I first started listening to the blues and playing guitar when I was just twelve years old. Born and bred in Newport, South Wales, I had begun singing in my local Baptist Church. I’m sure Church music and imagery had a direct influence on early blues – hymns, gospel, field hollers! Maybe that’s why, when I first heard the blues, it felt like coming home. Connecting with something already familiar.
I will never, ever forget hearing J.B. Lenoir sing Alabama Blues at the Colston Hall in Bristol in 1965. He was part of the American Folk Blues tour. I had gone along to see the young maverick guitar slinger Buddy Guy. He was brilliant, of course. But it was J.B. Lenoir who left the most lasting impression on me. The racial politics of the time had clearly inspired J.B’s heart rending Alabama Blues.
The blues is all about feeling. About the direct connection between your own emotions and with that river of human experience that you inherit. A kind of distilled collective consciousness. I have always felt that the blues is like a river flowing -through history and across continents. A rich elemental force that connects those individuals blessed with a heightened sensitivity to those basic feelings we all share in common. That’s why the blues has, is and will continue to be such a powerful influence on musicians and blues lovers. It’s about depth of feeling, instinct and conviction. Two literary references spring to my mind. One is Ben Jonson’s profound observation that the weight of a man’s soul can be heard in his voice. The other is E.M. Forster’s “only connect”. The best blues singers and blues musicians use the whole depth of their own personal experience to communicate with their audience. I was once asked to explain the blues in one word (for a journalist, of course). Cathartic was my reply. I think she expected me to say sad or introverted or self-indulgent (but that would have been one word too many). I just wanted to get over the idea that the blues can change people. I wanted to give some idea of why, even though the subject and style might express sadness, loss, anger, rage, jealousy or lost love, the result can often be an emotionally uplifting experience. There’s huge reassurance in discovering that you’re not the only one to experience unrequited love or to be betrayed …or find yourself the betrayer. There will be many others who have gone before you. It’s just that blues musicians make it their business to express how it feels to be a human being – in terms of ordinary, everyday working life. That’s why we recognise echoes of our own feelings when we listen to Robert Johnson or to BB King. The style, the sophistication level, may be a million miles apart but the raw emotion is common, reflecting the life experience and feeling of each individual musician.
My friend, the traditional blues harmonica master Wallace Coleman, told me that being a Christian and being part of the Church gave him an inner strength that had helped him deal with the racial prejudice in the Southern States of America that he’d confronted when he was a young man. I believe the blues does give you a strong sense of self and purpose, especially when you dedicate your life to it. I know it’s helped me come through some pretty tough times in my own life. Best of all is the strong sense of camaraderie that develops between good musicians. Some musicians can be pretty competitive of course, but, to my mind, the best blues comes when the band members “get behind the man” as Robert Jr Lockwood said. Muddy Waters was the quintessential master blues bandleader. I saw his band in London in the 70’s when Jerry Portney was with him. The close work between harp and Muddy’s giant voice was both technically awesome and, at the same time, natural as can be! Just as Otis Spann on piano and James Cotton’s harp had underpinned earlier classics by Muddy. Total empathy!
I first met Wallace Coleman early in 2006 when he was playing in the UK at one of Gerard Homan’s Shakedown gigs. Wallace was struggling to fill three sets so I was asked if I could help out. I didn’t have my guitar with me (as Wallace assumed any self-respecting guitar player would do) so I could only suggest I sing a couple of numbers to stretch out his set. I don’t think Wallace could quite believe it when I launched into a Little Walter tune followed up by Sonny Boy Williamson and J.B. Lenoir. Where did the limey learn that stuff and where did he get that voice? There was that immediate feeling of empathy. A natural link between us because, despite being born on opposite sides of the Atlantic, we came from the same blues stable – traditional Chicago blues from the 50’s and early 60’s. As a singer, there’s nothing better than knowing you’ve got a real bunch of blues players behind you. With that driving force you don’t need no safety net!
We kept in touch after the gig. The next thing, I was on the plane to Cleveland, Ohio in the USA to do a couple of guest spots with Wallace’s fine band. I couldn’t believe my luck when Wallace’s guitar player Dean Cohen handed me his beautifully restored Gibson Les Paul Gold Top. Trust or what? Dean didn’t even bat an eyelid as I flipped it over (I’m a true lefty, playing guitar upside down left handed but with no restringing). It felt real easy playing with such gifted natural bluesmen. And they could swing!
While first in Cleveland I was privileged to be introduced to Robert Jr Lockwood (Robert Johnson’s ‘adopted’ son) and hear him play with his legendary band at the East Cleveland Public Library’s impressive new auditorium. To hear him play some of Johnson’s songs was incredible. Just to imagine such a direct link with the cradle of the blues. And now I’m connected to it, playing with Wallace Coleman, Robert Jr Lockwood’s only harmonica man for 10 years! For me it really is a sweet, sweet dream come true. Wallace is a true gentleman. A great harmonica player with his own style. A style which also echoes the best of the best – Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson.
I went back to Cleveland late in 2006 to record an album with Wallace. When I stepped off the plane he was there to greet me with the news that Robert Jr had had a bad fall and was in the hospital. We visited him the very next morning. Family, friends and musicians were all in a state of shock…hoping beyond hope that he’d get
well and eventually resume his authoritative position in front of his own band in residence at Fat Fish Blue. That night Wallace and his wife (and manager) Jody took me along to support the band. Next thing I know I get asked up by Maurice the sax player and I’m on stage singing Everyday I Have The Blues with Robert Jr Lockwood’s Allstars!
Wallace had already decided that we should press ahead with our planned recording
session. Some of the musicians who worked with us were from his own band. We also asked Robert’s guitarist, D.C. Carnes, to join us on the sessions. The result was a melange of originals and classic covers. A mix of electric Chicago style blues and acoustic country blues. A twenty two track double album finally due for release on the Blonde On Blonde label in the fall of 2007 – “Repossession Blues” (Dave Thomas with special guest Wallace Coleman). It was the result of just six studio sessions at Audioworks, Palma Heights, Cleveland, Ohio.
During these intense and creative sessions the inevitable happened. Robert Jr Lockwood died in the afternoon of the 21st November 2006.
The weather in Cleveland had been remarkably clement for the time of year. My good friend Joe Outlaw had been showing me the city in an open top sports car. Wallace and Joe were with me on a photo shoot down by the edge of Lake Eyrie where the Cuyahoga (the burning river) emerges. It was cold alright but it was a fine sunny day without a cloud in the sky. We were talking about how quickly the weather could change. Snow blowing across the great lakes from Canada to the North West. Sure enough, a couple of days later the weather did change. And fast. Twelve inches of snow in Chicago, floods in Missouri and high winds over New York. I had been scheduled to fly back to the UK on December 1st but the change in the weather put paid to that. I was eventually able to board my homeward flight late on December 2nd 2006…after I had paid my last respects - that crisp, bright morning - to Robert Jr Lockwood at his memorial service in downtown Cleveland. The Old Church was packed. David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards was there. Crazy Marvin played lyrical harmonica. Robert Johnson’s own son read a tribute. Two fine female gospel singers sang to a haunting piano. The singing rose to the rafters. It was an experience I’ll never, ever forget.
The preacher told us that the blues never die. I believe him. The blues will never die. |
