Cripple Clarence Lofton – Complete Recorded Works 1935-1943 Vol 2 (c. 1939 – December 1943)
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Cripple Clarence Lofton; vocal, piano.
Genres: Blues Piano, Boogie-woogie piano. Tennessee / Chicago
Inforamative Booklet Notes by Keith Briggs.
Detailed discography.
Clarence Lofton was a well known figure on the bar and party circuit in Chicago by the time white jazz fan Dan Qualey, through the good offices of Jimmy Yancey, located him playing in a sleazy State Street bar called The Big Apple and convinced him to record for the Solo Art label around 1939. The records were well received, although his treatment of the sacrosanct Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie raised a few eyebrows and Clarence slipped easily into the role of natural, untutored (and therefore “pure”) “proto-boogiest” for the keen new audience of white fans who were attracted by his rugged style and insouciant disregard for formal structure. As well as the four issued tracks nine others were recorded and it is those that open this volume. “The Fives” appears as Sixes And Sevens (Clarence had both a sense of humour and ego) while Lofty Blues reworks the amazing, issued “Had A Dream” at a faster tempo and with a different bass line.
It was in 1943 that saw Clarence’s last musical rally on record when he cut ten sides (eight issued at the time) for the Session label. The old numbers were still there, including two versions of Streamline Train and three of I Don’t Know, sometimes re-titled but still played with the rare exuberance that marked them as Lofton creations.
In his own eyes Clarence Lofton was primarily an all-round entertainer (one much quoted observer described him as “a three ring circus”). His self-taught skills on the piano he viewed as just another facet of his own talent and the few descriptions that we have of him at work and his chosen surroundings show him as a colourful performer, drinker and a ladies’ man; far from meek but with the talent to back up any boast that he might have made. Above all he could communicate joy to his listeners and he still can.
14. Late In The Evening - Lightning Hopkins
3. Bedside Of A Neighbor - Golden Jubliee Gate Quartet
17. Milk Cow Blues - Joshua White (as Pinewood Tom)
18. Yum, Yum, Yum - Johnnie Temple
6. Lofty Blues - Cripple Clarence Lofton
4. Boll Weevil 1323-A-1 - Vera Hall
64. Tie Tamping Chant - Henry Truvillion
6. Fate Of Chris Lively And Wife - Blind Alfred Reed
19. Every Dog Must Have His Day - Johnnie Temple
19. Whispering - The Versatile Three
24. The Preacher And The Bear - Golden Jubliee Gate Quartet
16. Skinny Leg Blues - Geechie Wiley
2. Combination Rag - East Texas Serenaders
12. You Can't Have It Unless I Give It To You - Lizzie Miles
20. Railroad Man Blues - Clifford Gibson
21. Abraham, Have Mercy On Me - Rev. William Ransom