Kansas City blues plus the best Kansas City BBQ equals heaven!I'm the owner of BB's Lawnside Bar-B-Que, a Kansas City BBQ and Blues joint. I've also hosted the Kansas City Blues Show on KCFX 101 The Fox for more than 20 years. I am hopeful that through this blog, I can introduce you to some great blues music, and KC Barbeque. |
All the way from North Hollywood, California, Chris Bell & 100% Blues, bring their West Coast style to B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ. This is the first time Bell has played B.B.’s, so it will be a special treat to have a national blues artist in such an intimate setting. Bell is currently performing as Jimi Hendrix in the ultimate Hendrix tribute, Room Full of Mirrors. Also, Bell is host and producer of 100% Blues, the public access cable TV show in the Los Angeles area.
 Chris and his band “100% Blues” features Chuck Maithonis on bass and backing vocals, DJ Sticks on drums, and Dan Pulos on Hammond Organ. They have been successfully touring the Western U.S., and regularly head out to the East Coast every summer. They have received rave reviews of their latest album “Real Bluesman” in such magazines as Blues Revue, Living Blues, Southland Blues, Big City Rhythm & Blues, and more. Jim Santos of Southland Blues Magazine wrote – “Bell comes up with a winner that will undoubtedly wind up among this year’s top ten blues albums.” They have also just recently released their live concert DVD “Stage on Fire”, filmed locally in Tujunga, CA.
Bell performs at BB’s Lawnside BBQ Saturday, July 17 – 9pm. $5 cover
Listen to Chis Bell & 100% Blues:
Bad News
Forgive and Forget
You couldn’t get a better recommendation than this. BB’s Lawnside Barbecue will present “one of [owner] Lindsay Shannon’s favorites,” Henry Clay on Saturday, June 26, 2010. Not much is known about this artist in the world at large, but Columbia, Missouri natives and fellow blues musicians treat Clay with great respect as a high performance blues harmonica aficionado.
Read more from Skaught Patterson, Kansas City Jazz & Blues Music Examiner
Listen to songs from Henry Clay’s New Madrid Earthquake
If We Only Had The Time
Nothin’ I Got
You’re Not The Lonely One
Too Young To Die
Backwater Blues
Lovin’ Place
Because You Kissed Me
Prodigal Son
 View of the Hopson Plantation and Shackup Inn For the past seven years in April, Clarksdale, Miss. hosts the Juke Joint Festival. This year, I went down there with a few friends to experience some of the great blues and food. Here are my notes: I headed out of Kansas City towards Springfield, Mo., to pick up my best friend and runnin’ partner, Paul Garrison. Next stop Little Rock, Ark., where Jimmy Cleavland was waiting at the airport after flying in from Minneapolis, Minn. The three of us started our trek to where the blues began, the Mississippi Delta. Crossing the Mississippi River bridge at Helena, Ark. (home of the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival) the flat fertile delta cotton land reminded us quickly of what hardships birthed the blues in the early 1900’s. Highway 49 quickly crosses Highway 61 south to Clarksdale, home of the Juke Joint Festival, Hambone Festival, Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival, Sam Cooke, Ike Turner, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Morgan Freeman (The water must be special in Clarksdale).
 Unique instrument played by Bill Abel The Juke Joint Festival celebrates the arrival of Spring in the Delta by combining the family fun of a small-town fair with
 Super Chikan playing at the Juke Joint Festival international tourist appeal of a big-time blues festival. The actual festival is on Saturday starting at 9am, no blues music until 10am with other events: canoe carving, a 5K run, arts & crafts and food.
Thursday night, Paul, Jimmy and Biff Kummer from Bowling Green, Kentucky and I hooked up with some old college pals. We headed for Ground Zero, a blues club owned by Morgan Freeman. It’s Clarksdale’s largest juke joint; a tourist mecca compared to places like Red’s Lounge, an authentic Mississippi juke joint. Ground Zero has live blues music every Wednesday through Saturday.
Friday and Saturday included visits to Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art, Inc., the Delta Blues Museum, Hambone Art Gallery (owned by artist and blues musician Stan Street). Hambone houses a framed Runnin’ Shoes poster. Hopson Plantation, Shack Up Inn and Sarah’s Kitchen where Honeyboy Edwards was performing, Bluesberry Cafe where we heard Watermelon Slim, and Robin Rogers Band. Just across Yazoo Street from Tricia’s Italian Restaurant & Pie Hole, presenting Big Red & the Soulbenders. [The Mississippi Blues Trail provides a calendar of blues events at place like Tricia's].
Other bluesmen who grabbed our attention included:
 Pat Thomas at the Cat Head Store - Robert “Wolfman” Belfour
- Pat Thomas
- Jimmy Duck Holmes
- Adam Gussow
- Terry “Harmonica” Bean
- Cadillac John and Bill Abel
- Blind Mississippi Morris
- Super Chikan
- Tullie Brae and the Medicine Man Revue
- T-Model Ford
- Big George Brock & the Houserockers (with Charine Wagner)
- The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
- Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm
 Lindsay Shannon in front of the WROX Radio sign Whew! Wait…I’m not done. I almost forgot that we placed bets on Robinson’s Racing Pigs and laughed and laughed at Monkey’s Riding Dogs, and the Turkey & Duck call contest. We drank lots of cold beer, sipped whiskey, ate ribs and sampled some fine gumbo. Hey, if you’re gonna drive all the way to Clarksdale, Miss., you have to do it all!
 Blues storyteller, Doug Macleod This Friday, May 21 – Kansas City is in for something special. Hailing from Los Angeles, Calif., as part of his 2010 Midwest tour, Doug Macleod is dropping by B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ for a unique performance. Macleod has played with the likes of Big Joe Turner, “Cleanhead” Vinson, and George “Harmonica” Smith. His songs have been recorded by Albert King, Albert Collins and Son Seals.
Macleod is a traveling artist who writes and performs original material based on his own life experiences. He is known for his superb songwriting and guitar playing, in the blues tradition, with warm soulful wit and unforgettable live performances.
David “Honeyboy” Edwards said, “Doug Macleod, now there’s a man that can really play the blues.”
ALERT: There has been a scheduling change at BB’s Lawnside BBQ. Millage Gilbert is now playing Friday, May 14. Gilbert has been on the Kansas City blues scene for nearly 35 years. 
A review of his performance at Blues Masters in Salina, Kan., said “The Kansas City blues man Millage Gilbert was one of the highlights of an overall night of great performances. Millage’s stinging electric blues guitar virtuosity was well demonstrated, coaxing rich tones and biting licks out of his stratocaster ….with as fine vocals interspersed with guitar phrasing nothing short of incredible”
There has always been a correlation between the blues and the animal kingdom, as illustrated by a few songs from my recent Kansas City Blues Show. Many blues artists have claimed to be animals in their songs, as did Omar & the Howlers in their song “Monkey Land.” Also, Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds) on his Tigerman CD and title cut “Tigerman.” And of course John Lee Hooker has been a “Crawlin’ King Snake” since the 1950’s.
Don’t forget the groups like the Animals, Cobras, Flamingos, Kingsnakes and Alligator Records, all named for animals you might find in the zoo. So, when B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ decided to host a benefit for the Kansas City Zoo, it made perfect sense because of the tie-in with the blues. The band that will entertain you during the fundraiser this Sunday (5/16), Platinum Express, has a history with the Zoo as they performed for nearly 5,000 people at Jazzoo last Summer. All proceeds from the afternoon’s festivities will go towards supporting the nearly 1,000 animals who call Kansas City home.
This week Kansas City Blues Show highlights blues songs about animals in preparation for the Kansas City Zoo benefit with Platinum Express. Blues artists featured include Kim Wilson’s “Tigerman,” Omar & the Howlers’ “Monkey Land,” and John Lee Hooker’s “Crawlin’ Kingsnake.”
This week on the Kansas City Blues Show (5/2/10), Lindsay Shannon plays tunes from Doyle Bramhall, The Holmes Brothers, Janiva Magness, Solomon Burke, Moreland & Arbuckle, Mannish Boys Buddy Guy and more…
Play list from the Kansas City Blues Show (4/25/10). This week, host Lindsay Shannon features Freddie King, B.B. King, Leon Russell, Curtis Selgado, Albert King, Michael Burks, Catfish Keith, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, DC Bellamy, Roscoe Chenier, Rockin Jake, Sonny Boy Williamson, and more…
Two excellent and very different blues artists are playing B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ this weekend. Catfish Keith is playing Friday (4/30) and Rockin’ Jake is playing Saturday (5/1).
Muddy Waters is my favorite blues artist. No, he is my favorite musician, period…in any genre. He is the centerpiece of the blues mural that has graced BB’s Lawnside BBQ for many years. At BB’s Lawnside BBQ, the blues joint I own, we have celebrated his birthday for many years with great Chicago blues, and a commemorative t-shirt. And with his birthday right around the corner (April 4), I thought it would be a good time to share my memories of seeing him live, and my favorite recordings.
 The best place to start any Muddy Waters collection is with a compilation of his work. My favorite is a two-disc set, Muddy Waters – The Anthology, on MCA Records. It starts with “Gypsy Woman” and “I Can’t Be Satisfied” originally on Aristocrat Records before the Chess Brothers changed their label name. These songs were released on 78 RPM in 1947 and 1948, respectively.
The first disc covers Muddy’s early classics “Rollin Stone,” “Louisiana Blues,” “Long-distance Call,” “Still a Fool,” “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “I Just Want to Make Love to You” (which appears on BB’s 2010 Muddy Waters t-shirt). The second disc continues with the classics, “Mannish Boy,” “Got My Mojo Working,” “She’s Nineteen Year’s Old”…which brings the listener to 1972. Obviously, a terrific overview of Muddy’s early career.
I first saw Muddy Waters in 1964 at the Club Mardi Gras on 18th & Vine in Kansas City, Missouri. A few years later, in 1967, I saw him at the Newport Jazz Festival where I was lucky enough to talk with Otis Spann, Muddy’s longtime piano player. The photos I took of Muddy graced the 2009 Muddy Waters t-shirt. Not long after that show, I purchased Muddy Waters at Newport 1960, a live classic with “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” and an extended version of “I’ve Got My Mojo Working.”
My next experience seeing Muddy live was June 3, 1971 at Mr. Kelly’s in downtown Chicago, the night of my bachelor party before Jo (the real boss of BB’s) and I got married. Muddy recorded a live album Muddy Waters Live (at Mr. Kelly’s) a few days later during the same engagement. Both albums give the listener a good idea of a live Muddy Waters performance.
Muddy’s so-called “comeback” after he had left Chess Records was in 1971 when Johnny Winter convinced his record label (Blue Sky/CBS) to record an album. Johnny played on the album along with Muddy’s band at the time. That album, Hard Again, contained remakes of classics like “Mannish Boy,” “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” plus new material such as “The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock & Roll” and “Cross-eyed Cat.” Lots of energy for a 58-year old Mississippi bluesman. This album was very important because it brought Muddy’s music to a whole new generation of fans.
There are two other albums I would recommend: Folk Singer and One More Mile. Folk Singer, an acoustic album from 1964, was cut in Chess studios with Buddy Guy on guitar and Willie Dixon on bass. Muddy came to Chicago in the late 1940’s playing an acoustic guitar before he “plugged in” and this album took him back to the Delta.
Kicking off with “Thirteen Highway”, One More Mile, is a double album from 1963. This album features James Cotton (harmonica), Luther Tucker (guitar), Otis Spann (piano) Will Dixon (bass) and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (drums). All famous bluesmen in their own right. My Pencil Won’t Write anymore makes my top 10 list of Muddy’s songs.
Top 10 Muddy songs:
1) Louisiana Blues, 1950
2) Rollin’ Stone, 1950
3) Still A Fool, 1951
4) I Just Want to Make Love to You, 1954
5) I’m Ready, 1954
6) Mannish Boy, 1955 & 1971
7) She’s Nineteen Years Old, 1958
8) My Home is In The Delta, 1963
9) Strange Woman, 1971
10) My Pencil Won’t Write No More, 1972
Check out my complete Muddy Waters playlist.
Remember, all of the album and song selections are my personal favorites. Please feel free to dig in and make your own choices. And remember to honor Muddy every year!
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B.B.’s Specials!Wed. Beef Burnt End Special with two sides, only $9.95
Thursday Rib Special
Full slab $14.95, half slab $9.50
Happy Hour Specials! Tues. - Fri. 4pm - 6pm
Dine In & Bar Stool Only
The Pulled Porker, 8oz w/Battered Fries...$4.95
Large Smoked Chicken Wings (8)...$4.95
Cajun Wrap...$4.95
Rib Tips w/Battered Fries...$4.95
BBQ Meatloaf w/Green Beans, Skillet Fries...$4.95
Tamp Red’s Chili...$3.95
Muddy Mojo Chicken Basket...$3.95
Louisiana Swampman Boudin Balls...$3.95 |
