Smokes Like Lightnin’ was released in 1963.
Various Artists—Bad Luck ‘n’ Trouble
January 23, 1962. ACA Recording Studio, 3619 Fannin St., Houston, TX. Producer: Mack McCormick.
Vocal/piano with Joe “Spider” Kilpatrick, drums.
“Candy Wagon” Arhoolie LP 1018
Bad Luck ‘n’ Trouble was released in 1965.
Note: This various artists LP includes Clifton Chenier, Bukka White, Mercy Dee, K. C. Douglas, and others.
Lightnin’ and Co.
February 17, 1962; February 20, 1962. ACA Recording Studio, 3619 Fannin St., Houston, TX. Producer: Mack McCormick
Vocal/electric guitar with (collectively) Billy Bizor, vocal/harmonica*; Edwin “Buster” Pickens, piano; Donald Cooks, bass; Joe “Spider” Kilpatrick, drums.
“My Baby Don’t Stand No Cheating” Bluesville LP 1061; (45) 825
“You Is One Black Rat” Bluesville LP 1061
“The Fox Chase”* Bluesville LP 1061
“Mojo Hand” Bluesville LP 1061
“Mama Blues”* Bluesville LP 1061
“Sinner’s Prayer” Bluesville LP 1061; (45) 822
“Angel Child” Bluesville LP 1061; (45) 822
“I Got a Leak in This Old Building” Bluesville LP 1061
“Pneumonia Blues” Bluesville LP 1061
“Have You Ever Been Mistreated” Bluesville LP 1061
Lightnin’ and Co. was released c.1962.
Hootin’ the Blues
May 17, 1962. Live at the Second Fret, Philadelphia, PA.
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar.
“Blues Is a Feeling” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
“Me and Ray Charles” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
“In the Evening” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
“Ain’t It Crazy” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
“Last Night I Lost the Best Friend I Ever Had” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
“Everything” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
“I Work Down on the Chain Gang” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
“Meet Me in the Bottom” Prestige Folklore LP 14021
Hootin’ the Blues was released in January 1964.
Goin’ Away
June 4, 1963. Gold Star Studio, 5628 Brock St., Houston, TX. Overdub session: June 21, 1963. Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Vocal/acoustic guitar with (overdubbed) Leonard Gaskin, bass; Herbie Lovelle, drums.
“Business You’re Doin’” Bluesville LP 1073; (45) 823
“Wake Up Old Lady” Bluesville LP 1073; (45) 823
“Goin’ Away” Bluesville LP 1073; (45) 824
“You Better Stop Here” Bluesville LP 1073; (45) 824
“Stranger Blues” Bluesville LP 1073
“Don’t Embarrass Me, Baby” Bluesville LP 1073
“Little Sister’s Boogie” Bluesville LP 1073
“I’m Wit’ It” Bluesville LP 1073
Goin’ Away was released in 1963.
Various Artists—Look, It’s Us!
c.1963. Gold Star Studio, 5628 Brock St., Houston, TX.
Vocal/acoustic guitar.
“Trouble in Mind” Jester LP
Look, It’s Us! was released c.1963.
Note: This various artists LP (a promotional album for the Jester Club in Houston) includes Guy Clark, Scott and Vivian Holtzman, Frank Davis, and Kay (K.T.) Oslin.
Live at Swarthmore College
April 6, 1964. Live at Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, PA.
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar.
“Baby Please Don’t Go” Prestige CD 7-4406
“My Black Cadillac” Prestige CD 7-4406
“It’s Crazy” Prestige CD 7-4406
“Mojo Hand” Prestige CD 7-4406
“My Babe” Prestige CD 7-4406
“Short Haired Woman” Prestige CD 7-4406
“Mean Old Frisco” Prestige CD 7-4406
“Trouble in Mind” Prestige CD 7-4406
“The Twister” Prestige CD 7-4406
“Green Onions” Prestige CD 7-4406
“Sun Goin’ Down” Prestige CD 7-4406
“Come Go Home with Me” Prestige CD 7-4406
“I’m a Stranger” Prestige CD 7-4406
Live at Swarthmore College was released in 1992.
Down Home Blues
May 4, 1964. Gold Star Studio, 5628 Brock St., Houston, TX. Overdub session: Date unknown, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Vocal/electric guitar/electric bottleneck guitar* with (overdubbed) Leonard Gaskin, bass; Herbie Lovelle, drums.
“Let’s Go Sit on the Lawn” Bluesville LP 1086; (45) 326
“I Woke Up This Morning”* Bluesville LP 1086
“I Got Tired” Bluesville LP 1086
“I Like to Boogie” Bluesville LP 1086; (45) 326
“I Asked the Bossman” Bluesville LP 1086
“I’m Taking the Devil of a Chance” Bluesville LP 1086
“Just a Wristwatch on My Arm” Bluesville LP 1086
“I Was Standing on 75 Highway” Bluesville LP 1086
“Get It Straight” Bluesville LP 1086
Down Home Blues was released in 1964.
Soul Blues
May 4 and 5, 1964. Gold Star Studio, 5628 Brock St., Houston, TX. Overdub session: Date unknown, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar with (overdubbed) Leonard Gaskin, bass; Herbie Lovelle, drums.
“The Howling Wolf” Prestige LP 7377
“Darling Do You Remember Me” Prestige LP 7377
“I’m a Crawling Blacksnake” Prestige LP 7377
“I’m Gonna Build Me a Heaven of My Own (Pts. 1 & 2)” Prestige LP 7377; (45) 405
“My Babe” Prestige LP 7377
“Too Many Drivers” Prestige LP 7377
“Rocky Mountain Blues” Prestige LP 7377
“I Mean Goodbye” Prestige LP 7377
“Black Ghost Blues” Prestige LP 7377
“Lonesome Graveyard” Prestige LP 7377
Soul Blues was released in 1966.
The American Folk Blues Festival 1962–1966
September 28, 1964. Live at the American Folk Blues Festival, (possibly) Hamburg, Germany. Producer: Horst Lippmann
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar with Willie Dixon, bass; Clifton James, drums.
“Mojo Hand” Hip-O Select CD 1003
The American Folk Blues Festival 1962–1966 was released in 2003.
Note: This various artists CD includes performances by Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Lonnie Johnson, Memphis Slim, and others.
Various Artists—American Folk Blues Festival—1964
October 9, 1964. Live at the American Folk Blues Festival, Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany. Producer: Horst Lippmann
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar.
“Ain’t It a Pity” Fontana (Germany) LP 885.411
“Baby Please Don’t Go” Fontana (Germany) LP 885.411
The American Folk Blues Festival—1964 was released (in Germany only) in 1964.
Note: This various artists LP includes performances by Sonny Boy Williamson, Sunnyland Slim, Howlin’ Wolf, Sleepy John Estes, and others.
My Life in the Blues
December 2, 1964. Live, unknown location. New York, NY. Producer: Sam Charters
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar.
“I Don’t Want to do Nothing with You” Prestige LP 7370
“You Is One Black Rat” Prestige LP 7370
“Just Boogyin’” Prestige LP 7370
“Take Me Back” Prestige LP 7370
“I Was Down on Dowling Street” Prestige LP 7370
Speech.
“I Growed Up with the Blues” Prestige LP 7370
“My Family” Prestige LP 7370
“I Learn About the Blues” Prestige LP 7370
“I First Come to Houston” Prestige LP 7370
“I Meet Texas Alexander” Prestige LP 7370
> “There Were Hard Times” Prestige LP 7370
“I Make My First Record and Get My Name” Prestige LP 7370
“My Thoughts on the Blues” Prestige LP 7370
My Life in the Blues (a double LP) was released July 1965.
Live at the Bird Lounge
1964. Live at the Bird Lounge, 2305 S. Shepherd, Houston, TX.
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar, “Curly Lee” (Billy Bizor), vocal/harmonica*.
“I Heard My Children Crying” Guest Star LP 1459
“Leave Jike Mary Alone” Guest Star LP 1459
“You Treat Po’ Lightning Wrong” Guest Star LP 1459
“I’m Gonna Meet My Babe Somewhere” Guest Star LP 1459
“There’s Good Rockin’ Tonight” Guest Star LP 1459
“Don’t Treat That Man ‘Way You Treat Me” Guest Star LP 1459
“Little Rose”* Collectables LP/CD 5206
“With You on My Mind” Collectables LP/CD 5206
“Sam Talking to the Group” Collectables LP/CD 5206
“Sam and Curley Talking” Collectables LP/CD 5206
“Possum Hunt”* Collectables LP/CD 5206
“Sam Talking and Strumming” Collectables LP/CD 5206
“Love Me or Leave Me” Collectables LP/CD 5206
“Load the Train”* Koch CD 9850
“Baby Don’t Tear My Clothes” Koch CD 9850
Live at the Bird Lounge was released c.1964.
The King of the Blues
c. December 1964. Houston, TX. Producer: Aubrey Mayhew
Vocal/electric guitar.
“This Time We’re Gonna Try” Pickwick LP 3013
“Christmastime Is Coming” Pickwick LP 3013
“Come on Baby, Let’s Work Awhile” Pickwick LP 3013
“The Jet” Pickwick LP 3013
“I Don’t Need You Woman” Pickwick LP 3013
“I Wish I Was a Baby” Pickwick LP 3013
“The Crazy Song” Pickwick LP 3013
“Lightnin’s Love” Pickwick LP 3013
“Take It If You Want It” Pickwick LP 3013
“How Have You Been?” Pickwick LP 3013
Probably from this session:
“From Man to Man” Collectables LP/CD 5203
“Little Boy Blue” Collectables LP/CD 5203
“That Man from New York City” Collectables LP/CD 5203
“I Got a Letter” Collectables LP/CD 5204
“Gonna Move Off This Street” Collectables LP/CD 5204
“How Can You Love Me and Another Man, Too” Collectables LP/CD 5204
“Chicken Minnie” Collectables LP/CD 5205
The King of the Blues was released in August 1965.
Various Artists—Ball and Chain
March 18, 1965. Houston, TX. Producer: Chris Strachwitz
Vocal/guitar with Harold “Frenchie” Joseph, drums.
“Gabriel” Arhoolie LP 1039
“Money Taker” Arhoolie LP 1039; (45) 513
“Come on Baby” Arhoolie LP 1039; (45) 513
“Prison Blues” Arhoolie LP 1039
“Mama’s Fight” Arhoolie LP 1039; (45) 508
“My Woman” Arhoolie LP 1039; (45) 508
Ball and Chain was released in 1969.
Note: This various artists LP also includes Big Mama Thornton and Larry Williams.
“Prison Blues” only appears on later pressings of this LP; it is excluded from first pressings.
Various Artists—Great Bluesmen/Newport
July 24, 1965. Live at the Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI.
Vocal/electric guitar with Sam Lay, drums.
“Cotton Field Blues” Vanguard LP 77/78
“Shake That Thing” Vanguard LP 77/78
Great Bluesmen/Newport was released in 1976.
Note: This various artists double LP includes Son House, Skip James, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi John Hurt, and others.
Various Artists—Blues with a Feeling
July 24, 1965. Live at the Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI.
Vocal/electric guitar.
“The Woman I’m Loving, She’s Taken My Appetite” Vanguard CD 2-77005
“Come On, Baby” Vanguard CD 2-77005
“Baby Please Don’t Go” Vanguard CD 2-77005
Note: This various artists CD includes Son House, Bukka White, Skip James, Muddy Waters, Mississippi John Hurt, and others.
Blues With a Feeling was released in 1993.
Live at Newport
July 24, 1965. Live at the Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI.
Vocal/electric guitar with Sam Lay, drums*.
“Where Can I Find My Baby?” Vanguard CD 79715
“Baby Please Don’t Go” Vanguard CD 79715
“Mojo Hand” Vanguard CD 79715
“Trouble in Mind” Vanguard CD 79715
“The Woman I’m Loving, She’s Taken My Appetite” Vanguard CD 79715
“Come on Baby” Vanguard CD 79715
“Cotton Patch Blues” Vanguard CD 79715
“Instrumental”* Vanguard CD 79715
“Jealous of My Wife”* Vanguard CD 79715
“Every Day About This Time”* Vanguard CD 79715
“Shake That Thing”* Vanguard CD 79715
Note: Vanguard CD 79715 purports to reissue the complete Newport performance. However, “Cotton Patch Blues,” while the same song as “Cotton Field Blues” on the Great Bluesmen/Newport LP, is a completely different performance, with no drummer present.
Live at Newport was released in 2002.
Lightnin’ Srikes
October 4 and 5, 1965. Los Angeles, CA.
Vocal/electric guitar with Don Crawford, harmonica (overdubbed)*; Jimmy Bond, bass; Earl Palmer, drums.
“Mojo Hand”* Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Little Wail”* Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Cotton” Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Take Me Back (Baby)” Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“(Really) Nothin’ But the Blues” Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Hurricane Betsy”* Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Guitar Lightnin’” Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Woke Up This Morning” Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Shake Yourself”* Verve-Folkways LP 9022
“Down Home Blues” Saga(UK) LP 8001
“Lightnin’s Blues” Saga(UK) LP 8001
“Goin’ to Louisiana” (alternate take of “Mojo Hand”) Saga(UK) LP 8001
Lightnin’ Strikes was released in 1966.
Note: First pressings of this LP were released with a photo of Reverend Gary Davis on the cover.
Lightnin’ Hopkins
October 4 and 5, 1965. Los Angeles, CA.
Vocal/electric guitar with Don Crawford, harmonica (overdubbed)*; Jimmy Bond, bass; Earl Palmer, drums; John “Streamline” Ewing, trombone **.
“Shaggy Dad” [sic “Shaggy Dog”] Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“I’ll Be Gone”** Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“Shining Moon” Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“Shake It Baby” Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“Goin’ Back Home” Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“Good Times” Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“What’d I Say”* Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“Don’t Wake Me” Verve-Folkways LP 3013
“Talk of the Town” Verve-Folkways LP 3013
Lightnin’ Hopkins was released in 1967.
That’s My Story: The Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Vol. 1
October 4 and 5, 1965. Los Angeles, CA.
Vocal/electric guitar with Don Crawford, harmonica (overdubbed)*; Jimmy Bond, bass; Earl Palmer, drums; John “Streamline” Ewing, trombone**.
“Last Night” Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“Rain”** Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“Fugitive Blues” Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“G String Blues” Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“Grandma Told Grandpa” Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“Goin’ to Dallas
” Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“Keep Movin’ On” Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“That’s My Story” Polydor(UK) LP 545019
“Dillon’s Store”** Polydor(UK) LP 545019
That’s My Story was released (in the United Kingdom only) in 1970.
Blue Lightnin’
c.1965. Probably Robin Hood Brian Studio, Tyler, TX. Producer: Stan Lewis
Vocal/acoustic-electric guitar with Elmore Nixon, piano; unknown bass and drums.
“Found My Baby Crying” Jewel LP 5000; (45) 825
“Move On Out, Pt. 1” Jewel LP 5000
“Back Door Friend” Jewel LP 5000; (45) 788
“Fishing Clothes” Jewel LP 5000; (45) 788
“Morning Blues” [a.k.a. “Moaning Blues”] Jewel LP 5000
“Gambler’s Blues” Jewel LP 5000
“Wig Wearing Woman” Jewel LP 5000; (45) 796
“Move On Out, Pt. 2” Jewel LP 5000; (45) 796
Blue Lightnin’ was released in 1967.
Note: The Blue Lightnin’ LP contains two tracks from Modern—“Lonesome Dog Blues” and “Last Affair.”
Various Artists—The Second Annual Berkeley Blues Festival, Concert and Dance
April 15, 1966. Live at the Berkeley Blues Festival, Berkeley, CA. Producer: Chris Strachwitz
Vocal/guitar with Francis Clay, drums.
“Last Night” Arhoolie LP 1030
“Going to Louisiana (Mojo Hand)” Arhoolie LP 1030
“Black Cadillac” Arhoolie LP 1030
“Short Haired Woman” Arhoolie LP 1030
“Lightnin’s Boogie” Arhoolie LP 1030
“If You Don’t Want Me” Arhoolie CD 484
“I Feel So Good” Arhoolie CD 484
The Second Annual Berkeley Blues Festival, Concert and Dance was released in 1967.
Note: This various artists LP includes performances by Mance Lipscomb and Clifton Chenier.
Texas Blues Man
December 18, 1967. 3124 Gray, Apt. 14 (Hopkins’s apartment), Houston, TX. Producer: Chris Strachwitz.
Vocal/electric guitar; electric bottleneck guitar*.
“Tom Moore Blues” Arhoolie LP 1034
“Watch My Fingers” Arhoolie LP 1034
“Little Antoinette” Arhoolie LP 1034
“Love Is Like a Hydrant” Arhoolie LP 1034
“Cut Me Out Baby” Arhoolie LP 1034
Alan Govenar Page 35