Detroit Jr.

 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.

Little Milton Dies

Little Milton Campbell, who sang the blues for 50 years, died July 28th of complications of a stroke. He was 70 Campbell was born on a Delta farm near Inverness on Sept. 7, 1934. He was named after his father, Big Milton, who was a locally known blues musician. In 1953, Campbell was introduced to Sam Phillips of Sun Records by artist/talent scout Ike Turner. Some of his first recordings were on
the Sun label backed by the Ike Turner Band. In a 2003 tribute to the late Phillips, Campbell said Phillips cared little about critics who were unhappy with "what they called at that time, black music." "He would always say, 'Well, I don't worry about what nobody else say. I'm going to do what I want to do,'" Campbell said. Campbell went on to record "I'm a Lonely Man" and "That Will Never Do" for Bobbin Records. He switched to Checker Records in 1960 and in 1965, he had a hit entitled "We're Gonna Make It." Campbell joined Stax Records in 1971 and recorded "Annie Mae's Cafe" and "Little Bluebird," two of his most memorable songs. Campbell was presented with the W.C. Handy 1988 Blues Entertainer of the Year. He was also inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame that year. The Delta native also enjoyed a career with Malaco Records in Jackson, which began in 1984. At the label he wrote "The Blues Is Alright" and recorded the album "Welcome To Little Milton," which was
nominated in 2000 for Best Contemporary Blues Album. At his death, Campbell was signed with the label Telarc International based in Cleveland, Ohio. His last album "Think of Me" was released in May 2005. In a statement, Pat Campbell and the label expressed thanks for the "outpouring of support from well-wishers throughout the blues community." Telarc spokeswoman Amanda Sweet said condolences can be directed to the Campbell family through the record label and monetary donations
can be made through a fund established at the St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital in Memphis.

Long John Baldry Dies

 Blues legend Long John Baldry has died after a four-month battle with a chest infection on July 23rd. Baldry is credited as one of the main forces in British blues, rock and op music in the 1960s and first hit the top of the U.K. singles charts
in 1967 with" Let the Heartaches Begin." He has released over 40 albums. Baldry, nicknamed Long John because of his six-foot-seven-inch height, had been living in Canada for most of the past 25 years. He has performed and recorded with such top rock 'n' rollers as Rod Stewart, Elton John, Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stones even opened for Baldry in London during an early performance in the
1960s, before the band became a household name. The British press reported that Stewart considered Baldry a mentor, and was at his bedside when he was first admitted to hospital after he fell ill in March. There were reports Stewart even helped to pay his ailing friend's medical bills. Baldry claimed blues legends like Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry as his earliest musical influences.

Eddie Shuler Dies

 Founder and owner of Goldband Records, Eddie Shuler Sr. passed away at
age 92, on July 23rd in a hospital in Atlanta, GA. Eddie Shuler was born March 27, 1913 in Wrightsboro, Texas. Although born across the border in Texas, Eddie has made his name as an integral part of the Louisiana music scene. He was the founder and owner of the Lake Charles-based record label, Goldband, one of the state's most important record labels. He was the producer of the first Zydeco record, "Paper in My Shoe" by Boozoo Chavis, in 1942. He also co-wrote "Bon Ton Roula" with Clarence Garlow (1950), now a recognised classic and staple of most Louisiana bands. In 1943 he became a member of the traditional Cajun band the Hackberry Ramblers, but left two years later to open a record store. He set up Goldband and one of his mainstays was the legendary Cajun, Iry LeJeune. During the 1950s and '60s, he produced many influential recordings by Freddie Fender, Rockin' Sydney, Katie Webster, Jimmy C. Newman, Juke Boy Bonner and Cookie and the Cupcakes among others. Unfortunately, the quality of Goldband's output was not reflected in the charts. The only Goldband single to enter the Billboard Top 100 was "Sugar Bee" by Cleveland Crochet, which peaked at # 80 in 1961. But many Shuler productions were local or regional hits.

Shirley Goodman Dies

 Shirley Goodman, of Shirley and Lee, died in July 5, 2005. Sources vary as to their birthdates, but Shirley Pixley Goodman and Leonard Lee were both born sometime from 1935 to 1937. In the early 50's they formed a rhythm-and-blues duo in New Orleans. They began to record for the Aladdin label in 1952 and became known as "The Sweethearts Of The Blues." They began to record songs that made the top ten on the rhythm-and-blues charts, such as "I'm Gone", "Feel So Good", "I Feel Good" and in 1956 "Let The Good Times Roll." Shirley & Lee continued to record together up until 1963, when Lee began to record songs for Imperial. Shirley developed an act with Jesse Hill which they called Shirley & Jesse, and they worked in New Orleans with Mac Rebennack and others.

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]