Furry Lewis: Hero Of The Blues

In 1972 the Reverend was just a punk high school kid grabbing up music zines like Creem, Crawdaddy and Fusion every month to read about his rock & roll heroes. One recurring theme kept cropping up in interviews with idols like Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher and Duane Allman: blues music. I knew nothing about "the blues" or blues musicians, but I was eager to find out more after reading the praise heaped upon musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Jimmy Reed by the rockers that I listened to on a regular basis.

As chance would have it, I won a record album from local Nashville radio station WKDA-FM - the first of many dozens that I would scam from the station throughout high school. The Alabama State Troupers Road Show was a 21-song double album that featured Memphis legend Don Nix, folk singer Jeannie Greene, the Mt. Zion Band and Choir and bluesman Furry Lewis. My dad picked up the album for me at WKDA (in fact, he became so well known at the station for picking up my booty that the girls at the front desk began just heaping goodies on him whenever he came by - record albums, t-shirts, music mags, stickers, whatever...).

The first side of The Alabama State Troupers Road Show featured Lewis, a giant among Memphis musicians and one of the most underrated folk blues artists ever produced by the south. Listening to songs like "Furry's Blues" and "I'm Going To Brownsville," the first blues that these ears had ever heard, was like finding the Holy Grail. As a working class white kid, I could only appreciate and understand a portion of what Lewis was singing about, but I quickly recognized the lineage that tied the blues to rock & roll. Furry got me hooked on the blues, and although the other three sides of the record were good, I kept coming back to Furry's performance and wore that first side of the record out within a year.

From Furry, I made the leap into the Chicago blues of folks like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, naturally, and from there to other "urban" bluesmen like John Lee Hooker and Magic Sam. I fell in love with the three "kings" - B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King - and ended up taking a left turn back to the Delta to check out artists like Son House and Skip James. The Mississippi Hill Country produced Mississippi Fred McDowell and John Hurt, but in the long run, it always came back to Furry Lewis.

As legend has it, Lewis recorded several sides during the '20s for the Vocalion and Victor labels, and he toured the deep south medicine-show circuit throughout the decade. When the Great Crash of '29 put many a bluesman out of work (since they primarily made their living from live performances), Lewis went to work for the city of Memphis as a street-sweeper. He spent over three decades working for the city, only to have his pension denied him when he retired. Luckily, Sam Charters "rediscovered" Lewis and got him into the studio in 1961 to record some of the old songs. One of the oldest survivors of the '20s-era blues boom, Furry possessed a wealth of knowledge of traditional songs and styles, coupled with a unique guitar style and no little amount of personality.

I've picked up quite a few Furry Lewis CDs and albums through the years, and there are a handful of very good ones still in print. Blues specialists Fat Possum released the excellent Good Morning Judge CD in 2004, featuring long-lost recordings from 1962 and '67 produced by folklorist George Mitchell. That collection includes performances of some of Furry's signature songs, including "Furry's Blues," "Blues Around My Bed" and "Furry Lewis Rag." The Fantasy Records 1995 CD release of Shake 'Em On Down offers some fine recordings from 1961, but if you can find one of the many CD versions of Fourth & Beale, produced in 1969 by Terry Manning (ZZ Top, Jason & the Scorchers), grab it up if you care a whit about folk blues.

For my money, however, one of the best Lewis comps available is The Very Best Of Furry Lewis, one of the label's budget-priced "Heroes Of The Blues" series. This collection offers 16 classic Furry Lewis tunes culled from a bunch of different albums, including the aforementioned Shake 'Em On Down. Among the tracks here you'll find Furry's trademark tune, "Furry's Blues" as well as tracks like "Judge Harsh Blues" and its "sequel," "Judge Boushe" as well as "St. Louis Blues," "John Henry," "Shake 'Em On Down" and "I'm Going To Brownsville."

Unlike many budget blues comps that dredge up the worst versions of an artist's songs, The Very Best Of Furry Lewis was created by the folks at Shout! Factory, founded by Rhino Records founder Richard Foos, and the disc offers nothing but primo Furry. The sound quality is very good across the tracks, musician Sid Selvidge's liner notes are informative and entertaining without being too academic (a problem with blues collections), and the Robert Crumb cover art is ultra-cool. Other albums in the "Heroes Of The Blues" include vital collections of Son House, Ma Rainey, Skip James and Mississippi Fred McDowell.

Most of all, The Very Best Of Furry Lewis captures much the same magic that I heard in the grooves of The Alabama State Troupers Road Show album over three decades ago. Furry's enormous charisma pours out of these songs, his uniquely soulful vocals wrapped around pinpoint traditional and original songs that showcase his skills as a songwriter. It's a rock-solid collection and a great place for neophytes to latch onto the work of this talented bluesman.

Unfortunately, The Alabama State Troupers Road Show album remains out-of-print and, as far as I know, has never been reissued on CD (although I have bothered Rhino Handmade in the past to consider the title). However, I have found a collection titled Live For A Moment, culled from that 1972 Troupers tour, issued by an Australian label. The CD includes five rare Lewis performances, making it worth the price of admission on its own.

(Click on the album covers to buy the CDs at Amazon.com)