This Week In The Blues: July 20 – July 26, 2025

HEY BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of July 20 – July 26, 2025.

Some of the highlights include T-Bone Walker first records the timeless blues classic "Mean Old World", Swamp blues guitar player "Swamp Fox" Tony Joe White, and a pioneer of country blues, guitar player Sylvester Weaver.

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:

T-Bone Walker - "Mean Old World" - https://youtu.be/bSN7Bnjc40o?si=bbQYypbZaryW7Dpz

Tony Joe White - "Polk Salad Annie" - https://youtu.be/JyXHxh3Sye0?si=WL4cMNp6tyoL7aJ1

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

On July 20, 1942 legendary blues musician T-Bone Walker first recorded the timeless blues classic "Mean Old World". It continues to captivate listeners with its raw emotion and haunting lyrics. Written and performed by Walker, this song showcases the essence of the blues genre, delving deep into themes of heartbreak, despair, and the struggles of everyday life.

Legendary bluesman Floyd Jones born July 21, 1917! Born in Arkansas, Jones grew up in the blues-fertile Mississippi Delta. He came to Chicago in the mid-’40s, working for tips on Maxwell Street. Floyd was right there when the postwar “Chicago blues” movement first took flight, recording with harpist Snooky Pryor in 1947 and pianist Sunnyland Slim the next year. Jones remained active on the Chicago scene until shortly before his 1989 death.

Here's another Floyd birthday. Blues-drenched jazz and jazz-drenched blues guitar player Floyd McDaniel was born July 21, 1915, in Athens, Alabama. He moved to Chicago in 1930 when he was 15 and was a part of the Chicago music scene for most of his 80 years. In the mid-1950's McDaniel bought a bar in Chicago. He continued performing, however, backing the singer Sam Cooke, and in 1971 he joined the Ink Spots as a guitarist, a job that lasted 10 years.

Swamp blues guitar player "Swamp Fox" Tony Joe White was born July 23, 1943. He’s best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", that he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970. He also wrote "Steamy Windows" and "Undercover Agent for the Blues", both hits for Tina Turner in 1989.

On Friday, July 24, 1964 the Newport Folk Festival featured blues artists Mississippi Fred McDowell, Elizabeth Cotten, Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Hammie Nixon. This and other festivals helped revive careers of a number of blues musicians in the 1960's.

A pioneer of country blues, guitar player Sylvester Weaver, was born July 25, 1897. He’s a significant yet under-recognized figure in blues history and made his mark as one of the first recorded blues guitarplayers.  Weaver began his music career in the 1920s when the blues genre was beginning to gain commercial recognition. Weaver recorded "Longing for Daddy Blues" and "I've Got to Go and Leave My Daddy Behind" with the blues singer Sara Martin, probably on October 24, 1923, in New York City. Two weeks later, as a soloist, he recorded "Guitar Blues" and "Guitar Rag", the first blues guitar instrumentals. They are the first recorded country blues, and the first known recordings of a bottleneck-style slide guitar.

Blues singer Alberta Adams born July 26, 1917 in Indianapolis, Indiana. she appeared at the B&C club as a tap dancer, along side artists such as John Lee Hooker. When a headliner was too ill to perform one night, Adams gave an impromptu two-song performance, as a result of which the club hired her as a vocalist for a five-year stint. Chess Records, heard Adams performing on Hastings Street and signed her as a vocalist in 1952. Adams toured with Louis Jordan, T-Bone Walker, Duke Ellington, Eddie Vinson, and Lionel Hampton, among others.

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 where we’ll cover blues guitar players Robert Cray and Buddy Guy – we’ll see you then!