This Week In The Blues: December 20 - December 27, 2025

 BLUES FANS - Here's the latest episode of "This Week In The Blues" for the week of December 20 - December 27, 2025

Some of the highlights include Peetie Wheatstraw, the blues guitarist who called himself the “Devil’s Son-in-Law,” blues bass guitarist Bob Stroger, and Chicago blues singer and songwriter Lil Green.

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:

 Bob Stroger -"Blind man blues" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Q7T8J2bNo

Peetie Wheatstraw - "Devil's Son-In-Law" - https://youtu.be/F5Ac24bdUFM?si=LFdS1qoqYOaqbGcK

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

Peetie Wheatstraw, the blues guitarist who called himself the “Devil’s Son-in-Law,” was born on December 21, 1902. He started recording in 1930 and became so popular that his records kept selling even during the Great Depression, when most of the blues business fell apart. On December 21, 1941, his 39th birthday, Wheatstraw and some friends went out looking for more liquor. Their Buick crashed into a freight train, killing all three instantly. It was a dramatic, tragic ending that felt straight out of a blues song.

Chicago blues singer and songwriter Lil Green was born December 22, 1919. She became one of the top female Rhythm and Blues singers of the 1940s, known for her smooth but powerful soprano voice. She was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi and began singing in church, then in local juke joints after losing both parents as a teen. She moved to Chicago in 1929 and recorded all of her best-known songs there. Her timing and tone made her voice sound like velvet.

Sonny Boy Nelson, one of the last true links to the early blues, was born December 23, 1908. He taught himself guitar by age seven and played with his half-brother Ben at picnics, community events, and even at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Nelson could play just about anything including guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin, harmonica, just to name a few. As electric blues became more popular, he faded from the spotlight, but his acoustic style remained an important part of blues history.

Blues, jazz, ragtime, and boogie-woogie pianist Will Ezell was born December 23, 1892. By 1926, he was working for Paramount Records in Chicago, one of the few steady jobs Black musicians could get at the time. Ezell was a skilled performer with the precision of a jazz player and the heart of a bluesman. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he recorded many tracks. His “Pitchin’ Boogie,” along with Cow Cow Davenport’s “Cow Cow Blues,” helped shape the early sound of boogie-woogie piano.

Blues guitarist Leroy Dallas was born December 24, 1909. His best-known songs, “Good Morning Blues” and “Jump Little Children, Jump,” were recorded in 1948. In the 1930s and 1940s, he traveled around the South, playing washboard behind Brownie McGhee and teaming up with Frank Edwards and Georgia Slim. Later, he played solo on the streets of Chicago and recorded eight songs under his own name between 1948 and 1962.

Blues guitarist, singer, and harmonica player Daniel Womack was born December 24, 1904, on a tobacco farm in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. He lost his sight at 14 and attended the Virginia State School for the Deaf and Blind, where he learned piano and formed a gospel group. In the 1930s and 1940s, he mastered the Piedmont finger-picking guitar style and became well-known at local tobacco auctions for his lively performances.

 Blues singer and songwriter Joseph E. Pullum was born December 25, 1905. He recorded 30 songs between 1934 and 1936, and his hit “Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?” became extremely popular. Artists like Leroy Carr, Skip James, Bumble Bee Slim, and the Harlem Hamfats all recorded versions of it. His later records didn’t match that success, making him one of the blues’ first early one-hit wonders.

Delta blues guitarist and harmonica player J.D. Short was born December 26, 1902, in Port Gibson, Mississippi. He was a cousin of Big Joe Williams and Honeyboy Edwards and was known for his strong, vibrato-filled voice. He recorded under several names, including Jelly Jaw Short. Songs like “Lonesome Swamp Rattlesnake” and “You’re Tempting Me” became regional favorites. After disappearing from music for about 20 years, he returned during the 1960s blues revival.

Electric blues bass guitarist Bob Stroger was born December 27, 1930. Raised on a farm in Missouri, he moved to Chicago in 1955 and soon found himself surrounded by the city’s top blues artists. His bass playing supported countless musicians, including Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Eddy Clearwater, Sunnyland Slim, Louisiana Red, Homesick James, Snooky Pryor, and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. Few bass players have supported more blues legends than Stroger.

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 Matt “Guitar” Murphy and Bo Diddley. It’s going to be a great show! …we’ll see you then!