List of Texas blues musicians

Texas Blues is a subgenre of the blues, and of course is not limited to Texas-based musicians. It has had various style variations but typically has been played with more swing than other blues styles. Texas blues differs from styles such as Chicago blues in use of instruments and sounds, especially the heavy use of the guitar. Musicians such as Stevie Ray Vaughan contributed by using various types of guitar sounds like southern slide guitar and different melodies of blues and jazz. Texas blues also relies on guitar solos or "licks" as bridges in songs. Below is a list of Texas blues musicians.

A

*Alger "Texas" Alexander - (September 12, 1900 – April 16, 1954) Born in Jowett, Texas, Alexander was a country blues singer who was one of the original forebearers of Texas blues music. He never did learn to play guitar, though he was backed by such artists as Lonnie Johnson and Lightnin' Hopkins. He also did singing gigs for King Oliver. Over his impressive career, he recorded for Okeh Records and Freedom Records, among others.

B

*Lou Ann Barton - Born February 17, 1954 in Austin, Texas, Barton is a blues-rock and Texas blues singer who has performed with artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. She has released at least seven albums starting in the 1980s for labels like Discovery Records and Catfish Records.

*Bobby "Blue" Bland - Born January 7, 1930 in Rosemark, Tennessee as Robert Calvin Bland, Bland was strictly a blues music singer that performed in a gambit of genres, everything from soul-blues and Texas blues to rhythm and blues. He is more remembered for his sides with Clarence Hollimon and later with Pat Hare early on. During his later career he has moved into the electric blues arena and over his career has released countless albums.

*Juke Boy Bonner - (March 22, 1932 – June 29, 1978) Born in Bellville, Texas as Weldon Bonner, Bonner was a Texas blues and West Coast blues guitarist and blues harp player as well as a vocalist. Though based primarily in Texas for most of his career, he did work in the 1950s in Oakland, California and recorded there for Irma Records. Like so many of the early blues musicians, Bonner was forced to work in a meat processing plant in his later career just to make ends meet. He performed in both acoustic and electric blues environments.

*Doyle Bramhall - Born February 17, 1949 in Dallas, Texas, Bramhall is stricly a Texas blues musician, a talented guitarist, drummer and singer who worked with Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmie Vaughan. His son, Doyle Bramhall II is also a blues musician. He has released several solo albums.

*Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was one of the regulars of the Texas blues scene. A multi-instrumentalist, he performed on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, bass guitar, violin and sang. Brown was the first artist to record for Peacock Records, and his style of play was influential on burgeoning talent in Texas. Later in his career he moved more away from acoustic modes of play in favor of electric blues, often fusing in his sound elements of calypso and zydeco.

C

*Perry Cain - Born c. 1929 in New Waverly, Texas

*W. C. Clark - Born November 16, 1939 in Austin, Texas, Clark was one of the originators of blues in the city of Austin. A soul music singer and electric Texas blues guitarist, he had his start performing with T.D. Bell. He also can be seen performing onstage with Stevie Ray Vaughan for a 1980s episode of Austin City Limits. Following a tragic car wreck in 1997 that resulted in the death of his fiance and drummer, Clark has slowed down on touring and recording in the years since.

*Arnett Cobb - (August 10, 1918 – March 24, 1989) Born in Houston, Texas, Cobb is most remembered as a jazz tenor saxophonist, though his contributions to Texas blues and other sounds like New York blues and jump blues should not be taken lightly. He is the person who discovered James Brown and, in his later years, he led his own band called "Texas Jazz and Blues".

*Albert Collins - (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993) Born in Leona, Texas, Collins was one of the true greats of the Texas blues scene. An original songwriter, as well as an accomplished guitarist and singer, Collins performed with some of the best musicians the state of Texas had to offer. He released many recordings over his career, and enjoyed renewed appreciation for his art during the blues revival of the 1960s.

*Johnny Copeland - (March 27, 1937 – June 3, 1997) Born in Haynesville, Louisiana, Copeland was both an acoustic and electric Texas blues guitarist and vocalist who only enjoyed real success late in his career during the 1990s. He recorded numerous solo albums, many for Rounder Records.

*Pee Wee Crayton - (December 18, 1914 – June 25, 1985) Born in Rockdale, Texas, Crayton was a frequent member of the Texas blues scene. Both an acoustic and electric blues guitarist and singer, he also performed rhythm and blues and West Coast blues when moving to Los Angeles, California in 1935. He recorded at least nine albums over his career, in addition to collaborations with other artists. Among the labels he worked for were Crown Records and Charly Records, among others.

D

*Larry Davis (blues musician) - (December 4, 1936 – April 19, 1994) Born in Kansas City, Missouri but raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Davis was an acoustic and electric Texas blues and soul-blues musician who was greatly influenced by Albert King. He recorded often with Fenton Robinson. He released albums for many labels, including Bullseye Blues, Duke Records, and many others.

*Omar Kent Dykes

E

*Leroy Ervin - A Texas blues acoustic guitarist and singer, Ervin recorded for the Gold Star Records label.

F

*The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Formed in 1974 in Austin, Texas by Jimmie Vaughan and others, this group played the gambit of music. They perform blues-rock, Texas blues and flat-out rock and roll. Vaughan left the group in 1990.

*Denny Freeman - Born August 7, 1944 in Orlando, Florida, Freeman is a Texas blues electric guitarist and pianist better known for his collaborations with Jimmie Vaughan and his songwriting for the Vaughan Brothers.

*Lowell Fulson - (March 31, 1921 – March 6, 199) Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fulson was an innovator who performed guitar and sang in a variety of blues-based genres, particularly soul-blues, electric Texas blues and West Coast blues, as well as Urban blues. He performed with musicians like Alger "Texas" Alexander, and also had a long recording career releasing many solo albums.

G

*Grady Gaines - Born May 14, 1934 in Waskom, Texas, Gaines is an electric Texas blues and jazz blues tenor saxophonist who recorded with Little Richard in the 1950s. He also backed other musicians like Clarence Hollimon, Joe Medwick and James Brown. He released a few records for Black Top Records.

*Grey Ghost (musician) - (December 7, 1903 – July 17, 1996) Born as Roosevelt Thomas Williams, Grey Ghost was a Texas blues pianist and singer who has few recordings that have survived from his early years. He did record a self-titled record for Catfish Records, as well as many other field recordings.

H

*Andrew "Smokey" Hogg - (January 27, 1914 – May 1, 1960) Born in Westconnie, Texas, Hogg began his career as a rhythm and blues musician. An acoustic and electric guitarist, singer and pianist, Hogg performed with musicians in Texas like Black Ace.

*Lightnin' Hopkins - (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) Born Sam Hopkins in Centerville, Texas, Hopkins was an acoustic and electric guitarist and a major exponent of Texas blues. During his late career he performed mostly on electric guitar, though in the same manner that he would perform on an acoustic one. Like John Lee Hooker, Hopkins is one the better known blues musicians of history.

*Joe "Guitar" Hughes - (c. 1938 – may 19, 2003) Born in Houston, Texas. One of the unsung heroes of the Texas blues scene, Hughes was an acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist. He performed with Bobby "Blue" Bland in the 1960s and released a series of solo albums in the late 1980s and 1990s for labels like Black Top Records and Double Trouble Records.

*Lee Hunter (musician) - An accomplished pianist who performed Texas blues and piano blues, Hunter was the brother of Ivory Joe Hunter and was most active during the 1930s.

J

*Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson - (August 16, 1915 – May 30, 1976) Born in Tyler, Texas, Jackson was a regular of the Texas blues scene, an acoustic and electric country blues guitarist and singer who seemed most comfortable performing acoustic. He cut a few records for Arhoolie Records over the years.

*Blind Willie Johnson - (c. 1897 – 1945) Born in Marlin, Texas was first and foremost a gospel blues guitarist and singer, an early innovator of the slide guitar (using a pocketknife). His birthdate and place of birth are somewhat mysterious. Johnson mixed his evangelical lyrics with early Texas blues, and he is most remembered for some studio recording he did for Columbia Records in 1927.

K

*Freddie King - (September 3, 1934 – December 28, 1976) Born in Gilmer, Texas, King was an electric rhythm and blues and Texas blues guitarist who performed with a long list of blues greats throughout his career. He recorded extensively in the 1960s for King Records.

*Smokin' Joe Kubek - Born November 30, 1956) in Grove City, Pennsylvania but raised mostly in Texas, Kubek is an electric blues guitarist and vocalist in the Texas blues tradition. His band, "The Smokin' Joe Kubek Band", released their debut album in 1991 for Bullseye Blues titled "Steppin' Out Texas Style". He first had his start backing musicians like Freddie King. Since their debut, Kubek has released other albums with his band and also has done some solo work.

M

*Mike Morgan (blues musician) - Born November 30, 1959, Morgan is bandleader of "Mike Morgan & the Crawl", a Texas blues band. He is a guitarist and blues harp player, and has released a series of albums for Black Top Records.

O

*Omar & the Howlers - Formed in the early in 1980s in Austin, Texas and led by guitarist Omar Kent Dykes, the group performs electric Texas blues, rock and roll and blues-rock. The band is especially popular in Europe. The group has released at least sixteen albums for labels like Columbia Records, Watermelon Records and Black Top Records, to name just a few. Dykes has also had a successful career as a solo artist.

R

*Fenton Robinson - (September 23, 1935 – November 25, 1997) Born in Minter City, Mississippi, Robinson performed everything from soul-blues and Texas blues to what he is most remembered for, the Chicago blues. He was discovered by Bobby "Blue" Bland, who soon got him recording for Duke Records. A guitarist and singer, Robinson played both acoustic and electric guitar. He appeared on "Texas Flood" by Larry Davis (blues musician) in 1958. In the 60s he moved to Chicago, where he later recorded extensively for the famous Alligator Records label.

*Thunder Smith - Born Wilson Smith, he was an early acoustic Texas blues and piano blues pianist who recorded with Lightnin' Hopkins during the 1940s.

T

*Big Mama Thornton - (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984) Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Thornton was the first to perform "Hound Dog" which Elvis Presley later covered. Born Willie Mae Thornton, she performed everything from rhythm and blues and West Coast blues to Juke Joint blues and Texas blues. Not only a singer, she also played a decent harmonica and drums.

V

*Jimmie Vaughan - Born March 20, 1951 in Dallas, Texas, guitarist and singer Vaughan is brother to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. Aside from his work with his brother, he is also a former founding member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds along with Kim Wilson. Vaughan plays everything from Texas blues and blues-rock to soul-blues and roots rock. He has released at least three solo albums since 1995 for Epic Records and Artemis Records.

*Stevie Ray Vaughan - (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) Born in Dallas, Texas, Vaughan was a major force on the Texas blues scene and a talented blues-rock guitarist and singer. He was leader of the band Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, formerly known as Triple Threat. He recorded many albums for Epic Records, and was one of the more popular blues musicians of the modern era.

W

*T-Bone Walker - (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) Born in Linden, Texas as Aaron Thibeaux Walker, T-Bone Walker is easily one of the most well known artists of Texas blues. An acoustic and electric guitarist, Walker recorded a slew of albums for record labels like Capital Records, Imperial Records, Brunswick Records, and many others.

*Johnny "Guitar" Watson - (February 3, 1935 – May 17, 1996) Born in Houston, Texas, Watson had his beginnings performing Texas blues, a tradition he embraced until his death in 1996 while touring in Japan. He also performed rhythm and blues and funk music, and released well over twenty albums for various record labels.

*L.C. Williams - (March 12, 1930 – October 18, 1960) Born in Crockett, Texas, Williams was a Texas blues and jump blues singer who did a number of sides for Freedom Records in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He also worked with Lightnin' Hopkins on occasion.

*Hop Wilson - (April 27, 1927 – August 27, 1975) Born in Grapeland, Texas, Wilson was both an acoustic and electric Texas blues guitarist and singer (he also occasionally performed on blues harp). A slide guitar player, Wilson performed with a variety of musicians like Ivory Semien and later recorded in the 1960s for Ivory Records.

*Kim Wilson - Born January 6, 1951 in Detroit, Michigan, Wilson is better known as the leader of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. A blues harp player and singer, Wilson performs Texas blues, blues-rock and harmonica blues. Starting in the 1990s, he began pursuing a solo career, out of which he has released at least five solo albums for labels such as Discovery Records.

*U.P. Wilson - Born September 4, 1935 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Wilson is an electric blues guitarist and singer who performs Texas blues. He has recorded three albums for JSP Records, the first being "Boogie Boy: Return of the Texas Tornado".

*Johnny Winter - Born February 23, 1944 in Beaumont, Texas, Winter is a popular attraction on the Texas blues circuit. Playing slide guitar and blues harp, accompanied with his own vocals, Winter performs hard rock, blues-rock and boogie rock, creating a style uniquely his own. Winter has recorded for many labels, such as Columbia Records, Dart Records and Pacemaker Records, to name only a few.

References

*Allmusic