Louis Jordan’s Greatest Hits (Decca 1969)
Louis Jordan's big hits for Decca Records were massive in their day (1942-1951), when his infectious brand of good-humored jump blues and jive made him the top star in black music. (Just one Jordan hit [...]
More Real Folk Blues — Howlin’ Wolf (Chess 1967)
By the time Chess issued its fourth Howlin' Wolf album, More Real Folk Blues, the bulk of the most familiar and influential songs from his 45s and 78s had been used on his other LPs. [...]
Complete Recorded Works/Texas Worried Blues — Henry Ragtime Texas Thomas (Herwin 1975/Yazoo 1989)
Henry Thomas' name may not be familiar to many modern listeners, but he was an important and unique historical figure, a songster whose broad repertoire included reels, rags, spirituals, minstrel tunes, pop and folk songs, [...]
Cosimo Matassa
The audio artisan who engineered most of New Orleans' great blues and R&B hits from the late 1940s through the 1960s was Cosimo Matassa. Crescent City legends Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Roy Brown, Guitar Slim, [...]
Henry Glover
Henry Glover, a multi-talented producer, arranger, songwriter and trumpeter, was responsible for a multitude of blues and R&B hits of the late 1940s and '50s on King Records and associated labels by Little Willie John, [...]
Dave Clark
Dave Clark played many roles during a distinguished career but was best known as 'the dean of black promotion men,' or even 'the dean of black music,' period. Clark once traveled the country looking for [...]
Little Brother Montgomery
Little Brother Montgomery was one of the foremost piano men in the blues for several decades, a product of a musical family in Louisiana that included two brothers (Joe and Tollie) and a nephew (Paul [...]
Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers, 'The Blue Yodeler,' is renowned as the father of country music, but his strong ties to the blues have earned him a place in blues history as well. The blues element in Rodgers' [...]
Allen Toussaint
Allen Toussaint has been shaping the sound of New Orleans rhythm & blues for more than 50 years, carrying on the tradition of a crew of legendary trailblazers who preceded him to the Blues Hall [...]
How Many More Years — Howlin’ Wolf (Chess, 1951)
How Many More Years -- Howlin' Wolf (Chess, 1951) 'How Many More Years' introduced the startling voice of Chester Burnett, aka Howlin' Wolf, to the record-buying public at the end of 1951, and its impact [...]