The Legendary Blues Band 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 ...

band formed in 1980 after the breakup of

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

' band.

Biography

In June 1980,

' backing musicians

Willie "Big Eyes" Smith Willie Lee "Big Eyes" Smith (January 19, 1936 – September 16, 2011) was an American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and drummer. He was best known for several stints with the Muddy Waters band beginning in the early 1960s. Biograp ...

(drums),

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 ...

(piano),

Calvin "Fuzz" Jones Calvin "Fuzz" Jones (June 9, 1926 – August 9, 2010) was an American electric blues bassist and singer. He worked with many blues musicians, including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, the Legendary Blues Band, Mississippi Heat, James Cotton, Luther ...

(bass guitar), Luther Johnson (Guitar Junior) (guitar),

Bob Margolin Bob Margolin (born May 9, 1949) is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is Steady Rollin'. Biography Margolin started playing guitar in 1964, and his first appearance on record was with Boston psychedelic band The Freeborne, and t ...

(guitar) and Jerry Portnoy (harmonica) quit over a salary dispute. The year before, Smith, Jones, Johnson and Perkins backed John Lee Hooker and

Big Walter Horton Walter Horton (April 6, 1921 – December 8, 1981), known as Big Walter (Horton) or Walter 'Shakey' Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming, shy man, he is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the hi ...

in the film ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

'', playing a live version of "Boom Boom" in the Maxwell Street Market. Smith was the only band member to appear in close-up. In 1981, Portnoy, Jones, Smith and Perkins formed the Legendary Blues Band, using a monicker Muddy Waters used to introduce them when on stage. Guitarist

chose not to join them and formed his own band and was replaced by Louis Myers on harmonica and guitar. The Legendary Blues Band recorded their debut album ''Life of Ease'' for Rounder Records.

Duke Robillard Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948) is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also pla ...

guested on their second release ''Red Hot 'n' Blue''. The Legendary Blues Band recorded seven albums, ''Life of Ease,'' ''Red Hot 'n' Blue,'' ''Woke Up with the Blues'' (nominated for a W. C. Handy Award), ''Keepin' the Blues Alive,'' ''U B Da Judge,'' ''Prime Time Blues,'' and ''Money Talks,'' between 1981 and 1993 and toured with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

and Eric Clapton. Later recordings included Billy Flynn, Little Smokey Smothers, Tony O. Melio, Nick Moss and Madison Slim although the rhythm section of Jones and Smith remained through to their final release in 1993.

Discography

*''Life of Ease'' (1981) –

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

*''Red Hot 'n' Blue'' (1983) – Rounder *''Woke up with the Blues'' (1989) – Ichiban *''Keepin' the Blues Alive'' (1990) – Ichiban *''U B Da Judge'' (1991) – Ichiban *''Prime Time Blues'' (1992) – Ichiban *''Money Talks'' (1993) – Wild Dog Blues

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legendary Blues Band, The American blues musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Musical groups from Chicago American supergroups Rounder Records artists Black & Blue Records artists Ichiban Records artists Blues music supergroups