The Cash McCall Story
Versatility Personified
Nola Blue
Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro © Oct 2024
As most of you know by now, Nola Blue Records has been celebrating their ten year anniversary all year with special releases such as an anniversary compilation, Breakin’ News: 10 years of Blues, a special tour called the Nola Blue Revue, BT, the long awaited album from Benny Turner (you’ll be hearing my thoughts about that soon), and also the biography of Cash McCall (Morris Dollison, Jr.).
Since Nola Blue Records president Sallie Bengtson will tell you that her label started with a book (Survivor: The Benny Turner Story) it seems fitting to release another book during this anniversary celebration year. And since Sallie makes it no secret that it is a priority to support and recognize the often lesser known legacy blues artists, it seems fitting that work was started on this book when Cash McCall was still living. Sadly, there wasn’t time to finish it before he left us, but thankfully we now have this very informative story of his life as told to Bill Dahl and finished by Bill via interviews conducted after Cash’s passing.
Versatility Personified: The Cash McCall Story begins with Dollison’s family moving AWAY from Chicago to rural Mississippi, rather than taking the reverse migration of so many during that time. It was then, at age 7 or 8 that young Morris and his older brother, Leon, would play the guitar after they finished working in the fields for the day. That planted the seeds for a music career that began with the gospel group, The Dixie Hummingbirds. But first, he enlisted in the army and completed paratrooper training and service. A return to Chicago opened the door for a position playing bass for the Pilgrim Jubilees, a short stint with The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and then he joined the Gospel Songbirds around the same time as Otis Clay. Dollison wrote gospel music during that time, in addition to playing it.
A switch to secular music included career milestones such as a Billboard R&B hit, songwriting work for Chess Records covered by icons including Little Milton, Etta James and Koko Taylor. Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, FAME Studios and Rick Hall, Rotary Connection, Chaka Khan, Bobby Rush, Columbia Records and Montreux Jazz Festival are the kinds of names and places you’ll read about in the story of Cash McCall. A move to Los Angeles added Minnie Ripperton, Willie Dixon, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the Great Balls of Fire movie and the 1989 presidential inaugural concert to an already impressive list of the people, places and things in Cash’s life. Possibly most impressive of all is that Alex Dixon, Willie’s grandson, credit’s Cash’s work with Dixon on the GRAMMY-winning Hidden Charms album as being instrumental in that achievement.
Speaking of Alex Dixon, Cash fronted the blues band for Dixon’s The Vintage Room album, which I had the pleasure of reviewing nearly seventeen years ago – https://www.mary4music.com/CD42.html#CDBluesExperience1. I also had the pleasure of reviewing Going Back Home, the album from Benny Turner and Cash McCall released on Nola Blue Records not too long before Cash’s passing – https://www.mary4music.com/CD81.html#CDBennyTurnerCashMcCall1.
Also, one of two singles from Cash McCall, released posthumously on Nola Blue Records can also be found on Breakin’ News: 10 Years of Blues – a fabulous ten song compilation of songs from Nola Blue artists, with credits that feature well over fifty very recognizable and talented performers. Check it out –
https://nolablue.bandcamp.com/album/breakin-news-10-years-of-blues.
BTW, I’d like to also interject that during BMA week following their release of Going Back Home, Benny and Cash were highly visible on Beale Street and although I had already known Benny well, I was blessed to have finally met Cash.
I hope that this overview of the many achievements of Cash McCall and his music will inspire you to check out the book. You can find it here: https://cashmccall.bandcamp.com/album/versatility-personified-the-cash-mccall-story
And while you’re on the Nola Blue Bandcamp site, be sure to check out the rest of their impressive catalog, etc… most of which I’ve had the pleasure of working with. In closing, since I’ve been working with Sallie all of these ten years I’d like to congratulate her success and thank her for helping to keep the blues alive.
“The Blues Is My Passion And Therapy”
Peter “Blewzzman” Lauro
Blues Editor @ www.Mary4Music.com
2011 “Keeping The Blues Alive” Award Recipient
