He saw something in me and he gave me my break. At fifteen, he left school and started playing for dance bands around Florida. Nothing more was ever heard from him, and, on the evidence of the recording, it is not surprising. Jacksons success led to Paramount looking for other male talent, and it wasnt long before Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Blake recorded for the label; other artists included Skip James, Big Bill Broonzy, and Bumble Bee Slim. Getting its start in the deep south after the end of the Civil War, blues music originated from African American work songs and spiritual hymns only to explode in popularity in the 1920s. I really like the groove on the song Do What She Do. It is hard for me to pick one as it would be like picking your favorite child. Top 10 Most Authentic Old-Time Blues Artists - Toptenz.net King was the recipient of numerous awards and honours. The blues became adapted to the more sophisticated urban environment. The Most Famous Blues Guitarists. Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images, Country Blues Style Characteristics and Artists, Learn About 10 Famous Jazz Singers Every Fan Should Know, 19 Classic Rock Love Songs for Valentine's Day, Biography of Frank Sinatra, Legendary Singer, Entertainer, Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Son House. The fabulous title track, On The Corner, continues to define the gritty urban landscape of lonely souls, people running round, trying to get their kicks on the corner. There are reasons I like each song; It could be the storyline or it could be the groove itself. Type above and press Enter to search. I think the guitar playing should serve the song opposed to the other way around. Whether you're a fan of the blues or a newcomer to the music and want to know more, here are 10 blues artists you should know: Known as "The Empress of the Blues,"Bessie Smithwas the best and most famous female singer of the 1920s. The Best Blues Artists of All Time - Ranker With some musicians you can tell if they listened to a ton of Jim Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan. OKeh recorded him on one of the first field recording trips, in late March/early April 1924, in Atlanta, Georgia. As an on-air person, you have to create the pictures that people are going to see in their mind as they are listening on the radio. I really try to know the history and I try to know the musicians as well so that I can get information and behind the scene stories that you cannot find online. Kings Bluesville. They soon became one of the most popular bands in the state. He hosts a daily program from 3pm-9pm eastern time Monday through Friday and Saturday & Sunday from 6pm to midnight eastern. In 1951 King made a hit record of Three OClock Blues, and he thereafter began what became a lifetime of nearly continuous touring throughout the country and later the world. With the new name came a rash of new signings, including Jimmy Rogers (a key player in Muddys band), Eddie Boyd And His Chess Men, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, and Howlin Wolf. Among the guests on his show include: George Thorogood, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bobby Rush, Popa Chubby, Jimmie Vaughan, and more. Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938. King, byname of Riley B. At first I turned it down and they called me again. Through Speir they recorded Tommy Johnson and, most importantly, Charley Patton. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. How has your music career been impacted by the pandemic? Robert Johnson Is An Early Member Of The 27 Club, And His Death May Be Due To A Deal With The Devil. The first male, black, country blues musician to get the opportunity to record did so as a guitarist, not as a singer. I think the guitar playing should serve the song opposed to the other way around. They were simply there to play a song written by Perry Bradford, and ready to sing it with them was Mamie Smith. He recaptured the pop magic of Deuces Wild with 80 (2005), a celebration of his 80th birthday that featured Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, and a standout performance by Elton John. However, all that quickly changed in 1948 and 49. They are such positive people. King - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1987). My favorite song is On The Corner, and I am curious if there is any Doors or Jim Morrison influence? Kings autobiography, Blues All Around Me, written with David Ritz, was published in 1996. John Peter Chatman was born in 1915 and was introduced to blues at a young age. A long succession of hitsincluding Woke Up This Morning (1953), Every Day I Have the Blues, and Sweet Sixteenenhanced his popularity. After World War II they were supplanted by a new generation of bluesmen that included Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Elmore James, Little Walter Jacobs, Buddy Guy, and Koko Taylor. Muddy Waters Singer and legendary blues guitarist McKinley Morganfield was born in 1915 in Issaquena, Mississippi. By the mid-60s, Albert was wildly popular and would hold onto that popularity for the rest of his life. You should always listen to music for its aesthetic qualities, but you also need to devote some time to listen critically. At twenty years old, she had settled in Harlem, and by twenty-five, her career was beginning to take off. B.B. Smith's best material can be heard on "The Essential Bessie Smith.". He is a great guitarist, vocalist and storytellera film-noir type album that will not be forgotten. A bonafide hit. Aladdin founders Eddie and Leo Mesner set about signing some of the best jump blues artists in southern California, including Amos Milburn and Charles Brown. He made his way north to Chicago in 1943. Born Willie Mae Thornton to a Baptist Minister in rural Alabama, Big Mama Thornton started life as a singer in her fathers congregation. To give you an example, if you listen to the bridge section on Hes Got a Jones, it is in different keys. Every song that I write I hope has something special to it. Later musicians that were advertised as blues performers include Z.Z. King's channel for blues music from the past to the present: B.B. The Great Depression and the World Wars caused the geographic dispersal of the blues as millions of Blacks left the South for the cities of the North. Make sure to vote for the blues greats whom you consider to be the top blues artists of all time. Black writers such as Langston Hughes, Sterling Brown, and Jean Toomer valued the blues as an indigenous art form of oppressed people, a secular equivalent of the spirituals, and an antidote to bourgeois Black assimilationism. Sams first hit was Jackie Brenstons Rocket 88, which he sold to Chess Records in Chicago; among the other artists he recorded for Chess was a Howlin Wolf, including the menacing Highway Man. Because., The 1942 strike changed the music industry in many . The Civil Rights movement helped desegregate record labels in the same way that it desegregated radio stations. Johnson suffered from acute alcoholism his entire adult life and died in obscurity in 1956. These recordings became a regional hit, selling thousands of copies. Among Moderns early signings were Pee Wee Crayton and Johnny Guitar Watson. These nominations were for Best Rock Musician/Vocalist (multiple); Best Singer/Songwriter; Best Rock Band; Best Blues Band; Best Local CD (multiple); Early was also the recipient of the Critics Choice Award as Sacramentos Best Guitarist. Can you talk about your radio gig on B.B. 1 by The Sepia Tones; it sold 70,000 copies and secured the labels short-term future. King, byname of Riley B. By the early 1950s, hed uprooted to Gary, Indiana where he played drums for Jimmy Reed, one of the most popular blues musicians of the era. Leading popular musicians drew inspiration from his style, and by the late 1960s rock guitarists were acknowledging his influence and priority; they introduced King and his guitar, Lucille, to a broader white public, who until then had heard blues chiefly in derivative versions. Tragically, Vaughn died in a deadly helicopter crash in 1990. Robert Johnson. The three-line rural blues form emerged out of African American work songs, field calls and protest songs, game songs and social songs, spirituals, and folk ballads. I believe that I will now be freer to tour. King was a principal figure in the development of blues. King's first hit song was "Three OClock Blues" in 1951. He joined a band called The Yardbirds in 1963 and earned the nickname Slowhand while recording his first studio albums. Bluebird, the Columbia subsidiary that had considerable success in the 30s with their lower-priced records, saw a distinct slow down in recording activity by 1942. Most guitar players thinking this way are not imaginative enough as players to hold my interest for any length of time. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). By 1939 there were 225,000 jukeboxes in America, which prompted the president of the American Federation Of Musicians to declare that records were the number one scab. He and his members felt record companies were taking work away from musicians. Regardless of the myth's origins,RobertJohnson must have been the better negotiator of the two (unrelated) musicians because Tommy Johnson has become a mere footnote in the blues genre, beloved by hardcore fans but relatively unknown (even after a character based on Johnson appeared in the hit movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"). King was reared in the Mississippi Delta, and gospel music in church was the earliest influence on his . His first popular single reached number nine on the R&B charts that same year. Billie Holiday, born Eleanor Fagan,wanted to honor actress Billie Dove. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. By the end of 1941, World War II had been raging in Europe for over two years, and now it involved the American people. Blues developed in the southern United States after the American Civil War (186165). He was a member of the inaugural class of inductees to the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980. Instead, he allowed his performers to cut through on record, a triumph of spontaneity over technical expertise. By the early 1940s, he was a semi-successful traveling musician. The great Son House was a six-string innovator, haunting vocalist, and powerful performer who set the Delta on fire during the 1920s and '30s with scorched-earth performances and timeless recordings. As a songwriter, Johnson brought brilliant imagery and emotion to his lyrics, and many of his songs, including "Love in Vain" and "Sweet Home Chicago," have become blues standards. In 1948, he returned from a stint in the military to start his first band. McKinley "Muddy Waters" Morganfield, one of the most celebrated blues musicians who made a name for himself as the father of Chicago Blues, was part of this migration. I have been a guitar player for a lot of years and people do expect and want some guitar playing out of me. #97 of 125. It proved wildly popular, as did their second album, Cant Stand the Weather. There had been a rapid fall-off in the number of purely blues releases in the first half of 1942, mostly down to changing musical taste; those that did record included Sonny Boy Williamson, Tampa Red, Lonnie Johnson, Rosetta Tharpe, Roosevelt Sykes, and Joe Turner the big names that were already established artists and most likely to sell. Though legends remain, the official cause of death was syphilis. "The Guitar Wizard"collects the best of Red's early hokum and blues sides, including "It's Tight Like That" and "Turpentine Blues.". Ray Charles was born Ray Charles Robinson on September 23, 1930. He moved to St. Louis Missouri in 1953 and started recording for two different record labels where he churned out a handful of hit songs siuch as Dont Throw Your Love on Me So Strong and Thats What the Blues Is All About.. Some say it was the underratedTommyJohnson who met with the devil at the crossroads one dark and stormy night, hoping to strike a deal. The channel at the time was called Sirius blues and I did that for the entire run until the merger happened with XM. The shift in the audience for recorded blues, from the south to north and to the west brought considerable musical change. When the merger happened a lot of us were laid off due to cost cuts and what not. Sam Hopkins was born to a sharecropping family out of Centerville, Texas in 1912. Music and entertainment did not stop, records continued to be manufactured and to sell but problems were on the horizon. Kings Bluesville Host and Musician Early Times, Early went on to tour nationally and in Greece with, for Blind Pig Records. Both sides were seminal in creating what we now refer to as the West Coast blues sound: mellow and polished riffs, the epitome of a laid-back groove, and the antecedent of BBs sound. The blues developed through the complex oral tradition of African-based music, changing rapidly during the last 40 years of the 19th century. With my music the influences are buried in a little more and are more subliminal. By 1967, he moved to London, changed his name to Jimi Hendrix, and formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Also known as: Blues Boy King, Riley B. Blues derived from and was largely played by Southern Black men, most of whom came from the milieu of agricultural workers. If you're interested in stage names in general, you can also check out this list of thereal names of country stars. Stevie Ray Vaughn was born in Dallas Texas in 1954, and by 1961 he was already playing guitar. It paints the picture to the scene that I am trying to create or I should say recreating in a way. King acquired the name while working as a disc jockey in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States. His career began to take off in 1948 after he adopted the name B.B. Early Life and Career Highlights Musician Robert Johnson was born on May 8, 1911, in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. King - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), B.B. B.B. King | Biography, Songs, Real Name, Lucille, & Facts Omissions? Even if I am writing a song with more of a blues pop sensibility I know what chords I can throw in to take the song in a different direction without sounding too heady or brainy. It was influenced by work songs and field hollers, minstrel show music, ragtime, church music, and the folk and popular music of the white population. Early Times & The High Rollers new album THE CORNER hits the streets today via VizzTone Records. They didnt play around and they were so tight. American guitarist and singer B.B. He died in Illinois in 1976 from complications due to kidney surgery. But, she left Texas for San Francisco in 1963 where she made a living as a folk singer. Sams masterstroke was not to over-produce. Later, Speciality signed Percy Mayfield and, in the 50s, their roster would include Lloyd Price, Guitar Slim, Sam Cooke, and Little Richard. Thornton continued making albums into the 70s, but her health began to wane by 1979. Following their early success with Mamie Smith, in 1922 they hired Clarence Williams as director of race recordings for their New York studio. The Mississippi style is represented by Charley Patton, Eddie (Son) House, and Robert Johnson, among others. The blues have had their greatest influence on rock music. 23 Of The Greatest And Most Famous Blues Singers Of All Time Note that this ranking is for blues artists only - no best blues rock bands here. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. They caught the ear of Library of Congress musicologist Alan Lomax, who traveled to Mississippi in 1941 to record House and friends. If you're curious about the original name of other blues guitarists and singers, browse the list below! I was off the air for a few years. On The Corner: An Interview With B.B. King's - American Blues Scene Barrel House Blues is another of the sides he recorded. I wait for the initial line, theme, and title. All songs were written by the street poet Early Times. He stayed in the City of Lights until he died in 1988. Out on Americas West Coast a new record label was flexing its muscle though Capitol Records was not specifically a blues imprint. He signed a deal with Vizztone Records who released the album and it is being distributed by Redeye. Born Huddie Ledbetter in Louisiana, Leadbelly's music and tumultuous life had a profound effect on blues and folk musicians alike. OKeh then opened a studio in Chicago, recording some of the earliest jazz and blues artists, including King Oliver, Lucille Bogan, Sidney Bechet, Hattie McDaniel, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. The notion that people outside your immediate locality, or even country, would be interested in your music was unimaginable. I feel I have poured plenty of guitar work onto this album without it being a guitar album. #7 of 107. 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