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John "Long John" William Baldry (12 January 1941 21 July 2005) was an English blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached No. 1 in 1967 and in Australia where his duet with Kathi McDonald "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" reached No. 2 in 1980. Baldry lived in Canada from the late 1970s until his death. There he continued to make records and do voiceover work. He was the voice of Dr. Robotnik in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Born John William Baldry in England, he grew to 2.01m (6ft 7in) that resulted in the nickname "Long" John. Gifted with a deep, rich voice, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing blues in clubs.
He sometimes appeared on Eel Pie Island, on the Thames at Twickenham and at the Station Hotel in Richmond, one of the Rolling Stones' earliest gigs.
In the early 1960s, he sang with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, with whom he recorded the first British blues album in 1962, R&B from the Marquee. At stages, Mick Jagger,
Jack Bruce and Charlie Watts were members of this band while Keith Richards and
Brian Jones played on stage..
Long John Baldry Long John Baldry Discography |
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Elvin Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock and roll musician and guitarist. Bishop was born in Glendale, California, and grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was 10. There he attended Will Rogers High School. He moved to Chicago in 1960 after he won a National Merit Scholarship to the University of Chicago, where he studied physics. He met harmonica player Paul Butterfield in 1963 in the neighborhood of Hyde Park and joined his blues band, with whom he remained for five years. Their third album, The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, takes its name from Bishop's nickname. In 1968 he went solo and formed the Elvin Bishop Group, also standing in for Mike Bloomfield on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.
In March 1971, The Elvin Bishop Group and The Allman Brothers Band co-billed a series of concerts at Fillmore East. Bishop joined the Allmans onstage for a rendition of his own song, "Drunken Hearted Boy". Over the years, Bishop has recorded with many other blues artists including Clifton Chenier and John Lee Hooker. In late 1975, he played guitar for a couple of tracks on Bo Diddley's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll album. He toured with B. B. King in 1995.
In 1976, Bishop released his most memorable single, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love", which peaked at #3 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart (and #34 in the UK charts), about his love affair with the late Jenny Villarin, the mother of his late daughter Selina Bishop.
Elvin Bishop Elvin Bishop Discography |
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Robert Calvin Bland (born January 27, 1930) better known as Bobby Blue Bland, is an American singer of blues and soul. He is an original member of The Beale Streeters.
and is sometimes referred to as the "Lion of the Blues". Along
with such artists as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and Junior Parker,
Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and
R&B.
Bobby Bland was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 Bobby "Blue" Bland was born in the small town of Rosemark, Tennessee, USA. Later moving to Memphis with his mother, Bland started singing with local gospel groups there, including amongst others the Miniatures. Eager to expand his interests, he began frequenting the city's famous Beale Street where he became associated with an ad hoc circle of aspiring musicians named, not unnaturally, the Beale Streeters.
Bland's recordings from the early 1950s show him striving for individuality, but any progress was halted by a spell in the U.S. Army. When the singer returned to Memphis in 1954 he found several of his former associates, including Johnny Ace, enjoying considerable success, while Bland's recording label, Duke, had been sold to Houston entrepreneur Don Robey.
Bobby Bland Website Bobby Bland Discography |
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Aurora "Rory" Block (born November 6, 1949, in Princeton, New Jersey) is an American female blues guitarist and singer, a notable exponent of the country blues style. Aurora Block was born in Princeton and grew up in Manhattan. Her father, Allan Block, ran a sandal shop in Greenwich Village in the 1960s, and the constant presence of members of the Greenwich Village folk music scene, such as Peter Rowan, Geoff Muldaur, Bruce Conforth, and John Sebastian, made an impression on the young girl, who studied classical guitar. At the age of 14, she met guitarist Stefan Grossman, who introduced her to the music of Mississippi Delta blues guitarists. Block was fascinated, and began listening to old albums, transcribing them, and learning to play the songs. At age 15, she left home to seek out the remaining blues giants, such as Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis and Son House, and hone her craft in the traditional manner of blues musicians; then she traveled to Berkeley, California where she played in clubs and coffeehouses.
After retiring temporarily to raise a family, Block returned to the music
industry in the 1970s with middling success until signing with Rounder Records
in 1981, who encouraged her to return to her love for the classical blues form.
Rory Block Rory Block Discography |
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The Blues Band were formed in Britain in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann in the 1960s, and vocalist/slide guitarist Dave Kelly, who had formerly played with the John Dummer Blues Band, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker among others. Also in the bands first line-up were bassist Gary Fletcher, Joness former Manfred Mann colleague, guitarist Tom McGuinness, and drummer Hughie Flint, the two latter having been the mainstay of McGuinness Flint.
They originally got together just for fun, but in the process stayed together far longer than any of their previous groups had ever managed to do.
Their first album, The Official Blues Band Bootleg Album, a mixture of blues standards and original songs notably the Jones-McGuinness composition "Come On In", and their long-standing stage favorite "Flatfoot Sam" - initially attracted no interest from major record companies, so they pressed a limited run of 3,000 themselves, hand-stamped their logo on the cardboard sleeve, and signed them all. After unqualified endorsement from BBC Radio 1 presenter Simon Bates and others, media interest resulted in a recording contract with Arista Records, who gave the album an official release..
Blues Band Blues Band Discography |
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Big Bill Broonzy (26 June 1898 14 August 1958) was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played Country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the 30s and 40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences. In the 1950s a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century.
Broonzy copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including both adaptations of traditional folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in that his compositions reflected the many vantage points of his rural-to-urban experiences He was born William Lee Conley Broonzy in Bolivar, Mississippi, one of Frank Broonzy and Mittie Belcher's 17 children. Broonzy claimed he was born in 1893, and many sources report that year. But after his death his twin sister produced a birth certificate giving it as 1898, the currently accepted date. Soon after his birth the family moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where Bill spent most of his youth. He began playing music at an early age. At the age of 10 he made himself a fiddle from a cigar box and learned how to play spirituals and folk songs from his uncle, Jerry Belcher. He and a friend named Louis Carter, who played a homemade guitar, began performing at social and church functions.
Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy Discography |
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Charles Brown (September 13, 1922 January 21, 1999), born in Texas City, Texas was an American blues singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced the development of blues performance during the 1940s and 1950s. He had several hit recordings, including "Driftin'
Blues" and "Merry Christmas Baby".
In the late 1940s a rising demand for blues was driven by an increasing white teenage audience in the South which quickly spread north and west. Blues shouters got the attention, but also greatly influential was what writer Charles Keil dubbs "the postwar Texas clean-up movement in blues" led by stylists such as T-Bone Walker, Amos Milburn and Charles Brown. Their singing was lighter, more relaxed and they worked with bands and combos that had saxophone sections and used arrangements. As a child Brown demonstrated his love of music and took classical piano lessons. Early on, Brown moved out to Los Angeles, where the great influx of blacks created an integrated nightclub scene in which black performers tended to minimize the rougher blues elements of their style. The blues club style of a light rhythm bass and right-hand tinkling of the piano and smooth vocals became popular, epitomized by the jazz piano of Nat King Cole. When Cole left Los Angeles, California to perform nationally, his place was taken by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, featuring Charles Brown's gentle piano and vocals
Charles Brown no Website Charles Brown Discography |
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Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (April 18, 1924 September 10, 2005) was a Louisiana and Texan American musician. He is best known for his work as a blues musician, but embraced other styles of music, having "spent his career fighting purism by synthesizing old blues, country, jazz, Cajun music and R&B styles" (New York Times obituary).
He was an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, who played an array of musical instruments such as guitar, fiddle, mandolin, viola as well as harmonica and drums. He won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1982 for his album, Alright Again. Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was raised in Orange, Texas. His professional musical career began in 1945, playing drums in San Antonio, Texas. Tagged with the "Gatemouth" handle by a high school instructor who accused Brown of having a "voice like a gate," Brown has used it to his advantage throughout his illustrious career. His career was boosted while attending a 1947 concert by T-Bone Walker in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub. When Walker became ill, Brown took up his guitar and played "Gatemouth Boogie," to the delight of the audience, and made a name for himself, becoming famous after impressing the audience.
Clarence Brown Clarence Brown Discography |
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Roy James Brown (September 10, 1925 May 25, 1981) was a pioneering Rhythm & Blues singer, songwriter and musician who had a primary influence on the early development of rock & roll music. His seminal "Good Rocking Tonight" was covered by Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Pat Boone. In addition, his melismatical pleading, gospel-steeped delivery impacted the vocal styles of B.B. King, Bobby Bland, and Little Richard. His role as a crucial link between postwar R&B and rock's initial rise is underappreciated by the masses. Brown was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He started singing gospel music in the church. His mother was an accomplished singer and church organist. After a move to Los Angeles, California some time in the 1940s, and a brief period spent as a professional boxer in the welterweight category, he won a singing contest in 1945 at the Million Dollar Theater covering "There's No You" by Bing Crosby. In 1946 Brown moved to Galveston, Texas, where he sang in a club. His numbers included a song he wrote entitled "Good Rocking Tonight". He returned to New Orleans in 1947, where he performed at The Dew Drop Inn Roy Brown - no Website Roy Brown Discography |
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Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, are a British blues band formed in 1966, in Battersea, South West London. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown never achieved as much success in their homeland as they did in the United States, where they promoted their albums with non-stop touring. The band was formed and led by guitarist Kim Simmonds, whose dominating personality led to a myriad of personnel changes. Others have attributed the constant lineup adjustments to the "creative accountancy" employed by the band's manager, Harry Simmonds, brother of Kim.
The original line-up included singer Bryce Portius, keyboardist Bob Hall, fellow guitarist Martin Stone, bassist Ray Chappell, harmonica player John O'Leary and drummer Leo Manning. Portius was one of the first black blues musicians to be a part of a British rock band. This line-up appeared on the band's 1967 debut album, Shake Down, a collection of blues covers.
Their 1969 single "Train to Nowhere" (with singer Chris Youlden), was viewed by many as the last gasp of the blues scene in the United Kingdom. They developed a loyal core following in the United States, due to songs
such as "I'm Tired", a driving, melodic song from their album, A Step Further.
Savoy Brown Savoy Brown Discography |
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Roy Buchanan (September 23, 1939 - August 14, 1988) was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan was a sideman and solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career, and two later solo albums charting on the Billboard chart. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still considered a highly influential guitar player and is ranked #57 on the Rolling Stone list "100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time." Roy Buchanan was born in Ozark, Arkansas, and was raised both there and in Pixley, California, a farming area near Bakersfield. His father was a sharecropper in Arkansas and a farm laborer in California. Buchanan told interviewers that his father was also a Pentecostal preacher, a note repeated in Guitar Player magazine but refuted by his older brother J.D. Buchanan told how his first musical memories were of racially-mixed revival meetings he attended with his mother Minnie. "Gospel," he recalled, "that's how I first got into black music." He in fact drew upon many disparate influences while learning to play his instrument (although he later claimed his aptitude was derived from being "half-wolf"). He initially showed talent on the steel guitar before switching to the standard instrument in the early 50s, and started his professional career at age 15, in Johnny Otis's rhythm and blues revue
Roy Buchanan - Fender Players Club Website Roy Buchanan Discography |
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R. L. Burnside (November 23, 1926 September 1, 2005), born Robert Lee Burnside, was a North Mississippi hill country blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who lived much of his life in and around Holly Springs, Mississippi. He played music for much of his life, but did not receive much attention until the early 1990s. In the latter half of the 1990s, Burnside repeatedly recorded with Jon Spencer, garnering crossover appeal and introducing his music to a new fanbase within the underground punk blues music scene. Burnside was born in Harmontown, Mississippi, in Lafayette County. He spent most of his life in North Mississippi, working as a sharecropper and a commercial fisherman, as well as playing guitar at weekend house parties. He was first inspired to pick up the guitar in his early twenties, after hearing the 1948 John Lee Hooker single, "Boogie Chillen"
(which inspired numerous other rural bluesmen, among them Buddy
Guy, to start playing). He learned music largely from
Mississippi Fred McDowell, who lived nearby in an adjoining
county. He also cited his cousin-in-law, Muddy Waters, as an
influence. During the 1950s, Burnside grew tired of
sharecropping and moved to Chicago in the hope of finding better
economic opportunities. But things did not turn out as he had
hoped. Within the span of one year his father, brother, and
uncle were all murdered in the city, a tragedy that Burnside
would later draw upon in his work.
R.L. Burnside R.L. Burnside Discography |
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Paul Butterfield (17 December 1942 4 May 1987) was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player who gained international recognition as a trailblazing white bluesman, and who performed at the original Woodstock Festival. Butterfield formed the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 60's which contained a number of notable sidemen, some of whom went on to solo careers. The son of a lawyer, Paul Butterfield was born and raised in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. After studying classical flute with Walfrid Kujala of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a teenager, he developed a love for the blues harmonica, and hooked up with white, blues-loving, University of Chicago physics student Elvin Bishop (later of "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" fame). The pair started hanging around black blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Otis Rush. Butterfield and Bishop soon formed a band with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay (both of Howlin' Wolf's band). In 1963, a watershed event in introducing blues to a white audience in Chicago occurred when this racially mixed ensemble was made the house band at Big John's, a folk music club in the Old Town district on Chicago's north side. Butterfield was still underage (as was guitarist Mike Bloomfield, who was already working there in his own band).
Paul Butterfield Blues
Band Website Paul Butterfield Blues Band Discography |
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