Vocals | All About Blues Music

T-MODEL FORD

T-Model Ford played a raw, primitive juke-joint boogie guitar with usually just a drummer for company, as he sang his songs of hard times, violence and bad women. An extremely late starter, T-Model was getting on towards 80 years old when he cut his first album, but his powerful and full-hearted renditions of classic Blues…

ROSCO GORDON

Rosco Gordon was a Memphis pianist who developed an off-beat shuffle that gave his work a distinctive flavour. That sound went on to be very influential in Ska and Reggae music when Rosco’s records made it to Jamaica. As one of the Beale Streeters, Rosco played with the Blues élite and he had some very…

EDDIE ‘Cleanhead’ VINSON

Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson’s alto sax graced many great jazz, jump-Blues and R&B records, and his distinctive, playful singing voice got him some hit records as a front man in his own band. Equally at home taking solos in The Count Basie Orchestra or rocking the room with The Johnny Otis Revue, Cleanhead’s shining dome reflected…

JAMES COTTON

In 1954, James Cotton was a teenage Memphis harp player who had cut a few tracks for Sun Records, when Muddy Waters showed up and offered him a place in his band. James grabbed the opportunity with both hands and stayed for thirteen years. When he went solo, James unleashed a great roaring Blues voice…

NATHAN ABSHIRE

Zydeco and Cajun music are very closely linked: with the mélange of Blues, folk, French and country influences in common, and the shared feel for good-time dance music, the distinction is largely down to the skin-colour of the player. Nathan Abshire was a Creole speaking Cajun accordionist whose local reputation in the 30s was given…

JAYBIRD COLEMAN

The first country Blues often featured the harmonica, or mouth harp. This cheap and portable instrument was a favourite with wandering musicians, or ‘footloose bards’ as they were known, and the wailing sound of the harp was a distinctive feature of their music, with it’s breathy quality of human speech. ‘Jaybird’ Coleman was one of…

JACK BRUCE

Jack Bruce is best known as the thunderous yet delicate bass player and singer in the 60s ‘Supergroup’ Cream whose short career laid a huge foundation stone in the basement of Blues-Rock. A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, Jack was at the heart of the London jazz and Blues scene before setting up Cream to form…

KANSAS JOE McCOY

Kansas Joe McCoy did not have a long life, but it certainly was an eventful one. He was an excellent slide-guitar player from the Delta, who was also a fine baritone singer; he played with and married Memphis Minnie in Memphis and when they relocated to Chicago they were pioneers of ‘urban Blues’; Joe became…

FRANKIE LEE SIMS

Frankie Lee Sims was a Texas Blues guitarist with a rocking, roughed-up style that gave him some early regional popularity and one national hit record in the 50s. He lived a rough life too, and got into the kind of trouble that scared record companies away, so he didn’t figure in the Folk/Blues revival ten…

A C REED

Sax playing, singing bandleaders are not common, but AC Reed pulls it off in style as his laid-back vocals and swinging sax fronted his Chicago based band the Spark Plugs. Having gained a solid apprenticeship backing a series of Blues Legends, AC’s late solo career showed a performer and songwriter with a sense of humour…