Jim O'Neal (born November 25, 1948, [1] Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States) [2] is an American blues expert, writer, record producer, and record company executive. He co-founded America's first blues magazine, Living Blues , in Chicago in 1970, and wrote the column "BluEsoterica". O'Neal also co-founded Rooster Blues Records and, as of 2007, operated the Stackhouse record label, with bases in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and Kansas City.
O'Neal produced Lonnie Shields' debut album, Portrait, on Rooster Blues in 1993, which achieved notable critical acclaim, being cited as one of the best debut albums of that year. [3] In addition, Portrait won the Living Blues Critics' Poll as Best Album. [4] [5]
He is co-editor with Amy van Singel of the book, The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine (Routledge, 2002, ISBN 978-0415936545).
O'Neal was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2002.
McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi.
Freddie King was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar". Mostly known for his soulful and powerful voice and distinctive guitar playing, King had a major influence on electric blues music and on many later blues guitarists.
Kenny Neal, is an American blues guitar player, singer and band member. Neal's father is Raful Neal, and he comes from a musical family. He has often performed with his brothers in his band.
Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the Living Blues magazine in Chicago in 1970.
Lonnie Pitchford was an American blues musician and instrument maker from Lexington, Mississippi, United States. He was notable in that he was one of only a handful of young African American musicians from Mississippi who had learned and was continuing the Delta blues and country blues traditions of the older generations.
Lonnie McIntosh, known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-guitarist. He was a pioneer of blues-rock music and rock guitar melodic soloing.
Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van Singel as editors, and five others as writers. Among them were Bruce Iglauer and Paul Garon. They sold the first copies at the 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festival.
"Hide Away" or "Hideaway" is a blues guitar instrumental that has become "a standard for countless blues and rock musicians performing today". First recorded in 1960 by Freddie King, the song became a hit on the record charts. It has been interpreted and recorded by numerous blues and other musicians and has been recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame.
"Little Red Rooster" is a blues standard credited to arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. The song was first recorded in 1961 by American blues musician Howlin' Wolf in the Chicago blues style. His vocal and slide guitar playing are key elements of the song. It is rooted in the Delta blues tradition and the theme is derived from folklore. Musical antecedents to "Little Red Rooster" appear in earlier songs by blues artists Charlie Patton and Memphis Minnie.
The Doors: Vinyl Box Set is the seventh box set for American rock band the Doors. It is a seven-record set of the original six studio albums, remastered in stereo from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180-gram HQ vinyl, and a mono version of the debut album. Artwork, packaging, and inner sleeves are replicas of the original LPs issued between 1967 and 1971. The albums were remastered from 192k/24 bit digital copies and pressed at Record Technology (RTI). An insert booklet includes notes from Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records and Bruce Botnick the Doors' longtime sound engineer/co-producer on all the original studio albums.
Rooster Blues is an American independent record label founded in 1980.
The King Biscuit Blues Festival is an annual, multi-day blues festival, held in Helena, Arkansas, United States.
Houston Stackhouse was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. He is best known for his association with Robert Nighthawk. He was not especially noted as a guitarist or singer, but Nighthawk showed gratitude to Stackhouse, his guitar teacher, by backing him on a number of recordings in the late 1960s. Apart from a brief tour in Europe, Stackhouse confined his performing to the area around the Mississippi Delta.
Lonnie Shields is an American electric blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His primary influence was B.B. King. He has released six albums to date, and one publication described his music as "bewitching, funk-influenced variations on the oldest country blues".
Robert "Big Mojo" Elem was an American Chicago blues bass guitarist and singer. Although he recorded only one studio album in his long career, Elem was a part of the Chicago blues scene for over forty years. He variously backed Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, Lester Davenport, Freddie King, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Shakey Jake Harris, Jimmy Dawkins, Luther Allison, and Otis Rush.
Andrew "Blueblood" McMahon was an American Chicago blues bass guitarist, singer and songwriter. McMahon played bass guitar in Howlin' Wolf's backing ensemble for over a decade. He also backed a number of other Chicago-based blues musicians on record. His own best known tracks are "Lost in the Jungle", "Special Agent", "Potato Diggin' Man", and "Worried All the Time", which have appeared on several compilation albums.
The Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival is an annual music festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It is held the second weekend in August, lasting three days. Created as the Sunflower Riverbank Blues Festival in 1988, the festival features veteran and homegrown performers, attracting blues enthusiast from all over the world. Headliners have included Otis Rush, Ike Turner, Little Milton, Bobby Bland, Bobby Rush, Koko Taylor, Denise LaSalle, Super Chikan, and Robert Plant.