Page 22 - BiTS_02_FEBRUARY_2025
P. 22

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
   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27