Michael Coleman (June 24, 1956 – November 2, 2014) was a

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 ...

guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was voted one of the top 50 bluesmen in the world by ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' magazine. He released five solo albums and worked with

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

Aron Burton Aron Burton (June 15, 1938 – February 29, 2016) was an American electric and Chicago blues singer, bass guitarist and songwriter. In a long career as a sideman he played with Freddie King, Albert Collins and Junior Wells and released a number ...

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album ''Hoodoo Man Blues'' ...

John Primer John Primer (born March 5, 1945, Camden, Mississippi, United States) is an American Chicago blues and electric blues singer and guitarist who played behind Junior Wells in the house band at Theresa's Lounge and as a member of the bands of Willi ...

and

Malik Yusef Malik Yusef El Shabazz Jones (born April 4, 1971) is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, writer, composer, producer and director based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Early life He was raised in Chicago's South Side neighborho ...

Biography

Coleman was born in 1956 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. He began his musical career at a young age, playing alongside his father, Cleother "Baldhead Pete" Williams. As a teenager he played with the Top 40 showband Midnight Sun and with the blues musicians

and

Johnny Dollar Johnny Dollar may refer to: * ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'', a radio drama * Johnny Dollar (musician) (1933–1986), American country and rockabilly musician * Johnny Dollar (blues musician) (1941–2006), American Chicago blues guitarist, singer ...

on Chicago's North Side. In 1975 he became a full-time professional musician. He toured Europe with

Eddy Clearwater Edward Harrington (January 10, 1935 – June 1, 2018), better known by his stage name Eddy Clearwater, was an American blues musician who specialized in Chicago blues. ''Blues Revue'' said he plays "joyous rave-ups…he testifies with stunning ...

four years later. This led to work for

, in whose band Coleman played for almost ten years. Coleman backed Cotton on three albums, including ''Live from Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself'', released by

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 hi ...

. Coleman backed

Buster Benton Arley "Buster" Benton (July 19, 1932 – January 20, 1996) was an American blues guitarist and singer. He played guitar in Willie Dixon's Blues All-Stars and is best known for his solo rendition of Dixon's song "Spider in My Stew." Benton was ...

, and

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. Career ...

and also worked with

Syl Johnson Sylvester Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), " Is It Because I' ...

in the 1980s. He embarked on a solo career in the early 1990s. His 1987 song "Woman Loves a Woman" contained a controversial lyric, in which he confessed he was in love with a woman, but "She's in love with a woman too". Coleman formed the Backbreakers as his backing ensemble in 1991. His album ''Shake Your Booty'' was released by the Austrian

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

Wolf Records in 1995. His U.S. debut album was ''Do Your Thing!'', issued by

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 recordi ...

in 2000. It featured a mixture of material encompassing blues,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, with

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of songs previously recorded by

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

. It was noted that the quality of his guitar playing compensated for a lightweight vocal accompaniment. In 2006, Coleman led a group of Delmark musicians on the album ''Blues Brunch at the Mart''. Coleman was overweight and had

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

, which severely affected his health. His doctor advised a change in lifestyle, and Coleman subsequently lost 150 pounds. He started his 2010 Chicago Blues Tour by performing at Rosa's Lounge in Chicago. Coleman died in November 2014, aged 58.

Discography

Albums

Selected work with other musicians

* ''High Compression'',

(1984) * ''Live from Chicago Mr. Superharp Himself'', James Cotton (1986) * ''Harp Attack!'', James Cotton (1990) * ''Poor Man Blues'', John Primer (1991) * ''The Great Chicago Fire: A Cold Day in Hell'',

(2003) * "Wouldn't You Like to Ride", Malik Yusef (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Michael 1956 births 2014 deaths African-American guitarists American blues guitarists American blues singers American funk guitarists American male guitarists American funk singers Soul-blues musicians Songwriters from Illinois Electric blues musicians Chicago blues musicians Singers from Chicago Guitarists from Chicago 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Black & Blue Records artists African-American songwriters 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people American male songwriters

Biography

Discography

Albums

Selected work with other musicians

See also

References