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News from Bob Corritore
RIP Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, June 9th,1926 - August 9th, 2010. Best known as the longtime bass player of the Muddy Waters Blues Band, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, a Greenwood, Mississippi native, passed away last night of complications from lung cancer. He was 84. "Fuzz" was the definitive blues bass player, a stirring vocalist, and a wonderful human being. Here is the email that Bob Margolin, his longtime friend, and fellow Muddy alum, wrote this morning:
Calvin “Fuzz” Jones passed away early this morning at Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in Southaven, Mississippi. His family is making funeral arrangements for Saturday in Mississippi. No more information on that yet, update soon.
Calvin “Fuzz” Jones is best known for the 10 years he played bass in Muddy Waters’ band, about 1970-’80. Previously, he had worked with Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, and Elmore James. He was appreciated for his strong electric bass playing, rocking stage presence, deep Blues singing, and the friendly laugh and smile he had for all.
Calvin had been living in Senatobia, MS for the last few years after decades in the Chicago area. Some of you receiving this e-mail were very kind to help him financially to stay in his apartment when he faced eviction in January. He appreciated that so deeply, understanding fully that the Blues music we all love had brought him your timely help. He had beat lung cancer, and in the late 1990’s he had a large tumor successfully removed from the back of his neck. Apparently the cancer came back in one lung and he developed pneumonia in the other and couldn’t breathe and was rushed to the hospital. He suffered a heart attack there, and though he was stabilized, his heart was weakened and gave out on him for the last time this morning.
I visited him last Friday afternoon, and he was deeply sedated. I’m glad to have seen him one more time, but he didn’t know I was there. I think he was beyond medical recovery, and that his illness overtook his strength. He was 84 years old, and was enjoying his life as much as possible until very recently. He had a sincere good word for everyone, and his reaction to any kind of health, musical, or financial challenge was his hearty trademark laugh. I asked him how he could laugh so easily when life hurt him, and he said “When you laugh the world laughs with you, when you cry, you cry alone.” He brought us deep Chicago and Mississippi Blues on the bandstand and on recordings, and his Blues and love for his friends, family, and all of us are his legacy.
Sadly, Bob Margolin
More sad blues news to share:
RIP Phillip Walker, February 11th, 1937 - July 22, 2010. It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Phillip Walker at 4:30 AM of heart failure. He was 73. Phillip was a great singer and guitarist who was considered legendary, though he never broke through to the success that his talent merited. He played guitar on the Specialty and Chess recordings of Clifton Chenier (Phillip once said that it was him and Etta James singing the backup on Clifton's song "My Soul"). He moved from Louisiana to California in 1959, and released his first record "Hello My Darlin", produced by J.R. Fulbright. Phillip's first full album, produced by Bruce Bromberg and called Bottom Of The Top was released in 1973 on the Playboy Record Label (actually a business division of the magazine). He also made great recordings on Galaxy, Vault, Joliet, HighTone, JSP, Black Top, Rounder, Alligator, P-Vine, MC, and most recently on Delta Groove. Additionally, Phillip was a noted sideman who contributed to albums by Lonesome Sundown, Eddie Taylor, Percy Mayfield, and Johnny Shines. Phillip toured frequently with a great band that included his longtime partner, James "Broadway" Thomas, on bass. He was lovingly booked by Tom Radai of Blues Management Group. His passing highlights the loss of the few remaining blues artists of his generation. We salute Phillip for always delivering the true blues, for his kind and giving personality, and for his unique and awe inspiring blues style. So long Phillip, we will miss you.
RIP Randy Joe Fullerton, Sept 18, 1949 - June 27, 2010. This news comes in from Will "Smokey" Logg. Bassist Randy Joe Fullerton passed away on June 27 in Dallas, Texas. He was 60. Fullerton was a popular blues bass player in the late 60s and 70s who worked with Luther Allison, Rod Piazza, Paul Filipowicz, Jim Liban, Billy Flynn, Madison Slim and many others. He is probably best known as the young, long haired bass player in the 1970 video of Howlin' Wolf performing Highway 49 at a blues festival in Washington D.C. where he was a capable fill in for Wolf's curtailed bass player. Randy remained an active performer his whole life and is considered a top shelf bassist by all that knew him. He will be greatly missed.
RIP James "Slim" Sroggins, April 28, 1953 - July 9, 2010. Phoenix based blues and soul drummer James "Slim" Scroggins was a talented and popular performer in his home town. He died on July 9th at age 57 from complications of blood clots. Over the last 30 years Slim worked with some of the quintessential Phoenix artists and bands including George Bowman, Big Pete Pearson, Fire In The Sky, The Whitehead Brothers, and his own James Matthews Band. He most recently was the powerhouse drummer with Cold Shott & The Hurricane Horns. Slim stood 6' 8" tall and had a professional and charismatic personality.
RIP Calvin Leavey 1940 - June 6, 2010. Arkansas blues singer/guitarist Calvin Leavey was best known for his often covered hit "Cummins Prison Farm". He died Sunday, June 6th of complications from Diabetes. He was 70. Aside from "Cummins Prison Farm", Calvin also had regional hits with "Going Back To The Dogs", and "If Life Lasts, Luck Is Bound To Change". Sadly his songs were prophetic as Calvin would be sent to Cummins for a drug related charge. He passed away with just one more year of time to serve. His rich, warm voice, great guitar work, and perfect blues songwriting will assure him his eternal place in blues history.
In other news:
Ike Turner honored with Mississippi Blues Trail Marker! Ike Turner was a brilliant guitarist and pianist who is considered to be the founder of Rock & Roll. A great business man, producer, arranger, band leader, and talent scout, Ike Turner helped to launch the careers of Howlin' Wolf, Little Milton, B.B. King, Elmore James, and many others. He is best known for his work with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, and for a villainous and misleading portrayal in the movie What's Love Got To Do With It. Ike passed away on December 12, 2007, at age 76, leaving an amazing musical legacy.Though considered a controversial figure in today's world, nobody can deny that Ike was a simply brilliant musical force. Ike Turner will be honored with a Mississippi Blues Trail marker which was unveiled in Ike's hometown of Clarksdale on Friday, August 6th. The ceremony took place at 10 am at 127 Third street in downtown Clarksdale, Mississippi. Thanks to Alex Thomas of the Mississippi Department of Tourism for this information.
BOB'S BIO:
Bob Corritore is one of the most active and highly regarded blues harmonica players on the scene today. His style passionately carries forward the old school of playing that Corritore learned as a young man directly from many of original pioneers of Chicago Blues. His sympathetic, yet fiery harmonica playing is featured on over 25 releases to date, on labels such as HighTone, HMG, Blue Witch, Blind Pig, Earwig, Putumayo, Random Chance, and the VizzTone Label Group. Many of these acclaimed releases have been nominated for various Handy, Grammy, and Blues Music Awards. Bob is also widely recognized for his many roles in the blues, as band leader, club owner, record producer, radio show host, arts foundation founder, and occasional writer. His amazing website www.bobcorritore.com and his weekly e-newsletter reflect a life thoroughly invested in the blues.
Born on September 27, 1956 in Chicago, Bob first heard Muddy Waters on the radio at age 12, an event which changed his life forever. Within a year, he was playing harmonica and collecting blues albums. He would see blues shows in his early teens, including attending a Muddy Waters performance at his high school gymnasium. He would cut his teeth sitting in with John Henry Davis on Maxwell Street until he was old enough to sneak into blues clubs. He hung around great harp players such as Big Walter Horton, Little Mack Simmons, Louis Myers, Junior Wells, Big John Wrencher, and Carey Bell, and received harmonica tips and encouragement from many of them. He would regularly see the Aces, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Billy Boy Arnold, John Brim, Sunnyland Slim, Smokey Smothers, Eddie Taylor, and in many cases became personal friends with these blues veterans. Corritore worked with Tail Dragger, Big Moose Walker, Willie Buck, Louis and Dave Myers, and Eddie Taylor in the late 70s and early 80s. He also produced his first recordings during that time, taking unheralded harmonica greats such as Little Willie Anderson and Big Leon Brooks into the studio to produce their now classic debut albums.
In 1981, Bob ventured southwest to live in Phoenix, Arizona. Within months, his Chicagoland friend Louisiana Red joined Bob, and the two played together around Phoenix for about a year until Red went to live in Germany. Bob quickly joined up with Big Pete Pearson, who was and is the reigning King of Arizona Blues in a musical relationship that continues to this day. He also worked around the southwest with Buddy Reed, Tommy Dukes, Chief Schabuttie Gilliame, and an emerging Janiva Magness in one of her earliest bands. In 1984, Bob supplemented his performances with a blues radio show called Those Lowdown Blues on KJZZ, which is still going strong. In 1986, former Howlin' Wolf drummer Chico Chism moved to Phoenix at Bob's invitation to start a 20 year partnership that lasted until Chico's passing in 2007. In 1991, Bob opened the now famous Blues and Roots Concert Club, The Rhythm Room. Having a club created yet another catalyst for Bob's musical projects. Often he would invite great artists to come to Phoenix, and Bob's band, the Rhythm Room All-Stars would back them on shows and in recording sessions. Bob's archives of these sessions are now famous, and include sessions with Bo Diddley, Little Milton, John Brim, Jimmy Rogers, Henry Gray, Pinetop Perkins, Henry Townsend, Honeyboy Edwards, Big Jack Johnson, Ike Turner, Smokey Wilson. Lil’ Ed, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Nappy Brown, R.L. Burnside, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Sam Lay, Barbara Lynn, and numerous others.
In 1999, Bob released his first CD as a national recording artist, combining some of the highlights of his vaults. The CD was called All-Star Blues Sessions, and was released on the HighTone record label to great fanfare. This momentum created a long series of CDs on HighTone with Bob in the harmonica player/producer role. Bob started breaking into the national circuit in festival appearances with Henry Gray and Louisiana Red. In 2005, Bob brought the Rhythm Room All-Stars Featuring Big Pete Pearson to The Marco Fiume Blues Passions Festival in Italy, which opened a whole new world of European interest in Bob's harmonica artistry. This led to return visits to Europe for various festivals and performances, as well as an ever-growing world-wide fan base. In 2007, the Mayor of Phoenix officially proclaimed September 29, 2007 to be "Bob Corritore Day" in honor of Bob's musical contributions to his community. Also that year, Bob received a "Keeping The Blues Alive" award from the Blues Foundation. Bob's 2007 collaboration with Dave Riley, Travelin' The Dirt Road, was nominated for a Blues Music Award. Bob also contributed harmonica work on the 2008 Grammy®-nominated CD/DVD by Pinetop Perkins, On The 88s. Bob 's prolific activity with the Blue Witch record label as label producer/harmonica player has garnered him additional notoriety. Bob performs regularly with The Rhythm Room All-Stars Featuring Big Pete Pearson, and numerous side projects with Dave Riley, Louisiana Red, Henry Gray, Sam Lay, Tomcat Courtney, Paris James, and others.
For more information, please contact:
Bob Corritore
bobcorritore@yahoo.com
http://www.bobcorritore.com/
Phone: (480)994-1234
Copyright © 2010 Copyright Monica L. Yasher and Bob Corritore. All Rights Reserved.
Photos courtesy of Bob Corritore
