Blues at the Point Sep 10- 11 - From Marvin Maxwell

From Marvin Maxwell of

Soul Inc








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Ronnie Haig - Sessions At Chess Records Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby and his association with Wes Montgomery

This has been put together with information from the web site Rockabilly Hall Of Fame and from Ronnie Haig himself .I have been in touch with Ronnie who lives in Indianapolis and he would love to see your comments and to write a response.

Ronnie Haig was born Ronald D. Hege in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 21, 1939. He attended technical high school from 1953-1957 and started playing around with a guitar at the age of 6. He did his first gig at age 16 (he made five bucks and a sandwich) and bought his Gibson ES295 Gold in 1957 (and he still plays it today!).
His 1958 releases were recorded at the Chess Studios in Chicago (Feb 18th 1958 Tuesday from midnight to 6 AM ), and at age 18 he started out on Note Records, later on ABC-Paramount. He played on. many recording sessions throughout his life, including his own.
Did You Know :. Ronnie is still playing that same Gibson ES295 that he bought in 1957 and, according to rock 'n' roll legend, traded licks with Chuck Berry one late night at the Chess Studios. One of those sides was " Pickin on the Wrong Chicken " also with Wes Montgomery on guitar

Another song from the session is " Don't You Hear Me Calling Baby"


More on the Session from Ronnie in 2004
Blogger Note
Ronnie and I exchanged emails in 2004 and he told me " The Five Stars and I shared a recording block at Chess from Midnight to 6 AM recording a total of 4 songs. Two of theirs and two of mine. I played on theirs and they did the back up on mine. None of them played anything. But the band , what a bunch of musicians they were.
The Five Stars were: Lead, Ron Russel, First Ten: Jim Bruhn, 2nd Ten (Now Deceased) Larry Huffman, Baratone Bill Campbell, and on Bass Bruce Miller(later replaced by Popcorn Johnson (also now deceased)

(Comment: The Trendells were the group that covered "Baby" . I also played on The Students and For Jerry Seifert at Chess.I wrote both of Jerry's songs, Dirty White Bucks and Tight pegged pants and Never Baby Never.)

The band was a total growing up period for me. All legends. Jimmy Coe on Ten Sax, Pooky Johnson on alto sax, Wes Montgomery on Rhythm guitar, Henry Cain on grand piano, and Will Scott on stand up bass. Although I wound up playing on a total of 17 songs at Chess, this was my favorite session. Feb 18th 1958 Tuesday from midnight to 6 AM.

Blogger Note : I bought a copy of his CD then "Up Close and Personal"? I recommend it .

From those Chess sessions , Ronnie has this CHUCK BERRY MEMORY

It seems like only yesterday I was in Chess studios (Chicago) We were recording four songs for "Note Records" two of the songs would wind up on ABC Paramount March 1958.

During the halftime break in walked a tall black man.Didn't recognize him at first. He went upstairs to the soundroom said Hi then back down and in the studio with all us musicians. He looked at me and said "Can I see your guitar man?" I still didn't know who was asking the question. "Yeah sure - but be careful with it - it cost a lot of money" I replied.

I then went up to the soundroom and saw Jack Sheldon the baddest engineer in the biz. I could hear music but the tape wasn't running. I asked Jack "where's that coming from?" He said "Why that's CHUCK - you told him he could see your guitar" I was absolutely floored.

Went back downstairs - walked up to Chuck who was sitting Indian fashion on the floor with my GibsonES295. I said "Chuck, I feel like an ass not knowing who you were" "Don't sweat it man grab an ax and have a seat" He replied. I reached over to get Wes Montgomery's guitar and stopped-turned and said "Hey Wes - can I use your guitar a minute?" He replied with " Oh yeah! (laugh) but be careful with it - it cost a lot of money.

I had the thrill of my life that Feb 18th at 3:00 AM just sitting down on the floor- face to face with my hero (and still today) and learning some of his licks. I doubt if Chuck even remembers that meeting. But you know what? I'll never forget it if I live to be 100.

God Bless CHUCK! Keep that Reelin'-a-Rockin' and thanks for a wonderful experience that most guitar pickers only dream about.
-Ronnie Haig
From Ronnie October 26, 2010

Been a lot of talk around the internet about my friend Wes Montgomery playing a Gibson L5

He may have played one at one time or another, but when I recorded with him at Chess Studio at 2120 S.Michigan Av in Chicago, during 1958, he played a sunburst Gibson ES 175 with a single P 90 pickup.

He purchased that guitar at "Sacks Bros" at the corner of Indiana AV and Ohio Streets.

He used to practice out on the roof of his front porch  just outside the bedroom window. His wife came and took his straight picks away from him because it was keeping the kids awake. I believe he had 14 of them (kids)

Wes was just "Wes"  Always happy. Always ready to play. The man was magic  when it came to guitar inovations. He could make one talk. He really could. He always played with high volume, and picked "with that thumb of his" very softly. His parallel octave strokes have never been bettered. Never!

We worked together a lot on several Rock & Roll sessions. That's right! Rock and Roll.

He always said;" don't tell anyone I did this man"  He was just there for the 50.00 bucks he would make on the session. Hey with that many kids, someone is always either hungry or sick.

Didn't matter what style he was playing, he was there to have a good time. I told him I would teach him to use a straight pick if he wanted me to. hahahahaha He always said "No man, mama wont let me!"

I was blessed to know Wes. His fine recording of "Wendy" still blows me away. I have visited his grave many times at the cemetary at the corner of Raymond St and Churchman Av. here in Indianapolis. It's located on Wes Montgomery Blvd. at the east end of the cemetary. Stop by sometime and be sure you bring your camera.

His famous Gibson ES 175 is engraved on that  pink marble stone.

I'm proud to say I worked with Wes Montgomery.                Ronnie Haig

                              

                              

                              
        RAB Hall of Fame: Ronnie Haig

Wes Montgomery playing Wendy on the Hollywood Palace . Herb Alpert is the host Dec 12 , 1967



Ronnie Haig Original releases:

Note 10010 (1958)Don't You Hear Me Calling, Babyb/w Baby b/w Traveler Of Love
Note 10014 (1958)Don't You Hear Me Calling, Babyb/w Baby b/w Traveler Of Love
ABC-Paramount 45-9912 (1958)Rocking With The Rhythm And Bluesb/w Money Is A Thing Of The Past
ABC-Paramount 45-10209 (1961)Don't You Hear Me Calling, Babyb/w Baby b/w Traveler Of Love

A new feature some of my favorite doo wops The Keytones , Seven Wonders of The World

This is by the Keytones from 1957 on Hy Weiss's Old Town Label Listen for the falsetto , the tenor sax break and the end . classic . More of these to follow including songs by the Fascinators , The Quotations , The Schoolboys y mucho, mucho mas

The NEW Soul, Inc. featuring Sherry Edwards on vocals. Recorded live at Mom's Music on 7-21-2009.

Band Introductions


Sherry Edwards Sugarfoot

WAKY Reunion August 12 , 2010 ALL photos byTom Yono Yenowine

We would like comments from All of you all that were there or wished they were

Wayne Young (Soul, Inc.Midnight Special, many more)

1 Hour Storm

Bill and Brenda Wood Triangle Talent , Louisville's Own

Butch Kaufman

George Poole Sultans and Doo Wop All Stars

Marvin Maxwell MOMS Music Elysian Fields, Soul Inc

Paul Penny

Sherry Edwards

Tommy Cosden - Cosmo and the Counts

Tony Ratterman Epics

WAKY FM

ALL PHOTOS by Tom Yono Yenowine

Interview with Roy Lee Johnson writer of Beatle's song Mr Moonlight

Blogger Note : In the tribute last Thursday to Piano Red AKA Dr Feelgood put on by Terry Adams and the Red Rockers , Roy Lee Johnson played Mr Moonlight and When A Guitar Plays the Blues ( Title of his great Bear Family album ) . The music was all great with Terry Adams playing in the style of Piano Red , mixture of Ragtime , Stride Piano and Blues . Beverly Guitar Watkins also played ( she was the nurse in Dr Feelgood ) and she can play with any guy including behind her head . Roy Lee did play a bit using his teeth .

The article below is from the Atlanta paper , Creative Loafing 

Remembering Piano Red: Roy Lee Johnson pays homage to an old friend

Posted by Chad Radford on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:13 PM

• Roy Lee johnson pictured third from left with Doctor Feelgood & the Interns

Georgia-born singer and guitarist Roy Lee Johnson is best known for penning the song "Mr. Moonlight," which was covered by the Beatles on their fourth album, Beatles for Sale. But the song originally appeared as the b-side of Doctor Feelgood's self-titled single, recorded in 1961.

Johnson sang and played guitar with Doctor Feelgood and the Interns, alongside Piano Red(the subject of Vibes feature story this week) from '61 to '65, and will performing at Smith's Olde Bar as part of the Piano Red tribute show tonight (Thurs., Aug. 12)

Chad Radford: How did you get to know Red?

Roy Lee Johnson: I played with a group called the Brassettes from Hogansville and we used to play at The 81 Theatre. Red used to be down there, and we used to come up to Atlanta every Monday night and he would let us come on after their shows. That was 1955. Robert Ward used to play with us and he quit to start a band called the Ohio Untouchables. He came back down from Dayton to Franklin, GA — to my grandmama's school — and asked if I wanted to go to Dayton with him and play. But then he told me I couldn't play no more unless I got a union card. So I came back to Atlanta to get me a union card and I met Red coming out of the union hall. That’s when he asked me if I want to play with him?

So I was torn, but I didn't want to be with them in Ohio because they fight all the time. So I made a quick decision to play with Red. About a month later he told me they was going to Nashville to cut a record and he said ‘ya'll can put two or three songs on there,’ ‘cause he didn't have enough. So I had “Mr. Moonlight” and they put it on the flipside of “Dr. Feel Good." Then the Beatles heard it, man… About two months after that Red fired me. I didn't know what I was gonna do, and one day I was sitting at home and the union office called and told me to come get my money… It was $100,000! I never had that kind of money before and it scared me to death. I thought they made a mistake! Red fired me two weeks before I got my first real check.

Why did he fire you?

He said I was trying to take his band but you don't got to make this ugly. I was trying to keep a job. I had a child, you know? And that's how I got involved with Red in the first place. I learned a lot from him. Don't get me wrong, I thank him very much. But I was young and had to make a life for my family. When he fired me I got me a band and went to the same places that he went… He was a damn good businessman, and he was a fine guy.

Bobby Tuggle and Red used to argue all the time… Bobby was the drummer. Curtis Smith was the leader of the band and Beverly Watkins played guitar. We had three guitars and an unusual sound for back then. If you hear the Beatles sound, actually it sounds like us. And Red was always on time. He didn't give a damn, he didn't get nap time, and he wanted to stop when he said he was gonna stop.

You stayed friends after you stopped playing together?

Oh yeah man. I went down to the Underground [Atlanta] and hollered at him all the time, because I appreciated what he did, and what he did for me.

Were you pretty young when you started playing with Red?

Yep, about 18-19 — somewhere in there.

Did you really need a union card to just play music in Atlanta back then?

Yeah, you had to pay your dues, man. Then you could just go on and play, that was all. Red always had some kind of job going on and if they didn't give him his price, he didn't play, and I learned that from him — I appreciate that so much man. The Beatles thing is just longevity for me.

Did you ever meet the Beatles?

I met them when they came here and played the stadium. They was having some kind of difficulties with the group, but I spoke to them and thanked them all and went on my way because I appreciated them.

Did you ever see Red play?

No. I didn’t live around here when he was playing, and I would have been too young to get into a bar.

Well people loved him because he had a unique style of playing and it was kind of like happy music. Real happy music. The band was good enough so that he could do his thing, and to me he played real unusual. A lot of people used to call him ‘one note Red.’

One note Red?

Boop boop boop boop duh loodle loop! He had some crazy terminology, too. The words he used just knocked me out. Like ‘swiggle staddle.’ I never understood what that meant? He used them like if somebody got in an argument he'd say “swiggle staddle!” and he had everyone all wound up calling me “bloche.” That's a way of not really calling you a name, but kind of giving me you a nickname.

He used to call Bobby “Wiggle Stabber.” I guess that was his way of telling him to shut up. And Beverly [Watkins] was usually pretty quiet. It was a good band — probably the most unusual band in the world.

What years were you playing with Red?

I played with him from 1961 to 1965.

When did the Beatles pick up Mr. Moonlight?

That was 1964 — the last part of ‘64.

When you went to Nashville for that recording session did you record a full album, or just a single?

I cut two more songs on there, one was called “Sea Breeze” and the other one was “Too Many Tears.” It came out on a big, 12-inch called Dr. Feel Good and the Interns. You know… I never did go to sleep when we came back on that trip, because I was afraid something might happen. Like with most cats, when they have a little drink they go to sleep and leave it in the hands of the driver. But I never did. I couldn't sleep, man. One time we were coming back from Princeton University and we came through the mountains of Kentucky. This was before they built the expressway. One night we saw a man come across the road out of the woods in the middle of the night, and it was in the middle of nowhere. He came in front of us and had hair all the way down to his legs, and nobody saw it but me and the driver! I woke everybody up and they said I was drunk, but I didn't drink.

Was it just some wild mountain man? A bigfoot?

It appeared to be man, it was the strangest thing I seen. And one time we was going, down the road — Bobby used to have seizures when he got upset. But one time he was sitting up front and Red used to sit on the passenger side up front. Well, Bobby had a seizure and we were going up North Druid Hills road in a '62 ford station wagon, a brand new one that was pulling the trailer. Bobby had a seizure and his foot slipped off the hump and landed on the gas pedal. I saw that car go from 45 to 50 then 70 and we was fighting trying to get his leg off the pedal. I saw 80 and 90 and Curtis just reached over and turned the switch off and we coasted to the side. That's when Red called him a “Bluffsgang.” It was funny, but it wasn't funny. It was scary, but it was funny and Red hollered ‘you ain’t never riding in the middle ever again!’

It seems like Red was a petty entertaining character.

He was a genuine entertainer. Sometimes he would get up and do the Charleston — that was a dance. He used to get up and do that and just kill 'em, man. And he always demanded that we have on uniforms when we played. People enjoyed it. We played for every college up and down the East coast… We went everywhere in that little old Ford station wagon.

Did people call what you were playing rock and roll?

They called it beach music. But they also called what Red played “barrelhouse.” Bar room type music. We used to play “Twist and Shout” and “Get Up On The Hill.”

Rock and roll had just started and we played behind so many people like Sam Cook, John Lee Hooker and Stevie Wonder. We played behind Curtis Mayfield and Jackie Wilson at the Magnolia in 1955 on Magnolia and Vine Streets. Right down below the college over there. And we used to play behind Chuck Berry, too.

So rock and roll was a brand new thing, but people were aware that a larger cultural thing was happening?

People had been playing it for a while, but I guess they just gave it a name.

I wrote another song when I was with Red called “When A Guitar Plays the Blues” that was recorded years later by Roy Buchanan. I wrote a lot of songs back then, but I wrote that one when we was riding in the car. I want to dedicate that song to Red at the show, because he was my friend. He was all right with me. At the time I was young and hardheaded because at that time I knew what I wanted to do. But I had to learn how to work within the structure. And Red taught me that.

(Top photo courtesy Mark Pucci Media. Bottom photo by Eric King)

Tags: Piano Red, Dr. Feelgood & the Interns, Roy Lee Johnson, the Beatles

Saturday, August 14 WAKY RADIO ROCK 'N ROLL REUNION

Dr. Beverly McMurtry Grissom , thank you for passing this along  . 

Someone send me a show update 

Free with Zoo admission

Noon - 8 p.m.

WAKY is proud to announce the WAKY Rock ‘N Roll Reunion at the Louisville Zoo.  Get ready for a trip back in time as the best of the 60s and 70s Louisville Rock ‘N Roll bands get together for one huge concert in the Zoo’s Oasis Field. 

The WAKY Rock ‘N Roll Reunion brings together…

• 
  
  The Butch Kaufman Band
• 
  
  The Epics celebrating their 50th Anniversary
• 
  
  The Doo Wop All Stars featuring George Poole, Lynn Cline, Alan Watson, Johnny Hourigan, Bill Simmitt and Eddie Humphries
• 
  
  Sherry Edwards
• 
  
  Cosmo and the Counts
• 
  
  Crushed Velvet
• 
  
  Paul Penny with the Carnations and Trendells
• 
  
  Soul Inc. featuring Wayne Young, Cosmo, Marvin Maxwell and Sherry Edwards

There will be many other special guest appearances including legendary former WAKY DJ’s. 

Guest may bring lawn chairs and blankets for seating. No pop-up tents/canopies allowed.

No alcoholic beverages or glass bottles permitted. Food & beverage concessions will be available for sale.

Terry Adams of NRBQ in tribute to Piano Red ( Dr Feelgood ) in Atlanta August 12

Blogger's Note :

Dr Feelgood and the Interns performed in Louisville at the Kentucky Hotel ballroom . I think it was 1964 and it was an unbelievable show featuring Roy Lee Johnson aka Lee Roy Pepper (one of his songs was "Black Pepper Make You Sneeze )  .

This is an article from today's AJC 

“When Piano Red died in 1985, it wasn’t just his music that went away. A rare piece of Americana went with him,” Atlanta author David Fulmer writes in the liner notes to “The Lost Atlanta Tapes,” a set of recently rediscovered Piano Red live recordings, due out Aug. 17.

To celebrate the CD’s release and Piano Red’s life and music, there will be a special tribute concert on Aug. 12 at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta.

The Red Rockers — a band that includes musicians who played with Piano Red, such as guitarist Roy Lee Johnson, and longtime devotees, such as NRBQ keyboardist Terry Adams — will perform hits from the legendary R&B piano player’s huge catalog of recordings, including “Rockin’ with Red,” “Dr. Feelgood,” and his signature song, “The Right String (But the Wrong Yo-Yo).”

The man best known as Piano Red was born William Lee Perryman in Hampton in 1911 and moved to Atlanta with his family when he was six years old.

Though he started out playing blues in the 1930s with the likes of Blind Willie McTell, Red’s rollicking style evolved from multiple sources, like ragtime, stride and barrelhouse, and was influenced by piano greats like James P. Johnson and Fats Waller.

Rockers, including John Lennon, Keith Richards and Eric Clapton discovered the joys of Piano Red’s infectious music during the ’60s and ’70s.

Originally written and sung by Roy Lee Johnson and released on the B-side of Red’s “Dr. Feelgood,” Lennon recorded a cover of “Mr. Moonlight” with the Beatles in 1964.

Richards and Clapton often came to see Red at Muhlenbrink’s Saloon in Underground Atlanta, where he regularly performed from 1969 to 1979.

Terry Adams first met Red at Muhlenbrink’s, and the two piano players struck up a friendship that resulted in Red playing several shows with NRBQ.

“I gave him the piano chair, and mostly I just turned the band over to him,” Adams recalled. “It was a blast. When people would come up to meet us, he would point to me and, say, ‘I’m his idol.’ And it was true. I loved him.”

Adams may be the only person alive who can so deftly pull off Piano Red’s technique, which Adams calls, “happy piano.”

“There was this one tricky riff that he played, and I told him, ‘That kills me when you do that.’ He said, ‘You want me to show you how to do it?’ I gave it some deep thought, but I said, ‘No.’ I always wanted Red to have that one over me.”

Roy Lee Johnson, who grew up in Hoganville and lives in East Atlanta, is equally effusive about Red. Johnson played guitar with him in the early ’60s, in the period when Red used the name Dr. Feelgood and the Interns.

“If it hadn’t been for Red, there wouldn’t have been ‘Mr. Moonlight,’ I don’t think,” Johnson said. “But there were a lot of things I liked about Red. He was a businessman and we worked all the time. We probably played every college up and down the East Coast and around the South.”

Michael Rothschild, founder of Atlanta’s Landslide Records and the distributor of “The Lost Atlanta Tapes,” remembered booking Dr. Feelgood and the Interns for a college dance at Tulane University in New Orleans.

“What a superb band it was,” Rothschild said. “Tight, musically accomplished, sharply dressed and blessed with first-rate showmanship. They covered the hits of the day and rocked their originals superbly.

"For an audience of musically tuned-in students, Crescent City R&B was ubiquitous and in its heyday — Dr. Feelgood knew how to keep a college party rolling with the best of them.”

For many admirers, including Adams, Red was at his best playing with a band like the Interns, not solo for mouthy tourists at Muhlenbrink’s.

“That a major blues talent who also helped invent rock-and-roll was on window display five nights a week in what had become a rather seedy venue struck some as a damned crime,” Fulmer writes.

But into the ’80s, Red still enjoyed the attentions of rock stars, occasionally opened for major acts, and toured the European festival circuit.

Something of a final moment, “The Lost Atlanta Tapes” were recorded in 1984, when Red was playing four nights a week in the upstairs room at the Excelsior Mill on North Avenue, now home to the Masquerade.

By all accounts, it was a happy period, and that’s reflected in a jaunty set that includes lots of lively banter with an audibly appreciative audience.

“That was Red,” Adams said. “I remember one night we started a set and about a minute into the first song, he stopped the band. I thought something had gone wrong.

“But he looked out at the audience and he said, ‘I’m going to tell you something right now. If you’re not here to have a good time, you’re in the wrong house.’ ”

This Old Heart - Original Version