LW Tribute HOB
Stan Ruffo
(forgive me if this is the second time you've
seen this appear on the list)
Hello fellow lers,
In response to Don O.'s inquiry...(bear in mind, most of the time I
lurk, because I'm not a "writer").
I attended the 10th Annual Little Walter Tribute last night at the LA HOB.
(Three and a half hour drive, and gave up a gig to go...) Tickets were $20
As I recall, this is how it went.
1. Rusty Zinn - w/Richard Innes, Ronnie Weber, Fred Kaplin
2. Lester Butler - w/Richard Innes, Kid Ramos, Ronnie Weber, Fred Kaplin
3. King Earnest and The Wild Knights (didn't catch the names)
Randy Chortkoff on harp, (I believe he was the promoter as well).
4. Billy Boy Arnold - w/The Wild Knights
5. Snooky Pryor - w/Rusty Zinn, Ronnie Weber, Richard Innes, Fred Kaplin
6. Kim Wilson - w/Rusty Zinn, Ronnie Weber, Richard Innes, Fred Kaplin
The music started right at 9pm with Rusty Zinn. He played several cuts
from his Black Top CD, Sittin' and Waitin' . Rusty was in top form,
and he was quite generous sharing solos with Fred Kaplin (piano).
I had seen Rusty before when he was with Mark Hummel. At the time,
I knew he would eventually be doing his own thing. He's way good.
They played about 30 minutes.
I am not familiar with Lester Butler, and he was introduced as being a
Hightone Recording artist. From what I can tell, he has been
around the LA blues seen for a while. One thing struck me quit readily.
He really put on a good act of being high... That's not to say he couldn't
play some mean harp and sing some pretty rocked out tunes, just that
he didn't seem to be in complete control of his....um self. Again 30 min.
Although I had seen King Ernest before, he seemed - in the past - to be
breaking in a new band. That was NOT this case this evening. This band
turned on his every DIME. His guitarist, (an ?albino with a gold sequinned
shirt, purple suit and and way blonde pomp.), was B A D bad. Randy was
blowin' some great harp. The whole band was definately qualified! And it
just made Ernest sound better than ever. As I recall, King Ernest is a
nehpew of Bobby Bland. His music seems to normally reflect that style,
but tonight I thought he played a great mix of soul/blues and blues.
Billy Boy Arnold played his set with the Wild Knights. While it did not
look as though they had rehearsed the material, the band was quick
to catch the drift of every selection Mr. Arnold led them in. IMO, his
harp playing was a bit....reserved. I must admit, I was a surprised
to see Billy Boy Arnold take a short walk to the back of the stage to
return with a Strat strapped on and ready for his third tune. I might
add I was impressed with his guitar work. It was very "front porch
authentic"!
Just prior (no pun intended) to Snooky Pryor's performance, Randy Shortkoff
presented Snooky with a special award for over 50 years of dedication to
the blues. Snooy was accompanied by Rusty Zinn's band for his set.
I was very excited to see another of the few remaining legends of the blues
right there in front of me. Snooky led the band through 30 minutes of very
traditional material. Snooky eventually left the stage singing bye, bye...
bye, bye....bye, bye!
Kim Wilson! Enuff said...
Kim is one...I have....Well wait a minute...Let me say that Kim brought
Rusty Zinn's band to the stage with him. I have seen Kim several times.
Matter of fact, one time I'm standing there and my wife starts talking to
Kim. (I'm thinking how cool, in a minute I'll be talkin' harps with him for
days).
He and my wife (yeah, we're still married), are talkin' all these fishing
stories,
and I never got to say two words to him. (Damn.) Anyway, Kim threw down
several Little Walter tunes, (Kinda what I would have expected from most
of the harp players on a tribute to LW night), and a couple of tunes from his
Antone's releases. One was Don't Bite The Hand That Feeds You. If I used
the word GREAT here to describe Kim's playing, it would only carry the value of
a dollar, when the word I want to use has got to be worth fifty dollars!
F-ing FANTASTIC! The tune that killed me, was Kim's Jumpin' Bad from
the What's The Word album.
All in all, It was a great show. I came away feelin' 'tained to the max.
My wife and I stood for three of the four plus hours, and I must say,
time flew. Apparently, Dave Melton, whom I have met, (great guitarist and
genuine blues lover), but failed to run in to was there, and gives a good
accounting of the Little Walter footage elsewhere here on the L.
Thanks for the space!
Best wishes to all for a peaceful, prosperous, and great new and blue year,
Stan
--Make Blues On Tap World Wide No.1 - email: top...@audionet.com
http://ww2.audionet.com/jukebox/ruffo.htm
--Blues On Tap Sundays 8pm-10pm on Visalia, CA - KIOO 99.7FM
(Currently: Arbitron's No1 rated music show in the area for that time slot!)
st...@ruffo.com - http://www.ruffo.com
----------
> From: Don O. <do...@CHRYSALIS.ORG>
> Subject: little walter on film
> Date: Thursday, December 26, 1996 11:13 PM
>
> I've been no-mail for awhile, off on vacation, so I don't know if this has
> been mentioned before or not. In the December issue of Southland Blues
> Magazine, the L.A. House of Blues has an ad on page 11 for the 10th annual
> Hall of Fame Festival, which, this year, is a tribute to Little Walter. In
> a small box it states "First time ever seen!!! Video of Little Walter!!"
> This takes place Saturday December 28 in conjunction with a killer live show
> (Kim Wilson, Snooky Pryor, Billy Boy Arnold, Rusty Zinn and more). A second
> show will take place at the Belly Up Tavern on December 29.
>
> I _DO_ hope some west coast blues-l'er is planning to attend and report!!
> Details on that video would be appreciated!!
>
> Don O.
JORGE MUNOZ RODRIGUEZ
Stan Ruffo wrote:
>I am not familiar with Lester Butler, and he was introduced as being a
>Hightone Recording artist. From what I can tell, he has been
>around the LA blues seen for a while. One thing struck me quit readily.
>He really put on a good act of being high... That's not to say he couldn't
>play some mean harp and sing some pretty rocked out tunes, just that
>he didn't seem to be in complete control of his....um self. Again 30 min.
>
Lester Butler was the vocals and harp player with THE RED DEVILS, on the
1992 "King King" cd, recorded live at King King, Hollywood, CA.
A Hell of live set!
Lester also plays harp in the Billy Boy Arnold's "Back Where I Belong"
Alligator CD.
Aan he plays in the "21st Century Blues... from da 'hood", the Chris Thomas
fantastic! 1994 album, if you know what fantastic that CD is!
Jorge.
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