This Week In The Blues: August 24 - August 30, 2025

HEY BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of August 24 - August 30, 2025

Some of the highlights include blues legend Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, blues guitar player Castro Coleman aka Mr. Sipp, and Delta blues musician "L. C." Ulmer.

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:

Arthur Crudup - "That's All Right" - https://youtu.be/LtHW8wpDjkg?si=KTbb9-DpFYMad6t7

Mr. Sipp - "Let Me Love You" - https://youtu.be/Kn8mUnStIvs?si=klfsFWXOvl09PSC4

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

Blues legend Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup was born August 24 in 1905! he may well have been Elvis Presley’s favorite bluesman, since Presley recorded no less than three of “Big Boy’s” classics including “That’s All Right Mama”. Often lost in the shadow of Presley ’s covers are Crudup’s own contributions to the blues genre. He didn’t sound much like anyone else in part because he didn’t pick up the instrument until he was 30 years old. Crudup was nicknamed “Big Boy” because, well, he was a pretty big guy.

Wynonie Harris, also known as Mr. Blues, was an American rhythm and blues singer born on August 24, 1915, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was a vital figure in the post-World War II blues scene, known for his electrifying performances and his significant influence on the development of rock and roll. This blues shouter best remembered as a singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often with very suggestive  lyrics. He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952. Harris is attributed by many music scholars to be one of the founding fathers of rock and roll. His up-tempo blues song "Good Rocking Tonight" which emphasized a backbeat and a saxophone solo, is mentioned at least as a precursor to rock and roll.

Blues guitar player Castro Coleman aka Mr. Sipp was born on August 25, 1976 Mr. Sipp is the 2014 International Blues Challenge winner by way of The Vicksburg Blues Society as well as the 2014 Gibson Best Guitarist Award Winner. The same year Castro was given the Bobby Rush Entertainer of the Year Award by the Jus' Blues Foundation. In 2015, he won several Jackson Music Awards including International Male Blues Artist, Blues Artist of the Year, and Entertainer of the year.

blues shouter Jimmy Rushing was born on August 26 in 1901.  Rushing was known as “Mister Five-By-Five”, an affectionate reference to his height and girth ratio. Rushing is from Oklahoma City, OK, which is home base of our band, Big Train and the Loco Motives. He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1927 and then joined Bennie Moten's band in 1929. In 1935 Jimmy Rushing became the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.

The highly influential blues drummer Odie Payne Jr. was born on August 27, 1926, in Chicago. Over his long career he worked with a range of musicians, including Sonny Boy Williamson II, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Little Johnny Jones, Tampa Red, Otis Rush, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Minnie, Magic Sam, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Guy. In the late 1940s, Payne joined Muddy Waters band, and played on classic recordings like "Hoochie Coochie Man". 

Here’s a "Ghost of Mississippi" story.  Delta Blind Billy, or Blind Billy, was a traveling bluesman in Mississippi, and he performed with Arthur Big Boy Crudup and Papa Charlie McCoy. One of his notable songs, "Hidden Man Blues", was an early variant of "Man of Constant Sorrow", with the lyrics: "Man of sorrow all my days / Left the home where I been raised." He recorded his version of the song in the 1930s. His play on "Man of Constant Sorrow" suggests he traveled extensively, possibly through Appalachia. He is also known for recording songs about being an outlaw, despite being legally blind.

Delta blues musician "L. C." Ulmer was born on August 28, 1928. His career spanned over half a century, and he was featured in the 2008 documentary film M for Mississippi: A Road Trip Through the Birthplace of the Blues. If you haven’t seen it – it’s available on YouTube. The family moved to a plantation near Moss Hill. Ulmer was the youngest of fourteen children and the whole family played music. Ulmer's musical journey gained momentum in the 1940s when he began performing in local juke joints and bars. In the 1950s, he recorded his first single, "It's a Long Road," which showcased his raw talent and emotional depth. However, Ulmer's career remained relatively underground, as he focused primarily on playing in small venues across the Mississippi Delta.

one of the most popular black female recording artists of the 1950s Dinah Washington was born on August 29, 1924.  Primarily a blues and jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including R&B and traditional pop music. She gave herself the title of "Queen of the Blues". She was a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Blues guitar player and singer Luther "Georgia Boy" Johnson was born on August 30, with the birth year ranging anywhere between 1934 to 1941! He was born Lucious Brinson in Davisboro, Georgia. He was raised on a farm and taught himself to play guitar. He is sometimes credited with the blues names "Georgia Boy", "Snake", or "Snake Boy". After completing his service in the US Army, Johnson eventually relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in the early 1960s where he backed Elmore James Muddy Waters and Chicago Bob Nelson. In 1970, Johnson moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and found work on the blues festival and college circuits and recorded and release several albums.

Jump blues piano player, singer and songwriter Mercy Dee Walton was born on August 30, 1915. One writer described Walton’s songs as a series of memorable blues about the unattractiveness of rural life, mostly aimed at the black migrant workers in southern California who made up his typical audience. Walton was born in Waco, Texas, and started playing piano at age 13 and learned his style from many of the ten-cent party house piano players that played out in the country on weekends. He had a national hit on Specialty Records with "One Room Country Shack", now considered a blues standard. 

Now let’s talk about the Delta bottle trees. They are a Southern folk tradition originating in Africa, where glass bottles were used to trap evil spirits and protect homes. The primary belief is that bottles, especially blue ones, can lure evil spirits at night. The spirits get mesmerized by the light and color, becoming trapped inside the bottle until the morning sun destroys them.  In the Mississippi Delta, this tradition evolved into placing colorful bottles on dead trees or metal rods as decorative garden art. Although blue bottles were particularly prized but any bottle that catches the light can be used, creating "poor man's stained glass" that symbolizes Southern hospitality and creativity.

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!