Piece Description

Luther "Captain Luke" Meyer used to sing bass in a gospel quartet, but he really found his voice in the 1950s, performing in the unlicensed drink houses of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In this feature, Meyer remembers those Jim Crow-era clubs, and demonstrates how his act used to mix blues, jazzy ballads -- and even impersonations of Jimmy Durante. '"Captain Luke" Meyer is one of several forgotten artists rediscovered by the Music Maker Relief Foundation. His story and his music are featured in the book/CD set, "Music Makers: Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America," edited by Tim Duffy and introduced by B.B. King. Meyer and guitarist "Cool John" Ferguson also have released a CD, "Outsider Lounge Music." For flexibility, two mixes are provided, The short mix (tape time 4:09) omits Meyer's demonstration of two very different ways of singing "Careless Love." As in all the pieces in David Schulman's CPB-supported Musicians in their own words series, the story is told through a mix of the performer's voice and music. There is no reporter's voice heard, allowing the feature to be seamlessly incorporated into station news, talk, or music programming. Scripts for intro and outro are attached, and may be edited at will. First aired on WUNC.