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Robert Nighthawk

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goodfelladh

Robert Nighthawk

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Jan 6 05 7:54 PM

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Wow.... 'Live on Maxwell Street' completely blew me away. I don't know what are generally considered the best blues albums of all time, but if this one was not near the top then I really must not know what I'm listening too -- I loved it. Thus, I'm coming here to see if any of his other works are worth picking up. I noticed that he doesn't have the extensive catalogue of many of his contemporaries (if I recall correctly I read somewhere that he didn't care much for staying in Chicago in order to record? Maybe I'm just imagining that...), so I thought I'd see if anybody here has any opinions on other Robert Nighthawk stuff.

I guess I could have just gone to All Music and read some stuff, but I hoped maybe this would generate some discussion. Plus, since my blues collection is still in its infancy, I figured I could get a better gauge here of if buying more Robert Nighthawk is something I could hold off on while I compile some other "essential" listening stuff.

-Dave

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rshurman

#1

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Jan 6 05 8:06 PM

QUOTE (goodfelladh @ Jan 6 2005, 07:54 PM)

Wow.... 'Live on Maxwell Street' completely blew me away. I don't know what are generally considered the best blues albums of all time, but if this one was not near the top then I really must not know what I'm listening too -- I loved it. Thus, I'm coming here to see if any of his other works are worth picking up. I noticed that he doesn't have the extensive catalogue of many of his contemporaries (if I recall correctly I read somewhere that he didn't care much for staying in Chicago in order to record? Maybe I'm just imagining that...), so I thought I'd see if anybody here has any opinions on other Robert Nighthawk stuff.

I guess I could have just gone to All Music and read some stuff, but I hoped maybe this would generate some discussion. Plus, since my blues collection is still in its infancy, I figured I could get a better gauge here of if buying more Robert Nighthawk is something I could hold off on while I compile some other "essential" listening stuff.

-Dave

There's a recent CD with most of his prewar recordings and about a dozen of his postwar ones; can't remember the label but Roots & Rhythm has it. His postwar recordings for Chess, United and Testament are all very worthwhile and not real hard to track down on CD, though the Chess is the trickiest-- most of those are on the first CD I mentioned in this post. You probably don't need four by him before you have any by a bunch of other greats, but you can't really go wrong with any of these. Between availability and charm I'd probably recommend the Testament one next (barely) even though it wasn't recorded for commercial consumption like the Chess and United (now on Delmark) material.

If you like Nighthawk, be sure to track some some Earl Hooker (his best disciple), maybe start with Two Bugs And A Roach on Arhoolie which has a killer cover of Nighthawk's Anna Lee.

Chicagoland

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rshurman

#2

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Jan 6 05 8:08 PM

QUOTE (goodfelladh @ Jan 6 2005, 07:54 PM)

Wow.... 'Live on Maxwell Street' completely blew me away. I don't know what are generally considered the best blues albums of all time, but if this one was not near the top then I really must not know what I'm listening too -- I loved it. Thus, I'm coming here to see if any of his other works are worth picking up. I noticed that he doesn't have the extensive catalogue of many of his contemporaries (if I recall correctly I read somewhere that he didn't care much for staying in Chicago in order to record? Maybe I'm just imagining that...), so I thought I'd see if anybody here has any opinions on other Robert Nighthawk stuff.

I guess I could have just gone to All Music and read some stuff, but I hoped maybe this would generate some discussion. Plus, since my blues collection is still in its infancy, I figured I could get a better gauge here of if buying more Robert Nighthawk is something I could hold off on while I compile some other "essential" listening stuff.

-Dave

Oh yeah-- the Chicago version of the touring blues museum exhibit had Nighthawk's guitar and some film footage from the Maxwell Street performance, so if it comes within range, go... not sure where it's headed after its stay in Clarksdale.

Chicagoland

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Blueswriter

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Jan 6 05 9:30 PM

QUOTE (goodfelladh @ Jan 6 2005, 02:54 PM)

Wow.... 'Live on Maxwell Street' completely blew me away.

Is this the Rounder or Bullseye version of Nighthawk's Maxwell Street recordings? If so, you've got a good introduction but hardly the entire picture. Rooster Blues' 3-CD set - And This Is Maxwell Street is far superior. Lots more of Nighthawk's playing (plus others like Johnny Young, Carey Bell, etc.) and it includes a Nighthawk interview disc. More info below...

user posted image

And This Is Maxwell Street

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goodfelladh

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Jan 6 05 9:42 PM

Blueswriter,

I have the Rounder version, and like I said, I loved it. With your recommendation I will definitely check into the 3-CD set. If, like you said, it's better than the one that I have been playing than I don't see how I could go wrong picking it up.

-Dave

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Blueswriter

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Jan 6 05 9:49 PM

QUOTE (goodfelladh @ Jan 6 2005, 04:42 PM)

Blueswriter,

I have the Rounder version, and like I said, I loved it. With your recommendation I will definitely check into the 3-CD set. If, like you said, it's better than the one that I have been playing than I don't see how I could go wrong picking it up.

-Dave

Once you pick up the Rooster version, I'd imagine you'll trade off the inferior Rounder disc. Not only is that incomplete, it's also unauthorized as the material didn't belong to (nor was ir produced by) Norman Dayron. He worked as part of Mike Shea's hired film crew (the film is titled And This Is Free), and apparently, hijacked some of the material.

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goodfelladh

#6

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Jan 6 05 9:52 PM

I didn't realize I was contributing to an illicit enterprise when I picked up the disc... honest, I didn't!

Seriously though, thanks for the pointer... it looks just like something I would enjoy.

-Dave

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Blueswriter

#7

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Jan 6 05 10:41 PM

QUOTE (goodfelladh @ Jan 6 2005, 04:52 PM)

I didn't realize I was contributing to an illicit enterprise when I picked up the disc... honest, I didn't!

Seriously though, thanks for the pointer... it looks just like something I would enjoy.

No harm, no foul. I'm sure a lot of us have unknowingly (and sometimes knowingly) contributed to illicit activities pertaining to blues now and again. It's a narrower playing field considering the type of music we prefer.

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checker758

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Jan 6 05 10:48 PM

QUOTE (rshurman @ Jan 6 2005, 08:08 PM)

Oh yeah-- the Chicago version of the touring blues museum exhibit had Nighthawk's guitar and some film footage from the Maxwell Street performance, so if it comes within range, go... not sure where it's headed after its stay in Clarksdale.

Last I heard, the exhibit was going to Los Angeles after Clarksdale.

Scott

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tanta07

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Jan 7 05 3:14 PM

QUOTE (Blueswriter @ Jan 6 2005, 09:49 PM)

Once you pick up the Rooster version, I'd imagine you'll trade off the inferior Rounder disc. Not only is that incomplete, it's also unauthorized as the material didn't belong to (nor was ir produced by) Norman Dayron. He worked as part of Mike Shea's hired film crew (the film is titled And This Is Free), and apparently, hijacked some of the material.

Wow, I had no idea about that, either. I too have the Rounder version. I have heard great things about the "This is Maxwell Street" collection, but I figured I was getting much the same stuff with the other release. Thanks for the tip, B-Dub. As usual, you have steered me in the right direction.

The Buzz Brothers Band

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Blueswriter

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Jan 7 05 4:16 PM

Rounder did issue it again (on Bullseye) with more material that didn't make it to the initial release, but the three-disc Rooster set leaves the previously-released versions in the weeds. Below is an excerpt from a review I wrote in November of 2000...

"... When "Live On Maxwell Street - 1964" was originally issued by Rounder in 1980, what many of us failed to realize at the time was that we were given an incomplete picture of those recordings. The original LP was plagued with enough problems (ditto the reissue CD in 1991), as there were wrongly titled tracks, incorrect credits, and questionable personnel, but many of us were in shock that it even existed, and we rushed out to find it. Only later did we find that there was more we never had a chance to listen to. Robert Nighthawk's Maxwell Street recordings now make their triumphant return, and what Rooster has managed marks a time in our lives when we can say that something of major significance has found its way to us. In these times of multitrack recording, overproduction and studio-slick CD's, it's refreshing to hear music this real, this raw, and this powerful, and just as it was played back on the streets of what old timers called 'Jew Town.'

In the later months of 1964, Mike Shea was working on his documentary film "And This Is Free" about Chicago's Maxwell Street area, its musicians, and inhabitiants. Recording and filming took place every Sunday, weather permitting. Shea filmed much of what went on in the dirty streets of the Maxwell Street market, but when interest in his documentary wasn't what it warranted, the project went into limbo and most everything filmed or recorded found its way to storage. In the 1970's, what remained of the original film was supposedly destroyed or thrown out. Fortunately, the audio tapes were stored separately and managed to survive the ravages of time. Finally, Rooster Blues has stepped forward and they now show us the whole picture of what Mike Shea was doing. They have used the original tapes to remaster from, and in addition to remastering it with top-notch sound, they have issued everything useable, so this time, we can truly raise a glass in celebration! The package includes over 120 minutes of music on two discs, while a third contains 45 minutes of interviews between Mike Bloomfield and Robert Nighthawk, and the entire story of what is here lies in a 60 page booklet loaded with new information, plus a good sized helping of great pictures.

This is a slice of the past, and it's a large slice, too. Robert Nighthawk holds court for about an hour, while others like Carey Bell, Big John Wrencher, Arvella Gray, and another small handful take effective rides playing Blues, traditional, or Gospel numbers. Backed by a small band, Nighthawk seems completely relaxed and we find him in what sounds like his natural element. Pulling brittle runs, soothing slide passages, and distorted rhythms from his guitar, he pushes them out through a small amplifier and he's as tough as nails. The tracks featuring Nighthawk include Dr. Clayton's "Cheating and Lying Blues" where everything is brutally wide open as the guitar work slashes throughout the five minutes, and his voice in strong form. He drills Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk" full of holes with slide phrases that fit comfortably along a smoldering background, and he's downright forceful taking Elmore's version of "Dust My Broom" at a good pace. The "Peter Gunn Jam" resembles "Hideaway" at times, and Nighthawk's take of Junior Parker's "I Need Love So Bad" simmers along for seven minutes with more wicked guitar travels. Rest assured that even though these tracks roll in at longer lengths than what was on records then, there's no filler; this is rough Chicago Blues stripped naked. John Lee Williamson's "Take It Easy, Baby" pushes along at breakneck speed with tough support from John Lee Granderson's guitar and Jimmy Collins laying a train-like backdrop on the drums. The musicians differ on many tracks and personnel is listed in the CD booklet where known. Nighthawk also shines on his coupling of "Annie Lee/Sweet Black Angel" which he'd waxed for the Aristocrat label more than a decade before, but here, he's not bound by the number of grooves on a record, and the playing is even more expressive on this eight minute slow burn grinder. The changes in Nighthawk's playing deserve particular mention, as throughout this excellent package he switches from gritty leads to muscular chords and whizzes into more of his trademark slide work in an effortless barrage of ideas.

Johnny Young comes front-and-center opening the set with his tough "The Sun Is Shining" and he's in top form on the doubled "All I Want For Breakfast/Them Kind Of People." His voice was one of strength on just about anything he cut, and it's no different here. Big John Wrencher, a tough one-armed harmonica player and regular to the Maxwell Street area smokes through Little Walter's "Can't Hold Out Much Longer." There's a pair of Wrencher originals; the rousing "Lucille" and his plaintive "Love You Tonight," which is especially strong. Carey Bell, a young man of 28 at the time, leads a handful of tracks, but standouts are his driving read on "I'm Ready" and the slow "Carey'n On," where he pulls out the chromatic harp on both. His stamp is all over this pairing with the wonderfully creative playing he's known for. He rocks through a few other instrumentals with some fierce tone, and on "Cruisin' In A Cadillac," he tears it up. Little Arthur King is believed to be the guitarist on the instrumental "Red Top/Ornithology" that's full of quick lead bursts and chunky chords for its rather brief two minutes, and Big Mojo Elem steps up doing a nice job with J.B. Lenoir's "Mama, Talk To Your Daughter" (Carey Bell identifies this as Elem, but historians are in doubt).

Arvella Gray, a blind street performer, was another to frequent the cluttered Maxwell Street neighborhoods with his trusty National and he gives a couple of stirring takes on "Corinna, Corinna" and the traditional "John Henry" which includes references to the area where he could often be seen. James Brewer, another blind guitarist who made regular trips to Maxwell Street, does a soulful rendition of "I'll Fly Away" backed by a group playing tambourines and guitars, and is excellent on this and "When The Saints Go Marching In." Carrie Robinson uses Brewer's band in the stunning "Power To Live Right," while a solo and unknown harmonica player does a hilarious job with the deep roots of "Long Gone John" and has his audience laughing right along. James Brewer's wife, Fannie, is gripping in her performance of "I Shall Overcome" which closes out the more than two hours of music captured in this brilliant set, which brings us to the final disc of the three; close to 45 minutes of interviews conducted by Mike Bloomfield with Robert Nighthawk. While considered evasive by writers, Bloomfield manages some interesting questions which elicit brief yet informative responses from Nighthawk. Talk of influences, recording sessions, and more prove interesting as the two sit together. This view of Nighthawk is moving to say the least, and it adds considerably to what we'd known of him in the past.

The Robert Nighthawk catalog is small considering that he recorded over a period of four decades. What Rooster has added with this incredible set of music is enormous. The recordings are crisp and clear as hawkers, street preachers, banter and cheers from the crowds, and car horns weave their way into the atmosphere giving you the impression of having been there when it all went down. If you purchase one more CD by the end of the year, make it this 3 CD set. The information is clear on who plays what (Bullseye's single disc is incorrect listing personnel, as was the Rounder issue), and sound quality outstrips Bullseye by a longshot here! Steps above any of the previous and incomplete looks we had of this seminal music, Rooster has finally cleared the cobwebs and brought it forth with the care it so richly deserves!"

Reprinted with my own permission.

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tanta07

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Jan 7 05 4:20 PM

Well, I'm sold! Dare I say that this is yet another Borders special order on the horizon...

The Buzz Brothers Band

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Les Forgue

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Jan 7 05 5:29 PM

QUOTE (Blueswriter @ Jan 7 2005, 10:16 AM)

Below is an excerpt from a review I wrote in November of 2000...

Reprinted with my own permission.

Craig,
Thank you for granting yourself the permission to share this with us!

Les from Chicago

"Nobody sits on a rolling stone".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMRWhmqJwHc

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Blueswriter

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Jan 7 05 6:18 PM

QUOTE (Les Forgue @ Jan 7 2005, 12:29 PM)

QUOTE (Blueswriter @ Jan 7 2005, 10:16 AM)

Below is an excerpt from a review I wrote in November of 2000...

Reprinted with my own permission.

Craig,
Thank you for granting yourself the permission to share this with us!

Glad I could help, Les. I'd be willing to bet that any review you can find of And This Is Maxwell Street will be glowing - and there are many of them - I just happen know where mine was.

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cih

#14

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Jan 8 05 12:28 PM

The other advantage with 'And This is Maxwell Street' is Johnny Young singing "All I want for my breakfast, man the cooks don't even keep it in..." which converted me into a Young man (already being a young man

)

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Boxcar Shorty

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Jan 8 05 1:24 PM

Bricks in My Pillow (Delmark) is a fine collection of Robert Nighthawk's United recordings, and is in print and readily available.
I'm not sure what Chess recordings are currently in print through MCA. Charly released a CD called Black Angel Blues in the early 90's - all of his Chess recordings, with unissued sides, including a session done with Buddy Guy. If you can find that one, grab it.

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Muddylives

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Jan 9 05 7:58 AM

QUOTE (Boxcar Shorty @ Jan 8 2005, 01:24 PM)

Bricks in My Pillow (Delmark) is a fine collection of Robert Nighthawk's United recordings, and is in print and readily available.
I'm not sure what Chess recordings are currently in print through MCA. Charly released a CD called Black Angel Blues in the early 90's - all of his Chess recordings, with unissued sides, including a session done with Buddy Guy. If you can find that one, grab it.

Indeed. Chess released a two-disc Aristocrat collection a few years ago that not only contains all of Nighthawk's early classics for the label, but a lot of other top drawer early Chicago blues from the likes of Muddy Waters, Little Johnny Jones, Baby Face Leroy, and others.

But there are two Chess Nighthawk tracks from the 60s on Black Angel Blues that are not on the Aristocrat collection. And everybody NEEDS them, especially the devasting remake of Black Angel Blues entitled "Sorry My Angel."

Muddy

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richard ray

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Jan 12 05 7:21 PM

goodfellahdh, i've been a huge nighthawk fan for a long time. his style has definately affected my playing. i even did a couple gigs with his son (sam carr) in mississippi. "live on maxwell street" and "bricks in my pillow" are both great recordings. i also have reordings of nighthawk when he called himself "robert lee mccoy". i also heard that robert nighthawk was an amazing harmonica player.
someone else on the forum could probably elaborate much more on this subject.
richard ray

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bighollowtwang

#18

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Jan 15 05 3:37 AM

A long time ago I saw film footage of Nighthawk's Maxwell Street performance.
I have looked high and low for a copy of this but no luck so far.

You could only see his head through the crowd of people around him, but I did catch a glimpse of his Gretsch Corvette.

For many years people speculated about who the "mystery guitarist" on the jazzy instrumental was...I've heard it said that it was a young Mike Bloomfield.

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Blueswriter

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Jan 15 05 3:44 AM

QUOTE (bighollowtwang @ Jan 14 2005, 10:37 PM)

... For many years people speculated about who the "mystery guitarist" on the jazzy instrumental was...I've heard it said that it was a young Mike Bloomfield.

If you mean Red Top/Ornithology, that's Little Arthur King, not Nighthawk. Bloomfield does play on a number of the Maxwell Street recordings though.