Although his recorded legacy lacks quantity, Walter "Furry" Lewis has had a major impact on the Memphis blues scene and the rest of the blues world still felt today.
An original in the way he improvised his own lyrics in traditional songs, as well as showing an incredible sense of humor about human relationships, Lewis, who was also a presence playing slide guitar, should be best remembered for linking the 19th century traditional and ragtime pieces to the world of blues.
One of the early country blues artists to garner attention for his fiery interpretations of traditional and ragtime pieces, Lewis-who often played an old sunburst Gibson J45-got his first opportunity to record in 1927, and most of his reputation is built on this early period's recordings for Vocalion and Victor. He left behind a humble but significant body of work.
Let Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White tell you he was "Fixin' to Die" (or anything else, for that matter) and you'd be likely to believe him. A big man, White always sang about the big things in life-sex, doing time (in prison and on earth), trains and good gin-with a searing intensity. White belted the blues and literally belted his steel-body guitar in his idiosyncratic, rhythmically jagged style. Over that quirky guitar he sang his moody, plain blues melodies.
Few bluesmen these days choose the banjo to be their instrument of choice. But Gus Cannon not only chose the instrument; he mastered it in a style never to be duplicated by anyone. He plays in a free, spontaneous style, with a combination of pick/strum. But with five strings, and with one of them chromatically out of order (the fifth is nearly two octaves above the fourth, rather than below it in pitch) different rhythms tend to be generated, and different tones are emphasized.
Also lending rhythm support on the session is second guitarist Mike Stewart and washtub bass and kazoo slinger Dewey Corley.
Originally an analog recording that was waxed Oct. 7 and 10 in 1969, "On the Road Again" is a unique collection of traditional roots, blues and inspired 12-bar short stories.
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This review is copyright © 2000 by Matt Alcott, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved.
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