Seasoned guitarist Harry "Big Daddy" Hypolite, above, and harmonica master Provine "Little" Hatch, below, sanctify the blues in Kansas

Holy house of blues: Kansas church echoes with music of aging artists

July 2, 2000
Web posted at: 11:47 a.m. EDT (1547 GMT)

In this story: 'Dream' come true Guitar, harmonica - and blues Enduring music form 'Real deal' artists Old sound, new recording RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Larry Woods
Senior Correspondent

SALINA, Kansas (CNN) -- Here, on the High Plains, music coming from the former First Christian Church is no longer heavenly but earthy -- tunes sometimes sad, often suggestive and always lowdown.

VIDEO CNN's Larry Woods visits a converted Kansas church-cum-recording studio where the music of aging blues artist is being preserved QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN Senior Correspondent Larry Woods interviews Harry 'Big Daddy' Hypolite QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K TAKE A TOUR Go inside the church for a recording session at the Blue Heaven Studios   MESSAGE BOARDS Best of the Blues Your favorite CD's

It is the blues, a music spawned by slaves toiling in cotton and cane fields of the southern United States. Their lyrics, speaking of the hard life and desperation of the times, have become part of the nation's songbook.

"The blues was the foundation on which rock 'n' roll was built," said Chad Kassem, 38, who bought the 73-year-old church and turned it into Blue Heaven Studios.

"The blues is part of our history, our culture, and it's being forgotten," said Kassem, a transplanted Cajun. "We want to do something about that."

Kassem and his staff are bringing aging blues musicians, some in their late 70s and 80s, from all over the United States and recording their songs and styles. Most musicians were household names in Louisiana's bayous and Mississippi's delta, but rarely became widely celebrated for their trade.

Kassem is not so much hoping to propel these old-timers to stardom as he is hoping to save their music and undisputed talent for future generations.

"They deserve to be recorded and their music saved for posterity," said Kassem. "And if they can make a few bucks out of this, fine. But the urgency of doing this is pressing. Many of them are dying and old age is preventing others from coming to Salina."

"This is like a dream to me," said Harry "Big Daddy" Hypolite as he sat near a massive grain elevator during a recording break. "I never thought nobody would ever appreciate what I was doing. I thought I was washed out."

Hypolite, 63, plays guitar and has backed up the legends of the blues world for years. But fame and financial security were never his.

Provine "Little" Hatch says he has played the harmonica since childhood

AIFF or WAV sound (Little Hatch) AIFF or WAV sound (Chad Kassem)

"Oh, I could play with the best of them. And they knew it," Hypolite said. "But I never thought about myself. I was just enjoying playing and letting somebody else be the main attraction.

"Then, when this fella Chad wanted to bring me here and put me on a record cover and get me a CD, I told my sister, 'Hey, I'm goin' with 'em to Salina. I'm gonna take some pictures.' And she said, 'Well, go on. It's about time you do your own thing.'"

Kassem, who's been a music buff and collector since he was a child growing up in Lafayette, Louisiana, recently had Hypolite and harmonica player Provine "Little" Hatch, 79, in for a three-day recording and photo session.

At Kassem's side was Jimmy D. Lane, son of the late Chicago blues great Jimmy Rogers, who coordinates production and talent for Acoustic Sounds Inc., Kassem's worldwide record and CD mail-order business. It underwrites the costs of operating Blue Heaven.

At the session -- it also featured backups Louis Villeri on bass guitar, Celia Price on piano and Eddie Macy on drums -- Kassem wanted to lay down 10 to 12 songs highlighting Hatch's musical versatility. Standing nearby was Hypolite, grasping his lead guitar, and together they gave it their best.

But the best requires effort. Hatch, a quiet, retiring man who made his reputation in the music clubs and juke joints of Kansas City, Missouri, tired easily.

Kassem, shuffling from the recording booth to altar, was patient with his aging star. "You still got it, Hatch," Kassem told him. "Nobody can touch you, man."

Hatch, taking a break for a smoke and drink of water, had to agree with the younger man's assessment. "I've been playing harmonica since I was a little bitty fella, and the older I got, the better I got," he said. "I don't mean to brag, but I can tear up a harmonica in a heartbeat, you know what I mean? I am the master."

Trying to understand the blues' popularity can be challenging. Only a small fraction of the buying public seems attracted to what is an original art form of music founded in the United States, yet its appeal endures.

"It's almost always about a woman," said Hatch. "This is what the blues is. If you got a voice, you can really put 'em home, you know, let 'em know what it's all about. Man, I was born with the blues, you know what I mean? Everybody, at one time or the other, they have the blues.

"The blues will always be there, 'cause the blues is what makes you," Hypolite added. "I live the blues. ... You sing and play because of what you live."

Hatch and Hypolite aren't the only musicians to have sat on the altar at the former church. Weepin' Wille Robinson, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Jimmie Lee Robinson, Hubert Sumlin, George "Wild Child" Butler and Eomot RaSun have recorded at Blue Heaven.

More would come, Kassem promised.

"I'm not watching the money on this," he said. "If we break even, that's fine because I'm doing what I love to do."

The venture is about more than recording some old songs by some tired old men, said Lane, who moved from Chicago with his wife and children to be part of Kassem's operation.

"This country, man, was built on old-time stuff, and once upon a time that old stuff was brand new," he said. "No, we're after the real deal, capturing the blues the way it has always been played by these guys.

"The younger generation, myself included, can't do it that way," Lane continued. "We don't have that sound, because we don't have that life experience that those guys had and they lived. That's a big difference."

A first-rate guitarist who tours when he's not working on projects here, Lane enjoys a rapport with the old-timers.

"Playing with my father, and cats like Howlin' Wolf and Little John and Pinetop Perkins, gave me an early appreciation for these guys coming here to record," he said.

Last month Kassem signed with Harmonia Mundi, a distributor of numerous classical labels, to market and distribute the Blue Heaven recordings.

"They apparently believe in what we're doing," he said.

The hour grew late; the Kansas sun slid into Colorado, and everyone on the set had a case of work-related blues. Hatch complained that he wanted to go home. Hypolite sweated generously.

Everybody had the blues, that is, except Kassem. He asked the group to play "I'm A Man" for the third time.

The old guys mumbled softly, then took it from the top.

And performed like pros. Hatch's harmonica moaned and hummed. Big Daddy moved his thick fingers up and down the guitar with the dexterity of a surgeon. The music arced skyward, heaven-bound.

Kassem smiled behind the recording room glass window. "We got it!" he yelled. "You did it!"

WorldBeat Spotlight - Lifting the blues
April 7, 2000

Blue Heaven Studios: History
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