0:00:13 > 0:00:15And the last programme in this series
0:00:15 > 0:00:18concerns itself entirely with group performances -
0:00:18 > 0:00:21electric blues, rhythm and blues, R & B,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25the form which has generally come to be called Chicago blues,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27which in any event is where
0:00:27 > 0:00:30most of the following performances were recorded at Eddie Shaw's club.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Howlin' Wolf used to appear there regularly.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Whereas the earlier players merely used the electric guitar
0:00:37 > 0:00:40to amplify their original acoustic sounds -
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Joe Willie Wilkins and Houston Stackhouse earlier in the series
0:00:44 > 0:00:46were excellent examples of this -
0:00:46 > 0:00:51the next generation of players viewed the electric guitar, quite rightly,
0:00:51 > 0:00:53as a different instrument.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57And the harmonica players were rapidly to follow suit.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Billy Boy Arnold was actually born in Chicago in 1935.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06His mother was a great fan of John Lee Williamson, Sonny Boy I,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10a major influence on all the Chicago harmonica players
0:01:10 > 0:01:11from the late '40s on.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15This song was the first recording which Arnold made
0:01:15 > 0:01:19for Vee-Jay Records in 1955 - She Fooled Me.
0:01:21 > 0:01:22# Once upon a time
0:01:22 > 0:01:25# Down on 47th Street in Chicago
0:01:25 > 0:01:27# I met a fine chick
0:01:27 > 0:01:29# Tried to knock her off her feet
0:01:29 > 0:01:31# Now all alone
0:01:31 > 0:01:33# I thought she was playin'
0:01:33 > 0:01:36# And didn't know that I was a real sugar man
0:01:36 > 0:01:39# But she fooled me
0:01:39 > 0:01:41# Oh, she fooled me that time
0:01:44 > 0:01:47# I thought she was just a dumb little girl
0:01:47 > 0:01:49# I could give her almost any old line
0:01:53 > 0:01:55# Now this same chick
0:01:55 > 0:01:57# Tried to put me on the run
0:01:57 > 0:01:59# Course, I gave her a little money
0:01:59 > 0:02:01# We had a little fun
0:02:01 > 0:02:03# And all that time
0:02:03 > 0:02:05# I thought she didn't know
0:02:05 > 0:02:09# That I had another girl up on the second floor
0:02:09 > 0:02:10# But she fooled me
0:02:10 > 0:02:13# Whoa, the little girl fooled me that time
0:02:16 > 0:02:19# I thought she was just a dumb little girl
0:02:19 > 0:02:21# And I could give her almost any old line
0:03:11 > 0:03:13# I ran out of money
0:03:13 > 0:03:15# Ran out of fun
0:03:15 > 0:03:18# She put me down and put me on the run
0:03:18 > 0:03:20# I said, look here, baby
0:03:20 > 0:03:22# Don't play me cheap
0:03:22 > 0:03:26# I'll have a lot of money one day next week
0:03:26 > 0:03:28# But she fooled me
0:03:28 > 0:03:31# Whoa, that little girl fooled me that time
0:03:34 > 0:03:36# I thought she was just a dumb, stupid little girl
0:03:36 > 0:03:39# I could give her almost any old line
0:03:42 > 0:03:43# Now when she out I was cheating
0:03:43 > 0:03:46# She wanted to put me down
0:03:46 > 0:03:47# I had holes in my clothes
0:03:47 > 0:03:49# My feet was on the ground
0:03:49 > 0:03:51# She said, look here, Daddy
0:03:51 > 0:03:53# I'm going to change my order
0:03:53 > 0:03:57# I'm going to trade you in and get myself a brand-new model
0:03:57 > 0:03:59# Cos she fooled me
0:03:59 > 0:04:02# Whoa, that little girl fooled me that time
0:04:04 > 0:04:07# I thought she was just a dumb, stupid little fool
0:04:07 > 0:04:09# And could get a pretty thing almost any time
0:04:35 > 0:04:37# Said, look here, Daddy
0:04:37 > 0:04:39# I'm going to change my order
0:04:39 > 0:04:43# I'm going to trade you in and get myself a brand-new model
0:04:43 > 0:04:45# She fooled me
0:04:45 > 0:04:47# Whoa, that little girl fooled me that time
0:04:50 > 0:04:53# I thought she was just a dumb, stupid little girl
0:04:53 > 0:04:55# That could get a pretty thing almost any time. #
0:05:00 > 0:05:03ALEXIS: Billy Boy Arnold, accompanied by The Aces,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06of whom more later. She Fooled Me.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09And that, incidentally, was the first R & B song that I ever recorded,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11some six or seven years later.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Now, imagine that you have available all the note-sustaining qualities
0:05:15 > 0:05:18of an acoustic bottle-neck guitar sound,
0:05:18 > 0:05:23only louder, longer, and with no need to use a bottle-neck.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28T-Bone Walker and BB King long ago set the style and the standards.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Fenton Robinson hears and plays it his own way
0:05:32 > 0:05:35even if the influences are obvious.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03# You don't know what love is
0:06:04 > 0:06:08# Until you really fall in love one time
0:06:11 > 0:06:14# You don't know what love is
0:06:16 > 0:06:20# Until you really fall in love one time
0:06:22 > 0:06:25# Oh, I remember when that little love was with me
0:06:27 > 0:06:30# And she almost blew my mind
0:06:32 > 0:06:35# From sun-up to sun-down
0:06:37 > 0:06:40# She kept my nose down on the ground
0:06:42 > 0:06:47# Oh, from sun-up, all day long, yeah
0:06:48 > 0:06:51# She kept my nose down on the ground
0:06:53 > 0:06:57# She jangled my life around another chain
0:06:58 > 0:07:02# And now I know I'll never be the same
0:08:05 > 0:08:09# And I'd be a fool to say so much
0:08:11 > 0:08:14# A beautiful picture still it haunts my mind
0:08:16 > 0:08:19# And I'd be a fool to say it's all over
0:08:21 > 0:08:26# A beautiful picture still is in my mind
0:08:26 > 0:08:29# Oh, brother You just don't know what love is
0:08:30 > 0:08:34# Until you really fall in love one time
0:08:34 > 0:08:36# Get on down now! #
0:09:39 > 0:09:42ALEXIS: You Don't Know What Love Is.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Fenton Robinson's been working as a regular band leader
0:09:45 > 0:09:47for some 22 years now.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50He's also a successful writer,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and by far the most modern performer in this series.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Compare his playing, for instance,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59with that of Joe Willie Wilkins who, together with LT Lewis,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02accompanies harmonica player Sonny Blake
0:10:02 > 0:10:06in this performance of a song called Bring It On Home To Me.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13# Baby
0:10:17 > 0:10:20# Baby
0:10:20 > 0:10:23# I'm coming on home to you
0:10:30 > 0:10:34# Train's at the station to get her load
0:10:37 > 0:10:40# The conductor calls out, all aboard
0:10:43 > 0:10:47# To you, my sweet I'm going to hurry back
0:10:51 > 0:10:54# Watch that train roll up and down the track
0:10:58 > 0:11:00# Baby
0:11:05 > 0:11:07# Baby
0:11:11 > 0:11:14# I'm coming on home to you
0:11:35 > 0:11:38# And my soul got happy and my heart got glad
0:11:42 > 0:11:45# Strangest feeling that I ever had
0:11:49 > 0:11:52# You know, pretty baby Don't you know that's true?
0:11:56 > 0:11:59# You know, pretty girl I'm coming home to you
0:12:02 > 0:12:04# Yes, I'm coming to you, baby
0:12:05 > 0:12:07# I'm coming to you, baby
0:12:09 > 0:12:11# Yes, I'm coming to you, baby
0:12:12 > 0:12:14# Yes, I'm coming to you, baby
0:12:15 > 0:12:17# Well, I'm coming to you, baby
0:12:17 > 0:12:19# I'm coming on home to you. #
0:12:57 > 0:13:00ALEXIS: A good rolling feel from Sonny Blake on harmonica,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Joe Willie Wilkins guitar and LT Lewis on drums.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07And today is definitely the day for harmonica players.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Good Rockin' Charles, Charles Edwards,
0:13:11 > 0:13:12he's been around Chicago
0:13:12 > 0:13:15playing harmonica and singing for many years now.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17He lives on welfare payments
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and whatever he can make in the Chicago blues clubs.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22The Aces, who back him here,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25have been encouraging him for some time now.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28The song - Don't Start Me To Talkin'.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31# Well, I'm going down the road
0:13:31 > 0:13:33# Stop at Fannie Mae's
0:13:33 > 0:13:37# Going to tell Fannie what I've heard her boyfriend say
0:13:37 > 0:13:40# Now don't start me to talkin'
0:13:40 > 0:13:42# I'll tell everything I know
0:13:44 > 0:13:47# I'm going to break up all this signifying
0:13:47 > 0:13:49# Cos somebody's got to go
0:13:53 > 0:13:55# Jack gave his wife two dollars one time
0:13:55 > 0:13:57# To get some market
0:13:57 > 0:13:58# Gets out on the street
0:13:58 > 0:14:01# Old George stopped her
0:14:01 > 0:14:03# He knocked her down
0:14:03 > 0:14:05# He blackened her eye
0:14:05 > 0:14:06# She come back home
0:14:06 > 0:14:08# And tell her husband a lie
0:14:08 > 0:14:11# Now don't start me to talkin'
0:14:11 > 0:14:13# I'll tell everything I know
0:14:16 > 0:14:19# I'm going to break up all this signifying
0:14:19 > 0:14:21# Cos somebody's got to go
0:14:47 > 0:14:50# She borrowed some money
0:14:50 > 0:14:51# For the beauty shop
0:14:51 > 0:14:55# He honked his horn and she began to stop
0:14:55 > 0:14:59# Said take me, baby Around the block
0:14:59 > 0:15:03# I'm going to the beauty shop where I can get my hair styled
0:15:03 > 0:15:05# Don't start me to talkin'
0:15:05 > 0:15:07# I'll tell everything I know
0:15:10 > 0:15:13# I'm going to break up all this signifying
0:15:13 > 0:15:15# Cos somebody's got to go
0:15:15 > 0:15:17# Oh, yeah
0:15:42 > 0:15:43# Borrowed some money
0:15:43 > 0:15:45# For the beauty shop
0:15:45 > 0:15:47# He honked his horn
0:15:47 > 0:15:49# And she began to stop
0:15:49 > 0:15:53# Said take me, baby Around the block
0:15:53 > 0:15:57# I'm going to the beauty shop where I can get my hair styled
0:15:57 > 0:16:00# Don't start me to talkin'
0:16:00 > 0:16:02# I'll tell everything I know
0:16:05 > 0:16:07# I'm gonna break up all the signifying
0:16:07 > 0:16:10# Oh, somebody's got to go. #
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Thank you, thank you, thank you!
0:16:18 > 0:16:21So now it's time to see The Aces,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24not as a backing band, but as they really are -
0:16:24 > 0:16:27one of the top bands in Chicago,
0:16:27 > 0:16:28one of the tightest
0:16:28 > 0:16:31and, paradoxically, one of the loosest.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35The Myers brothers - Louis on guitar and Dave on bass -
0:16:35 > 0:16:39are both Mississippians who moved to Chicago in 1941.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Louis was 12, Dave was 15.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Freddy Below is considered by many
0:16:45 > 0:16:48to be the greatest Chicago R & B drummer around.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50When this film was made,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54they'd been playing together fairly regularly for 25 years.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58# Come on, babe
0:16:59 > 0:17:01# Take a little walk with me
0:17:04 > 0:17:06# Come on, babe
0:17:06 > 0:17:09# Take a little walk with me
0:17:12 > 0:17:15# By that same old place
0:17:15 > 0:17:17# Where we long to be
0:17:21 > 0:17:24# Come on, baby I don't want you to walk too slow
0:17:24 > 0:17:28# I got something, baby That I want you to know
0:17:28 > 0:17:31# Hey, babe
0:17:31 > 0:17:34# Take a little walk with me
0:17:36 > 0:17:38# By that same old place
0:17:38 > 0:17:41# Where we long to be. #
0:17:43 > 0:17:44Look out!
0:18:08 > 0:18:11# Two and two is four, you know
0:18:11 > 0:18:12# Four and four is eight
0:18:12 > 0:18:16# Come on, baby, you know I don't want you to be too late
0:18:16 > 0:18:18# Hey, babe
0:18:18 > 0:18:21# Take a little walk with me
0:18:24 > 0:18:26# By the same old place
0:18:26 > 0:18:29# Where we long to be
0:18:57 > 0:19:00# Come on, baby Don't you be too slow
0:19:00 > 0:19:04# I've got something, baby That I want you to know
0:19:04 > 0:19:07# Hey, yeah
0:19:07 > 0:19:09# Take a little walk with me
0:19:12 > 0:19:14# By the same old place
0:19:14 > 0:19:17# Where we long to be. #
0:19:20 > 0:19:22ALEXIS: Take A Little Walk by The Aces,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25one of the most thoroughly professional blues bands
0:19:25 > 0:19:26you're ever likely to hear.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30But then by now we're at what one might call
0:19:30 > 0:19:33the better-groomed, the glossier end of the business.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36These are no longer the blues of poverty -
0:19:36 > 0:19:40the blues of oppression, maybe, but NOT the blues of poverty.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Things, after all, are changing.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47There is now a very powerful Black middle class.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51For them, the smoother-sounding blues men -
0:19:51 > 0:19:54more genteel, I agree, than Booker White or Big Joe Williams,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58but men of quality who keep the blues right up to date,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and that's what's needed, always.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05So we'll leave you with the man most appropriate to the occasion -
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Fenton Robinson.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12The statutory White musician, the smooth fluency of Robinson's playing,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17the touches of jazz improvisation, the staging, it's all real.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19This IS the blues of today.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22# Somebody loan me a dime
0:20:24 > 0:20:28# I wanna call my old-time used-to-be
0:20:31 > 0:20:35# Somebody loan me a dime, I tell you
0:20:35 > 0:20:39# I just wanna call my old-time used-to-be
0:20:44 > 0:20:48# My woman's been gone so long, yeah
0:20:48 > 0:20:52# And that began to worry me
0:20:56 > 0:20:59# Oh, I just cried, I just cried
0:21:01 > 0:21:04# I cried like a baby all night long
0:21:08 > 0:21:12# Oh, I cried and then I cried
0:21:12 > 0:21:17# I cried just like a baby all night long
0:21:21 > 0:21:23# Oh, I need somebody
0:21:26 > 0:21:29# I need somebody here in my home. #
0:21:31 > 0:21:32Up there!
0:23:02 > 0:23:05# And now I know she's a good girl
0:23:05 > 0:23:09# But at that time I just didn't understand
0:23:14 > 0:23:17# Oh, I know she's a good girl
0:23:19 > 0:23:22# But at that time I just didn't understand
0:23:26 > 0:23:30# Oh, somebody loan me a dime, yeah
0:23:31 > 0:23:35# Just to ease my worried mind
0:23:42 > 0:23:44# All right. #
0:24:23 > 0:24:25APPLAUSE