J.B. Hutto

J.B. Hutto - Slidewinder - 1973 - Delmark

Fire in his eye, Joseph Benjamin "J. B." Hutto specialized in wringing from his slide guitar tones of such acidity and rough- hewn vividness that he went a long way toward making the distinctions between rural and urban blues-and blues rock- meaningless. He and his three 1972 studio revelers ravage the songs here as if boogie were a devastating force of nature. © Frank John Hadley 1993 From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD http://www.amazon.com/Slidewinder-J-B-Hutto/dp/B000004BJH

"Slidewinder" does not contain J.B. Hutto's strongest material, but his slide playing is brilliant. The late bluesman had a unique, very distinctive sound. Listen to this great bluesman's "Hawk Squat" album. The late Rory Gallagher plays a great version of J.B. Hutto's "Too Much Alcohol" on his "Irish Tour '74" album

TRACKS

01. Slidewinder - 05:59
02. Blues Do Me A Favor - 03:46
03. Precious Stone - 03:29
04. Young Hawks' Crawl - 03:24
05. Too Late - 04:40
06. Letter From My Baby - 03:37
07. Shy Voice - 04:49
08. Boogie Right-On - 06:21

All songs composed by J.B. Hutto

MUSICIANS

J.B. Hutto - guitar, vocal
Lee Jackson - guitar
Bombay Carter - bass
Elbert Buckner - drums

BIO

J.B. Hutto — along with Hound Dog Taylor — was one of the last great slide guitar disciples of Elmore James to make it into the modern age. Hutto's huge voice, largely incomprehensible diction, and slash-and-burn playing was Chicago blues with a fierce, raw edge all its own. He entered the world of music back home in Augusta, GA, singing in the family-oriented group the Golden Crowns Gospel Singers. He came north to Chicago in the mid-'40s, teaching himself guitar and eventually landing his first paying job as a member of Johnny Ferguson & His Twisters. His recording career started in 1954 with two sessions for the Chance label supported by his original combo the Hawks (featuring George Mayweather on harmonica, Porkchop Hines on washboard traps, and Joe Custom on rhythm guitar), resulting in six of the nine songs recorded being issued as singles to scant acclaim. After breaking up the original band, Hutto worked outside of music for a good decade, part of it spent sweeping out a funeral parlor! He resurfaced around 1964 with a stripped-down version of the Hawks with two guitars and drums but no bass, working regularly at Turner's Blue Lounge and recording blistering new sides for the first time in as many years. From there, he never looked back and once again became a full-time bluesman. For the next 12 years Hutto gigged and recorded with various groups of musicians — always billed as the Hawks — working with electric bass players for the first time and recording for small labels, both in the U.S. and overseas. After fellow slide man Hound Dog Taylor's death in 1976, J.B. "inherited" his backup band, the Houserockers. Although never formally recorded in a studio, this short-lived collaboration of Hutto with guitarist Brewer Phillips and drummer Ted Harvey produced live shows that would musically careen in a single performance from smolderingly intense to utter chaos. Within a year, Hutto would be lured to Boston, where he put together a mixed group of "New Hawks," recording and touring America and Europe right up until his death in the mid-'80s. Hutto was an incredibly dynamic live performer, dressed in hot pink suits with headgear ranging from a shriner's fez to high-plains drifters' hats, snaking through the crowd and dancing on tabletops with his 50-foot guitar cord stretched to the max. And this good-time approach to the music held sway on his recordings as well, giving a loose, barroom feel to almost all of them, regardless of who was backing him. © Cub Koda © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:anfexqu5ldte~T1

MORE ABOUT J.B.HUTTO

It has often been associated with Robert Nighthawk's combining the electrification of the guitar with the Delta tradition of using a slide that developed one of the most haunting and popular forms of Blues music. Elmore James expanded this form to new heights, in turn creating a following of players attempting to emulate his skills. But, when James passed away in 1963, a pair of slide magicians were there to take command: Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor and J.B. Hutto. Though the influence of James and Nighthawk were apparent, they also had their own unmistakable sound, taking command as Chicago's elite slide musicians. But, following the death of Taylor, Hutto found himself the last of the great students of Elmore James. He was born in Blackwell, South Carolina, as Joseph Benjamin Hutto on April 26, 1926. Some sources claim that he was born in Augusta, Georgia, but his family moved there when young Joseph was three years old. It was in Augusta that he first came into contact with music, teamed with his three brothers and three sisters in a family group known as The Golden Crown Gospel Singers. But, Hutto claimed that he never had any true desire to perform musically until after his family relocated to Chicago, following the death of his father. Once in Chicago, J.B. took up both the piano and drums. He also heard Blues for the first time and, by the mid-1940s. he was working professionally with local Bluesman, Johnny Ferguson and his band, The Twisters. At the time he was the band's drummer and occasional vocalist. He started to develop an interest in the guitar and would practice using Ferguson's guitar between sets. He also began to frequently perform at the city's famed open-air market on Maxwell Street on weekends, often working as guitarist with the one-man band Porkchop (Eddie Hines). In 1950, J.B. met Elmore James and quickly became entranced by James' bottleneck style. He began to follow him whenever he could and studied his method of playing and singing. From the outset of teaching himself to play guitar, Hutto had always used an electric. But, after hearing James, his work would only consist of slide-playing thereafter. Hutto formed a band in the early 1950s that featured himself as guitarist/vocalist, with Porkchop on washboard, Joe Custom on second guitar and George Mayweather on harmonica. He named the band The Hawks; a name that he would use with all of his subsequent bands throughout his life. The Hawks were given the opportunity to record for Chess' subsidiary label, Chance, in 1954, holding two sessions that resulted in a total of nine numbers. Six of these selections were released, including the single, "Now She's Gone." The public reception was only minor, perhaps mostly due to the ever-changing taste of the buying public at the time. J.B. started to become disenchanted with performing due to the lack of the success he had hoped for. Finally, his displeasure took its toll one night while playing in a club. A couple began to fight in the audience and the woman involved grabbed J.B.'s guitar, breaking it over her husband's head. That was enough for Hutto. He walked away from music for the next 11 years, supplementing his income by working as a janitor in a funeral home. It was the death of his mentor Elmore James in 1963 that first made Hutto think about playing again. But, it wasn't until the following year he actually returned. He put together a new gathering of Hawks, including drummer Frank Kirkland and bass player Herman Hassell, also frequently working with Johnny Young and Big Walter Horton. The group soon became the house band for Turner's Blues Lounge and Hutto released an album in 1966 for Testament Records titled, "Master Of Modern Blues", which featured Young, Horton, bassist Lee Jackson and drummer Fred Below. In 1967, Delmark Records released the milestone compilation, "Chicago/The Blues/Today!" It prominently showcased J.B. Hutto and the Hawks on five cuts, considered by many to be some of the premier pieces of his career. They clearly displayed Hutto's fierce and pounding slide guitar. Delmark responded to the popularity of this album by releasing J.B.'s first full-length solo disc the next year, the brilliant masterpiece "Hawk Squad". Over the next 16 years, Hutto recorded with a variety of labels that would include JSP, Varrick and Wolf, releasing classic recordings such as 1973's, "Slidewinder", and 1983's, "Slippin' & Slidin'" Hutto's good friend, Hound Dog Taylor, died in 1975 and it was J.B.'s fortune to inherit Taylor's band, The Houserockers, with Brewer Phillips and Ted Harvey. This was the only time during Hutto's career where he performed with a backing unit called anything other than The Hawks. The band never truly gelled as a group and never entered a studio to record. Several live performances were recorded during 1976 and 1977, including a show at Boston's famed Tea Party which was later released posthumously as "J.B. Hutto And The Houserockers Live 1977." Hutto eventually moved to Boston in the late-1970s, where he pieced together a new version of The Hawks. Other than his stellar work as a slide player, J.B. Hutto was also regarded as a master showman. Following in the footsteps of people such as Guitar Slim, he took to wearing brightly-colored outfits and a wide array of hats. He was also known for walking a room with a lengthy extension to his guitar cord, casually jumping atop tables from time-to-time while performing. Hutto returned to Illinois in the early 1980s, where he was diagnosed with cancer. He died in 1983 in Harvey, Illinois, and at the time of his passing, was considered one of the top-drawing Bluesmen working. His popularity can easily be pointed out by the fact that The Blues Foundation welcomed J.B.. Hutto into its Hall of Fame only two years Following his death. His legacy lives on, though, through the playing of his nephew, Lil' Ed Williams, who learned first-hand at the knee of Hutto, and also through all slide guitarists playing Blues today. By & © : Greg Johnson [ Article Reprint from the November 2001 BluesNotes ]© 2001 Cascade Blues Association http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/JBHutto.htm