Roscoe Robinson - Why Must It End?

This is your HMOG moment for the day....Astute followers of this space will recall the name 'Roscoe Robinson' cropping up now and again, but mostly on Gospel posts. If you checked out the compilation The Sound Stage 7 Story, then you may recall him from there as well. He is a pretty-much unforgettable singer and here you get a big-ole dose (if not all), of his secular, screamin' southern soul! The songs are pretty decent, but when that voice gets a-hold of you, you won't be spending much time on the songs anyway. -- Just - "Holy Mother... listen to that man sing!!!"

" Roscoe Robinson (born May 22, 1928, Dumont, Arkansas) is an American gospel and soul singer.

Robinson recorded as a gospel solo artist in the 1950s with Trumpet Records, and sang in groups such as The Five Trumpets, Highway QCs, and The Fairfield Four. He began recording secular soul in the 1960s, and had two charting hits: "That's Enough" (U.S. #62, U.S. R&B #7) in 1966, and "Do It Right Now" (U.S. R&B #40) in 1967. Robinson began recording again as a gospel artist in the 1980s, releasing solo albums as well as performing with The Blind Boys of Mississippi, though he is not himself blind. He recorded into the 2000s, releasing the albums So Called Friends in 2003 and Gospel Stroll in 2005." AMG

Jesse Belvin - The Blues Balladeer

  Jesse Lorenzo Belvin was born on 15 December 1932, in Texarkana, Texas. When he was five, his family moved to Los Angeles. In 1950, he joined the vocal quartet behind saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, Three Dots and a Dash. Two years later he joined Specialty Records. His fourth record, "Dream Girl," by Jesse & Marvin (Marvin Phillips, saxophone) reached #2 on the R&B charts in 1953. Belvin was then drafted into the army. While on leave he wrote "Earth Angel," which became a hit for The Penguins, selling a million copies in 1954-55.

Throughout the following years, Belvin would switch record labels several times and record under a variety of names. His biggest hit was "Goodnight My Love", which reached #7 on the R&B chart. The song was, for years, the closing theme for Alan Freed's rock & roll radio show.

 In 1958 Belvin recorded "You Cheated" with The Shields. The record reached #15 on the US pop charts. Inspired by his manager (and wife), Jo Ann, he signed with RCA Records in 1959, and scored a Top 40 hit with "Guess Who." Belvin acquired the nickname "Mr. Easy", and RCA began making him into a potential crossover star for white audiences, similar to Nat "King" Cole or Sam Cooke.

In 1960, Belvin was set to release Mr. Easy, on which he covered songs like "Blues in the Night", "In the Still of the Night", and "Makin' Whoopee." Belvin would never see its release.

On 6 February 1960, Belvin performed a show in Little Rock, Arkansas on the same bill as Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Marv Johnson. The show was Little Rock's first with an integrated audience; Belvin reportedly received at least six death threats prior to the concert. Belvin rarely called home from the road, and never more than once a month. But he phoned his mother twice in the three days preceeding the concert, each time worried about the hostile receptions he received. The show had to be stopped twice because of whites shouting racial slurs and urging the white teenagers present to leave. It was while leaving Little Rock (less than four hours after the performances) that Belvin and his wife were involved in a head-on automobile crash.

Jesse Belvin and his driver both died at the scene. Belvin was 27. Jo Ann Belvin succumbed to her injuries at Hope Hospital; she was 23. According to Fuller Up: The Dead Musician Directory, one of the first state troopers on the accident scene stated that both of the rear tires on Belvin's black Cadillac had been "obviously tampered with." No other details were offered. The scorched earth on the highway at the accident site in Hope is supposedly still visible.

Arbee Stidham - Tired Of Wandering

This is a second repost by request:

  "Arbee Stidham (February 9, 1917 – April 26, 1988) was an American blues singer and multi-instrumentalist, most successful in the late 1940s and 1950s.

He was born in De Valls Bluff, Arkansas, United States, to a musical family - his father, Luddie Stidham played with Jimmie Lunceford and his uncle with the Memphis Jug Band. Arbie Stidham learned to play harmonica, clarinet and saxophone as a child. Before his teens he had formed his own band, the Southern Syncopators, which backed Bessie Smith on tour in 1930-31, and played on radio and in clubs in Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee.

In the mid-1940s he moved to Chicago and met Lester Melrose, who signed him to RCA Victor in 1947. His biggest hit, "My Heart Belongs to You", was recorded at his first session, and reached # 1 on the US Billboard R&B chart in June 1948. He spent the rest of his career trying to emulate its success, recording for Checker, States, and other independent record labels as a jazz-influenced blues vocalist. After a car accident made it impossible to play the saxophone, he took up the guitar in the 1950s under the tutelage of Big Bill Broonzy, and played it on his early 1960s recordings for Folkways.

Stidham continued to record occasionally up to the early 1970s, and also made many music festival and club appearances nationwide and internationally. He lectured on the blues at Cleveland State University in the 1970s, and appeared in the film The Bluesman in 1973. (He was active on the Cleveland club scene, frequently at Euclid Tavern which was also Robert Jr Lockwood's home bar)
He died April 26, 1988 in Cook County, Illinois, aged 71." wiki

Junior Parker - Ride With Me, Baby (The Singles 1952-1961 +bonus)

A repost from a couple years ago.....

Murphy's Law is a powerful thing.

Some of y'all will remember that back around last Thanksgiving, I had spent a weekend assembling an upgraded version of MCA's less-than-great re-issues of Junior Parker's Duke sides. Literally the following week, Cliff found and ordered this newly re-mastered double disc set that covers EVERYTHING, Sun and Duke, from 1951 to 1961. Once again it was time to figure out what to keep and what to pitch. Sigh....Oh, well it was no where near as complicated for having done the previous work.

This set does a really nice job on the period it covers, BUT this one too is mysteriously pulled up at least one disc short of completing the entire Duke era. Perhaps they are working on a second set, but in the meanwhile I have attached a new 20 track supplement to cover as much of that material as I have now. Hopefully this will trigger a second Murphy's Law response and a second package will be issued that finally does Junior full justice.

Sorry to revamp your files yet again, but I think you'll find it is worth it.

Junior Wells - Everybody's Gettin' Some (1995)

Junior Wells...Man...what a treasure !...Individuality & talent galore...He has Country Blues, R&B, Soul, Funk..running through his veins ..His early recordings...are classics...that KC has provided...Here is a good modern Blues recording,,,with some nice covers... plus famous guests...including Santana, Sonny Landreth & Bonnie Raitt...I suppose that's how you promote a Blues album these days...Fortunately this album is a success...in my opinion... so get it ...And maybe make a comment

Junior Wells & Earl Hooker - Messin' With The Kid 1957-1963 (expanded)

 "Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998), born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist. Wells, who was best known for his performances and recordings with Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Buddy Guy, also performed with Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, and Van Morrison.

Junior Wells was possibly born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and raised in West Memphis, Arkansas, though other sources report that his birth was in West Memphis, Arkansas. Initially taught by his cousin, Junior Parker, and Sonny Boy Williamson II, Wells learned how to play the harmonica by the age of seven with surprising skill. He moved to Chicago in 1948 with his mother after her divorce and began sitting in with local musicians at house parties and taverns. Wild and rebellious but needing an outlet for his talents, he began performing with The Aces (guitarist brothers Dave and Louis Myers and drummer Fred Below) and developed a more modern amplified harmonica style influenced by Little Walter. In 1952, he made his first recordings, when he replaced Little Walter in Muddy Waters' band and appeared on one of Muddy's sessions for Chess Records in 1952. His first recordings as a band leader were made in the following year for States Records. In the later 1950s and early 1960s, he also recorded singles for Chief Records and its Profile Records subsidiary, including "Messin' with the Kid", "Come on in This House", and "It Hurts Me Too", which would remain in his repertoire throughout his career. His 1960 Profile single "Little by Little" (written by Chief owner and producer Mel London) reached #23 in the Billboard R&B chart, making it the first of two Wells' singles to enter the chart.

Wells' album Hoodoo Man Blues (1965) on Delmark Records featured Buddy Guy on guitar. The two worked with the Rolling Stones on several occasions in the 1970s. His album South Side Blues Jam came out in 1971) and On Tap in 1975. His 1996 release Come on in This House includes slide guitarists, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Derek Trucks, and others. Wells made an appearance in the film Blues Brothers 2000, the sequel to The Blues Brothers, which was released in 1998.

From Wells' "Hoodoo Man Blues" album cover Junior gives this story: "I went to this pawnshop downtown and the man had a harmonica prices at $2.00. I got a job on a soda truck... played hookey from school ... worked all week and on Saturday the man gave me a dollar and a half. A dollar and a half! For a whole week of work. I went to the pawnshop and the man said the price was two dollars. I told him I had to have that harp. He walked away from the counter – left the harp there. So I laid my dollar-and-a-half on the counter and picked up the harp. When my trial came up, the judge asked my why I did it. I told him I had to have that harp. The judge asked me to play it and when I did he gave the man the 50 cents and hollered "Case dismissed!" (1948)

Wells began to have serious health problems, including cancer and a heart attack, in 1997. He died in Chicago on January 15, 1998, and was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago." wiki

I've added 4 additional tracks that come from later re-issues of this same material - you will be able to tell by the covers - I left it to you as to where you want to incorporate them into the playlist. 

Collectors Album - C.J.'s Roots of Chicago Blues

This is a repost of my 2012 post, I've redone the rip at least once since then.

 LOOK CLOSELY my friends, it does not get much rarer than this! (unless of course you are talking volumes 2 & 3) Three records were ever published on Blue Flame, this one, a Volume 2, and a Volume 3! My friend Cliff bought this in the mid 70's prior to leaving Chicago; the record is still in good shape! (Blue Flame was a independent Chicago Blues weekly) A copy of Vol. 2 was posted in 2012 @ 'Don't Ask Me... Blog. To date I only know of the existence of a third volume through comments elsewhere.


"Little Mack Simmons (January 25, 1933 — October 24, 2000) was an African American, Chicago blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.
Malcolm Simmons was born in Twist, Arkansas. In his youth he befriended James Cotton, and they grew up learning to play the harmonica. Simmons relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of 18 and worked on the railroad. At this time Simmons made his stage debut with Robert Nighthawk.

In 1954 he moved again to Chicago, put together his own backing band, and had a five year residency at Cadillac Baby's. He commenced recording in 1959, issuing records on a number of labels including Chess.

 

In the late 1950s and early 1960s Simmons recorded several more obscure singles, often simply billed as Little Mack (or Mac). Simmons went on to provide the opportunity for others talents to be seen. He owned and managed Chicago's Zodiac Lounge from the mid to late 1960s. In addition, he owned a recording studio and recorded on his own labels, PM Records and Simmons Records. Simmons left the music industry at that time for the ministry, and was rarely heard in 30 years, notwithstanding an album he recorded in 1975 in Paris, France.

His return to blues music arrived with High & Lonesome (1995), which was an early success for St. George Records, an independent record label. Simmons' energetic style, accompanied by Studebaker John, belied his years. Come Back to Me Baby (1996), with featured sidemen John Primer, Willie Kent and Jake Dawson (guitarist) was also well received.
Simmons died in October 2000, of colon cancer, in his adopted hometown of Chicago, at the age of 67."

Homesick James (May 3, 1914 – December 13, 2006) was an American blues musician. He most notably played slide guitar, and recorded covers of "Stones In My Passway" and "Homesick". James worked with his cousin, Elmore James, and Sonny Boy Williamson II. He was born in Somerville, Tennessee, United States, the son of Cordellia Henderson and Plez Williamson Rivers, who were both musicians. He developed a self-taught style of slide guitar through playing at local dances in his teens. Little is known about his early life. He claimed to have played with Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Blind Boy Fuller and Big Joe Williams, among others, and to have been acquainted with Robert Johnson. He also claimed to be the older cousin of Elmore James, to have bought James his first guitar, and to have taught him how to play slide. However, some of these claims are unconfirmed.

By the mid 1930s he was based in Chicago, and working with Horace Henderson's band at the Circle Inn, and with pianist Jimmy Walker at the Square Deal Club. He may have first recorded for RCA Victor in 1937, but this is also unconfirmed, and by 1938 may have begun playing electric guitar. His first known recordings were in 1952 for Chance Records, recording the tracks "Lonesome Ole Train" and "Homesick" which gave him his stage name. During the late 1940s and 1950s he worked with both Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), and with Elmore James, and in the early 1950s he worked in bands including Baby Face Leroy Foster, Snooky Pryor, Floyd Jones, and Lazy Bill Lucas. He was a longtime member of Elmore James' band from 1955 to 1963, contributing to such tracks as "Dust My Broom," "The Sky Is Crying," and "Roll and Tumble." Elmore James is said to have died on Homesick's couch, while the latter frantically searched for the former's heart pills.

As a solo performer, he recorded for the Colt and USA labels in 1962, including a cover version of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads". Homesick James's slide guitar style, not as refined as Elmore James', traces back to Johnson's. He also recorded a 1964 album for Prestige Records, Blues On the South Side (Prestige OBCCD 529-2), including another of his best-known covers, "Stones In My Passway", and some tracks for Vanguard that are available on the compilation album Chicago: The Blues Today. One of his own songs, "Gotta Move" (also on Blues On the South Side) was covered (as "Got To Move") both by Elmore James and Fleetwood Mac."

Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor (April 12, 1915 - December 17, 1975) was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer. Taylor was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1915 (although some sources say 1917). He originally played piano, but began playing guitar when he was 20. He moved to Chicago in 1942.

He became a full-time musician around 1957 but remained unknown outside of the Chicago area where he played small clubs in the black neighborhoods and also at the open-air Maxwell Street Market. He was known for his electrified slide guitar playing roughly styled after that of Elmore James, his cheap Japanese Teisco guitars, and his raucous boogie beats. He was also famed among guitar players for having six fingers on his left hand.

After hearing Taylor with his band, the HouseRockers (Brewer Phillips on second guitar and Ted Harvey on drums) in 1970 at Florence's Lounge on Chicago's South Side, Bruce Iglauer - at the time a shipping clerk for Delmark Records - tried to get him signed by his employer.  Having no success getting Delmark to sign Taylor, Iglauer formed a small record label with a $2500 inheritance and recorded Taylor's debut album, Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, on his fledgling Alligator Records in 1971. It was the first release on Alligator, now a major blues label. It was recorded in a studio in just two nights. Iglauer began managing and booking the band, which toured nationwide and performed with Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton. The band became particularly popular in the Boston area, where Taylor inspired a young protégé named George Thorogood. A live album Live At Joe's Place documented a Boston appearance from 1972.

Their second release, Natural Boogie, was recorded in late 1973, and led to greater acclaim and touring. In 1975, Taylor and his band toured Australia and New Zealand with Freddie King and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. His third Alligator album, Beware of the Dog, was recorded live in 1974 but was only released after his death. More posthumous releases occurred as well, including Genuine Houserocking Music and Release the Hound, on the Alligator label as well as some bootleg live recordings.

Taylor died of lung cancer in 1975, and was buried in Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.

Taylor was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1984.

Washboard Sam 1935 - 1947

Whether Washboard Sam really was a half-brother of Big Bill Broonzy (and his 17 or 18 brothers and sisters) as is often claimed, is relatively unimportant in the face of the role he himself played as blues pioneer.
Born as Robert Brown in Arkansas in 1910, Washboard Sam is one of the great black musicians, singers and lyric composers of the pre-1945 period, without whom the developments in rhythm & blues in Chicago, the blues capital of the post-war years, would scarcely have been imaginable. Sam came to Chicago in 1932, played a little washboard and sang, and soon found himself with an exclusive contract with Bluebird, the label under which the Victor company (now known as the Bluebird Record Company) managed to make a business out of country blues in the 1930s. Washboard Sam and

Big Bill Broonzy made a considerable contribution to this success. They gathered together a whole group of instrumentalists for their recording sessions including pianists such as Roosevelt Sykes, Bob Call (Black Bob), Joshua Altheimer and even at this stage, electric guitarists such as George Barnes. Washboard Sam wrote the music and lyrics of both humorous and melancholic melodies; however those that are most loved have always been the ones with the most swing to them. The wide choice of titles available cover the entire range of his musical ideas and achievements. After the War, sales of records produced by the 'older' blues generation, i e that of Washboard Sam, Big Bill or Tampa Red began to drop and were increasingly replaced by the new, more aggressive recordings by artists such as Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins or B B King. In 1946, Washboard Sam withdrew from the overheated, unpredictable music scene of Chicago. He became a policeman with a ...'quiet family life' (S B Charters) which he only interrupted for a few recordings in 1953 and 1954, and a European tour in 1964. Washboard Sam died in 1966 following heart failure. (From sleeve notes)

Note : 18 tracks 17 of which appear on CD for the first time - CD cover has error missing out the number 12 and showing a jump from 11 to 13 !!! Sloppy !!!...Full personnel etc shown in scans  

Little Beaver - Joey & Party Down

 Artist Biography by Ed Hogan

"Born William Hale on August 15, 1945, in Forrest City, AR, Little Beaver moved to Florida when he was a teenager. After recording for other labels, he recorded sides for the Cat label, an imprint of Henry Stone's TK Records of Hialeah, FL. His first charting singles were "Joey" and "Wish I Had a Girl Like You" b/w "Six Foot Hole." The next single, the hit "Party Down, Part 1," was later sampled by rap and hip-hop artists, like so much of the TK catalog. The mid-tempo groover was his biggest record. The Party Down LP featured vocals by Betty Wright and keyboards by Benny Lattimore ("Let's Straighten It Out") and Timmy Thomas ("Why Can't We Live Together"). Post-"Party Down" singles were "Let the Good Times Roll" b/w "Let's Stick Together," both on the Party Down LP; "Little Girl Blue"; "I Can Dig It Baby" (co-written by Hale, Betty Wright, and Willie Clarke) b/w "Get Into the Party Life"; "Give a Helping Hand" b/w "Mama Forgo"; "Funkadelic Sound"; and "We Three." Other Little Beaver albums are Little Beaver, Black Rhapsody, When Was the Last Time, and Beaver Fever, which was credited to Willie "Beaver" Hale (all were released on Cat)."

On the first of these rips you are treated to a fabulous 'mello' rip from an earlier blog-age. Thanks to another original (but forgotten) blogger for the other album.

True Soul: Deep Sounds From The Left Of Stax

I am gifting you something REALLY special here.  The music on both of these CDs is nothing short of incredible and needs to be heard by everybody who frequents Chitlins.

True Soul was a small indy label based in Arkansas, founded by Lee Anthony.  The label captured the essence of the Little Rock funk and soul scene during the height of the music's power.

Both of these come with full colour booklet's which explain the story of both the label and the people behind it... highly suggest you buy it!!!  Enjoy!!!

My favorite tune, hands down...






The Arkansas label Now-Again Records release True Soul: Deeps Sounds From The Left of Stax Volumes 1 & 2 contain 60s and 70s Soul, Funk, Disco, Party-Rap and Boogie music. This anthology has been 12 years in the making. Label owner Lee Anthony founded Soul Brothers in 1966, the first black-owned record shop in Arkansas.  In the collection's liner notes Lee explains his modus operandi regarding recording artists: "Anyone that had a good song, we recorded them. No one paid for tape; no one paid for a recording session. And no one was turned away."

 The label's official release explains the roots of this inimitable release: "True Soul's story intertwines with the renowned Sam Phillips--an early mentor and patron--and Memphis's Al Bell and Willie Mitchell--with whom Anthony collaborated as he cultivated Little Rock's funk and soul scene under the shadows of Stax and Hi Records. The Gap Band's genesis is but one sub-plot, as Anthony's recordings of a stranded funk ensemble made their way to Leon Russell and lead to the foundation of one of the decades' best known showbands."

 Volume 1 and 2 are sold separately with beautiful individual packaging. Volume 1 begins with Thomas East's smooth "Slippin' Around" that contains a great piano lick. Albert Smith plays a memorable instrumental version of the Beatles tune "Come Together". York Wilborn's Psychedelic Six emerges as one of the most notable artists on this collection. The group's instrumental "Wheezin'" demonstrates a high order of versatility.

Ren Smith's funk number "Smog" features traces of  Funkadelic at their strongest. The Psychedelic Six's "Funky Football" is truly hallucinatory with the frenetic horns, organ and guitar. Their rendition of "Psychedelic Hot Pants" is beyond words. The group Classic Funk's "Hard Times" should be played on the radio now. An instrumental by The Leaders titled "Rat Race" incorporates ska and jazz into one potent blend of music.

Volume 2 commences with Albert's Smith brilliant instrumental version of B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone". Again, York Wilborn's "Psychedelic Six" deliver a groovy horn-laced instrumental on "Thank You". The Right Track's instrumental "Maybe Yes, Maybe No" calls to mind The Meters. John Craig's "I Believe" counts as a jewel that amazes it never made it to the mainstream. Le' Chance's "Get Down" almost sounds like an outtake from an Isaac Hayes album. Soul, Mind & Body's rendition of "I Took Your Love To Be True" closes Volume 2 with a swinging soul.  - James Calemine / Swampland.com

Jr. Walker & The All Stars - Shotgun & Soul Session

Walker was born Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr. in Blytheville, Arkansas, and grew up in South Bend, Indiana. His saxophone style was the anchor for the band's overall sound. The other original members of the group were drummer Tony Washington, guitarist Willie Woods, and keyboardist Vic Thomas.

His career started when he developed his own band at the age of 14, in the mid-1950s as the "Jumping Jacks." His longtime friend Billy Nicks (drummer) formed his own team, the "Rhythm Rockers." Periodically, Nicks would sit in on Jumping Jack's shows, and Walker would sit in on the Rhythm Rockers shows.

Nicks obtained a permanent gig at a local TV station in South Bend, Indiana, and asked Walker to join him and his keyboard player (Fred Patton) permanently. Shortly after, Nicks asked Willie Woods, a local singer, to perform with the group; shortly after Woods would learn how to play guitar also. When Nicks got drafted into the United States Army, Walker convinced the band to move from South Bend to Battle Creek, Michigan. While performing in Benton Harbor, Walker found a drummer, Tony Washington, to replace Nicks Eventually, Fred Patton (piano player) left the group, and Victor Thomas stepped in. The original name, "The Rhythm Rockers," was changed to "The All Stars". Walker's squealing gutbucket style was inspired by jump blues and early R&B, particularly players like Louis Jordan, Earl Bostic, and Illinois Jacquet.
  
The group was spotted by Johnny Bristol, and he recommended them to Harvey Fuqua, in 1961, who had his own record labels. Once the group started recording on the Harvey label, their name was changed to Junior Walker & the All Stars. When Fuqua's labels were taken over by Motown's Berry Gordy, Jr. Walker & The All Stars became members of the Motown Records family, recording for Motown's Soul imprint in 1964.

The members of the band changed after the acquisition of the Harvey label. Tony Washington, the drummer, quit the group, and James Graves joined the group in the Motown family. Their first and signature hit was "Shotgun," written and composed by Walker and produced by Berry Gordy, which featured The Funk Brothers' James Jamerson on bass and Benny Benjamin on drums. "Shotgun" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1965, and was followed by many other hits, such as "(I'm A) Road Runner," "Shake and Fingerpop" and covers of the Motown tracks, "Come See About Me" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)". In 1966, Graves left and was replaced by old cohort Billy "Stix" Nicks, and Walker's hits continued apace with tunes such as "I'm a Road Runner" and "Pucker Up Buttercup".

In 1969, the group had another hit enter the top 5, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" A Motown quality control meeting rejected this song for single release, but radio station DJs made the track popular, resulting in Motown releasing it as a single, whereupon it reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the R&B chart. From that time on Walker sang more on the records than earlier in their career. He landed several more R&B Top Ten hits over the next few years, with the last coming in 1972. In 1979, Walker went solo, disbanding the All Stars, and was signed to Norman Whitfield's Whitfield Records label, but he was not as successful on his own as he had been with the All Stars in his Motown period.

Walker re-formed the All Stars in the 1980s. Foreigner's 1981 album 4 featured Walker's blistering sax solo on "Urgent". On April 11, 1981, Walker was the musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. He later recorded his own version of the Foreigner song for the 1983 All Stars's album Blow the House Down. Walker's version was also featured in the 1985 Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan. In 1983, Walker was re-signed with Motown.

In 1988, Walker played opposite Sam Moore as one-half of the fictional soul duo "The Swanky Modes" in the comedy Tapeheads. Several songs were recorded for the soundtrack, including "Bet Your Bottom Dollar" and "Ordinary Man," produced by ex-Blondie member Nigel Harrison.

Junior Walker died of cancer at the age of 64, in Battle Creek, Michigan, on November 23, 1995. He had been inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Foundation that year. Junior Walker is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, in Battle Creek, Michigan, under a marker inscribed with both his birth name of Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr., and his stage name.

Walker's "Shotgun" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.

Son Seals - Midnight Son 1976

Wow! Have we really made it this far without a Son Seals post?? I LOVE this guy - live he was a similar experience to Luther Allison, he just wore your ass out! You did not walk away from a Son Seals' show un-satted!

"He was born in Osceola, Arkansas where his father, Jim "Son" Seals, owned a small juke joint. He began performing professionally by the age of 13, first as a drummer with Robert Nighthawk, and later as a guitarist. At age 16, he began to play at the T-99, a local upper echelon club, with Walter Jefferson, “Little Walter”, who was his brother in law. At the T-99, he played with many other musicians, such as Albert King, Rufus Thomas, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, and Rosco Gordon. Their varying styles contributed to the development of Seals' own playing techniques. While playing at the T-99, he was also introduced to country-western music by Jimmy Grubbs, who would ask Seals to gig with his group every now and then on both drums and guitar. At 19 years old, he formed his own band to fill in at a local club in Osceola called the Rebel Club. Shortly thereafter, a man from Little Rock, Arkansas came to find “Little Walter” for a gig at his club, but when he turned it down the offer went to Seals. The band members were “Old man Horse” (Johnny Moore) on piano, Alvin Goodberry on either drums, guitar, bass, or piano, “Little Bob” (Robinson) on vocals, and Walter Lee “Skinny Dynamo” Harris on piano. The band’s name was “Son Seals and the Upsetters.”

In 1971, Seals moved to Chicago. His career took off after he was discovered by Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records at the 'Flamingo Club' in Chicago's South Side. His debut album, The Son Seals Blues Band, was released in 1973. The album included "Your Love Is Like a Cancer" and "Hot Sauce". Seals followed up with 1976's Midnight Son and 1978's Live and Burning. He continued releasing albums throughout the next two decades, all but one on Alligator Records. These included Chicago Fire (1980), Bad Axe (1984), Living in the Danger Zone (1991), Nothing But the Truth and Live-Spontaneous Combustion (1996). He received the W.C. Handy Award in 1985, 1987, and 2001.

Author Andrew Vachss was a friend of Seals, and used his influence to promote Seals' music. Vachss gave Seals several cameo appearances in his novels and co-wrote songs with him for his 2000 album, Lettin' Go. Vachss dedicated the novel Mask Market to Seals' memory.

In 2002, Seals was featured on the Bo Diddley tribute album, Hey Bo Diddley - A Tribute!, performing the song "My Story" (aka "Story of Bo Diddley").

Seals had a number of problems in his life. He survived all but one of his fourteen siblings, and in 1997 he was shot in the jaw by his wife, sustaining injuries which required reconstructive surgery. Also, in 1999 part of his left leg was amputated, due to complications from diabetes. He lost belongings in a fire that destroyed his home while he was away performing live, and several of his prized guitars were stolen from his home. After his health problems Seals used a number of different accompanying bands, such as James Soleberg's, Jimmy Vivino's, and Big Jim Kohler's, while on the road.

The band Phish performed Seals' song "Funky Bitch", and brought him on stage on multiple occasions.

Seals died in 2004, at the age of 62, from complications of diabetes; he was survived by his sister and fourteen children."

Cedell Davis

A favorite of Cliff's, I'm not a big fan myself.

"CeDell Davis (born Ellis Davis, 9 June 1927) is an American blues guitarist and singer.

Davis is most notable for his distinctive style of guitar playing. Davis plays guitar using a table knife in his fretting hand in a manner similar to slide guitar, resulting in a welter of metal-stress harmonic transients and a singular tonal plasticity. He uses this style out of necessity. When he was 10, he suffered from severe polio which left him little control over his left hand and restricted use of his right. He had been playing guitar prior to his polio and decided to continue in spite of his handicap, and developed his knife method as the only way he could come up with of still playing guitar.

Davis was born in Helena, Arkansas, United States, where his family worked on a local plantation. He enjoyed music from a young age, playing harmonica and guitar with his childhood friends.

Once he sufficiently mastered his variation on slide guitar playing, Davis began playing in various nightclubs across the Mississippi Delta area. He played with Robert Nighthawk for a ten-year period from 1953 to 1963. While playing in a club in 1957, a police raid caused the crowd to stampede over Davis. Both of his legs were broken in this incident and he was forced to use a wheelchair since that time. The hardships resulting from his physical handicaps were a major influence in his lyrics and style of blues playing.

Davis moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas in the early sixties and continued his artistic work. In recent times, Davis' music has been released by the Fat Possum Records label to much critical acclaim. His 1994 album, produced by Robert Palmer, Feel Like Doin' Something Wrong, received a 9.0 from Pitchfork Media who called it "timeless."

The Best Of CeDell Davis (1995) was also released, with help from Col. Bruce Hampton and The Aquarium Rescue Unit. The Horror of It All followed in 1998. His album When Lightnin' Struck the Pine, released in 2002, included work by musicians Peter Buck, Barrett Martin, Scott McCaughey, and Alex Veley."

Luther Allison - Blues on Mowtown???

BLUES ON MOWTOWN RECORDS? Well, yeah...not much but these 3 records were released on Mowtown's Gordy subsidiary label. I can't find a discussion, even in the now extensive Mowtown histories, but it appears that when the label moved to Tinsel Town in 1972, there was a brief experiment with blues on the revived Gordy imprint. Artists besides Allison included Amos Milburn, Mabel John (Little Willie's sister), Earl King and Arthur Adams; aside from Luther's albums, very little of the material was ever issued until recently.

Luther is a guy whom I'm a bit embarrassed that I had not featured much earlier, but sometimes the obvious escapes you. Cliff has often proffered the quite reasonable theory that the music of your late teens, both shapes your taste and resonates with you for life. Well under that theory Luther Allison most certainly qualifies for me! My first exposure was on the tour to support the 1972 'Bad News Is Coming' album, he was opening for Muddy Waters on college campuses across the midwest. I was 18, in my freshman year of college and it was a tiny venue (a cafeteria) so I was up front! Luther burned a lifelong image into my brain with ferocious, Hendrix-like guitar and Howlin' Wolf influenced vocals.

"Luther Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was an American blues guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas and moved with his family, at age twelve, to Chicago in 1951. He taught himself guitar and began listening to blues extensively. Three years later he began hanging outside blues nightclubs with the hopes of being invited to perform. He played with Howlin' Wolf's band and backed James Cotton.

His big break came in 1957 when Howlin' Wolf invited Allison to the stage. Freddie King took him under his wing and after King got his big record deal, Allison took over King's house-band gig on Chicago's west side. He worked the club circuit throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s and recorded his first single in 1965. He was signed to the Delmark Records label in 1967 and released his debut album, Love Me Mama, the following year. A well-received set at the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival resulted in his being asked to perform there each of the next three years. He also toured nationwide and, in 1972, was signed to Motown Records, one of the few blues artists to do so. By the mid 1970s he began touring Europe and moved to France in 1977.

Allison was known for his powerful concert performances, lengthy soulful guitar solos and crowd walking with his Gibson Les Paul. Allison lived briefly during this period in Peoria, Illinois, where he signed briefly with Rumble Records, resulting in two Live Recordings, "Gonna Be a Live One in Here Tonight", produced by Bill Knight and "Power Wire Blues", produced by George Faber and Jeffrey P. Hess. Allison played the "bar circuit" in the USA during this period, spending eight months per year in Europe at high-profile venues, including the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1992, he played as a duo with legendary French rock'n'roll star Johnny Hallyday for 18 shows in Paris, also playing during the intermission.

Allison's manager, and European agent, Thomas Ruf, founded the label Ruf Records in 1994. Signing with Ruf Records, Allison launched a comeback in association with Alligator Records. Alligator founder Bruce Iglauer convinced Allison to return to the United States. The album Soul Fixin' Man was recorded and released in 1994, and Allison toured the U.S. and Canada. He won four W.C. Handy Awards in 1994. With the James Solberg Band backing him, non-stop touring and the release of Blue Streak (featuring song "Cherry Red Wine"), Allison continued to earn more Handys and gain wider recognition. He scored a host of Living Blues Awards and was featured on the cover pages of major blues publications.

In the middle of his summer of 1997 tour, Allison checked into a hospital for dizziness and loss of coordination. It was discovered that he had a tumor on his lung that had metastasized to his brain. In and out of a coma, Allison died on August 12, 1997, five days before his 58th birthday, in Madison, Wisconsin. His album Reckless had just been released. His son Bernard Allison, at one time a member of his band, is now a solo recording artist.

Allison is buried at Washington Memory Gardens Cemetery in Homewood, Illinois." wiki

Roosevelt Sykes - The Honeydripper

  "Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906 – July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "The Honeydripper". He was a successful and prolific cigar-chomping blues piano player, whose rollicking thundering boogie-woogie was highly influential.

Born in Elmar, Arkansas, Sykes grew up near Helena but at age 15, went on the road playing piano with a barrelhouse style of blues. Like many bluesmen of his time, he travelled around playing to all-male audiences in sawmill, turpentine and levee camps along the Mississippi River, gathering a repertoire of raw, sexually explicit material. His wanderings eventually brought him to St. Louis, Missouri, where he met St. Louis Jimmy Oden.

In 1929 he was spotted by a talent scout and sent to New York to record for Okeh Records. His first release was "'44' Blues" which became a blues standard and his trademark. He quickly began recording for multiple labels under various names including 'Easy Papa Johnson', 'Dobby Bragg' and 'Willie Kelly'. After he and Oden moved to Chicago he found his first period of fame when he signed with Decca Records in 1934. In 1943, he signed with Bluebird Records and recorded with 'The Honeydrippers'.

In Chicago, Sykes began to display an increasing urbanity in his lyric-writing, using an eight-bar blues pop gospel structure instead of the traditional twelve-bar blues. However, despite the growing urbanity of his outlook, he gradually became less competitive in the post-World War II music scene. After his RCA Victor contract expired, he continued to record for smaller labels, such as United, until his opportunities ran out in the mid-1950s.

Roosevelt left Chicago in 1954 for New Orleans as electric blues was taking over the Chicago blues clubs. When he returned to recording in the 1960s it was for labels such as Delmark, Bluesville, Storyville and Folkways that were documenting the quickly passing blues history. He lived out his final years in New Orleans, where he died from a heart attack on July 17, 1983.

Sykes had a long career spanning the pre-war and postwar eras. His pounding piano boogies and risqué lyrics characterize his contributions to the blues. He was responsible for influential blues songs such as "44 Blues", "Driving Wheel", and "Night Time Is the Right Time"." wiki