ROBERT JOHNSON

Johnson’s enduring legacy has been recognised by musicians and music enthusiasts across genres and generations. From blues to rock and roll, his profound influence has shaped the sound of modern music, with iconic artists such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Eric Clapton citing him as an inspiration. This section delves into the ripple…

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JOE CALLICOTT

Joe Callicott was one of the original Delta Blues singers who played his guitar and sang at dances, parties and juke-joints back in the early 20s, but unlike some of his better known peers, Joe made only one record at the time. He was ‘rediscovered’ in the 60s to enjoy a short revival of his…

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LONNIE PITCHFORD

Lonnie Pitchford is one of a very few Bluesman who have mastered the diddley bow, a one-stringed instrument of African origin that was the starting point for the ‘bottleneck’ and slide-guitar techniques that are fundamental to the origins of Blues in the Delta. Despite his unique talents, he is not well known outside his region…

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WALTER VINSON

Walter Vinson is best known as a member of the renowned string-band The Mississippi Sheiks, and as co-writer of their huge 1930 hit ‘Sitting on Top of the World’. However, Walter’s career had begun long before that and was to go on into the 1970s, like many of the originators of the Blues who enjoyed…

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HOUSTON STACKHOUSE

Houston Stackhouse was a Delta slide-guitarist who would have been much more well known as a Bluesman if he had been prepared to play outside his native region. He did not record until late in his career, but he accompanied many of the great Delta players of his day, especially his cousin Robert Nighthawk. Houston…

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BO CARTER

Bo Carter was Delta Bluesman of rare distinction and originality. His skill as a guitarist saw him playing his intricate riffs in a variety of keys and tunings and his bawdy songs, dripping with sexual innuendo, made him one of the best selling country Blues artists of the 30s. With his family band, the Mississippi…

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JOHNNY SHINES

Johnny Shines was not a big Blues star, but he carried the flame lit by his friend Robert Johnson and passed it on to new generations. Johnny’s songs were inspired by Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins and others but he had an energetic guitar style of his very own and a rich, explosive voice that could easily…

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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…

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LOUISIANA RED

Louisiana Red was an extraordinary character. A huge man with a slow, deliberate manner, he was a brilliant songwriter who used the tragedies of his own experience to produce a vivid, visceral Blues. His technique on slide-guitar harked back to the Delta, but he played harp and finger-style electric guitar too, and often moved himself…

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BIG JACK JOHNSON

Big Jack Johnson played his juke-joint guitar in a down-home and dirty style that would have been common all over the Delta eighty years previously, when the Blues were being born. Jack’s father might have been playing back then, and Jack played in the family string band from an early age. Spending his whole life…

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