Tail Dragger My Head Is Bald: Live At Vern's Friendly Lounge CD

There is plenty of dark music available on CD -- Russian folk, grunge, Peruvian star Rossy War's cumbia triste (sad cumbia), Fiona Apple, Green Day singing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." But the blues, like country, isn't simply dark -- it's dark-humored. The blues laughs in the face of adversity, which is clearly something that Lightnin' Hopkins, Little Walter, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Sonny Boy Williamson have had in common with Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and Johnny Paycheck. And it is no coincidence that one sees so many smiling faces on this DVD even though Tail Dragger is addressing plenty of dark subject matter. There is no way that My Head Is Bald (which documents a July 16, 2005, gig at Vern's Friendly Lounge on Chicago's West Side) will be mistaken for an exercise in mindless, naïve, Pollyanna-ish optimism. Tail Dragger is singing about having the "Prison Blues"; he sings about betrayal, infidelity, back-stabbing, and countless disappointments. But he does it with an unwavering sense of humor, which is why one sees so many smiling faces in the audience. Tail Dragger's sense of dark comedy draws on Windy City influences that include Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, but the dominant influence on his very Chicago-sounding blues is Howlin' Wolf -- no one has influenced this veteran singer more than his mentor, Howlin' Wolf. And while Tail Dragger is quite derivative, he is also very skillful at what he does. Tail Dragger is focused and inspired throughout his set, offering a tough, gritty, rugged, and -- of course -- very dark-humored dose of Chicago blues that isn't the least bit groundbreaking but is honest and pleasingly solid. ~ Alex Henderson

James Yancy Jones, known professionally as Tail Dragger, is on the radical edge of contemporary blues simply by not changing a thing since he first hit the Chicago blues scene from his native Arkansas in the 1960s. A Howlin' Wolf protégé, Jones has grown into his role as an elder statesman, and in an era when drums are processed and guitar leads are as much synthesizer as they are strings, his "just the old blues, thank you, Ma'am," approach is downright refreshing. My Head Is Bald, a live set from Vern's Friendly Lounge on Chicago's West side, is as comfy as a pair of old wool socks, and while Jones isn't particularly innovative -- he still sounds like an ever-so-slightly polished-up version of the Wolf -- his version of the blues is so familiar and devoid of flash that it feels lived in and real, and original songs like "Tend to Your Business" and "Prison Blues" seem like they've been around forever. A Tail Dragger show is predictable, but that's the charm of it. This is blues in the neighborhood bar. You wouldn't want it to sound any other way. ~ Steve Leggett

A wonderfully dramatic showman, Tail Dragger also possesses one of the most authentic and distinct Chicago Blues voices ever. In 1998, his "American People" (DMK #728) was described as "tour de force Chicago Blues" by Art Tipaldi in Blues Revue. Those wh

Recording information: Vern's Friendly Lounge, Chicago, IL (07/16/2005).

Photographer: Marc PoKempner.

Personnel: Tail Dragger (vocals); Kevin Shanahan, Jimmy Dawkins, Lurrie Bell (guitar); Billy Branch (harmonica); Willie Young (saxophone); Kenny Smith (drums).

Liner Note Author: Scott Dirks.