NEXT CHAPTER OF MY FIELD RECORDING YEARS In 1961 and 1962, I traveled to Memphis to hear, photograph, and record blues singers. Finally, in early 1963, I started wondering if there might be any blues singers in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. So, during a fraternity rummage sale in nearby Decatur, where I was helping to sell old clothes to poorer black people , I decided to ask some customers if they knew of any blues singers in the area, and was told about a duo—harmonica player and vocalist Bruce Upshaw and guitarist and vocalist Willie Rockomo. I located them and ask if they would like to record. The session was held in the living room of my family’s house; they were quite good, and I was thrilled! No need to drive all the way to Memphis to hear traditional blues musicians when they were right here at home in Atlanta. No matter that they never recorded during the heyday of “race records.” No telling how many superb blues musicians never heard their music on wax. Whether or not a great blues musician recorded was partly a matter of luck and where the companies happened to set up their portable studios. Here is Bruce Upshaw solo, blowing harp and singing, recorded in the living room of my family’s house in Decatur, Georgia. (Upshaw was from Montgomery, Alabama, a construction job having drawn him to Atlanta.)
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 05:04:23 +0000
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