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Lester Butler memorials 1998

Posted in lester butler with tags , , , , on October 8, 2011 by J.J.

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Not long after Lester Butler died in May 1998, I received a package from Enrico Crivellaro, who was Butler’s touring guitarist in 13 in 1997. We had kept in touch after meeting in Kentucky and Indiana, and now he had sent along a memorial flier for Butler, along with a prayer card and short biography (the text of which became the introduction text of Jasper Heikens’ Lester Butler tribute site).

Last year, in a trove of archives sent by 13 drummer Eddie Clark, we received the backside of the memorial flier, with directions to the May 24, 1998, event, as well as a mailing for a “Bad Ass Birthday Blues Bash” for Butler on Nov. 12 and 13, 1998.

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Outtakes from famous Lester Butler photo session

Posted in lester butler with tags , , , , , , on September 18, 2011 by J.J.

Photographer Rens Horn sheds light on how he captured an iconic image of Lester Butler.

Based in The Netherlands, Horn shot Butler during his 1997 tour through Europe. The photographer has posted some outtakes, and explained to us how the elements came together, from concept to session:

The pictures were taken in Rotterdam on Sept. 10, 1997, just across the artist entrance of Nighttown where 13 would perform that night.

The first time I saw Lester play I had this picture in my mind: While playing you couldn’t see his face, and while singing you couldn’t see his tattooed arms the way you would when playing, and I wanted to see both at the same time. … (D)ays before this portrait was made I took some pictures at a concert in Tegelen, on stage with Lori’s backstage pass. After the concert I asked Lester if I could take his portrait when he was playing in Rotterdam and he agreed.

I brought my own harp (the one in the picture is mine) and prints of the pictures I took before, just average concert pictures but “messed up” in the darkroom (I call it “rensomatic”). He loved the way they looked as did Alex Schultz who happens to love photography as well and was actually related with some of my photographer heroes through his dad. So he was willing to pose and we shared a couple of minutes in front of the garage door.

After a few frames it occurred to me that the holes in the door resembled that of the holes in the harp so we shot two or three more and that was it. He liked the picture a lot and on one occasion, years later, he gave me his T-shirt and said “thanks for the pictures and your friendship.”

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Lester Butler remembered at Simi Valley Cajun & Blues festival

Posted in lester butler, related music with tags , , , on June 2, 2011 by J.J.

For one afternoon only, Lester Butler was back on stage.

A portrait of Butler — blowing harp, arms covered in tats — by artist Theo Reijnders rested on an easel stage left May 29 at the 22nd Annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival for a performance by Big Pete and his Lester Butler Tribute Band.

It was the American coming out party for Pieter “Big Pete” van der Pluijm, and he was tapped to pay tribute to his primary inspiration, as he has done numerous times in Europe. It was clear there was anticipation to see this big blond kid from Holland everyone had heard so much about — the area in front of the stage was filled with musicians, Lester’s friends and family and serious music lovers.

Big Pete

Alex Schultz

Johnny Morgan

[All photography by Tina Hanagan]

As Delta Groove CEO and Butler friend Randy Chortkoff said when he introduced Big Pete, “When I close my eyes, I hear Lester Butler.”

Pete and his band — 13 veterans Alex Schultz on guitar and Johnny Morgan on drums, along with Willie J. Campbell (replacing Rick Reed) on bass — used Butler’s music as a jump-off point to showcase their own incredible talents, performing a series of songs and grooves unlike anything else heard all weekend. That the music sounded as fresh Sunday as it did 14 years ago is testament to Butler’s foresight.

More photos and video after the jump  Read more »

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Hightone Announcement for New Signings, 1997

Posted in 13, lester butler with tags , , , , on February 20, 2011 by automatic32

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?

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Blowin’ out reeds with Lester Butler

Posted in 13, lester butler with tags , , , , , on September 9, 2010 by J.J.

This is one of the more readily available interviews with Lester Butler, but we’re including it here anyway:

Blowin’ out reeds with Lester Butler: Blues harp player/singer says the bad luck made him better
By Fred Shuster, Los Angeles Daily News Music Writer
March 28, 1997

Blues harpist Lester Butler says 13 is his lucky number, even though it spells bad news for others.

“There’s lots of symbolism behind it — bad luck and that whole deal,” Butler said. “But it’s always been lucky for me. All the bad things that happen make you stronger. The 13 thing is where the worst stuff can happen, but you can turn it around, and it actually helps you survive.”

Butler, who sings the blues with conviction and blows a mean Chicago-style harmonica, has been through the music-biz ringer. In the early ’90s, he led the Red Devils, a popular local combo that scored a deal with producer Rick Rubin’s Def American label. The band recorded an EP and a well-received live album titled “King King,” after the then-jumping club.

On Mondays, the Devils played to star-studded, packed houses at the now-defunct La Brea Avenue night spot. ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons and Mick Jagger often dropped by. Queen’s Brian May, members of the Black Crowes, Lenny Kravitz and Peter Wolf sat in with the band. Angelo from Fishbone would recite spoken word when he wasn’t playing saxophone.

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Lester Butler & G. Love on VPRO’s “Lola Da Musica” 1998

Posted in lester butler with tags , , , , , , , , on August 15, 2010 by J.J.

Certainly one of Lester Butler’s last televised appearances was made on the March 6, 1998, edition of VPRO’s “Lola Da Musica” program in The Netherlands. Just two months later, Butler would die in L.A.

The program — featuring Butler co-billed with folk-hop jammer G. Love — has been widely distributed by fans of both for years. The two were featured on an episode themed “this is the modern blues,” with each showing and telling how they’ve brought blues influences into a more modern setting.

Roughly translated by nofightin.com, VPRO promoted the show this way:

Young American bandsmen always seem to draw more often from the rich heritage of the blues. … Lester Butler (Virginia, 1959-1998) on the other hand was especially in search of malicious and sharp lowdown version of electric blues such as Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf made. In May 1998 Lester Butler died to a overdose. … Lola brought Lester Butler with G.Love for a session and spoke exhaustively with them concerning their contemporary conception of blues, their musical heroes and their instrument the harmonica.

It’s a great document of Butler, who seemed quite happy and creative in the video. An in-studio jam with G. Love and Special Sauce on Junior Wells’ Willie Cobbs’ “You Don’t Love Me” is a particular highlight; watching Butler play with the funky, laid-back G. Love ban is pretty cool. In addition, several clips are shown of Butler and 13 (Alex Shultz, Eddie Clark and Mike Hightower) performing at Doornroosje, Nijmegen, Holland, most likely the Jan. 29, 1998, gig. Those clips include “I Wish You Would,” “Automatic,” “So Low Down” and “Devil Woman.”
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Hard-to-find Devils & 13 T-shirts

Posted in 13, lester butler, red devils with tags , , , , , , on August 8, 2010 by J.J.

There is no better way to show your devotion to a band than a concert T-shirt. Unfortunately, there are very few options for The Red Devils or 13; when we saw 13 on tour in the Midwest in 1997, they really had no merch to speak of (and unfortunately, the Devils’ 1992 tour is something of a blur almost two decades later). Nofightin.com reader Feelgood sent us some images of the handful of tees out there.

Above left is a fan tribute shirt that Jasper Heikens says is by Chris Wobben; above right is the Red Devils’ Planet Hollywood-style tee, which Feelgood said he bought when he saw the Devils on Nov. 18, 1993, at Zalen Schaaf, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands; below left and right is the front, sleeve and backside of the 13 T-shirt, with damn slick tattoo-style artwork, purchased Jan. 30, 1998, near Feelgood’s hometown, Het Bolwerk, Sneek, The Netherlands: “I bought here the 13 T shirt, Lester was after the show present on the stand with T shirts and Cd’s for a chat and a autograph.”

Jasper Heikens has more T-shirt images and info on the Lester Butler tribute page.

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A portrait of Lester Butler

Posted in lester butler with tags , on June 12, 2010 by J.J.

Found this on my desktop, labeled “2009.” I don’t know where I got it, or who took the original photo, or the photo of the photo. Can anyone help?

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DVD review: Photos show Butler’s private side

Posted in lester butler with tags , , , on April 16, 2009 by J.J.

Besides the stellar concert, the DVD “Live at Moulin Blues Ospel 1998 — Lester’s Legendary Last Gig” boasts a photo gallery totalling about 80 pictures, many of which are never-before-seen personal images of Butler and his family.

Over a music bed of 13′s “Pray for Me” and “Way Down South,” the images on the DVD extra scroll across the screen in a rough timeline, beginning with Lester as a young, tow-headed boy with a girl assumed to be a sister. He’s wearing a tie and a red vest, with an angelic smile. It’s a great way to start this tour of Lester’s life.
lester_surfing
Those close to Butler have for years talked about his love of surfing and the ocean, and here you see pics of an athletic looking Lester in surf gear at the ocean, looking like anything but the crazed harmonica player we’re used to seeing on stage. Pictures of Butler on a boat, or playing with children in a tent or gathered with his family at Christmastime show a more human side to the mythical “Lester Butler.”

Many of the candid photos look to have been taken between the Devils and 13 periods — Lester is thin and healthy, but missing his sleeves.

And fans will also laugh at a couple of photos showing a young Butler dressed in full blues-geek uniform: Short, slicked-back blond hair, poofy bowling-style shirts tucked into his pleated pants. Looking underage and scrawny, it’s easy to forget that Butler was just a blues fan like so many others, and did take some time before he found his own voice and style.

Less essential are still grabs from both 13′s and the Red Devils’ Moulin concerts. They are generally repetitive, especially given the moving images on the DVD’s concert footage. More interesting are backstage photos of Butler at Moulin, partying with Paul Size, signing autographs for fans, and intently watching another act from the audience.

  • DVD REVIEW: Lester’s legendary last gig
  • DVD REVIEW: Red Devils 1993 Moulin extras

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    DVD: Live at Moulin 1998 — Lester’s Legendary Last Gig

    Posted in lester butler with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 19, 2009 by J.J.

    It’s rare for any “new” Lester Butler or Red Devils material to be released now, more than 10 years since Butler’s passing. Which is why the 2008 DVD “Live at Moulin Blues Ospel 1998 — Lester’s Legendary Last Gig” is such a special document.

    moulin_dvd

    Recorded at Butler’s last gig, just a week before his untimely death, the DVD captures the harpist and his band (Alex Schultz on guitar, Eddie Clark on drums and Mike Hightower on bass) at the height of their powers, performing a stellar set at the annual blues festival in the Netherlands. That Lester looks so happy throughout the disc is a real bonus.

    I’ve just picked up a copy of the DVD, though many of us have seen these performances in bootleg form. Over the next few weeks, I plan a series of reviews looking at the concert and extras:

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