Little Walter — Marion Walter Jacobs — is considered by those who know about such things to be the greatest blues harmonica player who ever lived...
Category - Blues
I am not a guitar player, but to me Furry Lewis’ technique seems unique. “Kassie Jones” is a song about a conductor, but doesn’t sound...
Blues Traveler was featured in a cute scene in Blues Brothers. Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd, of course) performed Rock Me Baby with the band later. He seems to be...
There is no reason to link to a dull profile or biography of Charley Patton when the story is told by R. Crumb, the iconic, eccentric cartoonist responsible...
Here is the beginning of Encyclopedia.com’s profile of the multi-talented Paul Robeson, one of the most important figures — musical and otherwise — of the...
I had the opportunity to see David Lindley perform last weekend through a very nice invitation by a couple of friends. Lindley was eccentric, brought a wide...
Wikipedia’s entry on Robert Cray contains a very interesting piece of movie trivia: By the age of twenty, Cray had seen his heroes Albert...
Son House is unique, even among the old blues players. The song below — John the Revelator — is like watching history. Death Letter Blues is above...
Keb’ Mo’ is Kevin Moore. Here is the beginning of AllMusic’s bio of the throwback blues performer: Guitarist/vocalist Keb’ Mo’...
B.B. King is introduced in the above clip by Jimmy Walker, of Good Times fame (Dyn-O-mite!). The song is of How Blue Can You Get? Below King sings Just a...
Reading Music
The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.
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Here are some books to check out.
Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.
What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.
The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").
David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.
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