Thanks to photographer David Horwitz in Tucson, we have these great images of 13 from the Rhythm Room in Phoenix from early 1998 (we are thinking this was April 4, 1998).
Horwitz does a great job documenting the blues scene under the imprint David Horwitz Blues Images. These photos of Lester Butler, Alex Schultz, Eddie Clark and Mike Hightower are for sale. If you’d like to use them for your site, or would like to get your own copies or prints, email Horwitz.
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It’s clear that his time with 13 and Lester Butler has had an impact on guitarist Alex Schultz.
When talking with Schultz at the Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Festival last year, he was open, engaging and honest. His experiences differ from some other musicians who worked with Butler over the years, as he fondly recalled the charismatic harp player and singer. And he was more than willing to talk about fleshing out the songs that would become “13 featuring Lester Butler,” his impressions of “Lester’s Legendary Last Gig” and his memories of someone who grew to be a close friend.
On that May day in 2011, Schultz had just gotten off stage where he performed several Butler songs with Pieter “Big Pete” van der Pluijm, Willie J. Campbell and Johnny Morgan. Schultz takes responsibility to be true to those songs and Butler’s memory.
“(The songs) were so unique, and they were so unique to this guy,” Schultz said. “The songs were Lester Butler, and he was such a unique person, unique character. So the songs and the music was kind of singular. They weren’t the type of tunes you would just say, ‘oh, let’s do a cover of that tune’.”
“We got very close as friends. And his approach to the music also was very, like, all-inclusive. You had to be like 110 percent into the music. That’s how he was … To play those songs was like very emotional. Imagine standing next to Lester Butler on stage every night. Some nights it was so incredible and he was so into the music and it was so real, and so I got drawn into it as well, and I played it that way.”
“So it became like an emotional experience to play that stuff. It’s not something you would casually do, and say, ‘oh yeah, let’s do ‘So Low Down.” If we’re going to do that, we’ve got to really feel it and go there.”
Listen to the Schultz interview here, edited for clarity and content:
MP3: Alex Schultz interview May 29, 2011 (26:01)
0:00-12:14: Playing songs from 13; the uniqueness of the music; working with Big Pete; contrasting Butler with William Clarke and Rod Piazza.
12:14-20:15: Writing the songs; demo sessions; “Plague of Madness”
20:15-26:01: How fans remember Butler; Schultz’s friendship with Butler; recovery; memories of Moulin 1998
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All photos by Tina Hanagan except the one with Schultz, Perry and Hanagan.
“Close to You” (Willie Dixon), from “13 featuring Lester Butler”
Let me close with you baby like white on rice
Close with you darlin’ like cold is to ice
Close with you darlin’ like hair on your head
Close with you baby, now, believe what I said
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“Boogie Disease” (Dr. Isaiah Ross), from “13 featuring Lester Butler”
Got to boogie for the doctor
Got to boogie for the nurse
Got to keep on boogie’n ’til they throw me in a hearse
Got to boogie
Got to boogie
‘Til the break of dawn
Got to boogie in the alley
Gonna boogie in the street
Got to keep on boogie’n ’til it knock me off my feet
Got to boogie
I got the boogie
Got the boogie disease
Transcribed by nofightin.com. More lyrics here.
The versions of “Sweet Tooth” and “Black Hearted Woman” that ended up on “13 featuring Lester Butler” were actually the demo tracks, featuring the propulsive drumming of Johnny Morgan.
I spoke with Morgan back on May 29, 2011, at the Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Festival, minutes after he got off stage playing behind Big Pete, Alex Schultz and Willie J. Campbell as part of a tribute to Lester Butler.
In the interview, Morgan talks about recording those demos and how the band was spurred on to get more aggressive, what Butler was listening to, and what he thought of his singing voice, among other observations.
MP3: John Morgan interview May 29, 2011 (8:30)
EDIT 2/26/12: Listen to an interview with Alex Schultz from the 2011 Simi Valley Cajun and Blues Fest.
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We’ve been going through thousands of photos, videos, posters, documents and ephemera given to No Fightin’ by drummer Eddie Clark. Much of it focuses on his time with 13 or his many years with William Clarke.
Over the coming months, we’ll be posting more rare inventory from the Eddie Clark collection. First up: This faxed itinerary for 13′s 1997 European tour, which came in one long sheet, like a blues scroll. Plenty of notes in the margins, including the addition of several days at two separate Chesterfield Cafe clubs, in Moscow and Madrid.
It offers a little different look at life on the road for a touring musician.
Most of these dates are already in our timeline, and we’ve corrected others based on this first-hand information.
Follow @nofightin on Twitter as we give updates on our work on the Eddie Clark collection.
“13 featuring Lester Butler” reissue producer James Austin is obviously a big fan of the harmonica player. In a recent email Q&A with nofightin.com, Austin, vice president of A&R for RockBeat Records, talked about the project, his goals and his continuing amazement at Lester Butler.
Q: How were you brought aboard this reissue project? Were you a fan of Butler’s before you started working on this?
A: When we started RockBeat Records in November of 2010 we were looking to start with re-issuing CDs from the HighTone Records as we had access to that catalog through Richard Foos of Shout Factory. He made it possible for us to release CDs that Shout was not going to issue.
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“13 featuring Lester Butler” is available again. The reissue, out March 22 on RockBeat Records, features new art, new liner notes and three bonus tracks previously available only on bootleg.
We are on record with our love of “13,” so the quality of the music is not in doubt on this reissue. Instead, let’s look at what’s new here:
BONUS TRACKS: The three “new” live cuts will be of most interest to Butler fans — though they’ve been in circulation for years. The liner notes wrongly (and incompletely) claim the songs are from the “Tamines Festival, France, 1997.” In fact, “I Wish You Would,” “Boogie Disease” and “So Mean to Me” were actually recorded Aug. 29, 1997, at the 7th South Blues Festival in Tamines, Sambreville, Belgium.
The bonus cuts show the “other” 13 — the live unit of Alex Schultz, Eddie Clark and Mike Hightower that took Europe by storm in 1997-98 with its wild, expansive blues explorations. Amazingly, the three bonus tracks clock in at more than six minutes each, making them the three longest cuts on the reissue by far. The 19 additional minutes are literally half the length of the lean, mean original album.
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The “13 featuring Lester Butler” reissue will include three live bonus cuts from the Tamines Festival in 1997.
The tracklist for the disc, out March 22, was revealed today in a news release and e-mail exchange with RockBeat Records, a division of S’More Entertainment:
13 FEATURING LESTER BUTLER
There are very few white blues bands that have been able to take the blues to a new level without compromising the integrity of the sound. Lester Butler seemed to understand the blues structure and he performed with an attitude and an edge that stands him apart from his contemporaries. He was able to shape his sound by bringing the blues harp more upfront and not take a back seat to the lead guitar. His playing reflects the passion and love for the blues that remain long after his active career. Butler worked with some great musicians, including Bill Bateman, Paul “the kid” Size, Jonny Ray and Dave Lee Bartel during his stint with The Red Devils. In both bands, Lester was clearly the star, but he always had topnotch support with musicians that propelled his sound to fever pitch intensity. In America the scene was pretty jaded, but it was in Europe where Lester really gained popularity playing at festivals such as Tamines in France. He passed away tragically in May 1998.
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In light of the recent announcement that Lester Butler’s 13 album is being rereleased by RockBeat records, we here at Nofightin.com felt it was only appropriate to take a look back at the original debut.
It was December 12th of 1996 when Hightone Records sent out info “for immediate release” on some new acts that has just been added to the roster. Included in their lineup of scheduled recordings for 1997 was 13, Lester’s first and only solo recording.
Here is what Hightone had to say:
HIGHTONE ANNOUNCES NEW SIGNINGS FOR 1997; ALBUMS DUE FROM 13 / THE SKELETONS / JULIE MILLER
OAKLAND, CA — HighTone Records, distributed by Rhino, has announced the signing of 13 (featuring Lester Butler), The Skeletons, and Julie Miller, and will release new albums by all three acts in early 1997.
13 (featuring Lester Butler) evolved from the L.A.-based group The Red Devils, who recorded albums backing Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash as well as their own critically acclaimed Live At The King King CD for American Recordings. Fueled by Butler’s incendiary vocals and harmonica work, coupled with his legendary near manic stage presence, 13′s powerhouse lineup also includes James Intveld (The Blasters) on bass, Steven Hodges (Tom Waits) on drums, Alex Schultz (The Mighty Flyers) on guitar, and Andy Kaulkin on keyboards. The band’s eponymous debut album, set for release on March 18, careens out of the speakers with a vengeance, with a nod to the gritty Chicago blues sound, but powered by a rock energy that places 13 in a league all its own. Material includes nine originals, plus covers of classic songs by Howlin’ Wolf, Big Joe Williams, and Dr. Ross.
The label was obviously pretty stoked about the whole affair, and why not? Butler was an exciting new artist, and with such a stellar lineup of accompanists on the project, how could it not promise to be anything other than outstanding?
