The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live. Belushi and Aykroyd were lead vocalist 'Joliet' Jake Blues and harmonica player and vocalist Elwood Blues, respectively, donning black suits with matching trilby hats and sunglasses. The band was composed of well-known musicians and debuted as the musical guest in a 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live, opening the show performing "Hey Bartender" and "Soul Man".
George Lawrence Thorogood is an American musician, singer and songwriter from Wilmington, Delaware. His "high-energy boogie-blues" sound became a staple of 1980s USA rock radio, with hits like his original songs "Bad to the Bone" and "I Drink Alone". He has also helped to popularize older songs by American icons, such as "Move It on Over", "Who Do You Love?", and "House Rent Blues/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer".
Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins was an American blues pianist. He played with some of the most influential blues and rock-and-roll performers of his time and received numerous honors, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Earl Zebedee Hooker was a Chicago blues guitarist known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", he performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and John Lee Hooker and fronted his own bands. An early player of the electric guitar, Hooker was influenced by the modern urban styles of T-Bone Walker and Robert Nighthawk. He recorded several singles and albums as a bandleader and with other well-known artists. His "Blue Guitar", a slide guitar instrumental single, was popular in the Chicago area and was later overdubbed with vocals by Muddy Waters as "You Shook Me".
Ronnie Earl is an American blues guitarist and music instructor.
Jimmy Thackery is an American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter.
Michael John "Duke" Robillard is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also plays jazz and swing.
Briefcase Full of Blues is the debut album by the Blues Brothers, released on November 28, 1978, by Atlantic Records. It was recorded live on September 9, 1978, at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, when the band opened for comedian Steve Martin. The album consists of covers of blues and soul songs from the 1950s to 1970s.
Bob Margolin is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is Steady Rollin'.
Kingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower Hour is a live album by the rock group Kingfish. It was recorded at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on April 3, 1976, and released in 1996. Part of the recording that became the album was originally broadcast on the radio show The King Biscuit Flower Hour.
Live 'n' Kickin' is the second album by the rock group Kingfish. It was recorded live at the Roxy in West Hollywood, California. It was released as an LP in 1977 by Jet Records. It was released on CD in Germany in 1989.
Reverend Billy C. Wirtz is an American blues musician, comedian and writer. His material consists of comedy routines set to music.
The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was the one of the longest running blues festival in the United States.
Sweet Black Angel is an album recorded by blues pianist Pinetop Perkins and released in 1998. The title track is a cover of Robert Nighthawk's 1949 "Black Angel Blues ". That track was based on Lucille Bogan's, "Black Angel Blues" from 1930 B. B. King later covered "Sweet Black Angel" as, "Sweet Little Angel", in 1956.
Willie Lee "Big Eyes" Smith was an American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and drummer. He was best known for several stints with the Muddy Waters band beginning in the early 1960s.
Sugar Ray Norcia is an American electric and soul blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known for his work with his backing band, The Bluetones, with whom he has released seven albums since 1980.
Severn Records is an American independent record label that concentrates on blues music. Its motto is "Roots Music for the 21st Century".
After Hours is the debut solo-album of the blues piano player Pinetop Perkins. He is backed by the New York-based blues band, Little Mike and the Tornadoes, using the Chicago blues approach. Released in 1988 by Blind Pig Records, the album, produced by Edward Chmelewski and Jerry Del Giudice, featured 12 songs, including blues standards and original material. The album was recorded in New York City at Chelsea Sound by Natasha Turner.
Victor Lawton Wainwright, Jr. is an American blues and boogie-woogie singer, songwriter, and pianist. Wainwright's musical style was described by the American Blues Scene magazine in 2013 as "honky-tonk and boogie, with a dose of rolling thunder. Wainwright's playing is simply beautiful madness."
Ernest Ray Lane was an American blues pianist. He played various blues musicians and bands, including with Pinetop Perkins, Robert Nighthawk, Ike Turner, George "Harmonica" Smith, and Canned Heat. Lane also released singles and album as a solo artist.
