Spoonful — Howlin’ Wolf (Chess, 1960)
Howlin' Wolf's 1960 single 'Spoonful' for Chess Records has become one of the standards of Chicago blues but like many other such songs that are familiar to nearly every blues fan today, it never even [...]
Fever — Little Willie John (King, 1956)
Eighteen-year-old Little Willie John (1937-1968) didn't want to record 'Fever' when the song was presented to him in 1956, according to King Records producer Henry Glover, but Glover persisted and John's career got its biggest [...]
All Your Love (I Miss Loving) — Otis Rush (Cobra, 1958)
All Your Love (I Miss Loving)' is the third of Otis Rush's classic Cobra singles to earn Hall of Fame status and the second from the same 1958 session that featured both Rush and Ike [...]
Sonny Payne
John William 'Sonny' Payne was the genial host of the legendary King Biscuit Time program on KFFA radio in Helena, Arkansas, for more decades than most of his listeners have even been alive. Payne, a [...]
The Bluesmen, by Samuel Charters
Sam Charters' groundbreaking research on the blues in the 1950s and '60s resulted in several books that helped fuel the blues revival, bringing to light a musical and cultural history that no previous books had [...]
Strong Persuader by Robert Cray (Mercury LP/CD, 1986)
Strong Persuader was a breakthrough album both for Robert Cray and the blues, and its success is often cited as one of the key forces in reviving interest in the blues in the 1980s. The [...]
Hung Down Head by Lowell Fulson (Chess LP, 1970; CD, 1996)
A 1970 entry in the Chess Vintage Series, Hung Dead Head contains some of Blues Hall of Famer Lowell Fulson's finest work, most notably the standard 'Reconsider Baby' from a 1954 Dallas session. The other [...]
I Hear Some Blues Downstairs by Fenton Robinson (Alligator LP, 1977; CD, 1991)
Fenton Robinson (1935-1997) was heralded as one of the most progressive guitarists in Chicago as well as one of the true intellectuals on the scene--a Tolstoy and Kafka reader also known as 'The Mellow Blues [...]
Bonnie Raitt
While most of Bonnie Raitt's songs may fall outside the realm of blues, there is no doubting her commitment to and love for the music and the blues musicians themselves. Heavily influenced by, and sometimes [...]
W.C. Handy
W.C. Handy was already being hailed as 'The Father of the Blues' when the blues recording industry was still in its infancy. Handy's compositions and adaptations of blues he had heard in his travels began [...]