“Everyday I Have The Blues” – B.B. King (RPM, 1954)
“Everyday I Have the Blues” is one of the most ubiquitous of all blues songs, a required number in the repertoires of the countless bar and lounge bands of many genres. Its late entry into [...]
“I Got A Woman” – Ray Charles (Atlantic, 1954)
“I Got a Woman” by Ray Charles perfectly illustrates the way Charles transformed the sacred into the secular. He heard the Southern Tones’ gospel tune “It Must Be Jesus” (a 1954 Duke Records release) on [...]
“Rollin’ Stone” – Muddy Waters (Chess, 1950)
“Rollin’ Stone” by Muddy Waters stands as a landmark recording for several reasons. Cut in February of 1950, it was the first blues record that Chess ever issued (and the second overall, following a Gene [...]
“Shake Your Moneymaker” – Elmore James (Fire, 1961)
“Shake Your Moneymaker,” recorded in New Orleans in 1961, marked an exuberant, uptempo departure from slide guitar master Elmore James’ deep blues recordings. First issued as a 45 on Bobby Robinson’s Fire label, the single [...]
“The St. Louis Blues” – Bessie Smith (Columbia, 1925)
“The St. Louis Blues” is one of the most recorded songs of all time, in any genre. Few versions of the W.C. Handy tune, however, can compare with Bessie Smith’s. Part of the magic of [...]
The Sky Is Crying – Elmore James (Sphere Sound, 1965)
Elmore James' The Sky Is Crying is the other James recording being honored with a Blues Hall of Fame induction this year. James, who died in 1963, did not live to see the release of [...]
The Aces
Brothers Louis and Dave Myers and their longtime friend Fred Below (pronounced BEE-low) formed the Three Aces, one of Chicago’s premier blues combos, in the early 1950s. Also known as the Three Dukes, the Four [...]
Georgia Tom Dorsey
Thomas A. Dorsey was famed as the “Father of Gospel Music,” but earlier in his career he was “Georgia Tom,” a Chicago blues pianist, Ma Rainey accompanist, partner of Tampa Red, and composer of the [...]
Sam Lay
Sam Lay joins his main influence, Fred Below of the Aces, as the first Chicago blues drummers elected to the Blues Hall of Fame. Lay is one of the rare blues drummers to earn crossover fame [...]
Mamie Smith
Mamie Smith, the first true queen of the blues, created a sensation with the phenomenal success of her 1920 recording of “Crazy Blues” and her extravagant stage shows. Not only did she help pioneer a [...]