BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
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Sherwood Fleming sounds like a name that should have a dash in it. This can’t be a blues man. He sounds like a brokerage firm. ‘I went to the offices of Sherwood-Fleming to have them take a look at my portfolio.’ He sounds like he should have his own show room in the garment district. ‘How’s it going Sherwood?’ ‘Hey Mac, The new spring line just arrived. It’s active wear for the inactive life style.’
The blues field is full of nicknames and this guy is dying for one. How about Sherwood “Boom Boom” Fleming?...Santa Monica Slim?...Sherwood and the Flemtones? Maybe not...and what’s in a name anyway?
Take the label that is putting out his brand new album, Dynaflow Records. I like that name a lot. It is the new imprint by our old friend from Austin, Texas, Eddie Stout. Stout, who we know from his Dialtone Records label, has an incredible knack for finding talented blues men and woman whose careers have been dormant, but who still have something to contribute to the language. Eddie doesn’t need a nickname, but I think of him as “Stout the Scout.”
Stout finds older blues men and women who are still vital artists, but in some cases live outside of the modern cyber world which we all inhabit. Email, social media and even cell phones have not found their way into the lives of some of these very talented individuals. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I even have a certain respect for someone who is that “old school.” I might be a little envious of people who never have to say to a friend, “My browser is not compatible with my Facebook.” #windows8cankissmyass.
Eddie Stout has the vision, the love for this music and the tenacity to find some of these mostly forgotten individuals and puts them into a studio with very seasoned, albeit often much younger, musicians to create some real inter-generational gems.
Sherwood Fleming is a great case study of the Eddie Stout methodology of making records. I imagine it went something like this.
Eddie Stout (Eddie): (to an associate) Get me Sam Spade on the phone.
Sam Spade (Sam): Spade and Archer...how can I help you?
Eddie: Hey Sam, its Eddie Stout...business so bad you have to answer your own phones?
Sam: I sent my “girl Friday” out to the Western Union office to send a telegram and pick me up a racing form and a pack of smokes. What’s on your mind Eddie?
Eddie: I’m looking for a great blues singer.
Sam: Aren’t we all? Start talkin’ and talk fast, the meter's running and you make blues records. I don’t know if you have enough dough to be running off at the mouth. My services don’t come cheap and you know it Eddie.
Eddie: Easy Sam, I’ll get to the point. His name is Sherwood Fleming.
Sam: Isn’t that a law firm?
Eddie: No, it is a blues singer.
Sam: Right, you said that, but for some reason, I’m not buying it. I figured you were looking for a dame.
Eddie: Aren’t we all?
Sam: Don’t crack wise with me Eddie. What can you tell me about this crooner, what’s-his- name....Sherwood Williams.
Eddie: That’s Sherwood Fleming. Let’s see, he was born in Mississippi in 1936. He moved out to the coast in 1956.
Sam: Lala land?
Eddie: That’s the place.
Sam: Go on.
Eddie: He hooked up with Maxwell Davis and his crew. They cut six sides at the Modern Records studios right before that company’s demise. The tunes were released on the Highland and Kent labels. Among these were Good Woman and No Life for a Working Man. He has had a few minor comebacks through the years, but nothing significant. He was last spotted singing in a church in Santa Monica. He’s got a terrific set of pipes and really knows how to sing the blues.
Sam: Stop with all the gaudy patter. I get the picture. OK Eddie, standard deal, my usual fee plus expenses and a bonus...if I get results. Are we square?
Eddie: Yea, we got a square deal...good luck (pause), you are going to need it.
Sam: Eddie, we go back a long time. If it’s none of my business, that’s fine, but what are you planning to do with this Fleming when I find him?
Eddie: I am going to fly him down to Austin and turn him over to the Moeller Brothers.
Sam: I suppose they are going to work him over pretty good.
Eddie: For the record, no pun intended, we are going to cut an album with Fleming, and the Moeller Brothers are just the fellas to do it. Guitarist Johnny and drummer Jason have amassed a tremendous amount of recording credits through the years. They are perhaps most widely known as the anchor of the long running Fabulous Thunderbirds’ brand, led as always by Kim Wilson.
Sam: So why do you come to me? Why don’t you get this Wilson broad to track him down?
Eddie: Sam, I called you, but I think you have the right to know, the street date on this album we are going to be making is April 14, 2015, but Charlie at Bluebeat music will have an exclusive on it in the meantime. The record will be called Blues Blues Blues and this along with Jewel Brown’s new album will be the first two releases on my new Dynaflow label.
Sam: I know Jewel. She is one sweet canary. I used to catch her with Armstrong at the Copa.
Eddie: Getting back to Fleming, we will be cutting twelve tunes on him for the new record. Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff will be blowing sax, we have Nick Connolly on piano and Burley Manor on bass. Steve Fulton also plays guitar on a couple of tracks.
Sam: Sounds great. Can you throw in a copy for me...for old time’s sake Eddie?
Eddie: No way Sam, a deal’s a deal. You know where to find it. Buy the record Sam, you‘ll thank me later.
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As it turned out, Spade found his man and the record Eddie Stout envisioned has come to fruition. It is a tough, twelve song set of urban electric blues.
Blues Blues Blues combines a great vocalist with stellar support from some of the best players anywhere. The album is a wonderfully sequenced and well paced affair. It is a nice mix of Fleming originals as well as some well chosen covers including Ike Turner’s Bold Soul Brother (Bold Soul Sister) and Bay Area blues impresario Bob Geddins’, My Time After Awhile. The album’s closing track is a beautiful a cappella reading of Mahalia Jackson’s Trouble of the World. It is a bold choice that works and puts an exclamation point on the talents of Sherwood Fleming.
Sherwood Fleming with the Moeller Brothers’ Blues Blues Blues is a welcome surprise. It would appear that Sherwood Fleming is a shoe-in for BLUES JUNCTION’s Come Back Artist of the Year. It is a great record and dare I say...it is the stuff that dreams are made of.
- David Mac
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BLUES JUNCTION Productions
7343 El Camino Real
Suite 327
Atascadero, CA 93422-4697
info