End of an era...Wolfman RIP

The last few months saw the end of the Elizabathan era in September, after 70 years, and, it seems the end of a musical era too. Jerry Lee Lewis, the last major rock and roll star still surviving, died in October and since then two original American artists who appeared at Tales From The Woods shows in recent years have also passed away - Roddy Jackson and Charlie Gracie. The number of original artists still alive, never mind performing, has declined dramatically over the last few years as would be expected. I gave up going to Rhythm Riot several years ago when they stopped booking US originals and the Ponderosa Stomp has ended permanently it seems. The Porretta Soul Festival continues to be excellent but increasingly relies on a newer generation of artists. Other festivals, such as Viva Las Vegas and the Rockin' Race, are following a similar course. The pace of decline is relentless but I will continue to seek out original performers whenever I can.

One of the latest deaths is that of Walter 'Wolfman' Washington, (79) a performer who I must have seen on every visit to New Orleans since my first in 1989. Walter played in Lee Dorsey's band when he was still a teenager and made several singles for local labels in the sixties, including 'Mickey Mouse Boarding House' and 'Goody Man'. He joined Johnny Adams band in the 1970s and formed his own band, recording his first album 'Leader Of The Pack' for Hep Me in 1981. He went on to record several more albums for Rounder and other labels and was a regular performer at the Maple Leaf and more recently DBA in New Orleans. He was at heart a bluesman but his shows were often funky and soulful with jazz influences as well. He was a brilliant guitarist and never failed to entertain. His loss will leave a huge hole in the live music sector in the Big Easy. Top photo shows Walter in typical pose at Jazzfest in 2013.

It's farewell too to Gordon Fleming, who was my companion on several trips to the US and Spain, including to Viva Las Vegas and the Rockin' Race. Gordon had a fund of knowledge about early rock and roll and doowop and all of us Woodies will miss him. Photo above shows Gordon with Big Jay McNeely who we met in Los Angeles in 2014. RIP Gordon. There have been other deaths recently as well. One of these is Thom Bell, who was born in Jamaica but made his name in Philadelphia as a songwriter and one of the main producers, along with Gamble and Huff, of many of the biggest soul groups of the seventies, including the Delfonics, the Stylistics and the Spinners. Also: Luther 'Guitar Junior' Johnson, a Mississippi bluesman who moved to Chicago where he played with Magic Sam and Muddy Waters before forming his own band the Magic Rockers and recording albums with Bullseye Blues among other labels; and lap steel guitar player Freddie Roulette who recorded with the Daphne Ray Blues Band and artists such as Earl Hooker and Charlie Musselwhite.

Late addition: Leroy Calliste, better known as Black Stalin, has died aged 81. One of Trinidad's top calypsonians he was noted for his songs opposing colonisation and won the Calypso Monarch title on five occasions. I recall seeing him at the New Orleans Jazzfest in 1995 and was impressed.