John Primer
Grown In Mississippi
Blue House Productions
Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro © April 2025
JOHN PRIMER! The name that’s also a statement. If you know anything about this man, you know exactly what I mean. Trying to say anything about him that hasn’t already been said would indeed be a futile effort. As a matter of fact, with this being the fifth of his releases that I’m working on, I myself have already said a lot about the legendary, real deal bluesman, Mr. John Primer. Therefore, I’m going to cut to the chase and just tell you about his newest release, Grown In Mississippi. I’ll let John start it off:
“I want to pay tribute to my home, Camden, MS with my new album. I also want to remind everyone that this is where I came from. Mississippi is very dear to me and it inspires me every day. The songs on Grown In Mississippi have a lot of meaning to me. They represent songs from my childhood, feelings I had while singing in church, rhythms and beats I heard on the radio and while working in the fields.”
Grown In Mississippi features fourteen tracks with a fifty-fifty mix of originals and covers. Those joining John, on guitar and vocals, are: Bobby Rush, Charlie Musselwhite, Michael “Deak Harp” Dehart and Steve Bell Harrington on harmonica; William “Watermelon Slim” Houmans on Dobro; Eden Brent on piano, organ and background vocals; Steve “Lightnin” Malcolm on guitar; Gary Vincent on bass, background vocals, Jews harp and triangle; Rickey “Quicksand” Martin and Lee Williams on drums; Harvell Thomas Jr. on bass; Billy Earhart on piano and organ; Rosalind Wilcox on tambourine; and John’s daughter, Aliya Primer, on vocals.
The album opens with a ninety second original track that was inspired by the field hollers John would hear while working the fields. It’s titled “John’s Blues Holler” and John’s sincere and soulful presentation erases any doubt as to its authenticity.
Another original, “Born In Mississippi”, relates to the first blues John heard his family members playing. It may have been Mississippi, but there’s definitely some good ol’ Chicago blues in this shuffle. It’s a solo effort that features John doing John – pickin’, strummin’ and sliding on his guitar and telling tales of the blues.
Because it’s such a classic, Leroy Carr’s “Blues Before Sunrise” – a song from over ninety years ago – is still covered by pretty much every blues band. The reason John chose to do it was because it reminded him of getting up early to work in the fields. This is the kind of song that you don’t try to make your own, you just do your best to put your heart and soul into it and give it the respect it deserves. That said, with Deak Harp blowin’ those slow blues harmonica leads so perfectly; Rickey and Harvell locked into that slow blues groove on the drums and bass; Billy being all over those high end piano highlights; and John belting the hell out of the blues both vocally and on the guitar leads; Leroy himself would have approved of the respect his song was just shown.
Staying in that same frame of mind John, on slide guitar and vocals; Watermelon Slim on Dobro; and Bill are masterful on their flawless rendition of Willie Dixon’s “Down In The Bottom”. Being one of many songs written by Willie that were performed by Howlin’ Wolf, John pays homage to Wolf in remembrance of listening to him on the radio as a kid.
The third of three classic songs in a row that were written and performed by legendary blues artists is “Walkin’ Blues” (M. Morganfield). It’s a tribute to Muddy Waters, who, as a child, John dreamed about growing up and playing with. With Lightnin’ Malcolm joining John this one features a double dose of dynamite guitars.
Reaching back to his Gospel roots, John sings his heart out on an original titled “A Better Day”. Musically, the track features stunning piano and organ runs by Billy and smooth harmonica leads by John’s longtime bandmate, Steve Bell.
“Baby Please Don’t Go” (Joseph Lee Williams) has long been one of John’s favorite songs to play acoustically. Throw Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica into the mix and you now have an ensemble that rivals any of those famous guitar/harmonica duos.
Apparently, John and I think alike when it comes to favorite harmonica players. Being his biggest influence, John pays tribute to Jimmy Reed on this one. With Rickey and Harvell laying down an aggressive rhythm behind them, John and Charlie once again prove to be a formidable duo on the guitar and harmonica. There’s not one thing about this performance that’s at all a “Shame, Shame, Shame”.
On the traditional “Lay My Burden Down” Aliya validates having received her father’s Gospel genes. Her angelic sounding vocals, and accompanying backing vocals from Eden and Gary, will certainly produce some “Amens” at song’s end. Musically, Eden’s fabulous organ work will make you want to turn around and look up as if you were in church. There’s no question in my mind that one day I’ll be sitting here telling you about a duet album between father and daughter, or even one of Aliya’s own releases.
Other tracks on this excellent and star-studded release are: “Nothin’ But A Chicken Wing”, a funky blues tune John wrote to represent the Chitlin’ Circuit; “When I Met The Blues”, a song John wrote to represent the hill country blues that he so loves; “Let Me Be Your Electrician” (Iverson Minter), John’s stepfather’ favorite song; “Ain’t Kickin’ Up No Dust”, a song John wrote about walkin’ for miles in dusty MS; and “John’s Crawdad Son”, the first song John learned to play on his didley bow.
Should like to find out more about John Primer, check him out at – www.johnprimerblues.com. Remember, wherever you go and whomever you speak with, please tell them their friend the Blewzzman sent you.
“The Blues Is My Passion And Therapy”
Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro
Blues Editor @ www.Mary4Music.com
2011 “Keeping The Blues Alive” Award Recipient
