Biography

Blues Radio Contact: Kevin Johnson
promo@delmark.com

Click Here for more Delmark Releases!

Women blues singers have been recording since the 1920s. Wild About That Thing features the best of both classic and modern blues.

The past half-century of jazz and blues, from the Chicago perspective of Delmark Records, is more fun, stranger, grittier and more intimate than the music typically purveyed by major companies. The Delmark guarantee is genuine jazz and blues, played without compromise. And after 50 years, we've still got it!

With Dinah Washington, Betty Roche, Karen Carroll, Katherine Davis, Graná Louise, and more! Including previously unissued recordings by Mary Johnson.

Wild About That Thing
Ladies Sing The Blues
Delmark DX-913


1. Big Time Sarah Long Tall Daddy 4:53
2. Katherine Davis Wild About That Thing 3:59
3. Karen Carroll Confessin' The Blues 4:07
4. Blu Lu Barker Don't You Feel My Leg 3:00
5. Bonnie Lee Got The Blues'Bout My Baby 5:10
6. Edith Wilson He May Be Your Man 3:49
7. Grana Louise You've Been A Good Ole Wagon 5:26
8. Dinah Washington Rich Man's Blues 2:53
9. Shirley Johnson Not For The Love Of You 3:04
10. Betty Roche I Love My Lovin' Lover 3:12
11. Zora Young Brain Damage 4:35
12. Mary Johnson* Never Too Late 3:37
13. Mary Johnson* Show Me The Way 3:58

*previously unissued



1. BIG TIME SARAH Long Tall Daddy 4:53 (Sarah Streeter, BMI)
From the album BLUES IN THE YEAR ONE-D-ONE (Delmark 692)
BIG TIME SARAH: vocal EMERY WILLIAMS: guitar TONY LLORENS: piano BILL HARGRAVE: bass RICKY NELSON: drums SEPTEMBER 26, 1995

2. KATHERINE DAVIS Wild About That Thing 3:59 (Spencer Williams, P.D.)
From ROY RUBENSTEIN'S CHICAGO HOT 6 album SHOUT ’EM (Delmark 227)
KATHERINE DAVIS: vocal BOB NEIGHBOR: cornet ROY RUBENSTEIN: trombone NORRIE COX: clarinet JACK KUNCL: banjo DICK PIERRE: bass KEN LOWENSTINE: drums JANUARY 21, 1994

3. KAREN CARROLL Confessin' The Blues 4:07 (Brown/McShann, Sony Tunes Inc./Universal MCA Music Publ., ASCAP)
From THE DIXIE STOMPERS album STOCK YARDS STRUT (Delmark 229)
KAREN CARROLL: vocal BILL MASON: cornet REV. JIMMY HAISLIP: trombone FRANK POWERS: clarinet JOHN CHAPMAN: piano DON FRANZ: tuba WAYNE JONES: drums SEPTEMBER 8, 1994

4. BLU LU BARKER Don't You Feel My Leg 3:00 (D. Barker/Blu Lu Barker/Williams)
From theBLU LU, WEE BEA & BABY DEE album DON'T YOU FEEL MY LEG (Delmark 684)
BLU LU BARKER: vocal SHAD COLLINS: trumpet TEDDY MCRAE: tenor sax NORMAN LESTER: piano DANNY BARKER: guitar ERNEST WILLIAMSON: bass unknown: drums AUGUST 25, 1946

5. BONNIE LEE Got The Blues ’Bout My Baby 5:10 (Lee/Colliuns, Outer Limit Publ., BMI)
From the album SWEETHEART OF THE BLUES (Delmark 676)
BONNIE LEE: vocal BILLY BRANCH: harmonica WILLIE DAVIS: guitar KENNY BARKER: piano WILLIE KENT: bass BALDHEAD PETE: drums MARCH 4, 1995

6. EDITH WILSON He May Be Your Man 3:49 (P.D.)
From the album HE MAY BE YOU MAN...BUT HE COMES TO SEE ME SOMETIMES! (Delmark 637)
EDITH WILSON: vocal LEROI NABORS: trumpet PRESTON JACKSON: trombone OLIVER ALCORN: clarinet LITTLE BROTHER MONTGOMERY: piano IKEY ROBINSON: banjo ED WILKINSON: bass RED SAUNDERS: drums APRIL 16, 1975

7. GRANA LOUISE You Were A Good Ole Wagon 5:26 (John Henry, P.D.)
From the BAY CITY JAZZ BAND album ALLIGATOR CRAWL (Delmark 242)
GRANA LOUISE: vocal EVERETT FAREY, BOB NEIGHBOR: trumpet JIM SNYDER: trombone JOHN BOLAND: clarinet JOHN COOPER: piano JACK KUNCL: banjo MIKE WALBRIDGE: tuba LLOYD BYASSEE: drums JULY 16, 2002

8. DINAH WASHINGTON Rich Man's Blues 2:53 (Thelma Lowe, Bess Music Co., BMI)
From the album MELLOW MAMA (Delmark 451)
DINAH WASHINGTON: vocal LUCKY THOMPSON: tenor sax KARK GEORGE: trumpet JEWEL GRANT: alto sax GENE PORTER: baritone sax
MILT JACKSON: vibes WILBERT BARANCO: piano CHARLES MINGUS: bass LEE YOUNG: drums DECEMBER 12, 1945

9. SHIRLEY JOHNSON Not For The Love Of You 3:04 (Nat Foster)
From the album KILLER DILLER (Delmark 757)
SHIRLEY JOHNSON: vocal MAURICE JOHN VAUGHN: guitar ROOSEVELT PURIFOY: organ WILLIE "VAMP" SAMUELS: bass TIM AUSTIN: drums KENNY ANDERSON: trumpet HANK FORD: tenor sax WILLIE HENDERSON: baritone sax and horn arrangement MAY 22, 2001

10. BETTY ROCHE I Love My Lovin' Lover 3:12 (Duke Ellington, Tempo Music Inc., ASCAP)
From the EARL HINES album EARL HINES AND THE DUKE'S MEN (Delmark 470)
BETTY ROCHE: vocal RAY NANCE: trumpet JOHNNY HODGES: alto sax FLIP PHILLIPS: tenor sax EARL HINES: piano AL CASEY: guitar OSCAR PETTIFORD: bass SID CATLETT: drums APRIL 26, 1944

11. ZORA YOUNG Brain Damage 4:35 (Zora Young, Hard Way Music, BMI)
From the album LEARNED MY LESSON (Delmark 748)
ZORA YOUNG: vocal JAMES WHEELER: guitar KEN SAYDAK: piano JOHNNY B. GAYDEN: bass TIM AUSTIN: drums MAY 23, 2000

12. MARY JOHNSON Never Too Late 3:37 (Traditional, P.D.)
MARY JOHNSON: vocal DON FRANZ: trumpet JIM HAISLIP: trombone BOB SCHROEDER: clarinet JOHN CHAPMAN: piano BILL RULER: bass BOB KORNACHER: drums DECEMBER 23, 1955

13. MARY JOHNSON Show Me The Way 3:58 (Traditional, P.D.)
same personnel and date as 12.

You'd be surprised at the interest jazz fans had in blues as early as the ’30s, long before the surge that began in the ’60s. This writer discovered Louis Armstrong accompaniments with blues ladies such as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Sippie Wallace and Chippie Hill. Boogie Woogie piano and mysterious artists like Memphis Minnie, Tampa Red, Speckled Red and Cripple Clarence Lofton further drew me in.
The Chicago female blues scene came alive in the ’70s partly due to various productions of the play "Little Empress" which mined local talent for Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith roles for at least six productions in the ’70s and ’80s. Pianist Erwin Helfer deserves credit for his efforts to showcase women in the blues as do the club owners who recognized these talents, especially Blue Chicago.
Edith Wilson followed Mamie Smith and Lucille Hegamin, becoming the third blues artist to make records in 1921. "He May Be Your Man" with Little Brother Montgomery's band repeats her early hit. There's more of LBM's band on Goodbye Mr. Blues (Delmark 663).
Mary Johnson started recording nearly a decade later. By the time of her rediscovery she had joined the church. So here she is with the Dixie Stompers in the previosuly unissued Show Me The Way, which will appear in a Dixie Stompers retrospective.
Blue Lu Barker came along in the late ’30s and is best remembered for "Don't You Feel My Leg" more recently covered by Maria Muldaur, the Cheathams and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Dinah Washington, the queen of the blues, picked up the crown from Lil Green in the mid-’40s. On this Apollo date she's accompanied by jazz greats but Mellow Mama is stone blues!
Betty Roche is remembered for her appearances with Duke Ellington, but when Leonard Feather brought Earl Hines into a session with Johnny Hodges and Ray Nance, Betty got down on several fine blues. "I Love My Lovin' Lover" features Al Casey's guitar.
Big Time Sarah is too intimidating for us not to include her! Lay It On ’Em Girls (Delmark 659), and A Million Of You (Delmark 750) with Rico McFarland complete her Delmark discography -- thus far.
Katherine Davis has been heard with Malachi Thompson and is a fixture on the blues circuit, but here she is with Roy Rubinstein's very New Orleansy Chicago Hot 6.
We first met Karen Carroll when she appeared on Professor Eddie Lusk's Professor Strut (Delmark 650). "Confessin' The Blues" is from the Dixie Stompers second reunion album, Stock Yards Strut. Karen has two of her own Delmark CDs; Had My Fun (Delmark 680) with Johnny B.Moore and Talk To The Hand (Delmark 707).
Bonnie Lee led the current wave of blues ladies when she recorded the last blues session produced by Mayo Williams (who did Ma Rainey's Paramounts), then was tutored by Sunnyland Slim.
Grana Louise dropped by our Riverside Studio as we were recording the Bay City Jazz Band's Alligator Crawl and sang "You've Been A Good Ole Wagon" mixing Bessie's tune with Dinah's style. Grana can be heard weekly at Blue Chicago.
"Not For The Love of You" is from Shirley Johnson's first domestic album, Killer Diller. Like so many other blues ladies today, she began singing in the church. Born in Norfolk, VA, Shirley made a brief foray into soul before settling into the blues in Chicago.
Zora Young's "Brain Damage" is a reminder of the need for humor in the blues. Zora has played the Chicago Blues Festival many times and regularly tours Europe.
So our CD presents a thumbnail hisory of female blues -- and, we hope, something more than a hint of the intimate connection between blues and jazz. - Bob Koester, September, 2003



Album Production: Robert G. Koester and Steve Wagner
Cover photo is of Edith Wilson
Design: Al Brandtner

Call or write for a free catalog of jazz and blues:
Delmark Records • 1-800-684-3480 • 4121 N. Rockwell, Chicago, IL 60618 www.delmark.com
CP 2003 Delmark Records



Celebrating the legacy of Delmark:
Delmark Records, 50 Years Of Jazz And Blues • JAZZ (904) 2 CD set
featuring Coleman Hawkins, Franz Jackson, Chicago Underground, Archie Shepp, Jimmy Forrest, Francine Griffin, Sun Ra, Sonny Stitt, Roscoe Mitchell...
Delmark Records, 50 Years Of Jazz And Blues • BLUES (905) 2 CD set
featuring Junior Wells, Magic Sam, Robert Ward, J.B. Hutto, Big Joe Williams, Jimmy Burns, Big Time Sarah, Karen Carroll, Luther Allison, Little Walter, Speckled Red, Little Milton...
Delmark Records, 50 Years Of Jazz And Blues • Boxed Set (050) contains 904, 905 & BONUS DVD

Other albums in the Delmark 50th Anniversary Collection are:
Chicago Jazz (902) with Barrett Deems Big Band, Franz Jackson, Sun Ra & The Arkestra, John Young, Ira Sullivan, Malachi Thompson, Jodie Christian, Art
Hodes, Lin Halliday...
West Side Chicago Blues (906) with Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Luther Allison,
Jimmy Dawkins, Johnny B. Moore, Tail Dragger, Willie Kent, Little Arrthur Duncan
Blues From Up The Country (907) with Robert Nighthawk, Big Joe Williams, Blind
Willie McTell, Jimmy Rogers, Champion Jack Dupree, Arthur Crudup, Jimmy Burns, Sleepy John Estes...
Masters Of Boogie Piano (908) with Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, Pete
Johnson, Roosevelt Sykes, Speckled Red, Little Brother Montgomery, Robert McCoy...
For Jumpers Only! (909) with Cab Calloway, Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb,
Willis Jackson, Cat Anderson, Panama Francis, Sir Charles Thompson, Paul Bascomb...
Bop Lives! (910) with Bud Powell, Coleman Hawkins with Dizzy Gillespie, Sir
Charles Thompson with Charlie Parker, Cecil Payne, Francine Griffin, Donald Byrd...
Chicago's Avant Today! (911) with Chicago Underground, Ken Vandermark,
Kahil El’Zabar’s Ritual Trio, Ernest Dawkins’ New Horizons Ensemble, Jeff Parker, NRG Ensemble...
South Side Chicago Blues (912) with Junior Wells, Carey Bell, Lurrie Bell, Byther
Smith, Sunnyland Slim, Little Walter, J.B. Hutto, Robert Jr. Lockwood,
Jimmy Rogers, Big Time Sarah