Blues Music Artists

PEETIE WHEATSTRAW

St.Louis pianist and singer Peetie Wheatstraw was not a great player- his piano skills were little more than functional- but his singing, with it’s almost arrogant self-confidence, his trademark ‘Ooh well,well’, and his clever way with a lyric made him one of the best-selling Blues artists of the 30s. William Bunch of Ripley TN arrived…

BIG CHIEF ELLIS

Self-taught pianist Wilbert Ellis played his Blues around Birmingham AL before he was drafted in 1939. He showed up on the Blues scene in New York after WWII, where he played the clubs with many Blues players as they passed through town. ‘Big Chief’ recorded with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee for Capitol but seems…

ROEBUCK ‘POPS’ STAPLES

The Staple Singers were a big soul act in the 60s and 70s with their inspiring gospel-flavoured sound, but their patriarch Roebuck Staples was an old-fashioned Blues player who bridged the worlds of the Delta and deep urban funk, and went back to his roots with a late-blooming solo career. Born in Winona MS in…

PEE-WEE CRAYTON

Connie Crayton was a Texas guitarist who made an impact when he moved to LA and was a mainstay of the Bay Area Blues scene for decades when he settled a little further north. Pee-Wee’s style owed much to T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian, two friends who were active on the Houston scene when Pee-Wee…

HOUND DOG TAYLOR

Theodore Roosevelt Taylor learned his slide-guitar around his native Natchez MS, playing at parties and juke-joints. He was already 20 when he learned to play and a few appearances on the King Biscuit Time radio show convinced Hound Dog to try his luck in Chicago. He relocated there in 1942, and played part-time around the…

ROBBEN FORD

Robben Ford is a multi-talented guitarist whose Blues sensibilities are overwritten with a true jazz player’s curiosity and inventiveness. Robben was born in California in 1951 and took up the sax as a kid, but switched to guitar when he was 14. He was a big Paul Butterfield fan so it was no surprise when…

RUFUS THOMAS

Rufus Thomas was a Soul giant in the 60s and a comedy disco act in the 70s, but before that he had been a big player on the Memphis R&B scene. He went on the road almost straight out of school, working as a comedian in travelling shows, including the Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels. When he…

DINAH WASHINGTON

Dinah Washington was probably the most popular R&B singer of the 50s. Raised in gospel; gifted with an immaculate sense of blues phrasing; equally at home in jazz, blues, R&B and pop, Dinah’s clear yet passionate delivery made her one of the biggest stars of the day and earned her the title ‘Queen of the…

LUCKY PETERSON

When he was six years old, Lucky had an R&B hit with ‘1-2-3-4’, produced by Willie Dixon. As a child prodigy, Judge Kenneth Peterson was all over the TV shows, but he went on to prove that record was not a one-off. A competent keyboard player by the age of three, Lucky grew up in…

GUITAR SLIM

With a gospel voice straight out of Church and a guitar style straight out of the swamp; with his flashy suits and wild stage act, Guitar Slim was a major contributor to New Orleans R&B. Slim was a direct influence on the young generation of up-and-coming Southern guitarists like Buddy Guy and Albert Collins. If…