Guitar | All About Blues Music

J B HUTTO

The distorted slide-guitar of Elmore James electrified Chicago in the early 50s, and the effects were heard down the years in the work of a generation of players who followed him, most notably ‘Hound Dog’ Taylor and JB Hutto. Arrayed in bright suits and hats and using a 50-foot guitar lead, JB’s wild and exuberant…

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…

JOHNNY LITTLEJOHN

Johnny Littlejohn was a Delta-born slide-guitar player whose style had much in common with Elmore James, but despite a long career on the Chicago club scene, and travelling the world as a side-man, he remained almost undiscovered outside his adopted hometown. Johnny Funchess was born in Lake MS in 1931 and Henry Martin, a friend…

DADDY STOVEPIPE

Daddy Stovepipe is best known for being one of the first men to record a Blues song. His first record, where he sang and accompanied himself on guitar and harp, was not a hit when it was released in 1924, but it was a significant milestone in the history of the Blues. Born in 1867…

JOHN BRIM

Although he was never a big star in his own right, John Brim made a significant contribution to the Blues catalogue by writing some great songs that heve been covered many times, and mentoring some great young talent in his band The Gary Kings. John’s long career took in the early years of electric Chicago…

MANCE LIPSCOMB

Mance Lipscomb was more than just a Blues singer. He could be more accurately be classed as a songster in the Leadbelly tradition, with a wide range of folk songs, spirituals, ragtime tunes and children’s songs. He played them in a variety of styles and keys, often using slide-guitar but equally at home with a…

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…

JOHN MOONEY

Leading his New Orleans based band Bluesiana, John Mooney’s heavy, rhythmic guitar style combines Delta slide work with electric Blues that can boogie with the best of them. A series of classy albums and relentless touring have made him a welcome guest on the world Festival circuit, and a fixture in his adopted home town.…

JOHNNY COPELAND

Johnny Copeland had been playing his hard-rocking Texas Blues for thirty years before his Grammy winning collaboration with Albert Collins and Robert Cray on the ‘Showdown!’ album in 1985. This sent his name around the world, and he journeyed abroad himself to bring back some African rhythms to his own compositions. With a big booming…

‘BOOGIE BILL’ WEBB

Singer and guitarist Bill Webb from Jackson MS was almost 30 before he made his recording debut in 1953 when he was brought to a New Orleans studio by Fats Domino. Dave Bartholemew produced ‘Boogie Bill”s single ‘Bad Dog’, and it had more in common with the music of his Delta heritage than the fast…