My introduction to the Blues came as a 9-year-old boy listening to old Stinson78's from a collection titled "Negro Sinful Songs as Sung by Huddie 'Leadbelly' Ledbetter." They belonged to the father of my 4th grade classmate, Steve Thomes, and we almost wore them out listening time and again. Waiting until his parents were safely out of the house, we would sneak into the den and pull out the album and listen for hours. "Fannin Street" was a fave, with its salacious lyric being of special appeal to a 9 year-old's ears...you know the one, about the woman who "...lives on the backside of the jail...."
In retrospect, the influence exerted by this particular record collection was far-reaching. Often, we were bothered in our listening by a young man who lived in the downstairs portion of the duplex occupied by Steve and his family. He was a year younger and a grade behind us in school. As such, he was considered a "little kid" and his presence was tolerated but not encouraged. The "little kid's" name was Mark Naftalin. Mark would later go on to join a band and make some records. The band he joined, as keyboardist, was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band appearing on their first release (Born In Chicago) as well as the seminal East West, the album which truly launched the Butterfield Blues Band.
Mark has remained in the music business and currently owns Winner Records (www.winnerrecords.com). Steve, while never going into the business professionally, picked up guitar in his early teens and, listening to those early 78's, became one of the finest 12 string guitar players I've ever heard. Later, a high school classmate of ours, Dave 'Snaker' Ray, would go on to fame (but limited fortune) as one third of the influential early '60s Electra Records Blues trio, Koerner Ray & Glover. His early exposure to the Blues began with a close listening to Steve's Stinson collection. Interestingly enough, another University High School classmate of ours, Barry Hansen (a/k/a Dr. Demento of radio fame) also was influenced by this collection. Was it the collection - or something in the water at U-High...?
As a youngster and as a young man, my friends and I listened with fascination to recordings by newly re-discovered Blues artists. I often wondered what these guys were like, these guys whose music meant so much to me. I would later discover the answer to that question when I was given a front row seat to the grandest of performances - The Memphis Blues Caravan.
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