Song:Soap and Water Blues
Album:The Washboard Sam Collection
Robert Clifford Brown was very successful in the 30s and 40s as Washboard Sam. His career ended in the early 50s when he was unable to adjust to electric blues. His listed birthdate is July 15, 1910 in Walnut Ridge, AR but research indicates that he may have been born in 1903 in Jackson, TN. He was the illegitimate half brother of blues legend Big Bill Broonzy. They were very close and they recorded and toured together for years. Brown moved to Memphis in the early 20s where he met Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon. They played streetcorners for tips. That's where he was named Washboard Sam. In 1932, Brown followed Broonzy to Chicago and they performed regularly. And Brown recorded with Broonzy after he signed with RCA's Bluebird label. Brown was a member of the Bluebird house band until producer Lester Melrose decided to record Brown as Washboard Sam. From 1935 until the late 40s Brown was very successful. Brown had a great singing voice. And though he could perform standard acoustic blues, he was very adept at writing novelty songs known as "hokum". The 1947 recording Soap and Water Blues is typical of "hokum". It's about a guy complaining about his girlfriend's body odor. Musicians are Big Bill Broonzy on guitar, Willie Dixon on bass, Bob Call on piano and J.T. Brown on sax. Call was a member of Broonzy's band. You can get all of Washboard Sam's recordings on this 3CD comp from Acrobat Records. By the early 50s blues was going to electric instruments especially in Chicago. Record companies started using drums instead of washboards. Washboards are still used today in Zydeco and Creole music. After recording for Chess in 1953, Brown retired from music though he did return for the early 60s blues boom. He died on Nov. 6, 1966 at age 56. Here's a video for Soap and Water Blues by Washboard Sam.
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