Cousin R.L. Goes to Chicago
- Steve Likens
- Dec 16, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 9
"Come on
Oh, baby, don't you want to go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago"
("Sweet Home Chicago" - Robert Johnson)*
My grandmother on my father's side was a Boyce from northwest West Virginia. R.L. was a Boyce from northwest Mississippi. So, of course, he and I must be cousins. So let it be written, so let it be done. Plus, my grandfather on my mother's side had a brother named R.L. So, there's that, too.
In December 2018, Carlos Tortolero from the City of Chicago called. He worked for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and handled booking for the Chicago Blues Festival. They wanted Cousin R.L. in June 2019, and hoped he had interest and availability. In short order, the announced lineup for Sunday, June 9 included R.L. Boyce on the Visit Mississippi Juke Joint Stage.
R.L. wanted Lightin' Malcolm with him in Chicago. They made a great two-man combo, with R.L. on guitar and vocals and Maclolm on guitar and foot drums (the bass and snare are played with kick pedals - one-man band style). "Having Lightin on drums and guitar is a sure way to have an awesome R.L. show." (Luther Dickinson, 10/05/2017 email.)
Malcolm, along with Cedric Burnside and Luther Dickinson, played in those front porch sessions in Como, Mississippi, that birthed R.L.'s first album, Ain't The Man's Alright, and his Grammy nominated second album, Roll & Tumble. After years and thousands of hours playing with R.L., Malcolm instinctively knew and understood him better than anyone.
Malcolm was a road warrior. We could not always coordinate R.L.'s shows with Malcolm's own tour schedule. Fortunately, as the date approached, Malcolm had an opening at the right time and agreed. With everything set, on June 9, Dawn, Michelle Baird, R.L., Malcolm, and I loaded up the blue rental van, turned north on I-55, and set off for Chicago. On the way, we ate dinner at BB's Jazz Blues & Soups in St. Louis, and spent the night in town to break up the trip. With Dawn again behind behind the wheel, the bluesmobile crossed the river into Illinois early the next morning.
Traveling with R.L. was a breeze. He never complained. Everything in his world was "just fine," all the time. On stage, R.L. never stopped interacting with his audience and band members. Off stage, however, he was a man of few words and did not say much unless asked a question. Even then, he often answered with one of his famous, short catch phrases. When asked about the latest drama going on between family members or other people in his life, he'd say, "My name's Bennett, and I ain't in it." When asked about something he was ready to quit worrying about, he'd say, "I'm gonna do like John Brown and lay it down." When asked for advice, his response on most subjects was, "Take your time."
The Water Hole - "Chicago's Juke Joint"
The previous year, the song "Shotgun" from R.L.'s Grammy nominated album Roll & Tumble had been licensed for use in the 2018 pilot episode for the The Chi, an original Showtime fictional drama series centered on the connections formed by a group of residents living on Chicago's south side. Now, the man was in Chi-town for real!
We held a private party for R.L.'s Chicago friends and supporters the night before his festival appearance. Photographer Howard Greenblatt (Imagine Pictures), music columnist Robin Zimmerman, Carl Bonner, and Daniel Kugler, along with their families and friends (and some friends of friends) joined us for the afternoon. This get-together also provided Dawn and me the opportunity to spend time with my college buddy Rich Prokup and his bride, Gia, and introduce them to R.L. You never know who is or how people are connected. In the early 1980's, Rich was enrolled in the recording engineering program at (what was then) Memphis State University. He occasionally recorded blues projects for Dr. David Evans's High Water Records. Dr. Dave's field recordings of Como, Mississippi, area fife & drum bands in the early 1970's were the first recordings to include R.L. Boyce - then a 15 year old drummer. [1]
Tamara Jackiw, another Chi-town area friend and supporter, secured use of the back room at The Water Hole - Chicago's Juke Joint out on the west side. Steve Collier, the fry-cook, supplied the drum kit and sat in for a while. Before we left, someone told me Steve had toured with Koko Taylor, Son Seals, and Buddy Guy. Harmonica player Jeff Stone (Zac Harmon, Tomiko Dixon, Mississippi Gabe Carter) also sat in for a few numbers. Kevin Shanahan, the guitarist for the late Chicago bluesman James Yancey "Tail Dragger" Jones, rounded out the band. I even took a break from hosting duties and other social duties to sit in for a few numbers.
At the time, Tamara still managed Tail Dragger. "Manage," however, is a woefully insufficient, yet inaccurately suggestive, word to describe a relationship with either Tail Dragger or R.L. To put it simple terms, Tamara told me that whenever Tail Dragger introduced her to someone as his manager, she responded, "Now tell them who I really am." He'd laugh and say, "She's my babysitter." [2]
R.L. and I knew Tamara through her frequent trips to north Mississippi, including Juke Joint Festivals in Clarksdale and R.L.'s yard parties in Como. In July 2016, Tamara had booked Tail Dragger at the Blues Barn at Foxfire Ranch in Waterford, Mississippi. Dawn and I brought R.L. over and he and Tail Drager hit it off like old friends.
The following year, they appeared together at Red's in Clarksdale.
Tail Dragger could not make it to our little party at The Water Hole until we were loading out. He and R.L. still had time to catch up. After saying "Hi," I gave them their space. Laughter, back slapping, and exchanges of "You got that right!" filled the hallway. I never did ask R.L. what they were talking about. [3]
Visit Mississippi Juke Joint Stage
Waiting for our transport to the festival grounds in the hotel lobby Sunday morning, we ran into Clarksdale's very own Super Chikan. He and his band, The Fighting Cocks, had played on Saturday afternoon.
The Chicago Blues Festival features every style of blues (Delta blues, Chicago blues, Mississippi hill country blues, west coast blues, contemporary blues, blues rock) on six stages spread out across downtown's Millennium Park. R.L. played the Visit Mississippi Juke Joint Stage, sponsored by the Mississippi Tourism Development Authority. Every person associated with the festival - stage managers, production crew, administrators, logistic coodinators - was fantastic to work with and helped created a terrific experience.
Backstage, we listened to the Fred T and Chris Gill Band while reviewing last minute details with stage manager, Tomlinson Fort. Then - showtime! In typical fashion, R.L. did not have a set list. He jumped onto the first thing that came into his mind, rode that groove for 11 -12 minutes until he was through with it, and then moved on to the next thing that hit him. More often than not, he played a classic R.L. groove or lick and improvised the lyrics - which meant that you and I and everyone listening just heard that song for the first time. Even when not improvising, R.L. rarely, even if he wanted to, played the same song the same way twice in his entire lifetime. He just wasn't put together that way. That's part of what made R.L. ... R.L.
As Malcolm put it in one of our email exchanges with R.L.'s label, "[He] doesn't have 'set' songs, but he does have certain guitar accompaniments. The 'roll and tumble' thing [for example] is not exactly that song, he may have just happened to sing the words 'roll and tumble' one particular time." (Lightin' Malcolm, 10/11/2017 email)
Friends and photographers Lorena Jastreb, who was on assignment with Blues Blast Magazine, and Howard Greenblatt captured terrific shots that day.
![R.L. - Chicago Blues Festival (6/9/2023). Photo: Lorena Jastreb. [See note 4 at the end]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/93c61e_af632800dcfc42b3b0948c63321ee93e~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_974,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/93c61e_af632800dcfc42b3b0948c63321ee93e~mv2.jpg)
Dawn, however, captured the video of the year - R.L. performing a 360 degree duck-walk:
After R.L.'s set, we ventured across the park to catch Toronzo Cannon's blistering performance on the Crossroads stage, posed for the obligatory Bean photo, and picked up festival T-Shirts. We also spent time catching up with Jus' Blues Music Foundation director Charles Mitchell. In August of the previous year, Jus' Blues honored R.L. with the Little Milton Campbell Lifetime Blues Award. [5]
Carlos Tortolero later told me that was his first time to see R.L. live. "His music had me in a trance," Carlos wrote. " Wow!"
The Chicago Blues News listed R.L.'s set as one the "standout" performances.
We left Chicago on June 10. Our son Cory's birthday is June 10. On the way home, Dawn pulled off somewhere along I-55 south, where Malcolm, Cousin R.L., and I sang "Happy Birthday" to Cory over FaceTime. Then, we climbed back aboard the bluesmobile and took a nap.
Thanks for stopping by,
~ Steve
Return to table of contents.
------
Notes:
* As sung by The Blues Brothers.
[1] You can read more about those recordings in From Boyd to Boyce and Back Again.
[2] Tamara's daytime gig was a Producer on The Steve Harvey Show.
[3] We may never know. Sadly, we lost both Tail Dragger (9/4) and R.L. (11/9) in 2023. After R.L.'s death, Tamara sent me the picture of R.L. and Tail Dragger together at Red's, with the note: "Look what I found! Hopefully they're doing this on the other side."
[4] R.L.'s daughter, Sherena Boyce, chose the photo of R.L. taken by Lorena to be on the front of R.L.'s headstone. Thanks, Lorena!
[5] You can read about R.L.'s appearance at the Jus' Blues Music Awards in "The World Needs R.L."
Comments