Blues Music Artists

VAN MORRISON

‘Van the Man’ is a unique performer who crosses a lot of boundaries with his brand of ‘Celtic Soul’. Elements of Gospel, Folk and Blues are fused behind a vocal style that also draws heavily on wildly emotional Jazz phrasing. He revealed that he learned a lasting lesson from studying many early Louis Armstrong records,…

BREWER PHILLIPS

Brewer Phillips is best remembered as a driving force behind Hound Dog Taylor’s Houserockers. Alongside his loud long-time drumming partner Ted Harvey, Brewer would keep a bass-line pounding on his guitar using a thumb-pick, while using his fingers to strum the heavy juke-joint boogies of his native Mississippi hill country. This potent rhythm section allowed…

CAROLINA SLIM

Carolina Slim is the best known pseudonym of the enigmatic Edward P Harris. His records were issued under the names Country Paul, Georgia Pine, Jammin’ Jim and Lazy Slim Jim in a short but productive recording career in the early 50s, but he passed away shortly after his 30th birthday. The quality of the work…

CLARA WARD

Clara Ward was controversial figure in Gospel circles, as she took the music out of the Church and onto the nightclub stage, where her fabulous voice influenced a generation of Soul and Blues singers. Sparkling costumes and towering wigs would eventually see Clara and her Ward Singers playing Vegas, and that was anathema to the…

EARL GAINES

Earl Gaines was a fine Soul-Blues singer who enjoyed early success with an R&B Chart-topping single. His solo career with Excello produced a string of high-quality tracks and, after a long lay-off from the music industry, Earl came out of retirement to lay down more of his emotive vocals for the Black Top label. Earl…

BARKIN’ BILL SMITH

Bill Smith had a rich smooth baritone voice that gave his Blues songs an urbane, sophisticated quality which was exactly opposite to what might be expected from his stage-name, especially as the man was a stylish dresser and had an eye for the ladies. Born in rural Mississippi in the mid-30s, Bill Smith sang in…

HAMMIE NIXON

Hammie Nixon was the long-time harp playing companion of Sleepy John Estes, whose thoughtful, delicate, country flavoured harp lines spoke of years long gone by, even as he recorded in the 80s. Hammie Nickerson was born in Brownsville TN in 1908 and orphaned as a young child. Noah Lewis, who went on to play with…

STICK McGHEE

‘Stick’ McGhee is not so well known as his brother Brownie, but he wrote some great boozy Blues songs, and one of them, ‘Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee’, has become a classic, covered many times down the years, including versions by Jerry Lee Lewis, Wynonie Harris, Larry Dale and Mike Bloomfield’s Electric Flag. Granville McGhee was born…

ROY BUCHANAN

‘The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World’ was a 1971 TV documentary about Roy Buchanan. Playing his trademark Fender, which he first picked up at the age of 13, Roy was a unique-sounding session guitarist, who apparently turned down a spot in The Rolling Stones, and went on to record some great Blues-rock albums before…

SON SEALS

Chicago guitarist Son Seals spent his whole career carrying the flag for the powerful ‘West-side’ guitar breaks pioneered in the solos of Otis Rush and Magic Sam back in the late 50s and early 60s. Son’s rawboned Blues guitar licks could convey joyful high energy, deep rage and anger, and a smiling confident swagger, and…