Title: The Mannish Boys’ Delta Groove
Author: Steven Libowitz
Date: April 2009
Source: Montecito Journal

The Santa Barbara Blues Society is the oldest existing society in the United States. So what better way to celebrate its 32nd birthday than to book a band that respects the blues tradition with the same sort of reverence the organization itself does.

The Mannish Boys, a seven piece revue of stellar Southern California-based blues players, was founded to recapture the feel of Chicago in its late ‘50s-early ‘60s hey-day, when such legends as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Little Walter congregated in the clubs on the city’s south side to create some of the most enduring American music of the last century.

The band features a rotating roster of singers, guitarists, harp players and other musicians in the true sense of a classic revue, just like many of the outfits did 45 years ago. The Mannish Boys have played for SBBS several times, supporting a variety of artists touring as “solo” acts (Finis Tasby, Kid Ramos, Billy Boy Arnold), but not often under its own name, which the band will do on Saturday night at Warren Hall at the Showgrounds. It will be Santa Barbara’s first exposure to Bobby Jones, the Boys’ dynamic “new” lead singer who fell into obscurity after a distinguished career in Chicago where he fronted Little Walter’s former band.

The Mannish Boys, named after a song made famous by Waters, might just be the only ensemble that tours with the owner of its record company – Randy Chortkoff, the man who signs the checks for royalties on the band’s four CD’s – just as another member of the ensemble. But that’s just Chortkoff’s way.

This is a guy who used to produce an annual blues tribute concert to Little Walter, his harp-playing hero, even though it always lost money. He also financed and produced countless recording sessions for blues artists without having a clue what label might actually release them before he eventually started his own imprint, Delta Groove, back in 2005, right when other companies were scaling back in a struggle to survive.

So it was a no-brainer five years ago when he decided to make the first Mannish Boys CD as a one-off project.

“It was just more of a fun idea, a labor of love with musicians that were in the area who I’d known for many years,” Chortkoff said over the telephone from his Los Angeles office last week. “I just wanted to make a great CD with my favorite players in L.A. and record a group of songs that we liked with several front men who would take a turn presenting their vocals, or guitar or harp. I wasn’t even sure I’d put it out.”

Then Chortkoff decided to launch Delta Groove with that first Mannish Boys effort, and the ball started rolling.

“It got great reviews and DJs started playing the hell out of it,” he recalled. “It got nominated for the C.W. Handy awards for album of the year and traditional blues album of the year. Then people started calling asking how to book us. So we had to keep it going.”

Three more CDs down the road, the Mannish Boys have become not only a thriving revue but also a repository of some great but long forgotten songs as well as new material written by various band members.

“We always want to throw a couple of our own compositions on the CDs, but it’s very important to me to cover songs that were somewhat obscure B-sides of 45s that came out in the ‘fifties and ‘sixties because they weren’t really recognized then,” Chortkoff said. “When we do them, the artists or their estates get publishing royalties, a little make-up for lost time. And young people who are exposed to hear this great material and pick up on it.”

Indeed, keeping the genre alive and thriving is Chortkoff’s number one objective, he said, echoing the blues society’s own mission.

“I heard all these great blues players at the Ash Grove as a kid, and now it’s our turn to pass it on. Hopefully, we’re having some part in creating a resurgence for these artists or the music, so the musicians can make a real living, and keep the music from fading away into obscurity.”