JOE PULLUM
Pianista y cantante , JOE PULLUM es un muy poco conocido y oscuro pianista ( según opiniones, cantante de voz gatuna etc. ) está considerado sin embargo como un fiel representante del Blues a piano que se hacía en TEXAS , se movía siempre por los night-clubs considerados de dudosa reputación , sin embargo, como podéis ver en la Bio que nos ofrece allmusic (uno de los temas que os ofrecemos) , Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard ? fué versionado por diferentes e importantes artistas.
Born 1900, prob. Houston, Texas, USA, d. c.1965, poss. California, USA. Active in Houston, Texas, from the early 30s, Pullum sang the blues in a high and clear voice that brought added texture to his material. He appealed to contemporary blues audiences of the mid- to late 30s and signed to Victor Records, but unfortunately made only a few recordings for their Bluebird Records subsidiary. In 1934 he recorded his own ‘Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?’, a song so popular that he went on to record other versions of it, including ‘Black Gal No. 3’ and ‘Black Gal No. 4’. The song was also recorded around the same time by Leroy Carr and others, although Pullum’s version was the most popular, so much so that Jimmie Gordon recorded the song for release as by ‘Joe Bullum’. The song was covered in later years by artists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins, Robert Shaw, Clifton Chenier, Mance Lipscomb and, especially, Victoria Spivey who recorded it more than once. Spivey is reported as stating that Pullum wrote the song about a decade before he recorded it although the 1934 recording contains contemporary references, notably to the bonus marchers, which suggests that either Spivey was in error or, more likely, that just as he would change the lyrics after 1934, Pullum had also changed them to suit that date. He also performed ‘Bonus Blues’, indicating a continuing interest in social and political matters of the era.
Among Pullum’s other songs are ‘Mississippi Flood Blues’, ‘Joe Louis Is The Man’, ‘Blues With Class’ and ‘Dixie My Home’. On record, Pullum was often accompanied by pianists Robert Cooper or Andy Boy. The latter is with Pullum on, for example, ‘House Raid Blues’, ‘Yellow Gal Blues’, ‘Ice Pick Mama’ and ‘Too Late Blues’. In the 40s Pullum relocated to California where, in 1948, he recorded for Swing Time Records, sometimes with accompaniment from pianist Lloyd Green. Some of the work with Green has been released on compilations under the pianist’s name, Honky Tonk Train (1983) and Chica Boom (1988). Not long after his California sessions, the last of which was in 1951, Pullum sank to a level of obscurity even deeper than that which had surrounded his earlier life.
Joe Pullum (December 25, 1905 — January 7, 1964) was an American blues singer and songwriter.
Pullum, an Alabama-born nightclub singer, was one of the more obscure blues stars. He was accompanied on his few recordings by two pianists; Rob Cooper on his earlier discs, and Andy Boy on his later efforts. Pullum's major success was with his self-written song, "Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?" (1934). It sold in large quantities and was covered by Leroy Carr, Skip James, Mary Johnson, Jimmie Gordon, Josh White, Bumble Bee Slim, the Harlem Hamfats, Smokey Hogg and James Crutchfield. His subsequent recordings did not fare as well
Pullum recorded four sessions, which yielded a total of 30 tracks, between April 1934 and February 1936. The tracks included two intended sequels to "Black Gal," but overall sales were modest. Pullum later performed on radio on the Houston station, KTLC, backed by another pianist, Preston "Peachy" Chase.Pullum relocated to Los Angeles, California in the 1940s, and he further interpreted "Black Gal" into "My Woman", accompanied by Lloyd Glenn, on Swingtime Records in 1948. He also reputedly recorded a demo with Specialty Records in 1953
Although he was a gifted songwriter, few of his contemporaries seemed able to recall him.
Pullum died in 1964, aged 58, and was buried in Houston, Texas. All of his known recordings were collated on two Document albums released in 1995.
Music journalist Tony Russell wrote that "Pullum's high clear voice, drifting over the peaks and valleys of "Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?", brought the shock of the new into mid-1930s blues. No one before, male or female, had sung with such feline grace. What's more, Pullum's ethereal manner hardly prepared the listener for the song's scenario of insults, smoking pistols and suicide".
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