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Otis Spann
Otis Spann (March 21, 1924 or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1930, but researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc concluded on the basis of census records and other official information that he was born in 1924 in Belzoni, Mississippi. Spann's father was, according to some sources, a pianist called Friday Ford. His mother, Josephine Erby, was a guitarist who had worked with Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, and his stepfather, Frank Houston Spann, was a preacher and musician. One of five children, Spann began playing the piano at the age of seven, with some instruction from Friday Ford, Frank Spann, and Little Brother Montgomery.Harris, S. (1981). ''Blues Who's Who''. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 477–479. . Career By the age of 14, he was playing in bands in the Jackson area. He moved to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belzoni, Mississippi
Belzoni ( ) is a city in Humphreys County, Mississippi, United States, in the Mississippi Delta region, on the Yazoo River. The population was 2,235 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Humphreys County. It was named for the 19th-century Italian archaeologist/explorer Giovanni Battista Belzoni. page 229 The area was named Farm-Raised Catfish Capital of the World in 1976 by then Governor Cliff Finch, since it produces more farm-raised catfish than any other U.S. county. About of the county are under water in ponds used to grow catfish. About 60% of U.S. farm-raised catfish are grown within a 65-mile (100-km) radius of Belzoni. The title "Catfish Capital" is also claimed by Savannah, Tennessee, Des Allemands, Louisiana, and Selkirk, Manitoba. Belzoni is known for the World Catfish Festival held every April. History The area that eventually became Belzoni was originally known as "Greasy Row" because of saloons along the bank of the Yazoo River, which was the main transp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Brother Montgomery
Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery (April 18, 1906 – September 6, 1985) was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and blues pianist and singer. Largely self-taught, Montgomery was an important blues pianist with an original style. He was also versatile, working in jazz bands, including larger ensembles that used written arrangements. He did not read music but learned band routines by ear. Career Montgomery was born in Kentwood, Louisiana, United States, a sawmill town near the Mississippi border, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, where he spent much of his childhood. Both his parents were of African-American and Creek Indian ancestry. As a child he looked like his father, Harper Montgomery, and was called Little Brother Harper. The name evolved into Little Brother Montgomery, and the nickname stuck. He started playing piano at the age of four, and by age 11 he left home for four years and played at barrelhouses in Louisiana. His main musical influence was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You Can't Catch Me
"You Can't Catch Me" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released as a single in 1956. Background The song's lyrics describe racing a souped-up "air-mobile" down the New Jersey Turnpike, then unfolding its wings and taking off. At the time, the Aerocar designed and built by Molt Taylor was nearing Civil Aviation Authority approval for mass production as a flying car with detachable folding wings. Berry's song was featured in the 1956 film '' Rock, Rock, Rock'' and was one of the four songs from the film that was included on the "soundtrack" album (the only one of his songs to be used both in the movie and on the album). Originally recorded by Berry in May 1955 at Universal Recording Corp. for Chess Records during the same session as "Maybellene" and " Wee Wee Hours", the lyrics refer to both of those songs. Cover versions The song's music publisher, Morris Levy, sued John Lennon for copyright infringement because of the melodic similarity between "You Can't Catch M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music (song), Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and Guitar showmanship, showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.Campbell, M. (ed.) (2008). ''Popular Music in America: And the Beat Goes On''. 3rd ed. Cengage Learning. pp. 168–169. Born into a middle-class black family in St. Louis, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School (St. Louis), Sumn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jody Williams (blues Musician)
Joseph Leon "Jody" Williams (February 3, 1935 – December 1, 2018) was an American blues guitarist and singer. His singular guitar playing, marked by flamboyant string-bending, imaginative chord voicings and a distinctive tone, was influential in the Chicago blues scene of the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, Williams was one of the most sought-after session guitarists in Chicago, but he was little known outside the music industry, since his name rarely appeared on discs. His acclaimed comeback in 2000 led to a resurgence of interest in his early work and a reappraisal as one of the great blues guitarists.Dahl, Bill (2002). CD liner notes. ''Return of a Legend''. Williams was known for his imaginative chord selection, characterized by raised fives, and minor sixths and minor sevenths with flattened fives. He usually played with an unusual open E tuning, originally taught to him by Bo Diddley. In 2013, Williams was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. Early life Born in Mobile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single (music)
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. In other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. Despite being referred to as a single, in the era of music downloads, singles can include up to as many as three tracks. The biggest digital music distributor, the iTunes Store, accepts as many as three tracks that are less than ten minutes each as a single. Any more than three tracks on a musical release or thirty minutes in total running time is an extended play (EP) or, if over six tracks long, an album. Historically, when mainstream music was purchased via vinyl records, singles would be released double-sided, i.e. there was an A-side and a B-side, on which two songs would appear, one on each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade career, he recorded in genres such as blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock. He also helped bridge the gap between Delta blues and Chicago blues. Born into poverty in Mississippi as one of six children, he went through a rough childhood where his mother kicked him out of her house, and he moved in with his great-uncle, who was particularly abusive. He then ran away to his father's house where he finally found a happy family, and in the early 1930s became a protégé of legendary Delta blues guitarist and singer, Charley Patton. He started a solo career in the Deep South, playing with other notable blues musicians of the era, and at the end of a decade had made a name for himself in the Mississippi Delta. After goin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, George Thorogood, and The Clash. His use of African rhythms and a signature beat, a simple five-accent hambone rhythm, is a cornerstone of hip hop, rock, and pop music. In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2017. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Diddley is also recognized for his technical innovations, including his use of tremolo and reverb effects to enhance the sound of his distinctive rectangular-shaped guitars. Early li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Got My Mojo Working
"Got My Mojo Working" is a blues song written by Preston "Red" Foster and first recorded by R&B singer Ann Cole in 1956. Foster's lyrics describe several amulets or talismans, called ''mojo'', which are associated with hoodoo, an early African-American folk-magic belief system. In 1957, Muddy Waters adapted the song with some different lyrics and a new musical arrangement. It was a feature of his performances throughout his career, with a live version recorded in 1960 identified as the best known. Waters' rendition has received several awards and otherwise recognized by various organizations and publications. As a blues standard, it has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists. Origins The song was written by Preston "Red" Foster, an African-American musician unrelated to the actor of the same name. Music publisher and executive Sol Rabinowitz described Foster as "one of the shyest human beings I've ever met", and a judge in the early 1970s described him as "a B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'm Ready (Muddy Waters Song)
"I'm Ready" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. It was a hit, spending nine weeks on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart where it reached number four. The song became a blues standard and has been compared to "Hoochie Coochie Man", the standard also written by Dixon that Waters recorded earlier in 1954. Composition and recording "I'm Ready" was inspired by a comment by Muddy Waters prior to a gig, when harmonica player Willie Foster visited him at home. As Foster recalled, Dixon proceeded to write a song and "I'm Ready" was completed within about three days. The lyrics continue the use of swagger and supernatural imagery found in Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man", which Waters recorded in January 1954: In addition to the lyrical theme, "I'm Ready" incorporates a stop-time sixteen-bar structure analogous to "Hoochie Coochie Man". The song was recorded September 1, 1954, by Waters on vocal and guitar, accompanied by Little Walter on c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoochie Coochie Man
"Hoochie Coochie Man" (originally titled "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man") is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song makes reference to hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a stop-time musical arrangement. It became one of Waters' most popular and identifiable songs and helped secure Dixon's role as Chess Records' chief songwriter. The song is a classic of Chicago blues and one of Waters' first recordings with a full backing band. Dixon's lyrics build on Waters' earlier use of ''braggadocio'' and themes of fortune and sex appeal. The stop-time riff was "soon absorbed into the ''lingua franca'' of blues, R&B, jazz, and rock and roll", according to musicologist Robert Palmer, and is used in several popular songs. When Bo Diddley adapted it for " I'm a Man", it became one of the most recognizable musical phrases in blues. After the song's initial success in 1954, Waters recorded several live and new studio ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blues Standards
Blues standards are blues songs that have attained a high level of recognition due to having been widely performed and recorded. They represent the best known and most interpreted blues songs that are seen as standing the test of time. Blues standards come from different eras and styles, such as ragtime-vaudeville, Delta and other early acoustic styles, and urban blues from Chicago and the West Coast. Many blues songs were developed in American folk music traditions and individual songwriters are sometimes unidentified. Blues historian Gerard Herzhaft noted: Compounding the problem is that, in the earlier days, many blues songs were not copyrighted. Later, the rights were claimed by those who recorded a subsequent version or were managers or record company owners. Nearly one half of the blues standards listed were first recorded in the pre-World War II acoustic blues era, before music publications tracked the sales of blues records. However, many popular renditions, as re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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