BIG CITY BLUES January-Fabruary 2008 ACE’S ALLEY Muddy's House By Johnny Ace Hello Big City Blues readers and Blues and R&B lovers all over the world! I had a slight misinterpretation of the facts on the deadline date and what the subject matter was to be for this new BCB issue. I thought I had ‘till February 15th to do an article on Little Walter. Then, on January 24th Robert Junior phoned me to tell me the main theme would be on Muddy Water’s house. Well it’s now Saturday, January 26th and pouring down rain in San Francisco, and “YOU ARE THERE!” HA HA! Well, I’ll do my best with my new column—“Ace’s Alley”… I was never in Muddy Water’s house—what’s more I was never in his basement where all the shit went on. I wish I could have been there. When I think of Muddy’s house I think of a lot of old dear friends and blues buddies who were there, even lived there. My man Paul Oscher immediately comes to mind, but you can read Paul’s stories right here in Big City Blues. When I think of blues houses, I also think of the great slide wizard, “Tampa Red.” Like with Muddy, blues musicians were always welcome and even put up by him. And though the ‘50’s blues scene was way before my time, I did get a taste of that lifestyle from hanging with Victoria Spivey and her husband and right hand man, Lenny Kunstandt, in the ‘60’s. Their apartment was located in Brooklyn, and that was the East Coast home of the blues until Queenie passed in 1976. Victoria and Lenny helped and recorded anyone who loved and played blues—and even some of the folkies like Bob Dylan. If you can find the LP on Victoria’s own Spivey label “Up in Queenie’s Pad” with Otis Spann, Sammy Lawhorn on guitar, Victoria singing and playing piano, and even Lenny as “Kazoo Papa” blowing his heartfelt but horrendous kazoo licks on a few cuts, you will get the feel for that time and place. That old LP really captured it all. I wish there were tapes like that from Muddy’s basement. Could you imagine if Tampa Red had taped all that great music that went down in his pad? MERCY! Wishful thinking! As I write this, I think and wonder why aren’t there anymore great blues pads where blues musicians and blues lovers could all get together, hang out, trade ideas, write songs, and really talk and philosophize on not only blues, but life, politics, well, maybe not that! What happened? Did everyone get too involved in there own lives or careers? Too many computers? No one can talk anymore? Is it now just on the blues cruises and festivals? I’m a bit confused. Back to Muddy’s—I called my cousin and blues buddy, guitarist, Brian Besesi in Pennsylvania who worked in Muddy’s band from 1978—1980 as Detroit Junior’s guitar replacement and also the band road manager. If one of Muddy’s guitarists couldn’t make a gig, Brian would fill in. Brian told me he was many times at Muddy’s old pad and that he used to go there to not only hang with Muddy, but he’d go there especially to spend time with Muddy’s stepson Charles Williams who lived in the basement where Spann, Paul Oscher, and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith also lived at different times. Brian told me Charles wrote “Tom Cat” that was on “Electric Mud’ and “Hurtin’ Soul” that was on the “After The Rain” LP, which were both on Chess. Muddy hated the “Electric Mud” LP and also hated the cover on “After The Rain” (with Muddy and the frogs), regardless of what you’ve heard. MERCY! Obviously there was a ton of magic in those walls in Muddy’s basement. Brian also told me that Muddy’s old tweed Fender Bassman, the one he used at Newport in 1960, was still down there. It didn’t work, but it was completely covered with a coat of orange day glow spray paint. I guess someone wanted to go with the times and get that psychedelic look or maybe some neighborhood graffiti artist wanted to bomb it. HA HA! Also Spann’s old piano was still down there—remember this is 1978—1980. I wonder where that stuff is now? Well since I was never myself in Muddy’s basement, I wanted to at least get someone who was really there when the real heavy sounds were being worked out, so I called up Francis Clay, who played drums and helped create some of Muddy’s great old songs like ”Walking In The Park.” I called up Francis at 10:00 AM on the 24th of January. His phone was busy for two hours. I know Francis can really rap so I didn’t think anything was wrong. I kept trying to reach him—it got to be 7:00 PM and now the phone was just ringing and no one answered. Then at 7:30 PM I got a call saying that Francis passed on the day before! I am deeply saddened. I met Francis when I was 17 at New York City’s Cafe Au Go Go when he was playing in James Cotton’s band. Well another blues legend, ”The Gentlemen of The Blues," is now “in the upper room” in blues heaven. I’m very glad that the San Francisco blues community had a big 84th birthday bash for Francis just last November. Now since I originally was going to write about Little Walter and we are on the subject of Chicago blues masters anyway, I have to throw in one short story and then I will tie all my thoughts together. Walter never came to New York when I was around playing blues, but my man, guitarist Ron Butkovich, AKA “Chicago Bob,” AKA “The Chicago Collector,” AKA “The Chief” grew up in Chicago with Michael Bloomfield and he’d see all the greats in their prime on the South Side, Little Walter included. Many times when Ron would be taking the 63rd Street El back home from the South Side to the North Side, Ron could see as the train was making its slow turn, Little Walter hangin’ out with the local winos down at the liquor store on Cottage Groove. Well, to me this all tells a story about the blues lifestyle which back in the day was once really part of the blues. Of course, sadly, this hard drinking life killed Walter at the age of 38. The point I’m going for is this: now as I speak or write this story, I realize that the times have changed. Where’s the grease? Where’s the real shit? To play blues you have to have lived. It sometimes baffles me, and I can hear this change in the music now—no grease. I do think that a lot of the rap music definitely has it and to me is the new blues. Many of the rapsters are living and dying for the music. Somewhere there’s a middle. I actually think I’ve found it myself. Just think about it next time you go out to hear some blues. So here’s the Little Walter story that Ron told me so, so many times, just when the juice is hittin’ him right. Well, sometimes a bit too much. But Ron’s my real good friend, and I never get tired of hearing this story. In Jan. of 1966 Ron was in Theresa’s, the famous blues club on 43rd and Vincence, on the South Side of Chicago. Ron was with “Apple Jack’ the vocalist/ harp player from the band “Chicago Blues Power” now out here in San Francisco. It’s a huge blizzard and in the middle of January 1966—freezing cold. The house band at Theresa’s is Junior Wells on vocals and harmonica, Freddy Below on drums, “Leffty Diz” on guitar, and my teacher and blues bass mentor on bass, Little Bobby Anderson. MERCY, that’s a Blues band! Junior is on stage just going through the motions doing his jive-ass James Brown imitation in this packed, smoke -filled, liquor-drenched joint. It’s about midnight. Out of the freezing, horrendous South Side tundra walks in none other then the king of the electrified harmonica, often imitated, but NEVER duplicated—Little Walter! Walter has on a long, gray trench coat and a dark hat, but on his feet are these hilarious, black rubber galoshes, the kind we all used to wear when we were little kids—the ones with the metal clips to tie them up. Walter has the clips all untied, so they make a funny rattling sound when he walks through the club. He slowly walks over to the bar and then takes off his trench coat. He has on a real cool three-piece gray suit. He’s just standing there—still with the galoshes on. Junior calls up Walter to do a tune. Walter plays one song, ”Blue and Lonesome.” That’s all he has to do. Ron said the performance was AMAZING! The club went wild! Junior was totally intimidated, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all love Junior but there was and still is to this day only one Little Walter! MERCY! Ron said Walter held and blew the harp in his right hand. Ron couldn’t remember (for all you harp fans.) whether it was a chromatic harp he played or what. Walter snapped his fingers and moved his left hand with the grace of a great dancer. Oh yea, and Walter kept on … the galoshes! RIDE!!!!!!!!!!… To end this, I want to say to all you blues fans to please go out and hear live blues whenever you can. If the band has a tip bucket, and if you like what you hear, throw in a $5 or a $10 or a $20 bill and if when you wake up in the morning and you have no $$$$ worries, well then, throw in a $100 bill! DAMN, if you’re doing real good, go up to the musicians and give them each a $100 bill! They will really appreciate it! Now when you go see B.B. or Claptin you don’t have to do this. But if it’s a club band, when you do tip them, PLEASE DON’T ask them to play “Mustang Sally!” And if you’re in New Orleans, don’t ask ‘em to play “When the Saint’s Go Marchin’ In!” MERCY!!!!..As the great Otis Span and James Cotton used to say, “the blues will never die!” The End Johnny Ace is still living in San Francisco and performing and playing bass regularly with blues singer Cathy Lemons. Their website is http://www.lemonace.com . Brien Bessessi for the last 10 years ahs been performing wit Muddy Water’s son, Big Bill Mrganfield—and also Detroit Junior. The Chicago Collector plays every Sunday afternoon at The Saloon in North Beach, San Francisco, California—along with his old buddy Applejack.