19.11., Mike Zito, Big Leon Brooks; Mike Osborn, Bob Beach, Chris Cain * Little Johnny Jones +

1933 Big Leon Brooks*
1948 Bob Beach*
1955 Chris Cain*
1964 Little Johnny Jones+
1965 Mike Osborn*
1970 Mike Zito*

 Happy Birthday

 

Mike Zito  *19.11.1970

 

 

Mit dem Blues aus dem eigenen Sumpf gezogen

Als Mike Zito 2009 den Blues Music Award gewonnen hatte, wusste er, dass nun alles gut war. Der 1970 in St. Louis geborene Musiker führte lange ein Musikerleben mit allen Klischees, was verbotene Substanzen betrifft. Ein Lebenswandel, der ihn schließlich auf kriminelle Bahnen brachte.
Doch das ist lange her, und seitdem Mike Zito sich auf sein herausragendes Gitarrenspiel und seinen Gesang konzentriert, läuft es bei ihm wieder rund. Mit seiner Mischung aus traditonellem elektrischen Blues, New Orleans Funk und Rock'n'Roll war er auch treibende Kraft der Royal Southern Brotherhood. Nach dem Ausstieg aus diesem Projekt macht Mike Zito jetzt wieder sein eigenes Ding.

Beim 23. Grolsch Blues Festival Schöppingen gelang ihm ein energiegeladener, großformatiger Auftritt.

http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/mike-zito-the-wheel-mit-dem-blues-aus-dem-eigenen-sumpf.1173.de.html?dram:article_id=313821 

Mike Zito (born November 19, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is a co-founder of Royal Southern Brotherhood that features Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Wooton and Yonrico Scott.[1]
Zito started singing at the age of five and by his late teens he had begun his career in the St Louis area music scene. In 2008, Zito made his international debut on the Eclecto Groove label.

Career

Zito released records on his own label he toured regionally and performed some national dates until signing with Eclecto Groove Records in 2008. In 2008 Eclecto Groove Records released Today.
Today was produced by David Z. The musicians on the CD were a line-up of studio musicians that includes bassist James "Hutch" Hutchinson (Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Joe Cocker); Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch keyboardist Benmont Tench; co-producer/drummer Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, B.B. King) and percussionist Michito Sanchez (Nelly Furtado, Steve Winwood). Also appearing on the CD are Joe Sublett (saxophone), Darrell Leonard (trumpet), Mitch Kashmar (harmonica) with Teresa James and Ce Ce Bullard (background vocals).[3]
In 2009, Eclecto Groove released his second CD Pearl River. Zito and Cyril Neville collaborated on the title track. At the 2010 Blues Music Awards, "Pearl River" won "Song of the Year".[4] Pearl River was recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana at Piety Street Studios. It featured Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, Reese Wynans, Susan Cowill, Lynwood Slim and Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone, with the rhythm section of Lonnie 'Popcorn' Trevino Jr. (bass) and Eric Bolivar (drum).[5]
In 2011, Zito fulfilled his recording contract with Delta/Eclecto Groove with the release of Greyhound. Greyhound was nominated for "Best Rock Blues Album" at the 2011 Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee.[6]
In 2013, Mike Zito signed with Ruf Records and released "Gone to Texas" a deep and personal CD dedicated to the state that he say's saved his life.[7] On "Gone to Texas" Mike assembled his band the Wheel which features Zito – guitars and vocals, Scot Sutherland – bass, Jimmy Carpenter – guitars/sax, and Rob Lee on drums.[8]

Royal Southern Brotherhood

Mike Zito was in Royal Southern Brotherhood from 2010 to 2014. [9]
Zito met Devon Allman while working together at the Guitar Center in St. Louis. The two would be reunited again through manager Rueben Williams, who managed Neville and Zito prior to signing Allman.[10]
Zito, Cyril Neville, and Devon Allman became Royal Southern Brotherhood. The three invited rhythm section in Charlie Wooten on bass and drummer Yonrico Scott to do a short tour and the band's first official show was at the “Rock n’ Bowl” in New Orleans. A year slipped by and the supergroup released their debut album to rave reviews.[11]
With Jim Gaines as producer (Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray, The Steve Miller Band) Royal Southern Brotherhood recorded the bands debut album at Dockside recording Studio in Maurice, Los Angeles.[12] Allman, Neville and Zito share lead vocals for the new album creating Zito and Allman play twin guitar leads that is one reminder of the band's related sound to the dual guitar leads played by Allman's uncle, Duane, and Dickey Betts in the Allman Brothers Band.[13]
In May 2014 Royal Southern Brotherhood won the Blues Music Award for "Best DVD" for the band's Ruf Records release "Songs from the Road- Live in Germany"[14]
In June of 2014 Royal Southern Brotherhood released their second studio CD "heartsoulblood" on Ruf Records.[15] Making the Scene described the Cd as " Combining blues and soul the way they do down in N’awlins, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." This fabulous album was produced by Jim Gaines and engineered by David Z.[16]
In early October 2014 Mike Zito left Royal Southern Brotherhood in order to focus on his own career. [17]

Film and television

In 2012 Zito's "Roll On", from the album Greyhound, was featured on FX's hit series Sons of Anarchy[18]

Solo work

In 2012, Zito debuted his new band, "The Wheel."[19] The Wheel features Scot Sutherland on bass, drummer Rob Lee, and Jimmy Carpenter on saxophone. In 2014, Mike Zito and the Wheel's album, Gone To Texas, was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Rock Blues Album of the Year' category.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Zito

 Mike Zito & The Wheel - Gone To Texas - Don Odells Legends 

Mike Zito and his serious band "The Wheel' pull into Don Odells "Legends" studios just weeks before releasing his latest effort "Gone To Texas". Caught on film here is Mike doing title cut "Gone To Texas". This is the year of The Zito!! You must catch a show of Mikes with either The Wheel or RSB. Mike is at the top of his game taking no prisoners. Fans of Mike Zito will be talking about "The Wheel" and "Gone To Texas" yrs from now. Please check out other shows by Ana Popovic, Jimmy Thackery, Joe Louis Walker,Royal Southern Brotherhood and many more and by subscribing you can be automatically notified of new videos when uploaded. Audio recorded and mixed by Jayce De Santis of Soundstream Media, Northampton, MA. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlZoeqgX0Eg 

Big Leon Brooks   *19.11.1933

 

Big Leon Brooks’ deep voice and heavy harmonica tone harkened back to Chicago blues of the 1950s—his style having been preserved by a long hiatus from music. He was influenced very little by the funkier, guitar-driven blues of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Leon was quick to point out that there were better harmonica players years ago. “We had quite a few harmonica players back then that were pretty damn good…. they had more weight, more tone. You got to really blow from within; you’ve got to have that feeling for music, blues music. This is something you don’t find many harp players with today.”
“The Big Man,” as he was aptly called around his home (he often wore shirts with “Big” embroidered on the pocket instead of his name), began playing harp when he was six years old. Growing up in Sunflower, Mississippi, he had a chance to learn from the masters. Leon recalled meeting Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), Elmore James, Boyd Gilmore and Charlie Booker. “I was raised up around those guys,” he remembered, “but I really learned a lot from the radio, too.”
Moving to Chicago in the early 1940s, Leon began playing with “kids in the neighborhood, on the street and down in Jewtown” (the Maxwell Street outdoor market). There he met his future mentor, Little Walter Jacobs. “I started out in Rice Miller’s style, but Little Walter was really my idol on harmonica, and I followed him around a lot. He was my coach.”
Still a teenager, Leon began slipping into the blues clubs, hanging around mostly at The Zanzibar, where he sat in with the Muddy Waters band. During the early ‘50s, he played with Freddie King and Jimmy Lee Robinson, before forming his first band with guitarist Charles Pearson in 1953. The pair joined Jimmy Rogers’ band for a couple years, before Leon split off to form his own group again. He kept bands together off and on, and worked as a sideman with Willie Johnson, Kansas City Red, Floyd Jones, Otis Rush and Robert Nighthawk throughout the ‘50s.
Then, in the early ‘60s, disenchanted with the more guitar-dominated sound of modern blues, Leon retired from music. “It got to a point where we couldn’t get no gigs. I said ‘the hell with it’, and started strictly working, driving a truck. I didn’t even go to a club.” Nearly fifteen years passed before Leon, after repeated coaxing from the West Side singer called Tail Dragger, decided to re-enter music in 1976. Guitarist Paul Cooper soon brought Leon to the North Side, and in 1977 the harpist began a Sunday night gig at Kingston Mines that lasted almost a year. Then Leon returned to the West Side, working with Tail Dragger, Eddie Taylor and James Scott at Mary’s, The Golden Slipper and The Show & Tell. He was back on the North Side with Scott at the Broadway Night Club before being hospitalized in November 1979 with a heart condition.
He made his recording debut on Alligator’s Living Chicago Blues series in 1980, recording four tracks with an all-star band. He went on to cut a full album, Let’s Go To Town, for the small Blues Over Blues label. Leon died in 1982, at the age of 49, still known only to a small number of hard-core blues fans who love the sound of classic, 1950’s-style Chicago blues.

http://www.alligator.com/artists/Big-Leon-Brooks/ 

Big Leon Brooks - You Know 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUe3EM9XH0 

Mike Osborn  *19.11.1965

 

 

 

Mike Osborn und seine "In The Dog House"-Belegschaft lassen nicht unerheblich die Blues-Schwarte krachen. Mit Geschwindigkeit und Gefühl geht man zur Sache und der Frontmann ist mit allen möglichen Saiten-Künsten gesegnet. Die elf Nummern bieten sehr gute Unterhaltung und es entstehen keine Gräben zwischen dem Songwriting eines Alan Mirikitani/Dennis Walker beziehungsweise Mike Osborn.
Ein gewisser Live-Charakter schwingt bei den Liedern immer mit. Mike Osborn serviert uns mit seiner Gitarre und Stimme starke Aussagen in Sachen Blues Rock und bei so versierten Musikern kommt Freude auf. Der Protagonist spielte unter anderem in Stevie Ray Vaughan-Tribute Shows. Hier und da kommt bei Mike Osborn der typische Tone des verstorbenen Texas-Bluesers zum Vorschein. Nicht schlecht, Herr Specht!
Ein Grund, warum man noch relativ wenig über den tollen Musiker gehört hat, ist seine musikalische Pause, die er sich wegen der Familie und besonders seines Sohnes genommen hat. Gut, dass der klasse Gitarrist wieder am Start ist und mit "In The Dog House" ein Knaller-Album veröffentlicht hat.
Der Kreis von Genre-Ablegern ist ziemlich groß. Wenn der Boogie auf den Blues-Weg gebracht wird und der Frontmann mit rauchig-rauer Stimme seinen Text singt, dann erscheint in der Kurve der guten Laune ein Peak, den Mike Osborn auch bei der Country Blues-Auslage seiner Musik erzeugt. Der Boogie ist ja immer eine infizierende Spielart und so ist es auch hier. Blues zum Bewegen und Abfeiern. Der Verstärkerregler hat nicht nur hier die 'Nachbarn-hören-mit'-Einstellung. Super!
Knackige Gitarrenriffs machen gemeinsame Sache mit tollen Refrains und wenn dann zusätzlich noch Breaks oder an- beziehungsweise abschwellende Dynamik ins Spiel kommt, hat der Hörspaß außerplanmäßige Fütterungszeiten.
Bewegt Mike Osborn mit seinem Fuß das Wah Wah-Pedal, pendeln seine Saiten-Ambitionen zwischen leichter Psychedelic sowie Funk. Die Liebe ist bei ihm wie "Fire & Gasoline" und das Stück hat definitiv zündende Wirkung. Die Gitarrenriffs rocken wie Blitze durch die Luft und es wird dabei kräftig mitgeklatscht.  

http://www.rocktimes.de/gesamt/opq/mike_osborn/in_the_dog_house.html

Michael W. Osborn was born in Illinois and grew up in the country on the bank of the Kankakee river, not unlike Huckleberry Finn hiking, hunting and fishing, enjoying the outdoors. His family listened to country music and “blue grass” often, He hated it at the time but it would later have a big influence on him musically. When he was 13 his family moved to Woodland CA (near Sacramento), he started taking guitar lessons in school. By the time he was 16 he was performing regularly in local clubs as a lead guitarist in a country rock band. From there he went on to play in rockabilly and metal bands for years and played in church frequently. In 1991 he played professionally for a couple years doing blues and classic rock and become influenced by the recently deceased Stevie Ray Vaughan. After taking a hiatus from music for a few years to focus on raising his children as a single father, Mike started back up again in October 2006 performing weekly and building up a network of musicians and music and re-establishing his reputation. Mike has received rave reviews on magazine, television and radio. Always performing with a raw "edge of the envelope" passion and supported by the finest professional musicians, these shows are a definite must see. October 09' marked the release of his first feature album "Fire & Fury" (a term used to describe the energy of his live performances), a 10 track CD that is a unique blend of blues, rock, country and R&B. The original tracks on the album offer a rare glimpse into his personal views and thoughts on life. In 2014 Mike followed up with his second CD release “In the dog House” named after the studio he recorded it in. The 11 track CD was immediately heralded to glowing reviews. It showcases the musical growth and developing songwriting as Mike continues down his musical path. Mike uses Epiphone guitars and Egnater amps and GHS strings now.

Mike Osborn has been played on over 270 radio stations worldwide, throughout 12 countries including the USA. In the SF Bay Area, he has strong relations with several local blues stations and 107.7FM “The Bone”; all of who support his music and advertise upcoming shows.

His music has been downloaded online tens of thousands of times as of this writing, and he currently holds the #1 spot in the Blues/Rock category of Reverbnation's charts for the Bay Area. He reached #16 on the Roots Report radio playlist after the release of his CD “Fire & Fury” in 2009.

Mike was listed as #1 in the international European based chart “hit tracks-top 100” for week 51 in 2014.

Veteran hit producing R&B artist Lord Luther of the Four Deuces describes Mike Osborn as "blues with a bite" and dubbed him "Vanilla Soul".

http://www.michaelosbornmusic.net/Bio.htm

Michael W. Osborn-guitar and vocals
Mike has been entertaining crowds since the age of sixteen with his fretboard wizardry and soulfull, growling vocals. He has performed across the country - Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles and is now based out of San Jose CA. where he is well known and highly respected in the musical community and has performed at many of the most prestigious venues in the area. Mike is endoresed by Epiphone guitars, Egnater amps and GHS strings.

http://www.reverbnation.com/mikeosbornband 

 

MIKE OSBORN BAND live at The Turf Club in Heyward CA 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kwQUGuLhPY#t=24 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Beach *19.11.1948

 

 

 https://www.facebook.com/bobbeach/photos_albums

Bob Beach has been a working professional musician for more than 40 years, adding harmonica, flute and vocals to a broad scope of genres. Bob is currently available for studio and live performance work in the Philadelphia area as well as nationally. A native Philadelphian, Bob relocated to Western PA after high school. From 1976 to 1997 Bob worked in bands and other musical projects based in the city of Pittsburgh. Since returning to Philadelphia in 1997 Bob has been a vital part of the local music scene. A volunteer at the Philadelphia Folk Fest since 1998 Bob has also has also performed at the fest many times since 2002. He leads the official campfire open mic each year. As a sideman he has recorded or performed with both local and national acts such as; Ollabelle, Langhorne Slim, the Avett Brothers, Pat Wictor, Beaucoup Blue, Fruit and many more. Bob performs live with the Bob Beach Trio, Mason Porter, Lizanne Knott, Wyldlyfe, Hezekiah Jones, Spinning Leaves, the Cat’s Pajamas, Philadelphia Jug Band, the Youngers, Hoots and Hellmouth, David Jacobs-Strain, and others. David and Bob recently released “Live From the Left Coast” recorded in Eugene, Oregon. Bob also is a sound engineer at The World Café Live music venue and books artists for the Lansdowne Folk Club, Concerts at the Beach House and other events and venues in the Philadelphia area. 

https://www.reverbnation.com/bobbeach

 

David Jacobs-Strain (Slide Guitar) Bob Beach (Harmonica), House Concert: Charlotte, NC 6/8/14 

David Jacobs-Strain is a fierce slide guitar player, and a song poet from Oregon. He's known for both his virtuosity and spirit of emotional abandon; his live show moves from humorous, subversive blues, to delicate balladry, and then swings back to swampy rock and roll. It's a range that ties Jacobs-Strain to his own generation and to guitar-slinger troubadours like Robert Johnson and Jackson Browne. "I try to make art that you can dance to, but I love that darker place, where in my mind, Skip James, Nick Drake, and maybe Elliot Smith blur together."

David Jacobs-Strain has appeared at festivals from British Columbia to Australia, including Merlefest, Telluride Blues Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Hardly Strictly, Bumbershoot, and Blues to Bop in Switzerland. He's taught at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch, and at fifteen years old was on the faculty at Centrum's Blues and Heritage workshop. On the road, he's shared the stage with Lucinda Williams, Boz Scaggs (more than 60 shows), Etta James, The Doobie Brothers, George Thorogood, Robert Earle Keen, Todd Snider, Taj Mahal, Janis Ian, Tommy Emmanuel, Bob Weir, T-Bone Burnett, and Del McCoury.

Bob Beach

Bob Beach has been a working professional musician for more than 40 years, adding harmonica, flute and vocals to a broad scope of genres. A native Philadelphian, Bob relocated to Western PA after high school. From 1976 to 1997 Bob worked in bands and other musical projects based in the city of Pittsburgh. Since returning to Philadelphia in 1997 Bob has been a vital part of the local music scene. A volunteer at the Philadelphia Folk Fest since 1998 Bob has also has also performed at the fest many times since 2002. David and Bob recently released "Live From the Left Coast" recorded in Eugene, Oregon. Bob also is a sound engineer at The World Café Live music venue and books artists for the Lansdowne Folk Club, Concerts at the Beach House and other events and venues in the Philadelphia area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WZOc8kPNvg 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Cain *19.11.1955

Chris Cain (born November 19, 1955, San Jose, California, United States)[1] is an American blues and jazz guitarist with an international following.

He began playing professionally as a teenager in local clubs, at festivals, and at private events.

Cain received four Blues Music Award nominations in 1987 for his debut album, Late Night City Blues, including Guitarist of the Year. He signed to Blind Pig Records in 1990 and released his second album, Cuttin' Loose, then released Can't Buy A Break in 1992 and Somewhere Along the Way in 1995.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cain

Chris Cain's jazz-tinged, blues soaked guitar and deep, warm vocals have the maturity and authenticity of bluesmen many years his senior. His expressive style is the result of a lifetime of study and the relentless pursuit of music mastery. His passion and intensity are a blend of his mother's Greek ancestry and his father's soulful black heritage.

Cain was raised on stories of his father's childhood upbringing on Memphis' Historic Beale Street and attended his first B.B King concert at the tender age of three. Blues music played continuously on the home stereo and family outings were often trips to concerts. Cain recalls, "I remember when I was a kid, my Dad would be mowing the lawn with the stereo blasting Muddy Waters. When I look back, that was pretty cool! There was always music playing at our house, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King, all the greats."

Chris Cain and GuitarAt the age of eight, Cain taught himself to play guitar and began playing professionally before he was eighteen. Chris studied music at San Jose City College, and was soon teaching jazz improvisation on campus. Over the next twenty years, Cain would also master piano, bass guitar, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone. The combination of his blues upbringing and his jazz studies melded to form the searing guitar style that sets Chris Cain apart and has moved him to the top ranks of the blues music scene.

Cain's debut recording, Late Night City Blues (Blue Rock'it Records-1987) garnered four W.C. Handy Blues Award nominations, including Guitarist of the Year." Dan Forte of Guitar Player wrote, "An impressive debut album by a top notch guitarist." Cain's next two releases; "Cuttin Loose" (Blind Pig Records-1990) and "Can't Buy a Break" (Blind Pig Records-1992) collected a long list of awards and accolades. In August of 1995 Blind Pig released "Somewhere Along the Way" his 4th compilation of his unique brand of original music sophisticated blues, funk, jazz and gospel.

In 2003 Patrick Ford produced Chris's latest CD, "Hall Of Shame" (Blue Rock'it Records-2003). "...this is now the sixth Chris Cain solo release I have produced, not to mention his work with me on projects like the Ford Blues Bands' "In Memory Of Michael Bloomfield" CD, and I continue to be in awe of his incredible talent. As a guitarist/singer, Chris has been praised by mentors like Albert King and peers like Robben Ford."

Larry Nager (syndicated Scripts-Howard music critic) writes, "Nowadays most young blues players are Strat-wielding Stevie Ray Vaughan-a-bes. Not Chris Cain. With a voice that recalls B.B. King and a thick toned Gibson guitar sound reminiscent of Albert King, Cain is forging a unique style. With his own highly personalized songwriting, "Hall Of Shame" is a giant step in the development of one of the most compelling young bluesmen on today's scene." Cain at JJs

Through his guitar mastery and remarkable songwriting ability, Chris Cain has established himself as a musical force to be reckoned with. And as San Jose Mercury News music reviewer John Orr writes, "more than anyone else, anywhere, Chris Cain represents the future of the blues."  

http://www.chriscainmusic.com/Cain_history.html

 

Chris Cain Narooma Blues Festival 2005 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMhCso1dSKs 

CHRIS CAIN & BAND, 'MY BABY WANTS TO LEAVE ME', BISCUIT & BLUES, SAN FRANCISCO, FEB. 16TH, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vpCMzviUGA 

 

R.I.P.

 

 

Little Johnny Jones   +19.11.1964

 

http://www.violafair.com/music/birthblues4.htm

Little Johnny Jones (* 1. November 1924 in Jackson, Mississippi; † 19. November 1964 in Chicago, Illinois) war ein US-amerikanischer Pianist und Sänger, der besonders durch seine Arbeit mit Muddy Waters und Elmore James bekannt wurde.

Jones wurde in eine musikalische Familie hinein geboren, seine Mutter spielte Klavier in Kirchen in Jackson und sein Vater spielte Gitarre und Harmonika. Aber sein größter Einfluss, wie bei vielen Pianisten aus Chicago, war Big Maceo Merriweather, der in unter seine Fittiche nahm und ihn auch als "Sohn" bezeichnete. [1]Jones kam 1946 aus Mississippi nach Chicago und etablierte sich bald als gesuchter Musiker. Nachdem Big Maceo Merriweather einen Schlaganfall hatte, der seine Hand lähmte, ersetzte Johnny Jones ihn in der Band von Tampa Red. Als Pianist war er auf seinen Aufnahmen von 1949 bis 1953 zu hören. Ebenso war er auf "Screamin' and Cryin'" von Muddy Waters zu hören und auf Aufnahmen von Howlin' Wolf. Von 1952 bis 1956 unterstützte er Elmore James bei seinen Aufnahmen und bildete mit ihm, dem Saxophonisten J .T. Brown und dem Drummer Odie Payne die "Broomdusters" die zahllose Aufnahmen für Meteor, Flair, Chief, Chess, Vee Jay und Fire aufnahmen.Bei "Flip, Flop & Fly" spielte er Klavier für Big Joe Turner.[1] Er spielte oft im Sylvio's, dem wichtigsten Klub in Chicagos Westside. Dort spielten drei Bands am Abend und oft saß Jones bei allen drei am Klavier. [1]
1949 nahm er seine erste Single "Big Town Playboy" für Aristocrat auf. Auf dieser Aufnahme wurde er von Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, und Leroy Foster begleitet. Der Titel wurde 1955 vom Gitarristen Eddie Taylor neu aufgenommen. Neben seinen pianistischen Fähigkeiten war auch seine Stimme packend.[2] Bis 1953 nahm er selbst noch zwei Singles auf. Danach war er, bis zu seinem Tod 1964 wieder in Clubs und als Sessionmusiker tätig, unter anderen mit Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Syl Johnson, Billy Boy Arnold und Magic Sam.
Bruce Iglauer meint in den Linernotes zu "Live in Chicago with Billy Boy Arnold", dass, wenn er bis in die 1970er - Jahre gelebt hätte, sein Ruhm mit dem von Otis Spann konkurrieren hätte können.[1] Und Bill Dahl meint im All Music Guide, dass er einer der größten Pianisten war, die jemals in Chicago gelebt haben. [2] Johnny Jones starb am 19. November 1964 an Lungenkrebs.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Johnny_Jones

Little Johnny Jones is a musical by George M. Cohan. The show introduced Cohan's tunes "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "The Yankee Doodle Boy." The "Yankee Doodle" character was inspired by real-life Hall of Fame jockey Tod Sloan.

Background

The show was Cohan's first full-length musical. A famous American jockey, Tod Sloan, had gone to England in 1903 to ride in the Derby for King Edward VII of England. This gave Cohan the idea for the story. The musical is patriotic in tone and contains a number of quips aimed at European targets, such as, "You think I'd marry an heiress and live off her money? What do you take me for? An Englishman?" and, "French pastry ain't worth 30¢ compared to American apple pie." In Little Johnny Jones Cohan introduced some of the dance steps and comedy features for which he would become famous.[1]

This musical is also credited as being the first American Musical, along "with The Black Crook, Evangeline, Show Boat" ... or any number of other works."[2] (The Black Crook (1866) is considered a prototype of the modern musical in that its popular songs and dances are interspersed throughout a unifying play and performed by the actors.[3])

Synopsis

A brash, patriotic American jockey, Johnny Jones, goes to England to ride his horse, Yankee Doodle, in the English Derby. Jones falls in love with Goldie Gates, a San Francisco copper heiress, who follows him to Britain, disguising herself as a man to discover if Jones really loves her. Anthony Anstey, an American who runs a Chinese gambling establishment in San Francisco, offers Jones a bribe to lose the race deliberately, but he refuses. After Jones loses, Anstey spreads rumors that he threw the race intentionally. Jones' detective, pretending to be a drunkard, searches for evidence to clear Johnny's name and finds out that it was Anstey that framed Jones. Jones tells his friends who are returning to America, "Give My Regards to Broadway," but he stays in London to try to regain his reputation. Jones returns to America with his name cleared, eager to propose marriage to Goldie, but he finds that Anstey has kidnapped her. He and his detective search for her in San Francisco's Chinatown, eventually finding her.

Original production

The musical was first tried out at the Parsons Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut in October 1904 and then opened on Broadway at the Liberty Theatre on November 7, 1904. The original production was produced by Sam H. Harris and directed by George M. Cohan who also performed as part of the cast with the other members of The Four Cohans (Cohan, his parents and sister). Ethel Levey, Cohan's wife, co-starred.[4] Among the other performers were William Seymour and Donald Brian. The Broadway run of only 52 performances was followed by tours, during which some rewrites were made. It was revived twice in 1905 at the New York Theatre, playing successfully for over 200 performances through most of that year, and touring until the next Broadway revival in 1907 for a short run at the Academy of Music. The production was mounted with a huge cast.[5]

Subsequent adaptations and productions

Little Johnny Jones was adapted twice for the motion pictures, first as a silent film released in 1924 by Warner Bros.[6] First National followed this in 1929 with an early talkie musical version directed by Mervyn LeRoy, who played a bit part in the 1924 film. Eddie Buzzell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adelaide Heilbron, played the title role. Only two of Cohan's original songs survived the transition to the screen ("Give My Regards To Broadway" and "Yankee Doodle Boy"). The five other tunes in the film's score were contributed by various other songwriters, mainly Herb Magidson and Michael H. Cleary.[7]

James Cagney appeared in a play-within-a-play staging of numbers and dances from Little Johnny Jones in the 1942 film, Yankee Doodle Dandy.

David Cassidy starred in a touring revival in 1981.[8] After previewing at Connecticut's Goodspeed Opera House and touring, a 1982 revival, adapted by Alfred Uhry, closed at the Alvin Theatre after only one performance. It starred Donny Osmond in the lead.

An adaptation of the show was produced by the Light Opera of Manhattan in the late 1980s, called Give My Regards to Broadway and was successful for that company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Johnny_Jones

Little Johnny Jones - Chicago Blues


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfgp-qljHNg 

22.01. Blind Willie Johnson, Christian Willisohn, Hammie Nixon, David Evans, Mary Everhart, Robert Elem, Eva Taylor * Big Leon Brooks, Tommy Tucker, Blind James Campbell, Judy Roderick +

1895 Eva Taylor*
1897 Blind Willie Johnson*
1908 Hammie Nixon*
1928 Robert Elem*
1944 David Evans*

1957 Todd Stewart Wolfe*

1962 Christian Willisohn*
1963 Mary Everhart*
1981 Blind James Campbell+
1982 Tommy Tucker+
1982 Big Leon Brooks+
1992 Judy Roderick+
Doug Duffey* 1) 

Robert Collins*

Happy Birthday

 

Blind Willie Johnson  *22.01.1897

„Blind” Willie Johnson (* 22. Januar 1897; † 18. September 1945) war ein US-amerikanischer Sänger und Gitarrist, dessen Werk sowohl im Blues als auch im Spiritual wurzelte. Während seine Texte ausnahmslos religiösen Inhalts waren, leiteten sich seine musikalischen Ausdrucksformen aus beiden traditionellen Quellen ab.
Leben
Kindheit und Jugend
Nach einer später entdeckten Sterbeurkunde wurde Johnson 1897 in der Nähe von Brenham in Texas geboren. Vorher waren andere Geburtsorte (Waco, Temple) und auch ein späteres Geburtsdatum (um 1902) genannt worden. Seine Kindheit verbrachte er größtenteils in Marlin. Johnsons Mutter starb, als er noch ein kleines Kind war; sein Vater heiratete danach erneut. Er war nicht von Geburt an blind. Als er ungefähr sieben Jahre alt war, schüttete ihm seine Stiefmutter infolge eines Wutanfalls Lauge in die Augen. Als Johnson älter wurde, begann er auf der Straße Gitarre zu spielen, um sich Geld zu verdienen. Schon damals verwendete er die Slide-Technik, jedoch nicht mit einem abgebrochenen Flaschenhals, sondern mit einer Zange. Johnson hatte aber eigentlich nicht vor, Blues-Musiker zu sein, der bibelfeste junge Mann wollte lieber Gospel singen.
Karriere
1927 lernte er seine erste Frau Willie B. Harris kennen, zusammen mit ihr begann er um Dallas und Waco herum aufzutreten. Sie inspirierte ihn, alte Lieder des 19. Jahrhunderts mit in sein Repertoire aufzunehmen, unter anderem Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning und Praise God I’m Satisfied. Später war Johnson mit einer Frau namens Angeline verheiratet. Bis heute ist keine Heiratsurkunde oder dergleichen gefunden worden, die belegen, ob bzw. in welchen Zeiträumen Johnson verheiratet war. Es wird angenommen, dass er mit Willie B. Harris von 1926 (oder 1927) bis 1932 (oder 1933) verheiratet war. Seine zweite Frau überlebte ihn und arbeitete als Krankenschwester.
Am 3. Dezember 1927 nahm er in den Studios der Columbia Records seine ersten sechs Stücke auf, darunter sein wohl bekanntestes Dark Was The Night – Cold Was The Ground. Ein Jahr später hielt er mit seiner Frau erneut eine Aufnahme-Session ab; 1929 reisten die beiden mit Elder Dave Ross nach New Orleans, wo er für Columbia zehn Songs aufnahm, darunter das Gospel-Stück Let Your Light Shine On Me. Außerdem spielte er nur noch einmal Lieder ein, im April 1930. Wieder dabei war seine Frau Willie. Dies war das letzte Mal für Johnson, dass er Platten aufnahm. Fortan trat er auf der Straße auf, um sich seinen Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen.
1945, vielleicht auch erst 1947, brannte sein Haus nieder. Da Johnson jedoch sehr arm war, blieb im nichts anderes übrig, als weiterhin in der Ruine zu leben. Blind Willie Johnson verstarb danach an einer Lungenentzündung.
Johnsons Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground ist auf der goldenen Schallplatte Voyager Golden Record enthalten, die sich an Bord der beiden interstellaren Raumsonden Voyager 1 und Voyager 2 befindet. Ebenso in der legendären Wireliste The Wire's "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One Was Listening)".

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Willie_Johnson

"Blind" Willie Johnson (January 22, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was a gospel blues singer and guitarist. While the lyrics of his songs were usually religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions and is distinguished by his slide guitar accompaniment and gravelly false-bass[clarification needed] voice, with occasional use of a tenor voice.
Life
Blind Willie Johnson, according to his death certificate, was born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas (before the discovery of his death certificate, Temple, Texas had been suggested as his birthplace).[1] When he was five, he told his father he wanted to be a preacher and then made himself a cigar box guitar. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried soon after her death.[2]
Johnson was not born blind, and, although it is not known how he lost his sight, Angeline Johnson told Samuel Charters that when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man. According to this account, the stepmother then blinded young Willie by throwing lye in his face.[2]
It is believed that Johnson married at least twice. He was married to Willie B. Harris. Her recollection of their initial meeting was recounted in the liner notes for Yazoo Records's "Praise God I'm Satisfied" album. He was later alleged to have been married to a woman named Angeline. Johnson was also said to be married to a sister of blues artist, L.C. Robinson.[citation needed] No marriage certificates have yet been discovered. As Angeline Johnson often sang and performed with him,[citation needed] the first person to attempt to research his biography, Samuel Charters, made the mistake of assuming it was Angeline who had sung on several of Johnson's records.[1] However, later research showed that it was Willie B. Harris.[1]
Johnson remained poor until the end of his life, preaching and singing in the streets of several Texas cities including Beaumont. A city directory shows that in 1945, a Rev. W.J. Johnson, undoubtedly Blind Willie, operated the House of Prayer at 1440 Forrest Street, Beaumont, Texas.[1] This is the same address listed on Johnson's death certificate. In 1945, his home burned to the ground. With nowhere else to go, Johnson lived in the burned ruins of his home, sleeping on a wet bed in the August/September Texas heat. He lived like this until he contracted malarial fever and died on September 18, 1945. (The death certificate reports the cause of death as malarial fever, with syphilis and blindness as contributing factors.)[1] In a later interview, his wife, Angeline said she tried to take him to a hospital but they refused to admit him because he was blind, while other sources report that his refusal was due to being black. And although there is some question as to where his exact grave location is, Blanchette Cemetery (which is the cemetery listed on the death certificate but location previously unknown) was officially located by two researchers in 2009. In 2010, those same researchers erected a monument to Johnson in the cemetery, but his exact gravesite remains unknown.[3]
Musical career
His father would often leave him on street corners to sing for money. Tradition has it that he was arrested for nearly starting a riot at a New Orleans courthouse with a powerful rendition of "If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down", a song about Samson and Delilah. According to Samuel Charters, however, he was simply arrested while singing for tips in front of the Customs House by a police officer who misconstrued the title lyric and mistook it for incitement.[2] Timothy Beal argued that the officer did not, in fact, misconstrue the meaning of the song, but that "the ancient story suddenly sounded dangerously contemporary" to him.[4]
Johnson made 30 commercial recording studio record sides in five separate sessions for Columbia Records from 1927–1930. On some of these recordings Johnson uses a fast rhythmic picking style, while on others he plays slide guitar. According to a reputed one-time acquaintance, Blind Willie McTell (1898–1959), Johnson played with a brass ring, although other sources cite him using a knife. However, in enlargement, the only known photograph of Johnson seems to show that there is an actual bottleneck on the little finger of his left hand.[5] While his other fingers are apparently fretting the strings, his little finger is extended straight—which also suggests there is a slide on it as well.
Legacy
Several of Blind Willie Johnson's songs have been interpreted by other musicians, including "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed", "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine", "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground", "John the Revelator", "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond", "Motherless Children" and "Soul of a Man".
"Dark Was the Night" was also included on the Voyager Golden Record, copies of which were mounted on both of the Voyager Project unmanned space probes. Carl Sagan, who was involved with the selection of the contents of the record, chose the song as he believed it properly encapsulated the essence of loneliness that mankind often faces. Voyager 1 has left the solar system and entered interstellar space, which Voyager 2 is expected to do around 2016.
Ry Cooder's slide guitar title song and soundtrack music of the Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas (1984) was based on "Dark Was the Night".
"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" was played in the TV series The West Wing (season 5) episode 13, The Warfare of Genghis Khan. "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" was played in the TV series The Walking Dead (season 5) episode 4 Slabtown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Willie_Johnson

 

Blind Willie Johnson-The Soul Of A Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MdI2xPHw_k 

 

Christian Willisohn  *22.01.1962

 

Christian Willisohn (* 22. Januar 1962 in München) ist ein deutscher Blues-Pianist und Sänger.
Beim Konzert am 50sten Geburtstag, Incontri, Rohrbach/Ilm
Leben und Werk
Leben mit der Musik
Seine musikalische Laufbahn begann 1980 in Münchener Clubs; 1986 gab er seinen Beruf als Steinmetz und Bildhauer auf. 1987 spielte er mit Zora Young zum ersten Mal in den USA. Seither spielte er mit vielen internationalen Blues-Musikern. Heute tritt er in ganz Europa auf mit Klassikern und Eigenkompositionen mit Texten seiner Frau, Alexandra Mayer.[1]
1988 begann die anwährende Zusammenarbeit mit Lillian Boutté, 1992 mit dem holländischen Saxophonisten Boris Vanderlek. 1995 produzierte er zusammen mit Prof. Herbert Wiedemann von der Hochschule der Künste Berlin ein Lehrbuch für Blues & Boogie-Piano. 1996 gründete er mit dem Klavierbaumeister Rainer Schmidt[2] das Label Art By Heart[3]. Konzertreisen auf der „Sea Cloud II“ 2008 von Hamburg nach St. Petersburg, 2009 von Neapel nach Venedig. Herbst 2010: Die Band “Southern Spirit” formiert sich um ihn neu mit Boris van der Lek (saxophone), Titus Vollmer (guitar, vocal); Peter Kraus (drums, vocal), Matthias Engelhardt (bass).
Er besitzt die seltene Fähigkeit, über beliebige, vom Publikum gestellte Themen zu improvisieren und damit eine Brücke vom Jazz bis in die Klassik und andere Musik zu schlagen.
Filmmusik
Filmscore für “Der Sonnenstratege” in Zusammenarbeit mit [Titus Vollmer]

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Willisohn

http://www.willisohn.com/downloadArea.html

1.Hamburger Blues und Boogie Festival 08 Christian Willisohn 

 Christian Willisohn
Aufgenommen am 8.8.1988 in der Fabrik in Hamburg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFMaWLrscUw 

Christian Willisohn's ''Southern Spirit'' - Jazzwoche Burghausen 2014 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn58GOtA4eQ 

 

 

Hammie Nixon  *22.01.1908

 

http://www.mtv.com/artists/hammie-nixon/

Hammie Nixon (* 22. Januar 1908 in Brownsville, Tennessee; † 17. August 1984 in Jackson, Tennessee) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker, einer der frühen Virtuosen auf der Mundharmonika.
Neben der Blues Harp spielte Nixon Kazoo, Gitarre und den Jug (siehe Jug-Band). Über 50 Jahre lang trat er immer wieder mit Sleepy John Estes auf. Ihre ersten gemeinsamen Aufnahmen machten sie 1929. Nixon machte auch Aufnahmen mit Little Buddy Doyle, Lee Green, Charlie Pickett und Son Bonds.
Hammie Nixon etablierte die Mundharmonika, die zuvor ein Soloinstrument war, als Begleit- und Rhythmusinstrument für Bands. Er selbst spielte bei zahlreichen Jug-Bands, z. B. in seinen späten Jahren bei der Beale Street Jug Band. Seine letzte Aufnahme machte er 1984 kurz vor seinem Tod.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammie_Nixon

Hammie Nixon (January 22, 1908 – August 17, 1984)[1] was an American harmonica player.
Life and career
Born Hammie Nickerson in Brownsville, Tennessee,[2] he began his music career with jug bands in the 1920s and is best known as a country blues harmonica player, but also played the kazoo, guitar and jug. He played with guitarist Sleepy John Estes for half a century, first recording with Estes in 1929 for the Victor Records label.[1] He also recorded with Little Buddy Doyle, Lee Green, Clayton T. Driver, Charlie Pickett and Son Bonds.[1]
During the 1920s Nixon helped to pioneer the use of the harmonica as a rhythm instrument in a band setting, rather than as a novelty solo instrument. After Estes died in 1979, Nixon played with the Beale Street Jug Band (also called the Memphis Jug Band). Nixon's last recording, "Tappin' That Thing" (Hmg Records), was recorded shortly before his death in 1984, in Jackson, Tennessee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammie_Nixon

The Blues - Hammie Nixon, Sleepy John Estes 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf-0xvj_NKs 

 

David Evans  *22.01.1944

 

http://www.thecountryblues.com/artist-reviews/dr-david-evans/

David Evans (* 22. Januar 1944 in Boston, Massachusetts) ist ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker und -Forscher.
1961 bis 1965 studierte er Sprachwissenschaften an der Harvard-Universität. Während seines Studiums begann er sich für Folkmusik zu interessieren und begann Gitarre zu lernen. Sein Interesse verlagerte sich zunehmend auf Blues und andere afroamerikanische Volksmusiken und nach seinem Abschluss in Harvard schrieb er sich im Folklore und Mythologie-Programm der University of California in Los Angeles ein, wo er 1967 mit dem M.A. und 1976 mit dem Ph.D. abschloss.
Von 1965 betrieb er bis in die Mitte der 1970er Jahre darüber hinaus Feldforschung in den Südstaaten und sammelte dabei Aufnahmen und Interviews, die die Grundlage musikalischer und sachliterarischer Veröffentlichungen bildeten.
Ab 1969 lehrte Evans an der University of California, Los Angeles, seit 1978 ist er als Professor an der Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music der University of Memphis tätig, wo er den einzigen ethnomusikwissenschaftlichen Studiengang mit Schwerpunkt Volks- und Populärmusik der amerikanischen Südstaaten aufbaute.
Seine bekanntesten Buch-Veröffentlichungen sind Tommy Johnson von 1971 sowie ein biographischer Essay über Charley Patton 1987, der geringfügig überarbeitet 2001 im Materialband der Charley Patton-Werkausgabe neu veröffentlicht wurde und für den er 2003 den Grammy für die Best Album Notes erhielt. Seine Studie "Big Road Blues" aus dem Jahr 1982 wurde 1991 in die Blues Hall of Fame (Classics of Blues Literature) aufgenommen.[1]
1979 hat Evans die High Water Recording Company gegründet 

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Evans_%28Musikwissenschaftler%29

 
 David Evans is an ethnomusicologist and director of the Ethnomusicology/Regional Studies program at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in the University of Memphis, where he worked since 1978[1]
As head of the university's High Water Recording Company, he made numerous recordings of performers in the Memphis area, some of whom were not previously documented. He has written or edited a number of books on the blues, alongside music releases' liner notes and booklets.[2] He won a Grammy in 2003 for "Best Album Notes" for the CD Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues - The Worlds Of Charley Patton.[3]
Evans has also been performing in the US and elsewhere, both solo and with the Last Chance Jug Band. His discography includes Match Box Blues (Inside Sounds, 2002); I didn't Know about You (Heavywood, 2005);[4] Needy Times (Inside Sounds, 2007) and as player in Shake That Thing! (Inside Sounds: 2006).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Evans_%28musicologist%29  

David Evans / Big road blues 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V0PBv21_30 

 

Mary Everhart  *22.01.1963

Mary(Duyugodv Ayosdi) Everhart is a professional Blues, Southern and Classic rock (Vocalist, Guitarist , composer, and recording artist) and very proud member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama-Deer Clan. She was nominated and inducted in 2010 by Blues great, Jimmy Lloyd Rea, into the Blues Hall of Fame as a Great Blues Artist from Tallahassee, FL. The following year she was inducted again into the Blues Hall of Fame as the Ambassador to Tallahassee, FL.Mary was born and raised in Tallahassee, FL and has always had a passion for music and has been performing for over 30 years with various local and regional acts. A review of Mary's debut CD 'Rottweiler Blues' by Blues Revue magazine, compared her voice  to Koko Taylor and Lou Ann Barton. Singing throughout her childhood Mary also knew she wanted to learn to play guitar. She received her first guitar when she was 12 years old and began teaching herself to play with a Mel Bay book and by watching others play. It was not easy for a left handed person to play right handed but, Mary persevered.
She later moved to Atlanta. GA where she became part of the Great Atlanta Blues Revue and also, where she stood on the Capitol steps and sang and played to a local and National audience, both television and syndicated radio, as her part of helping the law to be changed in Georgia against paternity fraud.

http://www.maryeverhartblues.com/band_bio/  


https://www.reverbnation.com/maryeverhart 

Pete Karnes- Mary Everhart... End of the night Jam 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCVmA7mUvmw 

 

 

Robert Elem  *22.01.1928 

Robert „Mojo“ Elem (* 22. Januar 1928 in Itta Benna, Mississippi; † 5. Februar 1997) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesmusiker. Er spielte Bass und Gitarre.
Elem wurde in Itta Bena geboren, er wuchs also in einer fruchtbaren Bluesgegend auf. Sein erstes Instrument war die Gitarre und er lernte sie, in dem er Gitarristen wie Robert Nighthawk und Ike Turner beobachtete.[1] Im Alter von 20 Jahren kam er nach Chicago, wo er bald als professioneller Musiker arbeitete. Er spielte Rhythmusgitarre in der Band von Arthur „Big Boy“ Spires mit dem Mundharmonikaspieler Lester Davenport. 1956 wechselte er zum damals in Chicago auftauchenden E-Bass, schon alleine, um sich von den vielen Gitarristen abzuheben, die ebenfalls Arbeit in den Clubs von Chicago suchten. Er gründete eine Band mit dem Harmonikaspieler Earl Payton und Freddie King als Gitarristen. Mit ihm spielte er auf Kings erster Single für das El-Bee Label Ende 1956. Nach Kings Erfolgen wurde dieser zum Bandleader und Elem blieb die nächsten acht Jahre in seiner Band. In den 1950er und 1960er Jahren spielte er auch oft in Klubs in Chicagos Westside, darunter mit Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Shakey Jake Harris, Jimmy Dawkins und Luther Allison. In der Band von Otis Rush spielte er auch kurz.[2] Als Bandleader nahm er nur wenige Alben auf, war aber immer ein gesuchter Begleitmusiker.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Elem 

When talking about deep bluesmen who are also great entertainers, the conversation will eventually get around to the coolest bassman/singer/showman the Windy City has in its blues arsenal, Big Mojo Elem. As a singer, he possesses a relatively high-pitched voice that alternately drips with honey and malice. As a bassist, his unique approach to the instrument makes him virtually one of a kind. Unlike most bass players, Elem seldom plays standard walking bass patterns, instead using a single-note groove that lends to any band he's a part of a decidedly juke-joint groove. And as a showman, he possesses an energy that makes other performers half his age look like they're sitting down. Born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, Elem grew up in fertile blues territory. Originally a guitarist, he soaked up licks and ideas by observing masters like Robert Nighthawk and a young Ike Turner first-hand. By his 20th birthday, he had arrived in Chicago and was almost immediately pressed into professional service playing rhythm guitar behind Arthur "Big Boy" Spires and harmonica man Lester Davenport. By 1956, Elem had switched over to the newly arrived (in Chicago) electric bass, simply to stand out from the pack of guitar players searching the clubs looking for work. He formed a band with harp player Earl Payton and signed on a young Freddie King as their lead guitarist, playing on King's very first single for the El-Bee label in late 1956. After Freddie's success made him the bandleader, Big Mojo stayed with King off and on for the next eight years. The '50s and '60s also found him doing club work -- mostly on the West side -- with Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Shakey Jake Harris, Jimmy Dawkins, and Luther Allison, with a short stint in Otis Rush's band as well. Aside from a stray anthology cut and a now out of print album for a tiny European label, Elem's career has not been documented in much depth, but he remains one of the liveliest players on the scene.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-mojo-elem-mn0001198670/biography

Big Mojo Elem Talk To Your Daughter (1978) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3-NNe90dXw 

Eva Taylor  *22.01.1895

 

http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/st-louis-woman-eva-taylor

Eva Taylor (* 22. Januar 1895 in St. Louis als Irene Joy Gibbons; † 31. Oktober 1977 in Mineola, New York) war eine US-amerikanische Blues- und Jazzsängerin sowie Schauspielerin.

Leben und Wirken

Eva Taylor begann ihre Karriere bereits als Kinderstar in einer Revue-Tourneetruppe, die zwischen 1900 und 1920 auch Europa, Australien und Neuseeland bereiste.[1] Sie ging dann in den Vereinigten Staaten mit der Vaudeville-Truppe „Josephine Gassman and Her Pickaninnies“ auf Tournee. 1920 kam sie nach New York City, wo sie bald eine populäre Sängerin in den Nachtclubs von Harlem wurde. 1921 heiratete sie den Pianisten und Produzenten Clarence Williams; das Paar arbeitete dann an verschiedenen Projekten, zahlreichen Songs und einer Musik-Revue namens „Bottomland“ und an verschiedenen Radioprogrammen. 1922 entstanden Eva Taylors erste Aufnahmen für das afroamerikanische Label Black Swan, die sie als „The Dixie Nightingale“ vermarktete.[2] Sie wirkte dann in den 1920er und 1930er Jahren auf zahlreichen Blues-, Jazz- und populären Titeln von Okeh und Columbia Records mit und hatte 1925 erste Hits mit den Songs „Everybody Loves My Baby“ (#10) und „Cake Walkin’ Babies from Home“ (#13).

Als Leadsängerin war sie bei verschiedenen Aufnahmen von Williams' Formation Blue Five zu hören, wie auch bei dessen Sessions mit Louis Armstrong und Sidney Bechet 1924/25; dann 1929 bei Aufnahmen der Studioband The Charleston Chasers (Ain’t Misbehavin’) sowie bei Aufnahmen von Bluessängerinnen wie Sippie Wallace, Rosetta Crawford und Bessie Smith.[3] Obwohl sie zumeist unter ihrem Bühnennamen Eva Taylor auftrat, arbeitete sie gelegentlich auch unter ihrem Echtnamen als „Irene Gibbons and her Jazz Band“. 1927 trat Eva Taylor in dem Broadway-Stück Bottomland auf, das Williams geschrieben und produziert hatte und 21 Aufführungen erlebte.[4]

Ende der 1920er hatte Eva Taylor beim Sender NBC auch ihre eigene Radioshow[5] und gastierte in der Paul Whiteman Radio Show (1932).[6] Bis in die 1930er Jahre arbeitete sie mit Williams zusammen. Anfang der 1940er Jahre zog sie sich aus dem Musikgeschäft zurück und trat nur noch gelegentlich in Konzerten und Nachtclubs auf. Nach dem Tod ihre Mannes kehrte sie Mitte der 1960er Jahre ins Musikgeschäft zurück und ging auch in Europa auf Tourneen.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Taylor_%28S%C3%A4ngerin%29

Eva Taylor (January 22, 1895 — October 31, 1977) was an American blues singer and stage actress.

Life and career

Born Irene Joy Gibbons in St. Louis, Missouri, on stage from the age of three, Taylor toured New Zealand, Australia and Europe before her teens.[1] She also toured extensively with the "Josephine Gassman and Her Pickaninnies" vaudeville act. She settled in New York by 1920. There she established herself as a performer in Harlem nightspots. Within a year she wed Clarence Williams, a producer (hired by Okeh Records), publisher, and piano player. The newlyweds worked together on radio and recordings. The couple recorded together through 1930s. Their legacy includes numbers made as the group Blue Five in the mid-1920s, which included jazz clarinetist/saxophonist Sidney Bechet, trumpet virtuoso Louis Armstrong, and such singers as Sippie Wallace and Bessie Smith.[2]

In 1922 Taylor made her first record for the African-American owned Black Swan Records, who billed her as "The Dixie Nightingale."[3] She would continue to record dozens of blues, jazz and popular sides for Okeh and Columbia throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Although she adopted the stage name of Eva Taylor, she also worked under her birth name in 'Irene Gibbons and her Jazz Band'.

She was part of The Charleston Chasers, the name given to a few all-star studio ensembles who recorded between 1925 and 1930. In 1927, Eva Taylor appeared on Broadway in Bottomland, a musical written and produced by her husband, lasted for twenty-one performances.[4] During 1929 Eva had her own radio show on NBC's Cavalcade,[5] then worked for many years on radio WOR, New York (guesting on Paul Whiteman's radio show in 1932).[6] Taylor stopped performing during the 1940s, but returned in the mid-1960s following her husband's death, touring throughout Europe.

Death

Eva Taylor died from cancer in 1977 in Mineola, New York. She was interred next to her husband, Clarence Williams, under the name of Irene Joy Williams in Saint Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale, New York.[7] Their son, Clarence Williams, Jr. (1923–1976), who predeceased his mother by one year, was the father of actor Clarence Williams III. Their daughter Joy Williams (1931-1970) was a singer-actress under stage name Irene Williams.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Taylor 

Eva Taylor-Shout Sister Shout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TfbQP2phUQ#t=11 

R.I.P.

 

Big Leon Brooks  +22.01.1982 

 

Big Leon Brooks’ deep voice and heavy harmonica tone harkened back to Chicago blues of the 1950s—his style having been preserved by a long hiatus from music. He was influenced very little by the funkier, guitar-driven blues of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Leon was quick to point out that there were better harmonica players years ago. “We had quite a few harmonica players back then that were pretty damn good…. they had more weight, more tone. You got to really blow from within; you’ve got to have that feeling for music, blues music. This is something you don’t find many harp players with today.”


“The Big Man,” as he was aptly called around his home (he often wore shirts with “Big” embroidered on the pocket instead of his name), began playing harp when he was six years old. Growing up in Sunflower, Mississippi, he had a chance to learn from the masters. Leon recalled meeting Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), Elmore James, Boyd Gilmore and Charlie Booker. “I was raised up around those guys,” he remembered, “but I really learned a lot from the radio, too.”

Moving to Chicago in the early 1940s, Leon began playing with “kids in the neighborhood, on the street and down in Jewtown” (the Maxwell Street outdoor market). There he met his future mentor, Little Walter Jacobs. “I started out in Rice Miller’s style, but Little Walter was really my idol on harmonica, and I followed him around a lot. He was my coach.”

Still a teenager, Leon began slipping into the blues clubs, hanging around mostly at The Zanzibar, where he sat in with the Muddy Waters band. During the early ‘50s, he played with Freddie King and Jimmy Lee Robinson, before forming his first band with guitarist Charles Pearson in 1953. The pair joined Jimmy Rogers’ band for a couple years, before Leon split off to form his own group again. He kept bands together off and on, and worked as a sideman with Willie Johnson, Kansas City Red, Floyd Jones, Otis Rush and Robert Nighthawk throughout the ‘50s.

Then, in the early ‘60s, disenchanted with the more guitar-dominated sound of modern blues, Leon retired from music. “It got to a point where we couldn’t get no gigs. I said ‘the hell with it’, and started strictly working, driving a truck. I didn’t even go to a club.” Nearly fifteen years passed before Leon, after repeated coaxing from the West Side singer called Tail Dragger, decided to re-enter music in 1976. Guitarist Paul Cooper soon brought Leon to the North Side, and in 1977 the harpist began a Sunday night gig at Kingston Mines that lasted almost a year. Then Leon returned to the West Side, working with Tail Dragger, Eddie Taylor and James Scott at Mary’s, The Golden Slipper and The Show & Tell. He was back on the North Side with Scott at the Broadway Night Club before being hospitalized in November 1979 with a heart condition.

He made his recording debut on Alligator’s Living Chicago Blues series in 1980, recording four tracks with an all-star band. He went on to cut a full album, Let’s Go To Town, for the small Blues Over Blues label. Leon died in 1982, at the age of 49, still known only to a small number of hard-core blues fans who love the sound of classic, 1950’s-style Chicago blues.

http://www.alligator.com/artists/Big-Leon-Brooks/

 

Big Leon Brooks - 13 Years In Prison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHVAjGGe49k 

 

Tommy Tucker  +22.01.1982

 

http://www.discogs.com/artist/340682-Tommy-Tucker

Tommy Tucker (eigentlicher Name Robert Higginbotham) (* 5. März 1933 in Springfield (Ohio); † 22. Januar 1982 in Newark, New Jersey) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Sänger und Pianist.
Werdegang
Über das Leben des Bluessängers und Pianisten Tommy Tucker ist nicht viel überliefert. Tommy Tucker war der Kousin von Joan Higginbotham, einer Astronautin, die sich im Dezember 2006 an Bord der Space Shuttle Discovery aufhielt.
Er lernte Klavier ab 1941 und schloss sich dem Bobby Wood-Orchester an, aus dem 1953 die Doo Wop-Formation Cavaliers hervorging. In Woods Band lernte er den Trompeter Clarence LeVille kennen, mit dem er im Jahr 1951 eine Hausband im Farm Dell Club in Dayton/Ohio gründete. Sie begleiteten hier Bluesgrößen wie Big Maybelle, Billie Holiday, Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, Little Willie John oder Amos Milburn. Danach wechselte er häufig die Gruppen, tauchte 1955 mit LeVille bei den Belvaderes auf, mit dem er danach 1956 auch bei den Dusters spielte. Zwei erfolglose Singles von je einer dieser Formationen waren das Ergebnis. 1957 schließt sich Tucker der Hausband des The Frolic Night Club in Springfield/Ohio an.
Zusammen mit Atlantic Records-Inhaber Ahmet Ertegün verfasste er den Song My Girl (I Really Love Her So), den er 1961 erfolglos als Solist herausbrachte.
Einziger Hit
Tuckers einziger und größter Hit war die Eigenkomposition und spätere Mods-Hymne Hi Heel Sneakers mit der markanten Slide-Gitarrenarbeit im Bottleneck-Stil von Welton „Dean“ Young, der mit Tucker bereits in den fünfziger Jahren zusammengearbeitet hatte. Nach Veröffentlichung des Jimmy Reed-ähnlichen Stils beim Chess Records-Tochterlabel Checker Records am 13. Januar 1964 gelangte der Titel bis auf Rang 11 der Popcharts und gehörte mit rund 200 Versionen zu den viel gecoverten Songs. Die Aufnahme wurde wahrscheinlich noch im Gründungsjahr 1962 der A-1-Tonstudios von Herb Abramson produziert. Long Tall Shorty, geschrieben von Don Covay und Herb Abramson, war der erfolglose Nachfolgehit vom Mai 1964, gecovert von den Kinks (auf der gleichnamigen LP vom 2. Oktober 1964). Abramson produzierte auch 1966 That’s Life für sein eigenes Festival-Label, konnte jedoch den künstlerischen Niedergang Tuckers nicht aufhalten.
Ende der 1960er Jahre ließ er sich als Grundstücksmakler in East Orange (New Jersey) nieder und kehrte 1974 ins Tonstudio zurück, wo ihn Altrocker Bo Diddley auf Alben wie Mother Tucker oder The Rocks is My Pillow – the Cold Ground is My Bed begleitete. Die Alben scheiterten ebenso wie die meisten Singles zuvor.
Nicht verwechselt werden darf Tommy Tucker, dessen Künstlernamen auf einen professionellen Footballspieler zurückgeht, mit dem Rockabilly-Sänger Tommy Ray Tucker. Tommy Tucker starb am 22. Januar 1982 am Einatmen giftiger Dämpfe.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Tucker_%28Blues-Musiker%29

Tommy Tucker (born Robert Higginbotham; March 5, 1933 – January 22, 1982)[1] was an American blues singer-songwriter and pianist. He is best known for the 1964 hit song, "Hi-Heel Sneakers", that went to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and peaked at No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart.[2]
Biography
He was born Robert Higginbotham, to Leroy and Mary Higginbotham, the fifth of eleven children, in Springfield, Ohio, United States.
Tucker's follow-up release, "Long Tall Shorty", was less successful. Nevertheless, musicians that played on his albums included Louisiana Red, Willie Dixon and Donny Hathaway.
Tucker co-wrote a song with Atlantic Records founder executive Ahmet Ertegün, called "My Girl (I Really Love Her So)". Tucker left the music industry in the late 1960s, taking a position as a real estate agent in New Jersey. He also did freelance writing for a local newspaper in East Orange, New Jersey, writing of the plight and ignorance of black males in America, and the gullibility and exploitation of African Americans in general by the white-dominated media.[citation needed] Tucker currently has four albums selling in Europe and over the internet, through the Red Lightnin' record label.
Tucker was the father of up-and-coming blues artist Teeny Tucker (real name Regina Westbrook), and was the cousin of Joan Higginbotham, the U.S. female astronaut who launched in November 2006 on the Space Shuttle Discovery.[citation needed]
He was also friends with Davey Moore, the featherweight who died following a boxing contest with Sugar Ramos; and Johnny Lytle, the renowned vibraphonist.
Death
Tucker died in 1982 at the age of 48 at College Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, from inhaling carbon tetrachloride while refinishing the hardwood floors of his home; though his death has been alternatively attributed to food poisoning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Tucker_%28singer%29

 

Tommy Tucker - Hi-Heel Sneakers (1964) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bmbSC9c2ys 

 

 

 

 

 

Blind James Campbell   +22.01.1981 

 http://www.discogs.com/Blind-James-Campbell-Blind-James-Campbell-And-His-Nashville-Street-Band/release/3735130

Blind James Campbell (September 17, 1906 - January 22, 1981[1]) was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is mostly remembered for his 1962-63 recording for the Arhoolie label with his Nashville Street Band.
James Campbell was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 17, 1906. He later became known as Blind James Campbell after an accident at a fertilizer plant left him permanently blinded. In 1936 he formed a band and began playing folk, country, pop, jazz and blues music at parties, dances and for other local events. The Nashville Street Band consisted of fiddler Beauford Clay (born 1900) who was a great influence on Campbell's playing, second guitarist Bell Ray (born 1909), bass horn player Ralph Robinson (born 1885), and trumpeter George Bell.
Campbell and his band appeared to be quite content with the steady work they were receiving, and did not seem to have any desire to pursue a career in recording. However, Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records became interested in the band after hearing a field recording of them made by a fellow blues fan, Donald Hill. Hill had recorded Campbell in the spring of 1959 and again in April 1961. Hill's recordings include Campbell singing country songs as well as blues. He also recorded Cambpell and his string band on a street corner in downtown Nashville and recorded him with Beauford Clay. Both the original tapes and digital copies of Hill's recordings have been deposited at Library of Congress as a part of the Hill/Mangurian collection of field recordings made between 1958 and 1961.
After listening to Hill's tapes, Strachwitz set off to Nashville to find and record Campbell and his band. After two recording sessions with Campbell and his band in 1962 and 1963, the Arhoolie LP Blind James Campbell And His Nashville Street Band (Arhoolie 1015) was released in 1963.
While these recordings never excelled Campbell into prominence, and the history of James Campbell and his band since the 1963 recordings is hazy, Strachwitz revisited these recordings and released them on CD in 1995, along with additional tracks from both recording sessions. Certainly, these recordings show evidence of a street band of considerable skill and quality, who were able to play American music from a variety of genres.
James Campbell died in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 22, 1981

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_James_Campbell  

Blind James Campbell & His Nashville Street Band - I Am So Blue When It Rains 


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0WZBEqcFns

Judy Roderick Todestag 22.01.1992

 

Judith Allen "Judy" Roderick (December 14, 1942 – January 22, 1992) was an American folk and blues singer and songwriter, described by Allmusic as: "One of the finest white folk/blues singers of the early to mid-'60s."
She was born in Wyandotte, Michigan to Howard and Emily Roderick, and grew up in Elkhart, Indiana.[2] She attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, and began singing blues, folk and country music and playing guitar in clubs there and in Denver.[1][3]
After moving to New York in the early 1960s, she was heard by manager Lee Silberstein, who secured her a record deal with Columbia Records.[4] Her first album, Ain't Nothin' But The Blues, produced by Bobby Scott, was released in 1964. Described at Allmusic as "an eclectic mix of traditional acoustic folk tunes and large arrangements of blues tunes", it featured John Hammond Jr. on harmonica. She performed at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival,[2] and at many leading club venues in the eastern United States, developing a loyal following,[1] but a second album for Columbia was never completed after Roderick and Scott disagreed on the direction it should take.[3][5]
She was signed for Vanguard Records by Maynard Solomon, and recorded her second and best-regarded album, Woman Blue, released in 1965. Again a mixture of blues and folk material, from a variety of sources, it featured musicians Artie Traum, Dick Weissman, Russ Savakus, Todd Sommer and Paul Griffin.[6] The song "Woman Blue" was a folk song recorded by many artists, usually titled "I Know You Rider", and made more popular by the Grateful Dead.[7] The album was issued by Fontana in the UK in 1966, and Roderick went to Britain to promote the record.[4] She was also featured on an album of Newport Folk Festival performances issued by Vanguard.[1][2] However, by the time of the Vanguard releases, her style of music was being overtaken by the emergence of folk rock, and sales of her records were disappointing.[3][5]
She began writing songs in collaboration with Bill Ashford, and returned to Colorado in 1969, forming a new band, 60,000,000 Buffalo. Their album of original material, Nevada Jukebox, produced by Bill Szymczyk, was released on the Atco label in 1972.[8] However, the band broke up the following year.[1]
Roderick moved to Hamilton, Montana, where she continued to perform, often with partner Dexter Payne in his swing band, The Big Sky Mudflaps; she sang some of the songs on two of the band's albums. In 1982, she and Payne formed a new band, Judy Roderick & The Forbears, and recorded a self-titled album with musicians including Mac Rebennack (Dr. John). The album received a limited independent release on cassette only in 1984.[4][2]
A diabetic since childhood, Judy Roderick died of a heart attack from complications due to the disease in 1992 at the age of 49.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Roderick 

Judy Roderick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTPripQwH_E