BluesWax Does The Biscuit
The 19th Annual King Biscuit
Blues Festival
Helena, Arkansas
October 7 -9, 2004
Story and photos by T-Bone
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It's time for our annual King Biscuit issue! On this
page, T-Bone covers the Main Stage, on the Blues Beat Page, Gary covers the
Acoustic Stage, and on the BluesBytes page check out the happenings at Pinetop
Perkins Homecoming. Also check out the great photos from the Biscuit on the
Photo Gallery and on the slide shows. Enjoy, we did!
The King Biscuit Blues Festival, held each year in Helena,
Arkansas, is the largest free Blues festival in the world. Helena is a small
town situated behind a huge levee that protects the town from the mighty
Mississippi River that flows by. This is the home of KFFA, the radio station which
has been broadcasting the Blues daily for 63 years now - the longest running
daily radio program in history - and the first station to air live Blues music.
It's King Biscuit Time - "Pass
the biscuits, please!" So it is fitting that one of the coolest Blues
fests is held each year in this Delta town, and the main stage is named after Sonny Boy Williamson, the first star of
King Biscuit Time.
This was my second pilgrimage to this sleepy town that
hosts the best in Blues. Last year, after finally getting a taste of what the
Biscuit is all about, I swore I would never miss another one in the future. The
whole town, the air - the very earth - reeks of Blues in all of its basic and
wonderful glory.
There were several stages this year - the new and very impressive
permanent main stage that faces the levee; the Gospel Stage inside the Malco
Theater; the stage that doubles as the Houston
Stackhouse Acoustic Stage earlier in the day and the Robert Lockwood, Jr. Heritage Stage later at night; and this year,
the new Emerging Artists Stage. Not to mention several acts busking all along
Cherry Street.
It takes far more than these two legs, ears, and eyes of
mine to catch it all, so while fellow BluesWax
editor DJ Gary Miller concentrated on the smaller stages, I stuck pretty close
to the main stage most of the time. Besides catching the sights and sounds of
the Blues, I also had a great time hangin' out, along with many others, at the Blues Revue/BluesWax tent on Cherry Street. Blues
Revue was the proud print sponsor of the Biscuit this year and in our tent
we were able to really get to know you Blues lovers out there. So many friendly
faces stopped by to say hello, swap tales and laughs, and subscribe to the two
biggest Blues publications in the world. We heard a lot of nice things from so
many of you and it is very much appreciated, and we have made a bunch of new
friends in the process. We also had some of our Blues-playing friends stop by
for some informal playing. Thanks to Richard
Smerin, Doc Williamson, Detroit Johnny, John-Alex Mason, 19th
Street Red, the phantom flute player, and all the others who played in our
tent. I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again, Blues people are
the coolest people! It's always gratifying to think how this music that we love
brings so many of us together in so many ways.
We were ecstatic about the absolutely gorgeous weather that
opened the festival on Thursday. It was a perfect fall day in the South. The
only stage running the first day was at the Sonny Boy Stage, which made it easy
to decide where to be. My fellow road dogs and I rode into town just a tad late
to catch the first two acts, but I managed to hear the last of Charlotte Taylor & Gypsy Rain,
before being able to settle in and enjoy the sounds ofJohn-Alex Mason. Mason is an impressive picker on the steel-bodied
resonator guitar. His salty playing conjures up images of the Delta, belying
the fact that he is a young man from Colorado with blonde hair. This very nice
man with a promising future visited our tent later and also performed across
the street off and on the rest of the weekend for extra tips.
Speaking of street musicians, I have to say that I really
enjoyed the efforts of a guy named 19th
Street Red that played just down from our tent all weekend. Utilizing some
of the most primitive and oldest equipment I've seen, his sound was riveting.
It was downright scary how well he pulled off his Howlin' Wolf style vocals, while keeping the rhythm going with his
bass drum and his driving slide guitar licks. The tone he had coming through
his pickup and out of his beat up vintage amp was ferocious. He owned the
street that weekend as far as I'm concerned.
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19th
Street Red
Back to the main stage, I thoroughly enjoyed the
entertaining set by Diddley Squat, a
band that earned a spot by winning the talent competition held by the Sonny Boy
Blues Society. Their long and lanky sax player, Rick Sims, had leopard spots
and tiger stripes on his two instruments, something very cool that I hadn't
seen before.
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Diddley Squat
Saxman Rick Sims
The rest of Thursday's lineup was very solid with
International Blues Challenge winner's Zac
Harmon & the Mid-South Blues Revue, Daniel "Slick" Ballinger & the Soul Blues Boyz, Bobby Radcliff, Corey Harris & the 5 x 5 Band, and Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers finishing things up with a
stirring rendition of Junior Walker's
"Shot Gun." Zac Harmon has an outstanding voice and is someone to
watch out for, as is Slick with his Mississippi Hill Country Gospel/Blues
fervor. It was the first time I had the pleasure to hear Radcliff live and his Magic Sam style licks impressed me.
Thackery told me that he used to sneak into clubs in Washington, D.C. as a
teenager to see Bobby Radcliff play, and that Bobby got those licks honestly -
he spent some time in Chicago learning directly from Sam back in the '60s.
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Zac Harmon & Jeff Stone
After Thursday's beautiful weather, it rained for the duration of the
fest. Even though it was steady throughout, thankfully it never really cut
loose. There was a sea of umbrellas protecting the hardy masses of Blues
die-hards and the music kept rollin' along like a wheel. Highlights on Friday
for me included seeing Delta Blues legends and former King Biscuit Boys, Sam
Carr and Pinetop Perkins, with their respective bands. (Pinetop was also one of
"Sunshine" Sonny Payne's special guests on King Biscuit Time, Saturday inside the Delta Cultural Center.)
I really appreciated the funky, energetic sounds from
N'awlins by both the Eddie Bo band
and Jon Cleary & the Absolute
Monster Gentlemen. Both men know how to entertain and pound the piano.
Cleary is amazing on the keys and his band smokes!
Besides the versatile Kenny
Neal, there were also two ladies of the Blues doing their thing on Friday -
the classy Toni Lynn Washington and Koko Taylor, the undisputed Queen of
Chicago Blues. Koko can still kick things up a bit despite recent health
battles.
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Koko
Taylor
Blind Mississippi
Morris got things cooking on Saturday, followed by Craig Horton, Big Jesse Yawn,
and Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets
Featuring Sam Myers. An added treat during Anson and Sam's set was Michael Burks getting up to swap some
licks. I have never seen anyone that loves to play more than Michael! He was
the first familiar face I saw on Thursday and his quick and ready smile was a
constant during the fest as we both roamed around, crossing paths often.
Of course, The Biscuit would not be complete without one of
the other King Biscuit Boys - Robert Lockwood, Jr. This man is incredible as he
leads his large band through some sophisticated and swingin' arrangements, then
strips things down to play some of the best solo Delta Blues you'll ever hear.
What a night of music it was as things just kept driving toward a crescendo as The Holmes Brothers performed a
typically outstanding set, followed by the effervescent Marcia Ball with Pat Boyack
on guitar.
I can't think of a better way to top off the fest than with
the inimitable Clarence
"Gatemouth" Brown. As most of you may know by now, Gate has been
recently diagnosed with lung cancer, so it was great to see him in fine form,
smiling during most of his set and getting up and standing several times. He
played most of the set on guitar, then switched to his fiddle to whoop things
up, before leaving the stage only to be called back for more. He sat down and
grabbed his guitar again and asked the crowd, "What's my signature
tune?" The crowd roared back with the obvious reply, "Okie Dokie
Stomp!!" "That's right!," Gate nodded with an approving grin and
they were off and running on the classic Jump instrumental.
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Clarence
"Gatemouth" Brown
I just shook my head in amazement and smiled. It had been a
long and tiring three days and nights, but the Blues bone had been satisfied,
indeed. "Pass the Biscuits, please!" But don't pass on the Biscuit
next year. Their website has announced that, due to the rain, this year's
festival didn't do well, financially. I hope they can still keep things going.
It would be a tremendous shame if we didn't see the 20th Anniversary
of what has to be my favorite place to soak in the Blues. You can go online at www.kingbiscuitfest.org to order fest merchandise to
help out the cause. Save the Biscuit!
Don "T-Bone"
Erickson is the founding editor of BluesWax. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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This Week in BluesWax:
Our Annual King Biscuit Issue!
- In the E-zine:
T-Bone says, "Pass the biscuits, please!" Check out all the happenings
on the Main Stage at King Biscuit!
- On the News
Page: The Hoodoo Band Wins In Connecticut; Polar Music Prize Announced;
News From Blues in the 'Burg; Robert Plant To Keynote SxSW; IBC Info; Bo
Diddley Loses Toe, Cancels Shows; Talkin' Blues Hits U.S.; Rocking
Beaumont Blues Festival News; European Blues Event; Son Lewis Gig; Cool West
Coast News; and More!
- On the Photo
Page: Check out some shots of the Biscuit!
- On the Blues
Bytes page: Musicians gathered to pay tribute to Pinetop Perkins. His
annual Homecoming is a wonderful thing. Join us! Also check out the best Blues
comic in the world, Buddy and Hopkins!
- On the Blues
Beat page: Gary Miller covered that "Other Stage" at the
Biscuit. Check out what he heard and saw at the end of Cherry Street!
- Under BluesWax
Picks: Art Tipaldi loves Mavis Staples latest, Have A Little Faith; Eric
Wrisley reviews Rubber Factory by The Black Keys; one of the most played
CDs in our office this year is Paul Reddick's Villanelle, read Ray
Tyrell's review to see why; also, reviews of works from Big Al and the
Heavyweights, Imperial Crowns, and Mikey Jr. and the Stone Blue Band.
- One
Year Ago Today In BluesWax: Beardo sat in with Little Joe Baty of
Little Charlie and the Nightcats. Read this great interview with one of our
favorite Bluesmen!
- Don't forget to play the Blues Trivia
Game: Remember, everyone who plays is in the drawing for the prize!
This week's prize: Three lucky winners will win Boogie Man by Omar and
the Howlers AND Canned Heat 1969-1999 The Boogie House Tapes, both
courtesy of our friends at Ruf Records. Play now to win these cool CDs.
