Returning the Blues Tradition to Beale Street and Memphis by Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms

(Memphis, Tennessee) The following open letter is being written by the author to the members of an advisory committee which Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton has assembled to help determine the future of Beale Street. After over 20 years of the street being managed by John Elkington and his company, Performa, a new era is about to begin. Although it cannot be denied that Mr. Elkington was instrumental in the revitalization of the street, the city did not receive a dime of rent for over 20 years and decided that they could do better without Mr. Elkington's "help" so they will now manage the properties on the street, all of which are owned by the city.

Photographs: These black and white photographs were taken by Vicki Forrest, wife of my best friend and guitarist for over 25 years, Memphis Mike Forrest. They were taken during the rebuilding of the buildings on Beale Street in the early 1980's, likely before there were many clubs on the street. All that remained of some of the buildings was a facade and the few businesses that remained were a handful of pawn shops and A. Schwab's, the only original Beale Street business, which has remained open since 1876.

In the photo above, The Beale Street Wampus Cats...Mike Forrest, the late Tom Jansen, drummer, the author, guitarist Rod Norwood, the late Richard Hite, bassist and singer, former member of Canned Heat.

The Wampus Cats rummage through the bricks at Nathan's Pawn Shop
Elvis bought his first guitar here at age 11.
This is now the Blues City Cafe.

Dear committee member:

I have played music all my life and done nothing but play music since 1991.

I played on Beale since the 1980's, playing for tips in Handy Park when there were precious few clubs in which to play. I now play the blues I learned in my home town all over the world.


You have a rare opportunity to be an advocate for all of us. I would sincerely appreciate your passing along any of the following ideas that you feel might be of merit.

In front of the historic Old Daisy Theater built in 1917, where we played many nights

Observations of Beale Street Then and Now

Watching the reemergence of Beale in the 1980's, I saw a growing scene replete with traveling blues acts and some of our finest musicians. The introduction of outdoor loudspeakers and outdoor bars began the metamorphosis of the street from “a magical, musical experience to an alcohol experience that could be duplicated anywhere” as Jim Dickinson aptly stated it.

One day, I could no longer hear the bassist in my 5 piece band over the stentorian blare of the speakers across the street despite the fact that we were inside behind a closed door. Soon thereafter, that music club closed.

Almost overnight, the pay diminished all over the street as if a plan were being rolled out. Musicians became a commodity to buy as cheaply as possible with little interest in the quality of the music. The band musician was devalued.


The gig money we played for in 1985 has roughly half the buying power in 2010, but the wages have actually decreased as well. $100 pay we got in 1985 is now only worth $50 and gas and parking are now a significant expense. In Memphis at this time, most band musicians are paid less than a toilet attendant or a bar back.


Today, 5 piece bands playing one of the landmark clubs are paid $200, $40 per man. The club owner states that this is the budget, take it or leave it. Our tax dollars are used to funnel traffic to Beale by providing free Beale Street advertising. These club owners,who tout Beale Street as the largest tourist attraction in the state of Tennessee, are simply leveraging their position to drive down musicians' wages.

Beale Street dentist's office sign still remained before the renovation.
It was one of the last uses of the Gallina building before it became Silky Sullivan's.

Replacing Full Time Memphis Musicians with Beggars

Beale Street grossed $44 million dollars on the street in 2005 but the musicians did not share in the success. Indeed they got a pay cut. In some venues, musicians receive little or no wages whatsoever, existing on tips(begging). Those who are paid actual wages receive around $50-$80 for four hour performances, about minimum wage after expenses. Despite Beale Street's success, it is unusual to find a musician making over $100 per performance.

Despite the fortunes made on the backs of the musicians who filled their clubs, the job, “full time musician” has all but disappeared. Call it benign neglect or capitalism, the net result is the same. Our best musicians often do not participate “for peanuts” or have abandoned the notion of playing in Memphis, only playing out of town.

The Home of the Blues, Birthplace of Rock and Roll experience that we promise in our
worldwide advertising is often being fulfilled by musical beggars and the most desperate of our profession, hardly who you would want to represent our city's tradition of excellence. Karaoke, dj's, Elvis imitators playing to boom box tracks and loud urban music pounding through outdoor speakers are now a big part of the Beale Street experience.

This pandering to the lowest common denominator is enriching a handful and only providing
low paying work, primarily for musical hobbyists and others with day jobs. We could raise the level of musicianship and re-create the atmosphere that nurtured our fertile music scene simply by paying our best working musicians a living wage.

Rarely is a cover charge collected at the door to help remunerate the musicians. Ads from the Memphis Tourism folks actually promote the fact that, unlike most cities, music is available in Beale Street clubs without a cover charge. This is accomplished, again, on the backs of the musicians by keeping musicians' wages as low as possible.


Suggestions

Obviously, we need to create an atmosphere that will sustain the kind of band musicians that made Memphis a great music city, the home of Sun, Hi, and STAX.

The Eric Hughes band performs in front of the original STAX neon sign at Alfred's

Beale Street Blues Preservation Hall

I suggest that the city employ a successful grant writer to obtain funding for a new venture which would be housed in one of the Beale Street properties that the City owns. We have such an individual, a Memphian, Heidi Knochenhauer, who for years has garnered funds for the Arkansas Music and Heritage festival as well as many other entities.

This Preservation Hall could be set up as a non-profit. They would hire the city's finest musicians and pay them decently. Were they successful, perhaps the other clubs would be inclined to pay a decent living wage for talent. At the least, the older, established musicians could return to the scene and interface with the younger talent, assuring the passing down of the music, literally perpetuating the blues tradition. Tourists would be assured to hear legitimate Memphis music on Beale from it's finest players.



PILOT Program for Employers of Musicians

Memphis' use of payment in lieu of taxes should be expanded to include clubs or any venue that hires local Memphis musicians and pays them above a set minimum wage. Businesses would receive this tax break and other incentives if they complied with this requirement, thus endorsing and supporting the contributions of musicians to our economy. Music is our most valuable, most under-utilized resource.
Music is worthy to be nurtured by our city, not just by lip service, but where the rubber hits the road, the paychecks of our best musicians. What we are currently doing is not working and we are forcing our best musicians to leave town. If the city needs to underwrite the paychecks of musicians then that is what needs to happen to keep the culture alive and reverse the damage that has been done.

By providing tax credits and incentives to business owners they will not feel penalized by having to pay better wages to musicians, who they view as employees, and as a business expense. In this way our indigenous music can dovetail with business, increasing sales tax revenues to the city coffers and perpetuating a rich music scene in our city.


Other Suggestions:

Outdoor Loudspeakers creating Cacophony

The city should measure the sound pressure levels outside of each address using a decibel meter. Violators should suffer high fines, increasing with each occurrence. This is done in music districts in Austin, Texas, and many other municipalities. The loud volume contests detract from the experience and often make performing difficult, particularly with acoustic instruments.

Outdoor speakers could be banned after 6 PM every night and only live music allowed in clubs. This would foster the music scene, reduce the rampant loitering that drives away paying customers, and encourage visitors to enter the clubs. Exceptions could be made for the park and some patio performances that did not violate the sound pressure level regulation.


Inclusion of Working Musicians on the Music Commission

Rather than being run by groups interested in nurturing music, most of our local music committees are perpetually comprised of club owners and others who have business and self interests in mind rather than an interest in fostering our city's musical culture. Most of these entities have not one single working musician in their ranks despite music being their focus.

Within the past year, management from Mud Island, likely well paid employees of the Riverfront Development Corporation, sent out a public call for “free musicians” to entertain the crowds at that attraction. Again, the musician is purposefully undervalued, reduced to playing for free by what amounts to an arm, albeit a quasi- private one, of the city government. How could anyone in business compete against a competing service that was provided for free? I would love to see the Riverfront Development Corporation replaced by all volunteers.


Beale Street Belongs to Memphis

It behooves the city, if for no other reason than sales tax generated by musicians drawing crowds to Beale Street, to make certain that we can compete for tourism dollars by providing the high level of entertainment that we promise our patrons in ads. By allowing Beale Street to become a closed society run solely by business interests, the city has lost the continuity and vitality of its music scene. Our culture and music traditions can still return us to the vibrant music city that we once were, but not without guidance and support... and not without a flourishing community of musicians.

The author parks his beloved Cadillac behind Sonny's Loan Office at 166 Beale.

This address is now the Beale Street Tap Room.

2010-The author on Beale

RCT

© Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms, 2010
© Vicki Forrest, 2010

William Bell receives Brass Note on Beale Street

(Memphis, Tennessee) As reported earlier at the American Blues News, we enjoyed the company of William Bell during a recent Reba Russell Band performance in Atlanta at Blind Willie's. On Thursday August 4, 2010, William Bell returned to Memphis to receive his brass note on Beale Street.

Charles Mitchell of Jus Blues Foundation, William Bell, Bobby Rush

Among a throng of musicians and dignitaries, Bell received the award in front of the famous Old Daisy Theater on Beale. Photos from facebook by Beale Street, Memphis.

Eddie Floyd, Bobby Rush, Chas. Mitchell, William Bell, Latimore, Marvell Thomas

A famous performer and songwriter for STAX Records in Memphis, William Bell now owns Wilbe Records and lives in Atlanta. He has released over 15 albums under his own name and
with Booker T. Jones co-wrote "Born Under a Bad Sign" for STAX artist Albert King. Bell is famous for writing and performing "You Don't Miss your Water" which he wrote and performed on STAX in 1961.

What a performance by William Bell and Marvell Thomas.

Please check out this video of the beautiful gospel keyboard work of my friend, Marvell Thomas, accompanying William Bell on his 1961 STAX hit. It makes me proud to be a Memphian to watch this. These two gents are spectacular talents and are seriously under-appreciated by history.

Marvell Thomas sits next to Teeny Hodges at the funeral service of Willie Mitchell

photograph copyright Robert Tooms

As a a bit of background, Marvell is the brother of Carla Thomas who, at fifteen years of age, wrote and performed the hit "Gee Whiz" on the STAX label. Marvell and Carla are the children of the late Rufus Thomas who in 1953 recorded "Bear Cat," the first hit record released by Sam Phillips fledgling SUN label. This recording was an answer to Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" which was a big hit for Memphis' Peacock label. The Reba Russell Band had the extreme honor of not only backing up Rufus at B.B. King's but also playing Rufus' birthday party on Beale Street at the old Black Diamond Club. that party was attended by both Marvell and Carla, two shining stars in their own right. Rufus Thomas' passing met with great sorrow from our city's citizens. He was a local hero.

I first met Marvell Thomas in the early 1980's when he sat in on my old Wurlitzer model 200 electric piano during a gig that I played with my band and the late, great Earl Forest, recording artist and engineer for Duke records. Read last week's article on the death of Johnny Ace for more information about the Duke and Peacock labels. Just click here:

http://www.ameriblues.com/2010/08/true-story-of-death-of-johnny-ace-by.html

William Bell and Reba Russell

William Bell, who was born in Memphis, took the last name "Bell" as a stage name in honor of his grandmother, whose first name was Belle. Bell continued to record for Stax through the label's dissolution in 1975, with modest commercial success. He then switched to Mercury, and in 1977 Bell's soul song "Tryin' to Love Two" topped Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart.

Among the musicians present were Barbara Blue, Teeny Hodges, Benny Latimore,, Marvell Thomas, Bobby Rush and Eddie Floyd who was also honored this year by Charles Mitchell and the Jus Blues Music foundation.

The Jus' Blues Music Awards took place August 4th and 5th at the historical Old Daisy Theater, 329 Beale Street, in Memphis. An outdoor concert by William Bell was performed on August 7 at Handy Park, 203 Beale Street.

Here's a list of their 2010 nominees:

Contemporary Blues Artist – Male

• Super Chikan
• Stevie J
• John Primer
• Kenny Neal
  
• Wes Mackey
• Grady Champion
• Mud Morganfield

Contemporary Blues Artist – Female

• Zakiya Hooker
• Zora Young
• Beverly "Guitar" Watkins
• Shemekia Copeland
• Sandra Hall
• B. B. Queen
• Tia Carroll

The 10th anniversary of the Jus Blues Music Foundation was celebrated August 4 at the Night of the Living Legends Dinner in the Daisy Theater. The night featured a musical tribute to blues legend Albert King, and celebrated the 2010 Honorees: Eddie Floyd, Toni Green, William Bell, Mable John, Chick Willis, and Randy Weston.

On August 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the "Blues Got a Soul" conference took place at The Westin Memphis Hotel. Later that evening the Jus' Blues Music Awards took place back at the Daisy Theater.

Bobby Rush performs at Bobby Blue Bland's 80th Birthday this year
photograph copyright Robert Tooms

American Blues News also learned that Bobby Rush will be playing a benefit concert in Handy Park on Beale Street on October 9, 2010, to honor American veterans. After traveling to entertain troops in Iraq Rush was moved to honor the troops at this upcoming performance.


William Bell Discography

You don't miss your water / Formula of love - Stax 116 * 1961

Just across the street / There's a love - Stax 125 * 1962

by the Del Rios; William Bell lead vocals on the flip.

Any other way / Please help me, I'm falling - Stax 128 * 1962

I told you so / What'cha gonna do - Stax 132 * 1963

Just as i thought / I'm waiting on you - Stax 135 *1963

Somebody mentioned your name / What can I do to forget - Stax 138 * 1963

I'll show you / Monkeying around - Stax 141 * 1964

Who will it be tomorrow / Don't make something out of nothing - Stax 146 * 1964

Crying all by myself / Don't stop now - Stax 174 * 1965

Share what you got (But keep what you need) / Marching off to war - Stax 191 * 1966

Never like this before / Soldier's goodbye - Stax 199 * 1966

Everybody loves a winner / (You're such a) Sweet thang - Stax 212 * 1967

Eloise (hang on in there) / One plus one - Stax 227 * 1967

Everyday will be like a holiday / Ain't got no girl - Stax 237 * 1967

A tribute to a king / Every man oughta have a woman - Stax 248 * 1968

Private number / Love-eye-tis (With judy Clay) - Stax 0005 * 1968

I forgot to be your lover / Bring the curtain down - Stax 0015 * 1968

My baby specialises / Left over love (with Judy Clay) - Stax 0017 * 1968

All god's children got soul / My whole world is falling down - Stax 0032 * 1969

Soul-a-lujah pt. 1 / pt. 2 - Stax 0040 * 1969

vocals by Wm. Bell with six other Stax artists

Love's sweet sensation / Strung out - Stax 0043 * 1969

duets with Mavis Staples

I need you woman / I can't stop - Stax 0044 * 1969

dueta with Carla Thomas

Born under a bad sign / a smile can't hide (a broken heart) - Stax 0054 * 1969

Leave the girl alone / All I have to do is dream - Stax 0067 * 1970

duets with Mavis Staples / with Carla Thomas

Lonely soldier / Let me ride - Stax 0070 * 1970

A Penny for your thoughts / Till my back ain't got no bone - Stax 0092 * 1971

All the love of a woman / ? - Stax 0106 * 1971

Save us / If you really love him - Stax 0128 * 1972

Lovin' on borrowed time / The man in the street - Stax 0157 * 1973

I've got to go on without you / You're the kind of love I need - Stax 0175 * 1973

Gettin' what you want / All I need is your love - Stax 0198 * 1974

Get it while it's hot / Nobody walks away from love unhurt - Stax 0221 * 1975

Albums

• 1967 The Soul of a Bell - Stax 709
• 1969 Bound to Happen - Stax 2014
• 1971 Wow ...William Bell - Stax 2037
• 1972 Phases of Reality - Stax 3005
• 1973 Waiting for William Bell - Stax 3012
• 1974 Relating - Stax 5502
• 1977 Comin' Back for More - Mercury
• 1977 It's Time You Took Another Listen - Mercury
• 1983 Survivor - Kat Family
• 1985 Passion - Wilbe
• 1989 On a Roll - Wilbe
• 1992 Bedtime Stories - Wilbe
• 2001 A Portrait Is Forever - Wilbe
• 2002 Collectors Edition - Wilbe
• 2006 New Lease On Life - Wilbe

RCT

© Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms, 2010

Brandon Santini and Delta Highway cut a new live CD by Robert "Nighthawk " Tooms

(Memphis, Tennessee) This week we travel downtown to old Beale Street where my freinds, Brandon Santini, Elliot Sowell, Derek Bonn, and Tom "Slim " Lewis are cutting a new live CD during 3 days of this week. They are cutting down at Mr. Handy's Blues Hall which is the site of the first performance I ever saw brother Santini give in Memphis years ago. Now at the age of 28, he has honed his skills and his delivery and is putting out some fine dynamic shows, passing by many of his competitors who have even more experience than he.

After 7 years, his partner decided he no longer wanted to play and Brandon took the bull by the horns and reorganized his group from the ground up. It was a great marriage of new musicians that would bear fruit quickly.

Drummer Derek Bonn lays it down

Derek Bonn, a new addition to the group is a solid blues drummer who knows the job and delivers the goods. He is not a flash in the pan but instead a musician who has obviously listened and paid attention to the great blues drummers and embraced their strengths, encompassing their skills to craft his own style. He is not distracting but is tasteful and in the pocket. In combination with slim Lewis the rhythm section is the best this band has ever brought to bear and this author has heard them play countless nights on Beale Street and elsewhere as I was often playing next door or on the same street.

my old friend, Tom "Slim" Lewis...I have been friends with Slim and his wife for many years

the new, hard driving version of Delta Highway

Brandon a native of North Carolina, moved to Memphis to play the blues and he has done so. With the new band he can stretch out and expand the possibilities of dynamics and improvisation far beyond the original band's capabilities. Brandon has paid attention and learned how to do more than play hard and loud. He has gained finesse, steadily improving as a musician and vocalist, now more capable than ever and accompanied by a professional band.

Elliot Sowell truly shines on guitar, he is a talent not to be missed

Elliot, Derek and Slim
Elliot and Derek both are veterans of the St. Louis music scene.

Elliot Sowell

Elliot Sowell is the perfect, tasteful foil for Santini's harp and vocals. His delivery is traditional blues with an emphasis on accompaniment, like the other band members using his instrumental virtuosity with aplomb to make the overall sound authentic and listenable rather than just another platform for guitar wanking. Tasteful solos riddled with classic blues technique are his stock in trade. He can deliver the perfect drone tone background riffs to build a base for a tune and switch instantly to provide fills and alternate with Santini's lead parts.

These guys play like much older, more experienced musicians and they have obviously spent many days listening to the good stuff and also meshing their various talents into a cogent mix while toiling away in these little blues bars, earning thier chops legitimately. They are flat out impressive to listen to and enjoyable for the crowds that they draw. I don't think they ever lose a listener.

Delta Highway

Brandon leads the band through a soulful blues number

Elliot Sowell

Brandon Santini blows a smoking solo

Santini's implements

Derek Bonn, one of the finest blues drummers in the city

Derek Bonn and Slim Lewis

I have had the distinct pleasure of sitting in with the band and it was as good a show as most any of the bonafide blues bands I have worked with in the past 30 years. No doubt, if you have an opportunity to hear these guys, do so. They are a real slice of the Beale street pie that is becoming more rare of a commodity each year.

Brandon Santini

Derek and Slim

Brandon Santini

Bike night on Beale Street is sort of controlled bedlam

the scene outside Handy Hall where Delta Highway is recording

On June 5th, the Rumboogie Cafe will celebrate its 25th Anniversary and the author will play twice during the big celebration along with some notable Memphis musicians who have played at this location down through the years, including James Govan, Don McMinn, John Lee Hooker, Jr., Eric Hughes, Guy Venable and some special guests. Tickets are still available. The Rumboogie Cafe is located next door to Handy Hall. In fact the two businesses share a bathroom. The Handy Hall is the last of the hardwood floored, old juke joints on the street. It is a tiny, yet soulful little room that has seen a lot of music. with my band the Wampus Cats, I used to back up Muddy Water's harp player, Mojo Buford in this room. I will be backing him up in Helena, Arkansas this year at the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival.

The author is playing Alfred's with the Eric Hughes Band while Santini and company labors down the street

Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms at Alfred's(photo by John Gemmill)

Some upcoming dates:

Sat Jul 03	9:30 pm	Fiery Ron's Hometeam BBQ	Sullivan's Island, SC
Sun Jul 04	9:30 pm	Fiery Ron's Hometeam BBQ	Sullivan's Island, SC
Fri Jul 09	7:00 pm	Carolina Mountain Ribfest	Fletcher, NC
Sat Jul 10	9:00 pm	Uptown Sushi Bar & Cafe	Greenwood, SC

Here's a list of more dates from their website:

http://http//www.deltahighwayblues.com/fr_home.cfm

RCT

© Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms, 2010

A Real Beale Streeter: Earl Forest by Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms

(Memphis, Tennessee) I was fortunate enough to run into one of my blues heroes while walking on a downtown Memphis Street one day. Around 1980, my college roommate, Greg “Fuzzy” Hughes, and I were alternately visiting the old blues haunts and attempting to eat in each of the 250 bar-b-que joints that operated in the city at that time.

I noticed that the lobby of the old Palace(a/k/a Loew's Palace) Theater was open while we were walking down Union Avenue headed toward the Mississippi River. Notice in this photo taken in the early 80's, Albert King's name on the marquee(photo credit by Crackdog, Flickr).

The Palace Theater, opened in 1920, demolished and turned into a parking lot in 1985, is not to be confused with the Palace Theater on Beale Street where a young B.B. King won the weekly $5 prize at the Wednesday night talent contests in 1948.

On this day, the beautiful old dilapidated theater was filled with children who I later learned were dance students. The Palace, in its final incarnation, was being used as the venerable Dr. Martin Luther King Center for the Performing Arts. Among the students was an extremely well-dressed black man with whom my friend Greg was engaged in conversation. As I walked up, he stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Earl Forest. Being an avid student of the blues, I was gobsmacked.

I stammered, “THE Earl Forest? B.B. King's drummer on Three O'clock Blues in 1949? You wrote Next Time You See Me!”

Equally stunned, Earl replied, “How did you know that?”

“Because you guys are my heroes, the Beale Streeters!”

The Beale Streeters was a loose collaboration of blues men, many of whom lived in the Mitchell Hotel in the late 1940's. The group was comprised by Roscoe Gordon, Johnny "Ace" Alexander, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Earl Forest, and that dynamic gentleman of the Blues, B.B. King.

Fourth from the left, Earl Forest stands next to
Evelyn Young, who is wearing a white dress

The first time I met Earl we ventured through the theater to "get his grip" so he could give me his card and some other information from the Dr. M.L.King Center to arrange to play some benefits. After an amazing tour through the catacombs of dressing rooms and corridors in this huge building, we finally got to Earl's briefcase, and as he opened it I noticed he had a nickel-silver Smith and Wesson revolver in it. It was, not coincidentally, a 32-20, the gun made legendary by Robert Johnson's blues of the same name.

Thus began a lifelong friendship with one of the finest, most clever men I have ever been blessed to know. I told Earl of several mentions of his name and accomplishments in blues books and articles I had read while studying at Rhodes College. He had no idea that they existed, thinking his career had passed without fanfare, unknown except to the few blues cognoscenti and elder members of B.B. King's entourage.

Earl and I became fast friends, with me asking him stories about the glory days of Memphis blues and his exploits on the road. I learned that he was the first black audio engineer in our area and that he had worked for Duke and Peacock Records even before Don Robey purchased the label. Earl would say, “Son, I was recording with 3 tracks at Main and Winchester when [Sam] Phillips [of Sun Records] didn't have but two!” Earl signed many famous blues artists while acting as Engineer and A&R man for Duke and Peacock Records.

Earl told me that a young Elvis Presley had asked to sit in with his band during a break on Beale and that he had threatened to fire any of them who would not do so. He said they didn't have any problems with Elvis, but they just wanted "to go take their break and get drunk." Blues trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller was in Earl's band at this time and Elvis attributed many of his stage moves to copying the stylings of Bowlegs. Earl had huge respect for all musicians and artists of any age and Earl really liked Elvis. Earl also said that Bowlegs' trumpet was so loud that he always made him go out into the hall when they were recording so that his trumpet would not overshadow the other instruments.

I learned that the New York Times had termed Earl the “best-dressed man to grace the stage of the Apollo Theater since Billy Eckstine” and from Earl I heard thousands of stories about the old blues men and women that I so admired.

I learned that Earl had signed Johnny "Ace" Alexander as B.B. King's piano player while he was drinking beer at the Green Beetle on Main Street. Earl always called it the “Green Castle”. Earl told me that he, Johnny Ace and B.B. King wore the same size and would borrow each others clothes. They were all living at the musician's refuge, the famous Mitchell hotel on South Main Street. It later became Ernestine & Hazel's restaurant, named after Sunbeam Michell's wife.

left: Mitchell Hotel, now known as Ernestine & Hazel's

Photo by Teresa R. Simpson

Billboard's Most Promising R & B Artist of 1954:
Johnny "Ace" Alexander

I played several benefit gigs for the M.L. King Center and still have a certificate of appreciation bestowed upon me and my band the Wampus Cats. It and these memories mean a great deal to me. We played most of these gigs at the old Palace Theater which was not air conditioned but had two huge exhaust fans on the roof. The fans were at least ten feet in diameter and powered by a single 100 horsepower motor.

Earl coached my singing, took me in as a fellow musician and I drove him and his many girlfriends around for some all night frivolities at places like the Hawaiian Isle and Sunbeam Mitchell's Club Paradise. We literally stayed out all night long, laughing, telling stories, singing, playing and truly enjoying the company of kindred spirits. After several all night debauches, Earl started calling me “Nighthawk.”

Club Paradise, 1960's (photo by my friend, the late Earnest Withers)

Earl Forest was a remarkable performer in his own right. He traveled around the world on blues package shows in the 1950's. These shows, booked by Don Robey's Buffalo Booking Agency(run by Evelyn Johnson) out of Texas, featured the likes of Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Ace, B.B. King and all the popular blues stars of the day. Earl also played drums on many of B.B. King's early recordings.

The list of artists that recorded Earl Forest's songs is immense: The Grateful Dead, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Johnny Ace, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Joe Sample, Denise LaSalle, Shirley Brown, Arthur Prysock, Johnnie Taylor, Freddie Fender, James Cotton, Tab Benoit, Debbie Davies, Kenny Neal, The Blasters, Nancy Wilson, Nat Wilson, Jimmy Johnson and many more.

The list of songs Earl wrote that were stolen by unscrupulous individuals is also a long one. When I asked Earl if he were not still angry with Don Robey, he replied, "Nighthawk, Robey planted." He laughed and said that he had outlived Robey by over 20 years and that he also valued the many opportunities that he received more than any detriment he may have encountered as a result of others' dishonesty. In the late 1940's there was a great deal of restriction on what jobs a young black man could aspire to and Earl always told me to value"the opportunity" which he deemed was your only real chance at making a difference in this world.

above: Duke and Peacock label owner Don Robey

Earl called me one day. “Night! Get up. I need to talk to you about a gig, son.” Earl had booked a great gig for me at the First National Bank Building on a nice outdoor stage on Madison Avenue. Gigs in those days were scarce and Beale Street had not been developed into the entertainment district we know today. I showed up that day with my band and met Earl, who I never saw wear the same suit twice. He had a lot of cool old threads, and he was sporting some of them on this sunny day.

He had all the preparations ready, had already been visiting with all the nice folks at the bank and was asking all the guys in the band if they needed anything before we went on. I never could get Earl to take any money for booking the band so that day I insisted that he do so. He assured me that he had. As I looked over at the stage, I noticed a man with a van hauling out a Hammond B-3 on organ dollies.

Then the guy loaded two huge 900 series Leslie cabinets onto our stage. I walked over to Earl, a bit hurt, and said, “Earl, why didn't you tell me there was going to be somebody else playing at this show?”

He replied, “This is your show, son...your band, the Wampus Cats. Ain't nobody else.”

I said, “who's this guy that's gonna play organ?”

Earl chuckled a sly old chuckle and said, “You are.”

I said, “But Earl, I don't know how to play a B-3! I never played one in my life!”

Glancing at his watch, Earl said, “Well you got about 35 damn minutes to learn. Get to it!”

Earl laughed and walked off. He had used his gig commission to rent the organ for me to play because he knew how much I loved the sound. Today I have an endorsement from the Hammond-Suzuki organ company. Thanks, Earl.

Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms on the Hammond B-3

Osceola, AR Blues Festival

Thanks again to Earl, Sunbeam Mitchell let a conglomeration of us play the Club Paradise on Tuesday nights. It was the first club I ever saw with a full size walk-through metal detector at the door. The group was comprised of several of the members of the old Blues Alley band, including Fat Sonny, guitarist Willie Pettis and Evelyn "Mama Nute"Young, saxophonist with B.B. King's band in the 1950's.

Our deal with Sunbeam was that if we could get a crowd during the first set, he would hire us for the night and pay us. If not, we would quit and go home with no pay. Many nights we would all combine our pocket change after the first set and Evelyn would send Pettis down to the liquor store for a pint of cheap vodka which we all passed around before leaving for the night.

Evelyn Young would trundle in with her ancient sax case to my late night solo gig at Lou's Place, a now defunct club located downtown in a basement down a dark alley illuminated by a lone red light bulb. Lou was the brother of Paul Savarin, owner of Blues Alley. Lou's other brother, Joe, started the fledgling organization that became the Blues Foundation. Lou runs Lou's Pizza Pies in the Cooper-Young area of Midtown now(that's Lou Savarin pictured on the right). A salient feature of Lou's was its seating- used Braniff airline seats bolted to the concrete floor. The gig didn't start until 1 am and all the Blues Alley musicians would amble in after playing their gig that night. Evelyn would show me big jazz chords on the piano and smack the hell out of my hands if I didn't play them correctly. There was much drinking and a pleasant mix of river rats, musicians and prostitutes who just wanted to get out of the rain. Albert King's bassist, Big Joe Turner, and Fred"Good Guitar-Playin' Sanders" often came in to jam. Fred subsequently played in my band for a while.

Joe Turner from the Blues Alley All-Stars

Fred Sanders on Mempho Records

After a few years Earl had bypass surgery but still continued smoking Pall Malls. One night my band played at a renovated movie theater called the Madison House and Earl, fresh from surgery, got up to jam on drums. He did so with style, and at the end of the number, when I jumped dramatically off the 10 foot stage, Earl jumped right after me. What a showman!

After Earl's bypass surgery, his lady, Miss Alvia, nursed him back to health and he never forgot her loyalty and loving kindness. Years later, after she was stricken with Alzheimer's, he would not leave her side, sometimes (re)introducing me eight or ten times to her during one of my many visits to his apartment on Sharp Street. It was a high rise for older folks and I would occasionally play piano for a group of them in the afternoon.

Left: Earl Forest on the keyboard

Earl loved to write songs and was a fine keyboard player, so one day I brought him a digital piano and my old 100 watt Gibson tube combo that had two 12" speakers and one 15". It was a monster. It came from the factory covered in blue denim instead of Tolex. I rolled it up on the elevator to his apartment and he nearly fell out. He loved it. He wrote several songs for Malaco on that piano.

Earl got my band booked at the Club Paradise on a Saturday night on a bill with Bobby Rush. We played alternating sets to a big audience all night long. Bobby and his band were laying it down and the big club, actually a converted bowling alley, was packed with hundreds of people. Although Earl said he had spoken to Little Milton Campbell earlier in the day about coming over to jam, about 4 am I told Earl that I didn't think Little Milton was going to make it.

Earl said, "He'll be here, Night."

Sure enough, about 4:30 Little Milton walked in after playing two shows with his band . He was hoarse, but he jumped on stage and we played until 6:30 in the morning. About 7, as we were packing up to leave, he asked me to play keyboards for him. Since I had to finish college, I declined but was truly humbled and honored that he would ask.

A few weeks later, Earl learned that my band was going to be playing on the riverboat during the blues awards in 1982. He arranged for B.B. King to jam with my band, the Wampus Cats, for over an hour. I actually swapped licks with B.B. for about five minutes. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Like Earl, B.B. was a consummate gentleman. I bet he stood up fifty times on the boat every time someone came up to his table to be introduced.

above: Little Milton Campbell

Thanks to my engineering/guitarist friend Brad Webb(now Engineer and guru at I-55 Productions) , for whom I have recorded with Willie Foster and Blind Mississippi Morris, we cut some tracks featuring Earl on the 2 inch tape machine. Richard Hite, formerly of Canned Heat, joined us on bass. It was to be the last thing either Richard or Earl would record.

Richard Hite, bluesologist, record collector,
bassist for Canned Heat and my band, the Wampus Cats

Tony Adams, super-drummer and longtime drum tech for Matchbox 20, played drums. My guitarist for over 25 years, Memphis Mike Forrest, played on all the tracks. Bassist Bill Bailey and my cousin, the late drummer, John Burgess, also played on some of the tunes that I sang. Earl sang 4 songs, 2 of which are on the rare Spectator Shoes album. The 2 other tracks of Earl are still in the can and it looks like Brad may release them at a later time.

After a 50 year hiatus from singing in the studio, Earl Forest sounds like he never missed a day singing. He is truly great. He is not only inspirational, but he could pull impromptu lyrics and parts out of the air effortlessly. Earl sings his own tunes, Next Time You See Me and Whooping and Hollering with aplomb. The musicians were inspired to do their best for the much beloved and revered old blues man.

Richard Hite, who's monolithic 7000 record collection spanned from floor to ceiling in his home, gave Earl a copy of one of his old 78s from the old Duke and Peacock days. Earl did not even have a copy and was very moved to receive it.

After the recording sessions, I did not see Earl for some time and one day I got a call from soul singer L.H. White (from the Icebreakers), who informed me that Earl had cancer. Before I could make it by to see him, my mentor was gone.

I was the only white man at his funeral at the Antioch Baptist Church, and I was pretty torn up that day. L. H . White came up to me at the rear of the church and said, "Come on with me, Nighthawk, you sit up front with me and the other church musicians." That was a great honor and a very kind, touching gesture.

Ruby Wilson, who sang for years at B.B. King's Club on Beale, sang the best I have ever heard her sing in that Baptist church that day. Ruby suffered a stroke last year and is rehabilitating well. She received an award from the Memphis Music Commission this year for being an Emissary of Memphis Music.

Ruby Wilson's award

March 26, 2009

photos by the author

B.B. King spoke at Earl's funeral. He said, "All of you have talked about what a kind and thoughtful, loving person Earl was, but none of you mentioned the most important thing about him. Earl Forest was a hell of a blues drummer!" I couldn't have said it better.

photo by Andrea Zucker from VIP Memphis Magazine

http://issuu.com/ddonald/docs/e_vip_mem_jan09_1_60

I miss you every day, Earl. I will never forget your kindness and wisdom. I will always try to be clean and well-dressed when I hit the stage, and to represent our fellow musicians properly, just as you instructed me so many years ago.

Robert "Nighthawk" Tooms

RCT

©Robert Tooms, July 30, 2009