George Scott Dies

 George Scott, founding baritone of Gospel vocal group the Blind Boys of Alabama, died March 9 at his home in Durham, North Carolina. He was 75. Born George Lewis Scott in Notasulga, Alabama, the artist met Fountain and Jimmy Carter in 1936 at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind. Three years later they formed the traditional Gospel singing group, which Scott also accompanied on guitar. In recent years, the group enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and recently won the Grammy for best traditional Soul Gospel album for There Will Be a Light, recorded with singer-songwriter Ben Harper. The set featured Scott singing lead on the album's opening track, "Take My Hand." Though Scott retired from touring last year, he continued to record with the group and will be heard on its new album, Atom Bomb, due March 15 from Real World Records. No changes are planned in the Blind Boys' touring schedule, which picks up again with a March 18 showcase at the South x Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

Lyn Collins Dies

 Lyn Collins, whose funky vocals got her a spot in James Brown's stage show and the nickname the Female Preacher, died on Sunday March 13 in Pasadena, California. She was 56. Ms. Collins, who lived in Abilene, Texas, was visiting the Los Angeles area after having returned from a tour in Europe last month. She was to have started touring again next month. Born in Dime Box, Texas, Ms. Collins took up singing as a teenager. At 14, she married a man who worked as the local promoter for the James Brown Revue. Mr. Brown heard her sing, and she was invited to join his traveling show in 1970. Her powerful voice led Mr. Brown to nickname her the Female Preacher. Two years later, she cut her first solo album, "Think (About It)." Over the years, Ms. Collins's songs have appeared in various compilations, but the Hip-Hop duo Rob Base and D.J. E-Z Rock exposed her work to a new generation when they sampled one of her songs for their 1988 hit "It Takes Two." Since then, other contemporary R&B and rap artists have also mined Ms. Collins's songs, including the rapper Ludacris.

Wild Child Butler Dies

 Bluesman George "Wild Child" Butler died Tuesday, March 1 in a Windsor, Ontario hospital. He was 68. No official cause of death has been released. Wild Child was born in Autaugaville, Alabama on October 1, 1936 and earned his Blues stripes beginning in the late 1950s when he took his unique harmonica sound and singing from rural Alabama juke joints to the clubs of Chicago. In the late 1960s, he performed mostly in New Orleans and Houston before returning to Chicago and then touring extensively. Wild Child eventually settled in Canada with his wife Elaine, who survives him. Wild Child’s performance resume includes tours with Jimmy Rogers, Sam Lay, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Cousin Joe, and Roosevelt Sykes. He also played periodically with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Jimmie Lee Robinson, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and many other famous Bluesmen. Wild Child’s recording debut came on the Sharp label in 1964. Between 1966 and 1968, he recorded singles produced by Willie Dixon for Jewel Records. He later had releases on Mercury, TK Records, Charly, Rooster Blues, MC Records, Bullseye Blues and APO Records. His final record, "Sho’ ‘Nuff", was released in 2001.

Mississippi Declares B.B. King Day

 Jackson, Mississippi - Blues great BB King wiped away tears and spoke a few
words of thanks at the Mississippi Capitol as the state House and Senate declared Tuesday BB King Day. Lawmakers and Gov Haley Barbour honored the 79-year-old Delta native, whose hits include "The Thrill Is Gone," during a ceremony Tuesday in the Senate chamber. King pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away tears. "I never learned to talk very well without Lucille," said King, speaking of his black guitar. "But today, I'm trying to say only God knows how I feel. I am so happy. Thank you." He said the last time he cried was at Ray Charles' funeral. "That was tears of sorrow," King said. "Today, it was tears of joy."

Blues Grammy Winners Announced

The Grammys have announced this years winners for the two Blues categories, Best Traditional and Best Contemporary Blues albums.

Best Traditional Blues Album
* Blues Singer - Buddy Guy [Silvertone Records]

* Best Contemporary Blues Album Let's Roll - Etta James [Private Music]

The Blues brought home awards in other categories too.

Best Historical Album
* Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues - A Musical Journey Steve Berkowitz, Alex Gibney, Andy McKaie & Jerry Rappaport, compilation producers; Gavin Lurssen & Joseph M. Palmaccio, mastering engineers (Various Artists) [Hip-O Records]

* Best Album Notes Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues - The Blues: A Musical Journey Tom Piazza, album notes writer (Various Artists) [Hip-O Records]

* Best Long Form Music Video Legend (Sam Cooke) - Mick Gochanour, Robin Klein & Mary Wharton, video producers [Abkco Music & Records]

Tyrone Davis Dies

 Chicago Rhythm and Blues singer Tyrone Davis, whose career spanned five decades, died February 9th from complications from a stroke. He was 66. Business partner Leo Graham says Davis was hospitalized in September and was undergoing rehabilitation at a suburban Chicago nursing home at the time of his death. Born in Greenville, Mississippi, Davis came under the influence of blues legends Bobby "Blue" Bland, Little Milton, and Otis Clay. He sang at clubs on Chicago's west and south Side clubs before landing his first recording contract. Beginning his career in the 1960s, Davis' warm and romantic style of singing made him particularly popular in the 1970s. Davis began performing in the 1950's at clubs around Chicago but did not achieve chart success until the late 60's. He released his first single, "Suffer," under the name Tyrone the Boy Wonder in 1965. Davis's soul hits, among them "Is It Something You've Got," "Turn Back the Hands of Time", "Can I Change My Mind", "Could I Forget You" and "I Had It All the Time," were a regular presence on the R&B charts through the 70's. After his 1975 hit "Turning Point," he left Dakar for Columbia, where he recorded "Give It Up (Turn It Loose)," "This I Swear" and other songs. Although his popularity faded in the 1980s, he continued to record. His most recent album, "Legendary Hall of Famer," was released by Endzone Entertainment in October, shortly after his stroke. According to Graham, he was promoting his latest release when he suffered the stroke.

Eddie Burks Dies

 Eddie Burks, a longtime fixture on the Chicago blues scene, was killed in a fiery car accident in Miller, Ind., January 27th. He was 73. The barrel-chested vocalist-harpist played so often at the old Maxwell Street Market that he was commonly known as "Jewtown Eddie." He was featured in the Academy Award-nominated 1994 documentary "Blues Highway." Burks had played on Maxwell Street in the late 1960s and '70s, passing the cup and sometimes going home at the end of the day with $100 or $200. He also found frequent work as a sideman with some of Chicago's most prominent bandleaders, including Eddie Shaw and Jimmy Dawkins. But in the 1990s, thanks partly to an aggressive promotional push from ex-wife Maureen Walker, his solo career took off. He assembled a band with a half-dozen talented backing musicians and recorded several albums on Rising Son Records. Burks toured frequently and found steady work on the festival circuit, but after he turned 70 his health declined because of diabetes and other illnesses.

26th W.C. Handy Blues Award Nominees Announced

 The Blues Foundation will produce the 26th W.C. Handy Blues Awards on Thursday May 5, 2005 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The presenting sponsor for the W. C. Handy Awards will once again be Gibson Guitars and Baldwin Pianos. For the list of 2005 nominees click here.

Son Seals Dies

 W.C. Handy Award-winning and Grammy-nominated master Chicago bluesman Son
Seals, 62, died Monday, December 20 in Chicago, IL from complications due
to diabetes. The critically acclaimed, younger generation guitarist, vocalist and songwriter - credited with redefining Chicago blues for a new audience in the 1970s - was known for his intense, razor-sharp guitar work, gruff singing style and his charismatic stage presence. According to Guitar World, "Seals carves guitar licks like a chain saw through solid oak and sings like a grainy-voiced avenging angel." Seals released 11 albums during his 30-year recording career and toured worldwide. Over the course of his career, Seals was hailed as one of Chicago's great bluesmen and one of the city's most powerful live performers. Musician stated, "Seals delivers performances of the most profound emotion...one of the genre's most soulful exorcists." His most recent recording was an Alligator Records career retrospective, Deluxe Edition, in 2002. Among his many accolades, Seals won three W.C. Handy Blues Awards, one each in 1985, 1987 and 2001, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1980 for his participation in the live compilation, Blues Deluxe. Frank "Son" Seals was born in Osceola, Arkansas on August 14, 1942. He became an accomplished drummer by the time he was 13. By the age of 18, Son had put down the drumsticks and was leading his own band as a guitarist. He moved to Chicago in 1971 and began playing regular weekend gigs at The Expressway Lounge and other clubs on Chicago's South Side, regularly jamming with legends like Hound Dog Taylor, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy. Son's 1973 debut recording, The Son Seals Blues Band, on the fledging Alligator Records label, established him as a blazing, original blues performer and composer. Son's audience base grew as he toured extensively, playing colleges, clubs and festivals throughout the country. The New York Times called him "the most exciting young blues guitarist and singer in years." His 1977 follow-up, "Midnight Son", received widespread acclaim from every major music publication. Rolling Stone called it "one of the most significant blues albums of the decade." On the strength of "Midnight Son", Seals began touring Europe regularly, and even appeared in an Olympia beer commercial. A strong series of six more successful Alligator releases followed through the 1980s and 1990s (Seals also recorded two albums for other labels during this time), growing Seals' audience all over the world. Seals shared stages with a wide variety of blues stars, including B.B. King and Johnny Winter. Even the popular rock band Phish recognized Seals' talent and power, covering his song "Funky Bitch" on record and inviting Seals to join them on stage at many of their tour dates.

Big Boy Henry Dies

 Blues musician Richard "Big Boy" Henry died Dec. 5th after several years of declining health. He was 83. "Mr. Henry was a master musician in the blues tradition from eastern North Carolina, which is one of the important parts of the roots of blues in our state," said Wayne Martin, folklife director of the North Carolina Arts Council. "He was a very generous person who shared his music with many different audiences throughout our state and around the world." Henry, who was born in Beaufort, was awarded a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1995 for lifetime contributions to the folk culture of the state. Henry, a singer, composer and guitar player, recorded with other Piedmont bluesmen Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee at a session in 1951. He returned to North Carolina disappointed that the recordings were never issued and gave up music for about 20 years. During that time, he worked as a fisherman and operated a grocery store before returning to music in 1971. He earned a prestigious W.C. Handy Award for his 1983 song "Mr. President," written about the effects of President Reagan's budget cuts on poor people. By the late '80s, he was a regular on the nationwide folk festival circuit and regularly going to Europe to perform. In 1996 he released "Poor Man's Blues" on the New Moon label and "Beaufort Blues" for Music Maker in 2002.

Keeping the Blues Alive Award Winners Announced

Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the Blues world. The 2005 Keeping the Blues Alive Awards will be held Saturday, February 5, 2005 in Memphis. The 2005 winners are:

Blues Club: Moondog's
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Blues Organization: Santa Barbara Blues Society
Santa Barbara, California

Education: Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation
Washington, DC

Film: The Howlin Wolf Story
Don McGlynn, Director; Joe Lauro, Producer

Historic Preservation: Music Maker Relief Foundation
Hillsborough, North Carolina

Journalism: Dave Rubin
New York, New York

Literature: Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues
Roger Wood, Houston, Texas

Tommy Johnson Family Denied Right To Place Headstone

 Three years after The Mount Zion Memorial Fund and the family of Tommy Johnson unveiled a headstone memorial in Crystal Springs, in 2001, the 600 lb., beautifully engraved, granite slab still sits in the Crystal Springs Library, miles from the cemetery where Johnson is buried. The Copiah County Board of Supervisors, charged by law with maintaining the Warm Springs Methodist Cemetery because of its official historic status, has denied all access to the cemetery where dozens of African American gravesites are located, by refusing to reclaim a road which was "given" to a local farmer under dubious legal circumstances.

 For the last three years the Mount Zion Memorial Fund has worked with Vera Johnson Collins, Tommy Johnson's niece, through a series of legal roadblocks and delays and the State of Mississippi, fully aware of the situation, has done absolutely nothing.The "Year of the Blues" has come and gone, and the Tommy Johnson Memorial, paid for by Ms. Bonnie Raitt, has remained on display at the Public Library, in mute testimony to the true history of Mississippi's racial nullification, failure and neglect.

 The Mount Zion Memorial Fund and the family of Tommy Johnson is asking that any and all groups or individuals who would like to support the effort to place Tommy Johnson's headstone on his grave and to re-open this historic cemetery please write Governor Haley Barbour at P.O. Box 139 Jackson, MS 39205
And demand that the State of Mississippi intervene immediately to correct this moral wrong and to finally do something honorable to get right with the Blues.

Noble Watts Dies

 Noble Watts, the blues and jazz saxophonist who led the house band at Sugar Ray Robinson's club in Harlem and played on rock 'n' roll tours with Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis, died Sugust 24. He was 78.Also known as "Thin Man," Watts released a series of singles on Baton Records, including the instrumental hits "Hard Times (the Slop)" in 1957 and "Jookin' " in 1961. Hhe mounted a comeback bid in 1987 with the album, "Return of the Thin Man", for King Snake records (later picked up by Alligator). "King of the Boogie Sax" followed in 1993 for Ichiban's Wild Dog imprint.

Hunter Hancock Dies

 Hunter Hancock, the legendary disc jockey regarded as the first in the western United States to spin rhythm and blues records and among the first to broadcast rock 'n' roll, has died Aug. 4. He was 88. Known on the air as "Ol' H.H.," Hancock, in his high-pitched, frantic, exaggerated voice, was heard over local airwaves from 1943 to 1968, hosting the Sunday show "Harlem Holiday" on KFVD-AM (later KPOP-AM); the daily "Harlematinee"; the KGFJ-AM nightly Top 20 "Huntin' With Hunter"; and the KGER-AM Sunday gospel show "Songs of Soul and Spirit." He also had a brief run on KCBS-TV Channel 2 in 1955 with the Friday night show "Rhythm and Bluesville," interviewing such musicians as Duke Ellington, Fats Domino, Little
Richard and the Platters. For several years, Pulse survey, a precursor to Arbitron,
rated Hancock's shows No. 1 among African American listeners in Southern California. In 1950, the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper rated Hancock the most popular DJ in Los Angeles among blacks.

Willie Egan Dies

 Robert "Willie" Egan, a blues singer and pianist who recorded boogie-woogie-tinged R&B on his own and as Johnny in the popular duo Marvin & Johnny, died August 5th. He was 70. He learned by listening to recordings of Amos Milburn, Hadda
Brooks and Nellie Lutcher. In 1949, Egan made a couple of recordings for the small Elko label. But he hit his stride in the mid-1950s, recording for Larry Mead's Mambo and Vita labels. He recorded the successful singles "Wow Wow," "What a Shame,"
"Come On," "She's Gone Away, But" and "Wear Your Black Dress." His last solo single was "Rock and Roll Fever" in 1958. Later he teamed with Marvin Phillips, who had a series of partners as "Johnny" under the Marvin & Johnny name, for a couple of lackluster records. Eventually, Egan abandoned music to work as a hospital orderly. He recorded a new, well-regarded studio album called "Going Back to Louisiana" for London-based Ace Records.

Cal Green Dies

 Cal Green the original guitar player for the Midnighters passed away July 6th.
He was 68 years old. Green's idol as a teenager was Lone Star wonder Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Cal Green played on RPM Records releases by Quinton Kimble and pianist Connie McBooker, but his main claim to fame is as the guitarist for Hank
Ballard & the Midnighters, who picked up Green in Houston in 1954. His ringing guitar provided a sturdy hook for the group's rocker "Don't Change Your Pretty Ways" and figured prominently on "Tore Up Over You" and "Open Up the Back Door." The Midnighters' label, Cincinnati-based Federal Records, thought enough of Green's slashing Texas licks to cut a couple of 45s on him in 1958: the double-sided instrumental "The Big Push"/"Green's Blues" and a pair of vocals, "I Can Hear My Baby Calling"/"The Search Is All Over." A 1959 marijuana bust sent Green to a Texas slammer for 21 months, but he briefly rejoined the Midnighters in 1962. After that, jazz became Green's music of choice. He gigged with organist Brother Jack McDuff and then singer Lou Rawls, eventually settling in L.A. An acclaimed but tough-to-find 1988 album for Double Trouble, "White Pearl," showed conclusively that Cal Green still knows his way around the blues on guitar.

Nap Turner Dies

 Nap Turner was 73 when he died June 17th. Turner played jazz and blues in Washington clubs, after-hours spots and occasionally on tour with big names. On the bandstand, he was a bassist who played with some of the greats, imitating their success in jazz and their failure from drugs. He played the bass and sang in a bold, rich voice. As a young man in the 50's, working and hanging around 7th and T, Nap jammed with the likes of Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons,and Webster Young. He worked with with the Griffin Brothers and Margie Day and played on their initial demos that secured them their record deal, but was never credited for his studio work on the discs because he did not want to go on the road with the band. In his last two decades, when he took his act onto the radio as Nap "Don't Forget the Blues" Turner, on WPFW (89.3 FM), he attracted a loyal and wide audience. He recorded ""Live at City Blues" and "Live At Cada Vez" for the Right On Rhythm label.

Ray Charles Dies

 Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as "What'd I Say" and heartfelt ballads like "Georgia on My Mind," died June 10th, a spokesman said. He was 73. Charles died at his Beverly Hills home surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney. Charles' last public appearance was alongside Clint Eastwood on April 30, when the city of Los Angeles designated the singer's studios, built 40 years ago in central Los Angeles, as a historic landmark. Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, Charles spent his life shattering any notion of musical boundaries and defying easy definition. A gifted pianist and saxophonist, he dabbled in country, jazz, big band and blues, and put his stamp on it all with a deep, warm voice roughened by heartbreak from a hardscrabble childhood in the segregated South. "His sound was stunning -- it was the blues, it was R&B, it was gospel, it was swing -- it was all the stuff I was listening to before that but rolled into one amazing, soulful thing," singer Van Morrison told Rolling Stone magazine in April. Charles won nine of his 12 Grammy Awards between 1960 and 1966, including the best R&B recording three consecutive years ("Hit the Road Jack," "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Busted"). His versions of other songs are also well known, including "Makin' Whoopee" and a stirring "America the Beautiful." Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote "Georgia on My Mind" in 1931 but it didn't become Georgia's official state song until 1979, long after Charles turned it into an American standard.

Gatemouth Moore Dies

 Blues artist Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore, who gave up the blues and turned to preaching, died May 19th at Kings Daughters Hospital in Yazoo City after a long illness. He was 90. At the time of his death, Moore was pastor of the Lintonia A.M.E. Church in Yazoo City. He was born Arnold Dwight Moore on Nov. 8, 1913, in Topeka, Kan. He claimed he earned the nickname "Gatemouth" because of his loud singing and speaking voice. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis in 1938.At the age of 16, Moore went to Kansas City, where he sang with the bands of Bennie Moten, Tommy Douglas and Walter Barnes. Moore was one of the few survivors of the infamous "Natchez Rhythm Club Fire" in 1940 in which over
150 died. Other member of his band died in the fire. In 1941 he returned to Kansas City where he recorded his first record and wrote such songs as "Somebody's Got To Go," "I Ain't Mad at You Pretty Baby" and "Did You Ever Love A Woman?", which was recorded by B.B. King and Rufus Thomas. He was the first blues singer to sing at Carnegie Hall, according to a resolution recognizing him at the Mississippi Legislature this year. While performing in Chicago in 1949, he turned to gospel music and was ordained was at the First Church of Deliverance in Chicago with the Rev.
Clarence Cobbs as pastor. Moore served his first church in Chicago and joined WDIA radio station where he was the station's first religious disc jockey. He also worked for a religious station in Birmingham, Ala., returning to Chicago in 1957 for gospel programs on television and radio. He recorded gospel and blues albums into the 1970s. He recorded his last record in 1977 under as "Great R&B Oldies" on Johnny Otis' Blues Spectrum label. This was a blues release as Gatemouth recut some classics and cut some new ones including a salute to his old stomping grounds on "Beale Street Ain't Beale Street No More." He was also featured in Martin Scorsese's blues series singing that song as he strolled down the famous street. In recent years, Moore occasionally played festivals and kept busy with his duties as church pastor. For and in depth biography and audio feature click here.

Blues Pioneer Gets Historical Marker

 Twenty-five years after his death, Big Stone Gap native Carl Martin is finally being honored for his creativity and musical ability. His recordings during the folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s showcased his instrumental and vocal ability and the breadth of his musical interests. Martin died in 1979 at the age of 73.