This Week In The Blues: Feb 16 - Feb 22, 2025

HEY BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of February 16 - February 22, 2025.

Some of the highlights include acoustic blues guitarist James “Super Chikan” Johnson, John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen" hitting #1 on the R&B chart, and Chicago boogie woogie pianist James Yancey.

We just covered some of the highlights here. If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to visit our website or follow our Facebook page:
https://bigtrainblues.com
https://www.facebook.com/BigTrainBlues

Photo credits (if known) and past episodes are posted on our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@BigTrainBlues

Here are links to a few of the artists or songs we've referenced in this week's episode:

John Lee Hooker - "Boogie Chillen" (original 1948 version) - https://youtu.be/G4pp02_GN9A?si=p4j-1H3hQsr0Noym

Chris Duarte on Legends TV program - "Big Legged Woman" - https://youtu.be/Uu2Smmcuu2Q?si=7WK1-dMlIyNJFKIw

Join me every weekday from 12:15pm-12:45pm CT to watch a live stream on Facebook of the longest running blues radio show program. https://www.facebook.com/DeltaCulturalCenter

We’ll have a new episode next week – we’ll see you then!

ARE YOU A FAN OF BLUES HISTORY? US TOO!

If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to visit our website or follow our Facebook page:

https://bigtrainblues.com

https://www.facebook.com/BigTrainBlues

Transcript

 This Week In The Blues: Feb 16 - Feb 22 2025

Blues guitarist James “Super Chikan” Johnson was born February 16, 1951 in Darling, Mississippi. He is the nephew of fellow blues musician Big Jack Johnson. Super Chikan spent his childhood moving from town to town in the Mississippi Delta and working on his family's farms. He was fond of the chickens on the farm, and this led his friends to give him the nickname "Chikan Boy". At the age of thirteen, he bought his first guitar, an acoustic model that had only two strings, from a Salvation Army store.

Texas blues-rock guitarist Chris Duarte was born February 16, 1963. He is one of my absolute favorite blues guitarists. Duarte plays a style that draws on elements of jazz, blues, and rock and roll. In his own words, his musical style is a combination of "rockin' blues" and "punk blues." Go to Youtube and check out his version of “Big Legged Woman” to get a feel of how he navigates the fretboard blending blues, jazz, and even some psychedelic rock in to his solos. I’ll include a link to it in the show notes.

On February 19 in 1949, John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen" hit #1 on the R&B chart. "Boogie Chillen'" was first recorded by John Lee Hooker in 1948. It is a solo performance featuring Hooker's vocal, electric guitar, and rhythmic foot stomps. The lyrics are partly autobiographical and alternate between spoken and sung verses. The song was his debut record release and in 1949, it became the first "down-home" electric blues song to reach number one in the R&B records chart.

blues musician and Robert "Bilbo" Walker Jr. was born February 19, 1937. Walker was known for his showmanship and flamboyant Chuck Berry imitations. Walker was born near Clarksdale, Mississippi. His father, Robert Walker Sr. was often referred to by his nickname, "Bilbo", which was passed on to Walker Jr., who was sometimes called "Little Junior Bilbo". Walker began to explore music after being introduced to Ike Turner.

Chicago boogie woogie pianist James Yancey was born February 20 in 1894…or 1895…or 1901. He’s one of the pioneers of this raucous, rapid-fire, eight-to-the-bar boogie-woogie piano style. Yancey became the first boogie-woogie pianist to record an album of solos,. By then, Yancey's work around Chicago had already influenced such younger and better-known pianists as Meade "Lux" Lewis, Pinetop Smith, and Albert Ammons.

blues guitarist "Scrapper" Blackwell was born February 21, 1903. He was given the nickname "Scrapper" by his grandmother, because of his fiery nature. He’s best known as half of the guitar-piano duo he formed with Leroy Carr. Blackwell and Carr toured throughout the American Midwest and South between 1928 and 1935 as stars of the blues circuit, recording over 100 sides.

February 21 is also another good day for Scrapper Blackwell. On February 21, 1934 in St Louis, Scrapper Blackwell and Leroy Carr recorded “Blues Before Sunrise”. Sadly it was done only a year before Carr died at the age of thirty. “Blues at Sunrise” is Carr’s litany of woes in song. Lines like “such a miserable feeling, a feeling I do despise” had immense influence on Robert Johnson and other blues legends. In 2016 it was induced into the Blues Hall of Fame.

New Orleans legend Ernie K-Doe was born February 22 in 1933! Ernest Kador Jr. he recorded as a member of the group the Blue Diamonds in 1954 before making his first solo recordings the following year. "Mother-in-Law" was his first hit, reaching number 1 on both the Billboard pop chart and the Billboard R&B chart. K-Doe never had another top-40 pop hit.

Well blues fans, we just covered some of the highlights here. If you want to know more about these artists or other things that happened this week in the blues, be sure to follow our social media pages or visit our website at Big Train Blues.com. We’ll have a new episode next week – we’ll see you then!