This Week In The Blues: May 18 - May 24, 2025

HEY BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of May 17 - May 24, 2025.

Some of the highlights include blues shouter Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters records "Manish Boy", and jump blues singer Billy Wright.

Keep in mind that there's so much more that happened this week in the blues. 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:

Muddy Waters - "Mannish Boy" (Live) - https://youtu.be/2QoBR-F3tp4?si=4hcSVhVcEZULaM4h

Big Joe Turner - "Shake, Rattle & Roll. Live 1954" - https://youtu.be/YhELpSeeipg?si=ymX_wGKm98yGP7AV

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

Little Son Joe was born on May 18, 1900 in Hughes, Arkansas.  His birth name was Ernest Lawlars and he’s best known for his musical partnership with his wife, Memphis Minnie. He teamed up with Minnie in the late 30s, replacing her previous husband and partner, Kansas Joe McCoy, who we heard about in our last episode. Lawlars recorded in his own right under the name Little Son Joe, but most of his recorded work was as an accompanist to Minnie. In 1942 he had a hit with "Black Rat Swing", billed as “Mr. Memphis Minnie”

Blues shouter Big Joe Turner was born on May 18, 1911.  He was the premier blues shouter of the postwar era, Big Joe Turner’s roar could rattle the very foundation of any gin joint he sang in — and that’s without a microphone. Turner effortlessly spanned boogie-woogie, jump blues, even the first wave of rock & roll, enjoying great success in each genre. Turner was a product of the Kansas City music scene and his career as a performer endured from the 1920s into the 1980s. 

Blues guitar player Jimmy Thackery was born May 19 1953 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He’s known for his gritty, blue-collar approach and marathon live shows. Thackery was part of the band The Nighthawks for many years, and earned the reputation as one of the hardest-working blues bar bands. By the late ’80s, he was touring and recording under his own name, and finding widespread success on the festival circuit.

Chuck Berry recorded his hit 'Maybellene' on May 21 in 1955 at Universal Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois. The song adapted in part from the Western swing fiddle tune 'Ida Red' is considered to be ONE of the first rock and roll songs. Notice I said ONE of the first and not THE first. I’m NOT going to wade into that debate. Anyway, the track became Berry's debut single release in July of this year where it peaked at No. 5 on the US chart.

Blues singer Lee "Shot" Williams was born May 21, 1938 in Lexington, Mississippi. He got the nickname "Shot" from his mother at a young age, owing to his fondness for wearing suits and dressing up as a "big shot." Williams moved to Chicago in 1958. A few years later joined Magic Sam's band as a singer. In 1962, Williams recorded his first singles "Hello Baby" and "I'm Trying". His 1964 recording "Welcome to the Club" was a hit in Chicago, and was later covered by Little Milton for Checker Records in 1965.

Jump blues singer Billy Wright was born May 21 in either 1918, 1928 or 1932. Yeah – I know, that’s a big date range, but multiple sources list that date range. He was flamboyant performer, and was known as the "Prince of the Blues" throughout his career. He was a key figure in Atlanta blues after World War II. His first record, "Blues for My Baby", rose to number 3 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1949. He had a major influence on the rock-and-roll pioneer Little Richard, whom he helped get his first recording contract in 1951. 

Albert Collins started recording the album “Ice Pickin'” on May 22, 1978 for Alligator Records at CurTom Studios in Chicago. It was the album that sparked Albert Collins' belated rise to blues stardom, a full 20 years after the 'Master of the Telecaster' recorded the first of his incendiary 'cool' instrumentals, titled 'The Freeze.' It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1979. In 1986 the album was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

Blues piano player Aaron "Pinetop" Sparks was born May 22, 1910 in Corona, Mississippi. He got his nickname from playing Pinetop Smith's hit "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie". In 1920, the family moved to St. Louis, where he and his twin brother (Marion “Lindberg” Sparks) formed a group, with Aaron playing the piano in a boogie-woogie style and Marion singing. Their first recording session was in 1932, when they recorded a number of blues and boogie-woogie songs. Perhaps his most notable recording is "Every Day I Have the Blues", a song he wrote with his brother and was recorded in 1935.

Blues and jazz piano player Abie “Boogaloo” Ames was born on May 23, 1918 on the Big Egypt Plantation in Cruger, Mississippi. He began playing the piano at the age of five. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Detroit, and by the late 1940s, Ames was leading his own band there. Throughout the following decade, he performed with various big name musicians including Nat King Cole and Erroll Garner. Around this time he picked up the nickname "Boogaloo". In the early 1960s, Ames did session work at Berry Gordy's fledgling Motown studio. 

Muddy Waters records "Manish Boy” on May 24, 1955. It was one of a series of Chess singles that featured Muddy Waters convincingly touting his own virility. He was joined by an all-star crew with Junior Wells filling the harmonica spot, one usually held by Little Walter on Muddy's sessions. It was a solid stop-time follow-up to Muddy's 'I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man' and Bo Diddley's 1955 hit 'I'm a Man.' The record hit the Top Ten in all three of the R&B charts Billboard magazine then published

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 when we’ll talk about jump blues pioneer T-Bone Walker and blues diva Mamie Smith – it’s going to be a great show - we’ll see you then!