WILL SHADE ( II ) * Memphis Jug Band *
En la fotografía de la Paul Oliver colection podemos ver a WILL SHADE junto al también legendario banjista Gus Cannon .
Harmonica Blues
Mississipi - Memphis - Chicago 1927 - 1941
Memphis Jug Band veterans Will Shade and Charlie Burse (a.k.a. Son Brimmer and Laughing Charlie) perform the Jim Jackson song "Kansas City Blues." This was part of a television special called "Blues Street" produced in 1958. Shade (playing trashcan bass) was 60 years old and Burse (playing resonator tenor guitar) was 57. They had been playing together for 30 years.
The Memphis Jug Band was an American musical group active from the mid-1920s through the late 1950s. The band featured harmonica, kazoo, fiddle and mandolin or banjolin, backed by guitar, piano, washboard and jug. They played slow blues, pop songs, humorous songs and upbeat dance numbers with jazz and string band flavors. The band made the first commercial music recordings in Memphis, and recorded more sides than any other pre-war jug band. Beginning in 1926, various African-American musicians in the Memphis, Tennessee, area grouped around singer, songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player Will Shade (also known as Son Brimmer or Sun Brimmer). The personnel of this jug band varied from day to day, with Shade booking gigs and arranging recording sessions. The band functioned as a training ground for musicians who would go on to success with careers of their own. Among the recorded members of the Memphis Jug Band were (at various times) Will Shade (harmonica, guitar, vocals), Charlie Burse (pronounced Bursey) (guitar, tenor guitar, vocals), Charlie Nickerson (vocals, piano), Charlie Pierce (fiddle), Charlie Polk (jug), Tewee Blackman (guitar, vocals), "Hambone" Lewis (jug), Jab Jones (piano, jug, vocals), Johnny Hodges/Hardge (piano), Ben Ramey (kazoo, vocals), Casey Bill Weldon (guitar, vocals), Memphis Minnie (guitar, vocals), Vol Stevens (vocals, fiddle, mandolin), Milton Robie (fiddle), Otto Gilmore/Gilmer (drums and woodblocks), and Robert Burse (washboard, drums). Vocals were also provided by Hattie Hart, Memphis Minnie, Jennie Mae Clayton (Shade's wife), and Minnie Wallace. In the case of Memphis Minnie, the Memphis Jug Band accompanied her on two sides for Victor Records, recorded in 1930 during one of her first recording sessions. Some members also contributed to gospel recordings, either uncredited or as part of the Memphis Sanctified Singers. Their large membership pool allowed the Memphis Jug Band the flexibility to play a mixture of ballads, dance tunes, knock-about novelty numbers, and blues. The group recorded under several names on various recording labels, but today are most often referred to as the Memphis Jug Band. Alternate band names used in releases include the Picaninny Jug Band, Memphis Sanctified Singers, the Carolina Peanut Boys, the Dallas Jug Band, the Memphis Sheiks and the Jolly Jug Band. Other releases were credited to the individual performers Hattie Hart, Minnie Wallace, Casey Bill Weldon, Charlie Nickerson, Vol Stevens, Charlie Burse, "Poor Jab" Jones, and Will Shade, but performed with accompaniment by other Memphis Jug Band members. (wikipedia)
Comments