Paul Oscher, Down in the Delta

Tracks & Durations

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Review

Blues singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Paul Oscher's Down in the Delta was recorded live "the old-school way"--with no overdubs--and features Oscher on vocals, harmonica, guitar, piano and melodica with special guests including Levon Helm (drums), Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (drums), Calvin Jones (bass) and David Maxwell (piano). Down in the Delta captures the no-frills, down-in-the-alley, gutbucket, lowdown and lonesome deep blues of Oscher's live performances.

Paul Oscher first came to national attention as Muddy Waters' harmonica player from 1967-1972 (following in the footsteps of Little Walter, Junior Wells, James Cotton and Big Walter Horton). The first white musician to become a full-time member of a world-class black blues band, Muddy treated Oscher like a son. Oscher shared the basement in Muddy's southside Chicago home with the great Otis Spann. Working alongside Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Sammy Lawhorn, Pee Wee Madison and S.P. Leary, Oscher learned deep Blues phrasing and timing. He learned to play slide guitar from Muddy--literally by looking over Muddy's shoulder--and piano from Otis Spann.

"I certainly draw from the time I was on the road with Muddy and the experiences I had living on the southside. I give thanks everyday for that--it's the biggest gift of my life and it's given me my foundation..."

Brooklyn, New York native Paul Oscher started playing the blues at the age of twelve when his uncle gave him a harmonica. By the time he was fifteen, he had hooked up with guitarist/singer Little Jimmy Mae and was playing professionally in soul revues at black clubs around NYC including the Baby Grand, The 521 Cub, Seville Lounge and the Nitecap.

Still in his early teens, Oscher met Muddy Waters back stage at the Apollo Theatre in the mid-l960's. A couple years later, Muddy came to New York without a harp player. Oscher sat in with the band and played two numbers: "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Blow Winds Blow." Muddy hired him on the spot.

With the Muddy Waters Blues Band, Oscher toured the US and abroad and played a range of venues from the rough and tumble juke joints of the chitlin' circuit to the major concert stages of the world. During that time he backed up blues luminaries John Lee Hooker, Earl Hooker, Son House, Fred McDowell, Lightning Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, Albert King, Magic Sam and Big Mama Thornton. Oscher recorded a number of albums with Muddy for the legendary Chess Records label.

Paul Oscher toured with Muddy's band till late 1971 when he left to form his own band under the name Brooklyn Slim. In 1976, he toured Europe with Louisiana Red and continued fronting his own band in the New York area in addition to backing up Big Joe Turner, Doc Pomus, Victoria Spivey, Big Walter Horton and Johnny Copeland.

In the '80s, Oscher quit music and got a day job. But the blues kept calling and in 1992 he hooked up with piano players David Maxwell and Bob Gaddy and his old drummer Candy McDonald and started playing again. Still performing under the moniker Brooklyn Slim, Oscher recorded for Mojo Productions and Lollipop Records. In 1994, Paul toured the US with Jimmy Rogers and the Muddy Waters Tribute Band.

In 1995 Oscher released his first solo CD, The Deep Blues of Paul Oscher, for Blues Planet Records. His follow-up, Knockin' on the Devil's Door (Viceroy Records), received a W.C. Handy Award nomination. In 2000, Paul Oscher received the L.A. Music Award for "Outstanding Blues Artist of the Year." Oscher's Alone with the Blues (2004/Electro-Fi Records), was nominated for four 2005 W.C. Handy Awards: "Acoustic Blues Album of the Year", "Blues Song of the Year", "Acoustic Blues Artist of the Year" and "Instrumentalist of the Year - Harmonica".

Paul Oscher appears on Mos Def's release New Danger (October 2004) and is a featured guest on the Mannish Boys' CD on Delta Groove (November 2004). Oscher appears on Mark Hummel and Johnny Dyer's Muddy Waters tribute CD Rollin' Fork Revisited (Mountain Top Records/November 2004) and is featured on the January 2005 Hubert Sumlin release About them Shoes (Tone Cool/Artemis) along with Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Levon Helm.

Nowadays, multi-instrumentalist Oscher performs primarily as a solo artist. "I really dig playing alone, I follow my own time, my feet are my drummer and I can play the harmonica and guitar together like the way I want to, and I can change up in the middle of a number without having to rehearse anyone. Plus me and the band is getting along real good. I don't have to worry about nobody getting drunk or not showing up for the gig and the only one I argue with is myself. Yeah, except for the guitar player--he's always fightin' with the harp, the harp player gets all the women".

There are only a handful of artists left that can carry on the tradition of the deep blues and Paul Oscher's one of them. "When I was a young man I played other peoples blues. Now that I'm older, I write and play my own and when I play a blues classic, I put my own stamp on it. And I always keep that lowdown and lonesome feelin' I learned in Muddy Waters' band--I keep it real and in the moment."

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