b. 24 August 1915, Omaha, Nebraska, USA, d. 14 June 1969, Los Angeles, California, USA. This stylish, flamboyant blues shouter enjoyed several R&B hit singles in the immediate post-war period. As a youth Harris played drums in and around his home tow…

b. 1 November 1936, Bessemer, Alabama, but raised in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Williams has made his lasting mark in the R&B industry as a recording artist, songwriter, and producer of the first doo-wop vocal groups and then soul acts. He is noted for …

b. 11 April 1935, Extension, Louisiana, USA, d. 23 January 1997, USA. Berry was raised in Los Angeles, where he learned piano, playing along with the records of Joe Liggins And His Honeydrippers. In high school he formed a vocal group and began recor…

b. Jerry Williams Jnr., 12 July 1942, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. This eccentric performer first recorded, as Little Jerry, during the 50s. His subsequent releases were as varied as the outlets on which they appeared, although Williams did achieve a m…

The most successful and influential purveyor of saxophone-driven jump blues, Louis Jordan was also one of the crucial transitional figures between the swing era and R&B. Although he started out mainly as a saxophonist with bandleaders such as Bessie …

b. Obie Donmell Jessie, 28 December 1936, Dallas, Texas, USA. Inspired by Roy Brown and Joe Williams, "Young" Jessie teamed up with fellow Jefferson High School alumni - Johnny Watson, Richard Berry and Cornell Gunter - in the early 50s to set up a v…

b. Robert Ferguson. In the fall-out that succeeded the acquisition of his stage name, Ferguson obliterated all knowledge of his past, beyond the fact that his father was a minister who disapproved of his son playing blues and boogie-woogie on the chu…

A self-proclaimed man among men (and deservedly so), singer/guitarist Bo Diddley is still the only musician in history to have a beat named after him. Diddley's raunchy, distorted 1950s sound and African-derived rhythm have been an enormous influence…

b. 19 June 1930, Gadsden, Alabama, USA. From a musical family, McCain learned harmonica as a child, and played with local group the Upstarts in the early 50s. He first recorded in Jackson, Mississippi, for Lillian McMurry's Trumpet label in 1954 ("Wi…

The three youngest of the six children of Louis and Marie Glaser, namely, Tompall (b.Thomas Paul Glaser, 3 September 1933), Chuck (b. Charles Vernon Glaser, 27 February 1936) and Jim (b. James Wilson Glaser, 16 December 1937), were born in Spalding, …

Indisputably the greatest Latino rock band of the 60s Thee Midniters took their inspiration from both the British Invasion sound of the Rolling Stones and the more traditional RB that they were weaned on in their native Los Angeles Hugely popular in …

North Carolinan guitarist Link Wray began his recording career in the 1950s as a country musician, but was written into the annals of history in 1958 via his groundbreaking single "Rumble." An electric guitar instrumental featuring Wray's distorted t…

Rockabilly pioneer Carl Perkins emerged in the 1950s around the same time as Elvis Presley, with a similar blend of country and R&B. He was denied Elvis-level fame due to poor timing, bad breaks, and a relative lack of the sex appeal that aided Presl…

Formed as the Flames in 1949, this R&B group went through a variety of name changes - Four Flames, Hollywood Four Flames, Jets, Ebbtides and Satellites - during its career. However, it was as the Hollywood Flames that they had their biggest success, …

This Los Angeles-based unit evolved when Christian (b. Arlester "Dyke" Christian, 1943, Buffalo, New York, USA, d. 1971) teamed with the Blazers, formerly the O'Jays' backing group. "Funky Broadway", Dyke's own composition, gave his band its debut hi…

Featuring twin brothers Cliff and Claude Trenier the Treniers helped link swing music to rock roll with their brand of hot jump blues in the late 40s and early 50s To the latter-day listener their early-50s singles sound closer to swing than rock in…

b. Roselea Arbana Maddox, 15 August 1925, near Boaz, Alabama, USA, d. 15 April 1998, Ashland, Oregon, USA. In the Depression days of 1933, Charlie and Lula Maddox took their five young children (Cal, Henry, Fred, Don and Rose), whose ages ranged from…