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Houston blues musician Little Joe Washington dies
By Andrew Dansby | November 12, 2014 | Updated: November 12, 2014 5:01pm
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Photo By Bill Olive/FreelanceLittle Joe Washington (Bill Olive photo, for the Chronicle.)
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Photo By Andrew Innerarity/Houston ChronicleLittle Joe Washington's style of playing blues involves his hands, feet, elbows and any other part he can use to strum a guitar or pound a piano.
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Photo By Andrew InnerarityLittle Joe Washington, blues musician, onstage at the Continental Club, when he used to have a weekly gig, in Houston.
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Photo By Andrew Innerarity/Houston ChronicleLittle Joe Washington in 2005.
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Photo By Angel Muniz/Alligator RecordsGuitar Shorty was born in Houston. Shorty is often credited as being an influence for his young friend Jimi Hendrix.
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Photo By Melissa Phillip/Houston ChronicleHouston-born legends ZZ Top, though ranked on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock", have a distinct blues bent to their music.
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Photo By RICHARD CARSON/Houston ChronicleBig Walter Price, born in 1914 and known as the Thunderbird, may be one of the oldest blues musicians alive. Though born in Gonzalez, Tx., he's played frequently in Houston.
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Photo By Mark Magavern/Houston Chronicle FilesJohnny Copeland formed the Dukes of Rhythm right here in Houston. He went on to influence many great musicians and won a Grammy in 1987. Copeland died in 1997.
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Photo By Andrew A. Hanson/Houston ChronicleThe well-known blues guitarist Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins was born in Centerville but came to Houston to pursue his dreams. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and died just two years later.
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Photo By Karl Stolleis/Houston ChronicleLike his cousin Sam Lightnin Hopkins, Milton Hopkins, lived the blues. Born in Houston, Milton traveled around the world as rhythm guitarist for B.B. King.
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Photo By Bill Olive/FOR THE CHRONICLEJimmy "T-99" Nelson adopted Houston as his hometown in 1955 and was associated with the Third Ward's blues scene. He died in 2007.
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Photo By James Fraher/University of Texas PressTrudy Lynn, the self-described "Houston's First Lady Of Soul", sings true Texas blues.
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Photo By James Fraher/University of Texas PressTexas Johnny Brown began his professional career in Houston and toured with Bobby "Blue" Bland and Junior Parker in the '50s.
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Photo By Bill Olive/For the ChronicleLuther and the Healers continue to play in several venues in Houston.
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Photo By ifestThough born in Ohio, top harmonica player Sonny Boy Terry calls Houston home.
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Photo By Sharon Steinmann/Houston ChronicleEarl Gilliam is one of the legendary blues players in Houston, a self-taught pianist and singer who's played with and recorded with just about any notable blues player of the past 60 years.
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Photo By unknownSaxophonist Grady Gaines was a member of the band The Upsetters, which was a touring band for Sam Cooke and recorded the backing for Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally".
Houston blues player Little Joe Washington performed for more than 40 years, but his musical recordings were limited to a few hard-to-find albums. He moved quietly and frequently, as much a ghost as a legend. Washington - whose personal blues included a 10-year period he barely remembers, addictions and periods of homelessness - died after an extended illness Wednesday, said Jomonica Phoenix, his friend and caretaker. He was 75.
Washington's skeletal frame and world weary visage gave the impression that he was fading long before he did. He repeatedly found his way to local hospitals in his last years, but he'd rally and continue performing until the end.
In the late-'90s he became a popular performer on stages at venues such as Boondocks, the Continental Club and Blue Iguana. There Washington was a volatile presence on stage, playing guitar with his teeth and his crotch, banging out notes on a battered keyboard, and throwing himself around, and sometimes off, the stage.
Washington could be brilliant and awful, frequently playing fragments of songs before stopping abruptly.
His personality was similarly hot and cold. Eccentric and shifty, Washington often burned bridges with those close to him, including other performers and those who provided lodging and money.
But he was one of the last remaining performers from a bygone golden era for Houston blues. Washington performed with the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins, Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland. He was close with Joe "Guitar" Hughes. His association with Hughes, paired with his frame, which didn't top five-feet-five-inches, earned him the nickname that became shorthand for his talented and troubled myth around Houston.
Washington may have peaked at 65. After years of wandering and years of abusing himself, in 2004 he took the stage at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, a mammoth three-day event that included such acts as Lou Reed, PJ Harvey and the White Stripes. The show came amid a period of particular productivity for Washington, who found fairly regular work around Houston.
An album, "Houston Guitar Blues," was finally released in 2003. It was largely made up of songs Washington had played for years, but didn't get around to recording. The record reflects the breadth of Washington's talent. He plays some boogie blues on "Hard Way," gospel-tinged Southern soul on "Someone Loves Me" and swinging blues on "I Feel Alright." "Bossa Nova Part 2" is one of the most interesting tracks on the album - its style self-explanatory.
"Houston Guitar Blues" is the most readily available document of Washington's music, though it recently fell out of print.
Tomas Escalante, owner of Sig's Lagoon, said it's been "one of my top sellers" over the years.
"I have trouble keeping it in stock," he said. "If they keep making them, it'll sell forever here."
Still the most exciting way to see Washington perform died with him: performing with the reckless abandon with which he also lived his life.