Harry Hypolite Dies

 Guitarist Harry Hypolite died Wednesday, June 22, the result of a car crash near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was 68. The guitarist nicknamed "Big Daddy" had worked as a sideman for more than 40 years, most notably in the bands of the Zydeco great Clifton Chenier and later Chenier's son C.J. He moved to the front of the stage around the time that his debut CD, "Louisiana Country Boy", was released on APO Records in 2001. The record was nominated for a Handy Award in the category of "Best New Artist Debut" and propelled Hypolite to international acclaim. He performed at some of the most respected blues venues, including the Monterey Bay Blues Festival, Lucerne Blues Festival and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Hypolite worked part-time as a musician until the early 1980s when Clifton Chenier hired him fulltime for his Red Hot Louisiana Band. Hypolite played all over the world behind the most famous Zydeco artist there's ever been until Chenier's death in 1987. Son C.J. Chenier then took the band's reins, and Hypolite stayed on with the unit until 1999, when he left to join his nephew Nathan Williams of Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas. Though Hypolite's vocals were featured on several recordings with the Red Hot Louisiana Band, his lone recording as a leader was a long-out-of-print single for the La Louisianne label until his 2001 APO release.

Percy Strother Dies

 Singer/guitarist Percy Strother passed away May 30th. Born July 23, 1946 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was still a child when his father died violently; his mother passed away shortly afterward, and rather than submitting to life in an orphanage, Strother simply took to the road. He drifted from job to job for a number of years, all the while fighting a battle with alcoholism; discovering the blues turned his life around, however, and after sobering up he began teaching himself guitar, honing his chops in virtual anonymity before recording his debut LP "A Good Woman Is Hard to Find" in 1992. "The Highway Is My Home" followed in 1995, and in 1997 Strother returned with "It's My Time." He toured Europe several times and recorded "Home at Last" which saw release in 2001 on the Black & Tan label.

26th Annual Handy Award Winners Announced

 The Blues Foundation has awarded this year's W.C. Handy Awards in the annual ceremony in Memphis, Tennessee. The Handys this year go to:

Acoustic Blues Album— Double Take Kenny Neal & Billy Branch
Acoustic Blues Artist—David “Honeyboy” Edwards
New Artist Debut—Blues With a Vengeance John Lee Hooker, Jr.
Blues Album— Have a Little Faith Mavis Staples
Blues Band—The Holmes Brothers
Blues Bass--Willie Kent
Blues Drums--Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Blues Entertainer--B.B. King
Blues Guitar—Bob Margolin
Blues Harmonica--Charlie Musselwhite
Blues Horns--Roomful of Blues Horns
Blues Instrumentalist –Robert Randolph
Blues Keyboards—Marcia Ball
Blues Song— Have a Little Faith Jim Tullio and Jim Weider
Comeback Blues Album—Back in 20 Gary U.S. Bonds
Contemporary Blues Album—Sanctuary Charlie Musselwhite
Contemporary Blues Artist—Charlie Musselwhite
Contemporary Blues Artist—Shemekia Copeland
Historical Blues Album—Release the Hound Hound Dog Taylor
Soul Blues Album -- Have a Little Faith Mavis Staples
Soul Blues Artist—Mavis Staples
Soul Blues Artist—Bobby Rush
Traditional Blues Album—Ladies Man Pinetop Perkins
Traditional Blues Artist-Koko Taylor
Traditional Blues Artist--Pinetop Perkins

Neal Pattman Dies

 Athens bluesman Neal Pattman, whose one-armed harmonica playing and soulful vocals earned him legendary status in Northeast Georgia, died of cancer at age 79 on May 4th, 2005 in Athens, Georgia. For the past seven decades, Pattman offered his heart-felt music inside businesses, at churches, on nightclub stages and for music festivals. attman's music was also recorded on several tapes and compact discs, including the 1999 release "Prison Blues " for the Music Maker label.

Cootie Stark Dies

 Piedmont bluesman Cootie Stark died on Thursday April 14th, 2005. Cootie Stark, born Johnny Miller in 1926, came up hard and learned much from the music of his Uncle Chump and Piedmont blues legend Baby Tate. He issued 2 CDs in his lifetime, Sugar Man in 1999 on the Cello Recordings label and Raw Sugar on Music Maker in 2002. He was Music Maker's greatest ambassador and in the nearly 10 years performed hundreds of sets all across America, Europe and Costa Rica. He played every show of the Winston Blues Revival tour with Taj Mahal, the Lincoln Center, the Chicago Blues Festival and dozens of other festivals and clubs.

Johnny Johnson Dies

 Johnnie Johnson, the blues and early rock 'n' roll pianist who played on many
of Chuck Berry's early hits and performed with Mr. Berry for more than 20
years, died yesterday at April 13th at his home in St. Louis. It was his bouncing, insistent piano chords and glissandos that were the backdrop to the guitar riffs on many of the Chuck Berry hits of the 1950's and early 60's, including "Maybellene," "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Almost Grown," and "You Never Can Tell." Mr. Berry wrote "Johnny B. Goode" as a tribute to his pianist. On breaks from working with Mr. Berry, Mr. Johnson played occasionally with
Albert King and Little Richard. He released albums under his own name such as "Blue Hand Johnnie" (1988), "Johnnie B. Bad" (1991), "That'll Work" (1993) and "Johnnie Be Back" (1995). He was the subject of a 1999 biography, "Father of Rock & Roll: The Story of Johnnie 'B. Goode' Johnson," by Travis Fitzpatrick. In 2001 Mr. Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Mr. Richards. His last public performance, last February, was with Bo Diddley.

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.