MickeyV | All About Blues Music

LONESOME SUNDOWN

Lonesome Sundown was given his Blues name by Jay Miller, the legendary producer at Excello Records who also gave new names to Lightnin’ Slim, Lazy Lester and many more. Lonesome’s particular brand of ‘swamp Blues’ had strong echoes of the hard-edged sound of Chicago Blues rather than the usual one-chord boogies or the more lyrical…

‘DOC’ CLAYTON

Doc Clayton was a great Blues singer and song-writer who made a big contribution to Chicago Blues in the 30s and 40s. Like many characters in Blues History, his origins are shrouded in mystery and he came to a bad end, but while he was around his clever songs, full of double-entendre, his strong voice…

JOHN DELAFOSE

Cajun and Zydeco are the folk music of the Louisiana and East Texas Creole French-speaking community, with the difference between the two tags being largely down to the skin-colour of the players. Before the music went national and then global, Gulf-Coast radio stations played the records of local players Iry LeJeune, Clifton Chenier and Nathan…

TOMMY CASTRO

With a hat-full of Blues Music Awards and a dozen good-selling albums, Tommy Castro is a consummate modern Bluesman. He sings like a 60s Soul star, plays guitar riffs that would not be out of place in a 50s Chicago club, and he has taken those talents around the world. Tommy remains a modest character,…

LOWELL GEORGE

Lowell George was a slide-guitar player of such exquisite skill, good taste and influence, he is one of an élite group of musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Duane Allman and Ry Cooder, who can be said to have changed the sound of modern Rock music with their mastery of lyrical ‘bottleneck’ technique. Lowell Thomas George was…

MICK ABRAHAMS

The Architect of the Tull Sound Mick’s journey began in Bedfordshire, England and was inspired by the raw power of Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies. While history often focuses on the flute of Ian Anderson, it was Abrahams’ grit and hard-rocking Blues guitar that anchored Jethro Tull’s 1968 debut, This Was. Though his time with…

JEFF HEALEY

Jeff Healey played strong Blues Rock on a guitar he laid across his lap, allowing him to use his thumb and fingers to make huge bends in the shimmering notes that rang through his unique music. With a ‘blue-eyed soul’ voice and a deep Blues sensibility that shone brightly in his compositions, Jeff was a…

MIGHTY JOE YOUNG

Mighty Joe Young was never a big star of the Blues himself, but for more than 30 years he played with the some of the most revered names in Chicago. His big, soulful voice and delicate guitar work got him a healthy solo recording career and a lot of session work with bigger stars, but…

MARCIA BALL

Texas and the Gulf Coast has produced some of the best modern music in the Blues tradition, and Austin, Texas maintains its reputation as the epicentre of the genre. Long-time resident Marcia Ball is a formidable pianist with a strong sense of swing and a sweet-toned voice to carry off her largely self-written repertoire. While…

YANK RACHELL

The mandolin is not the first instrument one might associate with the Blues, but in the hands of ‘Yank’ Rachell, it became a familiar sound on stage and on records. From the late 20s ‘Jug Band Craze’ to the ‘urbanisation’ of the Blues in 30s Chicago, onward to the 60s Folk/Blues revival and almost to…