Little Victor
Victor Mac 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, on the albums Back To The Black Bayou and Memphis Mojo.
Biography
Son of an Italian mother and an American serviceman 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. In 1999, Little Victor was involved in the production of a film documentary on R.L. Burnside entitled, A Day with...R.L. Burnside, 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 and Memphis Mojo. 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. 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:
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.'
Deluxe Lo-Fi was voted 2018 "Album Of The Year" in the UK by The Blues Lounge 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 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.
Selected discography
As artist
As band member/producer
- Ras Smaila - Black Man's Blues
- Sophie Kay - Rengaines
- Simon Boyer - Let There Be Blues
- David Evans - Needy Times
- Tav Falco's Panther Burns - Conjurations: Seance for Deranged Lovers
- Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Back to the Black Bayou
- Jo' Buddy & Downhome King III - Everything's Gonna Be Alright
- Little Victor - Boogie All Night
- Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Memphis Mojo
- Pig Fat - Shadow of the Night
- Harpdog Brown - Travelin' With The Blues
- Mo Al Jaz & Friends - The Blues of Little Walter
- Dexter Shaw & The Wolftones - Dexin'
- Egidio "Juke" Ingala & The Jacknives - Switcharoo
- The Jelly Roll Men - Jelly Roll Shuffle
The Mojo Man presents (CDs)
- Various - Cheap Old Wine & Wiskey
- Various - Bad Hangover
- Various - You're Too Bad
- Various - Burning Frets
- Various - Love Shock
- Various - Fool Mule
- Various - Burning Frets
- Various - Don't Mess With Me Baby
- Various - Cat Scratchin'
- Various - Do You Mean It?
- Various - I Ain't Gonna Hush
- Various - Take A Trip
- Various - Sputnik Dance
- Various - Motorvatin' Vol.1
- Various - Motorvatin' Vol.2
- Various - Sugar Jump
- Various - Dapper Dan
- Various - Wild Life
- Various - Voodoo Lou
- Various - Holy Smoke
- Various - It's A Man Down There
- Various - Crockroach Run
- Various - Work With It
- Various - Black Halloween
- Various - Blink Before Christmas
- Various - Popcorn Blues Party Vol.1
- Various - Popcorn Blues Party Vol.2
- Various - Popcorn Blues Party Vol.3
The Mojo Man presents (Vinyl EPs)
- Andre Williams - Don't Touch
- Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Gangsters & Lovers
- Joe Tex - Cuttin'
- Gene & Eunice
- Larry Williams
The Mojo Man presents (Vinyl LPs)
- Various - Too Much Booze
- Various - Bad Hangover
- Various - Walking Girl
- Various - Back Fire
Awards
- 2009: Grand Prix du Disque Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Back to the Black Bayou
- 2009: German Record Critics' Award Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Back to the Black Bayou
- 2010: Blues Music Awards : Nominations for "Blues Album of the Year" and "Traditional Blues Album of the Year"
- 2011: Jimi Awards Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - Memphis Mojo for Best Live Album of the Year
- 2016: Maple Blues Awards : Nomination for "Recording/Producer of the Year"
- 2018: Blues Lounge Radio Show Awards: Best Album award for Deluxe Lo-Fi
- 2019: Blues Lounge Radio Show Awards: Hall of Fame Inductee