Sister Rosetta Tharpe Daniel In the Lion's Den (He Locked the Lion's Jaw) The Decca Singles, Vol. 3 Verve Reissues 2019
12:53 PM		Sister Elizabeth Phillips A Little Old Fashioned Guitar Evangelists (1928-1951)
12:55 PM		Sister Matthews Stand By Me Guitar Evangelists (1928-1951)
12:58 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
1:01 PM		Sister Wynona Carr The Ball Game Dragnet for Jesus Fantasy Records 1992
1:04 PM		Sister Wynona Carr Operator, Operator Dragnet for Jesus Fantasy Records 1992
1:07 PM		Mother McCollum Oh Lord I'm Your Child Guitar Evangelists (1928-1951)
1:10 PM		Willie Mae Williams Don't Want to Go There Guitar Evangelists (1928-1951) Unclear to me if this is the same artist as Willie Mae Ford Smith
1:13 PM		Laura Davis and Rev. Charlie Jackson This Old Building God's Got It: The Legendary Booker and Jackson Singles (Remastered) [Expanded]
1:16 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
1:18 PM		Bertha Lee Mind Reader Blues Masters of the Delta Blues: The Friends of Charlie Patton
1:21 PM		Mary Butler with Bo Carter Mary Blues Bo Carter Vol. 1
1:24 PM		Mattie Delaney Tallahatchie River Blues American Epic: The Collection Columbia/Legacy 2017
1:26 PM		Rosie Mae Moore with Charlie McCoy Ha-Ha Blues Charley McCoy (1928–1932)
1:31 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
1:33 PM		Geeshie Wiley Skinny Leg Blues American Primitive, Vol. II - Pre-War Revenants Revenant 2005
1:36 PM		Elvie Thomas Motherless Child Blues American Primitive, Vol. II - Pre-War Revenants Revenant 2005
1:40 PM		Louise Johnson All Night Long Blues Juke Joint Saturday Night: Piano Blues Rags & Stomps Yazoo 2005
1:42 PM		Mattie May Thomas Workhouse Blues American Primitive, Vol. II - Pre-War Revenants Revenant 2005
1:44 PM		Mary James Make the Devil Leave Me Here Field Recordings, Vol. 8: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi (1934-1947) Document Records 1998
1:46 PM		Group Of Women Prisoners If There's Anybody Here Wants To Buy Some Cabbage Field Recordings, Vol. 8: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi (1934-1947) Document Records 1998
1:48 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
1:51 PM		Mamie Smith Crazy Blues Mamie Smith Vol. 1 (1920-1921) Document Records 1995
1:55 PM		Bessie Smith On Revival Day (A Rhythmic Spiritual) The Essential Bessie Smith Columbia/Legacy 2013
1:58 PM		Ma Rainey Jealous Hearted Blues Ma Rainey Vol. 2 (1924-1925) Document Records 1997
2:01 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
2:02 PM		Elizabeth Washington Riot Call Blues St. Louis Girls 1927–1934
2:06 PM		Lucille Hegamin State Street Blues Lucille Hegamin Vol. 4
2:09 PM		Ida Cox Wild Women Don't Have the Blues Ida Cox Vol. 2 1924-1925 Document Records 1995
2:12 PM		Lucille Bogan Baking Powder Blues Shave 'Em Dry - The Best of Lucille Bogan Columbia/Legacy 1933
2:15 PM		Trixie Butler Take It Easy Greasy Female Chicago Blues 1936–1947
2:17 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
2:18 PM		The Yas Yas Girl (Merline Johnson) Froggy Bottom Female Chicago Blues 1936–1947
2:21 PM		Clara Smith You Don't Know My Mind Clara Smith Vol. 1 (1923-1924) Document Records 1995
2:24 PM		Georgia White Alley Boogie Georgia White Vol. 3 1937-1939 Document Records 1994
2:27 PM		Victoria Spivey Spider Web Blues Victoria Spivey Vol. 1 1926-1927 Document Records 1995
2:30 PM		Alberta Hunter I'm Tired Blues Alberta Hunter Vol. 3 (1924-1927) Document Records 1996
2:33 PM		Esther Bigeou That Twa-Twa Tune Esther Bigeou (1921–23) Suncoast Music 2015
2:35 PM		Set Break: ----------------------------------------------------
2:39 PM		Hattie McDaniels I Thought I'd Do It Tiny Parham & The Blues Singers
2:42 PM		Hattie Hudson Black Hand Blues I Can't Be Satisfied: Early American Blues Singers, Vol. 1 - Country Yazoo 2006
2:45 PM		Elizabeth Johnson Be My Kid Blues American Primitive, Vol. II - Pre-War Revenants Revenant 2005
2:49 PM		Jennie Clayton State of Tennessee Blues I Can't Be Satisfied: Early American Blues Singers, Vol. 1 - Country Yazoo 2006
2:53 PM		Memphis Minnie Killer Diller Blues Killer Diller Blues
2:55 PM		Etta Baker & Cora Phillips Railroad Bill Carolina Breakdown Music Maker Recordings 2005
2:56 PM		Etta Baker Nobody's Business Railroad Bill Music Maker Recordings 1999
2:58 PM		Elizabeth Cotten Wilson Rag Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes Smithsonian Folkways Recordings 1989

Chat is archived.

Hello all! I hope you enjoy this broadcast as much as I enjoy it.

What a drummer on 'C.C. Rider'!

Linda Gail Lewis -- Jerry Lee Lewis's kid sister?!! WOW!!! She's dynamite! I'm sorry I had been totally ignorant of this tremendous talent until your show today. Thanks, SBW IIIrd!

These rockabilly, r&b women are tremendous terrors. Love 'em!

Linda and Van Morrison did an LP together that has some really good moments. Rockin set today SBW3!

Thanks Richard!

Thank YOU!

happy st. paddy's! richard, elliot and our host, sonny boy!

and bri!

Blue & Green! Happy St. Paddy's!

i need to run out for some corned beef but will be listening the car!

i am going to attempt to cook it low and slow (and quickly??). haha

Thanks, Esoterica! And a Happy St. Patrick's to you, too. I'm wearing a bright green today -- emerald green with envy over Sonny Boy Williamson III's record collection! ;-))

Yep @ Elliot, today the Blues makes a great compliment to the Green.

Do you know who are the male vocalists backing Sister Rosetta on "My Lord and I"? They sound like the Golden Gate Quartet, or about as good.

Sister Rosetta such a great picker. Some great moments in Joe Boyd's book about her and Rev Gary Davis & other musicians on a big package tour Joe was managing. "White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s". Good read

Yes, "White Bicycles" is a tremendous book. Highly recommended for lovers of 1960s popular music. I'll have to go back and read the Sister Rosetta stories, I'd forgotten she's in it. Thanks, Brian D.

She and Rev Gary cut from diff cloth no doubt. But after a bit they came together on the tour and sat in w/each other. Good stories

Re: Sister Rosetta, I did a quick search, and her backing vocalists on "My Lord and I" are listed as The Dependable Boys. They surely were, judging from their tremendous vocalizing.

That John Jeremiah Sullivan article is just amazing

OOPS! Walked out of the room for a moment and missed ... What was the subject of the New York Times magazine article SBW IIIrd referenced?

it's a very long read about Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas (and how hard it is to learn anything about them)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/13/magazine/blues.html

Yes it's a great article! And yep, Richard, apparently the "Dependable Boys" https://spinitron.com/m/playlist/view/12817469

Wrong link! https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000302709/74492-My_Lord_and_I

They backed her on quite a few recordings: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/311912/Dependable_Boys_The

Thanks so much, Elliot and SBW IIIrd.

This seems related to the tune Robert Johnson recorded as "They're Red Hot," which is also related to this show's theme song "Hittin' the Bottle Stomp"

Also related to this 1925 version. I didn't realize when recording this that cabbage was particularly appropriate to St. Paddy's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyI-B8QsaY0

HAH! Cabbage on St. Paddy's Day! Perfect! All we'd need now is something called "Corn Beef Blues" ... :-))

Oh, my ... an outstanding vocal performance by the great Hattie McDaniels. I'd had no idea she recorded as a singer.

Very much enjoyed what I could hear today!

Great gtr/banjo duet here... oops it left us quickly ... end of the line. Great show SBW3. See y'all later

Tremendous show, music & information, as always, SBW IIIrd. Many thanks.

Great show!