Night Beat – Sam Cooke (RCA Victor 1963)
Sam Cooke may be best remembered for his Top 40 hits and pioneering soul sounds, not to mention his gospel gems with the Soul Stirrers, but he had a profound gift for singing the blues, [...]
False Accusations – Robert Cray (HighTone 1985)
False Accusations was the first Robert Cray album ever to hit the “Billboard 200” charts - quite a feat for an independent label blues release, and noteworthy enough to secure a major label deal for [...]
The Real Folk Blues – Howlin’ Wolf (Chess 1965)
Most of Chess Records' Real Folk Blues albums were compilations of singles recorded over a span of years (in Wolf's case, from 1956 to 1965). This album did not fit the usual definitions of “folk [...]
Five Long Years — Eddie Boyd (J.O.B., 1952)
Eddie Boyd, a Chicago blues pianist, songwriter, and steel mill worker, came up with a true-to-life blues in 1952 that hit home with many a working man in “Five Long Years,” a No. 1 record [...]
Love in Vain — Robert Johnson (Vocalion, 1937)
In honor of the 2011 Robert Johnson Centennial celebrations, “Love in Vain” joins several Johnson classics that have already been enshrined in the Blues Hall of Fame. Johnson's poignant original was cut in 1937 in [...]
Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues — Skip James (Paramount, 1931)
Skip James' 1931 recordings for the Paramount label in Grafton, Wisconsin, all but vanished after their limited release during the Depression, now ranking among the rarest and highest-priced records on the collectors' market. But through [...]
Alberta Hunter
Alberta Hunter was a leading diva during the first wave of classic blues recording in the early 1920s and astonished the world with a remarkable singing comeback in 1977 when at the age of 82. [...]
J.B. Lenoir
J.B. Lenoir never achieved the level of stardom of some of his Chicago blues contemporaries, but his musical and political legacies ensured that he would be remembered long after his death at the age of [...]
Vivian Carter and Jimmy Bracken
Vivian Carter and Jimmy Bracken were the “Vee” and “Jay” in Vee-Jay Records, at one time the largest black-owned record company in the world. Vee-Jay is renowned for its catalog of blues classics by Jimmy [...]
John W. Work III
John W. Work, III, was a noted African American educator, composer, choral director, scholar, and folklorist whose 39-year career at Fisk University in Nashville (1927-1966) was filled with accolades. Work held degrees from Fisk, Columbia [...]