Blues at the Fort Valley Folk Festival
April 18th, 2008
Music recorded at the Fort Valley College Folk Festival between 1941 and 1943.
Etta James
From the mid-1950s to the present, Etta James' powerful, soul-charged voice has become deeper and rougher, with a rich texture and heartfelt inflections. It goes without saying that the woman known as "Mama" is aging like California wine, and she can still open wounds in her songs and come out standing strong. When she was five years old, Jamesetta Hawkins amazed the congregation of her church choir. When she belted out Gospel songs with absolute spiritual fervor, it was clear that the child was a musical prodigy. Her career as a singer began when she recorded "The Wallflower" with Johnny Otis in 1954 for Modern Records. A year later, the song topped the charts. In 1960, she moved to Chess Records and soon began cranking out hits such as the driving, jiving, southern soul smash "Tell Mama," which Janis Joplin covered later that decade. Since then, she has recorded for Island and Elektra, experimenting with rock and jazz, but always returning to her Gospel-soaked roots and southern soul. - Eric Shea
Buddy Guy
Eric Clapton calls Buddy Guy his favorite blues guitarist. Put his amazing guitar playing together with a singing voice that is its equal and you have pure blues heaven. Guy went to Chicago in 1957 and hung out with legends such as B.B. King. He put out a series of impressive records on the Cobra label but it is his 60s work that still knocks your socks off to this day. His guitar jams and tortured vocals are so dynamic it makes one wonder why anybody ever bothered with Blues Rock. Guy's career went through a hard stretch in the 70s and 80s, but it came back with a vengeance in the 90s. Buddy Guy's music is as strong as ever and his wild, onstage energy has earned him capacity crowds at venues all over the world. - Eric Shea