MickeyV | All About Blues Music

JONNY LANG

Many young guitarist love to play the Blues, but few do it with the passion and authenticity of Jonny Lang. With a voice that sounded like a veteran when he was still of school age and a stinging solo guitar style that was straight out of Chicago, the kid made a big impact when first…

EDDIE ‘Playboy’ TAYLOR

Phenomenal Chicago side-men like James Cotton, Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy, Earl Hooker and Otis Spann spent years backing the legendary Bluesmen with very little recognition until late in their careers, and Eddie ‘Playboy’ Taylor’s talents were similarly unheralded outside guitar specialist circles. His superb rhythm playing on all Jimmy Reed‘s records gave them a swinging dance-able…

JOOLS HOLLAND

There are not many big bands gigging regularly in Britain these days, but The Rhythm and Blues Orchestra often goes on tour and thrills audiences wherever they go. The band is the brainchild of the versatile pianist and broadcaster Jools Holland, whose BBC programmes are the place to find Blues and Jazz legends, up-and-coming new…

JULIUS DANIEL

Julius Daniels was an early Piedmont Blues singer with a rich, deep, clear voice who made some important records when field-recording units were combing the South in the 20s looking for talent. He recorded seven tracks for the Victor label during two sessions in Atlanta during 1927, with ’99-Year Blues’ being the best known and…

CHARLEY LINCOLN

Charley Lincoln was the recording name of Charley Hicks, the elder brother of Robert Hicks, who is better remembered as ‘Barbecue Bob‘. Born in 1900 in Lithonia GA, Charley was taught guitar by Curley Weaver‘s mother Savannah and as young men, Curley, Bob and Charley were part of a loose collection of musicians who played…

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR

The Blues springs from some unlikely places these days, and a genteel English suburban neighborhood might seem pretty unlikely. It’s as far from the Delta as you could get, and when you hear blistering Blues licks and heart-rending vocals coming from a pretty girl-next-door type who would look more at home on the cover of…

ANDREW ODOM

Andrew ‘Big Voice’ Odom is a largely undiscovered gem of a Blues singer who plied his trade around the Chicago scene for many years, supplying his soulful vocal lines on many great performances by the èlite guitarists on the club circuit. His rich tone and superb timing might have made him a star, but he…

JAMES BOOKER

James Booker was right up there with the best pianists New Orleans has ever produced, and when you consider that other candidates might include Fats and ‘Fess‘, Toussaint, Dr. John, Huey Smith and Harry Connick Jr. you know that is high praise indeed. James could make his organ or piano sound like a whole band,…

ARCHIBALD

Archibald is not a well known figure outside New Orleans, but his style was a strong influence on younger players in the city like Fats Domino and Huey ‘Piano’ Smith. The old Blues classic ‘Stack-a-Lee’ first came to national attention on Archibald’s only hit record, but despite his lack of recording success, he had a…

HARRY PACE

Before Mamie Smith‘s groundbreaking ‘Crazy Blues’ in 1920, there was virtually no serious African American music on record. Mamie’s seminal disc proved there was a demand for ‘race music‘, and all the leading record companies jumped on the bandwagon. However, only one label on the scene was wholly black-owned: Black Swan, named in honour of…