More cooperative than competitive in spirit, Showdown! ranks above other blues 'supergroup' sessions in the cohesiveness of the music, as three of the top names in blues of the 1980s shared the spotlight with a [...]
Robert Nighthawk was famed for the majestic, melancholy mood of his recordings and the smooth precision of his slide guitar work. A live album capturing those qualities would have remarkable in itself, but Live on [...]
There was probably no one who played a greater role -- or as many roles -- in catalyzing rhythm & blues on the West Coast than Johnny Otis. Bandleader, club owner, producer, writer, label owner, [...]
Radio personality, entertainer and talent scout, Rufus Thomas the self-proclaimed world's oldest teenager, personifies Memphis music. Thomas' professional career began in the 30's performing as a comedian in minstrel shows, and he heightened his career [...]
No Chicago blues artist had more success than Jimmy Reed at churning out hits, even crossing over to the pop charts 11 times. Reed's unique, lazy loping style of vocals, guitar and harmonica would go [...]
Though more widely known for his exploits in the worlds of rhythm & blues and rock 'n' roll, Ike Turner played an important role in blues history. His first recording session at Sam Phillips' studio [...]
No one defined the Louisiana Swamp Blues sound of Baton Rouge better than Slim Harpo. Born James Moore in 1924, he would go on to have almost as much success as Jimmy Reed, his chief [...]
Fulton Allen, also known as Blind Boy Fuller, was one of the most influential and popular Bluesmen of the 1930s. Born in Wadesboro, NC in 1908, Fuller was one of the pioneers of the Piedmont [...]
Besides being one of the three pioneering African-American men of early pro football, the multi-talented J. Mayo Williams managed to have a long career of 35 years in the record business beginning in the late [...]
Big Maceo Merriweather was one of the most prominent blues recording artists of the 1940s, famed not only for his powerful piano work but for his expressive singing on hits such as Worried Life Blues. [...]