Bluesman emeritus

Robert Lockwood's been playing the blues since B.B. King was a boy

by Don Fluckinger

To put the longevity of Robert "Junior" Lockwood in perspective, think about B.B. King. Now a senior citizen, King's working toward his 52nd year of playing the blues and spreading his single-string gospel across the land. In his recent autobiography, Blues All Around Me, King tells a story from his teenage years in Indianola, Mississippi, about peeping through the cracks in the wall of a club called Jones Night Spot, watching, wide-eyed, a legendary duo play the blues:

"When Sonny Boy Williamson played -- this is Sonny Boy No. 2, who took his name from the original Sonny Boy -- the gals seemed to get more excited. . . . He played sitting down, using his feet like a drum -- stomping loud and hard -- shouting and inhaling and exhaling on his harp like his life was on the line. He also had a partner called Robert Jr. Lockwood who made the guitar cry and scream. I'd be standing there for hours, unable to move or look away, no matter how sore my head would get from leaning against the slats."

When King was a teenager, Lockwood had been performing for almost two decades. Playing with Rice Miller, a.k.a Sonny Boy Williamson 2nd, he had ripped up the South playing blues in the style of his stepfather, Robert Johnson, who'd taught Lockwood how to play. It was unusual for Johnson to share his secrets; he was notoriously protective of his fingerings.

That blues tutelage touched off a whole career, one that's still going 71 years later. At 82, Lockwood just released a new album, I Got To Find Me a Woman, and has embarked on a tour that stops in Northampton tonight (Thursday, May 14) at the Iron Horse. Even at age 11, in 1926, Lockwood knew music would be his life's work.

"Robert [Johnson] was way ahead of his time, and I knew that," Lockwood says. "He put me way ahead of my time."

Since those formative years, Lockwood's own style has followed the evolution of blues, as he transformed into a citified Chicago-style player and scored a hit with "Sweet Woman (from Maine)," which became his signature tune. As a session player for Chess Records, Lockwood played on many of the great blues recordings of all time. He has since settled down in Cleveland. I Got To Find Me a Woman surveys his career, opening with Robert Johnson's "Walkin' Blues," in which he dusts off the six-string and slide to revive some down-home sounds.

His more familiar 12-string work shines on the album, through his originals, such as "Little Boy Blue" and the title track, as well as evergreens such as Roosevelt Sykes's "Feel Like Blowing My Horn" and Memphis Slim's "Every Day I Have the Blues." B.B. King contributes on a couple tracks, including the CD's centerpiece, "Bob and B." -- a five-minute electric-guitar jam that's heaven to the ears, with Lockwood in the right channel and B.B. in the left. Guitarist Joe Louis Walker contributes some pretty mean licks to a couple of tracks, including a duet guitar jam on "Horn."

Lockwood's voice is clear and spirited, ranging from falsetto down to the lower tenor reaches, and his playing is understated, just enough to make the point. But that doesn't mean he's packing it in and letting younger musicians carry him. In fact, he plays no fewer than four tunes by himself, a showcase that lets you hear every nuance of timing, phrasing, and dynamic range. Those solo tunes affirm that Lockwood's still a blues giant. On the second Roosevelt Sykes tune he covers, "She's Little and She's Low," he plays 12-string electric, solo, with breathtaking results that legions of newbies could only wish to accomplish. But for Lockwood, it comes easy. He's an original, one of the few bluesmen left -- if there are any others -- with a direct connection to Robert Johnson.

A restless soul, Lockwood keeps starting projects, including his own record company, Lockwood Records, which will be an outlet for other music he's writing; he told Jazziz earlier this year that he's written some funk tunes arranged with three horns and wants to record them. And then, like B.B., it will soon be time to put pen to paper and set the musical record straight.

"I intend to start on a book very soon now," he says. "It's going to be about people. Like that guy Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll? That's supposed to have been Louis Jordan. . . . People don't know what the hell they're doing, and they ain't got sense enough to ask me about it."

For now, though, Lockwood's concentrating on touring around the new album. "Business is picking up," he says, and that's enough for now. But don't be surprised if you hear a lot more from this guy, who so far has a lock on the best blues CD of 1998.

Robert "Junior" Lockwood plays the Iron Horse, Thursday, May 14, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $16. Call (413) 584-0610.