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Showing posts from February, 2026

Joe Bihari

Record company owner, businessman, record producer, house builder, riveter, motocross rider and talent scout Joseph Bihari was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on 30 May 1925. The Bihari family moved to Los Angeles in 1941. Joe worked as a riveter in a Defence factory. With his brothers Lester, Julius and Saul, who already had a juke box leasing company, and realised how few black music records were being made, Joe formed Modern Records in 1945; Modern quickly became a major blues and R&B record label. Joe joined up with Ike Turner as a talent scout and A&R man. Modern discovered B B King, Rufus Thomas and others, and also added additional labels for R&B and Jazz, including Crown. Modern went bankrupt in the mid 1960s but their catalogue and they reformed into Kent Records. The Biharis often added their songwriting names to songs they had not played any part in, Joe's name for this purpose was Joe Josea. On retiring from music he took up motocross (with his friend Steve Mc...

John Roberts

Singer, song writer, trumpeter, arranger, conductor and orchestrator John Roberts was born in Houston, Texas in 1941. In 1965 one of Don Robey's talent scouts, Bob Garner, discovered him and he was contracted to Duke Records. He is most known for his recording of "Sockin' 1 2 3 4", after which he went to work with Barry White in California. He then switched to teaching and became head of the music department at Centennial High School, Compton, California. We understand Mr Roberts died on 26 September 2023. Image: Public Domain

Jimmy Oliver

Bandleader, composer, music publisher and guitarist James "Jimmy" Oliver worked at Sue Records in New York from the late 1950s to the 1960s. When the guitarist with the vocal group The Drifters, Walter Adams, died, Jimmy Oliver replaced him. Oliver was also leader of the house band at a night club in New York. He composed his recording of "The Sneak" in 1958 and in the same year backed and produced "Itchy Twitchy Feeling" for former Drifters singer Bobby Hendricks. In 1965 Sue released an album of "Jimmy Oliver and his Soul Twisters" featuring cover versions of current soul hits. We have not been able to find any further information about Jimmy Oliver, can anyone help please. Images: Todd Baptiste/Uncle Marv's Notebook; BMI.

Isaac Hayes

Singer, song writer, composer, pianist and actor Isaac Lee Hayes Jnr. was born in Covington, Tennessee, on 20 August 1942. Hayes grew up working on farms and being cared for my his grand parents. He was 5 years old when he began singing in church choirs and became interested in music. He taught himself the piano, organ, flute and saxophone. From 1963 he joined Stax Records in Memphis and co wrote a number of big hits with his writing partner David Porter. His album "Hot Buttered Soul" was Stax' best selling album during their relaunch in 1968. He composed the music for the film "Shaft" in 1971, the title song became a world wide success. Isaac Hayes died after a stroke while using exercise equipment in his home in Memphis, Tennessee, on 10 August 2008. Image: Billboard

David Porter

Record producer, song writer, A&R manager, philanthropist, singer and entrepreneur David Porter was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on 21 November 1941. Born into a large family, he became interested in music while singing in a Church choir along with his close friend Maurice White. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High in 1961. While still at High School he had a job in a grocery store opposite Stax Records, and one day he went over to find out whether the label would consider recording soul music. After a chat with Chips Moman, he arranged for his friends and class mates to record for Stax, including William Bell, Andrew Love and Booker T. Jones. Stax took him on as a song writer, brought in his friend Isaac Hayes as a co-writer, and signed up Homer Banks (also a song writer/singer), The Soul Children and The Emotions. He and Hayes received Pioneer Awards from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999. Among many awards, in 2013 he received a Governors' Arts Awa...

Steve Cropper

Singer, song writer, guitarist and record producer, record company executive and actor Stephen Lee "Steve" Cropper, also known as "The Colonel", was born in Dora, Mississippi, on 21 October 1941. He moved with his family to Memphis when he was 9. He became interested in Black Church music while at school at Messick High School and acquired his first guitar when he was 14. Cropper and Charlie Freeman formed the Mar-Keys at the local Stax Records studio in McLemore, Memphis, and had their first hit, "Last Night", in 1961. At the time, the company's A&R man was Chips Moman, but when he left the company, president Jim Stewart recognised Steve Cropper's abilities and talent, and promoted him to the A&R function. He put together the studios' famous house band, Booker T and the MGs. During those years he co-wrote some excellent songs including "Knock On Wood", "In the Midnight Hour" and "Sittin' On The Dock Of Th...

Otis Blackwell

Songwriter, singer, record producer and pianist Otis Blackwell, also known as John Davenport, was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 16 February 1931. He learned to play piano and was a child prodigy. In 1952 he won a talent contest at Harlem's Apollo Theatre, and secured a contract with RCA Records. The first of his compositions, "Daddy Rolling Stone", was a success and was recorded in Jamaica by Derek Martin. Blackwell went on to write many songs including "Fever" and "Don't Be Cruel". He composed more than 1,000 songs, which notched up record sales of nearly 200 millions. Presley's version of "Don't Be Cruel" was so successful, Blackwell became superstitious and deliberately avoided meeting Presley. He is widely regarded as one of the main creative figures of rock and roll and rhythm and blues music. After suffering a stroke in 1991, Mr Blackwell died in Nashville, Tennessee, on 6 May 2002. Image: Business Insider

Cassette - Maximum R&B

Cassette: Maximum R&B Track listing: Soul Sisters – I Can’t Stand It (McAllister)| Inez And Charlie Foxx – Mockingbird (Foxx, Foxx) | Bobby Hendricks – Itchy Twitchy Feeling (Oliver) | Hank Jacobs – So Far Away (Jacobs) | The Megatons – Shimmy Shimmy Walk (Part 1) (Riley) | Johnny Darrow – Don’t Start Me Talking (Williamson) | Baby Washington – That’s How Heartaches Are Made (Raleigh, Halley) | Betty Green – He’s Down On Me (Terry) | Jimmy McGriff – All About My Girl (McGriff) | Inez And Charlie Foxx – Hurt By Love (Foxx) | Prince La La – She Put The Hurt On Me (Nelson) | Ike & Tina Turner – A Fool In Love (Turner) | Derek Martin – Daddy Rollin’ Stone (Blackwell) | Russell Byrd – Hitch Hike (Berns) | Wilbert Harrison – Let’s Work Together (Part 1 & 2) (Harrison) | Inez And Charlie Foxx – La De Dah I Lov...

Cassette - Jimmy McGriff - I've Got A Woman

CD - Island Records 40th Anniversary - 1964-1969: Rhythm and Blues Beat

Island Records 40th Anniversary - 1964-1969: Rhythm and Blues Beat Track listing: Sue items only: Mockingbird – Inez Foxx (Fox, Foxx) | The Last Minute – Jimmy McGriff (McGriff) | Little Piece of Leather – Donnie Elbert (Elbert, Dallas, Dallas) | Stormy Monday Blues – Little Joe Cook (Walker) | Harlem Shuffle – Bob and Earl (Relf, Nelson) | I can’t stand it – The Soul Sisters (McAllister) Polygram 524 394-2 Image: Rate Your Music

CD - The UK Sue Story Volume 4

The UK Sue Story Vol. 4 - CDKEND 258 Track Listing: Good Time Tonight – The Soul Sisters (McAllister) | A Fool In Love – Ike & Tina Turner (Turner) | La De Da I Love You – Inez & Charlie Foxx (Foxx) | I Put A Spell On You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (Hawkins, Slotkin) | Down The Aisle – Patti Labelle And The Bluebelles (Levenson) | Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu Part 1 – Huey Piano Smith And His Clowns (Smith) | Odds And Ends – Jimmy Reed (Reed) | Doodlin’ – Baby Washington (Silver) | Steal Your Heart Away – Bobby Parker (Parker) | Lost In A Dream – Buster Brown (Brown) | Pork Chops – The Dorsets (Smith, Brooks, Bowden) | Lenny Goofed – The Naturals (Holler, Smith, Jones) | Knocking At Your Door – Elmore James (James) | Love Call – Gladys Knight And The Pips (Knight, Guest) | So Far Awa...

CD - The Soul Of Sue

CD - The Soul Of Sue Track listing: Harlem Shuffle – Bob & Earl (Relf, Nelson) | Incense – The Anglos (Miller) | Hurt By Love – Inez and Charlie Foxx (Foxx) | Do-Re-Mi – Lee Dorsey (King) | Your Red Wagon (You Can Push It Or Pull It) – Donnie Elbert (Dallas, Cevetello) | Gimme, Gimme – Z Z Hill (Collins) | Don’t Mess With My Man – Irma Thomas (LaBostrie) | Night Train – James Brown & The Famous Flames (Forrest) | Continental Mind – Ernestine Anderson (Bacharach, Shaw) | Stronger – Thelma Jones (Jackson) | Before It’s Too Late – Jackie Day (Davis, Day) | Oh How Happy – Shades Of Blue (Starr) | I Can’t Wait Until I See My Baby’s Face – Justine ‘Baby’ Washington (Ragovoy, Taylor) | The Last Minute Pts 1 & 2 – Jimmy McGriff (McGriff) | What Did You Tell This Girl Of Mine – O.V. Wright (Malone) | Searchin’ ...

CD - Sue's Rock And Blues

)) CD - Sue's Rock'n'blues ( Kent CDCHD 1008) Track Listing: Itchy Twitchy Feeling – Bobby Hendricks (Oliver) | Crossroads – Homesick James (Johnson) | Yes, I’m Loving You – Big Al Downing (Downing, Poe, Sandusky) | The Shimmy Shimmy Walk (Part One) – The Megatons (Riley) | I’m The Fixer – Willie Mabon (Dixon) | Rockin’ Charlie – The Bobby Peterson Quintet (Peterson) | I Feel So Good – J B Lenoir & His African Hunch Rhythm (Lenoir) | Hattie Malatti – Lee Diamond (Smith) | Driving Sideways – Freddy King (King, Thompson, Bridge) | What Will Lucy Do (Lucy Mae Blues) – Frankie Lee Sims (Sims) | Like Long Hair – Paul Revere And The Raiders (Revere) | It Hurts Me Too – Elmore James (James, Whittaker) | The Wallflower – Etta James And The Peaches (James, Ballard, Otis) | Why Does Everything Happen To Me – James Brown...

CD - The World Of Guy Stevens

Kent CDCHD 1001 Track listing: Mockingbird – Inez & Charlie Foxx (Foxx) | Land Of 1000 Dances – Chris Kenner (Kenner) | I Can’t Believe What You Say – Ike & Tina Turner (Turner) | A Little Piece Of Leather – Donnie Elbert (Elbert, Dallas) | Do Anything You Wanna’ Part 1 – Harold Betters (Betters, Ramsey) | Do Anything You Wanna’ Part 2 – Harold Betters (Betters, Ramsey) | Oh Mom (Teach Me How To Uncle Willie) – The Daylighters (Colbert) | Let’s Stick Together – Wilbert Harrison (Harrison) | Music City – The Pleasures (Newman (Smith)) | Keep An Eye On Love – Ernestine Anderson (Mapp) | All About My Girl – Jimmy McGriff (McGriff) | Spring – Birdlegs & Pauline (Banks) | That’s How Strong My Love Is – O.V. Wright (Jamison) | Daddy Rollin’ Stone – Derek Martin (Blackwell) You Can’t Sit Down – The Phil Upchurch Combo (Upchurch, Mu...

LP - HAC-8415 - Wilbert Harrison - Let's Work Together

LP - HAC 8248 - Ike And Tina Turner - The Greatest Hits Of

LP - HAC 8247 - Jimmy McGriff - Blues For Mr Jimmy

Jimmy Johnson

The recording of Jimmy Johnson and his band featuring singer Hank Alexander on the California-based Magnum label was released in 1966. Having made numerous searches to identify Jimmy Johnson, the AI release of Google indicates that Jimmy Johnson the band leader was James Earl Thompson, born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on 25 November 1928, and who died on 31 January 2022. I now have three confirming sources, but of course AI is not yet infallible. Can anyone confirm please. Johnson had a long recording and touring career which was interrupted when he had an accident in 1988, in which two of his band members died, and was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame in 2016. A younger brother was the successful soul singer Syl Johnson, famed for his recordings on Hi Records of Memphis in the 1970s, who also died in 2022. I am still searching for information on the singer Hank Alexander. Can anyone help, please. Image: James Fraher | Redferns

LP - HAC 8242 - Jimmy McGriff - At The Apollo

HAC 8242 - Jimmy McGriff - At The Apollo (1965) Track Listing: There'll never be another you (Meaney) | We Four (McGriff) | A Thing For Jug (Hampton) | Red Sails In The Sunset (Williams) | Lonely Avenue (McGriff) | Frame For The Blues (McGriff) Has also been issued on CD Image: Amazon

LP - HAC 8241 - Inez And Charlie Foxx

Pete York

Drummer, trumpeter and television presenter Peter York was born in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire on 15 August 1942. He grew up in Redcar. He became interested in playing instruments while at Nottingham High School and while attending Trent College. In 1966 he was in a band with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. He was an original member of the Spencer Davis Group, which he left in 1969 to form Hardin and York with Eddie Hardin. He was in demand for recording sessions and ventured into television in Germany, in a long running series about drumming, and can be heard on many rock and R&B recordings. He has also toured extensively. Image: Mike Dolbear

Steve Winwood

Singer, song writer and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Lawrence Winwood MBE was born on 12 May 1948 in Handworth, Birmingham. He achieved worldwide fame with groups The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith, before going solo. As a solo artiste he has had a long string of successful records particularly during the 1980s when his "Higher Love" made No. 1 in the US. He has two Grammys and an Ivor Novello award as well as an Icon Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 as a member of Traffic. In 2025 he was awarded an MBE. Image: Steve Neff

Muff Winwood

Bass player, song writer, record producer, artistes and repertoire manager Mervyn "Muff" Winwood was born into a musical family in Erdington, Birmingham on 15 June 1943 and with his brother Steve Winwood was a member of the Spencer Davis Group. He attended one of the first comprehensive schools and was also a choir boy at St. John's Church in Perry Bar, Birmingham. He was nicknamed "Muff" after a television puppet of the 1950s, "Muffin The Mule". Spencer Davis saw the two brothers performing in a Birmingham pub as the "Muff Woody Jazz Band" and invited them to merge into his own band, which was renamed The Spencer Davis Group. After leaving the Spencer Davis Group in 1967, Muff joined Island Records to do A&R. In 1978 he joined CBS Records in an executive position. His discoveries include Sade and Prefab Sprout. He also produced the first album by Dire Straits. Image: Music Business Worldwide

Russell Sims

Record producer, music publisher, artiste manager and mentor and radio presenter Russell Sims was born in 1927. He founded Sims Records in 1953 in Sun Valley, California. In 1963 he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee where he established his own pressing plant. He was the first person to record the young singer Otis Redding. He went on to manage and produce The Wallace Brothers and other artistes. He mothballed his record company in 1968 then reactivated it in the 1990s. Mr Sims died in Smithville, Tennessee in 2019. Photo: Image Restored By Google

The Wallace Brothers

Although promoted as a trio, the Wallace Brothers were a six piece band comprising cousins Johnny Simon and Ervin Wallace, plus Cooky and Ernest Wallace, and two others who remain unknown. Image: Sir Shambling

O. V. Wright

Blues and gospel singer Oberton Vertis Wright was born in Lenow, Tennessee on October 9, 1939 and is one of the most important southern soul singers. He began singing in Church as a child. In 1956, while still at school, he joined the gospel singing group The Sunset Travelers. Then he became lead singer of The Harmony Echoes. He was discovered by Roosevelt Jamieson, a song writer and manager. Their first pop recording in 1964 was “That’s How Strong My Love Is” for the Goldwax label but it turned out that Wright was still under contract to Duke/Peacock, so his further recordings were issued on their Back Beat label. Wright was imprisoned for narcotics offences in the mid 1970s but a new recording contract with Hi Records after he was released, failed to produce any successes. He continued to battle his drug addiction until he died in Mobile, Alabama on November 16, 1980,age 41. His is described as one of the most remembered voices of soul music. Image: Giles Petard/Redferns/Getty

Pearl Woods

Singer, song writer and record company owner Lily Pearl Johnson (Pearl Woods) was born in St. Matthews, South Carolina on 24 September 1933 and moved to New York in 1951. Her songs include “Poverty”, “Somethings Got A Hold On Me” and “Stop The Wedding”. She married song writer Freddy Johnson and became a nurse and preacher in 1973. Pearl Woods died in Arlington, Texas on 19 March 2010. Image: Public Domain

Sonny Boy Williamson

Willie “Sonny Boy Williamson”, whose real name was Alex Miller, previously Ford, was thought to have been born in Glendora or Money, Greenwood, Mississippi on 5 December 1912. He became interested in music in the 1930s and travelled around the South. In 1941 he got a regular job on a commercial radio station and the sponsors changed his professional name to Sonny Boy Williamson. At one time a 13 year old called Ike Turner was playing in his band. In 1949 he was living with his sister and her husband – Howlin’ Wolf. His first recording session took place in 1951. He toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival and recorded with a number of rock bands including The Yardbirds and The Animals. Sonny Boy Williamson died in a hotel room in Helena, Arkansas on May 25, 1965 of a heart attack during the previous night, age 52. Image: Amazon

Mary Lou Williams

Jazz pianist, arranger, mentor, teacher and composer Mary Elfrieda Scruggs (Mary Lou Williams) was born in Atlanta, Georgia on May 8, 1910. She grew up in Pittsburgh. Her mother taught her how to play piano. She began playing in public age 15. She had a long career as a pianist, composer and arranger, working with Duke Ellington and many other major jazz personalities, and appears on over one hundred recordings. She was known as “the First Lady of the Keyboard” and was one of the first ladies to be successful in jazz music. Mary Lou Williams died from cancer of the bladder in Durham, North Carolina, on May 28, 1981. Image: 36 Keys

Danny White

Singer and Band leader Joseph Daniel White was born on July 6, 1931 in New Orleans. He sang at school in choirs and plays. He joined the US Marines and while at Camp Pendleton, California, sang in front of a band for $10 a night. After discharge in 1955 he went back to New Orleans and he and his band were hired for appearances at The Golden Cadillac Club. That band broke up after a disagreement after a few months and White put together a new band called The Cavaliers. Composer, pianist and record producer Allen Toussaint was aware of the Cavaliers and commented that White had inspired him to write the song “Mother In Law” which ended being given to Ernie K Doe. White made a number of singles under his own name from 1961 onwards. “I’m dedicating my life”/”Keep my woman home” was recorded at Stax for Atlas in 1965 in Memphis and is typical mid sixties Memphis soul. (“Keep” was written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter and was published by the Stax music company.) Despite a string of ...

Junior Wells

Singer and harmonica player Amos Wells Blakemore Jr (Junior Wells) was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 9, 1934. He is associated with with Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. He was initially taught music by his cousin Junior Parker and by Sonny Boy Williamson II. He moved with his mother to Chicago in 1948 and made his first recordings in 1952. From the late 50s into the 60s he recorded tracks for Chess including his signature song, “Messing with the kid”. Junior Wells died in Chicago, Illinois on January 15, 1998 after a long fight with heart disease and cancer. Image: Public Domain

Jean Wells

An under rated singer of the 1960s Soul scene, pianist and singer Jean Wells was born in Palm Beach, Florida on 1st August 1942 and sang in choirs and formed a singing group before moving to Philadelphia, where she was mentored and discovered by Clyde Otis and where she recorded some standout singles for Calla Records. Not happy with her lack of success, she stopped recording in 1973 and went back to gospel singing, but nothing has been heard of her for some years. Image: BBE Records

The Volumes

The Volumes formed in Detroit in 1960 and at various times were Ed Union, Elijah Davis, Larry Wright, Joe Travillion, Ernest Newsom and Herb Hamlett. “Gotta give her love” by The Volumes was issued on Sue LP ILP 943 “Dr Soul”. The exact line up on this recording is not known. Image: Public Domain

Ritchie Valens

Guitarist, singer and song writer Richard Steven Valenzuela was born in Los Angeles, California on May 13, 1941 and grew up hearing traditional Mexican mariachi music, flamenco music and rhythm and blues. By 15 he would take his guitar to school with him, and sing to his friends. He was self taught but a very accomplished musician. He dropped out of high school in 1958 to take up music full time. La Bamba, Come on Lets Go and other songs had been recorded for test purposes in a basement studio but the versions for issue were all taped in a session at Los Angeles’ famed Gold Star Studios for the Del-Fi label. He died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 along with Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and others. He had been afraid of flying ever since there was a local plane crash near where he lived. Image: California Museum

Phil Upchurch

Jazz and blues bassist and guitarist Phil Upchurch was born in Chicago, Illinois on 19 July 1941. After working with The Kool Gents, The Dells, The Spaniels, Jack McDuff, Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush and Jimmy Reed, Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Groove Holmes, B.B. King, and Dizzy Gillespie you can only write that he is a highly regarded jazz, soul and blues musician, and the tune he is mainly associated with, “You can’t sit down”, was a million seller. He was house guitarist at the Chess studios in Chicago for much of the 1960s. In the 1970s he worked with Donny Hathaway, Ramsey Lewis, Quincy Jones and others. His career continued in the 1980s, working with George Benson, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan and others. Image: Jazz Music Archives

Ed Townsend

Best known as co-writer of “Lets Get it on” for Marvin Gaye and as a producer for Curtom and Mercury Records, where he produced “First Impressions” by The Impressions and “Foolish fool” for Dee Dee Warwick, respectively, singer, song writer, record producer and qualified (but never practiced) attorney Edward Benjamin ‘Ed’ Townsend was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, on April 16, 1929. His family moved to Memphis where he attended school. He attended the University of Arkansas. In 1951 he enlisted with the US Marines, winning a Purple Heart in the Korean war. He produced around 50 major artists during his career. He wrote and produced Theola Kilgore’s “The Love Of My Man” which was released on UK Sue. For much of his life he battled addictions. He died on August 13, 2003 and is buried in Riverside, California. Image: WBSS Media

Allen Toussaint

Record producer, singer, songwriter, arranger, musician and New Orleans music legend Allen Toussaint was born into an exceptionally musical family and home in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana on January 14, 1938. He learned piano as a child, with a neighbour, Ernest Pinn, giving him lessons. In his teens he played in a band called “The Flamingos”. When he was 17 he stood in for Huey Piano Smith in Prichard, Alabama, and Dave Bartholomew became his mentor. He sometimes used the names Naomi Neville (his mother’s name) and Clarence Toussaint (his father) for songwriting credits. He was a. His successes were many with singers including Ernie K Doe and Lee Dorsey. His first recording was under the name of Al Tousan. His home and recording studio were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Unfortunately after a long and distinguished career, Mr Toussaint died while touring in Madrid, Spain after a heart attack at his hotel on November 10, 2015. Image: Michael Wilson/Minneapolis ...

Eli Toscano

Eli Toscano co-founded Cobra Records with his partner Howard Bedno in Chicago in 1956. Toscano ran a television and radio business in Chicago and was interested in recording blues music. He quickly assembled quite a roster of blues musicians, including Otis Rush, Harold Burrage, Big Walter “Shakey” Horton, Ike Turner, Sunnyland Slim, Magic Sam and Buddy Guy. In 1958 the Cobra Record Company moved to plusher offices at 3346 Roosevelt, Chicago. Unfortunately Mr Toscano liked to gamble, and things went wrong; Mr Toscano was killed in a gangland murder and his body was found in Lake Michigan in 1959. Image: Tiktok Music

Big Mama Thornton

Rhythm and blues singer and song writer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton was born in Ariton, Montgomery, Alabama on December 11, 1926. Her parents were both involved in the Baptist Church and introduced her to music. When her mother died she left school and got a job at a tavern. In 1940 she left home and toured with “Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Revue”. Her career took off when she moved to Houston, Texas in 1948. During a long career she recorded the first version of Hound Dog in 1952. She witnessed Johnny Ace’s accidetal death on Christmas Day 1954. She composed the classic blues and rock song “Ball and Chain” among others. It is understood that Tom Cat was recorded in California in 1965. Willie Mae Thornton died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, on July 25, 1984 aged 57. Image: Public Domain

Irma Thomas

Singer and song writer Irma Thomas was born in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, on February 18, 1941. “Don’t mess with my man”, recorded in 1959, was Irma Thomas’ first single. Irma has had a long career and a recent album was awarded a Grammy. In 2007 her home state of Louisiana inducted her into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. She lives in New Orleans. Image: Soulisms

LP - Baby Washington - Only Those In Love

LP: Baby Washington - That's How Heartaches Are Made