HAVE YOU EVER LOVED A WOMAN - Detroit Frank DuMont

In the early 70’s, DuMont played slide guitar with the Detroit Blues Band and appeared at local Blues festivals backing Mr. Bo Collins, Eddie Burns, and Bo Bo Jenkins. He eventually formed the Living Room Blues Band and worked the circuit around Detroit and Chicago which included opening up with Chicago Pete and the Detroiters for Bo Didley and Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones at Harpo’s Concert Theater. These performances were broadcast live on WDET’s Wayne State’s Blues After Hours radio program by the Famous Coachman. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, DuMont appeared with the late Rob Tyner of the MC5 at the Soup Kitchen Saloon in Detroit and produced local Blues festivals to benefit Vietnam Veterans at Cass Corridor’s Miami Bar. Among others, he’s also backed James Cotton and accompanied, on acoustic guitar, the producer of the Ann Arbor Blues ‘n Jazz Festival John Sinclair at Weeds Club in Chicago. In 1981, DuMont bought Albert King’s original 1959 Flying V, Lucy, from the King himself in St. Louis, Missouri. Also in the ‘80’s, DuMont moved to Southern California where he formed the All Stars which served as the house band for the Desert Hot Springs Spa Hotel. His band included Rod “the Rocket” Welk, from Detroit, on harmonica; Paul Butterfield’s son, Lee Butterfield, on bass; Rob Rio on keyboards; and Ron McClurry on drums. Among other things, the All Stars opened the Desert Blues Festival at Indian Wells’ Hyatt Grand Champions Resort and provided backing for regional talent at the festival. While in the desert, DuMont met B3 organist Deacon Jones, who had been with Freddie King for years and, in the early ‘90’s, DuMont moved to San Francisco to join Jones’ Bucket of Blues Band. Benefit concerts for organizations like Bread ‘n Roses were common. Also as part of his association with the Bucket of Blues, DuMont backed Blues legend John Lee Hooker on many occasions. Over the years, DuMont has also performed with Buddy Miles from Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys; Gregg Allman; and the late great Chicago Blues Hall of Famer Luther Tucker. In the mid- and late-‘90’s, DuMont moved first to Maui, Hawaii, where he studied steel and slack key guitar, and then to Europe where he toured as a solo artist and then traveled with Luther Allison’s band from Germany to the South of France. Before returning to the States, DuMont held down a house gig with the Terry Mann Band at the Bourbon Street Bar in Amsterdam. Now, from his present venue west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, DuMont is performing with his band, The Drivin’ Wheels, and producing a CD which features recordings–done at Sun Studios in Memphis, Stone Studio in New Orleans; and Music Annex in Menlo Park, California–with Freddie King’s brother, Benny Turner, bass; Duke Jethro, B3 organ; David Maxwell, keyboards; Ed Early, trombone; and Walter King, horn arrangements. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Dobro slide licks from Angelo Santelli

Angelo Santelli, nicknamed "Skypup" by Michael Allman, is a blues guitarist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. He combines the revolutionary slide guitar styles of Duane Allman and Derek Trucks into his own sound. Santelli is the guitarist for Michael Allman, Gregg Allman's eldest son. Angelo has played shows with Berry Oakley Jr. and shared the stage with Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Reese Wynans, Devon Allman and Duane Betts and opened for other notable acts like the Edgar Winter Group, Tinsley Ellis, Lonnie Baker Brooks, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and Devon Allman's Honeytribe. Since 2006 Santelli has led his own band, Marble Garden, a jam-blues-rock group who in 2009 represented Kalamazoo at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis Tennessee. Angelo is the son of Tennessee singer-songwriter Tommy Santelli. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Darling Forever - The Marvelettes

The Marvelettes were an all-girl group who achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson (later Katherine Anderson Schnaffer), Georgeanna Tillman (later Georgeanna Tillman-Gordon), Juanita Cowart (later Juanita Cowart Motley) and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young (later Wanda Rogers) prior to the group signing their first deal. The group was the first major successful act of Motown Records after The Miracles and were its first significant successful girl group on the label's early years after the release of the number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act. Founded in 1960 while the group's founding members performed together at their high school's glee club, they eventually were signed to Motown Records' Tamla label in 1961. Some of the group's early hits were written by band members and some of Motown's rising singer-songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, who played drums on a majority of their early recordings. Despite their early successes, the group was eclipsed in popularity by groups like The Supremes, with whom they shared an intense rivalry and struggled with issues of dismal promotion from Motown, illnesses and mental breakdowns, with Cowart the first to leave in 1963, followed by Georgeanna Tillman two years later and Gladys Horton two years after that. Nevertheless, they managed a major comeback in 1966 with "Don't mess with Bill", followed by a few smaller follow-up hits. The group ceased performing together in 1969 and, following the release of The Return of the Marvelettes in 1970, featuring only Wanda Rogers, the group disbanded for good, with both Rogers and Katherine Anderson leaving the music business. The group has received several honors, including the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2005, the band's most successful recordings, "Please Mr. Postman" and "Don't Mess with Bill" earned them two gold-certified awards from the RIAA. In 2012, the Marvelettes were nominated for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

The Kim Wilson Blues All-Stars Live at KPLU

Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up." In this KPLU/Jazz24 studio session, singer and harmonica player Kim Wilson goes three rounds with blues, accompanied by two of his All-Stars: guitarist, Kirk Fletcher and pianist, Barrelhouse Chuck. The set includes two old blues tunes - "Bad Boy" by Eddie Taylor, and "That's Alright" by Jimmy Rogers. They cap it off with one of those spontaneous jams that just seem to happen when three talented friends are having a ball playing the blues together. Wilson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1951, but he grew up in Goleta, California, where he sometimes went by the stage name of "Goleta Slim." He started with the blues in the late 1960s and was tutored by people like Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Albert Collins, George "Harmonica" Smith, Luther Tucker and Pee Wee Crayton and was influenced by harmonica players like Little Walter, James Cotton, Big Walter Horton, Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester. Before he moved to Austin, Texas in 1974, he was the leader of the band Aces, Straights and Shuffles in Minneapolis, Minnesota; this band released one single. In Austin he formed The Fabulous Thunderbirds with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, and they became the house band at the blues club, Antone's, owned by Clifford Antone. Muddy Waters called Wilson, "The greatest harmonica player since Little Walter". Wilson continues to perform up to 300 concert dates per year at blues music festivals and clubs all over the world, both as leader of The Fabulous Thunderbirds and with the Kim Wilson Blues Allstars. His powerful style of blues harp playing has been described as "loaded with the textures of a full-blown horn section." If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - George Thorogood And Destroyers

2120 South Michigan Avenue, home of Chicago’s Chess Records, may be the most important address in the bloodline of the blues and rock ‘n’ roll. That address – immortalized in the Rolling Stones’ like-named instrumental, recorded at an epochal session at Chess in June 1964 and included on the band’s album 12 X 5 – serves as the title to George Thorogood’s electrifying Capitol/EMI salute to the Chess label and its immortal artists. Thorogood has been essaying the Chess repertoire since his 1977 debut album, which included songs by Elmore James and Bo Diddley that originated on the label. He has cut 18 Chess covers over the years; three appeared on his last studio release, 2009’s The Dirty Dozen. On 2120 South Michigan Avenue, he offers a full-length homage to the label that bred his style with interpretations of 10 Chess classics. The album also includes original tributes to the Windy City and Chess’ crucial songwriter-producer-bassist Willie Dixon, penned by Thorogood, producer Tom Hambridge, and Richard Fleming, plus a cranked-up version of the Stones’ titular instrumental. Chess Records had been making musical history for a decade before it moved into its offices on Michigan Avenue, in the heart of the Windy City’s record business district, in 1957. Leonard and Phil Chess, sons of a Polish immigrant family and South Side nightclub operators, bought into a new independent label called Aristocrat Records in 1947. The brothers bought out their partners in 1950 and gave the label the family name; by that time, they had racked up blues hits by Muddy Waters, Sunnyland Slim, Robert Nighthawk, and St. Louis Jimmy. Chess’ studio spawned timeless ‘50s and ‘60s recordings by Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Howlin’ Wolf, which served as inspiration for the Stones and their blues-rocking brethren, and then lit a fire under their successors George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Thorogood recalls, “I remember as a teenager reading about Mick Jagger meeting Keith Richards on a train. Jagger had a Chuck Berry record, and he said he wrote to Chess Records and got a catalog sent to him. Just out of curiosity, I took out one of my Chess records, got the address, and I wrote to Chess Records. And they sent me a catalog of the complete Chess library, and I started buying up these Chess records. I bought every single one of them I could possibly get. “And I remember reading the backs of those Chess records and seeing the address, 2120 South Michigan Avenue, and I said, ‘That’s the same address as the Rolling Stones’ instrumental!’ And I started putting one and one together and coming up with a big two.” Over time, Chess’ catalog and artists became the sources of Thorogood’s higher education in music. “That was my school, the college that I had to learn my trade in,” he says. “I had to figure out how these people did these things.” The new album also celebrates the performers who shared stages with Thorogood and the Destroyers and encouraged them when they were just coming up on the East Coast blues scene. He says, “The people who helped me out were all the guys in Muddy Waters’ band, all the guys in Howlin’ Wolf’s band. They were wonderful to me, and they wanted to help me. They saw what I was trying to do.” 2120 South Michigan Avenue isn’t just Thorogood’s salute to a great record label – it also pays homage to the tough, larger-than-life men who made the music. “It was a lifestyle as well as an art form, as far as music goes,” Thorogood notes. “They were singing about what their life was like on a daily basis. Sonny Boy Williamson and Wolf and Muddy Waters – they didn’t think they were the baddest cats in the world, they knew they were the baddest cats in the world. They had to be, or they wouldn’t have survived. There’s nothing glamorous in it – that’s just the facts. They had to fight their way through on a daily basis just to keep their heads above water. That’s very clear in a lot of their songs.” Some of the songs from the Chess catalog heard on 2120 South Michigan Avenue were staples of the Destroyers’ live repertoire; Thorogood says, “A lot of the things I recorded I was doing 25 or 30 years ago, and I had stopped doing them.” He adds that since many Chess recordings have become linchpins of the rock and blues repertoire, both on record and in concert, some careful winnowing had to be done for the album: “We did a lot of research and said, ‘Wait a minute, the Rolling Stones did that song, John Hammond did that song.'" Producer Tom Hambridge is the ideal collaborator for 2120 South Michigan Avenue. A veteran of tours with Chuck Berry, Roy Buchanan, the Drifters, and other stars, Hambridge won a 2010 Grammy for his work on Buddy Guy’s Living Proof, and wrote the album’s Guy-B.B. King duet “Stay Around a Little Longer.” He received Grammy nominations for Guy’s Skin Deep (2008), Johnny Winter’s I’m a Bluesman (2004), and Susan Tedeschi’s Just Won’t Burn (1998). He also fronts his own band, Tom Hambridge & the Rattlesnakes. The special guests on 2120 South Michigan Avenue sport direct connections to Chess and Chicago’s blues scene. Guitarist Buddy Guy made his Chess label debut 51 years ago. Thorogood remembers, “I went to [the Austin blues club] Antone’s for the first time in 1977, and I saw Buddy Guy play. It was the first time I saw him, and I never forgot that he led off with [Chess artist Tommy Tucker’s] ‘High Heeled Sneakers.’ I thought that was just unbelievable. Buddy just tore it apart, like he does everything – that’s his style.” Harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite is heard on two of the album’s tracks, a cover of Little Walter’s hit “My Babe” and the Stones’ “2120.” “Memphis Charlie” haunted Chicago’s South Side clubs in the ‘60s, learning at the feet of Chess titans like Little Walter Jacobs and Sonny Boy Williamson and hanging out with such like-minded contemporaries as Paul Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield, and Elvin Bishop of the pathfinding Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Thorogood says, “I don’t play harmonica. Little Walter plays harp, and Sonny Boy Williamson plays harp, and Howlin’ Wolf plays harp. So I said, ‘Well, what am I gonna do about this?’ It’s an easy choice. I said, ‘There’s only one cat we can get to play ‘My Babe’ by Little Walter, and that’s Charlie.’ He’s the last cat!” Through the entire project, Thorogood and the Destroyers attempted to put their own distinctive spin on the Chess material while maintaining fidelity to the originals’ attack. “When you do Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, when you play Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, there’s no experimenting,” Thorogood explains. “That’s a religion, and you’ve gotta do it right.” The historic music heard on 2120 South Michigan Avenue didn’t merely change George Thorogood’s life, as he himself notes. “It’s not a musical phenomenon, it’s a social phenomenon. The man who created rock ‘n’ roll was Chuck Berry, and he listened to Muddy Waters. Bo Diddley went to the same school and listened to the same people. Rock ‘n’ roll changed the whole world. That never would have happened if it hadn’t been for Chess Records. It’s the source of the whole thing.” If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

A Little More Love - Kim Weston

Kim Weston (born December 20, 1939) is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)". Born Agatha Nathalia Weston in Detroit, Michigan, she was signed to Motown Records in 1961, scoring a minor hit with "Love Me All the Way" (R&B #24, Pop #88). Weston's biggest solo hits with Motown were "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" (R&B #4, Pop #50, 1965, later covered by The Isley Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears and The Doobie Brothers, and "Helpless" (R&B #13, Pop #56, 1966, previously recorded by The Four Tops on their Second Album LP). Her biggest claim to fame was singing the classic hit "It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye in 1966 and her later recording of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing". It was the success of "It Takes Two" that caused Motown to partner Gaye with Tammi Terrell, spawning even more success for the label. Weston left Motown in 1967 and later sued the label over disputes about royalties. She and her then-husband William "Mickey" Stevenson (former A&R head at Motown) both went to MGM Records. Weston cut a couple of singles for MGM, "I Got What You Need," and "Nobody," which went largely unnoticed due to lack of airplay and promotion. She made an album for the label, This Is America, which included her popular version of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing." This was released as a single and featured in the movie Wattstax. All the money from the single was donated to the United Negro College Fund. She recorded several more albums for various labels, Stax/Volt among them, and also made an album of duets with Johnny Nash. None of these recordings charted, and Weston reportedly relocated to Israel, where she worked with young singers. Weston made a guest appearance on The Bill Cosby Show (1969–1971), in episode #50 in March 1971. Along with many former Motown artists, she signed with Ian Levine's Motorcity Records in the 1980s, releasing the single "Signal Your Intention", which peaked at #1 in the UK Hi-NRG charts. It was followed by the album Investigate (1990), which included some re-recordings of her Motown hits as well as new material. A second album for the label, Talking Loud (1992), was never released, although all the songs were included on the compilation The Best Of Kim Weston (1996). Today Weston is a disc jockey on a local Detroit radio station, where she sponsors the summer events at Hart Plaza. She also tours sporadically, often alongside former Motown colleagues Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves and Brenda Holloway. She is also featured on the 2006 four-CD release of the Motortown Revue series. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Our Love Is In The Pocket - J.J. Barnes

J. J. Barnes (born James Jay Barnes, November 30, 1943, Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B singer. He first recorded in 1960. His early releases including "Just One More Time" and "Please Let Me In", on the record labels Mickay and Ric-Tic, had relatively little success, but were subsequently picked up as Northern soul favorites. He also covered The Beatles' "Day Tripper"”, before moving for a short period to Motown. His biggest hit single came in 1967 with "Baby Please Come Back Home", which, like many of his records, he co-wrote. The song reached #9 on the US Billboard R&B chart. However, subsequent singles on a variety of labels, including covers of "Black Ivory" at Today/Perception Records, failed to repeat the success. On the recommendation of his friend, Edwin Starr moved to England in the 1970s becoming very popular. Starr had arranged for Barnes to appear on a series of shows which led to him signing a deal with Contempo. He became a favorite artist of the UK Northern soul scene, and performed frequently in the UK. Early recordings from Barnes, such as "Please Let Me In" and "Real Humdinger", were re-released in the UK on the Tamla Motown label to cater for the buyers of Northern soul records.[4] In the 1970s Contempo records released seven singles and an album, Sara Smile, from Barnes, all without chart success. In the 1980s he released five more records including a version of the Northern soul favorite by Frank Wilson, "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

BLUES GUITAR SHOWDOWN 2012 - THIS MONDAY (NOV 19) - KIRK FLETCHER, LUCKY LLOYD, A.C. MYLES and more! - IN TARZANA!

                                                                                                                                                              

          THIS MONDAY, NOV 19, 2012       

         PRE-THANKSGIVING       

  BLUES GUITAR FEAST 2012! 

                      STARRING                    

   KIRK FLETCHER   

      LUCKY LLOYD    

       A.C. MYLES       

    CHRIS MILLAR     

      JON CROSSEN    

                     AND MORE !                    

 NO COVER AT THE DOOR.  DONATIONS ARE NEEDED TO KEEP THIS ONGOING EVENT AFLOAT.  WE VERY KINDLY AND GENTLY SUGGEST A DONATION PER PERSON.  $15 OR $20 PLATINUM-LEVEL DONATION IS ALWAYS EXTREMELY HELPFUL FOR MAINTAINING SUCH HIGH-QUALITY, FESTIVAL-LEVEL BLUES ARTISTS EVERY WEEK.  THERE IS ALSO A TWO DRINK MINIMUM AT THE CLUB. THANKS AGAIN, DEAR BLUES FRIENDS ! 

*****************************

                                                                                       

        THIS UPCOMING MONDAY, NOV 19, 2012            

BLUES GUITAR SHOWDOWN!

   THE MAUI SUGAR MILL SALOON    

             $15 or $20 SUGGESTED DONATION           

                               PER PERSON                                

                                                                                                                                                 

*****

Please join us and over 100 friendly blues fans and musicians for a tremendous evening celebrating sizzling, blues guitar and featuring three young blues guitar virtuosos who deserve the widest possible recognition: THE LAST BLUES GUITAR SHOWDOWN OF 2012 stars KIRK FLETCHER, LUCKY LLOYD & A.C. MYLES !  Astounding blues guitar virtuoso, Kirk Fletcher is a Los Angeles native;  The big man, Lucky Lloyd hails from Detroit, and A.C. Myles - fresh off the road with The John Nemeth Band - is flying in from Fresno for this one special show.  All three will converge on the stage for one delicious Pre-Thanksgiving blues guitar feast!

 THAT'S THIS MONDAY, NOV 19, 2012, from 8 pm til 9:30 pm at the MAUI SUGAR MILL SALOON in Tarzana.  Audience seating begins at 7:00 pm.  A huge jam will rage after the concert, and go until 2 am.  We greatly look forward to partying with you!

Your pal,

Cad Zack

*****

HERE ARE YOUR AMAZING

BLUES GUITAR STARS

FOR THE EVENING...

    LOS ANGELES BLUES GUITAR VIRTUOSO!   

*** KIRK FLETCHER *** 

       DETROIT BLUES GUITAR GREAT!       

   *** LUCKY LLOYD ***   

  BRILLIANT GUITARIST FROM FRESNO ! 

  *** A.C. MYLES ***   

*****

 SEATING / DINNER / DRINKS 

Due to the overwhelming popularity of Monday blues night at The Maui Sugar Mill we recommend coming early to grab a table and chair - say around 7:00 pm.  

Please note there is a 2-drink minimum

at the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon

The Sugar Mill does not currently serve food but there are plenty of take-out places nearby and you are always welcome to bring any and all food into the club.  Come eat your food while we spin classic blues tunes on our nifty Hi-Fi stereo beginning at 7 pm sharp.  

*****

 SHOW DETAILS 

 * LAST BLUES GUITAR SHOWDOWN OF 2012 *

 will take place from 8:00 to 9:30 pm

THIS MONDAY, NOV 19, 2012

There is NO COVER CHARGE 

 at the door for this show, but a $15 or $20 donation per person is requested for this event, to help with the costs associated with such a special evening. 

WHERE:
Maui Sugar Mill Saloon
18389 Ventura Blvd.
(one-block east of Reseda Blvd.)
Tarzana, CA 91356

*****

WORLD-CLASS BLUES JAM

BEGINS AFTER THE OPENING SET

This world-famous weekly blues jam has become very popular amongst the top blues musicians.  Every Monday a legendary blues artists drops by to play or just hang out, including: John Mayall, Kim Wilson, Coco Montoya, Arthur Adams, Finis Tasby, Robert "Bilbo" Walker, Barbara Morrison, Phil Upchurch, Deacon Jones, James Harman, Larry Taylor, Al Blake & Fred Kaplan, Roy Gaines, Albert Lee and many others!  If you are a great blues musician PLEASE come jam with us!

BRING YOUR WHOLE BAND:

If you would like to bring your full band to do a 15-minute showcase we'd love that, but please e-mail us first so that we can schedule you and give you the details.  We have a limited amount of these slots.

 Sign up begins at 7:00 pm.

The jam typically starts at 9:30 pm and rages until 1:00 am.   Please note: Due to the popularity of this weekly event, musicians are only guaranteed to play if they sign up before 9 pm, although, we have never turned anyone away in 4 years.  Wait times vary from 1/2 hour up to 3 hours, depending on how early you sign up.  This past Monday, for example, we had 22 jammers.

Work With Me Annie - Hank Ballard & Midnighters

Hank Ballard (November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003), born John Henry Kendricks, was a rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters and one of the first proto-rock 'n' roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an integral part in the development of rock music, releasing the hit singles "Work With Me, Annie" and answer songs "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie" with his Midnighters. He later wrote and recorded "The Twist" and invented the dance, which was notably covered by Chubby Checker. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Born John Henry Kendricks in Detroit, Michigan, Ballard along with his brother, Dove Ballard, grew up and attended school in Bessemer, Alabama after the death of their father. He lived with his paternal aunt and her husband, and began singing in church. His major vocal inspiration during his formative years was the "Singing Cowboy", Gene Autry, and in particular, his signature song, "Back in the Saddle Again". Ballard returned to Detroit in his teens and later worked on the assembly line for Ford. n 1953, Ballard joined doo-wop group The Royals, which had previously been discovered by Johnny Otis and signed to Federal Records, (a division of King Records), in Cincinnati. Ballard joined Henry Booth, Charles Sutton, Sonny Woods and Alonzo Tucker in the group, replacing previous singer Lawson Smith. The Royals released "Get It" (1953), an R&B song with possibly sexually oriented lyrics, which some radio stations refused to play, although it still made it to number 6 on the Billboard R&B chart. The group then changed its name to The Midnighters to avoid confusion with The "5" Royales. In 1954, Ballard wrote a song called "Work with Me, Annie" that was drawn from "Get It" It became The Midnighters' first major R&B hit, spending seven weeks at number 1 on the R&B charts and also selling well in mainstream markets, along with the answer songs "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie"; all were banned by the FCC from radio air play. Their third major hit was "Sexy Ways", a song that cemented the band's reputation as one of the most risqué groups of the time. They had four other R&B chart hits in 1954–55, but no others until 1959, by which time the group was billed as "Hank Ballard and The Midnighters" with their label changed from Federal to King, the parent label. Between 1959 and 1961 they had several more both on the R&B and Pop charts, starting with "Teardrops on Your Letter", a number 4 R&B hit in 1959 that had as its B-side the Ballard-written song "The Twist". A year later, Chubby Checker's cover version of the song went to number 1 on the pop charts. It would return to the top of the charts again in 1962–the only song in the rock'n'roll era to reach number 1 in two different years. Ballard & the Midnighters had several other hit singles through 1961, including the Grammy-nominated "Finger Poppin' Time" and "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" which hit number 7 and number 6, respectively, on the Billboard pop charts. They did not reach the charts again after 1962 and dissolved in 1965. After the Midnighters disbanded, Ballard launched a solo career. His 1968 single, "How You Gonna Get Respect (When You Haven't Cut Your Process Yet)", was his biggest post-Midnighters hit, peaking at number 15 on the R&B chart. James Brown produced Ballard's 1969 album You Can't Keep a Good Man Down. A 1972 single, "From the Love Side", credited to Hank Ballard and the Midnight Lighters, went to number 43 on the R&B chart. Ballard also appeared on Brown's 1972 album Get on the Good Foot, in a track ("Recitation By Hank Ballard") that features Ballard describing Brown and the album. During the 1960s, Ballard's cousin, Florence Ballard, was a member of the Detroit girl group The Supremes. In the mid-1980s, Ballard re-formed The Midnighters and the group performed till 2002. In 1990, Ballard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; the other Midnighters were not. On March 2, 2003, he died at age 75 of throat cancer in his Los Angeles home. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. Ballard was the great uncle of NFL player Christian Ballard. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Daydreamer - Eddie Holland

Edward Holland, Jr. (born October 30, 1939, Detroit, Michigan, known during his recording career as Eddie Holland) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Although Holland was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", he started working behind the scenes due to stage fright. He was a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team responsible for much of the Motown Sound and hit records by Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, the Four Tops, and The Isley Brothers, among others. Holland served as the team's lyricist, and also worked with producer Norman Whitfield on lyrics for the songs he produced for The Marvelettes and The Temptations, like "Too Many Fish in the Sea" and "Beauty's Only Skin Deep". If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Johnnie Bassett has passed

Blues guitarist Johnnie Bassett, a much-loved statesman of the Detroit scene, died late Saturday. He was 76.

Bassett had been in declining health – recently diagnosed with cancer — and was moved last month to hospice care at St. John Hospital in Detroit.

In a long and storied career, the musically versatile Bassett had been a go-to player on the city’s bustling club scene of the ’50s and ’60s, and was a member of the Fortune Records house band the Blue Notes.

He accompanied a litany of brand-name artists, including fellow Detroiters John Lee Hooker, Little Willie John, Smokey Robinson and Nolan Strong, and was friendly with a young Jimi Hendrix during the latter’s early, blues-oriented Seattle years.

“This is one those artists where everything just came together — jazz, soul, blues, R&B,” said publicist Matt Lee. “We’ll never see his like again.”

The past two decades saw the laconic Bassett emerge as a singer and front man at the encouragement of musician R.J. Spangler, who spotted the guitarist playing on a low-key side stage at the Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival in 1991. Together they formed the Blues Insurgents, and Bassett enjoyed a late-life second wind as his name became acclaimed in international blues circles.

Spangler declared Bassett to be the best Detroit bluesman of all time.

“He had the tone, and the feeling, and the ability, and the subtlety in his playing that far suprassed all the others,” he said. “The same fire and musicianship that you heard on his early sides as a session guitarist — he still displayed that right up to his death.”

He became known as Detroit’s Gentleman of the Blues, with a playing style that fit the moniker.

“He told me many times that unlike these guys who play really loud, he liked to turn his amp down and draw the listener in,” said Lee. “That’s how you’d know somebody is really listening.”

Bassett was a living link to a vintage blues era. Lee recounted a 1991 show at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater, where Bassett opened for Chicago great Buddy Guy.

“Buddy stood on the side watching,” Lee recalled. “He turned and said, ‘That’s how they really played the blues.’.”

In a Free Press interview in June — tied to his new fifth album, “I Can Make That Happen” — Bassett remembered that he had aspired to comedy as a child. He embraced the guitar at 18 when his brother bought a guitar and amplifier at a pawn shop, turning to the blues he’d grown up listening to on the radio.

“I didn’t emulate anybody, but I listened to everybody. Originally I had no aspirations of being a musician,” he said.

“Being a musician — it got me. I didn’t get it.”

His new record opens with the song “Proud to Be From Detroit,” which includes a career-defining line: “I’m proud to be from Dee-troit,” he sings, “a town with a style all its own.”

Bassett told the Free Press in 2009 that even in the blues idiom “I like to keep my music fun and upbeat.”

“I like jump-type stuff because it gives you energy. There’s enough draggy blues to be found, if you’re so inclined. But when you put a little jump into it, people come alive. They need upbeat music to help take them to a better place. I know I do; that’s why I play upbeat blues.”

Bassett is survived by his wife, Deborah Bassett; daughters Benita Litt, Cortney Campbell and Lynn Tolbert; and a son, Kenneth Pringle. Funeral arrangments are pending.
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James Jamerson Tribute

James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of Motown Records' hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971), and he is now regarded as one of the most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
A native of Edisto Island (near Charleston), South Carolina, Jamerson moved with his mother to Detroit, Michigan in 1954. He learned to play the double bass at Northwestern High School, and he soon began playing in Detroit area blues and jazz clubs.
Jamerson continued performing in Detroit clubs after graduating high school, and his increasingly solid reputation started providing him opportunities for sessions at various local recording studios. Starting in 1959 he found steady work at Berry Gordy's Hitsville U.S.A. studio, home of the Motown record label. There he became a member of a core of studio musicians who informally called themselves The Funk Brothers. This small, close-knit group of musicians performed on the vast majority of Motown recordings during most of the 1960s. Jamerson's earliest Motown sessions were performed on double bass, but in the early 1960s he switched to mostly playing electric bass - a Fender Precision.

Like Jamerson, most of the other Funk Brothers were jazz musicians who had been recruited by Gordy. For many years, they maintained a typical schedule of recording during the day at Motown's small garage "Studio A" (which they nicknamed "the Snakepit"), then playing gigs in the jazz clubs at night. They also occasionally toured the U.S. with Motown artists. However for most of their career, the members of the Funk Brothers went uncredited on Motown singles and albums, and their pay was considerably less than the artists or the label received. Eventually Jamerson was put on retainer with Motown for one thousand dollars a week, which afforded him and his ever-expanding family a comfortable lifestyle.

Jamerson's discography at Motown reads as a catalog of soul hits of the 1960s and 1970s. His work includes Motown hits such as, among hundreds of others, "Shotgun" by Jr. Walker & the All Stars, "For Once in My Life", "I Was Made To Love Her" by Stevie Wonder (also claimed by Carol Kaye), "Going to a Go-Go" by The Miracles, "My Girl" by The Temptations, "Dancing in the Street" by Martha and the Vandellas, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Gladys Knight and the Pips, and later by Marvin Gaye, and most of the album What's Going On by Marvin Gaye, "Reach Out I'll Be There" and "Bernadette" by the Four Tops, and "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes. According to fellow Funk Brothers in the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Gaye was desperate to have Jamerson play on "What's Going On", and went to several bars to find the bassist. When he did, he brought Jamerson to the studio, who then played the classic line while lying flat on his back. He is reported to have played on some 95% of Motown recordings between 1962 and 1968. He eventually performed on nearly 30 No. 1 pop hits—surpassing the record commonly attributed to The Beatles. On the R&B charts, nearly 70 of his performances went to the top.
Shortly after Motown moved their headquarters to Los Angeles, California in 1972, Jamerson moved there himself and found occasional studio work, but his relationship with Motown officially ended in 1973. He went on to perform on such 1970s hits as "Rock the Boat" (Hues Corporation), "Boogie Fever" (The Sylvers), and "You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)" (Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.) and also played on Robert Palmer's 1975 solo album "Pressure Drop". But as other musicians went on to use high-tech amps, round-wound strings, and simpler, more repetitive bass lines incorporating new techniques like thumb slapping, Jamerson's style fell out of favor with local producers and he found himself reluctant to try new things. By the 1980s he was unable to get any serious gigs working as a session musician.

Long troubled by alcoholism, Jamerson died of complications stemming from cirrhosis of the liver, heart failure and pneumonia on August 2, 1983 in Los Angeles. He was 47 years old and was said to be broke and bitter about his lack of recognition at the time of his death. He left behind a wife, Anne, three sons, James Jamerson Jr., Ivey (Joey), and Derek, and a daughter Doreen. He is interred at Detroit's historic Woodlawn Cemetery on Woodward Avenue.
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What You Gonna Do - Washboard Willie Hensley

Lena Hall:Vocals

Washboard Willie and his Super Suds of Rhythm:

Washboard Willie Hensley:Washboard

Calvin Frazier:Guitar

Recorded in Detroit, MI. 1956
Washboard Willie (July 24, 1909 – August 24, 1991) was an American Detroit blues musician, who specialised in playing the washboard. He recorded tracks including "A Fool On a Mule in the Middle of The Road" plus "Cherry Red Blues", and worked variously with Eddie "Guitar" Burns, Baby Boy Warren, and Boogie Woogie Red
Born William Paden Hensley in Columbus, Georgia, Washboard Willie, as he became known, did not take up music until his thirties. By 1948 he had relocated to Detroit, and in 1952, he watched Eddie "Guitar" Burns performing and played along with Burns' backing group. He impressed the proprietor and ended up with a three year residency with the band.

Working full-time washing cars for a living, he decided to name his own musical ensemble, Washboard Willie and the Super Suds of Rhythm, working off of the name of a once-popular laundry detergent! He graduated from just playing the washboard to incorporate a bass drum and snare and, in 1955, gave Little Sonny his first booking. In 1956, Hensley made his own debut recording of "Cherry Red Blues," with "Washboard Shuffle;" and then "Washboard Blues Pt. 1 & 2." His recording career continued until 1962 utilising Boogie Woogie Red on piano accompaniment. The recordings were not issued until 1969 on Barrelhouse Records. However, in 1966, Willie did release a single with the tracks "Natural Born Lover," and "Wee Baby Blues." His band remained in demand playing nightly in both Detroit and Ann Arbor.

In 1973, he toured Europe with Lightnin' Slim, Whispering Smith, Snooky Pryor, Homesick James and Boogie Woogie Red; he also played at the Ann Arbor Blues & Jazz festival that year on the Saturday afternoon "Detroit Blues" show. A compilation album, American Blues Legends '73 was issued on Big Bear Records with Willie contributing the tracks, "I Feel So Fine" and "Kansas City." Six years later he stopped playing professionally.

He died in Detroit in August 1991, at the age of 82.
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Discography

messin with a fool - Eliza Neals - New Release Review

I just received a new release by Eliza Neals, messin with a fool, and it has a definite, contemporary sound. The first thing that I like about it is that i can't really categorize it. It's a good sign that it doesn't sound like everything else (or a certain body of works). The recording opens with Misery, a R&B style track with with a 50's vibe. Tino Gross throws out a cool guitar riff on this track too! Neals has a voice comparable in quality with Bonnie Raitt but with stylistic approaches that are more power pop or punk. It sounds fresh and not overused. Man's Man is a simple stripped down rock song with bluesy singing but keeping it's edge. Lets say the Yeah Yeah Yeah's sing Stax. ESP is a cool track and the vocals are smoother and really lean toward soul and Bonnie Bramlett. The arrangement of the music remains uneven and interesting as opposed to predictable. Rather Go To Jail has a cool Latin feel but is more stylistic than bluesy. Rainin in Detroit is a solid blues ballad with phrasing that puts me in mind of Ricki Lee Jones but with a totally original voice an really nice guitar riff by Mike Smith to set off the vocals. Coming out of the gates on Berry Gordy's Money, Neals sounds terrific showing her vocal quality not unlike Brode Dalle on a classic track. I really like the sound of Neals voice on PiG (and I really like the overdriven sound of the basic guitar that accompanies her). The cd wraps with a simple ballad, Love Hurts More, over primarily acoustic guitar. This is a real strong track and a nice selection to complete an unusually cool cd.

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My Girl - Temptations

The Temptations are an American vocal group known for their success in the 60s and 70s at Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music. Known for their recognizable choreography, distinct harmonies, and flashy onstage suits, the Temptations have been said to be as influential to soul as The Beatles are to pop and rock.

Formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1960 as The Elgins (not to be confused with another Motown group with the same name), the Temptations have always featured at least five male vocalists/dancers. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are one of the most successful groups in music history. As of 2010, the Temptations continue to perform and record for Universal Records with its one living original member, Otis Williams, still in its lineup.

The original lineup included members of two local Detroit vocal groups: from The Distants, second tenor Otis Williams, first tenor Elbridge "Al" Bryant, and bass Melvin Franklin; and from The Primes, first tenor/falsetto Eddie Kendricks and second tenor/baritone Paul Williams (no relation to Otis). Among the most notable future Temptations were lead singers David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards (both later solo artists), Ali-Ollie Woodson, Ron Tyson, Glenn Leonard, Damon Harris, Richard Street, Theo Peoples, and G. C. Cameron. Like its "sister" female group, the Supremes, the Temptations' lineup has changed frequently over the years.

Over the course of their career, the Temptations have released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 14 Billboard R&B number-one singles. Their material has earned them three Grammy Awards, while two more awards were conferred upon the songwriters and producers who crafted their 1972 hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". The Temptations were the first Motown act to earn a Grammy Award. Six Temptations (Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, and Paul Williams) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Three classic Temptations songs, "My Girl", "Ain't Too Proud to Beg", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", are among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
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New Hawaiian Boogie - George Bedard

George Bedard has been a seminal figure on the Michigan roots rock scene for more than 20 years. A member of the Silvertones in the 1970s and Tracy Lee & the Leonards in the 1980s, Bedard has been increasingly attracting the attention that his energetic guitar playing and gutsy vocals deserve as leader of his own band, the Kingpins. Goldmine recently called Bedard "one of the best rockabilly pickers on the planet," while Record Roundup wrote "Bedard may not become the next trendy thing, but as far as this kind of music, he's already the next cool thing."

The Kingpins, featuring Randy Tessier on bass and Rich Dishman on drums, have developed a reputation as one of Michigan's best bands since their formation in the early-'90s. Their debut album, Upside, was named Blues Album of the Year by CD Review in 1992. Upon the album's release, Guitar Player referred to it as "a brainy composite of blues phrasing and rockabilly bad-boy twang." Their second album, Hip Deep, followed in 1997.
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Rollin' Blues - Deadstring Brothers

Deadstring Brothers: Country Toughs from the Motor City...... It may be a surprise to hear the country rock sounds of Detroits Deadstring Brothers coming from a city better known for loud rock and roll, but disillusionment can take many channels. Desolation, frustration and regret have always been present where great country music was played, and from its bombed-out inner city to its sterile suburbs, Detroit has its share. .... Deadstring Brothers began in fall 2003. Since then, the band has worked to develop their own take on the American Sound, drawing influences from a variety of sources. Its all in there somehow, declares Kurt, but blues and country music just feel the most natural. .... Not unlike Exile-era Stones, Deadstring Brothers deliver a menacing sound that draws equally on the melancholy of country ballads and the abandon of rock and blues. The bands music is deeply rooted in the storytelling and instrumental traditions of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and the American Outlaw Movement, but is also informed by the song structure and understated aggression commonly associated with Detroit bands. Their haunting melodies reveal the influence of early 70s rock icons like The Band and Gram Parsons and The Faces. Deadstring Brothers live performances have the energy of guitar rock, but sophisticated arrangements, Hammond Organ and a focus on traditional American music separate them from many of their Detroit contemporaries. .... The band has been touring steadily since the 2004 release of their eponymous debut and have shared the stage with acts ranging from Shooter Jennings, Cat Power and Jesse Sykes to Giant Sand, My Morning Jacket, Drive by Truckers and the Mekons. If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”

Jive Talkin' Mama - The Nelsen Adelard Band

Born into a show business family, Nelsen was already a professional musician at 15. A true "Blues Journeyman" Nelsen earned his stripes playing tough, gritty joints and taverns of the East Coast Blues Circuit. He opened for and shared the stage with such greats as Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Matt "Guitar" Murphy and Pine Top Perkins. Inspired by these legends, Nelsen developed a melodic driving style on both guitar and harmonics. A world class blues vocalist, Nelsen's voice is truly an expressive instrument. Striking the right balance of torment, and tenderness so essential to this style.

Nelsen recorded his first solo album "Blues Got A Hold On Me" with J Bird Records in 1999. Strong local sales and southern air play got him a deal for his second album with then fledgling label Hot Rod Records. Recording the basic tracks in LA and flying to Austin to put the finishing touches on the record with some of Austin's hottest session slingers. Jack Of All Trades was released to rave reviews in 2003.

His third album was a send up to the Louisiana style of Blues that has influenced Nelsen throughout his career. "Take Me Back" is a true showcase of Nelsen's vocal ability as well as showing off his songwriting skills, and his proficiency on guitar, harp and piano.

"Nelsen Adelard Unplugged" made it to #10 on the Living Blues Charts and features originals that have appeared on earlier albums plus some Blues standards. Engineered and produced by Richard Robinson ( Grammy Nominated engineer) who captures the raw organic dynamic of Nelsen's vocals as well as showing off his skills on guitar and harp. As Nelsen puts it "This album gives you an inside look into a weekend's worth of playing and singing with some dear friends"

2007 saw the re-release of Nelsen's first album. Aptly re-titled Blues Still Got A Hold On Me. Remastering by Richard Robinson brought the early album back to life getting strong airplay and remaining on the Roots Blues Charts for over 15 weeks.

The new release is South By Southwest. The title has nothing to do with Austin's annual music festival, but it best describes Nelsen's musical journey from Los Angeles to his new home in McComb Mississippi.

Recorded at Audiophile Studios located in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans, with Louisiana natives James Slaughter on bass and Greg Worley on drums the rhythms are simple but infectious and steeped in a southern groove.

The album starts out with two live songs borrowed from James Cotton's song book and taken from a show Nelsen did with his Los Angeles band before leaving town in July of 06. One More Mile and Rocket 88 give the listener a strong dose of the live shows that made Adelard a staple in the LA Blues scene for many years.

What follows are eight new originals. Spanning every facet of the Blues, From West Coast Jump, to Chicago Blues to New Orleans and back. There's even a Blues Rock number that's sure to raise some traditional eyebrows.

Adelard lives up to his "Jack Of All Trades" handle by writing and arranging all the originals as well as singing and playing guitar, harmonica and piano. He once again teams up with recording wizard Richard Robinson to cook up this very tasty slice of American Blues Pie.

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You & I - Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris (born May 13, 1950 as Stevland Hardaway Judkins), known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, mufti-instrumentalist, record producer and activist. Blind since shortly after birth, Wonder signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day.

Among Wonder's best known works are singles such as "Superstition", "Sir Duke", "I Wish" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You". Well known albums also include Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. He has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and received twenty-two Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart's fiftieth anniversary, with Wonder at number five.
Wonder has been married twice: to Motown singer Syreeta Wright from 1970 until their divorce in 1972; and since 2001, to fashion designer Kai Milla Morris. He has seven children from his two marriages and several relationships.

Stevie met Yolanda Simmons when she applied for a job as his secretary for his publishing company. Simmons bore Wonder a daughter on February 2, 1975: Aisha Morris.) According to Stevie, the name Aisha is "African for strength and intelligence". After she was born, Stevie said "she was the one thing that I needed in my life and in my music for a long time. It was this in mind, she was the inspiration for his hit single "Isn't She Lovely." Aisha Morris is a singer who has toured with her father and accompanied him on recordings, including his 2005 album, A Time 2 Love. Wonder has two sons with Kai Milla Morris; the older is named Kailand and he occasionally performs as a drummer on stage with his father. The younger son, Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris, was born May 13, 2005, his father's 55th birthday. In May 2006, Wonder's mother died in Los Angeles, at the age of 76. During his September 8, 2008 UK concert in Birmingham, he spoke of his decision to begin touring again following his loss. "I want to take all the pain that I feel and celebrate and turn it around".

Wonder's Taxi Productions owns Los Angeles radio station KJLH.
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One Too Many Women - The Donald Kinsey Band

Donald Kinsey is a true living legend in the music world. The list of artists he has worked with in his career is staggering. Names like Albert King, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, The Staple Singers, Roy Buchanan, his father, the late Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey, and his own band, The Kinsey Report, come to mind. In the summer of 2007 Donald departed his hometown of Gary, Indiana and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After witnessing some of the fine talent Grand Rapids has to offer, he decided to start a new band. The Donald Kinsey Band was born
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