From The Late in The Day Dept. #1: On Dec. 18 in 1917, EDDIE "CLEANHEAD" VINSON was born. He played jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B as an alto saxophonist and a... blues shouter. He got nicknamed "Cleanhead" after an accident with a hair straightening product left him bald. In the 40's he had a double sided hit "Old Maid Boogie & "Kidney Stew Blues" and another w/ "Cherry Red," all of which became his "signature" tunes. In the 50's and '60 and onward he leaned more toward Jazz, but never abandoned R&B. I got to see him in the late 70's and early 80's. I was lucky enough to be drafted to shoot the cover of the 1982 LP he made w/ Roomful of Blues. The cover and part of a proof sheet from that session are shown here. He left us in 1988. Happy Birthday and R.I.P. Mr. Vinson.

“This album was initially released on the fledgling Blind Pig label in 1977 and was cut from their catalogue in 1978 shortly after I joined Asleep at the Wheel ...and stopped touring under my own name,” remembers Johnny Nicholas. “I requested the original masters back from the label numerous times over the years and finally got possession of all multi track tapes, masters, art work and photos in January of 2016. After we successfully transferred all of the old tapes, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a bunch of stellar performances which had never been released—Walter and Johnny and Red were my friends and mentors and hearing this stuff was such a thrill. I hope people enjoy listening to these historical slices of the real blues, played by the masters, as much as we have enjoyed re-discovering, listening to and remastering them.”