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Little Victor

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Little Victor
Little Victor in 2015 at Sun Records 63rd Birthday Bash at The O2 Arena in London, England
Little Victor in 2015 at Sun Records 63rd Birthday Bash at The O2 Arena in London, England
Background information
Birth nameVictor F. Macoggi
Also known asVictor Mac, The Beale Street Blues Bopper, DJ Mojo Man
Born (1967-01-31) January 31, 1967 (age 57)
Rome, Italy
OriginWest Memphis, Arkansas
GenresBlues, roots, rock and roll, americana, rhythm and blues, alternative
Occupation(s)Guitarist, harmonicist, singer, record producer, performer, disc jockey, entertainer
Instrument(s)Guitar, harmonica, drums, human voice
Years active1981–present
LabelsRuf Records (former) Witchcraft Records (former) Wild Records USA (former) El Toro Records ( former) Bluestown Records (former) Rhythm Bomb Records and Rockstar Records UK Music Group (current)
Websitelittlevictormusic.com

Victor Mac (born Victor Macoggi on January 31, 1967) who is better known as Little Victor, The Beale Street Blues Bopper, and also DJ Mojo Man, is an Italian-American blues and roots singer, guitarist and harmonica player, as well as a record collector, musicologist, entertainer, disc jockey and record producer. He is best known for his association with Louisiana Red,[1][2] on the albums Back To The Black Bayou and Memphis Mojo.[3][4]

Biography

Son of an Italian mother and an American serviceman[5] who was constantly on the move, Victor also leads a wanderer's life on both sides of the Atlantic. He was born in Rome, Italy. and he grew up in many different places. He lived in West Memphis, Arkansas, Austin, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee, and Louisiana. He also spent several years in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain, before moving to the UK in 2014. He speaks fluent English, French, Italian and Spanish, He started to sing at the age of 14 - in 1981 - hence the nickname of "Little" Victor. His first band mostly featured songs from the Sun Records vaults. At 16 he started to play harmonica inspired by Jimmy Reed and the following year first picked up the guitar. He played for tips on Beale Street in Memphis six days a week with Uncle Ben Perry, the "King of Handy Park." This association is why Little Victor is also known as The Beale Street Blues Bopper. He sang, played and recorded with many different roots, rock and blues bands in the 1980s and early 1990s. He also did some recordings with Alex Chilton and Hubert Sumlin, before releasing Cuttin' Out (1994). In 1999, Little Victor was involved in the production of a film documentary on R.L. Burnside entitled, A Day with...R.L. Burnside,[6] a collaboration with Sophie Kay which also spawned two albums together.

His association with his blues hero Louisiana Red, produced the albums Back To The Black Bayou (2009) and Memphis Mojo (2011). Victor's own effort, Boogie All Night, was issued by El Toro Records, in between those collaborations, whilst in 2013 he produced and played on Pig Fat's Shadow of the Night.[7] In 2015, Little Victor toured Canada with the harmonica player Harpdog Brown and, in 2016, he produced and played on Brown's Travelin' with the Blues recorded in California with Charlie Musselwhite, Big Jon Atkinson, Rusty Zinn, Carl Sonny Leyland and Jimmy Morello.

The music journalist Johnny Whiteside, writing in the LA Times, described Little Victor's style of music:

'Little Victor (is) an untamed maverick whose raw, primitive sounds are the utter antithesis of the contemporary blues model. The offbeat singer-guitarist...eschews the genre’s prevalent trend for streamlined six-string virtuosity in favor of wild shouting, stabbing guitar and heavy, almost hypnotic, rhythmic repetition....He can effortlessly switch from shadowy, primitive low blues to the polished, uptown Beale Street-style R&B...to wild, wicked boogies, and all of it is put across with expressive, soul-deep conviction.'[8]

In 2017, he started to work as a freelance consultant and producer for the Rockstar Records UK Group. He produced various albums that were released by Rhythm Bomb Records such as The Blues of Little Walter by Mo Al Jaz & Friends and Jelly Roll Shuffle by the Jelly Roll Men. He also worked on a series of anthologies of obscure 1950s blues and rhythm and blues, for the Koko-Mojo label.

In 2018, Victor released Deluxe Lo-Fi, recorded over an eight-year period with various musicians, including the Downhome Kings, Kim Wilson, Big Jon Atkinson, Rusty Zinn, Carl Sonny Leyland, Steve Lucky and Harpdog Brown. The songs, mostly Little Victor's original compositions, display a wide range of styles. In an interview with the Good New Music blog, Victor said, 'The whole point here and the ‘concept’ of this album is about songs captured on old magnetic tape with vintage tube equipment at great vintage studios....the last two songs were recorded at a ‘modern’ state-of-the-art studio in Hollywood by the great Jeff ‘Mox’ Moxley but both songs were bounced through a vintage tube desk on magnetic tape, so the outcome sounds just like the other songs and has the same ‘vibe’ and feel.'[9]

Deluxe Lo-Fi was voted 2018 "Album Of The Year" in the UK by The Blues Lounge[10] and in Scandinavia by BluesNews magazine.

In January 2020, Little Victor formed the Mighty Lo-Fi Kings, a new band with Rob Glazebrook, in which both play guitar and share vocals. Orlando Shearer pays bass and Nick Simonon the drums. The band regularly performs at Peggy Sue's Music Bar in Leigh-on-Sea and the Black Lion in Brighton and has also been booked to play the 'Lache Pas La Patate' festival in Aulnoye-Aymeries, France in April 2020.[11]

The Mojo Man

Selected discography

As artist

Year Title Credit(s) Record label
1994 Cuttin' Out Little Victor Blue Jay Records
1996 Space Shuffle Little Victor Blue Jay Records
2000 Cookin' with Gas Little Victor & Sophie Kay Blue Rabbit Records
2001 Just Rockin' The Blues Little Victor & Sophie Kay Blue Rabbit Records
2007 Blues Shakedown (EP) Little Victor Witchcraft Records
2008 Back to the Black Bayou Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint Bluestown Records
2009 Let's Get High Little Victor Wild Records
2009 Back to the Black Bayou Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint Ruf Records[12][13]
2011 Boogie All Night Little Victor El Toro Records[14]
2011 Memphis Mojo Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint Ruf Records[15]
2018 Deluxe Lo-Fi Little Victor Rhythm Bomb Records

As band member/producer

  • Ras Smaila - Black Man's Blues (2000) (Dixiefrog)
  • Sophie Kay - Rengaines (2003) (Jano Records)
  • Simon Boyer - Let There Be Blues (2006) (Shuffle Records)
  • David Evans - Needy Times (2007) (Inside Memphis)
  • Tav Falco's Panther Burns - Conjurations: Seance for Deranged Lovers (2011) (Stag-O-Lee)[16]
  • Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Back to the Black Bayou (2008 Bluestown / 2009 Ruf)[15]
  • Jo' Buddy & Downhome King III - Everything's Gonna Be Alright (2010) (Ram Bam Records)[17]
  • Little Victor - Boogie All Night (2011) (El Toro Records)[14]
  • Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Memphis Mojo (2011) (Ruf Records)[15]
  • Pig Fat - Shadow of the Night (2013) (Pig Fat Records)[18]
  • Harpdog Brown - Travelin' With The Blues (2016) (Doghouse Records)[19]
  • Mo Al Jaz & Friends - The Blues of Little Walter (2017) (Chest/Rhythm Bomb Records)
  • Dexter Shaw & The Wolftones - Dexin' (2017) (Rhythm Bomb Records)
  • Egidio "Juke" Ingala & The Jacknives - Switcharoo (2017) (Rhythm Bomb Records)
  • The Jelly Roll Men - Jelly Roll Shuffle (2017) (Rhythm Bomb Records)

The Mojo Man presents (CDs)

  • Various - Cheap Old Wine & Wiskey (2017) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Bad Hangover (2017) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - You're Too Bad (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Burning Frets (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Love Shock (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Fool Mule (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Burning Frets (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Don't Mess With Me Baby (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Cat Scratchin' (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Do You Mean It? (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - I Ain't Gonna Hush (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Take A Trip (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Sputnik Dance (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Motorvatin' Vol.1 (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Motorvatin' Vol.2 (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Sugar Jump (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Dapper Dan (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Wild Life (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Voodoo Lou (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Holy Smoke (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - It's A Man Down There (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Crockroach Run (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Work With It (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Black Halloween (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Blink Before Christmas (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Popcorn Blues Party Vol.1 (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Popcorn Blues Party Vol.2 (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Popcorn Blues Party Vol.3 (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)

The Mojo Man presents (Vinyl EPs)

  • Andre Williams - Don't Touch (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Gangsters & Lovers (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Joe Tex - Cuttin' (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Gene & Eunice (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Larry Williams (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)

The Mojo Man presents (Vinyl LPs)

  • Various - Too Much Booze (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Bad Hangover (2018) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Walking Girl (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)
  • Various - Back Fire (2019) (Koko-Mojo Records)

Awards

  • 2009: Grand Prix du Disque (France) Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Back to the Black Bayou[20]
  • 2009: German Record Critics' Award (Germany) Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Back to the Black Bayou[20]
  • 2010: Blues Music Awards (USA) : Nominations[21] for "Blues Album of the Year" and "Traditional Blues Album of the Year"[20][22]
  • 2011: Jimi Awards (USA) Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Memphis Mojo for Best Live Album of the Year[23]
  • 2016: Maple Blues Awards (Canada) : Nomination for "Recording/Producer of the Year"[23]
  • 2018: Blues Lounge Radio Show Awards: Best Album award for Deluxe Lo-Fi[24]
  • 2019: Blues Lounge Radio Show Awards: Hall of Fame Inductee[25]

References

  1. ^ "Review: Louisiana Red and Little Victor's Juke Joint". Bluesinthenorthwest.com. 2011-12-04. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  2. ^ "Illinois Blues - Blues news across the USA". Thebluesblast.com. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  3. ^ Anderson, Rick. "Louisiana Red". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  4. ^ Hathaway, Josh (2010-12-31). "Review: Louisiana Red & Little Victor - Back To The Blue Bayou". Blinded by Sound. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  5. ^ "Back To The Roots - the blues magazine from Belgium". Backtotheroots.be. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Un Jour Avec R.L. Burnside". Idfa.nl. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  7. ^ Matthew Garbutt. "Little Victor | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  8. ^ Johnny Whiteside (January 20, 2014). "Little Victor to present two energetic shows". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  9. ^ Peter Hund, Little Victor: Deluxe Lo-Fi, Good New Music
  10. ^ Blues Lounge Awards 2018
  11. ^ Announcement on the Mighty Lo-Fi Kings Facebook page, February 2020
  12. ^ "CD review - Louisiana Red, - Back To The Black Bayou". BostonBlues.com. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  13. ^ "Louisiana Red and Little Victor's Juke Joint: Memphis Mojo (Ruf/Yellow Eye) | Elsewhere by Graham Reid". Elsewhere.co.nz. 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  14. ^ a b "Boogie All Night - Little Victor | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  15. ^ a b c "Memphis Mojo by Louisiana Red is a Juke Joint on an Album | American Blues Scene Magazine". Americanbluesscene.com. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  16. ^ "Conjurations: Seance for Deranged Lovers - Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Tav Falco | Credits". AllMusic. 2011-10-25. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  17. ^ "Jo' Buddy & Down Home King III - Everything's Gonna Be Alright (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  18. ^ "Shadow of the Night : Pig Fat (2013)". Tidido.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  19. ^ "Travelin' With The Blues — Harpdog Brown". Harpdogbrown.com. 2015-11-30. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  20. ^ a b c "WRBS Weekly Bluesletter :: White Rock Blues Society". MyNewsletterBuilder.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  21. ^ Gordon, Keith. "Blues Music Awards". About.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  22. ^ "Little Victor's Juke Joint W/Louisiana Red-Blues Music Awards". YouTube. 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  23. ^ a b "Blues411 : The Jimi Awards for 2011". Blues411.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  24. ^ "2018 BLUES LOUNGE AWARDS". BluesLoungeRadioShow.
  25. ^ "BLUES LOUNGE AWARDS". BluesLoungeRadioShow.
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