Dutch Mason Blues Band

Dutch Mason Blues Band - The Blues Ain't Bad - 1976 - Wyse Owl Productions

Great album from the late Dutch Mason. "The Blues Ain't Bad" is pure, unassuming, straightforward Blues/R&B. The guy never compromised his music, and there are some great covers here of songs by Willie Dixon, Ray Charles, B.B. King, A. Toussaint, Robert Johnson and others, all played in the great traditional blues style. Try and listen to his "Dutch Mason Trio at the Candlelight" and "Dutchie's 60th Birthday" albums. Check out his "I'm Back" album @ DUTCHM/IMB

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

SIDE A

1 Pawnbroker (B.B. King)
2 Diddly Diddly Daddy (Eugene McDaniels)
3 The Thrill is Gone (B.B. King)
4 Get Outa My Life Woman (A Toussaint)

SIDE B

1 Move Up To The Country (Trad., Arranged by Dutch Mason)
2 I'm Ready (Willie Dixon)
3 Hard Times (Ray Charles)
4 Baby Please Don't Go (Big Joe Williams)
5 Walkin' Blues (Robert Johnson)

MUSICIANS

Dutch Mason - Guitar, Vocals
Wade Brown - Guitar
Joel Harris Zemel - Guitar, Horn, Backup Vocal Arrangements
Gregg Fancy - Bass
Mike Leggett - Piano
Gary Blair - Drums
Gary Johnson - Trumpet
Peter Hysen - Trombone
Rick Jeffery - Harp
Janet Simmons - Vocals

SHORT BIO

Dutch (b Norman) Mason. Singer, guitarist, pianist, b Lunenburg, NS, 19 Feb 1938, d Truro, NS, 23 Dec 2006. Raised in Kentville, NS, he played several instruments during his youth, including drums in a jazz band. The earliest of his own groups, which worked around Nova Scotia during the mid-1950s, were in a rock 'n' roll or 'rockabilly' style. Mason, a singer, pianist and guitarist, was introduced to the blues via recordings of B.B. King, who would remain an important influence. Mason performed in Toronto as early as 1959, but based his career in Nova Scotia. During the 1970s he performed in a succession of blues bands in a variety of bars such as Sullivan's in Halifax and the Wyse Owl in Dartmouth. He tirelessly toured Canada as part of the Dutch Mason Trio with musicians such as bassist Ronnie Miller and drummer Ken Clattenburg, building an audience for the blues and earning the nickname "Prime Minister of the Blues." As his reputation for being a colourful performer in a tough, fundamental, urban blues style grew during the late 1970s and the 1980s, he began working on the club circuit across the country, appearing frequently at the Rising Sun in Montreal and Albert's Hall in Toronto. Mason's first LPs from 1971, Dutch Mason Trio at the Candlelight (Paragon ALS-263) and Putting It All Together (Marathon MS-2107), were followed in 1976 by The Blues Ain't Bad (Owl Blues Productions OBP-2008), in 1977 by Janitor of the Blues (Solar SAR-2020), in 1979 by Wish Me Luck (Lon PS-733/Attic MLAT-1142), in the early 1980s by Special Brew (Attic LAT-1093) and Gimmee A Break (Attic LAT-1114), and in 1991 by I'm Back (Stony Plain SPCD-1169). In 1998, to celebrate his 60th birthday, CBC Radio recorded a live tribute CD that included Charles "Bucky" Adams (saxophone), Nova Scotia Mass Choir, Doris Mason, Sam Moon, Frank MacKay and Dutch Mason. Mason was nominated for Best Blues Album at the 1994 Juno Awards and Half Ain't Been Told (2004), earned him a nomination for Best Blues Album at the 2005 East Coast Music Awards. Mason was one of the original inductees to the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame, and in 2005, Norman Byron (Dutch) Mason became a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2005 Dutch Mason's son, Garrett Mason, earned a Juno Award for Best Blues album. - The Canadian Encyclopedia © 2010 Historica-Dominion http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0002238

MORE ABOUT DUTCH MASON

Born: Norman Byron Mason February 19, 1938 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia; Died: December 23, 2006. Called "Dutchie" because of his south-shore accent, the Lunenburg, Nova Scotia native was born into a musical family -- his father played stand-up bass and drums while his mother was a pianist. At the age of 14 he played drums in his parents' Dixieland band. By the age of 16 he was hanging out with coloured musicians in the community of Gibson Woods and started to learn how to play guitar and immitate his musical heroes like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.Mason's first band was called The Wreckers and soon stepped out front in Dutch Mason And The Esquires. By the age of 19 he hit the road doing dance hall performances around the Maritimes. As time went on he shifted from rock and roll to the Blues having been inspired by BB King's "Sweet Little Angel".He was thirty years old when he recorded his first album, with the Dutch Mason Trio, entitled "At The Candlelight" which was released in 1968. The album was actually recorded at Dartmouth High School.Later, with a newly formed Dutch Mason Band, the group took up residency as the house band at the Wyse Owl Tavern in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. They played constantly from 1973 into 1974 for a 13 month run and were then offered gigs in Toronto where they decided to relocate. The band returned home in 1978.Two albums followed on Attic Records before Mason was stricken with arthritis and diabetes complications that prevented him from recording for ten years.Mason was appointed the title "Prime Minister Of The Blues" at a BB King concert in Toronto by King himself.Mason finally returned to the recording studio in 1990 with an all-star cast of musicians from the Johnny Winter Band and Downchild Blues Band among others for his comeback record entitled, "I'm Back!", on Stony Plain Records.In 1991 he appeared on the Juno Award-winning disc 'Saturday Night Blues: The Great Canadian Blues Project Volume 1' based on the CBC Radio show called "Saturday Night Blues". That same year, Mason won the 1st annual "Great Canadian Blues Award" voted by listeners of the CBC radio show.A 1996 release, 'Appearing Nightly', came next and featured material recorded in 1980 while Mason was still able to play guitar.For Mason's 60th birthday concert in 1998, promoter Brookes Diamond invited Mason's contemporaries Sam Moon, Joe Murphy, Frank MacKay And The Lincolns, Matt Minglewood, Pam Marsh, Johnny Favourite, Carson Downey And Big City and many others to the Halifax Metro Centre and recorded a tribute CD to the legendary bluesman.In 2002 Mason was among the first inductees into the Canadian Jazz And Blues Hall of Fame. In 2004 the East Coast Blues Society held the inauguration of the Dutch Mason Blues Hall Of Fame at St. Antonio's Hall in Halifax.On September 13, 2005 Mason received the Order Of Canada.Mason has received several other accolades including the first 'Lifetime Acheivement Award' at the ECMA's, a Juno Award, and The Harvest Blues Festival in Fredericton has an award in his name.Having lived the last few years in a wheelchair in Truro, Nova Scotia, while still doing occasional gigs, Mason passed away December 23, 2006. © 2009, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved