Big Jack Johnson

Stripped Down in Memphis

M.C.

Big Jack Johnson, guitarist/songwriter/vocalist was one of the few bluesmen from Clarksdale, MS who stayed home. He never migrated north like Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, and John Lee Hooker. Stripped Down in Memphis is a posthumous release of acoustic blues, pairing the legendary bluesman with harmonica master Kim Wilson on five tracks and the late Wild Child Butler (harmonica, vocals) on four. All nine of these recordings are previously unreleased. These two separate sessions took place respectively in 1998 with Alabama bluesman Wild Child Butler after M.C. Records released the artist’s Lickin’ Gravy in the same year and in 2000 with Kim Wilson. The latter are unreleased songs from Big Jack’s The Memphis Barbecue Sessions, recorded the same year but released in 2002, receiving a W.C., Handy Award (today’s Blues Music Award) for Acoustic Album of the Year.

The album is a mix of Johnson and Butler originals with standards such as Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me to Do,” the Little Johnny Taylor hit “Part Time Love” and Bill Doggett’s “The Hully Gully Twist.” The sequencing alternates the Butler and Wilson session through the first five and tracks six through nine read in order -Wilson, two with Butler, and the finale with Wilson. Big Jack plays acoustic guitar, electric guitar and mandolin while both Wild Child and Wilson play their harps without amplification. Mark Carpentieri, producer and label owner, offers the following – “… You get to see all of Big Jack in these recordings, his amazing playing, his humor, and creating some of the deepest blues you’ll hear. Wild Child Butler was truly underrated during his time and these recordings prove that. As of Kim Wilson, he was able to create the tone and dynamics without the use of amplification and that’s why he’s regarded as a master of the instrument.”

Among the highlights are the informal jamming of Big Jack and Wild Child on Big Jack’s “Run Blues Run,” Wild Child singing on his own “Aching All Over” following some pre-song banter between the two, Big Jack playing mandolin on the hit “Part Time Love,” Big Jack taking us abroad in the boogie “Going to Norway,” and Wilson’s superior train-like rhythmic technique throughout, especially on “Alcohol” and “The Hully Gully Twist,” the latter of which featuring Big Jack on electric, displaying some impressive thumb work on the bass strings.

For the newcomers. Big Jack’s four albums on M.C. Records between 1996 and 2002 earned numerous nominations. Johnson had a five-decade career, passing in 2011 so at the time of these sessions, he was a well-seasoned bluesman. That comes across vividly on every track. This is the real stuff with no artificial sweeteners added.

• Jim Hynes

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