#LegendsoftheBlues2013

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YOU WILL DEFER TO SHE AS "EMPRESS OF THE BLUES" -- NO MORE, NO LESS.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on a portrait of pioneering African-American blues and jazz singer Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937), artwork by William Stout for his "Legends of the Blues" portraits series.

MINI-BIO: "Widely renowned during the Jazz Age and nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists."

-- WIKIPEDIA

Source: www.budsartbooks.com/product/more-legends-of-the-blues-card-set-by-william-stout.

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ROSY-CHEEKED KING OF THE BLUES.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on the late, great B.B. King (1925-2015), American blues guitarist/vocalist/singer-songwriter and all around legendary bluesman, artwork by William Stout for his "Legends of the Blues" (2013) portrait series.

MINI-BIO: "Riley B. King was born on September 16, 1925 in Itta Bena, Mississippi. After his father left the family, Riley grew up in his mother’s and grandmother’s homes. He worked as a sharecropper and sang gospel, then moved to Indianola, Mississippi, in 1943. Country and gospel were his first influences, followed by the music of T-Bone Walker, Lonnie Johnson, Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. In 1946, he studied guitar for ten months in Memphis under his cousin, bluesman Bukka White. After months of hardship, Riley returned to Indianola.

King came back to Memphis in 1948, working at radio station WDIA as a singer and disc jockey, gaining the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy,” (hence, “B.B.”; not “B. B.”, by the way). Upon first hearing T-Bone Walker, he promptly purchased an electric guitar. King cut tracks for Bullet, then began recording for RPM with (famed Elvis Presley) producer Sam Phillips. King’s first R&B #1 was Lowell Fulson’s “Three O’Clock Blues” (1951).

In the mid-1950s, while B.B. was performing at an Arkansas dance, a kerosene stove got knocked over during a fight, setting the place ablaze. B.B. raced outdoors with the crowd. Realizing he had left his beloved $30 acoustic guitar inside, he rushed back in to retrieve it, narrowly escaping death. After finding out the brawl had been over a woman named Lucille, he named his guitar “Lucille” as a reminder never to be so crazy as to fight over a woman. Since then, each of his Gibson guitars has been named Lucille. The original Lucille was stolen from his car’s trunk in Brooklyn. He offered a $20,000 reward but no one ever came forward. He eventually had an open offer of $100,000 for the return of that beloved guitar."

-- WILLIAM STOUT, slightly revised B.B. bio from WS's "Legends of the Blues" book

Sources: www.comicsgrinder.com/2013/06/14/review-legends-of-the-blues-by-william-stout and www.williamstout.com/news/journal/2015/05/15/b-b-king-1925-2015.

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"...I CHANGED HIS PUPILS INTO SKULLS -- AN INDICATION OF ROBERT'S SHORT, VIOLENT LIFE."

PIC INFO: Spotlight on portrait of mythical bluesman Robert Johnson, a.k.a. Robert Leroy Dodds (May 8, 1911-August 16, 1938), illustrated by William Stout for his "Legends of the Blues" (2013) portraits series.

Instruments: guitar, vocals.

Johnson was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil for tuning his guitar just so. The influential blues master has been covered by the likes of CREAM, FLEETWOOD MAC, LED ZEPPELIN, and the ROLLING STONES.

Recommended tracks: “Crossroads Blues,” “Love in Vain,” “Have You Ever Been Lonely,” “Hellhound on My Trail,” “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues,” “From Four Until Late,” “Traveling Riverside Blues,” “Come On in My Kitchen.”

"I was extremely happy to learn that the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson was not part of Robert Crumb’s blues card set. His was one of the first portraits I felt compelled to draw. This particular image of mine is so popular that I have painted four different versions of it, including one in oil paints. In my portrait of him I changed his pupils into skulls – an indication of Robert’s short, violent life."

-- WILLIAM STOUT (American painter/illustrator/blues music aficionado) on his Robert Johnson portrait

Source: www.loudersound.com/features/william-stout-s-portraits-of-the-biggest-names-in-blues.

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THE BIGGEST BLUES-SINGIN' MAMA YOU'VE EVER SEEN -- NO ONE BIGGER.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on illustrated portrait of Willie Mae Thornton (1926 – 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter of blues and rhythm & blues (pre-rock 'n' roll), from William Stout's "Legends of the Blues" portraits series, c. 2013.

Main instrument: Vocals, harmonica, drums

Born: Ariton, Alabama; December 11, 1926

Died: Los Angeles, California; July 25, 1984

Recommended cuts: "Hound Dog," "Ball 'n' Chain," "Chauffeur Blues," "Mercy," "My Heavy Load."

Interesting covers: "Hound Dog" (ELVIS PRESLEY), "Ball 'n' Chain" (BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY), "Chauffeur Blues" (JEFFERSON AIRPLANE).

Source: www.dionysusrecords.com/home/category/stuff-we-like.

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NEVER HAD A "MIC DROP" BECAUSE HE NEVER NEEDED A MIC.

PIC INFO: Spotlight on "the brawny voiced 'Boss of the Blues," Big Joe Turner, American vocalist of swing, blues, jump blues, and rock 'n' roll styles. Artwork by William Stout.

MINI-BIO: "Big Joe Turner, a.k.a. Joseph Vernon Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911-November 24 1985). Instrument: vocals. Turner’s voice was so big he could rock a gin joint without a mic. He became a hit machine during the early ’50s with several No. 1 hits. Recommended tracks: “Roll ‘Em, Pete,” “Honey Hush,” “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “Flip Flop and Fly,” “Cherry Red,” “Wee Baby Blues,” “Midnight Special.""

-- LEGENDS OF THE BLUES, written & illustrated by William Stout, c. 2013

Source: Mother Jones, "13 Cartoon Portraits of Legendary Blues Artists," c. 2016