‘Harmonica’ FRANK FLOYD

Blues music sometimes reveals strange characters with extraordinary skills, but few were more talented than ‘Harmonica Frank’ Floyd. When Rice ‘Sonny Boy II’ Miller amazed world audiences in the 60s by playing a Blues tune on a harp stuck in his mouth like a cigar, he was pulling one third of a trick regularly performed…

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LARRY DALE

Larry Dale was a Texan guitarist and singer who played some swinging electric Blues in New York in the 50s; played on some seminal records; had a brief career as a bandleader, and was still active in Harlem in the 1990s. Ennis Lowery was Larry’s original name, and he was born in Hungerford Texas in…

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JOHNNIE JOHNSON

Johnnie Johnson’s driving, boogie piano was a key factor in the success of Chuck Berry’s music, and the title ‘Johnny B. Goode’ is said to be a reference to Johnnie’s rumbunctious behaviour when he was drinking. Credited with getting Chuck started and then sticking with him for twenty years, Johnnie had a late-blooming solo career…

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JACKIE BRENSTON

Jackie Brenston’s ‘Rocket 88’ is often cited as the first Rock’n’Roll record. Its phenomenal success in 1951 prompted Sam Phillips to set up Sun Records the following year, and then keep his ears open for a handsome white kid who could sing this rocking R&B like Jackie did. Although he never had another big solo…

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GARY ‘US’ BONDS

In the late 50s R&B was in a strange place. The excitement generated by early Rock’n’Roll had drained away; traditional Blues was seen as old-fashioned in the post-war boom years; electric Chicago Blues was largely confined to the African-American community, and Soul, Motown and the British Invasion were still years away, so kids would dance…

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BILLY WRIGHT

The ‘Prince of the Blues’ was a gospel Blues shouter from Atlanta whose elaborate costumes, effeminate make-up and extravagant stage show was a model for his protege, Little Richard. After a stellar recording debut this ‘Prince’, a.k.a. Billy Wright, had a busy five year recording career that stopped abruptly around the time Little Richard hit…

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LLOYD PRICE

Lloyd Price burst onto the New Orleans R&B scene in April 1952 when his song ‘Lawdy, Miss Clawdy’ hit the top of the national R&B charts. With Fats Domino banging out his piano triples and producer Dave Bartholemew’s ‘big beat’, it was one of the best selling records of the year. Lloyd went on to…

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