Andrew Odom (December 15, 1936 – December 23, 1991) was an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

and

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

singer and songwriter. Born in

Denham Springs, Louisiana Denham Springs is a city in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The 2010 U.S. census placed the population at 10,215, up from 8,757 at the 2000 U. S. census. At the 2020 United States census, 9,286 people lived in the city. The city is ...

, United States, he is best known for the close resemblance of his singing style to that of

Bobby Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was descr ...

and

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 based on fluid string bending, shi ...

. He recorded three solo albums in his lifetime and performed regularly around Chicago and further afield until his death.

Life and career

Odom, who was

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

, was born in

, United States, the son of Lula Odom on December 15, 1936. He learned to sing at his family's church. In 1955, he relocated to

East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a b ...

, and began working with

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

and Johnny Williams. In the late 1950s he sang with

Johnny O'Neal Johnny O'Neal (born October 10, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American neo-bop jazz pianist and vocalist. His playing ranges from the technically virtuosic to the tenderest of ballad interpretations. Though unique in style, he is influenced ...

's band. Through O'Neal he met

Earl Hooker Earl Zebedee Hooker (January 15, 1930 – April 21, 1970) was a Chicago blues guitarist known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", he performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and ...

, with whom he recorded and performed for a number of years. In 1960, he moved to Chicago, which was his home for the rest of his life. The following year, he recorded "East St. Louis" with the Little Aaron Band for a small label, Marlo Records. Another single of Odom's, "Turn On Your Love Light", credited to Andre Odom, was released by Nation Records in 1967. Hooker, after being released from the hospital in 1968, assembled a new band and began performing in Chicago clubs and touring, against his doctor's advice. The band, with Odom as the vocalist and the pianist

Pinetop Perkins Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins (July 7, 1913 – March 21, 2011) was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Life ...

, the harmonica player Carey Bell, the bassist Geno Skaggs and the steel guitar player

Freddie Roulette Frederick Martin Roulette (May 3, 1939 – December 24, 2022) was an American electric blues lap steel guitarist and singer. He was best known as an exponent of the lap steel guitar. He was a member of the band Daphne Blue and collaborated with ...

, was "widely acclaimed" and "considered one of the best Earl had ever carried with him". On the recommendation of

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaugh ...

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded ...

recorded ''

2 Bugs and a Roach ''2 Bugs and a Roach'' is an album by blues musician Earl Hooker released by the Arhoolie label in 1969.Am ...

'' by Hooker and his new band. Hooker's album '' Don't Have to Worry'' (1969) included instrumental selections and songs with vocals by Odom,

Johnny "Big Moose" Walker Johnny "Big Moose" Walker (June 27, 1927 November 27, 1999) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues pianist and organist. He worked with many blues musicians, including Ike Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Lowell Fulson, Choker Campbell ...

, and Hooker. It has been said that the session had a "coherence and consistency" that helped make the album part of Hooker's "finest musical legacy". Odom's debut album, ''Farther On Down the Road'' (recorded in 1969 and released in 1973), included his version of "

Farther Up the Road "Farther Up the Road" or "Further On Up the Road" is a blues song first recorded in 1957 by Bobby "Blue" Bland. It is an early influential Texas shuffle and features guitar playing that represents the transition from the 1940s blues style to the ...

", with accompaniment throughout by Hooker on guitar and Johnny "Big Moose" Walker on keyboards. After Hooker's death, in April 1970, Odom worked for the next decade as a singer with

Jimmy Dawkins James Henry “Jimmy” Dawkins (October 24, 1936 – April 10, 2013) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer. He is generally considered to have been a practitioner of the "West Side sound" of Chicago blues. Caree ...

. In 1971,

Delmark Records Delmark Records is an American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, Bob Koester released a record ...

released Dawkins's second album, ''All for Business'', with Odom on vocals and Otis Rush on guitar. In 1974, Wasp Records issued the single "I Got This Bad Feeling", credited to B.B. Odom and the Earbenders. In 1982, Odom recorded his second solo album, ''Feel So Good'', with accompaniment by

Magic Slim Morris Holt (August 7, 1937 – February 21, 2013), known as Magic Slim, was an American blues singer and guitarist. Born at Torrance, near Grenada, Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers, he followed blues greats such as Muddy Waters and How ...

and the Teardrops, which was issued by the small French record label

Black & Blue Records Black & Blue Records was a record company and label founded in France in 1968 that specialized in blues and jazz. Black & Blue reissued music from small American labels before producing original releases. Some of these releases were by black mu ...

. It was reissued by

Evidence Music Evidence Music is an American jazz and blues record label founded in 1992 by Howard Rosen and Jerry Gordon. The label's name comes from the song "Evidence" by Thelonious Monk. The label's first releases were reissues of Sun Ra albums from the ...

in 1993.

Flying Fish Records Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records. Bruce Kaplan, the label's founder, was a native of Chicago and the son of ...

released Odom's third album, ''Goin' to California'', in 1991. The album, co-produced by Steve Freund and including guitar accompaniment by Steve Katz, has been considered Odom's best recorded work. On December 23, 1991, Odom suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

while driving from the blues club

Buddy Guy's Legends Buddy Guy's Legends is a blues club in Chicago, Illinois. It was opened in 1989 by blues musician Buddy Guy who still owns the club and who still makes regular appearances, performing a month of shows each January. Legends is one of the few bl ...

to his next scheduled appearance at the

Checkerboard Lounge The Checkerboard Lounge was a blues club on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, established in 1972 at 423 E. 43rd St. by L.C. Thurman and Buddy Guy. In 1985, Guy left the partnership and later established Buddy Guy's Legends ...

. He was

dead on arrival Dead on Scene ('' 'DOS' '') Found dead before first responders get on scene and no medical treatment was given. Dead on arrival (DOA), also dead in the field and brought in dead (BID), are terms which indicate that a patient was found to be ...

Cook County Hospital The John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (formerly Cook County Hospital) is a public hospital in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Cook County Health and Hospital System, along with Provident Hospital of Cook County and ...

, in Chicago. Some of his work appeared on the compilation album ''The Chicago Blues Box: The MCM Records Story''.

Discography

Albums

As sideman

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

MCM Records discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odom, Andrew 1936 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American singers American blues singers 20th-century African-American male singers Chicago blues musicians Electric blues musicians Soul-blues musicians People from Denham Springs, Louisiana American blues singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Illinois Singer-songwriters from Louisiana 20th-century American male singers Flying Fish Records artists African-American songwriters American male singer-songwriters