Sunday Morning Blues - Memphis Minnie, Big Maybelle, Roy Milton, Amos Milburn

Continuing forward with the ABC Of The Blues, some great female blues vocals this week.

Volumes 29 and 30

Memphis Minnie
One of the very few early blues women that was considered equal in both vocal and guitar to her male contemporaries. Her vocal range is close to the higher pitched male vocals, a not uncommon singing level for early blues musicians. Born Lizzie Douglas in Louisiana, she was active from the 1920s to the 50s, when her health began to decline. She had run away at age thirteen to Memphis, playing guitar and then joining the circus. She didn't start recording until 1929. She returned to Memphis in 1957 after the general decline in slow, non-R&B, blues through the 50s.

Listening to the early, pre-WWII, recordings, you almost miss the vocals are being sung by a woman, her voice is more 'blues' than 'female vocals singing the blues' if that makes any sense to someone besides me. He guitar work is as good as any other blues artist of the time as well, classically country and Memphis in style. The recordings are all clean and clear as well, which is hard to find in some of the very early blues artists.

Big Maybelle
By contrast, Big Maybelle (or Mabel Louis Smith) had a deeper, very blues female vocal style. Singing primarily R&B and Gospel styles, her hey-day was in the 1950s. She started recording in the late 40s, and kept on going through the 60s even after her career started to falter. Like many blues artists she was plagued by drugs and other health problems. She died from diabetes in 1972 after a twenty-five year singing career.

Her voice is throaty, deep, and very bluesy. The songs here do not include her one massive hit Candy, or several of her other hits. Like a good number of musicians in the collection they did a good job digging down and finding the lesser known songs that showcase her abilities in as wide a range as possible. From pure blues to R&B and even a little Gospel in the mix. It's a good solid collection of music.

Roy Milton
Roy was half Chikasaw Indian and grew up on the Oklahoma Reservation before moving first to Tulsa and then Los Angeles by 1933. There he formed the band the Solid Sender and began playing clubs, he didn't start recording until the early 1940s however. He achieved a number of hits on the early R&B charts, primarily focused on both Jump and West Coast styles of blues. By the late 1950s, as with many blues and R&B artists, Rock & Roll had caused him to drop out of the limelight. He continued to play through the 1970s, ending with Johnny Otis' band.

The collection here is a good mix of various incarnations of his bands, with a wide range of backup and singers involved. It's actually a very good slice of the jump scene overall in just one group through the 30s, 40s and into the 50s a little bit. Another artist that, if you're into an big-band tinted style of blues, is worth tracking down and finding his recordings - a number of collections exist.

Amos Milburn
Amos was from and based out of Houston Texas, he didn't get his musical career started until after leaving the Navy post WWII. He formed a sixteen piece blues outfit performing in clubs, mostly jump and boogie style blues. He was known during the 50s for his drinking songs, which was part of his decline as the labels rook Rock & Roll and focused on the non-drinking teen market. He wasn't out for long as the mid-60s blues revival gave him a minor come-back. Unfortunately a series of strokes effectively ended his career by the early 70s, his last known recording was with Johnny Otis in 1972.

For jump blues the rhythms here are slower, very lounge-club oriented, but still unmistakably jump blues in rhythm. Another rendition of One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer appears here, by far the mellowest version I have heard. Some good dancing rhythms are presented, overall a good collection. A number of compilation albums were put out in the 90s that make his music not too difficult to find.

Next Week... Big Maceo, Blind Willie McTell, Memphis Slim (are favorite of mine), and Tommy McClennan.