(Memphis, Tennessee) Blues legend Marvin Sease died at 64. Sease started his career with a gospel group called the Five Gospel Crowns out of Charleston, South Carolina. After singing with them, Marvin then left at age 20 settling into New York. There he joined another gospel group called the Gospel Crowns. Marvin left the gospel circuit [...]
Archive for Category: "2011 Blues Music Features"
Is That All There Is? Jerry Lieber by Monica Yasher
It all starts with a song. The performer, the singer, the instrumentalist, they all need a song. The creative spirit of Jerry Lieber will always live on and be remembered through a song catalog that includes “Hound Dog“, “Jailhouse Rock“, “Kansas City“, “Stand by Me”, and many more. Though the lyrics of Jerry, more people [...]
David “Frankie” Toler – A Year of Tears And A Lifetime Of Music
Drummer David “Frankie” Toler passed away on Saturday, June 4, 2011 in Bradenton, FL. Frankie was in hospice care after prolonged illness and two liver transplants. He was 59. Blues fans may remember him from his tenure in the Allman Brothers Band from 1980 to 1982. Frankie Toler was raised in Connersville, Indiana and got [...]
The Sky IS Crying-the loss of Doyle Bramhall Senior
Beloved blues drummer, songwriter and singer Doyle Bramhall Senior passed away at the age of 62 on November 12 at his home in Alpine, Texas. Doyle had a huge influence on blues music in Texas in particular, where he played an integral part in starting the scene. Early in his career he played for Lightnin [...]
Hubert Sumlin…There Comes a Time by Monica Yasher
It was the Christmas of 1997 and the time had come to put everything away. However, when I went to reach for my figurines in my my manger scene, I somehow broke my kneeling Wiseman in two. It would be easy to glue. I told my Dad about it, who was the best gluer that [...]
Pinetop Perkins – A Treasure of a Man
It’s a fine line that is walked between mourning and celebrating – and that’s what Pinetop’s friends are doing these days – walking that fine line. To say that this man was well loved is, most likely, an understatement. To say that he is a legend is, most likely, true. But in talking with Pinetop’s [...]
Gary Moore – What a Wonderful Life
It came with great sadness this past year that the legendary rock and blues guitarist Gary Moore died in a hotel room in Spain on the Costa del Sol. Moore, 58, was originally from Belfast and has been a member of Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II, and BBM with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Until the early [...]
Willie “Big Eyes” Smith…Now Part of the Universe by Monica Yasher
I have been watching the X Factor this season. During the programming, I was introduced to a song that I have been playing quite a bit. It isn’t a Blues song. But every time I hear it, I think of Willie. Every time I sing it, I feel that Willie is speaking through me. The [...]
David “Honeyboy” Edwards
Preserving the Blues One Story at a Time The blues…an American made product… was years in the making. It took decades to cultivate the many sounds that we know today. The blues players and singers of that era were a hearty breed who endured much to play their music and have it accepted as a [...]
Tracy Nelson with a Lesson on Human Behavior by Monica Yasher
Tracy Nelson’s new CD, “Victim of the Blues” offers somewhat an account of her life this year. After having lost most of what she calls her “stuff” in a fire, she states that most of us have no idea how much “stuff” we have. And, from an entire household lost, the only two regrets she [...]
Joe Krown: There’s No Other Place I Want to Live
Wading through the devastating aftermath of Katrina, Joe Krown has been a wounded healer in the city that he, even now, would never leave. New Orleans, whose life blood is pumped by the heart of music, called on their musicians to provide a safe harbor where friends and families could gather and find comfort. Even while [...]
Popa Chubby: The Music Never Lets You Down
Abandoned and addicted, Popa Chubby learned, early on, that music is the one thing that would not let him down. Finding solace and hope along the neck of his guitar, he turned the Blues of his life into powerful rock and roll- chasing the demons away with the fury of his riffs. Living without regrets, grounded and [...]
Jeff Golub Music Either Comes From the Heart, or It Doesn’t by Monica Yasher
Jeff Golub is truly a person who is not giving up. He is the kind of person that has a lot of heart. Jeff said more than once in this interview that “Music either comes from the heart, or it doesn’t”. After talking to Jeff, I think his entire life is based on what his heart tells him, [...]
Of Mountains and Men – A Few Minutes with Leslie West
Though we didn’t discuss any of the hardships he’s had to overcome throughout his life, he did shine some interesting light on his inspirations, his musical equipment, his latest album and fact that his career has been blessed with a series of (as he puts it) “good mistakes.”
Blues for Heroes from London
It’s funny how in the United States of America we tend to forget that there are many veterans. There are veterans across the globe that have been our allies in many, many wars. American Blues News finds itself at Cadogan Hall, in Chelsea London England joining together for a special tribute of “Blues for Heroes”. This was [...]
