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including the Mississippi Sheiks, Narmour & Smith,

and the Ray Brothers, wrote and recorded songs about
CLICK This image to hear
the drink that caused the “limber leg.” The Ray
Brothers’ banjoist was said to have been so affected
by the Jake Leg that it ended his musical career.

The brothers Gross and Reisman were given probation
and Gross served a 2-year jail sentence for violating
Prohibition laws. The various distributors and the
Celluloid Corporation, which supplied the chemical,
were never charged or sued. An organization was
formed, the United Victims of Jamaican Ginger
Paralysis, which was said to represent 35,000

unfortunate Americans. This was an age when class-
Tommy Johnson’ ‘Alcohol and Jake
action suits didn’t exist, and most of the victims were
Blues
poor and had little recourse [to justice].

Their story was soon pushed aside by news of the Depression and the War in Europe [WWII] that was

getting underway. If not for musicians like Tommy Johnson, the sufferers of Jake Leg might have been
forgotten by history altogether. As it is, the Blues has given their stories at least as much staying
power as the bricks and granite of 65 Fulton Street.

-Annie Raines

BLUES BEFORE SUNRISE 2

INTERVIEWS FROM THE CHICAGO SCENE
STEVE CUSHING
University Of Illinois Press / ISBN 978-0-252-08465-2

You may recall my review of the first Blues Before Sunrise a while ago? Well, here’s Steve Cushing’s second
volume (published 2019) which I discovered quite by accident whilst searching for something else!

The blurb on the back of the book is from Edward Komara, editor of “Encyclopedia Of The Blues”…”Rarely
are sequels better than the originals, but this is a happy exception. Cushing delivers another truly significant
contribution to the blues literature”.
This was quite an interesting read, because although there are interviews with artists such as Brewer Phillips,
Roosevelt Sykes, Blind John Davis and others. Cushing has sectioned this volume into four distinct chapters:-
Talkin’ ‘Bout You, Amen Corner, Bronzeville and Short Order Chicago.
There will certainly be names in here that you’ve not heard of – well I hadn’t anyway.

My initial thought was that I would not enjoy this book as much as the first, am I really going to find anything
of interest to me in the Bronzeville chapter? What has someone like Nat Cole to do with blues? Who was
Bill Samuels?
Strangely enough, “Blues Before Sunrise 2”, even with the broadening of the musical content, was extremely
interesting and certainly gives a better overall picture of the interaction between the various musicians and
styles, something which I feel ‘blues lovers’ tend to ignore or have little interest in.

Is it better than Cushing’s original? Not better, but as an addition to the first “Blues Before Sunrise” it’s most
definitely informative; connecting the people who made and make the music we enjoy. Yes, I actually did
like this book and feel it worthy of your investigation.

Bob Pearce