LABOR RECORDS PRESENTS FINAL RECORDING OF
BLUES HARMONICA WIZARD - "PEG LEG" SAM JACKSON
CD features solo harp and voice as well as the delta bottleneck
accompaniment of Louisiana Red
Labor Records is pleased to present the re-release of harmonica virtuoso "PEG LEG" SAM JACKSON'S last recording - on a CD entitled "Early in the Morning." Peg Leg Sam is considered by many blues players to have been on equal footing with the great Sonny Terry and Sonny Boy Williamson. His impassioned performance, here mostly of traditional rural blues classics, are delivered with the authority and simplicity of a long and colorful life lived only by the rules of the blues.
A rover from the age of twelve, Peg leg Sam cooked on ships, hoboed, shined shoes and blew harmonica on street corners for change. His peg leg resulted from a failed attempt to hop a freight train out of Raleigh, North Carolina as a young man - he fashioned it himself from a fencepost after recovering from the wound. There is no government record of his existence other than his birth (1911) and death (1977) certificates in Jonesville, South Carolina; he never filed or paid taxes, never married or had children or had anything to do with a permanently settled lifestyle.
Perhaps it doesn't take all this to be a great musician, to sound like an original and not an imitator. However, it doesn't seem to have hurt Peg Leg Sam in the least. In his travels he picked up the art of playing two harmonicas simultaneously and developed his abilities as an entertainer. Throughout much of the 1940's and 50's he made his living as an attraction at traveling carnivals and medicine shows in the rural South. By the 1970's he was recording for independent blues labels and performing on the festival and blues club circuit solo and with Ruff Johnson, Sugar Blue and Louisiana Red. His last recording, Early in the Morning, should be considered a classic of the blues harmonica discography.
"As a solo harpist I would rate him neck-and-neck with Sonny Boy Williamson number two."
--Kip Lornell, Living Blues
(review / LIVING BLUES)
Harpist Sam "Peg Leg" Jackson's story is almost an archetypical blues fable of rootlessness and anonymity. Without a permanent residence for much of his life, he traversed (some accounts have him traveling as far as Haiti and Jamaica) doing manual labor and performing in various carnivals and medicine shows. In the early '70s he was still working in a traveling show headed by the redoubtable Chief Thundercloud.
Flyright caught Sam in live performance on Thundercloud's show in 1972; that same year Sam also cut some sides for Trix in his hometown of Jonesville, South Carolina. He recorded again for Flyright in 1973 and then, in 1975, cut these tracks for the New York-based Blue Labor imprint. Guitarist Louisiana Red, another free and often restless spirit, joined him for these sessions, which were to be Sam's last (he died in 1977).
Sam's harp is rich with folk influences-countryish train effects and wah-wahs, full-timbred blowing augmented by clean multi-note bends and tonal variations, a deep vibrato-but this is no exercise in folkie primitivism: Sam was a quick-minded improviser with a well-tuned ear. He inserts subtle harmonic and melodic seasonings into upbeats and between phrases, and both his tone and phrasing have a horn-like sureness. Red's slidework on this CD is also impressive. At their best Sam and Red approach the kind of heart-to-heart synergy that Sonny Boy Williamson 2 found with Big Bill Broonzy and Big Joe Williams.
On the cowboy ballad "Navaho Trail," Sam's harp tone aches with an arid western loneliness, sometimes approaching the wheezy melancholy of the accordions he no doubt heard Mexicans and Gypsies play during his travels. "John Henry" is a showcase for Sam's remarkable repertoire of train effects. His vocal intonation is steadfast, his articulation crisp and sure.
"Going Train Blues," based on "Rollin' and Tumblin'," is primarily a vehicle for Red, who flails away on his guitar while whooping and yodeling with delightful abandon as Sam's harp chug-chug-chugs behind him. "Dog Chase" is a harmonica tour de force for Sam: he whoops, barks, and blows simultaneously to produce a spellbinding multi-tonic onslaught remindful of Freeman Stower's Railroad Blues. The final two numbers find Sam in more introspective but no less uplifting mood; Red's slide and his tender finger-picking on "Poor Boy" are a special delight.
Peg Leg Sam's clear tone and steady timbre, the brilliance of his imagination, the ease with which he pulls off the most complex runs and routines, and his overall poise and professionalism should give pause to revisionists who insist that folk music be crude, out-of-tune, or "instinctive" to be authentic. Sam Jackson was an artist of high sophistication and deep vision who nonetheless lived the life and played the music of an itinerant songster. This CD is essential listening for anyone who cares about indigenous American music at its finest.
--David Whiteis / LIVING BLUES
(review / BLUES REVIEW)
This archival collection of harmonica virtuoso Peg Leg Sam Jackson's final recording (from 1975, two years before his death) finds Jackson accompanied on acoustic guitar by Louisiana Red. The harmonica player might be the intended star of this selection of 10 traditional tunes, but it's the natural interplay between guitar and harmonica that makes this fine disc all that it is.
Though he wasn't as renowned as Sonny Boy Williamson (I or II) or Sonny Terry, Jackson's talent easily equaled theirs, if the performances that make up this collectionare any indication. While his relaxed vocals recall Furry Lewis and Sleepy John Estes, it's Jackson's lively harp that keeps well-worn standards like "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho," "John Henry," and "Ditty Wa Ditty" from sounding worn out. In fact, the album's nearly six-minute version of "John Henry" was recorded without guitar accompaniment. Jackson's vocal and harmonica retell the familiar story in a way that's better heard than explained. Jackson's encouraging hollers on "Dog Chase" sound more like those of a man half his age.
He might receive second billing on the disc's cover and foreboding mention in the liner notes, but Louisiana Red's guitar work is near-perfect on each of the seven tunes he graces. His fingerpicking and slide work often propel Jackson's vocals and harp, and Red even assumes vocal responsibilities on "Going Train Blues," giving Jackson further freedom to blow. The casual give-and-take between Jackson and Red on these performances recalls the best recordings of another great acoustic duo: Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry.
For all of his talent, Peg Leg Sam didn't leave a vast recorded legacy. If that's not reason enough to buy this highly recommended disc and pay due homage to an all-but-forgotten harp master, the amazing performances on the disc should more than suffice.
--Brian Beatty / BLUES REVIEW
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