The Mannish Boys
Waterfront Blues Festival
Portland, OR.
July 4, 2008

Recorded from KBOO FM. An all volunteer radio station in Portland. FM>HD>FLAC>Dime or at times FM>H2 ZOOM>HD>FLAC>Dime. As always there are some bumps in the road, but nothing that would stop me from down loading these shows. I've tried to fix all the drops and pauses in the music. Enjoy the festival, twofthrs

***Please give a big Thank You to (steeve a) who took this recording and made it listenable. There was some annoying buzzing inherent in this recording that he was able to "fix". He used a program called Izotope RX for noise reduction. ***
Thanks from all of us, steeve a...

Mannish Boys with special guest Kid Ramos, Kirk Fletcher, Finis Tasby,

This West Coast blues revue, an allstar collaboration in the truest sense of the word, includes the cream of Southern California’s blues scene.

The Mannish Boys appear on the Afternoon Blues Cruise, Friday, July 4, and their entire cast of guest stars—Finis Tasby, Paris Slim, Kirk Fletcher, Bobby Jones, Randy Chortkoff and Kid Ramos—hit the main stage, later that evening. The festival will also feature Harmonica ace Chortkoff in the Harmonica Blow-off on the A&E Front Porch Stage, while guitar aces Fletcher and Ramos present a workshop on blues guitar on the Workshop Stage.

The foundation of the Mannish Boys is the solid, hard-swinging rhythm section of drummer June Core (Little Charlie and The Nightcats, Charlie Musselwhite) and bassist Ronnie James Webber (Nightcats, Fabulous Thunderbirds). Guitarist Frank (Paris Slim) Goldwasser has toured with such notables as Lowell Fulsom, Homesick James and Jimmy Dawkins (and last year relocated from San Francisco to Portland). Pulling it all together is harp ace and producer Randy Chortkoff.

The Mannish Boys’ special guests include:

Finis Tasby
Powerhouse vocalist Finis Tasby was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1940 and grew up immersed in the Texas blues tradition. He played drums as a teenager. But he switched instruments and soon landed gigs playing bass and singing backup with Dallas legends the Thunderbirds, and toured regionally with Z.Z. Hill, Clarence Carter, Lowell Fulson and Freddie King. In the early 1970s, Tasby moved to Los Angeles, where he worked with such blues greats as B.B. King, Percy Mayfield and Big Mama Thornton and began what was to become a lifelong friendship with blues great John Lee Hooker. Tasby’s reputation as a soulful vocalist culminated in a string of releases for “People Don’t Care” on Shanachie records and “Jump Children” on Evidence.

Bobby Jones
Guest vocalist Bobby Jones, born in Farmerville, Louisiana, didn't begin his blues education until moving to Chicago in 1959, where he immersed himself in the thriving scene beside such legendary artists as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Hound Dog Taylor, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. Jones soon found himself performing at such performing at South Side blues joints like Pepper's Lounge, Teresa's and the Trocadar. Jones was backed by many of the blues elite including Jody Williams, Lonnie Brooks
and Syl Johnson, and even replaced Junior Wells in The Aces when Wells gave up his spot after landing a big hit with “Messin' With The Kid.” Jones issued his first single “Sugar Baby” backed with “Lonely Bedroom,” and later enjoyed relative success on the
charts with “I Am So Lonely”. In 1999, Ace Records issued two recordings; “In the Mood For Love” and “Sneakin' & Freakin',” both distributed by Malaco Records in Mississippi. Jones' career remained relatively quiet until 2006 when he was brought to the attention of Delta Groove CEO Randy Chortkoff, and invited to join in for the recording session of the Mannish Boys release “Big Plans.” Jones will appear on two new Delta Groove projects in 2008 including an all new Mannish Boys release, in addition to his own solo record debut.

Kirk Fletcher
Guitarist Kirk "Eli" Fletcher is, ironically, a rare presence on today's blues scene: a 20-something African-American man who has thoroughly immersed himself in the classic blues sounds of the 1950s and '60s. Son of a Baptist minister, Kirk's introduction to the blues came as a teenager, through his older brother's copy of B.B. King's "Live At the Regal", and he hasn't looked back since. In Kirk's relatively short time playing music, he's made some big waves and impressed a lot of the right people. Coming up through the ranks of the West Coast blues scene, he's spent valuable time with Al Blake (former front man of the legendary Hollywood Fats Band), Richard "Lynwood Slim" Duran, and Junior Watson, among others. Eventually he was hand-picked for Kim Wilson's Blues Revue, the modern day equivalent of joining, say, Muddy Waters' band in the 1950s. From there he was recruited for veteran harp man Charlie Musselwhite's band, and not long afterwards, with help from Wilson, Blake and Duran among others, he recorded his first CD, for England's JSP label. While continuing to work as one of the most sought after 'hired hands' on the West Coast blues scene, he began an association with blues producer and promoter Randy Chortkoff, which resulted in Kirk's most recent solo CD, "Shades Of Blue". On that project Kirk was supported by some the hottest and most experienced West Coast blues veterans, among them vocalist Finis Tasby, laying the groundwork for The Mannish Boys. Fletcher has been dividing his time between touring and recording with both the Hollywood Blue Flames and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Kid Ramos
Born in 1959, in Fullerton, Calif.—the birthplace also, as it happens, of the Fender Stratocaster—blues-rock guitarist David "Kid" Ramos inherited his love of music from his parents, both professional opera singers. His father grew tired of life on the road, settled down with his family and bought a gas station in Anaheim. One day, when Kid was eight, he bought his son an electric guitar and amplifier from a customer.

By his teenage years, Ramos was playing friend's parties and nightclubs on a regular basis. He joined harmonica ace James Harman's blues-based band in 1980, playing up and down California alongside such punk bands as X, Oingo Boingo, the Blasters and the Plimsouls. Kid played with the Harman Band for most of the '80s until his departure in 1988. And although he filled in as the guitarist for Roomful of Blues, he decided to put his musical career on the backburner to focus on his home life and start a family. For the next seven years, Ramos worked as a water-delivery man.

Eventually, his desire to play music returned. And Ramos formed the Big Rhythm Combo with singer/harmonica-player Lynwood Slim. In addition, he released his first- solo album, “Two Hands One Heart” on the Evidence label in 1995. The same year, Ramos joined one of his favorite all-time bands, the Fabulous Thunderbirds. In addition to his work with the T-Birds, Ramos has issued solo albums on a regular basis, including 1999’s self-titled “Kid Ramos,” 2000’s “West Coast House Party” and 2001's “Greasy Kid's Stuff, all on Evidence.

Set list
1. insturamental
2. i'm ready
3. unknown
4. mannish boy
5. unknown
6. walkin' & walkin'
7. unknown
8. unknown
9. mystery train
10. unknown
11. as the years go passin' by
12. unknown
13. lonesome bedroom blues?