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Category: Blues Birthdays

Tab Benoit -Born November 17, 1947 – Happy Borthday, Tab!

Last night I was listening to Alastair Greene’s new release The New World Blues on Tab Benoit’s Whisky Bayou Records. And today it’s Tab’s birthday! Here’s a post I write a few years ago. Happy Birthday, Tab!

Tab Benoit
On this date in 1947 one of my favorite blues musicians Tab Benoit was born. For those who are being introduced Tab on his birthday this AM, from Wikipedia…..

Tab Benoit (born November 17, 1967, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[1] is an American blues guitarist, musician and singer.[2] He plays a style that is a combination of blues styles, primarily Delta blues. He plays a Fender Telecaster Thinline electric guitar and writes his own musical compositions. Benoit graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana in May, 1985. In 2003, he formed an organization promoting awareness of coastal wetlands preservation known as “Voice of the Wetlands.” Full Biography read more

Blues Icon Willie Dixon

Willie Dixon – Bassist, Singer and Composer – Born July 1, 1915

Today is the 101st anniversary of the birth of Willie Dixon(July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) and I bet somewhere on almost every night of the year someone is playing one of the 500 songs that he wrote! It could be a jazz, blues or rock artist because Willie’s songs appeal to lovers of  many genres. He was one of the two artists, the other Muddy Waters, that were the most influential in shaping the sound of Chicago blues in the post World War II years, as well as, rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. I think that my first introduction to the blues of Dixon was Cream’s cover of “Spoonful”, wait maybe it was The Doors “Back Door Man” or maybe Led Zeppelin “I Can’t Quit You” but it was probably Johnnie Rivers covering “Seventh Son” and I didn’t even know it!! Well, you get the picture. Here’s a link to a list songs of Willie Dixon, along with the artists who cover them!! From Wikipedia some of the songs….. read more

Sonny Terry – Blues Harp Master!!

Sonny Terry – Blues Harp – Born October 24, 1911 Greensboro, Georgia

Among the many instruments that I love is the harmonica or more specifically the blues harp, and there are few who play that instrument better than Sonny Terry from Blues Harp…..

The joyous whoop that Sonny Terry naturally emitted between raucous harp blasts was as distinctive a signature sound as can possibly be imagined. Only a handful of blues harmonicists wielded as much of a lasting influence on the genre as did the sightless Terry (Buster Brown, for one, copied the whoop and all), who recorded some fine urban blues as a bandleader in addition to serving as guitarist Brownie McGhee‘s longtime duet partner.(From Blues Harp) read more

B.B. King – Blues Icon – Born September 16, 1925

B.B. King – Blues -Born near the town of Itta Bena, Mississippi
(September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015)

Back in May of this year the music world lost the legendary blues boy Riley B.B. King at the age of 89. Today September 16th, B B King would have turned 90! An autopsy performed on the musician, because two of his daughters alleged that he had been poisoned, revealed that King had died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease and congestive heart failure, with no evidence of poisoning. The following was posted last year at Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries…..

So today is the 88th birthday of probably the greatest blues musician of all time and certainly the one whose been at the top of his craft the longest, B.B. King!! First, here’s  the obligatory background information from Wikipedia, like he needs and introduction: read more

Albert King – A “King of the Blues”

Albert King  “The Velvet Bulldozer”  (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992)

On April 25th in 1923, alphabetically the first of the “Three Kings” of Blues Albert King was born. Albert had a major impact on the blues and rock music. On December 11th, 2012, it was announced that King would be posthumously inducted into the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I was never a big Abert King fan in the 70s or 80s. It has only been in the last several years that I really became aware of  his impact on blues and rock music. I think that he gets lost in the shadow of B.B. King,  Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. And that is kind’a hard when you’re big as he was! From Wikipedia: read more

Today in Music – B B King was born!!

 Riley B B King   (September 16, 1925- May 14, 2015)

So today is the  anniversary of birth of probably the greatest blues musician of all time. Certainly he was one who was at the top of his craft the longest – B.B. King!!

Here’s  the obligatory background information from Wikipedia, like he needs an introduction:

Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925- May 14, 2015), known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time (previously ranked No. 3 in the 2003 edition of the same list),[1] and he was ranked No. 17 in Gibson’s “Top 50 Guitarists of All Time”.[2] read more

John Lee Hooker’s birthday!! (August 22, 1917)

Let’s Have One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer to Honor John Lee Hooker

On this day – August 22 –  in 1917 in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi John Lee Hooker was born. He was one of the most influential blues musicians across several generations. From Wikipedia

John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was a highly influential American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally a unique brand of country blues. He developed a ‘talking blues’ style that was his trademark. Though similar to the early Delta blues, his music was metrically free. John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own unique genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his blues guitar playing and singing. His best known songs include “Boogie Chillen'” (1948), “I’m in the Mood” (1951) and “Boom Boom” (1962), the first two reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B chart. Continue Reading read more

This Date in Music – August 7, 1937 – Blues Guitarist Magic Slim was born!!

On this date August 7th in 1937, Morris Holt, better known as Magic Slim was born at Torrance, near Grenada, Mississippi. Magic Slim followed Muddy Water and Howlin’ Wolf to Chicago and became a force in the Chicago blues scene. I discovered his music when I started the blog Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries. Here’s my post about Magic Slim from 2o1o…..after this post Slim released one more album Bad Boy (2012) prior to his passing in February of 2013. From Wikipedia….

Slim died at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2013 at age 75. He had health problems that had worsened while he was on tour several weeks earlier.[8] His manager had stated bleeding ulcers had sent Slim to the hospital, but that he also suffered from heart, lung and kidney problems read more

Today in Music – July 1, 1915 – Blues Icon Willie Dixon was born!!

Willie DixonToday is the 99th anniversary of the birth of Willie Dixon(July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) and I bet somewhere on almost every night of the year someone is

playing one of the 500 songs that he wrote! It could be a jazz, blues or rock artist because Willie’s songs appeal to lovers of  many genres. He was one of the two artists, the other Muddy Waters, that were the most influential in shaping the sound of Chicago blues in the post World War II years, as well as, rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. I think that my first introduction to the blues of Dixon was Cream’s cover of “Spoonful”, wait maybe it was The Doors “Back Door Man” or maybe Led Zeppelin “I Can’t Quit You” but it was probably Johnnie Rivers covering “Seventh Son” and I didn’t even know it!! Well, you get the picture. Here’s a link to a list songs of Willie Dixon, along with the artists who cover them!! From Wikipedia some of the songs….. read more

Thursday June 26 – This Day in Music – Bill Broonzy was born – Celebrate with Dave and Phil Alvin’s New Album!

Last Thursday June 26 was either the 121st or the 110th anniversary of the birth of Big Bill Broonzy, depending on whatBig-Bill-Broonzy you believe. Most researchers believe that Big Bill was born Lee Conley Bradley in 1903 or 1904, in Plum Bayou , Jefferson County Arkansas and is one of the  children of Frank and Mittie Bradley. But Big Bill told people that he was born in Scott, Mississippi. He also told people he had a twin sister, Laney. I spent all day yesterday looking at census records and other records at Ancestry.com to substantiate either claim. According to the 1910 Census  Lee Bradley is listed a 6 years old as the son of Frank and Mittie Bradley. Bill’s sister Lanie is also listed and is 3 years younger than Bill! Here are Lee’s siblings as listed in the 1900 Census. read more