TAMPA RED

     

Tampa Red was an essential part of the Chicago blues scene during its early years. The legacy of this redheaded guitarist includes both an extensive library of recordings and a long list of musicians who were profoundly influenced by his slide-guitar and single-string solo style, including Big Bill BROONZY and Robert Nighthawk. He helped to bridge the gap between rural and urban blues in the 1930s.

He was born Hudson Woodbridge, probably on Christmas Day in 1900 or 1901 (but perhaps as late as 1904), in Smithville, Georgia. He grew up in Tampa, Florida, and that and the fact that he had red hair gave him his nickname. By the time he moved to Chicago in the mid-1920s, he had mastered the slide guitar and earned the nickname “The Guitar Wizard.” He initially played street corners and a few clubs, but his big break came when he was asked to play as a sideman to Ma RAINEY. He met Thomas A. DORSEY in the process, and they soon won local fame on the black theatre circuit.

HOKUM

Tampa Red and “Georgia Tom,” as Dorsey was known, specialised in jivey and risque party music called “hokum.” Their bawdy first recording, “It’s Tight Like That (1928),” was one of the biggest-selling prewar blues records. It encouraged numerous imitators, and initiated what became known as “the hokum sound.” This was characterised by light, airy melodies with sentimental or humorous lyrics, often relying on double-meaning wordplay. Tampa Red and Georgia Tom even called themselves the Hokum Boys for a time, performing extensively in Chicago and Memphis. They kept recording until Dorsey became disillusioned with blues and turned instead to gospel in 1932.

Hokum, although it propelled Tampa Red into the limelight, was short-lived. Tampa followed it with sexy blues ballads such as “Sugar Mama Blues No. 1.” This he played in E, with his guitar tuned down a semitone, which showcased his ability to play backward finger-to-thumb rolls with his right hand and create sound effects using a bottleneck (sliding a metal cylinder down the strings). “Nobody in the world can do that, because there’s only one Tampa Red, and when he’s dead, that’s all, brother,” said Big Bill Broonzy. Broonzy also revealed that Tampa Red was the first bottleneck player he saw, and that Tampa was also one of the earliest blues musicians to record with an electric guitar. Broonzy was one of many whose first Chicago stop was Tampa Red’s house. Tampa Red’s wife, Frances, ran their home as a blues lodging house in the 1930s and 1940s, with some performers living there, others using it for rehearsals, and almost all asking Tampa Red for advice. Among those who passed through were Memphis SLIM, Sonny Boy WILLIAMSON, Big Joe Williams, and Major “Maceo” Merriweather.

RECORDING HIGHLIGHTS

Tampa Red recorded more than 200 sides for a variety of companies, but his greatest success came with RCA Bluebird from 1934 to 1953- His 1938 “Rock It in Rhythm” mixed swing and boogie in a way that hinted at rock’n’roll. In “Jitter Jump” and “I Wanted to Swing” (both 1941), he showed off jazz chord voicings that were well ahead of his time. By the 1940s, blues music was changing, with electrified and powerful Mississippi Delta musicians taking charge. However, they still looked to Tampa Red for inspiration: Elmore James had a major hit when “Things ’Bout Coming My Way” was revamped into “When Things Go Wrong With You (It Hurts Me Too),” and B. B. KING, Robert Nighthawk, Fats DOMINO, Freddie KING, and LITTLE WALTER all turned his songs into hits.

After his wife died in 1953, Tampa developed an alcohol problem, which took its toll on his music. He did little recording during the 1950s, but returned with two albums for the Prestige-Bluesville label in I960. He died in poverty on March 9, 1981, the same year he was inducted into the Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame.

Stan Hieronymus

SEE ALSO: BLUES; ROCK’N’ROLL.

FURTHER READING

Davis, Francis. The History of the Blues (New York: Hyperion, 1995).

SUGGESTED LISTENING

Bottleneck Guitar 1928–1937; Don’t Tampa with the Blues; It Hurts Me Too: The Essential Recordings; Tampa Red: Guitar Wizard.