Blueprints

By Mister Charlie Frazier 

Nineteen hundred and ninety-seven was a great year for the blues in the great state of Vermont. Seth Yacovone, Christine Adler and Derrick Semler released fine albums to give the world a taste of their interpretations of the blues. Nobby Reed, famous for his work with East Coast Muscle, stepped out on his own by releasing his own compact disc. His album Guitar on My Back was listed by the world-famous blues magazine Blue Revue on their “Top Ten Most Listened To” by the Blues Revue staff. Congratulations! And be on the lookout for a new East COast Muscle disc any day. 

Blues-themed festivals continued to grow throughout the state. “Brew N’ The Blues 3” at the Moon River Tavern attracted a great crowd this year with Headliner J. Geils. Both the Vermont Brewers Festivals in Burlington and Waitsfield featured the blues. Booney’s Tavern had their inaugural “Brews, Blues and Barbecue Fest.” Thanks to all who attended and remember that without your support these festivals will all become memories. 

Which brings me to a sad note: there will be no February Blues Cabaret at Memorial Auditorium this year. Attendance had been declining and this year the Flynn Theatre booked a zydeco festival on the intended date of February 13. 

Thanks to Flynn for bringing three great bands to town for the zydeco festival, but the unfortunate choice to compete with a local tradition has meant the end of that local tradition. 

On the national level, 1997 saw the deaths of several prominent blues men including Johnny Copeland and Luther Allison. And as of mid-November , Junior Wells was in a coma. Those who saw Luther Allison at the Discover Jazz Festival’s Blues Tent in June saw a truly remarkable performance by a legend who will be sorely missed. I just don’t see today’s younger blues men approaching the level of Muddy Waters or Howling Wolf in either their song writing or live performances. 

Locally we lost Zoot Wilson, a rare musician who could combine humor, catchy lyrics and a great dance beat. There was a memorial show at Nectar’s for Zoot, and people are trying to collect some of his work. Zoot was known as an artist as well as a musician. Anyone who has artwork or live recordings of Zoot or the N-Zones is urged to call 802-863-3616.

Thanks to Club Metronome for continuing to bring national blues acts to town. The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Robben Ford, Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall, to name a few, graced the stage above Nectar’s this year. And major kudos to Jay Strausser and All Point Booking and the fine folks at Magic Hat for the Old Lantern Concert Series, which brought Taj Mahal, Little Feat, Hot Tune and Johnny Winter to town. 

Best of the Green Mountain Blues Volume Two will be available December 12th. It will be a double CD with 38 tracks, so get out and buy one. All at once you support Camp-Ta-Kum-Ta, a Colchester camp for kids with cancer, AND local music. Volume One got airplay in 37 states and many countries including France, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Spain, Australia and England.

Anyone with any blues information, comments, etc, should contact me at P.O. Box 271, Burlington, Vermont 05402 or e-mail me at mrcharlie-b4b@juno.com. -GC-

Mister Charlie Frazier is a local blues legend and the driving force behind both the popular local band Blues For Breakfast and the radio program of the same name, every Sunday morning on WIZN, 106.7 fm in the Burlington area.