Blues Music Artists

LEE ‘Shot’ WILLIAMS

Lee ‘Shot’ Williams was a Blues singer from Mississippi who ended up in Chicago’s West-side in the late 50s. His vocal powers got him a record deal, lot of gigs fronting some great bands, and he continued his career as a ‘Southern Soul’ singer well into the new century. Henry Lee Williams was born in…

JOE COCKER

Joe Cocker’s rough, testosterone-soaked Soul voice gave us some iconic records in the late 60s and early 70s. Standing at the mic, thrashing and twitching with seemingly uncontrollable passion, his vocals have a rare and beautiful emotional resonance which fills every song he sings, whether a heart-rending ballad, a high-energy rocker or a funky R&B…

LARRY DALE

Larry Dale was a Texan guitarist and singer who played some swinging electric Blues in New York in the 50s; played on some seminal records; had a brief career as a bandleader, and was still active in Harlem in the 1990s. Ennis Lowery was Larry’s original name, and he was born in Hungerford Texas in…

‘Bois Sec’ ARDOIN

‘Bois Sec’ Ardoin, the accordionist and singer, was an important agent in bringing ‘old school’ Creole ‘La-la’ music into the post WWII era. Inspired by his older cousin Amédé Ardoin, Bois Sec played the swinging, good-time dancing Blues we now know as Zydeco. He didn’t make any records at that time, but his popularity at…

DANNY KIRWAN

The first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac was as a hard-rocking Blues band, but when Danny Kirwan joined Peter Green on guitar and contributed his songwriting abilities to the mix, a more complex and mellow blend of music emerged. When Peter left the band, Danny assumed a more central rôle, but his struggle with alcohol, and…

LARRY WILLIAMS

Larry Williams was a great singer, pianist, producer and songwriter, who had long and fruitful partnerships with both Little Richard and Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson. However, he also had a long term drug problem, and he died from gunshot wounds in LA at the age of 44. Born in New Orleans in 1935, Lawrence Eugene ‘Larry’…

BOB MARGOLIN

There are still Blues players around today who learned their craft at directly from the Chicago Legends. When Muddy Waters took on a young guitar player in 1973, he gave ‘Steady Rollin’ Bob’ Margolin a masterclass in fronting a touring and recording band that has served him well for decades, and will hopefully continue for…

PAPA CHARLIE JACKSON

Papa Charlie Jackson’s ‘Lawdy, Lawdy Blues’ was the first commercially successful Blues song recorded by a man. In an age when ‘Race Music‘ was a new phenomenon, dozens of Blues Divas were recording for the major companies, but the idea of a black man singing about the hardships of his life was a politically sensitive…

BAYLESS ROSE

Bayless Rose was a Kentucky guitarist and singer who recorded several Ragtime-style Blues tracks for the Gennett label in 1930. His articulate, ‘Piedmont’ picking got him some session work, and his occasional use of a slide is reminiscent of the Memphis guitarist Walter ‘Furry’ Lewis, who had been recording since 1927. Not much is known…

FREDDIE ROULETTE

Freddie Roulette is one of the very few Blues musicians who has made the lap-steel guitar their instrument of choice. From his early classic albums with Earl Hooker and his work with some legendary Chicago characters, through an enduring friendship with Charlie Musselwhite to a long career on the West-coast, Freddie always brings a heart…