IF we do HCH in 2012, he's one of the first guys I'll book. He's the third major white blues harp guy from Chicago in the early 1960s, along with Butterfield and Musselwhite. Bill Lupkin: should be a household name among our tribe, but isn't:
Don't forget Jack (Applejack) Walroth. He's currently active in the San Francisco scene. He's been doing it since the early to mid 60's. He spent a number of years on the Chicago scene. He's a fine singer and harp player.
Like Big Joe Williams and Charlie Musselwhite, he was working as a night watchman at the Jazz Record Mart. He played all over Chicago. He played on Maxwell Street. He played down at Theresa's. He played with Louis Myers and Sam Lay after Sam Lay left the Butterfield Blues Band. He worked with Elvin Bishop a long time ago. His band backed Mike Bloomfield. He's toured with Boz Scaggs. He's been around.
He's the bass player in this photo shot back in 1966.
He's probably the best kept secret on the scene in the Bay Area. I run into countless people that have been around the scene here for years that don't know about him.
Thanks for posting this Adam. One of my favorite live blues albums is Lupkin's "Live At The Hotspot". It's got everything going for it-emotionally wrenched vocals, deep fatback amped tones, and great backing band. He had a long tenure with Jimmy Rogers and the "Goldtailed Bird" album features him in that role. He took a long break from performing and then jumped back in without missing a beat a few years ago.
And, Joe, thanks for the heads up on Walroth. I'm not familiar with him either and thought that I knew all the old timers out there. I must investigate now. ---------- Ricky B www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com
When I was working with Jimmy Rogers, he used to talk about quite a bit. He does play on one or two tunes on Jiimy's Shelter LP Gold Tailed Bird, which was produced by Freddy King in the 70's. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
When I was working with Jimmy Rogers, he used to talk about quite a bit. He does play on one or two tunes on Jiimy's Shelter LP Gold Tailed Bird, which was produced by Freddy King in the 70's. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Adam, You say Lupkin was the next major white harp player after Butter and Musselwhite. What about Paul Oscher? Was Portnot not on the scene until the 70's? I know he started playing later in life than most pros.
Michael: No, I was saying that Lupkin, Butterfield, and Musselwhite were, as far as I know, contemporaries in the early-to-mid-1960s Chicago scene. Oscher and Portnoy came along later.
Actually, after consulting Lupkin's and Oscher's bio pages, I'll have to amend that: Lupkin and Oscher were contemporaries. Lupkin was playing with black bands in Indiana in the mid-60s, but he moved to Chicago in 1968; Oscher joined Muddy's band in 1967.
My point remains valid: everybody knows who Butterfield, Musselwhite, and Oscher are. But I suspect that a few players who are familiar with the greats and almost-greats would go "Bill WHO?" Yet he's a fine player and a part of history.
Here's his website:
http://www.billlupkin.com/
Last Edited by on May 25, 2011 8:37 AM
another forgotten is Bill Dicey. I knew, sort of mentored under him, back in NYC. He did recordings with Louisiana Red that are pretty darn good. Walter
here is one of his cuts with Red. Red introduced me to him during the time I lived with Red.
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
anyone wanting to know more about me and my music is more than welcome to visit my website, jaxpage.com i am also on facebook under "Applejack Walroth". my band Blues Power has a new CD just out, available at jaxpage.com. we also have a band page on facebook: "Blues Power - San Francisco" - more friends will be cheerfully welcomed. thanks all :-)
Very nice post Adam, three more Artists also added to my website list. Just to let you know that this Forum has been added to The Forums Page http://www.worldofharmonica.com/forums.html Best Wishes
I dont know what this guy's schedule is like, but if it would ever remotely be a possibility for him to attend, I'd have a third reason to shit my pants trying to buy a pass for another go round @ Foxfire....
I saw Bill live at the Bean Blossom a couple years ago. He put on a great show. I had the opportunity to talk with him a while. He's a real nice guy and easy to talk with. ---------- Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
I like how Bill plays much of the framework of the classic "Juke" track, but adds a bunch of personalized elements. It shows study, but not to the point of carbon-copy, or, as I like to call it, the "classical-ification of blues music"
I often wonder, however, why folks insist on doing Juke. I'm more in favor of guys coming up with, naming, and then playing around with their own harp instrumental pieces. ---------- 12gagedan's YouTube Channel
"I often wonder, however, why folks insist on doing Juke"
What's the big deal? If you don't like it, don't play it. One night at a jam (of all places), a guy gave me ten bucks to play Big Walter's Boogie. It was his favorite tune. Maybe, I should have held out for $20.
Another night, I saw a guy drop $50 into the tip bucket to hear Kid Andersen to play Hideaway. Sometimes, you do stuff for money.
My perspective was directed at a couple of harp colleagues I had in mind who I believe are very capable of creating their own instrumental pieces. I love "Juke" by the way, especially when it's done well. It's rarely done well, though, as guys spend so much mental energy trying to copy Walter, that it negatively effects their timing. "Juke" ends up sounding like marching band music.
These same cats, if they'd just let go, could probably KILL whatever harp instrumental they tried if it was spontaneous.
Money is a whole other issue. If somebody needs the dough, then play the tune. Have you ever seen the sign at the preservation hall down in new orleans? It says something like "requests = $1, "saints" =$10. ha ha ha yeah, they're sick of playing that tune, but if the money is right. . . ---------- 12gagedan's YouTube Channel
Dan - As you know, it rarely hurts to study and play Walter's tunes. A player can learn phrasing and a lot of his commonly used licks which are used as a framework in a lot of great tunes.
The problem with playing a lot of Walter's tunes is that they are a measuring stick. Everyone has heard them and few players measure up to the original.
Personally, I dont do Little Walter tunes for that very reason.
Indeed, Joe. We are on the exact same page. Studying is indeed different than performing it. Heck, Walter never played it the same way twice. Even he couldn't have, nor likely wanted to recreate that particular 2:47. Learn from? Yes. Regurgitate exactly? eh, not so much. ---------- 12gagedan's YouTube Channel
