![]() It wasn’t until he started recording for Duke Records in 1954 that he found success as a recording artist. Although they were very good they failed to draw national attention. Bobby “Blue” Bland first recordings were for the the Modern and Chess labels. In these clubs you had to be not only on top of your game musically but you had to be able to put on a show! The pool of talent was so impressive that it wasn’t long before record labels like Chess, Modern, and Duke got wind of what was going on and started signing artists to their rosters. Musicians from all over flocked to the area to showcase their talent at the clubs on Beale Street and across the river in West Memphis. Although he spent his early years performing just up the street from the Mississippi Delta in Memphis, Bland’s smooth vocal style was closer to the big city Rhythm & Blues sound of artists like Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker (he eventually earned the nickname “The Black Sinatra”).ĭuring the 1950’s the Memphis music scene was one the biggest and most competitive in the South. ![]() In his early days Bland performed on Beale street along with artists like Johnny Ace, Little Junior Parker, Ike Turner, Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. Unlike many of his contemporaries Bland lived to the golden age of 83, thus making him one of the last living connections to the Memphis Blues scene of the 1950’s. ![]() ![]() On Sunday Jthe Blues world lost one of its most soulful voices, Bobby “Blue” Bland. ![]()
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