Hear the Joe Louis Walker interview as he talks about his blues journey as well as songs from Witness to the Blues which is one of the top selling blues CDs right now.

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 076 - Joe Louis Walker - Witness to the Blues [31:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Joe Louis Walker was born in San Francisco on Dec. 25, 1949. Joe’s interest in music started at a young age. In school he tried several different instruments but the guitar was never available for him to check out. At last Joe got his hands on the guitar, this was just what he wanted and was able to express his feeling through. In the late 60’s Joe roomed with guitarist Mike Bloomfield on an off again for about 5 years. Mike Bloomfield was in the band Electric Flag with Buddy Miles at the time. Joe said Electric Flag was way ahead of their time doing jazz-rock before Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. Through Mike, Joe met Buddy Miles who introduced him to Jimi Hendrix. These creative people as well as others Joe was coming in contact with in the emerging San Franco seen help Joe to learn even more about playing guitar.

Joe started opening up for blues artist like Lightnin’ Hopkins as well as playing with Earl Hooker, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Otis Rush, Charlie Musselwhite, Thelonius Monk, Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix and of course Mike Bloomfield. After Bloomfield’s heroin overdose in 1981 Joe changed his life style. He also started playing gospel music as well as attending San Francisco State University, where he got a degree in Music & English. In the middle if the 80’s he returned to the blues. When I spoke with Joe he said he’s planing to do more gospel music in the future.

Joe has recorded with many artist over the years like James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Robert Lockwood Jr, Ike Turner, Taj Mahal, Branford Marsalis, Scotty Moore, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Peter Green, Shemekia Copeland, BB King and many many more the Joe could not even remember.

Joe has gotten Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C. Handy Awards) for
Contemporary Male Artist of the Year 1988
Contemporary Male Artist of the Year 1991
Band of the Year 1996
He also played guitar on James Cotton’s Deep in the Blues which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album of 1996

Joe Louis Walker’s newsy record Witness to the Blues is no less spatuler than any of his other works. This time he has Duke Robillard producing the CD as well as playing on five tracks. Bruce Katz who is up for Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the year plays all the keyboards. Shemekia Copeland even songs a duet with Joe. So what are you waiting for turn on the show and hear Joe Louis Walker talk about Witness to the Blues. I’ll also treat you to some great songs from this CD then you too will be a witness to the blues.

Songs play in the show are:
Witness
Highview
Midnight Train
100% More Man

Joe Louis Walker Website
Joe Louis Walker MySpace
Joe Louis Walker & Duke Robillard on YouTube

Buy Joe Louis Walker’s CD Witness to the Blues at:
At Amazon.Com
At Best Buy
At Barnes & Noble

I would like to thank Joe Louis Walker for taking time out of his busy day to talk with me. Thanks to Mark Pucci for setting everything up.

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Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

Hear former band members of Pat Ramsey & the Blues Disciples talk about Pat from his start with Johnny Winter up until till his untimely passing a few months ago. Jason Ricci will also talk about Pat’s profound influence on his harp playing and on saving his life.
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 075 - Pat Ramsey – A Tribute to the late Pat Ramsey [47:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pat Ramsey was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in July 22, 1953. He began playing the harmonica at the age of 17. In 1978 when Pat was 25 years old he was called by Johnny Winter to send in a demo of his harp playing. How ever before Johnny got to say all this Pat hung the phone up. Johnny call right back to assured Pat that he really was Johnny Winter and he really did want to hear what Pat sounded like. Pat rushed to the other room to record two songs and sent it off to Johnny. A short time later he was in the studio recording the record White Hot and Blue with Johnny Winter. Unfortunately Pat did not get to tour with Johnny as he had a bass player named Jon Paris that toured with him. Jon would use a harp rack (like Bob Dylan) so he could play harp as he played bass. (see past show on Jon Paris, great blues-rocker)

Pat was playing in Colorado when ex-Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks heard Pat’s singing & harp playing. Butch’s band Trucks was having troubles with fans wanting them to have a singer and doing old Allman Brothers songs. Pat joined the band Trucks and relocated to Florida where Butch was living. A short time latter the Allman Brothers got back together and Pat was left with out a band.

In 1979 a 17-year-old kid named Julien Kasper (see past show on Julien Kasper) heard that there was a burning harp player in town. He suggested that the band should invite Pat to come over to play with them. Julien remembers that when Pat came over he was way out of their league. Pat had nothing better to do so he started working with this band called Crosscut Saw. In a short time Pat had taken over the band as the leader. For the next five years they toured southern parts of the U.S. In 1982, Crosscut Saw released their only record Mad Bad & Dangerous to Know. This LP has been long since out of print but will be coming out as a CD soon. Around 1985 the band broke up and Pat started the Pat Ramsey Band which lasted till around 1985.

Pat ran into old friend Greg Poulos who had been in one of Freddie King’s bands. They formed The Poulos-Ramsey Band that started off really strong as warm up for artists like Charlie Musslewhite, Solomon Burke, Albert Collins, Ronnie Earl, James Cotton, and Pinetop Perkins. Pat went to Memphis looking for some gigs for the band when some kind of tragedy struck Greg’s family in Florida, bringing a premature end to this endeavor.

Once again Pat is left stranded somewhere. Pat got a job working the craps table for a casino. He kept saving money to put a band together and make a record. Around 1992 Pat put together a new band that was playing in Memphis. Then in 1995, Pat finally put out the record It’s About Time. This record is well worth seeking out for all the great music on it but for you collectors this has two, very rare, tracks with a very young Sean Costello who was still in high school at the time (Hear the show on Sean Costello).
This is about the same time that Jason Ricci was passing through town on his way home from collage and just happened to stop in the club Pat was playing at. Jason was so blown away by Pat’s harp playing that a few months latter he moved to Memphis so he could see every show Pat would do for the next year. Jason has a lot more to say about Pat in the podcast be sure to listen. By now you know what I’m going to say, to hear the show on Jason Ricci, click here.

The following year Dave Renson joined the band as their lead guitarist. Dave worked with Pat for the rest of Pat’s life. Steve Howell who had been the drummer in Crosscut Saw joined the band too. At this point the band started going by the name of Pat Ramsey & the Blues Disciples. They released their first live record Live at the Grand in 1999. The following year they were Coco Robicheaux’s band for his record Hoo Doo Party. This was proceeded with a tour of Europe backing Coco Robicheaux who was quite popular over there. In 2005, Pat Ramsey & the Blues Disciples released their second live record Live At The Big Bend Blues Bash. They also opened some shows for Johnny Winter around 2005. Pat had been getting ill for quite some time. In late October of 2008, a benefit concert was put together to help pay for the medical bills that had been building up. This was also a way for all his old friends and fellow band mates to say goodbye. On November 17th 2008 Pat Ramsey died from Hepatitis C. Dave Renson and Steve Howell said he liked to go fishing, play golf, loved driving and being with his kids.

Records by Pat Ramsey & band name:
1982 - Mad Bad & Dangerous to Know - Crosscut Saw
1995 - It’s About Time - Pat Ramsey
1999 - Live At the Grand - Pat Ramsey & The Blues Disciples
2005 - Live At The Big Bend Blues Bash - Pat Ramsey & The Blues Disciples

Good last minute news, Mike Howell (Steve’ brother) the bass player for Crosscut Saw just informed me that their LP, Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know will come out as a CD for the first time ever. This will be available at CD Baby Website pretty soon. Cool, I can’t wait to hear Pat Ramsey and this band.

Songs played in the show with the CD there from:
Allergic To Work - It’s About Time
Dog House Blues - Live At The Big Bend Blues Bash
Broken Hearted (Sean Costello on Guitar) - It’s About Time
It’s About Time - It’s About Time
Build Me A Woman - Live At the Grand

Pat Ramsey & the Blues Disciples’ Website
Pat Ramsey’s MySpace (Run by Steve Howell)
Buy Pat Ramsey’s CD It’s About Time from the CD Baby Website
Buy Pat Ramsey’s It’s About Time from their website
Pat Ramsey on YouTube

I would very much like to thank Rick Lusher for all his help in setting this up.
Also Steve Howell, Dave Renson and Julien Kasper for taking the time to let me interview them. Jason Ricci who went beyond the call of duty. Because of problems I was having with the recorder we had to re-do Jason’s interview three times. He never complained and was always friendly, what a guy. Thank you all very much.

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Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

Hear the Byther Smith interview and songs from four of his CD’s on Delmark Records. Byther is one of the old time Chicago blues artists.
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 074 - Byther Smith – Byther Smith Interview and Music [33:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Byther Smith was born on April 17, 1932 in Monticello, Mississippi to a large family unfortunately both his mother and father pass away while he was very young. His older brothers and sisters raised Byther while working on a farm growing cotton, corn, and peanuts. This is where he first started listening to country and western music. By age 15 Byther decided to move to Arizona to live with his Ant Aldora. Even though he was underage, he was a boxer for a while until his aunt put a stop to that.

In 1953, he married Etta Mae. The two of them moved to Chicago a few years later. During the day he worked at a candy company, and by night he played bass. He had played country music earlier, but now he played in a jazz band. After a few years Byther became Roy Buchanan’s bass guitarist for five years. While working with Roy he switched to guitar. This was a slow transition that he was a little reluctant to do. Even now, Byther still feels he was a better bass player than guitarist but the guitar opened more opportunity for him to get jobs. Over the years Byther has played with a who’s who of Chicago blues artist. Jokingly he said “I played with just about everyone here in Chicago, I think I missed just about three people”. Some of the bigger names Byther worked with are Muddy Waters on and off, Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Rush a few times, Jimmy Reed (more information about Jimmy in the show), George “Harmonica” Smith, Sunnyland Slim, Little Walter and many more.

Byther Smith released several rockn’ roll 45’s in the early sixties like “Hello, Mrs. Brown, May Your Daughter Go Out, Tonight?”, “Nadine”, and with “Champion Girl” being one of the more popular songs. Through the sixties and seventies Byther played in different bands and still worked his day job. Byther was able to put all six of his girls though collage as a result of being a hard worker. Looking back on it he finds it hard to believe he was able to do all this on the little sleep he was able to get.

In the eighties and nineties he toured and started making his solo records.
The first time Byther was in Russia he heard a song from his Hold That Train CD playing in the airport. The song was “I Don’t Like To Travel”. This starts off with a very nice guitar solo followed by a mournfull voice telling how he doesn’t like to travel, but the blues are driving him away from home. Hold That Train also includes a fast pace Howlin’ Wolf song, “Killing Floor”, as well as a good version of Willie Dixon’s “300 Pounds of Joy”. The 1996 Mississippi Kid is full of Chicago blues with some songs having a little rock thrown in. Byther starts out with one of these blues-rockers in the opener “Judge of Honor”, and later in “Ashame of Myself” he’ll get you up and dancing. If your ready for some appealing blues guitar playing go no further than “Living In Pain” or “I Don’t Know Where You Go”. The latter sounds like he was really paying attention to what Roy Buchanan was laying down all those years that Byther played in Roy’s band. One of Byther’s trade mark songs “Give Me My White Robe” is on the Mississippi Kid CD too. The 1997 All Night Long, like it’s predecessor is all originals written by Byther. One of my favorite lyrics of Byther’s is on this CD “I’m Your New Lover”. Byther tells his new lover, if you need any money give B.B.King a call, if you need new clothes give Bobby Bland a call. More clever lyrics follow on “Live On This Mans Name”, but your going to have to buy this one to hear what it’s about. I never heard that he played with Albert King but he sure has Albert down on that song. If you want something deeper, listen to the guitar intro to “Walked All Night Long”, oh and don’t forget the guitar solo either. The horns on All Night Long help this CD to stand out while giving it a little more of an upity feel than the others. Mississippi Kid has horns too, but they do not stand out as much as on All Night Long. The newest CD of Byther Smith’s is his Blues on the Moon, Live at the Rhythm Social Club, which is a small bar on Chicago’s South side. Blues on the Moon really has a live feel to it, kind of a ruff and tuff, raw sound. This works positively in two ways. First this is a bit of a different sound for Byther, as most of his CD has a clean well rehearsed sound to them as you would want and expect from a studio recording. Being live gives him a somewhat new, different sound. The second way is that this is somewhat a best of CD too. With songs like “Judge of Honor”, “So Mean to Me”, “Monticello”, and “Blues on the Moon” you would like to have a little different versions. There is more keyboard playing on this too, thanks to Daryl Coutts. This CD was really good but what I liked better was the DVD of the concert with the same name, Blues on the Moon, Live at the Rhythm Social Club. The DVD has all the same songs as the CD, plus one more song. What I really liked was being able to see the band playing the songs. Then one day I was in the kitchen cooking and put the DVD on just to hear the music as you might do with a CD but with the DVD you get the choice of watching or using it as you would a CD. Best of all (well, almost as good as the music) was a very long interview with Byther Smith that I would come back to several times the next few days.

All four of the CD’s I talked about are on Delmark Records please check out the links below to buy these CDs and DVD.

Songs played in the show and the CD’s their from:
I’m Your New Lover - 1997 - All Night Long
Monticello - 2008 - Blues On The Moon (live)
I Don’t Like to Travel - 1981 - Hold That Train
Living in Pain - 1996 - Mississippi Kid

Byther Smith’s Website

Byther Smith’s MySpace

Buy Byther Smith ’sCD from Jazz Record Mart

Delmark Records

Delmark Records’ MySpace

I would like to thank Byther Smith for taking the time to do the interview.
Also thanks to Kevin Johnson and Bob Koester over at Delmark Records for all their help in getting this show together.

In the show I talked about a CD/DVD set called 55 Years of Blues.
This is a very cool set with Junior Wells, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Carey Bell, Mississippi Heat and many more. The CD has 17 tracks the DVD has 10 tracks.
To buy 55 Years of Blues go to Jazz Record Mart

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Blues Music and Interviews
A1Blues.Com
formerly A1 Artist Spotlight. Com
by A1 Mark

Congratulations to Walter Trout, The Blues Foundation has nominated him for a 2009 Blues Music Award in the category of “Rock Blues Album of the Year” for the CD The Outsider.

Hear the Walter Trout interview where he talks about being in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Walter also talks about his CD The Outsider, which is nominated for “Rock Blues Album of the Year” by The Blues Foundation. As always we will hear songs from his CD.
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 073 - Walter Trout - The Outsider [36:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Walter Trout was born in 1951 in Ocean City, New Jersey. His parents were not musicians but they were very much into all kinds of music. From this Walter develop an appreciation for many kinds of music as well. Walter played trumpet and was in the High School Orchestra. For his 10th birthday his mother arranged for him to spend a day with Duke Ellington. The folk music craze was hitting America with people like Chad Mitchell Trio and Bob Dylan. Walter realized these were easy to play songs so he got a guitar. Through out High School he was in cover bands doing rock songs.

In 1974 he moved to L.A. where he played in many bands backing different artist on tour like Big Mama Thorton, John Lee Hooker, Lowell Fulson, and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson. From 1980 to 84 he was in Canned Heat for whom he recorded two records with called Canned Heat Live in Australia then a studio record The Heat Brothers which Walter said is better to forget.

After that he joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in 1984 - 1989. This was the time John had two guitarists in the band well really three. Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and of course John Mayall. John liked having Coco and Walter in the band because every night the two of them would try in out do each other on stage. This made for a great shows.
Walter made three records with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers:
1985 - Behind the Iron Curtain
1987 - Power of the Blues (double live recorded)
1988 - Chicago Line
Walter’s song “Life In the Jungle” was on Chicago Line this song would later be the title track for his first solo record.

Walter Trout’s solo carrier started in 1989 with a tour if Europe. 1990 brought the first Walter Trout solo recorded Life In the Jungle. In Holland he scored a number one single with his song “The Love That We Once Know”. This is still played by many bar bands every night in Holland.

With more than a dozen solo recorders out Walter has become a very popular blues-rock artist. His current CD The Outsider is nominated for “Rock Blues Album of the Year” by The Blues Foundation (was the W.C. Handy Awards). As you will hear in the show Walter has put out one really great CD. The opening song “Welcome to the Human” is a hard-hitting blues-rocker that delivers both musically and lyrically. The song talk about all the problems we all face in our lives and hey, welcome to the human. “The Next Big Thing” is kind of a country-blues ballad some-what like Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”. The music is well done with a nice change of sound for Walter. The song is about how the music industry is a very disposable industry always looking for the next big thing. “All My Life” you will get to hear Walter do some fine finger picking to a nice melody. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Bluesrock” is back to what Walter is best known for doing those tuff blues-rockers. There is some cool organ playing in here too, look out Walter is taking off with a rip roaring guitar solo. “Child of Another Day” is one of the songs you’ve heard on the radio along with “Welcome to the Human” and “The Next Big Thing”. If you have not heard these songs on the radio you need to find a new station because they are robbing you of your time. Back in the day when MTV had videos these would all been hits. Walter really shows that he is not just a one trick pony there are many styles on The Outsider. Another good example is his song “A Matter of the Heart” a tender hearted song with nice vocals just an all round pretty song. Walter wrote all songs with the title track “The Outsider” is being a co-written song. I certainly see why Walter Trout’s The Outsider is nominated for best “Rock-Blue Album of the Year”. If you like the songs in the show please buy the CD, (links below) call your radio station to play songs by Walter Trout and get out and see Walter Trout when he comes to a city near you.

Songs used in the show are all from The Outsider:
Welcome to the Human Race
The Next Big Thing
All My Life
Child of Another Day

Click here to see Walter Trout’s Tour Dates, you know I’ll be there.

Walter Trout Website

Walter Trout MySpace

Buy The Outsider or other Walter Trout CD’s fromAmazon.Com

Buy Walter Trout CD’s at Barnes & Nobel

Buy Walter Trout CD’s at Best Buy

I would like to thank Walter Trout for taking the time to do an interview with me.
Thanks to Nancy B. Sayle and PJ Olay for all there help in putting this show together.