BRIMSTONE RED  -  fiction by Eddy B
Over my many years of researching the Blues and it’s related musical roots, I’ve had the pleasurable opportunity to meet many of the musicians that I’ve heard on those old turntables that I’ve owned. It was most interesting talking to, and interviewing, the artists that recorded in the ‘20’s, ‘30’s and early ‘40’s like Furry Lewis, Son House and Bukka White. Of course, I’ve done the same with artists from the post World War II era as well. Our conversations have ranged from discussing performers who have recorded to those who, sadly, never recorded at all. There was talk about artists of legendary skill that came and went without any famed notoriety.

These Blues masters would reveal stories and expand on rumors that have been part of their heritage since long before the first chords of the Blues were ever struck. The history, the mystery, the tales of superstition and all the peculiarities of the Blues were always in our lively conversations. When certain topics recurred repeatedly, I’d try to piece them together. I’d like to let you in on one of these continuing stories. Late in the evening, alone, and usually after the abundant consumption of the fine liquids of life, the old Bluesmen would look around, peer over their shoulders, to assure our complete privacy. It was then that these giants of the Blues would reveal to me in a quite voice about a character, who was not named after hair colour like many in the Blues but due to skin tone, that they called the world’s greatest Blues artist. The name that always came up was “Brimstone Red”. During these interviews, many of the anguished artists claimed Brimstone would amazingly appear without warning and – seemingly- out of nowhere when they were playing on their cross-road travels of America. Feeling that they were frustrated with their own average talents Red would offer them personal contracts in exchange for extraordinary abilities and then would disappear.

Some said that Red was an agent, others said a manager, and others claimed a musician’s musician. They say while playing guitar, smoke could be seen rising from skillful hands, and singing with a voice so raw, fire like words would rush from a mouth in the form of lyrics so hypnotic and risqué in content that all who heard them would go into orgasmic convulsions. At this point of the tale the trembling words of the frightened Blues artists tended to become even more wild and twisted. Apparently, after many signed artists had passed away, Red surfaced for a very short time just prior to the recording ban that was implemented in the early ‘40’s. Red traveled to New York’s “Hell’s Kitchen” area in the summer months, apparently due to his dislike of cold weather, for a recording session with the small independent Hot Pitchfork Recordings label. They say that Red was the only musician to ever record for the company. It’s believed that there are lost log notes, made during the studio sessions, which may have documented this musician recording under numerous pseudonyms including Son Tan, Smokin’ Cole and, of course, Brimstone Red. They say those lost notes my also indicate that, because of a unique ability to transform vocally, Red also recorded under the names of Wicked Ness and Lucy Fear. There seemed to be more than just rumour going on here with the consistency of all this reported information, so I called a long time record-collector friend of mine in New York City. We talked about those old, thick, breakable discs for a while, but I had something else on my mind. I had to ask him about the list of names that I’d accumulated from these old-time Blues artists. He must have thought that I was crazy, but one name sounded familiar to him. He told me that he’d check his private vaults and report his findings back to me. While waiting for his return call I was restless                                                                                                                         continued...