Carlton Weathersby (February 24, 1953 – August 9, 2024) was an American

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He worked with

Albert King Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...

and Billy Branch, among others, and had a career as a solo artist. He was nominated for the W. C. Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist in 1997.

Biography

Weathersby was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

on February 24, 1953. He spent his early years in

Meadville, Mississippi Meadville is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Mississippi, United States, in the southwest part of the state. The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 519 at the 2000 census. It is situated north of the Homochitto R ...

, a place he still considered home, although when he was aged eight, his family moved to

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 26,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Centered around heavy industry, the city is home to the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwa ...

Pre-musician years (1953–1979)

As a teenager, Weathersby began to learn to play the guitar. One day, after practicing " Cross Cut Saw" many times through, he decided to show his father. After he finished playing it, his father's friend, a man Weathersby knew as Albert, the diesel mechanic, said, "Man, that ain't the way that song goes, that ain't the way I played it." The mechanic turned out to be

, who then showed Weathersby how to play it. Despite Weathersby's mistake, King was impressed and eventually hired Weathersby to play rhythm guitar with him on tour. However, his career as musician started many years later. Before then, Weathersby worked many jobs, ranging from steel mill worker to prison guard to police officer. He also served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

from 1971 to 1977, during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Collaborative years (1979–1995)

After the Vietnam War, Weathersby began playing rhythm guitar with Albert King on short road trips from 1979 to 1981, but the experience solidified Weathersby's identity as a blues musician. He then started filling in for the guitarist Carlos Johnson, of the Sons of Blues, who Weathersby described as "a pretty shaky guy, you know. He could show up just as easy as he couldn't show up..." Eventually the band hired Weathersby as their full-time guitarist, a position he held for the next fifteen years.

Solo years (1995–2024)

His position as guitarist for the Sons of Blues earned him a name among the blues fans of Chicago, it also left him feeling discontented. Because of his growing popularity, Evidence Records released Weathersby's first album, ''Don't Lay Your Blues on Me'', in 1996, and his subsequent albums, up to ''Best of Carl Weathersby''. His only

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

, ''In the House'', was recorded at the Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland, when he was joined by the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

player and past bandmate Billy Branch. ''In The House'' was released under the CrossCut

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

. Weathersby has since self produced the album, '' Hold On''. He performed as the headline artist twice a week at the Kingston Mines in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois. Weathersby died on August 9, 2024, at the age of 71.

Discography

Solo albums

* 1996: ''Don't Lay Your Blues on Me'' (

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...

) * 1997: ''Looking Out My Window'' (Evidence) * 1998: '' Restless Feeling'' (Evidence) * 2000: '' Come to Papa'' (Evidence) * 2003: ''Best of Carl Weathersby'' (Evidence) * 2004: ''In the House: Live at Lucerne Vol. 5'' ( CrossCut) * 2005: ''Hold On'', Louisiana (Red Hot) * 2009: ''I'm Still Standing Here'' (Magnolia) * 2019: ‘'Live at Rosa’s Lounge'’ (Bearpath Records)

As sideman/guest

* 1985: Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues, ''Romancing the Blue Stone'' ( Black & Blue) * 1985: Buster Benton, ''Blues at the Top'' (Evidence) * 1989: Robert Covington, ''Blues in the Night'' (Evidence) * 1992: Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues, ''Mississippi Flashback'' (GBW) * 1994:

Hubert Sumlin Hubert Charles Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howl ...

& Billy Branch, ''Chicago Blues Session, Vol. 22'' (Wolf) * 1994: Carey Bell, '' Deep Down'' (

Alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

) * 1994:

George Gruntz George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker ...

, ''Beyond Another Wall: Live in China'' (TCB) * 1995: Billy Branch, ''The Blues Keep Following Me Around'' (Verve) * 1996: Jayne Cortez & the Firespitters, ''Taking the Blues Back Home'' (Verve) * 1996: Billy Branch, ''Satisfy Me'' (Verve) * 1999: Mississippi Heat, ''Handyman'' (Van Der Linden) * 2001: Rico McFarland, ''Tired of Being Alone'' (Evidence) * 2002: Buster Benton, ''Blues Reference: Blues and Trouble'' (Black & Blue) * 2002: Mississippi Heat, ''Footprints on the Ceiling'' (CrossCut) * 2003: The Sons of Blues, ''Blues Reference: As the Years Go Passing By'' (Black & Blue) * 2004:

Trudy Lynn Trudy Lynn (born August 9, 1947) is an American electric blues and soul blues singer and songwriter, whose recorded work has been released on twelve studio albums, one live album, and four compilation albums. The Allmusic journalist, Alex Hen ...

, ''Blues Power: Trudy's Blues'' (Isabel) * 2004: Charles Wilson, ''If Heartaches Were Nickels'' (Delmark) * 2004: Nora Jean Bruso, ''Going Back to Mississippi'' (Severn) * 2004: Sam Cockrell & the Groove, ''I'm in the Business'' (Boom Boom) * 2005: Mississippi Heat, ''Glad You're Mine'' (CrossCut) * 2005: Biscuit Miller, ''Come Together'' * 2005:

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

, ''Think of Me'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

) * 2008: Mississippi Heat, "Hattiesburg Blues" (Delmark) * 2005: Bernard Allison, Larry McCray, Carl Weathersby,

Lucky Peterson Judge Kenneth "Lucky" Peterson (December 13, 1964 – May 17, 2020) was an American musician who played contemporary Blues music, blues, fusing soul music, soul, Rhythm and blues, R&B, gospel music, gospel and rock and roll. He was a vocalist, g ...

, ''Triple Fret'' JSP * 2010: Mississippi Heat,

John Primer John Primer (born March 5, 1945, Camden, Mississippi, United States) is an American Chicago blues and electric blues singer and guitarist who played behind Junior Wells in the house band at Theresa's Lounge and as a member of the bands of W ...

, Carl Weathersby, ''Let's Live It Up!'' (Delmark)

References

External links

Carl Weathersby, official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weathersby, Carl 1953 births 2024 deaths American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Electric blues musicians Blues musicians from Mississippi Singers from Chicago Musicians from Jackson, Mississippi Guitarists from Chicago Guitarists from Mississippi People from Meadville, Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians