Atlanta Professional Musicians
Connecting Atlanta Musicians
How many of you regularly study older legendary Georgia Blues artists?
Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to connect with a lot more people that love, study and crave the older or what I call the REAL Georgia blues which was much of the foundation of all modern blues. The talent scouts began coming to Atlanta in the early 1920s searching for talented musicians for recordings. The industry was brand new and they found hillbilly, gospel and blues to be 3 rich genres they could harvest from this area. In fact many of the greats like Jimmy Rodgers the father of country music recorded in Atlanta and even played with the bluesmen of the day to some extent although it was limited due to racial issues. The industry did a great job of segregation.
BBQ Bob came to town early on and right on his heels was his childhood friend Curley Weaver and Bob's younger brother Charley Lincoln. All would become recording stars on Columbia records and a couple other labels in the late 20 early 1930s. Weaver recorded his last sessions in 1949 which included the legandary album titled "Pig And Whistle Red" with he and Blind Willie McTell. Perhaps one of the finest sessions ever recorded in the history of blues. Buddy Moss a young harmonia wizard who would also learn guitar became a smash hit star when he hobo'ed to NYC in 1933 with all the other veterans and recorded 12 sides which were all released. When they went back in the fall one of the musicians Fred McMullen left the Georgia Browns and replaced by Blind Willie McTell which may be one of the first times McTell and Weaver recorded together. They played with Buddy Moss to make up the Ga Browns who had some amazing party tunes you just have to own. This was some truly wonderful Georgia house party music. Or as many people dubbed those house or rent parties a "Boogie".
Mr Frank Edwards was also around in these days but a very young man coming up. He ran away from home at 14 in the 1920s and said to live with Tampa Red in Fla, moved to Chicago in the days blues was being born in that town. He knew all the other young up coming musicians such as Muddy Waters and toured the circuit with legends like Tommy McClennon of the Miss. Sheiks. The history just keeps on coming with Mr Frank but many people in Atlanta knew him and remember him to this day.
Peg Leg Howell was another country artist but a little older. When he came to ATL in early 1920s to take advantage of the musical opportunities he was already 35 years old. He was a tough one and had lost his leg in a shooting. His raw style along with his fiddle player was uniquely wonderful and really grows on you. It has become some of my most favorite blues of all times and some of his song formats and patterns can still be heard in many contemporary songs and styles. It amazes me sometimes how many treasures are in this music when you bother to listen.
One of the things I love to do is find songs and styles that are credited to Delta and Piedmont musicians, from licks, tricks and even whole songs and determine they are actually rooted in Georgia. There are a number of songs BB Fuller and Sonny Terry played in the late 1930s that were written by Atlanta artists such as Buddy Moss, Curley Weaver. In fact many of those songs were never properly credited and the Atlanta artists were ripped off pretty badly in the old days. And just simply jerked around. I've spoken to many older musicians that don't want to have anything to do with blues or music because of the messed up situations of the past.
Luckily many of the Atlanta music lost or never released in the 1930s was later bought by record companies, mostly in Europe, and released. So songs like "Born To Die" with Buddy Moss and Weaver was finally released in the 1990s for the first time. And one of the damn best blues songs I've ever heard. I love to hear the similar genetic like connections between licks and runs by Charley Patton, Son House then connect those to styles and licks that Curley Weaver and his family used. And the same relationships to the Piedmont area. It's really amazing how GA seems to be completely left out of blues history in the sense of pop culture awareness. Our legacy of blues here is just as strong if not stronger than any other region. It could even be argued Atlanta is the true heart of all southern blues music since this was the HUB in the golden era of blues. This place contained the echos of all music throughout the south in one place. Sure Beale Street is fantastic but what ever happened to our Decutur Street. It got swept up in redevelopment and we lost some of the best landmarks. Then again we are a city that came inches from demolishing the Fox Teatre. We're not the brightest city sometimes.
One problem we have in Ga and Atlanta is that nearly everyone into blues is ignorant about our own heritage and often have Chicago Blues shoved so far up their keesters they can't see or hear anything else. Face it the worlds idea of blues starts from about 1960 forward. Maybe if enough people begin chipping away at this problem it could change a lot of things for the good. People that know all about John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf but have not a clue about the legends here. A great example is the reverence many of those bluesmen would have had for our own Mr Frank Edwards who was indeed loved by the blues community but still struggled with the help of Music Maker just to have any success. Everywhere I play I make a point of performing some Atlanta blues and always explain who and where it came from. And more important than the notes I tell what the story and words mean.
If anyone wants to discuss Ga blues or interested in working on it more please post. Perhaps we can even connect. I have a jam about once a year and thinking of a big blues only acoustic jam in the fall in Conyers. You can check out my site or contact me. On facebook too. I also give lessons but honestly I share more information and time with people for free than I actually get paid for. If you want to learn some Ga Blues chances are I can show you or point you to someone who can.
I'd love to hear from others and your views. I'm not too worried about offending anyone so don't bother bitching me out for my opinions. I'm just about sick of going with the flow. I want to educate more people but I'd also love to see more people actually take the same interest in the local music and follow your own journey too. I highly recommend the JSP Atlanta Blues boxset sold on the web by an outfit in England but available globally. It has The Ga Browns, Curley Weaver, Ga Browns, Peg Leg Howell and a lot more Atlanta stuff. But you also need McTell, Buddy Moss albums too. Pig and Whistle Red is also the name of an old Atlanta BBQ joint where they hung out and also the name of one of the best blues albums you'll ever buy. Listen to Curley Weaver sing Brown Skin Woman and you'll be amazed. The man was decades ahead of his time.
Correction: I realized the mp3 sample I posted is the 1933 NYC recording of McTell, Moss, Weaver as the Georgia Browns. Moss was basically still a kid by my standards, Weaver young but still an extreme veteran of the bunch. McTell for the first time being coupled with these other Ga boys. Same sessions in which made Moss a star as well. Although short lived by his Greene county Ga prison term around 1935 and by the time he was released around '41 the blues recording industry was completely dried up with very few exceptions. Same year Mr Frank recorded his hit "Got To Get Together" on Okey records with a topic about WWII. I just wish I knew a fraction of the real Ga blues history we've all missed out on.
I just wanted to connect with a lot more people that love, study and crave the older or what I call the REAL Georgia blues which was much of the foundation of all modern blues. The talent scouts began coming to Atlanta in the early 1920s searching for talented musicians for recordings. The industry was brand new and they found hillbilly, gospel and blues to be 3 rich genres they could harvest from this area. In fact many of the greats like Jimmy Rodgers the father of country music recorded in Atlanta and even played with the bluesmen of the day to some extent although it was limited due to racial issues. The industry did a great job of segregation.
BBQ Bob came to town early on and right on his heels was his childhood friend Curley Weaver and Bob's younger brother Charley Lincoln. All would become recording stars on Columbia records and a couple other labels in the late 20 early 1930s. Weaver recorded his last sessions in 1949 which included the legandary album titled "Pig And Whistle Red" with he and Blind Willie McTell. Perhaps one of the finest sessions ever recorded in the history of blues. Buddy Moss a young harmonia wizard who would also learn guitar became a smash hit star when he hobo'ed to NYC in 1933 with all the other veterans and recorded 12 sides which were all released. When they went back in the fall one of the musicians Fred McMullen left the Georgia Browns and replaced by Blind Willie McTell which may be one of the first times McTell and Weaver recorded together. They played with Buddy Moss to make up the Ga Browns who had some amazing party tunes you just have to own. This was some truly wonderful Georgia house party music. Or as many people dubbed those house or rent parties a "Boogie".
Mr Frank Edwards was also around in these days but a very young man coming up. He ran away from home at 14 in the 1920s and said to live with Tampa Red in Fla, moved to Chicago in the days blues was being born in that town. He knew all the other young up coming musicians such as Muddy Waters and toured the circuit with legends like Tommy McClennon of the Miss. Sheiks. The history just keeps on coming with Mr Frank but many people in Atlanta knew him and remember him to this day.
Peg Leg Howell was another country artist but a little older. When he came to ATL in early 1920s to take advantage of the musical opportunities he was already 35 years old. He was a tough one and had lost his leg in a shooting. His raw style along with his fiddle player was uniquely wonderful and really grows on you. It has become some of my most favorite blues of all times and some of his song formats and patterns can still be heard in many contemporary songs and styles. It amazes me sometimes how many treasures are in this music when you bother to listen.
One of the things I love to do is find songs and styles that are credited to Delta and Piedmont musicians, from licks, tricks and even whole songs and determine they are actually rooted in Georgia. There are a number of songs BB Fuller and Sonny Terry played in the late 1930s that were written by Atlanta artists such as Buddy Moss, Curley Weaver. In fact many of those songs were never properly credited and the Atlanta artists were ripped off pretty badly in the old days. And just simply jerked around. I've spoken to many older musicians that don't want to have anything to do with blues or music because of the messed up situations of the past.
Luckily many of the Atlanta music lost or never released in the 1930s was later bought by record companies, mostly in Europe, and released. So songs like "Born To Die" with Buddy Moss and Weaver was finally released in the 1990s for the first time. And one of the damn best blues songs I've ever heard. I love to hear the similar genetic like connections between licks and runs by Charley Patton, Son House then connect those to styles and licks that Curley Weaver and his family used. And the same relationships to the Piedmont area. It's really amazing how GA seems to be completely left out of blues history in the sense of pop culture awareness. Our legacy of blues here is just as strong if not stronger than any other region. It could even be argued Atlanta is the true heart of all southern blues music since this was the HUB in the golden era of blues. This place contained the echos of all music throughout the south in one place. Sure Beale Street is fantastic but what ever happened to our Decutur Street. It got swept up in redevelopment and we lost some of the best landmarks. Then again we are a city that came inches from demolishing the Fox Teatre. We're not the brightest city sometimes.
One problem we have in Ga and Atlanta is that nearly everyone into blues is ignorant about our own heritage and often have Chicago Blues shoved so far up their keesters they can't see or hear anything else. Face it the worlds idea of blues starts from about 1960 forward. Maybe if enough people begin chipping away at this problem it could change a lot of things for the good. People that know all about John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf but have not a clue about the legends here. A great example is the reverence many of those bluesmen would have had for our own Mr Frank Edwards who was indeed loved by the blues community but still struggled with the help of Music Maker just to have any success. Everywhere I play I make a point of performing some Atlanta blues and always explain who and where it came from. And more important than the notes I tell what the story and words mean.
If anyone wants to discuss Ga blues or interested in working on it more please post. Perhaps we can even connect. I have a jam about once a year and thinking of a big blues only acoustic jam in the fall in Conyers. You can check out my site or contact me. On facebook too. I also give lessons but honestly I share more information and time with people for free than I actually get paid for. If you want to learn some Ga Blues chances are I can show you or point you to someone who can.
I'd love to hear from others and your views. I'm not too worried about offending anyone so don't bother bitching me out for my opinions. I'm just about sick of going with the flow. I want to educate more people but I'd also love to see more people actually take the same interest in the local music and follow your own journey too. I highly recommend the JSP Atlanta Blues boxset sold on the web by an outfit in England but available globally. It has The Ga Browns, Curley Weaver, Ga Browns, Peg Leg Howell and a lot more Atlanta stuff. But you also need McTell, Buddy Moss albums too. Pig and Whistle Red is also the name of an old Atlanta BBQ joint where they hung out and also the name of one of the best blues albums you'll ever buy. Listen to Curley Weaver sing Brown Skin Woman and you'll be amazed. The man was decades ahead of his time.
Correction: I realized the mp3 sample I posted is the 1933 NYC recording of McTell, Moss, Weaver as the Georgia Browns. Moss was basically still a kid by my standards, Weaver young but still an extreme veteran of the bunch. McTell for the first time being coupled with these other Ga boys. Same sessions in which made Moss a star as well. Although short lived by his Greene county Ga prison term around 1935 and by the time he was released around '41 the blues recording industry was completely dried up with very few exceptions. Same year Mr Frank recorded his hit "Got To Get Together" on Okey records with a topic about WWII. I just wish I knew a fraction of the real Ga blues history we've all missed out on.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rocky Buldo - Boogieman145 on -
Well said little Brother. Ga has a rich history .. I enjoyed the free schooling y'all gave me that Sunday at Mudcatz. sure would like to do some more of that soon. I don't get to play my acoustic bass out as much as I'd like..
I got a ol dog house too but it is a bear to haul around.
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Permalink Reply by Little Brother Jones on -
Oh man Rocky I enjoyed your smooth bass playing. I'll keep that in mind and invite you out if we begin getting some things together like that. Maybe this time it wont be in a sports bar, no stage and TVs all around us. You guys being there saved us that day. It sure was fun. Anyway thanks for reading this and the nice words. I'm glad you are interested and I hope we can all learn more about Ga blues and how it ties into all the other regional styles. It's a pretty fascinating journey I'm far away from completing.
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Permalink Reply by Sammy Blue on -
Hey brother, Ifound a copy of Buddy Moss's last record. Buddy was one of my very 1st teachers and I believe
he was the very 1st Blues artist I ever saw. ( at one of my bootlegging uncle's 4th of July parties) I couldn't have been more than 5 years old when I saw and heard Uncle Buddy. Later as a teenager I got to know him really well and hung out at his house a lot. I still give him and Brownie Mcgee credit for teaching me what piedmont Blues
I know. Robert Fulton, Willie Guy Rainey, Frank Edwars, Roy Dunn and others also mentored me. I'm forever grateful to have known them. May god bless your path with the real Georgia Blues.
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