Eddie C. Campbell
The Living Blues Interview
By Steve Sharp
Blues’ King Of The Jungle tells his story for the first time to LB. From his earliest days in Mississippi, to growing up in Chicago, to playing with Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and others, to living in Europe and finally coming back home. Campbell has carved out a niche as a unique bluesman who does things in his own special way.
Calvin Cooke
I Was The Fastest
By Scott Bock
Sacred Steel master Calvin Cooke tells his story of coming up in the small Jewell Dominion branch of the House of God Church. At a young age Cooke played behind the heads of the church, Bishop Jewell, Bishop Lorenzo Harrison and eventually Keith Dominion’s founder Bishop Keith. After 31 years with Chrysler Motors, Cooke has retired and taken his place as one of the elders of the musical form. A mentor to players like Chuck Campbell and Robert Randolph, Cooke is now playing a few selected blues festivals around the country.
John Lee Hooker Jr.
Soulful Blues Rapper
By Jeff Forlenza
The 54-year-old son of blues legend John Lee Hooker, Hooker Jr. is moving out on his own with a contemporary sound that attracts a younger audience, while still playing the deep blues his father taught him. With a new album just released, Hooker is poised to take his place among the next generation of blues stars.
A Place Called Center Street
Jimmy Pryor And The Des Moines Blues Scene
By Tom Gary
Blues you never knew. Author Tom Gary takes us back through the decades of vibrant musical activity in the African American population of Des Moines, Iowa, where artists as diverse as Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, and Nat King Cole played the upscale supper clubs of Center Street. Local artists like Speck Redd, Irene Myles and the still active Jimmy Pryor have kept things hopping in Des Moines for decades.
Record Reviews
New CDs by Cassandra Wilson, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Guy Davis and Charlie Musselwhite. Reissues from Yazoo Records, Irma Thomas and Lou Rawls.
Editorial
Letters
Blues News
Breaking Out – Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
Obituaries
Radio Charts
Ann Arbor Blues Pt. 2 – Roosevelt Sykes