Good Rockin' Charles (March 4, 1933 – May 17, 1989) was an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

and

electric blues Electric blues is 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 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

harmonicist, singer and songwriter. He released one album in his lifetime and is best known for his work with Johnny "Man" Young,

Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (March 21, 1929 – July 23, 1993) was an American Chicago blues guitarist and singer. He was a member of Howlin' Wolf's backing band and worked with Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, J. T. Bro ...

, Arthur "Big Boy" Spires and Jimmy Rogers.

Biography

He was born Henry Lee Bester in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

, and was later known as Charles Edwards. He relocated from his birthplace to Chicago, Illinois, in 1949, and was inspired by the harmonica players

Sonny Boy Williamson I John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player and singer-songwriter. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of r ...

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp s ...

and

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

. In the following decade, Charles found steady work with the Chicago blues musicians Johnny "Man" Young, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers and Arthur "Big Boy" Spires. In 1955 he was a member of the backing band for the blues singer Jimmy Rogers. Two years later, the short-lived

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

Cobra Records offered Charles the opportunity to record his own work, but he turned it down. Because of his wariness of working in a recording studio, he had been replaced at the last minute as the harmonica player on Jimmy Rogers's recording of "Walking by Myself" (1956). The role fell to

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 ...

, who greatly enhanced his reputation by playing on the track. In 1975, Charles was persuaded to record his own album. The eponymous album was released by Mr. Blues Records in 1976, having been recorded the previous November. It was subsequently reissued by P-Vine Records. Charles also featured on the American Blues Legends '79 tour of Europe organised by Big Bear Records, and the album of the same name. Charles later suffered from ill health and was unable to record any significant further work. Charles died in Chicago in May 1989, aged 56.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Rockin Charles 1933 births 1989 deaths Songwriters from Alabama American blues harmonica players American blues singers Chicago blues musicians Harmonica blues musicians Electric blues musicians Blues musicians from Alabama 20th-century American singers Songwriters from Illinois 20th-century American male singers American male songwriters 20th-century American songwriters

Biography

Discography

See also

References