BluesWax
Does The Biscuit
The 19th Annual
King Biscuit Blues Festival
Helena, Arkansas
October 7 -9, 2004
Story and photos by T-Bone
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 blueswax@visnat.com.
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.
