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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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Hi Snark.
Great shout with Jack White. As mentioned previously about the work that Bonnie Raitt has done/is doing on and off the record, this can equally be said about the one-of-a-kind Jack White. He has brought with him a whole new generation of listeners to the Blues thanks in no small part to the collaboration between his Third Man Records and the Document label. He is one of the greatest living ambassadors for the old-style Blues, and is obviously incredibly passionate about the subject.
I must admit to not being the best judge with regards to his autograph. I think your pieces look great, I especially like the Blunderbuss (LP I assume) due to its clarity and placement. I do possess one piece that I will show here, which I purchased after researching existing examples which are more likely to be genuine, so I think it’s right but I wouldn’t swear to it. It's on a copy of the White Stripes LP De Stijl, which incidentally is dedicated to the superb bluesman Blind Willie McTell and contains a cover of the excellent Son House song “death letter” (as well as one of my favourite White Stripe tracks “Hello Operator”):
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Permalink Reply by Snark on
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I totally nod to that, Nate. Preachin' to the choir, and I can't even sing in tune
Must clear up that the Blunderbuss is not mine. It is available on autographsource, though. I once had Jack sign a Blunderbuss, but have since sold it.De Stijl happens to be my favourite record by The Stripes. I agree that the nod to Blind is a nice touch, indeed. Most of the signatures I have collected are of musicians on LPs or CDs - mighty functional since we can listen and look at our collections.
I am not educated on Meg's signature to give an informed opinion. I can't give my opinion on Jack's signature only because I have not seen many of his full signature. The first two signatures I posted do have consistencies in the handwriting, and were signed during his current tour. If your De Stijl autographs are authentic it would have been signed back while the Stripes were still together. I am stating the obvious, though.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Jacobs on
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i took this picture,
it's in the rock n' roll hall of fame.
muddy signed both of his names.
it was one the most memorable evenings of my life.
david j.
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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on
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WOW!
As the Johnny Winter said on the Mississippi Muddy Waters live disc, "Muddy Waters! The last and the best!"
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yes, and as nice as they come, he enjoyed taking pics!
- Attachments: No photo uploads here
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muddy one arm.jpg, 4.1 MB
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Hi Carl,
Thought I’d look a little bit at Piano Blues, which is another vast area of the blues covering to one extent or another genres like R&B, Jazz and Rock n Roll.
It grew up in the southern juke joints / barrelhouses primarily around New Orleans and Texas, where the loud and raucous Boogie-Woogie piano flourished. Boogie-Woogie then travelled, like so much of the Blues, to the Northern cities and transformed into R&B, Jump and ultimately into Rock n Roll. Two of blues piano’s earliest and greatest exponents were Little Brother Montgomery and Roosevelt Sykes.
The much revered Eurreal Wilford Montgomery, better known as ‘Little Brother’ Montgomery, was a pioneer of piano blues. One of his early influences was Jelly Roll Morton, and his sound generally took on that slightly Jazzier feel. He has influenced in turn the likes of Skip James (a great boogie-woogie pianist in his own right), Sunnyland Slim, Memphis Slim (previously covered in this thread), Willie Dixon and Otis Spann (who I will come on to later), and is credited with establishing a number of Blues classics like “Vicksburg Blues” (“44 Blues”) and “Crescent City Blues” (a basis for the Johnny Cash song “Folsom Prison Blues”). Throughout his long career he would seamlessly shift from Blues to Jazz and from Front Man to Accompanist, working and recording with, amongst others, Memphis Minnie, Magic Sam and Buddy Guy.
His autograph is relatively rare, he lived till the mid-80s and remained active in the music business for most of his life so they are out there. I would estimate a cut to be around $50 and an album or photo to be around $100-$150. Again you might get a bargain on eBay. He would normally sign as either ‘Little Brother Montgomery’ or ‘L B Montgomery’. Here are some examples:
Firstly a recently sold card (sold for $150):
Next part of a letter currently for sale (for $125):
Finally a close up of a signed LP:
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Next for the early pioneers we have the hard hammering honeydripper Roosevelt Sykes. Born in Arkansas he spent his seminal years traveling and playing round the Mississippi region, and his music generally follows the Barrelhouse upbeat and brash style. Nicknamed “The Honeydripper” some say due to his sexual prowess, many of his songs fed off the sexually suggestive plate. Pre-war fame came as the first recorder of the “44 Blues” and the much covered “night time is the right time”, however the early post war period was a little tougher for Sykes, but the 60s Blues resurgence reinvigorated him with numerous tours of America and Europe. His final years were spent predominantly in New Orleans where he established himself as something of a national treasure.
With regards to Roosevelt Sykes autograph, a bit like Little Brother Montgomery, he had a long recording career and did tour/travel widely, so his autograph is not as rare as others. I would estimate a value similar to Little Brother Montgomery of around $50 for a cut and $100+ for a photo or album. Like T-Bone Walker he would often sign with the inclusion of a date. Here are examples:
Close-up of two of the same album signed (which sold for $120 and $150):
A Roosevelt Sykes and Henry Townsend signed LP:
A recently sold cut (came with a photo and sold for $75):
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As previously mentioned New Orleans was/is one of the primary hubs for piano blues. And ask people to name a New Orleans pianist and more often than not the answer I’m sure would be Professor Longhair. Nobody epitomises this cities music more than Henry Roeland ‘Professor Longhair’ Byrd, he is The Daddy, The Man and The Legend of New Orleans, as the great Allen Toussaint put it "There's Professor Longhair, and then there's the rest of us". The creator and executor of the Immortal ‘Tipitina’ and ‘Mardi Gras in New Orleans’, he has now attained an almost deity-like status to many. Like most ‘super-stars’ it is more than his music that makes him such, his eccentricities, his rags-to-riches comeback in the 70s, his influence on more commercially successful artists (e.g. Fats Domino) have all helped to make Fess what he is today.
Professor Longhair’s autograph is pretty rare and highly desirable. He apparently was not keen on signing but there are examples out there. I would estimate a cut to be around $200 and an LP or Photo to be $350+. The addition of “Best Reg” or “Best Regards” to his signature is quite typical:
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Here's a newly acquired Professor Longhair autograph, it's on a programme which is also signed by the likes of Lightnin Hopkins (inside), Roosevelt Sykes (inside), Albert Collins (to front) and Junior Wells (to front). There's a little water damage to the bottom corner near Longhair's graph, but I'll forgive that given the stellar cast of signatures:
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Moving on to post war Chicago Blues, 3 names will always crop up when discussing the 88s: Memphis Slim, Sunnyland Slim and Otis Spann. Memphis Slim has already been covered in this thread so I’ll first look at Sunnyland Slim. Born Albert Luandrew he obtained his moniker after an early pre-war hit of his called “Sunnyland Train”. He came to Chicago as part of the great migration and became one of the cities earliest founders of the new Blues sound. He played with every big name in the area; Muddy Waters (who backed Sunnyland on some early Aristocrat releases which helped put Muddy on the road to stardom), Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, the list could go on. A non-stop workhorse hustler for years he took on a patriarchal role in the city as a leader, sideman, mentor, label owner and gambling house proprietor. His place was always open to an influx of musicians and many in turn credit Sunnyland as an early influence. He recorded and toured prolifically through his life even when ill health seemed to be getting the better of him.
His autograph is fairly recognisable, it takes on a block-capital format, which, much like Fred McDowell’s, would be quite easy to fake. However a Sunnyland Slim autograph is not an expensive item, so I wouldn’t have thought it would be worth many fakers time to do. For example there is currently what appears to be a decent Sunnyland Slim signed 45 on eBay at the moment for $20 (I am in no way connected to this listing but to my eyes that’s a good price for a signed record). Here are some examples:
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