This Week In The Blues: May 25 - May 31, 2025

HEY BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of May 25 - May 31, 2025.

Some of the highlights include the blues standard "Walkin' Blues", blues diva Mamie Smith, and jump blues pioneer and innovator T-Bone Walker.

Keep in mind that there's so much more that happened this week in the blues. If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to visit our website or follow our Facebook page:
https://bigtrainblues.com
https://www.facebook.com/BigTrainBlues

Photo credits (if known) and past episodes are posted on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@BigTrainBlues

Here are links to a few of the artists or songs we've referenced in this week's episode:

T-Bone Walker - "T-Bone Blues" - https://youtu.be/HxCzMAFrTJ8?si=i7GpNmTEfAQcT7in

Son House - "Walkin Blues" - https://youtu.be/R7NfJL5lbIk?si=8gvOwZtmr96QMNXT

Join me every weekday from 12:15pm-12:45pm CT to watch a live stream on Facebook of the longest running blues radio show program. https://www.facebook.com/DeltaCulturalCenter

We’ll have a new episode next week – we’ll see you then!

ARE YOU A FAN OF BLUES HISTORY? US TOO!

If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to visit our website or follow our Facebook page:

https://bigtrainblues.com

https://www.facebook.com/BigTrainBlues

Transcript

This Week In The Blues May 25 – May 31 2025

Blues guitar and mandolin player Papa Charlie McCoy was born on May 26, 1909. He was one of the major blues accompanists of his time. McCoy played in the Mississippi area with his band, the Mississippi Hot Footers. He and his older brother Kansas Joe McCoy performed together in the 1930s and 1940s and recorded as the McCoy Brothers. McCoy served with the US Army during World War II. In poor health after the war, he never returned to music and he made no more recordings after 1942. Among his scattered solo sessions is the first known recorded rendition of the song that eventually became “Sweet Home Chicago.”

Blues Diva Mamie Smith born May 26 in 1891 in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1920, she entered blues history as the first African American artist to make vocal blues recordings. When she was around 10 years old, she found work touring with a white act. In 1913, she started to sing in clubs in Harlem. On February 14, 1920, Smith recorded "That Thing Called Love" and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" for the Okeh label in New York City.  Although this was the first recording by a black blues singer, the backing musicians were all white. The record was a commercial success and opened the door for more black musicians to record.

Here's a little delta blues history for you. Abbay & Leatherman, one of the oldest and largest cotton plantations in the Delta, is known to music enthusiasts worldwide as the boyhood home of blues icon Robert Johnson. At its peak, more than 450 families lived and worked on Abbey & Leatherman. Johnson lived here with his family in a tenant shack by the levee during the 1920s. The powerful and impassioned recordings he made in 1936-37 are often cited as the foundation of rock ‘n’ roll, and the facts, fantasies, and mysteries of his life and death are a continuing source of intrigue.

The blues standard "Walkin' Blues" was recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin on May 28 in 1930 by Son House, who was also the writer.  Although unissued at the time, it was part of House's repertoire and other musicians, including Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, adapted the song and recorded their own versions. 

Blues violin player Papa John Creech was born May 28, 1917. In addition to blues, he also played classical, jazz, R&B, pop and acid rock music. Moving to Los Angeles in 1945, he played in the Chi Chi Club, worked on an ocean liner for five years, appeared in several films, eventually worked with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Charlie Christian, Big Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, and Nat King Cole. Later on he fronted a variety of bands in addition to playing with Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, Jefferson Starship, Grateful Dead and Charlie Daniels Band.

Jump Blues pioneer and innovator T-Bone Walker was born on May 28 back in 1910. In fact, modern electric blues guitar can be traced directly back to this Texas-born pioneer, who began amplifying his playing around 1940. Walker began his career as a teenager in Dallas in the 1920s. His mother and stepfather were musicians, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, a family friend, sometimes came over for dinner.  B.B. King cited hearing Walker's recording of "Stormy Monday" as his inspiration for getting an electric guitar. In 2018 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 37 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"

Blues keyboard maestro Ron Levy was born May 29, 1951. Levy was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and began playing the piano after seeing Ray Charles in concert at age 13. He later switched to playing a Hammond organ. After gaining experience playing in Boston nightclubs, Levy was hired by Albert King in 1968. After an eighteen-month association, Levy joined B. B. King's backing band.

Lazy Bill Lucas was born May 29, 1918. He was part of the birth of the Chicago blues scene during the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. Born to sharecroppers in Wynne, Arkansas, Lucas's family worked their way north to Chicago in the early 40s. For several years, Lucas played in various blues combos and in various clubs, bars and street settings. In 1950, Lucas switched from guitar to piano and worked as a sideman for various blues bands. Relocating to the Minneapolis brought more performing opportunities and in 1979, Lucas started hosting his own regular radio show, becoming an important part of that city's blues history.  

Blues and soul singer "King" Ernest Baker was born on May 30, 1939  in Natchez, Mississippi. He recorded "I Feel Alright" and "That's When I Woke Up." Blues singer Bobby Bland is a cousin of King Ernest. His first professional outing was in 1958 with Byther Smith at Wynn's Lounge in Chicago, Illinois. Baker credited Smith with giving him his start as a professional. Baker died in a car crash in 2000, just after finishing recording an album.

Here’s a little info about the early years of Howlin’ Wolf…aka Chester Burnett. In 1930, Burnett met Charley Patton, the most popular bluesman in the Mississippi Delta at the time. He would listen to Patton play nightly from outside a nearby juke joint. The two got to know each other, and soon Patton was teaching him guitar. Burnett recalled that "the first piece I ever played in my life was ... a tune about hook up my pony and saddle up my black mare" which was Patton's "Pony Blues". 

Here’s a new section that I’m doing on new blues releases. Alligator records has a recent release from Baton Rouge based blues singer Jovin Webb. After a quick listen I have to agree with the following assessment – listening to him is what bbq sauce sounds like. I love what I’ve listened to so far.

Well blues fans, we just covered some of the highlights here. If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to follow our social media pages or visit our website at Big Train Blues.com. We’ll have a new episode next week and we’ll cover blues guitarist Memphis Minnie and blues keyboardist Lafayette Leake – we’ll see you then!