We Know it's Been A While.....

Hey! We know it's been a while. Some folks have gone on to blues heaven, and there have been blues at the White House! Who'd of thought? Anyway, couldn't think of a better way to start again after a long absence than to post a few videos from the D.C. area's Memphis Gold. He and a band that included Charlie Sayles on Harp and Clarence "the Bluesman" Turner on bass were in rare form as they played at an event held Saturday in Wheaton, Maryland for the D.C. Blues Society. Check out these three songs from the gig:









By the way, if you like at least some of what we do at Beldon's Blues Point, let us know....subscribe! Otherwise we might get a complex.....

Mr. Neal Returns to Washington

I doubt anyone at Surf Club Live outside D.C. was thinking of the debt ceiling last Thursday when the D.C. Blues Society brought bluesman Kenny Neal back for an encore performance. Neal, who played Surf Club Live last August, played to a full house. In between sets, he talked to Beldon's Blues Point about, among other things, his latest album "Hooked on Your Love" and that little trick he does where he simultaneously plays guitar and harmonica:



In the audience was bluesman Memphis Gold who lives in the D.C. area and who in June debuted at the Chicago Blues Festival, one of the most popular festivals in the world. Memphis also talked about a series of benefit shows he and Neal are planning for Jim O'Neal,founder of Memphis' current label, Stackhouse Records. A noted blues historian, he also co-founded Living Blues magazine. Memphis said O'Neal has cancer:



Memphis told me after this interview that he and Neal will perform at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago in October.

I managed to record three songs before my I-phone ran out of juice. This one is a jam!



If you follow this next one to the end, you will be as surprised as Kenny was when a female fan showed her appreciation by hanging her--well, you'll see--across his guitar neck...



And this last one gave us a preview of what we'll see at Buddy Guy's this October:



Hope you all got a sense from those videos as to how much fun that show was. Don't forget to keep sending those songs to beldonsbluespoint@yahoo.com. We are preparing to feature stuff from readers in an upcoming post.

A Blues Icon Needs Help

One of the world’s great bluesmen is in trouble, and now is the time for the public to step in and help him. Guitarist/singer Chester Chandler, better known as Memphis Gold, has been unable to pay the rent on his home in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. He could face eviction. Supporters led by the D.C. Blues Society have been raising money for him, last week organizing a “rent party” where several musicians played for free. But more needs to be done. Chandler is in financial trouble through no fault of his own. Once able to supplement his income by working as a tree-trimmer, he had to give that up two years ago after severely injuring his spine in a work-related accident. He needed extensive therapy after his accident and now can only walk with a cane. This happened as the lean economy dried up gigs for a number of musicians, with those playing niche genres such as blues likely among the hardest hit. That Chandler can’t support himself as a musician is sad because he is a walking icon of blues music, the genre upon which arguably most American music is based. Born in Memphis, Chandler was introduced to the guitar at age four by his father, who played the bass fiddle and piano in church. Church was a good training ground for Chandler, who, by the time he turned eight years old, was good enough to play for pocket change on Beale Street. He crossed paths with many well-known musicians while growing up, among them the legendary Delta gospel player, the Reverend Robert “Tim” Wilkins. He went on to play with several Memphis area blues notables, among them Big Lucky Carter and the legendary Memphis juke joint group The Fieldstones. He later played with nationally-known guitarist and singer Deborah Coleman. Chandler has been recognized in blues publications around the world, among them Living Blues, which featured him on the cover of its February, 2009 edition. “Memphis is a great guy and a real deal bluesman,” said Living Blues editor Brett Bonner. “When we decided to put him on our cover in February, 2009 he had two well received records out and had been on track to jump-start his career when he had his tree-trimming accident. His is a fascinating blues story. He began, like so many others, learning music in the church, then as he expanded he schooled with some of the masters of early Memphis Blues….He became an integral part of the Memphis Blues scene.” Chandler, who served on active duty in the Navy from 1973 to 1981, is getting help with his medical expenses through the Veterans Administration. But he still needs to make rent. You can help by making out a check to Chester Chandler and sending it to: Chester Chandler C/O The D.C. Blues Society P.O. Box 77315 Washington, D.C. 20013 Better still, purchase one of his CD’s, the latest of which, Pickin’In High Cotton, is now being released. Or attend one of his shows. In either case, you will be getting more than your money’s worth.

Kenny Neal: "I'm just trying to carry that legacy"

Guitarist/harmonicist Kenny Neal has the beginnings most musicians only dream about.
He was born and raised in Louisiana, the cradle of American blues and jazz. His father Raful—a well-known harmonica player and singer in his own right—kept regular and casual company with some of the most influential blues musicians in history. As a toddler, Neal received his first harmonica from harmonica legend Slim Harpo, who reportedly gave it to him as a pacifier. As a teen-ager, Neal played bass for another blues icon, Buddy Guy.
Now 52, Neal has spring boarded himself from those beginnings to make his mark on the music world. He has shared the stage with some of the world’s most influential musicians, among them B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Aaron Neville and John Lee Hooker.
Neal began forging his identity while working as a young musician out of Toronto, where he and brothers Raful, Jr., Noel, Larry and Ronnie formed the Neal Brothers Band to back up touring blues stars. He returned to Baton Rouge and in 1988 began releasing albums through Alligator Records. Those recordings, which showcased the Louisiana sound he had grown up with, drew praise from critics.
In 1991 Neal appeared on stage in another medium: acting. He took the lead role in “Mule Bone,” a 1930's play written by Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. Neal’s run featured music written by Taj Mahal, and he himself would later set two Hughes poems to music.
Neal then began releasing albums through Telarc Records, collaborating with fellow harmonicist Billy Branch in 2004 to record “Double Take,” which won the W.C. Handy award the following year.
He relocated to California in 2004, where he launched “Neal’s Place,” a cable television program that features him jamming with national and local musicians.
Troubles he endured afterwards, including the loss of his father, brother and sister and his treatment for Hepatitis C, inspired one of his most critically-acclaimed albums, 2008’s “Let Life Flow.”
Neal discussed his life last week while in the Washington, D.C. area to play a benefit concert for the D.C. Blues Society. There, he had a chance to jam with two prominent D.C. area blues musicians, guitarist Memphis Gold (pictured with Neal above) and singer Stacy Brooks.
We started the conversation by asking Neal about his upcoming album, “Hooked on Your Love:”
Kenny Neal: Well the new album is called “Hooked on Your Love” and it will be out officially September 14.
BBP: Ok
Neal: Yeah, so I’m very excited about it. You know my last CD was “Let Life Flow,” so I got a couple of years out of that and now I’m back again with a new one.
BBP: Is there something about this CD that’s taking you in a different direction?
Neal: Well this CD here, I just wanted to keep in mind some of the guys that I come up with that a lot of the folks don’t know about. I wrote, you know, seven or eight songs on the CD, but also, people like O.B. Wright, Bobby Bland, Little Milton. I wanted to hit a little bit of that blues style as well, because on my circuit you don’t hear it that often. And I grew up with it. So I just want to share that with my fans. And I’m really happy about the way it turned out.
BBP: I heard a rumor that when you were three years old Slim Harpo put a harmonica in your mouth to keep you quiet.
Neal: I was a little older than three (laughing). But uh, he and my dad Raful Neal, Slim Harpo from Baton Rouge, they were all friends. And he was coming over to the house one day and they was unloading the trailer and he told me—pickin’ on a little kid—to go inside the trailer and see if any instruments was left. I went in and he closed the doors on me and I freaked out. I got a phobia. And it freaked him out so bad, to cheer me up he went out and got a harmonica and gave to me and said “son, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to..but that’s how that happened.” But I never thought I’d end up playing that thing.
BBP: At that time you didn’t pick it up and start to play a tune?
Neal: Oh I’m sure I played it around because that was like my new toy, you know because I was always brought up around music. It was like giving a kid a baseball or a bat or something, you know. That harmonica was exciting.
BBP: What were some of the lessons you learned from your dad? What were some of the most important things you learned from him?
Neal: To make sure I get all of my residuals (laughs), like he didn’t get. No, but I learned from my dad to enjoy the music and I don’t know, just treat everybody the way you want to be treated and that’s one of the main things I really carry with myself because he used to tell me that everybody is somebody and with the music, he gave that to me before I even understood anything. It was there already, so, it was natural for me I think for me to want to carry that on.
BBP: So how does it feel to be in a family that has a musical tradition? I mean that’s something that the average person can’t really understand.
Neal: Well the music just makes us closer, ‘cause normally you have to have a meeting and reunions to get the family together. But all I do is get a gig (laughs), call everybody up, and that’s all the time, you know what I mean? So that music keeps us together and keeps us under control and keeps the love in the family as well. Because we’re always together doing something that we love.
BBP: Buddy Guy, what was it like to play bass for him?
Neal: You know Buddy is from Baton Rouge and his brother Phil and Sam Guy and all of them and his sister down south, she still lives in Baton Rouge, so they’ve always been family to me. It was a pleasure to play for a guy who used to play for my dad, because Buddy was my dad’s guitar player back in the fifties before he left home. So it was like, wow, man, I’m part of the crew now. So it was all good.
BBP: What would you consider to be the watershed CD in your life?
Neal: “Let Life Flow.”
BBP: The one that came out before (the current one)
Neal: Yeah. Let Life Flow. Probably be my favorite of all time for me.
BBP: What about it makes it your most favorite?
Neal: Well because during that time, I had gone through some tragedy in my family. My brother and my dad passed away and then my sister got murdered, my baby sister, and then I had to go through 58 weeks of treatment for my hepatitis C. So it was like all that happened within eleven months. So I had to take off from the road for a while. Now I’m a hundred percent better. I’m clear of the Hep C—thank God I don’t have it anymore—so right after all of this was over with, man, I had a lot to share. So that CD is very touching I did songs like “Hurt Before You Heal,” “Let Life Flow,” and stuff like that. So it’s a special CD.
BBP: Can I ask you a question about New Orleans? Is the city on the mend?
Neal: Oh, man. We’re trying to get there but we got a long ways to go. Plus, you know, we just had the BP oil spill. So we got another slap in the face again. So it’s going to be a while for us to come back around, but we’re strong, you know, and we love our area and it’s going to take a while for us to get back but we’re starting to get folks coming back into the city again. But it’s not where it should be, even after five years now.
BBP: What about the music down there?
Neal: Oh the music never did leave anywhere. I mean the music is always there, man. You know, because, people who don’t go out there and do it for a living know how to play music and that’s what keeps us going.
BBP: I was curious, on a lighter note, that show “Treme” on HBO, what do you think of that?
Neal: I haven’t seen that show. I’ve heard about it, but I haven’t checked it out yet. Everybody’s telling me that it’s something I should look into, the New Orleans folks and stuff but I haven’t seen it.
BBP: Who are some of your influences, and I know you play like several instruments. The trumpet and the piano, and uh, bass I believe and the guitar. Who are some of your favorite musicians of all time?
Neal: Well, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Son House. Man, they was all the folks I come up listening to and then I had a chance to play with Muddy Waters and had a chance to know John Lee Hooker and all of these guys that my dad used to talk about. I end up being close friends with them. I just did a documentary called “American Blues Man” on growing up in Louisiana and my life’s story. So you know, it’s like that. So I’m happy to share that but I just grew up with a lot of the folks and all of my great guys are gone. So I’m just trying to carry that legacy.
BBP: You have a TV show and I’m wondering how that’s going?
Neal: It’s going well. We’re on the west coast and also webcast if your listeners go over to KennyNeal.net you can find me like the Neal’s Place TV show and I’m still on five nights a week out on the west coast and I do it every time I come off the road, I try to shoot another segment.
BPP: Who will we likely see on the TV in the near future?
Neal: I know most everybody in the blues field so when they come through California I invite them out.
BBP: I’m sure they come running.
Neal: Yeah, it’s all good man.
BBP: Well…..one more thing I wanted to ask you. Who new on the horizon now are you watching and who do you expect great things from and….
Neal: I’m just watching my little nieces and nephews now. They’re all starting to play. So, you know. But I haven’t been really…when I’m off from playing music, I’m always…..
(At this point Neal turns to say goodbye to a friend who has attended the concert. BBP then gives him a card detailing how he can access the website)
BBP: I’m sorry I interrupted you..well I guess my question was, who are you looking at now…who would you like to play with whom you haven’t played with yet?
Neal: They’re all dead.


‘





Q2

Memphis Gold's Pickin' In High Cotton

Much of the music calling itself blues nowadays doesn’t deserve the title, says D.C. area singer/guitarist Memphis Gold.
He promises that his new CD will school folks on what the blues really are.
Entitled “Pickin’ In High Cotton,” the CD is Memphis Gold’s fourth. It presents traditional stories of what gives people the blues, using traditional musical forms to tell those stories. And it carries a lesson to heavy metal guitar heroes who think they are playing the blues without knowing what the term really means.
“Anybody whose young, they never had no blues,“ says Memphis, who at the age of five began chopping wood, picking cotton, and carting coal around the city that would later provide him with the name he now performs under.
“So I’m sort of telling some stories within it about how I had to work hard in cotton fields. And if you’re going to really be blue, then you’ve got to know something about being blue. It ain’t no joke.
Tales of hard work and hard times—much from Memphis’ own past— provide the subject matter for “Pickin’ In High Cotton,” which is scheduled for a June release. In “Homeless Blues,” he talks about the 18 months he spent homeless on the streets of Washington.
But he will pay his respects to a personal hero with a song about abolitionist John Brown, hanged in 1859 for trying to start a slave revolt by taking over a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
“What I’m doing is writing a song basically about that day that John Brown went to take over the armory,” he says. “I’m kind of sympathizing with John Brown, I want to glorify the job that he did for blacks in Harper’s Ferry.”
Memphis says he decided to do the John Brown song after performing at a festival in Harpers Ferry dedicating property once owned by the abolitionist. A friend of Memphis’ now owns the tract.
Nine of the album’s twelve songs have been written, he says, adding that there is some acoustic work. “I want to let them know I can play acoustic,” he says.
Several harmonica players join Memphis for the album, including Charlie Sayles, Jay Summerhour, Phil Williams, and Robert Lighthouse. “Each of these guys has different sounds,” he says. “I kind of write songs that would fit their personalities.”
Memphis, who has turned to other bass players in previous albums, will hold the bottom down himself in “Pickin’ In High Cotton.”
“A lot of times I feel more comfortable playing the bass behind myself because the guys want to overplay,” he says.
Born Chester Chandler in Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis was introduced to the guitar at the age of four by his father, a musician who played the bass fiddle and piano in church. By the time he was eight years old, young Chester was playing for pocket change on Beale Street.
While growing up, Chester was able to learn from well-seasoned and well-renowned musicians.
“A lot of the people I played with, they were born in the 1800’s,” he recalls. In fact, I had an uncle who was born in 1895, so I was singing along with people like that, the old folks.”
Among those he crossed paths with was the legendary Delta picker and gospel player the Reverend Robert “Tim” Wilkins.
“He and my father used to sit down and play together, my father was a musician, and on Sunday my training was through them, watching those two guys,” Memphis recalls.
Among other things, they taught him how to follow a song’s changes on his guitar. “If someone started a song off I could slide down the E-string and find the key,” he explains. “I wouldn’t exactly know what key I was in but I would know the sound. I heard the sound of their voice and I knew that was where I was supposed to be playing at, I knew where to distinguish where they were on the fret board.”
The title of one of Memphis’ albums, The Prodigal Son, was inspired by the title of a cover that The Rolling Stones did of a Wilkins song.
But he did not mean it as a tribute to the Rolling Stones’ version.
“They made millions of dollars off of that song, and they have yet to give his granddaughter props,” he says. “Or royalties. I’m just making a statement to them that I’m the real prodigal son, I played with him as a boy and he’s the one who taught me.”
Memphis joined the Navy in 1973, during the Vietnam era, and remained on active duty until 1981. He spent the first part of his stint on a boat outside of Vietnam. He is proud of his service: he remained in the reserves until 1985 and has since done USO tours around the world. Still, he recalls his experience as one that sometimes gave him the blues because of the way blacks were treated.
“You could feel the tension. You figure, I was on a ship of 300 and there were only forty of us (blacks),” he recalls. “And it was that way throughout the Navy.”
Moreover, blacks were generally only allowed the most unpleasant jobs. They could either be a steward who shined shoes for the officers, a boatswain mate who chipped paint all day or, like Memphis, a boilerman “in the bowels of the ship with all of the engines and the boilers, smokin’ hot.”
He arrived in Washington during the early 90’s¸where he was homeless for about 18 months. But his fortunes changed after he used money earned through landscaping and yard work to buy a guitar from a pawn shop.
After playing regularly at a D.C. area club, he became a full-time musician to tour with singer/guitarist Deborah Coleman. He formed his own band in the mid-1990’s, producing his first CD in 1998.
In February, 1996, he rescued 11 children after a train wreck in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was honored for his efforts.
In 2008, he fell 35 feet from a tree, breaking his back in three places. Doctors told him it was doubtful that he would ever walk again. Still, he continued to play shows and from his hospital bed wrote songs for his third album, 2009’s Gator Gon ‘Bitechu.