Little Jimmy REED

⬇️ LIL' JIMMY REED ⬇️
(Leon Atkins)
(6CD)
 
 BIOGRAPHY 
Leon Atkins, better known as Lil’ Jimmy Reed, is the real deal, as will be attested to by anyone who has been privileged to hear his stinging guitar work, gritty vocals and haunting harmonica. A tall charismatic figure, Lil’ Jimmy epitomises the classic Louisiana down-home blues tradition. Born in the late nineteen-thirties in a shot-gun shack in Hardwood, LA, a small cotton and sawmill town on the Mississippi River, Leon grew up near a club where every night he absorbed the wail of the blues from across the street.

At six he had his own guitar, made from a cigar box, and by the time he was a teenager he was proficient on both guitar and harmonica, playing local clubs around Baton Rouge. Filling-in one night for blues star Jimmy Reed earned him the sobriquet Lil’ Jimmy Reed and started him on the long path to success.

After years of playing small clubs and taverns, Lil’ Jimmy took time out to serve his country in the military. Since his return to civilian life his career has blossomed. He has shared the stage with B. B. King and Bobby “ Blue” Bland and head-lined festivals in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland. In recent years, he’s added Italy, Spain, Israel and Russia to his tally. His many fans recognise that Lil’ Jimmy’s performances are almost the last chance to hear the raw, unadulterated sound of authentic Louisiana blues.

In the sixties, the blues came to Britain and inspired a generation of teenagers who in turn took the music to international success. Prominent amongst these young men was the critically-acclaimed pianist Bob Hall, whose distinctive blues and boogie style on hundreds of recordings has influenced a host of others. Bob and his wife, the dynamic singer and rock-steady bassist Hilary Blythe, have joined forces with Lil’ Jimmy to form The Lil’ Jimmy Reed Band. Over the past five years this tight little outfit has given a series of show-stopping performances all over Europe.

John Henry BARBEE

⬇️JOHN HENRY BARBEE⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY (12CD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
John Henry Barbee (November 14, 1905 – November 3, 1964)[1] was an American blues singer and guitarist. He was born in Henning, Tennessee. He claimed that he was born William George Tucker and that he changed his name with the commencement of his recording career, in tribute to his favorite folk song, "The Ballad of John Henry", but this claim is not supported by census records, in which he is registered as the son of Beecher Barbee and Cora Gilford.

Barbee toured in the 1930s throughout the American South, singing and playing slide guitar. He teamed up with Big Joe Williams and, later, with Sunnyland Slim in Memphis, Tennessee. Travelling down to Mississippi, he met Sonny Boy Williamson and played with him off and on for several years.[4] He released two sides for Vocalion Records in 1939 ("Six Weeks Old Blues" and "God Knows I Can't Help It"). The record sold well enough to cause Vocalion to call on Barbee again, but by that time he had left his last known whereabouts in Arkansas. Barbee explained that this sudden move was due to his evading the law for shooting and killing his girlfriend's lover. He later found out that he had only injured the man, but by the time this was discovered, Barbee was no longer making a career playing music.

Barbee did not show up again in the music industry until the early 1960s, when a revival of interest in the blues was at its height. Willie Dixon searched for Barbee and found him working as an ice-cream server in Chicago, Illinois. In 1964, Barbee joined the American Folk Blues Festival on a European tour with other blues players, including Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf.

Barbee returned to the United States after getting diagnosed with a severe form of cancer, and used the money from the tour to purchase his first automobile. Ten days after buying the car, he accidentally ran over and killed a man. He was taken to a Chicago jail and died there of a heart attack a few days later, on November 3, 1964, 11 days before his 59th birthday. He is interred in the Restvale Cemetery, in Alsip, Illinois.

The third annual White Lake Blues Festival, held at the Howmet Playhouse Theater in Whitehall, Michigan, on May 11, 2010, was organized by executive producer Steve Salter, of the nonprofit organization Killer Blues, to raise monies to honor Barbee's unmarked grave with a headstone. The event was a success, and a stone was placed in June 2010. (Wikipedia)

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⬇️ VARIOUS ARTISTS ⬇️
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VA-And This Is Free  Life and Times of Chicago's ... @FLAC

WOLF SERIES (WBCD)

⬇️ WOLF SERIES ⬇️
(WBCD/WSE)
COLLECTION (18CD)




NEW!
WSE107-VA-Giants of Country Blues Vol.1 (1927-38) @FLAC

Ray_CHARLES

⬇️ RAY CHARLES ⬇️
(Ray Charles Robinson)
DISCOGRAPHY 1954-2024 (358CD/DVD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
       
Ray Charles Robinson (known as Ray Charles; September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer who is sometimes referred to as "The Genius".

He pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s by combining rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into music recorded by Atlantic Records.

He also contributed to the racial integration of country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his two Modern Sounds albums.

While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called him "the only true genius in show business", although Charles downplayed this notion. He was blind from the age of seven. His best friend in music was South Carolina-born James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul".

Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, and country artists of the day, including: Art Tatum, Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, and Louis Armstrong. Charles' playing reflected influences from country blues, barrelhouse and stride piano styles.... (Wikipedia)

NEW!
1961.10.22-Live At Palais Des Sports Paris, France (Afternoon Concert) @FLAC
1963-Ingredients In A Recipe For Soul (LP) @320
1964-Ray Charles  (Guest Star) @FLAC
1979-A Song Of You (Live Austin '79) @FLAC
2007-Ray Charles The Genius! @FLAC

THE BLUES BOX (Storyville)

⬇️ THE BLUES BOX ⬇️
COLLECTION (7CD)

Hans THEESSINK

⬇️ HANS THEESSINK ⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY (34CD/DVD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
Hans Theessink (born 5 April 1948, Enschede, Netherlands) is a Dutch guitarist, mandolinist, singer and songwriter, living in Vienna, Austria. He performs blues and roots music, particularly in a Delta blues style. He is a bass-baritone. Theessink has released 20 albums, a songbook, a blues-guitar instruction video and a DVD.

In 2012, he released Delta Time (2012), performed with Terry Evans and featuring Ry Cooder.

In 2013, he released Wishing Well, which he described as a retrospective album looking back at many of his favorite moments in his music career. The album also features several originals, including "House Up On The Hill," which he described as a song about flooding in Mississippi. Hans has said he was partly inspired by observing floods in his home country of The Netherlands during his childhood. (Wikipedia)

NEW!
2025-75 Birthday Bash (Live) @FLAC

Frankie Lee SIMS

⬇️ FRANKIE LEE SIMS ⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY 1974-2023 (15LP/CD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
        
Frankie Lee Sims (April 30, 1917, New Orleans, Louisiana – May 10, 1970, Dallas, Texas) was an American singer-songwriter and electric blues guitarist. He released nine singles during his career, one of which, "Lucy Mae Blues" (1953), was a regional hit. Two compilation albums of his work were released posthumously.


Sims was the cousin of another Texas blues musician, Lightnin' Hopkins, and he worked with several other prominent blues musicians, including Texas Alexander, T-Bone Walker, King Curtis and Albert Collins. Sims is regarded as one of the important figures in postwar Texas country blues.

Sims was born on April 30, 1917, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Henry Sims and Virginia Summuel. He claimed he was born on February 29, 1906, but 1906 was not a leap year, and April 30, 1917, is generally accepted as his birth date.

He was the nephew of the Texas blues singer Texas Alexander and the cousin of the guitarist Lightnin' Hopkins. Both Sims's parents were "accomplished guitarists". His family moved to Marshall, Texas, in the late 1920s.

At the age of 12 he learned to play the guitar from the blues musician Little Hat Jones and ran away from home to work as a musician. In the late 1930s Sims had a dual career as a teacher in Palestine, Texas, on weekdays and a guitarist at local dances and parties on weekends...

NEW!
2009-Essential Blues @320

Johnny SHINES

⬇️ JOHNNY SHINES ⬇️
(John Ned "Johnny" Shines)
DISCOGRAPHY 1966-2003 (38CD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
          
John Ned "Johnny" Shines (April 26, 1915 – April 20, 1992) was an American blues singer and guitarist.


Shines was born in Frayser, Memphis, Tennessee, United States. He spent most of his childhood in Memphis, Tennessee playing slide guitar at an early age in local "jukes" and on the street.


He was taught to play the guitar by his mother. Shines moved to Hughes, Arkansas in 1932 and worked on farms for three years putting his musical career on hold.


It was a chance meeting with Robert Johnson, his greatest influence, that gave him the inspiration to return to music. In 1935, Shines began traveling with Johnson, touring in the United States and Canada. The two went their separate ways in 1937, one year before Johnson's death.[2]



Shines played throughout the southern United States until 1941 when he settled in Chicago. There Shines found work in the construction industry but continued to play in local bars....

NEW!
1968-Last Night's Dream (LP) @FLAC
1979-Solo Acoustic Sets, live in Melbourne @FLAC
1991-Johnny Shines and Robert Lockwood @FLAC+
2003-Heritage of the Blues Skull & Crossbones Blues @FLAC+
2015-Joliet Blues @FLAC
2024-Collected Rambles @FLAC

Kim WILSON

⬇️ KIM WILSON ⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY 1993-2020 (28CD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."


Wilson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1951, but he grew up in Goleta, California, where he sometimes went by the stage name of "Goleta Slim."

He started with the blues in the late 1960s and was tutored by people like Muddy Waters, Jimmie Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Albert Collins, George "Harmonica" Smith, Luther Tucker and Pee Wee Crayton and was influenced by harmonica players like Little Walter, James Cotton, Big Walter Horton, Slim Harpo and Lazy Lester.

Before he moved to Austin, Texas in 1974, he was the leader of the band Aces, Straights and Shuffles in Minneapolis, Minnesota; this band released one single. In Austin he formed The Fabulous Thunderbirds with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, and they became the house band at the blues club, Antone's, owned by Clifford Antone. Muddy Waters called Wilson, "The greatest harmonica player since Little Walter".

Wilson continues to perform up to 300 concert dates per year at blues music festivals and clubs all over the world, both as leader of The Fabulous Thunderbirds and with the Kim Wilson Blues Allstars.

His powerful style of blues harp playing has been described as "loaded with the textures of a full-blown horn section."

NEW!
2017-Blues and Boogie, Vol.1 @FLAC
2025-Slow Burn @FLAC
NICK CURRAN
2004-Player! @FLAC
THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS
1997-High Water @ALAC
WILLIE 'Big Eyes' SMITH
1995-Bag Full Of Blues @FLAC

Son SEALS

⬇️ SON SEALS ⬇️
(Frank 'Son" Seals)
DISCOGRAPHY 1973-2007 (17CD/DVD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
Frank "Son" Seals (August 13, 1942 – December 20, 2004) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.

Seals was born in Osceola, Arkansas, where his father, Jim "Son" Seals, owned a small juke joint, called the Dipsy Doodle Club. He began performing professionally by the age of 13, first as a drummer with Robert Nighthawk and later as a guitarist. At age 16, he began to play at the T-99, a local upper-echelon club, with his brother-in-law Walter "Little Walter" Jefferson.

He played there with prominent blues musicians, including Albert King, Rufus Thomas, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, and Rosco Gordon. Their varying styles contributed to the development of Seals's own playing techniques. While playing at the T-99, he was also introduced to country-western music by Jimmy Grubbs, who occasionally asked Seals to play the drums or guitar with his group.

At the age of 19, Seals formed his own band, Son Seals and the Upsetters, to fill in at the Rebel Club, in Osceola.[6] The band members were Johnny Moore ("Old Man Horse") on piano; Alvin Goodberry on drums, guitar, bass, or piano; Little Bob Robinson on vocals; and Walter Lee "Skinny Dynamo" Harris on piano. Shortly thereafter, a man from Little Rock, Arkansas, came to find "Little Walter" for a gig at his club, but when Walter turned it down the offer went to Seals.

In 1971, Seals moved to Chicago. His career took off after he was discovered by Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records at the Flamingo Club on Chicago's South Side. His debut album, The Son Seals Blues Band, was released in 1973. The album included "Your Love Is Like a Cancer" and "Hot Sauce". It was followed by Midnight Son (1976) and Live and Burning (1978). Seals released several albums in the next two decades, all but one on Alligator Records, including Chicago Fire (1980), Bad Axe (1984), Living in the Danger Zone (1991), Nothing but the Truth (1994) and Live: Spontaneous Combustion (1996). He received W.C. Handy Awards in 1985, 1987, and 2001.

The writer Andrew Vachss, a friend of his, used his influence to promote Seals's music. Vachss gave Seals several cameo appearances in his novels,[9] and co-wrote songs with him for his album Lettin' Go, released in 2000. Vachss dedicated his novel Mask Market to Seals's memory.

In 2002, Seals contributed to the Bo Diddley tribute album, Hey Bo Diddley – A Tribute!, performing the song "My Story" (also known as "Story of Bo Diddley").

Seals had a hard life. He survived all but one of his fourteen siblings. In 1997 he was shot in the jaw by his wife, sustaining injuries which required reconstructive surgery. In 1999 part of his left leg was amputated as a result of complications from diabetes. He lost belongings in a fire that destroyed his home while he was away performing, and several of his prized guitars were stolen from his home.[After his health began to decline, Seals toured with accompaniment by several different bands, including those of James Soleberg, Jimmy Vivino, and Big Jim Kohler,.

The band Phish performed Seals's song "Funky Bitch" and brought him on stage on several occasions. In 1999, Seals performed at Camp Oswego, the only one of Phish's multi-day summer festivals that included performances by artists other than themselves.

Seals died in 2004, at the age of 62, from complications of diabetes. He was survived by a sister and fourteen children.

In 2009, Seals was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, in the category 'Performer'. (Wilipedia)

NEW!
2001.03.16-State Theater-Falls Church, VA @FLAC

Lowell FULSON

⬇️ LOWELL FULSON ⬇️
DISCOGRAPHY 1952-2024 (69CD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
       
Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921 – March 7, 1999) was a big-voiced blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. Fulson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He also recorded for business reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, Fulson was the most important figure in West Coast blues in the 1940s and 1950s.


According to some sources, Fulson was born on a Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma. Fulson stated that he was of Cherokee ancestry through his father, but he also claimed Choctaw ancestry. 


At the age of eighteen, he moved to Ada, Oklahoma, and joined Alger "Texas" Alexander for a few months in 1940, but later moved to California, forming a band which soon included a young Ray Charles and tenor saxophone player, Stanley Turrentine.


He recorded for Swing Time Records in the 1940s, Chess Records (on the Checker label) in the 1950s, Kent Records in the 1960s, and Rounder Records (Bullseye) in the 1970s. (Wikipedia)

NEW!
1965-The Blues Came Rollin' In (LP) @FLAC
1970-Hung Down Head (LP) @320
1983-Live At Club 88 @FLAC+
1991-Hung Down Head (CD) @FLAC
2000-The Tramp Years @FLAC+
2002-Black Nights @FLAC
2015-Reconsider Baby (Studio) @FLAC+
2016-The Blues Come Rollin' In (1952-62) @FLAC
2024-All Blues @FLAC

Sugar Ray NORCIA

⬇️ 'SUGAR RAY' NORCIA ⬇️
(Raymond Alan Norcia)
DISCOGRAPHY 1989-2020 (24CD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
Sugar Ray Norcia (born Raymond Alan Norcia, June 6, 1954, Stonington, Connecticut, United States) is an American electric and soul blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known for his work with his backing band, The Bluetones, with whom he has released seven albums since 1980.


Norcia started to play his harmonica based blues at high school. Once Norcia had relocated to Providence, Rhode Island, he formed the Bluetones which secured a residence as the house band at a local nightclub.


They backed touring acts, such as Big Walter Horton, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner and Roosevelt Sykes in nearby clubs. During the latter part of the 1970s, the band backed Ronnie Earl before he departed to join Roomful of Blues.

Norcia's solo recordings included the EPs Sugar Ray and the Bluetones (1979); Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters featuring the Sensational Sugar Ray (1982), plus a couple of releases on Rounder Records, Knockout (1989) and Don't Stand In My Way (1991). Don't Stand In My Way was the first release by the Bullseye Blues label. The Bluetones also backed Miki Honeycutt on her initial album, Soul Deep....... (Wikipedia)

NEW!
1989-Knockout @FLAC+
1991-Don't Stand In My Way @FLAC
2016-Seing In Believing @FLAC+
2020-Too Far from the Bar @FLAC24+
2025-Blues from Sibculo @FLAC24
LITTLE ANTHONY
1994-Take It From Me @FLAC+

Otis 'Smokey' SMOTHERS

(Otis 'Big Smokey' Smothers)
DISCOGRAPHY 1962-2025 (6+5CD)
 OTIS BIOGRAPHY 
Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (March 21, 1929 – July 23, 1993) was an African-American Chicago blues guitarist and singer. He was a member of Howlin' Wolf's backing band and worked with Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, J. T. Brown, Freddie King, Little Johnny Jones, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon. His younger brother, Abe (born Albert, January 2, 1939 – November 20, 2010), was the bluesman Little Smokey Smothers, with whom he is sometimes confused.


Smothers was born in Lexington, Mississippi, and was taught by his aunt to play the harmonica and the guitar. He relocated to Chicago in 1946. His debut performance on stage was with Johnny Williams and Johnny "Man" Young. In the early part of the 1950s, Smothers played alongside his cousin Lester Davenport and with Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, Earl Hooker, Henry Strong, and Bo Diddley.

In 1956 and 1957, Howlin' Wolf invited Smothers to play as his rhythm guitarist on several tracks recorded for Chess Records, including "Who's Been Talking", "Tell Me", "Change My Way", "Goin' Back Home", "The Natchez Burning", and "I Asked for Water". Smothers secured a recording contract with Federal Records in August 1960..... (Wikipedia)

 LITTLE SMOKEY SMOTHERS 
(Albert Abraham "Abe" Smothers)
 ABE BIOGRAPHY 
Little Smokey Smothers (January 2, 1939–November 20, 2010) was an African-American Chicago blues guitarist and singer. His elder brother was the bluesman Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers (died 1993), with whom he was sometimes confused.

Albert Abraham "Abe" Smothers was born in Tchula, Mississippi, learned to play the guitar at the age of 15, and relocated to Chicago two years later. He soon appeared on stage, playing with Arthur “Big Boy” Spires, Magic Sam, Otis Rush and Lazy Bill Lucas. In 1958 he joined up with Howlin' Wolf, and he accompanied Wolf in a recording session for Chess Records the following year. Tracks Smothers contributed to include "I've Been Abused", "Howlin' for My Darling". and "Mr. Airplane Man".

In 1961 he founded Little Smokey Smothers and the Pipeplayers. He later met Paul Butterfield and became a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He was replaced in the band by Elvin Bishop but developed a friendship that lasted a lifetime. Throughout the 1960s Smothers appeared with Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Earl Hooker, and Junior Wells. Musical opportunities dried up in the 1970s, and Smothers worked in construction. After a break of several years, he recorded again in 1979, on Mojo Buford's album Chicago Blues Summit. In the 1980s he was with the Legendary Blues Band and contributed to their 1989 album Woke Up with the Blues...... (Wikipedia)

Gina COLEMAN

⬇️ GINA COLEMAN ⬇️
&
MISTY BLUES
DISCOGRAPHY 2012-2025 (15CD)
 BIOGRAPHY 
Misty Blues' founder and lead singer, Gina Coleman, is a graduate of Williams College. She began singing in 1990 on a dare by her co-workers and hasn’t turned back since. She began performing in a duet, The Siblings.

Gina shortly started her own duet, Cole-Connection, which blossomed to a five-piece band that allowed her to showcase some of her original music. Gina has performed in the Williamstown Theater Festival as the lead gospel singer in “A Raisin in the Sun.” She also made several appearances at NYC’s famed Bitter End. Misty Blues was a featured group at Mass MoCa’s blues festival.

Gina and the band have had the pleasure of performing with Charles Neville from the legendary Neville Brothers at several venues in Western, MA and opening for blues staples. Musical influences include Janis Joplin, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Tuck & Patti. In 2019 the band became a finalist in the International Blues Challenge and released a music video directed by documentary filmmaker, Dave Simonds. In fact, their original recordings have hit the airwaves on blues radio stations across the globe.

In 2020 album titled Weed 'Em & Reap. Misty Blues' released the first live, first acoustic, and first tribute album to the late great Odetta "Tell Me Who You Are: A Live Tribute To Odetta" (2023). Misty Blues and lead singer, Gina Coleman, celebrate 25 years of composing and performing original blues with hints of jazz, funk, soul and tent revival gospel.

Misty Blues has recorded with Charles Neville, Joe Louis Walker, Eric Gales, Justin Johnson, Kat Riggins, Early Times and Matt Cusson. They have also opened for traditional & contemporary blues artists like Tab Benoit, Mike Zito, Albert Castiglia, Shemekia Copeland, John Primer, Michael Powers, Roomful Of Blues, Albert Cummings, James Montgomery and Gray Clark Jr. "Carry On This Way" marks the first single from their 17th album, "Other Side Of Blue," which will be released in 2025.