John Len Chatman, known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other artists. He made over 500 recordings.
Fred McDowell, known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player.
John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of recordings by many pre–World War II blues artists. Under his own name, he was one of the most recorded blues musicians of the 1930s and 1940s and is closely associated with Chicago producer Lester Melrose and Bluebird Records. His popular songs, original or adapted, include "Good Morning, School Girl", "Sugar Mama", "Early in the Morning", and "Stop Breaking Down".
Joe Lee Wilson was an American jazz singer from Bristow, Oklahoma, who lived in Europe since 1977.
Frederick Seibert is an American television producer, co-founder of MTV and the CEO of FredFilms, an animation production company based in Burbank, California. He has held leading positions with MTV Networks, Hanna-Barbera, Next New Networks, and Frederator Studios and Networks. Seibert is an angel investor in several technology and media start-ups, has produced live action and animated programs for cable television and the internet, and began his professional career as a jazz and blues record producer. Seibert's work has been honored in numerous fields. In music production his production has been nominated for a Grammy Award, he has received an AIGA Medal for lifetime exceptional achievements, he is a member of the Animation Magazine Hall of Fame and has been awarded several Annie Awards and Emmy Awards for his television productions.
WKCR-FM is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the first operations of the Columbia University Radio Club (CURC). In 1956, it became one of the first college radio stations to adopt FM broadcasting, which had been invented two decades earlier by Professor Edwin Howard Armstrong. The station was preceded by student involvement in W2XMN, an experimental FM station founded by Armstrong, for which the CURC provided programming. Originally an education-focused station, since the Columbia University protests of 1968, WKCR-FM has shifted its focus towards alternative musical programming, with an emphasis on jazz, classical, and hip hop.
Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, colloquially known as The Beano Album, is the debut studio album by the English blues rock band John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Produced by Mike Vernon and released in 1966 by Decca Records (UK) and London Records (US), it pioneered a guitar-dominated blues-rock sound.
East-West is the second album by The Butterfield Blues Band led by Paul Butterfield, released in 1966 on Elektra Records, EKS 7315 in stereo, EKL 315 in mono. It was recorded at the famed Chess Studios on 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It peaked at #65 on the Billboard pop albums chart, and is regarded as highly influential by rock and blues music historians.
Spivey Records was a specialist blues record label founded by blues singer Victoria Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt in 1961. Spivey Records released a series of blues and jazz albums between 1961 and 1985.
"Good Morning, School Girl" is a blues standard that has been identified as an influential part of the blues canon. Pre-war Chicago blues vocalist and harmonica pioneer John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson first recorded it in 1937. Subsequently, a variety of artists have recorded versions of the song, usually calling it "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl".
Spring of Two Blue-J's is a 1974 live album by Cecil Taylor, the second set of a "return concert" recorded at The Town Hall in New York City in November 1973. Originally released on Taylor's Unit Core label, bootlegged on European CDs, it was legitimately reissued for the first time in 2022 on global streaming platforms by its original producer, Fred Seibert's Oblivion Records. The LP features one side-long solo performance by Taylor and one side-long quartet performance with Jimmy Lyons, Sirone, and Andrew Cyrille.
Johnny Woods was an American blues singer and harmonica player in the north Mississippi hill country blues style.
Tom Pomposello was an American roots musician, notably playing and recording with country blues musician Mississippi Fred McDowell, who also worked as a cable television and advertising producer for clients like Nickelodeon, Nick-at-Nite, and MTV. He died in a car accident outside of Kingston, New York in January 1999.
Oblivion Records is an independent American record label that focuses on under recorded blues and jazz musicians. The company was originally based in Huntington, New York and the WKCR-FM studios at Columbia University in New York City, with a post office box in Roslyn Heights, New York from 1972–1976. It now operates out of Los Angeles. After almost 50 years, Oblivion announced a new release in November 2021.
Live in New York is the final album recording by the American country blues musician Mississippi Fred McDowell. New York-based American independent Oblivion Records released the first edition in the Spring of 1972, months before McDowell's death in July 1972. A subsequent Oblivion issue with a one song substitution, and new and redesigned liner notes came out one year later.
His Best is a greatest hits album by Chicago blues harmonica player Little Walter, released on June 17, 1997 by MCA and Chess Records as a part of The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection. The album is seen as the CD successor to the 1958 The Best of Little Walter and features ten of the songs from that album.
The Original Mono Recordings is a box set compilation album of recordings by Bob Dylan, released in October 2010 on Legacy Recordings, catalogue 88697761042. It consists of Dylan's first eight studio albums in mono on nine compact discs, the album Blonde on Blonde being issued on two discs in its original vinyl format. It does not include the singles collection Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits released during the same time span. The set includes a 56-page booklet with photographs, discographical information, and an essay by Greil Marcus. It peaked at No. 152 on the Billboard 200.
"Sugar Mama" or "Sugar Mama Blues" is a song that is a standard of the blues. Called a "tautly powerful slow blues" by music journalist Charles Shaar Murray, it has been recorded by numerous artists, including early Chicago bluesmen Tampa Red, Sonny Boy Williamson I, and Tommy McClennan. John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf later adapted "Sugar Mama" for electric blues and rock group Led Zeppelin reworked it during early recording sessions.
"Early in the Morning" is a blues song that was recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson I in 1937. Identified as one of his most successful and influential tunes, it was inspired by earlier blues songs. "Early in the Morning" has been recorded by various musicians, including Junior Wells, who made it part of his repertoire.
Eternity's Children was an American sunshine pop band that originated in Cleveland, Mississippi as a folk group known as the Phantoms. The Phantoms began with two students, composed of vocalist/keyboardist Bruce Blackman and drummer Roy Whittaker. Soon, the group added lead guitarist Johnny Walker, rhythm guitarist Jerry Bounds, and bassist Charlie Ross, and began developing the complex, overlapping vocal harmonies that were utilized when they became Eternity's Children in 1967. Their one and only hit, "Mrs. Bluebird", topped at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100.
