J.B. Lenoir was an explicitly topical blues singer with a higher voice operating out of Chicago in the '50s and '60s. He cut the politicized "Korea Blues" in 1951. His controversial 1954 song "Eisenhower Blues" (lyrics: "My money's gone, my fun is gone, the way things look, how can I be here long?") was pulled from the shelves. His mid-'60s output was as political as ever. "Vietnam Blues" questioned the USA's involvement in Southeast Asia as blacks were being killed with regularity in Mississippi ("Mister President you always cry about peace, but you must clean up your house before you...

Johnny Jenkins was an underrated guitarist and singer out of Macon, Georgia. Left-handed, he built a home-made "guitar" from a matchbox and rubber bands and he played it upside down (not unlike Jimi Hendrix, who was certainly inspired by Jenkins). He finally got a real guitar and hit the Southern circuit as a flamboyant showman. His early '60s band, The Pinetoppers, gave Otis Redding an early job (singer and driver). Otis used extra Jenkins studio time to cut "These Arms Of Mine" (with Jenkins on guitar) in '62 and the rest is history for Otis. Jenkins was asked to join...

Happy birthday to "Mama Africa" Miriam Makeba, civil rights and anti-apartheid activist, singer, actress, UN delegate, Black Panther and warrior. From her birth in jail (where she spent the first six months of her life with her incarcerated mother) to her death immediately following a concert to raise awareness of mafia control, Miriam was a freedom fighter and compassionate voice throughout. One of the first stars of the African continent to be recognized internationally (after her big 1957 hit "Pata Pata"), she survived breast cancer in the '50s and founded an all-woman group The Skylarks (a rarity for the time)....

The career of the great Bobby Womack spanned many generations, styles and roles...from the doo-wop with his brothers in The Valentinos to session work with everybody from the Rolling Stones to Sam Cooke. He was a major influence on Jimi Hendrix. He was a left-handed guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, producer, soundtrack composer (Across 110th St is a classic!), label head...you have certainly heard the work of Bobby beyond the few songs of his on oldies radio. Just a SMALL sampling of artists he collaborated with include Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Sly & the Family Stone, Gabor Szabo,...

One of my favorite bassists (and a major piece of the Coltrane groups of the '60s), Jimmy Garrison came out of the Philly jazz scene, working and/or recording with a host of greats such as Kenny Dorham, Calvin Massey, Jackie McLean, Ornette Coleman, Lee Konitz, Philly Joe Jones and others before hooking up with Trane in '62. He brought a hard-driving style that later displayed a flamenco-inspired lyricism (at times) to the Trane sound as his #1 bassist until the saxophonist's death in '67. In the following years he continued to record with many Coltrane associates (such as Alice, Elvin...