(Harmonica, vocals, 1934–98) Amos Blackmore grew up in west Memphis, Arkansas under the sway of Sonny Boy Williamson II and began recording as a teenager in Chicago, playing with the innovative Four Aces before joining Muddy Waters’ band. Wells created a personal style influenced by James Brown. In the mid-1960s he began a long association with guitarist ...
(Harmonica, vocals, 1932–71) Herman Parker Jr. was born in Bobo, Mississippi and worked with Howlin’ Wolf as early as 1949 in West Memphis. Parker was associated with B.B. King, Bobby Bland and Johnny Ace in the Memphis scene of the early 1950s. He recorded for Sun with his own group, the Blue Flames, in ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1931–98) Along with Fat Possum labelmate R.L. Burnside, David ‘Junior’ Kimbrough, from Holly Springs, Mississippi was a leader of the 1990s juke-blues revival and had also played a part in creating the ‘Sun sound’ by influencing early rockers in the 1950s, including Charlie Feathers. Kimbrough’s approach was rooted in traditional African drum ...
(Vocals, b. 1919) Born Muriel Deason, in Nashville, Tennessee, Kitty Wells was one of the first women to achieve stardom in country music. Wells began singing in the 1930s with her cousin Bessie Choate as The Deason Sisters. In 1938, she married singer Johnnie Wright, who would later partner with Jack Anglin in the popular ...
(Vocal group, 1955–present) Originally known as The Juvenaires, this doo-wop group was formed in 1955 while members Danny Rapp, Frank Maffei, Joe Terranova and Dave White were still at high school in Philadelphia. They signed to Singular Records, owned by Artie Singer, and made the 1957 million-seller ‘At The Hop’, which topped the US singles ...
(Saxophone, vocals, 1942–95) Rough bluesy sax player (born Autry DeWalt in Arkansas in 1942) who, with his band The All Stars, signed to Motown in 1964. He first charted the following year with ‘Shotgun’, having stepped up to perform the vocals when the booked singer did not show. More hits followed, notably 1966’s ‘How Sweet It ...
(Vocals, 1943–92) One of Motown’s first female superstars, Wells was signed when she demo’d a song she had written for Jackie Wilson. Instead it became her own 1961 debut single ‘Bye Bye Baby’, and reached No. 8 in the R&B chart. Although only her 1964 US pop No. 1 ‘My Guy’ charted in Britain, she had many more ...
(Harmonica, vocals, 1918–61) Walter Horton was born in Horn Lake, Mississippi. He taught himself harmonica at the age of five and was working the streets shortly thereafter. He moved to Chicago in 1940 but it wasn’t until later in the decade that he began to be more active professionally. Horton replaced Junior Wells in the Muddy Waters Band ...
(Harmonica, vocals, b. 1951) Branch began playing harmonica at the age of 10, before polishing his onstage technique in Chicago with Big Walter, James Cotton, Junior Wells and Carey Bell. In 1975 he became a sideman for Willie Dixon and then formed Sons of Blues with Lurrie Bell (guitar). Branch continues to front the band and ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1949) During the 1960s, while attending college in Cambridge, Massachussetts, Raitt learned the ropes firsthand from slide masters Son House and Mississippi Fred McDowell. She began appearing on the folk and blues festival circuit in the late 1960s, sometimes encouraging elderly, rediscovered blues legends (such as Sippie Wallace) to join her ...
One of the young gunslingers who invigorated the blues in the 1960s, Buddy Guy (b. 1936) wowed audiences with high-octane guitar histrionics and energy that were matched by a tortured vocal manner. Guy is a master of dynamics, allowing a song to drift towards oblivion before suddenly bringing it back to a crescendo of intensity. Notable fans have included ...
‘When I first heard of the electric guitar, I thought somebody was bullshittin’ me,’ says George ‘Buddy’ Guy. ‘We lived so far in the country I didn’t even know what an acoustic guitar was until my mother started getting mail-order catalogs’. In 2005, Guy, who was born in Lettsworth, Louisiana on 30 July 1936, stands ...
(Guitar, piano, vocals, 1935–96) The self-proclaimed ‘Gangster Of Love’, Watson learned piano from his father in Houston, Texas but became known for his terse, stinging guitar, which influenced Frank Zappa and has been sampled by rappers. Etta James patterned her early singing after Watson’s declarative vocals, best immortalized along with his wicked instrumental prowess ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1989–present) English harmonica virtuoso Lamb (b. 1955) initially learned to play from recordings, but was mentored by Sonny Terry after they met at the World Harmonica Championships when Lamb was 15. He performed with other blues legends, including Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, before forming the five-piece Paul Lamb & The King Snakes. They released ...
(Guitar, 1935–90) Respected sideman Lawhorn began a nine-year stint with Muddy Waters’ band in 1956 after working with harmonica players Sonny Boy Williamson II and Willie Cobbs, among others. Waters fired the Little Rock, Arkansas native in 1973 for excessive drinking. By then his razor-edged tone and imaginative soloing had already left an indelible mark on the blues. ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
CURATED
Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.