Revtone

Lazy Lester

2005-10-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

"I never get in a hurry; I'm never in a hurry," says Leslie Johnson of why he is called Lazy Lester during a recent phone interview from his home in Michigan. In 1957 he became Lazy Lester during a recording session with Lightnin' Slim. Record producer Jay Miller gave him the name after noticing his slow, lazy-like harmonica style.
The 57-year-old harmonica ace plays what he calls "swamp blues." A mixture of blues, Cajun, zydeco, and country, swamp blues emerged in southern Louisiana during the 1950s. During his childhood in the suburbs of Baton Rouge, Lester cut his musical teeth on them. "Downhome stuff, we call it," says Lester.
"We all playing practically the same thing," explains Lester of what sets swamp blues apart from other styles like Delta and Chicago. "But when it [the blues] goes to Chicago and stuff like that, they always add something to it, or [are] subtracting something from it.... What we kept as downhome stuff, I just call it swamp blues for some reason, I don't know. I never could explain why."
Lester moved from his native Louisiana to Pontiac, Mich. in 1975. "When I first came here, I didn't think I'd like it, when I came here in `71, worked with Lightnin' from January until the 15th of March in Pontiac and then I went back home," recalls Lester. The gig that brought Lester up north was a reunion show for him and Lightnin' Slim held at the University of Chicago Folk Festival.
During that trip to Michigan Lester met Slim Harpo's sister. What Lester describes as a "long story" ensued and the two fell in love. "And I came back up here in `75 and I've been here since," he says trying to avoid that particular "long story."
Between 1976 and 1987 Lester went on a performing hiatus. "Well, I didn't want to do it any more. Like I say, long story, long story," says the evasive artist. "I don't even remember, I couldn't explain the reason, you know, that jazz, you know."
In 1987 Lester revived his performing career by embarking on a tour of England. After his return to the States, the English label Flyright released a sampling of some of Lester's early Excello label singles from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Most of Lester's repertoire consists of covers of country blues classics like Eddie Boyd's "Five Long Years" and Slim Harpo's "Raining in My Heart." "It's old material, but different versions," he says of the many covers preformed on his albums.
Last year, during a tour of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Holland, Lester visited with guitarist Eddie Boyd in his Helsinki home. "Oh, man, it was great. We stayed there about 3 or 4 hours talking with him. Real great guy, he's 75 years old," Lester offers, without prodding.
One of Lester's favorite songs is "Bloodstains on the Wall." Lester explains, "That song was written by Jimmie Rodgers, I think. I don't know for sure. It was one of my favorite songs; there wasn't nothing special about it, I just like the song." When Lester performed at the 1987 WRFG Blues Barbecue, he "dedicated" the tune to a noisy little girl playing near the stage whose mother, upon hearing the dedication, immediately snatched the girl up. "I remember something like that," says Lester.
Although Lester is best known for his fluid and emothional harp style, his musical career began with the guitar. "I started playing on an old Bluebird acoustic my brother bought for me a long time ago from a man in Arkansas -- he played some beautiful slide, that old man did," remembers Lester.
When he was young, Lester listened to the country station from New Orleans and played guitar. He credits much of his country style to imitating many of the songs he heard played by disc jockey Ray Rogers. "I was fond of country music and that's how I learned so much about the guitar."
To date, Lester has cut 7 records and he is unsure about future recording plans. In 1988 he recorded his first new album at King Snake Studios in Sanford, Fla. "Harp and Soul" fully displays Lester's country roots, with masterful covers of "Five Long Years" and "Dark End of the Street."
Lester's rollercoaster career aside, his harmonica virtuosity earned him a write-up in 1979's Blues Who's Who. Before his comeback in 1987, Lester was best known as a side-man to bigger acts like Lighnin' Slim. Since 1987, he has played with a myriad of artists who now back him up. These days he is traveling with Loaded Dice, who include guitarist Rob Nelson and promoter Fred Reif on washboard. On Mardi Gras, Lazy Lester and Loaded Dice will spice up Blind Willie's. So "Faissez le bon temps rouller" and get ready to do the "Alligator Shuffle," Lester's back in town.

Son Seals

2005-09-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

"If you really want to do something that's worth something," says guitarist/vocalist Frank "Son" Seals, "you've got to give it your all. I try to do that every time I play." Ever since his self-titled debut release in 1973 (the third-ever release on the then-fledgling Alligator Records), Seals has always given everything he has every time he picks up his guitar. Both in the studio and in live performance, Seals' feral guitar solos and gritty, passionate vocals make every song he plays his very own. Over the years, Seals has played literally thousands of gigs all over the world, and his unparalleled live performances continue to earn him new fans everywhere he goes.Just last year the Chicago Tribune called Son's1978 concert recording, Live And Burning (AL 4712) one of the best examples of powerhouse Chicago blues anywhere to be found in the last two decades. Now, almost 20 years and four studio albums since that release, Seals forcefully follows up Live And Burning with his newest recording, Live--Spontaneous Combustion (AL 4846). With a powerful mix of two new Seals originals, four classics from Seals' vast catalog and six well-chosen covers, Seals proves that he's a performer of immense talent and unequalled taste. His booming, soul-drenched vocals and biting guitar solos continually leave his audiences open-mouthed in amazement and screaming for more. "Seals' sound is all Chicago barroom grit...he's unbeatable live," raved Option . Nobody in the business plays with as much grueling intensity.Recorded June 20, 21, and 22, 1996 at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago in front of a wildly enthusiastic hometown crowd, Live--Spontaneous Combustion finds Seals' ferocious vocals riding above his instantly recognizable guitar playing. From the ominous Landlord At My Door to the funk-filled No, No Baby to the pleading I Need My Baby Back to the romping Crying For My Baby, Son Seals' passionate vocals, scorching guitar playing and commanding stage presence make Live--Spontaneous Combustion a landmark document of rough and raw Chicago blues. Along with rhythm guitarist Justin Smith, keyboardist Sidney James Wingfield, drummer David Russell, bassist Johnny B. Gayden and longtime cohorts Red Groetzinger on tenor sax, alto sax and flute and Dan Rabinovitz on trumpet, Seals' signature style places him in a league with all the great blues masters. "He still blows away the competition," said the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Chicago's finest contemporary blues guitarist," said Guitar World . Seals sings and plays with a blood-curdling intensity, performing every cut like it might be the last time he picks up his axe. Over 20 years and eight albums ago, Son Seals debuted an original and aggressive style of playing and singing the blues. When he first emerged on Alligator Records in 1973, Seals was hailed by the media as a bright hope for the blues. Robert Palmer, writing in The New York Times , called him "the most exciting young blues guitarist and singer in years." At the time, many young blues players were simply covering the popular blues standards. But Son was an original, writing most of his own material and playing his guitar with a rhythmic intensity matched only by his ferocious vocals.Son was born in Osceola, Arkansas in 1942 and was immediately immersed into the blues. His childhood home was a few rooms in the back of his father Jim's juke joint, The Dipsy Doodle (famous for blues in the front and dice in the back). As a small child, Son was surrounded by great blues and great bluesmen. With musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson, Albert King and Robert Nighthawk playing within earshot of his bed nearly every night, Son knew the blues before he began walking.Even with all the great bluesmen around the house, Son's father Jim was his greatest inspiration. Jim Seals had played piano, trombone, guitar and drums, touring with the famed Rabbit Foot Minstrels, the training ground of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Because he was such a well-known musician, Jim was able to draw some of the biggest names to perform at his club.When Son decided at an early age to become a musician like his father, Jim made sure Son would learn to do things right. "My father taught me everything from the start," Son recalls. "Tuning the guitar, fingering. Where I wanted to be riffing around all up and down the neck right away, he'd keep me on one chord for hours, until I could feel in it in my sleep. I'd get up the next morning, grab the guitar, and I'd be right on that chord." Son learned his lessons well. By the time he was 18, Son Seals was leading his own band as a guitarist during the week and playing drums backing up whomever was playing at his father's club on the weekends. He hit the road playing drums with Earl Hooker and soon after that with Albert King (with whom he recorded the seminal Stax album Live Wire/Blues Power ). He moved to Chicago in 1971 and began jamming with everyone from Junior Wells to Hound Dog Taylor to James Cotton and Buddy Guy. After Hound Dog Taylor's debut album hit and he began touring, Son took over Hound Dog's regular weekend gigs at The Expressway Lounge on Chicago's South Side.Son's 1973 debut recording, The Son Seals Blues Band, established him as a blazing, original blues artist. Son's audience base grew as he toured extensively, playing colleges, clubs and festivals throughout the country. His 1977 follow-up, Midnight Son, received widespread acclaim from every major music publication. Rolling Stone called it "one of the most significant blues albums of the decade."

On the strength of Midnight Son, Seals began what would become two decades of regular tours of Europe, and he even did a national television ad for Olympia beer. His next album, Live and Burning, captured Son at the height of his powers, delivering a ferocious live set to his hometown Chicago audience. His following two albums, Chicago Fire and Bad Axe, found Son experimenting with more jazzy arrangements and varied horn parts while maintaining his raw guitar picking and passionate, growling singing style. After a seven year recording hiatus, Son returned in 1991 with his most socially conscious album, Living In The Danger Zone. With the addition of Red Groetzinger, whose sax and flute playing and arranging skills added many new dimensions to Son's music, Son reestablished his national reputation. Seals' next album, 1994's Nothing But The Truth, found Seals' guitar and voice as strong and emotive as ever. "Excellent modern blues," exclaimed Blues & Rhythm. Musician declared, "Performances of the most profound emotion...one of the genre's most soulful exorcists."Son's reputation as a fierce live performer and an original songwriter has taken him from playing in small clubs to headlining international blues festivals.While he has chosen to limit his touring outside of Chicago, Seals can usually be found playing one of the city's premiere blues hangouts, taking his loyal fans on a musical journey through the good times and the bad heartaches that are the blues. When he sings and plays, you can feel the passion, the grit, and above all else, the deep emotion embedded in his music. Now, with Live--Spontaneous Combustion , people everywhere can feel the heat and hear the power of the legendary Bad Axe testifying the blues to his devoted congregation of hometown believers.

McKinley Morganfield ( Muddy Waters )

2005-09-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

Muddy WatersBorn: April 4, 1915, Rolling Forks, MississippiDied: April 30, 1983, Westmont, IllinoisAlso known as: McKinley MorganfieldMuddy Waters grew up in the Mississippi Delta, singing as he worked in the cotton fields as a boy and playing near his favorite muddy creek — thus the nickname. He picked up a guitar when he was 17. Influenced by the deeply emotional performer Son House as well as Robert Johnson, Waters became an accomplished bluesman himself. In the early 1940s he took the raw depth of the Delta blues to Chicago, and in a few years he had revolutionized the city's blues scene. His many contributions to Chicago blues include his skill with an electric guitar, his tough, powerful vocals, and his evocative, compelling songwriting. As a bandleader he established the ensemble sound and style of Chicago electric blues — just about every great Chicago blues player of that time was in Waters's band at one point or another. British rockers the Rolling Stones took their name from a Waters's song — a testament to Waters's extensive influence on both American and British rock and roll.Essential listening: "Rolling Stone," "Honey Bee," "I Can't Be Satisfied," "Mannish Boy," "Got My Mojo Working"

Thomas A. Dorsey "Blues & Gospel"

2005-09-19T09:03:00.000-07:00

Thomas Andrew Dorsey, the "Father of Gospel Music," began using the phrase "gospel songs" in the mid-1920s, for a new kind of religious music. Gospels are songs of worship with the bounce and rhythm of early blues and jazz.
This music already had a number of champions, but Dorsey's commitment would give rise to a gospel movement in Chicago that would spread worldwide. His association with gospel music was so strong that for decades, songs in this style were simply called "Dorseys".

He began his career as a blues pianist and songwriter. Later he became a church choir director in Chicago and was a co-founder of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses. Widely known as the “father of the gospel song,” he played an important role in the development of African-American gospel music. In his over 1,000 songs Dorsey combined elements of the blues with traditional African-American religious music His works include the early “If You See My Savior” and his best-known song, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.”

Rest in Peace Gatemouth

2005-09-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

BATON ROUGE, La. - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the singer and guitarist who built a 50-year career playing blues, country, jazz and Cajun music, died Saturday in his hometown of Orange, Texas, where he had gone to escape Hurricane Katrina. He was 81.

Brown, who had been battling lung cancer and heart disease, was in ill health for the past year, said Rick Cady, his booking agent.
Cady said the musician was with his family at his brother's house when he died. Brown's home in Slidell, La., a bedroom community of New Orleans, was destroyed by Katrina, Cady said.
"He was completely devastated," Cady said. "I'm sure he was heartbroken, both literally and figuratively. He evacuated successfully before the hurricane hit, but I'm sure it weighed heavily on his soul."
Although his career first took off in the 1940s with blues hits "Okie Dokie Stomp" and "Ain't That Dandy," Brown bristled when he was labeled a bluesman.
In the second half of his career, he became known as a musical jack-of-all-trades who played a half-dozen instruments and culled from jazz, country, Texas blues, and the zydeco and Cajun music of his native Louisiana.
By the end of his career, Brown had more than 30 recordings and won a Grammy award in 1982.
"I'm so unorthodox, a lot of people can't handle it," Brown said in a 2001 interview.
Brown's versatility came partly from a childhood spent in the musical mishmash of southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas. He was born in Vinton, La., and grew up in Orange, Texas.
Brown often said he learned to love music from his father, a railroad worker who sang and played fiddle in a Cajun band. Brown, who was dismissive of most of his contemporary blues players, named his father as his greatest musical influence.
"If I can make my guitar sound like his fiddle, then I know I've got it right," Brown said.
Cady said Brown was quick-witted, "what some would call a 'codger.'"
Brown started playing fiddle by age 5. At 10, he taught himself an odd guitar picking style he used all his life, dragging his long, bony fingers over the strings.
In his teens, Brown toured as a drummer with swing bands and was nicknamed "Gatemouth" for his deep voice. After a brief stint in the Army, he returned in 1945 to Texas, where he was inspired by blues guitarist T-Bone Walker.
Brown's career took off in 1947 when Walker became ill and had to leave the stage at a Houston nightclub. The club owner invited Brown to sing, but Brown grabbed Walker's guitar and thrilled the crowd by tearing through "Gatemouth Boogie" — a song he claimed to have made up on the spot.
He made dozens of recordings in the 1940s and '50s, including many regional hits — "Okie Dokie Stomp," "Boogie Rambler," and "Dirty Work at the Crossroads."
But he became frustrated by the limitations of the blues and began carving a new career by recording albums that featured jazz and country songs mixed in with the blues numbers.
"He is one of the most underrated guitarists, musicians and arrangers I've ever met, an absolute prodigy," said Colin Walters, who is working on Brown's biography. "He is truly one of the most gifted musicians out there.
"He never wanted to be called a bluesman, but I used to tell him that though he may not like the blues, he does the blues better than anyone," added Walters. "He inherited the legacy of great bluesmen like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker, but he took what they did and made it better."
Brown — who performed in cowboy boots, cowboy hat and Western-style shirts — lived in Nashville in the early 1960s, hosting an R&B television show and recording country singles.
In 1979, he and country guitarist
Roy Clark' recorded "Makin' Music," an album that included blues and country songs and a cover of the Billy Strayhorn-Duke Ellington classic "Take the A-Train."
Brown recorded with
Eric Clapton' ,
Ry Cooder'
Bonnie Raitt' Bonnie Raitt and others, but he took a dim view of most musicians — and blues guitarists in particular. He called B.B. King one-dimensional. He dismissed his famous Texas blues contemporaries Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland as clones of T-Bone Walker, whom many consider the father of modern Texas blues.
"All those guys always tried to sound like T-Bone," Brown said.
Survivors include three daughters and a son.

More Revtone Pic's

2005-09-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry Mark, they had you so far back we just could not get you in the shot.
Just had to get more of these REV'd up Pic's on the blog. Seems that Andy and I really got it going on but I am worried about the power lines in the background.
Hope you enjoy the pics
MT

2005-09-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

How about that Buddy Guy !

This man is a legend in the blues and rock industry. Most dont know that Buddy Guy played his guitar with his teeth before James Hendrix did.

You see Buddy was way ahead of the rock scene but his record company was not.

I report this after seeing Buddy Guy play last month at the Emerald Theater in Mt. Clemens, he's still got it.

Buddy is almost 70 years old and played like he was a kid. Mick Jagger aint got nothing on Buddy Guy. At one point in the show Buddy was ripping out a crazy lead and went from the stage to the balcony. I felt like I was at a show in the 1960's while this smoked filled club erupted in cheers as Buddy just riffed like a champion.

While in the second row we got a great view of the band and were able to enjoy a fine rockin' band.

This is one of our great seasoned performers, see him live if you can.

Son House

2005-09-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

Born near Lyon, Mississippi, March 21, 1902, Son House chopped cotton as a teenager while developing a passion for the Baptist church. He delivered his first sermon at the age of fifteen and within five years was the pastor of a small country church south of Lyon. His fall from the church was a result of an affair with a woman ten years his senior, whom he followed home to Louisiana. By 1926, House had returned to the Lyon area and began playing guitar under the tutelage of an obscure local musician named James McCoy. He developed quickly as a guitarist; within a year he had fallen in with Delta musician Rube Lacy and began emulating his slide guitar style. House shot and killed a man during a house party near Lyon in 1928. He was sentenced to work on Parchman Farm, but was released within two years after a judge in Clarksdale re-examined the case. Having been advised by the judge to leave the Clarksdale vicinity, House relocated to Lula and there met bluesman Charley Patton while playing at the Lula railroad depot for tips.

Patton befriended House, who began working as a musician around the Kirby Plantation. In 1930, Patton brought him, guitarist Willie Brown, and pianist Louise Johnson to Grafton, Wisconsin, for a recording session with Paramount Records. House's influence on the Delta School of musicians can be judged from a handful of recordings made in Grafton. His song "Preachin' The Blues Part I & II" was a six-minute biography of his life and served as inspiration for Robert Johnson's "Preaching Blues" and "Walking Blues." House's powerful vocals and slashing slide guitar style established him as a giant of the Delta School but did not lead to commercial success. House continued playing with Willie Brown during the 1930s and developed a relationship with a young Robert Johnson after moving to Robinsonville, Mississippi. After Johnson had learned to play guitar, he began to gig with House and Brown, learning the older musicians' licks.
House, Willie Brown, Fiddlin' Joe Martin, and Leroy Williams were recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax near Lake Cormorant, Mississippi, in 1941 for the Library of Congress. Lomax returned the next year to record House in Robinsonville, but the musician did not make another commercial record until the "blues revival" of the 1960s. His influence, however, would be felt through the recordings of Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk, and other successful blues artists.
Son House died October 19, 1988.

Revtone

2005-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all !

This photo represents the Labor Day party at Junkie-Jacks. It was and honor for us to warm up the day for Jack and the boys in DryDock.

Revtone is a power trio dedicated to bringing the blues to the Metro Detroit area. Our original music comes from deep within our souls as we all have been born and raised in this area. Detroit has a rich history of music and we are just working to be a part of it.

We have been inspired throughout the years by many artists. A few in particular are Junior Wells, Son House, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy, Lightning Hopkins and Muddy Waters. There are so many more that we would like to mention, but at this time we wont.

This site will not only be dedicated to appearance dates, locations and times to see Revtone live. It will also be dedicated to further inform you about the great blues artists of the past.

Please visit this site and be an active participant in the Blues Experience.