Mildred Bailey |
W C Handy |
Mississippi John Hurt |
Blue Lu Barker |
Sleepy John Estes |
Robert Nighthawk |
J. B. Hutto |
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| Featured album ... Me and Mr Johnson |
In my collection / studio there are literally hundreds of albums and thousands of tracks, in my car, just one - 'Me and Mr Johnson'.
Respectfully, and at the risk of being labelled a blues philistine, Mr Clapton isn't really at the top of my tree when it comes to the many blues artists, preferring, as I do, the more, earlier ones. However, this album a cover of Robert Johnson's songs is something special. If this one isn't in your collection, it should be. |
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Back to the Roots of the Blues ... Backtracking
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Latest release 19th Sept 2025 - Thank you for visiting with us, we cordially invite you to review and download the current production below. 'Backtracking' is a result of our research a journey of discovery that never ends, our love of the Blues and respect for the artists that left us this legacy of music.
All this simply because the music, the history and the culture of the blues never ends. We're honoured and privileged to share the music within the genre of the Blues back in time a hundred years and beyond, a genre so vast and so diverse.
Backtracking is streamed online and is broadcast worldwide. It's free to join the 'Backtracking' time machine - Get the authentic blues on your radio station ..... |
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Featured artist of the week .... Howlin Wolf
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Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, As an entertainer, as an individual, and as a bluesman, he was outsized, unpredictable, and always his own man. He was a great blues singer who possessed that quality of egocentric self-absorption that is the mark of the true showman. To many people this may seem contradictory, but the Wolf proved that to its natural audience blues is not all pain and suffering, but is instead a kind of release.
Chester was brought up on a cotton plantation in Mississippi, the music he heard in his youth was the traditional tunes of the region. He started singing professionally in the 1920s and ’30s he performed throughout Mississippi, playing in small clubs. He was influenced by the music of Blind Lemon Jefferson, the second Sonny Boy Williamson (formerly known as Alex or Aleck Rice Miller), and Charley Patton.
In the 1940s Chester went to Arkansas, here he formed his own group, which included James Cotton and Little Junior Parker, both of whom became noted blues performers in their own right. Chester accompanied himself on guitar and harmonica, but his main instrument was his guttural and emotionally suggestive voice, which gave his songs power and authenticity. After his first record, 'Moanin' at Midnight” (1951), became a hit. Chester then moved to Chicago, where he, along with Muddy Waters, made the city a center for the transformation of the  (acoustic) Mississippi Delta blues style into an electrically amplified style for urban audiences. His work was known only to blues audiences until the Rolling Stones and other British and American rock stars of the 1960s and ’70s acknowledged his influence.
Chester was noted for his brooding lyrics and his earthy, aggressive stage presence. |
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Lucille Bogan: was a classic female blues singer and songwriter, and was among the first to be recorded. She also recorded under the pseudonym Bessie Jackson. She was described as one of ‘The big three of the blues’, along with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. The tragedy of her music is simply that it isn’t playable on radio because so many tracks are obscene and sexually explicit, and she is generally considered to have been a ‘dirty blues’ singer.
Her recording career came to an end in 1935 and she eventually returned to Birmingham where she reverted to her real name and performed in and managed the group Bogan’s Birmingham Busters but did not appear on either of the group’s records.<
Bogan's Birmingham Busters was a jazz ensemble managed Lucille and led by her son, Nazareth Bogan Jr, The band was active in the late 1930s, recorded in Birmingham, Alabama, for the Vocalion label in and around 1937 before relocating to Los Angeles in 1941.
Lucille returned to Birmingham after making her last recordings to manage the Busters. The line up included amongst others lesser known as Bob Jones Johnny Bell and Johnny Grimes on vocals, Lee Golden on alto sax, Martin Barnett on trumpet, Robert McCoy on piano and Clarence Curly on washboard. The Busters' Vocalion singles were re-issued by Melotone Records in 1967. |
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Get in touch, How to contact ... PD Productions
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Every day we have the blues ..... PD Productions Video archive...
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| Welcome to the PD Productions video archive. We are delighted to receive video clips from our very good friends around the world to include in our 'Backtracking' program. Below is a list of the clips scheduled for the next few weeks ... |
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The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There |
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47th Street Jive - June Richmond with Roy Milton's band |
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B. B. King - The Thrill Is Gone |
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Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy |
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Nina Simone - Ain't got no, I got life |
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Raymunda Dutch Blues - Pity the fool |
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Take Me to the River LIVE - Sharde Thomas and Rising Star |
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| Current clip: The Rabbit Foot Minstrels ... |
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| Play the current video |
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| Download from our server |
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| Legal / Copyright stuff |
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Myths and Legends of the blues ..... St. James Infirmary
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The legend of ‘St. James Infirmary’ refers to a famous American blues and jazz song, but the true origin is a myth surrounding the connection to an 18th-century English folk song called The Unfortunate Rake. The myth is that the American song is descended from this long lost British folk song, sadly, supported by tenuous evidence.
The original 18th Century song tells the lurid story of a soldier dying in St. James Infirmary of an undefined disease. The true origin of the legend is said to be an American or British song dated from somewhere in the 18th Century, and tells the story of where the singer discovers their lover dead at the St. James Infirmary and arranges for a lavish, raucous funeral, or it could be an 18th-century English folk song about a soldier dying, they appear to be two separate songs.
I have no idea how many versions of the song there are, probably hundreds or how many different lyrics there are, the research books refer to several different lyric structures and changes made to consider the sensitivities of the time. I'm not even sure how many there are in our archives. In our collection they range from 1967 back as far as 1933 - that is the one we're streaming this time. St James Infirmary 1933. |
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