THREE MINI-FESTS HIGHLIGHT INDIANAPOLIS’S BLUES SCENE
by
George Fish
A Brief History of Indiana Blues
Although Indiana is often overlooked as a blues center, it has both a strong historical connection to the blues, as well as
a vibrant connection today. This was highlighted over the summer of 2010 by three blues mini-fest jams that occurred in
Indianapolis—the Second Annual Chubby’s Reunion Fest Blues Night at Zanies Too on May 7, the Yank Rachell 100th
Birthday Celebration on the grounds of the Indiana Historical Society on June 6, and the Leroy “Lefty” Bates Tribute Jam
at the Slippery Noodle Inn on August 8.
Many blues aficionados know that Indianapolis was the adopted home of the legendary “Blues Mandolin Man” Yank
Rachell, who lived here from 1956 until his death in 1997. But Indianapolis was also adopted home of Leroy Carr and
Scrapper Blackwell, who wrote and recorded numerous blues classics in the 1920s and 1930s, among them “How Long
Blues” and “In The Evening.” Indianapolis also became the adopted home of Leroy “Lefty” Bates after he’d left
Chicago. Bates played and recorded bass and rhythm guitar on many of Jimmy Reed’s recordings, and was a session
man at Chess Records (see more on Bates below). Indiana Avenue, the main drag of Indianapolis’s African American
community from the 19th Century into the early 1960s, was home to many blues and jazz clubs, which produced
notables who went on to greater fame. Near Indiana Avenue was the Cotton Club, where Champion Jack Dupree was
the house piano player in the 1940s, and in a much more contemporary vein, singer/multi-instrumentalist Andra Faye of
Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women, got her start in Indy. Three folk blues guitarists who lived in Indianapolis, Guitar Pete
Franklin, J.T. Adams and Shirley Griffith, recorded albums on the Prestige label in the 1960s, and contemporary blues
guitarist Ron Hacker also started here, playing with Yank Rachell. Yank Rachell and “Lefty” Bates were important
mentors of Indianapolis’s blues scene from the 1960s on, and while he lived in Indianapolis, Rachell left from time to time
to tour and record with his old blues partners Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon during the folk revival of the 1960s,
and also recorded albums in his own right in the last decades of his life on the national Delmark, Blue Goose and Blind
Pig labels, and on the Indiana regional labels Slippery Noodle Sound and Flat Rock. After Rachell’s death, local blues
musician Mike Butler spent three years compiling 2009’s Yank Rachell Tribute CD, which featured both Indianapolis
musicians and many renowned blues luminaries, among them Mike Seeger, John Sebastian, Rich DelGrosso, and
France’s Jean-Louis Mahjun, and garnered extensive airplay on blues radio worldwide.
At the northern end of Indiana, South Bend was the birthplace of Jr. Walker and the All-Stars, early Motown recording
artists and significant R&B band of the 1960s. To its east was Gary, next door to Chicago, the home of far more than
just the Jackson Five. Gary’s active blues scene nurtured the young Jimmy Reed when he worked in the steel mill, and
also produced Big Daddy Kinsey, the Kinsey Report, and harpman Lester “Mad Dog” Davenport. Gary was home to
Vee-Jay Records as well, a significant blues, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll label of the 1950s and 1960s which recorded, among
others, Jimmy Reed and Roscoe Gordon. On the bluesy rock side, Indiana was also home to guitarist Lonnie Mack. In
fact, Indiana has been home to many talented blues singers, composers and musicians right up to now, whose talent
has been largely unheralded and unnoticed outside of the Hoosier State—but which has given, and still gives, Indiana a
vibrant home for the blues.
The Second Annual Chubby’s Reunion Fest Blues Night
Chubby Wadsworth was the grand dean and pioneer encourager of Indianapolis original music of all genres—blues,
rock, punk, folk, alt country—and his Chubby’s Club Lasalle, was the definitive venue for it from 1988 until the club had
to close its doors in 2004. Located on Indianapolis’s Near East Side, in the heart of the city’s infamous “murder district,”
it always remained a safe haven for fans and musicians within, a place where everybody looked out for each other. One
time, a musician’s car was hijacked from underneath him as he was preparing to leave for the night, and both he and his
guitar were run over by the vehicle. To help him out the Club Lasalle regulars hosted a benefit at the club to help him
with his medical bills and replace his guitar, and everyone leaving was escorted safely to their car after that. Chubby’s
Club Lasalle was where many of Indianapolis’s musicians got their start, and fresh, new talent that had never played
before always had access to the stage. It had a legendary Open Stage on Sundays hosted by the late, fondly-
remembered Beth Stolz, and had a regular blues night hosted for many years by guitarist Fast Johnny Scharbrough that
attracted veterans and tyros alike. Many of the musicians who played at Chubby’s are still actively playing today, such
as Scharbrough and the Michigan Street Blues Band—formed impromptu at the club after a jam session, christened by
Chubby Wadsworth himself, and still going strong 20 years later.
The First Annual Chubby’s Reunion Fest occurred in 2009 at East Side music club Zanies Too, and was such a success
that plans were made to keep it afoot as a permanent fixture. The Second Reunion Fest occurred the weekend of May
7-9, 2010, with opening night specifically set aside as Blues Night. It attracted as players many of the singers and
musicians who’d played there, some even coming in from out of state. Many of the players who started at Chubby’s
have continued to play now for decades, and have become leading musicians in the Indianapolis area and even
nationally. For example, singer/guitarist Rev. Charlie Edmonds, who started at Chubby’s and went on to become an
active player in the “Blues in the Schools” program, which has enabled him to visit and play not only all over the country,
but even in Europe. Fast Johnny Scharbrough played that night with his own Circle City Blues Band that features
vocalist Billy Gee Miller, a blues/soul dynamo who’s a more-than-40-year veteran, and was once invited to join the
Platters. But this only begins to list the talent that came forth Blues Night.
by
George Fish
A Brief History of Indiana Blues
Although Indiana is often overlooked as a blues center, it has both a strong historical connection to the blues, as well as
a vibrant connection today. This was highlighted over the summer of 2010 by three blues mini-fest jams that occurred in
Indianapolis—the Second Annual Chubby’s Reunion Fest Blues Night at Zanies Too on May 7, the Yank Rachell 100th
Birthday Celebration on the grounds of the Indiana Historical Society on June 6, and the Leroy “Lefty” Bates Tribute Jam
at the Slippery Noodle Inn on August 8.
Many blues aficionados know that Indianapolis was the adopted home of the legendary “Blues Mandolin Man” Yank
Rachell, who lived here from 1956 until his death in 1997. But Indianapolis was also adopted home of Leroy Carr and
Scrapper Blackwell, who wrote and recorded numerous blues classics in the 1920s and 1930s, among them “How Long
Blues” and “In The Evening.” Indianapolis also became the adopted home of Leroy “Lefty” Bates after he’d left
Chicago. Bates played and recorded bass and rhythm guitar on many of Jimmy Reed’s recordings, and was a session
man at Chess Records (see more on Bates below). Indiana Avenue, the main drag of Indianapolis’s African American
community from the 19th Century into the early 1960s, was home to many blues and jazz clubs, which produced
notables who went on to greater fame. Near Indiana Avenue was the Cotton Club, where Champion Jack Dupree was
the house piano player in the 1940s, and in a much more contemporary vein, singer/multi-instrumentalist Andra Faye of
Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women, got her start in Indy. Three folk blues guitarists who lived in Indianapolis, Guitar Pete
Franklin, J.T. Adams and Shirley Griffith, recorded albums on the Prestige label in the 1960s, and contemporary blues
guitarist Ron Hacker also started here, playing with Yank Rachell. Yank Rachell and “Lefty” Bates were important
mentors of Indianapolis’s blues scene from the 1960s on, and while he lived in Indianapolis, Rachell left from time to time
to tour and record with his old blues partners Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon during the folk revival of the 1960s,
and also recorded albums in his own right in the last decades of his life on the national Delmark, Blue Goose and Blind
Pig labels, and on the Indiana regional labels Slippery Noodle Sound and Flat Rock. After Rachell’s death, local blues
musician Mike Butler spent three years compiling 2009’s Yank Rachell Tribute CD, which featured both Indianapolis
musicians and many renowned blues luminaries, among them Mike Seeger, John Sebastian, Rich DelGrosso, and
France’s Jean-Louis Mahjun, and garnered extensive airplay on blues radio worldwide.
At the northern end of Indiana, South Bend was the birthplace of Jr. Walker and the All-Stars, early Motown recording
artists and significant R&B band of the 1960s. To its east was Gary, next door to Chicago, the home of far more than
just the Jackson Five. Gary’s active blues scene nurtured the young Jimmy Reed when he worked in the steel mill, and
also produced Big Daddy Kinsey, the Kinsey Report, and harpman Lester “Mad Dog” Davenport. Gary was home to
Vee-Jay Records as well, a significant blues, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll label of the 1950s and 1960s which recorded, among
others, Jimmy Reed and Roscoe Gordon. On the bluesy rock side, Indiana was also home to guitarist Lonnie Mack. In
fact, Indiana has been home to many talented blues singers, composers and musicians right up to now, whose talent
has been largely unheralded and unnoticed outside of the Hoosier State—but which has given, and still gives, Indiana a
vibrant home for the blues.
The Second Annual Chubby’s Reunion Fest Blues Night
Chubby Wadsworth was the grand dean and pioneer encourager of Indianapolis original music of all genres—blues,
rock, punk, folk, alt country—and his Chubby’s Club Lasalle, was the definitive venue for it from 1988 until the club had
to close its doors in 2004. Located on Indianapolis’s Near East Side, in the heart of the city’s infamous “murder district,”
it always remained a safe haven for fans and musicians within, a place where everybody looked out for each other. One
time, a musician’s car was hijacked from underneath him as he was preparing to leave for the night, and both he and his
guitar were run over by the vehicle. To help him out the Club Lasalle regulars hosted a benefit at the club to help him
with his medical bills and replace his guitar, and everyone leaving was escorted safely to their car after that. Chubby’s
Club Lasalle was where many of Indianapolis’s musicians got their start, and fresh, new talent that had never played
before always had access to the stage. It had a legendary Open Stage on Sundays hosted by the late, fondly-
remembered Beth Stolz, and had a regular blues night hosted for many years by guitarist Fast Johnny Scharbrough that
attracted veterans and tyros alike. Many of the musicians who played at Chubby’s are still actively playing today, such
as Scharbrough and the Michigan Street Blues Band—formed impromptu at the club after a jam session, christened by
Chubby Wadsworth himself, and still going strong 20 years later.
The First Annual Chubby’s Reunion Fest occurred in 2009 at East Side music club Zanies Too, and was such a success
that plans were made to keep it afoot as a permanent fixture. The Second Reunion Fest occurred the weekend of May
7-9, 2010, with opening night specifically set aside as Blues Night. It attracted as players many of the singers and
musicians who’d played there, some even coming in from out of state. Many of the players who started at Chubby’s
have continued to play now for decades, and have become leading musicians in the Indianapolis area and even
nationally. For example, singer/guitarist Rev. Charlie Edmonds, who started at Chubby’s and went on to become an
active player in the “Blues in the Schools” program, which has enabled him to visit and play not only all over the country,
but even in Europe. Fast Johnny Scharbrough played that night with his own Circle City Blues Band that features
vocalist Billy Gee Miller, a blues/soul dynamo who’s a more-than-40-year veteran, and was once invited to join the
Platters. But this only begins to list the talent that came forth Blues Night.
[Photos from Chubby Fest. Don’t know who photographer is, but she was official photographer for Chubby
Fest, sent these to me. I’m trying to find out who she was. Sax player & girl singer unknown, drummer is
Furious George at official Chubby’s drum kit, guitarist is Rev. Charlie Edmonds.]
Fest, sent these to me. I’m trying to find out who she was. Sax player & girl singer unknown, drummer is
Furious George at official Chubby’s drum kit, guitarist is Rev. Charlie Edmonds.]
The Yank Rachell 100th Birthday Celebration
The Yank Rachell 100th Birthday Celebration was organized by Indianapolis vocalist/mandolin player Mike Butler in
conjunction with the Indiana Historical Society, and was held on the Society’s grounds in downtown Indy on June 6.
Butler, who presently holds possession of Yank Rachell’s last mandolin, which he will donate to the Smithsonian after
his death, had also helped organize a similar event with the Historical Society in 2009. James “Yank” Rachell was born
in Brownsburg, Tennessee March 16, 1910, same year as Howlin’ Wolf. The Celebration featured a number of
Indianapolis’s leading acoustic and electric blues musicians, who provided a gala afternoon and evening of folk and
modern blues. While many of the players are long-seasoned veterans, the next generation of the blues also held
stage in the form of two teenage guitarists, one white, one black, whose virtuosity gives much hope for the blues
continuing: 14-year-old Jake Henson, and 16-year-old Zak Knight, winner of the 2010 Robert Johnson Award. Jim
Richter and Gordon Bonham played acoustic folk blues classics on two vintage instruments, a 1929 mandolin and a
1930 National Steel guitar respectively, while new electric band Brown Betty gave the blues a decidedly psychedelic-
rock edge with their playing. More traditional electric blues was also much in evidence, in the form of three of
Indianapolis’s three leading electric blues combos. Singer/guitarist Dwight Edwards fronted a seven-piece band that
included a three-sax horn section, and gave a rousing set of originals molded after B.B. King. Edwards had a blues
record hit several years ago in Tupelo, Mississippi with his self-penned “How Many Tears.” Gene Deer’s band and
Governor Davis and the Blues Ambassadors tore up the stage with Chicago-style blues. Special guests attending
were Yank Rachell’s granddaughter (and former bassist in his band), Sheena Rachell, and the rest of the Rachell
family. Sheena Rachell has suffered for the last few years with Wegener's granulomatosis, a debilitating respiratory
disease, and, although weak, she came to the front of the stage and sang the blues for the audience, including her
vocal standard, Charles Brown’s “Drifting Blues.”
The Yank Rachell 100th Birthday Celebration was organized by Indianapolis vocalist/mandolin player Mike Butler in
conjunction with the Indiana Historical Society, and was held on the Society’s grounds in downtown Indy on June 6.
Butler, who presently holds possession of Yank Rachell’s last mandolin, which he will donate to the Smithsonian after
his death, had also helped organize a similar event with the Historical Society in 2009. James “Yank” Rachell was born
in Brownsburg, Tennessee March 16, 1910, same year as Howlin’ Wolf. The Celebration featured a number of
Indianapolis’s leading acoustic and electric blues musicians, who provided a gala afternoon and evening of folk and
modern blues. While many of the players are long-seasoned veterans, the next generation of the blues also held
stage in the form of two teenage guitarists, one white, one black, whose virtuosity gives much hope for the blues
continuing: 14-year-old Jake Henson, and 16-year-old Zak Knight, winner of the 2010 Robert Johnson Award. Jim
Richter and Gordon Bonham played acoustic folk blues classics on two vintage instruments, a 1929 mandolin and a
1930 National Steel guitar respectively, while new electric band Brown Betty gave the blues a decidedly psychedelic-
rock edge with their playing. More traditional electric blues was also much in evidence, in the form of three of
Indianapolis’s three leading electric blues combos. Singer/guitarist Dwight Edwards fronted a seven-piece band that
included a three-sax horn section, and gave a rousing set of originals molded after B.B. King. Edwards had a blues
record hit several years ago in Tupelo, Mississippi with his self-penned “How Many Tears.” Gene Deer’s band and
Governor Davis and the Blues Ambassadors tore up the stage with Chicago-style blues. Special guests attending
were Yank Rachell’s granddaughter (and former bassist in his band), Sheena Rachell, and the rest of the Rachell
family. Sheena Rachell has suffered for the last few years with Wegener's granulomatosis, a debilitating respiratory
disease, and, although weak, she came to the front of the stage and sang the blues for the audience, including her
vocal standard, Charles Brown’s “Drifting Blues.”
Zak Knight
Jake Harmon
Dave Morgan
[Photos from Yank Birthday tribute, all taken by Tim Duffy. Bottom right photo is Yank’s
granddaughter, Sheena Rachell, singing]
granddaughter, Sheena Rachell, singing]
The Leroy “Lefty” Bates Tribute Jam
Leroy “Lefty” Bates (1924-1991) was another old-time bluesman in Indianapolis who mentored the younger
generation of players, same as Yank Rachell. In fact, he played guitar in Rachell’s band, in the 1970s, and for
several years fronted Lefty Bates and the Headhunters, playing weekly at the Bowsprit, a popular local blues venue
in the 1980s. As mentioned above, he recorded with Jimmy Reed, and when he lived in Chicago, was a regular pal
of Reed and Eddie Taylor. In his final years, he suffered from poor health and could barely walk, and, as was true
of Yank Rachell and so many other pioneer black blues artists, died in poverty. Which was the purpose of the jam:
to raise money to put a tombstone on Bates’s presently-unmarked grave, approximate cost, $1,450. But generous
patrons and supporters of the blues that night raised $600 toward that goal the night of August 8 at the Slippery
Noodle Inn, and another Indianapolis blues venue, the Gaslight, wishes to cooperate in hosting another jam for that
purpose.
This will be the third time the Indianapolis blues community has come together to make sure the graves of its blues
heroes don’t go unmarked. The first time was to buy a tombstone to mark the grave of Leroy Carr, the second to
mark the grave of Yank Rachell, both of whom died too poor to leave money behind for tombstones. It’s a shameful
fact of the blues that, while many younger white musicians have become rich and famous by singing and playing the
blues, far too many of the African American blues pioneers never made even a dime off their Promethean creative
efforts.
The hosting place, Indianapolis’s world-famous blues bar Slippery Noodle Inn, is the oldest continuous tavern in
Indiana, ever since 1859 (it continued as a speakeasy during Prohibition). Once again, leading Hoosier blues talent
came out for the Tribute Jam, same as they had for the two events mentioned above. The Jam’s core band was
formed of veteran players Jay Stein, harpman/singer and a protégé of Bates; Vince Mullin, slide guitarist/vocalist
who played with both Rachell and Bates; guitarist Terry Glass, who’s returned to music after a long hiatus; and the
rhythm section of veteran bassist Lester Johnson and long-standing drummer Tim Duffy. Leading jammers included
Fast Johnny Scharbrough and harpmen Allen Stratyner, Rich Hynes and John Barney, and many, many notable
guitarists, bassists and singers. But no drummers—so it’s a good thing drummer Duffy didn’t have to go to the
bathroom much! “Harmonica Mike” Gatto, founding member of the Michigan Street Blues Band, also played and
sang, along with vocalist Julie Malott, who belted out Koko Taylor tunes. Horns were present too—three saxophone
players added their sounds to the jam, and modern bluesman Harvey Cook delivered some guitar pyrotechnics that
were truly Jimi Hendrix meets B.B. King! As with all the other mini-fests, there was far too much talent to mention
everybody, but one thing is certain—the blues lives on and lives well in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2010.
Leroy “Lefty” Bates (1924-1991) was another old-time bluesman in Indianapolis who mentored the younger
generation of players, same as Yank Rachell. In fact, he played guitar in Rachell’s band, in the 1970s, and for
several years fronted Lefty Bates and the Headhunters, playing weekly at the Bowsprit, a popular local blues venue
in the 1980s. As mentioned above, he recorded with Jimmy Reed, and when he lived in Chicago, was a regular pal
of Reed and Eddie Taylor. In his final years, he suffered from poor health and could barely walk, and, as was true
of Yank Rachell and so many other pioneer black blues artists, died in poverty. Which was the purpose of the jam:
to raise money to put a tombstone on Bates’s presently-unmarked grave, approximate cost, $1,450. But generous
patrons and supporters of the blues that night raised $600 toward that goal the night of August 8 at the Slippery
Noodle Inn, and another Indianapolis blues venue, the Gaslight, wishes to cooperate in hosting another jam for that
purpose.
This will be the third time the Indianapolis blues community has come together to make sure the graves of its blues
heroes don’t go unmarked. The first time was to buy a tombstone to mark the grave of Leroy Carr, the second to
mark the grave of Yank Rachell, both of whom died too poor to leave money behind for tombstones. It’s a shameful
fact of the blues that, while many younger white musicians have become rich and famous by singing and playing the
blues, far too many of the African American blues pioneers never made even a dime off their Promethean creative
efforts.
The hosting place, Indianapolis’s world-famous blues bar Slippery Noodle Inn, is the oldest continuous tavern in
Indiana, ever since 1859 (it continued as a speakeasy during Prohibition). Once again, leading Hoosier blues talent
came out for the Tribute Jam, same as they had for the two events mentioned above. The Jam’s core band was
formed of veteran players Jay Stein, harpman/singer and a protégé of Bates; Vince Mullin, slide guitarist/vocalist
who played with both Rachell and Bates; guitarist Terry Glass, who’s returned to music after a long hiatus; and the
rhythm section of veteran bassist Lester Johnson and long-standing drummer Tim Duffy. Leading jammers included
Fast Johnny Scharbrough and harpmen Allen Stratyner, Rich Hynes and John Barney, and many, many notable
guitarists, bassists and singers. But no drummers—so it’s a good thing drummer Duffy didn’t have to go to the
bathroom much! “Harmonica Mike” Gatto, founding member of the Michigan Street Blues Band, also played and
sang, along with vocalist Julie Malott, who belted out Koko Taylor tunes. Horns were present too—three saxophone
players added their sounds to the jam, and modern bluesman Harvey Cook delivered some guitar pyrotechnics that
were truly Jimi Hendrix meets B.B. King! As with all the other mini-fests, there was far too much talent to mention
everybody, but one thing is certain—the blues lives on and lives well in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2010.
[From Lefty Bates Tribute Jam. Left, Mike “Harmonica” Gatto, center Terry Glass,
both taken by Tim Duffy. Right, Leroy “Lefty” Bates, photographer unknown, left,
Harvey Cook, taken by Timothy Hill]
both taken by Tim Duffy. Right, Leroy “Lefty” Bates, photographer unknown, left,
Harvey Cook, taken by Timothy Hill]
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