Jesse Fortune (February 28, 1930 – August 31, 2009) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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 ...
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
and barber.
Biography
Born in
Macon, Mississippi
Macon is a city in Noxubee County, Mississippi along the Noxubee River. The population was 2,768 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Noxubee County.
History
In 1817, Jackson's Military Road was built at the urging of Andrew Jackson to pr ...
,
[ Fortune was trained as a barber before moving to ]Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
, in 1952. In Chicago, he worked as a barber during the day and a blues singer at night.[ Fortune became one of the most popular performers for "heavy duty vocal work" in the Chicago blues scene of the 1950s and 1960s.][ In 1952, he was hired by ]Otis Rush
Otis Rush Jr. (April 29, 1934 – September 29, 2018) was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s art ...
as a vocalist for the Otis Rush Band show. He also performed as a vocalist with 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 V ...
and 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 ...
. Fortune became better known as the "Fortune Tellin' Man."[ Blues guitarist ]Dave Specter
Dave Specter (born May 21, 1963) is an American Chicago blues and jazz guitarist.
Biography
Hailing from Chicago's Northwest side, Specter began to learn to play the guitar at the age of 18. His teacher was Steve Freund, who taught Specter bet ...
said of Fortune, "He was one of the great Chicago blues singers. He had an amazingly powerful voice, kind of in the style of early 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 had so much presence he almost didn't need a microphone."[ The ]Robert Cray Band
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 ...
later covered Fortune's "Too Many Cooks." Fortune released a number of records for the USA label, but became disillusioned with the music business. He later said that he "never made a dime from his recordings."[ And ''Cadence Magazine'' wrote, "His voice is expressive yet never sounds strained or labored. He is deeply soulful with a strutting rhythmic style ... that give this material such a freshness not often hear on Blues releases these days. Jesse Fortune's return to recording and gigging is a most welcome event."][ Fortune operated a barber shop on Chicago's west side in his later years and continued to perform occasionally in Chicago's blues clubs.][
Delmark Records founder ]Bob Koester
Robert Gregg Koester (October 30, 1932 – May 12, 2021) was an American record producer and businessman who was the founder and owner of Delmark Records, a jazz and blues independent record label. He also operated the Jazz Record Mart in Chi ...
recalled Fortune's love of being a barber: "Barbering was his trade and he took more than a little pride in it. He liked running his barbershop."[ Fortune once "had an opportunity to sing in Europe but turned it down because he didn't want to disappoint his haircut customers."][
In August 2009, Fortune died at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago after collapsing on stage while performing at Gene's Playmate Lounge, a Chicago blues ]club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
.[ An autopsy showed he died of ]coronary atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no sy ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Jesse
1930 births
2009 deaths
American blues singers
People from Macon, Mississippi
Singers from Chicago
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers