Robert Palmer
Robert Palmer's extensive knowledge of music, ranging from blues and jazz to rock and folk to various genres of world music and the interconnectedness of all those idioms, made him a respected critic at Rolling [...]
The Complete Plantation Recordings–Muddy Waters (MCA Chess, 1993)
Muddy Waters' legendary first recordings, cut at his house in Mississippi on portable equipment by a Library of Congress/Fisk University recording unit led by Alan Lomax and John W. Work III, were first collected on [...]
Shake, Rattle and Roll — Big Joe Turner (Atlantic, 1954)
Big Joe Turner is best described as one of the critical link between R&B, Blues and Rock N Roll. The Kansas City musician was a vital musical factor for almost five decades and stands as [...]
Etta James
At the age of five Etta James was singing gospel in her church choir and by her early teens she was drawn into the sounds of R&B. Her first hit was 'The Wallflower' for the [...]
Junior Parker
Junior Parker was one of the four most popular blues recording artists of the 1950s and '60s, in a league with B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, and Little Milton, based on the number of records [...]
Stormy Monday: The T-Bone Walker Story, by Helen Dance
New York: Da Capo Books. Helen Oakley Dance has been an active part of the music scene since the 1930s as an observer, promoter and record producer. Her marriage to noted jazz authority Stanley Dance [...]
Theresa Needham
Great Blues clubs stand as the foundation for every great Blues city. In Chicago Theresa's (also called T's basement) was the place to be since it's opening in December of 1949. Theresa Needham (birthname: McLaurin) [...]
Rufus Thomas
Radio personality, entertainer and talent scout, Rufus Thomas the self-proclaimed world's oldest teenager, personifies Memphis music. Thomas' professional career began in the 30's performing as a comedian in minstrel shows, and he heightened his career [...]