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not enough gigs around to provide a living, and he was forced to take any
work outside music that he could.
He was by now largely forgotten amongst the record buying public, but
continued to work the Chicago clubs with his band when he could. He was
also prepared to move forward with his music, by incorporating some of
the post-war sounds in his repertoire, with songs by Elmore James, Joe
Liggins and Percy Mayfield.
In 1953 he got the opportunity to record
four sides for Al Benson’s Parrot label
(Albert King was a label mate at that time),
but their release did not re-ignite his
career.
By 1958 he was living in pretty desperate
circumstances, in a shabby room in a run
down South Michigan hotel, and it was
here that blues enthusiasts Bob Koester,
Dave Mangurian, and Don Hill found him.
Although this meeting did not initially
produce anything positive for Jones, the following year French blues
authority and journalist Jacques Demetre was tipped off by Sunnyland Slim
about him. As a result he arranged an interview with Jones, which appeared
Don Robey
in the French Jazz Hot magazine, and off the back of the ensuing publicity
Prestige invited him to record an album for their Bluesville label. Although
he was provided with rather unsympathetic backing musicians, the
resulting album (‘Trouble Blues’) gave a boost to his virtually dormant
career.
Just over a year later the visit of Koester and friends produced fruit when
he recorded the album “Lonesome Bedroom Blues” for Delmark. In the
liner notes, Koester described his playing as “Texas styled blues, played
and sung by a desperate, almost forgotten man; writing, singing and playing
for a few friends”. This album highlights Curtis Jones at his best, playing
solo. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be available new any more,
although there are used copies on such sites as Amazon.
However, he did not hang around Chicago to see whether the album was a
success, for later in the same month he boarded his flight to Zurich, and a
