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Authenticity is Everything
The Great American Blues Players Signature Study: Please Add Your Examples
Hello everyone,
I have been wanting to start a thread on this for a long time, and i figure now is as good of a time as any. I collect primary guitar players, and have been selling alot of them off recently, but one thing i continue to collect are the great old blues guitar players. Their is something about the Delta Blues traveling lifestyle that holds alot of wonder for me. These guys laid the foundation of modern music and they inspired many, if not most, of the musicians working today. Most think of Robert Johnson when they think of the great Blues players, but their are so so many others that deserve mention and tons of respect.
As anyone who has ever studied early blues signatures knows, they are incredibly difficult to authenticate or even find at times. You have guys like Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, BB King just to name a few whose signature examples can readily be found. But aside from a few key players, autographs from these guys are very hard to find. And when you find one, often you really have to trust your source or do some serious research. And even then you often cant find examples.
So i thought this would be a good thread that may help future collectors out with examples we think are authentic. Please post examples of blues signatures that you like and want to share. Guys like Buddy Guy and BB King probably dont need to be posted in mass b/c their signatures are so abundant, but dont hesitate if you would like to post some.
I hope this can turn into a good database, and really the only one of its kind on the net. I have many examples from many different sources and if someone doesnt want their picture posted just leave a comment and i will delete it.
I am going to start this off with Albert King. You can find Albert King signatures from time to time, and of the 3 King's, he is the next most available after BB. Alberts signatures are typically sloppy, shaky, and can take on a few forms. Albert often write "Love You" before his signature, and his typical signature takes the form of A. King. I have also seen variations including "A.B. King". King often would not write out King fully and the formation would flow from the K almost into the g. I have seen my fair share of forgeries with Albert, but his signature can be authenticated in most instances in my opinion. Here are some examples with sources:
This is one album i used to own and recently sold on RR Auction. It came from "Mr. Bebop", of Larrys Books and Autographs. He specializes in blues signatures and this was a great example of king.
These next images came from RR Auction
The Ace of Spades album is a nice example, and the rarer A.B. King signature. The middle cut display is more atypical. This one in my eyes can go either way but is probably good. The A looks typical but the King is a little more unusual. But he did do this from time to time in his shorter signature versions. The bottom example is a typical King signature.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nate on
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Finally we come on to the musicians musician Otis Spann. Seen by many as the greatest Blues pianist of them all. Little of his early life is known for sure, but it appears he grew up in a musical family with his father playing piano and his mother at one time playing with Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith. What is known without a shadow of doubt is that as part of the Muddy Waters band he helped redefine post war blues. His, sadly limited, solo releases are hailed as some of the finest piano blues albums made and he was, rightly in my opinion, the first pianist to be inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 (closely followed by Professor Longhair in 1981). In his time he backed artists such as Howlin Wolf, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton and Peter Green. But it is his work with Muddy (who called Spann his ‘half brother’) that most will remember him for.
Otis Spann’s autograph is quite rare as he passed away relatively young in 1970 (aged 40 or 46 depending on who you believe), but there are examples out there and often you will find his autograph with Muddy’s. I would estimate his signature to be around $100 for a cut to $250+ for a photo or album, and, as usual, you might once-in-a-while find a bargain on eBay. Here are some examples:
Firstly a recently sold cut (sold for a surprising $400!):
Next a close-up of a signed LP:
Finally the previously shown multi signed book page with Otis Spann on the top right (and you will also see a Roosevelt Sykes autograph on the left page):
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Of course there are a whole bunch of top notch Blues pianists out there that I have not mentioned, but I will show a quick burst of just a few of them here:
Firstly Eddie Boyd: Writer and performer of the classics “Third Degree” and “Five Long Years” which have been covered by the likes of BB King, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton. I would estimate a cut autograph to be around $50 and an LP or photo to be $175+:
Next is Champion Jack Dupree: His name was derived from his boxing past, and the “Junker's Blues” tune he made famous was manipulated to great effect by the likes of Fats Domino and Professor Longhair. A cut is probably around $40 and an album or photo $150+ (but eBay is pretty good for bargains with him):
Then there’s James Booker: A complete one-off whose talent has only really be appreciated after the end of his tumultuous life. An extremely hard autograph to try and get, I would estimate a cut to be around $250 and an album or photo around $500+. I haven’t seen enough examples of his autograph to know which ones are genuine, but here are a couple that have a pretty good shot:
Curtis Jones: The great, but much forgotten, Curtis Jones, creator of “Tin Pan Alley” and “Highway 51” (recorded on Bob Dylans first LP). I would estimate a cut to be around $40 and an LP or Photo around $75+:
Charles Brown: Highly influential pianist, there’s little hardcore 88s here (though he could if he wanted) but you do get a great sophisticated chilled Blues. I would say a cut is around $25 and a photo or album around $75+:
Finally Pinetop Perkins: The oldest ever Grammy award winner, having worked with so many of the greats he is probably best remembered as taking over the reins from Otis Spann in Muddy Waters band. A cut is probably around $30 and a LP or photo around $100 (though again eBay is your best bet for a good deal):
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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on
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More great, interesting material.
Thanks.I have a very similar item signed by 'Top. Nice man.
10 years ago his car got hit by a train. He was 90-years-old at the time and all he needed were some stitches. Never heard whether the train was all right.
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Hi Sidney,
Thanks.
Yes it’s amazing to think that the vast majority of these guys and gals have had a helluv a hard knock life and most are seen, stereotypically, as living life to excesses. And yet many of them have lived to a ripe old age and continued performing long after most others have taken themselves off to their retirement homes.
Yet again I find myself doffing my hat to these incredible characters.
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Yes...they are characters, Nate.
With Pinetop there's the story of how he even came to be a piano player. He played guitar until a young lady slashed his arm. The injury impaired his guitar work...so he moved over to the keyboard.
I think the music keeps these guys (and women) going. Look at BB. He'll be 89 next month and he's still a road warrior. And he's also one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
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Hi Carl,
1970 and its preceding year saw the passing of so many great musicians. The Blues was especially hard hit during these years with the loss of a number of outstanding Blues and Blues/Rock players. The ‘27 Club’ took on some of its most high profile members including Brain Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Al Wilson and Janis Joplin, who all, apart from dying at the age of 27, were also linked by being top advocates of the Blues. Al Wilson especially did so much to help it along during the 60s, including famously teaching Son House how to play like Son House after his rediscovery. But it was not only these chart-topping musicians who left us, a number of the greatest Blues artists to have ever recorded also sadly passed: Skip James (1969), Magic Sam (1969), Slim Harpo (1970), Otis Spann (1970) and Earl Hooker (1970) all died within a 7 month window.
Like their blues/rock counterparts who passed at the same time these guys signatures are some of the most highly prized in Blues autograph collecting. Skip James has already been covered here and was a God of the pre-war/post-war Blues scene and his autograph is very highly prized (the last one sold, a signed programme picture, went for over $2,000). Otis Spann has just recently been talked about and he is seen by many as the greatest ever Blues pianist (the last autograph of his to sell, a signed framed cut, went for nearly $500 (a little high in my humble opinion, but never-the-less that’s what it went for)). So let’s look at the other 3 listed…
Firstly there’s “Magic” Sam Maghett. The King of Chicago’s West Side Blues. I would say undisputed King, but with Buddy Guy and Otis Rush also in line for the title I think it needs to be left as ‘King’. It’s believed that Samuel Maghett got his stage name from his old friend and bassist Mac Thompson at their first recording session for Cobra records (which produced the superb “All Your Love”) due to it being close to “Maghett Sam”. Whatever the reason the newly titled Magic Sam soon became a local West Side sensation with his natural outstanding guitar, vocals and electrifying stage works. This was relatively short lived when Cobra records folded and Sam was drafted into the army. The army proved incredibly difficult for Sam and after being dishonourably discharged for desertion he went back to Chicago in the early 60s and regularly gigged there over the next few years. It wasn’t until 1967 that things started to really take off. Delmark records signed Sam and released his first LP “West Side Soul”, this seminal album is seen by many as one of the best blues albums ever made. He followed this up in 1968 with “Black Magic”, then after some impressive festival sets in 1969 (including a memorable Ann Arbor show) he was poised for the big-times with the likes of Stax getting ready to sign him. But it was not to be as on 1st December 1969 he suffered an unexpected fatal heart-attack.
A Magic Sam autograph is a rare thing. Due to some late extensive touring there are some out there but they are highly prized. The few that I’ve seen pretty much look the same (but then they were all likely to have been signed around 1968-1969). I would estimate a cut to be around $150-$200 and an album or photo to be $500+ (if you can find one!). Here are some examples:
Recently sold American Folk Blues Festival programme page (the full programme contained 6 other signatures: Earl Hooker (who will be covered shortly), Juke-Boy Bonner, Clifton Chenier, John Jackson, Alex Moore and Carey Bell and sold for approx. $1,750 (with Magic Sam and Earl Hooker being the most valuable by far)):
A signed cut:
A multi signed page (including the signature of Magic Sam’s playing buddy Mac Thompson):
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So next we have Earl Hooker. As Otis Spann is seen as the musicians musician for the piano, Earl Hooker is seen as the same for the guitar. Always in demand he recorded much during the 50s and 60s, including penning the instrumental ‘Blue Guitar’ which, with the addition of Willie Dixon’s and JB Lenoir’s lyrics, morphed into “You Shook Me” for Muddy Waters, which in turn was covered by the likes of Jeff Beck and Led Zeppelin. As one individual on the web has so eloquently put it “For guitar players in the Fifties, Chicago was both heaven and hell…To even be considered good, one had to be great; to be called the best, one had to be Earl Hooker”. He played and recorded with a who’s who of the Blues including Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells and his cousin John Lee Hooker. A flamboyant performer he was not one to hold back the hands of time embracing innovations like the wah-wah pedal and the double neck guitar. Most agree he didn’t achieve the fame he deserved primarily due to his average vocal abilities, his playing was sublime and he is best experienced without vocals or with others covering the vocals. This deficiency is apparently explained by a speech impediment (stuttering) and a long battle with tuberculosis, which is known to have dogged him throughout his career, sometimes putting him in hospital for extended periods of time, and after extensive touring in 1969 it finally took his life, when he died from complications due to tuberculosis in April 1970.
Like Magic Sam, Earl Hooker’s autograph is very rare. I have only actually seen 2 before, but I know there are more out there (for example in the Blues Festival Programme I mentioned in the Magic Sam section). How much is his autograph worth? It would be a real guestimate but probably around $150 for a cut and $450+ for a photo or LP. His is a wanted signature for those who know, but his name is not as common as the aforementioned Magic Sam so for that reason I would guestimate its value would be slightly less, but with so few sold I really don’t know for sure. Here are the 2 examples I’ve seen:
A signed cut:
A signed programme photo:
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Last but by no means least there’s James Isaac Moore, better known as Slim Harpo, a moniker given to him by his wife (incidentally a co-writer on many of his tracks), after his original stage name of Harmonica Slim was found to already be in use. Slim Harpo is not a hardnosed hardstrumming Delta convict, nope, he learnt from Jimmy Reed and took Reed’s laid back Blues to an almost horizontal level. He became the greatest exponent of what became known as Swamp Blues, a blues sub-genre from Louisiana (Harpo’s birthplace) that incorporated sounds from Cajun, Country and Blues, and was brought to the masses by the Excello label. This blend of the blues and Slim Harpo’s exemplary delivery created a chart winning combination. His hits include “I’m a King Bee” (his first recording), “Rainin’ In My Heart” and “Baby Scratch My Back”, songs which have been covered by so many top acts like The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Neil Young and Grateful Dead. His success also crossed over into the mainstream with “Baby Scratch My Back” reaching No. 16 in the Top 40 pop chart, and “I’m a King Bee” receiving a posthumous Grammy Hall of Fame award (in 2008). With these achievements under his belt, in the late 60’s, Harpo teamed up with his long-time friend and Excello label comrade Lightnin Slim and tour extensively around the US. His first tour of Europe was lined up for 1970 but completely out of the blue in early 1970 Slim Harpo, the laid-back and clean living man, died from a heart attack.
With so much fame in his lifetime (well…more fame than most Blues artists) you would have thought his autographs would be plentiful, yes? Well the simple answer is no, they are not. Try and find an authentic Slim Harpo autograph please and add it here for us all to see, because I am yet to find one. I do have a signed Slim Harpo album, but is it authentic…I’ve no idea, search as I might I cannot find an authentic one to compare it to. But here it is, the only Slim Harpo autograph I can find:
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Permalink Reply by Dave Jacobs on
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willie mae "big mama" thornton got in person at a b b king concert backstage.
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Hi Dave,
Great items! I love both your Big Mama and your Muddy Waters. It's fantastic that they are both signed so fully (especially the Muddy piece) rarities indeed.
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hi nate, the negatives and autographs from muddy were lost for 30 years. they were in a box in my mom's garage. my mom had asked me many times to clean my stuff out of her garage, i never did until she passed away, and that's when i found them, and had a good cry. and, well, today, august 28th, happens to be the date of her passing.
That whole night was surreal, and pictures i took of muddy and bonnie raitt were accepted into the rock n' roll hall of fame. how wonderful, yet how sad that they would not be found while my mom was alive.
i remember asking the hoochie coochie man if he could sign both of his names, he did and said no one ever asked him to do that. i don't recall if i asked big mama for a full signature or not. ..thanks, dave j
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