MickeyV | All About Blues Music

LIL GREEN

Lil Green had a beautiful, soulful voice trained in Mississippi Churches, honed in Chicago clubs and heard all over the country, especially at the Apollo in Harlem, where she regularly thrilled audiences. She was not a prolific recording artist, and she did not have a string of hits, but Lil did have her moment in…

COSIMO MATASSA

Cosimo Matassa was a pioneer of rocking New Orleans R&B, who produced the revolutionary sounds that made the everybody dance in the early 50s. Working from a tiny studio, Cosimo developed a bass and drum-heavy sound, with light horns and prominent vocals and piano, that propelled several local boys onto the world stage. Studio owners…

DADDY STOVEPIPE

Daddy Stovepipe is best known for being one of the first men to record a Blues song. His first record, where he sang and accompanied himself on guitar and harp, was not a hit when it was released in 1924, but it was a significant milestone in the history of the Blues. Born in 1867…

JOHN BRIM

Although he was never a big star in his own right, John Brim made a significant contribution to the Blues catalogue by writing some great songs that heve been covered many times, and mentoring some great young talent in his band The Gary Kings. John’s long career took in the early years of electric Chicago…

MANCE LIPSCOMB

Mance Lipscomb was more than just a Blues singer. He could be more accurately be classed as a songster in the Leadbelly tradition, with a wide range of folk songs, spirituals, ragtime tunes and children’s songs. He played them in a variety of styles and keys, often using slide-guitar but equally at home with a…

TOMMY McCLENNAN

Tommy McClennan was a rough-edged Delta Blues player whose gravel voice and wild, slashing guitar style evoked the earliest days of the Blues. In a 27-month recording career in Chicago, he left a powerful legacy of raw-boned Blues, and his songs like ‘Deep Sea Blues’ (re-worked by his friend, and possible ‘alter ego’ Robert Petway…

BILLIE HOLIDAY

Billie Holiday was one of the world’s foremost Jazz singers, with that flexible but fragile voice that spoke to the heart of a woman’s pain and vulnerability. She had a magnificent command of jazz phrasing but her vocal presentation was underscored with fundamental elements of Blues music, specifically ‘thirds’ descending into ‘seconds’ to give those…

JIM MARSHALL

The ‘Marshall Stack’ is that tall black monolithic speaker set that you see behind most rock bands as they use its massive sound dynamic to tickle your ears one moment and blow your hair off the next. The man behind this vital equipment wanted to be a loud, wild, jazz drummer like his hero Gene…

JOHN MOONEY

Leading his New Orleans based band Bluesiana, John Mooney’s heavy, rhythmic guitar style combines Delta slide work with electric Blues that can boogie with the best of them. A series of classy albums and relentless touring have made him a welcome guest on the world Festival circuit, and a fixture in his adopted home town.…

BIG MACEO MERRIWEATHER

Maceo Merriweather was in important interpreter of urban piano Blues technique, who helped to transform the rough barrel-house styles of the Southern juke-joints and ‘sporting houses’ into the more sophisticated improvisations heard on the Chicago club scene. Performing solo or in a small band setting, Maceo incorporated the understated good taste of Leroy Carr with…