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 [...]
This labor of true love was spearheaded by label cofounder/guitar great John Fahey, though tragically he didn't live long enough to see it completed. It's easily one of the most beautiful collections of recorded music [...]
Mississippi Fred McDowell claimed, 'I do not play no Rock 'n' Roll,' but he certainly had an impact on Rock with recordings such as this LP, released in 1970, playing electric guitar with a young, [...]
In 1967, a pregnant Etta James traveled to rural Alabama to work with the world-class musicians of Muscle Shoals Studios. Country fiddler Rick Hall, who ran the studio, had the perfect song for James, 'Tell [...]
Down Home was a historic breakthrough album for Z.Z. Hill, Malaco Records, and the whole blues genre, setting a record by staying on the Billboard charts for almost two years after its release in 1982. [...]
Junior Wells' sweeping harp solos and his whiskey-soaked vocals propelled him into a position at the pinnacle of the post war Chicago Blues scene. Junior Wells has been previously inducted into the Blues Hall of [...]
Jimmy Rogers recorded for Chess from 1950 to 1959, coming up with a number of classics that have been performed by blues bands ever since, but during much of his recording heyday he was also [...]
Otis Spann was heralded as the ultimate Chicago blues band pianist, but he could be a compelling performer by himself or, as on his landmark Candid LP, with just a guitarist. Robert Lockwood is, as [...]
Atlantic Records co-owner Ahmet Ertegun, a blues lover, co-produced most of Turner’s rocking blues and R&B hits for Atlantic in the 1950s, but his brother Nesuhi Ertegun leaned more towards jazz. In Big Joe Turner [...]
Hound Dog Taylor & the HouseRockers was the album that launched the “Genuine Houserocking Music” phenomenon of Alligator Records in Chicago, and arguably Hound Dog Taylor has yet to be surpassed as the champion of [...]