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

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.