Bob Stroger (born December 27, 1930) is an American electric blues bass guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has worked with many blues musicians, including Eddie King,

Otis Rush Otis Rush Jr. (April 29, 1934 – September 29, 2018) was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s art ...

, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Eddy Clearwater, Sunnyland Slim, Louisiana Red, Buster Benton, Homesick James, Mississippi Heat, Snooky Pryor,

Odie Payne Odie Payne (August 27, 1926 – March 1, 1989) was an American Chicago blues drummer. Over his long career he worked with a range of musicians, including Sonny Boy Williamson II, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Little Johnny Jones, Tam ...

, Fred Below, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, and Billy Davenport. In 2011 and 2013, Stroger was granted a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

as Best Blues Bassist.

Life and career

Stroger was born on a farm outside of Hayti, Missouri. In 1955, at the age of 16, he relocated with his family to Chicago, Illinois. His family settled on the West Side, in an apartment in back of Silvio's nightclub. Stroger was inspired by the sights and sounds from the club. He was further encouraged to try for a career in music, after being employed driving his brother-in-law to play in a blues band with

J. B. Hutto Joseph Benjamin Hutto (April 26, 1926 – June 12, 1983) was an American blues musician. He was influenced by Elmore James and became known for his slide guitar playing and declamatory style of singing. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame ...

. A self-taught guitarist, he formed a family-based band, the Red Tops (the band members wore black berets with a red circle daubed on top).

Willie Kent Willie Kent (February 24, 1936 – March 2, 2006) was an American Chicago blues singer, bassist and songwriter. Career Kent was born in Inverness, Sunflower County, Mississippi. Although he had played the bass guitar in Chicago's clubs since the ...

was drafted to boost their proficiency, and the combo was renamed Joe Russell and the Blues Hustlers (Stroger had adopted the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Joe Russell, but the name did not endure). He went on to play jazz with Rufus Forman, but it was his meeting with Eddie King which started his lengthy career playing blues. Having started playing the bass guitar, Stroger played on King's

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Love You Baby" (1965). He backed King for fifteen years before King relocated, after which Stroger stopped playing for a couple of years. His interest was rekindled when he was recommended to

, whom he backed in the late 1970s and 1980s. He toured Europe with Rush and played on two of his albums, ''Live in Europe'' and ''Lost in the Blues''. Stroger next was a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

for a while. He worked with Sunnyland Slim and Mississippi Heat in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He then joined

in the regular rhythm section for the series of American Blues Folk Festivals. Encouraged by Sunnyland Slim, Stroger began singing and writing his own material. In 1996, Stroger played on Mark Hummel's album, ''Heart of Chicago''. In 1997, he played bass on

Golden "Big" Wheeler Golden "Big" Wheeler (December 15, 1929 – July 20, 1998) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues singer, harmonicist and songwriter. He released two albums in his lifetime and is best known for his recordings of the songs "Damn Go ...

's album ''Jump In''. The following year, he played with a group of musicians at the Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland. This led to the recording of his debut solo album, ''In the House: Live at Lucerne, Vol. 1'', on which he was accompanied by

Ken Saydak Ken Saydak (born Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American Chicago blues pianist and singer-songwriter. In a long career, he has played as a sideman with Lonnie Brooks, Mighty Joe Young, Johnny Winter and Dave Specter. Saydak has releas ...

and Billy Flynn. In 2007, Stroger recorded ''Bob Is Back in Town'' in Chicago, backed by

Steve Freund Steve Freund (born July 20, 1952, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States), is an American blues guitarist, singer, bandleader and record producer. Freund has toured throughout the United States (including stops in New ...

(guitar), Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (harmonica), Deitra Farr (backing vocals), and

Juli Wood Juli Wood is a Finnish-American saxophonist, vocalist, composer, and band-leader from Chicago, who appears regularly in Chicago and Milwaukee area jazz clubs, on tours through the Midwest with the Juli Wood Quartet, and other groups she leads or is ...

(baritone saxophone). The same year he backed

Carey Bell Carey Bell Harrington (November 14, 1936 – May 6, 2007) was an American blues musician who played harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass guitar for other blues musicians from the late 1950s to the early 1970s bef ...

on his final recorded work, ''Gettin' Up: Live at Buddy Guy's Legends, Rosa's and Lurrie's Home'' ( Delmark). He also played on Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's albums ''Born in Arkansas'' (2008) and ''Joined at the Hip'' (with Pinetop Perkins, 2010). In 2011, the Blues Foundation presented Stroger with a

in the category Best Blues Bassist. He was nominated in the same category in 2013. He won the Best Bassist Award again in 2013.

Discography

Solo albums

Collaboration albums

References

External links