ARTIST | SONG | ALBUM |
---|---|---|
Champion Jack Dupree | Reminiscin' With Champion Jack | Champion of the Blues |
Champion Jack Dupree | Storyville Special | Boogie Woogie, Booze And Wild Women |
Champion Jack Dupree | Drive 'em Down Special | Two Fisted Piano From New Orleans: Blues Roots Vol. 8 |
Speckled Red | I Had My Fun | Blues Masters 11: Speckled Red |
Speckled Red | Four O'Clock Blues | Blues Masters 11: Speckled Red |
Speckled Red | Early Morning Blues | Blues Masters 11: Speckled Red |
Lonnie Johnson & Otis Spann | Clementine Blues | Swingin' with Lonnie: Blues Roots Vol. 5 |
Lonnie Johnson & Otis Spann | See See Rider | Swingin' with Lonnie: Blues Roots Vol. 5 |
Sleepy John Estes with Hammie Nixon | Diving Duck Blues | Portraits In Blues Vol. 10 |
John Henry Barbee | I Ain't Gonna Pick No More Cotton | I Ain't Gonna Pick No More Cotton |
Sippie Wallace & Little Brother Montgomery | Woman Be Wise | Sippie Wallace Sings The Blues |
Sippie Wallace & Little Brother Montgomery | I'm A Might Tight Woman | Sippie Wallace Sings The Blues |
Big Joe Williams | Shake Them Down | Big Joe Williams |
Robert Pete Williams | Doctor Blues | Robert Pete Williams |
Otis Spann | Blue Ghost Blues | Otis Spann: I Have Had My Fun - Blues Roots Vol. 9 |
Otis Spann | Six Weeks Old Blues | Otis Spann: I Have Had My Fun - Blues Roots Vol. 9 |
Big Bill Broonzy | I Get The Blues When It Rains | An Evening With Big Bill Broonzy Vol. 2 |
Big Bill Broonzy | Black Brown And White | An Evening With Big Bill Broonzy |
Sunnyland Slim | Prison Bound Blues | Sunnyland Slim: Blues Roots Vol. 9 |
Roosevelt Sykes | The Way I Feel | Roosevelt Sykes: Portraits In Blues Vol. 11 |
Roosevelt Sykes | Boot That Thing | Memphis Minnie Vol. 4 1938 |
Sonny Boy Williamson | The Sky Is Crying | Keep It to Ourselves |
Sonny Boy Williamson | Rebecca Blues | Piano Blues |
Little Brother Montgomery | I Must Get Mine In Front | Deep South Piano |
Little Brother Montgomery | Bob Martin Blues | Deep South Piano |
Sonny Terry with Brownie McGhee | I'm Afraid Of Fire | Wizard Of The Harmonica |
Brownie McGhee | My Last Suit | The Best Of Brownie McGhee |
Memphis Slim | This Is A Good Time To Write A Song | Memphis Slim: Blues Roots Vol. 10 |
Show Notes:
On today's program we spotlight a great batch of recordings from the Storyville label based in Copenhagen. Storyville managed to corral many of the great blues performers who made their way to Europe staring in the latter end of the 1950's and which increased as the American Folk Blues Festival brought many more to European shores throughout the 1960's. I have always been impressed with the quality of the albums Storyville issued. Artists like Champion Jack Dupree, Memphis Slim and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee, for example, recorded prolifically for many labels often churning out less than inspired recordings in their later years but Storyville had a knack for eliciting great performances from even the most jaded artists and the fact is that the Storyville albums maintain a consistently high level of quality. In addition to the original recordings, Storyville also released albums of recordings by Harry Oster and Pete Welding.
The year was 1950 when a group of jazz enthusiasts/record collectors often met at the home of Karl Emil Knudsen. Among those present were Heinrich Breiling and the young clarinet phenomenon Henrik Johansen. The label was launched in Copenhagen in 1952 with Knudsen eventually taking over full responsibility of the label. Storyville originally sold imported American records but when American jazz artists began to tour in Europe and Scandinavia Knudsen seized every opportunity to record them for the label. The label's first releases were 78 rpm reissues featuring Ma Rainey, Clarence Williams Blue Five, and James P. Johnson, but Storyville soon began releasing original recordings. Looking back on the period of 1956 to 1964, and to a lesser extant into the early 70's, Storyville’s recorded quite a bit of blues. The first great blues singer to arrive in Copenhagen was Big Bill Broonzy in 1956 and recorded by the label. Many blues artists toured Europe as part of the American Folk Blues Festival, which originally ran for a decade between 1962 and the early 70's. Storyville recorded the artists in the wee hours after they had played the evening concert. The label recorded many of the bluesmen who settled down and lived and performed in Europe including Memphis Slim, Champion Jack Dupree and Eddie Boyd. The label seemed to have a special affinity for piano players, cutting several albums by Champion Jack Dupree plus sessions by Speckled Red, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Sunnyland Slim and Eddie Boyd. Others who recorded for the label include Robert Pete Williams, Big Joe Williams, Lonnie Johnson, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Sonny Boy Williamson and others. A good chunk of the material has been made its way to CD including the 7-CD set, The Blues Box. The Storyville discography can be a bit confusing as the label repackaged, and re-titled their albums through the years.
As mentioned previously, there's a wealth of great piano blues recorded by the label. Champion Jack Dupree moved to Europe in 1959, first settling in Switzerland and then Denmark, England, Sweden and, finally, Germany. He record prolifically for Storyville, British Decca, Blue Horizon, Sonet and others. Dupree moved to Europe in 1959, first settling in Switzerland and then Denmark, England, Sweden and, finally, Germany. He record prolifically for Storyville, British Decca, Blue Horizon, Sonet and others. Dupree cut 45's, EP's and several albums for Storyville including Champion of the Blues, The Best Of The Blues, Portraits in Blues Vol. 5, The Blues Of Champion Jack Dupree and several others.
Speckled Red first recorded in 1929, cutting his classic "The Dirty Dozens" among others. He did another session in 1930 and a final one in 1938. Charlie O'Brien, a St. Louis policeman and something of a blues aficionado had tracked down old bluesmen during the 1950s, including Speckled Red on December 14, 1954, who subsequently was signed to Delmark Records as their first blues artist. In 1960 he was booked to tour Europe. On June he toured Scandinavia where he recorded for Storyville.
Little Brother Montgomery saw his career pick up in the 1960's and he became a world traveler, visiting the UK and Europe on several occasions during the 1960's, cutting several albums there, while remaining based in Chicago. He cut one of his best latter day albums in 1972 for Storyville titled Deep South Piano. Montgomery can also be heard playing behind Sippie Wallace on the Storyville album Sippie Wallace Sings The Blues recorded in 1966 when when she was touring with the American Folk Blues.
Other piano players who recorded for Storyville were Otis Spann, Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim, Sunnyland Slim and Eddie Boyd. Roosevelt Sykes was recorded for Storyville while on tour for the 1964 American Folk Blues Festival. Memphis Slim first appeared outside the United States in 1960, touring with Willie Dixon, with whom he returned to Europe in 1962 as a featured artist in the first of the series of American Folk Festival concerts. in 1962. That same year, he moved permanently to Paris where he secured his position as one of the most prominent blues artists for nearly three decades. He recorded the album Traveling With The Blues for Storyville in 1960 plus some other scattered sides for the label. Otis Spann recorded an album for the label as well as backing Lonnie Johnson on a fantastic session. Both men were on tour for the 1963 American Folk Blues Festival at the time.
Big Bill Broonzy was the first blues singer to be recorded by Storyville. In 1951, Broonzy took his first tour of Europe, where he was met with enthusiasm and appreciation. His appearances in Europe introduced the blues to European audiences and were especially influential in London’s emerging skiffle and rock blues scene. Broonzy’s success also set the stage for later blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II and Muddy Waters to play European venues. Broonzy toured Europe again in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Broonzy was recorded live at Club Montmartre in Copenhagen and these recordings were issued on Storyville as An Evening With Big Bill Broonzy Vol. 1 & 2.
Other blues singers recorded for the label include Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Joe Williams, John Henry Barbee, Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Robert Pete Williams. Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon were recorded for Storyville while both were on tour for the 1964 American Folk Blues Festival while Big Joe and Robert Pete Williams were recorded for Storyville while both were on tour for the 1972 Festival. Both Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry cut excellent albums in the early 70's for Storyville each accompanying each other. Sonny Boy Williamson first traveled to Europe as part of the American Folk Blues Festival in 1963 and joined the Festival again in 1964. He recorded a wonderful session for Storyville in 1963 backed by Matt Murphy, Memphis Slim and Billie Stepney.
John Henry Barbee cut an exceptional album for the label and has a fascinating but tragic story. Barbee recorded recorded for Vocalion in the early fall of 1938 where he made the trip to Chicago and recorded four titles. His initial record sold well enough to cause Vocalion to call on Barbee again, but by that time he had left his last known whereabouts in Arkansas. Barbee returned to the blues scene during the midst of the blues revival. His earliest sides are from 1963 recorded at the Chicago club the Fickle Pickle. n 1964 he joined the American Folk Blues Festival and was recorded several times that year: songs by him appear on a pair of albums on the Spivey label, several tracks were recorded while in Europe as well as a an excellent full-length album for Storyville issued as Portraits in Blues Vol. 9. and appears on John Henry Barbee & Sleepy John Estes: Blues Live. In a case of tragic circumstances, Barbee returned to the United States and used the money from the tour to purchase his first automobile. Only ten days after purchasing the car, he accidentally ran over and killed a man. He was locked up in a Chicago jail, and died there of a heart attack a few days later, November 3, 1964, 11 days before his 59th birthday.