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In this new collection of interviews, Steve Cushing once again invites readers into the vaults of Blues Before Sunrise, his acclaimed nationally syndicated public radio show. Icons from Memphis Minnie to the Gay Sisters stand alongside figures like schoolteacher Flossie Franklin, who helped Leroy Carr pen some of his most famous tunes; saxman Abb Locke and his buddy Two-Gun Pete, a Chicago cop notorious for killing people in the line of duty; and Scotty "The Dancing Tailor" Piper, a font of knowledge on the black entertainment scene of his day. Cushing also devotes a section to religious artists, including the world-famous choir Wings Over Jordan and their travails touring and performing in the era of segregation. Another section focuses on the jazz-influenced Bronzeville scene that gave rise to Marl Young, Andrew Tibbs, and many others while a handful of Cushing's early brushes with the likes of Little Brother Montgomery, Sippi Wallace, and Blind John Davis round out the volume.Diverse and entertaining, Blues Before Sunrise 2 adds a chorus of new voices to the fascinating history of Chicago blues.
List of contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
PART ONE: TALKIN' 'BOUT YOU
Abb Locke Talks about Two-Gun Pete
Brewer Phillips on Memphis Minnie
Louise "Mattie" Johnson (with her sister, Dorothy)
Dick LaPalm Talks about Nat King Cole
Grady Freeman
Theautry Jones
PART TWO: AMEN CORNER
Clarence Small
Reverend F. W. McGee Jr
Pastor Donald Gay
PART THREE: BRONZEVILLE
Andrew Tibbs
Bill Samuels
Marl Young
Scotty Piper (The Mayor of Forty-Seventh Street)
PART FOUR: SHORT-ORDER CHICAGO
Little Brother Montgomery
"Robert Jr." Lockwood
Sippie Wallace
Johnny Lewis
Homer Harris
Blind John Davis
Arbee Stidham
Collenane Cosey
Roosevelt Sykes
Index
Back cover
About the author
Steve Cushing has hosted Blues Before Sunrise for forty years. He is the author of Blues Before Sunrise: The Radio Interviews and Pioneers of the Blue Revival.
