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Johnny B. Moore (born Johnny Belle Moore, January 24, 1950,
Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...
) is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...
and
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 ...
guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...
,
singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
and
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
. He was a member of Koko Taylor's backing band in the mid-1970s. He has recorded nine solo albums since 1987. Moore's music retains a link to the earlier
Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...
of
Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with a wide variety of audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), "Baby Wha ...
and
Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
, who also travelled to Chicago from the
Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
. "If Johnny B. Moore isn't a star in the making," stated
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Bill Dahl, "there's no justice in the world." The blues historian Gérard Herzhaft commented that " oore'salbums reflect a strong Delta flavor that is refreshing in the present blues scene, dominated by rock or funk overtones." However, the blues historian Tony Russell noted in 1997 that Moore "was still one of Chicago's interesting secrets".


Biography

Moore's father, Floyd Moore, a
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
minister, taught his son to play the guitar from the age of seven.
John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...
's "
Boogie Chillen' "Boogie Chillen'" or "Boogie Chillun" is a blues song first recorded by John Lee Hooker in 1948. It is a solo performance featuring Hooker's vocal, electric guitar, and rhythmic foot stomps. The lyrics are partly autobiographical and alternate ...
" was the first piece Moore mastered, but he was influenced by the style of
Magic Sam Samuel Gene Maghett (February 14, 1937 – December 1, 1969), known as Magic Sam, was an American Chicago blues musician. He was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and ...
. In his early days Moore performed
gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...
in his hometown of Clarksdale and later in Chicago with the Gospel Keys. In his teen years Moore's mother died. In 1964, the teenage Moore relocated to Chicago with his father, step mother, and 15 siblings. In high school Moore learned to read music, and his education was enhanced by listening to blues records with Letha Jones, the widow of the pianist
Little Johnny Jones ''Little Johnny Jones'' is a musical by George M. Cohan. The show introduced Cohan's tunes " Give My Regards to Broadway" and " The Yankee Doodle Boy." The "Yankee Doodle" character was inspired by real-life Hall of Fame jockey Tod Sloan. Ba ...
. By the late 1960s Moore was working in a lamp factory, but after work played music. He was further tutored by Jimmy Reed, whom he first met in his childhood, and then with the Charles Spiers band. By 1975, Moore found a further musical outlet by joining Koko Taylor's backing band, the Blues Machine, as
lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...
. He played on Taylor's album ''
The Earthshaker ''The Earthshaker'' is a blues album by Koko Taylor, released in 1978 by Alligator Records. The album has since been released on CD by Alligator. Critical reception Reviewing in '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (198 ...
'' (1978). He toured separately with Taylor and with
Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
, undertaking European tours with both, and worked in Dixon's band until Dixon died, in 1992. He also augmented his income by appearing more often under his own name. Moore was on the bill at the inaugural
Chicago Blues Festival The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the Chicago, Illinois, City of Chicago Department of Cu ...
, on June 10, 1984. His debut album, ''Hard Times'', was released in 1987 on the B.L.U.E.S. label. In the 1990s he recorded six more albums of his own, and started the new millennium with ''Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi'' (2001) for the Austrian
label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...
Wolf. His ''Live at Blue Chicago'' (1996), recorded in the basement of that club, featured
Ken Saydak Ken Saydak (born August 18, 1951, 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. ...
on keyboards. The 1999
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 ...
, ''Acoustic Blue Chicago'', featured
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 ...
,
Lester Davenport Lester "Mad Dog" Davenport (January 16, 1932 – March 17, 2009), was an American Chicago blues harmonica player and singer. Born in Tchula, Mississippi, Davenport moved to Chicago, Illinois, United States, when he was 14. There he played wi ...
and
Bonnie Lee Bonnie Lee (June 11, 1931 – September 7, 2006) was an American Chicago blues singer known as "The Sweetheart of the Blues". She is best remembered for her lengthy working relationships with Sunnyland Slim and Willie Kent. David Whiteis, who i ...
. Moore often used a
bottleneck Bottleneck may refer to: * the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle Science and technology * Bottleneck (engineering), where the performance of an entire system is limited by a single component * Bottleneck (network), in a communication network * ...
on his guitar solos. Moore appeared again at the Chicago Blues Festival in 2002. He has made guest appearances on albums by several other blues musicians, including Willie Kent's ''Too Hurt to Cry'' (1994). His album ''Rockin' in the Same Old Boat'' (2003) was described by Allmusic
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
Matt Collar: "Moore's hard-driving lead guitar lines are well intact as is his off-hand, sometimes slurred vocal delivery".


Discography


Albums


See also

*
List of Chicago blues musicians Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1950s, in which the basic instrumentation of Delta blues—acoustic guitar and harmonica—is augmented with electric guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums, piano, harmo ...
*
List of electric blues musicians The following is a list of electric blues musicians. The electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, the bass guitar, and/or the harmonica and other instruments. Electric blues is performed in severa ...


References


External links


Delmark.com review of ''Live At Blue Chicago''

Images of Moore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Johnny B. 1950 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American male singers Songwriters from Mississippi Chicago blues musicians Electric blues musicians Singers from Mississippi Musicians from Clarksdale, Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi Songwriters from Illinois Guitarists from Illinois Guitarists from Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters