Samstag, 30. Januar 2016

30.01. Marty Balin, Karen Carroll, Janiva Magness, Ruth Brown, Dr. G.B. Burt, Samantha Fish, Big Creek Slim * Lightnin’ Hopkins, Ann Rabson, Mance Lipscomb, Professor Longhair +









1928 Ruth Brown*
1937 Dr. G.B. Burt*
1942 Marty Balin*
1957 Janiva Magness*
1958 Karen Carroll*
1976 Buster Brown+
1976 Mance Lipscomb+
1980 Professor Longhair+
1982 Lightnin’ Hopkins+
1983 Big Creek Slim*
1989 Samantha Fish*
2013 Ann Rabson+






Happy Birthday

 

Marty Balin  *30.01.1942

 



Marty Balin (* 30. Januar 1942 in Cincinnati, Ohio als Martyn Jerel Buchwald) ist ein amerikanischer Rockmusiker (Gesang, Gitarre, Mundharmonika). Er war Gründer der Rockband Jefferson Airplane.
Balin, der in San Francisco studierte, wollte ursprünglich Maler werden. Seine Teilnahme an einer Produktion des Musicals West Side Story weckte jedoch seine Liebe zur Musik. 1962 nahm er die Singles Nobody But You und I Specialize In Love auf. Er musizierte mit verschiedenen Bands, darunter die Town Criers und die Gateway Singers.
1965 traf er Paul Kantner, mit dem er Jefferson Airplane gründete. Zunächst spielten sie Folk Rock, wurden aber bald eine treibende Kraft des aufkommenden Psychedelic Rock.
Aufgrund interner Reibereien verließ Balin die Gruppe 1971. Seine Band Bodacious D. F. bestand nur kurz und produzierte ein einziges Album. 1975 kam er zu seiner ursprünglichen Band zurück, die sich mittlerweile in Jefferson Starship umbenannt hatte. Sein Song Miracles wurde ein Hit.
1978 begann Balin eine Solokarriere. Er hatte einige Hits wie Hearts und Atlanta Lady. Mit Paul Kantner und Jack Casady, seinen alten Kollegen von Jefferson Airplane, stellte er 1985 die KBC Band auf die Beine. 1989 gab es eine kurzzeitige Wiedervereinigung von Jefferson Airplane.
Marty Balin war danach weiterhin solo aktiv, beteiligte sich aber auch an Kantners Jefferson Starship – The Next Generation.

Marty Balin (born Martyn Jerel Buchwald; January 30, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off Jefferson Starship.
Balin’s distinctive voice and style are heard on memorable recordings including the Billboard top chart hits “Miracles,” “Hearts,” “Atlanta Lady,” “Count On Me” and “Runaway” and album, radio, film and television soundtrack classics such as “Comin’ Back to Me,” “Today,” and “Volunteers.” A variety of musical styles are represented in his concert performances, from his classic hits with Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship to new songs from recent albums and current studio sessions.
He is also a painter.
Early life
Balin was born Martyn Jerel Buchwald in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Catherine Eugenia "Jean" (née Talbot) and Joseph Buchwald. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Eastern Europe. His father was Jewish and his mother was Episcopalian. Marty attended Washington High School in San Francisco, California.
Career
In 1962, Martyn Jerel Buchwald renamed himself Marty Balin. He began recording with Challenge Records, releasing the singles “Nobody But You” and “I Specialize in Love.”[1] By 1964, Balin was leading a folk music quartet called The Town Criers with fellow band members Larry Vargo, Jan Ellickson, and Bill Collins.[1]
Balin was the founder and one of the lead vocalists for Jefferson Airplane, along with Grace Slick, from 1965 to 1971.[1]
In 1971, he departed Jefferson Airplane, and went on to produce an album for the group Grootna[2] before joining them and recording vocals for the album Bodacious DF.[3] In 1974, Paul Kantner asked Marty to write a song for his new Airplane offshoot group, Jefferson Starship. Together they wrote "Caroline"[1] which appeared on the album Dragon Fly. Marty joined Jefferson Starship permanently in 1975 [1] and contributed to several hit songs (including "Miracles" (#3), "With Your Love" (#12), "Count on Me" (#8), and "Runaway" (#12).[4] In 1978, Balin left the group.[1]
In 1979, he produced a rock opera entitled Rock Justice,[5] about a rock star who was put in jail for failing to produce a hit for his record company, based on his experiences with the lawsuits fought for years with former Airplane manager Matthew Katz.[1] The cast recording was produced by Balin, but did not feature him in performance.
Balin continued with EMI as a solo artist, and in 1981 he released his first solo album, Balin, featuring two songs that became Top 40 hits, “Hearts” (#8) and “Atlanta Lady” (#27). This was followed in 1983 by a second solo album, Lucky, along with a Japanese-only EP produced by EMI called There's No Shoulder. Balin's contract with EMI ended shortly after.[1]
In 1985, he teamed up with Paul Kantner and Jack Casady to form the KBC Band.[1] After the breakup of the KBC band, a 1989 reunion album and tour with Jefferson Airplane followed.
Balin continued recording solo albums in the years following the reunion, and reunited with Kantner in the latest incarnation of Jefferson Starship.[1]
Balin had intended to record lead vocals for two tracks for Jefferson Starship's album, Jefferson's Tree of Liberty. However, his art touring schedule conflicted with studio sessions and instead the track “Maybe for You” from the German release of Windows of Heaven was included.[6][7]
On July 2, 2007, the music publishing firm Bicycle Music, Inc. announced that it had acquired an interest in songs written or performed by Balin, including hits from his days with Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.[8]
Personal life
Balin has also enjoyed painting all his life. He loves doing paintings of performers he has performed with and his fantasy paintings of Le Pétomane, Paris 1896, the only performer with whom he had never performed. He has painted many of the most influential musicians of the last half of the 20th century. Marty Balin’s Atelier is located at 130 King Fine Art in Saint Augustine Florida, Balin's permanent signature collection Gallery. [9]
Marty Balin resides in Florida and San Francisco with his wife Susan Joy Buchwald, formerly Susan Joy Finkelstein. Together they have four daughters; Balin's daughters: Jennifer Edwards and Delaney Balin, and Susan's daughters: Rebekah Geier and Moriah Geier.

"HEARTS" MARTY BALIN (live) 85 S.F.mov 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6MOsIfNut4 







Karen Carroll   *30.01.1958 

 

http://www.bluescontact.de/karen_carroll/

Karen Carroll (born January 30, 1958, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American Chicago blues singer.[1] She was born to parents Mack Carroll and Alberta Simmons Carroll (stage name: Jeanne Carroll).[2] Her godparents were the jazz guitarist George Freeman and blues vocalist Bonnie Lee.
Carroll started singing in church at the age of six.[3] Her first appearance was on stage playing guitar with her mother's band at age 14.[4] Early in her career she worked with Katie Webster and Albert King.[5] She recorded her first song with Carey Bell on his album, Son of a Gun in 1983.[6] Carroll went on to tour with Eddie Lusk in Canada, after recording his album Professor Strut in 1989.[7] Karen went on to play at some big Chicago blues clubs. In 1995, Carroll worked on an album with five other female blues artists called Women of Blue Chicago,[8] and it is still being played on the radio today.[9] She was offered her own recording contract by Delmark Records in 1995, subsequently making the album Had My Fun.[10] This was followed by another recording, Talk to the Hand in 1997. Some of the tracks on the album Carroll wrote and holds copyright for.[11]
Over the years she has worked with many Chicago blues musicians such as Carey and Lurrie Bell, Rudy Rotta, Otis Grand, Angela Brown, Billy Branch, Melvin Taylor, Eddy Clearwater, Lonnie Brooks, Alvin Lee, Byther Smith and Sugar Blue.[12]
In 2008, she released Be My Guest! on Indigoteam Records.


Blues und Jazzfestival in Bamberg - Karen Caroll & Christian Jung Trio 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OP5gSn7PQQ 





Janiva Magness  *30.01.1957

 




Janiva Magness (born January 30, 1957)[1] is an American blues and soul singer and songwriter. To date, she has released nine albums.[2]
The Blues Foundation named Magness the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2009, becoming only the second woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored.[3] In the same year, she was named the Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year, which she had already won in 2006 and 2007,[4] and was nominated for again in 2012. Since 2006, she has had 22 similar nominations.[5][6] USA Today stated, "Magness is a blues star."
Magness was born in Detroit, Michigan, but suffered the tragedy of losing both of her parents to suicide before she reached her mid-teens.[2] Placed in a series of a dozen foster homes,[8] Magness was pregnant at the age of 17, and gave her baby daughter up for adoption.[7]
Having been initially inspired by the music in her father's record collection, an underage Magness attended an Otis Rush concert in Minneapolis that changed her outlook.[2] Magness later recalled, "Otis played as if his life depended on it. There was a completely desperate, absolute intensity. I knew, whatever it was, I needed more of it."[7] Studying to become an engineer, she worked in a recording studio in Saint Paul, Minnesota, when she was coerced into doing some backing singing.[4] Her work, which included backing Kid Ramos and R. L. Burnside,[4] led her to Phoenix, Arizona and in forming her own band, the Mojomatics. They enjoyed local success before Magness relocated in 1986 to Los Angeles.[1] Her first album It Takes One to Know One, was released in 1997.[2] In 1999, Magness starred in a stage production of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, at the David Geffen Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles, California.[9]
Three independent releases followed before Magness was signed to a recording contract by NorthernBlues Music. They released Bury Him at the Crossroads (2004) and Do I Move You? (2006).[2] Both albums were co-produced by Magness and Colin Linden, with the former earning them a Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers Of The Year.[4] Do I Move You? reached number 8 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart.[7]
In 2008, Magness signed with Alligator Records releasing What Love Will Do. The Chicago Sun-Times stated, "Her songs run the gamut of emotions from sorrow to joy. A master of the lowdown blues who is equally at ease surrounded by funk or soul sounds, Magness invigorates every song with a brutal honesty."[7] She toured widely incorporating Canada, Europe as well as across the United States.[9]
The equally critically acclaimed effort, The Devil Is an Angel Too, appeared in 2010,[4] and Stronger for It in 2012.[2] The latter included some of her own songs, the first album to do so since her debut effort in 1997.[4]
In 2013, Magness was nominated in five categories for more Blues Music Awards.
Magness has performed at the Notodden Blues Festival (in 2007 and 2008), and at Memphis in May (in 2006 and 2010).
Janiva Magness - I Won't Cry (Feat. Dave Darling) New Blues Song Pre-Release Live 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7m1n5IFmyA 






Ruth Brown  *30.01.1928

 



Ruth Brown (* 30. Januar 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia, geborene Ruth Weston; † 17. November 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada) war eine der populärsten amerikanischen Rhythm-and-Blues-Sängerinnen der 1950er Jahre.
Ruth Brown sang schon früh in verschiedenen Kirchenchören, sattelte später aber, entgegen dem Willen ihres Vaters, zur weltlichen Musik um. 1945 lernte sie den Trompeter Jimmy Brown kennen, den sie kurze Zeit später heiratete. Bei einem Auftritt im New Yorker Apollo Theater wurde sie entdeckt, als sie einen Song von Bing Crosby vortrug. Als Folge davon erhielt sie 1946 ein Engagement in der Band von Lucky Millinder, wurde aber in Washington, D.C. später entlassen, als sie zwei Musiker mit Alkohol versorgte haben soll. Es dauerte jedoch nicht lange, bis sich Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloways Schwester, ihrer annahm und sie als Solo-Künstlerin verpflichtete.
Kurz vor ihrem geplanten ersten Auftritt, abermals im Apollo Theater, wurde sie am 28. Oktober 1948 in Chester von einem Auto angefahren, brach sich beide Beine und mehrere Rippen und lag mehrere Monate im Krankenhaus. Erst 1949 nahm sie mit „So Long“ unter dem Label Atlantic Records ihre erste Single auf, die sich schon bald als Erfolg entpuppte. Der Song war die Erkennungsmelodie der Chicagoer Sängerin Little Miss Cornshucks, die sie als ihr größtes Vorbild bezeichnete. Mit dem 1950 erschienenen „ Teardrops from My Eyes “ landete sie ihren ersten Nr.-1-Hit in den R&B-Charts, dem noch weitere folgen sollten. Z. B. 1952 (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean, mit dem sie sich gleichzeitig auch erstmals in den US-Pop-Charts platzieren konnte. 1954 sang sie Sentimantal Journey mit den Delta Rhythm Boys. 1957 schaffte sie mit dem Leiber/Stoller-Song Lucky Lips erstmals einen größeren Erfolg in den US-Pop-Charts, den sie 1958 mit This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin sogar noch übertreffen konnte.
Anfang der 1960er Jahre ließen ihre Erfolge stark nach, sodass sie Mitte der 1960er der Plattenindustrie vollkommen den Rücken kehrte, sie wurde jedoch zu allen nennenswerten Blues- und Jazzfestivals eingeladen. Erst in den späten 1970er spielte sie wieder Songs ein. Sie tourte mit dem Musical Guys and Dolls, nahm 1982 die Show The Soul Survives auf und erhielt Anfang der 1980er Jahre für ihre Rolle in dem Broadway-Stück Black And Blue einen Tony Award sowie einen Outer Critics Circle Award. Sie übernahm auch in dem Off-Broadway-Musical Stagger Lee von Allen Toussaint eine Hauptrolle und war jetzt als Schauspielerin auch in Spielfilmen wie Under The Rainbow und Hairspray zu sehen. Für ihr Album Blues On Broadway, das 1989 auf Fantasy Records erschienen war, bekam sie sogar einen Grammy in der Kategorie beste Jazz-Sängerin. 1998 wurde sie mit dem Living Blues Award als beste Blueskünstlerin ausgezeichnet.
In den 1990er Jahren trat sie weiterhin regelmäßig auf, darunter im New Yorker Blue Note und, zum ersten Mal seit 1968, auch wieder im Apollo. Sie unterstützte Bonnie Raitt bei ihren Platten-Aufnahmen und wurde 1993 in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen[1]. 1994 tourte sie mit ihrem Programm Ruth Brown Goes To Town durch Europa und nahm im Ronnie Scott’s Club in London das Album Live In London auf. Sie sang 1995 mit Jon Hendricks und unterschrieb 1996 bei Bullseye Blues Records. Dort erschien 1997 auch das Album R + B = Ruth Brown, auf dem Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Adams, Duke Robillard und Clarence „Gatemouth“ Brown als Gaststars zu hören sind.
2002 wurde Ruth Brown in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen. Der Rapper Rakim ist Ruth Browns Neffe.
Ruth Brown verstarb am Freitag, den 17. November 2006 in Las Vegas im Alter von 78 Jahren.

Ruth Brown (January 12/January 30, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes known as the "Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean".[1] For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "The house that Ruth built" (alluding to the popular nickname for Old Yankee Stadium).[2][3]

Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970s and peaked in the 1980s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and contracts, which led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.[4] Her performances in the Broadway musical Black and Blue earned Brown a Tony Award, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award.

Early life

Born Ruth Alston Weston in Portsmouth, Virginia, she was the eldest of seven siblings.[5] She attended I. C. Norcom High School, which was then legally segregated. Brown's father was a dockhand who directed the local church choir, but the young Ruth showed more interest in singing at USO shows and nightclubs. She was inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington.[6]

In 1945, aged 17, Brown ran away from her home in Portsmouth along with trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she soon married, to sing in bars and clubs. She then spent a month with Lucky Millinder's orchestra.[1]

Career

Blanche Calloway, Cab Calloway's sister, also a bandleader, arranged a gig for Brown at a Washington, D.C. nightclub called Crystal Caverns and soon became her manager. Willis Conover, a Voice of America disc jockey, caught her act with Duke Ellington and recommended her to Atlantic Records bosses, Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Brown was unable to audition as planned because of a serious car accident that resulted in a nine-month hospital stay. She signed with Atlantic Records on her hospital bed.[7] In 1948, Ertegün and Abramson drove to Washington, D.C., from New York City to hear her sing in the club. Although her repertoire was mostly popular ballads, Ertegün convinced her to switch to rhythm and blues.[8]

In her first audition, in 1949, she sang "So Long," which ended up becoming a hit. This was followed by "Teardrops from My Eyes" in 1950. Written by Rudy Toombs, it was the first upbeat major hit for Brown. Recorded for Atlantic Records in New York City in September 1950, and released in October, it was Billboard's R&B number one for 11 weeks. The hit earned her the nickname "Miss Rhythm" and within a few months Brown became the acknowledged queen of R&B.[9]

She followed up this hit with "I'll Wait for You" (1951), "I Know" (1951), "5-10-15 Hours" (1953), "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" (1953), "Oh What a Dream" (1954),[8] "Mambo Baby" (1954), and "Don't Deceive Me" (1960), some of which were credited to Ruth Brown and the Rhythm Makers. In all, between 1949 and 1955, she stayed on the R&B chart for a total 149 weeks, with sixteen Top 10 records including five number ones. Brown played many dances that were deeply segregated in the Southern States, where she toured extensively and was immensely popular. Brown herself claimed that a writer had once summed up her popularity by saying: "In the South Ruth Brown is better known than Coca Cola."[citation needed]

Her first pop hit came with "Lucky Lips", a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and recorded in 1957. The single reached number 6 on the R&B chart, and number 25 on the US pop chart.[10] The 1958 follow up was "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'", written by Bobby Darin and Mann Curtis. It reached number 7 on the R&B chart and number 24 on the pop chart.[11]

She was to have further hits with "I Don't Know" in 1959 and "Don't Deceive Me" in 1960, although these were more successful on the R&B chart than on the pop chart.

Later life

During the 1960s, Brown faded from public view to become a housewife and mother. She returned to music in 1975 at the urging of Redd Foxx, followed by a series of comedic acting gigs. These included a role in the sitcom Hello, Larry, and the John Waters film, Hairspray, as well as Broadway appearances in Amen Corner and Black and Blue. The latter earned her a Tony Award as "Best Actress in a Musical", and a Grammy Award as Best Female Jazz Artist for her album, Blues on Broadway, featuring hits from the show.

Brown's fight for musicians' rights and royalties in 1987 led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. She was inducted as a Pioneer Award recipient in its first year, 1989, and inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Brown recorded and sang along with fellow rhythm and blues performer Charles Brown, and toured with Bonnie Raitt in the late 1990s. Her 1995 autobiography, Miss Rhythm,[12] won the Gleason Award for music journalism. She also appeared on Bonnie Raitt's 1995 live DVD Road Tested singing the song "Never Make Your Move Too Soon."[13] She was nominated for another Grammy in the Traditional Blues category for her 1997 album, R+B=Ruth Brown.

She hosted the radio program BluesStage, carried by over 200 NPR affiliates, for six years starting in 1989.[14]

Brown was still touring at the age of 77.[7] She had completed pre-production work on the Danny Glover film, Honeydripper, which she did not live to finish, but her recording of "Things About Comin' My Way" was released posthumously on the soundtrack CD. Her last interview was in August 2006.[15]

Death

Brown died in a Las Vegas-area hospital on November 17, 2006, from complications following a heart attack and stroke she suffered after surgery in the previous month. She was 78 years old.[16] A memorial concert for her was held on January 22, 2007 at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York.

Brown is buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park, Chesapeake City, Virginia.





Ruth Brown - Miss Brown's Blues 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYn0ftas8Ww#t=25 









 Dr. G.B. Burt  *30.01.1937

Dr. Burt passed away in November 2013

 





Grover "Dr. G. B." Burt, Jr (born January 30, 1937 in Birmingham) is a blues musician and songwriter based in Birmingham. Burt's songs focus on historical persons and events, such as the Civil Rights movement and Bo Diddley.
Burt's family moved to Portland, Oregon during World War II, where his father got work as a shipbuilder. Afterwards they moved back to Birmingham, then to Florida. While there, Burt began learning to box and play guitar from his uncle, Arthur Hubbard. After they moved back to Birmingham again, Burt continued training as a boxer. He and his father began tramping around the South and he eventually met trainer Ezzard Charles in Cincinnati and competed in a Golden Gloves tournament in 1954. He continued to travel alone, carrying his guitar and boxing gloves with him, taking odd jobs as a mechanic or driver.
Burt married in 1957 and settled in Detroit, Michigan in the early 1960s, working for the Ford Motor Company. He retired from boxing and sent for his family back in Birmingham, eventually raising seven children. He got interested in 12-string guitar playing when he caught a showing of the 1976 documentary Leadbelly at Detroit's Fox Theater. He found one in a pawn shop soon later. In the 1970s he left Ford to start his own towing and repair shop. In December 1979 Burt returned to Birmingham to care for his mother, who had suffered a heart attack. While here, he found out that he had cancer and stayed to receive treatment.
Through Adolphus Bell, Burt came to the attention of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, which has helped him pursue a professional music career. In early 2008 he recorded an album for Ardie Dean in Huntsville, but had to return to Detroit soon afterward due to the death of his daughter. That Fall he went on tour to Australia and built his own second 12-string out of a regular 6-string guitar.
In February, 2009, a group of middle school students from North Carolina met Burt at his North Birmingham home, where he performed, and the students did yardwork and painted his house.


Dr. Burt: What can an Old Man Do? 







Samantha Fish  *30.01.1989




Samantha Fish (* 1989 in Kansas City) ist eine US-amerikanische Blues-Gitarristin, Sängerin und Songwriterin.[1]

Karriere

Samantha Fishs erste Auftritte erfolgten im Alter von 17 Jahren in Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City. In den folgenden Jahren spielte sie unter anderem gemeinsam mit Buddy Guy in dessen Club in Chicago und mit Ana Popović auf deren Europa-Tour. Ihr erstes Album Runaway erschien im Jahr 2011 bei Ruf Records. Auf demselben Label erschienen 2011 mit Girls with guitars und 2012 mit Girls with guitars live Aufnahmen ihrer Tourneen durch Europa.

Kansas City native Samantha Fish may have been the least experienced member of last year's "Girls with Guitars" trio, but she quickly became a powerful presence at the very center of the show. Her performances lived up to - no, check that - surpassed all the pre-tour hype surrounding this rising star of the blues. Just 22 years old, Fish sings and plays at an astounding level of maturity. She made that clear on her debut album Runaway, released during Blues Caravan 2011 - a convincing blend of blues, boogie, rock and country. "Smoking, amped up blues/rock that just doesn't quit and keeps you coming back for more. Hot stuff." (MidwestRecord.com)


''WAR PIGS'' - SAMANTHA FISH BAND, Jan 31, 2014 









Marc Koldkjaer Rune (Big Creek Slim)  *30.01.1983




Big Creek Slim, a.k.a. Marc Rune, was born and raised in Ikast, a small town in Denmark. He traveled in the United States for a spell around 2008, playing music and writing songs. He now lives in Brazil, in a cabin by the ocean.

And Big Creek Slim is a bluesman, as sure as the day is long. Don’t believe it? Just listen to Hope For My Soul. Listen to that voice. Hear the passion and the intensity that he brings to Charlie Patton’s “Down The Dirt Road Blues,” Robert Petway’s “Catfish Blues,” Tommy Johnson’s “Big Road Blues,” and to his own, self-penned title track. Hear the effortless, natural command of his guitar work throughout the album. This man has lived with the blues.

So, why would a Danish musician find such a definitive personal connection in a music created by black Americans in the rural Southern reaches of the United States, thousands of miles from his home? And, specifically, what connects him to the earliest days of that music, primarily the years before World War II?

Part of it has to do with the nature of the man, and part of it has to do with nature of the music.

“It ain’t that much about American or black music as it’s about the blues,” Big Creek says. “The blues should be a universal feeling, and a world patrimony. Why I play them in this style – old, black, American – has something to do with the way I am. I always liked to find the roots of things. I also search for the roots of Scandinavian culture. I played a lot of Irish traditional music, and the roots of Brazilian samba fascinate me.”

 At the roots of the blues, Big Creek found a blend of power and simplicity and, ultimately, a spiritual essence.

“The thing that inspired me so about old blues and folk music is the strong sound. Less is more if you play it with attitude. The sound of the Delta blues carries me to a more primitive state of mind, and I get to cut the cheese out of my life, if you know what I mean,” he says.

As blues music is part of Big Creek Slim, so is his recognition of the conditions that created that music. This awareness fundamentally changed his outlook on life.

“In the old American blues, you hear a purity that you don´t find in music nowadays, not in contemporary blues and not in popular music at all,” Big Creek explains. “The first blues records are the first recorded sounds of an oppressed people. It´s a very important moment in the history of humankind. It surely opened my eyes and made me a more tolerant person toward the indifferences of human beings, and it taught me how to love myself. I guess that´s why I got to play them so bad.”


Big Creek Slim - Mean Old Sunrise 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX7MXoauR-Y 












R.I.P.

 

 Lightnin’ Hopkins  +30.01.1982

 



Sam Hopkins, bekannt unter dem Künstlernamen Lightnin’ Hopkins (* 15. März 1912 in Centerville, Texas; † 30. Januar 1982 in Houston, Texas) war ein afroamerikanischer Blues-Sänger und -Gitarrist. Er gilt als einflussreicher Vertreter des Texas Blues.
Leben
Hopkins stammte aus einer musikalischen Familie: Zwei ältere Brüder, Joel und John Henry, waren ebenfalls Bluesgitarristen, die Mitte der 1960er Jahre eine LP auf Arhoolie Records veröffentlichten. Den Blues lernte Hopkins in Buffalo, Texas, von Blind Lemon Jefferson und dem Country-Blues-Sänger Alger 'Texas' Alexander, angeblich seinem Cousin, mit dem er von Lola Anne Cullum von Aladdin Records in Los Angeles entdeckt wurde. Seinen Spitznamen „Lightnin’“ bekam er, als er 1946 mit dem Pianisten Thunder Smith Aufnahmen machte. Hopkins nahm für viele Plattenfirmen (Modern, Ace und anderen) auf, in den 1960er Jahren vor allem LPs bei Arhoolie und Prestige – meist mit Schlagzeug und Bass. Sonny Terry beteiligte ihn 1963 an seiner Produktion Sonny Is King. 1964 nahm Hopkins am American Folk Blues Festival teil.
Mitte der 1960er Jahre spielte er auf dem Newport Folk Festival mit dem Schlagzeuger Sam Lay. Diese Aufnahmen erschienen zum Teil auf Vanguard Records. Ende der 60er drehte der Dokumentarfilmer Les Blank den Film The Blues According To Lightning Hopkins mit Mance Lipscomb und dem Blues-Harp-Spieler Billy Bizor (1913-1969), der ein Cousin von Hopkins war und ihn bei einigen "Prestige Records" Studio-Sessions in den frühen 1960er Jahren begleitete. Zwei Jahre später, 1970, wurde ein britischer Film mit Hopkins gedreht: Blues Like Showers. Ein Autounfall in den 1970er Jahren beeinträchtigte seine Gesundheit, trotzdem tourte er weiter in Amerika und Europa. 1976 spielte er beim New Orleans Blues & Jazz Festival – dieser Auftritt erschien zum Teil auf einem Doppelalbum.
In den 1980er Jahren erkrankte Hopkins an Lungen- und Kehlkopf-Krebs, so dass er unter anderem seinen Auftritt beim Münchner Blues und Jazzfestival 1981 absagen musste und stattdessen sein Cousin Albert Collins für ihn einsprang.
Musik
Vorrangig spielte Hopkins eine akustische Gitarre (häufig von der Firma Gibson), die er mit einem Tonabnehmer elektrisch verstärkte. Seit den 1970er Jahren spielte er meist eine E-Gitarre, oft eine Fender Stratocaster, aber auch eine Halb-Resonanzgitarre der Firma Gibson. In der Regel spielte er in der Tonart E-Dur auf einer standardgestimmten Gitarre mit einem Daumenpick. In einigen anderen Liedern spielte Hopkins auch in der ersten Lage in der Tonart C-Dur - meist hatten diese Songs dann eher einen Folk- als Blues-Charakter. In diesen Liedern zupfte Hopkins einen Wechselbass auf seiner Gitarre, während er seine Bluessongs mit einem Walking Bass oder den jeweiligen Grundton des Akkords begleitete. Außer der Gitarre, die neben dem Gesang sein Hauptinstrument war, spielte Hopkins auch Piano und Orgel.
Hopkins war ein eigenwilliger Musiker, was sein Taktmaß und die Einhaltung von Harmonieschemen betraf. Dies hatte seinen Ursprung darin, dass sein bereits erwähnter Cousin Texas Alexander sich ebenfalls an keinerlei Regeln hielt, zumal dieser nur Sänger war. So war es für viele Begleitmusiker nicht immer einfach, Hopkins adäquat zu unterstützen.
Er beeinflusste vor allem Buddy Guy, Louisiana Red, Wild Child Butler und Jimmie Vaughan, aber auch den Singer-Songwriter Townes Van Zandt, der häufig bei seinen Konzerten Lieder von Hopkins spielte, und den texanischen Rockabilly-Musiker Sonny Fisher. Ein nach Hopkins benannter Song wurde von R.E.M. auf ihrem Album Document veröffentlicht.
1980 wurde Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.

Sam John Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982[1]), better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas. Rolling Stone magazine included Hopkins at number 71 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.[2]
Musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins "is the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".[3]
Life
Born Sam John Hopkins in Centerville, Texas,[4] Hopkins' childhood was immersed in the sounds of the blues and he developed a deeper appreciation at the age of 8 when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas.[1] That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him" and went on to learn from his older (somewhat distant) cousin, country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander.[1] Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.[5] Hopkins began accompanying Blind Lemon Jefferson on guitar in informal church gatherings. Jefferson supposedly never let anyone play with him except for young Hopkins, who learned much from and was influenced greatly by Blind Lemon Jefferson thanks to these gatherings. In the mid-1930s, Hopkins was sent to Houston County Prison Farm for an unknown offense.[1] In the late 1930s, Hopkins moved to Houston with Alexander in an unsuccessful attempt to break into the music scene there. By the early 1940s, he was back in Centerville working as a farm hand.
Hopkins took a second shot at Houston in 1946. While singing on Dowling St. in Houston's Third Ward (which would become his home base), he was discovered by Lola Anne Cullum from the Los Angeles-based record label Aladdin Records.[1] She convinced Hopkins to travel to Los Angeles, where he accompanied pianist Wilson Smith. The duo recorded twelve tracks in their first sessions in 1946. An Aladdin Records executive decided the pair needed more dynamism in their names and dubbed Hopkins "Lightnin'" and Wilson "Thunder".
Hopkins recorded more sides for Aladdin in 1947. He returned to Houston and began recording for the Gold Star Records label. During the late 1940s and 1950s Hopkins rarely performed outside Texas. He occasionally traveled to the Mid-West and Eastern United States for recording sessions and concert appearances. It has been estimated that he recorded between 800 and 1000 songs during his career. He performed regularly at clubs in and around Houston, particularly in Dowling St. where he had first been discovered. He recorded his hits "T-Model Blues" and "Tim Moore's Farm" at SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston. By the mid to late 1950s, his prodigious output of quality recordings had gained him a following among African Americans and blues music aficionados.
In 1959, Hopkins was contacted by Mack McCormick, who hoped to bring him to the attention of the broader musical audience, which was caught up in the folk revival.[1] McCormack presented Hopkins to integrated audiences first in Houston and then in California. Hopkins debuted at Carnegie Hall on October 14, 1960, appearing alongside Joan Baez and Pete Seeger performing the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep". In 1960, he signed to Tradition Records. The recordings which followed included his song "Mojo Hand" in 1960.
In 1968, Hopkins recorded the album Free Form Patterns backed by the rhythm section of psychedelic rock band the 13th Floor Elevators. Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, Hopkins released one or sometimes two albums a year and toured, playing at major folk festivals and at folk clubs and on college campuses in the U.S. and internationally. He toured extensively in the United States[3] and played a six-city tour of Japan in 1978.
Houston's poet-in-residence for 35 years, Hopkins recorded more albums than any other bluesman.[3]
Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His New York Times obituary named him as "one of the great country blues and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players."[6]
References in popular culture
A statue of Hopkins sits in Crockett, Texas.[3]

Hopkins is referenced in Erykah Badu's 2010 "Window Seat": "I don't want to time-travel no more, I want to be here. On this porch I'm rockin', back and forth like Lightnin' Hopkins."
R.E.M features a song named "Lightnin' Hopkins" on their 1987 album Document.
Style
Hopkins' style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle playing often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, percussion, and vocals, all at the same time.[citation needed] He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single-note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.
Much of Hopkins' music follows the standard 12-bar blues template but his phrasing was very free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer.[citation needed] Lyrically his songs chronicled the problems of life in the segregated south, bad luck in love and other usual subjects of the blues idiom. He did however deal with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres and he was known for his humorous introductions.
Some of his songs were of warning and sour prediction such as "Fast Life Woman":
    "You may see a fast life woman sittin' round a whiskey joint,
    Yes, you know, she'll be sittin' there smilin',
    'Cause she knows some man gonna buy her half a pint,
    Take it easy, fast life woman, 'cause you ain't gon' live always..."[3]


Lightnin' Hopkins: Austin City Limits - 1979


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEZTr7pedIk 









Ann Rabson  +30.01.2013

 



Ann Rabson (* 12. April 1945 in New York City; † 30. Januar 2013 in Fredericksburg, Virginia[1][2][3]) war eine US-amerikanische Blues-Pianistin, Sängerin und Gitarristin.
Leben
Bereits als Kind war sie dem Blues verfallen, nachdem sie zum ersten Mal eine Platte von Big Bill Broonzy gehört hatte. Mit 17 Jahren erhielt sie von ihrem Vater eine Gitarre und spielte seitdem als Berufsmusikerin. Mit dem Klavierspielen begann sie erst mit 35 Jahren, erreichte aber bald ein solches Niveau, dass sie in die Boogie Woogie Hall of Fame aufgenommen wurde. Für Aufnahmen von Jimmy Rogers,Robert Jr. Lockwood, Hubert Sumlin, Bob Margolin, Francine Reed, Carey Bell, Cephas and Wiggins, Johnny Shines, Levon Helm, John Jackson und Snooky Pryor spielte sie Klavier. Sie trat sowohl solo als auch als Mitglied verschiedenster Bands auf und war 25 Jahre Mitglied von Saffire—The Uppity Blues Women. Nach der Auflösung der Band Ende 2009 trat sie vermehrt solistisch auf.
Nach langer Krankheit verstarb Rabson am 30. Januar 2013 an Krebs. Sie hinterlässt ihren Ehemann George Newman, ihre Tochter und eine Enkeltochter.
Auszeichnungen
    Blues Music Award Nominierung Music Makin' Mama als Album of the Year in der Kategorie Traditional Blues und Acoustic Blues, Elevator Man als Song of the Year
    Blues Music Award, achtmal Nominierung als Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year

Ann Rabson (April 12, 1945 – January 30, 2013)[1][2] was an American blues vocalist, pianist and guitar player. She was a solo recording artist signed to Alligator Records and was a member of Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women, an acoustic blues band that disbanded amicably in 2009.
Life
Born in New York City in 1945, Rabson had been playing and singing the blues professionally since 1962. She also performed as a solo act and with various other bands.[1]
She had been nominated eight times for a Blues Music Award (formerly W.C. Handy Award) as Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year.[3] Her first solo album, Music Makin' Mama, was nominated as Album of the Year in both the Traditional Blues and Acoustic Blues categories, and her composition "Elevator Man" was nominated as Song of the Year.
Rabson's second solo album, Struttin' My Stuff, was released by M.C. Records in September 2000.[1] Her joint album with Bob Margolin, Not Alone, won a Blues Music Award in 2013 in the 'Acoustic Album' category.[4]
Rabson died on January 30, 2013, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, after a long battle with cancer. She was 67.

 
Ann Rabson plays "Hopin' It'll Be All Right" 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es3CNo4qkPk 





Mance Lipscomb  +30.01.1976

 



Mance Lipscomb, eigentlich Bowdie Glenn Lipscomb (* 9. April 1895 bei Navasota, Texas; † 30. Januar 1976 in Navasota, Texas), war ein einflussreicher Bluessänger und -gitarrist.
Leben
Das Leben Mance Lipscombs ist, anders als das vieler seiner Zeitgenossen wie Blind Blake und Blind Willie McTell, sehr gut dokumentiert. Lipscomb wirkte an einer Reihe von Blues-Dokumentationen mit, darunter an dem ihm als Hauptperson gewidmeten Dokumentarfilm A Well Spent Life aus dem Jahre 1970.
Geboren als Sohn eines Ex-Sklaven aus Alabama und einer Mutter halbindianischer Abstammung, gab Lipscomb sich bereits als Jugendlicher selbst den Namen „Mance“ (nach dem Freund seines ältesten Bruders Charlie), der als Abkürzung für „emancipation“ (aus lat. emancipare = einen Sklaven oder erwachsenen Sohn in die Eigenständigkeit entlassen) zu verstehen ist.
Mance Lipscomb wuchs in einem musikalischen Umfeld auf; sein Vater war Fiddler, ein Onkel spielte Banjo und seine Brüder Gitarre. Mit elf Jahren bekam er selbst eine Gitarre geschenkt und begleitete bald seinen Vater. Später trat er allein als Unterhaltungsmusiker auf. In der Folge hatte er Kontakt zu berühmten Musikern wie den Bluesinterpreten Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson oder dem Country-Sänger Jimmy Rodgers. Dennoch nahm er nie eine Gelegenheit wahr, selbst Musikaufnahmen zu machen.
Lipscomb verdiente seinen Lebensunterhalt seit seiner Jugend fast ununterbrochen als Sharecropper in Texas. 1905–1956 arbeitete er für verschiedene Grundeigentümer in der Gegend seiner Heimat. 1956–1958 lebte er in Houston, wo er in einem Holzunternehmen tätig war. Hier spielte er auch zusammen mit dem Bluesmusiker Lightnin' Hopkins. Nach einem Arbeitsunfall kehrte Lipscomb wieder in seine Heimatgegend zurück, wo er sich ein eigenes Haus und etwas Land kaufen konnte. 1960 wurde er während des damaligen Country-Blues-Revivals von Mack McCormick und Chris Strachwitz ‚entdeckt‘ und nutzte die Gelegenheit zu Schallplattenaufnahmen. In der Folge trat er auch vor größerem Publikum auf, so etwa 1961 beim Berkeley Folk Festival vor über 40.000 Zuschauern.
Trotz seiner Bekanntheit in den 1960er und frühen 1970er Jahren starb Mance Lipscomb 1976 arm in seiner Heimatstadt Navasota zwei Jahre nach einem schweren Schlaganfall. Mance Lipscomb und seine Frau Elnora hatten einen leiblichen Sohn, Mance Lipscomb Jr., und drei adoptierte Kinder.
Werk
Mance Lipscomb gilt als Vertreter des Country-Blues. Er stand in der Tradition der populären Sänger des 19. Jahrhunderts, die eine große Bandbreite an musikalischen Stilen aufwiesen und neben Blues auch Folk, Ragtime, Gospel und Musik aus anderen schwarzen und weißen Musikgenres interpretierten. Lipscomb verfügte über ein solches Repertoire, bestehend aus rund 350 Liedern aus zwei Jahrhunderten, und er beharrte deshalb darauf, dass man ihn als „songster“ wahrnehme und nicht als Bluessänger oder als Gitarristen.
Lipscombs Musik ist auf einer Vielzahl von Langspielplatten und CDs zu hören, vor allem auf Strachwitz' Label Arhoolie Records. Da Lipscomb neben seiner eigentlichen Beschäftigung als Farmer seine Stimme und sein Gitarrespiel sein ganzes Leben lang geübt hatte, beherrschte er auch noch in hohem Alter die komplizierte Fingerpicking-Gitarrentechnik; seine ausdrucksstarke Stimme passte außerdem hervorragend zu seinem neben Blues vor allem aus Traditionals aus der Vor-Blues-Zeit bestehenden Songmaterial.
Sein Song Baby, Let Me Lay It On You wurde von den Folksängern Eric Von Schmidt und Bob Dylan nach einem Auftritt Lipscombs in New York aufgegriffen und als Baby, Let Me Follow You Down neu interpretiert. Einer von Lipscombs besten Songs, Sugar Babe, war das erste Lied, das er auf der Gitarre zu spielen lernte. Zu Lipscombs Repertoire gehörten auch Country-Blues-Versionen der Schlager Shine On, Harvest Moon und It's a Long Way to Tipperary sowie zahlreiche Evergreens aus dem Bluesgenre.
Lipscomb war bekannt für seine ausführlichen Erinnerungen und Ausführungen zum Thema „Musik und das Leben“. Aufzeichnungen hiervon existieren sowohl auf Band als auch schriftlich und sind in der „Mance Lipscomb – Glenn Myers“-Sammlung im Center for American History an der University of Texas in Austin dokumentiert.
Ehrungen
Im Jahr 2005 hat der Bundesstaat Texas Lipscombs Heimatstadt Navasota zu Ehren ihres verstorbenen Sohns den Titel The Blues Capital of Texas verliehen.

Mance Lipscomb (April 9, 1895 – January 30, 1976)[1] was an American blues singer, guitarist and songster. Born Beau De Glen Lipscomb near Navasota, Texas, United States, he as a youth took the name of 'Mance' from a friend of his oldest brother Charlie ("Mance" being short for emancipation).
Biography
Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895 to an ex-slave father from Alabama and a half Native American (Choctaw) mother.[2][3] Lipscomb spent most of his life working as a tenant farmer in Texas and was "discovered" and recorded by Mack McCormick and Chris Strachwitz in 1960 during the country blues revival. He released many albums of blues, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley and folk music (most of them on Strachwitz' Arhoolie label),[1] singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He had a "dead-thumb" finger-picking guitar technique, and an expressive voice. Lipscomb often honed his skills by playing in nearby Brenham, Texas, with a blind musician, Sam Rogers. His debut release was Texas Songster (1960). Lipscomb performed old songs like "Sugar Babe," the first song he ever learned, to pop numbers like "Shine On, Harvest Moon" and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".[4]
Trouble in Mind was recorded in 1961 and released by Reprise Records.[5] In May 1963, Lipscomb appeared at the first Monterey Folk Festival in California.[6]
Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not record in the early blues era, but his life is well documented thanks to his autobiography, I Say Me for a Parable: The Oral Autobiography of Mance Lipscomb, Texas Bluesman, narrated to Glen Alyn, which was published posthumously, and also a short 1971 documentary by Les Blank, A Well Spent Life.[1]
He began playing guitar early on and played regularly for years at local gatherings, mostly what he called "Saturday Night Suppers" hosted by someone in the area. These gatherings were hosted regularly for a while by himself and his wife. The majority of his musical activity took place within what he called his "precinct", meaning the local area around Navasota, until around 1960.
Following his "discovery" by McCormick and Strachwitz, Lipscomb became an important figure in the folk music revival of the 1960s. He was a regular performer at folk festivals and folk-blues clubs around the United States, notably the Ash Grove in Los Angeles, CA.
He died in Navasota in 1976, two years after suffering a stroke.
Film
    A Well Spent Life (1971). Documentary directed by Les Blank and Skip Gerson. El Cerrito, California: Flower Films. Released on video in 1979. ISBN 0-933621-09-4.
    He also appeared in Blank's The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1970)

Honors
An annual Navasota Blues Festival is held in his honor, and on August 12, 2011, a bronze sculpture of him was unveiled in Mance Lipscomb Park in Navasota. The statue was sculpted by artist Sid Henderson of California and weighs almost 300 pounds. It portrays Lipscomb playing his guitar whilst seated on a bench, with room for fans to sit beside him and play their own guitars "with" him.



Professor Longhair  +30.01.1980





Professor Longhair
Professor Longhair, eigentlich Henry Roeland Byrd (* 19. Dezember 1918 in Bogalusa, Louisiana; † 30. Januar 1980 in New Orleans, Louisiana), war ein US-amerikanischer Musiker, der als Sänger, Komponist und Pianist dem Rhythm and Blues New Orleans' besonders in dessen früher Phase Impulse gab und darüber hinaus einige Klassiker des Mardi Gras verfasste, die bis zum heutigen Tage zum Standardprogramm des dortigen Karnevals gehören. Er prägte Rock 'n' Roll, Soul, Funk und Ska, indem er jüngere Musiker aus New Orleans wie z. B. Fats Domino, Huey „Piano“ Smith, Allen Toussaint, die Meters und die jamaikanischen Gründerväter der dortigen Schallplattenindustrie Duke Reid und Coxsone Dodd beeinflusste. Nach seiner Wiederentdeckung inspirierte Professor Longhair Musiker wie Dr. John, Allen Toussaint oder die Neville Brothers; Paul McCartney gehört zu seinen erklärten Bewunderern.
Biographie
Frühe Jahre
Seit seinem zweiten Lebensjahr lebte der später „Professor Longhair“ oder „Fess“ genannte Musiker in New Orleans. Seine Mutter Ella Mae Byrd spielte selbst in Jazz-Bands das Piano und förderte schon früh das musikalische Talente ihres Sohnes. Geld verdiente sich Henry als Jugendlicher mit Straßen-Stepptanz sowie mit einem Werbesong für Schlangenöl-Medizin. Sein erstes Klavier fand er angeblich im Sperrmüll, diverse Tasten fehlten, was Henry nicht vom Spielen abhielt. Später arbeitete er als Koch, kurzzeitig auch als Boxer, und immer wieder betätigte er sich als Kartenspieler. Um 1937 fand er als Pianist und Gitarrist erstmals ein größeres Publikum: er spielte vor Kollegen, die mit ihm in Arbeitsbeschaffungsprogrammen der Regierung Roosevelt arbeiteten. Beeinflusst war sein Spiel damals auch vom Boogie-Woogie des kreolischen New Orleans-Musikers Tuts Washington (1907–1984).
Erfolge
Longhair diente im Zweiten Weltkrieg bis zum Jahr 1943. Ab 1947/48 nahm seine Laufbahn als Profi-Musiker Konturen an: er trat im örtlichen Caledonia Club auf und erhielt dort auch seinen Künstlernamen. Seine Band „Professor Longhair and the Four Hairs“ verdrängte die Combo des Bandleaders Dave Bartholomew, mit dem auch der später so erfolgreiche Fats Domino auftrat. 1949 nahm Longhair dann seine ersten Schallplatten auf, unter anderem vier Stücke für das Star Talent-Label, darunter das legendäre Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Seine Begleitband nannte sich damals aus unerfindlichen Gründen The Shuffling Hungarians. In die Rhythm-&-Blues-Charts kam Longhair allerdings erst 1950 als Roy Byrd & his Blues Jumpers mit dem Hit Bald Head, der auf Platz 5 landete. Die Platte erschien bei Mercury Records und sollte Longhairs einziger nationaler Chart-Hit bleiben.
In New Orleans und in Louisiana wurde Fess aber schnell zu einer Musikgröße. Sein „Mambo-Rumba-Boogie-Stil“ beeinflusste alle Mardi Gras-Klavierspieler, die nach ihm kamen. Dabei spielte der Professor mit einer Hand Boogie-Woogie Bassläufe, synkopierte mit der anderen und sang dazu in seinem unverkennbaren Stil, der auch Elvis Presley inspiriert haben soll. In seiner Musik waren, neben den Rhythmen der Karnevalsparaden und des Zydeco, auch karibische Einflüsse - wie Calypso-Anklänge - zu bemerken; einige von Longhairs Vorfahren stammten von den Westindischen Inseln.
1953 nahm Longhair seinen unvergessenen Titel Tipitina auf. Seit 1977 nennt sich auch ein bekannter Nachtclub in New Orleans nach dem Song. Longhair arbeitete inzwischen für das Plattenlabel Atlantic, wo Kenner populärer Musik wie Jerry Wexler und Ahmet Ertegün produzierten und komponierten. 1959 spielte Professor Longhair nochmals seine Nummer Mardi Gras ein. Es ist diese Version des Songs, die seither regelmäßig beim Karneval in New Orleans erklingt, die „definitive“ Fassung also. 1964/65 wurde eine aufwändige Produktion des Songs Big Chief angeschoben, danach ging es für Fess aber einige Jahre bergab: er musste als Hausmeister arbeiten, fegte - bittere Ironie - Plattenläden aus oder versuchte sich wieder beim Kartenspiel. Zudem verlor er eines seiner Kinder durch ein Gewaltverbrechen.
Wiederentdeckung
Junge R&B-Fans entdeckten den verarmten und teilweise vergessenen Longhair jedoch Anfang der 1970er neu, Fess trat 1971 beim größten Musikfestival des Bundesstaates, dem Jazz & Heritage Festival auf und wurde enthusiastisch gefeiert. 1973 war Longhair zu Gast beim Montreux Jazz Festival. 1975 trat er bei einer privaten Party des Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney an Bord der alten RMS Queen Mary auf. Ab 1977 hatte Longhair endlich in dem erwähnten Nachtclub wieder einen regulären Auftrittsort, Bekanntheiten wie Robbie Robertson und Robert Plant besuchten seine Vorstellungen. 1978 ging Fess auf seine erste Europa-Tour, 1979 auf eine US-Tournee; sogar ein Auftritt im Vorprogramm der Punkband The Clash war geplant.
1979 bekam Professor Longhair zum ersten Mal in seinem Leben freie Hand bei der Produktion eines eigenen Albums. Außerdem wurde ein Dokumentarfilm über ihn gedreht. Longhair starb vor Fertigstellung des Streifens, genau einen Tag vor der Veröffentlichung seines neuen Albums Crawfish Fiesta (Alligator Records). Das Album wurde mit dem W. C. Handy Preis 1980 für das beste zeitgenössische Bluesalbum ausgezeichnet und im Jahr darauf das Album "The London Concert".
Im November 1981 wurde er in die Blues Hall of Fame, im Januar 1992 in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen. Für die Wiederveröffentlichung seiner frühen Atlantic-Aufnahmen bekam er 1987 postum einen Grammy verliehen. Dank Verwendung seiner Songs in internationalen TV-Werbespots ist die Musik Professor Longhairs heute vielleicht präsenter, als sie es zu seinen Lebzeiten je war.
Die Sessions
Die Musik Professor Longhairs lebte im Wesentlichen in Live-Auftritten. Studioaufnahmen des Professors waren vergleichsweise selten und litten in mehrerlei Hinsicht an einem erheblichen Mangel an Kontinuität.
Seit 1949 spielte Professor Longhair für eine Reihe von Labels Aufnahmen ein, von denen nur einzelne zeitnah veröffentlicht wurden. Eine Reihe von Aufnahmen wurden gar nicht, andere erst Jahre oder gar Jahrzehnte später veröffentlicht.
Viele Aufnahmen Longhairs wurden insbesondere in den frühen 1950er-Jahren unter verschiedenen Namen veröffentlicht. Die Notwendigkeit, einen abweichenden Namen für eine Veröffentlichung zu wählen, beruhte zumeist auf vertraglichen Gründen. So wurden beispielsweise einige Mercury-Aufnahmen aus dem Frühjahr 1950 zu einer Zeit eingespielt und veröffentlicht, als Professor Longhair (unter diesem Namen) einen Exklusivvertrag mit dem kleinen Label Star Talent hatte. Um einen Konflikt mit Star Talent zu vermeiden, veröffentlichte Mercury die Aufnahmen unter dem Namen Roy Byrd And His Blues Jumpers. Ähnlich verhielt es sich mit den (wenigen) Aufnahmen für das kleine Wasco-Label aus Memphis, Tennessee, aus dem Herbst 1950, für die Professor Longhair den Namen Robert Boyd erhielt.
In musikalischer Hinsicht wiederholen sich viele von Longhairs Themen über die Jahrzehnte hinweg. Viele Lieder wurden immer wieder neu eingespielt. Sie unterschieden sich wesentlich im Arrangement, gelegentlich erhielten sie auch andere Bezeichnungen. Mardi Gras in New Orleans etwa spielte Professor Longhair zwischen 1949 und 1978 in mindestens sieben verschiedenen Versionen ein. In einem direkten Vergleich der unterschiedlichen Versionen eines Liedes lässt sich die musikalische Entwicklung Longhairs gut nachverfolgen.
Einige Lieder wurden im Laufe der Jahre mit unterschiedlichen Bezeichnungen eingespielt. Der Klassiker Got My Mojo Working hieß auf Longhairs letztem Album "Crawfish Fiesta" beispielsweise Got My Red Beans Cooking, und das Instrumentalstück 501 Stomp wurde auf einigen Einspielungen auch als Longhair Stomp oder Stompin’ with Fess bezeichnet.

Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980), better known as Professor Longhair, was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist. Professor Longhair is noteworthy for having been active in two distinct periods, both in the heyday of early rhythm and blues, and in the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz after the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
The music journalist Tony Russell, in his book The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, stated "The vivacious rhumba-rhythmed piano blues and choked singing typical of Fess were too weird to sell millions of records; he had to be content with siring musical offspring who were simple enough to manage that, like Fats Domino or Huey "Piano" Smith. But he is also acknowledged as a father figure by subtler players like Allen Toussaint and Dr. John."[1][2]
Biography
Professor Longhair's House 2010
Professor Longhair was born on December 19, 1918 in Bogalusa, Louisiana.[1] His distinctive style was the result of learning to play piano on an instrument that was missing some keys.[1]
He began his career in New Orleans in 1948. Mike Tessitore, owner of the Caldonia Club, gave Longhair his stage name.[3] Longhair first recorded in a band called the Shuffling Hungarians in 1949, creating four songs (including the first version of his signature song, "Mardi Gras in New Orleans") for the Star Talent record label. Union problems curtailed their release, but Longhair's next effort for Mercury Records the same year was a winner.[3] Throughout the 1950s, he recorded for Atlantic Records, Federal Records and other, local, labels. Professor Longhair had only one national commercial hit, "Bald Head" in 1950, under the name Roy Byrd and His Blues Jumpers.[3] He also recorded his favorites, "Tipitina" and "Go to the Mardi Gras".[1] However, he lacked crossover appeal for white audiences.[1]
After suffering a stroke, Professor Longhair recorded "No Buts - No Maybes" in 1957.[3] He re-recorded "Go to the Mardi Gras" in 1959.[3]
He first recorded "Big Chief" with its composer Earl King in 1964. In the 1960s, Professor Longhair's career faltered.[1] He became a janitor to support himself, and fell into a gambling habit.[4]
He appeared at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1971 and at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973.[1] His album The London Concert showcases work he did on a visit to the United Kingdom.
By the 1980s his albums, such as Crawfish Fiesta on Alligator and New Orleans Piano for Atlantic, had become readily available across America.[4] He appeared on the PBS series Soundstage (with Dr. John, Earl King, and The Meters) and co-starred in the film documentary Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together.[3] Longhair died of a heart attack while filming was underway.[3][4] Footage from his funeral was included.[3]
In 1981, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. He was awarded a posthumous Grammy for his early recordings released as House Party New Orleans Style, and in 1992 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[5]
The B side of the 1985 Paul McCartney single 'Spies Like Us', entitled 'My Carnival', credited to Paul McCartney and Wings, was recorded in New Orleans and dedicated to Professor Longhair.
Fess's song "Tipitina" was covered by Hugh Laurie on the 2011 CD album "Let Them Talk". Laurie is a long-time fan, having used Fess's "Go to the Mardi Gras" as the theme for the pilot episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie.
Afro-Cuban elements
In the 1940s, Professor Longhair was playing with Caribbean musicians, listening a lot to Perez Prado's mambo records, and absorbing and experimenting with it all.[6] He was especially enamored with Cuban music. Longhair's style was known locally as rumba-boogie.[7] Alexander Stewart states that Longhair was a key figure bridging the worlds of boogie-woogie and the new style of rhythm and blues."[8] In his composition "Misery," Professor Longhair plays a habanera-like figure in his left hand. The deft use of triplets in the right hand is a characteristic of Longhair's style.
Tresillo, the habanera, and related African-based single-celled figures have long been heard in the left hand part of piano compositions by New Orleans musicians, for example—Louis Moreau Gottschalk ("Souvenirs From Havana" 1859), and Jelly Roll Morton ("The Crave" 1910). One of Longhair's great contributions was the adaptation of Afro-Cuban two-celled, clave-based patterns in New Orleans blues. Michael Campbell states: "Rhythm and blues influenced by Afro-Cuban music first surfaced in New Orleans. Professor Longhair's influence was ... far reaching. In several of his early recordings, Professor Longhair blended Afro-Cuban rhythms with rhythm and blues. The most explicit is 'Longhair's Blues Rhumba,' where he overlays a straightforward blues with a clave rhythm."[9] The guajeo-like piano part for the rumba-boogie "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1949), employs the 2-3 clave onbeat/offbeat motif.[10] The 2-3 clave time-line is written above the piano excerpt for reference.
According to Dr. John (Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr.), the Professor "put funk into music ... Longhair's thing had a direct bearing I'd say on a large portion of the funk music that evolved in New Orleans."[11] This is the syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to swung subdivisions). Alexander Stewart states that the popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s," adding: "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in the years after World War II played an important role in the development of funk. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes.[12] Concerning funk motifs, Stewart states: "This model, it should be noted, is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."

Big Chief 
Dr.John , Professor Longhair , Earl King , The Meters


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IOyBwrvOKA 

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Freitag, 29. Januar 2016

29.01. Eddie Taylor, Jonny Lang, Stefan Diestelmann, Paul-Gerhard Lange * Jesse Fuller, Willie Dixon, George Higgs, Soko Richardson +







1923 Eddie Taylor*
1930 George Higgs* 1)
1946 Paul-Gerhard Lange*
1949 Stefan Diestelmann*
1976 Jesse Fuller+
1981 Jonny Lang*
1992 Willie Dixon+
2013 George Higgs+



 

Happy Birthday

 

Eddie Taylor  *29.01.1923

 

 


Edward „Eddie“ Taylor (* 29. Januar 1923 in Benoit, Mississippi; † 25. Dezember 1985 in Chicago, Illinois) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesgitarrist.
Kindheit und Jugend
Als Kind brachte sich Eddie Taylor das Gitarrespielen selbst bei. Memphis Minnie, die eine ehemalige Klassenkameradin seiner Mutter war und ab und zu als Babysitter bei der Freundin einsprang, brachte den jungen Eddie erstmals mit der Gitarre in Berührung. Zuerst spielte er ein selbstgebasteltes Instrument, bis ihm seine Mutter 1936 für zwölf Dollar eine Gitarre bei Sears & Roebuck bestellte.
Frühe musikalische Einflüsse
Zu diesem Zeitpunkt hatte er bedeutende Musiker wie Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson und Big Joe Williams live gesehen. Diese Musiker nahmen Schallplatten auf und sind daher heute noch bekannt. In einem Interview aus den frühen 1970er Jahren erwähnte Eddie Taylor aber auch Musiker wie Popcorn, Nedass und Tango, die ebenfalls einen Einfluss auf ihn ausübten, aber nie Platten herausbrachten. Popcorn zeigte ihm auch einige Stücke auf der Gitarre, als der Teenager sich wieder einmal heimlich in die Kneipen und auf die Housepartys einschlich. Aber er wurde auch durch das Medium Schallplatte und dem Radio geprägt: Während im Radio hauptsächlich „Cowboy-Songs“ liefen, hörte er auf den Seeburgs, den damaligen Jukeboxen, Little Brother Montgomery, Tommy McClennan und Peetie Wheatstraw.
Vom Amateur zum Semiprofi – von Mississippi nach Memphis
Mittlerweile lebte Eddie Taylor mit seinen beiden jüngeren Geschwistern und der Mutter in Stringtown, Mississippi und arbeitete in der Landwirtschaft. In jungen Jahren trat er in der Gegend um Leland, Mississippi, meist Samstagabend auf, an Straßenecken oder auf Plätzen in der Innenstadt. Sein damaliges Programm bestand aus Liedern von Charley Patton, Arthur Crudup und Peetie Wheatstraw sowie aus einem Mix dieser Stücke, wenn das Repertoire ausgeschöpft war. Falls weißes Publikum anwesend war, spielte Taylor auch Songs von Roy Acuff. Laut eigener Aussage verdiente Taylor zwischen 25 und 30 Dollar die Nacht. 1943 zog er in die Bluesmetropole Memphis. Dort arbeitete er als Lkw-Fahrer für eine Firma, die einen speziellen Vertrag mit der Army hatte, so dass Taylor das Glück hatte, nicht eingezogen zu werden. Er lernte die etwas älteren Gitarristen Johnny Shines und Robert Lockwood Jr. kennen, die schon einen lokalen Bekanntheitsgrad genossen, im Gegensatz zu B. B. King, der - genau wie Eddie Taylor - Mittwochabend bei den wöchentlichen Talentshows auf der Beale Street sich erste Sporen verdiente. Zu dieser Zeit spielten alle Gitarristen noch auf akustischen Instrumenten, weil ein Verstärker und eine E-Gitarre bei Sears & Roebuck mit 120 Dollar einen zu hohen Anschaffungspreis darstellte. Eddie Taylor tätigte dennoch die Investition und gründete eine Band mit Joe Hill Louis und Eddies Bruder Milton am Schlagzeug. Das geschah 1947.
Chicago – Aufstieg zum Gitarrenstilisten in den 50er Jahren
Zwei Jahre später zog Taylor mit seinem tief im Delta Blues verwurzelten Stil nach Chicago und spielte sofort auf der sehr populären Maxwell Street für Trinkgeld. Natürlich gab es damals sehr viele, sehr gute und sehr bekannte Bluesmusiker in Chicago; daher spielte Eddie Taylor mit seinem Bruder Milton und Jimmie Lee Robinson im „Alibi Club“ für die nicht sehr hohe Gesamtgage von 15 Dollar pro Nacht. Aus diesem Grund arbeitete er in verschiedenen Jobs außerhalb der Musikszene, um seine Grundversorgung zu gewährleisten.
Glücklicherweise traf er in Chicago seinen Freund Jimmy Reed, der schon seit seiner Entlassung aus der Navy hier lebte. Taylor und Reed kannten sich schon aus Jugendtagen und der etwas ältere Eddie hat seinem Freund damals Gitarrenunterricht gegeben. Jimmy Reed stieß zu den anderen Bandmusikern, nachdem Eddie Taylor sagte, er solle sich auf Gesang und Bluesharp konzentrieren und die komplexeren Gitarrenlinien ihm überlassen. Eigentlich spielte also Jimmy Reed in der Band von Eddie Taylor und nicht etwa umgekehrt als beide ihr Plattendebüt 1953 bei „Chance“ und kurze Zeit später bei „Veejay“ machten, allerdings war Jimmy Reed der erfolgreichere, so dass Jimmy Reed mehr Platten veröffentlichte, die weitaus höhere Verkaufszahlen erzielten; trotzdem war Eddie Taylor nach wie vor Bandleader und Arrangeur, Jimmy der Frontman und Liedschreiber. Eddie Taylor spielte bei „Veejay“ mehrere Singles ein: darunter die Titel „Bad Boy“, „Big Town Playboy“ (sein kommerziell erfolgreichster), „Find My Baby“, „Looking for Trouble“.
Obwohl er nie die Bekanntheit mancher seiner Kollegen erreichte, wurde er ein fester Bestandteil der Chicagoer Bluesszene. So spielte er 1953 mit der Muddy Waters Band im „Zansibar Club“ in Chicago, 1956 mit Elmore James bei „Silvio's“, dem bevorzugten Bluesclub von Howlin' Wolf. Bekannt wurde er aber vor allem als Begleiter von Jimmy Reed, mit dem er ab 1955 bis in die sechziger Jahre quer durch die USA bis nach Mexiko tourte, und durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit John Lee Hooker, mit dem er zwischen 1954 und 1957 ins Studio ging und durch die USA tourte. Neben seiner Tätigkeit bei Jimmy Reed fand er 1963/64 genug Zeit sowohl mit der Paul Butterfield Blues Band oder Floyd Jones zu spielen.
Die Zeit nach Veejay
Nachdem das Label „Veejay“ den Bankrott erklärt hatte, wechselte Jimmy Reed zum Label „Bluesway“, bei dem er mit Eddie Taylor als Bandleader zwischen 1966 und 1968 etliche Singles und Alben veröffentlichte. Aber Taylor war nicht nur ein begehrter Gitarrist in den Studios, sondern ebenso als E-Bassist gefragt. Ein Beispiel dafür ist das Homesick James Album „Blues from the Southside“ auf „Prestige Records“ von 1964. 1966 spielte Taylor ein Album unter eigenen Namen für das Label „Testament“ in Chicago ein. 1968/69 tourte er oft durch Europa mit John Lee Hooker und dem AFBF 1968. 1969 begleitete er zusammen mit Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Dawkins und anderen den Bluesharpspieler und Sänger Carey Bell auf dessen Plattendebüt als Frontman „Carey Bell's Bluesharp“ auf „Delmark Records“. Diese Platte - in Chicago aufgenommen - war etwas rau und klang eher nach einer Session, aber hatte dennoch hörenswerte Musik zu bieten.
Der Solokünstler und Sideman seit den 1970er Jahren
Seine beste Platte war aber die hervorragende LP „I Feel so Bad“, erschienen 1972 auf dem Label ‚Advent‘ (aufgenommen in Hollywood). Außer Eddie Taylor spielten hier keine Chicago Bluesmen, sondern eher West Coast Bluesmusiker wie George Smith und der aus Louisiana stammende Gitarrist Phillip Walker oder der Swingpianist Jimmy Jones (1918–82), der mit den Sängerinnen Sarah Vaughn und Ella Fitzgerald gespielt hatte. Wahrscheinlich beflügelte es aber Taylor sich auf einen anderen Stil einzulassen bzw. selbst andere Wege vorzugeben. Acht der zwölf Titel waren Eigenkompositionen, unter anderem der funky soul Blues „There'll Be a Day“, das Akustiksolo „Stroll Out West“, welches Taylor bereits 1957 schon einmal für Veejay aufgenommen hatte und „Catfish Blues“ von Robert Petway als Vorbild hatte, aber damals nicht veröffentlicht worden war und der mid-tempo-Blues „Sitting Here Thinking“. In den Coverversionen zollt Eddie Taylor Jimmy Reed mit „Going Upside Your Head“, Robert Johnson mit „Stop Breaking Down“, Robert Nighthawk mit „Jackson Town“ und Charley Patton mit „Bullcow Blues“ Tribut. Das Zusammenspiel der Band – besonders der beiden abwechslungsreichen Gitarristen – gefällt sehr.
Anfang der 1970er Jahre spielte Taylor ab und an für Livegigs bei der Band des Bluesdrummers Sam Lay. 1973 war er Gast auf dem „Ann Arbor Bluesfestival“ und besuchte mit dem „Chicago Blues Festival“ erneut Europa. Im April 1974 tourte er – dieses Mal mit den American Blues Legends – ein weiteres Mal durch Europa und nahm für die englische Plattenfirma „Big Bear Records“ auf. Auf diesen Aufnahmesessions wurde er unter anderem von Pete York und dem Pianisten Bob Hall, der ein sehr frühes Mitglied von Savoy Brown und den Groundhogs war, begleitet. Diese Sessions brachte gute Versionen von Drifting Slims „My Little Machine“ und eine jazzige Version von „Ready for Eddie“ hervor.
Im „Savoy Club“ von San Francisco kam es im Todesjahr von Jimmy Reed (1976) noch einmal zu einer erneuten Zusammenarbeit zwischen den beiden Blueslegenden. Im darauf folgenden Jahr spielte Taylor wieder in Europa und sogar in Japan: Er spielte mit den Aces (Odie Payne, Louis und Dave Myers), die ursprünglich Fenton Robinson begleiten sollten, dem aber auf Grund von Visumproblemen die Einreise verwehrt worden war. Von dieser Tour ist eine CD auf dem Label „Blind Pig“ erschienen.
1980 nahm er für „L+R Records“ (Lippmann und Rau) eine LP auf, u. a. mit Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim, Carey Bell in Chicago. Im gleichen Jahr tourte er im Rahmen des American Folk Blues Festivals durch Europa und spielte fast bis zu seinem Tod Clubgigs und Festivalauftritte in Chicago, aber sehr oft auch in New York City.
Gitarrenstil
Eddie Taylor war ein Daumenpickspieler. Er spielt sowohl E-Gitarre als auch akustische Stahlsaitengitarre. In der Regel ist die Gitarre normal gestimmt, aber besonders bei akustischen Stücken ist das Instrument oft auf einen offenen Akkord gestimmt.
Sonstiges
Eddie Taylor starb 1985. Er wurde in Alsip, Illinois, beigesetzt. Sein Sohn Eddie Taylor Junior, geboren 1966, ist als Bluesgitarrist in Chicago aktiv und spielt im Stil seines Vaters, allerdings ohne allzu großen kommerziellen Erfolg.

Eddie Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985)[1] was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.[2]
Biography
Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to play guitar.[3] With a guitar style deeply rooted in the Mississippi Delta tradition, in 1949 Taylor moved to Chicago, Illinois.
While Taylor never achieved the stardom of some of his compatriots in the Chicago blues scene, he nevertheless was an integral part of that era. He is especially noted as a main accompanist for Jimmy Reed, as well as working with John Lee Hooker, Big Walter Horton, Sam Lay,[4] and others. Earwig Music Company recorded him with Kansas City Red and Big John Wrencher on the album, "Original Chicago Blues".,[5] Taylor's own records "Big Town Playboy" and "Bad Boy" on Vee Jay Records became local hits in the 1950s.
Taylor's son Eddie Taylor Jr. is a blues guitarist in Chicago, his stepson Larry Taylor is a blues drummer and vocalist, and his daughter Demetria is a blues vocalist in Chicago. Taylor's wife Vera was the niece of bluesmen Eddie "Guitar" Burns and Jimmy Burns.
Taylor died on Christmas Day in 1985 in Chicago,[6] at age 62, and was interred in an unmarked grave in the Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. He was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1987.

 
Eddie Taylor - Peach Tree Blues
Eddie Taylor's version of Yank Rachell's "Peach Tree Blues" taken from the Testament "Masters Of Modern Blues- Floyd Jones / Eddie Taylor" record. With Big Walter Horton - harmonica, Otis Spann, piano, Floyd Jones - bass, Fred Below - drums. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jV-SL4ggtY 




 

Jonny Lang  *29.01.1981

 



Jonny Lang (* 29. Januar 1981 in Fargo, North Dakota, eigentlich Jon Gordon Langseth, Jr.) ist ein US-amerikanischer Musiker aus dem Bereich des Blues und Bluesrock, der schon in jugendlichem Alter durch seine Stimme und seine Fähigkeiten auf der E-Gitarre auf sich aufmerksam machte.
Biografie
Jonny Lang wurde am 29. Januar 1981 in Fargo, North Dakota, USA geboren. Mit 12 Jahren bekam er seine erste Gitarre und Gitarrenunterricht von Ted Larsen, Gitarrist der Gruppe "Bad Medicine Blues Band". Bereits nach wenigen Monaten wurde er Mitglied und Frontmann der "Bad Medicine Blues Band", welche sich von da an "Kid Jonny Lang & the Big Bang" nannte. Als er 1995 sein erstes Album veröffentlichte, war er erst 14 Jahre alt, was man aber weder an seiner Stimme noch an seinem Gitarrenspiel erkennen konnte - Lang klang zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits wie manch 30 Jahre alter Bluesmusiker. Durch seine Werke wurde Lang in der Bluesszene bereits sehr bekannt, wodurch er einen Auftritt im Film Blues Brothers 2000 bekam. Er spielte dort Seite an Seite mit Stars wie B. B. King. Jonny Lang begleitete in den folgenden Jahren Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, B. B. King und Blues Traveler auf ihren Tourneen und spielte 1999 vor Präsident Clinton und seiner Frau während einer Audienz im Weißen Haus. Mit 19 wurde Jonny Lang für das Album Wander This World für den Grammy nominiert.
Seit seinem 20. Lebensjahr ist er mit Haylie (* 29. Januar 1980) verheiratet. Sie ist in dem Musikvideo zu seinem Song Missing Your Love zu sehen.

Jonny Lang (born Jon Gordon Langseth, Jr., January 29, 1981) is an American blues, gospel, and rock singer, songwriter, guitarist and recording artist. Lang's music is notable for both his unusual voice, which at 13 was compared to that of a 40-year-old blues veteran,[1] and for his guitar solos. His solo patterns have especially been noted[who?] for his frequent use of wide vibratos.[citation needed] He has five albums that charted on the top 50 of the Billboard 200 chart and has won a Grammy Award for Turn Around.
Biography
Jonny Lang is of Norwegian descent and was born in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. He started playing the guitar at the age of twelve. He got his start playing guitar for his friends on the Vallager's porch at their lake place. He would play everything from modern hits to the classics; even performing an astounding rendition of Jimi Hendrix's take on the National Anthem. After his father took him to see the Bad Medicine Blues Band, one of the few blues bands in Fargo. Lang soon started taking guitar lessons from Ted Larsen, the band's guitar player. Several months after Lang began, he joined the band, which was then renamed Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang.
The band moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and independently released the album Smokin' when Lang was fourteen. Lang was signed to A&M Records in 1996. He released the critically acclaimed multi-platinum Lie to Me on January 28, 1997. The next album, Wander this World, was released on October 20, 1998 and earned a Grammy nomination. This was followed by the more soulful Long Time Coming on October 14, 2003. Lang also made a cover of Edgar Winter's "Dying to Live". Lang's 2006 album, the gospel-influenced Turn Around, won him his first Grammy Award.
In his earliest performing years, Lang always performed barefoot on stage, because "it feels good" and once in tribute to Luther Allison, a friend who had recently died. He has since given up that practice, after several near-accidents and electric shocks.
In more than ten years on the road, Lang has toured with the Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Blues Traveler, Jeff Beck and Sting. In 1999, he was invited to play for a White House audience including President and Mrs. Clinton. Earlier that year he was selected by the newly elected Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura to perform at his Inaugural Ball. Lang also makes a cameo appearance in the film Blues Brothers 2000 as a janitor. In 2004, Eric Clapton asked Lang to play at the Crossroads Guitar Festival to raise money for the Crossroads Centre Antigua.
Lang also appears regularly as a part of the Experience Hendrix Tour along with many other well-known guitarists to pay tribute the deceased guitar legend.
Musical equipment
Jonny Lang, since the beginning with The Big Bang, has slung a 1972 Fender Thinline Telecaster made by the Fender Custom Shop, as well as a 1958 reissue custom shop Gibson Les Paul in more recent years as his sound and style have grown and flourished. His original Custom Shop Tele-a deep cobalt blue with flamed maple top, flamed maple neck, pearl signature inlay and his trademark pinup girl character on the aft body was stolen some years ago. He's added a couple more custom thinline teles-all carrying the basic aesthetic motif, but with varying colors from a burnt orange/amber to a deep violet throughout the years since. The 1972 Fender Thinline Telecaster is a semi-hollow alder body, ash top and a maple neck and fretboard. Jonny kept the alder and ash, adding a flamed maple top and a flamed or sometimes birdseye maple neck, and has even added a rosewood fretboard. He hasn't, however, sported the pearl "Jonny Lang" signature inlay since his original custom tele, but still stays true to his WWII-style pinup girl aftbody artwork. Jonny uses Bill Lawrence Pickups (500L Neck, 500XL Bridge) and a Seymour Duncan P-90 in the middle. He uses a Route 66 pedal of Visual Sound and a Vox 847 reissue Wah Wah pedal for some songs. He plays through a 3-10" Fender Tube King amplifier. Jonny also used an arbiter Fuzz Face and an Electro Harmonix POG for The Experience Hendrix tour. Lang has also used Audiotech Guitar Products ABC Selector CCM on his 2005 acoustic tour.
The Fender Telecaster featured on the cover of Lie to Me is in fact not a Telecaster at all, but an original Fender Esquire. Upon filming the music video for the title track "Lie to Me" which took place in a San Francisco music store, the owner of the store suggested Jonny play the Esquire in the video. Jonny fell in love with the guitar and it was purchased and given to him as a gift. He continues to use it, but not as often as his Custom Shop Telecaster and Signature Series Les Paul.
Band personnel
From 1993 to 1996, Lang's backing band was The Big Bang. This group consisted of three founding members of the Bad Medicine Blues Band: Ted "Lightnin' Boy" Larsen on guitar, his brother Michael Rey Larsen on drums, and Jeff Hayenga on bass. Keyboardist Bruce McCabe joined The Big Bang in 1995 after Lang and this young band from Fargo impressed him with their set opening for McCabe's band at the time, The Hoopsnakes.
From 1996 to 2004, Lang's backing band included Paul Diethelm on guitar, Bruce McCabe on keyboards, Doug Nelson on bass and Billy Thommes on drums. Also appearing on keyboards during 2003 and 2004 was Donnie La Marca, filling in for McCabe during his break from touring. Nelson was killed in a traffic accident in 2000 and was replaced by Billy Franze. Franze was in turn replaced by Jim Anton in 2003. Saxophone player David Eiland was added in 2000, providing Lang with a foil for extended instrumental jams. In 2005, Lang replaced the entire lineup, except for Anton, and embarked on an acoustic tour. He performed with Wendy Alane Wright at the 2000 pre-Grammy party. Guitarist Reeve Carney was the band's opening act for several shows in 2005, as well as for the 2006 and 2007 tours. The new band also includes organist and Houston, Texas native Charles Jones, drummer Barry Alexander, and organist Bill Brown from Minneapolis.
The current band line up includes:
    Barry Alexander from Minneapolis, MN on drums
    James Anton from Minneapolis, MN on bass
    Akil Thompson from Nashville, TN on rhythm guitar
    Dwan Hill from Nashville, TN on keys
    Missi Hale from Los Angeles, CA on background vocals
Recent years
On September 17, 2013 Lang released his first studio album in seven years, Fight for My Soul.
Personal life
Lang married former Kids Incorporated cast member Haylie Johnson on June 8, 2001. Lang and his wife share the same birthday, although she is one year older. They live in Los Angeles, California.[citation needed]
Lang and Johnson have 4 children. Fraternal twins - son Raimy Lee and daughter Saylor Monroe, daughter Rennix Belle, and daughter Lilou Jaymes. [2]
Lang has two older sisters, Stephanie and Heidi Jo. He also has one younger sister, Jessica ("Jesse"), who was a contestant on season 8 of American Idol. Actress Ashley Johnson (Growing Pains, What Women Want) is Lang's sister-in-law.
Conversion to Christianity
After a period of alcoholism and drug abuse, Jonny Lang became a Christian in 2000, which led him to stop substance abuse.[3][4] In an interview with Sara Groves on Christianity Today, Lang gave details about his conversion, assuring he had a supernatural experience with the Holy Ghost.[4] In his own words, he has said that he formerly "hated Christianity"[5] and "despised the things of God", but now he wants to share with others about Jesus' love.[6]
The songs "Only a Man" and "Thankful" from his album Turn Around, are about his belief in God. He has also co-written a couple of songs with Christian-music artist Steven Curtis Chapman, notably "My Love Remains".

Walking Away - Jonny Lang - 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS13OrMi1h0





Stefan Diestelmann  *29.01.1949


Stefan Diestelmann (* 29. Januar 1949 in München; † 27. März 2007[1] in Tutzing) war ein Sänger, Gitarrist, Mundharmonikaspieler, Textautor, Komponist und Filmproduzent. Von 1961 bis 1984 lebte er in der DDR. Seine jahrelange praktische Erfahrung, die intensive Beschäftigung mit den Ausdrucksformen im Blues und Jazz und die gemeinsamen Auftritte mit Bluesmusikern wie Louisiana Red, Memphis Slim, Alexis Korner und Phil Wiggins machten ihn zu einem versierten Bluesmusiker.
Leben
Stefan Diestelmann kam 1949 als Sohn des Schauspielerehepaares Hildegard und Jochen Diestelmann zur Welt. Er beschäftigte sich schon frühzeitig mit dem Blues und brachte sich seine Fähigkeiten autodidaktisch bei. 1961 siedelte er auf Wunsch der Eltern, die beide für die DEFA arbeiteten, zusammen mit ihnen in die DDR um.[2] Als Zwölfjähriger erhielt er von seinen Eltern die erste Gitarre geschenkt und begann zu spielen, sammelte Schallplatten und studierte Literatur über das Leben und Wirken afroamerikanischer Bluesinterpreten. Seine ersten Auftritte hatte Stefan Diestelmann bei den Teddys. Danach spielte er in verschiedenen Amateurbands, bis ihn 1975 Axel Stammberger in dessen Band Vai hu holte. Seiner Neigung zu authentischem, urwüchsigem Blues konnte er jedoch bei Stammberger nicht entsprechen. So gründete er im Mai 1977, nach einem kurzen Zwischenspiel bei der Bluesband Engerling, seine eigene Band. Zur Gründungsbesetzung der Stefan Diestelmann Folk Blues Band gehörten:

    Stefan Diestelmann (Gitarre, Gesang, Mundharmonika)
    Dietrich Petzold (Violine, Perkussion)
    Rüdiger Phillipp (Bass)
    Bernd Kleinow (Mundharmonika).

Dietrich Petzold hatte sein Handwerk bei Klaus Lenz und Uschi Brüning erlernt, bevor er mit Diestelmann zusammen spielte. Rüdiger Phillipp kam ebenfalls von Uschi Brüning zunächst zu Vai hu. Obwohl sich die Stefan Diestelmann Folk Blues Band durch ihre betonte Anlehnung an die afroamerikanischen Bluesmusiker (T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, B. B. King) und stilistisch (zum Beispiel durch den Verzicht auf ein Schlagzeug) deutlich von anderen Bands wie Engerling, Monokel oder Freygang unterschied, fand sie in der Blueserszene der DDR großen Anklang. Die Nähe zum Publikum und seine Texte brachten Stefan Diestelmann zunehmend den Unmut der DDR-Staatsmacht ein und führte in einigen DDR-Bezirken zu Auftrittsverboten. Bereits am 5. März 1967 war Stefan Diestelmann wegen „Staatsverleumdung“ und „Vorbereitung zur Republikflucht“ zu einer Bewährungsstrafe verurteilt worden. Seine Texte (Der Alte und die Kneipe oder Hof vom Prenzlauer Berg) spiegelten den Alltag wider und erzählten von verfallenen Häusern, dem Kohlenmann, Kneipen und Besoffenen, und passten nicht in das offizielle Bild der DDR.
Anfang Oktober 1977 trat er auch im Rahmen eines Jugendgottesdienstes der oppositionellen „Offenen Arbeit“ um Pfarrer Christoph Wonneberger in der Dresdner Weinbergsgemeinde sowie 1980 gemeinsam mit „Holly“ Holwas bei der Blues-Messe in der Ost-Berliner Auferstehungskirche auf.[3]
Dennoch erhielt Stefan Diestelmann die Möglichkeit zu Rundfunkproduktionen, Auslandsgastspielen und Auftrittsmöglichkeiten bei offiziellen Veranstaltungen, beispielsweise im Berliner Palast der Republik[4], wo er am 25. Mai 1978 gemeinsam mit Memphis Slim auf der Bühne stand. 1978 erschien bei Amiga seine erste LP, auf der als Gäste Wolfgang Fiedler und Volker Schlott von der Jazz-Rock-Band Fusion zu hören sind. Ein Jahr später trat er in Der Mann aus Colorado 2 erstmals im DDR-Fernsehen auf, und 1981 spielt Diestelmann an der Seite von Dean Reed im DEFA-Film Sing, Cowboy, sing einen Barkeeper. 1984 erhielt Stefan Diestelmann, allerdings ohne die Band, die Möglichkeit, in Hildesheim in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aufzutreten. Von diesem Konzert kehrte der „Blueskönig der DDR“ nicht mehr in die DDR zurück.[1]
Er lebte seitdem am Ammersee in Bayern. In der Bundesrepublik konnte er nicht an seine Erfolge in der DDR anknüpfen. Mitte der 1990er Jahre beendete er seine musikalische Laufbahn, um die Firma Diestelfilm zu gründen. Diestelfilm produzierte Präsentations- und Dokumentarfilme.
Diestelmann starb 2007. Sein Tod wurde erst Ende 2011 durch einen Artikel des Journalisten Steffen Könau bekannt.

Stefan Diestelmann was born on January 29, 1949 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Stefan was a singer, guitarist, harmonica player, lyricist, composer and film producer. From 1961 to 1984 he lived in East Germany. He had years of practical experience, with intensive study of the forms of expression in the blues and jazz. He performed with such blues musicians as Louisiana Red, Memphis Slim, Alexis Korner and Phil Wiggins which helped make ​​him an accomplished blues musician. He later lived in Ammersee in Bavaria. In the Federal Republic, he was unable to repeat his success in the GDR. In the mid-1990s, he ended his musical career and founded the company Diestel Film, where he produced film presentations and documentaries.
Diestelmann died in obscurity on March 7, 2007 in Tutzing, Bavaria, Germany. He was only 58. The news was not released until 2012 nearly five years after his passing.

 Stefan Diestelmann Palast der Republik 1984

















Paul-Gerhard Lange  *29.01.1946

 







1963 - The Thimbles Skifflegroup : Günter Dolezal, Jörg Weigel, Michael Brinkmann, P.G.Lange, Udo Kollmeier, Frank Priess
1965 - The Green Onions : Udo Lummer, Peter Kindermann, Fred Brachmann, Manfred Matser
1976 - HEUTE Worried Men Skiffle Group : Wolfgang Friedrich, Udo Kollmeier, Günter Kollmeier, Helmut Schibilsky, Stefanie Richter
1978 - 2006 The Skiffle Revival : Bernd Ehlebracht-Büchel, Gustav Griemert, Chris Bridgen, Wolfgang Puls, Achim König, Rainer "Buddy" Badenberg.
1981 - 1994 Flatfoot Sam Bluesband :Wolfgang Friedrich, Helmut Schibilsky, Jürgen Schildmann, Wolfgang Kipp, Klaus Brachmann, Bernd Klawa, Reinhard "Iffi" Iffländer
1989 - 2003 Songs Unlimited :Friedhelm Droß, Stefanie Richter, Bernd Klawa, Helmut Schibilsky, Achim König
1995 The Bluesburgers :Chris Bassarak, Dieter Hahler, Bernd Klawa, Dieter Krahe
1997 - HEUTE Alligator Bluesband :Andreas Grünert, Ellen Hildebrandt, Bernd Klawa, Dieter Hahler, Wolfgang Kipp, Dieter "Kraki" Krahe
2005 - 2013 Jam Factory :Chris Bridgen, Herbert Pliskat, Christian Laser, Björn Behrendt, Maik Detmers, Ellen Hildebrandt, Frank Wedekind, Dirk Heidbreder
2007 - HEUTE Old Fellows :Bernd Ehlebracht-Büchel, Gustav Griemert, Wolfgang Puls
2007 - 2008 The Berlin Skiffle Session :Marco Göllner, Carsten Köhler, Stefan Humke, Maik Detmers, Dirk Heidbreder, Sonja Heckner, Andrea Limpke, Chris Bridgen, Gustav Griemert, Friedhelm Droß

Diskographie :
Songs Unlimited : MC "Crossing Lines", CD "Phönix" * Worried Men : "…won´t be worried long", CD "Live in der Hamburger Fabrik" *
Alligator Bluesband : Shake the boogie * Skiffle Revival : Skiffle Revival * Berlin Skiffle Session :The Berlin Skiffle Session


Morning Coffee Blues 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YgzqWTARL0 








R.I.P.

 

Jesse Fuller  +29.01.1976

 


Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller (* 12. März 1896 in Jonesboro nahe Atlanta, Georgia, USA; † 29. Januar 1976 in Oakland, Kalifornien) war ein afroamerikanischer Blues-Musiker.
Er ist vor allem durch seinen Song "San Francisco Bay Blues" bekannt geworden, der von einer großen Anzahl von Musikern nachgespielt wurde, so u.a. von The Blues Band, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Richie Havens, Hot Tuna, Janis Joplin, Mungo Jerry und Peter, Paul & Mary. Auch die Grateful Dead coverten einige seiner Stücke. Der erste Song auf Bob Dylans erster, 1962 erschienener LP ist Jesse Fullers Song "You're No Good".
Weil er gleichzeitig 12-saitige Gitarre, Mundharmonika bzw. Kazoo, Hi-Hat und ein selbst gebautes Bass-Instrument, die 'Fotdella', spielte, wurde er auch als Ein-Mann-Band ('one-man-band') bezeichnet.
Erst im Jahre 1955 ist seine erste, 1954 aufgenommene Schallplatte herausgegeben worden, eine 10-Inch-LP auf dem Label 'World Song'. Es folgten Aufnahmen für diverse Firmen wie Good Time Jazz, Prestige, Bluesville, Folk Lyric, Topic, Fontana und Arhoolie. In den 1960er und Anfang der 1970er Jahre machte er ausgedehnte Tourneen. Er spielte auf dem 1964 Newport Folk Festival, in Europa, und war regelmäßig in Colleges, Kaffeehäusern und anderen Szene-Auftrittsorten zu sehen. Zu seinem Repertoire gehörten nicht nur Bluesstücke, sondern auch traditionelle Folksongs, Ragtimenummern und religiöse Lieder.

Jesse Fuller (March 12, 1896 – January 29, 1976) was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues".[1][2]
Early life
Fuller was born in Jonesboro, Georgia, near Atlanta. He was sent by his mother to live with foster parents when he was a young child, in a rural setting where he was badly mistreated. Growing up, he worked a multitude of jobs: grazing cows for ten cents a day, working in a barrel factory, a broom factory, a rock quarry, on a railroad and a streetcar company, shining shoes, and even peddling hand-carved wooden snakes.[3] By the age of 10 he was playing guitar in two techniques, as he described it, "frailing" and "picking."
He came west and in the 1920s he lived in Southern California, where he operated a hot-dog stand and was befriended by Douglas Fairbanks. He worked briefly as a film extra in The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and East of Suez. In 1929 he settled in Oakland, California, across the bay from San Francisco, where he worked for the Southern Pacific railroad for many years as a fireman, spike driver, and maintenance-of-way worker. He married, and he and his wife Gertrude had a family. During World War II, he worked as a shipyard welder, but when the war ended he found it increasingly difficult to secure employment. Around the early 1950s, Fuller's thoughts turned toward the possibility of making a living playing music.
Start of career
Up to this point, Fuller had never worked as a full-time professional musician, but he was an accomplished guitarist and he had carried his guitar with him and busked for money by passing the hat. He had a good memory for songs and had a large repertoire of crowd-pleasers in diverse styles, including country blues, work songs, ragtime and jazz standards, ballads, spirituals, and instrumentals. For a while he operated a shoe-shine stand, where he sang and danced to entertain passersby. He began to seriously compose his own songs, many of them based on his personal life experiences on the railroads, and he also set about reworking older pieces into his own syncopated style. However, when he decided to try music as a career, he had difficulty finding reliable musicians to work with: thus his one-man band act was born, and he took on the name "The Lone Cat" or Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller.
Starting locally, in clubs and bars in San Francisco and across the bay in Oakland and Berkeley, Fuller became more widely known when he performed on television in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and in 1958, at the age of 62, his recording career started with his first album on the Good Time Jazz record label.[3] Fuller's instruments included 6-string guitar (an instrument which he had abandoned before the beginning of his one-man band career), 12-string guitar, harmonica, kazoo, cymbal (high-hat) and fotdella. He could play several instruments simultaneously, particularly with the use of a head-piece to hold the harmonica, kazoo, and a microphone. In addition, he would generally include at least one tap dance, soft-shoe, or buck and wing in his sets, accompanying himself on the 12-string guitar as he danced. His style was open and engaging, and in typical busker's fashion, he addressed his audiences as "Ladies and Gentlemen," told humorous anecdotes, and cracked jokes between pieces. However, if one listened closely, the stories were anything but cheerful, often including specific recapitulations of his tragic childhood, his mother's illness and early death, his determination to escape the segregated racial system of the South, mentions of suicide and death, and his love of his wife and family.
The fotdella
The fotdella was a musical instrument of Fuller's own creation and construction. He built at least two of them, in slightly different patterns, as evidenced in photographs and film footage of his performances.
As a one-man band, Fuller's problem was how to supply a more substantial accompaniment than the typical high-hat (cymbal) or bass drum used by other street musicians. His solution, the fotdella, was a foot-operated percussion bass, consisting of a large upright wood box, shaped like the top of a double bass. Attached to a short neck at the top of this box were six piano bass strings, stretched down over the body. The means to play the strings consisted of six piano or organ foot pedals, each connected to a padded piano hammer which struck the string.[4]
By removing his shoe and placing his sock-covered foot in a rotating heel-cradle, Fuller was able to play the six pedals of the fotdella like a piano, and the instrument's six notes allowed him to perform varied bass lines in several keys, though he occasionally would play without it if a song exceeded its limited range.[4]
The name was coined by his wife, who took to calling the instrument a "foot-diller" (as in a "killer-diller" instrument played with the foot), which was shortened to fotdella. The term "foot piano" has been used by some performers and musicologists to describe this type of devise.
Death
Fuller died in January 1976 in Oakland, California, from heart disease at the age of 79.[5] He was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland.[6] Both his fotdella and his 1962 Silvertone Electric-Acoustic guitar (the latter purchased in Detroit at a Sears and Roebuck store to replace his Maurer guitar, which had been stolen while he was on tour) are in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution.

 Jesse Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues (1968) 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBME_J0pf3o 








Willie Dixon  +29.01.1992

 



Willie Dixon (* 1. Juli 1915 als William James Dixon in Vicksburg, Mississippi; † 29. Januar 1992 in Burbank, Kalifornien) war einer der bedeutendsten US-amerikanischen Bluesmusiker (Gesang, Bass, Songwriter und Produzent).
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Leben und Werk
Dixon hat die Entwicklung des Chicago-Blues in den 1950er und 1960er Jahren entscheidend geprägt. Als Studiomusiker und Hausbassist bei Chess Records ist er auf zahlreichen Plattenaufnahmen zu hören. Als Bassist von Chuck Berry trug er auch zum Siegeszug des Rock'n'Rolls bei. Zudem war Dixon als Songwriter und Produzent für die Chicagoer Blues-Label Chess Records und Checker Records eine regelrechte Songfabrik. Er schrieb viele der bedeutendsten Blues-Songs, wie Hoochie Coochie Man, Evil oder Back Door Man, die vor allem in den Interpretation von Muddy Waters und Howlin' Wolf bekannt wurden. Aber auch viele andere Blues-Legenden griffen seine Songs auf.
Einem breiten Publikum wurden seine Kompositionen bekannt, als in den 1960er Jahren britische Rockbands etliche Titel von Willie Dixon aufnahmen, beispielsweise die Rolling Stones (Little Red Rooster), Cream und Ten Years After (Spoonful), Led Zeppelin (I can't quit you, baby). Auch Elvis Presley, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors und viele spätere Bands wie die Black Crowes interpretierten seine Songs. Die Liste der Bands, die Dixons Songs interpretierten, ist lang und bedeutend. Willie Dixon konnte mit einem gewissem Recht von sich sagen: „I Am The Blues“; er gilt gleichzeitig als einer der wichtigsten Ecksteine der Rockgeschichte.
Ende der 1960er-Jahre besann er sich wieder auf seine eigene Karriere und stellte verschiedene Begleitgruppen (Chicago Blues Allstars) auf, mit denen er auf Tournee ging.
1989 veröffentlichte Dixon eine Autobiographie unter dem Titel I am the Blues. Ein eindrucksvoller Höhepunkt seiner musikalischen Laufbahn kam 1988 heraus: Hidden Charms (mit den Stücken: Blues you can't loose, I don't trust myself, Jungle swing, Don't mess with the messer, Study war no more, I love the life I live, I cry for you, Good advice, I do the job). 1980 wurde er in die Blues Hall of Fame der Blues Foundation aufgenommen. 1992 starb Dixon an Herzversagen. 2010 wurde sein Song "Spoonful" in der Interpretation von Howlin' Wolf in die Blues Hall of Fame (Classic of Blues Recording ) aufgenommen.

William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer.[1] A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the upright bass and the guitar and as a vocalist, Dixon is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post-World War II sound of the Chicago blues.[2]
Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of his most famous compositions includes "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", "Spoonful", and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover". These tunes were written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950–1965, and performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Bo Diddley; they influenced a worldwide generation of musicians.[3]
Dixon also was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late 1950s. His songs were covered by some of the biggest artists of more recent times, such as Bob Dylan, Cream, Jeff Beck, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones.
Biography
Early life
Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915.[1] His mother Daisy often rhymed the things she said, a habit her son imitated. At the age of seven, young Dixon became an admirer of a band that featured pianist Little Brother Montgomery. Dixon was first introduced to blues when he served time on prison farms in Mississippi as an early teenager. He later learned how to sing harmony from local carpenter Leo Phelps. Dixon sang bass in Phelps' group The Jubilee Singers, a local gospel quartet that regularly appeared on the Vicksburg radio station WQBC. Dixon began adapting poems he was writing as songs, and even sold some tunes to local music groups.
Adulthood
Dixon left Mississippi for Chicago in 1936. A man of considerable stature, at 6 and a half feet and weighing over 250 pounds, he took up boxing; he was so successful that he won the Illinois State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship (Novice Division) in 1937.[4] Dixon turned professional as a boxer and worked briefly as Joe Louis' sparring partner. After four fights, Dixon left boxing after getting into a fight with his manager over being cheated out of money.
Dixon met Leonard Caston at the boxing gym where they would harmonize at times. Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago but it was Caston that got him to pursue music seriously.[5] Caston built him his first bass, made of a tin can and one string. Dixon's experience singing bass made the instrument familiar. He also learned the guitar.
In 1939, Dixon was a founding member of the Five Breezes, with Caston, Joe Bell, Gene Gilmore and Willie Hawthorne. The group blended blues, jazz, and vocal harmonies, in the mode of the Ink Spots. Dixon's progress on the Upright bass came to an abrupt halt during the advent of World War II when he resisted the draft as a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for ten months.[1] After the war, he formed a group named the Four Jumps of Jive and then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio, who went on to record for Columbia Records.
Pinnacle of career
Dixon signed with Chess Records as a recording artist, but began performing less, being more involved with administrative tasks for the label. By 1951, he was a full-time employee at Chess, where he acted as producer, talent scout, session musician and staff songwriter. He was also a producer for Chess subsidiary Checker Records. His relationship with Chess was sometimes strained, although he stayed with the label from 1948 to the early 1960s. During this time Dixon's output and influence were prodigious. From late 1956 to early 1959, he worked in a similar capacity for Cobra Records, where he produced early singles for Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy.[6] He later recorded on Bluesville Records.[7] From the late 1960s until the middle 1970s, Dixon ran his own record label, Yambo Records, along with two subsidiary labels, Supreme and Spoonful. He released his 1971 album Peace? on Yambo, as well as singles by McKinley Mitchell, Lucky Peterson and others.[8]
Dixon is considered one of the key figures in the creation of Chicago blues. He worked with Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Joe Louis Walker, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy Rogers, Sam Lay and others.
In December 1964, The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Dixon's "Little Red Rooster".[9]
Copyright battle
In his later years, Willie Dixon became a tireless ambassador for the blues and a vocal advocate for its practitioners, founding the Blues Heaven Foundation. The organization works to preserve the blues' legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past. Speaking with the simple eloquence that was a hallmark of his songs, Dixon claimed, "The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It's better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues." In 1977, unhappy with the royalties rate from ARC Music, he and Muddy Waters sued the Chess-owned publishing company, and with the proceeds from the lawsuit set up Hoochie Coochie Music.[10]
In 1987, Dixon received an out-of-court settlement from Led Zeppelin after suing them for plagiarism, in relation to their use of his music for "Bring It On Home" and his lyrics from his composition "You Need Love" (1962) for their track "Whole Lotta Love".[11]
Dixon's health deteriorated increasingly during the seventies and the eighties, primarily due to long-term diabetes. Eventually one of his legs had to be amputated.[1] Dixon was inducted at the inaugural session of the Blues Foundation's ceremony, and into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.[12] In 1989 he was also the recipient of a Grammy Award for his album, Hidden Charms.[13]
Death and legacy
Dixon died of heart failure[14] in Burbank, California on January 29, 1992,[1] and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. Dixon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the "early influences" (pre-rock) category in 1994.[15] On April 28, 2013, Dixon's grandson, Alex Dixon, was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame along with his grandfather.[16]
Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Dixon in Cadillac Records, a 2008 film based on the early history of Chess Records.[17][18]
Tributes
    French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel refers to Dixon in the song "Cent Ans de Plus" on his 1999 album Hors-Saison. Cabrel cites the artist as one of a number of blues influences, including Charley Patton, Son House, Blind Lemon, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Blake and Ma Rainey.
    Canadian rock musician Tom Cochrane wrote a song entitled "Willie Dixon Said" that appeared on his 1999 album X-Ray Sierra.
    Bob Dylan credited Willie Dixon for the music of the song "My Wife's Hometown" on his album Together Through Life and gave special thanks to Dixon's estate.
    Bernie Taupin English lyricist, poet, singer and painter, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John is actively campaigning for Willie Dixon's posthumous induction in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.



Willie Dixon - Bassology 




Willie Dixon - Spoonful 












George Higgs  +29.01.2013,  *1930 



North Carolina blues musician George Higgs died on Tuesday. He was 82 years old.
Higgs was known for singing the piedmont-style blues with his guitar and harmonica throughout the state and was honored as an important part of North Carolina’s musical heritage. In 1992, he received the North Carolina Folklore Society’s Brown-Hudson Award, and he was presented with the North Carolina Heritage Award the following year. Higgs performed throughout the region both solo and with the North Carolina Black Folk Heritage Tour, and released his debut album, Tarboro Blues, in 2001 in collaboration with the Music Maker Relief Foundation.
Higgs was born into a farming community 1930 in Speed, North Carolina. He picked up the harmonica as a child and grew up listening to his father play the instrument and sing spirituals. As a young man, he was inspired to purchase his first guitar after hearing a performance by Peg Leg Sam. He played at house parties and competed in guitar contest in Tarboro before singing and playing with the Friendly Five Gospel Quartet in the 1960s.
Higgs worked as a farmer, carpenter, and a father of six children with his wife Bettye in the town where he grew up.
“[For] as long as I’m alive, I think I’ll always have this urge for this old music,” he said. “I know I will. I’m going to try to carry it just as long as I’m able . . . because it’s like history to me.”
Learn more about George Higgs and his legacy here, and watch an interview with George Higgs by Grammy award-winning musician David Holt below.

George Higgs - North Carolina Bluesman 
Higgs was known for singing the piedmont-style blues with his guitar and harmonica throughout the state and was honored as an important part of North Carolina's musical heritage. In 1992, he received the North Carolina Folklore Society's Brown-Hudson Award, and he was presented with the North Carolina Heritage Award the following year. Higgs performed throughout the region both solo and with the North Carolina Black Folk Heritage Tour, and released his debut album, Tarboro Blues, in 2001 in collaboration with the Music Maker Relief Foundation.
He said... "[For] as long as I'm alive, I think I'll always have this urge for this old music," he said. "I know I will. I'm going to try to carry it just as long as I'm able . . . because it's like history to me." 

 

 

 

Soko Richardson  +29.01.2004







Soko Richardson (December 8, 1939 – January 29, 2004) was an American rhythm and blues drummer. His career spanned almost fifty years, during which he performed and recorded with seminal groups including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and the The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. He is perhaps best known for his innovative arrangement of the Ike and Tina version of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, "Proud Mary".[1][2]

Biography

Born in New Iberia, Louisiana, Richardson began his musical career at the age of 16, when he left home to tour the South with local bands. Shortly thereafter Ike Turner, upon hearing Richardson play in Texas, hired him to play with his band, Kings of Rhythm, and then later with The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Richardson worked with Turner for the next ten years. In March 1971 Richardson's arrangement of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, "Proud Mary" reached number four on the pop charts, and number five on the R&B charts. The song became a signature song for Tina Turner, and won the band a Grammy for "Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Group."[1][3]

In 1971, Richardson joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, with whom he would tour and record for the next decade, playing with many of the diverse artists to whom Mayall gave a start.[4][5][6]

In the mid 1980s, Richardson joined Albert Collins and the Icebreakers, and became an influential member of the Chicago Blues scene. He helped earn the Icebreakers the WC Handy Award as Blues Band of The Year in 1985.[1][2]

Over the years Richardson recorded with many other artists, including Pee Wee Crayton, Bobby Womack and English guitarist Terry Reid, with whom he was recording an album at the time of his death. Though limited by health problems in later years, he continued to perform and record, and sit in on jam sessions with friends. He played his last gig a few weeks before his death, at a club with Reid.[1][2]

Richardson died in the early hours of January 29, 2004, in his home in Los Angeles, from complications of diabetes. He was 64.











John Mayall_Hideaway
John Mayall - from the album The Last Of The British Blues, BCO Records 1978/2000

John Mayall - James Quill Smith - Steve Thompson - Soko Richardson










The Houserockers of Yokohama - Jamming with Teenie Hodges, Soko Richardson and Charles Hodges.
These legendary players are the member of "Albert Collins's Iceman session", Jamming with the Houserockers, "Mister Magic" and "Love and Happiness". Drums : Soko Richardson, Guitar : Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, Keybord : Charles Hodges, at "Jungle Studio" Akebono-cho, Yokohama, Japan, 1991.





 

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