CALVIN FRAZIER

    Un hombre de sangre caliente que refleja en sus temas toda su pasión !dentro del estilo más característico del blues que se hacía en DETROIT , Lástima que el azar , o su propio carácter vete tu a saber,  impidió que  alcanzara la notoriedad de sus colegas. 

 Calvin Frazier nunca alcanzó la notoriedad de otros colegas suyos como el propio Robert Johnson , Johnny Shines, Robert Jr. Lockwood o Honeyboy Edwards, pero su legado discográfico aunque escaso revela un artista cuyas maneras de asumir el blues de la época anterior a la guerra es tan único y distintivo como cualquier otro. Nacido 16 de febrero 1915 en Osceola, Arkansas, Frazier comenzó su carrera tocando junto a sus hermanos, y en compañía de Shines, viajó a Helena, Arkansas en 1930; allí se encontraron con Johnson, y juntos los tres hombres viajaron hacia el norte a Detroit,. A su regreso al sur, Frazier y Johnson también se unieron con el baterista Peck Curtis en un combo  Sin embargo, en 1935 Frazier fue herido en un tiroteo que dejó en  Memphis otro hombre muerto; huyó de nuevo a Detroit, se casó  y optó por una vida de anonimato tranquilo. Reapareció en 1938 el tiempo suficiente para grabar una sesión para el folclorista Alan Lomax; mientras que el espectro de Johnson persigue innegablemente sus interpretaciones de canciones como "Lily Mae" (una reescritura de "Blues de luna de miel") y "Highway 51" (extraído  de "Dust My Broom"), voces incomprensibles de Frazier, amenazadoramente letras surrealistas y guitarra exquisita  son las características de un personaje original.Grabó  de nuevo hen  1951 con  Fowler, y entró en el estudio por última vez en 1954 con Warren y Miller; Frazier siguió actuando en el área de Detroit a con poca  atención hasta su muerte el 23 de septiembre 1972.

              

"Lilly Mae" was recorded by Calvin Frazier (vocals, guitar, drums) at Fortune Records in Detroit in 1952. It wasn't released until the 1970s on Fortune's collection: "Blues Sounds of the Hastings Street Era (The Original Detroit Blues)" vinyl LP (#3012).

                              
               

CALVIN FRAZIER sweet lucy (drinking woman) / be-bop boogie ALBEN 106

Recorded in Detroit circa 1949

                               

Ultra Rare 45 by Calvin Frazier, vcl/g; Jimmy Millner's Blue Rhythm, band. Detroit, Mi. 1952

Sweet bread baby

Lilly Mae n°4

Thanks to Steve Wisner for sharing this much sought after item and see my Blue Eye blog for more about Calvin Frazier

Calvin H. Frazier (February 16, 1915 – September 23, 1972) was an American Detroit blues and country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Despite leaving a fragmented recording history, both as a singer and guitarist, Frazier was an associate of Robert Johnson, and recorded alongside Johnny Shines, Sampson Pittman, T.J. Fowler, Alberta Adams, Jimmy Milner, Baby Boy Warren, Boogie Woogie Red, and latterly Washboard Willie. His early work was recorded by the Library of Congress (now preserved by the National Recording Registry) prior to the outbreak of World War II, although his more commercial period took place between 1949 and 1956.

Frazier was born in Osceola, Arkansas, and originally performed with his own brothers. Befriending Johnny Shines, in 1930 they jointly travelled to Helena, Arkansas where they met Robert Johnson. The threesome moved on to Detroit, Michigan, with Frazier bringing his wife Gussie Mae and their children. Here they performed hymns on local radio stations. Frazier and Johnson returned south where they played along with the drummer, James 'Peck' Curtis.

In 1935, Frazier was involved in a dispute in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was wounded, and his only brother and another man shot dead. Frazier returned to Detroit with his wife, but then wed Shines' cousin resulting in an invalid marriage. He played guitar as an accompanist to Big Maceo Merriweather, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Baby Boy Warren before being recorded in 1938 by the folklorist Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. His recordings included "Lily Mae", dedicated to his wife and which was a revised version of Johnson's "Honeymoon Blues"; and "Highway 51", another variant, this time of Johnson's track, "Dust My Broom".

His unique style combined slide guitar work with unusual lyrics, and a vocal phrasing that was difficult to decipher. He released three singles under his own name in 1949 and 1951 on the Alben and New Song labels, including "Got Nobody To Tell My Troubles To", which he recorded in Toledo, Ohio in 1951. Between 1951 and 1953, Frazier was a recording member of T.J. Fowler's jump blues combo, then recorded with Warren in 1954, whilst his final sessions in the studio appear to be in 1956 backing Washboard Willie. Without any tangible success on record or otherwise, Frazier nevertheless performed around Detroit taking his youngest daughter Carol Frazier along on his venture's until his death.

Calvin Frazier died in Detroit of cancer in September 1972, at the age of 57.

His most notable work was "This Old World's in a Tangle"; both the title of the first song he recorded, and of the compilation album issued by Laurie Records in 1993, which included some of his earliest work. Nine of his full length original recordings were included in the JSP Records 2005 compilation, Detroit Blues: Blues from the Motor City 1938–1954.

In 2009, the Detroit Blues Society instigated an appeal to raise monies to mark Frazier's previously unmarked grave with a headstone. By December that year a granite slab was in place.