The Country Blues, by Samuel Charters
New York: Rinehart and Co., Inc., 1959. Reprinted with new introduction by the author: New York: Da Capo Press, 1975. The publication of The Country Blues by Sam Charters in 1959 was a major landmark [...]
Can’t Get No Grindin’ — Muddy Waters (Chess, 1973)
Can't Get No Grindin' is, surprisingly, the only Muddy Waters album in the Hall of Fame that was actually recorded as an album, not a compilation of singles and older material. Chess veteran Ralph Bass [...]
Chicago/The Blues/Today! Vol. 1-3 — Various Artists (Vanguard, 1966)
Producer and blues author Sam Charters headed the historic Vanguard Records project, Chicago/The Blues/Today!, which served to introduce the hardcore South and West side blues sounds to a new young audience in 1966. While Vanguard [...]
Rocket ’88’ — Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats (Chess, 1951)
Rocket '88'' is one of many blues and R&B singles cited in retrospect as 'the first rock 'n' roll record.' Producer Sam Phillips recorded it at his Memphis Recording Service, where Elvis Presley would launch [...]
Big Road Blues, by David Evans
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. Reprint: New York: Da Capo Press, 1987. Musicologist Dr. David Evans drew on his extensive research in south Mississippi and Louisiana dating back to 1965 to discuss the processes [...]
Nine Below Zero — Sonny Boy Williamson (No. 2) (Trumpet, 1951)
One of Sonny Boy Williamson’s specialties was his way of singing not just about the sadness of lost love but also about how cruel and unjust it all seemed to him. In the case of [...]
The Sky is Crying — Elmore (Elmo) James (Fire, 1959)
Elmore (Elmo) James recorded many classics after hitting the charts with “Dust My Broom” in 1952 and “I Believe” in 1953, but only with New York producer Bobby Robinson did Elmore get his name back [...]
Conversation with the Blues, by Paul Oliver
London: Cassell, and New York: Horizon Press, 1965. British author Paul Oliver wrote authoritatively on the blues in a number of contexts, ranging from historical surveys and examinations of the music’s African roots to biographical [...]
Leonard Chess
Before the Blues Hall of Fame instituted a separate category in 1994 to honor those involved in the business, production, promotion, and documentation of the blues, only one non-performer had been elected: Leonard Chess, in [...]
Killing Floor — Howlin’ Wolf (Chess, 1964)
Bursting with energy from a strutting pulse, Hubert Sumlin's zinging guitar and Howlin' Wolf's lupine gnarl, 'Killing Floor' was one of Wolf's most recognizable songs. It has long been a staple among many blues bands [...]