Maurice John Vaughn (born May 10, 1952) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician from

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 Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. He is a guitarist, saxophonist, keyboardist and singer.

Biography

Vaughn began playing professionally in 1968 as a saxophonist in Chicago R&B groups. He recorded with the Chosen Few in 1976, and played and recorded with

Phil Guy Phil Guy (April 28, 1940 – August 20, 2008) was an American blues guitarist. He was the younger brother of blues guitarist Buddy Guy. Phil and Buddy Guy were frequent collaborators and contribute both guitar and vocal performances on many o ...

, went on tour in Canada in 1979. He played as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

with

Luther Allison Luther Sylvester Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison wa ...

Son Seals Frank "Son" Seals (August 14, 1942 – December 20, 2004) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. In 2009, Seals was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Career Seals was born in Osceola, Arkansas, where his father, Jim "Son" Sea ...

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr.; December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song " Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album '' Hoodoo Man Blues ...

, Valerie Wellington, and A.C. Reed. His debut solo record was 1984's ''Generic Blues Album'', released in plain white packaging on his own Reecy Records record label;

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

reissued it in 1987. In the 1990s, Vaughn played with

Detroit Junior Emery Williams Jr. (October 26, 1931 – August 9, 2005), known as Detroit Junior, was an American blues pianist, vocalist and songwriter. He is known for songs such as "So Unhappy", "Call My Job", "If I Hadn't Been High", "Ella" and "Money Tr ...

, but spent much of his time working in A&R for Appaloosa Records, and produced albums by Shirley Johnson, Zoom, Maxine Carr, B.J. Emery, and Velvet McNair. Vaughn and his band backed up Detroit Junior on the latter's two releases on Blue Suit Records, ''Turn Up The Heat'' (1995) and ''Take Out The Time'' (1997). In 1994, his song "(Everything I Do) Got To Be Funky" was released on the soundtrack for the film, ''

Major League II ''Major League II'' is a 1994 American sports film, sports comedy film and sequel to the 1989 film ''Major League (film), Major League'' and it is the second installment in the ''Major League'' film series. The film stars most of the same cast ...

''. The song was also a part of his 1993 release, '' In the Shadow of the City''.

Discography

*''Generic Blues Album'' (Reecy Records, 1984; reissued

) * ''I Got Money'' (Blue Phoenix, 1986) (with A.C. Reed) *'' In the Shadow of the City'' (Alligator, 1993) *''Dangerous Road'' (Blue Suit, 2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Maurice John 1952 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American blues saxophonists Chicago blues musicians Blues musicians from Illinois Guitarists from Chicago 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Alligator Records artists