LOUIS JORDAN & HIS TYMPANI FIVE: [2005] Jukebox Hits Volume 1, 1942-1947 [Acrobat]
Collectors of Golden Oldie R&R, R&B and Country music hits are, I’m sure, well aware of the quality received from British outlets, especially Ace Records with their almost flawless sound reproduction and copious liner notes in series such as Th…
LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS: [1968] The Great Electric Show And Dance [Jewel-Paula Recs.]
Sam Hopkins was a Texas country bluesman of the highest caliber whose career began in the 1920s and stretched all the way into the 1980s. Along the way, Hopkins watched the genre change remarkably, but he never appreciably altered his mournful Lone Sta…
Blues Singer Jesse Fortune Dies After Collapse
Jesse Fortune, a South Side barber by day and a Chicago blues favorite by night, died early Monday morning after collapsing during a performance at a Southwest Side club Friday.
Chicago Bluesman Jesse Fortune, R.I.P.
Chicago bluesman Jesse Fortune, whose career stretched from the 1950s until the current day, passed away early Monday morning, August 31, 2009. The singer collapsed on stage during a Sunday night performance at Gene’s Playmate Lounge in Chicago, suffering an apparent heart attack. Fortune was 79 years old.
A familiar face on the Chicago blues scene, Fortune performed at night at various city blues clubs and worked as a barber at his South Side shop during the day. Born in Macon, Mississippi in 1930, Fortune grew up in Hattiesburg. He moved to Chicago in 1952 and, influenced by the vocal style of B.B. King, began singing with guitarist Little Monroe. Through the ensuing years, Fortune also worked with Buddy Guy and Otis Rush before he was “discovered” by musician, songwriter, and producer Willie Dixon.
Dixon put Fortune in the studio in 1963, and the singer cut four songs for the USA label, including his signature tune “Too Many Cooks,” which was written by Dixon and later covered by Robert Cray. Buddy Guy and harpist Big Walter Horton were his sidemen for the session. When little or nothing happened with the songs commercially, Fortune largely retired from recording, preferring to perform locally and work in his barber shop. In the early-1990s, Fortune hooked up with young guitarslinger Dave Specter and his band the Bluebirds, a partnership that resulted in Fortune’s lone album, 1993’s Fortune Tellin’ Man, which was released by noted Chicago blues label Delmark Records.
Kevin Johnson, Delmark Records’ Promotions Director, is quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times, saying of Fortune, “he was such a sweet guy. His voice was so amazing. He was an older gentleman but he had this really intense, powerful voice.” Guitarist Dave Specter, Fortune’s former collaborator, was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying “he had an amazingly powerful voice, kind of in the style of early B.B. King. He had so much presence he almost didn’t need a microphone.”
Fortune was reportedly planning on recording another album at the time of his death. “He had some songs ready, but it didnt happen,” says Johnson. Blues harpist Bob Corritore, in an email, says “he left us doing what he loved, and we will always love him for the great blues he brought us.” An underrated blues singer that never received the acclaim he deserved, Jesse Fortune will be missed by his family, friends, and many fans in Chicago and elsewhere.
Photo courtesy Delmark Records
BRUCE IGLAUER – Bluestown Biography(born July 10, 1947, Ann Arbor, Mich.) The owner of Alligator Records, Bruce Iglauer had as much to do with the 1980s blues revival as any one artist. Iglauer, a self-professed blues fanatic, built his record comp…
GUS JENKINS – Bluestown Biography(born March 24, 1931, Birmingham, Ala; died December 1985, Los Angeles, Calif.) Gus Jenkins was a blues pianist and singer who recorded for Chess in the early 1950s but then moved to the West Coast, where he bec…
John Paul Reager was ‘true free spirit,’ loved the blues
When musician John Paul Reager moved to Memphis in the early 1970s, he came for the blues.
Remembering Sean Costello
The phenomenally-talented blues guitarist Sean Costello will be remembered on September 29th, 2009 when Sean’s Blues, a twenty-song retrospective of the guitarist’s too-short career will be released by the independent Landslide Records label.
Sean’s Blues will include five songs from Landslide’s two previous Costello releases, 2000’s Cuttin’ In and 2001’s Moanin’ for Molasses, as well as three songs from the guitarist’s impossible-to-find 1996 debut album Call The Cops, recorded when Costello was a mere sixteen years old. The other twelve tracks on Sean’s Blues are previously unreleased, including three scorching live performances, two of which are covers of Otis Rush and J.B. Lenoir classics.
The album was co-produced by Landslide Records President Michael Rothschild, who also worked with Costello on his two albums for the label, Rothschild offering some of his memories of the young guitarist in the liner notes. The collection also includes a bunch of unpublished Costello photos, and part of the proceeds from the sales of Sean’s Blues will benefit the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bi-Polar Research.
Costello picked up the guitar at the age of nine and by the age of fourteen, the young six-string prodigy was already performing in Atlanta-area clubs. He won the Beale Street Blues Society’s talent award in 1994, beating out the equally-talented Susan Tedeschi. Costello would later join Tedeschi’s touring band before launching his brief, but remarkable solo career.
Sean Costello passed away on April 15, 2008 a day short of his 29th birthday. His death robbed the music world of an incredibly talented guitarist and songwriter who displayed a maturity and insight beyond his years. A popular draw on the blues club and festival circuit, the charismatic Costello was primed to become a breakthrough crossover star in the same league as Jeff Healey and Stevie Ray Vaughan, bringing a sorely-needed shot of blues to a contemporary rock scene in need of a little soul. Sean’s Blues will serve as a fine memorial for Costello, who accomplished a lifetime of blues in a few short years.
Related Content:
Sean Costello Profile
Sean Costello – We Can Get Together CD review
Photo courtesy Landslide Records
JOHNNY RAWLS: 2002 Lucky Man (Deep South Sound 63371)
Rawls starts his own label and releases his best disc to date. The title track and “Real Love” are absolutely perfect retro deep soul radio singles. In fact, the whole disc is pure pop/soul heaven. There’s horn-fueled numbers like “Call Me” &…
Fredonia prepares for blues fest
The annual Red, White and Blues Festival in the village’s downtown area is set for Sept.
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