Bman's Blues Report

Albennie Jones was born in Gulfport, MS. on November 29, 1914. She later relocated to New York City but got off to a rough start making recordings for Savoy in 1944 and Black & White and in early 1945 that were unissued. In the spring of 1945 she cut two singles for the National label. She was signed to Decca in 1947 and recorded a handful of singles for that label, wrapping things up in 1949. 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”

Lucille Nelson Hegamin (November 29, 1894 – March 1, 1970) was an American singer and entertainer, and a pioneer African American blues recording artist. Hegamin was born as Lucille Nelson in Macon, Georgia, United States. From an early age she sang in local church choirs. By the age of 15 she was touring the US South with the Leonard Harper Minstrel Stock Company. In 1914 she settled in Chicago, Illinois, where, often billed as "The Georgia Peach", she worked with Tony Jackson and Jelly Roll Morton before marrying pianist, Bill Hegamin. She later told a biographer: "I was a cabaret artist in those days, and never had to play theatres, and I sang everything from blues to popular songs, in a jazz style. I think I can say without bragging that I made the "St. Louis Blues" popular in Chicago; this was one of my feature numbers." Lucille Hegamin's stylistic influences included Annette Hanshaw and Ruth Etting. The Hegamins moved to Los Angeles, Californ...

Soul shouter Chuck Edwards was born Charles Edward Edwins in Philadelphia on November 29, 1927. According to online funk e-zine Funky 16 Corners, he began playing guitar professionally during the late '40s, and made his recorded debut on the Sonny Thompson Band's "Harlem Rug Cutter." Credited as Charles Edwins & His Orchestra, he made his headlining debut for Duke with 1953's "I Got Loose" before assuming the name Chuck Edwards for subsequent efforts, including "If You Love Me (Like You Say You Do)" and "You Move Me." Moving with each successive release from his formative smooth blues sound to a grittier R&B approach, Edwards frequently changed labels, following 1956's Apollo effort "Just for a Day" with 1959's Alanna single "Lucy and Jimmy Got Married," backed on the latter by the Five Crowns (featuring a then-unknown Ben E. King). None of these records made any kind of commercial impact, howeve...

Fur Peace Ranch 2013 Calendar The first ever Fur Peace Ranch calendar is here! Keep track of your days and keep Fur Peace close to your heart with the Ranch's 2013 calendar.  Twelve beautiful pictures, featuring the winning photos submitted by FPR students for this year's calendar contest.  All Fur Peace workshop and concert dates are noted. Important dates in rock history and special birthdays are also marked.  Keep the spirit of Fur Peace with you daily and mark the days to your next visit! Visit the Company Store and get your copy today!   FPR Company Store Holiday Specials! 20% off all T-shirts ! 20% off all Hats ! 2010 Denim Pick-n-Putt Jacket was $9...

Papa Lightfoot, also known as Papa George Lightfoot (March 2, 1924 – November 28, 1971), born Alexander Lightfoot, was an American blues singer and harmonica player. Born in Natchez, Mississippi, Lightfoot recorded several sessions in his late twenties – for Peacock Records in 1949 (which were never issued), Sultan Records in 1950, Aladdin Records in 1952, and Imperial Records in 1954. After final singles for Savoy Records in 1955 and Excello Records in 1956, Lightfoot quit recording, still an obscure Southern blues harmonica player. As interest grew in rural Delta blues in the 1960s, Lightfoot's name became more well-known, and in 1969 record producer Steve LaVere went to Lightfoot's home town of Natchez, and asked him to record again. The result was the album Natchez Trace, released on Vault Records in 1969, which brought Lightfoot briefly to the forefront of the blues revival. Rural Blues Vol. 2 followed on Liberty Records later that same year. However, his comeback was...

Wayne Bennett (December 13, 1931 – November 28, 1992) was an American blues guitarist. Bennett was born in Sulphur, Oklahoma, and died in New Orleans Louisiana. He worked with blues musicians such as Bobby Bland, Boxcar Willie, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Alan Haynes and Elmore James, as well as with jazz musicians, including Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon. In 1990, he played on Willy DeVille's album Victory Mixture. Bennett also played with the Chi-Lites, the Lost Generation, the Hues Corporation; among many others and cut his own record in 1968, an instrumental called "Casanova, Your Playing Days are Over" on the now defunct Brunswick label. Bennett was a guitarist originally known for his jazz-tinged blues guitar work with Bobby "Blue" Bland. He worked with Bland for a long time, and his solo on "Stormy Monday" on Bland's album Here's The Man is still considered by many guitarists[who?] to be a classic, drawing both f...

Benny Turner, as you may or may not know, is the brother of Blues legend Freddie King. Even less known, he is also second cousin to Johnny Mathis. He is immensely talented, however, one of his most striking qualities is that he is unwilling to "toot his own horn" and constantly looking to give credit to others. Benny was born in Gilmer, Texas and grew up in the shadow of his famous brother, Freddie King, who always dreamed of becoming a great guitar player. Freddie got his start with a cheap Roy Rogers box guitar. He and his little brother Benny would listen for a few hours a day to old radio programs like "In the Groove." Benny and Freddie, as they grew up, listened to Blues and Swing Music by such artists as Louis Jordan, Charles Brown and later, T-Bone Walker. These Blues greats became the influence of the music that Freddie King started to produce and Benny Turner continues today Later, Freddie and Benny's family moved to Chicago where Freddie becam...

I just got Beyond The Blues Horizon , a hot release from The Blowin' Smoke Rhythm & Blues Band featuring the Fabulous Smokettes . This live concert recording opens with C.O.D. , a hot R&B track featuring Michael Murphy on Hammond and Jimmy Delgado rippin' a great lead guitar. This is a real foot stomper and Larry 'Fuzzy" Knight, lead vocalist and bass player delivers the goods. Willie Dixon's Built For Comfort is up next and is dropped into a smooth swingin' groove. Again with Knight on strong lead vocal this track is very cool. Delgado, shows he's been around the block a few times laying down riffs that would rival many of the prominent Texas blues players. Murphy, on this track adds significant electric piano riffs that really punctuate Knights guttural blues voice. Get Your Money Where You Spend Your Time is a cool R&B/jazz track along the lines of WW Washington. Tenor Sax player the "Count" Yates takes the lead vocal spot on t...

BLOODSHOT RECORDS SIGNS NEW ORLEANS-BASED ARTIST LUKE WINSLOW-KING THE COMING TIDE TO BE RE-RELEASED IN MARCH 2013 News post: http://bloodshotrecords.com/news/bloodshot-signs-luke-winslow-king [photo by Jason Kruppa] Bloodshot Records is very excited to announce the signing of New Orleans-based artist Luke Winslow-King . Luke initially caught our ear with his unique style, emerging from the ashes of Delta blues, New Orleans traditional jazz, ragtime, and pre-war American folksong. After being transfixed watching Luke and singer/washboard player Esther Rose perform gorgeous duets at a noisy college bar in Chicago we were straight up hooked. His amalgam of sounds is full of culture and texture, and respectively Winslow-King’s knowledge of music history and attention to detail are nearly as captivating as his impeccable song compositions, guitar technique, and warm voice. [photo by Zack Smith] As for a little background detail: in 2010, a...

Clarence Fountain was one of the founding members of the Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama, a group that was formed when he was a 12-year-old student at the Talladega Institute for the Deaf and Blind in Alabama. The group, which drew all of its members from the school, was originally known as the Happy Land Jubilee Singers. They made their first recordings in 1948 after adopting their permanent name and had a recording career that extended over a more than 60-year span. Fountain broke with the group in 1969 to pursue a solo career and recorded two albums with Jewel, then rejoined the group in 1980. In 1983 the group performed as the chorus in the Obie-winning adaptation of a Sophocles play, The Gospel at Colonus, and continued to revive their roles in that play several times in the following years. Fountain continued to record for Jewel in the '90s, as well as issuing compilations of his work on a variety of labels. Working with fellow Blind Boys' alumnus Sam Butler (Fount...

Little Sammy Davis (born November 28, 1928) is an American blues musician based in New York's Hudson Valley. Although his musical career began in the 1940s, he was not widely known until the mid-1990s when he began working in radio, singing, playing live on tour, and recording studio albums. Born in Winona, Mississippi, United States, and raised in a one-room shack, Davis learned to play the harmonica at the age of eight. He eventually left home and settled in Florida, where he continued to play the blues in the Miami area while working in orange groves and saw mills to make ends meet. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Davis traveled with medicine shows and played with blues musicians like Pine Top Perkins, and Ike Turner. He spent a total of nine years on the road with Earl Hooker, including with the short-lived band of Hooker and Albert King, and recorded four sides for Rockin' Records in 1952 and 1953 (as Little Sam Davis). In the late 1950s, Davis lived in Chicago, Illin...

Channel (pronounced "shu-NELL") (born Bruce McMeans, November 28, 1940) is an American singer, known for his 1962 million selling number one hit, "Hey! Baby". Channel originally performed on the Louisiana Hayride radio show, and then joined up with harmonica player Delbert McClinton singing country music. Channel wrote "Hey! Baby" with Margaret Cobb in 1959 and performed the song for two years before recording it for Fort Worth record producer Bill Smith. It was originally released on Bill Smith's LeCam label, but as it started to sell well it was picked up for distribution by Smash. The song reached #1 in the US in March 1962 and remained in that position for 3 weeks. Besides topping the U.S. pop charts, it became #2 in the United Kingdom in 1962 as well. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. While Channel is often regarded as a one-hit wonder, he did chart four more singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Number O...

Blues Boy Willie was born William Daniel McFalls on November 28, 1946 in the cotton farming community of Memphis, TX. Willie's father, Gaines 'Tim' McFalls, played harmonica for the famous 'Ma' Rainey when he wasn't working in the cotton field. Willie was always interested in his father's talents and wanted to become a harmonica player too. As a boy, he would sneak the harmonica out of his father's pocket and play it. At five years old, his first performance was with his brother's band singing Little Richard's 'Lucille' for the high school prom. The blues bug had bit him, and he continued his love of singing in the local juke joints and roadhouses in Memphis, TX. Club owners and patrons all loved him and dubbed him the 'Juke Joint King'. Willie's first release was 'Strange Things Happening' under the Ichiban label in 1989. Willie's second release, 1990's 'Be Who?', topped the charts with the novelt...

A LTERED FIVE "GOTTA EARN IT" CD RELEASE PARTY  AT MILWAUKEE ALE HOUSE - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14      (Milwaukee) - Blues/soul band Altered Five presents a CD Release Party for their new album "Gotta Earn It"  (Conclave/Cold Wind Records) at the Milwaukee Ale House , 233 N. Water St., Friday, December 14 . 9:30 p.m. $5. Info: (414) 276-2337 or www.ale-house.com .     The Milwaukee-based   quintet have received positive reviews since Gotta Earn It was released two weeks ago. "Tight, state-of-the-art band, with some of the coolest music to listen to!," says Dave Johnson, host of the  nationally -syndicated B lues Deluxe  radio show. " A wide variety of groove that are flat-out fun to  listen  to," writes Bl ues 411 .  " A really strong release from a band I had not been aware of prior to this listening. Grab a copy, I think you'll like it,"  states   Bm an's Blues Report . "I love i...

“just put me in a wheel chair and get me to the show” – Jeffrey Marshall SuperCool is a band with an incredible story, and the musical goods to back it up. Jeffrey Marshall (bass and vocals) was born with no arms or hands, and has an amazing self taught bass technique which has to be seen to be believed. Jeffrey jokes about obviously not being enthusiastic about sports as a kid, thus leaving music as his main pursuit. He has had to figure out how to play the bass without any possibility of learning his instrument by seeing how others do it. Not only is he a soulful bass player, delivering dynamic and passionate bass lines, but is able to do this while singing lead and playing harmonica. Daniel Levanti (guitar and vocals) has honed his guitar skills at Berklee College of Music, and through touring during his years in Europe. Daniel’s guitar playing has over the years with Supercool evolved into a style identifiable throughout the textures of diverse sounds and emotions which the band...

Joe Lewis is stuffed into a van with his six bandmates and one stranger, as they hurtle across Texas to a gig in Marfa. Most of the guys are sleeping now, content in the knowledge they’ve just made the record of their lives. All killer, no filler, the fittingly titled, take-no-prisoners Scandalous (Lost Highway)—once again produced by Jim Eno, moonlighting from his main gig as Spoon’s drummer—is a churning slab of rock & roll, blues and funk, laced with a double shot of 100-proof punkitude. This band has gotten tight as a gnat’s ass through nearly two years of barnstorming without a break. “We’ve grown a lot as a band, and so has our fan base,” the lanky, enigmatic Lewis acknowledges. “Hopefully it’s still going up, but it will ultimately be what we make of it. As the shows get bigger and we get bigger, we have to keep improving to meet the demand. If we can’t do that, it won’t go anywhere.” From the look in Joe’s eyes as he glances at the one-stoplight towns and endless open c...

I just received the new David Gogo release, Christmas With The Blues , and it's really cool. Unlike many seasonal recordings where it's mostly campy redo's of traditional tracks, Gogo sets a new table with blues tracks about Christmas. Now this isn't a new concept, but one that I rarely see. This is a cd that for the most part doesn't have every familiar Christmas melody. The recording opens with a Canned Heat number, Christmas Blues . This track is given a traditional blues take and has hot guitar riffs from Gogo as well as some cool piano from David Vest. Christmas on The Bayou, a Gogo original is a funky, smokey blues jam with interlaced harp, bass, solo guitar and percussion with a spoken track over the mix. Christmas Tears is right out of the Freddie King song book and Gogo does an exemplary job on this track both with vocal and stinging guitar retort. Another Gogo original, Let's Get a Real Tree takes a Chuck Berry approach along the lines of Run Run ...