Blues Before Sunrise

by Cushing, Steve

• ISBN13: 9780252077180
• ISBN10: 0252077180
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-01-15
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

This collection assembles the best interviews from Steve Cushing's long-running radio programBlues Before Sunrise,the nationally syndicated, award-winning program focusing on vintage blues and R&B. As both an observer and performer, Cushing has been involved with the blues scene in Chicago for decades. His candid, colorful interviews with prominent blues players, producers, and deejays reveal the behind-the-scenes world of the formative years of recorded blues. Many of these oral histories detail the careers of lesser-known but greatly influential blues performers and promoters. The book focuses in particular on preWorld War II blues singers, performers active in 1950s Chicago, and nonperformers who contributed to the early blues world. Interviewees include Alberta Hunter, one of the earliest African American singers to transition from Chicago's Bronzeville nightlife to the international spotlight, and Ralph Bass, one of the greatest R&B producers of his era. Blues expert, writer, record producer, and cofounder ofLiving Blues MagazineJim O'Neal provides the book's foreword.

Author Biography

Steve Cushing has been the host of Blues Before Sunrise for thirty years. He has served as anchor of WBEZ's nationwide broadcast of the Chicago Blues Festival, performs frequently as a drummer, and has produced several recordings by Magic Slim, Lurrie Bell, and Smokey Smothers.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
Ancient Age
Yank Rache	p. 113
Jesse Thomas	p. 18
Alberts Hunter	p. 36
Grey Ghost	p. 52
Postwar Glory
John	p. 71
Jody Williams	p. 91
Rev. Johnny Williams	p. 123
Little Hudson	p. 142
Esoterica
Tommy Brown	p. 157
Ralph Bass	p. 190
Cadillac Baby	p. 112
Richard Stamz	p. 228
Hosting Blues Before Sunrise	p. 241
Index	p. 247
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.