Mighty Mo Rodgers (born July 24, 1942) is an American

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of 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 19 ...

musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, who has released six albums to date. He has been influenced by the work of

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Bobby Bland Robert Calvin Bland (born Robert Calvin Brooks; January 27, 1930 – June 23, 2013), known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B. He was des ...

Eddie Boyd Edward Riley Boyd (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994)Dahl, Bill. Eddie Boyd: Biography AllMusic. Retrieved October 13, 2016. was an American blues pianist, singer and songwriter, best known for his recordings in the early 1950s, including th ...

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 blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

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

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

, and Willie Dixon.

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporate ...

noted that "Mo Rodgers' music is a breath of fresh air in the blues/R&B world. He combines sly social commentary with a great funky sound. . . . I love his voice. He's a welcome original."

Biography

Maurice Rodgers was born in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

, He studied classical piano, but was more influenced by witnessing the blues acts that performed at his father's

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. In the mid-1960s, the music produced by the American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

Stax Streaming API for XML (StAX) is an application programming interface ( API) to read and write XML documents, originating from the Java programming language community. Traditionally, XML APIs are either: * DOM based - the entire document is read i ...

also affected his musical ambitions. In high school, Rodgers formed his first band, the Rocketeers. After entering

Indiana State College Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The uni ...

, he fronted the Maurice Rodgers Combo. His love of playing keyboards led Rodgers to leave college and relocate to Los Angeles, California, becoming a full-time musician. He played the

Farfisa Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...

electronic organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since develop ...

Brenton Wood Alfred Jesse Smith (born July 26, 1941), better known as Brenton Wood, is an American singer and songwriter known for his two 1967 hit singles, " The Oogum Boogum Song" (peaking at No. 34 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100) and "Gimme Little Sign ...

's 1967 hit "

Gimme Little Sign "Gimme Little Sign" is a classic soul music song, originally performed by Brenton Wood and written by Wood (under his real name, Alfred Smith), Joe Hooven and Jerry Winn. The charted versions were Wood's, Peter Andre's, the Sattalites', and D ...

". In 1973, Rodgers co-produced the album '' Sonny & Brownie'' (

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

), by

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and o ...

and

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee wa ...

. He also played keyboards on the album's cut. Following a spell as 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 ...

, Rodgers moved into songwriting for

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

and Chappell & Co. He also worked as a record producer before returning to education and obtaining a philosophy degree from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

. His first solo album, ''Blues Is My Wailin' Wall'', was released in 1999 by

Blue Thumb Records Blue Thumb Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by Bob Krasnow and former A&M Records executives Tommy LiPuma and Don Graham. Blue Thumb's last record was released in 1978. In 1995, the label was revived and remained active un ...

. The lyrics of several of the songs on the album present Rodgers's philosophical views of mankind. In 2000, Rodgers performed at the

Notodden Blues Festival Notodden Blues Festival (NBF) is one of the largest blues music festivals in Europe and the largest in Scandinavia. The festival is held in Notodden, Norway, usually in early August. It has been running annually since 1988. The festival does n ...

. His European excursions have included concerts at the

New Morning New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

in Paris. In 2001, he performed on the album ''Memphis'', recorded by Jean-Jacques Milteau, which also included contributions from

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 number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include " Baby, I Lov ...

and

Mighty Sam McClain Samuel McClain (April 15, 1943 – June 15, 2015), billed as Mighty Sam McClain, was an American soul blues singer and songwriter. Life and career He was born in Monroe, Louisiana. As a five-year-old, he began singing in his mother's Gospel ...

. His own recordings continued with ''Red, White & Blues'' (2002); ''Black Paris Blues'', a live album issued in 2004; and ''Redneck Blues'' (2007). His most recent release was ''Cadillac Jack'' in 2012. Rodgers appeared at the 22nd Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival in August 2014. In 2019, he toured with Baba Sissoko and performed at several European blues festivals. In 2017, they had jointly released the album, ''Griot Blues''.

Awards

* W. C. Handy Award nomination (1999) for ''Blues Is My Wailin' Wall'' *Chic de l'Annee (1999) (France) as Blues Album of the Year for ''Blues Is My Wailin' Wall'' *''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' magazine, Contemporary Blues Album of the Year (2002) for ''Red, White & Blues'' *

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy is ...

(

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and comm ...

) (2002) for ''Red, White & Blues'' *Trophees France Blues (2001) and (2002) International Artist *Trophees France Blues (2003) International Songwriter *Chic De L'Annee (2007) Blues Album of the Year for ''Redneck Blues''

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links