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Eyesight To The Blind (The Hawker)
"Eyesight to the Blind" is a 12-bar blues song written and recorded in 1951 by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Aleck "Rice" Miller). He also recorded the related songs "Born Blind", "Unseeing Eye", "Don't Lose Your Eye", and "Unseen Eye" during his career. The Larks, an American rhythm and blues group, recorded the song, which reached number five on the R&B charts in 1951. Several musicians subsequently recorded it in a variety of styles. The Who adapted Williamson's song for their rock opera ''Tommy''. In 2022, Williamson's recording was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the 'Classics of Blues Recording – Singles' category. Sonny Boy Williamson versions The song was recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson in 1951 as his first single release on Trumpet Records. Three versions of the song were released as 78 rpm singles. The first version featured Sonny Boy Williamson II on vocals and harmonica, Willie Love on piano, Joe Willie Wilkins on guitar, Elmore James on guitar, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp stylist who recorded successfully in the 1950s and 1960s. Miller used various names, including Rice Miller and Little Boy Blue, before calling himself Sonny Boy Williamson, which was also the name of a popular Chicago blues singer and harmonica player. To distinguish the two, Miller has been referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson II. He first recorded with Elmore James on "Dust My Broom". Some of his popular songs include " Don't Start Me Talkin'", " Help Me", "Checkin' Up on My Baby", and " Bring It On Home". He toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival and recorded with English rock musicians, including the Yardbirds, the Animals. "Help Me" became a blues standard, and many blues and rock artists have recorded his songs. Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Checker Records
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape (GRT) in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death. The label released recordings by mostly African American artists and groups. Checker's releases cover a wide range of genres including blues (Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II), rhythm and blues (Sax Mallard, Jimmy McCracklin), doo-wop (The Flamingos, The Moonglows), gospel ( Aretha Franklin, Five Blind Boys of Mississippi), rock and roll (Bo Diddley, Dale Hawkins), and soul (Gene Chandler). The label was discontinued in 1971 following GRT's consolidation of the Chess catalogs. As with Cadet and Chess, the label's catalog is now owned by Universal Music Group and releases from the Checker catalog are released by Geffen Records and Chess. History Due to the recent expansion of C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autumn Song (Mose Allison Album)
''Autumn Song'' is the fifth album released by blues/jazz pianist and vocalist Mose Allison which was recorded in 1959 and released on the Prestige label. accessed May 17, 2013 Reception of Allmusic states, "One realizes why Allison was soon emphasizing his vocals; he was a much more distinctive singer than pianist although his piano playing was actually pretty inventive. This is an excellent all-round set". '' ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mose Allison
Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to New York in 1956, he worked primarily in jazz settings, playing with jazz musicians like Stan Getz, Al Cohn, and Zoot Sims, along with producing numerous recordings. He is described as having been "one of the finest songwriters in 20th-century blues."Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris, eds. (2003). ''All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues''. Hal Leonard. p. 7. His songs were strongly dependent on evoking moods, with his individualistic, "quirky", and subtle ironic humor.Komara, Edward; Lee, Peter, eds. (2006). ''The Blues Encyclopedia''. Routledge. p. 22. His writing influence on R&B had well-known fans recording his songs, among them Pete Townshend, who recorded his "Young Man Blues" for the Who's ''Live at Leeds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Record Research
Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on November 29, 1939."Joel (Carver) Whitburn". '' Contemporary Authors''. Detroit: Gale. 2002. He started collecting records in his teens, first subscribed to ''Billboard'' in 1953, and when the Hot 100 was introduced in 1958 started recording the chart placings of records on index cards. After graduating from Menomonee Falls High School in 1957, he attended Elmhurst College and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, but did not receive a degree from either institution. Career Whitburn worked on record distribution for RCA in the mid 1960s, using his chart statistics to inform radio stations, before founding his own company, Record Research, Inc., in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, in 1970. He put together a team of rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard R&B Charts
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 positions but was shortened to 50 positions in October 2012. The chart is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, rock and roll, soul, and funk, it is today dominated by contemporary R&B and hip hop. Since its inception, the chart has changed its name many times in order to accurately reflect the industry at the time. History Beginning in 1942, ''Billboard'' published a chart of bestselling black music, first as the Harlem Hit Parade, then as Race Records. Then in 1949, ''Billboard'' began publishing a Rhythm and Blues chart, which entered "R&B" into mainstream lexicon. These three charts were cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarheel Slim
Allen Rathel Bunn (September 24, 1923 – August 21, 1977), who was sometimes credited as Alden Bunn and who performed as Tarheel Slim, was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter whose work spanned gospel, blues, doowop, R&B, pop, and rockabilly. After singing in various gospel groups he became a member of The Larks before recording with his wife Anna Lee "Little Ann" Sandford, and then as a solo performer. Biography Early life and career Bunn was born in Bailey, North Carolina. He seems to have used both "Alden" and "Allen" as his forename at different times; researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc state that his birth records read "Allen". Initially he worked in local tobacco fields, "Tarheel Slim (Allen Bunn)", ''The HoundBlog'', April 25, 2010 Retr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selah Jubilee Singers
The Selah Jubilee Singers were an American gospel vocal quartet, who appeared in public as a gospel group but who also had a successful recording career as a secular group in the 1930s & 1940s. History Around 1927, Thermon Ruth (1914–2002) founded the Selah Jubilee Singers, a group drawn from the membership of a church choir, while he was the deejay at WOR in Brooklyn, New York. He later based them in Raleigh, North Carolina when he moved his radio show to station WPTF. The Selah Jubilee Singers first recorded on April 28, 1938 for Decca, a session which included popular songs such as "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" (DE 7598), and in February 1941, "I'll Fly Away" (DE 7831). Their best recording was the first-ever recording of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee," recorded on October 8, 1941, (Decca Records 7872) New York City; with Thermon Ruth and John Ford lead vocal, Fred Baker, lead baritone; Monroe Clark, baritone; J. B. Nelson, bass vocal; and Fred Baker on guitar. By the late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Larks
The Larks were an American vocal group, active in the early 1950s. They were not the same group as the Los Angeles-based Larks (originally The Meadowlarks) featuring Don Julian, nor the Philadelphia-based group The Four Larks. Original members *Eugene "Gene" Mumford (June 24, 1925 - May 29, 1977) (tenor, lead) *Allen (or Alden) Bunn (known later as Tarheel Slim) (September 24, 1923 – August 21, 1977) (baritone, lead, guitar) * Thermon (or Thurmon) Ruth (known later as T. Ruth) (March 6, 1914 – September 13, 2002) (baritone, lead) *Hadie Rowe Jr. (1928 - September 19, 1998) (baritone) *David McNeil (1932 - January 8, 2005) (bass) *Raymond "Pee Wee" Barnes (tenor) History The group was formed in the late 1920s, when singer Thermon Ruth founded the Selah Jubilee Singers in New York City, later basing them in Raleigh, North Carolina where they had a radio show. They recorded for Decca Records and other smaller labels in the 1940s, and their membership overlapped with other relig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Below
Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic structure of Chicago blues, especially its backbeat. He was the drummer on Chuck Berry's song " Johnny B. Goode". Career Below was born in Chicago, and as he put it - "grew up around nothing ''but'' music". He started learning music and playing drums in the DuSable High School and at about the age of 14, formed a sort of a jazz band with two of his high school friends, Johnny Griffin and Eugene Wright. As a young man, Below served in the Army twice. The first time between 1945 - 1946, after being conscripted into the United States Army, he served in the infantry ("I practiced on helmet liners, helmets, boxes and things like that"). In 1946, When he was discharged from his service and came back home to Chicago, Below attended the reputable Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues.Trager, Oliver (2004). ''Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia''. Billboard Books. pp. 298–299. . Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of his most famous compositions includes "Hoochie Coochie Man", " I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", "Spoonful", and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover". These songs were written during the peak years of Chess Records, from 1950 to 1965, and wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
