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Artist: Darla Daret
A busy session vocalist in the 1950s and early-60s, Darla Daret was equally comfortable singing pop as she was singing country music. A member of western swing group, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, in 1955, she continued to periodically work with the band throughout the remainder of the 1950s. Her vocals on the Sonny James recording, "Are You... [+] Read More
Artist: IAN B. MACLEOD - THE ROCKABILLY COWBOY
Born of a Scottish father and English mother, Ian B. MacLeod first set foot on Australian soil whilst with the Merchant Navy when he and some fellow crew members appeared on 2UW's Amateur Hour and won it, only to be disqualified later when it was discovered that they weren't residents!This was all the incentive Ian needed and when he got back... [+] Read More
Artist: Johnny Griffith
Pianist Johnny Griffith can be heard on classic Motown sides, as well as on recordings from other Detroit-area labels. Like Motown's other pianists, Joe Hunter and Earl Van Dyke, Griffith's had an extensive musical background. He held musical degrees from Wayne State University and the University of Detroit. His musical influences included Oscar... [+] Read More
Artist: Mitty Collier
Singer Mitty Collier is best known for her sensual orchestrated ballad "I Had a Talk With My Man," a 1964 Chess single, which ironically wasn't her highest-charting single. A later single, "Sharing You," was a Top Ten R&B hit. "...Man" has been covered by Dusty Springfield (Anthology, 1997), Shirley Brown (Timeless, 1991), Inez Foxx (Memphis &... [+] Read More
Artist: The Hornets
They only had a few releases, and no hits, but the Hornets were one of Cleveland, OH's most talked about groups of the '50s and 60's. The original Hornets were Ben Iverson, Johnny Moore, James "Sonny" Long, and Gus Miller, but except for Iverson, the lineup wasn't etched in stone. Bill Brent, Carl Brown, Bobby Woods, and Eddie Woods (unrelated... [+] Read More
Artist: The Lamplighters
The L.A.-based Lamplighters are best known as the group who later evolved into the Sharps, the backup group for Thurston Harris ("Little Bitty Pretty One," number two R&B and number six pop in 1957 for Aladdin). Former Hollywood Flame second tenor Willie Ray Rockwell, Matt Nelson, Al Frazier, and Harris formed the Lamplighters in the spring of... [+] Read More
Artist: Mel Brown
Best known for his decade-plus stint in support of Bobby "Blue" Bland, Mel Brown channeled elements of soul, funk, and jazz to create one of the most distinctive guitar styles in contemporary blues. Born October 7, 1939, in Jackson, MS, Brown received his first guitar at the age of 14 while battling meningitis, spending hours each day studying... [+] Read More
Artist: Deadric Malone
Deadric Malone is the pseudonym of label owner, songwriter, and producer Don Robey, whose name should be on any serious list of early pop/R&B pioneers. His Duke/Peacock family of labels boasted an impressive roster: Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Big Mama Thornton, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, the Dixie Hummingbirds, O.V. Wright, Carl Carlton,... [+] Read More
Artist: Billy Davis
Born Roquel Davis on July 11, 1937, in Detroit, MI, producer/songwriter Billy Davis attended Northern High School (whose alumni includes legendary Motown bassist James Jamerson), Wayne State University, and the Maurice King School of Music. He began a singing career as a member of the Five Jets, who recorded for Deluxe Records in 1953 and 1954.... [+] Read More
Artist: Jay Nash
Jay Nash's defining musical moment came at age12, after hearing a 90-minute Maxell tape with the 1971 Grateful Dead Live album on one side and Cat Stevens’ Greatest Hits on the other. To steal a line: What a long, strange trip it's been – and it's brought him where he is today.Jay grew up in the small town of Manlius, outside Syracuse in... [+] Read More
Artist: Stick McGhee
He may have not been as prolific or celebrated as his brother Brownie, but guitarist Stick McGhee cut some great boozy blues and R&B from 1947 to 1960 -- including the immortal "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" (a tune that Jerry Lee Lewis, for one, picked up on early in life and has revived often since).
Young Granville McGhee earned his nickname... [+] Read More
Artist: George Williams
Best known as the longtime lead vocalist for the Philly soul group the Tymes, George Williams was born in the City of Brotherly Love on December 6, 1935. After serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to Philadelphia in 1961, signing on with a longstanding local harmony group called the Latineers; with his polished, Johnny Mathis-inspired delivery,... [+] Read More
Artist: Bones Howe
Producer/engineer Bones Howe had huge hits with the 5th Dimension, the Association, and the Turtles, and he recorded Tom Waits' highly acclaimed albums of the '70s and '80s. He earned the nickname "Bones" because of his thinness. Born Dayton Howe in 1933 in Minneapolis, MN, he was mystified as a child when he'd play his family's 78 rpm records.... [+] Read More
Artist: Willie Kent
The preeminent Chicago blues bassist of the postwar era, Willie Kent was the city's last surviving link to the Mississippi Delta tradition, backing a who's who of immortals including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Junior Parker as well as fronting his own long-running band, the Gents. Born in Inverness, MS, on February 24, 1936, Kent was the... [+] Read More
Artist: Chris Beard
Guitarist, singer and songwriter Chris Beard is the son of Rochester-area blues guitarist Joe Beard. He has been patiently paying his dues on the club circuit around the Northeast for the last 20 years. Beard, who goes by the nickname "Prince of the Blues," is one of the young lions of blues in the 1990s. He can be safely grouped with other... [+] Read More
Artist: Steve Gibson
While there is more than one Gibson guitar, and more than one person named Steve Gibson playing them, one and only one Steve Gibson seems to have made all the records. The latter expression describes a tally of all the records featuring country session picker Steve Gibson, but anyone gazing upon this discography would be forgiven for thinking it... [+] Read More
Artist: Willie Bryant
Willie Bryant was significant to music twice in his career, as the leader of a talented big band during 1935-38 and as a popular MC and disc jockey in the 1950's. He grew up in Chicago and tried unsuccessfully to learn the trumpet. Bryant began his career in show business in 1926, working as a dancer in the Whitman Sisters' Show. He performed in... [+] Read More
Artist: Michael B. Smith
Michael B. Smith has been a writer and musician for over 20 years, currently fronting a band called Michael B's Travelin' Medicine Show based in his home port in Upstate South Carolina. He writes freelance for publications including Relix, Goldmine, Ya'll, and many other newspapers and magazines. In 1997, Smith's first book, "Carolina Dreams:... [+] Read More
Artist: Eric Sardinas
The term "blues-rock" brings with it a connotation of a blues artist "selling out" in order to make more money or a rock band blaring heavy riffs with a thinly veiled strain of blues. A worse offense is that many of these rock artists have little or no knowledge of the blues in its historical context or its mythological roots. That is certainly... [+] Read More
Artist: Gary B.B. Coleman
After a career as a local bluesman and blues promoter in Texas and Oklahoma, Gary Coleman found his niche when he signed over his first album, a self-produced outing originally issued on his own label, to the fledgling Ichiban company out of Atlanta in 1986. Since that time, both Coleman and Ichiban made their marks in the blues field -- not... [+] Read More
Artist: Bernard Edwards
Bernard Edwards' supple, big bottom bass lines powered platinum hits by Chic, the '70s dance/pop band that he co-founded with guitarist/songwriter/producer Nile Rodgers. The group scored three gold singles and one platinum single including two number one pop/R&B singles, "Le Freak" and "Good Times"; two platinum albums, C'est Chic and Risque;... [+] Read More
Artist: Neil Diamond
In a career that began in the 1960s, Neil Diamond became a major recording artist, an internationally successful touring act, and a songwriter whose compositions produced hits for himself and others. His earliest recognition, in fact, came as a songwriter associated with the Brill Building era of Tin Pan Alley in the early '60s. But he soon... [+] Read More
Artist: Jablkon
The adventurous, highly risk-taking Jablkon has turned out to be one of the more long-lasting bands on the Czech music scene. Formed in what is now the Czech Republic back in the late '70s, Jablkon was around during the Cold War -- lead singer Michal Nemec is old enough to remember a time when Eastern Europe was dominated by Soviet-style... [+] Read More
Artist: J.B. Hutto
J.B. Hutto -- along with Hound Dog Taylor -- was one of the last great slide guitar disciples of Elmore James to make it into the modern age. Hutto's huge voice, largely incomprehensible diction and slash and burn playing was Chicago blues with a fierce, raw edge all its own. He entered the world of music back home in Augusta, Georgia, singing... [+] Read More
Artist: The Flamingos
Universally hailed as one of the finest and most influential vocal groups in pop music history, the Flamingos defined doo wop at its most elegant and sophisticated, their matchless harmonies profoundly impacting the Motown Sound of the 1960s and the Philly soul of the following decade. The roots of the Flamingos lie in Baltimore, where cousins... [+] Read More
