Back on an Easter Sunday, 2011, Tracy and I set out on a trip up the Pacific Coast Highway without a real destination in mind. It was just a pleasant Sunday drive that didn’t last too long. We made it as far as a small tavern on PCH in nearby Sunset Beach that for all intents and purposes could best be described as a beer joint/biker bar. As we drove by I noticed that the sound of a Big Joe Turner song was coming out of the tiny watering hole. We flipped a u-turn, parked the car and walked in to the jam packed bar.

It didn’t take long to find that we had stumbled upon a real find. I was listening to a blues band with whom I wasn’t familiar, but really had something special going on. These guys were led by an incredibly dynamic vocalist with a seemingly natural talent for singing the blues. He was augmented by an extremely talented guitarist who made great choices and had a spectacular tone.

The band was called the Mighty Mojo Prophets and it was the vocalist Tommy Eliff and guitarist Mitch Dow who led the charge on that wonderful afternoon of blues. I thought to myself, ‘When was the last time this happened? Has it ever happened?’  

On the break, the band came by to introduce themselves and assured me that as soon as they had their brand new debut, self-titled CD in hand that they would mail me a copy. They did and it was a beauty.

Since that Easter Sunday the band has experienced some personnel changes, although their bass player that afternoon, Dave Deforest, remains with the band and can be heard on their second and third album releases. Long time Long Beach, California, keyboard stalwart Mike Malone and harmonica man Tom Richmond round out the line-up.

The band already had an original sound rooted in tradition that continues to grow and they have developed a large following. Since my first encounter with them, the Mighty Mojo Prophets  have released three albums, been nominated for a Blues Music Award and have been featured on some of the most celebrated festival stages around the globe including the Waterfront Blues Festival, in Portland, Oregon, the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, California, and the Moulin Blues Festival in the Netherlands.   

I caught up with Tommy Eliff and Mitch Dow recently and we discuss this journey and their lives in the blues.

David Mac (DM): Good day gentlemen. Where are you from Tommy?

Tommy Eliff (TE): I was born on Compton, California, in 1968. I was raised in Compton and North Long Beach.

DM: Tommy, do you remember some of your earliest exposures to music?

TE: I do. My dad had a real good record collection. He had a lot of jazz, blues, early r&b and early rock&roll. He dug some of the big band stuff. He also liked Nat Cole, The Mills Brothers, early Chuck Berry, Little Richard.

DM: Mitch...

MD: The same here. It was through my dad’s record collection. He was a D.J. in Maine before serving in the Korean War. It was there that he became a D.J for the USO. It wasn’t long after that he met my mom. She out ranked him, but had to resign so that they could be married. He had lots of big band jazz and swing in his library.

DM: Let’s not forget that this was the popular music of the day.

MD:  He also had some Albert King and Buddy Guy. King’s album Live at the Fillmore is how I cut my teeth. I’d put on the headphones and listen to that over and over again.

DM: Mitch when did you first get acquainted with the guitar?

MD: My sister got an acoustic guitar for Christmas when I was about nine years old and the next year she re-gifted it to me. I played acoustic guitar for the next twenty years just sitting on the edge of my bed. I didn’t even play the electric guitar until I was thirty years old. I was just a hobbyist.

I initially learned the guitar to accompany my older brother who is five years older than me. He was a child prodigy, actor, singer, dancer comedian, he had a great voice. He still has a great voice.

DM: Maybe we should mention his name.

MD: Mason Dow...We started a little combo which is why I picked up the electric guitar. I played better with a combo than I did by myself. Our band was called Duke Mason and the Automatics. Our first big gig was opening for Leon Russell at the Coach House. It was horrible.

DM: That’s an impossible situation in which to perform. People are there to see somebody else and feel put upon to see anybody else. Plus you have to deal with those rude Orange County crowds. It’s a recipe for disaster.

MD: It really is.

DM: Tommy, do you remember some of the early thoughts you entertained about singing the blues?

TE: I just knew that whatever kind of blues music I was going to make that I was going to get close to the Black thing. You know what I mean?

DM: I do.

TE: I always wanted to make music like the black man made the music. There is this authenticity in that music. You believed what they were saying. There is some real truth there.

Let me be clear about this, I’m a Chicano, I’m not trying to be something I’m not, but I just want to bring that authenticity to the music and sing about what I know. I grew up around a lot of African-American people, so I heard this music all the time in my friend’s homes where their moms and dads would listen to blues music. People would have house parties and bring their music with them. That may have been the first time I heard B.B. King was at a house party.

DM: Many folks have that light bulb moment when they hear something at the right time in their lives then they think, ‘I need more of that.’ By this time in your life it sounds like you had already had that moment. When was that moment for you?

TE: (laughing) Dave, it was more like a lightning bolt than a light bulb. I was listening to Johnny Otis’ Monday night radio show. He played three in a row. Muddy (Waters) doing Hoochie Coochie Man, Lightnin Hopkins’ Mojo Hand and Big Joe Turner’s Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop. I knew what music I wanted to play. I knew it just like that. It was truly like being hit by a bolt of lightning.

DM: Did you get into hip hop or rap music at all? I ask because you were an impressionable teenager when that stuff hit big for the first time.

TE: I was sixteen years old when NWA came out with Straight Out of Compton. You know how I talk to you Dave when we are just talking. I had never heard that come out of a record before. That’s how we talked and thats how they rapped.

But I was already driving around in my 64’ Chevy Malibu when I was sixteen. I was already listening to Albert King, B.B. King and Bobby Bland by then. I was the strange dude listening to this old music. That was not what my friends were into...believe me.

DM: By this time were you starting to collect records?

TE: Yes, I was listening to Bernie Pearl’s show that came on at 9:00 am back in those days. He was hosting, Nothing but the Blues. You really need someone like that to point you in the right direction or at least show you the way or at least let you hear the way. It was around the time I discovered Lamar’s Records in north Long Beach up on Atlantic. I first heard about Lamar’s from listening to Bernie’s show. That’s when I started hanging out there.

DM: Let’s talk about your early development as a musician.

TE: I had an Uncle who had guitars at his house. I started writing and playing guitar. I don’t think the stuff was any good, but I was trying man.

DM: I don’t see you up on the bandstand with a guitar.

TE: That’s true, but I have Mitch.  

DM: Were you in any bands before the Prophets?

TE: Oh yeah, I was in a band called, The Poor Albert’s. We did mostly Albert King cover songs. You know we were like a lot of bands. You start out imitating your heroes until you find your own voice.

DM: Some people as you know Tommy never find their own voice.

TE: Oh yeah, we have plenty of that out there. That’s the problem.

DM: When did you meet Mitch?

TE: Let’s see the band has been going for about nine years now. So it would have been about ten years ago. Hey, this boy can really swing man.

DM: I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask that rather obligatory question to Mitch which is, who are your major influences on guitar?

MD: As a kid playing acoustic guitar it was Leo Kotke. As an adult there were the three Kings of course, but outside of that I never really had a guitar hero per se. I was never into Stevie Ray Vaughan or this guy or that guy. Then I heard Duke Robillard with early Roomful of Blues. That did it for me. Sure I listened to rock music like everyone else in high school, but when I got home it was the blues. I was never in a rock band growing up.

DM: That explains a lot. By not starting out playing rock you never had to unlearn anything or erase the tapes in your head. That is a huge advantage for anybody who wants to be a blues musician.

So as the story goes... you guys played together over at the old 202 Club in Anaheim...

TE: ...and I called Mitch the next day and told him I needed a guitar player and we have been causing trouble ever since.

MD: You know when we started writing together is when we thought, ‘Hey we might have something here.’ That’s when we started taking things a little more seriously.

DM: ... and the rest is history. You guys are both credited with co-writing everything. How does that process work?

MD: I write the music, Tommy writes the lyrics. Pretty simple...but there are different ways that this comes about. Sometimes Tommy will bring me some lyrics and I’ll write the music to go along with that and sometimes I’ll bring some music to him and he will write lyrics. Tommy has words in his head like I have tunes in my head. Tommy understands the tempo and the meter of words and how they fit with music. I think his proclivity for writing comes from being a prolific reader.

DM: I did an interview years ago with Anson Funderburgh. He was starting to become a fairly in demand producer. I asked him if there was anything he learned from working with Hammond Scott who produced his own great records for the Black Top label back in the day. Anson said, “Yes, don’t ever record a bad song.” He went on to say, “No matter how good the band is, how good the musicianship of any or all of the players, no matter how great your singer is, you simply can’t overcome bad material.”

MD: That is so true. It sounds simple and kind of fundamental. I couldn’t agree more.

DM: I bring this up as this is the big separation between your band, the Prophets and the rest of the current crop of bands, the material. Let’s go back and talk about your self-titled debut album which came out back in 2011. How did that first record come about and your association with Scott Abeyta and his then brand new label, Rip Cat Records?  

TE: All credit goes to our friend James Page better known as White Boy James. I told him we were planning on making a record. He said, “Don’t do anything, don’t sign with anybody, I know a guy. Let me talk to him and we can take it from there.”

DM: What are your thoughts as it relates to that album on Rip Cat Records?

TE: I can tell you that I wasn’t happy with the final mix, but we really put our foot into that one and are happy with the songs.  

DM: What is pretty interesting is that your new original material goes over with your audiences. You really don’t have to play standards or any covers for that matter to connect with an audience.   

TE: We don’t do too many covers anymore unless we get a request. We can do three hours of all original material. It is great to see people singing along out there while they’re dancing. They are singing lyrics that I wrote man. It is really cool to see that.

DM: All three of us are from the greater Los Angeles area and have a real affection for west coast blues. You guys play all kinds of blues, but always have healthy doses of the west coast sound in your music.  

TE: This is an homage to our friends.

DM: I have always contended that west coast blues is underappreciated on a national level.

TE: I couldn’t agree more.  Our keyboard player Mike Malone and I have talked about this. We are proud to be a Long Beach based band. We always mention Long Beach from the stage. We are representin’ man.

DM: Tommy, what does west coast blues mean to you?

TE: West coast blues to me is a swinging sound. I mean T-Bone Walker was the blues to me. Big Joe Turner was the blues to me. Count Basie was the blues to me. There are those out there that don’t even consider that blues. I don’t know what they want to call it, but that is the blues to me.

DM: Amen to that. Let’s talk about your second album Flying Home From Memphis which was released on the Delta Groove Music label.

TE: Well we had already got some attention as our self-titled debut album on Rip Cat was nominated for a Blues Music Award. We didn’t win, but no west coast bands win those things. You know that Mac. Mitch was really the catalyst of getting us signed to Delta Groove Music. The Delta Groove release did get some attention and shook some shit up out here.

DM: That record of course represents the big time as far as label exposure is concerned and it just happens to be a damn good record.

TE: Thanks Dave, but if that’s the big time I’d hate to see the small time.

MD: My only complaint is I wasn’t real crazy about the final mix, but the songs held and maintained their value. We had a bag full of new songs that we wanted to record. We were very proud to be associated with Delta Groove Music as they represent the very best in west coast blues and for a long time now have put out the best records out there. However, for a lot of reasons, we decided to go our own way and put our music out ourselves.

DM: Let’s talk about the new album. I love the title and what that’s all about. In fact I think it is your strongest work to date. Let’s talk about this project.

TE: As you know Dave the album is entitled Record Store. It is an homage to Lamar’s Record store up in North Long Beach.

DM: I know Lamar’s isn’t there anymore, but is the Super Mex still there?

TE: (laughing) That is what Harman wanted to know. The answer is...yes the Super Mex is still in business just three doors down on the same side of the street.

The guy that ran the place (Lamar’s) was named Gil. When he finally threw in the towel and closed his doors, we kind of lost track of one another. I knew him from the shop, but not outside of there. I hadn’t been to his home or anything like that. I might see him at an occasional show but that was about it.

Then our bass player Dave DeForest and I were shooting the breeze and out of the blue he said, “I’m going to see Gil tomorrow.” It has been so long I said, “Gil who?” He said, “You know Gil... from Lamar’s.” I said, “No sh*t.” So I went with him and to this day we get together about every other week or so. He has a massive record collection and a massive CD collection. He likes having a good time, so it’s great.

I ask him if remembers this or that and he said, “Sure do, but I have to be honest. I don’t remember you. I told him, “Of course you don’t. I was sixteen damn years old. I had hair and sh*t. I was one hundred pounds lighter. Hey come to think of it you were a little younger too and you weren’t so fat either.” (laughing)

DM: (laughing) I don’t know about any of that and I can’t relate to that in any way.

TE: I told him that somebody needs to document his story. He said “Well maybe someday, somebody will write a song about Lamar’s Record Store.” So that’s what I did.

DM: I think it is a great story and a great song because anybody who has ever purchased music the old fashioned way can remember walking around a record store. Can anybody remember that time they downloaded a song or made a new discovery on a streaming service? It just isn’t the same. It is meaningless. There is no commitment, no effort and it has no value. Like I said before, “Lamar’s was the town square for everybody, but the town’s squares.” 

TE: Do you remember the smell of record stores.

DM: I do. It was from all the cardboard vinyl album covers.

TE: Lamar’s smelled kind of funny though.

DM: Yup...I don’t think I want to ask too many questions about that (laughing).

TE: The next step of course was to get David Kiefer aka San Pedro Slim to do the artwork because he used to hang out there as well. He knows Gil very well.

DM: ...and you guys have been Kieferized on the back cover.

TE: Yeah, how about that? Seriously, I love the sound of the record. I love the mix. We owe Glenn Nishita at Pacifica Studios all the credit for that. He nailed it.

DM: (laughing) The sequencing was also marvelous.

TE: Oh yeah, that was done by that David Mac character. Seriously, thanks for that. You hit a home run with that. It is like a puzzle. You have to put all the right pieces in all the right places or it doesn’t sound right.

DM: You are welcome. I think what happens is that you guys get too close to the material and no longer can listen to it objectively. I think I even dropped a song or two that you used as bonus tracks on the new vinyl release.

TE: We knew you would shoot us straight and do right by the music. Thanks again.  

DM: The music really reflects who you guys are. I love your use, Mitch, of the wah-wah pedal on the title track. Like Lamar’s it adds an urbanness (if that’s a word) to the song. Let’s face it Lamar’s was in a gritty, urban setting.

TE: That’s what we were shooting for with that song and that sound. We thought people wouldn’t like it. It reminds me of the stuff the band War used to do. They’re from Long Beach as well.

MD: That funky riff just called for it. I just stepped on it and it runs through the whole song. When we went to the BMAs in Memphis, one of our side trips of course was to the Stax Museum and that experience always puts your mind in a funky place, musically speaking.

DM: I love the song West Coast Girl.

MD: That’s kind of a minor key Moten swing based on a little riff that I open with and close with, that I used to mess around with on classical guitar. 

DM: One of the things that I have always enjoyed about your writing is that you aren’t afraid to put things out there that could be construed as politically incorrect and that have kind of a subtle sense of social consciousness.

TE: Thanks Dave, but we are artists why wouldn’t that be in a song. I have called Mitch and said ‘Would you mind if I say this or that in a song?’ and he will always say...

MD: ...aren’t we the band who isn’t supposed to give a f*ck?

TE: Dave, you and I have talked about this before, but aren’t these social topics what the blues are all about. For many years this was the only form of public expression for African-Americans in this country. If you listen to those old songs there are all kinds of references to what is going on all around them. Now we are supposed to ignore this sh*t. The blues needs more of that not less.

DM: I couldn’t agree more. It, among other things, gives the music some contemporary relevance. Let’s talk about your longtime keyboard player Mike Malone. Mike is all over the new album. His contributions are terrific.

TE: Dave, I’m sure you have known Mike for years as he has been a fixture on the scene for a very long time. He has played with everybody. He played with Joe Houston for about ten years. He helps me out sometimes with my songwriting, he sings some background vocals. He is a terrific asset and we are very lucky to have him.

DM: As Mitch alluded to earlier, unlike your first two albums, you are putting out this album on your own.

MD: It was a wonderful experience working with Glen over at Pacifica Studios. We are very pleased with the finished product. However, now we have to sell it and this is where the business end of all of this takes place. We have our own label and publishing company. I urge your readers Dave to visit our site and keep returning to it as we are adding new stuff all the time. We are also working on providing a platform and building a brand where we can sign licensing agreements with other artists to sell their products on our website through our proprietary marketing.

DM: Where can people buy the new Mighty Mojo Prophets album Record Store?

TE: They can visit our website which is mojoking.com or I-tunes or Amazon or CD Baby. The best place is to buy it from us at one of our shows.

MD: We should mention here that we will be making all three Mighty Mojo Prophet CDs available on vinyl. We are in the process of re-mixing and re-mastering the Rip Cat as well as the Delta Groove releases.

DM: As you know Mitch people have been saying vinyl is making a comeback. While that sounded like a cute thing to say and people were saying it with some regularity it simply wasn’t true...until fairly recently. The good news is that the charge is being led by the young people.

MD: That is very good news. We can introduce them to this music through this other media. It is our plan that anything we release on CD we will also release on vinyl. I mean come on Dave you can’t put an album out called Record Store and not make a record out of it.

DM: Exactly, so which one of you came up with the name The Mighty Mojo Prophets?

TE: That’s all mine. Except...

MD: ...I came up the “Mighty.”

DM: I’ve got to tell you Tommy it’s the “Mighty” that makes it. Thanks guys for your time this afternoon. It has been a blast as always and congratulations on your continued success.

MD:  Thanks Dave for all of your support.

TE: Love ya, brother.

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