ARCHIVE
TOM
COPI/MICHAEL
OCHS
ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
42 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019
fundamentaltothemusic’shistory– BB
King,RooseveltSykes,SonHouse,Muddy
Waters,BigMamaThornton– while
cockinganeyetootherdevelopments
(CliftonChenier’szydeco),andbringing
newerplayersintothefold,suchasLuther
Allison,whosedebutalbumhadbeen
releasedin1968,althoughhe’dearnedhis
stripesplayingwithHowlin’Wolfand
FreddieKing.
ThefestivalkickedoffonFriday,
August1 atFullerFlatlands,a fieldon
theoutskirtsoftheuniversitycampus.
Around10,000peopleattended,including
somebluesobsessivestravellinginfrom
Detroitandfurtherafield.Themajority
oftheaudience,though,asJohnFishel’s
brotherJimnotesinhisliners,were“eager
whitehigh-schoolandcollegekids”.Jim
wasoneofthem,a youngbluesobsessive
justsettingoutonhisbroadermusical
education.Jimwouldtagalongonhis
brother’sresearchtripstoChicago.When
it cametothefestivalhimself,hebrought
alonga Norelcoquarter-inchtaperecorder
todocumentthemajorityofthesets.
Theserecordings,restoredbyJim’s
archivistsonParker,arethecoreofThird
Man’sAnnArborBluesFestival 1969 set.
They’reroughandready,closertofield
recordingsofanevent,butthat’stheir
magic.There’ssomethingarrestingin
thequalityofthesoundhere;despitethe
lo-fiprovenance,it’sclearandvivid,with
wildaudienceinterjectionscapturingthe
bonhomieoftheevent.Thosegoodvibes
extendedbackstage,withtheperformers
hanging out together asif thiswerea
familyreunion,
blues
musicianstalkingabouttheir
grandchildren,sharingroadstoriesor
spendingtimewithaudiencemembers
who’dmadetheirwaybackstagethanks
toa fairlylaxapproachtosecurity.
JimFishelhadalsolandedthejob
offestival“host”forArthur“BigBoy”
Crudup,FredMcDowellandBigMama
Thornton.Eachoftheseblueslegends
contributesa potentperformance.
Crudup’s“SoGladYou’reMine”is bare-
boned,simultaneouslytautandlaid-back,
theguitarswitchbladingbetweenclipped
andloose,Crudup’svoicerichand
shudderingwithemotion.Mississippi
FredMcDowellperforms“JohnHenry”
attherequestofBBKing,andit’soneof
themoststartlingfiveminuteshere,with
McDowell’sguitarwindingacrossa trebly
tightrope,hisslideswoopinganddiving
beforeholdingnotesina claustrophobic
clutch,allwhilechippingouta rhythm
withpiston-pulsemechanics.
BigMamaThorntonandTheHound
Doggers’“BallAndChain”is oneof
theset’sabsolutehighlights.Slight
buttight,theHoundDoggerswindouta
loosebluesgrooveoverwhichThornton
singsoutproud– she’salmostpeerless
inherabilitytoelaborateona melody
andthemewithouteverlapsingintotired
theatrics.ThenTheHoundDoggers’
guitaristburstsintothefraywith 10
secondsofvolumeoverload,theguitar
molten,beforestretchingoutona solo
that’sanobjectlessonintheblues,
punctuatingthesongwithallthe
dramaneededwhilekeeping
everything– tone,notes,
improvisation – just so.
Everysongherehasitsmerits;there
isn’ta dudamongthem.It’sgreatto
hearCliftonChenieremergingoutofthe
overloaded,intenselywroughtblues
extensionsofLutherAllisonandtheBlue
Nebulae;MagicSam’s“IFeelSoGood(I
WannaBoogie)”is particularlywildgiven
itsprovenance,withMagicSamturning
upattheeventwithoutbackingbandor
instrument;thequicklyassembledcombo
playasthoughtheirlivesdependonit.
Perhapsthemoststartlingperformance,
though,is SonHouse’s“DeathLetter
Blues”,whereHouse’schillingdelivery
freezestime,hisguitarreducedtobarest
essentials,hisvoicegnarledbutbeautiful.
Listeningback,it’snosurprisethat
thefirstAnnArborBluesFestivalhas,
over 50 years,developedsucha strong
mythology.Woodstockmighthavehad
broaderculturalpurchase,butAnnArbor
wasmorefocused,moredefinitive,and
themusic,onthisevidence,wassimply
better.AsperformerJamesCottontold
JimFishel,“Ithinkthat’sthebestfestival
I everwenttoinmylife!Everybodywas
justreadyforit.”Andhow.
Extras:9/10.Thesetis availableasa CD
ortwodouble-LPs(eachdouble-LPwith
anextratrack,fromPinetopPerkinsand
BigMojoElemrespectively).There’sa
deluxeeditionwithcolouredvinyl,a 50-
pagebook,andreproductionsofvarious
ephemerafromthefestival(tickets,
poster,pressclippings,anautographed
program).Alleditionsfeaturelinernotes
fromSophieAbramowitz,DavidBealand
ParkerFishel,andrecollectionsfromJim
Fishel.Earlyordersofthesetcomewitha
free Mississippi Fred McDowell 78rpm.
SLEEVENOTES
Disc:One
1 DirtyMotherFor
You- RooseveltSykes
2 SoGladYou’reMine
- Arthur“BigBoy”
Crudup
3 TooMuchAlcohol-
JBHutto& HisHawks
4 I WonderWhy-
Jimmy“FastFingers”
Dawkins
5 HelpMe(ATribute
ToSonnyBoy
Williamson)
- JuniorWells
6 I’veGotA Mind
ToGiveUpLiving
- BBKingWith
SonnyFreeman
AndTheUnusuals
7 JohnHenry
- Mississippi
FredMcDowell
8 EverybodyMust
Suffer/StoneCrazy
- LutherAllisonAnd
TheBlueNebulae
9 TuM’asPromis
L’Amour(You
PromisedMeLove)
- CliftonChenier
10 HardLuck- The
OriginalHowlin’Wolf
AndHisOrchestra
11 SoManyRoads,
SoManyTrains
- OtisRush
D i s c :Two
1 LongDistanceCall
- MuddyWaters
2 Movin’AndGroovin’
- CharlieMusselwhite
3 I FeelSoGood
(IWannaBoogie)
- MagicSam
4 JellyJellyBlues
- ShirleyGriffith
5 CallIt Stormy
Monday(But
TuesdayIs JustAs
Bad)- T-BoneWalker
6 BallAndChain- Big
MamaThorntonAnd
TheHoundDoggers
7 Juanita- BigJoe
Williams
8 KeyToTheHighway
- SamLay
9 MojoHand-
Lightnin’Hopkins
10 OffTheWall
- JamesCotton
BluesBand
11 DeathLetterBlues
- Son House
HOUNDDOG
TAYLOR& THE
HOUSEROCKERS
BewareOfTheDog!
ALLIGATOR, 1976
TheoverlookedHound
Dogin twosetsfrom1974,theyear
beforehepassed.Thiscollectioncarves
everythingdowntobarestessentials,
TheHouseRockers(here,BrewerPhillips
andTedHarvey) along for a wild ride.
9/10
BBKING
LiveIn Cook
CountyJailABC, 1971
Anincredibleelectric
bluesset,recordedlate
thepreviousyear.Many
goforLiveAtTheRegal, butthisonejust
bestsit. Kingturnsthingsona dime,his
guitarfluidwhenit needs,stingingand
crushingwhenpunctuating these
legendary songs.
8/10
M U D DYWAT E R S
Muddy‘Mississippi’
WatersLiveBLUESKY, 1979
Recordedacross 1977
and1978,producedby
JohnnyWinter(whoalso
joinsonguitarfora fewsongs),Waters
is onstartlingform,gettingtheaudience
onsidefromtheget-go.You’reherefor
hisslideguitarandvoice,though,andhe
completelydelivers,each song perfect
for his talents.8/10
HOWTOBUY...
THREE GREAT LIVE BLUES ALBUMS
Raw material: three blues masters at their most rugged
Bluesbrothers:
(l-r)Howlin’Wolf
andMuddy
Watersrelax
backstageat
the festival
