Paramount: The Recording of the Delta

Black Horse Blues, by Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Paramount Records was a recording company founded on the 1910’s. At first, it was no different from other recording companies, aside from its absurdly low quality recording.

But, as J. Mayo Williams, even with no association to the company, began recommending blues artists, Paramount got famous for ‘race records’. Ink Williams, as he was nicknamed, practically and without realising, held the company together.

Paramount was responsible for launching Blind Lemon Jefferson’s records, even though some of them had to be re-recorded at Marsh Laboratories.

As the Great Depression hit, along with many companies, Paramount Records closed down, on 1935. Its recordings and equipment were sold as metal scrap, and there’s even a legend where they threw away unsold recordings on the river, though attempts to find it were unsuccessful.

It was later re-opened on 1942, and reissued old records, and made some new ones, specially important Jazz and Chicago Blues records, including Jelly Roll Morton, a young Louis Armstrong, and more.

Closed down again on 1964, the companies rights were bought by George H. Buck on 1970, and remains until of today. The ‘Paramount Records’ label rights were bought by Paramount Pictures, unassociated.

References: Paramount Records, and in-article links.

My View on Robert Cray’s Concert

You can barely see Robert, but it's the best one I've got.

Well, I luckily managed to make it to the Robert Cray Band concert in my city. Although the place was good, not many people went and it was very expensive.

The show started on time, Robert Cray was excited, in the beginning played some Chicago Blues, but towards the end got a little different from classic blues. He played Nothing But a Woman, which was great, and finished off with an emotional Twenty.

He played some new songs as well, and although general reception was not very good, I was really impressed with What Keeps Me Rocking.

The band overall played good, a round, fine tuned band. The guy on the bass guitar was pretty good, and so was the pianist, which Robert Cray himself complemented many times throughout the show.

The night was good and worth it, show lasted about one and a half hours. They definitely still got it, and if you get a chance, go to one of their shows.

Someone recorded this, and put Phone Booth up on YouTube:

Home Made Guitars: Sound of the Delta

Some rustic guitars, made out of cigar boxes.

A long time ago, in the Delta, home made guitars became common, as not everyone could afford a professional one. It was an important instrument, specially because it was the first many future great Delta blues artists had.

Usually very primitive, with home found materials used in construction. Had most of the time less strings than a normal guitar, sometimes three, two or even one.

Since being home made, sometimes using poor material, each guitar held a completely different sound, which added to the beauty of it.

Other rustic home made instruments included a washboard, used as a percussion instrument. Anything could be done, just to get a sound out of it. Playing a one string guitar, Blind Willie Johnson learned to play songs in just one string. His later recorded Dark Was The Night used the same technique to go up and down on one of the guitar’s strings, and is now a blues classic.

A guitar required something to resonate the sound, and commonly used was a cigar box, originating the Cigar Box Guitars. Some people still make them, and you can make one yourself.

References: History of the Cigar Box Guitar, Cigar Box Guitar, Washboard – Musical Instrument.

History of the Slide : How a Piece of Glass Changed Blues History

A glass slide.

If you have ever seen a blues video, you probably noticed a strange piece of metal or glass on one of the player’s fingers. It’s called a slide, and used to make the strings vibrate more, so a different, distorted sound is made.

It started early in blues, and on the beginning was usually made out of bottle necks. You can see as how, without electric guitars, blues players managed to create distortion. So distortion is a part of blues itself, and not close to a ‘modern invention’.

The slide has two origins, which probably merged to form its use in blues. First, in the African Diddley-Bow, a slide is used, because it only has one string. And second, in India there is a Vichitra Veena, instrument played using a glass ball, which resembles the sound of a slide guitar.

Most of the greats played it: Son House, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, etc. Its influence is countless, and the sound produced by it is very appreciable when done good. The slide was really a main piece in blues history.

In the beginning, a slide was always home made, so if you play blues guitar, you can make one yourself! The basic most used process is to make a superficial cut on the neck and use force (or sometimes even heat) to break off at that point. See the video:

References: History of Slide Guitar, Slide Guitar.

Artists Biography : Albert King

Albert King was one of the three “Three Kings of the Blues Guitar”, and one of the most famous and influential Chicago Blues player.

Born on a Mississippi cotton plantation, he used to sing gospel in a local church. On his professional work, he varied between instruments, until landing on the guitar.

Playing his signature Gibson Flying V, which he named Lucy, he was a minor hit. But, when he recorded his famous Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong, he made a major hit, and became known in the blues scenario.

Usually plays few, bended notes, resembling B.B. King’s guitar playing, listening to him you can recognize how it sounds like classic Chicago Blues music. His most famous work, Born Under a Bad Sign, has been covered by many artists, even Homer Simpson.

He influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and many more.

References: Albert King¹, Albert King².