Robert Johnson Twenty two-year-old Charles Dodds had married Julia Major in Hazlehurst, Mississippi—about 35 miles from Jackson—in 1889. Charles Dodds owned land and made wicker furniture; his family was well off until he was forced out of Hazlehurst around 1909 by a lynch mob following an argument with some of the more prosperous townsfolk. (There was a family legend that Dodds escaped from Hazlehurst dressed in women's clothing.) Over the next two years, Julia Dodds sent their children one at time to live with their father in Memphis, where Charles Dodds had adopted the name of Charles Spencer. Julia stayed behind in Hazlehurst with two daughters, until she was evicted for nonpayment of taxes. By that time she had given birth to a son, Robert, who was fathered by a field worker named Noah Johnson. Unwelcome in Charles Dodds' home, Julia Dodds became an itinerant field worker, picking cotton and living in camps as she moved among plantations. While she worked in the fields, her eight-year-old daughter took care of Johnson. Over the next ten years, Julia Dodds would make repeated attempts to reunite the family, but Charles Dodds never stopped resenting her infidelity. Although Charles Dodds would eventually accept Johnson, he never would forgive his wife for giving birth to him. While in his teens, Johnson learned who his father was, and it was at that time that he began calling himself Robert Johnson. Around 1914, Johnson moved in with Charles Dodds' family, which by that time included all of Dodds' children by Julia Dodds, as well as Dodds' mistress from Hazlehurst and their two children. Johnson would spend the next several years in Memphis, and it was reportedly about this time that he began playing the guitar under his older half-brother's tutelage. Johnson did not rejoin his mother until she had remarried several years later. By the end of the decade, he was back in the Mississippi Delta living with his mother and her new husband, Dusty Willis. Johnson and his stepfather, who had little tolerance for music, did not get along, and Johnson had to slip out of the house to join his musician friends. It is not known whether Johnson attended school in the Delta during this time. Some later accounts say that he could neither read nor write, while others tell of his beautiful handwriting. In any case, everyone agrees that music was Johnson's first interest, and that he had his start playing the Jew's harp and harmonica . In February 1929, Johnson married Virginia Travis in Penton, Mississipi, and became serious about playing the guitar. While they were married, they lived with his half-sister and her husband. Tragically, his wife died in childbirth at the age of 16 in April, 1930. By some accounts, Johnson briefly moved back with his mother and stepfather, where he encountered the same problems that he had found intolerable when he was growing up and soon left. In May 1931, he married Calleta "Callie" Craft, an older woman with three children. By that time, his fellow musicians were beginning to take note of his precocity on the acoustic guitar. Johnson began traveling up and down the Delta, traveling by bus, hopping trains, and sometimes hitchhiking. According to Blues folklore , while traveling on a cross-road in the delta Robert sold his immortal soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery of the guitar. The source of this story is unclear, however; it may have been claimed by Johnson himself or his detractors during his lifetime or it may have been the later invention of Son House, who related the tale (adapted from an autobiographical story told by Tommy Johnson) to awestruck fans during the 1960s blues revival. Apart from songs such as "Hellhound on My Trail", "Me and the Devil Blues" and the famous "Crossroad Blues"; there is little evidence either way. Robert never acknowledged any outside source for his phenomenal playing, although he is known to have been taught by a mysterious figure called Ike Zimmerman. When Johnson arrived in a new town, he would play on street corners or in front of the local barbershop or a restaurant. He played what his audience asked for - not necessarily his own compositions. Anything he earned was based on tips, not salary. With an ability to pick up tunes at first hearing, Johnson had no trouble giving his audiences what they wanted. Also working in his favor was an ability to establish instant rapport with his audiences. In every town he stopped, Johnson would establish ties to the local community that would serve him in good stead when he passed through again a month or a year later. Sometime during his travels he moved Callie and the children from Copiah County north to the Delta country of Clarksdale, Mississippi , but abandoned them soon thereafter. Fellow musician Johnny Shines was 17 when he met Johnson in 1933. He estimated that Johnson was maybe a year older than himself. In Samuel Charters' Robert Johnson , the author quotes Shines as saying, "Robert was a very friendly person, even though he was sulky at times, you know. And I hung around Robert for quite a while. One evening he disappeared. He was kind of peculiar fellow. Robert'd be standing up playing some place, playing like nobody's business. At about that time it was a hustle with him as well as a pleasure. And money'd be coming from all directions. But Robert'd just pick up and walk off and leave you standing there playing. And you wouldn't see Robert no more maybe in two or three weeks.... So Robert and I, we began journeying off. I was just, matter of fact, tagging along." During this time Johnson established what would be a relatively long-term relationship with Estella Coleman, a woman who was about 15 years older than himself and the mother of future musician Robert Jr. Lockwood. But Johnson reportedly also cultivated a woman to look after him each town he played in. Johnson would reportedly ask homely young women living in the country with their families whether he could go home with them, and in most cases the answer was yes—until a boyfriend arrived or Johnson was ready to move on. Around 1936 , Johnson met H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi, who ran a general store and doubled as a talent scout. Speir put Johnson in touch with Ernie Oertle, who offered to record the young musician in San Antonio, Texas . At the recording session, held on November 23 , 1936 , Johnson was reportedly too shy to perform in front of the musicians in the studio, so he played facing the wall (though playing into the corner of a wall was in fact a recording technique popular in the 1930s). In the ensuing three-day session, Johnson played 16 selections. When the recording session was over, Johnson presumably returned home with cash in his pocket; probably more money than he'd ever had at one time in his life. Among the songs Johnson recorded in San Antonio were "Come On In My Kitchen," "Kind Hearted Woman," " I Believe I'll Dust My Broom " and "Cross Roads Blues." "Come On In My Kitchen" included the lines: "The woman I love took from my best friend/Some joker got lucky, stole her back again,/You better come on in my kitchen, it's going to be rainin' outdoors." In " Cross Roads Blues ," another of his great songs, he sang: "I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees./I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees./I asked the Lord above, have mercy, save poor Bob if you please./Uumb, standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride./Standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride./Ain't nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by." When his records began appearing, Johnson made the rounds to his relatives and the various children he had fathered to bring them the records himself. The first songs to appear were "Terraplane Blues" and "Last Fair Deal Gone Down," probably the only recordings of his that he would live to hear. In 1937 , Johnson traveled to Dallas, Texas , for another recording session. Eleven records from this session would be released within the following year. Among them were the three songs that would largely contribute to Johnson's posthumous fame: "Stones In My Passway," "Me And The Devil," and "Hell Hound On My Trail." "Stones In My Passway" and "Me And The Devil" are both about betrayal, a recurrent theme in country blues. The terrifying "Hell Hound On My Trail" - utilising another common theme of fear of the Devil - is often considered to be the crowning achievement of blues-style music. Other themes in Johnson's music include impotence ( Dead Shrimp Blues and Phonograph Blues ) and infidelity ( Terraplane Blues , If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day and Love in Vain ). Six of Johnson's blues songs mention the devil or some form of the supernatural. In "Me And The Devil," he began, "Early this morning when you knocked upon my door,/Early this morning, umb, when you knocked upon my door,/And I said, ' Hello, Satan, I believe it's time to go,'" before leading into "You may bury my body down by the highway side,/ You may bury my body, uumh, down by the highway side,/So my old evil spirit can get on a Greyhound bus and ride." It has been suggested that the Devil in these songs does not solely refer to the Christian model of Satan, but equally to the African Trickster God, Legba. In the last year of his life, Johnson is believed to have traveled to St. Louis and possibly Illinois . He spent some time in Memphis and traveled through the Mississippi Delta and Arkansas . By the time he died, at least six of his records had been released. His death occurred on August 16 , 1938 , at the approximate age of 27 (making him a possible member of The 27 Club ) at a little country crossroads near Greenwood, Mississippi. He had been playing for a few weeks at a country dance in a town about 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Greenwood. That evening Johnson began flirting with a woman at the dance. Some say she was the girlfriend of the bartender, while others suggest she was a married woman he had been secretly seeing. When he was offered an open bottle of whiskey, his friend and fellow blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson knocked the bottle out of his hand, informing him that he should never drink from an offered bottle that has already been opened. Robert Johnson allegedly said, "don't ever knock a bottle out of my hand". Soon after, he was offered another open bottle and accepted it. That bottle was laced with strychnine . Johnson is said to have survived the initial poisoning only to succumb to pneumonia three days later, in his weakened state. Muddy Waters ( 1915-1983)
Thereafter, Waters began performing with friends at local house parties as well as fish fries, meanwhile developing an appreciation for the deep blues sounds that Delta bluesman Son House emitted from his guitar. Muddy fabricated his style from House's music and later borrowed ideas from Robert Johnson. Waters was first recorded in 1941, for Alan Lomax. The folklorist was compiling songs for the Library of Congress. Two of the cuts were included on the Library's folk anthology album, “I Be's Troubled” and “Country Blues.” Lomax would return to the plantation a year later to lay down more tracks with Waters. Muddy Waters left the Mississippi Delta bound for Chicago in 1943. With the help of Big Bill Broonzy, he broke into the city's thriving blues scene. For some time, Waters played acoustic guitar behind John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. In 1944 he began his assault on the electric guitar. This is when his reputation as a performer took shape. Muddy teamed up with Jimmy Rodgers on harp, Claude Smith on guitar, and then with Eddie Boyd on piano (later joined by Sunnyland Slim). At this time he was still devoted to the traditional Delta bottleneck style, but his sound was fatter, louder, and far more moving then before. His initial recordings in Chicago were for producer Lester Melrose and Columbia Records in 1946. They featured Waters with a five-piece band (these would not be released until 1971). A year later he played in support of Sunnyland Slim on two Aristocrat sides titled “Johnson Machine Gun” and “Fly Right Little Girl.” Waters and bass player Big Crawford recorded two songs, but producer Leonard Chess was not impressed with the results. Nonetheless in 1948 he invited them back to the studio. The duo cut “I Can't Be Satisfied” and “Feel Like Going Home” in a traditional Delta blues style. Waters's shivering guitar licks provided an exciting new edge to the session. Released by Chess as an Aristocrat single, the records entire stock sold in less then a day. What ensued in the years 1951 to 1960 was the creation of the greatest collection of electric blues recordings ever produced. Defining the Chicago blues style during this classic period, Waters originals like “Long Distance Call,” “Mannish Boy,” “Got my Mojo Working,” “She Loves Me,” and “She's Nineteen Years Old” were complemented by songs by Willie Dixon such as “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” and “I'm Ready” among others. Waters's recordings and performances were equipped with extraordinary power by his voice, thick and rough. By this point he had all but quit playing the guitar. Chess Records, formally Aristocrat, released his debut album, in 1958. It was a collection of Waters's hit singles titled The Best of Muddy Waters. That same year, he and his pianist, Otis Spann, embarked on a tour of England . The tour brought to light new audiences, both abroad and at home. White Folk Fans became fascinated with the blues, and after hearing of his success in England they sought out Muddy Waters records. These new audiences seemed to prefer the acoustic rural-flavored blues, as opposed to the riveting electric style that Waters perfected in the ‘50s. Muddy Waters injected electricity into the blood of his new folk blues audience at the Newport Folk Festival in 1960. He and his high voltage band were on top of their game as they performed a fiery set that resulted in the live album Muddy Waters at Newport. This established a desire for the electric blues in those who attended the festival as well as new blues fans everywhere. To capitalize on this new audience, Chess Records continued to promote Waters as a folk-blues artist in the ‘60s. Toward the end of that decade and in the dawn of the new, he released Fathers and Sons, They Call Me Muddy Waters (which was awarded the best ethnic/traditional recording Grammy in 1971), and The London Muddy Waters Sessions. Primarily white fans showing a continuing interest in down home blues purchased these albums. The ‘70s saw the end of Waters's association with Chess Records and resurgence in his recording career. Signing with CBS/Blue Sky and his collaboration with producer-guitarist Johnny Winter resulted in Muddy's second Grammy for Hard Again in 1977. Nonstop touring in the ‘70s brought his music to audiences around the world. A US tour included performances at The White House for President Jimmy Carter as well as an exceptional performance of “Mannish Boy” captured in The Last Waltz, the Band's farewell concert documentary. Waters continued to create with Winters, enjoying critical and commercial success, the two would eventually perform cooperatively in the early ‘80s. The majority of their audiences were white blues or rock fans who came to pay homage. Waters's final public performance occurred suitably at an Eric Clapton show in 1982. A heart attack claimed the life of America 's first modern bluesman in 1983, Waters was sixty-eight years old. Inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980, prior to his death, he was then elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Albert King (1923-1992)
Albert King was a master of the single-string attack and was intrigued by Blues performers that he heard while growing up outside of Memphis. He was fascinated by the playing of the Blues musicians that frequented nearby West Memphis, Arkansas, most notably the works of Robert Nighthawk and Elmore James , and Albert decided that playing this style of music would be his desired calling. In turn, he influenced a new generation of guitar players that would include the likes of Jimi Hendrix , Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Albert King has been honored by The Blues Foundation with his induction into their Hall of Fame . Both " Born Under A Bad Sign " and " Live Wire / Blues Power " are also honored as Classics of Blues Recordings. But, the real honor for King is the love and everlasting respect that so many of his peers have given him. Stevie Ray Vaughan would call him "Daddy" and John Lee Hooker named him as one of his all-time favorite guitarists. Michael Bloomfield once said, " Albert can take four notes and write a volume. He can say more with fewer notes than anyone I've ever known." B.B.King stated in his autobiography "He wasn't my brother in blood, but he sure was my brother in Blues." Albert King's legend will live on. Every time a Blues or Rock combo is on stage, in an arena or small nightclub, or just playing in their garage and grinds into " Born Under A Bad Sign " or "Crosscut Saw", his influence will be shining true. B.B. King ( 1925 -
Discography: B.B. King has been a licensed pilot , a known gambler and is also a vegetarian , non-drinker and non-smoker. Johnny Winter (1944 -
He began performing at a young age with Edgar, who is also affected with albinism. His recording career began at the age of 15, when their band Johnny and the Jammers released " School Day Blues " on a Houston record label. During this same period, he was able to see performances by classic blues artists such as Muddy Waters , B. B. King and Bobby Bland . In 1968 , Johnny began playing in a trio with bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Uncle John Turner . An article in Rolling Stone magazine helped generate interest in the group. The album Johnny Winter was released near the end of that year. In 1969 they performed at numerous rock festivals including Woodstock . Johnny's reputation was well cemented at this point that he can be heard performing with Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison on the infamous Hendrix bootleg recording "Woke Up This Morning and Found Myself Dead" done at New York City's Scene Club. In 1973 , after struggling with a drug problem, he returned in classic form with Still Alive and Well . In 1977, he produced the Muddy Waters album Hard Again , and in 1980, Muddy's final effort, King Bee . Their partnership produced a number of Grammy -winning recordings throughout, and he recorded the album Nothing but the Blues with members from Muddy Waters' band. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame . He was on the cover of the first Guitar World in 1980 . There are quite a few Johnny Winter albums that are considered "non-official." A majority of these albums were produced by the late Roy Ames , owner of Home Cooking Records/ Clarity Music Publishing. According to a Houston Press article dated Aug 28, 2003 , Johnny Winter left town for the express purpose of getting away from him. Roy Ames died on August 14, 2003 of natural causes at age 66. As Ames left no obvious heirs, the ownership rights of the Ames master recordings remains unclear. As Johnny stated in an interview when the subject of Roy Ames came up, "This guy has screwed so many people it makes me mad to even talk about him." In a recent interview for North Bay Bohemian, a Northern California weekly , Johnny explained his current approach to music: "Most of the stuff I do is fairly old," he says, which befits the lifelong bluesman. But don't expect to hear "Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie Koo," even though that was one of his signature songs back in the day. On this tour, Winter says firmly, "we're not playing any rock and roll at all." Freddie King (1934 - 1976)
Stevie Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 - August 27, 1990)
Born and raised in Dallas, Vaughan began playing guitar as a child, inspired by older brother Jimmie . When he was in junior high school, he began playing in a number of garage bands, which occasionally landed gigs in local nightclubs. By the time he was 17, he had dropped out of high school to concentrate on playing music. Vaughan's first real band was the Cobras, who played clubs and bars in Austin during the mid-'70s. Following that group's demise, he formed Triple Threat in 1975. Triple Threat also featured bassist Jackie Newhouse , drummer Chris Layton , and vocalist Lou Ann Barton . After a few years of playing Texas bars and clubs, Barton left the band in 1978. The group decided to continue performing under the name Double Trouble , which was inspired by the Otis Rush song of the same name; Vaughan became the band's lead singer. For the next few years, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble played the Austin area, becoming one of the most popular bands in Texas. In 1982, the band played the Montreux Festival and their performance caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne . After Double Trouble 's performance, Bowie asked Vaughan to play on his forthcoming album, while Browne offered the group free recording time at his Los Angeles studio, Downtown; both offers were accepted. Stevie Ray laid down the lead guitar tracks for what became Bowie 's Let's Dance album in late 1982. Shortly afterward, John Hammond, Sr. landed Vaughan and Double Trouble a record contract with Epic, and the band recorded its debut album in less than a week at Downtown. Vaughan's debut album, Texas Flood , was released in the summer of 1983, a few months after Bowie 's Let's Dance appeared. On its own, Let's Dance earned Vaughan quite a bit of attention, but Texas Flood was a blockbuster blues success; receiving positive reviews in both blues and rock publications, reaching number 38 on the charts, and crossing over to album rock radio stations. Bowie offered Vaughan the lead guitarist role for his 1983 stadium tour, but he turned him down, preferring to play with Double Trouble . Vaughan and Double Trouble set off on a successful tour and quickly recorded their second album, Couldn't Stand the Weather, which was released in May of 1984. The album was more successful than its predecessor, reaching number 31 on the charts; by the end of 1985, the album went gold. Double Trouble added keyboardist Reese Wynans in 1985, before they recorded their third album, Soul to Soul. The record was released in August 1985 and was also quite successful, reaching number 34 on the charts. Although his professional career was soaring, Vaughan was sinking deep into alcoholism and drug addiction. Despite his declining health, Vaughan continued to push himself, releasing the double live album Live Alive in October of 1986 and launching an extensive American tour in early 1987. Following the tour, Vaughan checked into a rehabilitation clinic. The guitarist's time in rehab was kept fairly quiet, and for the next year Stevie Ray and Double Trouble were fairly inactive. Vaughan performed a number of concerts in 1988, including a headlining gig at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and wrote his fourth album. The resulting record, In Step , appeared in June of 1989 and became his most successful album, peaking at number 33 on the charts, earning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Recording, and going gold just over six months after its release. In the spring of 1990, Stevie Ray recorded an album with his brother Jimmie , which was scheduled for release in the fall of the year. In the late summer of 1990, Vaughan and Double Trouble set out on an American headlining tour. On August 26, 1990, their East Troy, WI, gig concluded with an encore jam featuring guitarists Eric Clapton , Buddy Guy , Jimmie Vaughan , and Robert Cray . After the concert, Stevie Ray boarded a helicopter bound for Chicago. Minutes after its 12:30 a.m. takeoff, the helicopter crashed, killing Vaughan and the other four passengers. He was only 35 years old. Rory Gallagher ( 1948-1995)
Gallagher began his recording career after moving to London, when he formed a trio called Taste. The group's self-titled debut album was released in 1969 in England and later picked up for U.S. distribution by Atco/Atlantic. Between 1969 and 1971, with producer Tony Colton behind the board, Gallagher recorded three albums with Taste before they split up. Gallagher began performing under his own name in 1971, after recording his 1970 debut, Rory Gallagher for Polydor Records in the U.K. The album was picked up for U.S. distribution by Atlantic Records, and later that year he recorded Deuce, also released by Atlantic in the U.S. His prolific output continued, as he followed up Deuce with Live in Europe (1972) and Blueprint and Tattoo, both in 1973. Irish Tour 1974, like Live in Europe, did a good job of capturing the excitement of his live shows on tape, and he followed that with Calling Card for Chrysalis in 1976, and Photo Finish and Jinx for the same label in 1978 and 1982. By this point Gallagher had made several world tours, and he took a few years rest from the road. He got back into recording and performing live again with the 1987 release (in the U.K.) of Defender. His last album, Fresh Evidence, was released in 1991 on the Capo/I.R.S. label. Capo was his own record and publishing company that he set up in the hopes of eventually exposing other great blues talents. Some of Gallagher's best work on record wasn't under his own name; it's stuff he recorded with Muddy Waters on The London Sessions (Chess, 1972) and with Albert King on Live (RCA/Utopia). Gallagher made his last U.S. tours in 1985 and 1991, and admitted in interviews that he'd always been a guitarist who fed off the instant reaction and feedback a live audience can provide. In a 1991 interview, he told this writer: "I try to sit down and write a Rory Gallagher song, which generally happens to be quite bluesy. I try to find different issues, different themes and different topics that haven't been covered before...I've done songs in all the different styles...train blues, drinking blues, economic blues. But I try to find a slightly different angle on all these things. The music can be very traditional, but you can sort of creep into the future with the lyrics." Gallagher passed away from complications owing to liver transplant surgery on June 14, 1995, at age 47. Elmore James (1918-1963)
He was given the surname of his stepfather, Joe Willie James, at birth. He moved around often as a child around the Delta, and regularly took time off from cotton picking to pick his "Diddley" bow, a primitive instrument involving one string nailed to the side of a barn. He purchased a real guitar, a $20 National, as an early teenager, and was hired playing house parties, jukes, etc. After a brief period of teaming up with his cousin, "Homesick" James Williamson, young Elmore struck out on his own for a while, playing gigs all over the Delta area, and making acquaintances with musicians such as Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Johnny Temple, and Luther Huff. By 1937, Elmore had relocated to Greenville, Mississippi, and had met and played with Sonny Boy Williamson (II) and Robert Junior Lockwood, Robert Johnson's unofficial stepson. Soon later, Elmore met Johnson himself, and interperated a tune that Robert had wrote called " I Believe I'll Dust My Broom ". A year later, however, Johnson was murdered, and Elmore moved out of the area, fearing the same fate. James took up a job in his stepbrother's radio shop, playing in frequent gigs with Sonny Boy, and even joining the Army between 1943 and 1945. After his service, he reunited with both Sonny Boy and Homesick James, who both had radio shows on KFFA in Helena, MI. Elmore was given some time on the shows, performing "Dust My Broom", but caused little stir. In 1951, Lillian McMurry, an independent record producer, heard Elmore and was motivated to commit him to vinyl. His first recording was, of course, " Dust My Broom ". Elmore was incredibly shy, and when he recorded the classic, he didn't even know he was recording; producers had tricked him into thinking he was rehearsing! After he was betrayed in this manner, he refused to record a B-Side, so another artist was used. The single was put out without his approval and shot straight to #9 on the R&B charts in 1952. Later that year, he signed with the Bihari Brothers, and settled down in Chicago with his backing band, The Broomdusters. He even recorded a few singles for Chess Records, but they didn't do well. Elmore spent the rest of the 50's moving back and forth between Chicago and Mississippi , depending on who wanted to hear his music more. In 1957, he was discovered to have an ailing heart condition, but this didn't keep him from the road. Lack of steady success drove him to a job as a DJ in Mississippi , though he still regularly recorded. Elmore was once again reborn, so to speak, when he signed with Fire Records in 1959. He recorded for this label until 1962, when problems with the musicians union forced him to stop working union jobs. By 1963, his problems with the union were all but over, and a recording date was set for May 24, 1963. Just as he was preparing to go to the studio for that session, Elmore James succumbed to his heart condition. He was 45 years old. Willie Dixon (1915 - 1992)
He had a colourful life. In his teens he had many scrapes with the law, and decided to hitchhike his way to Chicago. A giant of a man, he took up boxing , and was so successful as to win the Golden Gloves heavywight title in 1936. His progress in learning to play the bass was halted when he resisted the World War II draft, and was imprisoned for ten months. After the war, he re-united with his bass playing tutor, Baby Doo Caston , forming the Big Three Trio, who went on to record for Columbia Records . Dixon subsequently signed for Chess Records as a recording artist, but by 1951 he was a full time employee of the label. His relationship with them was sometimes strained, although his spell there covered the years from 1948 to the early 1960s . During this time his output, and influence was prodigious. Indeed, he once claimed "I am the blues." This may seem a little arrogant, but there is no doubt that he was one of the major influences on the genre, through his original and varied songwriting, live performances, recording, and copious production work. He later recorded on Bluesville Records. His double bass playing was of a high standard. He appears on many of Chuck Berry 's early recordings, further proving his linkage between the blues and the birth of rock 'n' roll . Dixon's genius as a songwriter lay in refurbishing archaic Southern motifs, in contemporary arrangements. This produced songs with the backbone of the blues , and the agility of pop music . British R&B bands of the 1960 's constantly drew on the Dixon songbook for inspiration. In addition, as his songwriting and production work started to take a backseat, his organisational ability was utilised, putting together all-star, Chicago based blues ensembles for work in Europe. His health deteriorated in the 1970s and 1980s , due to long-term diabetes, and eventually his leg had to be amputated. Willie Dixon died in 1992 and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. As the songlist below demonstrates, his work was covered by a varied range of artists, from the blues, to modern day rock music practitioners. Willie Dixon died of heart failure in Burbank, California in 1992 and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois .
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Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi sometime around May 8, 1911, the 11th child of Julia Major Dodds, who had previously borne 10 children to her husband Charles Dodds. Born out of wedlock, Johnson did not take the Dodds name. 
Born into a sharecropper family on the Mississippi Delta in 1915, Waters was raised by his grandmother following the death of his mother when he was three. He regularly enjoyed playing near a muddy creek as a child and as a result he received his nickname. While working in the cotton fields on Stovall's Plantation, just outside Clarksdale, Muddy learned to sing, earning a mere fifty cents a day. At age seven or eight he picked up the harmonica, but did not learn to play guitar until the age of seventeen. 
Born in 1948 in Ballyshannon and raised in Cork, Gallagher's rock ‘n roll odyssey began at an early age when he saw Elvis Presley on TV and became inspired to get his first guitar. Rory would listen and learn from the likes of Lonnie Donegan, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Jerry Lee Lewis, many of whom Rory went on to record with. 
Elmore James was born on January 27, 1918 in Richland , Mississippi , to Leola Brooks. (His true father is not known). 
Willie Dixon was a well-known American blues bassist, singer , songwriter, and record producer. He was born as William James Dixon, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He was a producer for Chess and Checker Records in Chicago and is considered one of the key figures in the creation of Chicago blues. He worked with Chuck Berry, 