Bill Rhoades

Bill Rhoades Photo by the CBA Webmaster
Bill Rhoades at Burnside's 10th Anniversary Party

Muddy Awards

 

The Northwest's Master of the Blues

Article Reprint from the May, 2001 BluesNotes
by Rick Hall

    Bill Rhoades is a man on a mission and that mission is to convey and communicate the Blues to anyone who is interested or to anyone that might become curious about this true "American Artform" we call "The Blues". Bill has been a fan of Blues music for well over 35 years now, but he is more than just an aficionado. He lives and breathes with his passion for the genre.

    Bill plays Blues harmonica and sings with his long time band, Bill Rhoades & The Party Kings; he is half of the Bill Rhoades & Alan Hager Duo; he has his own Blues radio show on KBOO FM; he produces both The Harmonica Summit (in February) and The Harmonica Blow-Off (in July); and he works full time at Music Millennium, as well as having a family (wife, Cindy, and son, Tyler). Bill Rhoades has been nominated by the Cascade Blues Association for its coveted "Muddy Award" at least one time every year of the 12 years it has seen given. He has garnered 10 "Muddys", including four for "Best Blues Harp" over those dozen years. Suffice it to say that Bill Rhoades is a real Northwest Blues fan favorite and one of the most knowledgeable Blues resources anywhere.

    Bill was born in Eugene, Oregon and it was in jr. high school that he was drawn to the music of the British Invasion with groups like The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Manfred Mann and The Yardbirds that was being played on the radio at that time. Like many others, Bill purchased a lot of the music he'd heard and continually noticed the names of the people who wrote many of the songs he really liked that these groups were performing. Names like McKinley Morganfield (Muddy Waters), Chester Burnett (Howlin' Wolf), Elais McDaniel, (Bo Diddley), Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter. The names were kind of mysterious and flashy, but with further exploration, Bill was led to and then turned on by the raw energy of these songs done by the original Bluesmen who were responsible for this incredible music. He had discovered the "real deal" Blues and he was hooked for life by the magical, irresistible sounds of this music.

    Many people have been turned on to the Blues the exact same way, coming into it through another musical style, but not all choose, or even have the talent, to try to perform it. Bill did and he has been playing Blues ever since those early jr. high days when he decided to take up the harmonica and play the Blues. Bill recalls, "My interest was the harmonica. Most of the groups I listened to had a harmonica player in the band. I just loved the sound of the harmonica. It caught my ear immediately. The lead singer of  The Yardbirds, Keith Relf played harmonica and he was the first guy that really grabbed my attention. Once I found out that a lot of what he was doing were covers of legendary Bluesmen, I went on a search for the source of this music and found the Chicago Blues and all the great Bluesmen that played it. So, I bought as much Chicago Blues as I could find and that started opening up other doors. All of a sudden here's this Louisiana Blues, West Coast Blues, Texas Blues and on and on. The next thing I know I'm listening to Slim Harpo, then T-Bone Walker and Jimmy McCracklin.  And, this whole thing called Blues was bigger than I ever imagined. It was all so fantastic!"

    When Bill first started playing the harmonica it was just for fun. He was lucky enough to have some friends who were musicians and one of them worked at his grandfather's farm way out in the sticks where there was this big old barn where they got together and would jam and play as loud as they wanted. That's where Bill got his start. His friend, Jim Cochran, was a musician long before Bill started to play and he knew about keys and taught Bill which harmonica to use depending on what key the song was in. They did the jamming thing for many years while in high school until at some point, they were offered money to play a party. They couldn't believe that there was money being paid for doing something they were having so much fun doing. So, they took it a step further and put a band together. Bill's first real band was called The Rhythm Kings. They played hundreds of keg parties for years. They'd play any time anyone would ask them, money or not. They played all different kinds of gigs because basically they just loved to play.

    After high school, the band changed to The Party Kings with new personnel which included Bill's old buddy, Jim Cochran on guitar. They played a club in Eugene called Taylor's, where they were the house band, every weekend for about two years. That was around the mid-`70s. The band got to play many gigs backing some of the great Bluesmen who came through the area including, "The Iceman", Albert Collins, several times. Bill states, "Albert gave me one of the nicest compliments I've ever received. He said, 'You sound like a combination between Big Walter Horton and Charlie Musselwhite.' He goes, `I know, I played with both of them.'  That was a nice thing for him to say about me."

    The band backed up Michael Bloomfield once and played a lot with Sonny Rhodes, J.J Malone and Troyce Key out of the Bay Area. They got to meet a lot of the touring Bluesmen. Bill relates, "In Eugene, I had a barbeque at my house one time where Sonny Rhodes was the chef.  Luther Tucker, Albert Collins, L. C. "Rockin "' Robinson, Robert Cray and Robert Lowery were all there. You never forget things like that. Everybody had such a great time."

    While in Eugene in the late `70s, Bill was one of the cofounders, along with Ray Varner, of The Oregon Blues Society, an organization much like the Cascade Blues Association. They put on a number of great shows in the area with people like Albert Collins and Buddy Guy & Junior Wells. There were a lot of members for quite awhile, but it wasn't organized as well as the CBA arid the interest just didn't stay; it kind of fizzled. They did make some good things happen with the Blues scene for awhile.

    The Party Kings played all over Oregon: Portland, Salem, Corvallis, and Ashland. In the mid-89's however, Bill moved to Portland as the Blues scene was on the wane in Eugene at the time. He thought the clubs in Portland would give him a better chance to perform on a regular basis and maybe he could have a chance to do a Blues radio show in the big city. Bill had been on KLCC in Eugene playing three hours of Blues on Saturdays for about 10 years: He interviewed people like Koko Taylor, Philip Walker, R. L. Burnside, Luther Tucker, Albert Collins and Jimmy McCracklin. And, he just loved to turn people on to the Blues through his radio show, all the time giving exposure to these fantastic musicians who weren't getting their music played on other stations.

    Coming to Portland, Bill picked up where he left off in Eugene. He became a co-founder of  The Cascade Blues Association and began producing various Blues events around the city. He landed a radio show on KBOO 90.7 FM after putting in some volunteer hours answering the phones and subbing for Tom Wendt on his show, Blues Zone. Fifteen years later, Bill's show, Blue Monday, still airs the Blues at 1:30 pm every Monday afternoon. And, Bill is still dedicated to exposing as many people as he can to the music he loves so much.

    Bill formed a band in Portland called Blues Deluxe. He fronted that group for awhile and then reformed The Party Kings which included his old band mate, Jim Cochran on guitar, along with Shine Beck on guitar, Dave Kahl on bass and Johnny Moore on drums. The Party Kings played together for several years in the late-'80s and early-'90s.

    At a jam session one night at The River City Saloon he met Jimmy Lloyd Rea and Vince Hozier of The Switchmasters. "It just kind of clicked," Bill said. The Switchmasters felt the same way and. invited him to play with the band. It turned into a nearly four year gig that included one album, "Roadhouse Blues", recorded in 1993. "We recorded that in one day," he remembers. "A couple of the songs I'd never even played on before, but that's how Jimmy liked to do it.  And, we never rehearsed. Never!" Bill had a fantastic time with The Switchmasters, but he eventually got the itch to go back and do his own thing. One of the reasons was the Switchmasters' inclination for playing "cripplingly loud", and the fact that the band was from Baker City, way out in Eastern Oregon, which made the travel a tremendous burden. They'd play in Idaho and Montana, as well as Eastern Washington; Bill was based out of Portland.

    He got in touch with Jim Cochran, Johnny Moore, Dave Kahl and A. C. Porter and The Party Kings were reborn. Right out of the gate, it was a hot band, garnering a Cascade Blues Association "Muddy Award" for "Best New Act".

    In July of 1990, Bill started an annual event called the Harmonica Blow-Off. Bill explains, "I had a couple of ideas for starting the Harmonica Blow-Off. I put it on during the Blues Festival, after hours. It gave people a place to go when the Blues Festival was over. It was just a good local show with good talent, so when the Festival wrapped up for the evening, and the people still wanted more, there was someplace they could go and still hear Blues music. The other thing was that it provided the performers a chance to get up with a great house band and go for it, performing their best stuff for a half-hour. It's not a competition. We've had some really outstanding shows over the years. The shows are made up of mostly local and Northwest Blues harp talent, but we've had a number of national Blues harpmen on the bill too."

    The Harmonica Blow-Off, with it's 12th rendition set for this July, has become so successful over the years that it will now become part of the Waterfront Blues Festival this year (on the third stage). With the success of the Blow-Off, about six years ago, Bill started a winter version of the show held in late February called the Harmonica Summit. Bill continues, "The main idea for the Summit was that there's just nothing really going on at that time of year and I thought that this would be a good time to put on a good show and just have some fun. It's the winter version of the Harmonica Blow-Off. It's gotten even bigger than the summer one. A couple of things I've started to do are to make the show all-ages. I want the younger people to come out and see this great music. The other thing I started doing is going a little earlier by starting the show at 8 pm and running until midnight. People seem to stay longer if the show starts earlier, but they don't want to stay out late these days. I've tried to make the thing accessible to a larger group of people. It seems to have worked!"

Rhoades-Hager photo by the CBA Webmaster    In the mid-`90s, Bill started doing an acoustic duo with CBA "Muddy Award Hall Of Fame" acoustic guitarist, Terry Robb. They played The Cascade Tavern and the Moosehead Tavern regularly for awhile but one night, Terry couldn't make it so he sent his good friend, guitarist Alan Hager, over to fill in with Bill for the gig. Bill and Alan hit it off right away. Bill loved playing with Terry, but his plate was full with a lot of things he was doing, including fronting his own band. Bill and Alan started playing a lot of gigs together. Bill relates, "Alan's just an outstanding guitar player. When we're playing I don't worry about a thing, `cause he fills all the holes. He's fantastic. We did a CD in 1998 on Burnside Records titled. "Runnin' & Ramblin'."  We both wrote songs for the CD and filled in with some covers of classic Blues tunes. We both sang on the project and Terry Robb produced the recording for us. If did well and continues to sell to date."

    Bill and Alan still play as a duo today and in 1998, Alan became part of  The Party Kings band. The Party Kings continue pluggin' away here in 2001 and as I sit here listening to a recording of the group (done in 1998), 1 am reminded of just what a powerful and tasty Blues band they are. That Party Kings recording will be released on compact disc prior to the Waterfront Blues Festival this summer. It's titled, "High Cost Of Living", and it is worth the wait. It's all Blues and nothing but the Blues. It consists of 10 classic covers done by some of the finest Bluesmen in the Northwest. Bill Rhoades & The Party Kings consists of Alan Hager & Jim Cochran on guitars, Albert Reda on bass, Johnny Moore on drums and, of course, Bill on harp and vocals. The recording includes tunes the band has been playing for years and Bill wanted to get them down on a recording because it's material they had a lot of fun doing and it showcased the band so well. The recording has been in the can for awhile, but it is now ready to be shared with all Blues fans alike. With this talented band doing Blues staples like "Look On Yonder Wall", "I Wish You Would" and "Don't Lose Your Cool", giving them their own reworkings and renderings, "High Cost Of Living" is a very listenable and satisfying effort! Look for it soon.

    In closing, Bill had this to say about the Cascade Blues Association and the Portland Blues scene. "I really appreciate everything the CBA has done for the Blues. I was actually one of the people who signed the original papers of incorporation for the organization, along with Mark Goldfarb and Miles Ward, and what it has grown in to now is phenomenal. I think the group is doing a fantastic job of keeping the Blues alive! And, with everyone volunteering, it shows the level of commitment by having such a strong organization. I love the fact that there is such a great Blues scene in the area with very talented musicians. There are a lot of outstanding players in this town, and all over the Northwest. We are very fortunate, because most towns would love to have a Blues scene like ours!"

Comments From His Peers

    Bill Rhoades is one of the greatest harmonica players I've heard. He's unique in that he specializes in pre-Little Walter harmonica playing steeped in the Country Blues (which most players aren't really into) giving him a unique sound. He's a bandleader and he's also a great historian. Bill is someone who knows a lot about the history of the Blues, which he relates through his Blues radio show.

- Terry Robb

    Watching Bill's facial expression brighten up when a fan asks about some semi-obscure Blues recording or piece of Blues trivia tells you all you need to know about the man; Here's a guy who is zealous, is knowledgeable about, and truly LOVES the Blues. Whether the fan recognizes "the voice" from the Blue Monday radio show or is just responding to what Bill or the band just played on stage, I've witnessed it countless times. Bringing Blues, in all its guises, to the audience is his "mission', whether it's via the radio waves, or through live performances. Add to this the tact that Bluesmen like Jimmy Rogers repeatedly asked to have Bill play with him, and that Albert Collins, shackled to a horrendous band in the 70's, "begged" Bill and his band to back him up. These things tell you all you need to know.

    From my own viewpoint, Bill offered me an extraordinary amount of room as soon as I became an official Party King. Not many bandleaders are as generous in allowing the spotlight to wander. On many occasions. after playing a one chord Blues or some old Blues "war-horse", we have said to each other, "I could play that the whole dang night." I really appreciate the fact that his roots run deep, that be realizes that the Blues didn't come out of Texas in the early 80's, and that he is one hilarious guy.

Alan Hager

Related Links

Contact Info:

Bill Rhoades
9134 N.E. Broadway
Portland, OR 97220
503-253-1265
E-Mail: BRpartykings@aol.com

© 2001 Cascade Blues Association