Singer | All About Blues Music

ROCKIN’ DOPSIE

Rockin’ Dopsie is the man most responsible for popularising Zydeco in Europe, thrilling audiences with his infectious dance music, infused with a heavy dose of R&B. Dopsie (pronounced “Doopsie”) got a big break with his appearance on Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’ album, and good-selling records of his own on the De la Soul label. He passed…

JACK OWENS

Jack Owens, along with his friend Skip James was one of the players from their home town of Bentonia who used minor key tunings in their guitar playing, which gave it quite a different feel to the dark tones of the classic Delta Blues heard further north in Clarksdale. Jack didn’t use falsetto vocals like…

ALEX HARVEY

All kind of music gushed from the well-spring of the Blues when British kids got hold of it in the early 60s. Starting off playing the songs of Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed, young guys with guitars and drums picked up the beat and sang about their own lives, and few sang with more drama…

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…

CLARA SMITH

Clara Smith was one of the first of the Blues Divas, who dominated the market for ‘race music’ in the early 20s, when recording opportunities first opened up for African American artists. Known as the ‘Queen of the Moaners’, Clara’s voice was actually light and sweet, but she first used it to express her inner…

PETE SEEGER

Pete Seeger was part of a politicised, multi-cultural music community in New York after WWII, that played a important rôle in the popular fight against injustice, not just in America, but all over the world. His live and recorded performances, his songwriting and his political activism made him famous and his collaborations with other musicians,…

JULIUS DANIEL

Julius Daniels was an early Piedmont Blues singer with a rich, deep, clear voice who made some important records when field-recording units were combing the South in the 20s looking for talent. He recorded seven tracks for the Victor label during two sessions in Atlanta during 1927, with ’99-Year Blues’ being the best known and…

‘ROCKIN TABBY’ THOMAS

Swamp Blues has the insistent, hypnotic rhythm that penetrates the listeners body like a virus and provokes inevitable symptoms like shuffling feet and swinging hips. ‘Rockin Tabby’ Thomas played guitar and piano, and sang his energetic Swamp Blues for over 50 years, becoming a legend in the Baton Rouge area, with his band, his record…

JOE LOUIS WALKER

With a sharp-edged guitar tone and the voice of a Soul star, Joe Louis Walker does his share to keep the Blues moving forward. Equally at home with old Blues tunes, funkier dancable grooves and Gospel flavoured Blues ballads, Joe has led his band the Boss Talkers around the world for over 25 years. Joe…

LEE DORSEY

New Orleans music made the world dance after WWII, with Jump-Blues and sax and piano driven good-time backbeats, but in the 60s it was home to some real funky R&B. Lee Dorsey was its foremost practitioner, as his records crossed racial and national boundaries, and opened our ears to his soulful voice and clever songs.…