By the early 90s Lurrie Bell didn’t even own a guitar anymore, but now he’s got a shelf full of Blues Music Awards.
Tag: harmonica
Posted inMusic
Harpist Billy Branch draws from blues history to invigorate his sound
Blues tributes are too often dire affairs—note-for-note reworkings of timeworn ideas and riffs that betray an almost puritanical obsession with “authenticity.” That approach, of course, dishonors the spirit of the music it purports to celebrate—Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Elmore James, all of whom attract frequent tributes, weren’t purists or revivalists but instead radically reimagined […]
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Billy Boy Arnold helped the blues give birth to rock ’n’ roll
Billy Boy Arnold might be best known as Bo Diddley’s 1950s harmonica player, but he’s 25 years into a comeback of his own.
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Louis Myers cofounded one of the great backing bands in the blues
The guitar and harmonica master from the Aces played with Junior Wells, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and many more.
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Otis ‘Big Smokey’ Smothers recorded with Howlin’ Wolf even before his own first session
Guitarist Big Smokey Smothers wrote for Muddy Waters and partnered with Freddie King, but his traditional style of Chicago electric blues didn’t help him make his own name.
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No less a bluesman than Muddy Waters called Forest City Joe a ‘great harp player’
Blues harpist Forest City Joe might be a legend today if he’d recorded more—or lived long enough to enjoy the 1960s blues revival.
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One-armed blues harpist Big John Wrencher tore up Maxwell Street for decades
Mississippi native Big John Wrencher didn’t often record, but his rowdy performances made him famous at home and abroad.
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Charley Organaire helped introduce the harmonica to ska and reggae
Charles “Organaire” Cameron had an illustrious career in Jamaica before settling in Chicago in the 70s, where he continues to record and perform.
Posted inArts & Culture
Show us your . . . bass harmonica
Of the ten to 15 harmonicas Bob Kessler plays, the one that’s the bass harmonica is likely the most peculiar.
Posted inBlogs
The Rustic Avant-Garde of Uncle Woody Sullender
Former Chicagoan and banjo experimenter Uncle Woody Sullender duets with English harmonica player Seamus Cater on Saturday night at Heaven Gallery.
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Alex “Easy Baby” Randall
Longtime Chicago blues fans might remember Alex “Easy Baby” Randle from the Rat Trap at Cermak and Keeler, where he led a raucous house band in the 70s. Randle had been working regularly in Chicago–playing harmonica and drums on the south and west sides–since the late 50s, shortly after he moved here from his native […]