Swamp | All About Blues Music

MOSES ‘Whispering’ SMITH

Whispering Smith was a Lawman who brought justice to the railroads in the Old West in a 1906 novel that bore his name. The book was made into a film in 1926; remade by Hollywood in 1948 with Alan Ladd; and in 1961 it returned as a network TV series starring Audie Murphy. Meanwhile, down…

LONESOME SUNDOWN

Lonesome Sundown was given his Blues name by Jay Miller, the legendary producer at Excello Records who also gave new names to Lightnin’ Slim, Lazy Lester and many more. Lonesome’s particular brand of ‘swamp Blues’ had strong echoes of the hard-edged sound of Chicago Blues rather than the usual one-chord boogies or the more lyrical…

‘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…

TONY JOE WHITE

Tony Joe White is a great singer/songwriter who has penned several classic tunes for big R&B, Soul and Country stars, and his deeply soulful voice took one of his own recordings high in the singles chart. He was one of the first artists to bring electric Swamp Blues to Europe, and his later work has…

LAZY LESTER

Lazy Lester plays that easy rolling Swamp Blues that always makes you want to move your feet. Blowing a mellifluous harp and occasionally strumming a guitar or even a washboard, his laid back vocal style meant that Leslie Johnson of Torres Louisiana was given the name Lazy Lester. Legend has it that, in around 1955,…

‘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…

TV SLIM

Oscar Wills was a skinny TV repair-man from Houston TX, who recorded his own song, ‘Flatfoot Sam’ in a local studio, and wound up with a national hit. He had already sold a song, ‘My Dolly Bee’, to Don Robey at Duke Records and that had been recorded by Junior Parker, so he figured he…

SLIM HARPO

Slim Harpo wrote some classic Blues songs that made him Excello Records’ best selling artist and his easy-rolling Swamp Blues was an inspiration for many British bands that brought the Blues to American youth in the 60s. Pounding out his insistent Southern rhythms on guitar and blowing harp in a neck-rack, Slim’s music crossed a…

ROBERT PETE WILLIAMS

If country Blues is about lamenting a hard life, with poverty, violence, illiteracy, jail-time and betrayal by your woman, then Robert Pete Williams certainly lived that life. Despite being an endlessly inventive guitarist and a desperately soulful singer, Robert was never a big selling artist, but his appearances at Blues Festivals around the world opened…

LIGHTNIN’ SLIM

Otis V Hicks from St. Louis found fame in Baton Rouge, Louisiana playing his guitar in local bars with Big Poppa’s band, where Buddy Guy would later learn his chops. He signed for Feature Records in 1954, billed as ‘Lightnin’ Slim’ and recorded his ‘Bad Luck Blues’ for them before beginning a fruitful 12 years…