Detroit Blues: Blues from the Motor City 1938-1954

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Personnel: Eddie "Guitar" Burns (vocals, guitar, harmonica); L.C. Green, Henry Smith , Little Eddie Kirkland, Louisiana Red, Sampson Pittman (vocals, guitar); Sam Kelly, Eddie Burns, L.C. Green (vocals, harmonica); Joe Von Battle (vocals); Percy Lee Brown, John T. Smith, George Jackson, John T. Smith, Little George Jackson, Percy Lee Brown (guitar); Sonny Boy Williamson, Jesse Lee Williams (harmonica); John Hooks, Johnny Hooks (tenor saxophone); Jimmy Miller, Jimmy Miller (trumpet); Charles Mills, Joe Woods, Joe Woods, Charley Mills, Johnny Walters (piano); Milt Hinton (bass guitar); Allison Tucker, Jimmy Tarrant, Thomas Whitehead, Curtis Foster, Jimmy Turner, Thomas Whitehead, Curtis Foster, Jimmy Tarrant, Alonso Tucker (drums); Washboard Willie (washboard, unknown instrument); Eddie Kirkland, John Lee Hooker, Baby Boy Warren, Playboy Fuller, Calvin Frazier (vocals, guitar); Grace Brim (vocals, harmonica); Big Maceo Merriweather, Detroit Count (vocals, piano); John Brim (guitar); Robert Richard, Walter Mitchell (harmonica); Chuck Smith, Boogie Woogie Red (piano); Bernard Besman (organ, xylophone); Ray Brown (drums). Recording information: Cincinnati, OH (10/15/1938-??/??/1954); Detroit, MI (10/15/1938-??/??/1954). Though Detroit may never have had the instant blues recognition of a city like Chicago, it too experienced, housed, and influenced its fair share of important musicians, not the least of whom was Robert Johnson associate Calvin Frazier and, of course, John Lee Hooker. But Detroit Blues: Blues from the Motor City 1938-1954 does its best to show that the scene consisted of more than these two stars. Though the first two discs (of four!) are dedicated to Frazier and Sampson Pittman and then Hooker, respectively, the second two, and especially the last, explore the work of musicians like the prolific Baby Boy Warren, who never found much recognition beyond Hastings Street, Playboy Fuller (aka Louisiana Red), Big Maceo Merriweather, Sam Kelly, Eddie Burns, and even Joe Van Battle, a local entrepreneur and label owner, and a man who recorded a lot of the artists included here (because of the relative dearth of major studios, Detroit bluesmen weren't given as much exposure as their Windy City counterparts). The discs are not ordered chronologically, which can be a bit of an annoyance, but the detailed liner notes, which fully explain the simple, gritty, urban-industrial blues brought up from Southern workers to the factories of the North, more than make up for this. Moving from Alan Lomax field recordings and professional studio work, Detroit Blues: Blues from the Motor City 1938-1954 is a great explanation of what was happening in the city during that time period, as blues began to migrate north and become influenced by its new surroundings, as well as a great jumping-off point for an exploration of the artists who made up the lifeblood of Detroit blues. ~ Marisa Brown

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