Taj Mahal

Today we are going to cover one of the most prominent figures in late 20th century blues, and a regular visitor to Australia, who is in fact back here around Easter for the ECBRF - Taj Mahal. In a career that is now 45 years long, Taj, like another regular visitor Bob Brozman, has taken his initial interest in traditional blues music and extended it to include roots music styles from around the world — reggae, jazz, gospel, R&B, zydeco, West African, Latin, even Hawaiian.

Taj's interest in these wider forms was a precursor to the interests currently shown by other young bluesmen — artists like Keb' Mo', Guy Davis, Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart.

1 Mr Pitiful – 1996 – Senor Blues – Tk 13 – 2.56

Taj Mahal was born with the grand name of Henry St. Clair Fredericks in New York on May 17, 1942. His father a jazz pianist/composer/arranger of Jamaican descent, his mother a schoolteacher from South Carolina who sang gospel — the family moved to Springfield, MA, when he was quite young.

Early on he developed a particular interest in African music, and his parents also encouraged him to pursue music, starting him out with classical piano lessons before he moved on to the clarinet, trombone and harmonica.

When Henry was aged eleven his father was killed in an accident. His mother remarried, and at age 13 or 14 young Henry began messin with his stepfather’s guitar, receiving his first lessons from a neighbour who just happened to be the nephew of the famous bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup.

Henry loved the blues — both acoustic and electric but also received a solid tertiary education at the University of Massachusetts, where he studied animal husbandry, veterinary science and agronomy. Somewhere around 1959-61, he adopted the musical alias Taj Mahal (an idea that came to him in a dream) and formed Taj Mahal & the Elektras, which played around the area during the early '60s.

In 1964 at age 22, he moved to Santa Monica, California and formed The Rising Sons with fellow blues musician, 17yo Ry Cooder, landing a record deal with Columbia Records soon after.

They recorded 22 tracks in two sessions in late 1965 and 1966, of which only two were released on a single. An album was made, but stayed unreleased until 1992. Available from JB HiFi – good liner notes

Rev Gary Davis track

2 Candy Man – 6 Oct 1965 – Rising Sons – Tk 4 – 2.04

The band opened for numerous high-profile touring artists of the ‘60s, and Taj also mingled with touring blues legends, including Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins and Sleepy John Estes

Along with Chicago based Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Rising Sons group was one of the first interracial bands of the period – there are a lot of similarities with Taj’s early career and that of PB – both were born in 1942, were harpists, made their first recordings in 1965. The differences of course are that TM was Black, and west coast based, not Chicago, and PBs career descended into drugs and addictions before his death in 1987

The Rising Sons seemed to be going nowhere, and, frustrated, Mahal left the group but stayed on with Columbia as a solo artist. His self-titled debut was released in early 1968 and its stripped-down approach to vintage blues sounds made it unlike virtually anything else on the blues scene at the time.
Track from this album – featuring a then 21 yo Ryland P Cooder on rhythm guitar – Willie McTell number made famous by the Allman Bros a few years later
3 Statesboro Blues – 1968 – Taj Mahal– Tk 2 – 3.00

This album has come to be regarded as a classic of the '60s blues revival, as did its follow-up, Natch'l Blues which appeared in the same year

4 Good Morning Miss Brown – 1968 – Natchl’ Blues– Tk 1 – 3.17

The half-electric, half-acoustic double-LP set Giasnt Step followed in 1969 and those three records built Mahal's reputation as an authentic yet unique modern-day bluesman, gaining wide exposure and leading to collaborations or tours with a wide variety of prominent rockers and bluesmen. Two from this album – an electric number followed by an acoustic one.

5 Give your Woman What She Wants – 1969 – Giant Step – Tk 3 – 2.27

6 Fishin Blues – 1969 – Giant Step – Tk 21 – 3.05

Three years later - album 'Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff' (1972) - track with tuba accompaniment:

7 Cakewalk into Town – 1972 – Essential TM Disc 1 – Tk 16 – 2.33

During the early '70s, Taj’s recording material diversify. In 1974, he recorded his most reggae-heavy outing, Mo Roots. Track from this album, recorded in San Fran in 1974, featuring Wailers band member Aston Barret, not on bass but on piano, and Merry Clayton (best known for her work with MJ on Gimme Shelter) on backing vocals

8 Slave Driver – 1974 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 2 – 2.44

Mahal recorded three albums 1977 but changing musical tastes meant decreasing interest in his work and he spent much of the '80s off record, moving to Hawaii where he formed The Hula Blues Band. Originally this was just a group of guys getting together for fishing and a good time, the band soon began performing regularly and touring. Miss John Hurt track from 1976

9 Satisfied n Tickled Too - 1976 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 5 – fade out at 2.35

Mahal returned to the studio in 1987 and made a series of well-received children's albums, and other side projects, including a musical score for a play called Mule Bone. The play wasn’t a commercial success, but the album earned him a Grammy nomination in 1991. Track from that album, recorded in Hawaii...

10 Crossing - 1990 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 8 – 2.33

The same year marked Mahal's full-fledged return to regular recording and touring, kicked off with the first of a series of great albums on the Private Music label. Track from Phantom Blues –released in 1996....

11 Lovin’ in my Baby’s Eyes – 1995 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 13 – 2.43

In 1997, Mahal won a Grammy for Señor Blues, recorded the year before.

12 Irresistible You – 1996 – Senor Blues – Tk 3 – 3.14

Meanwhile, he undertook a number of small-label side projects that constituted some of his most ambitious forays into world music. 1999's Kulanjan was a duo performance with Malian kora player Toumani Diabate.

Track from this album

13 Queen Bee – 1999 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 16 – fade out at 2.30

Taj is quoted as saying that this album "embodies his musical and cultural spirit arriving full circle." To him it was an experience that allowed him to reconnect with his African heritage.

In 2000, Taj released a second Grammy winning album, Shoutin' in Key. Let the man himself introduce this next track:

14 Stranger in my own Home Town – 2000 - Shoutin in Key – Tk 4 start at 4.52 – then go to Tk 5 - 2.55

Taj Mahal has said he prefers to do outdoor performances, saying: "The music was designed for people to move, and it's a bit difficult after a while to have people sitting like they're watching television. That's why I like to play outdoor festivals-because people will just dance.

His broad musical interests have led Taj into other side projects. He became a strong supporter of the Music Maker Relief Foundation in 1997, as a supporter, advisor and MMRF board member, as well as an artistic consultant and contributor to many of that label’s recordings

Taj Mahal has also brought together his two great passions: blues and sports fishing for the benefit of Music Maker, with The Fishin’ Blues Tournament held in Central America for the last eight years.

His wide interests are also evidenced by the links on his website to a large number of environmental websites, especially those devoted to protecting the world’s oceans – http://www.tajblues.com/

Taj is here in April for ECBRF but also doing shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. In Syd and Melb they are double acts with BG, in Adelaide with EHB – you should try to see him at one of these gigs.

Finish off with a few minutes from an instrumental recorded in 1998 with Piedmont blues guitarist and singer Etta Baker. Etta was 85 when this recording was made

15 John Henry – 1998 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 18 – 3.41