Blues

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Luther Allison (1939–1997)
Blues guitarist and singer Luther Allison was born in Arkansas, but like many of his contemporaries in the rur...
Joshua Altheimer (1911–1940)
Joshua Altheimer was one of the Delta’s most prolific blues pianists. Altheimer mastered the emerging boogi...
Arkansas River Blues Society
The Arkansas River Blues Society (ARBS), based in Little Rock (Pulaski County), began its life as the Arkansas...
African-American man with glasses and mustache smiling in suit and bow tie
Al Bell (1940–)
aka: Alvertis Isbell
Al Bell is considered the driving force behind Stax Records as a pr...
African-American man in suit sitting on a bench playing guitar
Blues Music
The origins of the blues are murky, but the state of Arkansas seems to have hosted the music and its creators ...
African-American man in suit sitting on a bench playing guitar
"Big Bill" Broonzy (1893?–1958)
aka: William Conley Lee Broonzy
Although William Lee Conley “Big Bill” Broonzy achieved fame an...
White man with long hair and beard in a hat playing a Fender Telecaster style electric guitar on stage
Roy Buchanan (1939–1988)
aka: Leroy Buchanan
Leroy (Roy) Buchanan was a guitar innovator whose skill inspired an...
African-American man in suit and tie playing a metal bodied resonator acoustic guitar on album cover with gold text
William Bunch (1902–1941)
aka: Peetie Wheatstraw
William Bunch, known as “Peetie Wheatstraw,” was raised in Cott...
Seated African-American man singing into microphone on stage with guitarist in the background
Ellis CeDell Davis (1926–2017)
Ellis CeDell Davis was a blues musician and recording artist who helped bring blues from its rural Southern ro...
African-American man smiling with guitar and "K.W.E.M. 990" banner hanging on the wall behind him
Howlin' Wolf (1910–1976)
aka: Chester Arthur Burnett
Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin’ Wolf or Howling Wolf, w...
African-American man with mustache smiling in suit and tie
Louis Thomas Jordan (1908–1975)
Louis Thomas Jordan—vocalist, bandleader, and saxophonist—ruled the charts, stage, screen, and airwaves of...
African-American man in white shirt suspenders and hat sitting and laughing with white women posing with him outside brick building
King Biscuit Blues Festival
aka: Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival
The first weekend in October, the Mississippi River town of Helena-...
African American men play in a band in front of banner reading "King Biscuit Time"
King Biscuit Time
In November 1941, KFFA, 1360 AM, the first local radio station in Helena (Phillips County), went on the air. S...
Portrait black man smiling in tuxedo posing with wood veneer triangular body electric guitar
Albert King (1923–1992)
aka: Albert Nelson
Albert King, one of the most influential blues guitarists of all ti...
Older black man dressed in shiny suit on state with guitar strapped around his body holding fist up
B. B. King (1925–2015)
Legendary blues guitarist B. B. King had a monumental career heavily influenced by his experiences in Arkansas...
African-American man with electric guitar and amplifiers in studio room
Calvin James "Slim" Leavy (1940–2010)
Calvin James “Slim” Leavy, vocalist and guitarist, recorded “Cummins Prison Farm,” a blues song that d...
Two older black men in patterned collared shirts and caps sit by speakers conversing
Robert Lockwood Jr. (1915–2006)
Robert Lockwood Jr. was a blues guitarist celebrated for his progressive, jazz-like style, his longevity, and...
African-American woman in sparkly dress and long gloves
Rose Marie McCoy (1922–2015)
Rose Marie Hinton McCoy broke into the white, male-dominated music business in the early 1950s to become a hig...
African-American man in suit and tie playing guitar with young African-American man and woman in suits watching him
Robert Nighthawk (1909–1967)
aka: Robert Lee McCollum
Robert Nighthawk was among the most remarkable slide guitarists in ...
Older white man in suit and tie standing next to older white man in plaid shirt with crown "King Biscuit Time" logo on the wall behind them
"Sunshine" Sonny Payne (1925–2018)
aka: John William Payne
“Sunshine” Sonny Payne was the longtime host of King Biscuit Ti...
African-American man with mustache in smiling in suit and tie
Bobby Rush (1933–)
aka: Emmett Ellis Jr.
Bobby Rush, known as the “King of the Chitlin’ Circuit,” is a...
Frank "Son" Seals (1942–2004)
Frank “Son” Seals was a singer who became a driving force behind a brief but stormy rejuvenation of the b...
African American men play in a band in front of banner reading "Listen King Biscuit Time"
Houston Stackhouse (1910–1980)
aka: Houston Goff
Houston Stackhouse never achieved much in the way of success, yet h...
African-American man standing in suit with hat
Roosevelt "The Honeydripper" Sykes (1906–1983)
Roosevelt Sykes was a leading blues pianist in the 1930s and is considered by many in the music world to be th...
African-American man with mustache smiling in suit with naval cap
Johnnie Harrison Taylor (1934–2000)
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was a popular gospel and rhythm and blues singer, known as the “Philosopher of Soul,...
African American man holding guitar
Casey Bill Weldon (1901?–1972?)
Casey Bill Weldon was one of the most talented, yet enigmatic, blues slide guitarists of the early twentieth c...
African American man in collar and tie
J. Mayo "Ink" Williams (1894–1980)
J. Mayo “Ink” Williams was the first African American producer at a major record label and the most succe...
African American men play in a band in front of banner reading "King Biscuit Time"
"Sonny Boy" Williamson II (1912?–1965)
aka: Aleck Miller
Sonny Boy Williamson first became famous as a blues harmonica playe...
smiling Black man with receding medium hair singing into microphone wearing pinky ring and watch
Jimmy "Spoon" Witherspoon (1921?–1997)
James John (Jimmy) Witherspoon, also known by the nickname “Spoon,” was a versatile singer who achieved co...