Michael Coleman (June 24, 1956 – November 2, 2014) was a

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 ...

guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was voted one of the top 50 bluesmen in the world by ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'' magazine. He released five solo albums and worked with

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

, Aron Burton,

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 ...

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 ...

and

Malik Yusef Malik Yusef el-Shabazz Jones (born April 4, 1971) is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, record producer, and director based in Chicago, Illinois. Early life Jones' surname means "King Joseph" (''Malik'' and ''Yusuf'', respectivel ...

Biography

Coleman was born in 1956 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 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 ...

. He began his musical career at a young age, playing alongside his father, Cleother "Baldhead Pete" Williams. As a teenager he played with the Top 40 showband Midnight Sun and with the blues musicians Aron Burton and Johnny Dollar on Chicago's North Side. In 1975 he became a full-time professional musician. He toured Europe with Eddy Clearwater four years later. This led to work for

, in whose band Coleman played for almost ten years. Coleman backed Cotton on three albums, including ''Live from Chicago: Mr. Superharp Himself'', released by

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 ...

. Coleman backed

Buster Benton Arley "Buster" Benton (July 19, 1932 – January 20, 1996) was an American blues guitarist and singer. He played guitar in Willie Dixon's Blues All-Stars and is best known for his solo rendition of Dixon's song " Spider in My Stew." Benton wa ...

, and

Jimmy Dawkins James Henry “Jimmy” Dawkins (October 24, 1936 – April 10, 2013) was an American Chicago blues and electric blues guitarist and singer. He is generally considered to have been a practitioner of the "West Side sound" of Chicago blues. Career ...

and also worked with

Syl Johnson Sylvester Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson; July 1, 1936 – February 6, 2022) was an American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes" (1967), " Is It Because I' ...

in the 1980s. He embarked on a solo career in the early 1990s. His 1987 song "Woman Loves a Woman" contained a controversial lyric, in which he confessed he was in love with a woman, but "She's in love with a woman too". Coleman formed the Backbreakers as his backing ensemble in 1991. His album ''Shake Your Booty'' was released by 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 Records in 1995. His U.S. debut album was ''Do Your Thing!'', issued by

Delmark Records Delmark Records is an independent, American jazz and blues independent record label. It was founded in 1958 as Delmar Records and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when then owner, and founder, ...

in 2000. It featured a mixture of material encompassing blues,

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

, with

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of songs previously recorded by

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 ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

. It was noted that the quality of his guitar playing compensated for a lightweight vocal accompaniment. In 2006, Coleman led a group of Delmark musicians on the album ''Blues Brunch at the Mart''. Coleman was overweight and had

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, which severely affected his health. His doctor advised a change in lifestyle, and Coleman subsequently lost 150 pounds. He started his 2010 Chicago Blues Tour by performing at Rosa's Lounge in Chicago. Coleman died in November 2014, aged 58.

Discography

Albums

Selected work with other musicians

* ''High Compression'',

(1984) * ''Live from Chicago Mr. Superharp Himself'', James Cotton (1986) * ''Harp Attack!'', James Cotton (1990) * ''Poor Man Blues'', John Primer (1991) * ''The Great Chicago Fire: A Cold Day in Hell'',

(2003) * "Wouldn't You Like to Ride", Malik Yusef (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Michael 1956 births 2014 deaths African-American guitarists American blues guitarists American blues singers American funk guitarists American male guitarists American funk singers Soul-blues musicians Songwriters from Illinois Electric blues musicians Chicago blues musicians Singers from Chicago Guitarists from Chicago 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Black & Blue Records artists African-American songwriters 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians American male songwriters

Biography

Discography

Albums

Selected work with other musicians

See also

References