Blues Mission Fund

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Exclusive art prints series benefiting the Mission Fund

Fourth in the series of exclusive original artwork created for the St. Louis Blues Mission Fund.

An original print created AND signed by St. Louis artist Cbabi Bayoc.

We are offering 100 exclusive, limited-edition signed and numbered prints for sale at $60 each with all proceeds going directly to St. Louis Blues Musicians. Click on the image to purchase your print now.

MARSHA EVANS AND JIMMY HINDS

Print Detailed Notes: 

*Oliver Sain’s famed “Archway Studios” building behind Jimmy. 

*1860’s neon bottom center behind Marsha.

Marsha Evans comes from a musical family. Her mother, Justine Bolar, was one of the first black women on the Muny stage, performing in "Show Boat." And Bolar and Evans' aunt were among the first members of the Legend Singers, formed by Kenneth Billups.

Evans kept that legacy going, singing in choirs at Sumner and Northwest high schools; at Sumner, she was under the direction of Billups. She also performed with groups such as the Paramettes and the Georgettes while in school, as well as with the Young Disciples out of East St. Louis.

Evans learned early on how to make an audience feel good with her singing. As a child in the '50s, she and her sister Cheryl Bolar Slaughter were the first black kids to perform on the stage of the Kiel Opera House, now the Peabody Opera House.

In the '60s, Evans began hanging out in Sain's famed Archways Studio, picking up every bit of knowledge she could.

"I sang background for whomever Oliver was working with," Evans says. "It was a good learning period. I learned that I wanted to be an entertainer. I knew it all along, but that showed me how much fun it could be."

It was while Evans was hanging at Archways Studio that "Rescue Me" singer Bass, a St. Louis native, came in.

"I thought I'd died and gone to heaven," says Evans, who would go on to record, tour and strike up a friendship with Bass.

Her friend, Jacqui Staton, who had been performing with Sain, asked Evans to fill in for her for two weeks while she went overseas. But Staton never returned to the gig, and Evans became a permanent fixture in Sain's lineup as his main vocalist from the '90s through his death in 2003.

"I started with Oliver then," Evans says, "and went through to the end."

For Evans, the blues is a family affair. She longed performed with her late husband, acclaimed international bassist Jimmy Hinds. 

When she still performs, she works R&B songs and hip-hop influences into her performance to show fans how black popular music has long been interconnected.

Jimmy Hinds:

“Born on January 9, 1950, Hinds was a Homer G. Phillips baby who grew up with a mother who loved art, a harmonica and guitar-playing father, five brothers and two sisters. 

In their North Market Street home his dad would only allow records by Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Bobbly Bland to be played. No James Brown for him. Hinds, the second oldest boy, was one of the six siblings who would become musicians. Four of them, including Jimmy, were drummers. However, he was always the music director in their legendary third floor “Music Room” which was also doubled as his bedroom.  

At the beginning of high school (1964-68) Hinds was singing doo-wop as part of a group called the Concepts with his brother Leonard and two other brothers, Andre and Michael Jones. They achieved a fair amount of local recognition. He said he learned the bass out of frustration. “Our bass player was so bad I would take his Gibson EB2 bass home to learn the songs and teach him.” But, his drive for perfection wasn’t just the bass as his brother Jerome Hinds tells it, “During a show Jimmy would stop singing if the music was wrong and turn his back to the audience and fix the band.”

The third leg of Hinds musical stool was jazz bassist Ron Carter, whom he met through an Oliver Nelson Jazz Clinic at Washington University. “I was all ear and didn’t know anything about notes," Hinds recalled. "He taught me to respect the neck of my bass and how scales were executed in different positions. He taught me how to spell – the musical notes. It opened the door of knowledge for me about knowing your music and knowing what you’re doing.”  

By the end of high school Hinds was making a name for himself playing with The Magnificent Seven in east side clubs. He laughs when he says, “at the time we were Oliver Sain’s nemesis for popularity in town.” At 19 he turned professional, began playing in Sain’s band, The Oliver Sain Revue and started recording for him. One night in 1969 Sain’s band opened for Bobby “Blue” Bland. When Bland’s bass player was a no-show he grabbed Hinds to fill in. He liked what he heard and offered him the slot in the band. “Oliver wasn’t happy, but he understood because he was a pro,” Hinds said, “he knew it was a step up for me, the same way Little Milton was for him.” 

When you ask Hinds about any favorite memories you get a long pause and an admission that, “as a band leader there was so much going on and I was so focused that it is hard to single one event out.” Then the memories start to roll: the first Fontella Bass European tour, the 1982 Larry Davis album “Funny Stuff” with Johnny Johnson (piano), Billy Gayles (drums), Jimmy Hinds (drums/bass), and Oliver Sain (sax/horns), playing with Percy Mayfield in 1984 in Long Beach CA (he died the next day), the Oliver Sain Soul Reunions at Mississippi Nights (1988-1998, musical director), and the 2006 Bo Diddley tour.   

The 1986 and 1987 St. Louis Kings of Rhythm European tours got a special mention from Hinds.  It was an all-star cast of St. Louisans including several veterans of the original Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm line up: Clayton Love (keyboard), Billy Gayle (drummer/vocalist), Robbie Montgomery (vocalist), Stacey Johnson (vocalist), Oliver Sain (sax), Jimmy Hinds (bass) and guitarists Darrel Darden (1986) and Marvin “Buzzy” Morton (1987). The band was officially appointed as ambassadors for the City of St. Louis by Mayor Vincent Schoemehl.

Alonzo J. Townsend
Coordinator, Blues Mission Fund
St. Louis Blues Society Board of Directors

 

Third in the series of exclusive original artwork created for the St. Louis Blues Mission Fund.

BIG GEORGE BROCK

The Heavyweight Champion of the Blues

 

Brock was born in Grenada, Mississippi in 1932. As a teenager in northern Mississippi, he met and played with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Memphis Minnie.

Moving to St. Louis in 1950, Brock tried amateur boxing for a while, but realized a musical career was more suited for him. He focused on his music and formed Big George and the Houserockers. In 1952, Brock opened a nightclub in St. Louis, The Club Caravan. He worked as the bouncer and performed there with his band that, at times, featured Albert King, Big Bad Smitty, or Riley Coatie on lead guitar. The club hosted acts such as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Ike & Tina Turner, and Jimmy Reed. Brock closed the Club Caravan after a shooting incident in 1970 where his wife was killed. He opened another Club Caravan at Delmar Boulevard and Taylor Avenue, but that closed in the late 1980s.

In 2005, Brock signed to the Mississippi label Cat Head. He put out the album Club Caravan which received favorable reviews and a Blues Music Award nomination for best comeback album. In 2006 he released the album Round Two, which received three Blues Music Award nominations. Brock’s band has toured in England, Italy, Switzerland and France.

Brock continued to perform and regularly headlined various blues festivals, including the Bluesweek Festival and the Big Muddy Blues Festival until shortly before passing at the age of 87 in April of 2020.

Alonzo J. Townsend
Coordinator, Blues Mission Fund
St. Louis Blues Society Board of Directors

 

Cbabi (pronounced Kuh-bob-bi) Bayoc is an internationally-known visual artist and illustrator residing in St. Louis, Missouri. His subjects include family, children, music and a bunch of other cool stuff designed with line, bold color and phunk!

Visit Cbabi's website.

 

The second painting in the exclusive series for the St. Louis Blues Society. Renee Smith by St. Louis artist Cbabi Bayoc.