Blues Who's Who: A Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers, by Sheldon Harris. New Rochelle: Arlington House, 1979. 1981-1992 editions published by Da Capo Press, New York. Blues Who's Who, a monumental compilation of blues data [...]
Albert King, often billed as “King of the Blues Guitar,” was arguably at one time the world's most widely imitated blues guitarist, although his self-taught left-handed method of playing with his axe turned upside down [...]
Big Joe Turner, the quintessential shouter of the blues, crossed many boundaries with his spirited, free-swinging vocal excursions. He was a king of the jump blues genre, a boogie woogie belter, progenitor of rhythm & [...]
The quintessential album of the urban blues experience may well be 'Live at the Regal.' Recorded November 21, 1964, at Chicago's leading African American showcase, the album not only captures B.B. King in all his [...]
Muddy Waters' historic recordings for Chess and Aristocrat Records are so iconic within the framework of the blues that several 'Greatest Hits'-type Muddy albums from the Chess vaults have been inducted into the Hall of [...]
Elmore (Elmo) James ushered in a new era of electric slide guitar with his historic recording of 'Dust My Broom' for Trumpet Records of Jackson, Mississippi, in 1951. It was the only release on the [...]
Slide guitar master Robert Nighthawk was one of the first bluesmen to achieve regional stardom in the Delta through radio broadcasting. Following on the heels of Sonny Boy Williamson's King Biscuit Time radio show, Nighthawk [...]
Worried Life Blues' was elected to the Blues Hall of Fame in the first year of balloting in the Classics of Blues Recordings category. It was also the first song ever recorded by singer-pianist Major [...]
Louis Jordan was the most popular African American entertainer of his day, when his comic blues, jump and novelty routines not only put his records atop the charts but also entertained movie audiences in a [...]
Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey not only deserved the title she earned as 'Mother of the Blues', she also claimed to have named the music the blues. She recalled first hearing it sung by a young girl [...]