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List Of West Coast Blues Musicians
The following is a list of West Coast blues musicians. *Dave Alexander (blues musician), Dave Alexander *Little Charlie & the Nightcats, Charlie Baty *Juke Boy Bonner *Freddie Brooks (musician), Freddie Brooks *Charles Brown (musician), Charles Brown *Roy Brown (blues musician), Roy Brown *William Clarke (musician), William Clarke *Pee Wee Crayton *Sugar Pie DeSanto *Floyd Dixon *Jesse Fuller *Johnny Fuller (musician), Johnny Fuller *Lowell Fulson *Cecil Gant *Lloyd Glenn *Peppermint Harris *Roy Hawkins *Johnny Heartsman *Duke Henderson *Ivory Joe Hunter *Etta James *Little Willie Littlefield *Robert Lowery (musician), Robert Lowery *J.J. Malone *Percy Mayfield *Jimmy McCracklin *Big Jay McNeely *Amos Milburn *Roy Milton *Jimmy Nelson (singer), Jimmy Nelson *Johnny Otis *Rod Piazza *Sonny Rhodes *L. C. Robinson *Haskell Sadler *George "Harmonica" Smith *Lafayette Thomas *Big Mama Thornton *Luther Tucker *Big Joe Turner *Eddie Vinson *Joe Louis Walker *T-Bone Walker *Ike & Tina Tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Coast Blues
West Coast blues is a type of blues music influenced by jazz and jump blues, with strong piano-dominated sounds and jazzy guitar solos, which originated from Texas blues players who relocated to California in the 1940s. West Coast blues also features smooth, honey-toned vocals, frequently crossing into rhythm and blues territory. Texas and the West Coast The towering figure of West Coast blues may be the guitarist T-Bone Walker, famous for the song " Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)", a relocated Texan, who made his first recordings in the late 1920s. In the early 1940s, Walker moved to Los Angeles,Obrecht, Jas (2000). ''Rollin' and Tumblin': The Postwar Blues Guitarists''. Backbeat Books. p. 7. . where he recorded many enduring sides for Capitol, Black & White, and Imperial. Walker was a crucial figure in the electrification and urbanization of the blues, probably doing more to popularize the electric guitar in the form than anyone else. Much of his mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Hawkins
Roy Theodore Hawkins (February 7, 1903 – March 19, 1974) was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter. After working in clubs, he broke through with his 1950 song "Why Do Things Happen to Me" inspired by an auto accident which paralyzed his right arm. Several of his songs, most notably " The Thrill Is Gone", were covered by later artists, including Ray Charles, B.B. King, and James Brown. Biography Hawkins was born in Jefferson, Texas. Little is known of the early part of his life. By the mid-1940s he was performing as a singer and pianist in the Oakland, California area, where he was discovered by musician and record producer Bob Geddins, who was impressed by Hawkins' "soulful, doom-laden style". Hawkins seems to have made his first recordings when about 45 years old, for the Cava-Tone and Down Town record labels in 1948. His band, the Four Jacks, included saxophonist William Staples, guitarist Ulysses James, bassist Floyd Montgomery, and drummer Madison Lit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Otis
Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, and talent scout. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He discovered numerous artists early in their careers who went on to become highly successful in their own right, including Little Esther Phillips, Etta James, Alan O'Day, Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Ace, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, and The Robins, among many others. Otis has been called the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues". Personal life Otis was born in Vallejo, California, to Greek immigrant parents, Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter. He had a younger sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, Nicholas A. Veliotes, who became the U.S. Ambassador to Jordan (1978–1981) and Egypt (1984–1986). Johnny grew up in a predominantly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Nelson (singer)
James Nelson (April 7, 1919 – July 29, 2007), known as Jimmy "T99" Nelson, was an American jump blues and rhythm and blues shouter and songwriter. With a recording career that spanned over 50 years, Jimmy "T99" Nelson became a distinguished elder statesman of American music. His best known recordings are "T-99 Blues" and "Meet Me With Your Black Dress On". Nelson notably worked with Duke Robillard and Otis Grand. Career Nelson got his start singing in church. In 1941, he saw a performance by Big Joe Turner while he was visiting Oakland, California, and realized he wanted to sing the blues. Turner taught Nelson about singing, performance and the music business. Nelson, in turn, absorbed the shouting style of his mentor. From 1951 through 1961, Jimmy Nelson and the Peter Rabbit Trio released eight singles with the Bihari Brothers' Modern/RPM label. The biggest of these was "T-99 Blues" (which referred to the old Texas Highway #99), which debuted in June 1951. It stayed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Milton
Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader. Career Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma. He joined the Ernie Fields band in the late 1920s as singer and, later, drummer. After moving to Los Angeles, in 1933, he formed his own band, the Solid Senders, with Camille Howard on piano. He performed in local clubs and began recording in the 1940s, his first release being "Milton's Boogie" on his own record label. His big break came in 1945, when his "R.M. Blues", on the new Juke Box label, became a hit, reaching number 2 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and number 20 on the pop chart. Its success helped establish Art Rupe's company, which he shortly afterwards renamed Specialty Records. In 1950, Milton and his Orchestra performed at the sixth famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amos Milburn
Joseph Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Houston, Texas, and died there 52 years later. One commentator noted, "Milburn excelled at good-natured, upbeat romps about booze and partying, imbued with a vibrant sense of humour and double entendre, as well as vivid, down-home imagery in his lyrics." Life and career Milburn was born in Houston, one of thirteen children. By the age of five, he was playing tunes on the piano. He enlisted in the United States Navy when he was fifteen and earned thirteen battle stars in the Philippines. He returned to Houston and organized a sixteen-piece band playing in clubs in the city. He was managed by William and Geneva Church. Milburn was a polished pianist and performer and in 1946 attracted the attention of a woman who arranged a recording session with Aladdin Records in Los Angeles. Milburn's relationship with Aladdin lasted e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Jay McNeely
Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018) was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist. Biography Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played baritone saxophone, and made his first recordings with drummer Johnny Otis, who ran the Barrelhouse Club that stood only a few blocks from McNeely's home. Shortly after he performed on Otis's "Barrel House Stomp." Ralph Bass, A&R man for Savoy Records, promptly signed him to a recording contract. Bass's boss, Herman Lubinsky, suggested the stage name Big Jay McNeely because Cecil McNeely did not sound commercial. McNeely's first hit was "The Deacon's Hop," an instrumental which topped the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in early 1949. Big Jay McNeely performed for the famed fifth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on July 10, 1949. It was at this concert that McNeely and Lionel Hampton got in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy McCracklin
James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that spanned seven decades, he said he had written almost a thousand songs and had recorded hundreds of them. McCracklin recorded over 30 albums, and earned four gold records. Tom Mazzolini of the San Francisco Blues Festival said of him, "He was probably the most important musician to come out of the Bay Area in the post-World War II years." Biography McCracklin was born James David Walker Jr. on August 13, 1921. Sources differ as to whether he was born in Elaine, Arkansas or St. Louis, Missouri. He joined the United States Navy in 1938, later settled in Richmond, California, and began playing at the local Club Savoy owned by his sister-in-law Willie Mae "Granny" Johnson. The room-length bar served beer and wine, and Granny Johnson served ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Mayfield
Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song first recorded by Ray Charles. Career Mayfield was born in Minden, Louisiana, the seat of Webster Parish, in the northwestern part of the state. As a youth, he had a talent for poetry, which led him to songwriting and singing. He began his performing career in Texas and then moved to Los Angeles in 1942, but without success as a singer until 1947, when a small record label, Swing Time Records, signed him to record his song "Two Years of Torture," with a band that included the saxophonist Maxwell Davis, the guitarist Chuck Norris, and the pianist Willard McDaniel. The record sold steadily over the next few years, prompting Art Rupe to sign Mayfield to his label, Specialty Records, in 1950. Mayfield's vocal style was influenced by such sty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Lowery (musician)
Robert Lee Lowery (April 8, 1931 – October 25, 2016) was an American blues singer and guitarist. Biography As a teenager, he picked up blues tunes from records by Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Blind Boy Fuller, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and others, eventually developing his own distinctive style. After moving to Santa Cruz, California in 1957, he backed up Big Mama Thornton. Lowery made his first major concert appearance in 1974, at the San Francisco Blues Festival, and appeared there again in 1976 and 1984. Since then, he has traveled worldwide, and performed at many blues festivals and concerts, including a special appearance of fellow Arkansas native President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration. Lowery has released many recordings on diverse record labels, some of which are currently available. More recently, Lowery's reputation as an authentic Delta blues musician has taken him far beyond California. He played the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2006, New Orleans Jazz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Willie Littlefield
Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". Littlefield was regarded as a teenage wonder and overnight sensation when in 1949, at the age of 18, he popularized the triplet piano style on his Modern Records debut single, "It's Midnight". He also recorded the first version of the song " Kansas City" (originally issued as "K. C. Lovin'"), in 1952. Career Early career Littlefield was born in El Campo, Texas, and grew up in Houston with his mother. By 1947, at the age of sixteen, he was already a local attraction in many of the clubs on Dowling Street in Houston and was recording for Eddie Henry, a local record shop proprietor who ran his own label, Eddie's Records.Topping, Ray (1984). Sleeve notes. ''Jump with Little Willie Littlefield''. Ace Records CHD114. He formed his first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, she gained fame with hits such as " The Wallflower", "At Last", "Tell Mama", "Something's Got a Hold on Me", and "I'd Rather Go Blind". She faced a number of personal problems, including heroin addiction, severe physical abuse, and incarceration, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album '' Seven Year Itch''. James's deep and earthy voice bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. She won six Grammy Awards and 17 Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
