100 Featured Blues Artists

Todays Featured Blues Artist - John Lee Hooker

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:16:00 +0000

He was beloved worldwide as the king of the endless boogie, a genuine blues superstar whose droning, hypnotic one-chord grooves were at once both ultra-primitive and timeless. But John Lee Hooker recorded in a great many more styles than that over a career that stretched across more than half a century.

"The Hook" was a Mississippi native who became the top gent on the Detroit blues circuit in the years following World War II. The seeds for his eerily mournful guitar sound were planted by his stepfather, Will Moore, while Hooker was in his teens. Hooker had been singing spirituals before that, but the blues took hold and simply wouldn't let go. Overnight visitors left their mark on the youth, too: legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Blind Blake, who all knew Moore.

Hooker heard Memphis calling while he was still in his teens, but he couldn't gain much of a foothold there. So he relocated to Cincinnati for a seven-year stretch before making the big move to the Motor City in 1943. Jobs were plentiful, but Hooker drifted away from day gigs in favor of playing his unique free-form brand of blues. A burgeoning club scene along Hastings Street didn't hurt his chances any.

In 1948, the aspiring bluesman hooked up with entrepreneur Bernie Besman, who helped him hammer out his solo debut sides, "Sally Mae" and its seminal flip, "Boogie Chillen." This was blues as primitive as anything then on the market; Hooker's dark, ruminative vocals were backed only by his own ringing, heavily amplified guitar and insistently pounding foot. Their efforts were quickly rewarded. Los Angeles-based Modern Records issued the sides and "Boogie Chillen" -- a colorful, unique travelogue of Detroit's blues scene -- made an improbable jaunt to the very peak of the R&B charts.

Modern released several more major hits by "the Boogie Man" after that: "Hobo Blues" and its raw-as-an-open wound flip, "Hoogie Boogie"; "Crawling King Snake Blues" (all three 1949 smashes); and the unusual 1951 chart-topper "I'm in the Mood," where Hooker overdubbed his voice three times in a crude early attempt at multi-tracking.

But Hooker never, ever let something as meaningless as a contract stop him for making recordings for other labels. His early catalog is stretched across a road map of diskeries so complex that it's nearly impossible to fully comprehend (a vast array of recording aliases don't make things any easier).
Continue Reading Bio Here... http://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-lee-hooker-mn0000815039

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Muddy Waters

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:26:00 +0000

A postwar Chicago blues scene without the magnificent contributions of Muddy Waters is absolutely unimaginable. From the late '40s on, he eloquently defined the city's aggressive, swaggering, Delta-rooted sound with his declamatory vocals and piercing slide guitar attack. When he passed away in 1983, the Windy City would never quite recover.

Like many of his contemporaries on the Chicago circuit, Waters was a product of the fertile Mississippi Delta. Born McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, he grew up in nearby Clarksdale on Stovall's Plantation. His idol was the powerful Son House, a Delta patriarch whose flailing slide work and intimidating intensity Waters would emulate in his own fashion.

Musicologist Alan Lomax traveled through Stovall's in August of 1941 under the auspices of the Library of Congress, in search of new talent for purposes of field recording. With the discovery of Morganfield, Lomax must have immediately known he'd stumbled across someone very special.

Setting up his portable recording rig in the Delta bluesman's house, Lomax captured for Library of Congress posterity Waters' mesmerizing rendition of "I Be's Troubled," which became his first big seller when he recut it a few years later for the Chess brothers' Aristocrat logo as "I Can't Be Satisfied." Lomax returned the next summer to record his bottleneck-wielding find more extensively, also cutting sides by the Son Simms Four (a string band that Waters belonged to).

Waters was renowned for his blues-playing prowess across the Delta, but that was about it until 1943, when he left for the bright lights of Chicago. A tiff with "the bossman" apparently also had a little something to do with his relocation plans. By the mid-'40s, Waters' slide skills were becoming a recognized entity on Chicago's south side, where he shared a stage or two with pianists Sunnyland Slim and Eddie Boyd and guitarist Blue Smitty. Producer Lester Melrose, who still had the local recording scene pretty much sewn up in 1946, accompanied Waters into the studio to wax a date for Columbia, but the urban nature of the sides didn't electrify anyone in the label's hierarchy and remained unissued for decades.

Sunnyland Slim played a large role in launching the career of Muddy Waters. The pianist invited him to provide accompaniment for his 1947 Aristocrat session that would produce "Johnson Machine Gun." One obstacle remained beforehand: Waters had a day gig delivering Venetian blinds. But he wasn't about to let such a golden opportunity slip through his talented fingers. He informed his boss that a fictitious cousin had been murdered in an alley, so he needed a little time off to take care of business.

Continue Reading Bio Here... http://www.allmusic.com/artist/muddy-waters-mn0000608701

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Johnny Winter

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:25:00 +0000

When Johnny Winter emerged on the national scene in 1969, the hope, particularly in the record business, was that he would become a superstar on the scale of Jimi Hendrix, another blues-based rock guitarist and singer who preceded him by a few years. That never quite happened, but Winter did survive the high expectations of his early admirers to become a mature, respected blues musician with a strong sense of tradition.

He was born John Dawson Winter III in Leland, Mississippi, on February 23, 1944, and as an infant moved to Beaumont, Texas, where his brother Edgar Winter was born on December 28, 1946; both brothers were albinos. They turned to music early on, Johnny Winter learning to play the guitar, while Edgar Winter took up keyboards and saxophone. Before long they were playing professionally, and soon after that recording singles for small local record labels. Both of them were members of Johnny & the Jammers, whose 45 "School Day Blues"/"You Know I Love You" was released by Dart Records in 1959. Other singles, either credited to Winter or some group pseudonym, were released over the next several years, including "Gangster of Love"/"Eternally," initially issued by Frolic Records in 1963 and picked up for national distribution by Atlantic Records in 1964, and "Gone for Bad"/"I Won't Believe It," also a 1963 Frolic single that was licensed by MGM Records in 1965. Winter had his first taste of chart success with a version of "Harlem Shuffle," recorded by the Traits, which was released by Universal Records, then picked up by Scepter Records and spent two weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1966.

In 1968, Winter decided to focus exclusively on blues-rock, and he formed a trio with Tommy Shannon on bass and John "Red" Turner on drums. He signed with the Austin, Texas, label Sonobeat Records, and in August cut The Progressive Blues Experiment, released locally. His life was changed irrevocably with the publication of the December 7, 1968, issue of Rolling Stone magazine, which contained an article by Larry Sepulvado and John Burks about the Texas music scene. "The hottest item outside of Janis Joplin," they wrote, "… remains in Texas. If you can imagine a hundred and thirty-pound cross-eyed albino with long fleecy hair playing some of the gutsiest fluid blues guitar you have ever heard, then enter Johnny Winter." Among those who read the article was New York club owner Steve Paul, who hopped a plane to Texas and convinced Winter to hire him as manager. Paul set up a bidding war among major record labels that was won in February 1969 by CBS Records, which signed Winter for an advance of $600,000, the largest sum the label had ever paid to a new solo artist.

Continue Reading Bio Here... http://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnny-winter-mn0000819983

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Sonny Boy Williamson I

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Easily the most important harmonica player of the prewar era, John Lee Williamson almost single-handedly made the humble mouth organ a worthy lead instrument for blues bands -- leading the way for the amazing innovations of Little Walter and a platoon of others to follow. If not for his tragic murder in 1948 while on his way home from a Chicago gin mill, Williamson would doubtless have been right there alongside them, exploring new and exciting directions.
It can safely be noted that Williamson made the most of his limited time on the planet. Already a harp virtuoso in his teens, the first Sonny Boy (Rice Miller would adopt the same moniker down in the Delta) learned from Hammie Nixon and Noah Lewis and rambled with Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell before settling in Chicago in 1934.

Williamson's extreme versatility and consistent ingenuity won him a Bluebird recording contract in 1937. Under the direction of the ubiquitous Lester Melrose, Sonny Boy Williamson recorded prolifically for Victor both as a leader and behind others in the vast Melrose stable (including Robert Lee McCoy and Big Joe Williams, who in turn played on some of Williamson's sides).

Williamson commenced his sensational recording career with a resounding bang. His first vocal offering on Bluebird was the seminal "Good Morning School Girl," covered countless times across the decades. That same auspicious date also produced "Sugar Mama Blues" and "Blue Bird Blues," both of them every bit as classic in their own right.

The next year brought more gems, including "Decoration Blues" and "Whiskey Headed Woman Blues." The output of 1939 included "T.B. Blues" and "Tell Me Baby," while Williamson cut "My Little Machine" and "Jivin' the Blues" in 1940. Jimmy Rogers apparently took note of Williamson's "Sloppy Drunk Blues," cut with pianist Blind John Davis and bassist Ransom Knowling in 1941; Rogers adapted the tune in storming fashion for Chess in 1954. The mother lode of 1941 also included "Ground Hog Blues" and "My Black Name," while the popular "Stop Breaking Down" (1945) found the harpist backed by guitarist Tampa Red and pianist Big Maceo.

Continue Reading Bio Here... http://www.allmusic.com/artist/sonny-boy-williamson-mn0001006782

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Jimmie Vaughan

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Jimmie Vaughan is far more than just one of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the world of popular music. As Guitar Player Magazine notes, “He is a virtual deity–a living legend.” After all, Vaughan provides a vital link between contemporary music and its proud heritage, as well as being a longtime avatar of retro cool.

Since releasing his first solo album in 1994, he has set the standard for quality modern roots music. Throughout his career, Vaughan has earned the esteem of his legendary guitar-playing heroes and superstar peers along with successive generations of young players. His musical ethos and personal style have had an impact on contemporary culture, from spearheading the current blues revival with The Fabulous Thunderbirds to his longtime, innate fashion sense of slicked-back hair and sharp vintage threads (now seen throughout the pages of contemporary fashion journals) to becoming a premier designer of classic custom cars. But for Jimmie Vaughan, none of it is part of a crusade or a career plan. It’s just his natural way of living his life and pursuing the interests that have captivated Vaughan since his youth.

Now, with his third solo release and Artemis Records debut, Do You Get The Blues?, Vaughan has fashioned his most compelling and appealing musical statement yet, creating a rich and variegated masterpiece of 21st Century rhythm and blues. From the first notes of the opening instrumental, “Dirty Girl,” it’s clear that Vaughan has created a contemporary classic. Driven by Vaughan’s lyrical guitar work, the skin-tight drumming of George Rains and the verdant Hammond B-3 work of the song’s writer, Bill Willis (whose long career includes work on the seminal R&B and blues sides issued by King Records as well as stints with Freddie King and Lavern Baker), the song speaks volumes without a single word, and sets a tone of distinctive and emotion-laden musical articulation that continues throughout the disc.

Do You Get The Blues? travels through a virtual galaxy of musical moods and modes across its 11 vibrant selections. Highlights include a rare Jimmie Vaughan acoustic slide track–a tribute to his friend and mentor Muddy Waters–and harp by blues legend James Cotton on “The Deep End,” a fusion of vintage R&B and jazz on “Don’t Let The Sun Set,” the sexy and seductive mood of “Slow Dance,” the syncopated soul of “Let Me In,” and a classic Texas blues shuffle with “Robbin’ Me Blind.” Jimmie offers a glimpse of the continuing Vaughan legacy on “Without You,” co-written by his son, rising Austin musician Tyrone Vaughan, who plays guitar with Jimmie on the track. The album also features Texas singing legend Lou Ann Barton, a founding member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Jimmie and Lou Ann’s potent vocal chemistry shines on the fiery “Out Of The Shadows” and the searing “Power of Love.” The two also join forces with the Double Trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton on the classic shouter, “In The Middle of the Night.” By the time the album lands on “Planet Bongo,” the imaginative mood piece that caps the disc, it’s clear that Do You Get The Blues? is a tour de force that draws from Jimmie Vaughan’s vast reservoir of musical traditions to create a modern classic.

“I wanted to make a romantic blues album,” explains Vaughan. “I was listening to a lot of Sarah Vaughan and a lot of jazz. So I wanted to put my dirty blues guitar and the romantic feelings and the ins and outs of love together on one album. It’s got a lot of gospel stylings, it’s got blues, it’s got R&B. I don’t consciously think, okay, we need to put some of this in here; I like that beat, that’s cool. I don’t plan it out or try to decipher what it is. I just try to create what I feel.”

Continue Reading Bio Here... http://www.jimmievaughan.com/blues/bio/

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Sonny Terry

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:49:00 +0000

Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry (24 October 1911 - 11 March 1986) was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.

Career

Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia. His father, a farmer, taught him to play basic blues harp as a youth. He sustained injuries to his eyes and lost his sight by the time he was 16, which prevented him from doing farm work himself. In order to earn a living Terry was forced to play music. He began playing in Shelby, North Carolina. After his father died he began playing in the trio of Piedmont blues-style guitarist Blind Boy Fuller. When Fuller died in 1941, he established a long-standing musical relationship with Brownie McGhee, and the pair recorded numerous songs together. The duo became well-known among white audiences, as they joined the growing folk movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This included collaborations with Styve Homnick, Woody Guthrie and Moses Asch, producing Folkways Records (now Smithsonian/Folkways) classic recordings.

In 1938 Terry was invited to play at Carnegie Hall for the first From Spirituals to Swing concert, and later that year he recorded for the Library of Congress. In 1940 Terry recorded his first commercial sides. Some of his most famous works include "Old Jabo" a song about a man bitten by a snake and "Lost John" in this he demonstrates his amazing breath control .

Despite their fame as "pure" folk artists, in the 1940s, Terry and McGhee fronted a jump blues combo with honking saxophone and rolling piano that was variously called Brownie McGhee and his Jook House Rockers or Sonny Terry and his Buckshot Five.

Terry was also in the 1947 original cast of the Broadway musical comedy, Finian's Rainbow.

Terry died from natural causes at Mineola, New York, in March 1986, the year he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. He died three days before Crossroads was released in theaters.Continue Reading Bio Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Terry

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Yank Rachell

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:23:00 +0000

James "Yank" Rachell (March 16, 1910 – April 9, 1997) was an American country blues musician, dubbed an "elder statesman of the blues."

Career

Born James Rachell, his career as a performer spanned nearly seventy years, and was often teamed with the guitarist and singer Sleepy John Estes. He grew up in Brownsville, Tennessee, but in 1958 moved north to Indianapolis during the American folk music revival. He recorded for Delmark Records and Blue Goose Records. Though a capable guitarist and singer, he was better known as a master of the blues mandolin; he had bought his first mandolin at age 8, with a pig his family had given him to raise. "She Caught the Katy," which he wrote with Taj Mahal, is considered a blues standard.

In his later years he appeared in filmmaker Terry Zwigoff's documentary about fellow musician Howard Armstrong, and was a featured performer with John Sebastian and the J-Band.

By the mid 1990s, Henry Townsend and his one-time collaborator Rachell were the only active blues artists whose performing lives stretched back to the 1920s.[5] In later years he suffered from arthritis which shortened his playing sessions, though he still recorded an album just before his death, Too Hot For the Devil.

Bio Source... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yank_Rachell

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Neal Pattman

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Neal Pattman (January 10, 1926 – May 4, 2005) was an American electric blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Sometimes billed as Big Daddy Pattman, he is best known for his self-penned tracks, "Prison Blues" and "Goin' Back To Georgia". In the latter, and most notable stages of his long career, Pattman worked with Cootie Stark, Taj Mahal, Dave Peabody, Jimmy Rip, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Guitar Gabriel, and Lee Konitz.

Biography

Pattman was born in Madison County, Georgia, United States, one of fourteen children. He learned harmonica playing from his father, after an accident involving a wagon wheel at the age of nine left him with only his left arm. Inspired by Sonny Terry's playing and distinctive whoops and hollers, Pattman played on the street corners of nearby Athens, Georgia. He found regular employment in the University of Georgia's kitchens, and gained further experience and local adoration for his regular live performances at various clubs and festivals. However, his more general renown was minimal until 1989, when he performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.

A meeting in 1991 with Tim Duffy, of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, led to Pattman playing with Cootie Stark, supporting Taj Mahal, on a nationwide Blues Revival Tour. Playing with the British blues guitarist, Dave Peabody, led to Pattman releasing three albums between 1995 and 2001. He also contributed to Kenny Wayne Shepherd's album and DVD, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads (2007).

However, Pattman had already died of bone cancer in May 2005, in Athens, Georgia, aged 79.

Bio Source... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Pattman

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Kenny Neal

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:39:00 +0000

Kenny Neal, born in New Orleans and raised in Baton Rouge, began playing music at a young age. Learning the basics from his father, singer and Blues harmonica master, Raful Neal. Kenny is known as a modern swamp-blues master and multi-instrumentalist, that draws musically from the sizzling sounds of his native Louisiana.

Kenny has been honored with numerous awards such as:
... •2011 Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
•2011 Jus' Blues Music Foundation Contemporary/Traditional Blues Song Of The Year-Hooked on Your Love
•2011 Critic's Poll Living Blues Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album of the Year.
•2009 Monterey Bay Blues (M.O.B.B.A.Y.) Artist of the Year Award
•2009 BMA (Blues Music Award) Winner for Song of the Year, "Let Life Flow"
•2009 West Coast Blues Hall of Fame Awards for Blues CD of the Year "Let Life Flow" and "Blues Band of the Year"
•2009 Blueswax Album of the Year "Let Life Flow"
•2009 Grammy entries for Grammy Nominations in 4 catagories
•Blues Critic Awards 2008 Readers Poll, Kenny won Blues Album of the Year "Let Life Flow" and also Contemporary Blues "Artist of the Year"
•Jus' Blues Awards 2008 "Junior Wells Harp Award"

Bio Source... http://www.kennyneal.net/page.asp?page=kennybio.htm

Official Website... http://www.kennyneal.net/home.htm

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Bobby Parker

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:25:00 +0000

Bobby Parker (born August 31, 1937, Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American blues-rock guitarist. He is best-known for his 1961 song, "Watch Your Step", a single for the V-Tone Records label that became a hit on the US R&B chart.

Biography

Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, but raised in Los Angeles, California, Parker first aspired to a career in ntertainment at a young age. By the 1950s, Parker had started working on electric guitar with several blues and R&B bands of the time, with his first stint being with Otis Williams and the Charms. Over the next few years, he also played lead guitar with Bo Diddley (including an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show), toured with Paul Williams, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, LaVern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, and the Everly Brothers. In the waning years of the decade, he also toured with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. His first single was recorded in 1958, while he was working primarily with Williams' band, and was titled "Blues Get Off My Shoulder". During that same year, he also performed frequently at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

By the early 1960s, Parker had settled into living in the Washington, D.C. area and played at blues clubs there after having left Williams' band. He recorded the single "Watch Your Step" in 1961, a regional hit that was later covered by the Spencer Davis Group, Dr. Feelgood and Santana. If fact, Carlos Santana once said "He's one of the few remaining guitarists on this planet who can pierce your heart and soothe your soul. He inspired me to play guitar." The song was also the inspiration for The Beatles 1964 hit single "I Feel Fine". George Harrison said that Lennon's riff was influenced by the riff in "Watch Your Step" which was covered by the Beatles in concerts during 1961 and 1962. In addition, "Watch Your Step" was also the inspiration for the classic Led Zeppelin song "Moby Dick".

Due to the success of the song, both in the United States and overseas, he toured the UK in 1968 and recorded his next hit, "It's Hard to be Fair". Jimmy Page was a fan of Parker's and wanted to sign up Parker with Swan Song Records. Page offered an advance of US$2000 to fund the recording of a demo tape, but Parker never completed the recording, and an opportunity for Parker to be exposed to an international audience
was lost.

For the next two decades, Parker played almost exclusively in the D.C. area. By the 1990s, Parker started to record again for a broader audience. He recorded his first official album, Bent Out of Shape, for the Black Top Records label in 1993, with a follow-up in 1995, Shine Me Up. In 1993 he also was the headliner for the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Festival. Parker continues to perform as a regular act at Madam's
Organ Blues Bar in Washington.

Source And Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Parker_(guitarist)

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Sugar Ray Norcia

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 23:37:00 +0000

Sugar Ray Norcia (born Stonington, Connecticut, United States) is an American electric and soul blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known for his work with his backing band, The Bluetones, with whom he has released seven albums since 1980.

Biography

Norcia started to play his harmonica based blues at high school. Once Norcia had relocated to Providence, Rhode Island, he formed the Bluetones which secured a residence as the house band at a local nightclub. They backed touring acts, such as Big Walter Horton, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner and Roosevelt Sykes in nearby clubs. During the latter part of the 1970s, the band backed Ronnie Earl before he departed to join Roomful of Blues.

Norcia's solo recordings included the EPs Sugar Ray and the Bluetones (1979); Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters featuring the Sensational Sugar Ray (1982), plus a couple of releases on Rounder Records, Knockout (1989) and Don't Stand In My Way (1991). Don't Stand In My Way was the first release by the Bullseye Blues label. The Bluetones also backed Miki Honeycutt on her initial album, Soul Deep.

In 1991 Norcia himself joined Roomful of Blues as their lead vocalist. They issued three albums with Norcia and undertook extensive touring duties. Norcia also undertook work away from the group. He appeared on a Bullseye Blues album from trombonist Porky Cohen, Rhythm and Bones, (1996) and on the LP Little Anthony and Sugar Ray: Take It From Me, (1994). Also in 1994 Norcia appeared on Otis Grand's Nothing Else Matters album.

In 1998 Norcia exited from Roomful of Blues, and issued Sweet & Swingin', which featured songs written by Hank Williams, Arthur Alexander and Big Walter Horton; plus a guest appearance from The Jordanaires. In 1999 Norcia participated with James Cotton, Billy Branch and Charlie Musselwhite, on the Grammy Award nominated album, Superharps.

More recently, Norcia contributed his harmonica playing on records by Pinetop Perkins and Doug James, in addition to touring along with the 'Sugar Ray Norcia Big Band'.

In June 2011, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones released their 8th studio album, "Evening" on Severn Records.

Source And Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Ray_Norcia

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Papa Charlie McCoy

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:09:00 +0000

Charles "Papa Charlie" McCoy (May 26, 1909 – July 26, 1950)] was an African American delta blues musician and songwriter.

Career

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, McCoy was best known by the nickname 'Papa Charlie'. He became one of the major blues accompanists of his time. A guitarist and mandolin player, he played in the Mississippi area with his band, The Mississippi Hot Footers.

McCoy recorded several sides with Bo Carter as the 'Mississippi Mud Steppers'. Among the tracks recorded with Carter were two variations of Cow Cow Davenport's "Cow Cow Blues" . The first, an instrumental, was released as "The Jackson Stomp". The second, with lyrics and vocals by McCoy, as "The Lonesome Train, That Took My Girl From Town". They also wrote and recorded "The Vicksburg Stomp" which was resurrected and recorded by Mike Compton, of O Brother, Where Art Thou? fame.

His nimble, sensitive guitar work enriched recordings from performers including Tommy Johnson and Ishman Bracey. He recorded regularly in the late 1920s, often alongside Walter Vincson. He dated blues singer and guitar player Geeshie Wiley around 1928. He also sat in with the Mississippi Sheiks, Rubin Lacy, Son Spand and the many other Delta bluesmen who passed through the Jackson area in the years that followed. He also backed his then sister-in-law, Memphis Minnie in the mid 1930s.

As a slide guitarist, McCoy recorded as under the name of Tampa Kid, and released "Keep On Trying".

McCoy also joined and performed with his brother (Kansas Joe McCoy) for many years, and they released records under the title of "The McCoy Brothers".

He eventually migrated to Chicago where he organized two bands, "Papa Charlie's Boys" and with his older brother Kansas Joe McCoy, the Harlem Hamfats, that performed and recorded during the second half of the 1930s. However, service with the United States Army during World War II cut short McCoy’s career.

In poor health, McCoy never returned to music after the war, and he died in Chicago, Illinois in 1950 from paralytic brain disease, only a few months after his brother had died. They are both buried in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

McCoy's composition, "Too Long" was recorded several times by both black and white artists.

Source And Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Charlie_McCoy

View Video Here... PAPA CHARLIE McCOY ~ Baltimore Blues
http://youtu.be/33IOfe8JI64

Todays Featured Blues Artist - W. C. Handy

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 00:26:00 +0000

William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues".

Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. Though he was one of many musicians who played the distinctively American form of music known as the blues, he is credited with giving it its contemporary form. While Handy was not the first to publish music in the blues form, he took the blues from a regional music style with a limited audience to one of the dominant national forces in American music.

Handy was an educated musician who used folk material in his compositions. He was scrupulous in documenting the sources of his works, which frequently combined stylistic influences from several performers. He loved this folk musical form and brought his own transforming touch to it.

Early life

Handy was born in Florence, Alabama. His father was the pastor of a small church in Guntersville, another small town in northeast central Alabama. Handy wrote in his 1941 autobiography, Father of the Blues, that he was born in the log cabin built by his grandfather William Wise Handy, who became an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister after emancipation. The log cabin of Handy's birth has been saved and preserved in downtown Florence.

Handy was a deeply religious man, whose influences in his musical style were found in the church music he sang and played as a youth, and in the natural world. He later cited the sounds of nature, such as "whippoorwills, bats and hoot owls and their outlandish noises", the sounds of Cypress Creek washing on the fringes of the woodland, and "the music of every songbird and all the symphonies of their unpremeditated art" as inspiration.

Growing up he apprenticed in carpentry, shoemaking and plastering. He bought his first guitar, which he had seen in a local shop window and secretly saved for by picking berries, nuts and making lye soap, without his parents' permission. His father asked him, "What possessed you to bring a sinful thing like that into our Christian home?" Ordering Handy to "Take it back where it came from", his father quickly enrolled him in organ lessons. Handy's days as an organ student were short lived, and he moved on to learn the cornet. Handy joined a local band as a teenager, but he kept this fact a secret from his parents. He purchased a cornet from a fellow band member and spent every free minute practicing it.

Continue Reading Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Handy

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Jonny Lang

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:28:00 +0000

Jonny Lang (born Jon Gordon Langseth, Jr., January 29, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning American blues, gospel, and rock singer, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist. Lang's music is notable for both his unusual voice, which has been compared to that of a forty-year-old blues veteran, and for his guitar solos. His solo patterns have especially been noted for the constant use of wide vibratos.

Bio

Jonny Lang was born in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. He started playing the guitar at the age of twelve, after his father took him to see the Bad Medicine Blues Band, one of the few blues bands in Fargo. Lang soon started taking guitar lessons from Ted Larsen, the band's guitar player. Several months after Lang began, he joined the band, which was then renamed Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang.

The band moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and independently released the album Smokin' when Lang was fourteen. Lang was signed to A&M Records in 1996. He released the critically acclaimed multi-platinum Lie to Me on January 28, 1997. The next album, Wander this World, was released on October 20, 1998 and earned a Grammy nomination. This was followed by the more soulful Long Time Coming on October 14, 2003. Lang also made a cover of Edgar Winter's "Dying to Live". Lang's 2006 album, the gospel influenced Turn Around, won him his first Grammy Award.

In more than ten years on the road, Lang has toured with the Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Blues Traveler, Jeff Beck and Sting. In 1999, he was invited to play for a White House audience including President and Mrs. Clinton. Lang also makes a cameo appearance in the film Blues Brothers 2000 as a janitor. In 2004, Eric Clapton asked Lang to play at the Crossroads Guitar Festival to raise money for the Crossroads Centre Antigua.

Lang also appears regularly as a part of the Experience Hendrix Tour along with many other well-known guitarists to pay tribute the deceased guitar legend.

Source And Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Lang

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Keb' Mo'

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:39:00 +0000

Guitarist/vocalist Keb' Mo' draws heavily on the old-fashioned country blues style of Robert Johnson while keeping his sound contemporary with touches of soul and folksy storytelling. A skilled frontman as well as an accomplished sideman, he writes much of his own material and has applied his acoustic, electric, and slide guitar skills to jazz- and rock-oriented bands.

Born Kevin Moore in Los Angeles to parents of Southern descent, he was exposed to gospel music at a young age. At 21, Moore joined an R&B band that was later hired for a tour by Papa John Creach; as a result, Moore played on three of Creach's albums. Opening for jazz and rock artists such as the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jefferson Starship, and Loggins & Messina helped further broaden Moore's horizons and musical abilities.

Moore cut an R&B-based solo album, Rainmaker, in 1980 for Casablanca, which promptly folded. In 1983, he joined Monk Higgins' band as a guitarist and met a number of blues musicians who collectively increased his understanding of the genre. He subsequently joined a vocal group called the Rose Brothers and gigged around Los Angeles. In 1990 Moore portrayed a Delta bluesman in a local play, Rabbit Foot, and then played Robert Johnson in a docudrama entitled Can't You Hear the Wind Howl? He released his self-titled debut album as Keb' Mo' in 1994, featuring two Robert Johnson covers, 11 songs written or co-written by Moore, and his guitar and banjo work.

Continue Reading Bio Here... http://www.allmusic.com/artist/keb-mo-mn0000370703

Todays Featured Blues Artist - James Harman

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 14:40:00 +0000

James Harman (born June 8, 1946, Anniston, Alabama, United States)] is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. Music journalist, Tony Russell, described Harman as an "amusing songwriter and an excellent, unfussy harp player".

Biography

At the age of four, Harman began lessons in piano playing, and also sang in his local church choir. Harmonicas owned by his father were stored in the piano bench, and James tried playing them after his piano lessons ended. In time, he became capable in several other musical instruments, including guitar, electric organ, and drums.

In 1962, he relocated to Panama City, Florida, where he played in many rhythm and blues bands, of which The Icehouse Blues Band was the last. Earl Caldwell, manager of The Swinging Medallions, signed Harman to a recording contract. In 1964, in Atlanta, Georgia, Harman recorded the first of nine early singles, which were variously released on five different record labels.

Harman performed as a blues harmonica player and singer in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere before he moved to Southern California in the 1970s. There, his Icehouse Blues Band played alongside Big Joe Turner, John Lee Hooker, Freddie King, Muddy Waters, Albert King, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Lowell Fulsom, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and Albert Collins. In 1977 he formed the James Harman Band. Over the years their line-up has included Phil Alvin and Bill Bateman, who left in 1978 to form The Blasters; Gene Taylor, who departed in 1981, also to join the Blasters before moving on to The Fabulous Thunderbirds; and Kid Ramos. Alumni also included the late Hollywood Fats who, after leaving his own band in 1980, played alongside Harman for five years.

Harman became known as a skilled, reliable musician, whether for a backing band or leading his own ensemble. His band recorded several albums during the 1980s, before settling in 1990 at Black Top.

Numerous Harman songs have been used in films and on television, including "Kiss of Fire" (from Those Dangerous Gentlemen), which was on the soundtrack of The Accused. Harman has received several W.C. Handy Blues Award nominations, for songs on his own releases and on other artists' albums. He has been inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and received the "Best Blues Album of the Year" award from the Real Blues magazine.

In 1995, Harman recorded a song named for the Zoo Bar club in Lincoln, Nebraska. "Everybody's Rockin' (At The Zoo Bar)" can be found on Harman's Black & White album.

Harman has also performed at the Long Beach Blues Festival, and around the world in concert.

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harman

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Guitar Gabriel

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Robert Lewis Jones (October 12, 1925 – April 2, 1996), known as both Guitar Gabriel and Nyles Jones, was an American blues Musician. Gabriel's unique style of guitar playing, which he referred to as "Toot Blues", combined Piedmont, Chicago, and Texas blues, as well as gospel, and was influenced by artists such as Blind Boy Fuller and Reverend Gary Davis. After hearing of Guitar Gabriel from the late Greensboro, North Carolina blues guitarist and pianist, James "Guitar Slim" Stephens, musician and folklorist Tim Duffy located and befriended Gabriel, who was the inspiration for the creation of the Music Maker Relief Foundation. Gabriel wore a trademark white sheepskin hat, which he acquired while traveling and performing with medicine shows during his late 1920s.

Biography

Gabriel was born in Atlanta, Georgia, moving to Winston-Salem, North Carolina at age five. His father, Sonny Jones (also known as Jack Jones, James Johnson, and as Razorblade for an act in which he ate razor blades, mason jars, and light bulbs) recorded for Vocalion Records in 1939 in Memphis, accompanied by Sonny Terry and Oh Red (George Washington). Sonny Jones also recorded a single for the Orchid label in Baltimore in 1950 (as Sunny Jones). His family, who grew up sharecropping, shared a talent for music. His great-grandmother, an ex-slave, called set dances and played the banjo; his grandfather played banjo and his grandmother the pump organ; his father and uncle were blues guitarists and singers and his sisters sang blues and gospel.

In 1935, Gabriel's family moved to Durham, North Carolina, where he began playing guitar on the streets. Between the ages of 15 and 25, Gabriel traveled the country playing the guitar in medicine shows. During his travels, he performed with artists such as Bo Diddley, Lightnin' Hopkins, Louis Jordan, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, B. B. King, T-Bone Walker and Jimmy Reed. In 1970, Gabriel went to Pittsburgh and recorded a single, "Welfare Blues," as well as an album, My South, My Blues, with the Gemini label under the name "Nyles" Jones. The 45 became a hit in Pittsburgh and Cleveland and though the album sold well, Gabriel never saw any royalties. Disillusioned and embittered by the music business, Gabriel returned home to Winston-Salem where he continued playing music, but expressly for his community, at churches, homes, clubs, "drink houses," and even at bus stops when children were returning home from school. The album, My South, My Blues was reissued in 1988, on the French label, Jambalaya, as Nyles Jones, the Welfare Blues.

In March 1990, musician and folklorist Tim Duffy began searching for Guitar Gabriel. After being directed to a drink house in Winston-Salem, Duffy met Gabriel's nephew, Hawkeye, who took him to meet Gabriel. Duffy and Gabriel forged a friendship, and began performing under the name Guitar Gabriel & Brothers in the Kitchen, later recording the album, which was released on cassette, "Do You Know What it Means to Have a Friend?" on their own Karibu label. During this time, Duffy would assist the impoverished Gabriel by providing transportation, paying bills, and providing food for him and his wife, but realized that there were many more musicians like Gabriel who were in need of the same assistance, and who were still capable and willing to record and perform. In 1994, Tim and his wife, Denise Duffy founded the Music Maker Relief Foundation. Through this foundation, Gabriel was able to perform in professional venues, including the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and made several trips to Europe.

Gabriel died April 2, 1996, and is buried with his guitar (per his request to Duffy) at the Evergreen Cemetery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Gabriel

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Leroy Foster

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:18:00 +0000

"Baby Face" Leroy Foster (February 1, 1923 - May 26, 1958) was an American blues singer, drummer and guitarist, active in Chicago from the mid 1940s until the late 1950s. He was a significant figure in the development of the post-war electric Chicago blues sound, most notably as a member of the Muddy Waters band during its formative years.

Life and career

Foster was born in Algoma, Mississippi, United States. He moved to Chicago in the mid 1940s, and by 1946 was working with pianist Sunnyland Slim and harmonica player John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. He was introduced to singer and guitarist Muddy Waters by an acquaintance Waters met at a recording session in 1946, and was soon playing guitar and drums in Waters’ band, along with guitar and harmonica player Jimmy Rogers, with the band later joined by Little Walter on harmonica. Calling themselves the Headhunters, the trio were known for going from club to club and “cutting” (i.e. engaging in musical duels with) other bands.

Foster’s first recordings were made with pianist Lee Brown in 1945 for J. Mayo Williams' Chicago label. In 1946, he appeared on another session with Lee Brown and recorded with James "Beale Street" Clark for Columbia. He also accompanied Sunnyland Slim on a 1947 or 1948 session for the Opera label. Further recordings followed, both under his own name and backing Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and pianist Johnny Jones, before his most notable session, for the Parkway label in 1950.

This session featured the personnel of Muddy Waters' band of the time: Foster, Waters, Little Walter and (on two tracks only, since he was late for the session), Jimmy Rogers. Four singles were released from the session, two by Foster and two by Little Walter. One of the singles, the two-part "Rollin' and Tumblin'" was notable enough to be reviewed, unusually for a down home blues release, by Edward Myers in the Chicago Defender. The track featured only Foster’s drumming and singing, Walter’s harmonica and Waters’ slide guitar, with hummed ensemble vocals on one side. Unfortunately, Waters’ guitar playing and backup singing were distinctive enough for it to come to the attention of Leonard Chess of Chess Records, who had Waters under an exclusive recording contract. As a result, Waters was made to record his own version of the song for the larger Chess label in order to "kill" the Parkway recording.

After the Parkway session, Foster left Waters’ band, possibly in the hope of a solo career resulting from the releases on Parkway, but unfortunately the label soon folded. Afterwards, Foster recorded a further three sessions under his own name for the JOB label between 1950 and 1953, but died from a heart attack, possibly as a result of alcoholism, at the age of 35 in 1958.

Foster sang in a style influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson and Dr. Clayton, and while he played guitar and drums competently, the talents for which he was popular have been described as “drinking, singing and clowning”.

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Foster_(musician)

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Ronnie Earl

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:43:00 +0000

One of the finest blues guitarists to emerge during the '80s, Ronnie Earl often straddled the line between blues and jazz, throwing in touches of soul and rock as well. His versatility made him one of the few blues guitarists capable of leading an almost entirely instrumental outfit, and his backing band the Broadcasters became one of the more respected working units in contemporary blues over the course of the '90s, following Earl's departure from Roomful of Blues.

Ronnie Earl was born Ronald Horvath in Queens, NY, on March 10, 1953. He didn't start playing guitar until after he entered college at Boston University in the early '70s and became fascinated with the local blues scene. Developing his craft quickly, he landed a job in the house ba...nd of the Speakeasy Club in Cambridge, MA, and changed his last name to the bluesier-sounding Earl in tribute to Earl Hooker, one of his favorite influences. Prior to the name switch, he'd made some recordings for the small Baron label under his original moniker beginning in 1977, first backing Guitar Johnny & the Rhythm Rockers, then as a founding member of Sugar Ray & the Bluetones with harmonica player/singer Sugar Ray Norcia. In 1979, Earl was invited to replace Duke Robillard in the prominent Rhode Island band Roomful of Blues, whose swinging jump blues revivalist sound demanded a jazz sensibility as well as ample blues feeling. Earl spent the next eight years with Roomful of Blues and watched their national profile grow steadily larger.

Meanwhile, Earl also made a few recordings on his own for Black Top Records, forming the first versions of the Broadcasters in the early '80s. He released his first solo album, Smokin', in 1983 and followed it with They Call Me Mr. Earl in 1984 (both of those albums were later compiled on the CD Deep Blues). Still, they were a sidelight to his main gig with Roomful of Blues -- that is, until he left the band in 1987 to make a go of it as a solo artist and bandleader in his own right. A new version of the Broadcasters debuted in 1988 on Soul Searchin', which featured vocalist Darrell Nulisch, harmonica player Jerry Portnoy (ex-Muddy Waters), bassist Steve Gomes, and drummer Per Hanson. Peace of Mind followed in 1990, as did I Like It When It Rains, a live album on Antone's that actually dated from 1986. Released in 1991, Surrounded by Love reunited Earl with Sugar Ray Norcia and also proved the last in his long string of Black Top releases.

Continue Ronnie Earl's Bio Here... http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ronnie-earl-mn0000844950

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Julius Daniels

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:37:00 +0000

Julius Daniels (November 20, 1901 – October 18, 1947) was an American Piedmont blues musician. His song "99 Year Blues" appeared on the box set Anthology of American Folk Music and has been covered by Jim Kweskin, Chris Smither, Johnny Winter, Charlie Parr and Hot Tuna on their album Burgers. It has been often credited as a possible source for the tune "Viola Lee Blues", recorded by Cannon's Jug Stompers in the 1920s and the Grateful Dead in 1966.

Daniels was born in Denmark, South Carolina, United States. Although he only recorded a few tunes, Daniels plays an important role in the history of Piedmont blues. One of the first black artists to record in the Southeast, Daniels inspired future bluesmen with his mix of finger-picked blues, sacr...ed and country music.

Recording for the first time, in 1927, Daniels was accompanied by the guitarist Bubba Lee Torrence, with whom he shared billing. During his second recording session, Daniels was joined by the guitarist Wilbert Andrews.

Daniels lived in Pineville, North Carolina, near Charlotte between 1912 and 1930. Relocating to Charlotte, North Carolina in 1930, he lived the rest of his life there, working in a variety of jobs, including as a firefighter. Daniels is buried at the Silver Mount Church Cemetery near Fort Mill, South Carolina.

The Historic Society of Bamberg County held the first Julius Daniels Memorial Blues Festival at the Dane Theater in Denmark, South Carolina, on October 23, 2010. Performers included Drink Small, Beverly Watkins, The Meeting Street Sheiks and Hitman. Gary Erwin was the artistic director. The second JDMBF was held on October 22, 2011, and featured Sandra Hall, Roy Roberts and The King Bees with Rob Baskerville serving as artistic director. The Historic Society moved the JDMBF to the last Saturday in February. Juke Joint Johnny and Elliot & the Untouchables will be performing at the 3rd Julius Daniels Memorial Blues Festival on February 25, 2012.

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Daniels

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Gus Cannon

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Gus Cannon (September 12, 1883 – October 15, 1979) was an American blues musician, who helped to popularize jug bands (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s. There is doubt about his birth year; his tombstone gives the date as 1874.

Career

Born on a plantation at Red Banks, Cannon moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi, then the home of W. C. Handy, at the age of 12. Cannon's musical skills came without training; he taught himself to play using a banjo that he made from a frying pan and raccoon skin. He ran away from home at the age of fifteen and began his career entertaining at sawmills and levee and railroad camps in the Mississippi Delta around the turn of the century.

While in Clarksdale, Cannon was influenced by local musicians Jim Turner and Alex Lee. Turner's fiddle playing in W. C. Handy’s band so impressed Cannon that he decided to learn the fiddle himself. Lee, a guitarist, taught Cannon his first folk blues, "Po' Boy, Long Ways from Home", and showed him how to use a knife blade as a slide, a technique that Cannon adapted to his banjo playing.

Cannon left Clarksdale around 1907. He soon settled near Memphis and played in a jug band led by Jim Guffin. He began playing in Memphis with Jim Jackson. He met harmonica player Noah Lewis, who introduced him to a young guitar player named Ashley Thompson. Both Lewis and Thompson would eventually become members of Cannon's Jug Stompers. The three of them formed a band to play parties and dances. In 1914 Cannon began touring in medicine shows. He supported his family through a variety of jobs, including sharecropping, ditch digging, and yard work, but supplemented his income with music.

Cannon began recording, as "Banjo Joe", for Paramount Records in 1927. At that session he was backed up by Blind Blake. After the success of the Memphis Jug Band's first records, he quickly assembled a jug band featuring Noah Lewis and Ashley Thompson (later replaced by Elijah Avery). Cannon's Jug Stompers first recorded at the Memphis Auditorium for the Victor label in January 1928. Hosea Woods joined the Jug Stompers in the late 1920s, playing guitar, banjo and kazoo, and also providing some vocals. Modern listeners can hear Cannon's Jug Stompers recording of "Big Railroad Blues" on the compilation album The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead.

Although their last recordings were made in 1930, Cannon's Jug Stompers were one of Beale Street's most popular jug bands through the 1930s. A few songs Cannon recorded with Cannon's Jug Stompers are "Minglewood Blues", "Pig Ankle Strut", "Wolf River Blues", "Viola Lee Blues", "White House Station" and "Walk Right In" (later made into a pop hit by The Rooftop Singers in the 1960s, and later a hit rock/pop version by Dr. Hook in the 1970s). By the end of the 1930s, Cannon had effectively retired, although he occasionally performed as a solo musician.

He returned in 1956 to make a few recordings for Folkways Records. In the "blues revival" of the 1960s, he made some college and coffee house appearances with Furry Lewis and Bukka White, but he had to pawn his banjo to pay his heating bill the winter before the Rooftop Singers had a hit with "Walk Right In". In the wake of becoming a hit composer, he recorded an album for Stax Records in 1963, with fellow Memphis musician Will Shade, the former leader of the Memphis Jug Band.

Cannon can be seen in the King Vidor produced film, Hallelujah! (1929), during the late night wedding scene.

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Cannon

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Bob Baldori

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 21:40:00 +0000

Bob Baldori (born 1943), also known as "Boogie Bob", is an American rock, blues, and boogie musician and attorney.

Baldori founded the rock band The Woolies in 1964; the group had a national hit in 1966 with Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love". He has also pursued a solo career, performing in venues all over the country, and recording a 1994 solo album. He started working with Chuck Berry in 1966 at Lake Lansing, Michigan and subsequently recorded two albums with Berry. He has also worked with and performed with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Tom Rush, Luther Allison, Del Shannon, John Hammond, Hubert Sumlin and Bo Diddley; most recently, he has toured and recorded with Bob Seeley.

In addition to recording and performing his own material, Baldori operates his own recording studio, and has produced and engineered over 200 albums. He wrote and starred in the rock musical Almost Famous, with productions in Chicago, Toronto and in Michigan.

As an entertainment law attorney, Baldori represents many performers including Hubert Sumlin and Chuck Berry.

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Baldori

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Garfield Akers

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:56:00 +0000

Garfield Akers (b. 1901 or 1902, Brights or Bates, Mississippi, d. between 1953 and 1959, probably in Memphis, Tennessee) was a blues singer and guitarist. He sometimes performed under the pseudonym "Garfield Partee."

Akers' extant recordings consist of four sides, which are nonetheless historically significant. His most well-known song was his debut, "Cottonfield Blues", a duet with friend and longtime collaborator Joe Callicott on second guitar, based on a song performed by Texas Bluesman Henry Thomas a few years prior.

Akers lived in Hernando, Mississippi most of his life, working as a sharecropper and performing during off-hours at local house parties and dances. He toured with Frank Stokes on the Doc Watts Medicine Show. Akers was reportedly active on the south Memphis circuit throughout the 1930s. Akers and Callicott played together for more than twenty years, parting in the mid-1940's. Akers briefly resurfaced in the early 1950s, shortly before his death at a historically undetermined date. No photographs of Akers are known to exist.

Historic impact of recordings

Jason Ankeny, in the AllMusic Guide, notes that Akers' recorded performances "reflect a distinctively insistent guitar style, and also reveal a high-pitched, almost otherworldly voice." Ankeny claims that Akers "was a primary influence on subsequent generations of Mississippi bluesmen, with the likes of John Lee Hooker and Robert Wilkins citing him as an influence."

Blues historian Don Kent praised "Cottonfield Blues," saying "only a handful of guitar duets in all blues match the incredible drive, intricate rhythms and ferocious intensity." Kent also called Akers "one of the greatest vocalists in blues history." Author/historian Michael Gray called this recording "the birth of rock ’n’ roll … from 1929!"

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield_Akers

Todays Featured Blues Artist - J.D. Short

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:27:00 +0000

J.D. Short (February 26, 1902 – October 21, 1962) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist and harmonicist. He was a multi-instrumentalist, and possessed a distinctive vibrato laden, singing voice. Early in his career, Short recorded under a number of pseudonyms, including Jelly Jaw Short. His more noteworthy works included "Lonesome Swamp Rattlesnake" and "You're Tempting Me."

Biography

Born in Port Gibson, Mississippi, Short learned to play both the piano and guitar at a young age. He later mastered the harmonica, saxophone, clarinet and drums. Short performed locally in the Mississippi Delta at house parties, but relocated in 1923 to St. Louis, Missouri.

Short went on to play along with the Neckbones, Henry Spaulding, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Douglas Williams, and Big Joe Williams. In the 1930s, Short recorded for the Vocalion label. Henry Townsend in his autobiography, A Blue Life, told of incidents in St. Louis that affected both his and Short's lives. Seemingly due to jealousy of his musical standing, Short attacked and twice stabbed Townsend. Later, by way of revenge, Townsend shot Short in his genitals, which resulted in Short losing both of his testicles. The account was also mentioned in Townsend's obituary in The Guardian. Short continued performing in St. Louis after World War II, often as a one-man band and sometimes with his cousin, Big Joe Williams.

Nevertheless, Short effectively disappeared from the music industry for over two decades, before re-emerging at the start of the blues revival period. He achieved belated national recognition, and went on to record further tracks for Delmark and Folkways. Some of his recordings were later released on Sonet.

Short was featured in the 1963 documentary film, The Blues, singing "Slidin' Delta". However, he had already died in October 1962 of a heart attack, in St. Louis, at the age of 60.
Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.D._Short

Todays Featured Blues Artist - Harmonica Frank

noreply@blogger.com (BUN007) — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:01:00 +0000

Harmonica Frank (October 11, 1908, Toccopola, Mississippi - August 7, 1984, Blanchester, Ohio) was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonicist.

Biography

Early life, performing technique

Frank Floyd was the son of itinerant parents who separated without giving him a name. He was raised by his sharecropping grandparents, who died while he was a teenager. He taught himself to play harmonica when he was 10 years old, and he eventually learned guitar. He gave himself the name Frank Floyd, and began performing in the 1920s for traveling carnivals and medicine shows.

He learned many types of folk music and became a mimic, effortlessly switching from humorous hillbilly ballads to deep country blues.

With his self-taught harmonica technique, he was a one-man band, able to play the instrument without his hands or the need for a neck brace. While also playing guitar, he perfected a technique of manipulating the harmonica with his mouth while he sang out of the other side. He could also play harmonica with his nose and thus play two harmonicas at once, a skill he shared with blues harp players Walter Horton and Gus Cannon's partner Noah Lewis.

Early recordings

After years of performing on the medicine-show circuit, Harmonica Frank began working in radio in 1932. His first records were made in 1951, engineered by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee. The songs, "Swamp Root", "Goin’ Away Walkin'", "Step It Up and Go", "Howlin’ Tomcat", and "She Done Moved", were licensed to Chess Records. Phillips put out another single on Sun Records, "Rockin Chair Daddy"/"The Great Medical Menagerist" in 1954. Harmonica Frank thus became the first white musician to record at that studio. Floyd and Larry Kennon released a shared single, "Rock-A-Little Baby"/"Monkey Love" in 1958, on their own record label, F&L.

Rediscovery, legacy and death

Harmonica Frank's songs appeared on many all-black blues compilations in the 1960s and 1970s, collectors being unable to distinguish his race.

In 1972 he was "rediscovered" by Stephen C. LaVere and in the following years recorded two albums for the Adelphi and Barrelhouse labels, including a compilation of the early material. Additional full albums were recorded before his death in 1984, many of which have become available on CD, though his vintage recordings (1951–59) remain mostly out of print and unavailable aside from occasional tracks on compilations.

In his 1975 book Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music, author Greil Marcus presented a unique vision of America and music, and how they relate by using (as metaphors) six musicians, one of whom was Harmonica Frank.

Frank Floyd died in Blanchester, Ohio on August 7, 1984, due to complications from Type II diabetes (which had previously cost him his leg) and lung cancer. He was survived by his late-life spouse, Frances Kincaide-Pierce-Floyd (she died in June 2008, in Georgetown, Ohio, from natural causes).

Source and Additional Info Here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonica_Frank