I'm glad I got to see him with Cream. I think it was in the Music Hall, amazingly enough. Another blues great is Peter Green. Try some of the Fleetwood Mac stuff, from when he was still with them. Good mention of John Mayall. Saw several incarnations of his groups, all with great musicians, always excellent. The Animals were good, and Janis, of course. Paul Butterfield, Taj Mahal, Elvin Bishop, James Cotton, Johnny Winter, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Albert Collins, Canned Heat... lots of great stuff out there. Glad I got to see them, but I wish I could remember just who I saw better. There was one hell of a lot of great blues mixed in with the rock and the psychedelia.
You iz a lucky man I love Peter Green and old Fleetwood Mac. People have no idea they were a blues band when they first started out. Mick Fleetwood is a great shuffle drummer. Don't forget...Johnny Winter is going to be at the Meridian in October. This might be the last chance we have to see him. His health is deteriorating rapidly. We just lost Unc, so go see Johnny while you still can. I'm lucky in that I got to see some of the blues greats before they passed. I got to see Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Albert Collins, Lightnin' Hopkins (of course...I'm an H-Town boy), Stevie Ray (30+ times, and only twice in anything larger than Fitzgeralds or Rockefellers), Paul Butterfield, Johnny "Clyde" Copeland, Juke Boy Bonner, Joe "Guitar" Hughes (sat in with him once also) and Arnett Cobb. The blues musicians I would have loved to see but never got the chance were Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker and Mike Bloomfield. There are many others, but those three I would have given anything to see play live.
I'l tell you a little story. True story. In September 1979, I was a freshman at UT-Austin. My folks moved me up to Austin the weekend before the frat rush parties started. Freshman year I stayed at a dorm called Contessa, on Nueces street. The Sunday of that weekend, I decided to take a stroll around west campus and go have a few beers somewhere. Checking out my new 'hood, ya know. I remember walking up Nueces to 29th street. I stopped in Oat Willies, which was at 29th and Guadelupe back then, and checked out their fine supply of head shop items. I walked across the street, and there was a club there at the time called the Rome Inn. It had columns like a Roman Palace. I paid a $2.00 cover charge, drank 75 cent longnecks, and watched Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble play until 2:00 AM. This is when SRV had Jackie Newhouse playing bass for him...before Tommy Shannon joined Double Trouble. There were no more than 20 people in the club all night. This was my first experience seeing SRV live. I hadn't even heard the name before that evening. I remember being blown away by this guy. I thought he was a white bluesman version of Jimi Hendrix. Unfortunately, I was intimidated by him rather than inspired by him. I remember thinking "is this what I have to do to play guitar in this town??". I didn't pick up a guitar for 3 months, and hit the books hard. Then I saw the Fabulous Thunderbirds for the first time. I watched Jimmie Vaughan, and said "now there's something I can do!", and ever since I was a bigger Jimmie fan than I was a Stevie fan. But I never lost my respect for SRV. After that, from 1980-1983/1984, I would go see SRV or the Fab T-Birds every single chance I got. 30+ times for each, and always in clubs...the original Antones, Soap Creek Saloon or Steamboat 1874 in Austin, and Fitzgeralds or Rockefellers in Houston. Great memories.
I like her work too - try some early Etta James - not all pure blues (however you may define it). I think Susan channels Etta sometimes .... Lots of great names on this list - for a lesser known artist who is a mutant cross between Sam Cooke and Howlin Wolf, try Ted Hawkins. A great story too about a street artist who only achieved success (in the US anyway) posthumously. Lastly, I don't believe the Piedmont Blues have gotten a nod. Try some Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Great harp work.
Are you familiar with Harlem Slim? He is a Houston piedmont blues artist. Doesn't play around as much as he used to but has a couple of CDs out. Great player. He works during the day at Fullers Vintage Guitar, the best guitar store in Houston and RMT's personal toy store! (I wish...I'd be living in my car if it was ) Actually several great local guitar players work there....John Richardson, Sparky Parker, Slim. If you are into guitars, go check out Fuller's. Best selection of Gibson acoustics in town.
LOL! Well you're lucky you're younger, old man! I forgot about Mike Bloomfield when he had Electric Flag, before they broke up, and several other times, some with Al Kooper, who was yet another one of those guys who turned up playing with different people. What folks today don't realize is how many great musicians would turn up for some gigs with people on tour. Maybe they were in town for another reason, or had some free time and wanted to sit in, but it happened all the time. People who went to almost all the concerts at the Music Hall and that old barn, the Coliseum, will know what I'm talking about. And before things got really "commercialized," it was very common for 3, 4, and even 5 groups to play one concert. The length of the sets varied more because of time then anything else. Sometimes the "people in charge of the ****in' venue" would let things go late (past midnight), and sometimes they wouldn't. I saw Stevie Ray, of course, but I considered him a more recent blues great. I can see how you'd be intimidated by him! And man, the T-Birds were great, weren't they?
Stevie died when I was in about the 5th grade or so. I was devastated. I remember one show in Houston; my mom wouldn't let me go. Then, he died. Sadness. I still love that guy. I got my horn out the other day and threw in some SRV. Hell, I hadn't played in years. It was fun, but my chops aren't what they used to be. Anyway. Any of you all know a guy called the Mighty Orq? He plays at the Big Easy on Monday nights. I like him a lot.
When SRV died, I stayed in bed for a week with a bottle of bourbon. Used all my vacation time. I know Orq. He's a nice guy and a great guitar player. More blues-rock than straight blues, but good. Some H-Town blues acts to check out (besides the H-Town Jukes, of course ) are Sonny Boy Terry, Earl Gilliam, Texas Johnny Brown, Milton Hopkins, I.J. Gosey & John McVey.
B.B. King Blind Mississippi Morris Watermelon Slim Robert Johnson Muddy Waters Howlin' Wolf John Lee Hooker
I completely agree. Despite the nasty fretwork, that disc could have been waaaaaaay sicker had he used his own (and very worthy, IMHO) voice. That's why I like "Me and Mr. Johnson" better.
Blizzidy-ump. Anybody take a look at the front page of the City/State section of today's Houston Chronicle? That's Jimmy "Louisiana" Dotson, playing my Epiphone Zephyr Blues Deluxe. The wake last night was very special. Some of the local blues/r&b musicians who showed up include: Roy Head Texas Johnny Brown Jimmy "Louisiana" Dotson Joe Nettles I.J. Gosey Pete Mayes Milton Hopkins Sonny Boy Terry Trudy Lynn Pee Wee Stephens Gene Kelton Lady D Sandy Hickey Gloria Edwards and most of KPFT's blues DJ crew. Roger Wood emceed the evening. A great send-off for Jimmy "T-99" Nelson. I'm glad I was there.
Tex, you've heard of Earl Gilliam?!?!? He's a real good friend of mine and a better friend of my dad. You've probably run into my dad at some point in time (he's a crazy ass horn player who has been known to bounce around the Houston blues scene). That's cool to Earl's name come up on the good ole bbs - small world after all.
Know him? Kind of....I've sat in with him 2 or 3 times at jams around town, and run into him many other times at clubs around town. We always shake hands when we see each other. It's one of those things where he doesn't know me by name, but he knows me from playing around. By chance, is your dad's name Harry Sheppard?
Yeah, you can ask Earl if he's played with [insert name here - doesn't matter who] and he'll always say, "oh yeah, I've played with him - he ain't worth a s**t." My dad does know who Harry Sheppard is and I've heard the name (my dad's always grumbling about the competition ;--). Incidentally, my dad's name is Sonny Garrett, in case it rings a bell.
Yes, I've heard Earl say that a few times, but never about ME! And yes, I've heard your Dad's name and might have played with him at a Houston Blues Society jam at the Big Easy maybe 2-3 years ago. Does he play trumpet, sax or both? Also, advance warning, but please tell your Dad to make sure he comes to the November HBS jam...my band (the H-Town Jukes) will be hosting it. Do you and your Dad hang out at the Doghouse?
Oh hell yeah. I first went over to the doghouse probably 10 years ago (damn, has it been that long?). My dad will usually stop by over there on Sundays to jam a bit and partake in some of that bbq they usually have going over there. I'll definitely pass along the info about the HBS jam you mentioned.
