RE: [Harp-L] Maxwell Street

[chicago bluesman <chicagobluesman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'll have to admit that I haven't been enthused enough about the efforts to create an ersatz Maxwell Street to even bother to check it out.  I used to go down to the original Maxwell Street on Sunday mornings...and was lucky to have been a good friend with a guy who devoted the later years of his life to efforts (unsuccessful) to save the original Maxwell Street.  His name was Jimmy Lee Robinson and, in addition to being a terrific singer, songwriter, guitarist and bass player, he used to tell great stories....   Jimmy Lee asked me once if I could guess the name of the very first song that he ever heard John Lee Williamson playing--Jimmy Lee grew up in the neighborhood of Maxwell Street and would walk by John Lee Williamson's house when he was a kid.  According to Jimmy Lee, he heard Sonny Boy I play, "I'm An Old Cowhand on the Rio Grande" from the front porch stoop of his house--Jimmy Lee told me that story to convey how the older blues guys had to know plenty more than blues tunes if they wanted to make a living in music.  I also used to play with a woman by the name of Johnnie Mae Dunston, who was once Jimmy Reed's drummer and who claimed to have written a bunch of his songs.  Prior to Johnnie Mae's death, several years ago, we were at a Save-Maxwell-Street event and she talked me into pushing her in her wheelchair up and down Halsted, so she could go into the stores lining the street, demanding that the store owners contribute money to the Save-Maxwell-Street cause...  She was a force to reckon-with and a number of the store owners gave her $50 or so, if only so that I would push her back out of their stores...  

John

> Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:14:24 -0600
> From: nonidesign@xxxxxxxxx
> To: wasabileo@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Maxwell Street
> CC: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> 
> I believe "And This is Free" had Mike Bloomfield (of Paul Butterfield's
> band, and others) involved. There is also a CD of the soundtrack.
> 
> Maxwell St. was "renovated" to expand the University of Illinois campus.
> Apparently the city felt the need to destroy a hundred year old landmark of
> the city's history, and a historic landmark of blues and rock & roll, so
> that university students would have places to get coffee and pita bread (I'm
> getting old...and cynical). They moved the famous polish suasage stands
> around the corner....but if you visit Chicago don't leave without eating
> one.
> I miss the market. It is the first place I learned and played harp in front
> of an audience. I wish every blues fan and harp player on this list could
> have visited it. The wealth of blues played at that market was unbelievable.
> I saw many myself and I wasn't even there during the heyday of the 50's (I
> grew up in the early 70's)
> 
> There used to be a guy who had a 50 gallon metal garbage barrell with a
> rusted hole in the bottom. He would turn it upside down, rest it on an
> angle,  and blow harp into the hole using the drum as a megaphone. It worked
> great, ha ha ha!
> 
> The City moved the market across the expressway and cleaned it up somewhat.
> The blues bus still sells blues and CDs, and you'll even catch a harp in a
> street band sometimes, but without the ancient buildings, snappy huckster
> salesmen, and stolen goods it just doesn't seem the same.
> The market is still open on Sundays and during business hours it is more
> than reasonably safe. The location of the old market is as safe as any other
> modern gentrified business district. Find the corner of Maxwell and Halsted
> and consider it Mecca. Little Walter, Big Walter, and many many of the
> Chicago greats played within a half block of that intersection. Muddy's
> first record ( and I think Little Walter's) was sold from a store a stone's
> throw from that intersection too.
> The Chess Studio building is on a few blocks East of the market on Michigan
> Ave.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 12/28/08, James <wasabileo@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > the video about Robert nighthawk is from 1964 and it is part of a dvd
> > called "and this free "about maxwell st  the nighthawk segnent shown on you
> > tubet has been edited from the larger work and is infact i only in part the
> > music from the dvd. the dancer actually was dancing to a different track but
> > they made it fit, check out and this is free . it has blues, gospel and
> > country music.
> >
> > Thanks: I was not aware. Do you know how we can see the larger DVD?
> > In 2003, I was in Chicago for a conference (unrelated to Blues or the Harp)
> > I made my pilgrimage to Bob Koester's Jazz Record Mart and I met him and his
> > staff and some blues fans. I wanted to visit Maxwell Street and Bob loudly
> > proclaimed, "You don't want to go to Maxwell Street" Everything that you
> > imagined is gone and you will take your live in your hands. Evidently
> > Maxwell Street was torn down as some "Urban Renewal " Project and the
> > surrounding area had become violent. Chicago always had a history of
> > violence and corruption.
> > So, this video clip is very important to me. It defines the Blues as a
> > breathing music that regular people listened and got happy to.
> > Anyone who visits Chicago, I highly recommend Bob Koester's Jazz Record
> > Mart. It has since moved. It use to be under the "Loop"
> > But it is still near public transportation. I believe he has Big Joe
> > Wiliams 9-String guitar in a glass case. Worth the visit.
> > Chicago is an interesting city. Its big and stretched out like Toronto
> > Ontario but older and funkier.
> > Lake Shore Drive is like Queens Key with a wonderful museum and great view
> > of Lake Michigan. As a New Yorker, I am impressed with the space.
> > Geographically, Chicago is much wider than NYC. but the music is everywhere.
> > You know you are in a Blues Town. I was happy to have a "street Jam with
> > some local folks  (names escapes me) the cops came by an smiled. IN NYC,
> > they would asked for our permits and told us to move.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.0.386)
> > Database version: 5.11420
> > http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/
> > _______________________________________________
> > Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> > Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> > http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l

_________________________________________________________________
Send e-mail faster without improving your typing skills.
http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_speed_122008