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Guitar Slim and Jelly Belly The Back Porch Boys
Label: Delmark
Recording information: 1947-1950.
Released 23/04/2002
Format: [email protected]
The blues players heard on this album underscore the cultural and musical ties between the Southeastern United States and New York City. Around 1950 down-home blues recordings were clearly out of the mainstream of black American popular music. Nonetheless Apollo felt that the market remained strong enough to release such blues-drenched guitar and vocal blues.
The name Guitar Slim has been used several times in the blues world. The most famous Guitar Slim was Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones; others have included James "Guitar Slim" Stephenson, Norman "Guitar Slim" Green, and Rodney "Guitar Slim Jr." Armstrong (who is Eddie Jones' son). But the Guitar Slim who is heard on this CD is Alec "Guitar Slim" Seward, a Virginia native who was born on March 16, 1901, and died in New York (his adopted home) on May 11, 1972. When Seward formed a duo with the obscure Louis "Jelly Belly" Hayes (not to be confused with jazz drummer Louis Hayes) in the late '40s and early '50s, they were billed as the Back Porch Boys (or in some cases, the Blues Boys). Seward and Hayes had a lot in common -- both were country blues singers who played acoustic guitar, and both were natives of the South who had moved to the Big Apple. Seward and Hayes' 1947 duets for Apollo are the main focus of this CD, and one can see why they called themselves the Back Porch Boys -- their rugged, unapologetically raw recordings make one think of Southern bluesmen playing their acoustic guitars on the back porch. Not all of the songs on this collection are by the Back Porch Boys; drawing on the Apollo catalog, Delmark also provides enjoyable late-'40s or early-'50s material by singer/pianist Champion Jack Dupree (the CD's most urban performer), an obscure country bluesman named Dennis McMillon, and the well-known Blind Willie McTell (who favors an interesting blues/gospel blend instead of the secular lyrics he was best known for). ~ Alex Henderson
Tracklist:
1. Big Hip Mamma (Seward & Hayes)
2. Good Boy, Long Way from Home (Seward & Hayes) *
3. King Kong Blues (Seward & Hayes)
4. Sweet Woman Blues (Seward & Hayes)
5. Friday the Thirteenth Blues (Seward & Hayes) *
6. Sorry Woman Blues (Seward & Hayes)
7. Be Kind Blues (Seward & Hayes)
8. Water Trough Blues (Seward & Hayes)
9. That's All Right with Me (Champion Jack Dupree) *
10. She Can Shake It (Champion Jack Dupree) *
11. Doomed (Champion Jack Dupree)
12. Rub a Little Boogie (Champion Jack Dupree)
13. Goin' Back Home (Dennis McMillon) *
14. Big Hip Mamma (Seward & Hayes, alternate) *
15. Sorry Woman Blues (Seward & Hayes, alternate) *
16. Be Kind Blues (Seward & Hayes, alternate) *
17. Goin' Back Home (Dennis McMillon, alternate)
18. It's My Desire (Blind Willie McTell, alternate) *
19. River Jordan (Blind Willie McTell) *
20. How About You (Blind Willie McTell) *
21. It's My Desire (Blind Willie McTell)
22. Hide Me in Thy Bosom (Blind Willie McTell)
* Previously Unreleased
The Back Porch Boys
Alec "Guitar Slim" Seward (vocals & guitar)
Louis "Jelly Belly" Hayes (vocals & guitar)
Recorded: Autumn 1947
Blind Willie McTell, (vocals & guitar)
Recorded: 1949 or 1950
Champion Jack Dupree (vocal,piano) (issued as Duke Bayou & His Mystic Six),
Brownie McGhee, (guitar)
Bob Harris(vocal)
Unknown 2nd guitar.drums,washboard and jug
Recorded: Autumn 1949
Dennis McMillon (vocals & guitar)
Fred Mendelson (suitcase)
Recorded: 1949 or 1950
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