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Category: Blues Birthdays

Blues Icon Willie Dixon

Willie Dixon – Bassist, Singer and Composer – Born July 1, 1915   Today is the 101st anniversary of the birth of Willie Dixon(July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) and I bet somewhere on almost every night of the year someone is playing one of the 500 songs that he wrote! It could be a jazz, blues or rock artist because Willie’s songs appeal to lovers of  many genres. He was one of the two artists, the other Muddy Waters, that were the most influential in shaping the sound of Chicago blues in the post World War II years, as…

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Sonny Terry – Blues Harp Master!!

Sonny Terry – Blues Harp – Born October 24, 1911 Greensboro, Georgia Among the many instruments that I love is the harmonica or more specifically the blues harp, and there are few who play that instrument better than Sonny Terry from Blues Harp….. The joyous whoop that Sonny Terry naturally emitted between raucous harp blasts was as distinctive a signature sound as can possibly be imagined. Only a handful of blues harmonicists wielded as much of a lasting influence on the genre as did the sightless Terry (Buster Brown, for one, copied the whoop and all), who recorded some fine…

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B.B. King – Blues Icon – Born September 16, 1925

B.B. King – Blues -Born near the town of Itta Bena, Mississippi (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015) Back in May of this year the music world lost the legendary blues boy Riley B.B. King at the age of 89. Today September 16th, B B King would have turned 90! An autopsy performed on the musician, because two of his daughters alleged that he had been poisoned, revealed that King had died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease and congestive heart failure, with no evidence of poisoning. The following was posted last year at Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries…..  …

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Albert King – A “King of the Blues”

Albert King  “The Velvet Bulldozer”  (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992) On April 25th in 1923, alphabetically the first of the “Three Kings” of Blues Albert King was born. Albert had a major impact on the blues and rock music. On December 11th, 2012, it was announced that King would be posthumously inducted into the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I was never a big Abert King fan in the 70s or 80s. It has only been in the last several years that I really became aware of  his impact on blues and rock music. I think that…

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Today in Music – B B King was born!!

 Riley B B King   (September 16, 1925- May 14, 2015) So today is the  anniversary of birth of probably the greatest blues musician of all time. Certainly he was one who was at the top of his craft the longest – B.B. King!! Here’s  the obligatory background information from Wikipedia, like he needs an introduction: Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925- May 14, 2015), known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time (previously ranked…

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John Lee Hooker’s birthday!! (August 22, 1917)

Let’s Have One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer to Honor John Lee Hooker On this day – August 22 –  in 1917 in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi John Lee Hooker was born. He was one of the most influential blues musicians across several generations. From Wikipedia John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was a highly influential American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally a unique brand of country blues. He developed…

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This Date in Music – August 7, 1937 – Blues Guitarist Magic Slim was born!!

On this date August 7th in 1937, Morris Holt, better known as Magic Slim was born at Torrance, near Grenada, Mississippi. Magic Slim followed Muddy Water and Howlin’ Wolf to Chicago and became a force in the Chicago blues scene. I discovered his music when I started the blog Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries. Here’s my post about Magic Slim from 2o1o…..after this post Slim released one more album Bad Boy (2012) prior to his passing in February of 2013. From Wikipedia…. Slim died at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 21, 2013 at age 75. He had health problems that…

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Today in Music – July 1, 1915 – Blues Icon Willie Dixon was born!!

Today is the 99th anniversary of the birth of Willie Dixon(July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) and I bet somewhere on almost every night of the year someone is playing one of the 500 songs that he wrote! It could be a jazz, blues or rock artist because Willie’s songs appeal to lovers of  many genres. He was one of the two artists, the other Muddy Waters, that were the most influential in shaping the sound of Chicago blues in the post World War II years, as well as, rock and roll in the 50s and 60s. I think…

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Thursday June 26 – This Day in Music – Bill Broonzy was born – Celebrate with Dave and Phil Alvin’s New Album!

Last Thursday June 26 was either the 121st or the 110th anniversary of the birth of Big Bill Broonzy, depending on what you believe. Most researchers believe that Big Bill was born Lee Conley Bradley in 1903 or 1904, in Plum Bayou , Jefferson County Arkansas and is one of the  children of Frank and Mittie Bradley. But Big Bill told people that he was born in Scott, Mississippi. He also told people he had a twin sister, Laney. I spent all day yesterday looking at census records and other records at Ancestry.com to substantiate either claim. According to the…

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Janiva Magness – Blues’ Superstar Voice!

Janiva Magness – Detroit Michigan Born: January 30, 1957 (age 58), United States of America Albums: Stronger for It, What Love Will Do, Original…… Record labels: Northern Blues Music, Alligator Records Janiva Magness celebrates her birthday on January 30th. If you do not know about her,Janiva is a blues superstar. She was named the Blues Foundation’s B.B. King Entertainer of the Year in 2009, becoming only he second woman, after Koko Taylor, to be so honored. She was also named the Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year in that same year! She had won that award in both 2006…

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