Harpmaster Kim Wilson in town

Hello again, Jim...for better or worse this is getting to be a habit with me!!

      First, a little backstory. When I was MUCH younger (I'm 50-ish) I was to become aware of a whole new world of music that existed apart from the Stones, Doors, Beatles, Led Zep, etc. and other mid 1960's to late 1970's bands of my youth. Unfortunately, I'm too young to have been a member of the 'Porky (as in Chedwick) Generation' so when I heard the term 'Rhythm and Blues' (hereafter 'R&B') I had no idea what that was. The first inkling that I might be missing something important came to me when, in my teens, I discovered a series of recordings at the Carnegie Library in Oakland on the Folkways Label. I can say with all honesty that hearing the music on these records changed my life. I probably still have the tape-recordings I made of those albums from so many years ago. This was music I had never heard before and certainly wasn't hearing on the radio...at least not on commercial radio. The Boogie Woogie of Albert Ammons shot through me like a lightning bolt!! The field hollers and work songs were to my young ears other-worldly. One song in particular, 'Penitentiary' by Bessie Tucker hit me especially hard. A plaintive female vocal accompanied by a dirge-like piano...what was this weird music and how could I get more of it!!! These are but a few examples of my earliest exposure to what you like to call the Devils' Music...The Blues.

      Remember, of course, this was way before the CD era broke open the vaults of nearly all the record companies and made so many otherwise unavailable recordings once again accessible. It was the era of the 8-track tape and scratchy vinyl LPs!! It was also around this time that I encountered two other situations (or rather 'institutions') that added to my already ravenous appetite for the music I had not previously been exposed to. The first was WYEP and the second was Jim's Records in Bloomfield.

      Before Jim's, there was for most Pittsburghers like me only the National Record Mart. They sold all the stuff you'd hear on Rock radio (see above), primarily the hits I was listening to on every Pittsburgh kids first stop for Rock and Roll, WDVE. At that time I was also becoming aware of the local, live music scene thanks to Pittsburghs' gift to the the larger Blues World...Billy Price and the Rhythm Kings. Billy played everywhere and often when I was a kid. (I'm also too young to remember him at the Fox Cafe). I have fond memories of sneaking into Fat City (the OLD Fat City in Swissvale) as a 19-year-old using a friends ID that said I was 26!! It was around that time that I got my copy of 'Livestock' (do I really have to explain what that is?) and probably listened to 'Can I Change My Mind' at least once every day. I actually called WDVE to request the song and was disheartened (to say the least) when they wouldn't play the song because, as the DJ explained to me, they basically played records they were trying to sell and my request wasn't part of their gameplan at the time. 'WHOA' I thought...I don't want to be any part of this. There's got to be a better way to relate to music other than for purely monetary reasons. I felt I must be missing something so I began to look around the dial.

      And I found WYEP. More specifically, I found Big Al and The Big Al Blues show. It was on once a week late at night (midnight if I remember) and he would play the R&B that he grew up listening to as a member of the 'Porky Generation'. Not so much Doo-Wop as Wynonie Harris, Roy Brown, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf...these artist and sooo many more become the artists I wanted to listen to. And the older Pre-War stuff from Memphis and the Delta. And of course Little Walter. Big Al became my mentor. He and I became fast friends and I spent many late nights with him in the basement of 4 Cable Place. Back then it was easy to just show up and hang out at WYEP...it probably isn't that way anymore. As a matter of fact I know it isn't but that's another story. Big Al, God bless him, definitely loved the music more than I did and as a result he was very influential in bringing Blues bands to places like Fat City, The Evergreen Hotel, and Mancinis in Mckees Rocks and that's a whole 'nother story as well. I was there and vividly remember the fun we had!!

     Also at WYEP I became friends with Joe Rosen who also had a late-night Blues show. Joe played the Jazzier side of the Blues and I am forever indebted to him for turning me on to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. And Alberta Hunter. And dozens more. Joe and Al weren't the only guys who played Blues records on WYEP...there were others before them who I could name...but they were the guys who pointed me in the right direction and I will be forever grateful. They made me the BLUZER that I am today. Of course I did a lot of reading and studying on my own.

     Now about Jim's. At Jim's I found the imports and reissues. Excello sides on Flyright. Chicago Blues on Chess. Vee-Jay sides on the Charly label from England. Tremendous reissues of R&B from Germany. Jim's was really a punk record store but somehow had a great Blues selection and I gobbled up as much of it as my budget allowed. It was synergy...I heard it on WYEP and I bought it at Jim's. This was many years before the internet and mail-order made it so easy to acquire just about any recording ever released. I later found out that Greg Kostelich of the Cynics was also a big part of this but that's another story, too.

      What this has to do with Kim Wilson is this...Big Al turned me on to Kim and The Thunderbirds. Al was a huge T-Birds fan to put it mildly and became very close friends with the band. The infamous three-nights-in-a-row gig the T-Birds played at Fat City remains a defining moment of the Pittsburgh Blues scene as I'm sure you'll agree, Jim. Back then, having just recently discovered the genius of Little Walter and to a lesser degree Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester, the T-Birds were a revelation to me. Man, I thought to myself, listen to that cat play that harp and what a great guitar sound. And what a fantastic voice!! Is this a white guy? Damn!! "Rock With Me' and then 'Jumpin' Bad', to name but two of my favorites, are prime examples of the power and the glory of the T-Birds. I was completely 'blown away' by their sound and also by the respect they gave to older Blues styles. I had much the same visceral reaction to the music of Canned Heat. There were lots of other Chicago style Blues bands at that time but not many of them paid attention to the Excello sound like the T-Birds. Or even to Texas Blues (listen to Jimmy Vaughn on 'The Crawl'...nobody was playing stuff like that back then).  I was a big Kim Wilson fan then, 30 years ago, and I'm still a big fan. They eventually reached a wider audience with 'Tuff Enuf' and probably still get nice royalty checks from that but I'll always consider them an adjunct part of the Pittsburgh Blues scene. I can't say that about too many other bands, Blues or otherwise!!

So...Welcome back, Kim, it's always a pleasure to see (and hear) you again. Somehow I know Big Al and Joe will be in the crowd at least in spirit whenever you come back to Pittsburgh. And I'll be there, too...a fan for life.

HELLO AGAIN ,JIM...CAN I PICK 'EM OR WHAT!!

      I don't know about you but for this old BLUZER this show was almost a religious experience. Honey Piazza calls it 'in the zone...being in the zone' and I guess that comes close. Kim Wilson delivered everything you could ask for in a great Blues show.  But he always does. I'm sure some of his shows are better and some probably worse but there's never a bad show. I missed him at the First Night 2009 show (where he played harp with gloves on!!)  and If anyone was there or heard anything about it I'd like to hear about it, too. It's interesting that the First Night people would think to start the new year in Pittsburgh with a Blues band.

       As I was watching Kim Wilson last night I was thinking to myself, Is this the Fabulous Thunderbirds? Is this the Kim Wilson Blues Revue? Is this just Kim Wilson with a pick-up band? and I concluded that it really doesn't matter. As far as Blues bands go, the band you see on one night might not be the exact same band you see on another night. Kim Wilson does two more dates with Doug Deeming then they go their separate ways.Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers are basically Rod and Honey and whoever else they can find to play guitar, bass, and drums. Nick Moss is coming back to Pittsburgh and he'll probably have a different group since the last time I saw him.

      This fluidity makes for some interesting combinations: Bob Margolin and his band backing up Nappy Brown, Los Staitjackets backing up Eddie Clearwater, Rosie Flores backing Wanda Jackson (not Blues, of course, but still great nonetheless)., and I suspect there have been a few others.

      So now it's onward to the next show. John Hammond Jr. at the Thunderbird Cafe. I've seen John a few times....I even saw him at the Pgh Blues Fest during his 'Tom Waits'  period. I guess now he's back to doing what he does best (at least in my opinion). He once called me arrogant but that's another story.