Some July Blues Births: July 4th.,1910 -- "Champion Jack" Dupree July 17th.,1940 -- Marjorie Ann Johnson, aka "Margie Evans" July 27th.,1897 -- Hattie Burleson Answer To The June 2024 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is James "Jimmy" Walker, born March 8, 1905, in Memphis, Tennessee. The family moved to the South Side of Chicago when he was three. Somewhere in between then and the '20's, he learned piano. By the early '20's he was good enough to be performing with Lonnie Johnson and Leothus "Lee" Green, aka "Pork Chops" (who was a mentor to Roosevelt Syke ..read more

Some June Blues Births: June 3rd.,1952 -- Louis X. Erlanger June  13th.,1905 -- Lester "Esley" Riddle​ June  24th.,1920 -- Lester B. Williams Answer To The May 2024 Blues Question: The blueswoman we were looking for was/ is Vera Hall, born Adele Vera Hall, on April 6,1902, on a farm in Payneville, Alabama, which is near Livingston, which is the city where some sources show her being born. The family, consisting of father Efron "Zully" Hall, mother Agnes, 2 older sisters, Bessie and Estelle, and a younger brother who died in infancy, lived on the land rented from Will Cob ..read more

Some May Blues Births: May 1st.,1930 -- Marion Walter Jacobs, aka Little Walter, Little Walter J May 11th.,1895 -- William Grant Stil​ May 25th.,1912 -- James Crutchfield  Answer To The April 2024 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is John Leon T. Gross (couldn't find where/ when the T came along), born in New Orleans on September 14, 1912 (some sources indicate 1916). Just as a point of info, there was another Leon Gross, also a musician. He was a jazz band leader and sax player in Harlem, during the '30's and '40's, but there's not much of his music that ..read more

Some April Blues Births: April 3rd.,1906 -- Walter G. "Fats" Pichon April 13th.,1926 -- Cosimo Vincent Matassa April 26th.,1924 -- Saul "Sol" Rabinowitz Answer To The March 2024 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/is Oscar W. Wills, born February 10, 1916. I had stated in the March Blog that he was born in Texas or Louisiana: both are true, as he was born in the upper part of Bethany, an unincorporated community in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, while the southern part of Bethany is in Panola County, Texas, so, yes, he could claim either or both. By the way, the origin ..read more

Some March Blues Births: March 4th.,1908 -- Thomas Edgar "Tom" Shaw March 15th.,1906 -- Manual "Manny" Nichols​ March 31st.,1944 -- Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Ralphs Answer To The February 2024 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Tony Hollins, born June 25, 1909, in Mississippi, just not sure where. Some sources showing him being born in Clarksdale (Coahoma County), while other sources show it as Octibbeha County, with the city being Starkville (the county seat), neither of which I could confirm. Most sources show him being raised at / on Lucky's Plantation, which was ..read more

First off, we hope you and yours all had a merry and happy holiday season to usher in this new year. By the way, have any of you blues fans seen the Jack Daniel's commercial with a quick shot of Alligator Records artist Kingfish, as he is an up and comer who already has numerous awards and credits to his name ? Check him out ! Some January Blues Births: January 2nd.,1903-- Elizabeth North Johnson, aka Mabelle Allen /Hattie North January 12th.,1941-- Long John Baldr  January; on the 30th.,1957-- Janiva Magness Answer To The December 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were ..read more

Some November Blues Births: November 6th.,1949 -- Aurora "Rory" Block November 14th.,1954 -- James Anson Funderburgh November 26th.,1965 -- Bernard Allison Answer To The October 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/is John Lee Henley, born February 13,1919, on a farm near Canton, Mississippi. His grandfather was a preacher and his father was a cotton farmer, and that's most likely where he was born. As a youngster he taught himself harmonica and he would eventually play with local musicians at suppers, parties, dances, and other country functions around ..read more

Some October Blues Births: October 1st.,1910 -- Cary Tate October 17th.,1929 -- Ernestine Jermany, aka Tina Mayfield (Percy's wife)​ October 26th., of either 1937 or 1938 -- John Henry "Jabo" Starks Answer To The September 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Johnie Lewis, born to parents Jimmie and Roxane, sharecroppers, on October 8, 1908, on a farm near Eufaula, Alabama. He was raised there up to 14 years old, when he left home to work different jobs in Alabama and Georgia, as the state line is only a short distance from Eufaula. He taught himself guita ..read more

Some September Blues Births: September 4th.,1930-- Jerry Ragovoy September 15th.,1921-- James Edward "Snooky" Pryor September 27th.,1927-- "Earring" George Mayweather Answer To The August 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is James "Son" Thomas, aka "Cairo", "Son/ Sonny Ford", born on October 14,1926, on an Eden, Mississippi farm. Don't have father's first name, but his mother was Annie Mae Estes. He got the Son/ Sonny Ford nickname as a child because he used the red "gumbo" clay of Yazoo County to make/ mold models of Ford tractors. With little money to be ..read more

Some August Blues Births: August 8th.,1926-- Alvin K. Smith, aka Al Smith and/or Al King August 17th.,1936-- Johnny Jones (NOT Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones, born 1941)​ August 29th.,1927-- Marion Williams Answer To The July 2023 Blues Question: The bluesman we were looking for was/ is Herman Villere "Roscoe" Ernest III, born August 12, 1951, in New Orleans, Louisiana. I couldn't find any info on how he got started drumming, but his first job/gig as a professional drummer was in the touring band Rhythm Masters, of King Floyd, a vocalist, in 1971. When Floyd left the band, it was re- nam ..read more