Swamp Blues Vol.4

Baton Rouge Blues
and R&B Musicians
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Vol. 4

Item# W925
Price $17.25
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Titles 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13 produced & recorded 1990 & 1991 by Steve Coleridge, co-producer: Mike Shepherd. Titles 2, 5, 6, 9, 11 produced by Andrea Maria & Hannes Folterbauer, recorded by Nelson Blanchard and Mike Shepherd at Techno Sound, Baton Rouge, April 1990. Mixed and mastered by Wolfgang Opratko & Gerhard Vellusig, Top-Ton-Studio. Photos by Steve Colerdige, Tabby Thomas & Hannes Folterbauer. Liner Notes by Steve Coleridge. Cover Design by Andrea Maria Folterbauer.

Clarence Edwards

1. Driving Wheel - Clarence Edwards, vocal & guitar; Harmonica Red, harp; Pick Delmore, drums; A. G. Hardesty, bass.
2. Cold Black Mare - Clarence Edwards, vocal & guitar; David Hill, bass; Jess, Kenchin, drums.
3. Hi Heel Sneakers - Same as 1, with Michael Ward, violin.
4. Pointy Brown - Clarence Edwards, vocal & guitar; Harmonica Red, harp; Steve Coleridge, bass; Scott Shipman, violin, S. Shipman, mandolin; Ronnie Houston, drums.
5. Don't Play With My Mistakes - Same as 2. 6. I'm So Glad Clarence Edwards, vocal & acoustic guitar.
7. Free Will - Clarence Edwards, vocal & guitar; A. G. Hardesty, bass; Pick Delmore, drums; Harmonica Red, harp; Harold Washington & Roosevelt Boudreaux, guitars.
8. Up's And Down's - Same as 1.
9. Don't Got Over - Same as 6.
10. Awful Blues - Same as 7.
11. Stack O'Dollars - Same as 6.
12. Caress Me Baby - Oscar Davis, harp; Ronnie Houston, drums; T-Bone Singleton & Vic Shepherd, guitars; Steve Coleridge, bass.
13. Down In Virginia Same as 12. 120.925 CD

Oscar "Harp" Davis

CLARENCE EDWARDS & OSCAR "HARP" DAVIS

Clarence Edwards was born 1933 in Linsey, Louisiana. He lives a few hundred yards off Highway 61 in the community of Scotlandville, a few miles north of Baton Rouge. Clarence has been playing since he was 12 and learned from Charley Patton 78s on his grandfather's Victrola. For some reason he never recorded for Jay Miller in the heyday of the Crowley blues recordings. Clarence Edwards represents the Swamp blues today and is both a great singer and guitar player. 30 years after his first recordings for Folklyric you can listen to the great guitar style of Clarence on acoustic guitar on this CD. It was a rainy evening when Steve Coleridge made this interview:
"Where was your first Job?" "The first job I played was across the river, down on the Bayou, they call it Joe D's Place, that was the Boogie Beats - that was me, my brother Cornelius, Landry Buggs and Jackson Acox on drums." "What song did you play?" "I can't recall - we just played blues - it was the blues I was really interested in." "Did you ever play with a pick?" "Nothing but a thumb pick." "Did you ever play for white audiences?" "No, never have." "Did you ever play anything except blues?" "No, I never did play anything much but the blues. I just never learned to play other stuff too much, just a very little. I never thought about it. I always concentrated on blues - I figured a way to play it to make the people like it -there's nothing better than a good piece of blues when want to hear music." "You got shot in the leg, one time?" "Yeah, got broke."
"How did that happen?" "There's a lot of stories about that. But there's only one truth. They said I got shot by a woman... I didn't get shot by no woman - it was a man out at that club, The Silver Moon in Alsen, and was us brothers together - he claimed in court that all of us was fixing to jump on him and he had to defend himself - that's how he went down. I was not going to bother nobody but the man said I was trying to take his woman or something, and when he came out the door to go home he just started shooting. He shot me and another brother too."
"How many brothers do you have?" "I got 7 living. There were 13 and my sister." 'Where did you live then?' "Alsen. I was 20, and now I am 56, - I was doing farmwork. Since 1955 I've been at Thomas Scrap." A. G. Hardesty "Did Robert Pete Williams work then?" "No but he used to bring scrap there in his truck; and Slim Harpo too." "Did you know them?" David Hill "I knew Robert. We recorded together one time for a man in a truck. Never heard about it, a song called Cedar Tree Blues."
Oscar "Harp' Davis. The influence of Slim Harpo can be heard on the next artist, Oscar Davis. Oscar is one of the best harmonica players around. Unfortunately, few people outside of Baton Rouge have heard him since his first recording and he travels little. Few harmonica players can match Oscar and his delivery of Slim Harpo songs. He credits Slim Harpo for the development of his playing style; and his playing and singing is a fine tribute to the great Slim Harpo. You can also listen to some great Oscar "Harp" Davis songs on CD 120.922: Louisiana Blues "Live" at Tabby's Blues Box!