Lightnin' Hopkins_ His Life and Blues - Alan Govenar [151]
Though purporting to be a live recording at the Ash Grove Club in Los Angeles, Ash Grove owner Ed Pearl, who was present at this session, has confirmed that the songs for this album (and subsequent issues of material recorded at this session) were recorded entirely at World Pacific Studios, and overdubbed with applause to make them sound live.
Various Artists—Blues Hoot
July 6 or 7, 1960; August 1961. Live at the Ash Grove Club / World Pacific Studios, Los Angeles, CA. Producer: Ed Michel
Lead vocal/solo acoustic guitar*, with Sonny Terry, vocal/harmonica; Walter “Brownie” McGhee, vocal/guitar; Big Joe Williams, vocal/guitar; Jimmy Bond, bass.
“Introduction to Big Car Blues”* Davon LP 2015
Big Car Blues”* Davon LP 2015
Coffee House Blues”* Davon LP 2015
Stool Pigeon Blues”* Davon LP 2015
“Ball of Twine”* Davon LP 2015
“Three Aces on the Bottom of the Deal” Davon LP 2015
“Right on that Shore” Davon LP 2015
Blues Hoot was released in 1961.
Note: This various artists LP is related to the Down South Summit Meetin’ LP above. The Hopkins solo set was recorded live at the Ash Grove Club; this set is mixed with the World Pacific studio session (see above) and a solo session by Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry, not included here.
The actual date of Lightnin’s solo set is in dispute. It has long been written that it occurred on July 6, 1960, but the DCC Compact Classics reissue of Blues Hoot states, “Recorded in August 1961 and released as Davon 2015 in 1961.” Ash Grove owner Ed Pearl supports the 1961 date.
Various Artists—Conversation with the Blues
August 12, 1960. Houston, TX. Producer: Paul Oliver.
Speech.
“Ain’t No Easy Thing” Decca (UK) LP 4664
Conversation with the Blues was released (in the United Kingdom only) in 1965.
Note: This various artists LP includes Mance Lipscomb, Buster Pickens, John Lee Hooker, Robert Lockwood, Sunnyland Slim, Otis Spann, J. B. Lenoir, and others.
c. October 1960. Houston, TX.
Vocal/guitar with Luke “Long Gone” Miles, vocal/harmonica; L. C. Williams, vocal/drums
“When Mother’s Dead and Gone” unissued
Pete Seeger—Sing Out with Pete!
October 14, 1960. Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY.
Vocal/acoustic guitar with Pete Seeger, vocal/banjo; Joan Baez, vocal; Bill McAdoo, vocal/probably acoustic guitar; possibly Elizabeth Knight, vocal.
“Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep” Folkways LP 2455
Sing Out With Pete! was released in 1961.
Note: The People’s Song Library collection in the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, holds a program of this concert. Curator William Lefevre reports that “the program lists Elizabeth Knight. However, a hand-written note in the records lists the performers and the times they were to perform versus the actual times they performed. Elizabeth Knight is not listed on that note, but Joan Baez is listed as having performed twice.”
Last Night Blues / Got to Move Your Baby
October 26, 1960. Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Producer: Kenneth Goldstein
Vocal/acoustic guitar with Sonny Terry, vocal*/harmonica; possibly J. C. Burris, harmonica**; Leonard Gaskin, bass; Belton Evans, drums.
“Rocky Mountain Blues”* Bluesville LP 1029
“Got to Move Your Baby”** Bluesville LP 1029; (45) 813
“So Sorry to Leave You” Bluesville LP 1029; (45) 813
“Take a Trip with Me”** Bluesville LP 1029
“Last Night Blues”** Bluesville LP 1029; (45) 821
“Lightnin’s Stroke”** Bluesville LP 1029
“Hard to Love a Woman” Bluesville LP 1029; (45) 817
“Conversation Blues”* Bluesville LP 1029
Last Night Blues was released in 1961. It was reissued under the new title Got to Move Your Baby c.1964.
Note: According to Chris Smith (in his book That’s the Stuff: The Recordings of Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry, Stick McGhee, and J. C. Burris), J. C. Burris—although uncredited on the album sleeve—is the possible harmonica player on the four songs noted above. This is based on Burris’s claim to Gérard