The Chicago Blues Fest received its share of thunderstorms, and yet a reasonably large crowd still attended. Sadly I believe that the festivities days are numbered. The City has reduced its size compared to years past. There were no B.B. King or Buddy Guy type big acts, although Billy Branch, John Primer, Billy Boy Arnold and Lurrie Bell headlined Saturday night. Sunday evening's line-up is sure going to get wet.
I attended Saturday with my good friend Jim and L V Banks (seen dancing in the opening of this video). The rain forced an early departure of 3:30 PM. Before we departed we got a chance to see Toronzo Cannon, He is an upcoming artist that will soon break nationally. Toronzo is a great artist. He played twice Saturday. Once as the headliner on the Gibson Stage then as a guitar player in the Chris Harper Band. Toronzo can also be seen in the same video with L V. Toronzo is the southpaw guitar player with the tilted hat. Great job Toronzo.
Sunday I attended with my Blues Mentor Smilin' Bobby. Bobby has played five years in a row at the fest and because of this they would not book him again. He called to see if I wanted to go with to help try to sell some CD's. I did. I was going anyway to pass out flyers for the "All Star Night Of The Blues" Electro Glide Records show September 11, 2010. Go to their site for more info.
It is amazing the amount of folks that come to the blues fest from all over the United States and the World. As Bobby walked through the crowd fans stopped to say hello. There was a couple from Cincinnati, Ohio that attended because of Smilin Bobby. They were overwhelmed with excitement that they finally got a chance to meet him. Brits sat at the table with us and we had a couple of good laughs. I like the Brits, my stepmother is one.
The rain stayed away until 4:00 PM and then the skies opened with a torrential, typhoon type downpour. Driving south on Lake shore Drive I glanced towards the festival grounds and observed a sea of Golf Umbrellas . There are at least a handful of die-hard blues fans left. God Bless them one and all.
Love to you all from America's Heartland and of course,
BLUES ME OR LOSE ME
Terry Lape AKA Gatotman
What can I write about L V Banks? L V is a Chicago West side blues artist that has no comparison.
He was born just outside Benoit, Mississippi. He moved to Greenville as a teenager. He served for four years in the army During the Korean war. Upon his release from military service he returned to Greenville and stepped off the train right into the hottest blues area of its day. Little Milton, Ike turner and their contemporaries allowed L V an opportunity to polish his craft.
His first band included Nick Charles (Billy Branch S.O.B.),Eddie Shaw on Sax and guitar man L.
B B King heard him and offered this advice “You got the voice that sings and swings so you better squeeze them strings.” L V moved to Chicago in 1965 and has lived in the same apartment since that move. He currently resides right around the corner from the current President’s house.
In 1995 Wolf Records recorded his first CD called “Ruby”.
“Hard to Love a Woman” is a straight forward driving Elmore James style rocking Blues.
The title cut “Ruby” is a nicely written almost funky Sam and Dave type number. It has a wonderful piano solo. One of the lines states “I’ll eat a rainbow” typical L V humor.
“Express Love” is in the style of B B king. It has a great opening lead guitar riff and L V’s solo work is really illustrates the Chicago west side style.
“Lonely Room” is another 1-4-5 that talks about how lonely one can be while waiting on someone who never comes. This cut has that down home style. It is one of my favorites
“Miss You Babe” moves right along and is a dancer that changes from a shuffle to a swing and back again. He writes about going to the corner to get a sweet roll and a cup of coffee. L V is the only blues man that I am aware of that sings about that particular subject. This number really cooks.
“I love My Guitar” is another tune that shows a strong B B influence. The subject matter is about a blues man’s love for his guitar and a love for his woman. Guess who wins? A blues man’s guitar will always win, because it is always true. Oh. and it does what the blues man asks of it.
“I made a Mistake” is very reminiscent of High Heel sneakers. It has the same groove which is a good thing and is very up-tempo with an outstanding guitar line and piano solo. It is quite fitting that it follows "I love my guitar", because L V kicks out his woman and does not want to be bothered with her anymore.
“Pipe Layer”. This song talks about hard times and a man’s quest for work and his landing a job as a layer of pipe. Of course anyone can read between the lines on this one.
“What happened to our Love?” Talks about relationships and love lost.
“Falling to Pieces” is another B B influenced number that drives right along with the guitar hook and lead guitar work.
“Bobby Sock Baby” talks about letting that young love go and it’s a number that cooks right along. This is one of two songs on this Cd that L V did not write
“Love Light” L V has one of the best versions out there with his cover. His vocals are right there and it is of course very well performed. L V ‘s second song that was authored by someone else.
The band includes
Michael Thomas (second guitar)
Allan Batts (keys)
Dave Kay (Bass)
Jerry Price (drums)
This CD “Ruby” showcases a blues man at his best and should be in your collection filed under “Chicago Blues”.
Authors note
I may be a little bit partial to L V Banks; he played in my back yard for my daughter’s engagement / moving to Dallas party. He also is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.
You can get L V’s CD “Ruby” on Amazon.com or direct from Wolf Records. Go to Shop and put L V Banks in the search engine.
Last Friday night my "hey let's go hear some blues buddy" Jim and I picked up LV Banks and headed to Kingston Mines. http://www.kingstonmines.com/ Magic Slim and the Teardrops were playing in the south room and Joanna Connor was in the north room. They play one room (Magic) for an hour then everyone goes over to the next room for an hour (Joanna). Back and forth it goes until 4am. They start at 9pm. We caught two sets of Magic. I pulled into my driveway at 3am. It was a long Night.
If anyone knows anything about Chicago they know that parking anywhere in Lincoln Park Friday night is nearly impossible. Let me rephrase that, if you want to park in a parking garage for 20 bucks go ahead or park illegally, but be prepared for about $150.00 parking ticket. Recently the city of Chicago sold all the parking meters to a private company. The new company raised the fees. What they forgot to do was increase the size of the coin boxes. The company cannot empty the cash fast enough and the city has issued more tickets than usual. I have friends that live within a ten minute walk of the Mines. Their house is in a very expensive area of the city. In this area of town you cannot touch a property for less than 1.5 mil. Pete and his wife always invite me to visit. My favorite reply is, "Where do I Park?” They solved the problem. Now when I come over they let me park on the apron of their garage. In Chicago almost everyone has an alley and the garages empty into the alleys. parking in that spot saved us money. We piled into a cab that was driven by a guy from Somalia. In Chicago cabs are driven by guys from Somalia. It is a rule. We took a cab because it was raining. Short 5 minute ride 10 bucks. Wild and short just like a tilt-a-whirl.
Kingston Mines has very tight and large security. His name is BJ. I do not know why people connected with the blues use initials instead of names. You know LV, BJ, BB. I told BJ that we were with LV. BJ gave us a free pass. The Mines charges a $15 cover. LV saved us $75. We entered through swinging doors and there it was the infamous Kingston Mines. The place is not much of a show palace. It’s just a bar, bunch of tables and some Mississippi river boat scenes on the walls, but it is the most famous blues club period. Frank the emcee climbed the three steps up to the stage and explained about fire rules, dancing and his dad doc. Doc And LV go way back and have not seen each other for 20 years. Doc started the mines about 200 years ago. I’m just kidding Doc, about 60 years ago. If there was a blues kingdom Doc would be King. He is BLUES royalty.The list of musicians he employed during those past years are as thick as a Chicago Phone book. Name one that's not on the list.
Magic Slim is a very large man at about 6 and 1/2 feet. When Magic saw LV he smiled from ear to ear. LV and Magic gigged together in the mid 60's. LV told me later about a woman they were both involved with. I do not know if that's true or not. Sure sounds like a good blues story.
John McDonald, Magic's guitar player, and my "hey let's go hear some blues buddy” Jim struck up a nice lengthy conversation. John told Jim that the group is on the road for three months and home for two weeks. Then that cycle repeats. That is a grueling schedule.They are a hardworking bunch.
Magic’s band took the stage. I listen to a lot of blues bands and in my opinion can tell from the first four beats if the group has been schooled in the blues.Magic’s band has three college professors and each member holds a Doctorate Degree with a discipline in Bluesology. Magic's band kicked and kicked it hard. They are a force to be reckoned with.
Magic was escorted to the stage. He sat in a bar stool mid stage. Mike, the goups manger, handed him his guitar while Magic settled back. BOOM that “workweek waiting for Friday night” note hit. The blues lovers went nuts. He knocked it out of the park, he shoots he scores (insert here all catch phrases you have ever heard to describe excellence in performance).
Believe me when I say,” Magic is traditional West Side Chicago blues”.He makes the guitar sing as much as he does. I’ll quote Magic and say his favorite catch phrase “I ain’t lying.”He is well worth the cost of admission and is very approachable. He is one of the old school blues men.As we say in the business he is “THE REAL DEAL.”
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