Our Blues Roots: Willie Johnson

[Don D.]

First some news, good news—an award that makes sense. Jontavious Willis was awarded the Best Self-Produced Album in the International Blues Challenge of the Blues Foundation. I’m looking forward to his next album. If you haven’t heard it, you can hear it directly below and order it here.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtrgHet1_Qbijm3E7FaiXQtLfrotK3Gj8

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And some sad news, Chicago saxman Eddie Shaw passed away at age 80 on Tuesday. He joined Howlin’ Wolf’s band in 1972, and after Howlin’ Wolf passed, he maintained the band, which he named the Wolf Gang (sometimes Wolfgang), a name they used to the end. “Every show he did, he dedicated a song to Wolf,” from the Chicago Tribune obituary.

Below are a few songs, a few concerts and an album—and there are a lot more on YouTube and elsewhere. If you find something great, please post it as a comment. First of all is his “Blues Men of Yesterday” (1977) with Hubert Sumlin (guitar), Detroit Junior (organ), Lafayette “Shorty” Gilbert (bass), Chico Chism (drums).

“Blues for the West Side,” Eddie Shaw (vocals, tenor saxophone), Magic Sam (guitar), Mack Thompson (bass), Bob Richey (drums),

“Sitting on Top of the World,” Howlin’ Wolf (vocal, harmonica), with Eddie Shaw (tenor saxophone), Hubert Sumlin (guitar), S.P. Leary (drums), filmed at Paul’s Mall, Boston, by Topper Carew for Say, Man! on WGBH, 1973. “Do you like it?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXRrchuXHrM

Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang, Chicagofest (forerunner of the Chicago Blues Festival), 1982

“Little By Little,” B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted, Chicago, August 2, 2013

Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang, 2 Left Feet Blues Festival, September 14, 2013

Eddie Shaw Home Alone, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAN7T4dPFJ6SULAYlEoJq-qaaZII7RPh_

Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang, Chicago Blues Festival, 2016

“Blues Dues” from Movin’ And Groovin’ Man, Eddie Shaw (vocals, alto saxophone), with Melvin Taylor (guitar), Ken Sajdak (piano), Harlan Terson (bass), Merle Perkins (drums), Paris, May 14, 1982

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This is going to be my only Blues Roots post during Black History Month. Here’s a document of historic importance from our recent past. Negro Prison Blues and Songs, from recordings Alan Lomax made in 1947-48, originally released in 1958.

Thanks for checking this out. The next Blues Roots will appear on Thursday, March 1.

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This Blues Roots is going to focus on Willie Johnson (not Blind Willie Johnson), probably best known as the guitarist on Howlin’ Wolf’s earliest recordings (the ones he recorded in Memphis between 1951 and 1953). When Howlin’ Wolf moved to Chicago in 1952, Willie Johnson declined to go at first, having many other gigs in Memphis. By the time he made it to Chicago, Howlin’ Wolf had already connected with Jody Williams and, crucially, Hubert Sumlin. Before he gave up playing, he spent a year gigging with Muddy Waters, unfortunately, no recordings of that group exist. In the early ’90s, he made a record for Earwig Records; here’s an article about working with him by Michael Franks, the owner of Earwig, producer of the record. That record is hard to find (nothing on YouTube, Discogs or Amazon).

The first 83 videos on the playlist represent his collaboration with Howlin’ Wolf between 1951 and 1953, then sporadically until 1959 (there isn’t any live footage of Willie Johnson). Next up are his 1955 collaborations with singer and harmonicist Sammy Lewis (these can be found on many compilations), followed by tracks by drummer Willie Nix, harp master Big Walter Horton (who also plays on the Willie Nix recordings with Willie Johnson). There are a few recordings with other people at the end of the playlist, and they’re as good as anything.

The Sammy Lewis-Willie Johnson Combo was a brief alliance during 1955, working the clubs in West Memphis, Arkansas, after Howlin’ Wolf had left for Chicago (they recorded three songs in a total of six takes, numbers 84 to 89 on the playlist). Their takes on “I Feel So Worried” (85 to 87 on the playlist) are among the many reworkings of Little Junior Parker’s “Feeling Good” (below), which has some similarities to “Catfish Blues.”

The ones with Willie Nix were recorded between July 1951 (the first two, Curtis Jones’ “Lonesome Bedroom Blues” and “Try Me One More Time,” 90 and 91) and Friday, April 25, 1952 (the next six, numbers 92 to 97); personnel on the last six are Willie Nix (vocal, drums), Big Walter Horton (harmonica), Billy Love (piano), Willie Johnson (guitar). Willie Nix’s “Riding in the Moonlight” is a cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Baby, Ride With Me,” (the first song on the playlist).

There’s a really unusual song among these, one of my favorites too, Big Walter Horton’s “Cotton Patch Hot Foot.” I think it’s Willie Johnson playing the guitar that sounds like a flute (number 98 on the playlist), but there’s a problem with the information from these Walter Horton sessions (numbers 98 through 105), every video lists two guitarists and there’s definitely only one guitarist on some of them; every video also lists “tap dancing effect.” I have some questions out to people who should know. In the meantime, this is who the videos list: Walter Horton (vocal, harmonica); Joe Hill Louis (guitar, percussion); Willie Johnson (guitar); unknown tap dancing effect; other musicians unknown; recorded: January/February 1951.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V-DpDdoUAg

People often describe his playing in the same way as they do another Memphian’s playing, Pat Hare’s, “it sounds jazzy, and has a rough edge,” some suggest both of these guys were the precursors of heavy metal (link in Pat Hare’s name leads to Blues Roots from November 2016).

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This Howlin’ Wolf discography, created by Stefan Wirz, should come in handy here and serve you for years to come.

Willie Johnson’s guitar defined the sound of Howlin’ Wolf’s early records.

“Keep What You Got” has a killer solo starting about a minute and a half in, but it’s Calvin Newborn playing that. Other people are Howlin’ Wolf (vocal, harmonica), Ike Turner (piano), Willie Johnson (guitar), Willie Steel (drums), recorded at radio station KWEM, West Memphis, AR, September 1951 (number 8 on the playlist).

Willie Johnson recorded “Bluebird Blues” (number 41 on the playlist) with Howlin’ Wolf a few times. Here’s the first, with Howlin’ Wolf (vocal, harmonica), James Cotton (harmonica), L.C. Hubert or Bill Johnson (piano), Willie Johnson (guitar), unknown bass, Willie Steel (drums), April 17, 1952 in Memphis.

The second “Bluebird Blues” (coincidentally, number 74 on the playlist and number 74 on the album it came from) was recorded in December of 1956 in Chicago, with Howlin’ Wolf (vocal, harmonica), Adolph “Billy” Duncan (tenor), Hosea Lee Kennard (piano), Willie Johnson, Otis “Smokey” Smothers (guitars, that’s Big Smokey, not Little Smokey), Willie Dixon (bass), Earl Phillips (drums).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp6m_gKqikQ

“Smokestack Lightning” and “You Can’t Be Beat” are the first two that Hubert Sumlin and Willie Johnson play together on. They’re also the first ones that Willie Johnson left Memphis to play on. Howlin’ Wolf (vocal, harmonica), Otis Spann and Hosea Lee Kennard (pianos), Willie Johnson and Hubert Sumlin (guitars), Willie Dixon (bass), Earl Phillips (drums), Chicago, January 1956.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbagQodPNOE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlDmQ5Yz680

Although that was the first recording of “Smokestack Lightning,” Willie Johnson was familiar with the song, having played on earlier songs that used some of the same parts, “Crying at Daybreak” (number 14) and “I Asked for Water (she gave me gasoline)” (number 68).

These YouTube channels, 706 Union Avenue Sessions, DooWopMan1961, contributed a lot of videos to the Willie Johnson playlist. The 706 Union Avenue Sessions YouTube channel is attempting to post everything recorded at that address, which was the Sun Records studio, and was also used for recordings for other companies, such as Modern and Chess.

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Here’s what the author of The Amazing Secret History of Elmore James, Steve Franz, said about Willie Johnson, “Perhaps one of the most underrated blues guitarists of all time, Willie Johnson is best known for his incendiary, firebrand work with Howlin’ Wolf. Starting his recording career in 1951—right alongside the Wolf—he helped to define and shape the overall impact of those early recordings that put Wolf on the map.” Steve produces the online radio show, Blues Unlimited; he put together a great 2-part episode (number 145), Part 1 and Part 2, dedicated to Willie Johnson, called “Play That Guitar Until It Smokes” (the line comes from what Howlin’ Wolf said to Willie Johnson in “House Rockin’ Boogie,” where Howlin’ Wolf also dropped the pearl of infinite wisdom, “I’ll be in your town when I get there”).

“Y…o…u m…a…y g…e…t b…e…t…t…e…r.,
b…u…t y…o…u.’.l…l n…e…v…e…r g…e…t w…e…l…l”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WuEbd9Nr1I&t=50s

Following are some playlists of related artists.
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https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsY6VJc9zDqnt6q2DuIQBuyrqkPf1rwr2

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Get your 2018 Blues Artwork Calendar with Free CD! Featuring 24 classic Pre-War Blues songs from such artists as: Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Blake, Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy, Tampa Red & Georgia Tom, The Beale Street Sheiks, Bo Weavil Jackson and more! Plus two RECENTLY DISCOVERED tracks by Jab Jones & The Memphis Jug Band! Be prepared to spend $24.95 plus shipping and handling. CDs from previous years are also available individually, as are calendars.

Don D.

[satellite]

Great stuff from top to bottom again, thanks Don. I loved the way the harmonica and guitar morphed in ‘Keep what you got’, and the great photos too. ‘You can’t be beat is a belter!
On a separate note, I presume the photos on the Bluebird section are of Mountain Bluebird and Eastern Bluebird? We don’t see such beauties this side of the pond…

[San Luis Rey]

Hey Don, Great stuff as usual!

Mike

[Don D.]

Thank you, satellite! Thank you, Mike!

I don’t know about the birds but, yes, they’re nice photos! Even though they’re native here, living in a city, I’d have to be very lucky to see something that looks like that.

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After I posted this I found a photo of Eddie Shaw with Howlin’ Wolf’s band in 1959.

Back: Henry Gray, Sam Lay, Eddie Shaw, Sam Jones. Front: Jerome Arnold, Howlin’ Wolf, John Littlejohn.

These are the first recordings he made with Howlin’ Wolf, then there was a five-year gap until he joined the band and played on a couple albums, including The Back Door Wolf (see end of section), which he also wrote four songs for.

Howlin’ Wolf (vocals) with Eddie Shaw (sax) plus unknown sax, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy (guitars), Lee Eggleston (piano) and Sam Lay (drums), Chicago, April 15, 1965

“(Ooh Baby) Hold Me” uses the “Killing Floor” riff…

…as does “Don’t Laugh at Me,” although it’s really stylized here.

Howlin’ Wolf (vocal), Eddie Shaw (tenor) plus two unknown saxophones, Henry Gray (piano), Hubert Sumlin (guitar), plus unknown second guitar and bass, Cassell Burrows (drums), Chicago, April 11, 1966.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6EC__DLO0U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UL_LXVeYnM

Howlin’ Wolf (vocal), Eddie Shaw (tenor) plus one unknown tenor, unknown organ, Hubert Sumlin (guitar), possibly Bob Anderson (bass), Cassell Burrows (drums), Chicago, June 1967.

Same session as above but Howlin’ Wolf also plays harmonica and the keyboard is a piano, player is still unknown.

There’s also this live “Dust My Broom” with Eddie Shaw on sax, Hubert Sumlin is on guitar, Andrew Blueblood MacMahon on bass (wish we could hear him better). That’s Son House demonstratively keeping time with his hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icp8D3nCpHw

Eddie Shaw’s son Vaan Shaw has been leading the Wolf Gang for the last few years.

Howlin’ Wolf’s last album, The Back Door Wolf (1973)

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I want to be sure everyone knows this is a chronological Willie Johnson playlist with 110 songs (including as many as I could find on YouTube). I used Stefan Wirz’s American Music discography of Howlin’ Wolf for the bulk of them.

Willie Johnson plays a lot of killer riffs. I should have taken notes as I was listening and putting it together. I’m afraid to comment now, except to say “The Cause of it All” was stuck in my head for a couple days.

Don D.

[ranja]

Thanks Don,
I’ll spend some quality time with this post. Always appreciate them.
on

[Don D.]

Thanks, Ron, always like to hear people are checking it out. If you think of anything while you’re listening, come on back and let us know.

Something we hear Willie Johnson doing a lot is starting tunes with those descending lines starting with 4 groups of triplets, repeating the line, sometimes verbatitim, sometimes slightly altered (sounds like blues scale to me, starting on the tonic, this I’m not so sure, going to start messing with it), as he does on the first song on the playlist, “Baby, Ride With Me” (first they recorded together) and quite a few others.

Don D.

[Author]

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