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The main topic today is Texas blues guitarists, highlighting live performances and notable recordings by Lightnin’ Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson and Gatemouth Brown.
Thanks for checking this out. The next Blues Roots will appear on Thursday, July 19.
Sadly, Eddie Clearwater, Matt Guitar Murphy and Danny Kirwan have passed since the last Blues Roots. Keith and Mark O. posted obituaries for Matt Guitar Murphy and Danny Kirwan, but I haven’t seen anything about Eddie Clearwater. I plan to do a more complete post on him before too long. In the meantime, here’s a little reminder of who he was.
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Eddie Clearwater was 83 when he passed away on June 1. His music was full of life when I saw him last August, I didn’t see anything that made me think he’d be gone so soon. He moved slowly till he started playing, but once he got going he sounded as good as any of these videos. He played some of the most energetic and fun music, but he also got serious; one example of his serious side was when he played a heart-stopping cover of Otis Rush’s “All Your Love.”“Black Night” from Direct from Chicago, 1976
“Rock Me, Baby” from Direct from Chicago, 1976
“Bad Dream” from The Chief, 1980 Help Yourself
“Poison Ivy” from Help Yourself, 1992
“Came Up the Hard Way,” ninth song from West Side Strut, 2008
“Blue Over You” live, September 2009
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Let’s have a round of applause for Blind Lemon Jefferson, who’s known as the father of Texas blues guitarists (there’s a little bit of everybody and anybody from Texas on this playlist).
T-Bone Walker was probably the most well-known and influential, but all of these men were giants. If you’re only going to spend a little time, T-Bone Walker’s T-Bone Blues album or Lightnin’ Hopkins’ Lightnin’ and the Blues (directly below) might be your best bet.
Please note that there’s a full playlist for each artist (little “stacked” icon in upper-left corner indicates the video is actually part of a playlist). Live videos are first, followed by exceptional or rare songs, then everything else. I decided to list the men “in order of appearance” (the earliest birthday goes first—that was almost my intuitive sense of the order, which would have placed Lightnin’ Hopkins at the very start).
There are previous Blues Roots on Gatemouth Brown and Johnny Copeland.
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Aaron Thibeaux “T-Bone” Walker (May 28, 1910–March 16, 1975) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues and electric blues sound.
☆T-BONE BLUES☆T-BONE BLUES☆T-BONE BLUES☆T-BONE BLUES☆T-BONE BLUES☆
Monterey Jazz Festival, September 16, 1967
“Call It Stormy Monday,” late 1960s
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Lightnin’ Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) is Texas blues.
The 26 recordings he made with an electric guitar for Herald in 1954 are outstanding. There is a partial grouping of them in the playlist starting at around number 50 (the yellow label ones), followed by the Lightnin’ and the Blues album at number 61 (the numbers may change slightly as I add songs). Here’s my favorite from among them, a bouncing Bb blues.
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Connie Curtis Crayton (December 18, 1914–June 25, 1985), known as Pee Wee Crayton, was an American R&B and blues guitarist and singer.
This is said to be the first time a Stratocaster was recorded; New Orleans, April 29, 1954
One of the coolest guitar parts ever, anywhere—with James “Red” Holloway (tenor) McKinley Easton (baritone sax) Horace Palm (piano) William “Lefty” Bates (guitar) Quinn Wilson (bass) Paul Gussman (drums); Chicago, September 7, 1956
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Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921–March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter in the West Coast blues tradition.
The classic, with Phillip Guilbeau (trumpet), Walter Morris (trombone), Julian Beasley (alto), David “Fathead” Newman (tenor), Leroy Cooper (baritone), Paul Drake (piano), Bobby Nicholson (bass), Chick Booth (drums); Dallas, September 27, 1954
Still the classic, with Lloyd Glenn (piano), 1983
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Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (April 18, 1924–September 10, 2005) was an American musician from Louisiana and Texas.
Houston, May 15, 1953
A seasonal groove. Houston, 1964
Don D.
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