Crossroad 23: Built For Comfort

Tags

Built For Comfort, Chess Records, Chester Arthur Burnett, Chicago Blues, Howlin' Wolf, Pete Cosey, Willie Dixon

Built For Comfort

Howlin’ Wolf

Howlin’ Wolf – Chester Arthur Burnett (photo from bbc.co.uk)

Built For Comfort appears on the album that Howlin’ Wolf  didn’t like.

This album did not sell well.

Chess Records reckoned they made a mistake with the cover. Telling everyone that the artist doesn’t like the album probably did not help sales.

Howlin’ Wolf – born Chester Arthur Burnett – not only didn’t like the album, he didn’t like the cover either.

But he did like his electric guitar.

I liked the album – at the time I bought it, I loved it.

And I still love it …

It recalls an exciting age personally and historically. And this album is an experiment that had a pretty rough outcome – like many of the things with which we experimented in teenage years in the late 60’s.

Although a great innovator himself, Howlin’ Wolf did not seem to appreciate some developments in the playing of the electric guitar. On the album itself (Track 2 – Tail Dragger) he talks about the electric guitar having a “qwail” sound that he dislikes. And in the biography, Moanin’ At Midnight, the guitarist Peter Cosey tells of Howlin’ Wolf looking at him at saying:

Why don’t you take them wah-wahs and all that other shit and throw it in the lake on your way to the barber shop?

Sounds like he did not like long hair on men, either.

Listening now I can understand why Howlin’ Wolf (and many others) didn’t like it. Compare the two versions of the song (below) both from Howlin’ Wolf. The version from this album was the first version I heard.

Built For Comfort fits nicely with the stature of both Willie Dixon (who wrote and first recorded the song) and Howlin’ Wolf, with whom it become synonymous. Both were very big men … well over 6 feet tall and approaching 300lbs (136 kilos).

Another Dixon song that appears on this Howlin’ Wolf album pays homage to their physiques – Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy.

So what’s the link between Built For Comfort and Hoochie Coochie Man?

Simple – Willie Dixon wrote them both.

This is is the version from the 1969 album (the one he didn’t like).

…

And this comes from the 1966 album The Real Folk Blues.

 

Other Stuff You Might Enjoy.

* The Howlin’ Wolf Story – a great documentary (1h 24m) . I had technical problems with this at about the 23m mark – had to reload a couple of times. It may have been me but if you have problems too, you can see the show here in 8 parts – The Howlin’ Wolf Story.

* Willie Dixon singing Built For Comfort.

* Dion’s version.

* Taj Mahal

Destination next?

North:  High Water (for Charley Patton) by Bob Dylan
East:     Hard Time Killing Floor by R. L. Burnside
South:   Hoochie Coochie Man.
West:    Bring It On Home by Sonny Boy Williamson 

Crossroad 22: (I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man

Tags

Blues & Gospel Caravan, Brownie Mcghee, Cab Calloway, Chess Records, Chicago Blues, Fred Below, Hoochie Coochie Man, Idlewild South, Jimmy Rogers, Led Zeppelin, Little Walter, Minnie The Moocher, Muddy Waters, Newport, Otis Spann, Paul Zollo, Sonny Terry, The Allman Brothers, Willie Dixon

(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man

Muddy Waters

The Hoochie Coochie – a belly dance or a lap dance suggestively performed by women, and popular in Chicago in the late 19th Century. Remember Cab Calloway’s Minnie the Moocher … she is a either a “red-hot” or a “low-down” hoochie-coocher – or both.

A man managing hoochie cooche dancers, or putting on a hoochie coochie show, or watching one, might be labelled a Hoochie Coochie Man … and so the title for this Willie Dixon composed song.

But in 1988, Dixon told Paul Zollo (Songwriters On Songwriting) that a hoochie coochie man comes from mystical/religious traditions – like the voodoo man. The song definitely carries that sense of voodoo:

I got a black cat bone
I got a mojo too
I got the John the Conqueror root

No wonder Zollo interviewed Willie Dixon for his book – Dixon was prolific. He is responsible for one of the best – and most poetic – descriptions of blues music:

The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits

His songs have been performed & recorded by many, many have become blues standards … and been very influential. Perhaps too influential – in 1987 Led Zeppelin settled out of court with Dixon. Dixon’s claim was for copyright infringement  for the songs Bring It On Home & Whole Lotta Love.

Dixon’s biography is well worth a read … one notable episode of trouble for him was his stance on being drafted into the US Army. He was a conscientious objector claiming that exploitation of blacks should mean they are exempted from drafted.

Back to (I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man …

The original 1954 recording had a stellar line-up: Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter, Otis Spann, & Fred Below.

I first heard the song in about 1970, on the Muddy Waters album – Live at Newport 1960.

The song was first added to my collection when I bought the Allman Brothers Band second album, Idlewild South – it remains one of my favourite versions of the song and was the westerly option at Crossroad #5 – Voodoo Chile.

So what’s the link between (I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man and Don’t Take Everybody To Be Your Friend?

Muddy Waters and Sister Rosetta Tharpe were both riding along in 1964 in The Blues & Gospel Caravan tour of England.

… and maybe the Hoochie Coochie Man is just why Sister Rosetta is advocating caution and care

It is very unfortunate that this first video ends abruptly but it is the only clip I could find of Muddy at Newport. The second has the complete song, this clip starts with about 2m 30s of Muddy Waters chatting about his roots.

 

Other Stuff You Might Enjoy.

* Willie Dixon’s songs – a wikipedia page that lists Dixon’s main songs and who they have been recorded by.

* Official Willie Dixon website.

* Hoochie Coochie Man playlist on YouTube – 7 recordings of the song by Willie Dixon; Buddy Guy; The Allman Brothers; Steppenwolf; Jimi Hendrix; Paul Rodgers; Buddy Guy & Eric Clapton.

* A (very) short Muddy Waters biography (3m 49s) – with comments from Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, Charlie Musselwhite and others.

* The Chess Record Story: Part 1 (14m 42s); Part 2 (14m 56s); Part 3 (14m 53s); Part 4 (13m 11s)

* A Superstar Blues Jam 1966 – watch this. Nothing to do with Hoochie Coochie Man but it does feature Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann and a few other greats.

Destination next?

North:  Built For Comfort by Howlin’ Wolf
East:     You Shook Me by Jeff Beck
South:   Hoodoo Man Blues by Junior Wells
West:    Don’t Take Everybody To Be Your Friend 

Crossroad 3: I Got A Mind To Give Up Living

Tags

Blues, Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy, Butterfield Blues Band, Chicago Blues, East-West, Elvin Bishop, Howlin' Wolf, I Got A Mind To Give Up Living, Juniior Wells, Michael Bloomfield, Muddy Waters, Nick Gravenites, Paul Butterfield, Sam Lay, Sonny Boy Williamson

I Got A Mind To Give Up Living

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Paul Butterfield had a profound influence on the development of contemporary blues and rock music. Unfortunately he died young – only 44 – in 1987.

In the late fifties, while still in high school, he linked up with the older Nick Gravenites, and began playing some acoustic blues & folk together. They also started hanging around the blues clubs on Chicago’s South Side, an area avoided by most whites. There they were listening to and befriending some blues’ legends – often they would be the only two whites in the audience.

Butterfield’s short stint at the University of Illinois and Gravenite’s regular commutes (and eventual move) west to San Francisco interrupted the partnership.

Elvin Bishop had moved to Chicago to study Physics at the University of Illinois but dropped out to focus on an education in blues guitar. It wasn’t long before he stumbled across Paul Butterfield and they started playing together and with people like Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson (both of them – I & II), Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, & Howlin’ Wolf.

Invited to play a regular spot at Big John’s on Chicago’s North Side, they nicked a couple of members of Howlin’ Wolf’s backing band – Jerome Arnold & Sam Lay – and thus the core of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was formed. Just before they went into the studio to record their first album, Michael Bloomfield joined as a second lead guitar & Mark Naftalin on keyboards joined during those sessions.

… and there you have it. Possibly the first multi-racial blues band in Chicago and certainly one of the most influential bands of the era.

I Got A Mind  To Give Up Living is from their second album East-West – Sam Lay had been replaced on drums by Billy Davenport.

The connection with The Super-Natural?

It’s the guitar … Peter Green (The Super-Natural) and Michael Bloomfield (I Got A Mind To Give Up Living) had very unique & individual styles but both were piercing, eloquent, and emotive. Whenever I listen to either … I always think that I should next listen to the other.

Paul Butterfield also had an appearance with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and released a 4 song EP in 1967, the same year that Hard Road, the album with The Super-Natural, was released.

I gotta mind to give up living
And go shopping instead ..

This is the version from the album (East-West)

…

Other Stuff You Might Enjoy.

* Live version of I Got A Mind To Give Up Living recorded in 1996 when the Butterfield Blues Band played The Unicorn in Boston. 

* Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green) performing the same song at The Warehouse in New Orleans.

* Paul Butterfield appeared as a guest on the 1960’s TV show To Tell The Truth, where a panel aims to pick the guest from amongst a line-up. The panel’s questioning and judgement is followed by a sloppy performance of Born in Chicago – a song from their first album written by Nick Gravenites.

* Short 10 minute teaser for video documentary created by Paul Butterfield’s son Gabriel. Includes short interviews with Sam Lay, Al Kooper, Happy Traum to name a few. Part 1 : Part 2

* An 11 minute video produced to try and help generate votes for Paul Butterfield’s nomination to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

* Another blog article about I Got A Mind To Give Up Living. This is from the website www.nodepression.com which concerns itself with the roots of american music.

* Bloomfield, Arnold, & Lay were part of the band behind Dylan when he controversially plugged into the electric sound at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Al Kooper & Barry Goldberg were the other two members of that illustrious troupe.

* Dylan on Paul Butterfield: While watching The Butterfield Blues Band at the Village Gate in NYC in early 1965, Robert Shelton commented to Bob Dylan that Paul Butterfield’s harp playing was sounding like a Sonny Boy Williamson the Third or Little Walter the Second. Bob’s retort was along the lines of “No. He’s Paul Butterfield the First.” (from Robert Shelton’s No Direction Home. p220)

Where to Next?

While sitting at the junction with a mind to give up living, I’m contemplating the signposts that read:

North:    Back Door Man by Howlin’ Wolf
East:       That is where we just came from: The Super-Natural
South:    The 59th Street Bridge Song by M. Bloomfield & Al Kooper
West:      Everybody Needs Somebody To Love by The Blues Brothers

…

Your Choice For The Next Stop?