Sixteenth Annual King Biscuit Blues Festival

Oct 4-6, 2001 - Helena, Arkansas

Story and photos by Gary W. Miller

Every year for 16 years this free festival has called out of the cracks over 100,000 fanatical Blues fans from all over the world. "Sunshine" Sonny Payne and other adventurous friends in Helena started the whole thing, eventually raising it to world-class status. This year I personally met people from 14 foreign countries. There just isn't anything like King Biscuit. Attended by the most avid Blues fans and partygoers, it may be the biggest Blues party anywhere.

Every year I pack the truck, get a couple of partying friends and head out to Tent City on the levee in Helena. All my old Blues friends from Memphis, Clarksdale, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan and just about everywhere else all show up, ready to party. This year, Mark and Lori came along. We drove the eight hours from Knoxville and arrived just in time to set up and hit the festival. I didn't see much of them for the next three days, but that's normal at the Biscuit. This is the place to hear great Blues music, eat barbeque, drink your fill and talk to musicians. This year over 40 acts were scheduled on three stages, plus the gospel choirs and everybody roaming around with a harp or guitar.

Jams were everywhere, especially at night at the Sonny Boy Music Hall. I heard Billy Branch & the SOBs, Geneva Red, Marcia Ball, Arthur Williams and many others there. Beer-drinking and Blues-stompin' are the word here. Friday night the weather turned sour, so that drove the fans into the many halls and bars to hear their favorites in a smaller setting. It is entirely possible to find yourself rubbing shoulders with the likes of Pinetop Perkins, John Weston, Sam Carr, Anson Funderburgh or Robert Lockwood, Jr. Musicians were everywhere here. The thrill of the Blues heard live makes for the best time you'll ever have with music.

So many outstanding performers appear at the festival, it's a like a compendium of Blues history. To see the list of performers, you need to also go to www.kingbiscuit.org.

The photos on the pages of BluesWax will give you a pretty good idea of who showed up. I spent three days taking them. I just can't turn down taking pictures of my Blues idols. If you want to talk to these greats, they are open to all the fans. This is the place for them to spread their wings too. It's hard not to overlook all the wonderful sidemen with every group, but if you count them, too, it raises the count on talent quite a bit. I saw and heard some of the best guitar players, harp players, sax players, bass players, drummers, and singers and dancers anywhere.

The main stage is the primary attraction, but the giant street party and the open Delta Cultural Center are important attractions also. There are actually three stages. In addition to the main stage, there is the Houston Stackhouse Acoustic Stage and the Robert Lockwood, Jr. Heritage Stage. The King Biscuit Time radio show broadcasts daily from KFFA 1360 AM at the Delta Cultural Center. Hosted by Sonny Payne, it's the longest-running radio show in the U.S. Here, you'll also find a display of the Center's Blues artifacts and photos of the Blues greats. It's a great place to uncover the history of the Blues.

Highlights of the Thursday night stage were Janiva Magness (watch BluesWax for an upcoming interview with this artist), Larry McCray and Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets with Sam Myers. Janiva is a Blues belter with a dynamite set of pipes and a really jumpin' band. She wowed the crowd with her great looks and her wonderful renditions of West-Coast jump and Blues. Larry McCray, whose guitar playing is stratospheric, always stuns the crowd with his great stylings of Texas Blues with some psychedelic twists and turns. He has really come into his own this year. Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets were sensational. Anson's guitar work is so well thought out and precise that it is amazing. This was some of the best guitar played. Sam Myers is always tops with his big-band phrasing and warm harp playing.

Friday, Eddie Cotton, Sam Carr's Delta Jukes and Guitar Shorty got to play before the rain got there. The rest of the artists then made for Sonny Boy's Blues Hall and jammed there for the folks. Marcia Ball and her band did a great show. Pat Boyack, her guitar player, is HOT! Man, this guy plays with a Texas fervor that will burn a hole in your pocket! And we need to include her dynamite sax player, Brad Andrew, whose killer sax reminded me of the greats from the '50s and '60s. Screamin' sax and New Orleans funky Rock and Blues all! Although the rain and cold got everyone a little off-kilter, it didn't kill the craving for the Blues. People partied until 2:30 a.m. and then went home to wet tents and deep sleeps.

Saturday the weather turned nice again, and the largest crowd ever to attend the festival got down with its bad self. Larry Garner kicked off with a vengeance and really got 'em rockin'. Billy Boy Arnold followed, and his superb harp playing and great lyrics of all of his classic Chicago Blues were superb. A real professional, he really deserves to be heard (and heard of) more often. I haven't heard much better harp lately. Jimmy Johnson, Robert Lockwood Jr. - What can I say? True legends, of course, but they were so personal with the crowd! It was a real thrill to hear them both.

As the night crept on, Howard Tate brought up his great Soul band and wowed the crowd with his intense, soul-voiced rendition of "Get it While You Can" and other great Soul renditions. The great Levon Helm & the Barnburners took the stage next, in front of the admiring crowd. What a Band! His front man, on harp and vocals, was Chris O'Leary. This guy really is pro and played some of the mellowest harp and kicked-back vocals I've heard in a long time. The band was at its best with the guitar of Pat O'Shea and David Maxwell on keyboards shining on. Where's the next album, Levon? I've got to have this stuff!

The end of Saturday night might have signaled the end of the Festival, but there was more to come. Read about Hopson's Plantation, Rusty Zinn and Pinetop Perkins in an upcoming issue. Just across the street from the real Crossroads, you'll be able to look out across the cotton fields and hear the Blues at it's best. The Blues doesn't stop with the King Biscuit. It goes on, and I'll see you there next year. Don't sell your soul anywhere else.

BluesSource.com

(Published in Blueswax 10/17/2002)