This Week In The Blues: November 23 – November 29, 2025

HEY BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of November 23 – November 29, 2025

Some of the highlights include hill country blues legend R.L. Burnside, legendary Stax bass maestro Donald “Duck” Dunn, and the Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall.

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:

R. L. Burnside - "Rollin and Tumblin" - https://youtu.be/Q7PdxdXzskU?si=MnFTPzX72DtGLrWM

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers with Gary Moore - "So Many Roads" - https://youtu.be/KpD50EaiJTo?si=5WrhbC3rTXZ3Q2bu

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 R.L. Burnside was born November 23, 1926. When I was helping with sound at one of his shows in Iowa, he once leaned over and asked, “What’s the food in the jail here like?” That was Burnside in a nutshell, a bit of a rascal, but also genuine. He made his home in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in the hill country above the Delta, where he learned his music from his neighbor Mississippi Fred McDowell. Up until the mid-1980s, Burnside was mostly a farmer and fisherman. It wasn’t until the 1990s that he started recording and touring regularly. His sound was pure hill country blues. It was raw, hypnotic, and stripped down to the bone.

On November 23, 1936, Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, became sacred ground. That’s where blues legend Robert Johnson recorded 16 songs over three days, including alternate takes. Among them were “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” and “Cross Road Blues,” all of which went on to become cornerstones of the blues genre.

Legendary Stax bass maestro Donald “Duck” Dunn was born November 24, 1941. Dunn helped define the groove of the 1960s with Booker T. & the M.G.’s and as a session player for Stax Records. His bass can be heard on thousands of tracks ranging from Otis Redding and Sam & Dave to Albert King, Bill Withers, and Elvis Presley. In 1992, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Bass Player magazine ranked him number 40 on its list of “The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time.”

Blues pianist Eddie Boyd was born November 25, 1914. Born near Clarksdale or Stovall, Mississippi, he learned both guitar and piano before heading to Memphis in 1936. Like so many others, in 1941 Boyd joined the Great Migration north to Chicago. There he backed the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Jazz Gillum, Muddy Waters, and Tampa Red. His style carried the deep soul of the Delta right into the heart of the Windy City.

Chicago blues guitarist Jimmy Johnson was born November 25, 1928. Johnson took the long way back to the blues he’d grown up with in Mississippi, reemerging in Chicago in the 1970s as a “new” voice with fire and heart. His family was steeped in music. His father and brothers Mac and Syl were all musicians, and his teenage best friend was Matt “Guitar” Murphy. With his soulful vocals and sharp, stinging guitar tone, Johnson earned several Blues Music Awards and a lasting spot in blues history.

Blues harmonica player Jerry Portnoy was born November 25, 1943, in Evanston, Illinois. As a kid, he first heard the blues drifting through Maxwell Street Market, outside his father’s carpet store. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Maxwell Street was a living classroom where blues giants like Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, Johnny Young, and Big Walter Horton played for tips. It was also where Portnoy fell in love with the sound that would define his life.

Jazz and blues pianist “Kansas City” Frank was born November 26, 1907. His real name was Franklyn Melrose, and he became a leading figure in Chicago’s blues and jazz circles during the 1920s and 1930s. Strongly influenced by his brothers’ business partner, Jelly Roll Morton, Melrose carved out his own swinging piano style. His story ended tragically, he was killed in a bar fight on Labor Day 1941 in Hammond, Indiana. He was just 33 years old.

Blues guitar player Bernard Allison was born November 26, 1965, in Chicago. He’s the son of blues great Luther Allison and grew up surrounded by legends. As a kid, he met Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, and Albert King. Just a week after finishing high school, he joined Koko Taylor’s touring band. Along the way, he learned from Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan, who where two mentors who helped shape his blistering, soulful guitar style.

Happy birthday to “Mr. Purple Haze” himself, Jimi Hendrix, who was born November 27, 1942. In the early 1960s, Hendrix worked as a sideman for Little Richard, B.B. King, Ike & Tina Turner, and Sam Cooke. In 1966, he crossed the Atlantic to London and formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. Their debut single “Hey Joe” hit number six on the UK charts, and the rest, as they say, exploded into legend.

Briefcase Full of Blues, the debut album by The Blues Brothers, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, was released November 28, 1978. Recorded live at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, it became one of the highest-selling blues albums of all time. Say what you want about it. However this album, and later the movie,  introduced an entire new generation to the power and joy of the blues.

The Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall, was born November 29, 1933. Inspired by his father’s love of blues and jazz, Mayall learned piano, guitar, and harmonica. In 1962, he formed his first band, and a year later founded the legendary Bluesbreakers in London. That group became a launch pad for an entire era of guitar heroes, including Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, and future Fleetwood Mac founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

Early blues diva and recording pioneer Lucille Hegamin was born November 29, 1894. By fifteen, she was touring the South with the Leonard Harper Minstrel Stock Company. She later settled in Chicago, working with Tony Jackson and Jelly Roll Morton. In 1920, she became only the second Black woman to record blues songs, following Mamie Smith. Among her many recordings were “Arkansas Blues” and “Jazz Me Blues”, songs that helped lay the foundation for early jazz and blues.

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 and well talk about Piedmont-style blues singer and guitarist Brownie McGhee and Blues harp player Sonny Boy Williamson. It’s going to be a great show, so…we’ll see you then!