Sugar Hill, also known as Sugar Hill: Home of the Blues was a blues and jazz club in San Francisco's Broadway in the North Beach district of San Francisco, California. [1] It was established by Barbara Dane, [2] in May 1961, [3] with the idea of creating a venue for the blues in a tourist district where a wider audience could hear it. There Dane performed regularly with her two most constant musical companions: Kenny "Good News" Whitson on piano and cornet and Wellman Braud, former Ellington bassist. Among her guest artists were Jimmy Rushing, Mose Allison, Mama Yancey, Tampa Red, Lonnie Johnson, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin' Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. [4]
Carmen McRae performed at the club in 1963, recording a live album there with pianist Norman Simmons, bassist Vic Sproules and drummer Stew Martin. A Billboard review wrote of it: "Miss McRae sings up a storm, exhibiting not only her highly polished and formidable style but much warmth, humor and that little something extra that makes for an inspired performance". [5] In November 1962, John Lee Hooker also recorded a live album at the club. Live at Sugar Hill was released in 1963. [6]
Lonnie Johnson, who appeared at the club in early 1962, wrote a song, "Fine Booze and Heavy Dues", in honor of his appearance there. The song appears on his 1962 album Lonnie Johnson:Another Night To Cry. [7] [8]
Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee was an American folk and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.
Robert Ross is an American blues singer, songwriter, acoustic and electric guitarist, slide guitarist, and harmonica player. He is the leader of the Robert Ross Band and The Jazz-Manian Devils. He also performs as a solo artist.
Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer, guitarist, violinist and songwriter. He was a pioneer of jazz guitar and jazz violin and is recognized as the first to play an electrically amplified violin.
Saunders Terrell, known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occasionally imitations of trains and fox hunts.
Barbara Dane is an American folk, blues, and jazz singer, guitarist, record producer, and political activist. She co-founded Paredon Records with Irwin Silber.
The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe as an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe, including the UK, to leading blues performers of the day such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson, most of whom had never previously performed outside the US. The tours attracted substantial media coverage, including TV shows, and contributed to the growth of the audience for blues music in Europe.
The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established fully in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast. It was held on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. For many years it was held on the athletic field on the California State University, Long Beach campus. The 2009 festival, the 30th annual, was held at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach. The Festival went on hiatus in 2010, and has not been held since.
Alger "Texas" Alexander was an American blues singer from Jewett, Texas. Some sources claim that he was the cousin of Lightnin' Hopkins, but no direct kinship has been established. It has also been asserted that he was the uncle of the Texas country blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims.
Leonard Gaskin was an American jazz bassist born in New York City.
Iverson Minter, known as Louisiana Red, was an American blues guitarist, harmonica player, and singer, who recorded more than 50 albums. A master of slide guitar, he played both traditional acoustic and urban electric styles, with lyrics both honest and often remarkably personal. His career includes collaborations with artists as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Eric Burdon, and others.
Francis Clay was an American jazz and blues drummer, best known for his work behind Muddy Waters in the 1950s and 1960s, and as an original member of the James Cotton band. Clay's jazz-influenced style is cited as an influence by many of the British Invasion rock 'n' rollers of the 1960s such as Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones and Faces, respectively.
Buster Pickens was an American blues pianist. Pickens is best known for his work accompanying Alger "Texas" Alexander and Lightnin' Hopkins. He also recorded a solo album in 1960.
"Sugar Mama" or "Sugar Mama Blues" is a blues standard. 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.
"Bottle Up and Go" or "Bottle It Up and Go" is a song that is a standard of the blues. Based on earlier songs, Delta bluesman Tommy McClennan recorded "Bottle It Up and Go" in 1939. The song has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists, sometimes using alternate titles, such as "Step It Up and Go", "Shake It Up and Go", etc.
Luke "Long Gone" Miles was an American Texas blues and electric blues singer and songwriter. He was a protégé of Lightnin' Hopkins and variously recorded or performed with Hopkins, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Willie Chambers. Miles is best known for his 1964 album Country Born, issued by World Pacific Records.
Sonny Is King is an album by blues musician Sonny Terry recorded and sessions in 1960 and 1962 and released on the Bluesville label.
Blues Hoot is a live album by blues musicians Lightnin' Hopkins, Brownie McGhee, and Sonny Terry recorded at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles in 1961 and originally released on the Davon label before being reissued by Horizon Records in 1963 and Vee-Jay Records in 1965.
Mojo Hand is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in 1960 and released on the Fire label in 1962.
Burning Hell is an album by blues musician John Lee Hooker that was recorded in Detroit in 1959 at the same sessions that produced The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, but not released by the Riverside label until 1964 in Europe.