Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD

Subject: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 30 Jul 05 - 03:10 PM

Folks,

Old friend, Fritz Schuler tells me that BLIND ARVELLA GRAY's (real name James Dixon) only LP album will be out on CD on August 2, 2005. It will be titled THE SINGING DRIFTER

You can get it from:
http://www.conqueroo.com/conjuroo

or by mail from:
Cojuroo Recordings
13351-D Riverside Drive #655
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423-2450


Arvella was a blues singer -- born in Texas in 1906--died in Chicago in 1980.--He played on the streets of Chicago back when I was young. The Maxwell Street open air market was his regular gig---but so was playing to the rush hour crowds at the Chicago Transit Authority subway entrance at State Street and Grand Avenue in that city where I took photographs of him. His style on the old metal National-type guitar (called a Dobro in the press release--maybe because both are resophonic guitars) was bottleneck, mostly, since he'd lost a few fingers on his chording hand. The notes I read say he went blind about 1930, possibly when "robbing a bank in Peoria, Illinois". (That'll for sure sell some CDs anyhow!) Seems he never told that tale the same way twice.

Arvella Gray did play at the first Univ. Of Chicago Folk Festival in 1961---and I do hope that some of the extra tracks on this CD are from those WFMT tapes. His "Goin' To Heaven Blues" was, as I recall, one of the songs he did that long ago very cold night of February 4th. Again, to see my photos on the web of Arvella Gray go to http://rudegnu.com/art_thieme.html
Enter the word "mudcat" as both the password and the user name.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 30 Jul 05 - 11:35 PM

The proper name for this record company is CONJUROO RECORDINGS--not what I said in the above post.

Sorry

Art

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 31 Jul 05 - 12:53 PM

Art,
You didn't mention that he was also an amateur movie buff and made films on Maxwell while he was performing. AND can I say for those who thinks this is a sick joke, it is true he had the camera strapped to his belt while he played.
Hoot.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 31 Jul 05 - 03:46 PM

That is pretty amazing.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 31 Jul 05 - 03:52 PM

Hoot, Given that Arvella was blind, what were his motives?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 05:36 AM

Art, I can't explain that I'm afraid but even more bizarre is that in a documentary which I cannot recall the title of it shows Arvella running his films for the benefit of Jimmy Brewer. I never met Arvella so don't know if perhaps he had a litle vision but in my brief meeting with Jimmy I was convinced that he had none at all.
Perhaps he thought that there might be some money to be made from filming the famous street market and selling the results to the blues enthusiasts. I remember personally buying a well thumbed and grubby copy of a book about Maxwell from a Maxwell Street musician (his picture was in it) and paying about double the price for which it was available in a book store, I was unaware that it was still available. I'm sure Arvella was very street wise and realised how many gullible collectors there were out there at the time, so maybe that was it.

Hoot

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 01 Aug 05 - 11:07 AM

And Jim Brewer was blind as well! Although Jim could see a bit of light and could make out things on a page in bright light while holding things VERY close to his eyes.

Jim Brewer sang and played his songs on Wednesday nights at the No Exit Coffeehouse in Chicago's Rogers Park far north side neighborhood.--------(For all that time I did Thursday nights for many, many years.) Andy Cohen was driving Jim up there every week back then.

All the best,

Art

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,hamprod
Date: 02 Aug 05 - 10:37 AM

Art,

He showed me one night at the Gate of Horn in the Sixties how to make a glass bottle top slide. We actually broke a whiskey bottle in the catacombs of the Gate with lots of concrete handy. We honed down the sharp edge of the bottle top on the sidewalk outside the club. I think he actually went onstage and did a set with it.

Quite an instruction. Can't learn that in music school.

Frank Hamilton

Subject: RE: Folklore: Blind ArvellaGray only LP now a CD
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 02 Aug 05 - 08:34 PM

Frank,

I should've known you would 've found him in Chicago back then. Ella Jenkins tells me he was a friend of hers as well. ----- (Ella is doing just great these days, by the way. I think she just had her 80th birthday. And Cathy Fink produced a tribute CD to Ella recently where a bunch of great performers each did one of Ella's thousands of songs. Very nice! It was called ELLA-BRATION!)

Sorry for the thread drift...

Art