Tampa Red & The Chicago Five—”Rock It In Rhythm” (1938)
By the late 1930s Chicago trade union boss James Petrillo, of the American Federation of Musicians, had called for a local ban on any recordings by union members in the city of Chicago in an effort to limit the availability of new records for the jukeboxes. This new technology was seen as a threat to the union members live performance revenue opportunities. Therefore RCA Victor’s Lester Melrose had to find a suitable place to produce the recordings he needed for their Bluebird subsidiary catering to the jazz and blues race market. Melrose found just the right location in the top floor Sky Club at the Leland Hotel in downtown Aurora, Illinois. Over a period of 20 months in 1937 and 1938 some of the most seminal blues recordings of all time were documented in Melrose’s make shift studio in Aurora. Among the recording artists at the nightclub was the legendary Tampa Red with his own composition “Rock It In Rhythm.”
Tampa Red and the Chicago Five: Two unknown studio musicians, which are probably Charlie Idsen-trumpet and Bill Settles-double bass; Bill Osborn-tenor sax; Blind John Davis-piano and Tampa Red-guitar and vocals. Recorded on Thursday June 16, 1938.
When he was born in Georgia, Tampa Red (1903-1981) was given the name Hudson Woodbridge. His parents died when Hudson was young and he moved to Tampa, Florida, to live with his grandmother Whitaker, whose surname he would adopt. It was there that Hudson "learned" how to play slide guitar. "I didn't have no special teacher. It was just a gift," he once recalled. Toting a guitar picked up at a pawn shop, he moved to Chicago in the 1920s, where his adopted Florida hometown and the shade of his skin earned him the name "Tampa Red."
Tampa Red's career began during the era of "race" music with a 78-rpm record titled, "It's Tight Like That." Composed and performed in 1928 by Tampa and "Georgia Tom" Dorsey (who later made his mark writing gospel music for Mahalia Jackson). "It's Tight Like That" was the first in a string of commercial hits that would make the "Guitar Wizard" the most prolific blues artist of his time.
Tampa Red’s technique was to run a bottleneck around his little finger up and down the frets of his guitar, which might have anywhere from one to four strings, and sing in a warm, lively tone. Tampa’s lyrics, usually a biting, but playful commentary on the battle of the sexes, were full of double-meanings. Tampa once told an interviewer why he wasn't more explicit: "After all, kids hear these things. I think anybody should be able to hear them. If some people get a joke out of them and have some fun with them, fine. But the words shouldn't force a joke on anybody who doesn't hear it."
Tampa Red's records of the thirties and early forties are excellent examples of Chicago blues played by the early studio musicians. Tampa Red released over 300 records, more 78s than such artists as Bessie Smith, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Bill Broonzy and John Lee Hooker.
