Johnny Taylor Dies

  Soul legend  Johnnie Taylor passed away on May 31 of a heart attack. In 1957 Taylor rose to fame taking Sam Cooke's place in the The Soul Stirrers. After leaving gospel Taylor landed at Stax Records. With Stax, he scored with the recordings "I Had A Dream" and "I've Got To Love Somebody's Baby". Two years later, Taylor's style of music easily adapted to the demands of modern soul with his recording of "Who's Making Love", which shot to the top of the R & B charts. That record sold more than two million singles, and established Taylor as one of the nation's premier soul attractions. For the next seven years, Johnnie's name never left the best-seller list including the smash "Disco Lady." Since 1984 Taylor has made his home at Malaco Records.

Winners Annouced For 21st Annual Handy Awards

  The Blues world descended on Memphis, Tennessee on May 25 for the presentation of the prestigious Blues award ceremony. For a complete list of winners click here.

Barkin' Bill Dies

  Chicago blues singer Barkin' Bill Smith has passed away. Influenced by the singers like Joe Williams and Jimmy Witherspoon, he grew up in Mississippi and stopped off to sing in East St. Louis and Detroit before settling in the Windy City. Barkin' Bill Smith finally broke through in 1994 with his own debut album for Delmark.

Clarence Holliman Dies

  Houston legend Clarence Hollimon passed away Easter Sunday due to heart failure. Early in his career, he worked with Clarence Gatemouth Brown as well as Willie Mae Thornton and later did some work with Pianist Charles Brown. Shortly after that, he joined a few prominent Houston musicians in what would become the session band for Duke/Peacock Records. During the peak days of Duke/Peacock, he recorded with Bobby Blue Bland as well O.V. Wright, Junior Parker, and Al Hinton, to name a few. In later years with his wife Carol he formed the Hollimon Express and started performing all around the world. They released a couple of albums for Black Top records. Clarence and Carol just released a new CD called "It's About Time" on JSP Records. The CD was recorded in January of this year and was produced by Jimmy Morello.

Country Kellum Dies

  Alphonso "Country" Kellum, who played guitar in the James Brown band, died March 24th at age 57. Kellum played in Brown's band form 1964 to 1970 and played on such records as "I Got You (I Feel Good)", Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "Cold Sweat" and many others.

Richard Trice Dies

  Bluesman Richard Trice passed away on April 5th. Trice was associated with the Piedmont style of blues and influenced by Blind Boy Fuller. It was Fuller who took Trice and his brother Welly to New York where cut a lone 78 in 1937. He made a handful of recordings for Savoy in the 1940s as "Little Boy Fuller." Trice later turned from blues to gospel, performing mostly at churches.

Diamond Teeth Mary Dies

  Blues singer Mary Smith McClain, better known to
fans as "Diamond Teeth Mary," died April 4th. She was believed to have been 97 or 98. She went from singing at carnivals with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels to the Chicago Blues Festival, New York City's Carnegie Hall and Europe. She sang with such music greats as B.B. King, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong. McClain, who once had diamonds set in her teeth, was considered the world's oldest-performing true blues musician, appearing at local clubs until two weeks ago.

King Ernest Dies

  Ernest Baker died in a car accident on March 4. Blues and R&B vocalist, also known as King Ernest, first played in Chicago with blues guitarist Byther Smith's band during the 1960s. He became popular as a local soul artist with a strong, expressive voice and a great live show -- he was at one point considered a dancer rivaling James Brown and Jackie Wilson), and worked with Tyrone Davis and Syl Johnson. He recorded with a number of labels, but never achieved national success. He cut his first full length record, King of Hearts  in 1997 for Evidence Records. Earnest had just completed his new CD project, soon to be released on Fat Possum Record label.

Blues GRAMMY Winners Announced

  The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences has announced its GRAMMY Award winners.  Best Traditional Blues Album went to B.B. King's Blues on the Bayou. Best Contemporary Blues Album went to Robert Cray's Take Your Shoes Off.

Screamin Jay Hawkins Dies

  Screamin' Jay Hawkins, famous for performing his trademark voodoo-inspired blues lying in a coffin, has died in Paris aged 70. Hawkins, who scored his biggest hit in the 1950s with his hollering rendition of  "I Put A Spell On You," died in a hospital after suffering a hemorrhage following an operation on an intestinal obstruction. Hawkins went on to cult fame with hits like "Constipation Blues'' and in later life found a second career as a movie actor after director Jim Jarmusch hired him to star in "Mystery Train'' in 1989. "I came into this world black, naked and ugly. And no matter how much I accumulate here, it's a short journey. I will go out of this world black, naked and ugly. So I enjoy life,'' he told one interviewer.

Musicblitz And Taj Mahal  Launch Bluesblitz Website

  To celebrate February's Black History Month and the profound influence of the blues on American music and culture, MusicBlitz, in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning blues artist and noted musicologist Taj Mahal, unveiled BluesBlitz. This blues-oriented Web community is available online at  http://www.musicblitz.com. Blues fans can find free new recordings and Internet-exclusive downloads from prominent blues artists. Additionally, the Web site features an exclusive streaming video workshop on the history of the blues, presented by Taj Mahal. 

Wade Walton Dies

  Wade Walton, who mixed a career as a blues musician with work as a barber, died January 10th at a St. Louis hospital. Walton was 77. During his music career, he shared the stage with  blues celebrities such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Ike Turner. In 1958 Walton recorded ''The Blues of Wade Walton: Shake 'em on Down.'' The album was widely distributed in Europe and earned him international attention. Walton was regular performer at the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel
Festival.

Singer Curtis Mayfield Dies

  Composer and songwriter Curtis Mayfield, whose work
introduced a social conscience into black music at the height of the civil rights movement and who continued to make music for a decade after an accident left him paralyzed, died Sunday Dec. 26. He was 57.

  Mayfield's string of 1960s hits included "People Get Ready," "Talking About My Baby," and "Keep On Pushing." While other black singers stuck to love songs and dance tunes, Mayfield
pushed the boundaries of rhythm and blues in the mid-1960s by singing of black pride and gritty urban landscapes - paving the way for funk and rap artists for decades to come.

Bobby Marchan Dies

  Bobby Marchan, one of New Orleans' most colorful
rhythm and blues artists, died Dec. 5 after a lengthy illness. Mr. Marchan, whose given name was Oscar James Gibson, was 69.
 
   Marchan's biggest hit, "There Is Something on Your Mind," was a No. 1 rhythm and blues single in 1960. As a member of Huey Smith and the Clowns, he sang on the hits "Don't You Just Know  It," "You Don't Know Yockomo," and "Havin' A          Good Time."