| Songwriter
Jerry William Dies
Jerry Lynn
Williams, the little-known writer of such songs as Eric
Clapton's
"Running on Faith," Bonnie Raitt's "Real
Man" and B.B. King's "Standing on the
Edge of Love," died Nov. 25. He was 57. In 1989, five
of his songs - "Pretending," "Anything for
Your Love," "Running on Faith," "No
Alibis" and "Breaking Point" - were included
on Clapton's "Journeyman" album. The same year,
his "Real Man" and "I Will Not Be Denied"
were on Raitt's "Nick of Time," which won three
Grammy Awards. Williams also contributed five songs to King's
1992 album, "King of the Blues," and wrote Clint
Black's "The Hard Way" and Delbert McClinton's
signature song, "Givin' It Up for Your Love."
Williams made four blues-rock albums of his own, but none
of them sold well. A maverick, Williams spent nearly four
decades bouncing between Los Angeles, where he wrote, recorded
and performed, and Texas and Oklahoma, where he ranched.
The songwriter was
recommended to Clapton in 1984 when the singer needed material
for what is regarded as his comeback album, "Behind
the Sun." Williams wrote the album's "See What
Love Can Do," "Something's Happening" and
"Forever Man."
2006
Blues Music Awards Nominations Announced
On May
11, 2006 the Blues scene will usher in a new era, the Blues
Music Awards, formerly the W.C. Handy Awards. This year's
nominees have been announced along with a few category changes
for the annual bash in Memphis. For more details visit the
Blues
Foundation Website.
Grammy
Award Blues Nominations Announced
The Grammys have announced
this years nominations for the two Blues categories, Best
Traditional and Best Contemporary Blues albums. Bonnie Raitt
is nominated in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category,
Delbert McClinton for Best Male Country Vocal Performance,
and Keb Mo is nominated in the Best Country Song as a composer
for the Dixie Chicks. Alan Lomax's Library of Congress recordings
are nominated twice.
2006
Keeping The Blues Alive Recipients Announced
Twenty
individuals and organizations that have made significant
contributions to Blues music will be honored with The Blues
Foundation's 2006 Keeping The Blues Alive (KBA) Award during
a recognition brunch Saturday, January 28, 2006, in Memphis,
Tennessee. The KBA ceremony will be part of the International
Blues Challenge (IBC) weekend of events that will feature
the semifinals and finals of the 22nd IBC competition as
well as seminars, presentations, and receptions for Blues
societies, fans, and professionals. For the complete list
of Recipients click
here.
2005
ARSC Awards Announced
ARSC is
pleased to announce the winners of the 2005 ARSC Awards
for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Begun
in 1991, the awards are presented to authors and publishers
of books, articles, liner notes, and monographs, to recognize
outstanding published research in the field of recorded
sound. In giving these awards, ARSC recognizes outstanding
contributions, encourages high standards, and promotes awareness
of superior works. A maximum of two awards is presented
annually in each category -- one for best history and one
for best discography. Certificates of Merit are presented
to runners-up of exceptionally high quality. The 2005 Awards
for Excellence honor works published in 2004. For the complete
list of finalists click
here.
Evelyn
Johnson Dies
Ms. Evelyn Joyce Johnson
was born in Thibodeaux, Louisiana on September 28, 1920 And
passed away November 1, 2005 in Houston, Texas. She graduated
from
Wheatley High School and attended Houston College for Negroes,
"Texas Southern University". Ms. Johnson spent her
career working in the music industry in
Houston and Memphis in the early days of the blues. She worked
for Houston's Duke-Peacock Records for many years. Later,
she obtained a franchise license from
the American Federation of Music and booked performers through
her own agency, Buffalo Booking. Writer Dr. Roger Wood chronicled
her extensive contribution to
the evolution of post-war blues and R&B. She was recognized
as a blues music pioneer during a 2003 Duke-Peacock Reunion
Concert.
Paul
"Wine" Jones Dies
Fat
Possum recording artist Paul "Wine" Jones died
of cancer Oct. 11th in his Jackson hospital room. He was
59. The Belzoni native, a professional welder, was known
for his unique style of rural blues distinguished by its
sense of urgency and droning guitars. He often performed
at the annual Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival
in Clarksdale. Jones released two albums on the Oxford-based
label, "Mule" and "Pucker Up Buttercup."
Mike Rushing, lead singer of Jackson punk group The Tuff
Luvs, which sometimes opened for Jones, said Jones was in
high spirits for his last show three weeks ago at Hal &
Mal's. "He looked
like he had lost some weight, but he didn't seem sickly,"
Jones said. "He was playing sitting down and usually
he stands up, but he was telling the crowd, 'the next time
y'all see me I'm going be standing up.'"
R.L.
Burnsides Dies
Blues artist
R.L. Burnside, who redefined the blues genre by incorporating
indie rock acts and hip-hop production, died September 1,
2005, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Born
in Harmontown, Miss., on Nov. 21, 1926, Burnside worked
as a farmer in nearby Coldwater, Miss. As a youth, he was
exposed to the blues of such local masters as Fred McDowell
and Joe Callicott and began playing in his late teens. "I
watched him," Burnside said of McDowell in a 1996 interview
with Billboard. "We lived pretty close to him at one
time. I watched him and picked up a lot of stuff from him
(and guitarist) Ranie Barnett. They was guys that was all
around, close. I watched them play, and I kinda put my style
with it.' In 1967, fife-and-drum bandleader Othar Turner
led folklorist George Mitchell to Burnside, who recorded
several performances released by Arhoolie Records in 1968.
For many years thereafter, he performed regularly in local
juke joints, including one run by bluesman (and future labelmate)
Junior Kimbrough. By the '70s, his notoriety had spread
to the point that he toured in Europe and recorded for Swing
Master in the Netherlands and Arion in France. It
wasn't until the '90s that Burnside gained fame in the U.S.
He appeared in director Robert Mugge's 1991 documentary
"Deep Blues" and on the 1992 Atlantic soundtrack
album. He cut two acclaimed albums for Fat Possum; the records,
"Bad Luck City" (1993) and "Too Bad Jim"
(1994), were produced by writer Robert Palmer, whose 1981
book was the basis for Mugge's film. In 1996, he also recorded
an album with underground rock act Jon Spencer Blues Explosion,
"Ass Pocket of Whiskey" (Matador). After
1999 heart surgery, Burnside kept his appearance schedule
to a minimum, but continued to release music for Fat Possum,
including last year's "A Bothered Mind," which
debuted at No. 6 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart.
Detroit
Jr. Dies
Legendary
and beloved blues pianist, vocalist and songwriter Emery
"Detroit Junior" Williams, Jr., died at his Chicago
home on August 9, 2005 of heart failure. He was 73. Over
the course of his 50-plus year career, Detroit Junior led
his own bands and appeared as a solo performer, in addition
to playing in bands with Howlin' Wolf and Eddie Shaw. He
wrote hundreds of songs, had numerous local successful 45s,
as well as writing hits recorded by Albert King and Koko
Taylor. He was a wildly entertaining performer in his own
right as well, gigging constantly and recording on scores
of other artists' albums as well as four full albums under
his own name. Two of his songs have become blues standards:
"Call My Job," which was a hit for Albert King,
and the perennial favorite, "Money Tree." Koko
Taylor has recorded three of his tunes: "Tired Of That,"
"Thanks, But No Thanks," and "Never Trust
A Man." Emery Williams, Jr. was already an experienced
entertainer and piano player when he came to Chicago in
1956 from Detroit. Blues musician Eddie Boyd first brought
Junior to Chicago in the early 1950s, hoping to line up
a contract for him with Chess Records. He recorded his first
single, "Money Tree" backed with "So Unhappy"
in 1960 for the Bea & Baby label. That record marked
the first appearance of "Detroit Junior;" before
that time he had been known as Little Junior Williams, and
when the record became a local hit, the nickname stuck.
Chess Records, sensing they had missed something, signed
Junior, but subsequent singles didn't sell, and he cut for
Foxy, CL and Palos before waxing his next hit, the original
"Call My Job," on U.S.A., in 1965. The flipside,
"The Way I Feel," a spontaneous and sensitive
piano solo, proved that Junior had talent for deep blues
as well as novelty tunes. From 1968 on, he toured and recorded
with the late Howlin' Wolf, playing everywhere from college
auditoriums to Big Duke's Flamingo. When Wolf died in 1976,
Junior stuck with the band, The Wolf Gang, under the leadership
of sax man Eddie Shaw for a number of years. Detroit Junior's
first full album under his own name, "Chicago Urban
Blues" (on the Blues On Blues label) came out in the
early 1970s. Alligator Records included four of his songs
on the "Living Chicago Blues, Volume 6" anthology
in 1980. The album helped establish him as a successful
solo performing career. From 1995 through 2004, Detroit
Junior released four CDs under his own name, three for Blue
Suit Records: "Turn Up The Heat" (1995), "Take
Out The Time" (1997), and "Live At The Toledo
Museum Of Modern Art" (2004). His most recent CD was
2004's "Blues On The Internet" on Delmark. In
the last few years, Junior often appeared on the Chicago's
North Side at clubs like Kingston Mines, even after losing
a leg to diabetes. He was filmed for Martin Scosese's PBS
series, "The Blues," and kept on writing and performing
up until his death.
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