'Going Down Slow' has become an oft-recorded blues standard over the years since its author, James 'St. Louis Jimmy' Oden, first recorded it in 1941. Oden, a songwriter of note, was not the most dynamic [...]
James Moore AKA Slim Harpo Born: January 11, 1924 in the parish of West Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As a figure in the post-war rural blues, his music is often described as Louisiana swamp blues. As [...]
Little Johnny Taylor (1943-2002) enjoyed popularity on the soul-blues circuit in the 1960s and '70s but today his songs seem to be better known than his name. His biggest hit, one since performed by many [...]
Blind Willie Johnson was a Texas 'guitar evangelist' who performed in a style that has recently come to be described as 'holy blues' or 'gospel blues.' Those terms may not have been appreciated by some [...]
Hell Hound on My Trail' was among the deepest and darkest of Robert Johnson's legendary blues masterworks. Together with 'Me and the Devil Blues' and 'Cross Road Blues,' it provided future generations with a disturbing [...]
Blind Lemon Jefferson, one of the most influential and prolific of the early blues giants, left a massive recorded legacy of lyrics that became permanent elements of the blues lexicon. One of the most enduring [...]
One of the records that helped define the burgeoning postwar West Coast style of smooth “lounge blues,” “Drifting Blues” stayed on the Billboard “Race Records” chart in 1946. Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers consisted of Moore [...]
Back-Water Blues' was one of the best known works of the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, recorded for Columbia Records in 1927 with James P. Johnson on piano. Bemoaning the fate of losing a [...]
Dozens of artists have recorded the blues standard 'Key to the Highway,' and although Big Bill Broonzy was not the first, he was among the earliest to popularize the song, and has been credited as [...]
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 [...]