A Month of Blues History
April
This is the history of the blues – one month at a time.
April 1
1897 – Lucille Bogan was born April 1, 1897,, probably in Amory, Mississippi or Birmingham, Alabama. One of classic female blues’ boldest voices, she recorded under her own name and as Bessie Jackson, leaving more than 100 sides including “Black Angel Blues” and the notorious “Shave ’Em Dry.”.
1895 – Alberta Hunter was born April 1, 1895, in Memphis, Tennessee. She became a major blues and jazz singer and songwriter, found success in Chicago and Europe, left music for a long nursing career, then made a remarkable stage comeback in 1977.
1927 – Amos Milburn was born April 1, 1927, in Houston, Texas. His rolling boogie piano and string of Aladdin hits, including “Chicken Shack Boogie,” “Bad, Bad Whiskey” and “One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer,” made him a crucial bridge between jump blues and early R&B.
1956 – Elmore James recorded “Strange Kind of Feeling,” James’ slashing amplified slide sound became one of the most copied guitar voices in postwar blues. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 2
1918 – J.T. Brown was born April 2, 1918, in Monticello, Mississippi. The hard-driving tenor saxophonist became a key Chicago blues sideman, recording with Elmore James, Howlin’ Wolf and other postwar artists while also cutting records under his own name.
1936 – Bumble Bee Slim recorded “New Policy Dream” and “Back in Jail Again” in Chicago for Vocalion, accompanied by pianist Myrtle Jenkins. Slim was one of the most prolific blues singers of the 1930s.
1972 – The Checkerboard Lounge opened on Chicago’s South Side, Co-founded by L.C. Thurman and Buddy Guy, it became one of the city’s legendary blues rooms and later hosted Muddy Waters’ famous 1981 jam with the Rolling Stones.
April 3
1955 – John Mooney was born April 3, 1955,. The slide guitarist eventually settled in New Orleans, combining the Delta language he learned partly through Son House with second-line rhythm and Crescent City funk.
1958 – Howlin’ Wolf recorded “Moanin’ for My Baby” in Chicago. The track was later included on his first LP, Moanin’ in the Moonlight, a cornerstone collection of his 1950s Chess work.
1957 – Jimmy Reed recorded “Honest I Do. ” Reed’s easy-rolling guitar, harmonica and behind-the-beat delivery made the song one of his signature Vee-Jay recordings and a lasting Chicago blues standard.
1974 – Professor Longhair and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown recorded “Junco Partner” in Bogalusa, Louisiana, for the Rock ’N’ Roll Gumbo sessions, pairing two highly individual Gulf Coast musical traditions. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 4
1913 – Muddy Waters was born April 4, 1913, McKinley Morganfield near Rolling Fork, Mississippi, according to the commonly used birth date. He carried Delta blues to Chicago and became the central architect of the city’s amplified postwar sound.
1937 – Robert Cage was born April 4, 1937, in New Orleans and raised in Mississippi. A working mechanic and juke-joint musician for decades, he reached a wider audience after Fat Possum recorded his raw Woodville-area blues in the 1990s.
1929 – John Dee Holeman was born April 4, 1929, in North Carolina. The singer, guitarist and buckdancer became one of the major modern keepers of Piedmont blues and received an NEA National Heritage Fellowship.
1964 – B.B. King recorded “Help the Poor” in New York for ABC-Paramount, adding a polished horn arrangement to his deeply expressive electric blues style. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 5
1960 – Larry McCray was born April 5, 1960, in Magnolia, Arkansas. Raised on the music of B. B., Freddie and Albert King, he developed a muscular modern electric blues sound after his family moved to Michigan.
1935 – William “Big Bill” Collins was born April 5, 1935, in Salem, Alabama. He became an important Chicago blues broadcaster and promoter, using radio to champion down-home artists who received little mainstream airplay.
1950 – T-Bone Walker recorded “Strollin’ with Bones,” a sleek demonstration of the sophisticated electric guitar language that helped establish the template for modern blues guitar. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
1961 – Freddie King recorded “The Stumble,” an instrumental showcase whose biting phrasing became required study for generations of blues and rock guitarists. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 6
1921 – Big Walter Horton was born April 6, 1921, in Horn Lake, Mississippi. One of amplified harmonica’s great innovators, he moved through Memphis and Chicago blues circles and became a benchmark for tone, phrasing and control.
1939 – Beverly “Guitar” Watkins was born April 6, 1939, in Atlanta, Georgia. A powerhouse guitarist and singer, she spent years working with Piano Red and Doctor Feelgood before finally receiving wider recognition as a bandleader.
1914 – William “Big Bill” Hill was born April 6, 1914, in Arkansas. As a Chicago radio personality, promoter and club operator, he became an important behind-the-scenes champion of blues, gospel and R&B.
April 7
1903 – Oscar “Buddy” Woods was born April 7, 1903, near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Known as “The Lone Wolf,” he became an early Texas blues lap-steel and slide guitarist whose 1930s records preserve a distinctive prewar sound.
1919 – Jimmy “T-99” Nelson was born April 7, 1919, in Houston, Texas. Mentored by Big Joe Turner, the booming jump-blues singer scored a major R&B hit with “T-99 Blues” and remained a respected Texas blues elder.
1932 – Louis “Mr. Bo” Collins was born April 7, 1932, in Indianola, Mississippi. He later became a fixture of Detroit’s blues scene, carrying a Mississippi-rooted electric guitar style into the industrial North.
1924 – Bessie Smith recorded “Bo Weavil Blues” in New York for Columbia, continuing the run that made her the first great blues recording superstar. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 8
1908 – Moody Jones was born April 8, 1908, in Earle, Arkansas. After moving to Chicago, the guitarist and bassist recorded with Snooky Pryor and cousin Floyd Jones, helping shape the rough, Southern-rooted sound of early postwar Chicago blues.
1955 – Lil’ Ed Williams was born April 8, 1955, in Chicago. The nephew of slide guitarist J.B. Hutto, he carried Hutto’s roaring, house-rocking slide tradition forward with the Blues Imperials.
1931 – Robert Lee Lowery was born April 8, 1931, in Arkansas. His acoustic guitar and vocals preserved a deeply traditional Delta and country-blues approach long after the style’s commercial heyday.
1927 – Peg Leg Howell and his Gang recorded “New Jelly Roll Blues” and “Beaver Slide Rag” in Atlanta for Columbia, documenting the rough-edged string-band side of early Southern blues. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 9
1895 – Mance Lipscomb was born April 9, 1895, near Navasota, Texas. The sharecropper and guitarist called himself a “songster,” and his vast repertoire preserved Texas blues, ballads, dance tunes and older folk material.
1917 – Woodrow Wilson Adams was born April 9, 1917, in Tchula, Mississippi. The guitarist and harmonica player recorded a small but prized body of Delta blues for labels including Sun and Meteor.
1938 – Rockin’ Sidney, born Sidney Simien, was born April 9, 1938, in Lebeau, Louisiana. He moved between swamp blues, R&B and zydeco and later scored the international hit “My Toot Toot.”.
1936 – Texas Alexander recorded “Prairie Dog Hole Blues,” adding another title to the remarkable catalog of one of Texas country blues’ most powerful singers. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 10
1922 – John Brim was born April 10, 1922, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. After settling in the Chicago area, he cut tough electric blues for labels including Chess and wrote “Ice Cream Man,” later widely covered.
1928 – Rosco Gordon was born April 10, 1928, in Memphis. His off-kilter “Rosco rhythm” became a signature of the Sun and RPM-era Memphis sound and later proved influential on Jamaican ska.
1930 – Ray “Little Ray” Agee was born April 10, 1930, in Alabama. The singer moved west and became a prolific, underappreciated voice in Los Angeles blues and R&B.
1954 – Horace Sprott recorded “Take This Hammer,” preserving the Alabama singer and guitarist’s country-blues repertoire for later listeners. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 11
1897 – Henry Stuckey was born April 11, 1897, in Bentonia, Mississippi. Though he never recorded commercially, he is remembered as an early source of the eerie minor-key Bentonia guitar tradition and as a mentor to Skip James.
1913 – John Lee Granderson was born April 11, 1913, in Ellendale, Tennessee. He brought West Tennessee country blues to Chicago, played Maxwell Street and later recorded for blues researchers and anthology projects.
1935 – Johnnie Billington was born April 11, 1935, in Crowder, Mississippi. After years in Chicago, he returned to the Delta and became a major blues educator, teaching generations of young musicians around Clarksdale.
1939 – Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson was born April 11, 1939, in Itta Bena, Mississippi. He worked with Magic Sam and spent years in Muddy Waters’ band before establishing his own career.
April 12
1915 – Hound Dog Taylor was probably born on this date in Natchez, Mississippi, although 1917 also appears in sources. His six-fingered, gloriously ragged slide attack became the sound that launched Alligator Records.
1921 – Shakey Jake Harris was born April 12, 1921, in Earle, Arkansas. A gambler, club figure, singer and harmonica player, he became part of Chicago’s West Side scene and recorded with musicians including Magic Sam.
1937 – Asie Payton was born April 12, 1937, in Mississippi. A farmer and Delta bluesman from Holly Ridge, he was recorded late in life by Fat Possum, and his hypnotic performances became better known after his death.
1954 – Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle and Roll” was released by Atlantic, sending a veteran blues shouter into the center of the emerging R&B and rock-and-roll marketplace. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 13
1922 – Roy Dunn was born April 13, 1922, in Eatonton, Georgia. The guitarist and singer became a respected Atlanta-area bluesman whose understated playing kept older Southern traditions alive.
1926 – Cosimo Matassa was born April 13, 1926, in New Orleans. His tiny J&M Recording Studio captured an extraordinary run of New Orleans R&B and blues records and became one of the most important rooms in American roots music.
1928 – Barbecue Bob recorded “Blind Pig Blues” in Atlanta for Columbia, adding to the influential catalog of the Atlanta twelve-string guitarist. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
1954 – Muddy Waters recorded Willie Dixon’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You” with Little Walter, Otis Spann, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Dixon and Fred Below, a near-perfect snapshot of the classic Chicago blues band. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 14
1928 – Pink Anderson and Simmie Dooley recorded “C.C. & O. Blues” in Atlanta for Columbia, preserving a classic example of the Piedmont songster tradition.
1964 – Joseph “Mojo” Morganfield was born April 14, 1964,, the youngest son of Muddy Waters. He later performed blues and worked to honor his father’s legacy.
1925 – William “Wild Bill” Harris was born April 14, 1925, in North Carolina. The guitarist brought a strong blues sensibility to R&B and jazz settings, including work with the Clovers.
1955 – Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” was released, carrying New Orleans piano, blues harmony and a rolling backbeat into the national pop market. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 15
1894 – Bessie Smith was born April 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The “Empress of the Blues” became the first towering blues recording star, setting standards for phrasing, power and emotional authority that remain unmatched.
1943 – Mighty Sam McClain was born April 15, 1943, in Monroe, Louisiana. His church-rooted voice made him one of the most emotionally compelling singers in modern Southern soul-blues.
1936/1938 – Frank Frost was born April 15, 1936/1938, in Arkansas; sources disagree on the year. The harmonica player worked with Robert Nighthawk and later formed a celebrated Delta partnership with Sam Carr and Jack Johnson.
1942 – Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup recorded “Mean Old ’Frisco Blues,” one of the Mississippi singer-guitarist’s enduring Bluebird-era performances. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 16
1931 – Johnny Littlejohn was born April 16, 1931, John Wesley Funchess in Lake, Mississippi. His droning, aggressive slide guitar became a familiar sound in Chicago clubs and on a small but potent catalog of recordings.
1937 – Artie “Blues Boy” White was born April 16, 1937, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After moving to Chicago, he became one of the city’s strongest soul-blues singers and scored a regional hit with “Leanin’ Tree.”.
1935 – Haskell “Cool Papa” Sadler was born April 16, 1935, in Denver, Colorado. He became a beloved Bay Area blues guitarist, singer and songwriter and a longtime San Francisco Blues Festival presence.
1961 – Mercy Dee Walton recorded “One Room Country Shack,” a deeply personal piano-blues performance that became one of his best-known songs. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 17
1926 – Sam Carr was born April 17, 1926, in Marvell, Arkansas. The drummer became the rock-solid rhythmic center of the Jelly Roll Kings with Frank Frost and Big Jack Johnson, one of the great modern Delta blues units.
1932 – Byther Smith was born April 17, 1932, in Monticello, Mississippi. He moved into Chicago’s hard-edged electric blues scene and developed an intense songwriting and guitar style that sounded dangerous because it often was.
1956 – Lonnie Shields was born April 17, 1956, in West Helena, Arkansas. His modern Delta blues blended country roots with gospel, funk and soul.
1952 – Howlin’ Wolf recorded “Bluebird,” “That’s Alright” and “Saddle My Pony” at Sun in Memphis, part of the explosive early work that introduced his Delta-rooted sound to records. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 18
1906 – Little Brother Montgomery was born April 18, 1906, in Kentwood, Louisiana. His sophisticated piano style connected barrelhouse, New Orleans music and Chicago blues and influenced players including Sunnyland Slim and Otis Spann.
1924 – Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was born April 18, 1924, in Vinton, Louisiana. Guitar, fiddle and a refusal to stay inside genre lines made him a singular Texas-Louisiana musician spanning blues, swing, country and Cajun music.
1923 – “Stack O’ Lee Blues,” an early recorded version of the Stagger Lee ballad, was cut by Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians, showing how quickly the notorious St. Louis murder story had entered American popular song.
April 19
1898 – Doctor Clayton was born April 19, 1898, Peter Joe Clayton. After personal tragedy, he became a forceful Chicago blues singer and songwriter whose material influenced B. B; King and other postwar artists.
1928 – Alexis Korner was born April 19, 1928, in Paris. Although outside the calendar’s main American regional focus, his blues clubs and Blues Incorporated became a crucial gateway for British musicians discovering Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and electric Chicago blues.
1965 – Virginia songster John Jackson recorded roughly forty songs for Chris Strachwitz in Fairfax, sessions that supplied material for his debut album Country Blues and Dances. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 20
1922 – Little Willie Foster was born April 20, 1922,, according to commonly cited sources. The Mississippi-born singer and harmonica player recorded a handful of tough Chicago blues sides in the 1950s.
1929 – Johnny Fuller was born April 20, 1929, in Edwards, Mississippi. He moved to California and recorded blues, gospel, R&B and early rock-and-roll material in the Bay Area.
1958 – Gary Primich was born April 20, 1958, in Chicago. He learned harmonica in the city’s blues environment before moving to Austin. Where he became one of the leading modern electric blues harp players.
1966 – Albert King, backed by Booker T. & the M.G.’s, recorded “Laundromat Blues” for Stax, an early example of the Memphis blues-soul combination that would define his classic period.
April 21
1938 – Eddie King was born April 21, 1938, in Talladega, Alabama. After moving to Chicago, the guitarist worked with Willie Dixon and spent years behind Koko Taylor before recording as a leader.
1946 – Doug MacLeod was born April 21, 1946, in New York City. He developed into an acclaimed acoustic blues guitarist, slide player and songwriter known for original material and story-driven performances.
1945 – Modern Records was founded in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Through Modern and affiliates such as RPM and Kent, the company became central to postwar blues and R&B, recording B. B; King, John Lee Hooker and many others.
1938 – Rosetta Howard recorded “Delta Bound,” part of the Chicago classic-blues singer’s prewar catalog. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 22
1919 – Bull Moose Jackson was born April 22, 1919, in Cleveland, Ohio. The saxophonist and singer moved easily between blues ballads, jump R&B and gloriously suggestive novelty numbers, scoring a string of late-1940s hits.
1924 – George “Harmonica” Smith was born April 22, 1924, in West Helena, Arkansas. His huge amplified tone and chromatic harmonica work became a major influence on West Coast blues players and generations of harp specialists.
1957 – James Armstrong was born April 22, 1957, in Los Angeles. The guitarist and singer built a modern soul-blues career shaped by both jazz guitar and traditional blues influences.
April 23
1894 – Cow Cow Davenport was born April 23, 1894, in Anniston, Alabama. His rolling piano, vaudeville background and “Cow Cow Blues” made him an important early boogie-woogie figure.
1931 – Billy Davenport was born April 23, 1931, in Chicago. The drummer became part of the city’s blues scene and later joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, carrying Chicago blues rhythm into the 1960s revival.
1941 – Lil Green recorded “Why Don’t You Do Right,” a song that later became a pop standard while retaining the smoky phrasing of its blues origins. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
1955 – Ray Charles recorded “Drown in My Own Tears,” “A Fool for You” and “Hallelujah I Love Her So” in Miami for Atlantic, a remarkable session at the intersection of blues, gospel and emerging soul. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 24
1897 – Elzadie Robinson was possibly born on this date in Louisiana; sources also give 1900. She recorded 34 blues titles between 1926 and 1929 and unusually wrote or co-wrote much of her own material.
1895 – Charlie “Specks” McFadden was born April 24, 1895, in Quincy, Illinois. He became a St. Louis blues singer whose recordings often featured pianist Roosevelt Sykes.
1885 – Lillyn Brown was born April 24, 1885, in Atlanta. The vaudeville singer and educator later claimed to have sung blues publicly as early as 1908, placing her near the beginning of professional blues performance history.
April 25
1923 – Albert King was born April 25, 1923, in Indianola, Mississippi. The left-handed guitarist’s massive tone, upside-down Flying V and extraordinary string bends made him one of the three great “Kings” and a foundation of modern electric blues guitar.
1966 – Big Mama Thornton recorded “Life Goes On” in San Francisco during sessions that paired her with members of the Muddy Waters Blues Band, bringing together two towering branches of postwar blues. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
1967 – Albert King’s Stax period was gathering momentum around this era, when his partnership with Booker T. & the M.G.’s fused Mississippi-rooted guitar blues with the Memphis soul rhythm section and produced the sound of Born Under a Bad Sign.
April 26
1915 – Johnny Shines was born April 26, 1915, in Tennessee. A powerful Delta slide guitarist and former traveling partner of Robert Johnson, he later adapted naturally to electric Chicago blues and finally received wider recognition during the blues revival.
1907 – Shirley Griffith was born April 26, 1907, in Brandon, Mississippi. Associated with Tommy Johnson, Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell, he later became an important rediscovery of the 1960s folk-blues era.
1926 – J.B. Hutto was born April 26, 1926, in Blackville, South Carolina. After moving to Chicago, he became one of the city’s fiercest slide guitarists, leading the Hawks and carrying forward the Elmore James school with maximum volume.
1923 – Bessie Smith recorded “Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do” for Columbia, adding her authority to a song that became one of the enduring standards of blues and jazz. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 27
1907 – Ike Zimmerman was born April 27, 1907, in Grady, Alabama. Though he left no commercial recordings, family testimony and later research identify him as a major guitar mentor to Robert Johnson during Johnson’s dramatic period of musical development.
1921 – Hop Wilson was born April 27, 1921, in Grapeland, Texas. His distorted lap-steel guitar gave Houston blues a strange, singing edge unlike almost anyone else in the genre.
1927 – Victoria Spivey recorded a large St. Louis session for OKeh, including “Idle Hour Blues,” “T.B. Blues” and “Arkansas Road Blues,” with Lonnie Johnson among the accompanists.
1923 – Sara Martin recorded “Cruel Backbitin’ Blues,” continuing the classic female blues boom of the 1920s. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 28
1940 – Phil Guy was born April 28, 1940, in Lettsworth, Louisiana. The younger brother of Buddy Guy became a respected Chicago blues guitarist in his own right, working with Buddy, Junior Wells and his own bands.
1934 – Charley Patton died in Indianola, Mississippi. The first great star of Delta blues left a recorded blueprint of pounding rhythm, shouted vocals and showmanship that shaped Son House, Howlin’ Wolf and generations after them.
1931 – Louis “Blues Boy” Jones was born April 28, 1931, in Galveston, Texas. He recorded spirited R&B and blues for labels including Peacock and Duke and worked in the same Texas orbit as Bobby “Blue” Bland and Big Mama Thornton.
1950 – Lloyd Jones was born April 28, 1950, in Seattle and raised in Portland. He became a durable Pacific Northwest blues guitarist and songwriter with a groove-heavy blend of blues, soul and funk.
April 29
1934 – Otis Rush was born April 29, 1934, in Philadelphia, Mississippi. His upside-down left-handed guitar, aching tenor and long, tortured bends helped define West Side Chicago blues and profoundly influenced later guitarists.
1933 – Raymond Hill was born April 29, 1933, in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The tenor saxophonist joined Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm, played on “Rocket 88,” and became a Sun session musician behind Howlin’ Wolf and others.
1937 – Lefty Dizz was born April 29, 1937, Walter Williams in Osceola, Arkansas. The upside-down left-handed guitarist worked with Junior Wells and Hound Dog Taylor before becoming one of Chicago’s most flamboyant club performers.
1975 – Otis Rush recorded “You’re Breakin’ My Heart” for Delmark, capturing the West Side master during a period of renewed studio activity. The entry documents a date-specific milestone in the subject’s blues career and biography.
April 30
1910 – Homesick James was born April 30, 1910, in Tennessee, according to the date he commonly used. The slide guitarist became closely associated with Elmore James and remained a durable link to the raw postwar Chicago slide tradition.
1931 – Jimmy Lee Robinson was born April 30, 1931, in Chicago. The guitarist, singer and songwriter worked around the city with blues figures including Little Walter and later recorded under his own name.
1896 – Rev. Gary Davis was born April 30, 1896, in Laurens, South Carolina. His astonishing fingerstyle technique joined Piedmont blues, ragtime and gospel and influenced generations of acoustic guitarists.
1917 – Frankie Lee Sims was born April 30, 1917, in New Orleans and later became a major Texas country-blues guitarist. Related to Texas Alexander and Lightnin’ Hopkins, he recorded hard, rhythmic postwar blues including “Lucy Mae Blues.”.