BIG
GEORGE BROCK
PRESS RELEASES:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Roger Stolle
Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Inc.
252 Delta Avenue
Clarksdale, Mississippi 38614
ph/fx 662-624-5992
roger@cathead.biz
www.cathead.biz
BOXER-TURNED-BLUESMAN FOLLOWS UP BLUES MUSIC AWARD-NOMINATED
ALBUM WITH "ROUND TWO"
JULY 5, 2006 (CLARKSDALE, MS) -- The comeback continues. On August 8th,
Cat Head Presents of Clarksdale, Mississippi will release Round Two
— the second comeback album by Mississippi-born bluesman Big George
Brock. Round Two is the follow-up to last year's Blues Music Award-nominated
Club Caravan CD and features special guest Hubert Sumlin — Howlin'
Wolf's legendary guitar player.
"I knew Hubert back in the '50s when he was with the Wolf,"
explained 74-year-old Brock who now calls St. Louis his home. "Last
year, we both recorded on that blues album Steven Seagal put out [Mojo
Priest] and had a chance to sit down and catch up. Hubert is the same
wherever you see him. Just as nice as can be."
"We were very fortunate that Hubert was in the area for the Blues
Music Awards in May and was willing to play on a couple songs on George's
CD," said Roger Stolle, Brock's manager. "They had such a
great time recording that Hubert joined Big George on stage the next
night at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale. It was a magic moment
for sure."Other Mississippi-connected musicians on Brock's new
Round Two CD include veteran blues drummer Ben Wells, guitarist Bill
Abel, keyboard player Levan Lortkipanidze and Steve "Lightnin'"
Malcolm who guests on multiple instruments. The Round Two album title
refers to both Brock's early boxing career when he knocked out an amateur
Sonny Liston in the second round and the fact that this is his second
recording since starting his blues comeback in early 2005.
In addition to generating Blues Music and Living Blues Awards, Brock's
last release was critically acclaimed by over a dozen major blues publications,
received airplay internationally and led to recording/filming sessions
with Seagal and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. With that kind of hype
to live up to, the new release is already creating a stir in blues circles.
"Big George just played some festival dates in Italy and Switzerland
two week's ago, and that's all people kept asking about. 'When's the
new CD coming out?' I was surprised how many folks even knew the album
title," said Stolle. "Honestly, I think that George's fans
are going to really love the new album. I think it highlights his voice
and harmonica even more that the last record."
The first few seconds of Round Two feature Brock explaining how his
blues came from that "lonesome cotton field" before launching
into simmering slow blues entitled "So Long," with Sumlin
on lead guitar. Other original songs include "No No Baby,"
"Rockin' Chair," "Mattson, Miss." (instrumental),
"Mr. Wal-Mart" and the title track, "Round Two."
Covers include "Shake For Me," "Poor Boy" and "Sugar
Mama." The CD closes with a solo version of Brock's own "Call
Me A Lover" that includes a brief monologue explaining the origin
of the song. This final cut and the opening snippet come from the blues
DVD documentary, "Hard Times," directed by Damien Blaylock
and released earlier this year.
Most of the album was recorded at Electric Catfish Studio in Oxford,
Mississippi, and features many of the same vintage mics and equipment
used on Club Caravan — on loan from ex-Squirrel Nut Zipper/Buddy
Guy sideman Jimbo Mathus. Stolle again produced the sessions, and Michael
Burkey again mastered the disk in Memphis. The studio engineer this
time around was Justin Showah of the Taylor Grocery Band, and Brock
played Hohner harmonicas exclusively on the recording.
"Just like last time, everyone was in the same room, playing and
recording 'live' with no overdubs," said Stolle. "A real-deal
bluesman like Big George feeds off of the energy around him and is constantly
improvising. He plays by feel and not by the book, so there's no use
in trying to multitrack the heck out of it or add things that just weren't
there. Either you get some good takes and good songs or you don't. And
I think we did."Round Two can be pre-ordered at www.cathead.biz
and will be available August 8th at record stores nationally via Burnside
Distribution Corporation. Audio samples will be available soon at www.cdbaby.com,
and registered radio programmers will soon be able to download 3 free
airplay files at www.airplaydirect.com. To request review or airplay
copies of Round Two, email roger@cathead.biz.
The official CD release party will be held at Ground Zero Blues Club
on August 12th, during Sunflower River Blues Festival weekend (www.groundzerobluesclub.com
www.sunflowerfest.org).
More information on Brock is available on-line at www.cathead.biz, and
interviews with Stolle or Brock can be arranged by calling 662-624-5992.
- - - - - - - - - -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Roger Stolle
Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art
252 Delta Avenue
Clarksdale, MS 38614
662-624-5992 ph/fx
roger@cathead.biz
http://www.cathead.biz
BLUES MUSIC AWARD AND LIVING BLUES AWARD-NOMINATED MUSICIAN RETURNS
TO DELTA
Clarksdale, MS -- April 30, 2006 --?73-year-old, Mississippi-born bluesman
Big George Brock is coming home to the Delta to promote a new DVD, attend
an awards ceremony and play a little blues.
On May 9th, Cat Head Presents will release a new DVD entitled Hard Times
that chronicles Brock's history in music and interviews. Then on May
11th, Brock be on hand to see if his currently nominated Club Caravan
album claims "Comeback Album of the Year" honors at the prestigious
Blues Music Awards in Memphis.
"Seems like things just keep getting better and better for me,"
Brock said from his current home in St. Louis. "Between that album
and my new movie, I really think this is going to be the year for me."
Besides both Blues Music Award and Living Blues Award nominations, Brock's
Club Caravan release opened the door to a film appearance in Mississippi
Public Broadcasting's upcoming "Mississippi Bluesman" TV concert
series, work on actor Steven Seagal's upcoming all-star blues album
and bookings on blues festivals from Chicago, Illinois to Rome, Italy.?Heralded
as "contender for album of the year" by Juke Blues Magazine,
Brock's CD prompted Blues & Rhythm Magazine to declare that it?"transports
us back fifty years to a Mississippi juke joint" and led Big City
Blues Magazine to describe Brock as a "73-year-old vocal and harmonica
genius."
"I play those old blues from back behind Grandpa's house,"
according to Brock. "I take my people back to the cotton fields
and them bring 'em on up to the big city. You want to hear the real
blues ? the way they used to play 'em? You come see me."?Asked
what the audience should expect during his upcoming Delta performances,
Brock explained, "I learned the blues from them guys who just about
invented blues: Muddy and Wolf, Jimmy Reed, B.B. King. I grew up where
they did and knew them all. When I play their songs, I try to make you
feel like you knew them, too." Brock also promises to play plenty
of originals, including numbers off his current Club Caravan album.
"The people like that 'Hard Times,' 'They Call Me a Lover,' 'M
for Mississippi.' So, you know I'll play them."
Brock's Southern tour will start and end in Memphis with some Delta
dates and even a recording session in the middle. "You can call
it 'Brock-a-palooza' if you want," said Brock's manager, Roger
Stolle of Cat Head Presents in Clarksdale, Mississippi. "He's coming
down South with both guns a blazing. It's all he's been talking about.
He feels like he's worked hard playing the blues for over 50 years,
and now's the time to reap some rewards. He talks a lot about bringing
back the 'real blues' ? they way they used to be played when he was
picking cotton, boxing and playing [blues] on the weekends. That was
back in the '40s when he was growing up on a plantation near here. He's
a throwback, you know. He wears cool suits and really puts on a show.
You always feel like you saw something. It's like stepping back in time."
Brock's performance itinerary:
Wed., May 10 - Ponderosa Stomp at Gibson Guitar in Memphis, TN, http://www.ponderosastomp.com
Thurs., May 11 - Blues Music Awards at Cook County Convention Center
in Memphis, TN, http://www.blues.org
Fri., May 12 - Proud Larry's music club in Oxford, MS, http://www.proudlarrys.com
Sat., May 13 - Official DVD Release Party at Ground Zero Blues Club
in Clarksdale, MS, http://www.groundzerobluesclub.com
Sun., May 14 - Huey's Midtown restaurant in Memphis, TN, http://www.hueys.cc
Brock's Southern dates will include guitarist Bill Abel of Duncan, Mississippi.
The Ground Zero Blues Club date will also a special opener, Broke &
Hungry Records' Jimmy "Duck" Holmes of Bentonia, Mississippi.
For more information on Brock's releases, tour schedule and biography,
log on at http://www.cathead.biz/BigGeorge.html or call 662-624-5992.
"If you even think you like the blues, then you come spend some
time with me," said Brock said. "You'll be glad you did."
- - - - - - - - - -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS:
- Roger Stolle (Cat Head Presents),
662-624-5992, roger@cathead.biz
- Big George Brock, 314-531-9207
- Delta Blues Room, 662-624-9200
DELTA BLUESMAN NOMINATED FOR PRESTIGIOUS MUSIC AWARD IN MEMPHIS
Clarksdale, MS -- December 16, 2005 -- This week, the Blues Foundation
in Memphis nominated 73-year-old, Mississippi-born bluesman Big George
Brock for a prestigious Blues Music Award. Formerly known as the Handy
Awards, the Blues Music Awards are the blues equivalent of the Grammy.
"My Lord, I don't believe it! That's just wonderful," exclaimed
Big George Brock upon learning of the nomination. "I've worked
a long time to get that. I'm real glad to have it."
Nominated in the Comeback Album of the Year category, Brock's "Club
Caravan" CD has local ties to Clarksdale.
"We were really surprised but thrilled," said Roger Stolle,
the CD's producer and owner of Clarksdale's Cat Head Presents label
that put it out. "Big George has been playing blues a long, long
time and truly deserves the recognition this nomination gives him. We're
all very proud of the record. George's long-time guitarist Riley Coatie
and his family band should be real proud, too. They sound amazing on
it."
Recorded at Clarksdale's Delta Recording Service this past May, the
CD has also made many year-end top blues lists and been positively reviewed
by numerous magazines -- including Blues Revue, Big City Blues, Living
Blues, Blues & Rhythm, Blues Matters, Blues in Britain, Real Blues,
Juke Blues, Il Blues and Mojo.
"It's amazed me. I thought the people had just forgot about me,
but here it is. Suddenly I'm getting articles written and phone calls
from overseas wanting me to play," said Brock. According to Stolle,
details will be announced shortly regarding a blues festival appearance
for Brock this summer in Italy.
A little closer to home, Brock -- who grew up in the Mattson-Clarksdale
area -- has scheduled a special New Year's Eve performance at Clarksdale's
Delta Blues Room to celebrate his nomination. Known for his flashy suits
and entertaining stage antics as well as his energetic Delta-went-North
blues style, Brock promises to deliver an evening few will soon forget.
"Without the people, I am nothing. If I can't put on the kind of
show they came to see, then I just as soon stay home. If they want Muddy
Waters and Howlin' Wolf, they'll hear it. If they want to hear my songs
off the records, they'll hear that too," he said.
Tickets for the Saturday, December 31st New Year's Eve show went on
sale Friday at the Delta Blues Room, at Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk
Art and by phone at 662-624-5992. They are $8 pre-sale. $10 at the door
if tickets remain. Food and drinks will be available. The Delta Blues
Room is located at 220 Sunflower Avenue.
- - - - - - - - - -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Roger Stolle
Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art
252 Delta Ave., Clarksdale, MS 38614
roger@cathead.biz • www.cathead.biz
662-624-5992 ph/fx
73-YEAR-OLD MISSISSIPPI-BORN BLUESMAN RELEASES NEW CD ON CLARKSDALE
LABEL
Clarksdale, MS -- June 30, 2005 -- 73-year-old Delta bluesman Big George
Brock releases a new CD entitled Club Caravan today on the new Cat Head
Presents record label. Recorded at ex-Squirrel Nut Zipper, ex-Buddy
Guy guitarist Jimbo Mathus' Delta Recording Studio in Clarksdale, the
CD exemplifies Brock's vintage blues style and the studio's "future
primitive" sound. It's available now at Cat Head Delta Blues &
Folk Art (252 Delta Avenue in Clarksdale) or at www.cathead.biz.
"Old school, new label," declares Roger Stolle, owner of Cat
Head Delta Blues & Folk Art in Clarksdale and producer of the new
CD. "My wife and I fell in love with Big George's old-school sound
the first time we saw him. It was like stepping back in time. He started
playing blues professionally in the 50s and never changed his style."
Stolle first encountered Brock at a self-described "urban juke
joint" in North St. Louis where Brock currently resides. "We
walked up to the place, and you could just feel the building shaking
from the music," says Stolle. "The band warmed up first, and
then suddenly, there was this huge harmonica sound coming out of nowhere.
After about 30 seconds, we turned around, and here comes this oversized
guy in a killer suit walking up the steps from basement, playing his
harp through a cordless mic. The crowd went nuts. It was a real scene."
The idea for the CD and the new record label came about recently after
years of existing labels expressing interest in recording Brock but
quite acting on it. "Big George called me up one Sunday morning
and said, 'Roger, this is the year if I'm going to do it.' I talked
it over with my wife, Jennifer, and she told me that if I didn't do
it, I'd probably regret it for the rest of my life. Regardless of how
well the record sells, I already know it was the right thing to do.
We started the Cat Head Presents label specifically to record Big George
and named the CD Club Caravan after the club he used to run."
"Yeah, it turned out real good. Everybody seems to like it. My
family and friends keep playing it over and over," says Brock.
"I just wanted everyone to know what I sound like. I'm hoping to
do more shows because of it. I'd like to go overseas and show them what
some real blues sounds like. I've been doing this a long time, you know."
Born in Grenada, Mississippi in 1932, Brock spent much of his youth
near Clarksdale, sharecropping, boxing, and playing blues on the weekends.
Later he owned a series of blues clubs in St. Louis. During his lengthy
career, he's played shows with everyone from Muddy Waters and Howlin'
Wolf to Jimmy Reed and Albert King. "I knew them all," remembers
Brock. "It's that old sound that I like. If you come see me now,
you'll think they're all in the room with me."
The recent subject of a Living Blues Magazine article, Brock has several
projects in the works. "His official CD Release Party will be at
Ground Zero Blues Club here in Clarksdale on Saturday, August 13,"
according to Stolle. He will also be included in a new blues documentary
film project involving Deep Blues and Last of the Mississippi Jukes
director Robert Mugge. Mugge and Ty Warren of Blue M Productions are
teaming with Ground Zero Blues Club to film Native Sons from August
9 to 11. The concert series will include a performance by Brock on Thursday,
August 11 at 3pm. Brock was the final act added to a lineup that includes
Willie King, Bobby Rush and Little Milton. "Having seen George
Brock perform previously at Cat Head, Ground Zero and the Sunflower
River fest, I was already a fan. But after hearing a promo copy of his
new Cat Head CD, I knew that we had to have him for our series,"
says Mugge. "George is one of only a handful of musicians still
playing raw Mississippi blues the way they did it in the '30s, '40s
and '50s, and to see and hear him play today is to be be transported
to a time when the music simply flowed out of Delta musicians. That
is, it didn't have to be painstakingly recreated and then polished for
generations of blues fans raised on rock. This is the real deal, and
Ty and I are excited about including Big George in our lineup for August."
More information about the series is available at www.groundzerobluesclub.com.
Brock will also appear at Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art's annual
mini blues festival that Sunday, August 14 at noon. All of these events
coincide with the 18th annual Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival,
Friday and Saturday, August 12 and 13 (www.sunflowerfest.org). CD liner
notes, photographs and purchasing information are all available at www.cathead.biz.
- - - - - - - - - -
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Roger Stolle
music coordinator
Ground Zero Blues Club
662-624-5992
roger@cathead.biz
www.groundzerobluesclub.com
DELTA BLUES FAVORITE RETURNING TO WORLD-FAMOUS GROUND ZERO BLUES CLUB
Clarksdale, Miss. -- May 1, 2005 -- "I'm coming home to play some
blues," says Big George Brock. "I'm from the Delta and always
look forward to coming back. I play the real blues, you know."
Big George Brock and his band the Houserockers are returning to world-famous
Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi this Saturday, May
7. Ground Zero Blues Club is co-owned by Oscar-winning actor Morgan
Freeman, attorney Bill Luckett and businessman Howard Stovall.
Brock played the club's last New Year's Eve party with Jimbo Mathus,
an event that was broadcast around the world via National Public Radio
and Armed Forces Radio. The event was recorded for CD and released recently
on the Knockdown South label in conjunction with Ground Zero Blues Club.
"That night was so amazing that I told the club the next day I
wanted to hold a homecoming blues show this year on my birthday,"
says Brock.
Brock is a legend to those who know him. Born in Grenada, Mississippi,
the lifelong bluesman has played blues professionally for over 50 years.
Now in his mid-70s, Brock continues to play blues festivals and regional
club gigs. He'll be the subject of a major story in the May/June issue
of Living Blues magazine.
"Yeah, I'm excited about that. I talked with them and gave them
some old photos of me with Muddy Waters and BB. I think people will
like it," he says. "I've also got a new CD coming out pretty
soon that will really show people what I can do."
The CD Brock refers to is being recorded May 7 and 8 at Jimbo Mathus'
Delta Recording Studio in Clarksdale. The CD release party is already
scheduled for Saturday, August 13 at Ground Zero Blues Club.
Even at his advanced age, Brock continues to pick up new blues fans.
After seeing Brock at one Clarksdale blues club, an enthusiastic reviewer
wrote on the www.goner-records.com web site: "Big George looked
great in his pink suit and pink hat. We weren't ready for the onslaught
to come -- furious Muddy Waters-styled blues stomping. It was the closest
thing to seeing Muddy Waters in his heyday that I'll ever get to see.
I just kept looking at folks who should know, and we'd just nod, mouths
open, or shake our heads in disbelief. It just doesn't seem possible
that a band today could be that good."
To tempt music fans even more, Brock has arranged for nephew and Clarksdale-resident
James "Super Chikan" Johnson to play at the show as a special
guest. Female blues vocalist Clarine Wagner will open the show, backed
by Brock's stellar Houserockers band comprised of the Riley Coatie family.
Ground Zero Blues Club has been the stage for several big events in
the past. In addition to last New Year's NPR event, several films and
DVDs have been recorded there, including "Blues Divas," "Last
of the Mississippi Jukes" and Bobby Rush's "Live from Ground
Zero." Popularity of the club has spread world-wide, prompting
Arkansas-Leader newspaper publisher Garrick Feldman to call it "perhaps
the most important blues club in the world."
The show begins at 9pm. Cover charge is $8. For more information, call
662-624-5992 or log on at www.groundzerobluesclub.com.