Hello John,

Never got to see Luther Allison live but dig his music. I've seen his son, Bernard, and he's a chip off the ol' block. Luther has been compared to Hendrix due to his intensity and manic stage shows. He was a good'n.

We need to see a little more activity as far as Showdown entrants. PBS and The Valley have reveled in the enormous success we have enjoyed after the past two IBC competitions. Let's keep it going. PBS is on the map and we like it!

As you can see, we have some serious events lined up. We also have Blues Blast '23 which will take place Nov. 4 on the Rhythm Room property outside. This is gonna be a fun event. More details as they become available. Stay tuned.

I actually see two digit temps in our immediate future. Get Out & About.

And hug the one you're with.

Have a week!

Jim Crawford,

Phoenix Blues Society

www.phoenixblues.com

Wild Man

by Robert R. Jacobson

At the time of his death in 1997, Luther Allison was at the very top of the blues world. The singer and guitarist had received a total of eight W. C. Handy awards over the prior two years, and was performing to sold-out audiences over the world. He had struggled for 40 years in semi-obscurity--many of those years spent in European self-exile--to reach that peak, only to have his career suddenly ended by terminal cancer.

Allison was born on August 17, 1939, in Mayflower, Arkansas, the fourteenth of 15 children. In 1951, fed up with life in the cotton fields of the South, the family moved to Chicago in search of better opportunities. The family was a musical one. Several of Allsion's siblings sang in a gospel group called the Southern Travellers. One of his older brothers, Ollie, soon began working as a guitarist on Chicago's booming South Side blues scene. Seeking to emulate his brother, Luther took up the guitar himself. By the middle of his teens, Allison was good enough to sit in with his brother's band on club dates.

Soon Allison was ready to front his own band, and in 1957 he formed a group called the Rolling Stones, named after a song by blues great Muddy Waters. The band also included another Allison brother, Grant. After changing its name to The Four Jivers, the band quickly became regulars on the Chicago blues club circuit. It was not long before Allison's fiery guitar work caught the attention of Magic Sam, Freddie King, and other fixtures of the competitive West Side blues scene.

For the next decade or so, Allison toiled as a sideman for those and other bandleaders. It was Freddie King who encouraged Allison to start singing. He played supporting roles during this period with such other blues legends as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. When King started touring nationally, Allison took over his band and his weekly West Side gig. By the end of the 1950s he was one of the bigger acts on the Chicago blues scene.

In 1967 Allison gained national attention when his playing was included on a compilation album released by Delmark Records, called Sweet Home Chicago. He followed that up with a Delmark album of his own, Love Me Mama, issued in 1969. By this time, Allison had been more or less tabbed as the "next big blues star" out of a generation of hot players coming out of the West Side. This collection of blooming blues stars, which included Otis Rush and Buddy Guy, found ways to incorporate a rock and roll sensibility into their music without sacrificing its blues authenticity.

Meanwhile, Allison had begun taking his band on the road outside of Chicago for the first time, touring at times with harmonica player Shakey Jake. Allison made huge splashes at the 1969 and 1970 Ann Arbor Blues Festivals in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and it seemed only a matter of time before he would become the biggest blues name in years. He signed a recording contract with Barry Gordy's Motown label. It marked the first time that Motown, a giant in soul music, had signed a blues artist. Allison recorded three albums on Motown: Bad News is Coming (1972), Luther's Blues (1974), and Night Life (1976). Unfortunately, Motown had no idea how to promote blues products, and none of Allison's albums sold very well. In addition, Allison was unhappy with Motown's propensity to "overproduce" his work. He preferred to record in a simpler, more "live" atmosphere.

Disillusioned by the failure of his Motown projects, Allison packed up and moved his base of operations to Europe, following in the footsteps of earlier blues expatriates such as Memphis Slim and Champion Jack Dupree. Settling in Paris in 1979, Allison set out to revitalize his career by concentrating on what he did best--namely putting on fantastic live shows, in which he exhibited boundless energy, usually exhausting the audience before losing any steam himself. He continued to record as well, turning out albums on European labels such as Melodie and Black & Blue, in addition to the occasional U.S. release on Blind Pig. By the middle of the 1980s, Allison had become arguably the biggest blues star in Europe. While his star was rising in Europe, however, American audiences pretty much forgot about him.

As he gained stature in Europe, Allison continued to court younger listeners by incorporating elements of rock into his music, leading to inevitable comparisons to, among others, Jimi Hendrix. Allison never seemed to mind the association with rock artists, noting the historic connection between the two genres. By the late 1980s, however, Allison was delving back into his hardcore blues roots, combining the hot guitar licks he had honed over the years with a matured vocal style that captured the essence of the wise, world- weary bluesman. His 1988 release Serious caught the attention of the people at Chicago-based Alligator Records.

In 1994 Alligator released Soul Fixin' Man, Allison's first American album in nearly two decades. The album was a huge hit among blues fans, marking Allison's triumphant return to his native turf. A writer in Guitar Player applauded the album's "fever and chills performances," and raved that Allison's "ferocious solos combine the wisdom of a master storyteller with the elegance of B.B. King, the elasticity of Buddy Guy, and the big sting of Albert King."

Allison followed up in 1995 with another Alligator album, Blue Streak. Blue Streak not only solidified Allison's comeback, but put him among the elite few at the very top of the blues kingdom and earned him five W. C. Handy awards, the most prestigious in the business for a blues performer. A Washington Post writer called it "a sonic roar as soulful as his gospel-shout vocals," and the album remained atop the blues charts for 19 weeks. Allison continued to tour tirelessly all over the world, astonishing fans in North America, Europe, and Japan with the sheer energy of his live shows. Well into his fifties, nearly 30 years after he made his first recordings, Allison summed up his amazing reversal of fortune at the 1995 Chicago Blues Festival: "I'm not only back. I'm unstoppable."

In 1997 Allison released Reckless, which would turn out to be his final album. During a July performance, Allison left the stage complaining of dizziness and a loss of coordination. He was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed as having inoperable lung cancer that had already spread to other parts of his body. Told that he did not have long to live, the two-time reigning "Blues Entertainer of the Year" canceled the rest of his touring schedule in order to focus on his health. Allison died on August 12, 1997, in Madison Wisconsin. Although his life ended just as his career was reaching its overdue peak, Allison managed to live just long enough to see his singer/guitarist son Bernard make his debut album, Born with The Blues. Allison's career was perhaps best summarized in a Guitar Player review, which observed that Allison "played the blues as if his life was hanging in the balance."

ARIZONA BLUES SHOWDOWN 2023

will take place September 17 and 24 at the Rhythm Room. Time to get it in gear gang. We've broke the bank the last two years. One first and two Seconds ain't too shabby. Let's keep it going. Whatdayasay?

Fill out your application here: https://forms.gle/CguurrnqDuqR3dPu9

OUT & ABOUT

Tuesday, August 15

Hooter & Gypsy’s Blues JAM, 6 p.m., Pho Cao, Scottsdale

Carvin Jones, 6 p.m., Good Time Charli’s, Chandler

Wednesday, August 16

Tool Shed JAM, 7 p.m., The Blooze, Phoenix

Johnny Miller JAM, 7 p.m., Hooper's, Glendale

Carvin Jones, 6 p.m., Florigino’s, Gilbert

The Black Hole, 6:30 p.m., Starz American Bar & Grill, Mesa

Jeremiah Johnson, 8 p.m., The Rhythm Room, Phoenix

Thursday, August 17

Hans Olson, 6 p.m., Handlebar Grill, Apache Junction

Carvin Jones, 6 p.m., Cross-Eyed Cricket, Peoria

Eric Ramsey, 6 p.m., Old Ellsworth Brewing Co., Queen Creek

Friday, August 18

Cold Shott & The Hurricane Horns, 7:30 p.m., Westside Blues & Jazz, Glendale

The Sugar Thieves, 8:00 p.m., Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix

JC & the Rockers, 6 p.m., Sound Bites Grill, Sedona

Carvin Jones, 5 p.m., Orange Tree Golf Course, Scottsdale

Big Daddy D & The Dynamites, 5:30 p.m., Gold Stallion, Gold Canyon

Tommy Grills Band, 6 p.m., Mountain View Pub, Phoenix

The Black Hole, 6 p.m., Bone Haus Brewing, Fountain Hills

The Jokerz, 6 p.m., Aunt Chilada’s, Phoenix

Bumpkin Bud & The Inflight Groove, 8 p.m., The Rhythm Room, Phoenix

Saturday, August 19

Carvin Jones, 6 p.m., Tombstone Brewing Co., Phoenix

The Black Hole (acoustic), 1:30 p.m., The Hideaway, Cave Creek

The Black Hole, 8 p.m., Hooper’s Pub, Glendale

The Jokerz, 8 p.m., Dubliner Irish Pub, Phoenix

The Dry Heat Band, 7 p.m., Stacy’s at Dunlap, Phoenix

The Sugar Thieves, 8 p.m., The Rhythm Room, Phoenix

Sunday, August 20

The Rocket 88’s JAM, 1:00 p.m., Chopper Johns, Phoenix

Carvin Jones, 1 p.m., Azool Grill, Phoenix

Cadillac Assembly Line, 2 p.m., Stacy’s at Dunlap, Phoenix

The Black Hole (acoustic), 1:30 p.m., The Hideaway, Cave Creek

The Tin Can Screamers, 7 p.m., The Rhythm Room, Phoenix

Eddie Clendening, 8 p.m., The Rhythm Room, Phoenix

Monday August 21

GOING NORTH DURING THE SUMMER HEAT? Check Out: AZ Blues Scene for great Blues in Northern Arizona. And stay in touch with the Northern Arizona Blues Alliance.

In the Tucson Area: The Southern Arizona Blues Heritage Foundation has all the Tucson area Blues info you can use!

Music Makers

Big Pete Pearson