Heart of the Blues (home)

Some feel that the blues is a way to approach music, a philosophy, in a manner of speaking. And still others hold a much wider sociological view that the blues are an entire musical tradition rooted in the black experience of the post-war South. Whatever one may think of the social implications of the blues, whether expressing the American or black experience in microcosm, it was their "strong autobiographical nature, their intense personal passion, chaos and loneliness, executed so vibrantly that it captured the imagination of modern musicians" and the general public as well. (Shapiro, Harry, 1992 "Eric Clapton: Lost in the Blues.")

The Blues is My Companion:I'll Just Keep Singin' the Blues - Memphis Slim


John Lee Hooker - It Serves Me Right to Suffer

Stevie Ray Vaughn & company

In 1968 Albert King performed at the Fillmore Auditorium on a bill with Jimi Hendrix. The audience was anticipating Hendrix, but King had them wrapped around his finger after a couple of heartfelt songs. A highlight was when Albert meshed a broken string replacement into a song without missing a beat. When Hendrix appeared on stage, the first thing he said was, "Yeah, Albert King. I dig him." Then he proceeded to play some of Albert's licks as an homage. Albert King influenced Eric Clapton and was also a personal mentor to Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Gifted musicians do what they gotta do, a drive that cuts through age, race, or gender. Doesn't matter if they halfway knew what they wanted to do, and didn't have it all together. Whatever happens. Let it happen. Master and student play it: Stevie Ray Vaughn (1954-1990) and Albert King (1923-1992)Matchbox Blues.



Stevie Ray Vaughan with Albert King, B B King and Paul Butterfield on harp.


Stevie Ray Vaughn Pride and Joy - unplugged on MTV


Stevie Ray Vaughan and the FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS - Tuff Enuf

Blues Harp: the last 50 yrs

It's impossible to imagine the blues without the Mississippi sax -- otherwise known as the blues harp. The harmonica has a voice that cuts through - when the guitar player will turn down, of course. The move into blues for the harp happened over a period of time and there are various theories and "firsts" to contend with. The instrument's ability to sound like a train gave it a place in early pieces such as Railroad Blues by Freeman Stowers. The blues harp reached an early peak with Little Walter.

Hound Dog Taylor & Little Walter. This is perhaps the only footage ever shot of harmonica genius Little Walter (1930-1968).


American Folk Blues festival - Down Home Shakedown. Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, J.B. Lenoir, Big Walter, Shakey Horton.


Your Funeral My Trial - Sonny Boy Williamson (1899-1965)



Howlin Wolf - How Many More Years. 1966.


Blow Wind Blow - Muddy Waters (1913-1983) and Jerry Portnoy (1943- ) on harp, 1977.


Rockin' Pneumonia - Taylor Hicks (1976- ) & The Little Memphis Blues Orchestra at Antones in 2006.

Georgia Variations

Ray Charles' live performances of Georgia on My Mind reveal a highly improvised and emotional connection to the music. The artists sway in unison to the music.


The tradition of an improvised and idiosyncratic Georgia continued with interpretations by musical legends such as Van Morrison.


Emerging artists in popular music advance the Georgia tradition and introduce new elements, such as the blues harp. According to Vibe Magazine (Nov 2006), Taylor Hicks has received recognition from Ray Charles' estate for his devotion to Ray's musical genius. Hicks will be the first person permitted to use Ray's former studio to record a song of his choosing from Ray's extensive catalog. This video is from a mid-week, impromptu performance at a small club in Atlanta in Sep 2006.



Audio recordings from Hicks' live sets reveal a voice that is ideally suited for the phrasing and nuances of blues music. Hicks' vocals to Stevie Ray Vaughn's Texas Flood represent one of most distinctive ever recorded.

Forever Man Variations

Eric Clapton's (1945- ) musicial style is firmed rooted in the blues. He delivered Forever Man into the public awareness through his virtuoso guitar.


During a performance at Antones in Austin, Taylor Hicks (1976- ) interprets Forever Man with blues vocals that reflect the lyrics of longing and commitment. The Little Memphis Blues Orchestra includes Sam Gunderson is on lead guitar, Brian Less on keyboards, Jeff Lopez and flute, Zippy D. on drums, and Mitch Jones on bass (absent that night).

Cassandra Wilson

Cassandra Wilson (1955- ) is an American jazz singer and songwriter from Jackson, Mississippi. Wilson's repertoire includes both jazz and blues standards and renditions of pop and rock songs. Her alto voice has been described as bluesy and sultry.

Cassandra gets down on Son House's Death Letter Blues!

Susan Tedeschi

Susan Tedeschi's (1970- ) voice has been described as a blend of Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, though she explains this is due to sharing the same influences as the two. Her guitar playing is influenced by Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Freddie King. Tedeschi tours extensively through out the United States and her spectacular stage presence and powerful voice draws larger crowds.

Susan Tedeschi on Austin City Limits

Robert Cray

Robert Cray (1953- ) is a blues musician, guitarist and singer. Robert Cray was among artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and George Thorogood, who got wider radio airplay and regular MTV video exposure during the late 1980s. By the early 1990s his name was immediately associated with his soothing, soulful voice, crisp, clean guitar work, and innovative modern blues sound. Cray is the opening act for friends, such as Eric Clapton, and sells out larger venues as a solo artist.

Smokin' Gun

BB King

B. B. King (1925- ) is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered one of the best (and most respected) blues musicians in the world. According to a 2003 listing in Rolling Stone magazine, B.B. King is the greatest living guitarist, and ranked 3rd among the "100 greatest guitarists of all time" (behind late Jimi Hendrix and Duane Allman).

Tracy Chapman & BB King. The Thrill Is Gone - 1997

Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin (1943–1970) was an American blues-influenced singer with a highly distinctive voice — her rasping, overtone-rich sound was significantly divergent from the soft folk and jazz-influenced styles that were common among many white artists at the time. Her lyrical themes were of pain and loss. Janis's vocal style, her flamboyant dress, her outspokenness and sense of humour, and her strident, hard-living "one of the boys" image all combined to create an entirely new kind of female persona in rock. Joplin followed the precedent set by her white, male counterparts in adopting the image, repertoire and performance style of African American blues and rhythm and blues artists, both male and female. In so doing, Joplin was pivotal in redefining what was possible for white female singers in mainstream American popular music.

Paul Butterfield & Company

Paul Butterfield (1942–1987) was an American blues harmonica player and singer, and one of the earliest Caucasian exponents of the Chicago-originated electric blues style. After studying classical flute as a teen, he developed a love for the blues harmonica, and hooked up with white, blues-loving, University of Chicago physics student Elvin Bishop. The two started hanging around great black blues players like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Junior Wells. With the release of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, in an instant, the image of blues as 'old time music' was gone. Butterfield's band introduced modern Can't Trust Your Neighbor 'Chicago-style' blues to mainstream white audiences. It alerted the music scene to what was coming, taught American rockers the blues and how to play an improvised, extended solo. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw Butterfield as a solo act and a session musician, releasing a couple of albums to a small and devoted cult following.

Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Driftin' Blues (Monterey 1967).


Can't Trust Your Neighbor (Atlanta, 2006) - Taylor Hicks & Wynn Christian lead the blues groove in a style reminiscent of Paul Butterfield.

John Mayall

John Mayall (1933- )is a pioneering English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and has been influential in the careers of many instrumentalists, including Eric Clapton and Mick Fleetwood among others. In the early 1970s, Mayall achieved commercial success in the United States.

I'm Gonna Fight For You J.B. (Beat-Club) 1970

Junior Wells

Junior Wells (1934–1998), was a blues vocalist and harmonica player based in Chicago. He played with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.

Junior Wells live at Theresa's Lounge. Junior Wells performs at his 'home base' club in the 1970s, Theresa's Lounge on the south side of Chicago. On guitar are brothers Buddy and Phil Guy.

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters (1913–1983) is considered the father of Chicago blues. Waters started out on harmonica but by age seventeen he was playing the guitar at parties and fish fries, emulating two blues artists who were extremely popular in the south, Son House and Robert Johnson. Waters sound was basically Delta country blues electrified. Following Waters's death, B.B. King told Guitar World, "It's going to be years and years before most people realize how great he was to American music."

This clip is from a broadcast on German TV of a program called "Jazz For Fun", with a pretty clever edit of two different live performances of the Muddy Waters band doing the same song eight years apart, the first in 1968, and the second in 1976. The band in 1968 features James "Pee Wee" Madison and Luther "Snake" Johnson on guitars, Paul Oscher on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano. The band in 1976 features Bob Margolin and Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson on guitars, Jerry Portnoy on harmonica, Pinetop Perkins on piano, Calvin Jones on bass, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums.

Got My Mojo Workin'


More Mojo with Sonny Boy Williamson on Harmonica

John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker (1917–2001) was an influential American post-war blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to adapting the occasionally traditional blues lyric, he freely invented many of his songs from scratch. Recording studios in the 1950s rarely paid black musicians more than a pittance, so Hooker would spend the night wandering from studio to studio, coming up with new songs or variations on his songs for each studio. He appeared and sang in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. Due to Hooker's improvisational style, his performance was filmed and sound-recorded live at Chicago's Maxwell Street Market, in contrast to the usual "playback" technique used in most film musicals. Hooker recorded over 100 albums.

Tupelo Blues.



Boom boom boom


Santana & John Lee Hooker - Chill Out

Freddie King

Freddie King (1934-1976) was one of the premier artists of the West side Chicago blues scene of the 1950s and 1960s, the definitive time location for electric blues. Here is a 1960's TV performance with paisly flowers and go-go dancers plus some James Brown dance routines by the brass players. Part of his unique, rich tone is made by using his fingers instead of a pick.

Hide Away

Boogie Blues

A blues lesson from Memphis Slim - great boogie woogie on the piano for Willie Dixon.


More Boogie Blues. Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis & Fats Domino on stage together. 1986.


Fats Domino (1928- ) is a pianist with an individualistic bluesy style showing stride and boogie-woogie influences. I'm Walkin'

Buddy Guy

George "Buddy" Guy (1936- ) is an American blues and rock guitarist and singer. Known as an inspiration to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and other 1960s blues and rock legends, Guy is considered an important exponent of Chicago blues. His music can vary from the most traditional, deepest blues to a creative, unpredictable and radical gumbo of the blues, avant rock, soul and free jazz that morphs at each night’s performance. As New York Times music critic Jon Pareles noted in 2004: "Whether he's singing with gentle menace or bending new curves into a blue note, he is a master of tension and release, and his every wayward impulse was riveting."

First Time I Met The Blues. With David Myers, bass, from the movie Chicago Blues, in 1970


Acoustic Buddy Guy in 1969.


Eric Clapton & Buddy Guy - Concert For NYC. Two songs, two masters. 2001


Carlos Santana and Buddy Guy. Montreux Jazz Festival 2004

Otis Rush

Otis Rush (1934- ) has a wide-ranging, powerful tenor voice. Signed to Mercury Records in 1976, he remained with the label for twenty years. Rush continued to produce quality recordings and perform live throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999 Otis Rush earned a Grammy Award for best traditional blues album for his 1998 release, Any Place I'm Goin'.

I can't quit you baby


Double Trouble. Antones, 1985.
Otis Rush is a master of the slow blues. Stevie Ray Vaughan loved Otis so much, he named his band after this song; Double Trouble.

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry (1926- ) is an immensely influential figure, and one of the pioneers of rock & roll music. Cub Koda wrote, "Of all the early breakthrough rock & roll artists, none is more important to the development of the music than Chuck Berry. He is its greatest songwriter, the main shaper of its instrumental voice, one of its greatest guitarists, and one of its greatest performers." John Lennon was more succinct: "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

Chuck Berry plays the blues at the Montreux Jazz festival, backed by the great band, The Aces. "Wee Wee Hours"


Chuck Berry-Roll Over Beethoven-Duck Walk

Ray Charles

Ray Charles (1930-2004) was a pioneering pianist and soul musician who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues.

O-Genio - Ray Charles - 1963 - Live in Brazil. A rare recording of a 1963 performance by Ray Charles in Sao Paulo, Brazil: What'd I Say



In the Evening - 1963 Blues & Jazz tune


My Bonnie. Ray in a 1963 Brazilian Concert, with the original Raelettes & David Fathead Newman on lead Sax.


Let it Be


Seven Spanish Angels. Ray Charles and Willie Nelson.

Social Context of The Blues

The Civil Rights movement in the U.S. in the 1960s prompted J. B. Lenoir to record several LPs using acoustic guitar. His work at this time had an unusually direct political content relative to racism or Vietnam War issues. Despite the angry lyrics of many of his songs, Lenoir sang in a disarmingly sweet, laid-back style, and he was widely known as an exceptionally friendly and gentle person. He befriended and encouraged many young blues artists both black and white. His untimely death is lamented by John Mayall in the song, "Death of J. B. Lenoir".

JB Lenoir and Skip James

Big Mama Thornton

While still a child, Willie Mae (1926-1984) taught herself to play the drums and harmonica, and by the age of 14, she had run away from home to make her career in secular music. It was "Hound Dog," which she recorded in 1953 with the Johnny Otis band. Big Mama Thornton always claimed to have written the song herself, and her ferocious rendition of it (complete with Big Mama's growl and a nasty guitar line by Pete Lewis) held the #1 spot in rhythm and blues charts for nine weeks. Unfortunately for Thornton, Elvis Presley's smoother version was a major rock'n'roll hit in 1956 and successfully eclipsed her biggest claim to fame. For some years, Big Mama suffered in obscurity like most of her fellow bluesmen.

Her name gained wider prominence and her career enjoyed a significant resurgence as her song "Ball and Chain" was covered by Janis Joplin, making it a regular number in her repertoire. From that point onward, Thornton would remain a headliner at blues festivals, colleges, and clubs throughout the USA and Europe. Her name and legacy will forever remain amongst the very greatest of blues legends. Thornton's mighty voice, take-no-guff attitude, and incendiary stage performances influenced generations of blues and rock singers and carried on the tradition of tough "blues mamas" like Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, and Ma Rainey.

Memphis Slim

Memphis Slim (1915–1988) was a blues pianist and singer. He composed the blues standards "Every Day I Have the Blues" and "Mother Earth". He was a big man with a big voice and an immaculate touch on the piano. During his lifetime, he cut over 500 recordings and continues to influence blues pianists.

Memphis Slim in 1963 playing Wish Me Well. Memphis Slim was one of the top blues & boogie piano players there ever was along with Otis Spann & Sunnyland Slim.



Memphis slim plays the blues in Belgium 1963.


Every Day I have The Blues


I'm Lost Without You.

Jimmy Witherspoon

Jimmy Witherspoon (1920-1997) was an American blues singer. He first attracted attention singing with Teddy Weatherford's band in Calcutta, India, which made regular radio broadcasts over the U. S. Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II. In 1949 he had his first hit, "Ain't Nobody's Business", a song which came to be regarded as his signature tune.

Ain't Nobody's Business with Buck Clayton's band.


1962 with Ben Webster & The Vince Guaraldi Trio

T Bone Walker

Aaron Thibeaux Walker or T-Bone Walker (1910–1975) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, who is believed to have been the first bluesman to use an amplified acoustic guitar.

American Folk Blues Festival-1962
T-Bone Walker-Vocal, Guitar-Memphis Slim. Pure blues at its best. Walker was a big influence on Jimi Hendrix.


T-Bone Walker sits in with Chuck Berry at the Montreux Jazz Festival. They're backed by The Aces - Dave and Louis Myers on bass and guitar, Fred Below on drums, with Lafayette Leake on piano.


Norman Granz's Jazz At The Philharmonic,1964.


Stormy Monday Blues

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915-1973) was a great gospel singer and a fantastic guitarist who perfectly melded blues and gospel sounds to reach out to the sinners. Here she does her big number "Didn't It Rain" backed by a great blues band: Willie Dixon on bass, Big Walter Horton on harmonica, Lafayette Leake on piano, Lee Jackson on 2nd guitar, and Clifton James on drums.

Didn't it Rain


Here she does an abbreviated, solo version of Up Above My Head, probably filmed in the late '60s or early '70s.

Big Joe Turner

Known variously as The Boss of the Blues, and Big Joe Turner (1911-1985) first discovered his love of music through involvement in the church. His career thus stretched from the bar rooms of Kansas City in the 1930s (at the age of 12 when he performed with a penciled moustache and his father's hat), on to the European jazz festivals of the 1980s. He recorded a number of hits including the blues standards, "Chains of Love" and "Sweet Sixteen" before hitting it big with "Shake, Rattle and Roll", which not only transformed his career but also transformed popular music. After a number of hits in this vein, Turner left popular music behind and returned to his roots as a singer with small jazz combos, recording numerous classic albums in that style in the 1960s and 1970s.

Big Joe Turner is captured here singing his memorable title 'Cherry Red' in 1965, with fine support from Buck Clayton trumpet, Vic Dickenson trombone and Johnny Parker on piano.

Cherry Red

Billie Holliday

Billie Holiday (1915–1959), was an American singer known equally for her difficult life and her emotive, poignant singing voice. Holiday is generally considered one of the greatest voices of all time. Like many artists, the importance of Holiday's music and her influence were only truly realized after her death. She struggled against racism and sexism her entire career, and achieved fame despite a turbulent life. She is also often cited as an example to the black and gay communities, both which admire her early efforts to stand up for equal rights, and to speak out against discrimination and racism. She is now considered one of the most important vocalists of the 20th century.

The Blues are Brewin'with Louis Armstrong and Orchestra


Strange Fruit

Skip James

In early 1931 Skip James (1902-1969) auditioned for the Jackson, Mississippi record shop owner and talent scout, who placed blues performers with a variety of record labels including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, Skip James traveled to record for Paramount. James's 1931 work is considered uniquely idiosyncratic among pre-war blues recordings, and forms the basis of his reputation as a musician. As is typical of his era, James recorded a variety of material -- blues and spirituals, cover versions and original compositions -- frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. James changed the song's lyrics, transforming it with his virtuoso technique, moaning delivery, and keen sense of tone. Biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music."

Crow Jane (1967)

Son House

Eddie James House, Jr. (1902–1988), better known as Son House, was an influential blues singer and guitarist. After killing a man, allegedly in self-defense, he spent time on Parchman Farm. House's innovative style featured very strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of a bottleneck, coupled with singing that owed more than a nod to the hollers of the chain gangs.

Levee Camp Blues

Lonnie Johnson

Alfonzo "Lonnie" Johnson (1894–1970) was a pioneering blues and jazz singer/guitarist from New Orleans.

Howlin' Wolf

The Howlin' Wolf (1910-1976) was an influential blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player. Unlike many other blues musicians, after he left his impoverished childhood to begin a musical career, Howlin' Wolf was always financially successful. He described himself as "the onliest one to drive himself up from the Delta" to Chicago, which he did, in his own car and with four thousand dollars in his pocket, a rare distinction for a black bluesman of the time. At 6 foot, 6 inches and close to 300 pounds, he was an imposing presence with one of the loudest and most memorable voices of all the "classic" 1950s blues singers. Howlin' Wolf's voice has been compared to "the sound of heavy machinery operating on a gravel road".

Shake it For Me (1964)

Mississipi John Hurt

John Hurt's influence spans several music genres including blues, country, bluegrass, folk and contemporary rock and roll. A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which remained a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music to the end.

You've Gotta Walk That Lonesome Valley

Koko Taylor

Koko Taylor is known as the "Queen of the Blues" primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.

Wang Dang Doogle. Vocals: Koko Taylor, Guitar: Hound Dog Taylor. This is a rare video of Little Walter playing harmonica.