Sam Myers: The Blues is My Story

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

121-122

130-131

text excerpt

We're going to go way back a number of years to what happened with the late John Lee Hooker, who was originally from Clarksdale, Mississippi. He left home at an early time, back in the forties, went to Chicago and hung around awhile and then went to Detroit. He played the original clubs there like Henry's Swing Club and various bars around the area and all over the south and west sides of Detroit. Henry's Swing Club was on Hastings Street before they cut the expressway across it. That used to be the street in Detroit for the blues. John Lee Hooker used to play there and he wrote this song, "Boogie Chillen." During that time, he recorded other songs that he wrote, like "Sally Mae," "Devil's Stomp," "Nightmare Blues," and a Big Joe Williams tune, "Baby Please Don't Go." He did these recordings under an assumed name, "Texas Slim." He may have been under some kind of commitment or contract that he wasn't able to draw any royalties under his name, so he recorded under that name in order to get paid. But people, they knew it was John Lee Hooker when they heard his record. A lot of times the name protects the innocent, but if you're innocent, what kind of name would you have to use other than your own, to protect yourself?

excerpt from 'Sam Myers: The Blues is My Story' pp. 121-122 (226 words)

excerpt from 'Sam Myers: The Blues is My Story' pp. 130-131 (226 words)

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1432901776186