Show Notes: 

For today’s show we trawl through the catalogs of Aristocrat and Chess and it’s Checker subsidiary, through the mid-50s with a couple of later numbers, featuring some lesser knowns plus some well knowns who recorded little for the labels. An inspiration for the shows were two Chess albums I’ve long treasured: Drop Down Mama (featuring several artists who recorded sparingly for Chess) and Door to Door (featuring Albert King sides bought by Chess from Parrot & Bobbin plus sides by Otis Rush cut for Chess in 1960). The Aristocrat label was the predecessor of Chess Records but had different owners and a different approach to recording and selling music. The company was founded by Charles and Evelyn Aron in April 1947 and ran through 1950. Leonard Chess bought a stake in Aristocrat Records in 1947 and slowly bought out other owners. The Chess brothers became the sole owners of the company in 1950 by buying out founder Evelyn Aron then renamed the company Chess Records. Of the first 8 releases on the new label (Chess 1425 through 1432), 6 used material recorded in June 1950 or earlier; they mark a transitional phase from Aristocrat to Chess. During the new label’s first two years, its proprietors dipped further, but not very systematically, into the Aristocrat archives. Meanwhile, the Aristocrat records that they had in stock kept on being distributed until January 13, 1951, when the old label was officially discontinued.

The first part of the show opens with Aristocrat sides spotlighting fine forgotten urban singers such as Andrew Tibbs, Tom Archia, Jo Jo Adams and some down homes artists such as Forest City Joe and Charles Bradix. From Chess we hear from some well-known names who cut sparingly or had unreleased material for the label such as Johnny Shines, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, Lightnin’ Slim, Louisiana Red, Jimmy Witherspoon, Otis Spann to more obscure names like Blue Smitty, Big Boy Spires, Robert Caffery, Jessie Knight, Danny Overbea among others. For today’s show we provide background on some of the artists with a huge debt to The Red Saunders Research Foundation.

Aristocrat was founded by Charles and Evelyn Aron. From June through December 1947, talent scout Sammy Goldberg helped to point the label toward rhythm and blues; he brought Jump Jackson, Tom Archia, Clarence Samuels, Andrew Tibbs, and Sunnyland Slim to the label. By September 1947, Leonard Chess, the proprietor of a neighborhood bar and after-hours joint called the Macomba Lounge, had invested in the company and become involved in the sales end of Aristocrat’s operations. The most-recorded musician during 1947 was Lee Monti, who led a polka band with two accordions; the second and third-most recorded artists were jazz tenor saxophonist Tom Archia and uptown blues singer Andrew Tibbs. Sax man Tom Archia performed mostly in jazz and swing bands. He cut some R&B sides for Aristocrat in 1947-48 as well as backing blues singers Andrew Tibbs and Jo Jo Adams. Andrew Tibbs was singing at Jimmy’s Palm Garden when Sammy Goldberg saw him at the club and signed him to Aristocrat; Leonard Chess saw commercial potential in recording Tibbs, and decided to invest in the company. Tibbs’ debut session has always been said to be the first one that Leonard Chess attended. Tibbs continued to be the company’s top seller until well into 1949.

Jo Jo Adams was among the most flamboyant singers of Chicago’s South Side who sang an urbane style of blues that prevailed in the 1940’s. He also danced, told dirty jokes, and showed off his wardrobe of loudly colored formal wear with extra-long coattails. More often than not he doubled as MC at the clubs he played.  He cut some eighteen sides for Aristocrat, some unissued and a six song session for Chess in 1950 with only two items released.

The Blues Rockers were an ensemble that consisted of James Watts (vocals), Willie Mabon (piano and vocals), Eddie El and a second electric guitarist, and Earl Dranes (bass). Watts appears to be the lead singer on “Trouble in My Home” while “Times Are Getting Hard” from 1949, obviously features Willie Mabon. The Blues Rockers sides were recorded by DJ Al Benson as a free-lance production and later sold to Aristocrat. Now signed directly to the label, the Blues Rockers, returned for a four-tune session in March 1950. A later edition of the Blues Rockers—in which only “Earley” Dranes remained from 1949-1950—recorded in Nashville in 1955, for the Excello label.

After graduating from high school in St. Louis in 1928, Jimmie Bell pursued a career in music. Starting out with a carnival band, he spent the 1930’s in local Swing bands. Near the end of the decade he headed his own band, before joining the great Jeter-Pillars band in 1940 (where he played trumpet). During the 1940’s, leading his own bands, he worked out of St. Louis, Detroit, and New York. He was discovered by Leonard Chess working with his trio. He recorded for Chess’ Aristocrat label in 1947. The other two sides from this session were finally released on the new Chess label, in June 1950. He did a session in Shreveport in 1949 that remained unreleased until British JSP label put out the LP Stranger In Your Town collecting new and old recordings. In 1950, he recorded two sides for the Texas-based Royalty label and another two for Premium in Chicago. A final session on Chance was cut in 1954. Returning to his hometown, Bell worked in Peoria playing piano bar during his last decades.

Sax Mallard worked briefly (April–May 1943) with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, as well as with Ellington’s Octet. Like so many Swing musicians, Mallard had to contend with changing popular tastes as the war ended and the Big Bands wound down. When he returned to Chicago, after a stint in the navy, and picked up studio work.  In the studios Mallard took over a role that had belonged to Buster Bennett before the war. He became an extremely active participant in blues recordings for Victor and Columbia through the end of 1947. Mallard made his debut as leader for Aristocrat in December 1947.During this period he also worked with singer Andrew Tibbs and The Dozier Boys with label credits to Sax Mallard’s Combo. Mallard also appeared during this period on Arbee Stidham’s first session as a leader. He recorded with artists such as Tampa Red, Roosevelt Sykes, Eddie Boyd, Big Bill Broonzy among others.

Blues harpist Forest City Joe was heavily influenced by John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. Joe was remembered as a “great harp player” by Muddy Waters. Joe was raised in the area around Hughes and West Memphis, AR, and even as a boy played the local juke joints in the area. He hoboed his way through the state working roadhouses and juke joints during the 1940s. Beginning in 1947, he also began working the Chicago area, and a year later had his one and only session for the Chess brothers’ Aristocrat label. Lomax recorded his final sides in 1959 and Joe passed away in 1960.

Elijah Jones was brought to the studios in 1938 by Yank Rachell, recording some titles and resurfacing in 1949 for another (at that time unissued) session where he was billed as Kid Slim. These latter sides were possibly recorded for Aristocrat records but George Paulus, who owned the acetates from this session, has said that they carry no matrix numbers so it’s unclear their real source.

The album Drop Down Mama was issued in 1970 as part of the Chess Vintage Series as was the sole anthology featuring sides by several who recorded sparingly for Chess such as Honeyboy Edwards, Johnny Shines, Big Boy Spires, Blue Smitty and Floyd Jones. Honeyboy cut a four song session for the label in 1953 but nothing was issued until “Drop Down Mama” and “Sweet Home Chicago” was included on this collection. Door to Door was issued in 1969 and included sides by Albert King purchased by Chess plus sides Otis Rush cut for Chess. Rush cut ten sides for the label at two session in 1960.

When he was discharged, Claude Smith AKA Blue Smitty, wound up in Memphis for a spell, and the following year he was playing clubs in Chicago with Jimmy Rogers and Muddy Waters. They played some club dates with Jimmy and a drummer called ‘Pork Chop’, but Claude had a well-paid day-job as an electrician, which was great for fixing amplifiers and pick-ups, but he was obviously not so committed to all-night gigs: he got the boys their first paid residency, but often did not show up himself. As the others moved up, Claude moved around the towns of Illinois over the next few years, plying his trade and playing in the evenings, and at a residency at Club 99 in Joliet, he picked up the name “Blue Smitty.” Smitty’s association with Muddy got him some session work at Chess Studios over in Chicago, and he recorded four of his own songs for them in July 1952. Smitty’s career did not take off, and although he continued to play around Illinois for many decades.

After visiting Chicago a couple of times, Floyd Jones moved to the city permanently in 1945. He began playing on Maxwell Street and in non-union venues with such artists as Little Walter, John Henry Barbee, and Sunnyland Slim. In the fall of 1946, Jones teamed up with Snooky Pryor, soon joined by his cousin Moody Jones. Throughout the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, Jones recorded over a dozen songs for Marvel, JOB, Chess, and Vee-Jay. Jones also appeared on recordings throughout the 1950’s by Eddie Taylor, Little Willie Foster, and Sunnyland Slim, and continued to play in clubs and on Maxwell Street into the 1970’s, often with Big Walter Horton. In the 1960’s and 70’s he recorded more sparingly, cutting sides for Testament and some intimate sides with Walter Horton.

In 1943 Big Boy Spires moved to Chicago and started playing at house parties. At the time of his first recording session for Chess Records, in 1952, Spires was working with a band, the Rocket Four, with Eddie El on guitar and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith on drums and harmonica. A second recording session, for Chance Records in 1953, resulted in the release of another single, but an additional four sides by Spires and two by guitarist Johnny Williams remained unissued until the 1970s. Spires performed with the Rocket Four through the 1950s. He recorded another largely unissued session for Testament Records.

Morris Pejoe was from Louisiana, In the late ’40s he moved to Beaumont, TX, where he switched to guitar. Fellow Louisiana pianist Henry Gray remained his musical sidekick throughout these years, and in the early ’50s the two relocated to Chicago together. During 1952 and 1953, he cut sides for Checker, accompanied by Gray and went on to cut sides for Vee-Jay, Abco, Atomic H, and Kaytown.

After the war, Willie Nix joined Sonny Boy Williamson’s band, where he was taught to play drums for the group. After Williamson left the group, Nix and the other members, singer Willie Love and guitarist Joe Willie Wilkins, formed a group that was featured on a radio show on KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas. Nix took over the lead spot in 1950 after Willie Love left. His show lasted more than a year. In 1951 Sam Phillips heard Nix and recorded him, with sides going to RPM (1951), Checker (1952), and Phillips’s own Sun label (1953), the latter released under the name of Memphis Blues Boy. At Sun, Nix backed several artists in the studio including Walter Horton, Joe Hill Louis, Earl Hooker and others. n 1953, after Nix committed a murder (according to Steve LaVere it was a triple murder committed in Goulds, Arkansas in 1953 ) in Arkansas under unclear circumstances, he moved up to Chicago, where he stayed five years, drumming behind such blues greats as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Aleck Miller ‘‘Sonny Boy Williamson,’’ and Sunnyland Slim. He backed Muddy on a four-song session for Chess  in 1953. Nix recorded two singles for Art Sheridan for his Chance and Sabre labels.

According to one story Louisiana Red met Muddy Waters when he was a teenager when Muddy was passing through Pittsburg and Red got to sit in with him. After Red got discharged from the Army he went to Chicago and reconnected with Muddy. Muddy hooked him up with Chess where Red recorded ten sides for Chess in 1952 under the name Rocky Fuller. Only one coupling came out on Checker: “Soon One Morning b/w Come On Baby Now.” The other sides eventually saw the light of day in the 80s on an LP shared with sides by Forrest City Joe titled Memory Of Sonny Boy. Two of the Chess numbers featured Little Walter on harmonica.

Henry Strong was one of Muddy Waters’ harmonica players who replaced Walter Horton in 1953. He was murdered by a jealous girlfriend before he was able  to record anything with Muddy. On June 3, 1954, Strong’s girlfriend turned up ranting and raving in the middle of the night at the South Greenwood Ave. building where she and Strong shared an apartment, in the same building where Muddy lived. When Strong tried to calm things down, she grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the chest. He died in the back seat of Muddy’s car, on the way to the hospital. Strong did play behind Henry Gray on two numbers cut for Chess in 1953 but not issued until decades later. From that session we spin “I Declare That Ain’t Right.”

Blessed with a booming voice and a hip delivery, Jimmy Nelson cut a swath of fine sides for Modern’s RPM and Kent imprints in the early 50’s and 60’s but only scored big with his signature “T-99 Blues.” After getting dropped from Modern Nelson bounced through a number of small labels before giving up music in the 60’s. It wasn’t until the 80’s that he decided to refocus his energies on music, playing locally and making some guest appearances on record and appearing at festivals. After many trials and tribulations Nelson finally made his long-awaited comeback record with 1999’s Rockin’ And Shoutin’ The Blues on Rounder, followed by two more on his own Nettie Marie label. “Free and Easy Mind” arrived from some little operation in Houston, Texas. Chess would pick up further Nelson sides made in Houston in October 1957 and December 1959.

Gus Jenkins was born in Birmingham, and developed his piano style influenced by St. Louis blues pianist Walter Davis. He toured with Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Review, and backed singers Big Mama Thornton and Percy Mayfield, before reaching Chicago in the late 1940s. Jenkins first recorded for the Chess label in January 1953, accompanied by Walter Horton (harmonica) and Willie Nix (drums), but his recordings, including “Eight Ball”, were not released for some years. Later in 1953 he recorded “Cold Love” and other tracks as Little Temple for the Specialty label in Los Angeles. He remained in Los Angeles for the rest of his career, and learned woodworking while continuing to perform, with Johnny Otis’ band and others, and record. He recorded “I Miss My Baby” for Jake Porter’s Combo label in 1955, before recording “Tricky” in 1956 for the Flash label owned by Charlie Reynolds. The single reached no.2 on the R&B chart and no.79 on the Billboard pop chart in late 1956. He released several further singles on Flash, including “Spark Plug” and “Payday Shuffle”, before forming his own label, Pioneer International.  He released a string of records on the label until 1962, many being piano and organ instrumentals released under his own name.

Otis Spann‘s debut featured his piano and vocals, with George “Harmonica” Smith (on “It Must Have Been the Devil”), Jody Williams and surprise guest B. B. King on guitar, the omnipresent Willie Dixon at the bass, and Earl Phillips on drums. Both Spann’s idiosyncratically upbeat approach to “It Must Have Been the Devil” and the instrumental side, “Five Spot,” were successful performances, but Spann lacked name recognition at this point in his career, and his debut release on Checker 807 is a rarity today. Spann would record two more sides in 1956, but they were not released until years later. Otis Spann began enjoying more success as a recording artist in 1960, when he recorded an LP for British Decca and one for Candid

Danny Overbea made his first recording in 1950 as guest vocalist on saxophonist Eddie Chamblee’s “Every Shut Eye Ain’t Sleep”. He signed as a solo artist to Premium Records and released his first single in early 1951. He became a popular club performer, noted for his guitar skills while performing splits, playing behind his back, and with his teeth. He signed to Chess in 1952 where he had some chart success with releases on the Checker subsidiary and later Argo.