The Red Rooster (Little Red Rooster) -- Howlin' Wolf (Chess, 1961) “The Red Rooster,” better known as “Little Red Rooster,” is widely acknowledged as one of Howlin’ Wolf’s classics, but oddly enough it was not [...]
Mojo Hand -- Lightnin' Hopkins (Fire, 1960) Lightnin’ Hopkins, who never had a problem with coming up with songs for cash on the spot, recorded more than 40 songs in the month of November 1960 [...]
My Black Mama -- Son House (Paramount, 1930) “My Black Mama” may not be a title familiar to the many admirers of Son House’s work during his revived 1960s career, but while the title was [...]
I'm Tore Down - Freddy King, (Federal, 1961) “I’m Tore Down,” a tale of despondency set to a shuffle rhythm, was written by producer-pianist Sonny Thompson and sung with appropriate verve by Freddy (aka Freddie) [...]
Black Nights-- Lowell Fulson (Kent, 1965) Lowell Fulson (or Fulsom, as Kent Records spelled it) excelled as a songwriter, singer and guitarist, and “Black Nights” is one of his finest works and biggest hits, charting [...]
The vaudeville theater was the major public venue for blues in its earliest years, before the advent of radio, blues records, and jukeboxes. Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff, whose previous books chronicled the minstrel and [...]
Little Walter: The Complete Chess Masters (1950-1967) (Hip-O Select, 2009) Little Walter Jacobs was the best blues harmonica player ever, in the opinion of many fans and musicians, and certainly the most influential, so Hip-O’s [...]
David Evans’ induction in a Blues Hall of Fame category covering “Business, Academic, Media & Production” achievements could not be more fitting, for he has covered multiple bases as an educator, field researcher, and producer [...]
Junior Kimbrough, after years of holding forth in the juke joints and house parties of the Mississippi hills, Junior Kimbrough became a nationally renowned blues icon known both for his unique idiosyncratic style and for [...]
Fenton Robinson, practiced an erudite brand of blues hailed by musicians, critics and discerning audiences around the world, but rarely enjoyed the kind of wide public acclaim enjoyed by many high energy, hard-rocking blues performers. [...]