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I was having an online conversation with a blues musician with a deep knowledge of blues history who didn’t know about Mel Brown, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of you didn’t know (also wouldn’t be surprised if you did know, especially Roberto). Despite his relative obscurity, his music is accessible and he was popular with people both inside and outside the blues. One of his best-known songs is “Eighteen Pounds of Unclean Chitlings,” an epic jam that made a crossover because, I think, of its similarities to Santana’s sound.
This Discogs.com discography and the one in Wikipedia (link in his name above) give us a good idea about Mel Brown’s output, but I’ve included a few recordings that aren’t on either list.
Let’s start with “Eighteen Pounds of Unclean Chitlings” from Mel Brown’s 1969 album, I’d Rather Suck My Thumb (number 19 on playlist). Even though Mel Brown played blues and blues-rock, he was on the esteemed Impulse! label, home of John Coltrane and lots of other jazz musicians.
Here’s one of my favorite YouTube videos, the one that started the conversation about him, a Bb blues called “Crosstown” (also last tune on the playlist), just Mel Brown and a drummer live (from the look of it, I’d guess it wasn’t filmed too long before it was posted on YouTube in 2007). The cameraperson was so good about filming his hands, I have to think he was a guitarist who planned to go home and study the film. Wish there were lots more performance videos of this quality.
The rest of the videos are on this playlist.
His first album, Chicken Fat (1967), is represented by tracks 1 through 9; his second, The Wizard (1968) is represented by tracks 10 to 17; his third, Blues for We (1969) is a single video, number 18 (it really isn’t a blues album); I’d Rather Suck My Thumb (1969) is number 19.
Mel Brown made a really cool recording with Oliver Nelson’s Big Band, Live From Los Angeles (recorded in 1967, the album is on the playlist at numbers 20 and 21). He also played with Bobby Blue Bland for a while (can’t nail down the years, if anyone knows, please contribute). A live recording of Bobby Blue Bland with his stalwart guitarist Wayne Bennett and Mel Brown from the Blues Fest at Grant Park in Chicago in 1981 can be found at number 22 on our playlist (also haven’t found any commercial recordings from the association, if you find one, please speak up).
T-Bone Walker’s whole Funky Town (1969) is at number 23, Albert Collins’ entire Cold Snap (1986) is number 24, John Lee Hooker’s complete Endless Boogie (1971) is at number 25.
His fifth album, Mel Brown’s Fifth, is elusive and represented by the only track I can find on YouTube, “Drifting Blues,” at number 26.
The next two albums are Charles Brown’s Legend! (number 27 on playlist) and Jimmy Witherspoon’s Hunh! (number 28 on playlist). Both of these are also hard to find on YouTube; that’s why each album is represented by only a single song on this playlist.* The personnel is almost the same on both of them (they were recorded a day apart in the middle of September 1969, both were released on the excellent ABC subsidiary, BluesWay). For me, the best part of both of these albums is that Earl Hooker is the other guitarist. The two attached images show recording info from the album covers.
The same song we just heard from Mel Brown’s album, “Drifting Blues,” is what we hear again from vocalist/organist Charles Brown’s Legend! (number 27 on playlist, it was recorded on September 16). The tune was a familiar one for Charles Brown; he was on the original version recorded by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in 1945 (on vocals and piano).
The band backing vocalist and pianist Charles Brown was Red Holloway (sax), Earl Hooker (guitar, right channel), Mel Brown (guitar, left channel), Jimmy Bond or Arthur “Junie” Booth (bass), Ed Thigpen (drums).
“Pillar to Post” at number 28 is from Jimmy Witherspoon’s Hunh! It was recorded first, on September 15. The band backing vocalist Jimmy Witherspoon was Red Holloway (sax), Earl Hooker (guitar, right channel), Mel Brown (guitar, left channel), Charles Brown (piano), Jimmy Bond (bass), Lavell Austin (drums).
Songs 29 to 33 are Lightnin’ Hopkins’ It’s a Sin To Be Rich. B.B. King’s L.A. Midnight is represented by songs 38 to 43. Songs from the first two Clifford Coulter records are clustered together between 93 and 99. The “Crosstown” Bb blues completes the list at 100.
The songs that aren’t named come from Mel Brown’s more recent records, both as leader and sideman.
*If you’re interested in these albums, you might find them on Spotify, SoundCloud, or one of the other companies; for my own pleasure and creating these posts, I’ve been almost entirely reliant on and satisfied with YouTube.
************ 2017 BLUES CALENDAR WITH CD ************
This calendar/CD set is in its 14th year and it’s still available. The calendar lists a lot of birthdays and dates of death, other important anniversaries. The musical selections are brilliant and rare; this year’s includes two recently discovered songs by Big Bill Broonzy. All have been cleaned up with state-of-the-art technology that enhances the sound. If you have any taste for country blues, please click on the link before deciding you don’t want it, BUT DON’T ORDER FROM BLUES IMAGES (you can, but you’ll save money if you keep reading), CHECK THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW.
OUTSIDE THE U.S.: Shipping rates are less of a problem if you order multiple calendars. Still-cheaper ways follow.
The calendars are available from Red Lick in London and Red Lick distributes them to some stores in England and other countries. Rough Trade in London has them, or can order them if they are out.
Anyone overseas is encouraged to ask their local CD or bookstore to order the calendars for them. They can get them from Red Lick and there should be only a minor postage charge there. I wish I had even more options but those are the ones I know of.
INSIDE THE U.S.: Blues fans in the USA who want the cheapest possible mailing rates are encouraged to order DIRECTLY FROM JOHN TEFTELLER—not from the Blues Images website—but DIRECTLY FROM HIM—and request MEDIA MAIL POSTAGE. Media Mail costs about $4.00 compared to $8.00 for Priority Mail. They don’t offer Media Mail on the mail website, but if you write or call them directly, he will arrange for Media Mail shipping.
WRITE TO:
John Tefteller
P.O. Box 1727
Grants Pass, Oregon 97528-0200EMAIL: john@tefteller.com
CALL: John at 800-955-1326 (office) or cell phone at 541-659-7175.
Don D.
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CORRECTION: Arthur Juini Booth doesn’t play bass on Charles Brown’s “Driftin’ Blues” (number 27 on playlist). Jimmy Bond is the only bassist on that cut.
CORRECTION: The playlist shows an incomplete representation of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ It’s a Sin To Be Rich (tracks 29 to 33).
Here are (almost) all the tracks in order, “we gonna rock this one.” Recorded at The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California on May 16-17, 1972. I made a substitution for the track named “Howlin’ Wolf,” couldn’t find the actual cut from the album; couldn’t find “Get Out Your Pencil” at all.
According to the info with “Katie Mae” (song 2 below, and we can see it on the CD case in the video)—wow—here’s who’s playing on it: Lightnin’ Hopkins (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, piano); John Lee Hooker (vocals, guitar on 2 and 11); Mel Brown (guitar, electric piano, piano); Jesse Edwin Davis, Luther Tucker, Charlie Grimes, David Cohen (guitars); Clifford Coulter (piano, electric piano, melodica, bass); Michael White (violin); Joe Frank Corolla (bass); Lonnie Castile, Bruce Walters, Jim Gordon (drums).
I can’t really sort out who’s who, and it makes it a whole lot harder to sort out when Mel Brown is playing, but I sure the hell can hear John Lee Hooker on “Katie Mae” and “Candy Kitchen.”
1. “Roberta”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-PTtGDIvw2. “Katie Mae”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av9099LNbnc3. “Howlin’ Wolf” (not the album version)
4. “The Rehearsal (for ‘It’s a Sin to Be Rich’)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge3T3ZtXnN85. “It’s a Sin to Be Rich, it’s a Low-Down Shame to Be Poor”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omg0rVgN8q86. “Y’all Excuse Me”
7. “Just Out of Louisiana”
8. “Get Out Your Pencil” (can’t find it on YouTube)
9. “I Forgot to Pull My Shoes Off”
10. “Turn Me On” (can’t say if this is from the album but, to me, it sounds like it fits)
11. “Candy Kitchen”
Don D.
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One great album that Mel Brown was a part of that I forgot to mention is James Cotton’s fiery Mighty Long Time from 1991 (named for the Sonny Boy Williamson II tune that’s on it, some great covers on here, I wish I’d put a big spotlight on it in my first post—I’m thinking a “harps and guitars” Blues Roots is overdue). The recording details are laid out pretty nicely at Discogs.com. Mel Brown plays on only one song, “Hold Me In Your Arms” (song 8), and he plays piano on this, but I think the other guitarists included here make it worth a big mention. Here’s his piano showcase.
I wasn’t even aware of this record until I started making this playlist, and it’s a who’s who of guitarists. Check this out!!!!! Hubert Sumlin, Jimmie Vaughan, Luther Tucker, Matt Guitar Murphy, Wayne Bennett (I put them in alphabetical order by first name—it conveniently places Hubert Sumlin first, as I’d have done, but with Matt Murphy and Wayne Bennett on the list, that’s debatable, Wayne Bennett is definitely not “least”). Please check the second link above for which songs they play on. And I definitely want to find out more about Derek O’Brien; I don’t think I’ve ever heard him mentioned before, but he’s in some heavy company.
Looks like this playlist is created from the 2015 reissue (credits, etc., in second link above). By the way, I don’t agree with the writing credits on “Black Nights.” I remember clearly that this was written by Jessie Mae Robinson, one of a relatively few women on the blues scene in the ’50s (then again, maybe she didn’t own the rights, but it’s a woman’s voice telling the original story).
Don D.
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