Barry Levenson is an American electric blues and Chicago blues guitarist, songwriter, singer, and record producer. In a varied career, Levenson has worked as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

to numerous blues musicians, toiled as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, been an in-house record producer for both Kent and Storyville Records, played guitar with Canned Heat between 2006 and 2010, and released five albums in his own name. He has also authored two books which described playing methods for budding blues guitarists.

Life and career

Levenson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. His affection for the blues commenced at the age of 14, and gained more inspiration later when an older friend of his played him Buddy Guy's 1968 album, ''

A Man and the Blues ''A Man and the Blues'' is the second studio album by blues guitarist Buddy Guy. It was recorded and released in 1968 on Vanguard Records. It features four Guy originals, a cover of Barrett Strong's Tamla Motown hit "Money", and a playful adapt ...

''. Levenson began performing in his home town's local blues scene and progressed to

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

based work. Disillusioned, he relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, to study arranging at the Berklee School of Music. Whilst there he was the musical director and house guitar player at the Sugar Shack, playing predominately rhythm and blues and backing touring artists, including Millie Jackson, Wilson Pickett, and

Solomon Burke Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1936 or 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been ...

. Moving again to Southern California, where he remains to this day, Levenson found work playing locally, and sometimes touring, in the backing ensembles for

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...

, Pee Wee Crayton, Finis Tasby,

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 ...

, and Lowell Fulson. He noted that "I was lucky to get in on the tail end of the incredible L.A. blues scene because within a few years, most of these great artists had passed on." However, with his constant work he injured a tendon in his left hand, and was forced to stop playing the guitar for a couple of years. After pursuing parallel careers in song writing, arranging and more production work, Levenson then acquired his first recording contract with

Kent Records Kent Records was a Los Angeles-based record label, launched in 1958 by the Bihari brothers. It was subsidiary of Crown Records Corporation. Kent was a follow-up to Modern Records which ceased operations in 1958. The label reissued Modern's singles, ...

, when leading his own group, the Automatics. By then he also became the in-house record producer for Kent. In 1994, Levenson played the guitar on William Clarke's album, ''Groove Time''. Levenson has also written liner notes for albums released by Nina Simone,

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, Junior Wells, Carmen McRae,

Lee Konitz Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...

, Charlie Musselwhite, T-Bone Walker, and Muddy Waters amongst others. Also in 1994, Levenson released his ''Exciting Concepts For Blues Guitar Soloing'' book and CD, which gave guitar playing methodology (with both music notation and tablature) that explored the techniques found in blues soloing. In 2006, the follow-up ''Advanced Concepts for Blues Guitar Soloing'' was issued. In July 1995's issue of '' Billboard magazine'', Levenson passed comment on a new digital audio recording process from Quad Teck, in his then-capacity as recording producer for Kent Records. Nevertheless promise of a recording career faltered for a number of years, before Levenson secured a solo deal with Storyville Records. His debut release, ''Heart to Hand'' (1998), was a mainly instrumental disc, although Levenson attracted the singer and harmonica player Johnny Dyer, Finis Tasby, and Mary Williams to provide the vocals on a number of tracks. A critical rather than commercial success, his disappointment was assuaged by securing production and A&R duties for the label. Levenson's recording output saw ''Closer to the Blues'' (2000) include guitar work from Jake Sampson. It helped gain him an invitation to the Blues Estafette Festival in the Netherlands. Levenson's next for Storyville, ''Hard Times Won'' (2003), earned him a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

nomination for 'Blues Song of the Year'. His work was also incorporated in two

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s; ''Blues Guitar Heaven'', and ''Blues for a Rainy Day''. Levenson joined Canned Heat in 2006 and stayed for four years, before returning to his solo career. In addition, he remained an in-demand session musician whose work appeared in many films, television programs and commercials. His next solo release was ''The Late Show'' in 2011. Levenson commented that "almost all the songs were cut using my 1961 Stratocaster and a few old Fender amps. I was never into effects. I'm always trying to get as much tone out of the instrument as I can with just my hands." Ten of the 15 tracks were instrumentals, with Levenson again employing the services of Mary Williams, Finis Tasby, and Johnny Dyer.

Hank Van Sickle Hank Van Sickle (born December 31, 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an electric and upright bassist, best known for the blues rock band the Bluesbreakers. He is currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. Biography Van Sickle w ...

played guest bass guitar on ''Hard Times Won'', ''The Late Show'', and Levenson's most recent effort, ''The Visit''. The latter was released on July 17, 2015. With his second release on Rip Cat Records, Levenson turned back the clock to acknowledge musicians that had initially inspired him to play the blues guitar.

Discography

Albums (solo)

Albums (featured guest)

References

External links