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Showdown!
''Showdown!'' is a collaborative blues album by guitarists Albert Collins, Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland, released in 1985 through Alligator Records. The album is mostly made of original material, with cover versions of songs like T-Bone Walker's "T-Bone Shuffle", Muddy Waters's "She's into Something" and Ray Charles' "Blackjack". Collins, Cray and Copeland were supported by Johnny B. Gayden and Allen Batts, who at the time were members of Collins' Icebreakers, and Alligator's household artist Casey Jones. In the album's sleeve notes, producers Bruce Iglauer and Dick Shurman observe how Copeland and Cray were both given support by Collins early in their career, and how the three musicians have often crossed paths since then, making this collaborative effort a "thirty years in the making" project. ''Showdown!'' was one of Alligator's most successful albums, peaking at n. 124 on the US charts and selling over 175,000 units worldwide. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Traditi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Shurman
Richard L. Shurman (born May 23, 1950) is an American record producer, sound engineer, music journalist, music historian, and backing vocalist. He has produced numerous recordings by notable musicians including Johnny Winter, Lurrie Bell, Eddie C. Campbell, Albert Collins, Little Smokey Smothers, Jody Williams, Roy Buchanan, Big Bill Morganfield, Larry Garner, Robert Cray, Hip Linkchain, Magic Slim, Charlie Musselwhite, Otis Rush, Johnny Heartsman, and Fenton Robinson. Shurman has also written many liner notes, and is the publisher of ''Chicago Blues News''. In 2005, he was the recipient of the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive" award. He co-produced ''Showdown!'', an album which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album in 1987. Shurman was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2014 for his multitudinous contributions as a 'non-performer'. Biography Shurman was born in Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States, and later resided in Milwaukee and Madison, W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alligator Records
Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the ''Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using his savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record. Nine months after the release of the first album, he stopped working at Delmark Records to concentrate fully on the band and his label. Only 1,000 copies of the Taylor's debut album were made, while Iglauer took over managing the group. Other early releases for the fledgling label included recordings by Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell and Fenton Robinson. In 1976, Koko Taylor's ''I Got What It Takes'' was nominated for a Grammy Award, and Albert Collins soon signed to the label. Iglauer mainly worked as executive producer. In 1982, the label won its first Grammy Award for the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Collins
Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing and his use of altered tunings and a capo. His long association with the Fender Telecaster led to the title "The Master of the Telecaster". Early life Collins was born in Leona, Texas, on October 1, 1932. He was introduced to the guitar at an early age by his cousin Lightnin' Hopkins, also a Leona resident, who played at family gatherings. The Collins family relocated to Marquez, Texas, in 1938 and to Houston in 1941,Obrecht, Jas, ed. (1993). ''Blues Guitar: The Men Who Made the Music''. 2nd ed. Miller Freeman Books. pp. 246–259. . where he attended Jack Yates High School.''Albert Collins''. Vital Blues Guitar Series. Transcriptions by Richard DeVinck. Creative Concepts Publishing (California), 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Copeland
John Clyde Copeland (March 27, 1937 – July 3, 1997) was an American Texas blues guitarist and singer. In 1983, he was named Blues Entertainer of the Year by the Blues Foundation. He is the father of blues singer Shemekia Copeland. In 2017, Copeland was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Career Copeland was born in Haynesville, Louisiana. Influenced by T-Bone Walker, he formed the Dukes of Rhythm in Houston, Texas, and made his recording debut in 1956, signing with Duke Records the following year. Although his early records met with little commercial success, he became a popular touring act over the next two decades. His early recording career embraced blues, soul and rock and roll. He recorded singles for Mercury, Golden Eagle and All Boy, amongst others. His first single was "Rock 'n' Roll Lily", and he later cut successes such as "Down on Bending Knees" and "Please Let Me Know". For the most part, his singles featured Copeland as a vocalist more than a guita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Iglauer
Bruce Iglauer (born July 10, 1947) is an American businessman and record producer who founded Alligator Records as an independent record label featuring blues music. Early life and career Iglauer was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Wyoming, Ohio. He became interested in the blues during the mid-1960s while attending Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, and began hosting a college radio show, then moving on to promoting concerts at Lawrence by Howlin' Wolf and Luther Allison. He came to Chicago in 1966 as a “blues pilgrim” who wanted to check out the University of Chicago Folk Festival. He came to the attention of Bob Koester, and joined the staff of Delmark Records in Chicago as a shipping clerk in 1970. He was a co-founder of ''Living Blues'' magazine in 1970. When Iglauer's advice to sign Hound Dog Taylor & The House Rockers was declined by Delmark, he recorded the group himself, and in so doing created Alligat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strong Persuader
''Strong Persuader'' is the fifth studio album by American blues singer and guitarist Robert Cray. It was recorded by Cray at the Los Angeles studios Sage & Sound and Haywood's with producers Bruce Bromberg and Dennis Walker, before being released on November 17, 1986, by Mercury Records and Hightone Records. ''Strong Persuader'' became his mainstream breakthrough and by 1995 it had sold over two million copies. The record was later ranked #42 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 80's. Critical reception ''Strong Persuader'' received rave reviews from contemporary critics. In a review for ''Rolling Stone'', Jon Pareles said Cray delivered intriguing stories about sex and infidelity with disciplined singing, songwriting, and "a version of blues and soul that doesn't come from any one region, building an idiom for songs that tell with conversational directness the stories of ordinary folks". Robert Christgau from ''The Village Voice'' praised Cray's sophistica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Cray
Robert William Cray (born August 1, 1953) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards. Early life Robert Cray was born on August 1, 1953, in Columbus, Georgia, while his father was stationed at Fort Benning. Cray's musical beginnings go back to when he was a student at Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia. While there, he played in his first band, The One-Way Street. His family eventually settled in the Tacoma, Washington, area. There, he attended Lakes High School in Lakewood, Washington. Career By the age of 20, Cray had seen his heroes Albert Collins, Freddie King and Muddy Waters in concert and decided to form his own band; they began playing college towns on the West Coast. In the late 1970s he lived in Eugene, Oregon, where he formed the Robert Cray Band and collaborated with Curtis Salgado in the Cray-Hawks. In the 1978 film ''National Lampoon's Animal House'', Cray was the uncredited bassist in the house party ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammy Award For Best Traditional Blues Album
The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Traditional Blues Performance and was twice awarded to individual tracks rather than albums. The award was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. From 2012 onwards, the category was merged with the Best Contemporary Blues Album category to form the new Best Blues Album category. However, in 2016 the Grammy organisation decided to revert the situation back to the pre-2012 era, with two separate categories for traditional and contemporary blues recordings respectively. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for music released in the previous year. B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing base ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
29th Annual Grammy Awards
The 29th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1987, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Paul Simon won Album of the Year for ''Graceland'', and Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager won Song of the Year for "That's What Friends Are For". Award winners Record of the Year *"Higher Love" – Steve Winwood **Russ Titelman & Steve Winwood, producers *"Sledgehammer" – Peter Gabriel **Peter Gabriel & Daniel Lanois, producers *"Greatest Love of All" – Whitney Houston **Michael Masser, producer *" Addicted to Love" – Robert Palmer **Bernard Edwards, producer *"That's What Friends Are For" – Dionne Warwick & Friends; Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder **Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager, producers Album of the Year *''Graceland'' – Paul Simon **Paul Simon, producer *'' So'' – Peter Gabriel **Peter Gabriel & Daniel Lanois, producers *''Control'' – Janet Jackson **Janet Jackson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alligator Records Albums
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the Oligocene epoch about 37 million years ago. The name "alligator" is probably an anglicized form of ', the Spanish term for "the lizard", which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. Later English spellings of the name included ''allagarta'' and ''alagarto''. Evolution Alligators and caimans split in North America during the early Tertiary or late Cretaceous (about 53 million to about 65 million years ago). The Chinese alligator split from the American alligator about 33 million years ago and probably descended from a lineage that crossed the Bering land bridge during the Neogene. The modern Ame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
