Ann Arbor Folk and Blues The Scene in the 1960s and 1970s By Michael Erlewine 1 © Copyright Michael Erlewine 2015 [email protected] ISBN-13: 978-1517124953 ISBN-10: 1517124956 Cover Photo of Michael Erlewine interviewing Muddy Waters by Stanley Livingston. 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents ......................................................... 3 The Folk Music Revival in Ann Arbor ............................ 7 The Folk Scene ........................................................... 11 The Folk Revival – Looking for Roots ......................... 12 The Folk Blues ............................................................ 14 Being Part of the Scene .............................................. 15 Searching for Roots .................................................... 16 Ann Arbor Blues Festival – A Brief History ................. 22 How I Happened to Be There ..................................... 22 A Short History of Blues Festivals ............................... 24 The Chitlin’ Circuit ....................................................... 25 The Folk Festivals ....................................................... 25 The Folk Revival – Looking for Roots ......................... 28 Singers, Not Songwriters ............................................ 30 The Folk Blues ............................................................ 31 Being Part of the Scene .............................................. 31 Searchin’ for Roots ..................................................... 32 1965: A Sea Change .................................................. 35 The American Folk Blues Festival in Europe .............. 37 Memphis Country Blues Festival 1967 ....................... 38 The Ann Arbor Blues Festival: The First of Its Kind .... 39 The Ann Arbor Blues Festival: What it Was ................ 40 The 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival ............................ 47 The End of the Blues Festivals ................................... 53 The Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festivals ........................ 54 3 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival ................................... 56 1972 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival Financials ....... 57 1973 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival Financials ....... 57 1974 Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz Festival in Exile ........... 57 The Blues Today ......................................................... 59 The Blues.................................................................... 59 THE PERFECT BLUES STORM ................................ 63 BEYOND THE MUSIC ................................................ 71 "Play That Funkly Music White Boy " .......................... 76 Memories of the Ann Arbor Blues Festivals ................ 81 The Ann Arbor Blues Festival: The First of Its Kind .... 85 The Ann Arbor Blues Festival: What it Was ................ 85 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival ................................... 86 Louis Myers ................................................................ 88 James Cotton (August 3, 1969) .................................. 88 Luther Tucker (August 3, 1969) .................................. 88 Sleepy John Estes (August 2, 1969) .......................... 88 Sleepy John Estes (August 2, 1969) .......................... 91 Freddy King (August 3, 1969) ..................................... 93 Fred Below (August 3, 1969) ...................................... 93 Louis Myers (August 3, 1969) ..................................... 93 James Madison (August 3, 1969) ............................... 93 Jack Myers (August 1, 1969) ...................................... 93 James Cotton (August 3, 1969) .................................. 93 Luther Tucker (August 3, 1969) .................................. 94 Charlie Musslewhite (August 3, 1969) ........................ 94 4 Jimmy Dawkins (August 1, 1969) ............................... 94 Fred McDowell (August 1, 1969) ................................ 95 Program Schedule 1969 ............................................. 98 The Forgotten Jazz Scene ........................................ 100 Ann Arbor, Michigan: A Wishing Well ....................... 106 MAKING BLUES TIME ............................................. 110 Musical Time Beyond Time ....................................... 111 Toward an Explanation ............................................. 118 Groove and Blues in Jazz ......................................... 126 An Abbreviated History of Blues in Jazz ................... 129 Bop Originators: ........................................................ 131 1950s Bop Players: ................................................... 131 1970-1980s Bop Revival: .......................................... 131 Hard Bop ................................................................... 132 Hard Bop Pioneers:................................................... 132 Funky Jazz ................................................................ 133 The Blues Groove -- Groove Music ........................... 134 Original Funk/Soul Jazz ............................................ 135 Organ Combos ......................................................... 137 The Commercialization of Soul Jazz ......................... 138 Groove Masters ........................................................ 139 Grant Green: THE Groove Master ............................ 140 Blues in Jazz and R&B ............................................. 142 Bluesy Jazz ............................................................... 143 Blues/Funk Sax ......................................................... 143 Sax: Blues, R&B, Funk: Honkers and Bar Walkers ... 144 5 Blues in Free Jazz .................................................... 146 The Groove Guide to Blues in Jazz .......................... 147 Landmark Jazz Albums ............................................. 147 Juke Joints and Saturday Nights .............................. 150 Juke Joints ................................................................ 150 African-American Music ............................................ 152 Song and Dance ....................................................... 154 Interview with Howlin’ Wolf ....................................... 159 Blues Before Dharma ............................................... 167 The Ann Arbor Blues Festival –1969 & 1970 ............ 171 6 The Folk Music Revival in Ann Arbor (The Late 1950s- Early 1960s) In 1957 freshman student Al Young and Bill McAdoo founded the University of Michigan Folklore Society. Today Young is the Poet Laureate of California. The Folklore Society was a natural interface between the University folk and the townies – music. As a high- school dropout, I had no trouble integrating and being accepted in the folk circles. No questions were asked. We were all just ‘folk’ and it was a culturally rich scene. And Michigan was not the only campus with a folklore society. Folk music was popping up on campuses all over the nation and we were interconnected by what came to be called the folk circuit, a constant stream of folk enthusiasts that traveled from campus to campus playing and sharing folk music. The circuit went from Cambridge to New York City to Ann Arbor to Chicago to Madison to Berkeley and back again. We were hitchhiking or piling into old cars and driving the route. Musicians like Bob Dylan would hitchhike into town, hang out, play a gig or two, and be on down the road. And well-known folk singers came. Folksingers like Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and groups like the New Lost City Ramblers and the Country Gentlemen were regular visitors to Ann Arbor and this was before anyone was famous. They didn’t stay in fancy motels, but with us. They stayed in our houses, slept on a couch or in the spare bedroom. We all hung out together and played music or sat in the Michigan Union and drank coffee all day. Whatever music and culture they brought with them really had a chance to sink in. They shared themselves and their time with us. They were just like us. Ann Arbor had its own players. The president of the 7 Folklore Society was Howie Abrams and we sported folk musicians like Marc Silber, Al Young, Dave Portman, Peter Griffith, and Perry Lederman. There was also an important lady named "Bugs," but I can't remember her last name. Anyone know? And we put on festivals and events. For example, the folklore society raised money to bring Odetta to Ann Arbor where she gave her first college performance. And a young Bob Dylan gave an early performance as part of a small folk-music festival in Ann Arbor put on by the U-M Folklore Society. I can remember sitting in the Michigan Union with a very nervous Dylan, drinking coffee and smoking, while we waited for the review of Dylan’s performance the night before to come out in the Michigan Daily newspaper. It was something like 10:30 AM when the review surfaced and it was positive. With that good news Dylan proceeded to hitchhike out of town. And when Odetta sang at the Newport Folk Festival in 1960, Al Young, Perry Lederman, and Marc Silber hitchhiked there to see her. And there was also a subtle change taking place. Folk music in the late 1950s and early 1960s was part of what is called the “Folk Revival,” and those of us who were part of it were very much aware of the need to protect and revive our musical heritage. Dylan and Baez were not writing their own tunes back then but rather reviving and interpreting songs that harkened from other generations. What made you a good folksinger then was the ability to authentically reproduce or reenact a particular song. The keywords