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David "Honeyboy" Edwards (June 28, 1915 – August 29, 2011) was a Delta blues guitarist and singer from the American South.
Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi. Edwards was 14 years old when he left home to travel with blues man Big Joe Williams, beginning life as an itinerant musician which he led throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He performed with famed blues musician Robert Johnson with whom he developed a close friendship. Honeyboy was present on the night Johnson drank poisoned whiskey which killed him, and his story has become the definitive version of Johnson's demise. As well as Johnson, Edwards knew and played with many of the leading bluesmen in the Mississippi Delta, which included Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, and Johnny Shines.
He described the itinerant bluesman's life:
On Saturday, somebody like me or Robert Johnson would go into one of these little towns, play for nickels and dimes. And sometimes, you know, you could be playin' and have such a big crowd that it would block the whole street. Then the police would come around, and then I'd go to another town and where I could play at. But most of the time, they would let you play. Then sometimes the man who owned a country store would give us something like a couple of dollars to play on a Saturday afternoon. We could hitchhike, transfer from truck to truck, or if we couldn't catch one of them, we'd go to the train yard, 'cause the railroad was all through that part of the country then...we might hop a freight, go to St. Louis or Chicago. Or we might hear about where a job was paying off - a highway crew, a railroad job, a levee camp there along the river, or some place in the country where a lot of people were workin' on a farm. You could go there and play and everybody would hand you some money. I didn't have a special place then. Anywhere was home. Where I do good, I stay. When it gets bad and dull, I'm gone.
Folklorist Alan Lomax recorded Edwards in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1942 for the Library of Congress. Edwards recorded 15 album sides of music. The songs included "Wind Howlin' Blues" and "The Army Blues". He did not record commercially until 1951, when he recorded "Who May Be Your Regular Be" for Arc under the name of Mr Honey. Edwards claims to have written several well-known blues songs including "Long Tall Woman Blues" and "Just Like Jesse James." His discography for the 1950s and 1960s amounts to nine songs from seven sessions. From 1974 to 1977, he recorded material for a full length LP, I've Been Around, released in 1978 on the independent Trix Records label by producer/ethnomusicologist Peter B. Lowry.
His autobiography is entitled The World Don't Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards. Published in 1997 by the Chicago Review Press, the narrative recounts his life from childhood, his travels through the American South, and his arrival in Chicago in the early 1950s. A companion CD by the same title was released by Earwig Music shortly afterwards. His long association with the Earwig label and manager Michael Frank spawned many late career albums on a variety of independent labels from the 1980s on. He has also recorded at a Church turned-recording studio in Salina, Kansas and released albums on the APO record label Edwards continued the rambling life he describes in his autobiography as he still toured the world well into his 90s.
On July 17, 2011 his manager Michael Frank announced that Edwards would be retiring due to ongoing health issues.
On August 29, 2011 Edwards died at his home, of congestive heart failure, at approx. 3 a.m. According to events listings on the Metromix Chicago website, Edwards had been scheduled to perform at noon that day, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park 
John Primer (born March 3, 1945, Camden, Mississippi) is an American Chicago blues and electric blues singer and guitarist.
He played guitar at Theresa's, a club in Chicago, between 1974 and 1980. He was influenced by Muddy Waters' former sideman, Sammy Lawhorn, who taught him to play slide guitar. He joined the Chicago Blues All-Stars of Willie Dixon in 1979, then the Muddy Waters's band until the latter's death in 1983. Then he joined the Teardrops of Magic Slim and began a solo career on Wolf Records.
In 1995 he released, The Real Deal, with songwriting and singing techniques showing the influence of both Dixon and Slim.
In 2013, Primer had a nomination for a Blues Music Award in the 'Traditional Blues Male Artist' category
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MAGIC SLIM WINS BLUES MUSIC AWARD
"TRADITIONAL BLUES MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR"
Born Morris Holt in
Torrance, Mississippi in 1937, Slim enjoyed national and international
acclaim as one of the foremost practitioners of the raw, gut-bucket,
back alley blues associated with the postwar Chicago blues sound that
spawned much of the music played by modern blues artists and rockers.
He and his band, the Teardrops, were one of the most sought-after
headliners for festivals in Europe, Japan, and South America. Living Blues magazine called them "a national treasure."
This year's Blues Music
Award marked the seventh time that Slim was named the winner of the
coveted award. In fact, in his illustrious career Slim was nominated for
a BMA more times in more categories than anybody except Buddy Guy. In
2011 the state of Mississippi erected a Blues Trail Marker in Slim's
honor in the town of Grenada, where his mother operated a restaurant.
During a twenty year span Slim released nine albums and a live DVD on Blind Pig Records. His last release, 2012's Bad Boy, proved that Slim could still deliver the goods. As No Depression
said, "Magic Slim doesn't just play the blues, he body slams his
audiences with a vicious guitar attack that pins them to the floor." AllMusicGuide
added, "Magic Slim turned 75 in 2012, but his growling vocals have the
fire and brimstone of a Young Lion and his guitar playing is still as
razor-sharp as it was when he turned pro in the '50s."
Label owner Jerry Del
Giudice said, "Magic Slim epitomized the heart and soul of Blind Pig
Records. He was our flag bearer. Our Captain at the helm. He was our
source code and he is irreplaceable but his music will last until the
end of time."
To watch a video of Slim and the Teardrops performing "Goin' To Mississippi" in 2002 please click HERE. |
Bill Coday (born May 10, 1942 in Coldwater, Mississippi – died June 7, 2008) was an American musician.
As a young man he began singing in juke joints in and around Blytheville, Arkansas. Later, Coday traveled to Chicago, Illinois, and there one night he was "discovered" by Denise LaSalle. LaSalle signed Coday to her Crajon label, and introduced Coday to Willie Mitchell of Memphis, Tennessee. Mitchell's reputation in the soul and soul blues music industry includes producing such artists as Al Green and Ann Peebles. Mitchell agreed to work with Coday, and a result of this relationship, the team of Mitchell and Coday produced songs that included "Sixty Minute Teaser", "I Get High on Your Love", "You're Gonna Want Me", "I'm Back to Collect", and "Get Your Lies Straight".
Coday signed with Ecko Records and recorded the CD Sneakin' Back, which included the songs "Her Love Is Good Enough to Put in Collard Greens", "I Can Move the Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Doctor Thrill Good". Coday's second CD with Ecko Records was titled Can't Get Enough, which included the songs "In the Room Next to the Room", and "Not a Word". On the third CD with Ecko Records, Put Me in the Mood, Coday recorded the song "We're Gonna Miss You Johnnie", which is a tribute song to Johnnie Taylor.He was felled by a massive stroke on June 7th, 2008
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This was recorded 9/27/1946. Muddy Waters on guitar, James Clark on piano.
Homer Harris, was born in Drew, Mississippi in 1916 and moved to Memphis, Tennessee when he was 17 and found employment as a tire regroover. While in Memphis he met other blues artists and frequented the city's music clubs. In 1943 Harris moved to Chicago to make more money and opened his own tire regrooving shop. In 1946 Harris cut three sides for Columbia that featured some of the earliest recorded guitar playing by Muddy Waters including Atomic Bomb Blues a song he wrote and arranged. Harris stated in a 1994 Blues Before Sunrise broadcast interview that he thought Atomic Bomb could have been a hit.
Throughout his life Harris would run a series of businesses in Chicago area including a hardware store, a lamp store, a grocery store and a cleaners. When invited, Harris would also frequently sit in on various live blues performances in the Windy City.
Homer Harris died in Chicago in 2000.
b. 29 April 1933, Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA, d. 16 April 1996, Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA. Tenor saxophonist and singer Hill played with many blues and R&B artists. He was influenced strongly in his early years by Jimmy Liggins and Joe Liggins. A friend and musical associate of then-drummer Billy Gayles, Hill joined up with Ike Turner with whom he first worked in the late 40s. He stayed with Turner for several years, playing in the Tophatters big band and also in the better-known Kings Of Rhythm. Hill appeared on several records, including ‘Rocket 88’, and his honking saxophone was soon an integral part of the sound of Turner’s band.
Although Hill appeared on many records with Turner and others, including Howlin’ Wolf, he made only a handful of tracks under his own name. These were for labels such as Highwater Records and Sun Records, and among the best-known tracks were ‘I’m Back Pretty Baby’, ‘Blue Man’, ‘You’re Driving Me Insane’, ‘The Snuggle’ and ‘Bourbon Street Jump’. Turner played guitar on the latter pair of titles. When Hill was in Ike Turner’s band, he formed an intimate relationship with the band’s young singer, Annie Mae Bullock, who later became Tina Turner, and in 1958 was father to her first son.
Little Arthur Duncan (February 5, 1934 – August 20, 2008) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. He was a member of the Backscratchers, and over his working lifetime associated with Earl Hooker, Twist Turner, Illinois Slim and Rick Kreher
Duncan was born in Indianola, Mississippi, United States, and initially learned to play the drums. In 1950, aged 16, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and made acquaintance with both Little Walter, who helped Duncan to learn the rudiments of harmonica playing, and Jimmy Reed. He found work playing his harmonica by accompanying Earl Hooker, John Brim and Floyd Jones. Billed and henceforth commonly known as 'Little Arthur Duncan', he played primarily in and around Chicago, and built up a local reputation over the years. He appeared with his own band in the Backscratcher's Social Club, which he also owned. Duncan worked in construction during the 1960s and 1970s, so was restricted to playing and singing in the evenings.
In 1989, Duncan recorded the album Bad Reputation, which was released on the Blues King record label. He later appeared on a compilation album, Blues Across America: The Chicago Scene, alongside Detroit Junior. In 1999, Duncan recorded for Delmark, who released Singin' with the Sun that year. On the album he was accompanied by the guitar player Billy Flynn. Live in Chicago followed in 2000.
His final recording was Live at Rosa's Blues Lounge, which was a live album recorded in Chicago in August 2007. One music journalist noted "...spirited, gritty performances of Reed's "Pretty Thing," Wolf's "No Place to Go," and two Dixon favorites ("Young Fashioned Ways" and "Little Red Rooster") leave no doubt that Duncan lives and breathes electric Chicago blues." However, a subsequent lengthy illness and hospitalization meant that Duncan could not build on his success.
Duncan died in Northlake, Illinois, in August 2008, from complications following brain surgery. He was aged 74
Little Hatch (October 25, 1921 – January 14, 2003) was an American electric blues singer, musician, and harmonica player. He variously worked with George Jackson and John Paul Drum
Born Provine Hatch, Jr. in Sledge, Mississippi, he learned to play harmonica from his father. Hearing blues and gospel music, Hatch knew he wanted to make music for a living. At age 14, his family moved to Helena, Arkansas and the blues scene caught his attention.
Hatch joined the Navy in 1943; after his tour of duty, he relocated to Kansas City, Missouri in 1946. After working for a cartage company for two years, he founded his own cartage business and married.
In the early 1950s, Hatch began jamming in blues clubs of Kansas City. He closed his business in 1954 and took a job with Hallmark Cards. In 1955, he formed and fronted his own band, playing on the weekends and a few nights a week. This act would continue for more than 20 years. By the late 1950s, Hatch's harmonica style became influenced by Chicago blues players such as Little Walter, Snooky Pryor and Junior Wells.
In 1971 German exchange university students recorded a Little Hatch performance. This became an album, entitled The Little Hatchet Band, but distribution was limited to Germany and Belgium. He retired from Hallmark in 1986 and his band, 'Little Hatch and the House Rockers', were hired as the house band of the Grand Emporium Saloon in Kansas City. A cassette of his blues performances at the Grand Emporium was released in 1988.
In 1993, the Modern Blues label released Well, All Right! and became his first nationally-distributed album. In 1997, Chad Kassem opened Blue Heaven Studios and founded the APO label. Kassem had befriended Little Hatch in the mid 1980s and asked him to be his first signed recording artist. In 2000, the album Goin' Back was released and was followed by Rock with Me Baby in 2003.
From 1999 to 2001, Hatch occasionally toured other parts of the United States, and twice toured Europe. He settled back down as a Kansas City performer, frequently playing at BB's Lawnside Bar-B-Q and other venues. In 2002, Hatch was diagnosed with cancer.
Hatch died in El Dorado Springs, Missouri, in January 2003
Lil Green (December 22, 1919 – April 14, 1954) was an American blues singer and songwriter. She was among the leading female rhythm and blues singers of the 1940s, possessed with an ability to bring power to ordinary material and compose superior songs of her own
Originally named Lillian Green, she was born in Mississippi; after the early deaths of her parents, she went to Chicago, Illinois, where she began performing in her teens and where she would make all of her recordings.
Green was noted for superb timing and a distinctively sinuous voice. She was 18 when she recorded her first session for the 35 cent Bluebird subsidiary of RCA. In the 1930s she and Big Bill Broonzy had a night club act together. Her two biggest hits were, firstly, her own composition "Romance in the Dark" (1940), which was later covered by many artists, such as Dinah Washington and Nina Simone (in 1967), although Billie Holiday also recorded a different song with the same name. Then came Green's own (1941) version of Kansas Joe McCoy's minor key blues and jazz influenced song, "Why Don't You Do Right?", which was covered by Peggy Lee in 1942 and many others since. As well as performing in Chicago clubs, Green toured with Tiny Bradshaw and other bands, but never really broke away from the black theatre circuit.
Although Green signed with Atlantic Records in 1951, she was already in poor health. She died in Chicago in 1954 of pneumonia, at the age of 34, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Gary, Indiana.
