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From: jo~smosys.incog.com (Joe Lempkowski)
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 10:27:41 -0800
Subject: Sugar Blue and Race

I have been fortunate enough to have met Sugar Blue on numerous occasions.
He used to host the Monday night jam night at Kingston Mines in Chicago for
a couple of years. I would say that he is probably not the most outgoing
person that I have met, but he was always cordial to me.

In the years that I attended the Kingston Mines jams, there weren't a lot
of harmonica players that would attend his jam. It was a jam where they
would put together different bands from people in attendance. He would
always close the set with whomever was on stage (He would usually boot
any other harp player on stage.) There were numerous times when I would
get the boot, but he was always classy about it. He would never take
the opportunity to make me look bad. (I would hardly consider myself a
threat to Blue.) One night after leaving the stage I had left my 2016CBH
on stage, he sought me out to return it before finishing the set. He
wanted to make sure I got it back before I left, since he knew how much
it was worth. I felt he was supportive whether you were white or black.
He never expressed any attitude or animosity toward me. He just seemed
like a quiet introverted person when he was off-stage.

This weekend I went to the library to check out the Downbeat article.
I read it several times prior to writing this message and to a certain
extent I agree with many of his statements.

Blue's blues are a blend of funk, fusion, rock and traditional blues.
He is very capable of playing the traditional blues and playing them
quite well. He replaced Billy Branch in Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues
All Stars. His playing on Big Daddy Kinsey's version of the Muddy Waters
classic, "Walkin' Through The Park" pays homage to Little Walter, but Blue
makes the tune his own. His past two albums on Alligator show that he is
attempting to take the blues in a new direction. Many of the current crop
of black harmonica players are moving in new directions. Guys like Blue,
Billy Branch and Carey Bell while heavily influenced by Little Walter are
moving in their own direction expressing themselves on a great instrument.

A lot of white harmonica players (including many of us on harp-l and
blues-l) are still attempting to recreate the Little Walter sound, a
sound that is fifty years old. Guys like Kim Wilson, William Clarke,
and Jerry Portnoy are very talented players, but they spend a lot of
time trying to recreate the sounds of post-war Chicago. Many of the
white harp players are just copycats (myself included) and aren't
finding their self. Kim Wilson's work on Willie Smith's Blind Pig
release sounds so much like Little Walter it is chilling. Jerry Portnoy
plays "Juke" note for note with the same tempo used by Little Walter.
I enjoy their work, but why not listen to the real thing. Little
Walter CD's aren't very difficult to come by thanks to MCA.

In the "1994 Chicago Blues Annual" there is an interview with a white
French woman named Michelle Whiting a.k.a. Mrs. Sugar Blue. They met in
France. After learning she learned English, he taught her how to run his
business affairs. They have a five year old daughter. Sugar Blue probably
gigs 250 - 300 nights/year for several years. He hasn't had an easy go
of it. It has been rumored throughout Chicago that Blue actually penned
"Miss You" and that it was credited to Jagger/Richards. If this is
remotely true, he has been royally screwed out of thousands in royalties.
He has a right to be bitter. Sugar Blue is 45 years old and has not
achieved great commercial success despite working his ass off. He probably
wants to achieve some commercial success before he dies.

I remember reading a set of liner notes on a old blues LP which title
escapes me at the moment. The author presented an argument which stated
the Howling Wolf recorded Willie Dixon's "Little Red Rooster." It achieved
little commercial fanfare and had virtually no exposure. The then unknown
Rolling Stones recorded "Little Red Rooster" virtually emulating the
earlier Wolf recording and it was a big hit. Keith Richards essentially
playing Hubert Sumlin's solo note for note. The differentiator between the
tunes is the color of the performer's skin. This seems to be more true
now than ever before.

Sugar Blue said some things that needed to be said. You don't have to
like the man to like his music.

Joe