B.B. King
Riley B. King became the most popular blues artist among African American audiences early in his recording career, in the 1950s; during the late '60s and '70s, he widened his appeal to become not only [...]
Blues and Gospel Records 1902-1942, by Robert M.W. Dixon and John Godrich
Original edition: Blues and Gospel Records 1902-1942, by Robert M.W. Dixon and John Godrich, Hatch End, Middlesex, England: Rust, 1964. Latest edition: Blues and Gospel Records 1890-1943, Fourth Edition, by Robert M.W. Dixon, John Godrich [...]
Boogie Chillen — John Lee Hooker (Modern, 1948)
Boogie Chillen set the nation rocking and put John Lee Hooker's name on the map with his very first release in 1949. Although recorded up north in Detroit, it was a guitar boogie of the [...]
Juke – -Little Walter (Checker, 1952)
Juke' was the groundbreaking instrumental that established Little Walter Jacobs as a national recording star and brought unprecedented prominence to the harmonica as a prime instrument in the blues. Untold numbers of blues performers took [...]
Death Letter — Son House (Columbia album track, 1965)
Death Letter,' the mournful masterpiece from Delta Blues master Son House's landmark Columbia LP Father of the Folk Blues, represents blues at its deepest level. House's paean to a departed lover was recorded in Boston [...]
Down and Out Blues — Sonny Boy Williamson (No. 2) (Checker, 1960)
Down and Out Blues was the first LP by Sonny Boy Williamson (No. 2). Chess Records subsidiary label, Checker, released this collection of 1955-58 singles in 1960. Harmonica maestro Williamson (Alex 'Rice' Miller, 1912-1965) recorded [...]
Angola Prisoners’ Blues — Robert Pete Williams & others (Louisiana Folklore Society, 1959/Arhoolie
Folklorist Dr. Harry Oster used the tool room of the Louisiana state penitentiary at Angola to record Angola Prisoners' Blues in 1959. Of the three guitar-playing convicts featured on this LP -- Robert "Guitar" Welch, [...]
Freddy King Sings — Freddie (Freddy) King (King, 1961)
Texas-born Freddy (or Freddie) King came up on Chicago's West Side blues scene alongside Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Buddy Guy and burst on the national R&B scene with a string of hit singles in [...]
Robert Nighthawk
Slide guitar master Robert Nighthawk was one of the first bluesmen to achieve regional stardom in the Delta through radio broadcasting. Following on the heels of Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time radio show, Nighthawk [...]
Ruth Brown
The old Yankee Stadium in New York was called “The House That Ruth Built” in tribute to slugger Babe Ruth's accomplishments. Another New York institution, Atlantic Records, later shared the nickname thanks to its own [...]