INSIDE: DETAILED DELMARK BLUES ... - Delmark Records

A Look At Big Bill Broonzy
On the occasion of the release of I Feel So Good: The Life & Times of
Big Bill Broonzy by Bob Riesman ($27.50), Bob Koester shares his
thoughts on Broonzy, the early blues recording business and the new book.
Big Bill Broonzy was the central figure of blues in the late 30’s and
early 40’s. His singing and guitar playing were but a part of his talent. I
think of him primarily as a composer. “Key To The Highway” alone would
place him in the Blues Hall of Fame. But there were hundreds of other
tunes. Add to the tunes credited to Broonzy the other tunes credited to
Jazz Gillum and Washboard Sam. Both of these excellent artists told me
that he literally gave them nearly all the songs they recorded. (Bill took
back “Key To The Highway” when he finally recorded it himself.
The first thing I learned from the book was that Lester Melrose
perhaps used a pianist on almost every session after 1935 because
LeRoy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell’s partnership had been so
successful. I buy that idea and am embarrassed that I didn’t think of it.
To understand blues recording in Chicago in the late 30’s you have
to recognize two guys:
J.Mayo “Ink” Williams who worked for Decca as A&R man for black
talent. He didn’t get to publish the songs because Decca had their own
publishing house, which eventually acquired the holdings of the Melrose
brothers. But he did encourage artists to record tunes he already had
pub rights from his connections to Paramount, Black Patti and Vocallion
prior to his stay at Decca. (One of these was Kokomo Blues aka Sweet
Home Chicago.) The book has info on Mayo that I had not seen before.
The other guy worked with the other two labels: RCA’s Bluebird
And Brunswick’s Vocallion (later Columbia’s Okeh). Lester Melrose was
the younger brother of Walter Melrose and the brothers had promoted
most of the Chicago recordings of New Orleans jazz men in the 20’s :
Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Tiny Parham, King
Oliver, Johnny Dodds, even Louis Armstrong’s early Okeh classics. A
third brother, Frank Melrose (ahem, Delmark #245) played such great
piano that he was thought to be a pseudonym for Jelly Roll Morton.
Frank went along for the 1930 trips to record for ARC and should be
considered as a possible accompanist along with Thomas Dorsey. The
brothers split and Walter published college songs while Lester got into
blues.
Lester functioned as an unpaid talent scout. He found artists
(probably with a lot of help from Broonzy), rehearsed them, usually at
Tampa Red’s house; and was in the studio for the record dates. He
wrote out the lead-sheets for bluesmen who couldn’t read or write music
. I am quoted in the book as saying he earned his lion’s share of the
royalties from the labels for each song on each pressing. Sheet music
wasn’t the profit element in the blues biz that it was in pop or C&W.
By the way, I am amazed that Broonzy’s deal was for only 25%. The
other artists, and contracts I have seen almost always placed the
author’s share at a third not a fourth. The only exception I know of is
Arthur Crudup, whose estate ventually got a c.$100,00 settlement from
Elvis’s use of some of his songs.
Memphis Slim told me that Bill Broonzy was “the biggest liar” in blues
history. In the earliest chapters the author faces this, discovering that
Broonzy lied about his birth-date/place and even his name! I guess he’s
right that it’s simply his story-telling syle.
One of Bill’s lies, in his book, Big Bill’s Blues, with
Yasnnick Bruygnoe was that he first heard a very old
Sleepy John Estes when he worked a track-laying gang
in his youth. Three problems: Broonzy never worked and
Estes never sang on a track-laying gang, and Estes was
approximately Bill’s age. This kept me from believing Big
Joe Williams’ story that Estes was still living in
Brownsville, TN.
The book shows Broonzy and Melrose working with
the indie labels: Paramount, Gennett and ARC (Banner,
Melotone Perfect,etc.) in the 20’s and early 30’s, not
approaching the majors until they developed their 35-cent
Bluebird and Vocallion/Okeh brands. Broonzy, Melrose
and the labels were an overnight success as the record
business returned to normal, partly due to the popularity
of juke boxes after the depths of the depression and, the
book points out, the end of prohibition.
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I am gratified that the author gives space to one of my favorite blues
sessions: the State Street Boys. With Broonzy on violin and guitar, early
Jazz Gillum, etc. followed by the State Street Swingers sessions which
often featured Hamfats’ trumpeter Herb Morand.
People who listen mainly to the blues accompaniment have accused
Melrose’s productions of a sameness I never worried about that
because to me the blues is about the poetry and the singing and good
lyrics and good singing was where it was at. The accompanists worked
well together so why should Melrose mess with something that works?
I have always been anxious to hear more of that dependable sameness.
I hadn’t made the connection that the author did between Melrose’s
use of wind instruments on his records with the success of the Harlem
Hamfats on Decca. (In spite of their name, this was Chicago’s first blues
band: guys from New Orleans, Memphis and just out of high school in
Chicago). The author later points out the connection between the
Hamfats Weed Smoker’s Dream and Lil Green and Peggy Lee’s hit Why
Don’t You Do Right?
Riesman speaks of young white guitarist George Barnes replacing
Broonzy for some sessions in Aurora in 1938. That was the year the
union’s black local organized blues recording. There was also a local
recording ban (Petrillo wasn’t yet head of the whole MU, only locally.) So
some musicians got Aurora cards and recorded outside the Chicago
local’s jurisdiction in Aurora. I always thought maybe Bill was allowed in
the union but forbidden to record for some time, but perhaps he was
replaced simply because he wasn’t yet in the union. This ban marked
the end of Chicago as the secondary recording location, replaced by Los
Angeles.
I gotta tell how Ransom Knowling and Melrose got acquainted.
Melrose put Ransom’s name on a recording contract when he used a
non-union bassist which caused Ransom to be dunned for dues on the
payment. He hit on Melrose who auditioned him and then used him on
virtually every date he did until he retired c.1950.
By the way, the white local organized C&W recording after the black
local did their work o the blues. So C&W recording went on the road to
Memphis, Dallas, San Antonio, etc. and never really returned to Chicago.
I was surprised that the author didn’t poke a little fun at John
Hammond when he introduced Bill at the famous Carnegie Hall concert
“wearing his first pair of store-bought shoes”. Bill came to Chicago
c.1920.
There is extensive coverage of Bill’s touring Europe in the early 50’s.
I was surprised that Horst Lippman was involved, handling the German
concerts. He later started the wonderful American Folk-Blues Festival
tours of all of Europe beginning in 1963, vastly expanding interest in the
blues throughout Europe.
Bill’s folk concerts, sponsored by People’s Music in Chicago and
promoted by Rae Flerlage, who was later well-known for his blues and
jazz photography, his appearances at the Blue Note with Studs Terkal et
al in the Monday night series I Come For To Sing which led to the
founding of the Old Town School of Folk Music (which now occupies a
large ex-library building in our neighborhood and is building an evenlarger
additional building across the street.
I guess Bill felt Melrose had exploited him badly
for it is notable that he rarely recorded his old
Melrose-published compositions during his LP-era
discography. His Mercury deal, after parting
ways with Melrose, involved a 10” LP of folk songs,
but I was much more appreciative of the now-rare
12” LP on the last Emarcy record (quickly deleted
with the rest of their 36000 series.) collecting the
other sides he made for the R&B market.
I never met Big Bill or heard him live. I wish I
had moved to Chicago in 1957 instead of 1958 so I
might have. Conversations with Ransom Knowling,
other accompanists and fellow Melrose artists were
casual. I wish they weren’t.
But there’s more info on Big Bill, the Chicago
blues scene, the folk scene,etc. than I could digest
in the time I had before deadline. I admit to scanning
but I will be totally digesting this must have book for
anyone interested in the blues! - Bob Koester