365 Days #68 - Ram John Holder - Black London Blues (mp3s)

MP3:
01 Brixton Blues (3:21)
02 Pub Crawling Blues (5:24)
03 Too Much Blues (3:07)
04 Notting Hill Eviction Blues (2:47)
05 Black London Blues (2:37)
06 Ladbroke Grove Blues (3:04)
07 Sleeping Alone Tonight Blues (3:32)
08 Wimpy Bar Blues (4:48)
09 Piccadilly Circus Blues (4:21)
10 Hampstead To Lose The Blues (3:29)

"Black London Blues" was an LP recorded by the acclaimed British stage, screen, and TV actor Ram John Holder in 1969. I bought it as a youngster (my copy is on the US Phillips label) for 47 cents in a Woolworth's cutout bin. The cover is a moribund B&W photo of a gussied-up Ram in an abject ghetto; no liner notes, no personnel listing. Every cut is titled the "(something) Blues", and the track playing times on the label are different than those on the cover by several seconds, and I think neither is correct. My pre-pubescent friends and I used to howl with laughter listening to it (even though the cover scared the hell out of us), and, as with many things you hear when you're too young to understand them, it wasn't until years later that I was able to see the musical virtues of it.

The cover photo and music, as described on soulstrut.com: "Black and white photography really captures the dismal and depressing side to a wet, overcast day, and oddly enough we have Holder wearing velvet trousers and sunglasses as a juxtaposition to the poverty of Brixton. He doesn't look too happy, but neither would I if I'd produced an album of mediocre crap like this. Blues without the rhythm." Conversely, thewire.co.uk listed the album as one of the "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (while no one was listening)". No wonder I couldn't decide at age 12 whether it was transcendent or putrid.

Original copies on the UK Beacon label are now fetching between $75 and $200 on ebay (guess I made a pretty good investment buying in at 47 cents, eh? No, I won't sell!). These are certainly tracks that have a laughable level of incompetence at times (especially the solos), and are yet undeniably endearing, catchy, and soulful, and the Ram actually knows the blues and sings with a lot of soul.

- Contributed by: Hoppy Stone

Media: 12" LP
Album: Black London Blues
Labels: Beacon, Philips, Trans-World
Date: 1969

Bonus: Check out  this Ram John Holder myspace page!

Comments

[David Noades]

Nice to see a bit of British blues on here. Ram John Holder is probably known to most of us Brits as Porkpie in the long-running comedy series Desmonds and more recently appeared in soaps The Bill and EastEnders. But he had a long career in music, beginning as a folk singer in New York, moving to Britain in 1962 where he worked with Pearl Connor's Negro Theatre Workshop. His LP's "Bootleg Blues" and "Black London Blues" were made into a television documentary by the BBC in 1971. In the 70s he moved into acting but also worked as a producer for Afro-Funk band Matata.

[Wooodenelephant]

Wow. Black British blues! Got any more??

[R.A. Levin]

"Mediocre crap"??!! This l.p. is brilliant!
The solos aren't too terribly inept. Just indicative of their time.
Got to start trawling the racks in search of this one!

-Rocketboy

[Michael]

This is a great record...found this one while dj'ing at my local college station and have been looking for my own copy for years...Black London Blues baybee yeah!

-Michael

[hoppystone]

Yeah, it is pretty darn good, isn't it? Like I say, copies of 'Black London Blues' turn up on various websites, but almost always at ridiculous prices, and the bidding is fierce. But now, you have it, courtesy of Otis and the fine folks at WFMU!
BTW, I just found a copy of "Bootleg Blues" on line, for only about $20. Waiting for it to be mailed from the UK, hopefully in one piece. Haven't heard that album yet, but assuming it's as good as its predecessor. If so (with Otis' kind indulgence), onto 365 it goes!
Long live the Ram!

[Simon Ritt]

I do believe any one who ever purchased this album bought it from a discount bin.
I've owned it for almost 40 years and that's the only copy I've ever set eyes on...and I worked for YEARS in used record stores. (Hey, I'm not proud!)
An enigma, no credits, no liner notes just raw, urban blues oozing outta' the vinyl.
The first contemporary blues record I had ever heard. The songs are crystal clear snap-shots of the Ram's day to day struggles. Probably recorded on a budget but that's why they call it 'The Blues'. And even so Ram John Holders singing is just fantastic and so powerfull. The way his voice 'cracks' in just the right places along with his unusuall British/African accent and perfect diction makes this still one of the most unique blues recordings I've ever heard....glad to see others think so too!

[aykay 1962]

i bought black london blues at beanos in croydon when i was 15 in 1977.... i was only earning seven quid a week working saturdays so it would have been one or two quid at most. i have never met anyone else who had ever heard of it.....nice to know there are other likeminded souls out there... i love it

[alecs]

I bought this when it came out. I always found there was bound to be a time in ANY party when this was absolutely the LP to put on the turn-table. Everyone loved it - not least because you can really dance AND laught at the same time. The lyrics are so detailed in the times. A few years ago when I got rid of all my vinyl, I let this go for only £5.00 and then lost my tape-cassette of it. So to discover this web-site makes the invention of the internet more worthwhile than i could ever imagine. Thanks!! Alecs

[Michael]

RJHs LP Black London Blues is one of the greatest album of a blues music, thanks you for possibility to download it (MP3)from this blog. I cant find next RJH´s LP Bootleg Blues (1971) anywhere. Do somebody imformation about it (MP3/vinil)? Thanks to everybody for it.

[Joe]

Thanks so much for making this available for download. I remember hearing this at my sister's house in the early 1970's when I was in my early teens. A friend of hers had bought it at a flea market and somehow she had ended up with it. It made an instant impression on me and I recorded it onto cassete. I then somehow tracked down a copy on vinyl in a used record store somewhere in San Francisco. I lost it in a move several years ago and was really thrilled to find it hear. Thanks so much to whoever made this available for download. One more thing, I had another album by Ram titled BOOTLEG BLUES. Is this available for download anywhere?

[tommy black]

my father had this albom when i was a kid.i havent heard it in years,im on house aresst,bored out of my mindbut this find just made my day,maybe my summer.thanks!