It is almost his birthday. Mose John Allison Jr. was born November 11, 1927 in Mississippi. He would go to school, learn piano, serve in the military and finish college.
He was heavily influenced by the blues and his Mississippi upbringing but of all places, brought it to New York were he played with Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Gerry Mulligan among others. He would get a record deal in 1957, but his label would not let him sing at all. He would not put out an all vocals album until 1963. It featured his trio doing covers of Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Dixon and others but it was his original work that stood out. He had a hit with "Parchman Farm", which would be one of his most popular songs.
In 1962, Mose came out with "I Don't Worry About a Thing", which included "Your Mind is on Vacation." Reviewer Alan Kurtz gives us these observations:
"In the culture-clash of jazz and psychiatry, shrinks have
gotten short shrift. Mose Allison, however, plays Devil's advocate, enacting
the role of long-suffering clinician who's endured more bellyaching than even
the highly compensated can tolerate. "You're sittin' there yakkin' in my
face," declares Dr. Allison at wit's end. "I guess I'm gonna have to
put you in your place." Technically called counter-resistance, this can
seriously impair the doctor-patient relationship. But when delivered with Mose
Allison's Laid-back Sage of the Mississippi Delta aplomb and set to his funky
down-home piano, such in-your-face attitude is delectably therapeutic."
You're sitting there yakkin' right in my face
I guess I'm gonna have to put you in your place
Y'know if silence was golden
You couldn't raise a dime
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is
Working overtime
His songs are thoughtful, yet playful at the same time. You can jut picture him sitting in a bar in the Village laying this song on the audience.
Mose, now in his 80's has well over 40 albums to his credit. He has influenced the likes of The Who, Elvis Costello and Hendrix while his songs have been covered by countless musicians.
We believe him to be one of the most talented songwriters and underrated jazzman ever.
Several staff at Monahan's Song saw Mose walk into a bar at Disney World and sit down at the piano and play ten songs. Someone who did not know it was him walked up and dropped a dollar on the piano as a tip. Mose burst out laughing...
Yes, Fenton Robinson grew up on a cotton and corn plantation in Mississippi,and yes, he made his first guitar out of a cigar box and wire at 11. Guess a lot of blusemen did the same thing. How do you tune wires?
By the time I was turned on to his music, he had passed away. Credit goes to Mike Areford, a radio show host friend from Arrow 100.7 ('96-'05) in Jacksonville, who had a great blues show. He played "I Heard Some Blues Downstairs" fairly frequently. It was one of his favorites (and mine).
Fenton eventually wound up in Chicago via Memphis and made a recording of what many believe to be his best song "Somebody Loan Me a Dime" (1966). It was about to be distributed as a single but a snowstorm hit and the tune never got to where it belonged. Boz Skaggs would cover it on his debut album but not credit Fenton which led to a messy lawsuit.
Hard luck continued when Fenton was charged and convicted of involuntary vehicular manslaughter in 1974 and did prison time, hurting his career. This occured just after his Alligator Records release which had finally gotten some acclaim for "Somebody Loan Me a Dime".
In 1977 He released "I Hear Some Blues Downstairs". This title track reminds me of the late Son Seals. His voice is never overpowered by his hard picking on his hollow body guitar :
Now, I gonna get my hat and my coat
Because I begin to feel to groove
Baby, pass me my guitar
Then I'm going down
And play myself some blues
I hear some blues downstairs
Hey I hear some blues downstairs
And I see my old friends out in that alley
And they're singing all in the alley
I hear some blues downstairs
He continued to tour and do festivals, but died at 62 of complications from brain cancer.
He left some great music behind...
