John Lee Curtis Williamson, known to bluesologists as 'the first Sonny Boy' or 'Sonny Boy No. 1' because he preceded another famed bluesman ('Rice' Miller) who also used the SBW moniker, can rightly be considered [...]
Sonny Boy Williamson No. 2 was one of the premier harmonica players in blues history and one of the most remarkable and poetic blues composers. Born on a Glendora, Mississippi, plantation under the name Alex [...]
A true giant in blues history, Sam “Lightnin'” Hopkins cut an imposing figure on the Texas blues scene and set standards across the country for postwar down-home blues. His work not only influenced countless country [...]
If ever a performer embodied the emotional depth of the blues, it was Eddie James “Son” House. A preacher at times, a barrelhousing bluesman at others, House was forever, and fiercely, torn between the sacred [...]
Howlin' Wolf cut one of the most awe-inspiring figures in blues history on several levels -- in his fearsome physical presence, his roaring howl, his onstage persona and offstage legend, and of course in the [...]
One of the most immediately identifiable guitar riffs in the blues is the “Dust My Broom” run played by Elmore James and copied countless times by other slide guitarists over the years. Elmore didn't create [...]
Blues recording began as primarily an uptown vaudeville form, sung by women who worked the theater circuit, accompanied by trained jazz musicians, and composed by professional songwriters. The first artist to take the blues back [...]
Once in a lifetime it seems that an artist from a musical genre outside the mainstream will transcend his particular style to become a popular icon in his own right. Delta bluesman Robert Johnson achieved [...]
In the 1930s and '40s Memphis Minnie's singing, songwriting, spirited demeanor, and superlative guitar playing propelled her to the upper echelons of a blues field then dominated by male guitarists and pianists. On her own [...]
John Lee Hooker rolled several successful blues careers into one lifetime and went out on top, the reigning “King of the Boogie” and earthy elder of rock 'n' roll. His “Boogie Chillen,” featuring only Hooker [...]