Born Under a Bad Sign — Albert King (Stax, 1967)
Born Under a Bad Sign' was one of the signature hits of Albert King that started to win the left-handed string-bender a crossover following in 1967, as he began to break out of the chittlin [...]
Wang Dang Doodle — Koko Taylor (Checker, 1965)
'Wang Dang Doodle' was the last Willie Dixon-produced Chicago blues single to make the Billboard charts, achieiving the No. 4 R&B and No. 58 Hot 100 positions in the spring of 1966. It became Koko [...]
Messing with the Kid — Junior Wells (Chief, 1960)
Amos Blackmore had barely shaken the dust of his native Memphis' streets from his pants cuffs when he began to make a name for himself in Chicago Blues. Soon after the pugnacious 12-year-old moved north [...]
Lonnie Brooks
Lonnie Brooks was born with the name Lee Baker, Jr., and made his first records under the moniker 'Guitar Junior.' But no matter what name he uses, Brooks has been a crowd pleaser for decades, [...]
Charlie Musselwhite
One of the most prominent harmonica players of the past several decades, Charlie Musselwhite burst out of the vibrant Chicago blues scene in the 1960s to become a trendsetter for a new musical generation in [...]
I’ll Play the Blues for You — Albert King (Stax, 1972)
When the contemporary blues firmament was in dire need of a new bigger-than-life hero in the mid-1960s, someone armed with a fresh, blazing electric guitar conception and the unyielding power to triumph over an invading [...]
Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips was often greeted crudely by the citizens of Memphis who couldn't understand the traffic of black musicians in and out of his recording studio. Back in the early days of his Memphis Recording [...]
Ice Pickin’ — Albert Collins (Alligator, 1978)
Ice Pickin' was the album that sparked Albert Collins' belated rise to blues stardom, 20 years after the 'Master of the Telecaster' recorded the first of his incendiary 'cool' instrumentals, 'The Freeze.' Collins' trademark guitar [...]
Leroy Carr
The term urban blues is usually applied to post-World War II blues band music, but one of the forefathers of the genre in its pre-electric format was singer-pianist Leroy Carr (born March 27, 1905, in [...]
Eddie Taylor
When you're talking about the patented Jimmy Reed laconic shuffle sound, you're talking about Eddie Taylor,' wrote blues critic Bill Dahl in All Music Guide. 'Taylor was the glue that kept Reed's lowdown grooves from [...]