Russell City Shout Out

The Great Migration Not only Put African-Americans in Chicago.  Some Headed West.

Russell City was vital in the creation of post-war American blues.

Since the early 1900’s, Russell City had been a community of Danish farmers and Latino and Filipino immigrant workers, poor folks jammed along the railroad tracks of the Southern Pacific between Hayward and the San Francisco Bay.

Russell City Street Map (click for larger view)

Russell City boomed when an influx of African-American workers came from the American south to work in the shipyards during World War II. With the price of land and housing cheap and available to non-whites, Russell City became home to many of the newcomers. Soon dive bars mushroomed in Russell City, beginning as just shacks with dirt floors and tin roofs, but where musicians could learn their chops, play in front of a critical crowd, and rework Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast blues standards into a new, distinctive West Coast sound.  Some of these great places included The Country Club, Miss Alves Place, Leona’s Hightower Club, The California Cafe, and a bunch more that never really had a name.  In fact, some of the old timers remember – all you had to do was look for a 7-Up or Coca-Cola sign – good times were to be had inside.

From then until the early 60’s the blues could be heard from morning ‘til night. Musicians such as T-Bone Walker, Big Mama Thornton, Fillmore Slim, L.C. ‘Good Rockin’ Robinson, and Billy Dunn moved through Russell City, Oakland’s 7th Street, and Richmond’s downtown clubs, the vibrant scene giving them the luxury of focusing their energy full-time on their artistry.

But in the 1960’s county officials and industrialists decided, with Russell City straddling the railroad line, the land would be better used as an industrial park.   Actually, by 1963, all of Russell City was condemned.  The residents were moved out through eminent domain, paid pennies on the dollar for their property. Some residents hint at darker methods, saying they were burned out by a series of unsolved arson fires. Ultimately, by 1966 Russell City’s homes and cultural institutions were torn down and the land cleared. Russell City became a memory, a coda to a catchy blues number.

One resident in particular, Ernesto Sava, claims to be the last resident to leave.  He explains that he was the last resident to leave Russell City, and once he vacated his house, it was burned down in less than two hours.  He claims most of Russell City was burned down, and his was the last house to burn.

The Country Club

Of course, as with all things blues, sometimes things just get forgotten.  There is a Bay Area Blues Society, with various projects in the works to help keep the history alive, and annual picnics and festivals where old neighbors get together to remember.  Sometimes though, the remembering is done by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.

As of 2001, Calpine, a large energy corporation has sited an enormous power plant (5th largest by emissions in the Bay Area), in the former Russell City. This power plant is to be situated on the border of a National Wildlife Refuge and Regional Parks on the Hayward Shoreline.

The name is in honor of Frederick James Russell, who laid out the town in 1907.   Somehow I don’t think this makes it any easier for the former residents to forgive the forceful evacuation and burning of their homes.  I’m just sayin’.

Bob Geddins

It is also hard to make mention of Russell City, or the Oakland area blues scene without mentioning Bob Geddins.  Born in 1913 in Texas, Geddins came to Oakland after World War II, and stayed until his death in 1991.  From 1948 onwards he founded and owned numerous small independent record labels such as Art-Tone, Big Town, Cavatone, Down Town, Irma, Plaid, Rhythm, and Veltone. He also leased his recordings to Los Angeles record companies as Swing Time, Aladdin, Modern, Special, Imperial, Fantasy, and even to the Chicagoan Checker label.  When it comes to the blues in CA, though, Bob was the first at a lot of things.

Bob Geddins was the first African-American in the bay area to own a record plant and recording studio.  He was the first African-American to have numerous record labels.  He set up his own distribution network by loading them in the trunk of his car and taking his records all over the United States from Los Angeles to Texas or any other city where hot blues was played.  For most, Bob Geddins is known as the Godfather of Oakland Blues.

Various locations in Russell City, Oakland, and San Francisco have also been added to The Google Maps Project.

Portions of this article were taken from Past and Present Media, and the Bay Area Blues Society.  Check out a Film Trailer on the area here.