Robert Calvin Bland, known professionally as Bobby "Blue" Bland, was an American blues singer.
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco.
Arzell J. Hill, known as Z. Z. Hill, was an American blues singer best known for his recordings in the 1970s and early 1980s, including his 1982 album for Malaco Records, Down Home, which stayed on the Billboard soul album chart for nearly two years. The track "Down Home Blues" has been called the best-known blues song of the 1980s. According to the Texas State Historical Association, Hill "devised a combination of blues and contemporary soul styling and helped to restore the blues to modern black consciousness."
Bobby Rush is an American blues musician, composer, and singer. His style incorporates elements of blues, rap, and funk.
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues, country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern black churches. Bass guitar, drums, horn section, and gospel roots vocal are important to soul groove. This rhythmic force made it a strong influence in the rise of funk music. The terms "Deep soul", "Country soul", "Downhome soul" and "Hard soul" have been used synonymously with "Southern soul".p. 18
Carson Whitsett was an American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer.
James Milton Campbell Jr., better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include "Baby, I Love You", "Who's Cheating Who?", and "Grits Ain't Groceries ".
Tim Whitsett was an American music publisher, musician, songwriter, producer, author, and consultant. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, the elder brother of Carson Whitsett.
Dan Penn is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" with Chips Moman and "Cry Like a Baby" with Spooner Oldham. Penn also produced many hits, including "The Letter", by The Box Tops. He has been described as a white soul and blue-eyed soul singer. Penn has released relatively few records featuring his own vocals and musicianship, preferring the relative anonymity of songwriting and producing.
"Misty Blue" is a song written by Bob Montgomery that has been recorded and made commercially successful by several music artists. Although Montgomery wrote the song for a different artist in mind, it was brought first to the attention of Wilma Burgess in 1966. It was recorded by Eddy Arnold the following year, both versions were top 5 Country Hits. A decade later, blues artist Dorothy Moore released the highest-charting version of the song and it reached the top ten in several different radio formats. Following Moore's revival of the track, numerous artists re-covered the tune, including country artist Billie Jo Spears. Spears's version would also go on to become a successful single release. Numerous other artists and musicians of different genres have recorded their own versions of "Misty Blue". The song is now considered both a country music and blues standard.
Benjamin "BeBe" Winans is an American gospel and R&B singer. He is a member of the noted Winans family, most members of which are also gospel artists. Winans has released nine albums, seven with his sister CeCe as BeBe & CeCe Winans and one with three Winans brothers.
Bobby Marcel Wilson, better known by his stage name Bobby V, is an American R&B singer. He was first a member of the R&B group Mista in 1994, before signing to rapper Ludacris through his label imprint, Disturbing tha Peace under Def Jam Recordings in 2005. Bobby V's first single as a solo artist, "Slow Down", released in February 2005, peaked at number 8 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The single was certified gold by the RIAA and became the lead single for his eponymous debut album (2005)—which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and had a follow up single, "Tell Me".
"Mr. Big Stuff" is a song by American singer Jean Knight. The song was released in 1971 as a single from Knight's debut album of the same title, and became a big hit, reaching No. 2 on Billboard Hot 100. The song was certified double platinum and was the No. 1 Soul Single of the year.
Malaco Records is an American independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, that has been the home of various major blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Mel Waiters, Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, Latimore, Dorothy Moore, Little Milton, Shirley Brown, Tyrone Davis, Marvin Sease, and the Mississippi Mass Choir. It has received an historic marker issued by the Mississippi Blues Commission to commemorate its important place on the Mississippi Blues Trail.
The Imperial Show Band, led by Tim Whitsett, was a popular national live act in the United States in the 1960s. It is generally regarded as the first integrated band in the state of Mississippi.
Bobby Manuel is an American guitarist. In the early 1960s he was the lead guitarist for the local band, The Memphis Blazers. He was hired by Stax Records in the late 1960s as an engineer and also quickly began doing studio work as a guitarist, becoming one of the company's most dependable and oft-used session players.
James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records and held several credits as a session drummer. He later worked for DreamWorks Records Nashville and in 2008 founded his own label, Stroudavarious Records.
The Pilgrim Jubilees, also known as The Pilgrim Jubilee Singers, are an American traditional black gospel music group originally from the cities of Jackson, Mississippi and Chicago, Illinois, where they were established by Elgie Graham and Willie Johnson, in 1934. The group have released 25 albums with six record labels Nashboro Records, Peacock Records, Savoy Records, Malaco Records, MCA Records, and Benson Records. Five of those albums charted on the Billboard magazine charts.
Vasti Jackson is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He has also been the musical director, and guitarist for Z. Z. Hill, Johnnie Taylor, Denise LaSalle, Little Milton, Bobby Bland, and Katie Webster, plus Jackson has worked with those involved in gospel music including the Williams Brothers, the Jackson Southernaires, and Daryl Coley.
Thomas Lee Tate, known as Tommy Tate, was an American soul singer and songwriter, who had three hits on the R&B chart in the 1970s.
