The Blues Ain't Nothin

My relationship with the Blues began before I ever picked up a camera.  I listened to the Blues in high school and bought records at Reeds Records in Oakland.  It was in the 1950s and I listened to KWBR, the local Blues and R&B radio station.  I remember driving down Seventh Street to see the Blues clubs.  We never actually stopped to go in. We just cruised by, soaking up the scene. 

I often went with my friends to clubs in San Francisco, like Sugar Hill on Broadway, where I saw Lightning Hopkins.  On the UC Berkeley campus, I saw Muddy Waters, Big Mama Thornton, and BB King as well as Jimmy Reed.  And then there was Jessie Fuller, an Oakland Blues man who played the guitar, sang and played harmonica all at the same time.

It was 1981.  I first visited Eli's Mile High Club on Grove Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Way), the Deluxe Inn on Union Street in West Oakland, The Three Sisters on Peralta Street in West Oakland and Minnie Lou's in Richmond... 

Girlfriends at Eli's Mile High Club

After spending several years in the Oakland Blues scene, I decided I needed to see where the music originated.  I drove to Mississippi up Hwy 61 along the Delta and on to Chicago.  The juke joints were on the "other side" of the tracks.  In Chicago, I first went to Buddy Guy's Club, the Checker Board Lounge.

Merry Christmas Baby, Charles Brown

And Maxwell Street.  I walked through the neighborhoods to see what was happening, buttering up the people with a chat and a beer or two before shooting the scene. My camera was Leica M4 and M6, Canon 35mm, and a Pentax Spotmatic.

Maxwell Street

I seek to explore the Blues and people associated with the Blues, emotionally and subjectively, framing moments and faces in the unique bond of involvement. 

Photolab in Berkeley is showing a set of my Blues photos through August 18, 2012. Photo books of my Blues photography using Blurb.com are available for sale.  $50 plus shipping.  Please email me if you are interested cameltracks [at] yahoo [dot] com.