Hubert
Sumlin (partially obscured) Sammy Fender, Lavelle White, Steve Arvey,
Chico Chism, Curtis Obeda & Foots Berry
1982
This
was not an unusual night at the Kingston Mines. Often when I played
with Hubert old friends of his would stop down to sit in with us,
people who normally didn't even play out anymore. Fred Below showed
up one night with Louis Myers. Another night at B.L.U.E.S Floyd
Jones came down to play some of the really spooky old tunes like
"Dark Road" and "Hard Times." Smokey Smothers
would come almost anytime we'd go get him and promise to get him
home. Guys always hung around the Mines, drinking free/reduced price
cocktails in exchange for sitting in on a few numbers. It was always
a loose party with some serious head-cutting lurking just below
the surface. The Mines has a late license and is the place many
musicians end up after playing their own gig. Miss Lavelle, who
performed in between sets every night on the "other side,"
could usually be counted on to sing with anybody who could play
and it was not uncommon during the last two hours of the night that
the billed attraction would be supplanted by names like Jr. Wells,
Sugar Blue or Lefty Dizz.