News

HARMONICA MASTERS JAMES COTTON AND CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE 

RECEIVE GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

Alligator recording artists James Cotton and Charlie Musselwhite each received a Grammy Award

nomination in the Best Traditional Blues Album category (Category 66). Cotton's Giant  and

Musselwhite's The Well have been hailed by critics and fans alike as two of the very best blues CDs of 2010.

Blues Revue said Cotton "is a virtuosoof the blues. Giant is one of the best albums of the year."

Living Blues said, "The Well features full-toned Memphis-to-Chicago harp chops and is filled with soul-stirring, spiritual uplift and hard-won, life-affirming blues wisdom."

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Chicago blues guitarist and vocalist Albert Abraham "Little Smokey" Smothers, 71, died on November 20, 2010. Smothers recorded multiple albums and accompanied other famed blues men and women on records and in live performance. He was also known as a mentor to younger musicians, including Paul Butterfield and Elvin Bishop of the popular and influential 1960s blues crossover group The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Smothers died at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Chicago of natural causes.

Smothers was born into a musical family in Tchula, Mississippi on January 2, 1939 and moved to Chicago as a teenager. His older brother, guitarist Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers became a well-known Chicago blues artist. Little Smokey took up guitar and before long was recording and performing with artists like Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, his soul singer cousin Lee "Shot" Williams and others. Little Smokey developed a smooth, jazzy, contemporary blues style, with heavy influences from B.B. and Albert King and Kenny Burrell. Concentrating primarily on his instrumental skills, he toured and led bands playing locally in Chicago's South Side blues clubs beginning in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. He partially retired to raise a family, but returned to blues in 1978. He spent most of the 1980s playing small Chicago clubs and touring occasionally as a sideman, including as lead guitarist with the Legendary Blues Band.

Smothers made his debut recordings as part of Mojo Buford's CHICAGO BLUES SUMMIT album. During his tenure with the Legendary Blues Band, he was featured on their album WOKE UP WITH THE BLUES.  Smothers recorded his first CD as a bandleader in 1993 with the award-winning Dutch Black Magic label release BOSSMAN!. In 1996 he recorded SECOND TIME AROUND for the German CrossCut label; the title track was a chronicle of his then-recent emergency coronary bypass surgery.  He was co-billed with his protege Elvin Bishop for his American album debut, THAT'S MY PARTNER! on Alligator Records, recorded live in San Francisco. In 2009 Bishop facilitated CHICAGO BLUES BUDDIES, a collection of their musical collaborations which also received uniformly warm reviews and provided financial and spiritual support for Smothers as his quality of life declined. 

In addition to his recording and performing career, Smothers was a featured artist in Martin Scorsese's 1993 public television series, The Blues, with a lengthy live performance sequence filmed at blues singer Koko Taylor's night club.

Smothers' relationship with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band began in the early 1960s when he first saw Butterfield playing harmonica on the sidewalk in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He soon incorporated Butterfield into his South Side revue which also included Lee "Shot" Williams and an impressive horn section including another Smothers protege, baritone sax player Willie Henderson, who went on to become a well-known R&B horn arranger. In 1964 Smothers accompanied Butterfield on some recordings for Swedish Radio. At the Blue Flame club on 39th Street, Smothers met Elvin Bishop, an aspiring blues guitarist and a University Of Chicago scholarship student. Smothers took Bishop under his wing and taught him blues guitar fundamentals.  Bishop still remembers Smothers' motivational tactics with fondness: "He'd take me over and have them neck bones and beans goin' on the stove, and he said, 'Come here.' He'd lift up that lid and say, 'Smell this!' and I'd say, 'Oh, that smells good!' And he'd say, 'When you get this part, you can have some.'" Bishop became a core member of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which broke the blues through to a much wider audience outside the black community and was involved in pivotal blues landmarks including Bob Dylan's legendary and controversial amplified band performances at the Newport Folk Festival.

Along with the musical legacy of his own recordings and the noteworthy musicians he helped at a critical time, Smothers is well remembered for a quick wit, smile and laugh; a healthy quotient of humor in the delivery is one of his main influences on Bishop.  Recalling his friendly, outgoing nature, Bishop commented, "He would've gotten along with Martians."

Smothers is survived by brothers Elmore Pittman and Dennis Smothers, sisters Eliza Callahan and Alice Louise Smothers, wife Shirley Smothers, children Josetta Myers and Michael Myers, stepdaughter Karen Willis and nine grandchildren. He was preceded in death by parents Dennis Smothers and Emma Lou Smothers, brothers Otis Smothers and Howard Smothers and sister Beatrice Smothers.

Funeral information is as follows:

Tuesday, Nov. 30, A.R. Leak, 7838 S. Cottage Grove,  Chicago.
Viewing 6 PM, funeral 7 PM. 

Burial in Homewood Cemetery will be Wednesday, December 1.

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Jacksonville-based rock/blues/soul singer/guitarist/songwriter JJ Grey will appear on the nationally syndicated radio program A Prairie Home Companion on Saturday, November 13, 2010, live from The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, FL. He'll play three or four songs from his acclaimed new CD, Georgia Warhorse.

A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor, is heard by more than four million listeners each week on some 590 public radio stations, and abroad on America One and the Armed Forces Networks in Europe and the Far East. The show is produced by Prairie Home Productions and distributed nationwide by American Public Media.

To find a station and air time in your area,

see http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/stations.

You can listen to the live audio stream from 5:00 - 7:00 PM central time by going to www.prairiehome.org. You can hear a rebroadcast of the live stream on Sunday, from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM central time. To purchase tickets to the show, see http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/tickets/2010/1113.shtml.

Grey recently released a video for the first single from the CD, The Sweetest Thing, a duet with reggae superstar Toots Hibbert of Toots & The Maytals. Previously, he released a short documentary on the making of Georgia Warhorse.

The Sweetest Thing More Info

JJ Grey Mini Documentary

ALLIGATOR RECORDS IS TURNING 40

2011 marks the 40^th anniversary of Chicago's Alligator Records. Founded in 1971 and still owned and operated by award-winning blues visionary Bruce Iglauer, the label will kick off its year-long celebration on February 22 with the release of the two-CD retrospective, The Alligator Records 40^th Anniversary Collection. On that same day, Alligator will release four vinyl LPs: Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers (Alligator's very first release), the Grammy-winning supersession featuring Albert Collins, Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland, Showdown!, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells' intimate and deeply soulful Alone And Acoustic, and the critically acclaimed 2010 release from JJ Grey & Mofro, Georgia Warhorse. The latter two titles have not previously been released on vinyl.

There will be plenty more news on this and other big 40^th Anniversary events in the days and weeks to come. Stay tuned.

ROOMFUL OF BLUES AND SHEMEKIA COPELAND TO HAVE NEW ALLIGATOR RELEASES IN 2011

On January 18, Alligator Records will release Hook, Line & Sinker, the brand new album from Rhode Island's award-winning Roomful Of Blues. Since 1967, the group's deeply rooted blend of swing, rock 'n' roll, jump, blues and soul has earned it five Grammy Award nominations and a slew of other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards (one for Blues Band Of The Year in 2005). The band has been led since 1996 by guitarist Chris Vachon. Guitar Player says, "Vachon burns with explosive solos and a delightfully greasy sense of rhythm." Roomful of Blues has always maintained its signature sound by boasting great musicianship and a stellar horn section featuring tenor and alto saxophonist Rich Lataille, who first joined the band in 1970. Lataille's masterful playing can evoke either the fat-toned honking sax of the glory days of early rock or the cool elegance of big band swing jazz.

That same day will see the release of Deluxe Edition from powerhouse blue vocalist Shemekia Copeland. The album collects 14 of Copeland's hardest-hitting and most deeply moving songs from her four Alligator albums. Deluxe Edition contains a fold-out mini poster of Copeland and a newly written essay by Alligator president Bruce Iglauer. Songs from her 1998 debut Turn The Heat Up, the 2000 Grammy-nominated follow-up Wicked, the 2002 Dr. John-produced Talking To Strangers and the 2005 Steve Cropper-produced The Soul Truth sit side-by-side, creating the definitive overview of Copeland's irresistible music and her immense talents.

TOMMY CASTRO BAND RECEIVES 2010 BLUES BLAST MUSIC AWARD FOR BEST BLUES BAND

Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Tommy Castro and his band were named Best Blues Band at the 2010 Blues Blast Music Awards held on October 29 at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. Castro was honored with four Blues Music Awards earlier this year, including the B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, Band Of The Year, Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year for his Alligator debut CD Hard Believer. Blues Revue says, "Castro can do no wrong...soulful, heartfelt vocals and exquisite, stellar guitar. He plays an inspired blend of blues, R&B, soul and roadhouse rock."

HARMONICA MASTER CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE FEATURED ON HOUSE OF BLUES RADIO HOUR

Blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, whose new CD, The Well, has been hailed as the best of his long career, will be featured on The House Of Blues Radio Hour this weekend, October 16 and 17. Tune in to hear Charlie talk with Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) as they discuss The Well.

The House Of Blues Radio Hour is broadcast on over 200 radio stations across the U.S. and in Canada and on American Forces Radio - 168 countries and all ships at sea. For additional information, to listen to a stream, or to find an affiliate station in your area go to www.thebluesmobile.com.

The Well is the first full-band recording in Musselwhite's almost 50-year career in which he wrote every track on the album, and it is the most personal and emotionally open cycle of songs he has ever created. The revealing, autobiographical songs recall specific events and places in Musselwhite's amazingly colorful life. His worldly-wise vocals and masterful harmonica work are perfectly matched with the stories he tells. Simply put, The Well is Charlie Musselwhite at his very best.

ROOMFUL OF BLUES PREPARE NEW CD SET FOR JANUARY 2011 RELEASE

BAND HOLDS FIRST-EVER CONTEST TO LET FANS CHOOSE THE COVER ART

Providence, Rhode Island-based horn-fueled blues jumpers Roomful Of Blues will release their new CD (and fourth for Alligator) Hook, Line & Sinker in January 2011. For the first time ever, fans of the band can vote to choose the cover art for the new album by going here:
http://www.alligator.com/index.cfm?section=covercontest.
Ten random voters will receive a free copy of the CD.

Since 1967, the group's deeply rooted blend of swing, rock 'n' roll, jump, blues and soul has earned them five Grammy Award nominations and a slew of other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards (with the nod for Blues Band Of The Year in 2005). Even though Roomful of Blues' lineup has changed over the years, the band has always been one of the tightest, most joyful blues ensembles in the world. Currently an eight-piece unit led by guitarist Chris Vachon, the band has never sounded fresher or stronger. The band's present lineup includes new members vocalist Phil Pemberton, bassist John Turner, and trumpeter Doug Woolverton and long-time members drummer Ephraim Lowell, keyboardist Travis Colby, baritone and tenor saxophonist Mark Earley, and tenor and alto saxophonist Rich Lataille (the longest-standing member of the group).

JJ GREY RELEASES VIDEO FOR THE SWEETEST THING
Joined by Toots Hibbert And Filmed in Jamaica

The Sweetest Thing Featured on NPR's Song Of The Day

JJ Grey, driving force behind Jacksonville's JJ Grey & Mofro, has just released a video for the song, The Sweetest Thing, the first single from his critically acclaimed new CD, Georgia Warhorse. The song features JJ singing a duet with vocalist Toots Hibbert (of Toots & The Maytals). The video, directed by Brendan "Spookie" Daly, was filmed in Jamaica and can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6J-SBfMP5A

The track was featured on NPR's Song Of The Day on Wednesday, October 13, and can be heard here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130537000&sc=nl&cc=sod-20101013

The Sweetest Thing has blanketed radio stations around the country. In the Adult Rock (AAA) Format, The Sweetest Thing was the #1 Most Added song overall among AAA stations and was  #1 Most Added record on FMQB's panel of stations. Currently, The Sweetest Thing is #9 on the Indicator Chart and the album, Georgia Warhorse, is #9 on FMQB's Public Radio Chart.

Georgia Warhorse, named after a particularly resilient southern grasshopper, is Grey's best-selling album to date. Grey was recently featured on NPR's All Things Considered. The album has been reviewed in USA Today, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Paste, Relix, An Honest Tune and many other national and regional publications.

JJ GREY ON NPR'S WEEKEND ALL THINGS CONSIDERED

Documentary Film, The Good Soldier, With Music By JJ Grey, Wins Emmy Award

Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/songwriter JJ Grey appeared on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered on Saturday, October 2. Talking to host Guy Raz, Grey discussed the inspiration, songwriting and recording process for the new CD, Georgia Warhorse. Grey then performed an acoustic version of Hide And Seek. Raz also played three tracks from the album.

The New York Times calls Georgia Warhorse, "impassioned, riff-based Southern rock, swamp funk and Memphis soul." Grey has been featured in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Relix, Paste, USA Today, Pollstar, Vintage Guitar, An Honest Tune, Hittin' The Note and many other national and regional publications.

Grey and his band Mofro are currently in the middle of a massive 51-city tour.

Listen to the Weekend Edition story here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130217983

In other JJ Grey news, the documentary film for which Grey contribued songs and original music, The Good Soldier (produced and directed by Lexy Lovell and Michael Uyls), won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Programming -- Long Form.

The film follows the journeys of five combat veterans from different generations of American wars. The film tracks the soldiers from the time they sign up, go into battle, deal with the reality of war and shows how it changes them, and eventually reshapes their definition about what it means to be a good solider. The film intermingles intense and revealing interview footage with documentary film of World War II, Vietnam, the Gulf War and the war in Iraq.

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BLUES HARMONICA MASTER JAMES COTTON'

NEW CD, GIANT, NOW AVAILABLE

Grammy Award-winning blues harmonica master James "Mr. Superharp" Cotton returns to Alligator Records with the new CD, Giant, now available. Giant is a ferocious blast of brash power blues from Cotton, one of the few bluesmen to have harmonicas literally explode from the pure force of his playing. Cotton, who in 2010 celebrates his 66th year as a professional musician (starting at the age of nine), has recorded 28 solo albums, including two highly-regarded releases for Alligator in the 1980s and the famed Harp Attack! with Junior Wells, Carey Bell and Billy Branch in 1990. The New York Daily News calls Cotton "the greatest living blues harmonica player." The New York Times adds, "Cotton helped define modern blues harmonica with his moaning, wrenching phrases and his train-whistle wails." Rolling Stone says Cotton is "among the greats of all time. He blazes on harp with remarkable and brilliant virtuosity."

Recorded by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording in Austin, Texas, Giant features 12 tracks, including four new Cotton originals and co-writes, alongside songs made famous by Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Ivory Joe Hunter and others. Throughout his career, Cotton has always had great bands, and the players on Giant are no exception. With guitarists/vocalists Slam Allen and Tom Holland, bassist Noel Neal (Ronnie James Weber on one song) and drummer Kenny Neal, Jr., Giant is not just a reminder of Cotton's legendary status, it is a remarkably vibrant and hard-hitting album made by one of the true blues masters.

Between his larger-than-life personality, his huge, boogie-blast-furnace sound and his massive frame, James Cotton is a blues giant in every respect. Born in Tunica, Mississippi on July 1, 1935, Cotton actually grew up on a cotton plantation. The youngest of eight brothers and sisters, he received a fifteen-cent harmonica for Christmas as a very small boy and mastered it almost immediately. He began listening to Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time on KFFA from Helena, Arkansas and learned to imitate the older bluesman note for note. In 1944, after both of his parents had passed away, Cotton's uncle recognized the nine-year-old boy's talent and took him to Helena to meet his hero. Upon first meeting Sonny Boy, Cotton began playing the elder blueman's famous licks. Sonny Boy was amazed. The two became close, and Cotton spent many nights traveling with Williamson to juke joints all over the area. Cotton, being too young to enter the clubs, often played for tips outside.

When Williamson left for Milwaukee in 1950, Cotton, now 15, took over Sonny Boy's band. While this arrangement didn't last beyond a few gigs, Cotton got a taste of band leading. He met Howlin' Wolf and soon began touring with him all over the South. Cotton learned all about making it on the road from Wolf, and, though only a teenager, he was determined to succeed. By 1952 his reputation was growing, particularly in West Memphis. He worked often in local juke joints and clubs and, along with drummer Willie Nix, hosted a variety of local radio shows.

In 1953, the teenage Cotton received word that Sun Records owner Sam Phillips wanted to record him. He cut a total of four sides in 1953-54, including the classic Cotton Crop Blues.  In 1954, Muddy Waters came through Memphis without Junior Wells, his harp player at the time. Waters was well aware of Cotton's growing reputation and asked him to join his band. Cotton headed to Chicago with Waters, staying by his side for the next 12 years, becoming Muddy's trusted confidante and the leader of his backing band.

The first few years Cotton was with Waters, Chess Records still insisted on having Little Walter record with Muddy. But that changed beginning in 1958, when Cotton joined Waters in the studio, recording on many of Muddy's classics sides, including She's 19 Years Old and Close To You. Cotton convinced Waters to perform and record Got My Mojo Working, and can be heard playing on the definitive version of the song on Waters' 1960 Chess LP, Live At Newport.

By 1966, Cotton was ready to head out on his own. He first recorded sides under his own name for the Chicago/The Blues/Today! series on Vanguard, and along with Otis Spann, cut The Blues Never Die for Prestige. He made his first solo albums - one for Vanguard and three for Verve - in the late 1960s, with bands featuring outstanding musicians, including famed guitarist Luther Tucker and master drummers Sam Lay and Francis Clay. With his gale-force sound and fearless boogie band (later featuring Matt "Guitar" Murphy), it wasn't long before he was adopted by the burgeoning hippie audience as one of their own. Cotton shared stages with Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Steve Miller, Freddie King, B.B. King and many others. In 1969 he appeared on Hugh Hefner's groundbreaking Playboy After Dark syndicated television program.

Cotton was well-known as one of the hardest-touring and most popular blues artists of the 1970s. His acrobatic showmanship (he often did somersaults on stage) and full-throttle blues kept him in demand at concert halls all over the country; he played the Fillmore East in New York, the Fillmore West in San Francisco and every major rock venue in between. During the decade, he cut an album for Capitol and three for Buddah. He rejoined his old boss Muddy Waters for the series of Muddy albums produced by Johnny Winter, starting with Hard Again in 1977. Cotton also guested on recordings by Howlin' Wolf, Koko Taylor, John Lee Hooker and many others. He was joined on his own albums by stars like Todd Rundgren, Steve Miller and Johnny Winter.

Cotton joined Alligator Records in 1984, releasing High Compression and Live From Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself!!! (which earned him his very first Grammy nomination). In 1990 he joined fellow harp masters Junior Wells, Carey Bell and Billy Branch for the all-star release Harp Attack!. He won a Grammy Award in 1996 for his Verve album, Deep In The Blues.

During the 2000s Cotton has continued recording and touring relentlessly, playing all over the world. He was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame in 2006. The San Francisco Examiner says, "James Cotton is an inimitable blues-harmonica legend. His wailing harmonica blows them away. His jazzy improvisations on the blues are full of fun and good humor. The blues don't get much better."

Today Cotton, while turning over the singing duties to his road band, still blows the reeds right out of his harp. With Giant, James Cotton's aggressive, powerful blues harmonica playing is a true force of nature. In June 2010 Cotton was honored at New York's Lincoln Center, where his friends Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal, Shemekia Copeland and others paid tribute in an all-star concert. There James Cotton played in front of yet another sold-out venue, with fans all cheering the man known worldwide as "Mr. Superharp," an undisputed giant of the blues.

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