The Blues Legends Birthday Series

03/16/2019

Paolo( Yard Rat): Zeke at the Folklore Store tonight?
Rinaldo (Trash Panda); Yassuh!
P: Furry & them?
R: Unh huh.
P: Newton gonna b dur?
R: I reckon.
P: Paddle steady, Panda

$7 7-10 PM #

12/11/2018

FB asks me to post, I’ll post. This Saturday, 8-11, with dear Washboard Lady Paulette Regan. She beez a rite fine singer, y’all,,,, bet you already knew.
Blues Legends; Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Tampa Red.... WOWEEE! Queen Carla Thomas is also a Dec. baby (21st). We’ll call her name; she knows she’s imvited.
Washboard Lady and Stax Records Queen? Think Old Goat ain’t blessed, y’all? Really, now! Come join us!$5 donation to Center for Southern Folklore, tips for the tunesmiths, please.
119 S. Main St. #

09/10/2018

Any excuse to fill the air with rowdy sweet noise. Celebrating Gus Cannon’s 133rd(?) b’day. Saturday, Sept. 22, 7-10 PM at the Folklore Store 119 S. Main #. $5.
ZEKE’S 3- GENERATION JUG RASCALS

09/01/2018

Fir Renae to post.

BREAKING NEWS!
Judy Peiser called yesterday and said, “Wanna play Saturday?”
I said “Soitenly!”
Holiday weekend. Call it Zekeapalooza like they did in NC in ‘16.
7-10 PM 119 S. Main #
B dur!🎶🎸
Help the Center and the Folksinger 💝

08/24/2018

07/02/2018

For “Daddy John” Hurt. Please join us Sat. July 14, 8–11 PM, to celebrate him, Casey Bill Weldon, and Lemon Jefferson. Blues Legends Birthday Series.
The Center for Southern Folklore
119 S. Main St. #

05/27/2018

Please join Paulette Regan and me Sat.,2, as we celebrate two of the creme de la creme of Memphis and Delta Blues: HRM Memphis Minnie and the Rev. Mr. Skip James. Both were brilliant singers/ wordsmiths; some will insist that only Skip could best Minnie on guitar; others
(even I sometimes) might say au contraire!
Paulette has become known as “the Washboard Lady”, but you’ll hear her guitar skills likely as ne’er before. Her singing? Well, you know....
Saturday, June 2, 8-11 pm, Center for Southern Folklore, 119 S. Main,
#.
PLEASE DONATE TO THE CENTER
PLEASE TIP THE (ahem!) TALENT

04/19/2018

A reminder of the grand purpose of this Blues Legends Birthday Series: LEST WE FORGET!
The music will outlast the stories, but if the stories are lost, then the music will finally lose its context and fade away. What a loss that would be!
The Big Cheese, if you will, of our May 12th show is Robert Johnson, likely the single most famous of the Delta bluesmasters. Some consider him the “grandfather” of Rock n Roll
Too often we get wrapped up in the whole business of the “Crossroads” myth. The ‘deal with the devil’ theme goes back at least as far as Christopher Marlowe (1564-93. Goethe brought the story to its apex in the 19th century. Washington Irving, Hawthorne, and others used the theme gleefully.
The blues are often called “the Devil’s music”, so doesn’t the Faustian myth fit right in? Blues is rife with murder, s*x, booze, and co***ne. Robert Johnson is by no means the only figure with rumored links to Old Sratch. Tommy Johnson never denied similar rumors about himself.
Back to the music and the memories, really the only part that really matters, don’t we agree? To preserve the legacy of these artists is a calling for me, as it is for the Center for Southern Folklore. The Center offers the venue, I make the noise, and you complete the circle by coming to hear and hopefully learn stuff that you’ll love.
Robert, Blind Willie McTell, Kansas Joe, and L’il Son Joe have given us hours of great music. If I play it right, you’ll have one hell of a high ol’ time!

04/13/2018

A point of clarification as to my post on my main ZEKE JOHNSON page. In using nicknames, I may have confused more than a few.
“Little Rob” is Robert Johnson ( also Po’ Bob) May 8, 1913

“Blind Sammie” is Willie McTell, who used several names to skirt record contracts. May 5, 1901

The “Misters Minnie” are so- called because each was married to Memphis Minnie:
Wilbur “Kansas Joe” McCoy May 11, 1905

Ernest “L’il Son Joe” Lawlars May 18,
1900

Remember: the packed house starts with you.’

04/02/2018

April is a major ladies’ month in blues and jazz, so I won’t be doing a whole bunch of covers. I simply can’t imagine folks wanting to hear me sing Lucille Bogan, Alberta Hunter, Ann Peebles, the original Gertrude “Ma” Rainey....
Bessie Smith? Yeah, I’ll do “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” the way Perfesser Jim Dickinson showed me.
Men? Maybe a bit of Mance Lipscomb or Johnnie Shines. Al Green? Y’all don’t wanna hear me do that. Only Barry Obama can cover Rev. Al.
119 S. Main Sat., April 7 8-11 PM

DON’T MAKE MR. ‘COON and MR. POSSUM COME LOOKIN’ FOR YA!

03/05/2018

Mea Culpa! I didn't get the facts straight regarding Amber Rae Dunn's joining the b'day concert this Saturday. She'll be in Barcelona. Oops! All my fault; none of hers.

I'll be live with Joel Martin on radio-memphis.com Th. 3/8 at 2:30 PM to promote the show. Zeke renditions of tunes by Furry, Son, Bo, and good Sister Rosetta. Tune in, woncha?

An internet radio station featuring independent Memphis music

03/04/2018

You know we won't forget Son House and Bo Carter on Sat. 10th. They shared a b'day (3/21) nine years apart. And Amber Rae Dunn to assist with Sister Rosetta Tharpe? Yes, folks, you read it right: AMBER RAE DUNN!
ALL THIS AND FURRY TOO.!
Sat., March 10th at the Folklore Store of the Center for Southern Folklore
119, S. Main..... MEMPHIS 8-11 PM
Donations requested for the Center
Tips and CD purchases ADORED by
the choristers! C U DUR

02/25/2018

Time to hit full stride on the Blues Legends again with Mr. Furry as the obvious headliner. We'll pay Sister Rosetta Tharpe her proper homage, too. Might even have a well- known female voice joining for a few of the Godmother's standards. Or a brand new discovery of mine. OR BOTH!
If that doesn't stir your curiosity... well, I kinda worry bouthcha.
Will we ignore Son House and Bo Carter? Surely you jest!

Saturday, the 10th of March @ the Folklore Store of the Center for Southern Folklore. 8:00-11:00 PM
119 S. Main Street, Bluff City.
NO COVER, but the Center always needs donations.
I'll have CDs for sale, and I love seeing green paper in that orange tip bucket.

As always, the crowd starts with YOU!

01/20/2018

How's this for starters tonight?
1. Stokes- "Mr. Crump"
2. Elvis- "Shake, Rattle, and Roll"
Big Joe Turner
3. Sam Chatmon- Gone, Long Gone
4. Fred Mc- Shake 'em on Down
5. Rev. Wilkins- Holy Ghost Train
6. Leadbelly- Bourgeois Blues
7. Huey "Piano" Smith- "Doncha Just Know It? (audience help [?])
8. Hammie Nixon- Viola Lee
9. Sleepy John Estes- Drop Down, Mama.

8-11 tonight, friends. 119 S. Main
C'mon!!

01/19/2018

If you don't wanna hear me sing and pay tribute to these children of January,.... well, I wonder aboutcha!
Sat., Jan. 20th, 8-11, The Folklore Store. 119 S. Main. Tips and CD sales. Donate to the Center if'n ya can!
@

01/05/2018

January is a HUGE month for Memphis- area Blues Legends. Join us Saturday the 20th at Center for Southern Folklore as we honor:
1/1 Frank Stokes
1/8 Elvis Presley
1/12 Fred McDowell
1/16 Rev. Robert Wilkins
1/20 Leadbelly
1/22 Hammie Nixon
1/25 "Sleepy" John Estes
1//26 Huey "Piano" Smith

Wait, you may say, Leadbelly's from La., and Huey's from NOLA! Yep! But Leadbelly is Leadbelly and Huey wrote "Don't Ya Just Know It?"
SEE WHAT I MEAN? 8-11 PM
$7 donation requested.
Zeke loves tips and CD sales.
Here's Frank!

12/30/2017

After careful consideration of the weather forecast for tonight, and the Mall's reputation for being the coldest spot in town, Judy Peiser and I have concluded that tonight's show at the Center for Southern Folklore should be cancelled.
Visit this post soon for details on our January show. January is a positive TREASURE TROVE of Memphis- area blues snd blues- related birthdays.
Stay in touch on this and my personal FB page.

HAPPY NEW YEAR
or
MEW YEAR.

12/26/2017

Join us Sat. night 8-11 in celebration of the birthdays of Tampa Red, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, and Carla Thomas. Since Red (Mr. Hudson Whitaker) is the only one of the bunch whose style is much like mine, you'll mainly get a dose of Delta, Hill Country, and Beale standards, with just a smattering of Red, Bo, and Richard.

Of course even I am not nervy enough to try to cover a Carla song, but we have sung togther twice: at a health food store in '14 and at a chance meeting at I-Hop this year.
Carla, if ya got a minute, come on in and let's treat 'em to "Doin' What You Want Me to Do."

Cyclone and Tiger fans, join us to cry over or celebrate your school's fate in the Liberty Bowl.

The Center would sincerely aprreciate your $7 donation, and my cat and I love it when you bless the tip can (Love Bucket)
Ever'body gotta be someplace. Why not you there with us?