JOHN PRIMER

The story of the Blues might be summed up by the tale of a kid who sits twanging a ‘diddley bow’ in some rural Delta backwater, who fulfils his dreams by moving to the big city and playing alongside the biggest Blues Legends. Surprisingly, there are still one or two of these characters around, and…

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JOHNNY ‘Geechie’ TEMPLE

With a laid-back, ‘worldly-wise’ vocal style and a talent for clever lyrics, Johnny ‘Geechie’ Temple recorded dozens of his good-selling Blues songs in the 30s and 40s. Although he was never a big star, Johnny had a long career that stretched from his origins in the Delta to the early days of Chess records in…

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BLUE SMITTY

The Blues is a hybrid animal, absorbing elements and influences from all around and incorporating them into new and progressive styles of music. Individual musicians absorb the influences of others, consciously or otherwise, and sometimes they even openly steal others work to present as their own. This is just the way it has played out…

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ELVIN BISHOP

The Blues got a big new audience in the 60s when white kids discovered the power of this fantastically expressive music, which they took up enthusiastically and turned into a cultural phenomenon. The British Blues Boom, and bands like The Stones and The Animals took the world by storm, but in The States some youngsters…

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‘PAPA’ CHARLIE McCOY

Charlie McCoy is a big Country music star, but he shares his name with an older Blues player who was not a star, but whose virtuoso work on hundreds of records made a huge contribution to our music. ‘Papa’ Charlie McCoy was the younger brother of renowned slide-guitarist ‘Kansas Joe’ McCoy, and his superb mandolin…

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SMOKEY SMOTHERS

Firstly, there are TWO Smokey Smothers! Like the case of Sonny Boy Williamson, two men were playing the same instrument, and using the same name at the same time, but this time it was in the same town, and sometimes they even played in the same band! We will call them Big Smokey and Little…

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FLOYD JONES

In the early days of electric Blues in Chicago, a lot of young musicians from the South were trying to get their songs recorded, but it was made difficult by the ‘Petrillo Ban’ on recording, which lasted for over two years as musicians fought for royalty payments for their music when it was played on…

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BUSTER BENTON

Even when The Blues is going through one of its slow spells, some performers still come to the fore who have something powerful and urgent to communicate. Buster Benton was one of those guys who put his body and soul into his music: his emotive vocals and heartfelt guitar lines gave his slow Blues an…

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LAFAYETTE LEAKE

Lafayette Leake played his versatile, expansive Blues piano on many great records in 50s Chicago, adding soulful counterpoint to Howlin’ Wolf‘s rumblings, and sharp phrasing to the spiky West-side sound of Otis Rush. Never a leader in his own right, Lafayette always seemed to know exactly what to add to a tune, and his long…

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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…

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