Blues Artist of the Week - T-Bone Walker

Aaron Thibeaux Walker (May 28, 1910 — March 16, 1975) was an American blues guitarist, singer, pianist, and songwriter born in Linden, Texas, of African American and Native American (Cherokee) descent.

T-Bone is regarded as the first blues musician to use an electric guitar. He was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues and electric blues sound. According to Wikipedia, Jump Blues is “is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll.”

He was ranked #47 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Chuck Berry, B.B. King, and Jimi Hendrix were a few artists that credited T-Bone Walker as a guiding influence. 

 Stormy Monday is his most famous song. T-Bone’s Stormy Monday was cited by BB. King as the inspiration for him to get an electric guitar and was covered by The Allman Brothers Band, Jethro Tull, and even Eva Cassidy. Jimi Hendrix and Steve Miller credited T-Bone with teaching them how to play the guitar with their teeth!  

 I recommend you start your listening and exploration of T-Bone Walker with T-Bone Blues (1959). 

Blues Artist of the Week - Albert King

A blues player I’m currently enjoying is Albert King. Albert King (1923-1992) was the stage name for Albert Nelson. By some accounts, he was born in Indianola, Mississippi, and others (his Social Security application) Aberdeen, Mississippi.

Albert was known as the Velvet Bulldozer given his towering size (6’4” and over 250 LBS) coupled with the fact he drove a bulldozer early in life.

He played a big triangular Gibson Flying V-shaped like a rocket ship named Lucy. He played it upside down, left-handed and didn’t reverse the strings. His style is described as powerful string-bending, with soulful, smoky vocals.

He is a member of both the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

A great album to start enjoying Albert with is considered his trademark album - Stax singles “Born Under a Bad Sign. Also, Live Wire/Blues Power, recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco, and the,” “Cross Cut Saw,” “The Hunter,” and “I’ll Play the Blues for You” albums are great.