1. Memphis Blues - W.C. Handy 2. Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith 3. Pine Top Boogie - Pine Top Smith 4. Dust My Broom - Elmore James 5. Boogie Chillun - John Lee Hooker 6. Manish Boy - Muddy Waters 7. Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker 8. Hellhound On My Trail - Robert Johnson 9. Spoonful - Willie Dixon10. The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King11. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - Sonny Boy Williamson I12. Born Under A Bad Sign - Albert King13. Forty Four Blues - Roosevelt Sykes14. Smokestack Lightnin - Howlin' Wolf15. Statesboro Blues - Taj Mahal16. Hoochie Coochie Man - Muddy Waters17. Juke - Little Walter18. The Little Red Rooster - Willie Dixon19. Come In My Kitchen - Robert Johnson20. I'm a King Bee - Slim Harpo21. The Things That I Used To Do - Guitar Slim22. Back Door Man - Willie Dixon23. It's My Own Fault - B.B. King24. I'm Tore Down - Freddie King25. T-Bone Blues - T-Bone Walker26. Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnson27. Preaching The Blues - Son House28. Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out - Bessie Smith29. I Can't Be Satisfied - Muddy Waters30. Shake Your Moneymaker - Elmore James31. Matchbox Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson32. Hideaway - Freddie King33. How Long, How Long Blues - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell34. Five Long Years - B.B. King35. Red House - Jimi Hendrix36. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson37. All Your Love - Magic Sam38. Give Me Back My Wig - Hound Dog Taylor39. Reconsider Baby - Lowell Fulson40. Worried Life Blues - Sleepy John Estes41. If Trouble Was Money - Albert Collins42. I Ain't Superstitious - Willie Dixon43. Sweet Black Angel - Robert Nighthawk44. I Know What You're Putting Down - Louis Jordan45. Black Snake Moan - Blind Lemon Jefferson46. Ball and Chain - Big Mama Thornton47. Further On Up The Road - Bobby 'Blue' Bland48. I Can't Quit You Baby - Otis Rush49. Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker50. Born In Chicago - Paul Butterfield Blues Band
51. Let The Good Times Roll - Louis Jordan52. Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan53. Pony Blues - Charley Patton54. The Sky Is Crying - Elmore James55. Catfish Blues - Robert Petway56. Highway 49 - Big Joe Williams57. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson58. Blues Before Sunrise - Leroy Carr & Scrapper Blackwell59. Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams60. Bumble Bee - Memphis Minnie61. I'm Ready - Muddy Waters62. It Hurts Me Too - Elmore James63. Stop Breakin' Down - Robert Johnson64. Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan65. I'm In The Mood - John Lee Hooker66. Me and The Devil Blues - Robert Johnson67. The Walkin' Blues - Taj Mahal68. 'Taint Nobody's Bizness If I Do - Bessie Smith69. It's Tight Like That - Tampa Red70. Love In Vain - Robert Johnson71. Evil - Willie Dixon72. Baby Scratch My Back - Slim Harpo73. Wang Dang Doodle - Koko Taylor74. On The Road Again - Canned Heat75. Rock Me Mama - Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup76. Three O'Clock Blues - B.B. King77. Tomorrow Night - Lonnie Johnson78. Boom Boom Out Go The Lights - Little Walter79. The Same Thing - Willie Dixon80. West Coast Blues - Blind Blake81. How Many More Years - Howlin' Wolf82. Cryin' Shame - Lightnin' Hopkins83. Rollin & Tumblin - Elmore James84. Everyday I Have The Blues - B.B. King85. Messin Around - Memphis Slim86. Blues After Hours - Pee Wee Crayton87. Eyesight To The Blind - Sonny Boy Williamson II88. CC Rider - Ma Rainey89. I'm Tired - Savoy Brown90. Graveyard Dream Blues - Ida Cox91. Beaver Slide Rag - Peg Leg Howell92. Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy93. Messin' With The Kid - Junior Wells94. The Seventh Son - Willie Dixon95. As The Years Go Passing By - Gary Moore96. We're Gonna Make It - Little Milton97. Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee - Stick McGhee98. Hard Luck Blues - Roy Brown99. Black Magic Woman - Fleetwood Mac100. Stone Crazy - Buddy Guy
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Etta James
Born Los Angeles, California mid-1930's
A singer with great vitality and the ability to modify her style as musical trends changed, Etta James remained a favority of rhythm & blues followers for decades. Among R&B female vocalists, only Dinah Washington and Ruth Brown have had more top 10 hits from the early 1950's to the early 1970's.
Like dozens of other soul stars, Etta James was brought to the limelight by Johnny Otis who had seen her playing the Fillmore in San Francisco in the early 1950's. While getting her financial feet on the ground, Etta stayed with Otis and his girlfriend where she penned "Roll With Me Henry" which became a hit when released by Modern Records.
During the mid-1950's Etta became one of the most popular members of Johnny Otis' show and had two more hits on Modern.
At the start of the 1960's, she signed a contract with Chess Records and began a new and more rewarding phase of her career. It was during this time that she had such hits as "All I Could Do Was Cry", "My Dearest Darling", and "If I Can't Have You", a duet with Harvey Fuqua (of Harvey and the Moonglows). On these cuts, her singing had a more gospel and blues content rather than the rough, strident inflections of old-time R&B.
In the mid-1960's her career was plagued by drug addiction. For months at a time she would be sidelined. But through it all she kept going and working when she could.
Her last album for Chess was cut in 1977 "Etta is Betta Than Evah". It was not a great album, but complied with the requirements for terminating her contract.
In the 1980's she played small clubs and special concerts.
A singer with great vitality and the ability to modify her style as musical trends changed, Etta James remained a favority of rhythm & blues followers for decades. Among R&B female vocalists, only Dinah Washington and Ruth Brown have had more top 10 hits from the early 1950's to the early 1970's.
Like dozens of other soul stars, Etta James was brought to the limelight by Johnny Otis who had seen her playing the Fillmore in San Francisco in the early 1950's. While getting her financial feet on the ground, Etta stayed with Otis and his girlfriend where she penned "Roll With Me Henry" which became a hit when released by Modern Records.
During the mid-1950's Etta became one of the most popular members of Johnny Otis' show and had two more hits on Modern.
At the start of the 1960's, she signed a contract with Chess Records and began a new and more rewarding phase of her career. It was during this time that she had such hits as "All I Could Do Was Cry", "My Dearest Darling", and "If I Can't Have You", a duet with Harvey Fuqua (of Harvey and the Moonglows). On these cuts, her singing had a more gospel and blues content rather than the rough, strident inflections of old-time R&B.
In the mid-1960's her career was plagued by drug addiction. For months at a time she would be sidelined. But through it all she kept going and working when she could.
Her last album for Chess was cut in 1977 "Etta is Betta Than Evah". It was not a great album, but complied with the requirements for terminating her contract.
In the 1980's she played small clubs and special concerts.
Little Milton
He was born Milton Campbell in a modest sharecroppers home on the outskirts of Inverness, Mississippi, on September 7th 1934. As a child, he was drawn by a very popular radio shows of the day (and still is): The Grand Ole Opry. He found an early connection to Country and western music and later fused it with the other two predominant musical influences of the Mississippi Delta: Gospel & Blues. A youthful “Little” Milton began studying what he heard and practiced; mastering songs and reciting them, no matter what the style or difficulty. By his early teens, he was performing in local clubs and bars across the Delta.
As Milton grew into a young man, he didn't waste any time learning the ropes or absorbing all the musical possibilities that existed at the time. He played street corners, alleys, dives, you name it, carefully developing his craft and attracting the attention of established acts and local record labels. By the time Ike Turner introduced Milton to Sam Phillips of Sun Records in the early 50's, he was a young but seasoned performer with a momentous live show that created a buzz in every town he played. His debut single Beggin My Baby was recorded and released at the same time Sam Phillips was molding the sound of another unknown talent from Mississippi: Elvis Presley.
After recording a series of sides at Sun without great fanfare, Milton moved to East St. LouisÂ’ Bobbin Records, where his recording career flourished. He also became Bobbin's A&R chief and working partner to its owner, Bob Lyons. During this era, Milton signed such artists as Albert King and Fontella Bass to the label. Most importantly, he cut his own first hit, I'm A Lonely Man, in 1958.
Milton's skyrocketing success soon drew the attention of Chess Records executives in Chicago, who signed him to Chess Checkers label and moved him north. Chess carried Little Milton from southern blues circuit fame to the national spotlight and to white audiences. Milton's recordings realized only moderate chart success, until he cut We're Gonna Make It, which hit No. 1 on Billboard magazines R&B singles chart in 1965. On the Checker label, he registered hits from 1962 through 1971 that would become American blues classics and staples of his live shows. His Checker recordings included Baby I Love You, If Walls Could Talk, Feel So Bad, Who's Cheating Who? and the unforgettable Grits Ain't Groceries. After the death of label founder Leonard Chess in 1969, the company eventually dissolved and Milton signed with Stax.
At Stax, he joined a virtual whoÂ’s who of influential black recording artist of the day including Isaac Hayes, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Booker T. & The M.G.'s, Albert King and, coincidentally, another future Malaco star, the late Johnnie Taylor. MiltonÂ’s legend only grew at Stax, where from 1971 through 1975, he stacked up more mega hitsÂ…including Walking The Back Streets and Cryin and That's What Love Will Make You Do.
When Stax filed bankruptcy in 1975, Milton joined TK/Glades Records in Miami, then home to such artist as Betty Wright, K. C. & The Sunshine Band and Latimore. There, he racked up another charted hit, Friend of Mine. But the Glade label also went out of business. Consequently, in 1983, he released his only album for MCA, Age Ain't Nothin But A Number. The title cut was an instant-charted hit.
In 1984, Little Milton united with Malaco Records and began the longest professional association of his career. He continued his exceptional vocal and guitar styles and quickly became one of Malaco's biggest selling artists. He swept up such honors as the 1988 W. C. Handy Blues Entertainer of the Year Award and the 2000 Grammy award nomination. He also was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Over the years, Malaco has released 14 of Little Milton's albums, including the critically acclaimed, Billboard blues smash hit Cheatin Habit. Cheatin Habit followed his wildly successful Little Milton's Greatest Hits compilation. Some of Little Milton's Malaco cuts that have become American blues standards include Annie Mae's Cafe, The Blues is Alright, Little Bluebird, Room 244, I Was Trying Not to Break Down, Catch You on Your Way Down, Murder on Your Hands, and Comeback Kind of Love.
The year 2001 marked a successful run of sold out shows in the United States and Europe and the release of Feel It. Malaco doubled back in September, 2002, with the release CD number 14, Guitar Man. It's celebrated cuts include Guitar Man, Still Some Meat Left on this Bone, and Milton's soulful rendition of My Way.
In 2005, after more than a half century after his early SUN recordings, Little Milton made his debut on the TELARC label with the release of THINK OF ME, a mesmerizing CD consisting of a dozen tracks distilling a lifetime of rich guitar skills, compelling vocals and deft songwriting all wrapped into a single high powered package. It would be his last studio recording.
The man who made the THE BLUES IS ALRIGHT a national anthem with blues enthusiasts around the globe, passed away on August 4, 2005, after suffering a massive brain stroke. Hundreds of family, friends, and fans attended his memorial on August 10, 2005 in South Haven, Mississippi in a final farewell to "MR. C".
As Milton grew into a young man, he didn't waste any time learning the ropes or absorbing all the musical possibilities that existed at the time. He played street corners, alleys, dives, you name it, carefully developing his craft and attracting the attention of established acts and local record labels. By the time Ike Turner introduced Milton to Sam Phillips of Sun Records in the early 50's, he was a young but seasoned performer with a momentous live show that created a buzz in every town he played. His debut single Beggin My Baby was recorded and released at the same time Sam Phillips was molding the sound of another unknown talent from Mississippi: Elvis Presley.
After recording a series of sides at Sun without great fanfare, Milton moved to East St. LouisÂ’ Bobbin Records, where his recording career flourished. He also became Bobbin's A&R chief and working partner to its owner, Bob Lyons. During this era, Milton signed such artists as Albert King and Fontella Bass to the label. Most importantly, he cut his own first hit, I'm A Lonely Man, in 1958.
Milton's skyrocketing success soon drew the attention of Chess Records executives in Chicago, who signed him to Chess Checkers label and moved him north. Chess carried Little Milton from southern blues circuit fame to the national spotlight and to white audiences. Milton's recordings realized only moderate chart success, until he cut We're Gonna Make It, which hit No. 1 on Billboard magazines R&B singles chart in 1965. On the Checker label, he registered hits from 1962 through 1971 that would become American blues classics and staples of his live shows. His Checker recordings included Baby I Love You, If Walls Could Talk, Feel So Bad, Who's Cheating Who? and the unforgettable Grits Ain't Groceries. After the death of label founder Leonard Chess in 1969, the company eventually dissolved and Milton signed with Stax.
At Stax, he joined a virtual whoÂ’s who of influential black recording artist of the day including Isaac Hayes, Rufus & Carla Thomas, Booker T. & The M.G.'s, Albert King and, coincidentally, another future Malaco star, the late Johnnie Taylor. MiltonÂ’s legend only grew at Stax, where from 1971 through 1975, he stacked up more mega hitsÂ…including Walking The Back Streets and Cryin and That's What Love Will Make You Do.
When Stax filed bankruptcy in 1975, Milton joined TK/Glades Records in Miami, then home to such artist as Betty Wright, K. C. & The Sunshine Band and Latimore. There, he racked up another charted hit, Friend of Mine. But the Glade label also went out of business. Consequently, in 1983, he released his only album for MCA, Age Ain't Nothin But A Number. The title cut was an instant-charted hit.
In 1984, Little Milton united with Malaco Records and began the longest professional association of his career. He continued his exceptional vocal and guitar styles and quickly became one of Malaco's biggest selling artists. He swept up such honors as the 1988 W. C. Handy Blues Entertainer of the Year Award and the 2000 Grammy award nomination. He also was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Over the years, Malaco has released 14 of Little Milton's albums, including the critically acclaimed, Billboard blues smash hit Cheatin Habit. Cheatin Habit followed his wildly successful Little Milton's Greatest Hits compilation. Some of Little Milton's Malaco cuts that have become American blues standards include Annie Mae's Cafe, The Blues is Alright, Little Bluebird, Room 244, I Was Trying Not to Break Down, Catch You on Your Way Down, Murder on Your Hands, and Comeback Kind of Love.
The year 2001 marked a successful run of sold out shows in the United States and Europe and the release of Feel It. Malaco doubled back in September, 2002, with the release CD number 14, Guitar Man. It's celebrated cuts include Guitar Man, Still Some Meat Left on this Bone, and Milton's soulful rendition of My Way.
In 2005, after more than a half century after his early SUN recordings, Little Milton made his debut on the TELARC label with the release of THINK OF ME, a mesmerizing CD consisting of a dozen tracks distilling a lifetime of rich guitar skills, compelling vocals and deft songwriting all wrapped into a single high powered package. It would be his last studio recording.
The man who made the THE BLUES IS ALRIGHT a national anthem with blues enthusiasts around the globe, passed away on August 4, 2005, after suffering a massive brain stroke. Hundreds of family, friends, and fans attended his memorial on August 10, 2005 in South Haven, Mississippi in a final farewell to "MR. C".
Johnny Winter
For over 30 years, Johnny Winter has been a guitar hero without equal. Signing to Columbia records in 1969, Johnny immediately laid out the blueprint for his fresh take on classic blues a prime combination for the legions of fans just discovering the blues via the likes of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. Constantly shifting between simple country blues in the vein of Robert Johnson, to all-out electric slide guitar blues-rock, - Johnny has always been one of the most respected singers and guitar players in rock and the clear link between British blues-rock and American Southern rock (a la the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.) Throughout the '70s and '80s, Johnny was the unofficial torch-bearer for the blues, championing and aiding the careers of his idols like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. His recent Grammy nominated "I'm A Bluesman" disc Virgin/EMI, has only added to his Texas-sized reputation.
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